All posts by h716a5.icu

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he was happy with the way his side fought back after losing early wickets in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2011Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he was happy with the way his side fought back after losing early wickets in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Dubai, even though Pakistan ultimately lost the game by 25 runs.Set a target of 236, Pakistan slumped to 11 for 3 as Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat and Younis Khan made just seven runs between them. Umar Akmal led the recovery with a sparkling 91, but Pakistan eventually came up short, and were bowled out for 210 in 46.3 overs.”I think the way they started, them taking three early wickets, we were under pressure,” Misbah said. “Everyone fought well until it ended. It was a bad day for us. It was just a matter of playing 50 overs, which we did not do. I am happy with the way we fought after losing three early wickets. The youngsters really performed well.Umar had the chase under control, but perished in the batting Powerplay while attempting a fourth successive boundary. That gave Sri Lanka the opening, and they dismantled the lower order to seal victory.”Umar Akmal’s natural game is to have a go at the bowlers, so he was doing that,” Misbah reasoned. “I think he tried his level best, the way he played he just made the game for us, but sometimes you make mistakes. That’s a part of cricket – he had just scored three boundaries, but he took a chance. He should have gone for a single but I think he was confident. Sometimes you get out playing confident shots. It is a part of the game.”Earlier, an incisive opening spell from Umar Gul had kept Sri Lanka under control for the bulk of their innings, until Mahela Jayawardene sparked a revival in their batting Powerplay. Misbah admitted that Jayawardene’s innings turned the momentum of the game.”We had a chance to keep them to 200, but Mahela played really well,” Misbah said. “I think the bowlers did a great job, but altogether it was a bad day for us. The way Umar Gul bowled in his first spell, he was unlucky not to get wickets.”Sometimes like today you may be bowling well, but the batting was good and some fielding lapses cost us. It is something we have to control in the future.”The Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan was also thankful to Jayawardene for his contribution to the series-levelling win. “Mahela is a very experienced player, and his partnership with Upul Tharanga was really crucial for us since that’s how we got to 230,” Dilshan said. “Mahela had struggled for the last few days with his knee, but yesterday he told me not to worry, and that he was ready to play with pain. It showed his character and how tough he is.”We needed this win. Everyone played very good cricket. I got a start but threw my wicket. We needed to get a start and we got that. We planned for 240 but we were short by about 20 runs. The bowlers did a great job. We are relieved. This win was very much needed and now the series is open and we hope to play this type of cricket in the remaining matches.”The third game of the five-match series will be played on Friday, also in Dubai.

The assurance fuelled by their historic win in Durban is merely the make-up covering Sri Lanka’s more serious scars

