All posts by h716a5.icu

Peter Moores has backed Eoin Morgan to arrest his slump in form, describing him as a “top-flight one-day player” and suggesting that stepping up to take temporary charge of the team could help provide the spark he needs.

Alan Gardner in Colombo04-Dec-20141:03

Taylor in line to replace Cook

Peter Moores, England’s head coach, has backed Eoin Morgan to arrest his slump in form, describing him as a “top-flight one-day player” and suggesting that stepping up to take temporary charge of the team could help provide the spark he needs.Morgan will take over the ODI captaincy at a time when his place is as insecure as it has ever been, after Alastair Cook was suspended for one match due to slow over rates. Morgan had developed a reputation over several years as one of England’s best limited-overs batsman, a singular talent who was also a reliable match-winner, but has now gone 15 innings without a one-day half-century.After beginning the tour of Sri Lanka with two contrasting defeats, England showed plenty of character in winning the third ODI by five wickets. Morgan was dropped down the order to No. 6 in Hambantota but managed only a single as England fell to a perilous 152 for 5 chasing 236 to win. Happily for Morgan, Cook and Moores, Joe Root and Jos Buttler fashioned a flinty, unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket to secure victory and send the team back to Colombo with renewed confidence.Eoin Morgan is without a one-day half-century in 15 innings•Getty ImagesBut England’s tardy display in the field means that Cook will take an enforced break and Moores confirmed that Morgan, the regular deputy in limited-overs cricket, would take charge despite the careworn state of his game.”He will be frustrated and very disappointed that he hasn’t yet managed to impact on the series,” Moores said. “He’s a really top-flight one-day player, a real key for us.”It will be interesting next game, as captain. Maybe that is a nice catalyst for him. He’s getting fully stuck in, and working at it. With four games to go, if he catches fire, he might end up top runscorer. The captaincy may be a healthy distraction.”Since Moores took over for a second time in April, England have won only five of 13 completed ODIs, a run which coincides with Morgan’s thin returns. His dismissal on Wednesday prompted Kevin Pietersen to tweet, possibly not entirely objectively: “Morgan is a free spirit…with a #woodpecker as a coach, I’m afraid it will hurt his spirit! We seeing it! Jeez, I feel for him!”Rather than external input, Moores suggested it was down to Morgan, whose ODI career spans 126 matches for England and Ireland, to work out the best way of rediscovering his former élan.”He’s a good player, crikey,” Moores said. “He’ll have been through periods when he’s not quite hitting it. But he’s the sort of player we’re very excited about. The key is to believe in yourself, and go out and play – and Eoin will do that, I’m sure.”Morgan’s difficulties have come at a time when Cook is also under severe scrutiny. Cook has made scores of 10, 22 and 34 in Sri Lanka and, although there were glimpses of fluency in his most recent innings, a suspension is unlikely to aid his cause. Should Morgan return to his old self – and potentially lead England to parity in the seven-match series – the pressure on Cook will continue to bubble under but Moores said categorically that he had not considered changing horses, with the World Cup fast approaching.”It’s a shame for Alastair,” Moores said. “It is frustrating for him, and for us. I thought he played beautifully last night; he timed the ball really well.”One thing is that it cleans the slate for him, before we go to a World Cup – because he had that ban hanging over him, if we were slow one more time. So it’s a bit like bookings in football. Once you’ve actually been banned, you go back to zero.”England arrived in Sri Lanka looking to oil the gears in a format where they perennially appear rusty. The Hambantota win was only their second in nine matches but they could take encouragement from the contributions of several of the less-experienced members of the squad: Root and Buttler, as well as Moeen Ali, who struck another breezy fifty, and England’s best bowler, Chris Woakes.The senior batsmen, in particular, have lagged behind and Ian Bell felt the hand on the shoulder, replaced by Alex Hales at No. 3. Bell’s form, while indifferent, has been better than that of Cook and Morgan and he could yet come back into the XI in Colombo, either as an opener or at first drop, allowing Hales to partner Moeen. James Tredwell, meanwhile, is almost certain to return, having been England’s most economical bowler in the two previous matches at the Premadasa. Whatever England choose to do, they finally appear to have some traction.”Sometimes, the morning after is the time you really feel wins and losses,” he said. “So it’s great to know we’re back in the series. On the coach going back, to hear players laughing and enjoying the win was fantastic – because belief is one of the key ingredients, and winning always gives you some of that.”It was a tough decision leaving out Ian Bell and James Tredwell, experienced players, but we know what we’ve got with those players. We’re trying to find out what else we’ve got. Then the decision-making becomes clearer, and it’s simpler to see what our best team is.”

