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Sri Lanka A finished the rain-affected first day of the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A on 115 for 3

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2013
Scorecard
Sri Lanka A finished the rain-affected first day of the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A on 115 for 3, thanks in part to an unbeaten 49 from Kaushal Silva. Rain delayed the start of the match, then returned to interfere after 21 overs, before impeding play for a third and final time, in the afternoon. Only 40 overs were possible in the day.Kusal Perera’s lean trot with the bat did not improve, as he was caught behind for 2 off Mark Gillespie during the fifth over of the day. Gillespie also trapped captain Dinesh Chandimal in front for 6, to finish with the day’s best figures of 2 for 40. Corey Anderson took the other wicket – that of the opener Dimuth Karunaratne.Silva and Ashan Priyanjan had put on an unbeaten stand of 48 when stumps were drawn.

It was as if the Chennai Super Kings batsmen wanted to beat the evening crowds in the Mumbai local trains

The Report by Sidharth Monga05-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mitchell Johnson bowled Mumbai to a win again•BCCIIt was as if the Chennai Super Kings batsmen wanted to beat the evening crowds in the Mumbai local trains. So as opposed to chasing the below-par 140 in a hurry, they kept throwing away their wickets away, folding for the lowest total this IPL and losing by 60 runs to end their seven-match winning streak.No matter how much credit you give to Mumbai Indians’ bowling – one of the more watchable acts of the IPL – it was a surreal case of mediocrity manufacturing excitement in the first few overs of the chase. In the first over of the chase, Mitchell Johnson kept bowling short and wide, Michael Hussey kept cutting it to Kieron Pollard at point, and Pollard kept dropping. The third successive one of those cut Pollard’s nose, and he walked off the field even as the Wankhede Stadium rubbed its collective eyes.You could argue Johnson came back with a superb second over, but that began with a loose shot from M Vijay, who dragged a wide length ball on. Suresh Raina played across one, and got a leading edge to Pollard at point. This time Pollard dived in front and half-redeemed himself. As is the rule with Super Kings, they sent S Badrinath to face the crisis, and he nearly edged the hat-trick ball. Soon, Johnson beat his other edge with a left-arm bowlers’ outswinger, and was denied a triple-wicket maiden only by Dwayne Bravo.And Wankhede was yet to finish rubbing its eyes. In the next over, Bravo drove a shortish Pawan Suyal delivery off the back foot straight to cover. At 18 for 4, MS Dhoni held himself and Ravindra Jadeja back, and sent in R Ashwin, who soon fell to the veteran offspinner he has usurped, Harbhajan Singh. In came Dhoni with the asking rate past eight and only five wickets in hand.Hussey regained his orange cap, but his innings was never fluent. Lasith Malinga’s over to him was striking as the bouncers did Hussey in with both the slowness and then pace. Under immense pressure, Hussey looked for release the moment Pragyan Ojha came on to bowl, and lofted him straight to deep midwicket to make it 40 for 6 in 9.1 overs.Too much was left for Dhoni to do, and he too holed out off Ojha. Malinga ran through the rest, and Mumbai kept themselves in the top four with the end of the league approaching. It shouldn’t have been that easy, though, after they managed about 50 fewer than the average first-innings score in Mumbai this season. Once again, they were off to a slow start, and five of their top six failed to score at more than a run a ball.The two who did, captain Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan, went on to bat until the end. When they took it to the end, they got a loose last over from Ben Laughlin and took 19 runs off it. It didn’t seem the case then, but the momentum had shifted.

