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New Zealand women’s vice-captain Sophie Devine has said that losing too many wickets “in clumps” was a problem that has been bothering the team for a year

Vishal Dikshit in Bangalore01-Jul-2015The New Zealand women bowlers have adapted extremely well in the first two ODIs to conditions completely foreign to them. They bowled India out for 142 in the first match, and for 163 in the second, but the visitors’ batting still remains a worry. After falling 17 runs short on Sunday, New Zealand managed to chase 164 with just three wickets in hand. Allrounder and vice-captain Sophie Devine, who top-scored with 33 today, said that losing too many wickets “in clumps” was a problem that has been bothering them for a year.

India’s top-scorer Thirush Kamini on

Only one batsman performing in both matches: I think it’s important that the top order has to click. Last game Jhulu (Goswami) di performed for us and today I should have carried on throughout because that’s important – as a top-order batter you should be able to finish the innings through once you’ve got a good start. Unfortunately me getting out it rattled the whole scenario.
India getting all out frequently: It’s important for the top order to click because when you talk about getting all out, it’s mainly the batsmen’s responsibility to carry the innings through. One or two batsmen in the top order have to click and make sure we don’t open up the lower order a little earlier.
India batsmen not rotating strike enough: That’s one of the important aspects we need to work on because in the middle overs they did really well in rotating the strike which we didn’t really apply enough. So probably those are the areas we need to look up for the forthcoming games.
Batsmen’s performance so far: It’s important for us to get a a good comeback and we need to bat a little better and get some runs on the board, giving something to the bowlers to bowl at.

“I think it’s actually been an issue for us the last 12 months – losing wickets in clumps, not losing one wicket but two or three at a time which puts a lot of pressure on the players,” Devine said. “We find a lot of players go back into their shells. We want to fall back on our brand of cricket of being confident whether we are one down or nine down and that we are still going to go out and play our same way. So there’s plenty to learn from today and we’re really happy that we got the win. It wasn’t the smoothest chase but we got over the line today.”In the last 12 months, New Zealand have played 11 ODIs with only three results in their favour, including today’s game. Batting first, they have made142, 69, 240 for 8, 168 and 230 for 8, successfully defending only one of those scores. Batting second, they have been bowled out four out of six times (thrice under 200), winning only twice, with scores of: 181, 210, 104, 219 for 1, 125 and 164 for 7. In other words, they have successfully chased a target of over 200 only once in the last year.Devine acknowledged New Zealand have been losing too many wickets, but confidently said it’s something they are aware of and can improve on with a batting line-up that runs deep.”In an ideal world we would have been 2-0 up chasing that sort of total (in the first ODI) but the really positive thing about our team is that every one bats right down to No. 11. Morna Nielsen at No. 11 has actually opened for her state cricket so everyone can bat and we’ve got full confidence in the team, right down to the No. 11 that they can come out and bat.”We were really disappointed with the way the first game went. Obviously in first half of the game our bowling was fantastic and if you’d said to us at the start of the day that we were going to bowl India out for 140, we’d take it ten times out of ten. It’s obviously the batting that required focus and today our players went out with more intent to score. Obviously conditions are different to what we face in New Zealand but it’s all about intent and coming out hard and making sure we play our own game and don’t get boxed up into playing within our shells.”Batting with intent is something captain Suzie Bates spoke about too before the series started, and Devine emphasised that they believed in playing an “aggressive” brand of cricket.”I think we spoke about this even before we came on this tour that we want to play a style of cricket that’s aggressive,” Devine said. “If you look at the BlackCaps, how they’ve played at the World Cup – we don’t want to copy them we want to play our own style – that’s a very New Zealand way of doing things. So we’ve got the players that come out hard in the first 10 overs and take it to the team and that’s what happened today. Suzie went out early, she went out in fashion that was attacking for her.”As Devine set up the chase along with Katie Perkins in a partnership of 49, and took them only 35 runs astray from the target, she admitted that she got off to starts in both ODIs, but did not apply herself enough with wickets falling around her – something she has been working on.”I feel like I have been getting starts but it’s not kicking on and I think that probably comes down to a little bit of the situation in the game as well,” she said. “I felt myself and Katie Perkins had a really good partnership and it is important to build partnerships with whoever else comes in.”I’ve got to take something away from today’s game and it is about applying myself when we are losing wickets and making sure I’m staying around. We have spoken a lot about it as a group that when you lose wickets, it’s hard and you need to rebuild and if you’re in you need to take that responsibility to stay in.”

