All posts by csb10.top

Group BAn exciting final morning can be expected in Kolkata as Bengal are 34 runs short of taking the first-innings lead while Delhi need two wickets to grab three points. Such a scenario was possible only because of Manoj Tiwary, who compiled his third consecutive first-class century, and is now 37 runs adrift of a second double-century this season. Beginning the day on 84 for 4, Bengal survived an early morning scare after Sourav Ganguly was dropped by Shikar Dhawan at second slip off Parvinder Awana on 19. Though Ganguly managed to reach his 88th first-class fifty, he was living dangerously and eventually played into the hands of Yogesh Nagar at gully, trying to chase a wide delivery off Pradeep Sangwan.Tiwary remained unruffled, picking runs through the day at a consistent pace. He cobbled together vital partnerships with Laxmi Shukla and Subhomoy Das to keep the Delhi bowlers busy. Tiwary did blame Bengal’s experienced batsmen for playing the wrong shots but was positive about overtaking Delhi in the morning. “They [Delhi] have already taken the (second) new ball. There isn’t much movement in the wicket now and whatever grass is there will go with the mowing tomorrow,” Tiwary told the media after the day’s play.Haryana were facing the prospect of an innings defeat against Madhya Pradesh in Rohtak after fast bowler TP Sudhindra’s career-best seven-for made the hosts follow-on. Haryana were dismissed for just 126 in reply to MP’s 487, with Sudhindra adding three more wickets today to his haul of four on the second day. It was only captain Amit Mishra’s unbeaten 45 that carried Haryana past 100. Their troubles grew when Sudhindra struck with the third delivery of the follow-on innings, removing Rahul Dewan for a duck. Nitin Saini and Sunny Singh fought back in a century stand, but Asif Ali bowled Saini for 53 to leave Haryana needing another 214 to avoid an innings defeat. Sunny remained unbeaten on 75 to give Haryana hope that they could achieve that.An unbeaten 138-run alliance for the fifh wicket between the rookie pair of Pratharesh Panchal and Manprit Juneja helped Gujarat recover from a top-order failure to reach 293 for 4 in Ahmedabad. Parthiv Patel had only made four when he edged an away-going delivery from Jagannathan Kaushik, and was brilliantly caught by R Prasanna in the third over of the Gujarat innings. Avi Barot and Niraj Patel managed to get the starts but both fell to offspinner Sunny Gupta. When Priyank Panchal, too, was dismissed by Gupta for 80, Gujarat were in trouble at 155 for 4. But Parmar dug in with a dogged, unbeaten 45 and debutant Juneja hit 14 fours in his unbeaten 84 to ensure that there were no further jolts for the hosts on the third day. Despite their gritty efforts, Tamil Nadu‘s 698 is still looking miles away going into the final day.Group AA solid batting show from their top order put Rajasthan in a position to declare early on the final day and have a crack at Saurashtra in Jaipur. After Pankaj Singh completed his first five-for of the season and Saurashtra were bowled out for 265, conceding a first-innings lead of 131, Aakash Chopra produced an unbeaten 87 to put Rajasthan firmly in control. Vineet Saxena and Hrishikesh Kanitkar provided Chopra with support, both making scores in the 30s. Pankaj, the second-highest wicket-taker last Ranji season, has carried on with the same grit this year, too, and was confident of having a second go at the visitors, who on 11 points, are desperately searching for positive result to keep their knockout hopes alive. Pankaj said he just took advantage of Saurashtra’s anxiousness.”The pitch was mostly good yesterday but it wasn’t consistent. Today it was far slower. I knew the batsmen would go for false strokes if I hit the right areas. They were always under pressure and I just took advantage of it,” Pankaj told .If the fog does not play spoilsport for the fourth successive day in Lucknow tomorrow, Uttar Pradesh will entertain hopes of overtaking Mumbai‘s first-innings score to grab the vital three points they need so desperately to keep their knockout prospects alive. So far 83 overs have been lost to fog and on Thursday play was delayed by 135 minutes. Out of the 73 overs scheduled, only 53 could be bowled.As soon as Mumbai lost their final wicket in the first over of the morning, UP reached 166 for 2 in reply to Mumbai’s 414 before bad light curtailed the day’s play. Though UP lost Tanmay Srivastava and Mohammad Kaif before reaching a score of 100, the pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Parvinder Singh played enterprisingly to stitch together an unbeaten 68-run partnership for the third wicket. Bhuvneshwar was lucky to survivie after being dropped on seven at square leg by Abhishek Nayar and then on 27 by Kaustubh Pawar in the slips. In contrast Parvinder, one of the prolific scorers for UP, played aggressively, hitting five boundaries including two sixes in his 52-ball stay so far.Interestingly, in a scenario where more than 90 overs are lost due to bad light, the rule states that both teams would share at least two points each. But with Suresh Raina in their ranks, UP will hope to get the lead without having to rely on the elements.Orissa require another 86 runs, with five wickets in hand, to overhaul Railways‘ first-innings score of 379 in Delhi. Orissa’s openers put on a stand of 124 in all, after resuming on 108 for no loss. Subhrajit Sahoo was out for 70 to end the partnership, but another steady stand followed between Paresh Patel and Subit Biswal. Paresh fell just five short of a hundred, triggering a mini-collapse. Orissa went from 202 for 1 to 205 for 5, before Abhilash Mallick and Govind Podder steadied them with an unbroken partnership of 89. The veterans Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kartik, who bowled the maximum overs on the penultimate day, hold the key in stopping Orissa from taking away the three points now available from this match.On a gloomy day in Bangalore, Punjab became the first team to take the first-innings lead against Karnataka this season. Mayank Sidhana’s second half-century of the match, and bad light that ended play more than an hour early made a draw the likeliest result as Punjab ended the day nearly 200 ahead with only three wickets down. Read the full report here.