Angelo Mathews brushed off suggestions that Sri Lanka have arrived in England without adequate preparation, but identified his side’s batting as the area of most concern.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2013Angelo Mathews brushed off suggestions that Sri Lanka have arrived in England without adequate preparation, but identified his side’s batting as the area requiring most attention, as they build up to the Champions Trophy with three warm-up matches at Edgbaston.”There has been a little bit of doubt; people kept saying that the boys are in India and they haven’t had good preparation,” Mathews said. “But I want to write it off because we are professionals and we need to get prepared for this kind of tournament because it’s a huge event for everyone, personally and as a team. So I think we’ve done our preparation as a team and individually.”Mathews backed his senior batsmen, like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who failed to perform in the IPL; Sangakkara, in fact, was left out of the playing XI for the second half of the IPL. They were also unable to return to Sri Lanka to train with the remainder of the squad, despite a written request to the BCCI from Sri Lanka Cricket.”I think the senior batsmen have been world class for us. It’s not even a concern when it comes to a tournament like this because they’ve been here, they’ve done it, and I have the confidence in them.” he said “I’m really proud to have these guys in my team because I can get a lot of information and help.”Nine of Sri Lanka’s probable first XI arrived in Sri Lanka piecemeal over the last two weeks. They will now attempt to transition from the slow, turning pitches in the India to conditions better suiting fast bowlers in England, in just over a week.Those who did not travel to India however, played in a practice tournament in Pallekele, which sought to ready Sri Lanka for English conditions by attempting to recreate the seaming pitches they might encounter there”We’ve been playing in low [and] slow conditions and very hot and humid conditions in the past couple months. I think trying to adjust to the conditions is going to be the main challenge.” said Mathews. “Especially early summer is always going to be like this; wet, and it’s going to swing and seam. I think that’s our main challenge as batters especially,”He believed his bowlers would have an easier time adjusting, citing both their experience and their propensity to excel in swinging conditions. Sri Lanka drew an ODI series with Australia in January, where Nuwan Kulasekara, in particular, extracted substantial movement to trouble batsmen, while Thisara Perera and Mathews are also capable of moving the ball off the pitch to good effect.”I think the bowlers have got the firepower. We haven’t got the pace, but we know how to go in these conditions. In one group guys like Lasith Malinga, Perera have got that firepower. Malinga and Kulasekara, have been our strike bowlers the past three or four years, so we bank on them.”Sri Lanka have been one of the most consistent sides in major tournaments, making four ICC finals and a semi-final in the last six years. Mathews could not put his finger on why they have been unable to convert those chances, but was hopeful of maintaining their impressive run in major events.”Most teams won’t be complacent with us, but I think our past consistency is just a platform, because we need to raise the bar a bit. We’ve done pretty well on the big stage, and it’s just that I can’t really point out what went wrong in the finals and semi-finals, but we are hoping to better those performances But I think for now, as a team, we just want to make the maximum out of the first 10 days in England.”

A century from Chamu Chibhabha and an unbeaten knock of 80 from wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva helped Mashonaland Eagles secure a draw in a thrilling finish

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2013
ScorecardChamu Chibhabha’s century on the final day kept Mashonaland Eagles in hunt of a win, but wickets pegged them back•Zimbabwe CricketA fighting century from Chamu Chibhabha and an unbeaten knock of 80 from wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva helped Mashonaland Eagles secure a draw in a thrilling finish against Matabeleland Tuskers in Harare. Chasing 288, Chibhabha’s wicket, which fell 14.2 overs before stumps on the final day, sparked a collapse and Eagles slipped from at 192 for 4 to 218 for 7. Tuskers picked two more wickets, the ninth in the last over of the match, but could not take the final one.The match, over the course of four days, had been evenly contested, with no team scoring more than 269 or less than 250 in any innings. After scoring 268 in the first innings, led by half-centuries from Sean Williams and Bilal Shafayat, Tuskers had reduced Eagles to 55 for 5. Seamer Glen Querl had done most of the damage, taking four of the five wickets. The captain Stuart Matsikenyeri and Chakabva rescued Eagles with a 148-run stand, scoring 78 and 79 respectively. The Eagles were eventually bowled out 18 runs short of their opponents’ score, with seamer Keegan Meth taking six wickets.Tuskers put on a commanding batting performance in their second dig, with another fifty from Shafayat, and decent contributions of 44, 44, 38 and 31 from four of their other top-order batsmen. They declared on 269 for 6 on the final day, before a spirited chase from Eagles looked likely to achieve the target. But left-arm spinner Williams turned the game around with three quick wickets, and the match ended with Tuskers one wicket short of achieving a win.

