Nottinghamshire made an emphatic late entry into the Friends Provident t20 arena with a six-wicket win against Worcestershire at New Road

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Alex Hales lead Nottinghamshire’s successful run-chase with an unbeaten 66•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire made an emphatic late entry into the Friends Provident t20
arena with a six-wicket win against Worcestershire at New Road. Nine days after the opening fixture in the revamped competition, the Outlaws finally played their first game, holding the home side to 113 for 9 and scooting past their target with six overs to spare.Although Alistair Brown departed in Jack Shantry’s first over, there was never any danger as Alex Hales tore into Worcestershire for the second year in a row despite batting throughout in appalling light.Having made 150 not out in last season’s Pro40 League meeting at Trent Bridge, the 21-year-old opener completed his first FP t20 half-century from 33 balls and finished unbeaten with 66 including nine fours and two sixes.Taking 20 runs from Imran Arif in a five-ball sequence of 4, 4, 2, 4, 6, he
dominated a stand of 63 with Matt Wood (22) before legspinner Steven Smith took wickets in successive deliveries.Smith should also have accounted for Hales but the 6ft 5in batsman was badly dropped by Moeen Ali at long off on 43 and survived another chance at midwicket off medium-pacer Daryl Mitchell on 53. David Hussey (15) was not so lucky when run out by a deflection from the bowler, James Cameron.Worcestershire never recovered from a double blow inflicted by Dirk Nannes in the fourth over of their innings. The Australian World Twenty20 finalist knocked back Vikram Solanki’s off stump and had Phil Jaques caught at midwicket in three balls.Nottinghamshire bowled with relentless accuracy in favourable conditions and continued to hold their catches. Ryan Sidebottom took three, one off his own bowling and two in the deep, the best a tumbling overhead effort to remove Alexei Kervezee.Allrounder Smith briefly injected some entertainment for a patient crowd with two sixes in reaching 19 but the young Australian fell to a top edge during Steve Mullaney’s four-over spell of 3 for 12.When the eighth wicket went down at 78, Worcestershire were in danger of
failing to beat their lowest total of 86 in the old Twenty20 Cup, but Gareth Andrew signed off with three successive sixes as Paul Franks conceded 23 runs in the last over.

South Africa inflicted a dispiriting series loss on West Indies at a venue that was once the home team’s fortress and finished the tour unbeaten

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya29-Jun-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details</a
How they were out
Hawk-eye
Morne Morkel polished off the West Indian tail in quick time•AFP

South Africa inflicted a dispiriting series loss on West Indies at a venue that was once the home team’s fortress and finished the bilateral tour unbeaten. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s hopes of compiling a competitive lead on the fourth morning were quashed by a menacing spell from Morne Morkel, who cut through the West Indies tail to ensure a quick end to their resistance.Chanderpaul had stood firm amid West Indies’ capitulation on the third day, and taken his team into the lead with support from Shane Shillingford, who was dismissed shortly before stumps. The men who followed, though, were unable to put up a fight.Morkel attacked Sulieman Benn from round the wicket, getting the ball to move both ways and troubling the left-hander who played and missed often. He was ultimately done in by one that nipped back in sharply to break through his defences and send the off stump cartwheeling. Kemar Roach followed soon after, edging a drive to Mark Boucher after a series of short balls.Chanderpaul had shown confidence in the tail, not hesitating to pick singles early in the over, but was left watching as his partners fell quickly. The debutant Brandon Bess poked a short-of-length delivery to slip, as Morkel polished off the tail in three overs, leaving South Africa just 47 to chase. Roach displayed plenty of aggression, nipping out three wickets, striking Graeme Smith on the neck with a bouncer, and even getting involved in an extended verbal exchange with Jacques Kallis. But the game was over and done with.The West Indies captain Chris Gayle had called on his batsmen to shoulder more responsibility during his team’s 5-0 debacle in the one-dayers. However, some of those who did play the Test series failed to fulfil to their role. Dale Richards, drafted in for this Test in place of Travis Dowlin, conceded his wicket cheaply in both innings, playing across the line to be trapped plumb, and spooning a catch off a needless pull.More worrying would be the case of Narsingh Deonarine. He had looked solid in the first innings before, inexplicably, switching to an aggressive approach to be bowled. In the second, he played a reckless drive first ball to offer a catch to short cover. Equally irresponsible was the dismissal of Denesh Ramdin, the former vice-captain, who slashed a wide delivery to the keeper in the second innings.Though South Africa’s pace attack had far more venom, the battle in the spin department was more evenly contested with each of the four frontline spinners in this Test extracting assistance from a gradually deteriorating track. The move to pick a spinner, Johan Botha, in place of left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe, proved decisive for the visitors. And the seamers Dale Steyn and Morkel, on a pitch that was of lesser benefit to them than the slow bowlers, varied their lengths superbly, ruffling up the batsmen with the short deliveries and creating the temptation to play by pushing the odd one fuller.But while South Africa, with more assuredness in their batting and a generally superior outfit, were favourites throughout, their task was made easier by the reckless approach adopted by their opponents.

