All posts by csb10.top

Cameron White’s re-entry into the Australia team has been so strong that he has out-hit Andrew Symonds in their past two partnerships. After muscling four sixes in the Twenty20 win over England, White blasted another three against New Zealand in Hobart on Sunday as Symonds played the support role with an almost run-a-ball 69.White’s 45 from 32 deliveries helped take the game away from New Zealand during a 90-run partnership with Symonds in nine overs. Symonds has been impressed with White’s power since he came back into the national set-up and said it meant he did not feel pressure to force the pace. “When you’ve got that going on at the other end, it makes it a lot easier for me,” Symonds told AAP. “I’m happy to give him the strike … he was the ideal man for the job.”In a striking assessment Symonds agreed there was probably not a cleaner hitter in Australia than White. “You’d have to say so after that Twenty20 effort the other night and today,” Symonds said. “It’s not like he’s just clearing the rope. There’s absolutely no doubt when he hits it in the middle, it’s maximum.”White’s bowling was not as productive as his blasting, which included consecutive sixes off Daniel Vettori and another from Shane Bond that landed on a grandstand roof. His first two overs went for 18 as he was targeted by Ross Taylor, but he returned to take the final wicket of Jeetan Patel and secure the 105-run win. He also gave up 27 runs in three overs during the victory over England on Friday.However, the performances have not been a concern for Ricky Ponting. “I just see him as someone, if we can, to give him some overs, give him some experience and exposure, give him some confidence,” he said. “I can see him as a good wicket-taking option for us. He’s just going to get better and better with more experience.”

Languishing at the bottom of the table, Deccan Chargers were dealt another jolt when VVS Laxman, their captain, ruled himself out of the rest of the Indian Premier League after failing to recover from a hairline fracture just below his right wrist.”I was very keen to play in yesterday’s (Sunday) match and the coming one. But I found it nearly impossible to hold the bat and face even a tennis ball,” he said just before a practice session at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium after another visit to the orthopaedic surgeon.”It’s sad that I had to miss some of the matches. It is all the more disappointing since the injury came when I was getting into the groove,” said Laxman, whose right hand was encased in plaster.Laxman injured his wrist during his 52 in a losing cause against Bangalore and missed the games against Chennai and Rajasthan.

Scorecard

Pakistan made the most of their only warm-up game ahead of the five-match ODI series against India by easing to a seven-wicket win over Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Shoaib Malik’s decision to exploit conditions suited for swing movement worked in his favour, as his bowlers, inspired by surprise package Younis Khan, restricted Delhi to 213 for 9. Salman Butt then led the chase with a stylishly brisk 83 before he retired hurt, but the middle order knocked off the runs with 44 balls remaining.Umar Gul dealt the first blow when he had Gautam Gambhir caught in his crease in the second over, but it was Younis, bowling gentle slow-medium pace, who extracted good swing and shocked Delhi. Younis trapped opener Aakash Chopra leg-before for a 42-ball 16 and bowled captain Mithun Manhas first ball with one that pitched and came in. Imran Nazir ran out Virat Kohli for 8 and the hosts were 46 for 4.Delhi rallied around a 91-run fifth-wicket partnership between Rajat Bhatia and Shikhar Dhawan but a slew of wickets down the order brought the visitors right back into the game. Dhawan was watchful but confident, and looked set for a big score when Younis hit back to run him out for 52 from 80 balls. From here the spinners, Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi, nipped out the lower order. Bhatia played the fast bowlers well, hooking and cutting Shoaib Akhtar for powerful boundaries. He was run out going for a suicidal single to short third man and it was left to Gaurav Chabra’s slogging to get the score above 200.In reply, Nazir slammed 34 from 22 balls even as out-of-form wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal endured another poor score. After Nazir was removed by Amit Bhandari, the medium-pacer with national experience, Butt and Misbah-ul-Haq added 116. Butt, who did not play any of Pakistan’s five ODIs against South Africa recently, was strong either side of the pitch. His cutting and driving were especially good, and he opened up with a flurry of boundaries against the medium-pacers.He did not slow down much after his half-century but left the field when on 83 from 84 balls. With victory in sight Misbah drove Pradeep Sangwan towards mid-off, where Gambhir plucked off an excellent catch, diving backwards to his right as the ball was passing him. Yasir Hameed finished the affair with an unbeaten 30 as Pakistan cashed in on their only chance to acclimatise themselves before the first one-dayer in Guwahati on Monday.

