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Glamorgan’s hopes of victory over Leicestershire in their LV= County Championship Division Two game were wrecked by the weather

24-May-2013
ScorecardGlamorgan’s hopes of victory over Leicestershire in their LV= County Championship Division Two game were wrecked by the weather, with only 55 minutes of play possible on the final day at Grace Road.Leicestershire, following on 300 runs behind, added another 49 runs for the loss of one wicket in 12.4 overs and were 182 for 2 when the game was abandoned as a draw with 28 overs remaining. Glamorgan collected 10 points from the match and Leicestershire five.Rain and strong winds throughout the morning meant the sides had to wait until 3.30pm before a start could be made, with Leicestershire on 133 for 1 and still 167 runs adrift.It took some sterling work from the groundstaff to make any play possible at all and when the game did start, it was so cold that 10 of the Glamorgan side wore woolly hats. Only Murray Goodwin had the traditional cricket cap on.Graham Wagg even kept his beanie on to bowl, but it was Michael Hogan who claimed the one wicket to fall. He had Greg Smith, 62 not out overnight, lbw for 70 to end a second wicket stand of 58.Australian Joe Burns hit three fours in his score of 18 while Ned Eckersley added 20 runs to his overnight 23, before heavy rain again swept in and the match was abandoned.

Clarke was once again Australia’s standout batsman but the innings crumbled either side of his hold-it-together stand with Matthew Wade to leave India in control

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran02-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBhuvneshwar Kumar struck three times in his opening spell•BCCIBefore the start of the match, the local organisers performed a religious ceremony in the middle and if, like bowlers around the world, they had asked for answers on how to dismiss Michael Clarke, they had no luck. Clarke was once again Australia’s standout batsman, top scoring with 91, but the innings crumbled either side of his hold-it-together stand with Matthew Wade to leave India in control.And if his batting wasn’t enough to leave connoisseurs raving, Clarke sprang a surprising and enterprising declaration just before stumps – the first time a team had declared on the opening day since 1974 – to give his bowlers a shot at India.The first day of the Hyderabad Test was a seesaw affair, with India dominant in the first and final sessions, and Australia unshakeable in the second. After tea, India’s spinners again proved too difficult to read for the visiting batsmen, and the home side reclaimed the advantage after Clarke and Wade had levelled the game with a century stand. The pair had to do a repair job due to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s new-ball breakthroughs.Bhuvneshwar had made his debut on a dustbowl in Chennai, the worst sort of surface for a quick bowler. He didn’t even get to bowl in the second innings, and the speculation was that he could make way for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha in this Test. Not only did he play, though, his skiddy bowling accounted for three top-order batsmen in the first session. Those strikes were his first wickets in Test cricket, and the first for an Indian seamer in this series.Smart stats

This was the first time a team declared their first innings on the opening day of a Test since Pakistan did so against England at Lord’s in 1974.

The lowest first-innings total a team declared on and went on to win is 200 by Australia against England at the MCG in 1936-37.

Michael Clarke was dismissed in the 90s for the fifth time in his career. It was also the third time (second against India) that he fell on the score of 91.

Clarke also became only the second Australian captain, after Kim Hughes, and the sixth overall to be dismissed in the 90s against India.

The 145-run stand between Clarke and Matthew Wade was Australia’s highest fifth-wicket stand in Tests in India and their sixth-highest fifth-wicket stand against India overall. Six of the century stands came after the fourth wicket had fallen for fewer than 100.

Wade’s 62 was his fifth fifty-plus score in Tests. He has scored 592 runs so far at an average of 39.46 with two centuries and three fifties.