Adil Rashid made an unbeaten hundred and proclaimed he and Yorkshire were ‘getting along nicely’ after a difficult period

David Hopps at Headingley07-May-2013Yorkshire 332 for 5 (Rashid 120*, Ballance 107) v Somerset
ScorecardAccording to Adil Rashid, he and Yorkshire have “come to an agreement”. That was something Ajmal Shahzad could never claim. Shahzad was packed off for what was perceived as a headstrong insistence on his right to be a free spirit. There is reason to anticipate that Rashid can write a happier ending.To keep faith with their talented production line of Asian cricketers, Yorkshire need that happy ending as much as Rashid does.”We have come to an agreement.” How many times have such words been uttered in Yorkshire cricket over the decades only for them to be worthless by the next morning? Perhaps they were more uncompromising times. There was something in Rashid’s unbeaten 120 on a gloriously sunny Headingley day that promised much, the conviction of his crouching, thou-shall-not-pass defence; the rasp of his cuts; his wristy working of the leg side, a most un-Yorkshire skill that one.Two England selectors were at Headingley, Geoff Miller and James Whitaker. Their interest will have primarily been in Gary Ballance, Rashid having long disappeared off their radar as his command of his legspin faltered, but they could not fail to be impressed by the sight of an allrounder seemingly more at peace with his game. A career that has involved three England tours and an experimental use as an attacking Twenty20 bowler might one day – although not imminently – have a second coming.”Yorkshire Are Ruining Me” was the headline last month, as Rashid complained that his captain, Andrew Gale, did not understand legspin, that he needed more faith in his ability if he was to express himself and that if he had another year like 2012 he would be “dropping down, down, down and gone”. The irony was that he had made the comments in January and by the time they became public knowledge, a better understanding was already in place.”Everything’s sorted,” Rashid said. “We’re all getting along nicely. This season my confidence has been quite high so I’m looking to carry that on and perform day in, day out. You have your good days and bad days but I’m in an okay place.Yorkshire turns out for Yorkshire

Mark Arthur, Yorkshire’s new chief executive, happily accepted that it was a godsend that both Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow will, in all likelihood, make their first Test appearances at Headingley against New Zealand later this month and give Yorkshire a chance to make a modest indentation in their £19m debts.
A cold winter has left the Headingley Test still 25% below budget but the presence of Root and Bairstow is quickening interest for tickets in a match which the chairman and outgoing chief executive, Colin Graves, accepted needed “a kick up the backside”.
Arthur, who has taken up the role of Yorkshire’s chief executive less than five months after he fell victim to a purge by the Kuwaiti owners of Nottingham Forest FC, preferred to put it differently. “Yorkshire is a unique brand and to have Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow in the frame is a fantastic boost,” he said. “By supporting England, it could not be clearer that the public will be supporting Yorkshire cricket.”

“I was looking for a bit of freedom to play my game. It was about the fact that you know your game and you have been playing long enough to know what to do. It was about all about communicating with the captain and the coach and coming to an agreement.”Part of the problem was that when it came to Yorkshire stereotypes, Rashid could compete with the best in his ability to be monosyllabic. Such introversion hardly seemed the natural accompaniment for a player yearning to attack, whether he had a ball or a bat in his hand.At 25, he is looking – and sounding – more confident in himself. Batting conditions had not entirely eased when Rashid came in at 89 for 4 but he shared in a record Yorkshire fifth-wicket stand at Headingley of 207 in 62 overs with Ballance, whose own hundred, a pugnacious affair ended when he fell lbw to a full delivery from Steve Kirby, played a major part in reshaping the match by the close. This looks to be another belting batting surface and Yorkshire will be well aware that Derbyshire made 475 in their first innings here last week and lost.Batting Rashid at No. 6 should be part of the New Deal. “I haven’t batted at six for a long time. It was nice to have that responsibility,” he said. This was his fifth first-class century and his first for four years, an indication of lost time.Somerset had a fruitful morning. When Rashid came in, four wickets had fallen by the 26th over, Phil Jacques had just been pouched by Marcus Trescothick at first slip and, if Trescothick had held a low catch when Jaques was 22, the situation could have been direr. The first three wickets had fallen to wicketkeeping catches by Jos Buttler, the best of them a diving effort to dismiss Adam Lyth.Rashid and Ballance proved that the stability which Joe Root had brought to Yorkshire’s season with the two most domineering innings of his life – back-to-back hundreds to drive home victories against Durham and Derbyshire – had not necessarily departed with him. Somerset’s day became wearier by the hour and long before the close the disposition of the Yorkshire members was once again almost as sunny as the weather.