A round-up of matches played in the President’s One-Day Cup tournament 2012-13 played on April 9, 2013

Umar Farooq09-Apr-2013A Rafatullah Mohmand century helped WAPDA pull off a 76-run victory over United Bank Limited at National Stadium in Karachi. Asked to bat first, WAPDA got off to a flying start, with opener Mohmand (107) and Saad Nasim (75) laying a solid 140-run stand. A brisk 31-ball 62 by Aamer Sajjad, along with Mohammad Ayub (33) powered WAPDA to an imposing 352 for 5. Shabbir Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets.UBL got off to a decent start, despite losing opener Khaqan Arsal with the score on 19. Saad Sukhail (84) and Imran Ali (70) shared a 147-run stand for the third wicket, but it wasn’t enough to lower the asking rate, with UBL losing wickets on a regular basis. Kashif Bhatti scored a quick fire 37, which included two fours and three sixes, before being dismissed by Kashif Naved, who took best figures of 3 for 19 in five overs. UBL ultimately reached 276 for 8, falling short by 76 runs.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited wrapped a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Khan Research Laboratories at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. KRL put on 200 for 9 after being asked to bat first, with the main contributions coming from Saeed Anwar jnr (51 off 101 balls) and Shoaib Ahmed (46). Iftikhar Anjum had best figures of 3 for 39, and he was ably supported by Zohaib Khan with 2 for 34.While chasing, ZTBL never faced a serious threat as Sharjeel Khan (90) and Babar Azam (72 not out) chased KRL’s total with more than 13 overs to spare. KRL were laden with international bowlers like Mohammad Irfan, Yasir Arafat and Rahat Ali, but the target was not defendable. Irfan was the only bowler to have any success, picking up 2 for 38.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited beat Port Qasim Authority by four wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. After choosing to bowl, PQA removed Mohammad Hafeez in the first over. Azhar Ali battled hard for his 95, with No.7 batsman Mohamamd Rizwan contributing 83 to help the side put on a respectable 238.PQA’s chase centered around opener Khurram Manzoor, who hit a match-winning century to help lead the side home with 40 balls to spare. There was a mini jolt for PQA, as they lost two quick wickets on 203, but Umar Amin (32) and Kamran Younis (20*) held their nerve to chase down the target for the loss of only six wickets. Manzoor hit three sixes and 13 fours in his innings of 115.Habib Bank Limited beat State Bank of Pakistan by three wickets and eight balls to spare. SBP chose to bat, with Kashif Siddiq (69) and Usman Saeed (49) top scoring as they posted 231 for 8. Abdur Rehman, Ehsan Adil and Mohamad Aslam all picked up two wickets apiece.HBL got off to solid start with Ahmed Shahzad (61) and Imran Farhat (49) putting on a 97-run opening stand. They lost a few in the middle overs, leaving the score at 122 for 4. A 54-run partnership between Asad Shafiq and Aftab Alam helped restore balance to the innings. Shafiq (57*) and Fahad Masood (20*) ultimately took the team home despite two slip-ups, as they finished with three wickets and eight balls to spare.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner accused of masterminding a spot-fixing scam, has confirmed he will appeal against the life ban handed to him by the ECB on Friday.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2012Danish Kaneria has confirmed he will appeal against the lifetime ban handed down to him by the ECB on Friday.Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, called the decision “very unfair” and also attacked the evidence given against him by the team-mate he was judged to have groomed to take part in a betting scam – Mervyn Westfield.When the three-man ECB disciplinary panel found Kaneria guilty of corruption, Gerard Elias QC called him “a grave danger to the game of cricket” and was highly critical of his defense arguments during the case heard in London.Kaneria insisted that he was “an honest man” and that he would fight a decision that looks certain to end his career.”I’m very upset about this decision,” he told “For what reason they have convicted me I do not know. It is a very, very unfair decision against me. I’ve come all the way from Pakistan to say the truth.Kaneria rejected the finding that he was a grave danger to the game. “They don’t have any proof against me. I don’t know why they are saying this. I will definitely be doing an appeal. The people trust me. I’m an honest man. I’ve been playing cricket with passion and love. I have done nothing wrong.”Westfield, the former Essex pace bowler, who was jailed for four months in January after accepting £6000 to conceded a set number of runs in an over during the Pro40 match against Durham in 2009, gave key evidence during the hearing. That earned him some latitude with Elias when he was given a five-year ban from the game which the allowance of being able to play club cricket in three.However, Kaneria hit back: “The person who has committed the crime, gone to prison, been telling lies to police, telling lies in court – he has told lies even in the tribunal,” he said. “I’m not lying. I’m telling the truth. I’ve been telling the truth all the way.”As well as the appeal that Kaneria has said he will launch there is also an ongoing integrity committee hearing with the PCB which is now set to conclude following the end of the ECB case. Although the ban was only handed out by one member board, the ICC expect the sanctions against Kaneria to be accepted around the world.Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said: “I will ask the Board to remind all Members to put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the sanctions imposed on both players in this case are appropriately recognised and respected outside of the ECB’s domestic jurisdiction”The need to protect the game from corruption requires every one of us, including the players, to remain vigilant and work tirelessly to that end. The increased popularity and television coverage for various domestic competitions around the world requires much more than just the ICC to be vigilant and we acknowledge the ECB’s efforts in this respect.”

