All posts by csb10.top

Scorecard

Faisalabad Wolves triumphed in Pakistan’s inaugural Twenty20 competition after they overcame the Karachi Dolphins in a dramatic finish. Chasing 159 for a win, the Wolves were on course for a comfortable victory but the loss of two wickets in the last over produced a thrilling climax and resulted in a penultimate-ball finish.Mohammad Hafeez and Asif Hussain had blasted quickfire 30s to put the Wolves on a comfortable path to victory. Mohammad Salman, the wicketkeeper, also chipped in with a vital 23 at the closing stages as the Wolves pocketed Rs 300,000 [US$5,000] at the end of a entertaining tournament.Earlier, Moin Khan had celebrated the news of being in provisional squad for the West Indian tour with a plucky 49. Agha Sabir, the opener, contributed a patient 37 but the Dolphins were pegged back by some accurate bowling by Saeed Ajmal, the offspinner, who ended with 3 for 29 and was eventually named the Man of the Match.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has made a convincing return to the West Indies side ten months after a shoulder injury forced him out of action. His second-innings century in Trinidad helped West Indies hold off a first-ever series defeat to Sri Lanka at home and won him the Player-of-the-Series award. Satisfied with his performance, Sarwan said the months spent outside the team had given him time to think of what he needed to do.”I’ve been out for 10 months, players tend to mature around 26-27 and then it carries on till they are 33-34 and I hope that is going to be the case for me,” Sarwan said. “I’ve certainly gained a lot of experience and I think I can use that.”West Indies were set to chase 253 by Sri Lanka and they lost only four wickets in knocking off the runs on day four. Sarwan added 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and fell when West Indies needed only 23 more to win. “After we lost Marlon [Samuels] I knew I had to form a good partnership with Shiv [Chanderpaul]. The good thing was that Shiv was flowing and I didn’t have to do all the scoring, he was positive and that paid off for us.”I’ve been getting off to good starts in this series, I wanted to do the same, pick the bad balls and fortunately I was able to do that and go on and get the hundred.” Sarwan scored 311 at 77.75 in the two Tests.Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, was pleased to have Sarwan back in the side. “Missing Sarwan really hurt us and it is good to have him back out there,” Gayle said. “He showed how important he is at No. 3. It is good to have him back, he looked the part and I have to give him credit. I hope he can build on this and capitalise on his good starts and get those hundreds – big hundreds.”

North Group

Leicestershire, the defending champions, got their campaign off to a winning start against Nottinghamshire with a five-wicket success. Paul Nixon guided them home, with four balls to spare, hitting 32 with four fours and a six. Dinesh Mongia made an elegant 39 but a middle-order wobble kept Notts in the game. Notts’ batting never really fired against Leicestershire’s experienced attack. Jeremy Snape was superb, bowling his four overs for 18 runs and taking three important wickets.Lancashire beat Roses rivals Yorkshire by five wickets in front of 14,119 spectators at a sunny Headingley with blistering half-centuries from Mal Loye and Brad Hodge. Loye took Matthew Hoggard to the cleaners as he went for 65 runs and Loye smashed 59 from 33 balls. Hodge showed further evidence of his Twenty20 skills, guiding Lancashire home with 64 not out. Phil Jaques peppered the boundary for Yorkshire striking 72 off 40 balls but Lancashire’s spinners proved hard to get away.Derbyshire secured a comfortable six-wicket win against Durham after James Bryant guided them home with 53 from 46 balls. Jonathan Moss provided the necessary power with a rapid 46 off 28 deliveries. Gordon Muchall top-scored for Durham with 46 but the rest of the batsmen could not locate the boundary often enough. Ant Botha was especially economical with 2 for 16 from his four overs.

South Group

Owais Shah blasted 72 from 30 balls as Middlesex launched their Twenty20 season with an 18-run win against Hampshire in front of 80000 spectators at Southampton. Shah’s innings, and useful contributions from the other top-order batsmen, powered Middlesex to 210 for 6. Craig McMillan’s only over was dispatched for 28. He returned some of the damage with 31 from 12 balls but Hampshire couldn’t keep up the required momentum, despite Nic Pothas’s 59 as an opener.James Benning starred with the bat as Surrey cantered to a seven-wicket win over Kent at Beckenham. .Sussex had few problems getting past Essex, cruising to a nine-wicket win with more than five overs to spare. Matt Prior crashed his way to 66 as Sussex raced to their target of 110. Mushtaq Ahmed had bamboozled Essex’s middle and lower-order, whose approach verged on the suicidal, completing figures of 5 for 11 as Essex slid from 98 for 4 to 109 all out, without using 3.3 of their overs.