Firdose Moonda at Newlands 06-Jan-2012There was a reason Tillakaratne Dilshan wore a smile as wide as Table Mountain after Sri Lanka had been beaten by 10 wickets and lost a series: they came to South Africa and did what no-one believed they would. They won a Test match and although they lost the series in disappointing fashion, Sri Lanka proved there is life in them still.”Before we came here, everyone thought we couldn’t win a Test outside Sri Lanka. After Murali, people said we couldn’t take 20 wickets,” Dilshan said. “Now, everyone knows we can do both.”That assurance fuelled by their historic win in Durban is merely the make-up covering Sri Lanka’s more serious scars. In the next few days they will be exposed and studied as Sri Lanka try to digest a fourth series defeat. Dilshan was not too downcast when he issued his diagnosis: a lack of consistency and an inability to follow the plan.”As a team, we have to take the blame,” he said. “We didn’t start well in Cape Town. Everyone came here with a lot of confidence. We had a good chance to draw the series but we haven’t been bowling and batting consistently. We talked about a lot of things but it didn’t work.”With a deficit of 203 and six wickets still standing on the fourth morning, Sri Lanka were not expected to save the match but Dilshan said they had an inkling of belief that they could. “If [Thilan] Samaraweera and Angelo [Matthews] could bat all day, we thought we can put pressure on South African batsmen.”The pair batted for a session but ultimately gave way to end Sri Lanka’s resistance and open the door to the 2-1 series defeat. The end result will leave Sri Lanka with some serious questions that they will want to answer before their next outing.Foremost in their minds will be the excellence of Samaraweera, who is not included in their one-day squad, and what role he will play in future. Sri Lanka’s entire batting line-up was built on his back when he scored two centuries in two matches. Samaraweera became the third batsmen from the sub-continent, after Azhar Mahmood and Sachin Tendulkar, to score twin hundreds in South Africa and made a strong statement after being dropped from the squad for their previous series against Pakistan.”He has batted really well,” Dilshan said. “When we went to Pakistan, we tried to give the youngsters a chance but it didn’t work so we brought Thilan back. He is experienced and an important player for the middle order.”Unfortunately for Sri Lanka there was little flesh to hang onto Samaraweera’s strong bones. Kumar Sangakkara scored a hundred at Kinsgmead and Matthews made his best score of the tour at Newlands but the lack of support from the rest of the experienced batsmen was concerning.Dilshan himself is to blame for not helping himself to anything meatier after getting starts. He has been excused for his failings by management and the players around him because they feel that when his risky style of play comes off, it does so in a big way. But as captain, he is expected to provide leadership and, in some circles, it is concerning that he doesn’t.”I got a good start,” he said, referring to his 78 off 79 balls in the first innings of the New Year’s Test. “I should have got 100 or 150 runs but I mishit. I should have batted a little longer and the second day might have been different.”The other non-firing big gun is Mahela Jayawardene who has not scored a half-century outside of Sri Lanka since late 2009. Dilshan said he expects the former captain to bounce back soon. “It’s a big issue at the moment because he is one of the main batsmen. Unfortunately he didn’t click but I still feel he is close to coming back,” he said.With the bulk of the top and middle order not performing up to standard it was left to the bowling all-rounders to salvage something from the Test match. Thisara Perera and Dhammika Prasad displayed some confident stroke-play but not the patience required to help the tail wag.”We looked at the way Dale Steyn batted with AB de Villiers and our bowlers should learn from that,” DIlshan said. “They have to show the right attitude. They are playing for the country and we need to get 100% out of them. We can’t wait any longer now.”Dilshan believes Sri Lanka’s rickety exterior is due to a crumbling foundation. His parting shot was to urge the administrators to find a way to fix Sri Lankan cricket at its core. “We have to correct our domestic structure,” he said. “Of the 12 or 15 clubs only six clubs are strong so it’s difficult to find good players in domestic scene.”He hinted that something resembling a franchise system would increase the competitiveness of the local scene and provide more hardened international cricketers. “After under-19 level, players go to club cricket which is not that strong, compared to South Africa, England and Australia. We have to get the structure right. There is a huge difference between club cricket and international level.”

Bangladesh A took the opening honours in their one-day series against England Lions by securing an impressive six-wicket victory in Chittagong

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2012Bangladesh A 141 for 4 (Kayes 53, Buck 2-0) beat England Lions 139 (Buttler 45, Al-Amin Hossain 3-18, Noor Hossain 3-32) by six wickets
ScorecardBangladesh A took the opening honours in their one-day series against England Lions by securing an impressive six-wicket victory in Chittagong. As with the senior side, the Lions middle order struggled against spin, after the early damage had been done by Al-Amin Hossain’s three-wicket burst. The home side were never in trouble chasing 140 as Imrul Kayes anchored the reply with 53.The visitors had chosen to bat first but lost a wicket in the first over when Jason Roy was caught behind off Alauddin Babu. Al-Amin Hossain then removed the rest of the top order, including captain James Taylor for a second-ball duck, to leave the Lions on 38 for 4.A couple of hardworking partnerships followed but Bangladesh kept chipping away. Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler added 46 and Buttler, who ended as the top-scorer with 45, put on 38 alongside Scott Borthwick. Borthwick was the first of three quick wickets for Noor Hossain as the Lions were bowled out with 11 overs unused.Bangladesh moved along at a steady pace during their chase and a couple of wickets for Danny Briggs were nothing more than a minor blip. The margin of victory would have been even more emphatic but for two late strikes by Nathan Buck and Bangladesh were home in 33 overs.