Match facts

Sunday, November 20
Start time 1500 (1100 GMT)Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 64 in the third ODI was only his second half-century in 15 innings•AFP

Big Picture

The batting Powerplay played its role in adding to the excitement of the World Cup, often tripping up a batting side coasting towards a large score or jumpstarting a flagging chase. The rules have been tweaked since and though the Powerplay is now taken earlier, it continues to add an element of unpredictability to the game, and was pivotal to the results of the previous two one-dayers between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.Sri Lanka were reasonably well placed in their chase on Friday when they opted for the Powerplay. Cue 19 runs in five overs, the wickets of both their set batsmen and an arduous challenge that proved too much for the tail. It was similarly poisonous for Pakistan in the second ODI – 26 runs, three wickets and a chase that was virtually over. In what is a must-win game for Sri Lanka – Pakistan lead the five-match series 2-1 – how both teams handle the batting Powerplay could be crucial.Teams are yet to properly re-calibrate their approach during the later set of fielding restrictions. Previously they targeted about 50 runs in that five-over spell, while now they need to tone down their ambitions, given that a big chunk of the innings still remains after that Powerplay. Mahela Jayawardene has already predicted how the two new balls will lead to lower totals, suggesting that 250 could be the new par score.A par score of 250 seems like a throwback to the 1990s, a feeling that is only emphasised by Sunday’s game being played in Sharjah. This signals the return of top-tier one-day cricket to the venue that was the hotbed of ODIs during 90s. Sharjah Cricket Ground is the runaway leader in terms of number of one-days hosted, but it’s been eight years since two major teams contested a 50-over match there.

Form guide

Pakistan: WLWWW (most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LWLWL

Watch out for …

Imran Farhat’s place has been under scrutiny for much of his international career but he has finally begun to put together a string of performances that could satisfy the critics. Three half-centuries in five ODI-innings is a start, but he still needs to improve his conversion-rate.It’s been an up-and-down year for Upul Tharanga. There was the high of scoring loads of runs during Sri Lanka’s run to the World Cup final, followed by the low of a three-month drug ban. Tharanga may not attract the headlines as much as the current Sri Lanka captain and his two predecessors, but he has quietly accumulated 12 one-day centuries, the third-highest by a Sri Lanka batsman.