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said that batting till the final over of the innings, despite the clutch of early wickets, made the difference for his team in the fourth ODI in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur07-Dec-2012West Indies captain Darren Sammy said that batting till the final over of the innings, despite the clutch of early wickets, made the difference for his team in the fourth ODI in Mirpur. They fought their way to 211 for 9 after losing half their side by the 24th over, and that total eventually proved to be too big for a Bangladesh line-up that looked all at sea against quality pace bowling.”Looking at the way the game was unfolding, I always told myself that if we bat till the end we stand the chance of scoring 190-plus,” Sammy said. “It is about applying yourself in the middle. My partnership with [Darren] Bravo was crucial. We just said ‘let us try to bat deep’.”We wanted to have a go in the last four overs. We kept losing wickets, so we had to push [launching the final surge] back. But it proved today that 212 runs was a lot [to chase] on that wicket.”Sammy’s all-round performance was, ultimately, the difference between the two sides. He held firm with the bat after West Indies had fallen to 102 for 6 in the 32nd over from the relative comfort of 71 for 1 just an hour before. He took stock of the situation and batted calmly with Darren Bravo, the pair adding 43 runs for the seventh wicket. Bravo was caught and bowled by offspinner Sohag Gazi, one of several poorly-timed dismissals for West Indies, in the 43rd over.Sammy then had the likes of Veerasammy Permaul and Sunil Narine for company but, even now, rather risking hitting out and allowing his team to be bowled out, he kept his head. He only launched in the last three overs of the innings, taking 35 valuable runs. He did have a life, being dropped at deep-square leg on 30 when West Indies were 168 for 8, and he made it count for his team.”Last game it was Marlon [Samuels], today it is me. It is about players putting their hands up and doing what matters for the team,” Sammy said. “As a leader, you always try to lead from the front. It gives you a good feeling inside. It won’t happen all the time because it is a team sport but when you do it, it feels good.”Sammy also made a major contribution with the ball, removing Anamul Haque and Naeem Islam off successive balls in his first over before accounting for Mominul Haque in his third over. He took advantage of the Bangladesh batsmen’s impatience. With Kemar Roach, his opening partner, he had reduced Bangladesh to 13 for 5 by the sixth over, and the series-levelling win was all but confirmed.West Indies thrived by attacking with pace and short pitched bowling up front and, today, the spinners did the other half of the job. The bowling unit’s showing pleased Sammy: “Our pacers have been taking the wickets throughout the Test series. In this game the ball was carrying nicely, maybe because of the dew. We all know Kemar bowls 90-plus miles per hour. Even [Dwayne] Smith did a good job. Sunny [Narine] and [Veerasammy] Permaul got some spin. All the bowlers put their hands up.”Saturday’s game now, for all intents and purposes, is a final, and West Indies are in the ascendancy. The pressure was on them when they returned to Dhaka from Khulna 2-0 down, and they have turned their form around as they would have liked. “It was a must-win game for us, I’m just happy that the team did what they had to do to win,” Sammy said. “We have had good days in the Test series, the last [one-day] match … We did what we had to do today, which is level the series. It sets up a big final tomorrow.”

