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A round-up of Dhaka Premier Division 2014-15 matches played on November 27, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2014Sohag Gazi’s 5-63 was in vain as Kalabagan Cricket Academy crushed Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 96 runs. The offpsinner, who had been suspended from bowling in international cricket in October, picked up his first five-for of the season, but KCA rode on Mahmudul Hasan’s 81 and Nafees Iqbal’s 64 to put up 239 for 8 in 50 overs.Dhanmondi Club were bowled out for 143 runs in 40 overs with Amit Mazumder’s 51 the only big knock. Mohammad Sharif and Bishwanath Halder took three wickets each.Legends of Rupganj suffered their first defeat in this season’s Dhaka Premier Division, losing to Brothers Union by five wickets in BKSP-3. The loss does not affect their standing at the top of the points table.Batting first, Rupganj were all out for 192 in 49.1 overs with Mosharraf Hossain’s 80 off 87 balls holding the innings together. Asif Hasan took three wickets. Brothers reached the target in 47.2 overs with Nazimuddin and Joe Denly hitting 51 each.Enamul Haque jnr took 4 for 37 to help Prime Bank Cricket Club beat Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club by six wickets. Doleshwar were all out for 190 runs in 48 overs and Dawid Malan was the top-scorer with 70.Prime Bank reached the target in 45.3 overs with Soumya Sarkar making 55 and Shuvagata Hom unbeaten on 51.

Rest of Sri Lanka rode on an all-round performance from Nuwan Kulasekara to secure a second comprehensive victory in the List-A tri-series in Pallekele, defeating Sri Lanka A by 58 runs in a low-scoring match

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2013
ScorecardNuwan Kulasekara put up an all-round show with the bat and ball to set up Rest of Sri Lanka’s win•ICC/GettyRest of Sri Lanka rode on an all-round performance from Nuwan Kulasekara to secure a second comprehensive victory in the List-A tri-series in Pallekele, defeating Sri Lanka A by 58 runs in a low-scoring match. Both sides ran into trouble early on, against the fast bowlers on a seaming track. However, after having top-scored for Rest SL with 61, Kulasekara combined with Chanaka Welegedara to demolish Sri Lanka A’s top order within the first four overs of their innings, reducing them to 6 for 5 – a position from which they never recovered. They were eventually dismissed for 146 in the 38th over, chasing a target of 205.Kulasekara arrived at the crease with the score at 87 for 6 after Dinesh Chandimal fell, the only batsman to reach a score of 20 among the top five batsmen. Chamara Kapugedara and Rangana Herath were unable to assist Kulasekara in the recovery, but he found support in No.10 batsman Shaminda Eranga, who survived for 43 balls and contributed 33 to their 68-run partnership, the most substantial stand of the match. When Eranga fell with the score at 175, Kulasekara added 29 more with Chanaka Welegedara to take the score past 200, before falling to left-arm pacer Vimukthi Perera, who had also accounted for Shehan Jayasuriya, Lahiru Thirimanne and Milinda Siriwardene earlier in the innings. Right-armers Suranga Lakmal and Ishan Jayaratne shared five wickets between them.Welegedara struck for Rest of Sri Lanka before the opposition had scored a run. Kulasekara bowled a maiden in the first over and picked up Dilshan Munaweera and Kithuruwan Vithanage in the next. That double strike was followed by another wicket from Welegedara, and his consecutive wickets effectively sealed Sri Lanka A’s fate.Sri Lanka A captain Angelo Perera attempted to rebuild alongside a sedate Jayaratne, who hit 2 from 25 balls, but he lost his partner to a run-out before losing his own wicket to Shaminda Eranga, with the team score on 56.As in Rest SL’s innings, an ageing ball somewhat negated the threat of the seam bowlers as the innings wore on, and Seekkuge Prasanna and Suranga Lakmal hit 23 and 38 not out respectively coming in at No. 9 and 10. Vimukthi Perera combined with Lakmal to add 55 for the last wicket.