The SSC has been a fortress of sorts for Sri Lanka in the recent past, and they set about continuing their dominant run at the venue with another imposing performance

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya26-Jul-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Century no. 23 for Kumar Sangakkara•AFP

The SSC has been a fortress of sorts for Sri Lanka in the recent past, and they set about continuing their dominant run at the venue with another imposing opening-day performance. The actors who put them in charge this time were the same as in Galle. Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana served the Indians a painful reminder of the initiative lost on the first day of the series, cashing in on some unthreatening bowling that offered plenty of opportunities to score on a seemingly lifeless track.The bowlers were expected to have a hard time on this pitch and events after MS Dhoni lost the toss reinforced the apprehensions the sides may have had of fielding first. The virtual absence of swing and the lack of movement off the deck, combined with poor lengths from the seamers, helped the Sri Lankan openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Paranavitana take the initiative in the opening session. And the glimmer of hope that Dilshan’s wicket provided following the introduction of spin was extinguished by a brilliant counter-attack from Sangakkara.As Dhoni had predicted, the pitch offered more bounce than the one in Galle but the spinners created few chances, despite the accompanying turn. It was Sangakkara who initially unsettled the spinners, prompting Dhoni to set defensive fields soon after Dilshan’s dismissal. In the very over that Pragyan Ojha had Dilshan caught at extra cover, Sangakkara slashed one through point for four and audaciously stepped out to loft him over mid-on.Dilshan’s brisk start to the innings had forced Dhoni to place deep points for both seamers, and Sangakkara’s fluent beginning resulted in a long-on and deep midwicket being put in place for the spinners. And while the slow bowlers kept a slip and a short leg, they rarely bowled on a length to draw the batsmen forward.Harbhajan Singh has a huge responsibility to bear, leading an inexperienced bowling attack, but the ease with which he was handled underlined the daunting task facing the visitors. Harbhajan changed angles and varied his flight but the Sri Lankan left-hand batsmen used the away spin to carve him through cover and point and used their feet to effect when the ball was tossed up. Sangakkara launched one over the bowler’s head for a one-bounce four while Paranavitana, the more cautious of the two, charged down and swung him over the midwicket boundary.The seamers, Ishant Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun, who had struggled in the opening session, were targeted by Sangakkara after lunch. Facing deliveries that were bowled consistently back of a length, Sangakkara pulled and whipped them behind square and delicately guided those pitched even fractionally short through point and past gully. He was positive throughout, ensuring a steady flow of singles and twos, but had a scare when he edged Mithun just wide of gully while in the nineties. He brought up his 23rd Test century by dispatching Virender Sehwag over mid-on, and looked determined to bat India out of the Test.Paranavitana was a little patchy to begin with. He was beaten on a couple of occasions by Mithun in the morning session, but Ishant gave him an opening with a short and wide delivery that was duly smacked through point. Tentative with his foot movement early on, Paranavitana gradually moved forward to deliveries pitched fuller and picked a couple of boundaries, beautifully driven past mid-off. While Sangakkara was constantly on the hunt for runs, Paranavitana remained solid in defence and ceded the floor to his captain, giving him the strike and intermittently finding the boundary with some crisp drives through the off side. Charged with anchoring the innings, he reached his second successive century moments before Sangakkara got his, but played on to a shortish delivery from Ishant after tea.A sense of foreboding for the Indians was evident fairly early in the day, when Dilshan smacked four consecutive boundaries off Ishant Sharma in the fourth over. He dealt with Mithun similarly, cracking three tempting short deliveries to different parts of the ground to race to a half-century. He squandered an opportunity to reach three figures, two other batsmen did not, and with Mahela Jayawardene standing firm in his favourite venue, Sri Lanka have, yet again, capitalised on winning the toss.