Ireland have suffered a blow ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 with the allrounder John Mooney ruled out due to a serious finger fracture

Ger Siggins16-Aug-2012John Mooney, the man who hit the winning runs for Ireland against England in the 2011 World Cup, has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 due to a serious finger fracture. He suffered the injury when fielding in Irish club cricket, having returned to the game as a bowler while still resting a dislocated thumb sustained last month.”I’m devastated to be missing out on the rest of the season and the Twenty20 World Cup”, Mooney told ESPNcricinfo. “I was playing as a bowler for my club North County at the weekend as I was resting my thumb from batting since I dislocated it against Afghanistan.”I took a sharp chance low to the ground at first slip off Eddie Richardson and looked down to see the top part of my middle finger was floppy. I knew it wasn’t good.”A visit to a finger specialist on Tuesday gave Mooney, who has won 134 Ireland caps, the news he was dreading. “He confirmed I have fractured it and ripped the tendon from the bone,” Mooney said. “I’m in a splint now for 12 weeks where hopefully the tendon will reconnect with the bone. It’s particularly hard to take as I had to fly home from the qualifiers early due to my hamstring injury.Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said the initial hope had been that an uncomplicated break might have had Mooney back playing by September. “We had hoped that it was just a break, and he might have been able to be back playing in 3-4 weeks”, Holdsworth said.”But he has damaged the ligaments and so we’ve reluctantly had to rule him out. It’s a great shame and a setback to him, especially as he was injured in the qualifiers in Dubai. He’s such a big part of the team and we really want him to be there.”Mooney has been a key member of Phil Simmons’ Ireland side since the 2007 World Cup, where he made just one appearance. The combative Dubliner famously struck the final blow as Ireland beatEngland at Bangalore in last year’s World Cup.But an injury sustained while diving for catch in the T20 qualifiers in Dubai in March ruled him out of early season with his club. He recovered and played a short trial with Sussex in June, before he returned early after deciding a county career was not for him.The Irish squad will be released at 9am local time on Friday, with England-bound Boyd Rankin certain to be included.

The PCB has asked all centrally contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new, year-long central contract

Umar Farooq09-Apr-2012The PCB has asked its centrally-contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new, year-long central contract. All centrally-contracted players are required to undergo the fitness test, though Umar Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal will take the test – being carried out on Monday and Tuesday – on a later date. Hafeez is currently unavailable for the test for personal reasons, Ajmal’s just had his third son and Akmal is out of the country.The contracts, which expired in December, 2011 were due to be reviewed after the England series in February – but it was delayed after a new selection committee headed by Iqbal Qasim was formed.The PCB has decided to increase pay scales of those awarded the new contracts, given that there have been no increments in the last three-and-a-half years.The PCB earlier issued six-month contracts to 29 players, spread over four categories. The new committee now aims to issue a year-long contract to each of its players. The committee met last week to discuss the central contracts, but sought more time to make its decision.Among those likely to make a comeback is Shahid Afridi, the former captain, who had automatically lost his contract in May 2011 when he announced his retirement from international cricket, in protest against the board’s decision to replace him as captain of the ODI team.In the past the board has handed out central contracts to the players based on their performance and fitness, however now they aim to assess the fitness of the players and then gauge their future prospects.