Michael Brown, second-in-command to Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland, has quit his post after nine years

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2011Michael Brown, second-in-command to Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland, has quit his post after nine years to oversee the organisation of the AFC Asian Cup football tournament to held in Australia in 2015.Officially billed as general manager, cricket operations, Brown’s role was reduced as one of the key outcomes of the Argus review, resulting in the employment of the former rugby international Pat Howard as CA’s team performance manager.His departure leaves Sutherland as the last remaining senior figure in the CA hierarchy, after a year of profound changes to the structure and personnel of cricket operations.Previously, Brown had been the most senior man directly responsible for the progress of the national team, and had overseen appointments including those of Tim Nielsen as coach, Andrew Hilditch as chairman of selectors, and Greg Chappell as head of the Centre of Excellence and more recently national talent manager/selector.Other appointments under Brown’s watch included the recruitment of Troy Cooley as bowling coach, and his replacement this year by Craig McDermott. He also spoke with Rod Marsh in mid-year about the possibility of a role on the selection panel.However he was less involved in the appointments of the new support structure around the Australian team, including Howard, the national selector John Inverarity, and the coach Mickey Arthur.Following nine years in cricket, Brown said he was looking forward to a change of scene. Prior to his appointment at CA, he had worked as an AFL club administrator.”This is shaping as the most exciting and challenging role of my career,” Brown said. “The scale and scope of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup makes it one of world football’s biggest and most important events. I’m honoured to have been appointed as CEO and look forward to helping build a world-class organising team.”Brown will exit CA’s Melbourne office for the final time in January.

The BCCI’s reworked pay structure for its elite players aims to give Test cricket the financial muscle to keep India’s younger generation of cricketers interested

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010Lost among the large and extremely healthy contract pools for India’s leading cricketers lies the BCCI’s most progressive move so far – giving Test cricket the financial muscle to keep India’s younger generation of cricketers interested.At the end of the BCCI’s Gradation Committee meeting in Chennai on Thursday, along with shrinking the list of contracted players from about four groups of over 40 to three groups of 24, the board has radically reworked the match-fee structure.For the period October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011, the Test match fee has been nearly tripled from Rs 2.5 lakhs per match ($5500) to Rs 7 lakhs ($15,500) per Test. The ODI fee has risen from Rs 1.8 lakhs ($4000) per match to Rs 4 lakhs ($8900) and the T20 fee doubled from Rs 1 lakh ($2200) per match to Rs 2 lakhs ($4400).This, the BCCI says, is an attempt to re-assert the primacy of Test cricket as well as make what used to be a very narrow gap between the earnings of Test and ODI cricketers per match into a fairly vast gulf. It is significant that the BCCI’s Grade A whose retainers are Rs one crore ($220,000) a year are those who (with the exception of Suresh Raina) have been a key part of the Test team over the past few years.BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told ESPNcricinfo, “this is a message – that Test cricket is important, it’s the most important form of the game in the world.”In 2009, India played only six Tests but finished the year as the No. 1 team. To keep MS Dhoni’s men at the top, the BCCI invited South Africa and Australia for a two-Test series each outside the ICC’s Future Tours Programme. India’s rise in the Test rankings, Shetty says, “has something to do” with the BCCI’s focus on the long game. “The players were taking the initiative, they had worked hard, we wanted to make sure there were more Tests, that is why we talked to Australia and South Africa.”According to BCCI treasurer MP Pandove, the general mood within the board following a meeting in late October was, “that the boys were doing well in the Test matches, they were No. 1, they should be encouraged to play more Tests. It was decided we had to re-look at the contract structure.”This re-examination meant trying to re-apportion the BCCI’s revenues given out to players. According to the BCCI’s rules, 26% of the BCCI’s annual revenues goes to the players, of which 13% goes to the internationals. Shetty explained: “If you see the ratio was something like 10 Tests and 30 ODIs on average and it meant that an ODI player could play 30 days of cricket and earn much more than a Test specialist who may have played 50 days of cricket, in Tests.” By last year’s pay scale, a VVS Laxman could earn Rs 25 lakhs for playing 10 Tests, but an ODI specialist, for example Praveen Kumar, could earn up to Rs 54 lakhs for 30 ODIs.The restructuring of the graded contract also serves to establish an equilibrium between the three forms of the game. Shetty said when the player contracts were originally formulated, “the plan was to get the contracts down to 20 (eventually). It is something which has to be earned by the player like it happens in other countries.”The BCCI had four grades of contracted players for the past two years, which also coincided with the existence of the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL). The intention to reduce the number of contracts arose the moment the ICL was rendered insignificant by the massive success of the IPL in 2008. Getting rid of the Rs 15 lakh per year contracts for a Grade ‘D’ fringe player has also freed revenues to distribute to its most elite players.The overall retainership hike serves two goals: from a cricketing standpoint, it separates the elite from the rest of the pack. BCCI secretary N Srinivasan told the , “We didn’t want too many people … to be a contracted player is a big thing, so we felt that one has to really perform to earn it … it’s not an easy club to get into.” Financially, it reduces the surplus revenue to be distributed across all players as a handout, which in the past, Shetty said, depended mostly on number of matches played rather than on ability or achievements.Between now and the end of its tour to Australia in 2011-12, India will play 15 away Tests, under one of the best match fee scales in the world. It will be their chance to see if, other than re-asserting the primacy of Test cricket, India can retain their primacy Test cricket.

