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Leicestershire have agreed on terms to sign Abdul Razzaq, the Pakistan allrounder, for the Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2011Leicestershire have agreed on terms to sign Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq for the Friends Life t20 and are awaiting the arrival of his passport from Abu Dhabi – where he sent it to process his UK visa application – before completing the acquisition. Razzaq has received clearance from the PCB to play the tournament and is expected to be available for Leicester’s first match, against Northamptonshire on Friday.This will be the fifth county Razzaq will play for; he has had stints at Hampshire, Middlesex, Surrey and Worcestershire before. Razzaq, as a batsman, is reputed for playing destructive knocks in limited-over matches, but he has had a poor run of form of late. After a whirlwind one-day century against South Africa in Abu Dhabi, he has had a string of low scores running from the series in New Zealand through the World Cup, and he was eventually dropped from the Pakistan squad for the tour of the West Indies.Nevertheless, Leicester’s chief executive Mike Siddall was excited to have someone with the experience of 46 Tests and 262 ODIs joining the county. Leicester disappointed in last year’s tournament, losing seven games and missing out on the quarterfinals, but Siddall said the acquisition of Razzaq, and the retention of Andrew McDonald, the Australia allrounder, showed their positive mindset.”I think this shows our ambition,” Siddall said. “We had a little bit of money available with Andrew McDonald going to the IPL. We want to do better than last year in the T20 when we lost seven home matches.”Phil Whitticase, the Leicester coach, said Razzaq’s versatility would be an asset. “We are talking about someone who can contribute with the bat and bowl up front or at the death,” he said. “We’ll probably be looking at him coming in down the order and clearing the boundaries in the final few overs.”Leicester made a record loss of £400,000 last year but are hoping McDonald, who scored 174 runs in the three Twenty20 matches he played for Leicester last year, and Razzaq will draw in the crowds.

The leading umpire Mark Benson iss planning to retire from the game with immediate effect following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test

Alex Brown at Adelaide Oval06-Dec-2009Mark Benson is planning to retire from umpiring with immediate effect following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test. The Sunday Times has reported Benson was upset over several incidents involving the Umpire Decision Review System on day one of the second Test between Australia and West Indies, one of which led to his original decision being overturned.Benson twice ruled Shivnarine Chanderpaul not-out to caught-behind appeals on Friday, both of which were challenged by the Australians. The third umpire, Asad Rauf, upheld Benson’s first ruling, prompting an angry response from the bowler, Doug Bollinger, and the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. But it is the second video review, which resulted in Chanderpaul being ruled out for 62, that is understood to have most upset the English official. Hot Spot replays showed no evidence of the ball striking the outside edge of Chanderpaul’s bat, however other camera angles provided Rauf with enough evidence to reverse Benson’s original ruling.Cricinfo has been told an irate Benson “ranted” to colleagues in the umpire’s room after the first day’s play about his dissatisfaction with the UDRS. He is believed to have said at the time that the new system “just makes (umpiring) harder”, however ICC officials were remaining tight-lipped on the matter on Sunday.David Morgan, the ICC president, told Cricinfo Benson was “poorly” and referred other questions to David Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, and Vintcent van der Bijl, the umpire’s manager. Chris Broad, the match referee who is presiding over the Adelaide Test, denied Benson’s swift departure from Adelaide was the result of unhappiness over the UDRS. “There is absolutely no truth in that at all,” Broad said. “The review system is new to everyone and you’ve got to get used to it. He was an advocate of the review system to help umpires out.”We spoke on the second morning and he said that he was feeling unwell. I was in India with him as well where he was unwell. We thought this might well be another situation like that we were in in India. We chatted about it and he said he didn’t feel as though he could go on the field again. We decided to leave him back in the hotel. I phoned Dubai and they decided that if it was a recurrence of high blood pressure or stomach problems he had in India he needed to get it sorted out. That was the reason that I was aware he went home.”ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat also denied Benson’s return to England was related to the UDRS. “This is completely untrue. Benson has been a strong supporter of the system and his return home has nothing to do with it,” he told . “”He is not well and that’s why he is returning home. I’m sure once he reached England, he would issue a clarification.”ICC sources have told Cricinfo, however, that report is indeed accurate, and an announcement from Benson is expected after his arrival into Britain. Precisely why Benson opted to leave Adelaide before the conclusion of the second Test remains unknown.Benson stood down from two one-day internationals involving Australia and India this year due to migraines, and previously experienced heart palpitations during a Test between South Africa and India in Durban. It is understood he did not visit a hospital in Adelaide before his departure on Saturday, despite “ill health” being cited by the ICC as the cause for his departure.Controversy has always followed umpires, but scrutiny has escalated of late. Darrell Hair resorted to legal avenues after he was sidelined by the ICC for his role in the forfeited Test at The Oval between England and Pakistan two years ago, while Steve Bucknor was benched for the latter stages of the Australia-India Test series two summers ago after the BCCI complained of errors.”There’s probably less pressure on the umpires now with a review system than there was beforehand,” Broad said. “Umpires would stand out there in the morning and captains and fielders would strut around not really knowing the result of it. With the review system they know the result straight away.”