Team news

Most of Pakistan’s XI picks itself. The only question is over which fast bowler will partner Umar Gul with the new balls. Aizaz Cheema got a look-in for the first two games before being replaced by Sohail Tanvir. After Tanvir’s lacklustre effort on Friday, Junaid Khan could well be in line for a place.Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Sohail Tanvir/Junaid Khan.Dilhara Fernando didn’t have the best of games on Friday. With Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera also being right-arm quicks, Sri Lanka may be tempted to add variety to the attack through the change of angle Chanaka Welegedara provides.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Seekkuge Prasanna, 11 Dilhara Fernando/Chanaka Welegedara.

Stats and trivia

• Of the major Test nations, only Sri Lanka don’t have any batsman with an ODI average above 40.00. Kumar Sangakkara, with 37.77, has the highest one-day average for a Sri Lankan
• Pakistan’s biggest ODI victory over Sri Lanka, and second biggest overall, came in Sharjah, when they won by 217 runs in 2002

Quotes

“It wasn’t easy early on in the previous match. The ball wasn’t coming onto the bat, but spending more time in the middle just gave us a bit more confidence.”

“We have to get used to it. I don’t think 300 and 350 runs are [now needed for] winning. Now 250 runs can be [enough for] a winnable target, with two new balls.”

For a player who is ICC Cricketer of the Year and has hit heady heights with his run-scoring, Jonathan Trott still has to cope with plenty of questions being asked about his place especially in the one-day game. However, unsurprisingly for a man whose key trait is the single-mindedness he brings to his batting, Trott isn’t getting worked up by thoughts of having to fight for his England berth.He is set to continue in his No. 3 role for the one-day international series against India that starts on Friday and showed fluency as he made 74 of 68 balls in England’s second warm-up match against a Hyderabad XI yesterday. He added 143 with Jonny Bairstow who flayed boundaries all around the ground, but that isn’t Trott’s game and he’s comfortable with his role.”For an older guy of the team it’s a good thing to see that strength in depth,” he said. “It spurs you on to try to push yourself and become even better. I feel like I’ve been pretty successful over the last couple of years, but, by no means, like I’ve done enough to deserve to secure my spot.””You’ve got to go about it the best way you think you can contribute to the team,” he added. “That’s all I try to do, the only thing I really think about when I go out in the middle. Sometimes you get it wrong, play the wrong shot, but it’s always while you’re trying to do your best for your team-mates. I think everyone’s got that mentality and that’s why we’ve been pretty successful over the last few years.”There is stiff competition for batting places in the England line-up following Bairstow’s recent performances, including the 53-ball hundred on Tuesday, and it could be that Ian Bell, their most impressive Test batsman during the home season, misses out for the first one-day international. Kevin Pietersen is back in the one-day se, although he failed in both warm-up matches while Ravi Bopara has enjoyed a consistent run.However, Trott insists this England team is not about the individual and whoever is left out, it won’t prove an issue. “Whichever XI is selected have to go out there with the full backing of each other and the guys off the field,” he said. “It is not a case of wondering what the selection is going to be. You certainly go out there wanting to play for each other. It’s your job to do that, do your best for England.”It’s not a case of looking over your shoulder. You can’t go very far forward if you’re looking over your shoulder the whole time. I don’t think that’s a very good mentality to have, worrying about your own place.”