Ireland captain William Porterfield said his side felt “disappointed” after their hopes for a maiden series win over a Test nation were quashed as Pakistan won 1-0.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2013Ireland captain William Porterfield said the loss to Pakistan in the second ODI was “heartbreaking” for the team after being in a strong position to register their maiden ODI series win over a Test-playing nation. Pakistan were reduced to 133 for 7 chasing 230, but a 93-run eighth-wicket stand between Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz quashed Ireland’s hopes as Pakistan took the series 1-0 with a narrow two-wicket win.”It is kind of heartbreaking in terms of being in the position we were in. That’s the biggest thing that we’ll look back on,” Porterfield said.Ireland seamers Trent Johnston and Tim Murtagh reduced Pakistan to 17 for 4 before a 52-run stand between Akmal and Shoaib Malik instigated a fight back. But it was Riaz’s counterattacking 47 off 35 balls that caught Ireland offguard. “For [number] nine to come in and hit it like that – fair play to him,” Porterfield said.With Pakistan needing 32 in four overs, Riaz demolished Murtagh’s over by hitting three sixes in five balls. Akmal, who’s 81 off 85 balls held Pakistan’s chase together, also earned praise from the Ireland captain. “He found the gaps pretty well and showed that intent from early on,” he said. “He took the momentum away from us.”Though Porterfield rued not being able to capitalise on key moments, he said the team showed that its cricket was moving in the right direction. “Even coming into the last 12 to 14 overs, if we had of picked up a wicket at that time we were right on top. It’s deflating at the minute but it shows where we are at,” he said.A prime source of his confidence was Ed Joyce, whose century was the sole bright spot in Ireland’s batting as seven batsmen fell for single-digit scores. “The way he [Joyce] played by anchoring the innings and pacing it stood out,” Porterfield said. “It shows what a class act he is and showed the rest of us what type of innings needed to be played.”Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, was impressed by the challenge put up by the Ireland team. “They played very well,” he said, “The way they are improving they can compete with any Test-playing nation.”We were really struggling. We knew that we had depth in our batting because Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz are capable of scoring runs at the lower order. But it was still a difficult job. The way Kamran and Wahab played was tremendous.”We have not been getting much from the lower order so the way they played gives us a lot of confidence going into the Champions Trophy.”

Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk, who shared an unbroken 128-run partnership for the sixth wicket against Pakistan on Tuesday, are great friends off the field

Amol Karhadkar in Cuttack06-Feb-2013Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk have a lot in common. They both are allrounders. They made their international debut during the 2009 Women’s World Cup. And they are “best friends” in the South Africa dressing room. They are also room-mates whenever the team goes on tour.On Tuesday, the duo shared an unbroken 128-run partnership for the sixth wicket against Pakistan. Not only did the stand, South Africa’s highest ever in all Women’s World Cups, set up their maiden victory of their 2013 campaign, it helped the team achieve their primary objective at the start of the tournament: to progress to the Super Sixes. The duo achieved personal bests with the bat as well; while Kapp, the senior of the two, notched up her maiden century, Niekerk, all of 19 despite being on the international stage for four years, raised her first fifty.After the game, they revelled in each other’s achievements. “You don’t plan for anything. It just happened. It’s a first for us. Ever,” Kapp told ESPNcricinfo soon after South Africa completed a 126-run rout of Pakistan, patting ‘D’, as Niekerk is fondly known among her team-mates, on the back.Being great friends did help both of them during their partnership, which bailed South Africa out from a precarious 79 for 5 in the must-win Group B game, Kapp said: “That’s a good thing, we understand each other so well, so when it comes to running between the wickets and all, there’s no confusion. We don’t even need to call. We just look at each other and take off for a single.”Niekerj interjected, explaining how she calmed her senior down when Kapp entered the 90s for the first time in international cricket. “She got all nervous in the 90s. And she started playing all the sort of shots that she doesn’t play usually. So I just walked up to her and told her to do what she is used to,” Niekerk said. “I know she drives really well and that’s what I told her to do.”It’s not just on-field expertise that the two share; both girls are flag-bearers of the South African team’s fashion statement off the field. “I don’t think people are here for a fashion statement, we are here to play the game. But off the field, we are what we are. I think it’s got a lot to do with our roots. Mom wants us to look nice, so we look nice,” Kapp said. Niekerk added: “We like being girlie. We like dressing up and all of that.”Would more cricketers like them, who are not shy to be themselves, help turn the spotlight on the women’s game a little bit more? “Definitely,” Kapp, who is studying sports management, said. “Advertisement and all, that’s what it’s all about.”

Afghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2013
ScorecardAfghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup. A second defeat to the same opponents in three days, meanwhile, was a significant blow to Scotland’s chances of finishing in the top two.Despite Kyle Coetzer’s run-a-ball 133, only three other batsmen got into double figures as Scotland made 259 from their 50 overs. Afghanistan put on several solid partnerships, with the lowest score among the top six being 28, and Mohammad Nabi rattled off 51 from 44 balls to put them on the brink of victory. A few blows from the powerful Gulbodin Naib were enough to finish the game with eight balls to spare.Nabi had earlier taken two wickets but Scotland will rue not having made a more challenging total after reaching 144 for 1 in the 32nd over. Coezter and Josh Davey (64) had combined for a second-wicket partnership of 134 but Hamid Hassan broke the stand and Samiullah Shenwari (3-42) ripped out the middle order. Dawlat Zadran took two wickets and also ran out Coezter to prevent Scotland getting away.Ireland lead the WCL Championship with 13 points, with Scotland and Afghanistan on 11, having played two games more. Netherlands, in fourth, face Namibia next month, while fifth-placed UAE host Ireland later in March. There will be a further two rounds of games, with the top two teams guaranteed a spot at the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

A round-up of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League matches that ended on November 26, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2014Nine wickets in the match from medium-pacer Rashid Latif led Rawalpindi Rams to a 72-run win against Multan Tigers in a low-scoring match in Rawalpindi. Set a target of 265, Multan were dismissed for 192, as Latif took five and Haseeb Azam finished with 4 for 70 to give their team nine points.Put in to bat, Rawalpindi were dismissed cheaply for 137 as Majid Ali took 5 for 46 and Mohammad Irfan took two. But Rawalpindi replied by routing Multan for a paltry 70, only three batsmen reaching double-figures, thanks to four wickets from Latif and two each from Rizwan Akbar and Haseeb Azam. Rawalpindi built on their lead further with a score of 197, despite being 57 for 5 at one point. A lower-order fifty from Usman Saeed (67) with the tail put them in a strong position.Multan were in trouble early in the chase as Azam sent the openers back. He took two more later on and Latif’s 5 for 67 sealed the win despite a fighting fifty from Kashif Naved (62).

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2012Although Pakistan spinners gained a stranglehold on the Australian batsmen to make their chase of 199 difficult on a slow wicket in Sharjah, coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi.Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 38 runs to capitulate for 198, which proved costly as the low target allowed Australia to cut out the risks as they pushed for a win.”Reading the game is very important. If the players can read the game well, they are in a better position to respond. It is not just about losing wickets. It is also about why, how and what you do next. We have some wonderful young players and they have to change their thinking sooner rather than later,” Whatmore said.Saeed Ajmal took three wickets and Mohammad Hafeez two as all six wickets fell to spinners, who together maintained an economy rate of 3.20. Whatmore praised them for putting Australia under pressure early.”Our spinners did well against Australia. Their economy rate was very good. We bowled like I expected them to. But credit has to be given to Australia for the way they countered our spinners. But if they had a few more runs to chase, it would have been a different kettle of fish.”I’m disappointed that we could not win the first game. We made a couple of errors.”