A PCB official said that as this is an ICC tournament, the anthem playlist has been produced and distributed by the ICC

Danyal Rasool23-Feb-2025The PCB has reached out to the ICC for clarification after the Indian national anthem was erroneously played for a moment at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Ahead of the game between Australia and England, the national anthem of the UK was played without incident. However, instead of following it up with the Australian national anthem, a recording of the Indian national anthem began to ring out before it was swiftly stopped and changed.ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB is unhappy with the error, which it has blamed the ICC for. A PCB official told ESPNcricinfo that as this is an ICC tournament, the anthem playlist has been produced and distributed by the ICC, with the ICC in charge of playing the anthems before the matches. The PCB also questioned the presence of the Indian anthem in the playlist in the first place, given India are not playing any of their matches in Pakistan but in Dubai. The ICC believes the error was a technical one but is investigating the matter with the third-party supplier.Related

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This is the second time in as many days that the PCB has had to ask the ICC for an explanation following incidents it feels have undermined Pakistan as official hosts of the Champions Trophy. During the second game of the tournament in Dubai, when India played Bangladesh, Pakistan’s name was omitted from the logo on the official broadcast.This was a departure from the broadcast graphics for the other matches of the tournament so far, including the tournament opener between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi where the event name as well as ‘Pakistan’ was visible on the broadcast.The ICC put that down to a technical glitch, though it was an explanation that didn’t satisfy the PCB. The ICC gave assurances that such a thing would not be repeated, regardless of where the games were being held. That means the feed for Sunday’s game between India and Pakistan in Dubai – the most high-profile contest of the tournament – will include Pakistan’s name on the official on-screen logo.The game between Australia and England drew the biggest crowd of the tournament so far, and was the most dramatic, as Australia chased down a record 351 to beat England by five wickets with 15 balls to spare.

India’s captain wants to create a pool of eight or nine fast bowlers capable of stepping into the Test XI at any given point

Ashish Pant15-Oct-2024Rohit Sharma wants to injury-proof the Indian cricket team, and has called for expanding their bench strength, particularly the fast-bowling department so that they have eight or nine players ready to step into the first XI at any given moment.”We want to create a bench strength where tomorrow if anything happens to anyone, we are not worried, and we don’t want to be worried or too heavily reliant on a few individuals. That’s not the right thing to do,” Rohit said on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. “We want to look at the future at the same time, try and make sure that we get the right guys in as well.”We want to create guys where even if there are injuries, we have got someone to quickly step in and take that role.”It’s not about three or four options. We want to try and do that like, you know, when it comes to batting, there are a lot of options. We want to create the same with the bowlers as well.”Along with the 15-member squad for the three-match series against New Zealand, India are also carrying Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy as travelling reserves. Mayank and Reddy recently made their international debuts in the T20Is against Bangladesh recently, while Rana was an unused member of that squad.Related

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• India's problem of plenty – three spinners or three seamers?