Scorecard
Junaid Khan came good for the Pakistanis, claiming four wickets, as the two-day tour game in Bulawayo ended in a draw. The Zimbabwe XI managed only a three-run first innings lead after a lower-order collapse, following which the Pakistanis put on 72 for 1 in 24 overs before the match ended.Resuming on 30 for no loss, the Zimbabwe XI were jolted early by left-armer Junaid who trapped both Tino Mawoyo and Regis Chakabva lbw, the latter for a duck. Greg Lamb managed to provide overnight batsman Chamu Chibhabha – who top scored with 70 – with a bit of support and the pair put on 71. But legspinner Yasir Shah dismissed both in quick succession, Zimbabwe XI faltering at 132 for 4. Another period of brief resistance was followed by a slide, as the hosts lost their last six wickets for 43 runs. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal also picked up two wickets for the Pakistanis in a tidy spell.Mohammad Hafeez was positive when his side came out to bat, stroking 39 off 48 balls before succumbing to the left-arm spin of Cephas Zhuwao. Taufeeq Umar and Misbah-ul-Haq then safely negotiated till the end of play.Pakistan take on Zimbabwe in a lone Test from September 1 in Bulawayo.

The termination of the Kochi franchise from the IPL is a blow for the growth of cricket in Kerala, as well as the economic development of the state, Shashi Tharoor, the former minister of state for external affairs, who played a vital role in organising the bid for the team, has said.”That investors from Gujarat and Maharashtra were persuaded to team up to bring their venture to Kerala was, to my mind, proof that Kerala too could attract outsiders to invest in our future,” Tharoor said. “Sadly, of course, those outsiders have let the state down by defaulting on their obligations to the BCCI.”The BCCI axed the Kochi franchise at its annual general meeting in Mumbai on September 19 citing an “irremediable breach” of contract. The board said the franchise had failed to furnish a new bank guarantee for 2011. The termination was the latest in a series of problems that have dogged the franchise since its inception, when a controversy over its ownership pattern led to Tharoor resigning from his post in India’s cabinet.”As a member of parliament from the state, I was acutely aware that Keralites simply did not believe we could compete with the major cities of India to attract big-ticket investment and high-value enterprises to our state. That’s why the establishment of a Kerala IPL team was all the more significant and important for the people of this tourist-friendly state, long languishing in the backwaters of Indian cricket’s shores.”Kerala has been marginal to Indian cricket – habitual wooden-spooners in the Ranji Trophy Plate League. Where does it fit in to the grand narrative of Indian cricket? It was a footnote at best.”I saw Kochi Tuskers Kerala as a venture that would not just boost the prospects of Kerala’s cricketers, but spark the imaginations of our young people and open new vistas for businesses, as well as promote a new surge of cricket-related tourism.”The owners of the Kochi franchise, whom Tharoor said he had “no role in choosing, merely in steering to Kerala”, said that they would fight to keep the franchise and even take legal action if necessary. The new BCCI president N Srinivasan, however, had said there was no way back for them.

