All posts by csb10.top

Justin Ontong was a late addition to the South Africa Emerging Players squad but he immediately displayed his class as he steered them to a 19th-over victory against the Australian Academy in the opening match of the two-week tournament in Queensland. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s decision to stay in England as a Kolpak player opened the space for Ontong, the former Test and ODI player, and he took control after they slipped to 3 for 21 with an unbeaten 63 off 44 balls.No other batsman reached 20 in the innings as Ontong planted three sixes and his seventh four ended the match with six balls remaining. The South Africa coach Kepler Wessels called Ontong’s display “superb” and was pleased with his team’s first hit-out of the Emerging Players Tournament.”It was important to start well and we did that, but we should get better,” he said. “The pitch was sporty, which was good for us as our bowling attack is strong, and we bowled well early, but I thought they got about 15 too many.”Morne Morkel stunned Australia when he dropped them to 3 for 8, including zeroes for the fancied top-order batsmen Mark Cosgrove, Ed Cowan and Luke Pomersbach. Aaron Finch (26) and Michael Hill (34) led the recovery and Luke Ronchi added some punishing touches with 35 off 23 balls to drag the side to 131.
The Australian Academy hit back quickly from their early disappointment by defeating the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI with seven balls to spare. The home side made regular inroads after bowling first and was led by Aaron Heal, the left-arm spinner, who picked up three wickets as Karnataka were restricted to 129.Deepak Chougle, the No. 4, led the resistance with 36 and Bharat Chipli and Amit Verma also made starts when a half-century would have pushed them to a highly competitive total. S Aravind struck twice when Australia were 18 before Luke Ronchi (31) and Luke Pomersbach (26) settled the situation. Craig Philipson and Ed Cowan, who had captained a game each during the day, were left to steer the chase and Cowan was 27 not out when the win was sealed shortly before dusk.
New Zealand A began their tournament on a high with a tight three-wicket win over South Africa Emerging Players under lights. Chasing 166, New Zealand reached a day-high score of 7 for 168 thanks to some heavy hitting from Gareth Hopkins, who smashed 51 from 34 balls before becoming the first of Johan Botha’s three victims.Hopkins departed at 4 for 114 with the side in good shape and Nathan McCullum provided a push with 29 off 14 deliveries. Botha, who went for 32 from his three overs, was supported by Vernon Philander as he picked up 3 for 34.The opener Alviro Petersen gave South Africa a good start with 59 as they set the challenge for New Zealand. Francois du Plessis picked up 42 and Jean-Paul Duminy made a handy contribution with 37.

Bangladesh have omitted wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim from the 14-member squad for the three-ODI series against South Africa. The selectors have named four uncapped players in the squad, including Rahim’s replacement Dhiman Ghosh, middle-order batsmen Raqibul Hasan and Nazimuddin, and left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain.Since his unbeaten match-winning half-century against India in the World Cup last year, Rahim has struggled with the bat, scoring just four runs in his last five one-dayers. That lean trot includes three consecutive ducks, prompting the selectors to give Ghosh an opportunity. Syed Rasel, the left-arm medium-pace bowler who had missed most of the Bangladesh’s New Zealand tour due to a dislocated left collar bone, has also been recalled.”Rahim is out of form so we decided to give him a break,” said Rafiqul Alam, the chairman of selectors. “Dhiman is an aggressive batsman who is in good form. He has been playing for the A Team and Academy Team regularly and his wicketkeeping has also improved. We think he can be quite destructive as a batsman in the one-day form of the game.”Aftab Ahmed, the middle-order batsman, has also been ruled out after sustaining a head injury during the second Test in Chittagong. Aftab was forced to retire hurt after a miscued hook off Jacques Kallis struck him flush on the helmet. He was kept under observation and was unable to come out to bat in the second innings.”It will take Ahmed another four to five days to recover from the injury,” Alam said. “Nazimuddin’s style of batting is similar to Ahmed. He is also an attacking batsman so we decided to give him a chance.”We also considered Mahmudullah Riyad as an allrounder but Mosharraf Hossain got in through the sheer weight of his performance in the domestic, A Team and Academy matches.”The first ODI is on Sunday, while the next two will be played in Mirpur on March 12 and 14.Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Nazim Uddin, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mosharraf Hossain, Syed Rasel, Farhad Reza, Raqibul Hasan.

The British government appears to have ended speculation that it will step in to prevent Zimbabwe from touring England in 2009 and has reiterated its policy of leaving the final decision to the ECB.It had been believed that a harder line towards Zimbabwe under Gordon Brown could lead to the government refusing to grant visas to the Zimbabwe team for the bilateral Test and one-day series. But speaking in a debate in the House of Lords, Lord Malloch-Brown made it clear that no such action would be taken.”The Foreign Secretary and others in this government have made it clear that we do not encourage the ECB to allow Zimbabwe to tour England in 2009 or England to tour Zimbabwe in 2012 if the situation in the country is as it is now,” he said. “We continue to speak to the ECB about these issues but it remains a decision for the board. We have decided that the government can make their position clear, but that it is not for us to intervene directly in this matter.”Lord Morris of Harmsworth, the former TUC leader Bill Morris, was unimpressed. “I was proud that our Prime Minister declined to attend the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon because he did not wish to be in the same room as Mugabe. That was a good start. But if the Prime Minister does not want to be in the same room as Mugabe, is it right to expect our sportsmen and women to be on the same field of play as representatives of that regime? John Howard, as Prime Minister of Australia, gave a clear lead. He said that Australian cricketers would not play against Zimbabwe. If that is good enough for Australia, it should be good enough for the United Kingdom.”Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and chair of the parliamentary all-party committee on Zimbabwe, told Cricinfo that she was surprised at Lord Malloch-Brown’s statement. “It does not seem to reflect the views of Downing Street earlier this year,” she said. “It would be a travesty if we gave visas to any Zimbabwean cricket team to tour and I want to see the prime minister clarify the situation.”I think it would be a good idea if we asked to meet Giles Clarke [the ECB chairman] so that we can exchange views on sporting links with Zimbabwe.”If the government maintains the line suggested by Malloch-Brown then it makes it likely the tour will proceed. It forms part of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, and were the ECB not to honour its commitment then it would face multi-million pound fines from the ICC. However, were the series to be scrapped because of government intervention, as happened in Australia and New Zealand, then there would be no such fine.

ScorecardFifteen wickets fell on a bowler-dominated day at Nagpur. Vidharbha hit back after being bowled out for 163, reducing Services to 38 for 5. Vidarbha collapsed after the opening partnership of 56 – incidentally the highest of the day – to a combination of seam and spin. Rakesh Sharma and Narender Kumar shared five wickets while the spinners Ashish Mohanty and Arun Sharma grabbed four wickets as the wickets fell in a heap. For Vidarbha, the seamers did the trick: Mohammad Hashim and Sandeep Singh bowled 17 overs and took all the five Services wickets to fall.J&K 133 for 8 (Bandekar 4-46) v Goa
ScorecardCharged by a four-wicket haul by Saurabh Bandekar, Goa restricted Jammu & Kashmir to 133 for 8 on a truncated opening day’s play at Jammu. J&K had reached a comfortable 82 for 1 when Robin D’Souza effected a twin-strike to push them to 83 for 3. Bandekar prised out three more quick wickets and Shadab Jakati struck twice in succession to leave the hosts reeling at 118 for 8. The ninth-wicket pair of Manzoor Dar and Pranav Mahajan kept the Goa bowlers at bay for seven more overs before play was called off after only 53 overs.Tripura 285 for 4 (Shetty 164*) v Assam
ScorecardNishit Shetty smashed a career-best 164 not out to propel Tripura to a healthy 285 for 4 against Assam at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. Tripura were in touch of bother at 32 for 3 before Shetty added 106 runs with Rajib Saha, who made his highest first-class score of 66, and a further 147 with Timir Chanda (36). Shetty struck 26 boundaries in his 232-ball knock as Tripura headed towards a big first-innings total.

The Wellington allrounder, Grant Elliott, has been named in New Zealand’s 13-man squad for the first Test against England at Hamilton, which starts on Wednesday.Elliott, 28, was born in Johannesburg but has completed his national qualification, and impressed the selectors with 2 for 12 from eight overs and a composed innings of 28 during England’s tour match at Dunedin. He is one of seven players in that match to have been included in the squad, including the seamer Iain O’Brien, who beat his new-ball partner Mark Gillespie to the final place.New Zealand’s selector, Dion Nash, said that Elliott is a solid middle-order batsman and a good bowling option with his ability to swing the ball. He enjoyed a productive season for Wellington in 2006-07, with 361 runs in seven matches at 45.12, including two of his three career centuries. He has been less prolific this year, although he provides the selectors with a handy back-up for their established allrounder, Jacob Oram.””I came for a lifestyle change and also for my cricket, but as soon as I arrived in New Zealand and made it my home, I had aspirations of playing international cricket for New Zealand,” said Elliott after his call-up. “It’s a really tough move to make, because you always grow up thinking you’re going to be a Springbok or a Protea and then you make that change to another country.”Elliott’s allegiance was cemented last winter when he was selected to play for New Zealand A. “When I opened the bag and saw the silver fern that was a real indication that New Zealand’s my home – and I’ll give everything for New Zealand,” he said. “I’m a permanent resident now, I think I can push for my citizenship soon, which I’m quite keen to do. Moving here has been great; New Zealand Cricket have been wonderful, and I consider myself a Kiwi now.”Another notable inclusion in the Test squad is Jamie How, who excelled during New Zealand’s recent one-day series victory with 201 runs at 50.25, including an 86-ball century at Napier. His innings of 65 in the Dunedin warm-up was enough to confirm his place alongside Matthew Bell at the expense of Craig Cumming, with Ross Taylor and Mathew Sinclair also included from the Select XI top-order. The out-of-form Peter Fulton misses out. He has suffered a reoccurrence of a right-knee injury, and will be reassessed prior to the second Test.New Zealand squad 1 Matthew Bell, 2 Jamie How, 3 Stephen Fleming, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Mathew Sinclair, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Iain O’Brien, 11 Chris Martin, 12 Grant Elliott, 13 Jeetan Patel.

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

India had the best of Pakistan in a lacklustre contest on a slightly demanding pitch, restricting them to 239 and then knocking off the runs through a string of contributions from the top order. It was not the most spectacular cricket, but it was sensible from India and perhaps a touch too circumspect from Pakistan, whose batsmen did not do enough, and whose bowlers were committed and disciplined but rarely penetrative.When Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat it appeared to be a sound decision, given that the pitch was dry, on the slower side, and threatened to break up in the second half. And when Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal got off to a breezy start, it appeared that India would have their work cut out. Akmal square drove crisply for boundaries when he was offered width and Butt used his wrists to guide the ball into gaps with excellent timing.The fall of Akmal’s wicket, however, when he was declared lbw to an Irfan Pathan ball that pitched outside leg, changed the complexion of the innings. Younis Khan was uncomfortable batting on this pitch – with the ball not coming on truly – and grew increasingly disturbed as India’s spinners checked the flow of runs.Soon after reaching a well-paced half-century, Butt did himself no favours when he charged down the pitch after the ball speared off the leading edge towards cover, only to be sent back by his partner and run out. At least while Butt was at the crease runs came from one end, but with Mohammad Yousuf joining Younis the runs just dried up.The singles came easily enough, with Yousuf knocking the ball away into the leg side with soft hands, but Younis’ frustration reached such proportions, especially after sweeps and reverse-sweeps failed, that he holed out to long-on for a 58-ball 25. For a painful 21.2 overs Pakistan could not manufacture a single boundary, and this might have prompted Malik to promote Shahid Afridi up the order.Even Afridi could not plunder as he would’ve liked and though he managed a front-foot pull over long-on, his 31 off 32 balls before being smartly stumped as he charged down the pitch to Sachin Tendulkar was a bit short of what Pakistan needed. Malik then added to the pressure, heaving a leg-stump full-toss straight down midwicket’s throat.

