All posts by csb10.top

The Orange city provided an ideal batting strip for the Indians totake on Zimbabwe in the second and final Test. Shiv Sunder Das notchedup his maiden century, Rahul Dravid neared his eighth hundred andIndia chalked up a comfortable 306/2 after electing to bat first. TheZimbabwean bowlers simply did not have the firepower to stop theIndians. Everything now depends on Zimbabwe. If they can get their acttogether with the bat, they just might be able to hold on for a draw.When play began, Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das were verycomfortable against the Zimbabwean bowlers. Driving through the offside with characteristic ease, Ramesh was soon scoring at a run aball. Shiv Sunder Das at the other end was the ideal foil for Ramesh.Solid as a rock when it was needed, Das treated the bowling on merit.Being a short man proved to be a blessing, as he unveiled the cut shotevery time the ball was short of a length.Just when he looked good for a big score, Ramesh was involved in anunnecessary run out. Playing the ball to the mid on area, Rameshunderestimated Streak’s throwing arm. A good strong throw found Rameshshort of his ground. Ramesh’s 48 included seven hits to the fence.If the Zimbabweans came to India fearing Sachin Tendulkar, they aregoing to leave with nightmares of Rahul Dravid. Cutting and drivingwith precision, Dravid found the gaps with ease and it was no surprisethat he brought up his third consecutive score of fifty or over.Das was in good nick all day, displaying why he is a natural choicefor the opening slot. His shot selection was impeccable on the day,and his persistence bore fruit. After plodding on manfully for overthree hours, Das came down the track to a well flighted delivery fromMurphy and flicked magnificently. As the ball thudded into theadvertising hoardings, Das held up his bat to acknowledge the crowd’scheers. The young opener from Orissa had found the fence on 17occasions on the way to his century.The wicket was so flat that the Zimbabwean bowlers could not pick asingle wicket. Ramesh was run out and Das’ wicket really belonged toumpire Arani Velayudham Jayaprakash. Brian Murphy did what he knowsbest and tossed up a big leg break, Das, trying to play his favouriteshot, the cut, missed the ball altogether. Alright, so the ball wastoo close to the body to cut. But you can’t give a batsmen out forthat. The ball went past the bat, brushed the wicketkeeper’s glovesand went through to Alistair Campbell at slip. After pouching theball, the appeal that followed was neither spontaneous nor unanimous.In the eyes of the man in the middle however, 110 runs was all Das wasdestined to make. Although one has to concede that these things happenin the course of the game, Das’ look of disbelief on being given outtold its own story.The youngster had played well for his 110 runs. Taking as much time aswas required, Das waited for the right ball to hit. On nineteenoccasions in his 252 minute essay he put the ball away. At 227 fortwo, India were still very well placed.Amidst roars from the mediumsized Nagpur crowd, Sachin Tendulkarwalked out to the middle. However, there were to be no real fireworksfrom Tendulkar. Although he showed bursts of aggressiveness, hisinnings of 49 was largely a sedate one. As the day’s play was drawingto a close, Tendulkar opened his shoulders and played a trademarkcoverdrive. This brought the crowd back to life after a series of dullovers. Three balls later the umpires called stumps and that was that.Rahul Dravid on a patient 93, and Tendulkar on 49 were bothirritatingly close to the century and half century marks respectively.Tomorrow, when India resume on 306 for two, both Dravid and Tendulkarwill look to quickly cross those marks and get on with the scoring.