Joe Root, the Yorkshire batsman, hit an unbeaten hundred as England Lions cruised to a 10-wicket victory against the West Indians on the final day in Northampton

Andrew McGlashan13-May-2012
ScorecardJoe Root made the most of the easy runs on offer during the Lions chase•Getty ImagesJoe Root, the Yorkshire batsman, hit an unbeaten hundred as England Lions cruised to a 10-wicket victory against the West Indians on the final day in Northampton. Root and Michael Carberry ensured the Lions knocked off their target of 197 with considerable ease with the visitors disappointingly going through the motions after showing much more spirit the previous day.The West Indians provided barely a threat with a depleted bowling attack after the last two wickets had been removed in the opening half an hour. Kemar Roach did not bowl during the Lions chase after taking a blow on his right hand while batting to add to the twisted ankle he picked up on the second day. Ravi Rampaul then left the field after an opening four-over spell while Fidel Edwards was not given much further work ahead of the first Test despite the visitors’ lack of cricket on tour.Whether there were serious concerns ahead of the Test remained to be seen, but if they do opt to play offspinner Shane Shillingford, one of the three quicks on show here will have to make way for Darren Sammy, who was rested.It meant the bowling was largely in the hands of the two spinners, Shillingford and Marlon Samuels, plus an appearance from the rarely seen medium pace of Darren Bravo who bowled for just the second time in his first-class career. Root and Carberry had few problems as they compiled their partnership at a steady pace in a match that had lost any semblance of intensity.The 21-year-old Root, who is often compared to Michael Vaughan, is in the early stages of his Lions career and remains a longer-term project in terms of international recognition. The attack he faced during this innings did not allow many judgements to be made, but neither did he let the opportunity of a lengthy stay in the middle pass him by, which will have been noted. He also made it a good day for Yorkshire following the earlier call-up for Jonny Bairstow to the squad for the first Test.Root’s hundred, like Kieran Powell’s yesterday, was just the second of his first-class career and came off 132 balls. He had skipped ahead of Carberry during the latter half of his innings against the comfortable bowling on offer with Shillingford conceding more than four an over.The Lions had not taken long to wrap up the West Indian second innings after being given a tough day in the field on Saturday with Powell making his stubborn century. However, the home side did add two more dropped catches to their tally during a below-par fielding display. Nick Compton spilled Roach at slip and Root put down Rampaul at short leg both off Matt Coles, but Coles wrapped up the innings to finish with hard-earned figures of 4 for 76.

A devastating spell from Kent’s left-arm seamer Adam Ball left their County Championship Division Two game against fellow strugglers Leicestershire finely poised at Grace Road

03-Aug-2011
Scorecard
A devastating spell from Kent’s left-arm seamer Adam Ball left their County Championship Division Two game against fellow strugglers Leicestershire finely poised at Grace Road. Ball took 3 for 14 in 7.2 overs as Leicestershire slipped from 126 for 2 to 148 for 5 to lead by 186 runs at the close of the second day.Earlier in the day Leicestershire offspinner Jigar Naik also produced an eye-catching performance with figures of 5 for 34 as Kent lost their last seven wickets for 58 runs, slumping to 219 all out to hand Leicestershire a first-innings lead of 38.The hosts then looked to be moving into a commanding position, with Will Jefferson and Matt Boyce sharing their second half-century opening partnership of the game. They put on 72 in 25 overs before off-spinner James Tredwell bowled Jefferson for 37 as the batsman tried to work the ball away on the leg side.Then Tredwell trapped Greg Smith lbw before Ball was brought into the attack and rapidly turned the match in Kent’s favour again. He first had Boyce caught behind two runs short of a half-century and then removed Josh Cobb in the same fashion as the youngster went for an ambitious drive outside the off stump.Ball struck again with what proved to be the last ball of the day, having Wayne White lbw for 14 to dampen Leicestershire’s hopes of achieving their first Championship win since the opening match of the season against Northamptonshire.Kent, who began the day at 47 for 3, had a good pre-lunch session with Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 114 in 29 overs. They both enjoyed plenty of good fortune in the first hour of the day, with Stevens dropped at slip and several other shots flying through the cordon to the boundary.Both reached their half-centuries, with Stevens making it off just 60 balls and hitting 11 fours before finally edging Naik to slip shortly before lunch having made 67.But the afternoon session went Leicestershire’s way, with Naik the star performer. He picked up the big wicket of van Jaarsveld, who was also caught at slip, and then added the scalps of Tredwell, Ball and Geraint Jones to the list to claim his second five-wicket haul of the season.Nathan Buck also returned to something like his best form, picking up 3 for 49, with Kent’s last six wickets going down for 43 runs in nine overs.