Group A

After having taken a big first-innings lead, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) took another step towards a place in the final as they set Sialkot a rather steep target of 367 for victory in the first-round replay match at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Resuming on 163 for 6 overnight, Sialkot were bundled out for 203 courtesy of a Wahab Riaz five-for. With a lead of 141, NBP went for quick runs in their second innings, scoring 225 for 5 in just 41 overs before declaring. With a mammoth task at hand, Sialkot openers saw out the nine overs before close to reduce the target by 33 runs with Kamran Younis stroking a 21-ball 25. For NBP, opener Nasir Jamshed (48 off 31 with five fours and four sixes), Shahid Yousuf (46) and Fawad Alam (46) all provided quick runs in order to gain maximum points from the match. Mohammad Imran, meanwhile, picked up four wickets for 66 runs but his team is left with a stiff task of holding the NBP bowlers at bay as they throw everything at them for a final-day victory.A majestic unbeaten 167 by Ijaz Ahmed allowed Faisalabad to finish the day on 330 for 6 against Lahore Ravi at the Iqbal Stadium. Facing 232 balls for his 30th first-class century, Ijaz hit 23 fours and two sixes and was involved in a 187-run third-wicket partnership with Ammar Mahmood, whose 76 came off 118 balls with 10 fours. However, apart from this duo, none of the Faisalabad batsmen were able to contribute significantly as leg-spinner Imran Haider (4 for 105) wrested some initiative for Lahore, who lost four wickets for only 86 runs towards the end of the day.Table-leaders Habib Bank Limited (HBL) started their final round match well by scoring 329 for 7 on the opening day against Karachi Whites at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex. Needing a win to confirm their place in the final, Habib Bank made use of internationals such as Shahid Afridi and Hasan Raza to post a decent total. Afridi hammered a characteristic 70 off 78 deliveries with the help of seven fours and three sixes in his 122 runs stand for the fourth wicket with Raza (65 off 130 balls). HBL, in a rather strange start to the innings, sent in their fast bowler Fahad Masood to open the innings as well as sending Abdur Rehman, the left-arm spinner, at No. 3, both ploys that worked out well for the side. Fahad and Rehman put on 54 runs for the second wicket as Rehman’s 47 came off 90 balls with eight fours while Fahad hit three boundaries in his 33 off 45 deliveries. Rehman then added 53 runs for the third wicket with Raza before the in-form Aftab Khan (40) and Kamran Hussain (39) added 72 runs for the unbroken eighth-wicket stand to take Habib Bank beyond the 300-run mark.No play was possible on the first day of the match between Hyderabad and Pakistan Customs at Niaz Stadium as the pitch was unplayable due to wet conditions and overnight rain in the city.

Group B

Leaders Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) bowled out bottom-placed Quetta for 195 at the Gaddafi Stadium and had their openers put on 75 before close on the first day. Adil Raza and Adnan Rasool captured three wickets apiece as Quetta batsmen failed to build on their starts and Sabir Hussain managed to get into the 30s. In reply, Mohammad Hafeez, SNGPL’s captain, had scored an unbeaten 45 off 57 balls and Yasir Arafat (23*) gave their team a solid start to the last match before playing the final in their debut season.Put into bat first, Karachi Blues reached 260 for 8 against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the National Stadium courtesy of a century of debut by Sheharyar Ghani. After having been reduced to 62 for 4, Karachi owed much to a 69-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ghani and Tariq Haroon (34) for the recovery. Ghani smashed 22 boundaries in his 122 that came off 224 balls. He also added 67 for the eighth-wicket with Tabish Khan, who is unbeaten on 48 scored off only 63 deliveries. Anwar Ali captured four wickets for PIA to send the national selectors a timely reminder ahead of the Zimbabwe series.Rawalpindi‘s 18-year-old Fawad Hussain achieved a century on first-class debut and helped his team reach 255 for 6 against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the KRL Stadium. Coming in at No. 5, Fawad scored 102 off 206 balls with 14 boundaries as wickets fell regularly around him. Fourteen extras from the Rawalpindi bowlers helped KRL on their way as well as none of the batsmen, bar Fawad, were able to make a big impact on proceedings. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took three wickets for 26 runs for KRL as Bilal Asad and Sohail Tanvir grabbed two apiece.Abbottabad opening bowlers tore through the Lahore Shalimar line-up and had them reeling at an astonishing 19 for 6 at close at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground after having scored 236 in their first-innings. Junaid Khan and Armaghan Elahi captured three wickets apiece as Lahore face a daunting task of avoiding the follow-on. For Abbottabad, asked to bat first, opener Ghulam Mohammad (32) and captain Adnan Raees (39) contributed well with the bat but it was Khalid Usman, batting at No. 7, who took his side to respectability with an aggressive 66 off 76 balls. Usman’s effort nullified to some extent the good work of fast bowlers Mohammad Naved and Mohammad Saeed, who bagged four wickets each for 77 and 54 runs, respectively. However, the nine overs before close changed the complexion of the match as Abbottabad look set to finish with a big first-innings lead.At the Arbab Niaz Stadium, Islamabad dismissed Peshawar for 202 and had reached 86 for 3 in reply by close of play. In trouble at 105 for 7 at one stage, Islamabad were rescued by a 65-run eight-wicket partnership between Sajjad Ahmed (62*) and Riaz Afridi (44). For Islamabad, Rauf Akbar captured five wickets for 48 runs and was ably assisted by leg-spinner Ameer Khan who captured three wickets. Although Islamabad stumbled to 19 for 3, Mohammad Fayyaz (44) and Asadullah Sumari (20) steered them out of trouble.