South Africa and Pakistan will play an extra T20I in Dubai to raise funds for victims of the floods that have devastated Pakistan over the last month

Osman Samiuddin26-Aug-2010South Africa and Pakistan will play an extra Twenty20 match in Dubai to raise funds for victims of the floods that have devastated Pakistan over the last month.The match is scheduled to take place before the first Twenty20 between the two sides in Abu Dhabi that kicks off the series of two Tests and five ODIs on October 27. The entire series is being played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai because of ongoing security concerns in Pakistan.”The floods have been a real tragedy and this is our own way of trying to help out the victims in the country,” Gerald Majola, CSA’s chief executive, told Cricinfo. “It will be an extra game, probably two days before the first T20 that starts the series, and all proceeds will go to victims of the floods.”The match is the first tangible result of the PCB’s efforts to raise funds for a natural disaster the UN believes to be among the worst in living memory. Over 1500 deaths have been recorded already and it is estimated nearly 20 million people have been affected after record rainfall in north-western parts of Pakistan. Roughly one-fifth of the country’s landmass stands submerged. Though initially sluggish, aid has begun to flow in, with over US$800 million pledged so far.Other boards have also indicated an interest in helping out. Zimbabwe have already expressed their commitment to tour Pakistan and play in fund-raising games, though details have not been finalised. The West Indies Cricket Board have also offered their assistance, possibly when Pakistan tour the Caribbean next year.”We feel hurt as we have watched on television and followed on the internet, the magnitude of the destruction and devastation caused to the people of Pakistan, by the recent floods,” said Julian Hunte, the West Indies board president. “The WICB and the PCB have had a long and fruitful relationship for many years and we want to assure them than they have our full support in this dark time.”In an effort to see how best we can assist, the WICB will contact the PCB hierarchy to examine how we can work together,” he said. “The Pakistani cricketers are due to visit the West Indies next year for a full tour, under the ICC Future Tours Programme, so this visit will offer an opportunity to assist in a meaningful way.”The PCB is also keen on arranging a game in England during Pakistan’s ongoing tour but nothing concrete has emerged yet. Instead, players from England and Pakistan have contributed their match fees to the cause and the sides are also expected to attend several fund-raising dinners.PCB officials claimed that New Zealand had also offered to visit Pakistan to play a series to help flood victims, but this was swiftly denied by Justin Vaughan, chief executive NZC. Vaughan did express the hope “that cricket could play a part in alleviating some of the suffering that is going on there.” Pakistan are scheduled to tour New Zealand at the end of the year, leaving open the possibility of the two boards arranging a game for the cause.

Members of the Sri Lankan team have been approached more than once over the last year by people being described as “suspicious characters”

Sidharth Monga05-Sep-2010Members of the Sri Lankan team have been approached by people being described as “suspicious characters” more than once over the last year. Team sources, however, told ESPNcricinfo that contrary to newspaper reports, the Sri Lankan team did not report any specific player to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).During the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, several players first brought to the notice of the Sri Lankan management that there were suspicious people “hanging around and trying to talk and approach”. The matter was immediately reported to the ACSU, whereupon Alan Peacock, senior investigator of the unit, took statements from the players who had made the reports.Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, too, confirmed that “the report was handed over to ACSU by manager Brendon Kuruppu”. The team management also got Peacock to speak to the team on these issues, and players were encouraged to report any approach openly.That, though, was not the last time the team had to make such reports to the ACSU. There were other approaches since then, and the ICC and SLC had all the details. The source said the year had been a particularly difficult time “to hold the team together, and still manage to keep giving our best”.The source said: “We always wanted to make sure that whenever we played it was as clean as possible.” The players were asked to report immediately “if there was any doubt”.”We wanted to make sure that the cricket board and the ACSU are given every opportunity to ensure the players are protected from these influences. Every opportunity was given to see if any player was guilty of it, to make sure those things were dealt with in tandem with the cricket board.”The source said one of the other issues around the entire anti-corruption exercise was the confidentiality of reporting approaches to the ICC. “Most of the time you might think twice [before reporting],” the source said. “If you find it reported in a newspaper, another newspaper can carry it, and so on… It has to be confidential. Players must report but people have to make sure they feel safe to do so. At the same time, the ICC’s code itself makes it mandatory for players to report these things. You have to build the trust up. Players also want a clean game.”