A sparkling Matthew Maynard century off 94 balls and 4-33 from RobertCroft all but sealed Glamorgan’s promotion to Norwich Union League Division One after a 51-run day-night victory over Hampshire at Cardiff.Maynard’s century helped Glamorgan set Hampshire 245 to win under the floodlights but they fell well short to lose by 51 runs despite a spectacular start by Neil Johnson and James Hamblin.But from 120-1 in the 19th over Hampshire crumbled to 145-6 thanks to the double spin option of Robert Croft, who took four for 18 in 24 balls, and Dean Cosker.After that the run rate increased with Darren Thomas and Andrew Davies sharing the last four wickets to fall as Hampshire found themselves 193 all out with 28 balls to spare.Earlier, Maynard had come to the middle with Glamorgan in the middle of a crisis, but he produced a vintage innings in front of the Sky TV cameras to put Glamorgan back in the driving seat.Despite racing to 51-1 in the eighth over, thanks to a whirlwind start from Keith Newell and Ian Thomas, Glamorgan proceeded to lose three wickets for four runs to collapse to 55-4 in the 12th over.Maynard and Mike Powell nursed Glamorgan out of their malaise with a patient 68 in 18 overs, with Chris Tremlett, named in the England Academy squad, recording first spell figures of 5-1-8-0.When Powell fell to Neil Johnson, Maynard and skipper Adrian Dale set about upping the tempo taking 92 off 12 overs.Maynard, who struck Shaun Udal for a straight six, went to his second 50 off just 30 balls with 11 fours.After reaching his century Maynard wasn’t finished as he took 15 off the last over of the innings from Udal including another six. Maynard finished unbeaten on 116 – from 103 balls with two sixes and 12 fours – out of 244-6.

ScorecardHyderabad’s CV Milind claimed three wickets•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shadab Jakati starred with the ball as Goa crushed Tripura by nine wickets inside three days in Porvorim to earn their first win of the season. They achieved the 50-run target for the loss of Swapnil Asnodkar, which meant they were denied a bonus point.Tripura, who still had to wipe out 56 runs to make Goa bat again, started the day at 140 for 6. Manisankar Murasingh, overnight on 36, completed his maiden first-class century to keep the Goa bowlers at bay in the first session. He found good support from Rana Dutta (29) as the duo shared an 87-run stand for the seventh wicket.Jakati, the left-arm spinner, broke the stand and then cleaned up the tail to finish with figures of 5 for 54 to take his match tally to seven wickets. Goa then took 25.1 overs to achieve their modest target, with Amogh Desai and Sagun Kamath crossing the finish line.
ScorecardAnkush Bains struck a career-best 161 to put Himachal Pradesh within touching distance of a first-innings lead against Hyderabad in Dharamsala. HP, who resumed on 84 for 0, ended the day at 402 for 5, trailing by only 32 runs.Bains was well complemented by Robin Bist (91* off 154 balls) during the course of their 132-run fourth-wicket stand. There were brought together by left-arm seamer CV Milind taking two wickets in two balls to take the score from 195 for 1 to 195 for 3.The see-saw nature of proceedings did not stop there. Hyderabad removed the well-set Bains and Nikhil Gangta in successive overs. But Rishi Dhawan, who needed 76 runs to achieve the double of 2000 runs and 200 first-class wickets, then resisted with an unbeaten 48 in the company of Bist to give HP a chance to press for three points.
ScorecardKerala were faced with a mountain to climb in order to secure their first win of the season, after Jharkhand set them an imposing target of 317. They ended the day at 71 for 1, with Akshay Kodoth and Rohan Prem at the crease.Kerala, who conceded a 54-run lead, hit back courtesy KS Monish, the left-arm spinner, who took 5 for 66 to trigger a lower order collapse. As a result, Jharkhand slipped from a comfortable 199 for 4 to 262 all out. Ishan Kishan, the 17-year old wicketkeeper-batsman, made 58 while Saurabh Tiwary and Kaushal Singh contributed 46 and 44 not out respectively.