The Cape Cobras were the big movers during the latest week of the MTN Domestic Championship with two wins putting them firmly in the shake-up for a semi-finals place. The Titans continued to run away with the league stage after a washout and a victory consolidated their position at the top.There is plenty of congestion for the remaining three semi-final berths with the Cobras hitting form at the right time. They comfortably overcame the Lions by seven wickets as Herschelle Gibbs found touch with an unbeaten 74, but faced a much closer encounter against the Warriors.Defending 176 the Cobras appeared out of the game with the Warriors on 109 for 1 in the 31st over, however Con de Lange produced a superb spell to claim 3 for 31. The international trio of Charl Langeveldt, Vernon Philander and Monde Zondeki also played their part as the Cobras held on by three runs.The Eagles maintained their slim hold on second place despite a 61-run defeat against the Titans where Albie Morkel starred with 50 and 4 for 27. Earlier they demolished the Lions by 116 runs in Bloemfontein as Morne van Wyk crunched 125 off 141 balls and Ryan McLaren claimed four wickets.It was a shocking week for the Lions as, along with their defeats against the Cobras and the Eagles, they also slumped against Zimbabwe and fell to the bottom of the table. Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha led Zimbabwe’s run chase against a Duckworth-Lewis adjusted target and they won with nine balls to spare. That victory followed up a three-wicket success against the Dolphins where Stuart Matsikenyeri’s unbeaten 58 edged them home.The Dolphins suffered three defeats as their semi-final hopes took a hammering and although they are still in fourth place their form is only going one way. The Warriors may yet catch them with three games remaining and their 10-run win in Pietermaritzburg could prove crucial in the final outcome.

Pakistan ended England’s interest in the Costcutter U15 World Challenge by winning their semi-final at Chelmsford by 58 runs.In search of 191 for a place in Thursday’s showpiece final at Lord’s England lost bost openers inside the first 8 overs. Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel compiled a stylish 48 but when he fell in the 29th over his side were marooned still 100 short of their victory target with only 4 wickets left.There was still time of the sizeable crowd to witness an astonishing phenomena as Pakistan’s ambidextrous bowled Muhammed Naeem demonstrated that he could bowl with both arms. During the course of the same over he bowled left arm around the wicket to the right-handed Nick Swetman and then right arm over the wicket to the left-handed Tom New.A partnership of 32 for the 7th wicket threatened to give England an outside chance in the last ten overs but then three suicidal run-outs effectively ended their hopes.Earlier England kept a tight grip on the Pakistan run-rate with only 41 being scored in the opening 15 overs, although an injury to Muhammed Fahim hampered his progress. He batted with a runner from the fourth over until his departure 17 overs later.Shahid Yousaf top-scored with 42 before being needlessly run out following a mix-up with partner Zulqarnain, who went on to hit 36. A late flurry from Naeem lifted the total to 188-7 by the start of the final over but then Nick Swetman took 3 wickets in four deliveries to finish with 4-39 and dismiss Pakistan two balls short of their full allocation for a total of 190.Ultimately that proved too many for England and in the final Pakistan will face the winners of Tuesday’s other semi-final between the West Indies and South Africa at Hove.