The ICC board has condemned the Guyanese government’s interference in the functioning of cricket in Guyana

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2012The ICC board has condemned the Guyanese government’s interference in the functioning of cricket in Guyana. In a statement released after its meeting in Dubai, the board reiterated its stand that governments should have no involvement in the running of cricket in any country.”The ICC Board was concerned to learn of the developments in Guyana where the government has dissolved the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and replaced it with an Interim Management Committee (IMC),” the release said. “In condemning this government intervention in the strongest possible terms, the ICC Board reaffirmed the principle of non-interference and that the only legitimate cricketing authority is that recognised by the West Indies Cricket Board.”The Guyanese government had dissolved the GCB due to a dispute over its July 2011 elections. The elections, in which Ramsay Ali became president, were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest.”Following that ruling, Guyanese sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed the IMC, headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, who is also a former WICB director and chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC and said the only authority they would recognise was the GCB. The impasse led to several problems, including Guyana nearly missing the Caribbean T20, the shifting of Guyana’s first four first-class matches of the season out of the country, and the possible shifting of West Indies’ Test against Australia in Providence scheduled for April.In its annual conference in June, the ICC had taken a firm stance on government interference in cricket and had given its member boards two years to become democratised and free from government and political interference in a bid to improve governance within the game. In keeping with that stance, the ICC board strongly opposed the Guyanese government’s actions.

Mashrafe Mortaza has reported to his franchise an approach from a fellow cricketer regarding potential spot-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League

Mohammad Isam09-Feb-2012Mashrafe Mortaza has reported to his franchise an approach from a fellow cricketer regarding potential spot-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). His franchise, Dhaka Gladiators, say they have informed the BPL of the approach.”I have told my team management [about the approach] and I’m sure they will do the right thing,” Mashrafe told ESPNcricinfo. Gladiators media manager Minhaz Uddin Khan confirmed the report and said the franchise had passed on the information to the BPL.The story was first reported in Thursday morning’s Dhaka papers, which included a quote from Mashrafe saying he would step down from the team captaincy if he suspected any irregularities once the tournament got underway.The reports said Mashrafe was asked to provide information on whether he would play certain matches and even whether he’d be wearing his sunglasses or cap. In exchange, he was told, he would be paid 15-20% of the earnings from the spot-betting.However, there is some confusion over the details of the approach – the date and place – and which officials are in the loop regarding this. Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar, who is an advisor to the Gladiators, told ESPNcricinfo that he informed BPL governing council chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain of the incident on Tuesday; however, the league’s secretary Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir said on Thursday morning he was not aware of any such report and had learned of it in the papers.”We have found out after reading the newspaper reports. I don’t understand why he went to the press first before telling us. There’s a proper process for all this,” Alamgir said. “If he had reported it to us, we would have started investigation right away. But even now, we will talk to Mashrafe and take his official statement.”Alamgir confirmed that an ICC ACSU officer is already in Dhaka for the BPL and will be made aware of this new information. “The protocol is for the player to report to the BPL governing council or for the franchise owners to report to BPL. None of them have done that before the news was published in the media. I will also tell our ACSU officer about the incident and we’ll conduct whatever is necessary in this situation.”

Chris Gayle will play no part for Dolphins in the MiWAY T20 Challenge in South Africa, as his groin injury persists

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2012Chris Gayle will play no part for Dolphins in the MiWAY T20 Challenge in South Africa, as his groin injury persists. Gayle left South Africa on Sunday for Trinidad where he will attend the funeral of his former West Indies team-mate Runako Morton, who died in a car accident last week. Gayle may have been able to get fit in time for Dolphin’s final group-stage match, on March 21, but the franchise and him have agreed he will not return to South Africa.”Gayle was disappointed at not playing for the Dolphins, but the injury has not healed quickly enough to allow him to play,” Jesse Chellan, CEO of KwaZulu Natal Cricket Union, the home of the Dolphins, said. “He enjoyed his short stay in Durban and looks forward to playing for the Dolphins in the future.”Gayle had picked up a grade two groin strain while playing for Barisal Burners in the Bangladesh Premier League and underwent rehabilitation in Durban in the hope that he would be able to play in the latter stages of Dolphins’ campaign. However, he has not been able to get fit in time. He will, however, be ready in time for the start of the IPL on April 4, in which he will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL game between Pune Warriors and Chennai Super Kings in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria13-Apr-2012Match factsSaturday, April 14, Pune
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Ashok Dinda has been the standout performer for Pune Warriors•AFPBig PictureThe fortunes of these two teams as a whole are somewhat dependent on the form of their strong captains. Till Thursday, MS Dhoni had struggled to leave his mark on the game, and not surprisingly, Chennai Super Kings were not looking a confident unit. Till Thursday, Sourav Ganguly’s positive influence was all that was being talked about in Pune Warriors’ first two wins. But on Thursday evening, Dhoni scored a crucial 41 and the team responded with a most remarkable chase. On the same day, Ganguly’s team went down to Kings XI Punjab, the captain cutting a sorry figure with his shabby fielding.So when the two teams meet in Pune, a lot will depend on how much belief these two captains can instill into their sides. Super Kings are definitely the favourites. During the course of the last four games, all Super Kings batsmen – except M Vijay – have found form and being a team that bats deep, they will be hard to stop.Warriors too brandish a long batting order but a lot could depend on how their batsmen handle Super Kings spinners, who have blown hot and cold in the tournament till now. Pune’s bowling has kept the opposition under control but they could face a tough test on Saturday. Meanwhile, the wait for Tamim Iqbal’s debut match continues. Could it be this game?Players to watchEven though it was Albie Morkel who found his range in their last game, for Super Kings it has been Faf du Plessis who has cleared the boundary the most times so far in this IPL. He is slowly easing into the role that Michael Hussey played so well. Apart from his batting, du Plessis is a useful legspinner. He currently has 49 Twenty20 scalps and his 50th could be coming in Pune.While the focus has mostly been on their captain and talented bench-warmers, Ashok Dinda has efficiently leapt to the top of Warriors’ bowling charts. He has taken six wickets in three games, at an economy of less than five. Can he hustle the Super Kings batting?2011 head-to-headLast year, both times the teams played each other, Super Kings swept away Pune’s challenge easily. They won the first game in Chennai by 25 runs and followed it up with an eight-wicket victory two days later in Navi Mumbai.Stats and trivia Dwayne Bravo is the most economical bowler (6.55 rpo) for Super Kings in the tournament so far. However, he is only 21st on the overall list. Sourav Ganguly has scored 89 runs off 92 balls in his six innings for Warriors.Quotes”The first half [against Kings XI Punjab] was a bit slow, with ball doing a bit, but we didn’t even play the full 20 overs. Had we batted through and got 130-135, with the kind of bowling we have and supported with the fielding, things could have gone in our favour”

“Sometime it [a line-up that bats deep] creates a problem. When you have a [long] batting line-up, you sort of lose your responsibility as a player, because you know that you have guys behind you. But on a night like tonight, it’s great to have big-hitters down the order.”
Albie Morkel on Super Kings strong batting line-up, after their last-ball win against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Domestic cricket in Bangladesh will resume on Friday with the two remaining matches of the first-class competition