The emergent working committee meeting of the BCCI to be held on Monday morning is all set to drop board president N Srinivasan from the board’s disciplinary committee and curtail it to a two-member panel

Amol Karhadkar09-Jun-2013The BCCI’s working committee is likely to drop board president N Srinivasan from the disciplinary committee, reducing it to a two-member panel, during the meeting in Delhi on Monday. The working committee is also likely to hand over the probe of the complaint against Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra to the two-member commission comprising two former High Court judges.The committee will also examine the findings of BCCI’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani in the alleged spot-fixing case against the three Royals cricketers and his recommendations.Kundra, who owns 11.7% stake in the parent company of Royals, admitted to betting on his team’s matches, according to Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar. However, unlike Gurunath Meiyappan, a team management member of Chennai Super Kings and son-in-law of Srinivasan who was arrested by Mumbai Police on similar charges before being released on bail, Kundra hasn’t been arrested. As a result, the working committee will mostly likely forward the complaint against Kundra to the commission that was appointed to probe three previous complaints.”Since the two-member panel is anyway going to investigate the complaints against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings and Gurunath, and Kundra’s complaint is related to the same case, it makes sense for the same commission to look into this complaint as well,” a BCCI source told ESPNcricinfo.Based on the arrests of three Royals players and of Gurunath, the IPL had registered a complaint against both the teams and Gurunath before constituting a probe. In Kundra’s case, however, the IPL has already registered an internal complaint of allegedly violating the players’ and officials’ Code of Conduct and Anti-Corruption Policy.The decision to remove Srinivasan from the disciplinary committee is expected to be formalised on Monday. In the first of these emergent meetings – in Chennai on May 19 – Sawani had been appointed to conduct preliminary findings into the spot-fixing complaints against Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, who were arrested on May 16.As per the instructions issued by the Supreme Court, Sawani submitted his report to Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim BCCI in-charge, on June 6. As per the BCCI procedure, the working committee will now forward the report to the disciplinary committee and even though it cannot replace Srinivasan in the disciplinary panel, it will most likely drop him.”According to the (BCCI) constitution, only the AGM can appoint the disciplinary committee. Since the president has decided not to be a part of day-to-day proceedings, the disciplinary committee has no option but to work as a two-member panel,” a BCCI source said. The disciplinary committee will now comprise vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah.The working committee is also set to ratify Sanjay Patel’s appointment as the BCCI secretary after Sanjay Jagdale resigned during the corruption controversy. The committee is also likely to appoint a new treasurer after Dalmiya withheld T Venkatesh’s appointment as Ajay Shirke’s replacement. While Dalmiya, along with other BCCI functionaries, had zeroed in on the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s treasurer as Shirke’s replacement, a senior functionary realised after the decision had been made that Venkatesh hadn’t attended at least two BCCI AGMs, which is a prerequisite to be appointed as an office bearer.

Thilan Samaraweera is looking to make a career with English county Worcestershire before he eventually quits the game

Sa'adi Thawfeeq10-Mar-2013Thilan Samaraweera, the Sri Lanka batsman who announced his international retirement earlier this week, is looking to make a career with English county Worcestershire before he eventually quits the game.Samaraweera decided to quit Tests and ODIs after he was left out of the 15-member squad named for the first Test against Bangladesh but will continue to play first-class cricket.”I want to do well for Worcestershire so that it will open the doors for other younger players from Sri Lanka to play county cricket,” Samaraweera said. “I tried to get into the county circuit for the last five years but I couldn’t because every county is focusing on signing up Australians and South Africans. I had a chat with coach Graham Ford in 2012 and it was largely due to his efforts that I got the county contract. I want to make the most of it.”Samaraweera said that it was former India batsman VVS Laxman who first got him interested in playing county cricket. Laxman played a couple of seasons for Lancashire, in 2007 and 2009. “When I met Laxman in Sri Lanka some years ago I spoke about getting to play for Lancashire. He told me that I should play county cricket because it improves your game as a professional and teaches you to take pressure and so on. Unfortunately I didn’t get a break at that time. Now at this stage of my career I want to do well and pave the way for the youngsters.”Samaraweera, who leaves for England this week, said that he had no regrets quitting international cricket at the age of 36.”I am happy the way I am leaving cricket although I have so many sad memories also. I was dropped three-four times in my career and every time they dropped me the selectors would say they want to bring a youngster in. They moved me around in the batting order often and the first player to get the chop from the selectors was always Thilan Samaraweera. I can’t control that. But at the end of the day I am really happy with what I’ve achieved.”I could have done better if I had scored 18-20 Test hundreds but when I started people never thought that I will end up playing 81 Tests and score over 5000 runs average nearly 50 and play in a World Cup final. When I started there were a lot of better players than me but I came to the top through sheer hard work and sacrifice. Hard work is the key word for me.”One of the blots on Samaraweera’s career was the failure in his final international series, managing only 79 runs in six Test innings in Australia. “When the country needed me as a batsman in Test cricket I delivered but unfortunately people only remember the shot I played in my last innings at Sydney. It was a bad shot. When people meet me they always remind me about that shot. I was a bit disappointed playing that stroke. If we had another 70-80 runs it would have been another historical moment in our cricket. My dismissal and Angelo’s (Mathews) run out was the turning point in that Test. But it happens in international cricket. You can go through bad patches in a series which you cannot help.”