Ricky Ponting believes Brad Hogg will play a key role when Australia take on South Africa in Wednesday’s semi-final in St Lucia. Hogg, the left-arm wrist spinner, took 4 for 29 as Australia thrashed New Zealand by 215 runs in Grenada and only Glenn McGrath (22) is ahead of Hogg’s 19 wickets in the tournament.”South Africa probably won’t play a spinner in their side,” Ponting said. “Those conditions and the way our spin bowlers are going, probably give us a bit of an edge.”Ponting also said New Zealand were fooling nobody but themselves in their attempts to downplay the defeat. Stephen Fleming tried to minimise the impact of the largest loss inflicted upon a Test nation at the World Cup, saying his side would just “wipe it off”.”I’d rather be in our dressing room than theirs,” Ponting said. “I’m sure they will be having all sorts of meetings over the next few days to talk about today’s game.”If they don’t think that’s going to affect them at all, then how is any psychological edge ever gained in any game? If we don’t take something out of today’s game, nobody ever can. We’ve just beaten New Zealand by 215 runs in a World Cup game, so they’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”Fleming said the one positive was they did not waste a good performance. “We haven’t wasted anything at all really, so we’re just going to get up, wipe it off and look forward,” he said. “Now it comes down to two games, and if we start analysing too much we won’t look forward to what is coming up – we have an opportunity to win two games for the World Cup.”Australia’s imposing total of 348 for 6, against a New Zealand side missing Shane Bond and Jacob Oram, was built around Matthew Hayden’s 103 and half-centuries for Ponting and Shane Watson.”We knew they’d have a weakened attack going into the game,” Ponting said. “We knew if we kept our partnership going we’d get a lot of bad balls.

“Our batting has been excellent and it’s getting better at the crucial part of this tour. It’s a really exciting time.”Fleming said his side was totally outplayed. “Once again, we’ve gone for more than 340,” he said. “It is a concern. It happened twice in New Zealand, and again here. If you keep going for that many runs, the flip side is at some point you are going to get bundled out cheaply.”However, Fleming is confident Bond and Oram will be back for the semi-final against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. “We are a dangerous side,” he said. “We can play like we did today, or we can play a semi-final and chase down 350. We are even more dangerous now that we have two games to win.”Asked if South Africa could beat Australia Fleming replied: “I do and that’s because it’s a one-off game. It could be the toss, Australia have a bad day or Herschelle Gibbs plays extremely well. There are so many factors in one day cricket.”

Scorecard

Wickets continued to tumble in Siliguri as Debasis Mohanty and Preetamjit Das, Orissa’s new-ball bowlers, shot Bengal out for 124 in the second innings to give their side a great chance of an outright win. Orissa had conceded an eight-run lead, in a low-scoring battle, but fought back splendidly in the second innings. Mohanty added four wickets to the two he had picked up in the first innings and Preetamjit, in just his fifth first-class match, ended with five for the match. For Bengal only Arindam Das, Sourav Sarkar, the bowling hero in the first innings, and Ashok Dinda, the No.11, managed double figures. Left to get 133, Orissa were solidly placed at 82 for 3 with Bikas Pati, Niranjan Behera, and Rashmi Ranjan Parida steering the chase. With 51 runs to get and seven wickets in hand, Orissa were favourites to wrap up their second successive win.
Scorecard
Bowlers thrived in Uppal too as MP Arjun’s stunning six-wicket burst allowed Hyderabad to storm back into the contest against Andhra. Resuming on 52 for 5, Hyderabad fell short of Andhra’s 159, with captain Arjun Yadav playing a lone hand with 49. Having gained a 27-run lead, Andhra would have wished to close out the contest but medium-pacer Arjun, in only his sixth first-class match, claimed all the wickets to fall. He trapped Hemal Watekar in his third over but it was really his next, the eighth of the innings, which wrecked Andhra’s innings. He bowled ASK Varma for a duck in the third ball before nailing AG Pradeep and Shankara Rao off the fifth and sixth deliveries.
Scorecard
Saurashtra’s new-ball bowler Sandeep Jobanputra, scythed through Karnataka’s batting line-up with a six-wicket haul, giving his side a great chance to gain the first-innings lead in Mysore. Having ground out 245 in the first innings, Saurashtra responded through their bowlers, striking at regular intervals. Jobanputra removed the top four, including the dangerous Robin Uthappa, before returning to knock off two tailenders. KB Pawan waged a lone battle, grinding out 110, and was still out in the middle with No.11 KP Appanna. Karnataka still needed 29 to gain the first-innings lead but Saurashtra should be favourites to gain the advantage.
Scorecard
Oblivious to the bowler-friendly matches around the country, Punjab amassed 496 for 8 by the end of the second day against Baroda in Amritsar. Ravi Inder, one of the overnight batsmen, brought up his maiden century, going on to post 142, while the rest of the order chipped in too. Karan Goel, who had brought up his century yesterday, fell for 127 in the fifth over of the day but Sunny Sohal, who smashed a 64-ball 55, and Ankur Kakkar (56) continued the good work. Baroda’s bowlers managed only eight wickets in two days with Sumit Singh and Sankalp Vohra, the opening bowlers, sharing five wickets between them.
Scorecard
Ramesh Powar’s four wickets pegged back Rajasthan on the second day’s play in Jhalawar, allowing Mumbai to eye an outright win. Having been kept down to 295 in their first innings, Mumbai fought back through Powar’s offspin, claiming wickets at regular intervals. Rajesh Bishnoi and Nikhil Doru managed half-centuries but Rajasthan couldn’t sustain the fight.
ScorecardVijaykumar Yomahesh and P Amarnath snared six wickets between them as Tamil Nadu sneaked out a slender 11-run lead against Himachal Pradesh in Chennai. Paras Dogra (49) and Manvinder Bisla (61) powered Himachal forward, with good support from Sarandeep Singh and Vishal Bhatia in the lower order, but Yomahesh broke the partnership and mopped up the tail.
ScorecardAakash Chopra and Mithun Manhas struck half-centuries as Delhi gained the advantage in Nagothane. Read the full report here.