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• Shami not ready for New Zealand Tests; Bumrah named vice-captain

Prasidh Krishna was also initially named as a travelling reserve for the New Zealand Tests, but he has reportedly suffered another injury setback. During Karnataka’s opening fixture of the new Ranji Trophy season, against Madhya Pradesh in Indore, he bowled only eight of the 140 overs that his side sent down.”You know, the reason we wanted to keep them close to us was because we are thinking of them to take them to Australia,” Rohit said. The five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on November 22. “We just want to monitor them and see their workload. We have seen some talent in them. I understand that they have not played a lot of red-ball cricket, but when you see a talent, you want to try and groom them.Harshit Rana, 22, has played nine first-class matches and picked up 36 wickets•PTI

“You want to try and bring them as close to the team as possible. And in a short period of time, they have shown they have some ability as well. So, we want to keep them with the team and see whether they will be ready for international cricket or not, especially Test cricket, because Test cricket is a different ball game compared to white ball cricket. So, we want to keep them, we want to see what they can offer us, and have more options with us, more than anything else.”Nitish and Harshit both obviously are quite talented individuals, and in the future obviously they are going to provide a lot of stability to the team. So, just want to see what they are capable of, what they have to offer.”Mayank’s rise has been both rapid and eye-catching. He burst on the scene during IPL 2024, bowling at speeds of 155kph, and accurately at that, for Lucknow Super Giants. He could only play four matches though with an abdominal issue keeping him sidelined. Still, India had seen enough to fast-track him into their T20 side against Bangladesh earlier this month, where he picked up four wickets from three games while consistently pushing the speed gun into the high 140kph.”Mayank obviously has shown what he can do, but we just want to be very careful with him, he has had a lot of injuries in the past,” Rohit said. “So, we want to progress him, not rapidly, we want to just see every day how he feels.”We are trying to build his workloads with the red ball. He has not played a lot of red-ball cricket at all. So, for us, it’s important that we try and build them gradually, rather than just getting them into international cricket straight away.”T20 format is such where you can get a lot of these guys and see what they are capable of and if they can handle the international exposure. But Test cricket is a different ball game. The pressure is different. You have to sustain for five days, that’s the most important thing. So, we are trying to monitor them and see, you know, what they can offer to us.”3:36

Rohit: Bumrah has always been in our leadership group

The most important cog in India’s fast-bowling line-up is the leader of the pack Jasprit Bumrah. The 30-year-old was recently named vice-captain for the series against New Zealand.There is a chance Bumrah might step in as captain in the early Tests against Australia next month with Rohit’s participation in doubt owing to personal reasons.”He’s always been part of that leadership group and one of the experienced players as well,” Rohit said of Bumrah. “He’s played a lot of cricket and I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. He understands the game pretty well. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”Tactically, I can’t say much because he’s not captained much. But, when you talk to him, he understands the game. He understands what is required. When you are in a situation where you need a leader to step up, I think Bumrah will be one of them. In the past, he’s always been in our leadership group.”So, it’s probably the right thing to just have him around and speak to the bowlers and internally discuss how to take the team forward.”Rohit remained tight-lipped about the India XI for the opening Test against New Zealand stating that they will take a call once they reach the venue on match day. It has been raining relentlessly in Bengaluru over the last few days, forcing India to cancel their training session on the eve of the game, while New Zealand were left to train indoors.”It all depends on the conditions now. Even today, there has been a lot of rain. The pitch is under the covers. So, we want to take that call when we come here in the morning tomorrow,” Rohit said. “And again, it depends on match-to-match, what sort of pitch we play on. Based on that, we want to decide what is going to be our best playing XI. We keep our options open for playing three seamers and three spinners as well.”

Wolvaart made an unbeaten 70 out of 121 before Strikers’ bowlers provided an amazing defence as Thunder fell three runs short