A result in Wellington is almost certain, but Pakistan will be desperate for it to go their way

The Preview by Osman Samiuddin02-Dec-2009

Match facts

December 3-7, 2009
Start time 12:00 (23:00 GMT)

Big Picture

Daryl Tuffey is set to take Shane Bond’s place in the XI•AFP

If only these two could spin it a bit more. Then, Pakistan-New Zealand contests would be among the most eagerly-awaited of the modern age. But with Australia loudly moaning over the quality of their opponents (few did it in 2006-07 when England were walloped), India trying to become the No. 1 side in the world, and South Africa doing a fair impersonation of England during their post-2005 Ashes slide, nobody seems much fussed about a genuinely competitive Test battle. Even news agencies can’t be bothered.Yet few rivalries – too intense a description maybe, but what else? – have been as fantastic to follow as this over the last two decades. Arguably the last time it really wasn’t worth tuning in was way back in 1988-89, when Shoaib Mohammad was busy making his father look like Tillakaratne Dilshan. Since then there have been, remarkably, only two draws and one of those – the last time Pakistan visited – would have been but for rain. The first Test at Dunedin happily continued this fine trend.A result is almost certain then, but Pakistan will be desperate for it to go their way. They have now gone 12 Tests without a win, which is their third-worst winless streak ever (they went 22 Tests and 16 Tests without a win through the 60s). Next month, it will be three years without a Test win, another time altogether, even if they have played so little since then.To break that streak they will also need something to happen that hasn’t happened for a long time: their top order to fire. Currently, their top three must be the weakest in world cricket, as brittle as papyrus in a windstorm. So they have decided to strengthen the middle order by calling up Misbah-ul-Haq. As you would. At least he might hold onto catches in the slip.New Zealand had also not won a significant Test for a while, until Dunedin and little surprise that it was the only one Shane Bond has played in that run. He was magnificent throughout, but he will now be no more, for this series at least. Yet another injury means one major obstacle on Pakistan’s path to a win is removed.Daniel Vettori’s men have other concerns besides that. The batsmen in their first innings had much to thank Imran Farhat for and their collapse in the second innings was ugly and, worryingly, predictable given their history with Pakistan.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LDLLD
New Zealand WLLDD

Watch out for…

Shane Bond’s injury has opened the door for Daryl Tuffey in the playing XI, and Tim Southee in the squad. Pakistan are probably Tuffey’s favourite opponents (24 of his 66 Test wickets have come against them, in six Tests), while Southee’s most recent first-class outing returned figures of 8 for 27Pakistan’s batting order: How many holes will they try to plug? Opening, one-down, middle order? Better maybe to keep an eye on their wonderfully incisive pace attack.