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan believes his side should start as favourites in the ODI series against Pakistan later this month, and said it was their best chance to beat the side on home soil.Shakib, who left for Kolkata on Thursday, will be playing the first two games of IPL 2015 for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders before returning home to play against Pakistan. Pakistan are likely to arrive in mid-April with a new-look side, without the retired Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi.”I will start training from tomorrow,” Shakib said. “I will only play two matches in the IPL so the Pakistan series will be on my mind. If I do well in the two matches, that confidence will work in my favour.”I think we should be starting as favourites to win the ODI series against Pakistan. I think this is our best chance to win against Pakistan. Everyone in the team believes so, too. We have proved that we can beat any team at home. If we play our best cricket, we can do well against any side. We beat New Zealand seven times, and they are the World Cup runners-up.”Bangladesh have won only one in 32 games against Pakistan, with the sole victory coming in the 1999 World Cup. The teams have played two bilateral ODI series in Bangladesh previously, apart from a single game in 1999, with Pakistan winning all the matches. The forthcoming tour, involving two Tests, three ODIs and a T20, has had its share of controversies with an impasse between the concerned boards over revenue-sharing.According to Shakib, 2015 will be a critical year for Bangladesh’s ODI prospects, especially with a 10-team World Cup looming on the horizon. Bangladesh are currently ranked ninth with 76 points, after gaining only one point following the World Cup. They are scheduled to take on Pakistan, India, South Africa and Australia this year.”It is a very important year for us since it will be a 10-team World Cup next time. We need to go up the rankings,” he said. “If we can win against higher-ranked sides, we will get more points.”Ultimately we have to stay within the top eight to play in the World Cup. We have been around No 9 and 10 for a long time. We got up to No 8 for a brief period, but now we have to get to that level and stay there.”Shakib also felt his performance in the World Cup could have been better as the tournament wore on, after he made two fifties in the first three games but only totaled 35 runs in his last three innings. He also took eight wickets at an average of 37.25, giving away runs at 5.16 per over (compared to an overall rate of 4.30).He was impressed with the Bangladesh newcomers and urged them to keep performing rather than learning at the highest level.”There is no end to performing better. I think I did well in the World Cup. If I could have ended the tournament like I had started, it obviously would have been better,” Shakib said. “Still, I don’t think I should be disappointed about the numbers next to my name in this World Cup.”I thought the new players did well. The team performed, which is the most important thing. Soumya, Sabbir and Taskin played well. The senior players were also up to the mark. The team is in good shape. The young players have to perform, not to be taught.”

The contentious issue of Zimbabwe’s future in international cricket remained delicately poised on Wednesday with backroom negotiations failing to yield a consensus on the first day of the ICC’s board meeting. A compromise has been identified – that Zimbabwe stay out of the World Twenty20 to be held in England next year but retain its Full Member status – but has not yet found acceptance.It is a deal that will enable the ECB, which is pushing for a sanction of some kind against Zimbabwe Cricket, to be able to hold the World Twenty20 without a hitch but, till the end of the day, ZC remained defiant that it had every right to participate in the event. The hitch is the UK government’s decision to bar the Zimbabwe team from the event – a threat which, if carried out, could see the tournament being taken away from England.”We are very keen and are looking forward to participating in the Twenty20 World Cup,” a ZC official told Cricinfo. “There is no reason why we should not be there in England for the event. We believe we have the credentials and the team to take part and put up a good performance.Last year, we beat Australia in the World Twenty20 and that is ample proof of our abilities.”While compromise will suit everyone barring ZC, the Indian cricket board remained firmly behind Zimbabwe with a BCCI official reaffirming that it “would support Zimbabwe to the full, at any cost”.Though the ZC contingent appear confident of emerging unscathed from the Westin hotel on Thursday evening, the very fact that the issue will be discussed in detail – after doubts at one point on Wednesday on whether it should be discussed at all – means that it’s not all over.Intriguingly, a day after outgoing ICC president Ray Mali said the issue was about cricket, not politics, ZC officials – who have arrived here with a lawyer – indicated they would be using sporting credentials to make their case.Asked about the possibility of Zimbabwe being suspended from limited-overs cricket, the ZC official said, “As far as we are concerned, any form of suspension from any form of cricket is not a valid option at all. There is no reason for such steps to be considered.”Almost a sideshow to the main event is the discord within the South African camp. Over the last week, Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA),has adopted a hardline stance on Zimbabwe in suspending bilateral agreements. It appeared today that members of his own board were not in favour of that decision.”It’s a surprise that Zimbabwe is being discussed here,” a source in theSouth African board told Cricinfo. “It should never have been an item onthe agenda. Also, where has this question over Zimbabwe’s membership comefrom? This is ridiculous.”Asked to elaborate on the CSA’s position on Zimbabwe, the source suggested it had a lot to do with their government’s views. “We have suspended bilateral cricket with Zimbabwe, but that does not mean we have cut off all ties with Zimbabwe Cricket. Zimbabweans are still our friends and not our enemies and they understand that. By suspending ties, we mean we will take a re-look at the situation, probably after a season. But at the international level, we will honour all our commitments to Zimbabwe, as per the FTP. There is no doubt that the CSA is with Zimbabwe, but our president, on a personal level, seems to have different views.”Things should become clear on Thursday even though the matter may not be put to vote. A delegate who attended today’s meeting told Cricinfo that if it does, Zimbabwe would get at least two more than the four they require out of 10. “There’s India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, apart from Zimbabwe of course. And even if Arendse goes against Zimbabwe, West Indies are firmly on their side,” the official said.