The pitch was dry, there were puffs of dust when the ball bounced, and it had plenty of cracks that should excite the spinners as the match progresses. Ishant Sharma’s first ball jumped off one of them and swerved dramatically away from Ed Cowan, but Ishant didn’t pose much of a threat otherwise with the new ball.Bhuvneshwar did all the damage, using his ability to get the ball to snake back towards the left-hand batsmen. David Warner inside-edged after looking to play across the line, and speculation over Cowan’s place is set to resume after he was adjudged lbw for 4, though the ball pitched just outside leg.Two potential contenders for Cowan’s place, Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes, set about bringing some stability to the innings. Watson began by middling plenty of deliveries, while Hughes got going with boundaries in his favourite point area. The pair had been together for about an hour, when Watson misjudged how much a Bhuvneshwar delivery would bounce and attempted a powerful swipe to midwicket. He missed, and the stroke that served him so effectively in Twenty20s, left him looking like he lacked patience on the first morning of a Test. Hughes had begun briskly, moving to 17 off 21, but was again skittish against spin, playing out several maidens to R Ashwin. He scored only two runs off his next 36 deliveries before being caught behind.Facing another crisis, Clarke was in prime form, twinkle-toed as usual against the spinners and assured against the fast bowlers. There were two standout shots early on – a dance-down-the-track loft over Ashwin’s head for six, and a clip off Bhuvneshwar for four that bisected two short midwickets.Ashwin had looked good in the morning session, tossing the ball up and bowling accurately, waiting for the pitch to play its part instead of attempting too many variations too soon. Australia were helped as India held back Ashwin for more than an hour after the break, instead turning to Harbhajan Singh, who was again below his best.It wasn’t a flawless innings from Clarke. An edge off Bhuvneshwar dropped well short of the keeper, a surprise legcutter from Ishant confounded him, but the biggest chances were a close lbw shout on 32 that the umpire deemed to be sliding down and a drop on 52 as Cheteshwar Pujara put down a bat-pad chance at short leg.While Clarke was all confidence right from the start, his partner Wade, who was deemed fit despite a suffering a cheek fracture on Friday, was more circumspect early on. Wade began to feel comfortable following a drive over mid-on off Harbhajan after almost an hour. He didn’t sweep much, a shot that caused him problems in the first Test, and was harsh whenever the bowler dropped short, picking up several boundaries past point on his way to a half-century.Just when Australia seemed to be capitalising on their decision to bat, things went awry. Wade slapped a short ball to a diving Bhuvneshwar at point, ending a 145-run partnership and starting a collapse. Moises Henriques was far less certain than he was in his debut Test, and was bowled by a peach from Ravindra Jadeja. Henriques was looking to play to the leg side but the turn beat the bat and hit the top of middle. The debutant Glenn Maxwell didn’t last long either, edging behind for 13, and when Clarke missed a sweep to be bowled Australia had lost five wickets for 28 runs.With the ball turning and bouncing, Clarke decided that the final pair wouldn’t last too long and chose to test India’s openers before stumps. There was no reward for the innovative move, though, as Virender Sehwag and M Vijay played out the final three overs.The batting failure will hurt, but what made it worse for Clarke was that the changes Australia made meant their bowling was weaker than in the previous Test. Xavier Doherty, playing his first Test in two years, is the lead spinner instead of Nathan Lyon, and the two allrounders, Henriques and Maxwell, are both better batsmen than they are Test bowlers.

A look back at the highs and lows from the second week of theBangladesh Premier League

Mohammad Isam03-Feb-2013Chittagong responds to BPL The arrival of the League in Bangladesh’s second-largest city completely changed the complexion of the Twenty20 tournament. The first match at the venue, between the home side (Chittagong Kings) and Sylhet Royals, was played in front of a packed house and nearly all matches over the next five days saw full houses. The chief reason is the central location of the MA Aziz Stadium, which is seeing some cricketing action after hosting football for most of the last eight years. International cricket is played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the western corner of Chittagong. Though certain roads leading up to the venue were cordoned off, the spectators lined up two hours before the game. There were also rumours of slashed ticket prices, which attracted a sizeable amount of students from nearby educational institutions. On the final day, when the Kings took on Dhaka Gladiators, there was barely any room to stand in the general galleries.Tamim Iqbal, who lives just across the street from the stadium, alsoentertained on a couple of nights, once trying to hit one into his house, though it ended up being a six over deep midwicket.Kings still struggleThe Kings, however, didn’t warm up to the BPL even in the second week. In their first home game, they went down to Sylhet and then lost to Barisal Burners. Captaincy changed hands for the next two games with Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor replacing Mahmudullah, who wasn’t enjoying the role and had apparently given it away.Big-ticket T20 players like Ravi Bopara, Jacob Oram and Shaun Tait didn’t quite contribute, and neither did most of the local players. The squad looks thin in specialist T20 batsmen, while the left-arm spinners haven’t done a particularly good job of bowling to the fields they set.Most of the headlines they have made in the BPL this season have been due to Brian Lara, their brand ambassador, who has participated in several events to keep the marketing wheel rolling.The Zimbabwean connectionBrendan Taylor isn’t the only Zimbabwean player to be contributing to his side. The rest of his compatriots have also been chipping in with the bat.Elton Chigumbura saw the Sylhet Royals through a tight finish, while Charles Coventry won a game for Duronto Rajshahi with a 25-ball 62, possibly the most breathtaking innings in the tournament till date. Sean Ervine has also kept Rajshahi’s hopes alive by batting at a strike rate of 140 but his bowling hasn’t been up to the mark.Hamilton Masakadza’s batting tapered off slightly after an impressive show in the first few games, but it has been a tournament which would encourage BPL team selectors to keep an eye on more Zimbabwean players, with their local knowledge.Nasir’s tricksThe Rangpur Riders were losing their way in a chase against the home side, Khulna Royal Bengals. But Nasir Hossain, in spectacular form, had other ideas as he led the Khulna chase of 151. Against Afghan left-arm bowler Shapoor Zadran, who was bowling around the wicket, Nasir became a left-hander, then took a front-on stance before settling as a right-hander and smashing the flustered bowler back over his head.He tried the trick a few times but it wasn’t successful and his inability to take strike in the final over didn’t help matters either. Nasir’s excellent 2012-13 season continues into the BPL and much of Riders’ success would depend on him.

Ryan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, will play for Otago Volts in the HRV Cup this season

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2012Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate will play for Otago Volts in the HRV Cup, New Zealand’s T20 league, this season. Ten Doeschate was declared the Most Valuable Player the last time he played in the tournament – for Canterbury in the 2010-11 season – with 284 runs from nine games to be the second-highest run-getter in the league.”I am really excited about having another opportunity to play in New Zealand. I really enjoyed the HRV Cup and the conditions that I encountered when I was last there a couple of years ago and can’t wait to come back. Otago has a strong side for this season and I am looking forward to getting over there and making a contribution,” ten Doeschate was quoted as saying by .Doeschate has represented Essex in the English domestic season this year, for the Clydesdale Bank40, Friends Life t20 and the LV County Championship. He was Essex’s fourth-highest run-getter in the Friends Life t20. He has also played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe, Impi and Western Province in South Africa and Tasmania in Australia.”We were looking for a player who can bat in the top order as well as being an option to us with the ball and Ryan fits that description perfectly. Ryan is an aggressive batsman which fits nicely with how our team wants to play this season,” Otago Volts coach Vaughn Johnson said.Ten Doeschate will arrive for the league in the middle of December and will be available for eight matches besides the finals.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group B matches on December 9, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012
Scorecard
After the bowlers had shot out Odisha for 181 on the first day, four of the batsmen hit half-centuries to consolidate on Baroda’s advantage in Vadodara. Baroda are still missing both the Pathan brothers due to injury, but they didn’t let that affect them much as they steadily built up a solid total. Opener Aditya Waghmode made his fifth fifty-plus score in six matches, and added 125 for the second wicket with Abhimanyu Chauhan. After that their stand-in captain Ambati Rayudu and their wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, returning after a month’s absence, put on 102 for the fifth wicket to swell Baroda’s lead. With Odisha in second place on the points table, and Baroda in third, an outright win for Baroda will be a huge boost with the Ranji knockouts only a few rounds away.
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh’s batsmen built up a big score on the second day against Vidarbha. Arif Alam closed in on his second successive century and Piyush Chawla celebrated his Test call-up with an 85 that included three sixes to push UP past 500 in Nagpur. They might not declare overnight as Alam was still seven short of his hundred, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was picked for India’s Twenty20 squad for the first time, keeping him company. It wasn’t the quickest of scoring, but UP will hope that the big first-innings total will put pressure on Vidarbha’s batsmen, who have already spent two full days on the field. UP are on top of the table despite having played a game less than their three closest chasers, and the three points from a first-innings lead should keep them in first place.
Scorecard
Haryana bounced back from a dreadful start to their season with a surprise victory over Delhi in the last round, but they looked set to be second-best again this time as Maharashtra comfortably took the first-innings lead in Pune. Sangram Atitkar, who reached 80 twice this season without going on to make a hundred, completed his century this time, and his 177-run stand with Ankit Bawne, who made his third half-century in three innings, put Maharashtra in charge. Maharashtra had lost only three wickets and were already 45 ahead.