Team news

New Zealand are likely to only make the one enforced change to replace Bond with either Southee or Tuffey. Southee is the future and a man in fine form.New Zealand: Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori (capt), Tim Southee/Daryl Tuffey, Ian O’Brien, Chris Martin.Pakistan’s XI is open to all kinds of conjecture and permutation. Both openers may be dropped and replaced by Salman Butt, possibly pushing Shoaib Malik or Fawad Alam up. If Malik were to be dropped altogether – given his history with Mohammad Yousuf, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Misbah-ul-Haq is likely to slip straight back into the XI. Even Danish Kaneria is in the running to bring the promise of yet more wickets at the expense of the tightness of Saeed Ajmal.Pakistan: Salman Butt, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria/Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif.

Pitch and conditions

Rain is expected to disrupt the Test on the first three days and it will be windy throughout, hardly the kind of ‘home’ weather Pakistan would have wanted. The teams have been practicing indoors.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan and New Zealand have played out just two draws in their last 17 Tests.
• New Zealand have not beaten Pakistan in a Test series home or away, since 1984-85, when they won a series in New Zealand 2-0.

Quotes

“I’m pretty sad for him, we’ve grown accustomed to having Shane around and obviously his performance [in Dunedin] was outstanding. He basically won the first Test on his own, he played a huge role in it and however this series goes, we’re indebted to Shane.”
“New Zealand will miss him dearly. It’s bad luck, this is a very, very crucial Test match. I wouldn’t say it’s a relief, we have come to play cricket, it doesn’t matter who you are playing against.”

India have brought rains with them, locals in Christchurch claim. But when it came to India’s first practice session, the clouds made way for the sun, and India trained in ideal conditions at the picturesque Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Equally warm was the reception that India got – largely from Indians living in New Zealand, at a ground half an hour away from the town and not known by many in the city.Earlier in the day, though, the thoughts of outdoor activities looked unlikely. It was an ideal winter morning with the rain sounding pitter-patter on the canopy of a street café near Cathedral Square, a perfect place to enjoy a hot coffee. The radio announced: “The rockstars of cricket are here.” So did a hoarding outside the AMI Stadium, which was closed on the weekend. The “rockstars” campaign has been devised to advertise India’s tour of New Zealand.Elsewhere profiled some of the key Indian players under the headline, “The happy-slog millionaires”.The Indian team took a bus to Lincoln University, which houses the Oval, passing by lush green meadows and the idyllic Prebbleton village.For someone new to the city, it is difficult to believe a team would go so far out of the city for the nets session. But the England Lions, here to face New Zealand Emerging Players, were already training there when the Indians arrived.The Indians may be used to drawing attention wherever they go in the world but even they wouldn’t have expected the numbers that turned up to watch them at a ground half of Christchurch hasn’t heard of.The Lions, including Luke Wright, Samit Patel and Sajid Mahmood, went on about their business like university students on a routine day. Not a single journalist to watch, a fan was a far cry. The ground staff golf-carted their way around the ground as they would on any other day. But around 2.30pm, cars started pulling up in front of the ground. From nowhere a crowd of about 35 gathered, one of them a courier driver and a school mate of Irfan Pathan’s. John Wright was surprised to see the crowd and realised what they were there for only after the Indian team arrived. “Sachin, Sachin,” he chanted, though not too loud lest the man himself heard.This was no routine practice session. The groundstaff had to get to work immediately to keep people out of the nets area. The word spread, and in no time the crowd almost doubled. A few Indian university students, along with their New Zealand friends, were among those who stayed the longest. Out came the bean bags, sofa, an easy chair, from what looked like a hostel building near the Oval. And the beer. The rest made good use of the grass banks around the ground. Every good shot at the nets, every good extraordinary delivery bowled, every special catch taken in the fielding practice, was cheered.The players also kept the crowd entertained with banter loud enough to be heard across the nets. But despite the fun and games, it was an intense first session, focusing on all three disciplines, after which all the players took time to sign autographs – on bats, papers, and bodies – and take photographs. A quaint university had come to life for three hours. The locals acknowledged not many would turn up if New Zealand were training. That will be put to test on Monday, when the hosts assemble after finishing their domestic Twenty20s.