Midlands/Wales/West Group

The closest match of the day was at Cardiff where Glamorgan and Somerset tied, but Glamorgan won by virtue of losing fewer wickets. A superb 39-ball 68 from Mike Powell thrilled the 6,000 capacity crowd who thought that the game had been tied when Glamorgan, needing two off the last ball, ran a bye to the wicketkeeper. Both sides seemed to think they had shared the spoils until the PA announcer gave the correct result to the delight of the home supporters.Northamptonshire racked up the highest ever Twenty20 total in England, reaching 224 for 5, before completing a 81-run thrashing of Gloucestershire. David Sales led the carnage smiting 78 from 42 balls and added 72 with Damien Wright who made 38 off 20 balls. Gloucestershire’s bowlers had no answers and the batsmen were in a hopeless situation and were soon 47 for 5. Ben Phillips went through the middle-order, finishing with 4 for 28. “That was one of our worst performances this year and that’s saying something,” Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s coach, said. “There has got to be a big change. We can’t afford to go on like this.”Worcestershire held their nerve to seal a thrilling one-run win against Warwickshire. At 68 for 5 Worcestershire’s quest of 178 looked forlorn but Jonathan Trott and Michael Powell hit rapid forties, however Warwickshire couldn’t quite get over the line as David Leatherdale kept his head at the end. Graeme Hick had provided the base of Worcestershire’s 177 for 7 with 67, while Ben Smith made a useful 47.

Retired Australian stars such as Michael Kasprowicz, Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie were named in the squads announced by the unofficial Indian Cricket League for its Grand Championships. The event which starts on March 9 features eight teams – including one consisting entirely of Pakistan players – up from the six in the inaugural Twenty20 tournament held last December in Panchkula.Kasprowicz called time on his first-class career last month, finishing with a record 501 wickets for Queensland. “The decision to join ICL was actually a no-brainer. I have played 19 years of first-class cricket for Queensland, have had my time at the top with Australia and have also played county cricket,” he told Cricinfo. “It would be a great opportunity for me to live in India and play here. I love coming to India, I love the passion, hospitality and the people here. My best days of international career were here.”Asked whether he would able to give his 100% commitment while playing a Twenty20 league, he said, “It’s about personal pride. You can’t relax while playing and I have always played my cricket hard.”He also questioned the rationale behind banning players who have joined the ICL. “It can only be good for Indian cricket,” he said. “So many domestic players get a chance to play with the players from around the world and the quality can only go up. It’s sad that the players are being banned.”The other big-name signings for the ICL include New Zealand pair Shane Bond and Lou Vincent, Justin Kemp, Heath Streak, Russel Arnold and Wavell Hinds.Squads for Grand championships
Ahmedabad Rockets Damien Martyn (capt), Murray Goodwin, Heath Streak, Wavell Hinds, Jason Gillespie, Abhishek Tamrakar, Anshu Jain, Baburao Yadav, P Bhima Rao, Parviz Aziz, Rakesh Patel, Pallav Vora, Reetinder Sodhi, Sachin Dholpure, KM Sanjeev, Sridharan Sriram, Sumit Kalia
Chandigarh Lions Chris Cairns (capt), Mathew Elliot, Lou Vincent, Andrew Hall, Daryl Tuffey, Amit Uniyal, Bipul Sharma, Chetan Sharma, Dinesh Mongia, Gaurav Gupta, Harpreet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Karanveer Singh, Love Ablish, Manish Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Pal Singh
Chennai Superstars Stuart Law (capt), Ian Harvey, Russel Arnold, Shabbir Ahmed, Adam Parore, Michael Bevan, G Vignesh, Hemang Badani, Hemanth Kumar, J Hariesh, P Vivek, R Jesuraj, R Sathish, Syed Mohammed, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Thirunavukarasu Kumaran, V Devendran, Vasanth Saravanan
Delhi Giants Marvan Atapattu (capt), Avishka Gunawardene, Nic Pothas, Dale Benkenstein, Shane Bond, Abbas Ali, Abhinav Bali, Abhishek Sharma, Abid Nabi, Ali Murtaza, Dhruv Mahajan, Dishant Yagnik, JP Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Raghav Sachdev, Shalabh Srivastava, Taduri Prakash Sudhindra, Ali Hamid Zaidi
Hyderabad Heroes Chris Harris (capt), Nicky Boje, Justin Kemp, Abdul Razzaq, Jimmy Maher, Alfred Absolem, Ambati Rayudu, Anirudh Singh, Ibrahim Khaleel, Inder Shekar Reddy, Kaushik Reddy, Pagadala Niranjan, Shashank Nag, Stuart Binny, Syed Sahabuddin, Vinay Kumar, Zakaria Zuffri
Kolkata Tigers Craig McMillan (capt), Lance Klusener, Upul Chandana, Nantie Hayward, Andre Adams, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abu Nechim, Deep Dasgupta, Mihir Diwakar, Pritam Das, Rajiv Kumar, Rohan Gavaskar, Sayed Akhlakh Ahmed, Shiv Sagar Singh, Subhomoy Das, Sujay Tarafdar
Lahore Badshahs Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir, Hasan Raza, Naveed Latif, Humayun Farhat, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Arshad Khan, Riaz Afridi
Mumbai Champs Brian Lara (capt), Nathan Astle, Johan Van der Wath, Tino Best, Michael Kasprowicz, Anupam Sanklecha, Avinash Yadav, Dheeraj Jadhav, Kiran Powar, Nikhil Mandale, Pushkaraj Joshi, Ranjit Khirid, Robin Morris, Shreyas Khanolkar, Shridhar Iyer, Subhojit Paul, Suyash Burkul, Raviraj Patil