Tatenda Taibu’s fractious relationship with Zimbabwe Cricket took another twist after he was allegedly involved in a row with Esther Lupepe, the board’s general manager (finance and administration).Taibu clashed with officials in 2005 and after he claimed that his family had been threatened, he turned his back of the national team. But after struggling to establish himself in a number of other countries, he made his peace in 2007 and resumed playing.The latest incident took place as a result of Taibu attempting to claim money he maintains is owed as a result of his wife and son accompanying him on the tour to Pakistan earlier this year. ZC insists that to pay him would be giving him preferential treatment and so it has refused.Lupepe and Taibu were seen embroilled in a heated argument in a Harare travel agent, although the incident surprised many as the former Zimbabwe captain is generally regarded as a placid individual.”There was such an incident and it is being investigated and attended to in accordance with our procedure,” said Lovemore Banda, the board’s media manager.It seems unlikely that anything will happen before the team leaves for the tour of Canada and Kenya next week, partly because of the time factor and partly because an already weakened squad desperately needs the experience that Taibu brings.

Ian Harvey, the former Australia allrounder, is set to join Hampshire as their overseas player for the Twenty20, as a replacement for Shane Watson.Harvey has been out of county action since his hopes of joining Derbyshire last year as a non-overseas player fell through. The Home Office turned down his application for British Citizenship because of a drink-driving conviction. That issue won’t matter this time, as Harvey will be joining as Hampshire’s one overseas player.However, a possible complication that will arise with Harvey’s signing is his links with the Indian Cricket League. He played for the Chennai Superstars and there have been warnings from Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL, that any team fielding ICL players will be disqualified from the lucrative Champions League, which was announced at the weekend.But with the Twenty20 Cup starting on Wednesday, and Cricket Australia still in the early stages of drawing up the regulations for the Champions League, counties have little option but to name full-strength teams and hope a compromise is found regarding ICL players.Harvey has an outstanding Twenty20 record with 993 runs in 32 matches and a strike-rate of 169.74. His top score is 109 and he has three centuries, alongside 33 wickets at 25.57 with his superb death bowling.Watson, Hampshire’s original signing for the Twenty20, was one of the stars of the IPL. His form has earned him a recall to the Australian one-day squad in West Indies after Matthew Hayden’s injury.

Lance Klusener won’t be offered a new contract by Northamptonshire after the club said they want to increase the number of England qualified players on the staff.Klusener, 37, joined as a Kolpak signing in 2006 and has been a consistent performer, especially with the bat. This season he has scored 1095 runs at 73, after his first-innings duck against Essex, including a career-best 202 not out.”Lance has had another excellent Championship season and no one can doubt his determination and application for the team,” chief executive, Mark Tagg, said. “The club, however, has to look forward to the future. With the game going through significant changes over the next couple of years it is important that Northamptonshire are positioned to play a full role both developing talent for the county and hopefully full international duty.”We have consistently stated our desire to increase the number of England qualified players beyond this season and especially provide real opportunity for the talent that the academy is producing”.Offspinner Jason Brown has also been released after 12 years with the club. His success in Championship cricket has diminished since his best return of 66 wickets at 23.71 in 2006. This season he has taken just nine wickets in nine Championship matches.After a haul of 61 wickets in the 2000 season he was named in the England squad to tour Sri Lanka in 2000-01, but couldn’t force his way past Ashley Giles and Robert Croft into the starting XI. It was the closest he came to international recognition.”This was a difficult decision for the club to make given Jason’s commitment and dedication to the club over many years,” Tagg said. “However, it was felt that this was the right time for both parties and gives Jason an opportunity of potentially continuing his career elsewhere while enabling younger players to develop at Northamptonshire.”

Several of Pakistan’s international players will take part in the Pentangular Cup which kicks off the first-class season on Saturday.Defending champions Sind, captained by Shahid Afridi, will be meeting last season’s runners-up Federal Areas in their four-day tournament opener, at the National Stadium. The other match starting simultaneously today is between Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Quetta.The five teams in the competition includes 75 of Pakistan’s leading players, with the exception of Younis Khan, who is playing for South Australia.The players from Sind, chosen from the Karachi and Hyderabad regions, includes upcoming batsmen Khalid Latif and Khurram Manzoor, allrounder Fawad Alam, wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and pace bowlers Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali, who earned national call-ups earlier this year.Also in the line-up are Test batsman Faisal Iqbal, Naumanullah, Faisal Ather, Rizwan Ahmed and legspinner Danish Kaneria.Federal Areas, including players from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, will have fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar as their star attraction. Rao Iftikhar, the captain, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and Yasir Ali will back him up in the fast-bowling department.Ashar Zaidi, recently hospitalised suffering from serious heart and kidney problems, has been replaced in the team by allrounder Fayyaz Ahmed. Batsmen Raheel Majeed, Afaq Rahim, Umair Khan, experienced hands Bazid Khan and Naved Ashraf, and youngsters Usman Saeed and Umar Amin complete a very potent squad. Wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum and slow left-armer Imad Wasim, the Pakistan Under-19 captain until recently, will hope to catch the selectors’ eye during the tournament.In Younis’ absence, NWFP will be led by fast bowler Umar Gul. Also in the team are batsman Yasir Hameed, legspinner Yasir Shah and emerging left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan.Like last season, Baluchistan includes only a handful of local players. Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test middle-order batsman, borrowed from Faisalabad, will captain the side.Punjab team, who were placed fourth last season, will play their first game on October 31, led by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik. Mohammad Yousuf, Nasir Jamshed, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Mansoor Amjad, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz make up Punjab’s star line-up.When the Pentangular was introduced in to Pakistan’s domestic first-class circuit back in 1973-74, it was a five-team competition. When six teams competed in 1974-75 and a total of eight in 1976-77, it still continued to be known as the Pentangular.It was played off and on through the years and following a ten-year gap since 1995, it was revived in 2005-06 and the new season will be its fourth consecutive one.While Baluchistan, NWFP and the Federal Areas appeared as separate entities in a Pentangular Cup competition for the first time in 2007-08, Punjab and Sind had played a few seasons in the past.In the 2007-08 Pentangular Cup championship, which was played only in February-March earlier this year, the PCB had included what they believed were the 75 top players of the country in the five teams. Then, added to that roster, were names of 25 further players who were considered ‘promising young’ cricketers. This time round, for the time being at least, each team comprises 15 players only, in addition to two standbys.

Omer Hussain, the 23-year-old left-hander, has been called up to Scotland’s squad for their Intercontinental Cup matches against Bermuda and Canada.Hussain, the cousin of Majid Haq, adds youth to the squad and he arrives in good form after averaging 62 for his local club, Ferguslie. His stand-in captain, Ryan Watts, is insistent that the presence of some younger faces is by no means for show.”The lads who have come in aren’t just being given an opportunity for the sake of it – they’re the ones who have been producing the goods at club-level and for Scotland A as opposed to being in on potential this time,” Watts told the . “Form has played a big part in selecting the 13-man squad and the likes of Gordon Goudie [West], Qasim Sheikh [Clydesdale] and Richie Berrington [Greenock] all represent the new wave of talent.”Scotland are still reeling from their thrashing by New Zealand, when they were hopelessly outclassed by eight wickets.”New Zealand are ranked No. 3 in the world and for Scotland to have had a chance of winning meant everything going our way,” Watts said. “Instead, right at the outset they won the toss and put us in on a wicket where we’d have fancied our chances of applying some pressure early on if roles had been reversed.”It wasn’t to be, but there were positives from the tri-series, particularly the win over Ireland, where Gavin Hamilton hit fifty and then kept going on and on, past his century mark.”Scotland’s match against Bermuda begins on July 10.