Chamari Polgampola and Shashikala Siriwardene took three wickets each to bowl out Pakistan for 123 and hand Sri Lanka a confidence-boosting win just before the World Cup in the tri-nation final in Dhaka

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2009
ScorecardChamari Polgampola and Shashikala Siriwardene took three wickets each to bowl out Pakistan for 123 and give Sri Lanka a confidence-boosting win just before the World Cup in the tri-nation final in Dhaka.Polgampola also contributed 19 in an opening stand of 49 and was named the Player of the Match and of the series for her nine wickets at 7.44 and 58 runs. She picked up her first two wickets off successive balls – Qanita Jalil and Bismah Maroof falling with 14 on the board – and then returned to wrap up the innings with Asmavia Iqbal’s wicket for 6. Javeria Khan, who also took nine wickets in the tournament, top scored for Pakistan with 23.Hiruka Fernando scored an unbeaten 44 and added 29 with Polgampola. Pakistan captain Urooj Mumtaz took two wickets in the space of three balls but Polgampola ensured Sri Lanka reached the target with more than 14 overs to spare.

حدد أمير مرتضى منصور المشرف العام على فريق الزمالك، موعد الإعلان عن رحيل أشرف بن شرقي لاعب الفريق، ونتيجة التحقيق مع طارق حامد ومحمد أبو جبل، كما تحدث عن تراجع نتائج الأهلي في الدوري المصري.

وقال أمير مرتضى في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر فضائية “TEN” عن هزيمة الأهلي أمام بيراميدز: “الأهلي ناد كبير ولديه تاريخ وشخصية، مثل الزمالك، لقد تعرضنا أيضًا لظروف من إصابات ونشرك 5 لاعبين شباب في مباريات الفريق الأول، بالإضافة إلى لاعبين تتنهي عقودهم وهم نجوم في الفريق، مثل طارق حامد ومحمد أبو جبل واستبعدنا كل منهما، ورغم ذلك النتائج لم تتأثر”.

طالع أيضًا.. أمير مرتضى يعلق على أنباء تفاوض الزمالك مع رمضان صبحي وعبد الله السعيد

وأضاف: “في النهاية شخصية النادي واللاعب الذي يرتدي قميص الزمالك أمر هام جدًا، لا يوجد لاعب كبير أو صغير، الزمالك لديه مشاكل فنية ومادية وإدارية، استطعنا أن نحل جزءًا كبيرًا منها، 99% من المشكلات تم حلها، بالتالي الأهلي مهما تعرض لظروف فنية في النهاية هو ناد كبير ولديه شخصية”.

وأكد مرتضى: “لا أرى أن الأهلي متعثر، لقد وصل لنهائي كأس مصر وتأهل لنهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا وينافس على الدوري، بالعكس، يسير بشكل جيد وليس لديه المشاكل المتواجدة في الزمالك، يحدث في الكرة أحيانًا عدم توفيق أو عندما يكون هناك مدير فني جديد تتأثر النتائج لفترة ما، فيريرا عندما تولى الفريق في البداية تعرض لسوء نتائج”.

واستطرد: “كل الاحترام للأهلي وبيراميدز كمنافسين لنا، لو الزمالك أراد الاحتفاظ بالدوري عليه أن يحترم منافسيه ويعطيهما حجمهما الحقيقي لكي نقدر على مواجهتهما”.

وعن أشرف بن شرقي، صانع ألعاب الفريق، قال أمير: “هذا هو الموسم الأخير له مع الزمالك، احترمنا رغبته واحترافيته أنه أخطر النادي بعدم التجديد، لقد حسم موقفه من أبريل الماضي”.