Fortunately for Pakistan, while wickets fell at one end, Yousuf had crept to his half-century and with about five overs to go took it upon himself to increase the tempo. He paddle swept Pathan fine and then drove RP Singh inside-out over cover. The late charge took Yousuf to an unbeaten 83, off an acceptable 88 balls, and Pakistan to 239 for 7 from 50 overs.With probing bowling and tight fielding Pakistan might well have given India a serious run for their money chasing 240, but instead they bowled without much purpose and out-did India in the poor fielding standings to let the game slip out of their hands. At no point in the course of the chase were India under serious pressure, and Pakistan were waiting for an India collapse that never came.Shoaib Akhtar gave Pakistan some hope early on when he trapped Tendulkar in front with a slower ball, with only 14 on the board. But Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir then added 82 for the third wicket to take India towards safety. Neither Ganguly nor Gambhir was in total control at the crease, with some streaky strokes eluding the fielders, but when the opportunity was there to score both batsmen backed their instincts and it paid off.Ganguly was quick to go after anything that was a bit wide, slanting and angling his bat to get the ball through cover point and third man. Gambhir opened the face of his bat so much that he edged between keeper and slip twice consecutively, but was undeterred. Once the ball lost its hardness and Shoaib gave way to less pacy bowlers, Gambhir knuckled down and cover drove with confidence. His timing and placement were excellent, and the ball went along the ground more often than not.It was against the run of play that India lost their next two wickets. Ganguly played one down to fine leg and headed for a single that Gambhir did not want, and could not turn around and regain his crease in time. Ganguly had made 39 but looked good for more. Gambhir too should have got more than the 44 he managed, but failed to pick an offbreak from Shahid Afridi and was bowled round his legs.Then came another partnership, of 105, between India’s captain and vice-captain and this all but sealed the deal. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had come out in the mood to give the ball a thrash, sluggish pitch notwithstanding, and he succeeded. There were some streaky boundaries, but for the best part the ball boomed off the middle of the bat and there was not much Pakistan’s bowlers could do. He found an excellent ally in Yuvraj Singh, who hit the ball as hard as anyone, and looked to be positive against the spinners and the quick men.Both Yuvraj and Dhoni reached the half-century mark, and with only 22 needed for victory Pakistan broke the partnership. Yuvraj (58) slog-swept Abdur Rahman, the left-arm spinner, but did not quite get hold of the ball and failed to clear Afridi in the deep. Soon after, Dhoni (63) flashed at Shoaib, who returned to the attack in the 45th over, and India wobbled at the doorstep of victory. Only 15 were needed for victory at that stage, and you wondered why Malik had not re-introduced Shoaib earlier. Robin Uthappa and Pathan knocked off the remaining runs and the five-wicket win gave India a 1-0 lead in this five-match series.

The Rubies, captained by Gill Richards, claimed the Super 4s title after completing an unprecedented clean-sweep throughout the competition, their second title since the inaugural victory in 2002.In the final round of matches, which were held at Loughborough University on July 7 and 8, the Rubies finished unbeaten, claiming their sixth victory in a row as they brushed aside the Emeralds and Sapphires.”It’s an awesome achievement to win the Super 4s trophy. We worked hard as a team throughout and it has paid off,” said Richards. “Players like Lydia Greenway and Holly Colvin have played particularly well. Lydia finished as top run scorer and Holly took three marvellous five-wicket hauls. But it is a team game and all of us showed great team spirit all the way through””To remain unbeaten for the whole competition is a tremendous achievement. The players can be really proud of themselves and I am sure many of them will be back next year for another season at Super 4s. I am so happy for all the team.”On Saturday they took on the Emeralds, their then closest rivals for the title. Colvin took another five wicket haul as they bowled out the Emerald’s for a paltry 69. In reply, the Rubies knocked the runs off with the loss of three wickets. The victory ensured the title for the Rubies who then completed a clean sweep by beating the Sapphires by 15 runs.In the other matches, England captain Charlotte Edwards returned to action with an unbeaten 69 as the Diamonds beat the Sapphires by eight wickets, then followed this with 94 not out as they beat the Emeralds by nine wickets.

Bob Woolmer was a “little depressed” following his team’s exit from the World Cup and he was looking forward to going home, according to an email that may have been his final words before his death in Kingston, Jamaica last March.The email, which was sent to his wife, Gill, was read to jurors at the inquest into Woolmer’s death. “Hi, darling, feeling a little depressed currently as you might imagine,” the message started. “I am not sure which is worse, being knocked out in the semi-final at Edgbaston or now in the first round. Our batting performance was abysmal and my worse fears were realised … I could tell the players were for some reason not able to fire themselves up.”He went on to say that he was glad not to have to travel to Guyana and was looking forward to seeing his family again. “I hope your day was better but I doubt it as you were probably watching … not much more to add I am afraid but I still love you lots.”Mark Shields, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner who was at the heart of the investigation, read the email to jurors. He is among the final witnesses in the inquest which is expected to finish this week.The fifth week of the inquest got off to a bizarre start when a subpoenaed witness failed to turn up. David Wong Ken, a local DJ who claimed to have evidence about Woolmer’s death, failed to appear under instruction from his lawyer. “I take full responsibility for him not being here,” his representative said. “It would be an exercise in futility, and a side-show that should not be allowed.”

Awesome Afridi
Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds were running away with it, scoring atnearly ten an over after eight, when Shahid Afridi, after going for13 in his first, did the incredible, bowling a wicket maiden and having achance missed. The first three balls were all outside off, and Pontingmissed two cuts and a sweep. Next ball, Ponting charged madly, missed, andso did Kamran Akmal. A bye was taken, which turned out to be a bad movefor Symonds, as next ball he charged, didn’t connect, and was bowled. Andwhen Mike Hussey played a dot ball next, Afridi achieved the rare feat oftaking a wicket in an over without conceding a bat run.A drought of sixes
Usually, an Australian hitting a six in a Twenty20 game would hardly meritmention, simply because you’d expect so many in an innings. MichaelHussey’s straight hit off Afridi which hit the sightscreen deserves towritten about, if only because it was the only six of the innings. It wasa superb hit, straight and clean, but you’d have expected many more ofthem from Australia.On the ball, in the field
Pakistan’s fielding has never been their strongest suit, but in this gamethere were two moments of sheer inspiration. Only one produced a wicket,but both were worthy of celebration. First, Imran Nazir scored in frommidwicket as Brad Hodge and Hussey attempted a risky second run.Pakistan rejoiced as if they had nailed a wicket, and even though replaysshowed otherwise, the celebrations were justified just for the quality ofthe throw. Afridi then went one better, knocking down the stumps frompoint to send Michael Clarke on his way for a duck. Inspirational, andvery unlike the usual Pakistan outfit.The battle of the metronomes
Mohammad Asif and Stuart Clark have both, at various times in theircareers, been touted as the new McGrath. This game pitted them against oneanother, and there was no question about who won the battle: with cleverchange of pace and control, Clark winkled out three batsmen and gave verylittle away; Asif, on the other hand, was subdued and largely listless andwent at 8.50 runs per over.Captain, my captain
With Pakistan falling slightly behind the eight-ball, Shoaib Malik decidedthat the way to go was to lead from the front. In the 12th over, fromClarke, Malik stepped it up, clouting two fours over the bowlershead and a stunning inside-out blow over extra-cover. The captain had madehis move, and Pakistan were on their way.Deft touches, meaty blows
The captain made the first move, but his partner stepped it up to an evenhigher plane. Misbah-ul-Haq virtually decided the game in Pakistan’sfavour in the 15th over. A reverse-sweep, a cut and a pull off AndrewSymonds all beat the fielders and found the boundary. Add a couple oftwos, and it enough to plummet the asking rate from eight to 6.20. Fromthere the winner was never in doubt.

Kanbis took another step towards retaining their NPCA crown for the fourth year in succession with a six-wicket win over Parkland Rhinos. Second-placed Stray Lions slipped up with a three-wicket loss at home to Aga Khan. Kanbis now top the table with 167 points while Stray Lions are 15 points adrift.The match between Swamibapa and Sir Ali Muslim Club did not take place as Swamibapa boycotted the match as part of their ongoing dispute with the NPCA.Ruaraka A lead the first division on 192 points for 12 matches with Kanbis B second on 153 points with a game in hand. Swamibapa B are third on 145 from 11 with Kongonis fourth on 144 from 12.The second division is headed by Telca with 188 points from 12 games, with Nairobi Nookers second on 161 and Nairobi Institute third on 155.Nairobi Jaffery have already secured the third-division title with wins in all ten matches. They are on 186 points with Simba Union B and Ruaraka B tied in second back on 125 points.NPCA Super Division