Michael Clark, the 27-year-old West Australian fast bowler, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. He has been plagued by a series of back injuries and was not offered a full-time contract for the current season, so was forced to combine his cricket with a job in a car dealership .”It’s been a tough call to make,” he said. “But I have to consider what’s best for my family and it’s just become too much to try and hold down my job and put in the amount of time and effort that’s required to train with the Warriors. That said I’ve lived every young kid’s dream of playing footy and cricket at a high level and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”Clark made his debut for WA in 2001-02 but was limited to 17 appearances, the last in November, in which he took 49 wickets at 28.71.

Just days after ruffling feathers by not consulting a Pakistan Cricket Board-endorsed physician, Shoaib Akhtar has once again thumbed his nose at officialdom by refusing to play in a Patron’s Trophy match. With the squad to tour India likely to be announced in four days’ time, PCB officials had wanted Shoaib to prove his match-fitness.A Press Trust of India report quotes sources close to the player as saying that he was “surprised” at the board’s request, since the team’s South African trainer, Grant Compton, had advised him to rest the injury till February 18. Shoaib has apparently sought a meeting with Shaharyar Khan, the board chairman, to explain his position.The source was quoted as saying: “Shoaib is also surprised at these instructions since even the foreign trainer and physiotherapist would return only on 18 from South Africa, so he (Shoaib) is wondering who is going to assess his fitness even if he plays in the match.”And to add to the sense of intrigue, the report suggested that the request to play in the Patron’s Trophy was a board initiative meant to shake off any sense of complacency that Shoaib might have. “We also realise Shoaib is a valuable bowler when he is 100 per cent committed,” said an unnamed PCB official. “But his antics in recent times are not acceptable.”The Board wants to not only ensure he is completely fit for the Indian tour but also keep him under pressure so that he does not take his selection for India for granted.”Shoaib did little of note on India’s tour of Pakistan last year, but was the pick of Pakistan’s bowlers in recent Test matches at Perth and Melbourne before his well-documented fitness woes returned to zap his effectiveness.

Terry Jenner will visit Nairobi next month to hold a four-day coaching clinic.Jenner, the former Australian legspinner whose coaching has been instrumental in the success of Shane Warne, assisted Collins Obuya in the winter, and this latest initiative will help some of Kenya’s up-and-coming stars.The camp, which will be held between May 16 and 19, has been organised by Cricket Kenya in association with Richard Done, the ICC’;s high performance manager.