A round-up of the Ford Trophy matches played on March 19, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2013
ScorecardA century from James Franklin and a six-wicket haul from seamer Mark Gillespie took Wellington to a crushing 106-run victory over Northern Districts at the Basin Reserve. The result pushed Wellington to third place after the final round of matches ahead of the playoffs.Wellington lost wickets early on in their innings, with none of the top four lasting too long. But at 93 for 4, Franklin struck a 63-run stand with Harry Boam and followed it up with a 122-run stand with Luke Woodcock (44), which was broken only in the final over. Franklin finished with 114 off 103 balls as Wellington gave their opponents a stiff target of 281.In reply, Northern Districts lost wickets regularly. Gillespie did the early damage with three top-order wickets and fellow seamer Boam chipped in with two crucial wickets to leave them struggling. Besides Corey Anderson, who scored 49, there was no resistance from the batsmen. Gillespie cleaned up the tail to bowl them out for 174 in the 40th over.
ScorecardOtago finished their tournament run with their second win, against Auckland by six wickets in Dunedin. Seamers Jimmy Neesham and Ian Butler helped bowl Auckland out for 221, before a solid top-order batting effort, led by fifties from Michael Bracewell and Nathan McCullum, took them to the target in the 46th over.Batting first, Auckland progressed in stops and starts. A few of their batsmen got starts, but no one carried on to anchor a strong total. Craig Cachopa, who top-scored with 51, opener Anaru Kitchen (38) and Donovan Grobbelaar (38) were the chief contributors. Neesham took 4 for 36, and Butler took three wickets.
ScorecardCentral Districts finished the league stage at the bottom of the points table, with their fifth defeat of the season – a 156-run loss to Canterbury in Christchurch.Chasing 292, they were in the hunt till the 23rd over with Jamie How, who scored 83, leading them to 120 for 4. But his wicket sparked a collapse – they lost six wickets for 15 runs to be bowled out for 135 in 28 overs, with seamer Logan van Beek taking four of those wickets. Besides How, there was no resistance from Central Districts as eight batsmen scored in single digits.Canterbury’s innings revolved around solid half-centuries from middle-order batsmen Tom Latham (77) and Henry Nicholls (54). Other top-order batsmen also chipped in with useful contributions to help build a commanding total. A total of 34 extras, including 19 wides, pushed their score to 291.

Sam Bilings, Kent’s up-and-coming wicketkeeper batsman, has been approved by the ICC as a replacement Craig Kieswetter in the England 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup

David Hopps12-Dec-2014Sam Billings, Kent’s up-and-coming wicketkeeper batsman, has been approved by the ICC as a replacement for Craig Kieswetter in the England 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup.Kieswetter’s withdrawal became inevitable when he pulled out of professional cricket for the next year after suffering further vision problems following his blow in the eye from David Willey will batting for Somerset against Northants last summer. He anticipates taking a year out of the game while specialists seek to restore him to full health.Billings, 23, replaced the former England gloveman Geraint Jones behind the stumps at the start of the 2014 Championship season and emphasised his 50-over potential in the Royal London One-Day Cup, becoming the leading run-scorer in the competition, with an unbeaten 135 from 58 balls against Somerset being his stand-out innings. Only his T20 performances disappointed.He was named in England’s Performance Programme party for their a training camp in Sri Lanka and won a spot on the England Lions tour to South Africa in January.England have two other wicketkeepers in their 30-man squad, the first choice, Jos Buttler, and Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow. Twelve of the 14 30-strong squads have been named, with only Australia and Ireland still to come.

Confusion over India’s batting Powerplay in the first ODI has become a laughing matter three days after the event but it reveals a serious loophole in on-field communication

Abhishek Purohit in Hambantota24-Jul-2012Confusion over India’s batting Powerplay in the first ODI has become a laughing matter three days after the event but it reveals a serious loophole in on-field communication. In the end, though, India got away with what seems like a wrongly interpreted signal by the umpires and the batsmen’s failure to cross-check with them.The problem originated before the 17th over, when Virat Kohli signalled to the dressing room for a cap. The umpires, though, seemed to think it was an indication of the batting Powerplay being taken, and Bruce Oxenford signalled accordingly with the circular motion of the arm and a tapping of hands above the head.The TV commentators on Ten Sports then referred – with some surprise – to the batting Powerplay, which is normally taken by sides after the 30th over. The (mis)information also sparked some debate over India’s radical new strategy. Only Mahela Jayawardene seemed to have got it right and set his field accordingly, and took his bowling Powerplay from the 34th over.India’s batsmen – Kohli and Virender Sehwag – seemed unaware, and did not visibly change their approach during the five-over period, in which India collected 32 for 0. The penny dropped for the Indians only later in the innings, when they sought the batting Powerplay and were told it had already been taken.The matter then ended there, but Sehwag spoke about it on Monday. “When I asked the umpire he said that Virat Kohli gave him the signal to take the Powerplay,” Sehwag said during the press conference at the team hotel on Monday. “When I asked Virat he said I asked [for] my cap rather than asking [for] the Powerplay, so that was a misunderstanding I think.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran07-May-2012Match factsMonday, May 7
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Kevin Pietersen’s exit brings in David Warner•AFPBig PictureOnly one point separates Delhi Daredevils from Kolkata Knight Riders and a win for the Knight Riders will take them to the lead. The teams met at the start of the tournament, but not many would have expected at that stage that these two would be the powerhouses as the league approaches the playoffs. The rain-affected game at Eden Gardens was reduced to 12 overs a side, during which Knight Riders managed 97 for 9. It was a comfortable eight-wicket win for Daredevils, a sign of things to come as they strengthened their position in the table over the coming weeks.Daredevils have dropped just one game at the Feroz Shah Kotla this season. A big reason for their reversal of form from last season was Kevin Pietersen, who left after smashing 305 runs in eight innings, including a century. Pietersen will join England for the home series against West Indies, but his replacement is the equally intimidating David Warner. The Australian opener wasn’t at his best on the sluggish pitches in the West Indies which tested his patience. Still, he managed respectable returns of 171 runs in the three Tests. He will relish the batting highways in India, starting with the Kotla, which has been a high-scoring venue this season.Knight Riders are coming off a hard-fought win against Pune Warriors. They managed to defend a middling 150, thanks to their varied bowling attack which offered the best of raw pace and mystery spin. However, their middle and lower batting remains a concern as they crumbled after a century opening stand. Gautam Gambhir would hope that the batting finally comes good in this game as the bowlers will need the cushion against Daredevils.Form guide (completed games, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils: WWWWL
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWWWPlayers to watchOne of the fascinating contests of Knight Riders’ match against Warriors was Sunil Narine v Sourav Ganguly who for all his experience against spin, was at sea against Narine’s viscious spin. With figures of 1 for 13 in four overs, Narine took the Man-of-the-Match award. Will he be able to silence the likes of Virender Sehwag and Warner as well?With 91 runs from seven innings, Daredevils’ Ross Taylor is yet to show up. Fortunately, his lack of form hasn’t affected the team’s results. But in Pietersen’s absence, Taylor’s role will be important.Stats and trivia Virender Sehwag needs 18 more runs to overtake Ajinkya Rahane for the Orange Cap in this IPL. David Warner made 324 runs in 13 games for Daredevils last season.Quotes”I am pretty sure I’ll be opening up with Viru and will try to continue the success we have had in previous years.”
“We messed up big time. The kind of start we had with the depth in batting we could have easily got past 180. It’s time the batsmen pulled up their socks.
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Umar Gul has been called up to the ODI squad for the remainder of the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. He will join the team on December 22, the day of the third match

Umar Farooq21-Dec-2013Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, will return to international cricket following a nine-month injury layoff, after the selectors included him in the squad for the remainder of the ODI series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. He will join the squad on Sunday, ahead of the third of five matches.”The national selection committee in consultation with the tour selection committee has decided to send Umar Gul to UAE as part of national ODI squad,” the PCB said. “He will join the Pakistan team on December 22.”The decision to pick Gul was made after Pakistan lost the second ODI in Dubai by six wickets despite posting 284, due to sloppy bowling in the death overs. Following the defeat, which left the series 1-1, Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq immediately expressed concern about the lack of experience among his bowlers.Gul sustained a knee injury in March during the second ODI against South Africa in Centurion, and missed five series since, including the Champions Trophy. Following the injury, he travelled to Australia for surgery and after six weeks of rest, began his rehabilitation. He eased himself back into competitive cricket by featuring in List A matches in October and went on to play the Department Twenty20 Cup for Habib Bank, but his form remained unimpressive.Gul was to make a return against South Africa in October after regaining full fitness, but lacked match practice and continued his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He subsequently failed a fitness Test before the announcement of the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series, and was asked to continue playing domestic cricket to regain his rhythm and form. He did that by taking 11 wickets against Port Qasim Authority in the President’s Trophy.

Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a tough day for Pakistan as Sri Lanka reached 245 for 2 by stumps

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran03-Nov-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kumar Sangakkara made Test century No. 27•AFPOn a painful day for Pakistan off the field with three of their players getting jail terms for their involvement in spot-fixing, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a tough day for them on the field as well as Sri Lanka reached 245 for 2. On a track where the bowlers had little help, Sri Lanka turned in the sort of performance they needed to stand a chance of leveling this series.The two batsmen who starred were in contrasting form coming into this match: Dilshan had only one half-century in his previous five Tests, while Sangakkara had three half-centuries and a 211 in seven previous innings. Dilshan’s career took off when he became an opener a few years ago, and he rediscovered his touch today on returning to the top of the order after a brief, fruitless dalliance in the middle order.It didn’t seem like such a dominant day was on the cards for Sri Lanka after the first over of the day from Umar Gul. He got the ball to swerve around early on, beating Tharanga Paranavitana with his first delivery, before the batsman was reprieved three balls later at short leg. That didn’t hurt Pakistan, though, as Gul got the next delivery to bend sharply away from Paranavitana, who could only nick it to second slip. Two overs later, Sangakkara was nearly run out after a miscommunication with Dilshan.After those initial jitters though, the Sri Lankan batsmen started to take charge. Sangakkara opened out with a typically graceful cover drive in the fourth over before Dilshan got going with a couple of cracking drives for four when Gul pitched it up in the seventh over.With only two quick bowlers in the side, Pakistan had to resort to long spells of spin, and the slow bowlers had only a little assistance on the first day track. Saeed Ajmal was lofted over his head by Sangakkara in his only over before lunch, while Abdur Rehman was punched in front of point for a boundary by Dilshan.Sangakkara reached the milestone of 9000 Test runs in the morning, and had little trouble during another easy-on-the-eye innings. He had a life when on 68, when he was tricked by Saeed Ajmal after the batsman charged down the track; there was a thick edge which was very difficult for wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal to collect.Smart stats

Kumar Sangakkara became the 11th batsman overall and the second Sri Lankan after Mahela Jayawardene to reach the 9000-run mark in Tests.

Sangakkara reached the 9000-run mark in his 103rd Test making him the second-fastest to the mark in terms of matches after Brian Lara, who reached it in 101 Tests. However, Sangakkara reached the mark in just 172 innings, which is the fastest in terms of innings played.

The 173-run stand between Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan is the third-highest second-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in Tests. All four century stands for the second wicket have come in matches outside Sri Lanka.

Dilshan’s 92 is his second-highest score against Pakistan in Tests. It is also the second time that he has been dismissed in the nineties.

Sangakkara scored his 27th century in Tests taking him past Garry Sobers and level with Allan Border on the list of batsmen with the most Test centuries. His current average of 57.13 is sixth on the list of batsmen with 5000-plus runs.

Akmal did hang on to a similarly difficult chance in the final over before lunch but that too did not result in a wicket as the umpire Shavir Tarapore didn’t realise that the Gul bouncer had flown off Dilshan’s gloves.Both batsmen were more aggressive in the second session. A combination of poor bowling and aggressive intent resulted in a bunch of boundaries soon after the break, the highlight of which was Sangakkara’s slog-swept six off Rehman. Dilshan showed how confident he was by pulling Junaid Khan for six midway through the session, taking on the man at deep square leg.Sitting at a strong 170 for 1 at tea, with 36 more overs remaining in the day and the pitch proving harmless, Sri Lanka were expected to step the run rate up even more in the final session, but the Pakistan spinners choked off the runs allowing only seven runs in six overs. That slowed down Dilshan’s advance towards his first century since his broken-finger epic at Lord’s, and the wait for a triple-figure score was extended as an Ajmal doosra ended up as a catch to first slip.That brought together Sri Lanka’s two greatest run accumulators but even Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene couldn’t force the pace, with an early spell yielding only 11 off nine overs. That stranglehold was ended stylishly as Sangakkara eased three boundaries in a Junaid Khan over to race to 98. The 27th Test century came up soon after as Sangakkara launched Rehman over deep midwicket for a massive six.Jayawardene then survived a close call for lbw off Ajmal – the ball might have gone over the stumps – before Pakistan tested the batsmen with the second new ball, getting it to jag around. Sri Lanka survived those overs, though, which means their most experienced pair will be looking to heap more pain on Pakistan on Friday.