وتابع المشرف على الكرة بنادي الزمالك: “احترمنا موقفه أنه يريد تغيير الأجواء، أشرف لاعب مهم وكنا نتمنى تجديد عقده ولكن عندما وجدنا عدم رغبته في ذلك، احترمنا قراره، اللاعب حتى آخر لحظة ملتزم ومنتظم في التدريبات ولم يخلق أي مشاكل، كان يجب أن يخرج بشكل يليق بالنادي وبه”.

وتطرق أمير للحديث عن الدوري قائلاً: “لا يوجد دوري ينتهي 30 أغسطس المقبل، سياسة النادي ورئيسه مرتضى منصور أن بن شرقي أعطى للنادي لمدة 3 سنوات وحصد بطولات ولعب أكثر من 90% من المباريات”.

وواصل: “لا يجب أن تكون نتيجة عدم رغبته في الاستمرار مع الزمالك، أن ندمر له الموسم التالي، تحدثنا مع بن شرقي لكي يحدث توافق بشأن موعد رحيله عن الزمالك”.

وأردف: “كل ذلك سنعلنه بعد مباراة الأهلي في نهائي كأس مصر، لا نريد تشيت ذهن اللاعبين والجهاز الفني، أمامنا مباراة ببطولة يوم الخميس المقبل”.

واختتم أمير مرتضى حديثه قائلاً: “سنعلن نتائج التحقيق مع طارق حامد ومحمد أبو جبل بعد مباراة الأهلي في نهائي كأس مصر أيضًا”.

49.5 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details
How they were out

Those who say 50-overs cricket has lost its ticker needed to look no further than the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi for a humdinger. In a throwback to the days of Sharjah classics, Pakistan overcame a sluggish start and a middle-order wobble to sneak the most thrilling of last-over wins over West Indies. Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan helped Pakistan overcome a jittery start and gather some steam, but it was Shoaib Malik’s whirlwind 66 and a stunning last-over assault from Kamran Akmal that pulled the carpet from beneath West Indies’ feet.After winning the toss and batting, West Indies settled for a below-par 294, which owed mostly to Chris Gayle’s glorious 113, his 17th one-day hundred and second on the trot after an unbeaten 110 against Canada in August. Just 96 runs were scored since Gayle departed in the 35th over, and only 71 in the last ten overs, credit to Pakistan for sticking to their guns on a hard pitch. Ultimately, that made a big difference.The last 15 minutes of the match were nerve-wracking. Akmal amazingly swept the last ball of the 48th over, by Jerome Taylor, for six, but a miserly penultimate over from Gayle seemed to have sealed it West Indies’ way. Fawad Alam failed to put away a full toss, Gayle bowled Akmal with a no-ball, and Akmal then survived a stumping appeal. The over cost only six runs.Needing 17 from the last over, Akmal slashed the second and third deliveries for six, backing away: cue hysteria in the ground. A scampered two became three with an overthrow, and Alam clipped the fifth delivery of the final over for a single to seal victory. Akmal’s 24 from nine balls, however, was the clincher.When Pakistan struggled initially under lights in the first 15 overs, this was hard to envision. In the absence of any fluency from Salman Butt, it was left to Manzoor to keep the score ticking over. Manzoor played himself in, reaching his second half-century in two ODIs played for Pakistan, one full of punchy back-foot play. Younis Khan, Pakistan’s most experienced batsman after Mohammad Yousuf joined the ICL, hit consecutive boundaries in the 23rd over – one driven off the back foot, the other lapped very fine – to up the rate.Taylor was brought back in the 28th over to do a job, and he succeeded. Taylor dropped short, Manzoor tried to run it fine, and Carlton Baugh held on to the thin outside edge (142 for 2). Younis swept his way to half-century from 50 balls, but the pressure told on Misbah-ul-Haq, way too early into a reverse-sweep against Nikita Miller’s left-arm spin.As per the new rules, the batting side can choose one Powerplay and Pakistan left the third one until the 38th over. It was a critical phase and Pakistan lost two wickets for 38. Unable to pierce the field like Malik, Younis slogged Baker into the starry night while Shahid Afridi pulled Baker to a tumbling Shivnarine Chanderpaul at deep midwicket. Malik made sure to hit the ball as straight as possible and went past 50 from 36 balls, but when Pakistan needed 33 from 18 balls, he pulled Taylor to midwicket.Akmal’s heroics, though, spoiled what should have been Gayle’s party. The venue changed from Antigua to Abu Dhabi, the format from Twenty20 to 50-overs, but what did Gayle care? After five overs West Indies were 11 for 0; that’s when Gayle moved up a gear, stepping outside the line of a delivery from Abdur Rauf and swinging it over midwicket for six.Rauf, who opened the attack in the absence of an injured Shoaib Akhtar, was then taken for 17 in one over. A whip over mid-on was followed by a flick off the pads. Then Rauf pitched outside off stump and craned his neck as Gayle biffed him over his head. Shoaib Malik removed third man and Gayle smartly steered the ball past the wicketkeeper. Having hit a 33-ball half-century in the Stanford 20/20 for 20 earlier this month, Gayle enjoyed his first trip to Abu Dhabi. Sohail Tanvir was cracked past point and West Indies’ fifty was up in the tenth over with consecutive pulled sixes in Umar Gul’s first over. In five overs, 48 had been scored, and Gayle’s half-century needed 36 balls.Sewnarine Chattergoon contributed 33 to an opening stand of 125, the sixth-best for West Indies against Pakistan, content to play second fiddle before an attempted heave against the turn went to mid-on. Ramnaresh Sarwan partnered Gayle past his century – in a 73-run stand – and watched him get out for 113 after a series of attacking shots, the last of which went straight to midwicket (198 for 2) in an over in which he had been dropped by Gul. Sarwan used his wrists well and leapt on to anything short, hitting five boundaries before he tickled Afridi down the pads in the 38th over. But Gul came back well to take 3 for 66 and Tanvir took two in two balls during the last over as West Indies failed to build on Gayle’s innings.A cricket-starved Pakistan came to Abu Dhabi wanting to win. They’ve certainly started well.