Plans are being put in place for a first-class structure in Ireland that could pave the way for the country to become a Test nation. Although still a long way from coming to fruition, possibly a decade, Cricket Ireland believes it is a realistic aim following the team’s rise in one-day international and Twenty20 cricket.Warren Deutrom, the chief executive, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that talk of a first-class game in Ireland wasn’t just a pipe-dream and that it is a major part of the road map for cricket’s future in the country. Though he was not willing to commit to a date or expand on details of any discussions that have taken place, there is a belief that the game in Ireland is becoming strong enough to support a first-class system.”Do I think it can be achieved? If I didn’t I may as well not be in the job,” Deutrom said. “There is no time frame to it, but it is certainly something we want to achieve.”While Bangladesh gained Test status without a first-class competition in place – that was all to do with the Asian bloc vote and is a major reason why they have struggled to adapt to the long format – Ireland would need to prove their game could sustain a decent standard. The development of 12,000-seater ground at Malahide, a suburb of Dublin, is a sign of Ireland’s serious aims.”I think don’t anything should be ruled out,” William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, said when asked about Test cricket for Ireland. “It might not be in my playing career, but it could be if you see the steps we’ve taken in the last four years. We have everything in place to push on.”Seven of the current squad for the match against England at Clontarf make their living in county cricket and one of the driving forces behind trying to expand the game in Ireland is the continued loss of players to the English game. It is being highlighted this week with Eoin Morgan leading England for the first time, while Boyd Rankin, who will open the bowling for Ireland, is on their radar and George Dockrell has been noted as one to watch.Cricket Ireland now offer contracts to their leading players but young cricketers who want to reach Test level still have no choice but to follow the England route. Although Ireland can continue to play them until they are selected by the full side – not the Lions as in Rankin’s case – the moment they play an international they can’t switch back if their career stalls unless they spend four more years qualifying, as Ed Joyce did before the 2011 World Cup.”In the last few years we’ve produced a lot of good cricketers and in an ideal world we’d be playing at the highest level ourselves,” Porterfield said. “We want to become a Full Member, even if that’s just to be a part of the FTP for one-dayers, we have to keep progressing. We have shown we deserve to be there. In an ideal world everyone would be based at home and we’d have a first-class structure in Ireland and wouldn’t have to rely on England. I think that’s the direction it’s moving in and hopefully plans will be put in place over the next few years.”In the shorter term, though, the challenge for Ireland is to increase their exposure to top-level ODI cricket. Matches such as Thursday’s against England are a key part but the team needs regular contests against the Full Members and Cricket Ireland are hopeful of having a visit from Australia next year.However, the international schedule is crammed. In recent times plans have fallen through for series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh due to their other international commitments which now include Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket. The Irish board are likely to accept an invite to join the Hong Kong Sixes for the first time this year, but while a welcome addition to their profile, it isn’t proper cricket and there is hope that a trip to West Indies might materialise.Early next year Ireland will take part in the World Twenty20 qualifiers to try and secure their place at the full tournament in Sri Lanka next September. There are places for two Associates at that event after the ICC’s decision to revert to a 14-team 50-over World Cup for 2015 instead of a 16-team Twenty20 although Associate nations are still considering how to challenge that. While Test cricket is the dream goal for Ireland, the pressure is on them to keep qualifying for the major limited-overs events and build on the successes of the last five years.

Scorecard
Danny Briggs took four wickets to limit Sussex’s lead•Getty Images

Ollie Rayner’s carefully measured half-century gave Sussex a small but important first-innings advantage over Hampshire in a low-scoring County Championship match on an indifferent pitch at Hove.When Rayner came to the wicket Sussex were 109 for 5 and struggling to match Hampshire’s 206, but he hit a controlled 62 not out from 118 balls, with eight fours, to help his side reach 240. Hampshire were 61 for 2 in their second innings to lead by 27 at the close.Rayner, 25, has been a valuable member of the Sussex squad since the club brought him back from Middlesex, where he had been on loan, in June. Last month he took 5 for 18 in a Twenty20 game against Somerset and also struck 58 against Warwickshire at Arundel in Sussex’s last Championship fixture. Even while wickets were falling he made no attempt to force the pace against a tiring attack, though he might have been run out by Dominic Cork when he had 20.Sussex had resumed on 27 for 2 and looked capable of building a solid lead when Murray Goodwin and Luke Wells carried the total to 68 before Goodwin, back on his stumps, fell lbw to slow left-armer Danny Briggs. Matt Prior had scored 5 when he fended a lifting delivery from Cork to Neil McKenzie at first slip and Wells was stumped for 49 when he jumped down the wicket to attack Briggs.Rayner joined Andrew Hodd, but in the 57th over Hodd was the sixth man out at 142, lbw as he played forward to Briggs. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan decided to attack the Hampshire youngster and lifted him over the hospitality tents for a huge six but then Briggs had him lbw, although the batsman was well forward.That made it 166 for 7 and it was soon 179 for 8 when Monty Panesar, batting high at nine, swiped straight to Mike Carberry at wide mid-on for three. Rayner, who used his long reach to drive impressively along the ground, was now joined by James Anyon and Sussex moved past Hampshire’s score when Anyon hit Briggs through the covers for four.Hampshire took the new ball and immediately Kabir Ali had Anyon lbw with a yorker, before Amjad Khan became yet another lbw victim, this time to Imran Tahir. Sussex led by 34 runs after the first innings while Briggs, who bowled a spell of 36 overs, finished with 4 for 85. At just 20, Briggs already has 98 first-class wickets.Hampshire lost both openers before stumps, either side of a short rain interruption. Jimmy Adams was only half forward and fell lbw to Amjad Khan and Liam Dawson was caught behind off the fiery Anyon, as the visitors closed with a narrow lead going into the third day.