Group A
With half-centuries from Imran Farhat and Rafatullah Mohamand Habib Bank Limited (HB) chased down Zarai Taraqiati Limited Bank’s (ZTB) 267 with two wickets to spare at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Despite Aamer Bashir’s 81 and Adnan Raza’s unbeaten 55, ZTB could not set a high enough target. Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, took 3 for 54 and Shahid Nazir, Pakistan’s right-arm fast bowler, took 2 for 25. HB’s top order set up the platform for the chase as Farhat and Mohmand added 47 together and then Mohamand added another 79 with Hasan Raza. But Mohammad Khalil and Naved Ashraf triggered a lower-order collapse and four wickets fell for 39 runs. Nazir and Sajid Shah held their nerve and scored the required runs with three balls to sprae. Khalil and Ashraf got three wickets each for the game.National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) bowled out Pakistan Customs for 144 and reached the target for the loss of two wickets at the Sheikhupura Stadium.Tahir Mughal and Wasim Khan, NBP’s opening bowlers, sent back the first four Customs’ batsmen for 60 runs. Then Mansoor Amjad, a legbreak bowler, took three middle-order wickets for three runs though Customs’ managed to last out 47 overs for their paltry score. Usman Arshad top-scored for Customs’ with 35.Salman Butt and Qaiser Abbas set the tone of the chase adding 93 for the first wicket. Abbas was unbeaten on 72 when NBP reached the target in 34.4 oversGroup B
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGP) had an easy chase on their hands as Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) crumbled to 103 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.Only two WAPDA batsmen – Masood Asim (30) and Aamer Sajjad (37) got to double figures. Three batsmen failed to score at all. Imran Ali and Tauqeer Hussain, SNGP’s right-arm fast-medium bowlers, took three wickets each.Yasir Arafat was not out on 50 when SNGP reached the target in 19 overs for the loss of two wickets.An 108-run partnership between Shehzad Malik and Azhar Ali got Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) a five-wicket win over Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Rawalpindi.PIA made 277 in their 50 overs with half-centuries from Agha Sabir and Faisal Iqbal. KRL had a setback early in their innings with two wickets falling at 43. But the Malik-Ali partnership was preceded by two fifty-run partnerships between Saeed Anwar jr (52) and Bilal Asad (68) and Asad and Malik(83*). Fazl-e-Akbar and Bazid Khan were the only two out of seven PIA bowlers who got wickets.

Vikram Solanki, the England opener, says he is looking forward to facing Shoaib Akhtar when the five-match one-day leg of England’s tour to Pakistan gets underway on Saturday.Solanki, one-day crickets’s first Supersub , and Shoaib were team-mates at Worcestershire this past season, and Solanki had the opportunity to witness the fast bowler up close: “Shoaib is a very interesting character – quite a unique type of guy,” Solanki told BBC Sport. “Changing from 90 miles an hour to slower deliveries was quite impressive. He has exceptional talent.”Shoaib’s short appearance for Worcestershire was marred by controversy after John Elliott, the club chairman, criticised his attitude, stating: “It’s all about team spirit and getting the dressing-room right and when you’ve got a bloke like Shoaib in there, it can cause mayhem.” Solanki referred to Elliot’s comments as “unfortunate”, adding that “Shoaib has obviously worked very hard on his fitness and bowled exceptionally well in the Tests.”Shoaib was a revelation in the three-Test series against England, bagging 17 wickets, many of which came at crucial moments. His batting was also a marked improvement over past displays, a fact praised by the media and the Pakistan team management.Solanki, who wasn’t part of England’s squad for the Test series in Pakistan, believed he had a good chance of adding to his 41 one-day appearances. “I am just pleased to be here – it’s fantastic to be part of the squad,” he said. “Obviously, I’d like to play a full part and make best use of the opportunity.” His last appearance in English colours was an unbeaten 53 from the No. 8 spot against Australia at The Oval during the 2005 summer.

James Marshall will lead New Zealand A during the four-country emerging players tournament in Queensland in July. The 14-player squad may grow after the World Cup, when another player could be added, and it includes Iain O’Brien, the fast bowler who last played for New Zealand in 2005.Jesse Ryder and Craig Cumming were unavailable for the tour, which includes seven one-day games and two Twenty20 matches. The national selectors hope it will be used to prepare for the Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September.”A number of new players have been included in this year’s team as a result of their domestic performances,” Glenn Turner, the national men’s selector, said. “We hope that this competition will test and challenge them at the next level.”Turner said the team would spend three weeks in Darwin preparing for the series in Brisbane and Maroochydore. Squads from Australia, India and South Africa will also take part in the tournament.New Zealand A squad James Marshall (capt), Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Jamie How, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Rob Nicol, Iain O’Brien, Mark Orchard, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott.