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Acting captain Jacques Rudolph lashed his second century in as many days at
Scarborough as Yorkshire beat Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A leaders Sussex by 35
runs

21-Aug-2011
ScorecardActing captain Jacques Rudolph lashed his second century in as many days at
Scarborough as Yorkshire beat Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A leaders Sussex by 35
runs.Yorkshire rattled up 302 for 4 in front of a 6,500 crowd, before bowling out
their opponents for 267, although they are too far down the table to stand any
chance of reaching the semi-finals. Rudolph, who hit 120 in the Championship clash between the sides on Saturday, was again in tremendous form after Yorkshire had been put in to bat.The South African left-hander opened the innings and led the charge with an
unbeaten 132 off just 112 deliveries with 11 fours and three sixes. It was Yorkshire’s fifth highest individual knock in this form of cricket and Rudolph’s seventh century in the competition as well as his seventh three-figure score in all matches at North Marine Road.Rudolph was not the only star of the show, however, because Adam Lyth
contributed a sparkling 73 off 68 balls with eight fours and a six in an opening
stand of 142 in 22 overs.Jonny Bairstow, who will now join up with England’s one-day team for their
one-off game in Dublin this week, also hammered 52 from 45 deliveries with two
fours and three sixes while helping to put on 113 for the second wicket in 14
overs.Lyth had an early piece of luck when he was dropped by Monty Panesar at
backward square leg in the opening over from Chris Liddle but from that point on
the Whitby-born batsman set the pace, blasting Naveed Arif over mid-wicket for
six and taking consecutive boundaries off Michael Yardy on his way to 50 from 44
balls with six fours and a six.Rudolph clattered sixes off Chris Nash and Yardy either side of completing his
half-century but the partnership was broken by Panesar when Lyth got into a
tangle attempting to sweep and was bowled. Bairstow entered the fray to drive two sweetly timed sixes in one over from Panesar before Rudolph cantered to his ninth one-day hundred for Yorkshire off 90 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes.Attempting another big hit, Bairstow was well caught low down at long off by
Lou Vincent and Gerard Brophy was bowled by Liddle. Gary Ballance struck three consecutive fours but departed when Wayne Parnell hit his stumps in the final over, leaving Anthony McGrath to drive his first ball for six to take Yorkshire over the 300 mark.Ed Joyce made the right sort of start for Sussex with three consecutive
boundaries off Oliver Hannon-Dalby who was immediately replaced by leg-spinner,
Adil Rashid.He was also hit for two fours by Joyce who then drove hard to mid-off where
Hannon-Dalby held on to a splendid catch. Yorkshire tightened their grip as Steve Patterson struck twice, Nash flicking straight to Bairstow on the mid-wicket boundary and Murray Goodwin driving to Rashid at cover.Vincent looked threatening until he hooked at Hannon-Dalby and was athletically
caught at deep mid-wicket by Ballance and David Wainwright took a stinging
return catch to get rid of Joe Gatting after a 56-run stand with Yardy.The Sussex captain, who notched a century in each innings of the Championship
match, tried bravely to hold his side together and he was helped when dropped on
the cover boundary by Bairstow.He galloped to his 50 from 39 balls with three fours and two sixes but was
bowled giving himself too much room to cut at Rashid. Just when Ben Brown and Parnell were beginning to make Yorkshire feel anxious with a 67-run stand, Rashid returned for Parnell to nibble a catch to wicketkeeper, Brophy, and Naveed was caught on the boundary edge by Ballance.Brown received 41 balls for his half-century with three fours but Yorkshire
were back in charge now and after Moin Ashraf deservedly got a wicket by bowling
Liddle the match ended with the running out of Brown in the 37th over.

A dose of grim autumnal weather is doing its best to write off the one-day leg of India’s benighted tour of England

Andrew Miller at The Oval08-Sep-2011A dose of grim autumnal weather is doing its best to write off the one-day leg of India’s benighted tour of England, and to judge by the glut of injuries that have plagued the tourists in recent weeks, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they themselves have written the campaign off as a lost cause, with a view to regrouping in their own conditions on the subcontinent in little over a month’s time.However, according to Graeme Swann, the huge turnover of Indian players – with Manoj Tiwary joining the party ahead of Tuesday’s 23-over contest at the Rose Bowl, and Ravindra Jadeja now in contention at The Oval – has created a whole new set of challenges, as England seek to extend their current run of dominance to seven wins out of seven completed fixtures when the third ODI starts on Thursday.”It doesn’t feel like the same team we played against three or four weeks ago,” said Swann. “We’re still learning about this opposition, so we don’t go in there thinking: ‘We’re going to trounce this lot today’, we go in thinking, ‘we’ve got a game on our hands each time’. A few of the younger guys are playing with a carefree attitude that is working for them, and it means we are being provided with new challenges.”The players in question include the openers Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane, whose enterprising attitude at the top of India’s order has enabled them to post challenging totals in each of the three limited-overs contests to date. To all intents and purposes, the newcomers also include Suresh Raina, whose 42-ball pair in the fourth Test at The Oval was the culmination of a grim Test series, but whose returns in coloured clothing have been the work of a reborn cricketer. Since that date, he has amassed 111 runs from 67 balls, including a brisk 40 from 19 at the Rose Bowl.Graeme Swann believes England are benefiting from facing a new-look India side•Getty Images

“It could have been he just woke up one morning and thought, ‘sod this, I’m going to smack the ball around’, or it could have been the 42-ball pair here that made him walk off and think ‘never again’,” said Swann. “You never know, but he’s certainly been very exciting, and he looks a completely different player. Some of his hitting the other night was spectacular to watch even on the field, and it must have been great for the Indian fans off it, because I know there were a lot in the crowd.”Despite the best efforts of the weather, the interest in the series remains significant, with a sizeable majority of the Rose Bowl crowd sitting tight for five-and-a-half hours on Tuesday in the hope of witnessing what turned out to be an entertaining, albeit curtailed, contest. For England, who have experienced a slackening-off of ambition at this time of year in the past – not least during their 6-1 drubbing against Australia two years ago – the determination to offer no let-up is plain, as they seek to deny India even a consolation victory to take away from the tour.”We’ve played some unbelievable cricket this summer, especially in the Test matches, so we don’t want the one-day series to be a bit of a damp squib at the end,” said Swann. “It was that in 2009 [after the Ashes victory], and although it didn’t take the polish off for any of the players, I’m sure it did for a few people watching. It’s important we carry on the momentum, not least for the guys who’ve come in for the one-day squad, because we want all three forms of the game to be going in the right direction in the next few years.”Another reason to keep up the intensity is the fact that the return ODI series against India is already looming large. The first of five matches gets underway in Hyderabad on October 14, and seeing as England were panned 5-0 on their last trip in November 2008 (and would surely have lost 7-0 but for the abandonment of the last two matches) there’s plenty at stake for this squad.”It would be massive to win in India, but we’ve got to cross that bridge when we get to it,” said Swann. “We certainly don’t look at it as one series, because these are two contrasting conditions. I don’t think you can take late September in England, in these damp squib conditions, compared to what it’ll be like in India where it’s really hot, and the India players will feel much more at home.”

The United Arab Emirates won a close low-scoring contest against Afghanistan in the first one-day game

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2011 by 15 runs
Scorecard
The United Arab Emirates won a close, low-scoring contest against Afghanistan in the first one-day game. Three wicket-hauls from Karim Sadiq and Dawlat Zadran, part of a collective bowling display, helped bowl out UAE for a gettable 198. The pair helped trigger a collapse in which UAE lost eight wickets for 67 runs after being comfortably placed at 131 for 2 in the 24th over. Captain Khurram Khan scored a half-century, supported by Faiman Anwar at No.3, who made 42. But the middle and lower orders fell apart.Khurram, however, starred in an all-round effort. Five of Afghanistan’s middle-order batsmen got starts after the openers had been dismissed cheaply – the highest score among them was Gulbodin Naib’s 43 – but weren’t able to push on. From 146 for 5, they slipped to 166 for 9. Hamid Hassan took them closer with a spunky 22 but he was the last wicket to fall, trapped in front by Khurram, who finished with four wickets, to end the game with nine balls to spare and Afghanistan 15 runs short.

Nathan Lyon says he is ready to take on the responsibility of being the first-choice spinner