The common theme as Australia and India prepare for the Test has been niggles and minor discomforts that have made both the sides take precautionary measures

Sidharth Monga in Chandigarh27-Sep-2010The buzz around the series is slowly building up in Chandigarh. The Indian team, sans the Champions League and Board President’s XI players, have been training hard for two days at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, and the Australians have had a fruitful three days of cricket at the Sector 16 Stadium. The common theme has been niggles and minor discomforts that have made both the sides take precautionary measures.Gautam Gambhir, Sreesanth, Simon Katich and Marcus North have all experienced some sort of discomfort over the last three days. Sreesanth cramped up while bowling and took some time off before coming back to bowl. Gambhir was hit on the right hand by a rising delivery from Ben Hilfenhaus on the second day of the match. He played no part in the remainder of the game, sitting out while the BP XI team fielded on day three and choosing to not bat in the second innings. It has been learnt that this was just to ensure he did not aggravate the problem ahead of the series.North, who made a much-needed good start to his tour with a fluent century, experienced some back trouble too, and took the Gambhir route, staying out of action on day three. Katich had a bruised thumb, and he didn’t bat in the Australians’ second innings. He however came on the field after the Australians’ declaration, which is a good sign for the visitors.Meanwhile, over at the PCA Stadium in the outskirts of the city, key members of the Indian team got through a full practice session. Wearing the new team practice kit, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman had a nice hit in the nets. Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra were the bowlers present. There had been reports that Sehwag was hit on the right knee by an Ishant delivery yesterday, but he seemed in no discomfort while batting in the nets.Apart from the team’s bowling coach Eric Simons, Harbhajan had his childhood coach, Devender Arora, work with him during the session.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has injured his left hamstring and is fighting for fitness ahead of the tour of Australia which starts later this month

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Oct-2010Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has injured his left hamstring and is fighting for fitness ahead of the tour of Australia which starts later this month.Sri Lanka team physio Tommy Simsek said that Sangakkara suffered the injury while training on a muddy track on Tuesday, but was confident he would be fit for the Australian tour. “It is a mild grade-one hamstring injury,” Simsek said. “He is currently under treatment and requires about two weeks to recover from the injury.”Sangakkara also suffered a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka’s last tour to Australia in 2007-08 and missed the first Test at Brisbane. The injury came a day after Sangakkara was named the CEAT-Sri Lanka Cricket cricketer of the year and most popular cricketer. He is also currently the number one ICC ranked Test batsman.Simsek said that Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews was also struggling to be fit for the tour with an injury to his left knee bone. “We are monitoring Angelo’s fitness daily,” Simsek said. “At the moment he cannot put much effort on his left knee and is unable to bowl. He has time until the team leaves for Australia on October 16 to show improvement otherwise we will have to replace him.” Batsman Thilina Kandamby has been put on standby for Mathews.Sri Lanka play a series of three one-day internationals and one Twenty20 international against Australia in addition to three warm-up games against state sides during the short tour.

On a flat pitch that aided neither spin nor pace, India needed a spinner with a big of magic, but didn’t have one