The BCCI’s Technical Committee has made a suggestion aimed at ensuring more exposure to the best teams from the Plate League. It has suggested that the knockout matches in the Plate League be done away with and the two best teams be included in the quarter-finals in the Super League.The recommendation, if approved by the BCCI’s Working Committee, will mean that the top three teams from each group in the Super League will enter the knockout stages.”At present, four teams in both groups play the semi-finals. What we have suggested is that the top three teams each from A and B groups of Super League along with the two finalists of Plate League play knockout quarter-finals,” a member of the technical committee told IANS. “This way the better teams in the Plate League will get more exposure against top teams of the Super League. We made this suggestion to the board in our previous meeting. Let’s see how the board takes it.”And if this team from the Plate League wins even one match in the quarter-finals, it will get another match to play, which means more exposure for them. Who knows, the Plate Group team could go on to win the Ranji Trophy.”Even if the Working Committee approves this proposal, it will come into effect only from the 2008-09 season.The BCCI has been grappling with how to reduce the difference in the qualities of the Super League and Plate League teams. Currently, the two worst teams from Super League are relegated to the Plate League, while the Plate League champions and runners-up are promoted. But this takes effect in the season after. The latest move will make sure the best teams in the Plate League get a taste of higher competition during that season itself.

Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, has slammed those who argue against importing soil to try to improve the poor quality of the pitches at the National Sports Centre.Atkinson is of the opinion that the only way the surface can be raised to a standard to allow full ODIs to be played is for soil to be brought in from overseas, but that idea has been attacked by the United Bermuda Party and local farmers, who maintain the government would be recklessly endangering the environment if they allowed such a plan.”If you want pitches that last longer than a day and are capable of hosting international games in the future, then importing high-quality soil is the only answer and all the controversy being stirred up at the moment seems like a bunch of political claptrap to me,” Atkinson, who has been reviewing the square at the venue since 2004, told The Royal Gazette.”The square at the Sports Centre is good enough for club cricket, but when you’re talking about ODIs or longer games then I’m afraid it’s a no-go.”Ina report he submitted last year, Atkinson concluded that there was no local soil available which could withstand the demands of international cricket.And in May Richard Done, the ICC’s high performance manager, warned that Bermuda faced not being able to stage any ODIs on the island unless remedial action was taken, and that could lead to them forfeiting their status as an ODI-playing nation.”The soil in Bermuda, no matter where you look, is just not strong enough, it’s too sandy and won’t hold together,” Atkinson continued. “There are no short cuts. Soil can be imported safely and has been in other countries. As long as you are strict about sterilising it at it’s place of origin as well as when it arrives in Bermuda then there won’t be a problem.”I cannot understand what all the fuss is about. I’ve tried everything that I know and I’ve been preparing pitches all over the world for the best part of 30 years. If you want to build a house, you’ve got to make sure it is built properly and with the right materials, otherwise it will fall down.”I don’t mean to upset people but I can only give my honest opinion and no matter what anybody else tells you, the soil is just not good enough.”