The fifth edition of the IPL will be held from April 4 to May 27, 2012. The tournament is scheduled after India’s return from their tour of Australia and South Africa’s tour of New Zealand in March. The tournament will feature 74 matches – the same as this year’s IPL – and the match schedule will be announced soon.The structure of the Future Tours Programme [FTP] is one of the major points up for discussion in the ongoing ICC annual conference in Hong Kong, amid calls for a separate window for the IPL within that schedule. There are several series next year that are expected to overlap with the IPL, and may result in the absence of some international stars. England are scheduled to host West Indies, Australia are expected to tour the West Indies, and Pakistan are due to play Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.The 2011 IPL took place barely a week after the World Cup, and the arrival of some Australian cricketers, including Shane Watson, was delayed due to their tour of Bangladesh. The number of teams grew from eight – as in the previous three versions – to ten, with Sahara Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala joining the league but failing to qualify for the knockouts. Chennai Super Kings defended their title successfully, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.

Australia’s new vice-captain Shane Watson wants to keep opening the batting but would be willing to shift down the order if the balance of the side requires it. In his 36 Test innings as an opener, Watson has averaged 49.88, but with young top-order batsmen like Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja coming through, and the veteran Simon Katich still in contention, Australia could have a glut of opening options.”I do love opening the batting and at the moment my conversations with Michael [Clarke] and with the team hierarchy have been that things won’t change,” Watson told the . “But if the best balance for the team is batting a little bit lower, in the end we have to find out what the best combination for our batting order is going to be. It has been a weakness of ours over the last little while, our batting collapses more than anything, so over the next couple of months we will be talking about trying to find the right balance.”Australia’s next Test tour is to Sri Lanka, likely to be in August, and the selectors need to make some decisions before then on the way forward for an Australian team with three batsmen on the wrong side of 35. One man whose position is not in doubt is Watson, whose last Test series on the subcontinent brought him scores of 126, 56, 57 and 32, against India last year.”I feel like I am solid against spin but it’s always a thing I can improve on,” he said. “I have been lucky to play a lot of cricket in India over the last couple of years, but it is a continual development for me to find ways of moving my feet a bit more and not just sitting in the crease, finding that balance.”I know it is going to be a huge challenge. One of the good things for my batting is actually knowing that Murali is not playing. They’ve got [Suraj] Randiv who is a high-quality spinner but obviously not someone who has got 800 Test wickets so that is going to be a bonus for us.”

Brain Evans, universally known as Ginger, a fast bowler for Glamorgan who went on to became a major force in Minor Counties cricket, died earlier this month at the age of 74.His 2nd XI debut for Glamorgan came as a 17-year-old in 1953 and he also made a name in South Wales club cricket, but he had to wait five years for his first county appearance. In 1960 and 1961 he took 82 and 87 wickets and briefly formed a dangerous new-ball pairing with Jeff Jones. But his career was blighted by injury issues which ultimately forced him to retire early in the 1964 season.Evans subsequently played for Lincolnshire, helping them win the Minor Counties Championship in 1966. He was a professional for Ross Sports Group in Grimsby until 1971.Even when he quit playing he retained his close links with the game as an umpire, a county official in Lincolnshire, and as groundsman at Ross Sports Group.In all he took 251 wickets at 27.04 in 88 matches, with a career best of 8 for 42 against Somerset in 1961. He also scored 1535 runs at 13.70.