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2010It might change character over the final two days, but so far the pitch hasn’t helped the spinners, it hasn’t helped the seamers, and the conditions weren’t conducive for reverse swing. There was turn, but it was slow. What it required, then, was a spinner who could produce a bit of magic.India’s leading spinner Harbhajan Singh hasn’t been in great form, though. It’s often been said by his critics – and there are quite a few of them – that he needs spin-friendly tracks to be really effective, like he showed in the Calcutta Test against South Africa in February. The last time he bowled superbly and consistently through a series, though, was not at home. It came in New Zealand in 2009. He got the ball to drift, turn, and bounce. He deployed over spin, side spin, and top spin and looked at the top of his game.A few months after that series, Daniel Vettori was asked to name the player he admired the most in the international scene. “I really enjoy watching Harbhajan Singh bowl. I think he’s my favourite bowler to watch in world cricket. I admire his skills and his repertoire, and he’s someone I always try to learn from whenever I see him bowl.”But it’s clear from the last 12 months that all is currently not well in Harbhajan’s world. Over that span, encompassing 10 Tests, he has averaged 42.47 at a strike rate of 86.1. In comparison, his career bowling average is 31.66 at a strike rate of 67.2. He rarely uses the doosra now; he perhaps didn’t bowl a single one in the series against Australia. He prefers the topspinner now. It is most puzzling. It’s tempting to use that to explain his decline, but even on that 2009 New Zealand tour he didn’t bowl many doosras. His bowling has lacked drift and bounce. He has been injured in the recent months and missed a few Tests. That could be a factor. His fans have pointed out that he is still the best spinner India has and he will overcome this dip in form.Throughout his career, Harbhajan has shown a tendency to push his deliveries on middle and leg on his bad days. That, though, hasn’t happened a lot in recent games. The lines have been better, the speeds have been relatively fine, but the lengths have suffered. Without a loop and dip, they often do. The result is that 42.84 average. Luckily for India, this has coincided with the rise of Zaheer Khan, who has been awesome with the old ball when it reverses. It didn’t today, and the New Zealanders marched along.The other spinner, Pragyan Ojha, averages 41.60. He is rarely used as a strike bowler and it’s clear that he doesn’t like one. He was quick to switch to over the stumps today – – perhaps because he was asked to by the team think tank. You could see why. There were rough patches outside leg stump and both McCullum and Ross Taylor like to sweep. Perhaps one would take the top edge? It didn’t, and he struck almost immediately on returning to bowling around the stumps with a beauty to remove McCullum. It dipped and turned to leave the batsman stranded. That’s the thing about Ojha that confounds. There were couple of deliveries today from the spinners that gripped, turned and bounced. All of them came from Ojha, though they seem to be exception rather than norm with him. His deliveries seem to land on a length and turn very slightly. It feels as if he doesn’t give them a good rip. It perhaps is the stock bowler in him dominating. Most probably, that’s his role.Ojha’s former Hyderabad bowling coach, Kanwaljit Singh, tells of a meeting with the bowler in what proved to be a turn-around game for him. “We [Kanwal and the captain VVS Laxman] told him, look you are our strike bowler. This is a wicket aiding spin and we are confident you can run through them. Show us you can.” Ojha took 6 for 84 and moved up a grade. Is what we see from him now at the international level his best, or is there a gear he has not tried yet? India might want to use him as their containing bowler, but that doesn’t mean he can’t attack at all. It would be good to know whether there is another gear to him at this level for Murali Kartik, who is clearly the better bowler, is still going strong at the county and domestic circuit.So far, the game has the look and feel of a draw. Even the usually ebullient Sreesanth didn’t sound upbeat.” It’s very flat track as usual in Ahmedabad. I worked very hard because it is not an easy track to bowl on, very slow track. We have to work very hard. I don’t think we could have done anything differently. Maybe we should have restricted a few more boundaries. It just happens – some days it clicks, some days it doesn’t. You have got to be patient. We will keep on giving our best shot.”Credit goes to their batsmen, they played well.” Of course, Sreesanth being Sreesanth, he couldn’t let it go at that. “I can’t wait to see the next game. I really want to see how they play on a turner; I think they are going to struggle.”

Allrounder Sarah Tsukigawa has replaced Maria Fahey for the first two Twenty20 international matches of the Rose Bowl series

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2010Allrounder Sarah Tsukigawa has returned to the New Zealand women’s squad in place of Maria Fahey for the first two Twenty20 international matches of the Rose Bowl series that will be played in Hamilton and Nelson on December 28 and December 30. Aimee Watkins will captain the team.The squad was selected after three trial Twenty20 games that were played last weekend. The remaining six matches of the eight-match series will be played from February 18 to 28, when Australia will return to New Zealand. The team will be reselected at that point.The selections of Rachel Priest and Erin Bermingham are conditional on their passing a fitness test on December 15.New Zealand squad: Aimee Watkins (capt), Suzie Bates, Erin Bermingham, Kate Broadmore, Nicola Browne, Sophie Devine, Natalie Dodd, Lucy Doolan, Sara McGlashan, Liz Perry, Rachel Priest, Sian Ruck, Amy Satterthwaite, Sarah Tsukigawa

Shahid Karim, Mohammad Amir’s lawyer at the spot-fixing hearing in Doha, has said that the ICC tribunal’s decision to defer their verdict gives his client hope

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2011Shahid Karim, Mohammad Amir’s lawyer at the spot-fixing hearing in Doha, has said that the ICC tribunal’s decision to defer their verdict gives his client renewed hope.”The last day of the (six-day) hearing was very positive,” Karim told on his return to Lahore. “It could be a silver lining for us. I hope Amir will be exonerated next month when the verdict will be announced.”Karim had earlier requested the three-man tribunal examining the charges to take more time to study the case before announcing its verdict, which was initially due on January 11. Following the six-day hearing, the tribunal deferred the verdict to February 5.Karim hopes Amir’s age and unblemished record will work in his favour. “I am happy with the procedure of the hearing,” he had said in Doha. “The ICC code of conduct has a clause which points to looking at the player’s age and past disciplinary record and Amir is young, so we hope the tribunal will keep this in mind.”