The decision to play four seamers paid dividends for New Zealand as they secured a first-innings lead of 51 on a day where West Indies, barring Marlon Samuels, took their eyes off the ball

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran03-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarlon Samuels brought up his first century in the West Indies•DigicelCricket.com/Brooks LaTouche PhotographyThe decision to play four seamers paid dividends for New Zealand as they secured a first-innings lead of 51 on a day where West Indies, barring Marlon Samuels, took their eyes off the ball. A score of 260 shouldn’t have been too daunting for West Indies to overhaul, but New Zealand’s seamers bowled with discipline to bundle out the hosts for 209. Samuels played the lone had with a counterattacking 123, his first Test century in the West Indies, but New Zealand never let go of the initiative from the morning session. The openers stretched the lead past 100 but a couple of late wickets gave a deflated West Indies unit some cheer.That New Zealand silenced Chris Gayle and sent back a normally immovable Shivnarine Chanderpaul cheaply was indicative of the control they had over the West Indies batsmen. Samuels was the only batsman to pass 50 – the next highest was 32 – and the only one to stand up to the seamers, who attacked as a pack to put the hosts under pressure.Trent Boult, the left-arm seamer, bowled with discipline and stuck to the simple mantra of keeping the ball in the channel outside the off stump to silence an in-form batsman like Gayle. In Antigua, Gayle’s comeback Test, he bashed four successive boundaries in the first over of the innings to set himself up for a big hundred. Chris Martin, the unfortunate bowler on that occasion, was left out for this Test. However Boult, only four Tests old, ensured that Martin’s experience wasn’t missed. He found assistance from the breeze to slant the ball away from the left-handed openers. West Indies played out three consecutive maiden overs, and the pressure got to them in the fourth, when Kieran Powell edged Boult to Dean Brownlie at third slip. It took New Zealand 76 overs to separate the opening pair in Antigua. Here, they needed just nine.Smart stats

Marlon Samuels scored 123 out of the team total of 209. His percentage contribution of 58.85 is the fifth-highest for West Indies in a completed innings. Gordon Greenidge is on top with 63.50% during his innings of 134 out of the team total of 211 at Old Trafford in 1976.

Samuels’ strike rate of 72.78 during his century is the sixth-highest for a West Indies batsman for a 100-plus score against New Zealand. It is, however, the second-highest in home Tests against New Zealand after Chris Gayle’s 150 at North Sound.

Samuels’ century is his fourth overall and second in Tests in 2012. In five matches this year, he has scored 537 runs at an average of 89.50.

Gayle scored eight runs off 55 balls. The strike rate of 14.54 is his lowest ever for a score of five or more. The lowest ever strike rate for such a score since 1990 for West Indies is Sherwin Campbell’s 7.93 (5 off 63 balls) against Australia in 2000.

It is the third time that New Zealand have managed a first-innings lead against West Indies after scoring below 300 batting first. The last occasion was in Auckland in 2006 when they gained a lead of 18 runs and went on to win by 27 runs.

Gayle got off the mark off his eighth delivery; his second run came off his 26th, indicating the hold the seamers had over him. Boult bowled with control and was given a lengthy spell by his captain. He was rewarded with another wicket, that of Assad Fudadin lbw. The umpire turned down the appeal but Ross Taylor successfully challenged it. It capped a rewarding spell of 7-1-18-2 for Boult.Gayle was dropped on 5, but fortunately for New Zealand, it didn’t cost them anything. He was squared up by one from Neil Wagner that took off, took the top edge and lobbed to point. He was gone for a painstaking 8 off 55 balls without a boundary, adding to his mediocre Test record at his home ground.Samuels, the other Jamaican, didn’t disappoint. He looked more comfortable, dabbing Southee past gully and driving down the ground for consecutive boundaries. He wasn’t entirely convincing either, around his off stump, but strong off his pads. He wasn’t afraid to steer the ball past the packed slip cordon, keeping the ball down. He crunched Boult past mid-off to bring up his fourth half-century of the year.Having seen off Gayle, New Zealand still had Chanderpaul to deal with. He lasted just one ball in Antigua, here he lasted 40 balls for a watchful 9 before perishing to Tim Southee. Taylor made amends for dropping Gayle at slip earlier with a neat catch to get rid of Chanderpaul, and not long after, the hosts lost half their side for less than 100 when Narsingh Deonarine edged Boult.The precarious position didn’t deter West Indies from attacking, as Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy played brisk cameos. Sammy scooped and bashed his way to 32 off 29 balls before he fell just before tea, playing all around a toe-crusher from Southee.Samuels remained strong at the other end, elegantly driving through the covers and pulling the short deliveries in front of square. He had his nervy moments when the ball kicked up and nearly brushed his glove. Though it was a bowlers’ day, Samuels’ resistance made for a classic Test match battle. He was steadily losing partners and at one stage looked like being stranded in the 90s. It was touch-and-go when on 98, he was joined by the No.11 Tino Best.Samuels threw hell for leather with a flat six over deep extra cover off Southee to bring up his century. He came into this Test averaging 82.80 in 2012, and his innings lifted the gloom following Gayle’s failure. Samuels continued his bat-swinging against Southee, depositing three consecutive half volleys over the ropes. He hammered Doug Bracewell in the following over, but the bowler had the last laugh thanks to a sharp catch by Wagner in the deep, bringing an end to West Indies’ innings. The hosts didn’t really look like matching New Zealand’s score, but Samuels did well to minimise the damage.Martin Guptill came out to bat despite being ill, and stretched the lead with some elegant drives off the front foot off the West Indies seamers. The seamers failed to cause early alarms, so as a last throw of the dice, Sammy turned to the part-time off spin of Deonarine late in the day. It was a smart bowling change as Deonarine dismissed the openers lbw in identical fashion – both shuffled across too far and exposed the stumps. Despite the lapse, New Zealand ended the day effectively 110 for 2. It will be up to their middle order to show the same spine displayed by the seamers.

A round-up of the One-Day Cup matches that took place on December 10, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2013Group ILegspinner Tanzeel Altaf took two wickets in the final over as Lahore Eagles defeated Rawalpindi Rams by one run at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Zahid Mansoor struck an unbeaten 96 off 61 balls in Rams’ chase of 318, but watched from the non-striker’s end as Altaf dismissed Munir Ansari and Mujahid Amin with the third and sixth balls of the last over.Chasing 316, Rawalpindi Rams stayed on course with Awais Zia and the captain Babar Naeem scoring 53 each, and Mansoor striking 11 fours to reach 94 off 58 when the 45th over began.Rawalpindi Rams needed six off six balls, with two wickets in hand. Altaf had smashed five sixes in an unbeaten 14-ball 44 to propel Lahore Eagles to 317 for 6, but had been expensive with the ball, conceding 54 in his first six overs. He gave away a single off the second ball and followed that with a wide, before trapping Ansari lbw. Singles off the next two balls left Mujahid needing to score two off the last ball, and Altaf bowled Mujahid for 1 to give Lahore Eagles their first win of the tournament.Sent in to bat, Lahore Eagles were 101 for 5 after losing two wickets in the 17th over. Ikhlaq Butt and Zeeshan Ali put on a 144-run partnership before Butt fell in the 41st over for 109, after which Zeeshan and Altaf smashed 72 off the last 29 balls. Zeeshan finished on an unbeaten 84-ball 93, while Altaf struck left-arm spinner Babar Naeem for two fours and three sixes off the last five balls of the innings.Babar Agha made an unbeaten 116 as Karachi Zebras beat Peshawar Panthers by two wickets at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. Chasing 246, Karachi Zebras were 34 for 4 – fast bowler Azizullah had taken all four wickets – when Agha joined Naved Khan in a 119-run partnership for the fifth wicket.Karachi Zebras still needed 93 when Naved fell for an 83-ball 74, but the lower order rallied around Agha. He put on 59 with Ali Mudassar, who made 14, and an unbroken 25 with No. 10 Usama Basharat to take his team over the line with two balls remaining, after left-arm spinner Jibran Khan had struck twice to reduce them to 223 for 8.Earlier, Adil Amin scored a 121-ball 123 to take Peshawar Panthers’ 245 for 8. Five other batsmen got into double figures, but Mohammad Idrees’ 27 was their second-highest score. Ali Mudassar was Karachi Zebras’ most successful bowler with 3 for 35 in nine overs.Zahir Siddiqi took four wickets and scored 28 off eight balls as Bahawalpur Stags beat Abbottabad Falcons by four wickets at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. After Mohammad Naeem built Abbottabad Falcons’ innings with a 58-ball 60, Siddiqi ran through their lower order to trigger a collapse from 200 for 6 to 219 all out with 5.5 overs to go.Bahawalpur Stags lost an early wicket but Mohammad Yasir and Faisal Mubashir steadied the innings with a 62-run partnership for the second wicket before two more wickets fell in quick succession. Adeel Basit, coming in at No.5, scored 62 off 74 balls and put up an unbroken 34 with Siddiqi, who hit three fours and two sixes in eight balls, to take the team home with 14 balls remaining.Group IIAhsan Kareem took three wickets and scored an 11-ball 15 to steer Islamabad Leopards to a one-wicket win over Faisalabad Wolves at Iqbal Stadium. Making his List A debut, the 25-year-old Kareem struck three early blows to leave Faisalabad Wolves reeling at 45 for 4. Hamza Zaheer and Hasan Mahmood scored 30s and added 56 for the fifth wicket, but a 26 from wicketkeeper Mohammad Miqdad was Faisalabad Wolves’ only other notable score as they were bowled out for 198 with an over to go.Opener Sarwar Khan made 47 and Sarmad Bhatti scored 33 but Islamabad Leopars kept losing wickets regularly as they slumped to 155 for 8, with 44 still to get. Wicketkeeper Salman Haider and Kareem took them to 198 when Shehroz Raza took his fourth wicket, dismissing Haider for a 29-ball 43. Kareem and his No.11 partner Shehzad Azam nonetheless held their nerve and completed the win with five balls remaining.Mir Hamza and Khurram Shahzad shared seven wickets, and Mohammad Waqas scored an unbeaten 62 as Karachi Dolphins beat Hyderabad Hawks by five wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi.Hyderabad Hawks never recovered after being reduced to 41 for 4, with Shahzad picking up three of the top four wickets. Shoaib Laghari scored 48 and put on 50 with Lal Kumar for the fifth wicket, but Hamza swept through the lower order to finish with four wickets, and their innings closed with 6.2 overs still remaining.Chasing 152, Karachi Dolphins were 23 for 4 before Waqas and Mohammad Hasan helped them recover with an 82-run partnership. Jawad Ali dismissed wicketkeeper Hasan for 46, but that was to be Hyderabad Hawks’ last success. Waqas saw Karachi Dolphins through to finish with 62 off 101 balls, and put on an unbroken 52 with Shahzaib Ahmed, who scored 25.Opener Arsalan Arshad scored 94 as Lahore Lions thumped Quetta Bears by 89 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium. Arshad struck nine fours and two sixes in a 123-ball knock that helped anchor a Lahore Lions innings without any other major contribution. Extras, in fact, were the team’s second-highest score – 40, of which 30 came in wides. Left-arm spinner Mohibullah took 5 for 43 in eight overs.Chasing 261, Quetta Bears never really got going and dwindled to 123 for 8 before Fareeduddin Agha and Gohar Faiz put on 43, the highest partnership of the innings. The visiting side were eventually all out for 171, with offspinner Agha Salman taking three wickets. Fareeduddin remained not out on 56, having hit six fours and a six in his 63-ball knock.

Gautam Gambhir has urged franchises to do more to discipline players, saying the BCCI can’t be held responsible for players’ off-field behaviour during the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2012Gautam Gambhir, captain of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders, has urged franchises to do more to discipline players, saying the BCCI can’t be held responsible for players’ off-field behaviour during the IPL.”Somewhere down the line, franchises need to control these things,” he told news channel . “A certain player from a certain team does these things, the franchise needs to be fined and it has to be fined heavily.” There had been several controversies during the IPL, including Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Luke Pomersbach being charged by the Delhi police with assaulting a woman.”It is the responsibility of the franchise to control its players,” Gambhir said. “The BCCI can’t appoint one person each to keep a watch over every player.”Players who have a history of binge drinking and have got into trouble in the past, franchises should impose a curfew on them and they should be sent back to their rooms.”The IPL also faced allegations of black money and spot-fixing, but Gambhir defended the Indian board and the IPL. “We keep blaming the BCCI and the IPL for all these things,” he said. “A lot of these things can be sorted out if the franchise is strong enough. Whatever we sign for is given, and nothing is given under the table.”IPL chairman, Rajiv Shukla, meanwhile told that the franchises must ‘keep an eye’ on their playing and support staff. “We are not going to protect any player. We will definitely take action against anyone found guilty and we will tell franchises also to be very careful about these things,” Shukla said. “They should also keep a strict eye on the activities of the respective players and support staff of their side.”