Southampton’s reported hopes of signing Gary Cahill this summer are over after the 35-year-old completed his move to Bournemouth earlier this week.

What’s the word?

The veteran defender had emerged as a potential target for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in recent weeks following the exit of Jannik Vestergaard, and the former England international could have been a stellar addition at St Mary’s.

The centre-back was available on a free transfer and would’ve provided a wealth of experience for Southampton’s side both on and off the pitch, which is arguably something they lack following player exits so far this summer.

The Saints conceded the second-most goals in the Premier League last season and this campaign did not get off to the best start for Hasenhuttl’s side either as they collapsed in the second half against Everton at Goodison Park last weekend, which suggests that defensive reinforcements are required.

Although they are reportedly closing in on a deal for Torino’s Lyanco, he is just 24 years old and has no experience in the Premier League, so signing someone like Cahill might well have been a good idea for Southampton this summer.

The 35-year-old, who has earned 61 caps for England, might be approaching the end of his career but he still managed 20 appearances in the top flight with Palace last season and was praised for his influence by his then-manager Roy Hodgson, who said: “First of all, he’s a very, very good defender. His position is very good, he’s exceptionally good in the air, he’s a strong challenger for the ball and a very good blocker of the ball. These are the defensive qualities we don’t talk about every day… They’re the qualities that get you the clean sheets.

“He’s also brought us leadership qualities, he’s been very good leadership-wise. He’s the best type of leader; he’s the quiet leader people don’t see from Row Z in the stand. He’s the leader we see in training week to week.”

Therefore, Cahill could have solved a key issue for Southampton this season – their lack of experience in defence – and Hasenhuttl may well be disappointed that the Saints couldn’t bring him in.

In other news… Semmens heading for Saints transfer disaster with £10m Premier League dud