Mohammad Isam19-Apr-2012A three-week hiatus of domestic cricket in Bangladesh will end on Friday with two league matches of the first-class competition, the National Cricket League. However, there will be no matches of the 50-over Dhaka Premier League, suspended since March 28, as the BCB and the clubs remain deadlocked.The NCL games, the first domestic cricket will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium and Fatullah Cricket Stadium. Those two games will be the last of the tournament’s second phase before the five-day final that is scheduled to start on April 26.The BCB’s inability to resolve the crisis with Victoria Sporting Club, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Abahani has been increasingly frustrating for the fans and the players. None of the clubs are budging from their threat of not playing unless their demands are met. It is hoped that a solution will be found by the time the NCL is over.The BCB said on Thursday that officials from five clubs (except Victoria) met BCB president Mustafa Kamal to discuss possible ways to resolve the Super League (the second phase of the Premier League) drama. It is now likely that the Super League will be held after the NCL final.The Sylhet-Rajshahi game will be held in Mirpur while in Narayanganj, league leaders Khulna will take on Dhaka Metro. Sylhet are in second position with 95.52 points while defending champions Rajshahi are third on 93.98 points though they have more wins.Rajshahi are still waiting on the availability of Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who is yet to play a first-class game for them this season. Mushfiqur is appearing for his Masters examinations so he could miss the match. If he is absent, Rajshahi will rely on heavy scorers like Farhad Hossain, Mizanur Rahman and Junaid Siddique, and on left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib who has taken 43 wickets so far in this edition.Jahurul Islam, one of the Rajshahi mainstays, wanted the four-dayers to be played in milder climes, and not the heat of April. “Playing four-day matches in such weather is not perfect,” Jahurul said. “It’d be great if the games would be played in January or February. First-class cricket is important in every country but when it is interrupted by break like this it diminishes the importance of the tournament.”Their opponents Sylhet will bank on their left-arm spinner Enamul Haque who is the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 53 from nine games. Their batting will revolve around Rajin Saleh, Golam Mabud and Ezaz Ahmed.Newcomers Dhaka Metropolis have Asif Ahmed, the tournament’s top-scorer with 744 runs, while Shamsur Rahman, Mohammad Ashraful and Mehrab Hossain Jr all have in excess of 450 runs so far. The bowling has been overly reliant on Arafat Sunny, who has 47 wickets while no one else in the team has bagged 20 dismissals.Khulna will have the services of Abdur Razzak and Imrul Kayes for their match against Dhaka Metro while still relying on their balanced bowling attack that saw Al-Amin Hossain (37 wickets), Murad Khan (34) and Dolar Mahmud (34) dominate whenever the need arose.Tushar Imran and Anamul Haque have scored in excess of 500 runs in the competition while the side will expect Razzak to dominate with the ball and Imrul to use the game to show the national selectors his talent.

Ajmal Shahzad continued the positive start to his Lancashire career with two key wickets against Middlesex