AAP and ESPNCricinfo staff21-Nov-2023

Laura Wolvaardt made 70 not out•Getty Images

Adelaide Strikers have taken the outright lead on the WBBL ladder after a rescue mission by opener Laura Wolvaardt set up a thrilling three-run win over Sydney Thunder.Both sides were 4 for 2 early in their innings as ball dominated bat at Cricket Central. Wolvaardt’s class and composure in an unbeaten 70 proved the difference after Strikers were sent in.She grafted as wickets tumbled at the other end before unleashing at the death. The South African star combined with Megan Schutt to take 38 runs off the final three overs and lift the defending champions to 121 for 7, with Schutt making 16 not out off 10.The Strikers’ bowlers were brilliant early with Jemma Barsby dismissing dangerous Chamari Athapaththu in the first over and Schutt snaring Phoebe Litchfield in a deep cover trap in the second.The hosts were meandering along at 53 for 5 after 14 overs until Tahlia Wilson (33 off 23) and Sammy-Jo Johnson (26 not out off 14) threatened to get their side home.A crafty last over by spinner Anesu Mushangwe, where she conceded just five runs, clinched the win and kept the Thunder to 118 for 7. Mushangwe finished with 2 for 24 from her four overs.Australian pace bowler Darcie Brown returned from a hamstring injury for her first WBBL game of the season and found instant form claiming 1 for 15 from four overs. She bowled 14 dot balls and gave up just one boundary.Thunder looked good early. Marizanne Kapp’s opening over of the innings was made to order. She trapped Katie Mack plumb lbw first ball of the innings. The South Africa international snuck the fifth delivery under the bat of Australia star Tahlia McGrath to have the visitors 4 for 2.The low bounce was utilised perfectly by the Thunder attack as they put in an accomplished display of stump-to-stump bowling at its best. The Strikers were 47 for 4 after 10 overs but Wolvaardt then stepped up to play the only substantial innings of the match.The Strikers went to 18 points with the win, two clear of Perth Scorchers and three ahead of Thunder.

With his team looking down and out, MS Dhoni smacked an unbeaten 61 off 34 balls to lift Rising Pune Supergiant to a six-wicket victory

The Report by Sidharth Monga22-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
MS Dhoni was at his devastating best•BCCI

The finisher is not finished yet. MS Dhoni struck a 34-ball 61 to help clean up some of the mess he himself created as Rising Pune Supergiant chased down 177 with a last-ball boundary. Dhoni’s slow start of 26 off 23 balls had converted an equation of 90 off 55 into 47 off 18, but he took out the best bowler of the tournament, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in an almighty assault of 35 runs off his last 11 balls to seal the win.Before Saturday, Sunrisers Hyderabad had lost only two of the 12 matches in which they made 175 or more. On Saturday, though, they huffed and puffed on a flat pitch, without the services of Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman, but it wasn’t enough. The fielding didn’t help – they dropped Rahul Tripathi on 17, who then made 59, Manoj Tiwary too was given a life in a tense final. That Sunrisers had something to bowl at was thanks to Moises Henriques’ 28-ball 55. This loss was as much because of their fielding as their batting before Henriques.Dhawan-Warner go-slow
Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner are the two slowest openers of this season. They are also the slowest partnership, and as a result, their side has been the second-slowest in Powerplays. While Dhawan’s strike rate of 118 is more in keeping with his career stats, Warner struggled uncharacteristically as Sunrisers crawled to 55 for 1 in 8.1 overs, with Dhawan top-edging the first ball Imran Tahir bowled.Kane Williamson took risks to try to correct the rate, and was lbw to Dan Christian after walking too far across. Christian’s miserly spell continued, going for just 20 in four overs, as Sunrisers, the best side in the middle overs this year, managed only 68 runs between the sixth and the 15th to be reduced to 113 for 2.Moises mayhem
Even as Warner failed to convert a slow start, Henriques unleashed his array of strokes, mostly over midwicket or through point. He scored 34 runs off the last 14 balls he faced as Rising Pune lived up to their reputation of being the worst side at the death, conceding 63 off the last 30 balls, which is worse than their tournament average so far.Bipul and Rashid v Tripathi and Smith
Bipul Sharma replaced the unwell Yuvraj Singh in the Sunrisers XI. He had bowled only 21 overs in his last 10 matches for them, but in Pune he took the new ball and shackled the openers. He bowled nothing in their swinging arc, and gave them no pace to work with. Ajinkya Rahane fell prey to him, but Tripathi managed to find a way around him, hitting the quicks away, especially Mohammed Siraj, off whose bowling he was dropped, and Siddarth Kaul. Against spin he scored 17 off 18, and against pace he managed 42 off 23.At the other end, Smith too struggled with the lack of pace from Bipul, but finally in the 10th over, Bipul’s last, he delayed his bat swing and slogged him for back-to-back sixes. That rearranged the left-arm spinner’s figures to 4-0-30-1 and brought the asking rate down to 9.4.The ebbs and flows of Rising Pune Supergiant’s clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Just before that, Rashid Khan did something not many can claim to have done: he bowled a wrong’un that Smith didn’t pick and beat the batsman comprehensively. Now perhaps in the 11th over Smith picked it, or perhaps he read it off the hand, but he went back to cut, and inside-edged the googly onto his pad and then onto the stumps. Smith was livid with himself as he walked off. Out walked Dhoni, his strike rate under 100 this season, and ahead of Ben Stokes, Manoj Tiwary and Christian.The Dhoni show
Ever since Dhoni’s last-ball win for Pune against Kings XI Punjab last year, no chasing side had won a match off the last ball in the IPL. Surely Dhoni didn’t want to take this to the last ball but he can’t help himself, can he? At the presentation, he said he wanted to see Rashid off without further damage because the ground was small and the asking rate could be managed. But as well as he prodded and nudged, Rashid struck with his electric fielding to run Tripathi out off his own bowling.Rashid was done, with 17 runs off his four overs, and the required rate was above 12 for the last six overs, but Dhoni still struggled to find his range. Siraj, bowling the 16th over, tied him and Stokes down with yorkers, and even beat Dhoni for pace. Dhoni 21 off 19, and 56 required off four overs.On came Bhuvneshwar, for overs 17 and 19, and removed Stokes with the first ball he bowled, and the equation went up to 47 off 18. Dhoni now picked on the rookie Siraj, dropping a slower ball over long-on and upper-cutting a slower bouncer over point. With 30 required off two, Dhoni still needed to take another bowler down, and he couldn’t have left it for the last over.Bhuvneshwar, Dhoni’s favourite bowler when he was India captain, had not conceded 10 runs in any of his death overs this IPL. But Dhoni got stuck into his protégé as Bhuvneshwar kept missing his line or length by inches. A border-line wide first up, followed by a squirt for a four to leg, then a lofted drive over point, and finally the helicopter shot that sent everyone into frenzy.There were now only 10 runs to defend and youngster Kaul was given the last over. He should have had Manoj Tiwary, who had done his job so far, caught first ball. What looked like a six had got caught up in the wind, but the fielder Rashid couldn’t control it inside the midwicket boundary. Kaul followed it up with four really good deliveries to bring it to two required off the last over. He continued what he had been doing – yorkers from round the wicket – but missed his length, and Dhoni drove him through extra cover for four.

Cricket South Africa have secured the financial backing of one of the largest financial institutions in the country, Standard Bank, who have signed on as headline sponsor for the national men’s team in all three formats

Firdose Moonda18-May-2016Cricket South Africa have secured the financial backing of one of the largest financial institutions in the country, Standard Bank, who have signed on as the headline sponsor for the national men’s team in all three formats. The bank replaces Castle Lager and Blue Label Telecoms, who are still expected to be involved in some capacity.The new sponsor is not new to cricket. Standard Bank was previously one of the biggest backers of the game and had a 14-year period as the title sponsors of the ODI and T20 team (then called Pro20 in South Africa) which ended in 2011. Then, Standard Bank also sponsored the Pro20 domestic championship, a 20-over schools competition, CSA’s high performance programme including the national academy, the schools development programme, and the national Under-13 cricket week.However, that year the bank cut ties will all sports sponsorships including that of two of the country’s most popular football clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. With the global economy deep in recession at the time, Standard Bank said they had to “reassess the costs of these sponsorships and the benefits for Standard Bank in the light of changed business needs”.The up-turn in world finances since then has put Standard Bank in a position to resume it’s sports affiliations. A spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that “a different economic climate” was the main reason for Standard Bank’s renewed interest in the game. The four-year deal is limited to the sponsorship of the national team and not to any of the other areas Standard Bank was previously involved in.It also comes with the debate continuing over banning alcohol advertising and sponsorships, particularly in sport, which is the category Castle Lager are in. In 2013, the Cabinet approved a draft bill to reduce the exposure of alcohol advertising, which had yet to be ratified by Parliament when it was withdrawn. In August 2015, the ruling African National Congress said if the draft bill proceeds it would have “devastating consequences for the sport and recreation sector”, and chose to target regulating sales of alcohol instead. Castle Lager remain associated with the national rugby side, the Springboks.

A round of matches in the Faysal Bank T-20

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2012
ScorecardHaris Sohail scored a brisk half-century to give Sialkot Stallions a target their bowlers defended comfortably against Abbottabad Falcons. The 34-run win was Sialkot’s fourth success in five matches and they were second in Group A.Sialkot’s top order had stumbled – they were 69 for 3 in the 11th over – before Sohail made an unbeaten 62 off 43 balls to lead his team to 164. Sohail had a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket with his captain Shoaib Malik. Fast bowler Junaid Khan was Abbottabad’s best bowler, with figures of 3 for 22.Abbottabad overcame the early loss of Mir Azam to reach 79 for 1 in the 13th over but they failed to accelerate from that platform. They lost four wickets for 14 runs to slip to 110 for 6 and eventually ended on 130.
ScorecardMultan Tigers rose to the third spot in Group A with a 17-run win against Karachi Zebras in Lahore. Put in to bat, Multan lost opener Sohaib Maqsood in the second over, but made steady progress for the next seven overs as Zain Abbas and Gulraiz Sadaf scored 48 together. But Karachi’s Faraz Ahmed and Haaris Ayas picked up two wickets apiece to reduce Multan to 87 for 5 in the 15th over. It was then that Saeed Anwar Jr launched a counterattack, hitting 39 off 22 and sharing a 52-run stand with Kashif Naved to help the team finish on a high.Multan carried the momentum into their bowling, with Mohammad Irfan striking off the first ball of the innings. Two more wickets went down in the next two overs, pushing Karachi onto the back foot. Rahat Ali and Anwar Jr shared seven wickets between them to derail the chase and help Multan win comfortably in the end.
ScorecardBahawalpur Stags maintained their winning run with an 11-run win against Hyderabad Hawks, who are yet to register a victory. Bahawalpur were set back early after choosing to bat, but healthy contributions of 40, 34 and 37 from Ali Haider, Usman Tariq and Bilal Khilji ensured the team crossed the 150-run mark. Haider was the most aggressive – his 40 came off 26 balls with five fours and a six.In their chase, Hyderabad had made brisk progress to 44 when Ataullah struck in the sixth over to remove Sharjeel Khan. Other Bahawalpur bowlers soon joined in; they kept the scoring under tight control and picked up the wickets as the pressure got to the batsmen. Twenty-eight were required off the last two overs, but Kamran Hussain and Mohammad Talha both picked up two wickets each in the last two overs to seal the win.
ScorecardFaisalabad Wolves kept their unbeaten record intact with a narrow two-wicket win against Karachi Dolphins at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore. Chasing 148, Faisalabad were in danger of running out of batsmen when 19 were required off 16 balls and only two wickets were left. But Misbah-ul-Haq remained unbeaten on 72 and scored 17 out of 19 in the ninth-wicket partnership to help Faisalabad cross the line off the last delivery.Misbah took only 47 balls to score his runs and hit four boundaries and three sixes in the innings. He didn’t receive much support at the other end, 17 being the second highest score.Earlier, Karachi were cruising on 85 for 1 in the 12th over after a half-century stand between Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif. However, both batsmen were out in the space of three balls off Ehsan Adil’s bowling and that slowed down the charge. Adil picked up four wickets as Karachi were restricted to 147.
ScorecardA big-hitting century partnership between the Rawalpindi Rams openers helped their team to overhaul Lahore Eagles’ total with ease – they won by eight wickets with more than five overs to spare. Naved Malik and Awais Zia hit 11 sixes between them and put up 135 runs in 12.1 overs to make short work of the 156-run target. Malik scored 77 off 41 balls and Zia, 54 off 36, but both fell with the target in sight.Lahore Eagles had chosen to bat and with the help of contributions from everyone in the batting order, had scored 155. Yasir Arafat was the most successful bowler for Rawalpindi with 3 for 37.
ScorecardIn a clash that pitted the bottom-rung Group A teams against each other, Islamabad Leopards beat Quetta Bears by five wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium. This was Islamabad’s first win in five matches, while Quetta remained winless after the same number of games.Islamabad chose to bowl, and the decision paid off straightaway as seamer Iftikhar Anjum struck in each of his first three overs to leave Quetta reeling at 17 for 3 in the sixth. Apart from getting the wickets, Iftikhar kept a tight leash on the scoring, having conceding only 2.75 runs per over by the end of his spell. The other bowlers too kept things tight for the most part, and struck with regularity to restrict Quetta to 111 for 7.The chase was off to a poor start too, as Islamabad lost opener Shan Masood for a golden duck and No. 3 Moed Ahmed for 1, but the rest of the top and middle order produced cameos and that was enough to propel their team past their meagre target with nine balls to spare.

Jonathan Trott eased to a trouble-free century as England finetuned their preparations for next week’s first Test on a sleepy second day in Chittagong

Andrew Miller in Chittagong09-Mar-2010Bangladesh’s most-capped cricketer, Mohammad Ashraful, has been omitted from the Test squad for the forthcoming series against England, after failing to convince the selectors that he is in the right frame of mind to resume his international career.Ashraful, 25, missed last week’s ODI series in a bid to recapture his form following a poor tour of New Zealand, but in consecutive first-class matches for Dhaka Division, he made 21 runs in four innings, including three ducks.His final chance to impress the selectors came during his captaincy stint for Bangladesh A against England at Chittagong, but having managed just 1 in the first innings, he was bowled by Amjal Shahzad for 30 on the third and final morning of the match.Ashraful has played in 53 of Bangladesh’s 64 Tests to date, having made his mark with a debut century against Sri Lanka in November 2001, when he was just 16 years old. However, he has never yet featured in a home Test against England, having been dropped for the 2003 series, again due to a loss of form.The Bangladesh selectors have named a 14-man squad which includes the centurion from the warm-up match, Raqibul Hasan, as well as no fewer than three left-arm spinners – the captain Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak and Enamul Haque Jr – in response to Kevin Pietersen’s much-publicised problems against that style of bowling.Ironically, Pietersen fell to Ashraful’s spin for 20 on the final afternoon of the tour match.Bangladesh squad Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Aftab Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Enamul Haque Jr, Shahadat Hossain.

Pakistan lost a referral after an lbw appeal against Grant Elliott was turned down due to Mohammad Asif overstepping, something which the on-field umpire overlooked

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009The fourth day’s play between New Zealand and Pakistan in Dunedin revealed a minor loophole in the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), making its official debut in this Test. When Mohammad Asif challenged Billy Doctrove’s decision – in favour of Grant Elliott – the replays showed that while the batsman was plumb lbw, Asif had marginally overstepped. It would have been a successful challenge but for the no-ball that was originally missed by Doctrove. Yet it ended up costing Pakistan a run and, more importantly, it counted as an unsuccessful challenge.It raised the question of whether the bowling side should be expected to keep an eye on no-balls, or actually be penalised for having missed one. The ICC’s regulations remain silent on the issue. A guide to the system circulated several days ago by the ICC offered this: “If the original decision of ‘out’ is upheld but for a different method of dismissal than the on-field umpire originally intended, then the review will still be regarded as being unsuccessful.” But it doesn’t advise on cases when the original decision of “not-out” is upheld for reasons other than originally intended by the on-field umpire.The ICC’s Umpires and Referees Manager Doug Cowie admitted a solution for the blip had yet to be found. “We’ll look into that one,” Cowie was quoted as saying in the “It might be one of the things we fine tune when we look into the whole business later on.”We did explore that idea about what happens in a no-ball situation. It’s an interesting one, but I don’t know how you get around it.”When contacted after Friday’s incident, Dave Richardson, the ICC’s cricket operations manager, said it was not a loophole but an issue that needs sorting before every series. “It was something that was not covered specifically in the playing conditions. But I know that in the Australia series it was decided beforehand if that happens [a no-ball which is initially overlooked], the fielding team would not lose out on a review. Obviously in the New Zealand series they haven’t decided, and now they can’t introduce it in the middle of the play.”The umpires followed the book in New Zealand, and Doug Cowie, the ICC’s umpires manager, said that the final decision remained not-out so it is counted as unsuccessful.