Sussex cruised to an eight-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Arundel to consolidate their place at the top of group C in the Clydesdale Bank 40

22-Jul-2012
ScorecardSussex cruised to an eight-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Arundel to consolidate their place at the top of group C in the Clydesdale Bank 40.Chris Liddle took 4 for 21 and Scott Styris 2 for 12 as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 129 after James Middlebrook (37) and Rob Keogh (30) had rescued them from 46 for 6 at one stage. Murray Goodwin scored an unbeaten 67 and put on 96 for the third wicket with Ed Joyce as Sussex eased home in the 31st over.Northants arrived having lost all three of their completed games in the competition and were soon in trouble as they slumped on a tricky wicket. They got off to a bad start when Kyle Coetzer was bowled off the second ball of the innings by Amjad Khan.David Willey followed in the next over to give Kirk Wernars a wicket on his debut in the competition to leave Northants on 2 for 2. Wernars picked up a second wicket when David Sales played on and Alex Wakely’s brief cameo of 16 came to an end when he drove a ball from Liddle straight to Joyce at short extra cover.Styris then removed Rob Newton and David Murphy before Keogh and Middlebrook began the recovery with a partnership of 60 for the seventh wicket. Keogh hit 30 from 60 balls before Liddle returned to the attack to have him caught at long-on while Middlebrook was caught on the boundary in the final over for 37.Sussex’s chase did not get off to the best of starts as Chris Nash chipped a catch to mid-on off the bowling of Willey in only the third over. Luke Wright followed trying to break the shackles of some tight Northants bowling as he skied a catch off the bowling of Coetzer.At that stage Sussex were 34 for 2 after 10 overs and a tricky afternoon looked in prospective but Joyce and Goodwin ensured the hosts cruised home with plenty to spare.After playing cautiously to begin with Goodwin cut loose by smashing Middlebrook for the only six of the match and then hitting Coetzer for three consecutive fours to bring up his 50 off 59 balls. He was dropped on 51 by wicketkeeper David Murphy and finished unbeaten on 67 off 74 balls with six fours and a six.

Ben Harmison was booed by Kent supporters at Tunbridge Wells as a last day run-chase against Hampshire run out of steam in near identical circumstances to last month’s pursuit in Canterbury against Northamptonshire.

Mark Pennell at Tunbridge Wells09-Jun-2012
ScorecardLiam Dawson’s century set up a Kent run chase at Tunbridge Wells but boos sounded when Ben Harmison was unable to escape a run of poor form•Getty ImagesThere was a sense of déjà vu amongst Kent supporters at Tunbridge Wells after watching their side’s last day run-chase against Hampshire run out of steam in near identical circumstances to last month’s pursuit in Canterbury against Northamptonshire.When the teams shook hands on a draw at 6pm, Kent had laboured to reach 220 for 6 and were a weighty 84 runs of their target, having agreed to chase 304 off a minimum of 70 overs.Having made a decent enough start through openers Rob Key and Sam Northeast, Kent’s attempts to keep up with an asking rate of 4.34 an over were quickly derailed after lunch. Both batsmen struggled to hit Hampshire’s wily allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas off the square, let alone to the boundary, and by the time Key went leg before to Kadir Ali, the asking rate was already approaching 5.5 an over.Northeast, only recently restored to the side after Kent ended the loan stay of Middlesex opener Scott Newman, manfully tried to work the ball around in posting a 94-ball 50, but at the other end Ben Harmison was struggling to find form.Harmison, the winter recruit from Chester-le-Street, was branded the villain of the piece at St Lawrence in May when Kent also fell well short against Andrew Hall’s Northamptonshire, and once more, the likeable lad from Durham had to endure the scorn of Kent supporters.It might have been fairer to Harmison had Kent promoted the likes of Geraint Jones, Darren Stevens or Matt Coles at the fall of Key’s wicket. Instead, they sent in Harmison, a player fighting to retain his place in the side and a batsman out of sorts. Little wonder then that the asking rate soon rocketed to 6.2 an over.After hanging around for 32 balls for his 11 runs, Harmison – in a sad moment of sacrifice – clipped one straight to mid-wicket and trooped off to contemplate a probable appearance in the Kent second string.Too late perhaps, Kent sent in Stevens, but he perished for a cameo 28 when caught on the cover boundary, then Coles was also pushed up the order to bludgeon only to miscue his way to 18 from 27 balls before he too holed out to cover.Once Northeast perished to a low catch at cover, Kent’s last chance of success rested on the shoulders of overseas batter Brendan Nash. For a moment the former West Indies Test player appeared capable of pulling off the impossible but, with his score on 18, he leant back to cut against Kabir Ali to see Carberry pull off his third excellent catch.One-time Glamorgan stalwart Michael Powell then teamed up with honorary Welshman Jones to play out time for the draw with Kent taking five points to Hampshire’s six.The run-chase followed Hampshire’s declaration half-an-hour before lunch on 303 for 8 and with Liam Dawson still unbeaten on 134. That sparked a double forfeiture and hopes for a thrilling finale to the match but sadly, it all proved to be something of a false dawn.

A round-up of the Ford Trophy matches that took place on February 1

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2012Central Districts steam-rolled Auckland by eight wickets with 22.4 overs to spare at Pukekura Oval, to surge into the top spot in the Ford Trophy standings. CD now have 22 points, two clear of Auckland, who are in second spot. They will be joined in the semi-finals by Otago and Canterbury, who suffered reversals in the final round of league games.CD’s decision to field proved the right one as the seam trio of Michael Mason, Adam Milne and Bevan Small scythed through the Auckland line-up. Tim McIntosh exited for no score, setting in motion a seemingly interminable procession of wickets. At one stage, Auckland were tottering at 61 for 7, with Small accounting for five of the wickets. Colin Munro resisted with 44 off 54 balls, and his 52-run stand with Bruce Martin hauled the score past 100. However, the target of 124 proved insufficient to stretch CD, with Jamie How (46 off 46 balls) setting the tone for a quick finish.Northern Districts ended their poor campaign on the high, overcoming Canterbury by four wickets to register only their second win in the tournament. Hamish Marshall and Anton Devcich were the heroes for ND, who finished bottom of the table despite their win. Chasing 235, ND ran into early trouble at 39 for 3, but Marshall (83 off 90) and Devcich (79 off 94) added 118 runs for the fourth wicket to steer ND towards victory, which was completed in the 45th over. Earlier, Graeme Aldridge and Jono Boult snared three wickets apiece as Canterbury struggled to break free after a sluggish start. Shanan Stewart’s 64 off 98 balls built the base for Canterbury, and Todd Astle smashed 78 off 61 balls to provide the closing fireworks. The target, however, proved inadequate after the Marshall-Devcich association.Jesse Ryder and James Franklin played headlining roles as Wellington ended their campaign with a 25-run win against Otago in Invercargill. Ryder’s breath-taking assault yielded 96 runs off 67 balls, and lifted Wellington from 59 for 4 in the 14th over to 179 for 5 by the time he was dismissed in the 28th. In the interim, he smote five sixes and 11 fours, laying to waste Neil Wagner’s (4 for 30) incisions in the early overs. Grant Elliott and Harry Boam ensured the momentum generated by Ryder wasn’t wasted, as Wellington rattled up 276 before they were bowled out in the 48th over. Otago seemed out of the game once they had stuttered to 87 for 6, but Derek de Boorder (64) and Jimmy Neesham attempted a reprisal of Ryder’s heroics. Their 109-run association sparked homes of a come-from-behind win, but a five-wicket haul from James Franklin meant Otago ran out of wickets with 15 balls to spare.