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth24-May-2012
ScorecardEarly wickets gave Lancashire the advantage after a strong first innings total•Getty ImagesYorkshire’s hierarchy have made their views on Ajmal Shahzad abundantly clear, but even the most suspicious of Lancastrians is beginning to be won around by his commitment to lift their fortunes following his controversial loan move across the Pennines.Criticised for his general attitude by Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s outspoken chief executive, following their decision to release the first British Asian player to represent the county, he has attempted to distance himself from those remarks by reminding the cricket community that he is equally able to grab the headlines for his performances on the field.Two wickets in his maiden over for Lancashire against Sussex, which included a wicket with his first delivery, have now been followed up an influential spell to enable the Champions – still looking for their first win of the season – to gain control in the Aigburth sunshine against a strong Middlesex line-up.”Ajmal has fitted in really well, he tries his heart out and is always willing to bowl,” said his new team-mate, Kyle Hogg. “He’s a great bowler and a more than useful batsman as well. Having him here is good competition and it lifts everyone else’s game because you know if you don’t perform to certain levels there are people waiting in the wings.”We have Sajid Mahmood and Oliver Newby not playing in this game – it’s how it should be, if you are not performing people should take your place, it brings the best out of players.”Shahzad’s fiery six-over burst after tea built on fine new ball spells from Glen Chapple, Lancashire’s captain, and Hogg that accounted for both openers. Shahzad opened his account by tempting Joe Denly into chasing a wide delivery, which flew to point, but then claimed the crucial wicket of Eoin Morgan, playing his first Championship innings since last July.His county cricket opportunities limited by England and IPL commitments, Morgan looked in good touch when he lofted Simon Kerrigan’s left-arm spin over midwicket for six to get off the mark.However, perhaps indicating a rustiness in his game having not played a first-class match since the final Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last February, Morgan failed to spot an inswinging delivery from Shahzad, bowling from the River End, in the next over and when he tried to drive, the ball crashed into his stumps off an inside edge. The Aigburth crowd, basking in the late afternoon sunshine, were almost as excited as Shahzad at the breakthrough.Kerrigan was able to dismiss Dawid Malan with a catch to bat-pad five overs later to leave Middlesex struggling on 95 for 5 and it took an unbroken 60-run stand between Neil Dexter and John Simpson to prevent them from collapsing in the final session.Middlesex’s fortunes were similar to Lancashire’s with the bat. They resumed with sights set on reaching 400 for only the second time this summer on 276 for 4, but lost six for 71 and were dismissed for 392.Ashwell Prince, Lancashire’s South African overseas batsman, began the collapse when he was superbly caught by Ollie Rayner at slip driving at Gareth Berg for 144 after resuming on 121. Confidence lifted by that reflex catch, Rayner went on to claim 3 for 88 with his offspin as Lancashire went in search of quick runs to advance the game.Facing a tricky 15 overs before tea, Middlesex suffered a bad start when Chris Rogers edged a lifting delivery from Hogg behind and Sam Robson fell lbw to a full length ball from Chapple that may have kept a little low. The afternoon sunshine, though, belonged to Shahzad.Advised by his management company to avoid media interviews while the controversy over his switch continues, it was left to Hogg to reflect on Shahzad’s impact since arriving at Old Trafford.””He got a few good luck messages on Twitter when he signed for us!”joked Hogg. “Him and Saj are pretty much identical in character and it is good to have them around, especially on days like today when it can be tough going. They keep everyone going.”

PK Dharma, a Tamil Nadu cricketer, has died at age 20, in what police say could be a case of suicide

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2012PK Dharma, a Tamil Nadu cricketer, has died at the age of 20. Police say they suspect it to be a case of suicide.Dharma, who has played two List A matches for Tamil Nadu, was found hanging in his house in Chennai on Sunday afternoon, according to reports. The day before, he’d played a three-day Tamil Nadu Cricketers’ Association first-division final for his club, Globe Trotters, against Vijay CC at the Chidambaram Stadium.”He was a promising youngster who turned into a fine allrounder,” Sridharan Sriram, who has played for India and is captain of the Globe Trotters team, was quoted as saying by . “We [team members] didn’t know much about his personal life, but this was an extreme step. It is a sad moment for us all.””I have seen his development over the past five or six years. In these days of the IPL and the opportunity that it offers to domestic cricketers, I was expecting Dharma to make a mark for himself,” former Tamil Nadu batsman M Senthilnathan, who is the Globe Trotters coach, said.Dharma, who made his List A debut in February 2011, made it to the limited-overs team after an injury to L Balaji. “I was injured and he replaced me,” Balaji, who led Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy last season, said. “I haven’t played alongside him but from whatever I have seen of him, the boy had promise.””He was an upcoming player, this is very unfortunate and a loss to Tamil Nadu cricket,” Kasi Viswanathan, the TNCA secretary, said.