Brydon Coverdale05-Nov-2011Calvin Coolidge, the US president of the 1920s, was so renowned for his reticence that a man once bet the humorist Dorothy Parker she couldn’t get more than two words out of him. When Parker told Coolidge of the wager, his reply was simple: “You lose”.Speaking to Nathan Lyon is a similar experience. An uncomplicated character from country New South Wales, Lyon prefers to let his bowling do the talking. And when you’ve taken a wicket with your first ball in Test cricket, and five in your first innings, that’s a fine philosophy.This time last year, Lyon hadn’t been to a Test match, let alone played in one. Not until he was a groundsman at Adelaide Oval last summer did he see Test cricket in the flesh.When the South Africans visited Australia three seasons ago, Lyon was part of the groundstaff at Canberra’s Manuka Oval, a venue that has hosted two one-day internationals, 16 years apart. He followed Graeme Smith’s men in fierce battle with the Australians on television, sneaking a couple of hours off work each morning to watch the first session.”I certainly didn’t imagine that I’d be over here in the next series,” Lyon said this week, “but I always dreamt of playing Test cricket for Australia and I’m just loving every moment.”Lyon enters the two-Test series as Australia’s incumbent spinner. Michael Beer will join the squad in Cape Town ahead of the first Test, which starts on Wednesday, but Lyon is expected to hold his place after a promising start to his Test career in Sri Lanka.There, he struck with his first ball in Test cricket, a sublime delivery that curled in and turned sharply away to clip the edge of Kumar Sangakkara’s bat. Only three more wickets came after the first innings of the series, but Lyon had done enough to encourage the selectors he was the man for the job in the immediate future.When asked if he knew what to expect from the pitch at Newlands, where the first Test starts on Wednesday, Lyon said he “wouldn’t have a clue”. It was a fair call for a man who was yet to visit Cape Town. But reports from the locals suggest the Newlands surface should offer something for the slow bowlers, whereas the fast men will be favoured in the second Test at the Wanderers.All the same, Newlands is the venue where the legspinner Bryce McGain was belted out of Test cricket on debut in 2009, when he finished with match figures of 0 for 149 from 18 overs. The conditions in South Africa are unlikely to be as friendly for spinners as those in Sri Lanka, but Lyon was unfazed.”I wouldn’t say it’s daunting,” he said. “I would say it’s challenging and I’m always up for a challenge, that’s why we play the game. It’s definitely going to be a good challenge for every one of us but especially with me being a spin bowler it’s going to be pretty tough but I’m certainly looking forward to it.”Shane Warne certainly enjoyed bowling in South Africa, where he took 61 Test wickets at 24.31. Lyon is the 11th spinner Australia have used in the post-Warne era, but he said he was not worried about those who had gone before him.”I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “I’m a totally different bowler to Shane Warne, he was the best in the world so I’ve got my own ambitions and goals to achieve and not worry about what’s gone past. I’m here at the moment and hopefully I’ll keep striving to get better and just confident in my own skill set at the moment.”Lyon warmed up for the first Test with 2 for 40 in the second innings of the tour match in Potchefstroom. Those wickets came from successive deliveries, a fine delivery that bounced and turned away from JP Duminy and caught the edge of the bat, and then a ball that didn’t spin as much as the right-hander Farhaan Behardien expected, and he too nicked behind.Lyon bowled 18 overs in the match, on a pitch more suited to the fast men. He will have a heavier workload in Cape Town, especially if Trent Copeland is left out and Lyon becomes the containing bowler.Coolidge used to sleep 11 hours a day, including a two-hour afternoon nap while he was in the White House. They might share a similar quietness, but there will be no such siestas for Lyon over the next fortnight.

Daniel Christian will have to put on hold his dreams of a baggy green after Australia named an unchanged side for the second Test in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart08-Dec-2011Daniel Christian will have to put on hold his dreams of a baggy green after Australia named an unchanged side for the second Test in Hobart. Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, confirmed on Thursday that the selectors had chosen the same XI that comfortably accounted for New Zealand at the Gabba.The Australians trained on Thursday morning and were greeted by an extremely grassy pitch, which could make batting difficult on the first day. Including Christian would have altered the balance of the team; although he is one of the Sheffield Shield’s leading run scorers this summer, it was his medium-pace bowling that could have swayed selection in his favour in the absence of Shane Watson.”There’s probably a concern there that if your frontline bowlers don’t do the job with the new ball it could be quite a long day,” Clarke said. “But I’m confident. I thought we bowled really well at the Gabba in both innings. I’m confident I can get some overs out of Michael Hussey, myself and David Warner as part-timers. I’m just going to have to make sure I rotate the bowlers the right way and hope we bowl well and field well with the new ball.”[Christian] has had a really good year in first-class cricket, especially with the bat, but we know what he can do with the ball as well. We had a long debate. We feel the team played really well in Brisbane. I’m very keen to stay consistent with a winning team for this second Test match against New Zealand.”Had Christian been included, the two possible scenarios would have been to drop one of the openers – Phillip Hughes has scored 9, 9, 88, 11, 10 and 7 from his past three Tests – and promote Usman Khawaja to open, with Christian to bat at No.6, or to leave out the offspinner Nathan Lyon on a pitch expected to offer plenty for the seamers. However, Clarke was keen to keep Lyon, Australia’s leading wicket taker in the Brisbane victory with match figures of 7 for 88.”The wicket has a lot more grass on it than I have ever seen at Hobart,” Clarke said. “It looks better today than yesterday, no doubt. But I still think there’s a lot of grass on that wicket. I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like tomorrow morning. I think day one is going to be quite tough for the batters if it’s overcast. Then I’m hoping it will turn into a pretty good wicket. I still see Lyon playing a big part for us as our spinner, probably later in the game than on day one.”Australia 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon.

With the game between Indians and Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI heading for a draw, the two sides agreed to bat for 30 overs each on the final day

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2011
ScorecardUsman Khawaja made a half-century•Getty Images

With the game between Indians and Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI heading for a draw, the two sides took advantage of the match not being a first-class fixture to decide to bat for 30 overs each on the final day.While the Indians’ bowling attack failed to take a wicket, they would have been buoyed by an improved performance from Zaheer Khan, who is coming back from ankle surgery. He bowled five overs and conceded just 13 runs. Ishant Sharma, who did not start the game because of an ankle problem of his own, was drafted in on third day and bowled four overs, suggesting he could be ready for the first Test that begins on December 26.After CA Chairman’s XI declared on their overnight score of 7 for 215, Indians lost Virender Sehwag and Ajinkya Rahane inside the first ten overs, the latter for a 16-ball duck, his third failure in three attempts on tour. Gautam Gambhir, who has not scored an international hundred for a year, steadied the visitors in the company of Rohit Sharma, who was the more fluid of the two. The pair added 76 in 20.3 overs, with Gambhir remaining unbeaten on 42 and Rohit on 38.Set 146 to win from 30 overs, CA Chairman’s XI opened with Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja, pushing first-innings centurion Ed Cowan, who was named in Australia’s squad for the Boxing Day Test, down the order. The target was never seriously pursued as the pair, both of whom were dropped from the Australia Test squad, started slowly. The only interest was whether they could attain personal milestones before the close. Khawaja managed to reach his half-century, making 56 with seven fours, while Hughes had to be content with 42 not out.

Zaheer Khan has responded to Brad Haddin’s comments on India’s mental make-up by asking the Australian wicketkeeper to mind his own game, which according to him is fragile

Sidharth Monga in Perth10-Jan-2012It has taken two Tests, but it has begun. Perhaps it’s got to do with the time the cricketers got off their cricketing routines. India and Australia have resumed their verbal sparring. It began with Brad Haddin saying on a radio show that India are mentally fragile, and that when put under pressure, they “turn on each other”. Zaheer Khan has responded by telling Haddin to mind his own game, which according to him is fragile.Suppressing his laughter, Zaheer said, “Brad Haddin should focus on his keeping. That looks really fragile to me. He needs to start moving.” Zaheer was alluding to the three catches Haddin dropped in the first two Tests. Zaheer went a step further. He said that Haddin seemed to be the designated big mouth of the Australian team.Zaheer was asked if the two teams were now breaking the sort of unwritten pact of mutual respect they have been following, especially keeping in mind the bitterness on India’s last tour here. “I think by the sound of it Haddin has been appointed for that in the Australian team,” Zaheer said of the possible mind games coming from the Australian camp.Zaheer was also asked if Haddin was lucky to be in the Australian side after the ordinary show in the first two Tests. “He is doing all the talk,” Zaheer said. “So he is definitely playing his role.”Peter Siddle chose to steer clear of the controversy, but was forced to say a line or two when almost all the questions in his press conference revolved around Zaheer and Haddin. “[It is] just a lead-up to the Test,” Siddle said. “The pressure that we have been building as bowling partnerships, and a bowling unit is what has been working for us, that’s what is putting the pressure on. Whether you call it intimidation, whether it’s just good team bowling, whatever you think, but that’s what Bradley was getting at. The pressure we have been building without bowling.”Siddle said he had no idea why Haddin said what he said, and that he has not spoken to Haddin about it. Siddle, though, said there was no designated big mouth in the side. “There is no appointment,” he said. “These things come out. Zaheer is saying he should concentrate on his keeping. I wouldn’t like to see how good a tip Zaheer can give him on his keeping. I don’t think it’s his place to say that either. Just a part of the game. Zaheer is going all right at the moment, so he likes to say those things.”I think we are all nice and friendly guys in the field. We are all nice to our opposition. That’s how we play our cricket. That’s obviously it. Brad’s a very competitive cricketer. He does like to play it hard and fair. Me and Jimmy [James Pattinson] like to bowl our bouncers, stuff like that.”

ESPNcricinfo’s player-by-player coverage of the 2012 IPL auction in Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2012

A round-up of the semi-finals of the Faysal Bank One Day National Cup Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2012Shoaib Malik’s all-round performance inspired Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a four-wicket victory against Islamabad at the Gaddafi Stadium, earning them a place in the final of the One-day National Cup.Islamabad were put in to bat and reached 212 thanks mainly to a 116-run fifth-wicket stand between Zohail Ahmed, who scored 68 not out, and Faizan Riaz, who made 58. None of the other batsmen made a significant contribution, allowing PIA to keep Islamabad down to a chaseable total. Malik conceded 50 runs in his 10 overs, but took four wickets. He broke the stand between Ahmed and Riaz, and took two more quick wickets to leave Islamabad in a situation from which it was hard to accelerate.The chase went down to the final over, with Shoaib Khan remaining unbeaten on 58 to ensure PIA won with four balls to spare. Malik had set up the chase, with his 60, but the runs came at a strike-rate of 68.18, and PIA needed someone to lift the rate at the death. Shoaib Khan was that man, his 58 coming off 65 balls and featuring four boundaries and a six.

Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar scored centuries to set up a big win against Sialkot Stallions at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, and book Habib Bank Limited‘s spot in the final. Farhat and Taufeeq shared a 220-run opening stand that deflated Sialkot and got HBL to an imposing 334 for 6. Taufeeq focused on accumulation, getting just 28 runs in boundaries out of his 100 but still managing to strike at 88.49. Farhat was more aggressive, striking four sixes and 13 fours in his 125 off 107 balls. The pair vindicated their captain’s decision to bat, and quick runs from the middle order, including a 23-ball 38 from Humayun Farhat, ensured HBL had a winning score.Sialkot did not put up much of a fight in their chase. Mohammad Yasin got 41 at the top of the order and Shehzad Malik scored a slow 44 in the middle, and there was never any real hope of them getting close. They were eventually bowled out for 180 in 42.1 overs, with legspinner Danish Kaneria helping himself to four wickets and offspinner Aftab Alam taking 3 for 31.HBL will meet PIA in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium on March 21.

Report of day three from Cardiff

21-Apr-2012
Scorecard
Ben Wright scored a century to give Glamorgan a chance of securing a first victory of the season going into the last day against Hampshire at Cardiff. But Hampshire also have their own ambitions of winning. They will resume the fourth day on 112 for 4 needing another 92 runs.That was after Glamorgan made 256 in their second innings with Wright making 104 and Stewart Walters supplying a half-century.The start of the third day was held up for an hour because of torrential rain and hail, with play resuming at noon with Glamorgan on 73 for 3, a slender lead of 20. Walters and Wright continued where they left off yesterday evening, going on to put on a 100-run partnership – the first of Glamorgan’s season.Glamorgan reached lunch at 143 for 3 with the fourth-wicket pair building their lead to 90 with Walters going to his half-century from 125 balls – the first by a Glamorgan batsman this season. But he was out 11 balls later edging a drive off Sean Ervine behind. Despite the loss of Walters, Wright also went to his 50 from 87 balls.Glamorgan reached 200 in an innings at the sixth time of asking before Jim Allenby was caught by wicket-keeper Michael Bates standing up to Hamza Riazuddin. That was the first of four wickets to fall in the space of six overs. Moises Henriques was bowled by Riazuddin who struck again as Mark Wallace was caught by James Vince at backward point, before Graham Wagg chipped the bowler to mid-on as Glamorgan slipped to 237 for 8.Despite the clatter of wickets Wright kept his cool to register the fifth century of his first-class career – Glamorgan’s first hundred against Hampshire for eight years. He reached the landmark with his 13th four in 150 balls. Wright’s vigil ended when Vince took a sharp catch at leg slip off Danny Briggs and David Balcombe ended the Glamorgan innings when he yorked Dean Cosker.Tea was taken with Hampshire set a victory target of 204 and 41 overs in the final session.Wagg struck with the final ball of the first over when Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams edged to Wallace, and the left-arm seamer broke through again trapping Liam Dawson lbw.Simon Katich, the first batsman to score a Test century at Cardiff, in the 2009 Ashes Test, and James Vince consolidated as they put on 41 for the third wicket. Katich survived a loud appeal for leg before off Jim Allenby but there was no such reprieve in Allenby’s next over.Sean Ervine and Vince showed positive intent with the latter pulling Henriques for six, but the Ervine gained his revenge two balls later trapping Vince lbw for 28. Ervine was joined by Michael Bates as they shared a fifth-wicket stand of 44 before play was abandoned for bad light with 13 overs left.