A round-up of the second day of the fourth round of Pentangular Cup matches

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2012Baluchistan gained the upper hand in their contest against Federal Areas at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Starting the day on 223 for 8, Baluchistan were quickly bowled out for 229. Sadaf Hussain and Iftikhar Anjum picked up four wickets each, but their batsmen failed to respond strongly.A five-wicket haul from Rizwan Haider, who was supported by a three-for from Ahmed Raza, helped Baluchistan bowl out their opponents for 185 and gain a 44-run lead. In Baluchistan’s second innings, the captain Saeed Anwar jnr led the charge, making 79. Iftikhar, however, picked up three wickets, leaving Baluchistan at 138 for 4 at stumps, with a lead of 182. Taimur Ali remained unbeaten on 34 and was the key to extending Baluchistan’s lead to a potentially match-winning one.Punjab consolidated their advantage over Sind at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Nasir Jamshed led the charge at the top of the order, scoring his 14th first-class century. His 131 was supported by half-centuries from Mohammad Saad and Usman Salahuddin, who remained unbeaten on 57 at the close. These contributions helped Punjab gain a significant first-innings lead and they reached 341 for 6 at stumps, ahead by 116. Tanvir Ahmed picked up three wickets but his team has been left to play catch-up.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has criticised his batsmen’s inability to take ownership of a modest chase during the fourth ODI against Pakistan

Umar Farooq in Sharjah21-Nov-2011Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has criticised his batsmen’s inability to take ownership of a modest chase during the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah, a defeat that cost them the five-match series. Chasing 201, Sri Lanka were on course to level the series at 155 for 3 before they collapsed, losing seven wickets for 19 runs.”It’s unbelievable to lose seven wickets for 20 odd runs,” Dilshan said. “[Shahid] Afridi batted and bowled well, but it was really disappointing to lose from a winning position. We were in a good position but we relaxed and no one took the responsibility. As a batting unit we should have finished the game.”As a captain I can’t do anything to change the players’ game. As a team unit we have to take responsibility.”Since the 2011 World Cup, Sri Lanka have lost Test and ODI series to England, Australia and Pakistan. Dilshan, however, said he didn’t think his leadership would come under scrutiny.”I don’t know what their [Sri Lanka Cricket] views are but I was appointed captain until the South Africa series [in December] so I didn’t think [about being removed] but lets see how things goes on.”Dilshan also called for the younger players in his side to take the opportunities they’re being given. “We are giving opportunities to the young players and they have to grab them. But at this point they aren’t and are throwing their wickets sometimes. They have to learn and show that they are ready for international cricket.”Sri Lanka have already lost the one-day series to Pakistan 1-3 with a match to go in Abu Dhabi, followed by a Twenty20 international on November 25. “We have to finish the series in a strong manner,” Dilshan said.