All posts by csb10.top

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Amir starred in the BPL for the second day running•BCB

Drama at the start and drama right at the end. Chittagong Vikings won the game by one run as Sylhet Superstars captain Mushfiqur Rahim failed to take three off Mohammad Amir’s last ball.In the last over, with Sylhet requiring nine runs to win, Mushfiqur tried a scoop off the first ball but didn’t connect well and could only take a single. Ajantha Mendis missed the next two balls, before the batsmen ran a bye to the wicketkeeper – although Chittagong appealed unsuccessfully for obstructing the field.Needing seven off two, Mushfiqur blasted the fifth ball to the cover boundary, but couldn’t do so again, as Chittagong captain Tamim Iqbal fielded in the covers. The game ended on a high after it had started with an embarrassing controversy for the tournament.The match started an hour and ten minutes late after Sylhet tried to field two foreign players, Ravi Bopara and Josh Cobb, who did not have the required No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) at the time of the toss. Although the NOCs were subsequently provided, and Sylhet tried to include both English players, Chittagong refused to take the field because Bopara and Cobb weren’t named in the original XI.The game, once it had begun, was another cracker. After Chittagong had posted 180 for 5, with half-centuries for Tamim and Yasir Ali, Sylhet were quickly out of the blocks in their reply.Dilshan Munaweera took revenge for the pasting he took with the ball by laying into Tillakaratne Dilshan’s first over, striking six consecutive fours. The first was flicked over square leg; the next over fine leg; then driving uppishly over long-off, and slog-sweeping over midwicket, which was dropped by Jeevan Mendis; then sweeping and driving through mid-off the next two balls.He reached 50 off just 22 balls but there was nothing at the other end. Junaid Siddique was bowled by Shafiul Islam in the seventh over and his contribution to the 66-run stand was just five runs. Munaweera fell for 64 by giving midwicket an easy catch. He had struck 13 fours and a six in his 30-ball knock.Mominul Haque was out a ball later, leg-before to Saeed Ajmal in his attempt to play the reverse-hit. From 76 for 3 in the eighth over, Mushfiqur and Nurul Hasan played out four overs quietly before the latter launched into Taskin Ahmed in the 13th – slapping him over long-off for a six, smashing him over cover and swinging one that ended up in the third-man boundary where Ziaur Rahman made a hash of it.Nurul and Mushfiqur added 55 together and get Sylhet within striking distance. But Nurul, Nazmul Hossain Milon and Mohammad Shahid got out within a short time, leaving 21 needed off the last two overs.After his defiant stance when Sylhet tried to sneak in two unauthorised players, Tamim then launched into their bowlers. He blasted six fours and four sixes in his 45-ball 69 despite the loss of Dilshan, in the second over of the game, for a golden duck.Tamim started with a six over square leg off Subashis Roy before hitting four fours in a Munaweera over that went for 20 runs. In the ninth and tenth overs, Tamim struck a four and three sixes, two over long-on and one over cover.Tamim and Yasir added 79 runs for the second wicket with the captain completely dominating their time together. It seemed that Tamim’s dismissal in the 13th over was due to Yasir’s struggle to rotate the strike at that stage.But Yasir made up for his early slowness by hitting four sixes and a boundary in his 52-ball 63, and more crucially he added 30 for the fourth wicket with Jeevan Mendis and another 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Ziaur – in less than three overs – before being run out from the last ball of the Chittagong innings.

The Indian Board has identified bowlers in the domestic circuit with suspect bowling actions, and is compiling a list of the same, and is likely to send them to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to rectify their actions.According to a report in the , 13 bowlers were deemed to have suspect actions during the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy season, when they were seen on video cameras installed to aid the umpires’ coaches.”While going through the video footage for assessing the umpires’ performance, S Venkataraghavan [the BCCI’s director of umpires and former India captain] has noticed some bowlers with suspect actions,” Ratnakar Shetty, the board’s chief administrative officer, told the newspaper.”The list is being compiled and if it is felt that these bowlers require assistance, they will be sent for correcting their action to the NCA,” he said.Surprisingly, some of the bowlers identified are representing their zonal teams in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, but Shetty said: “The main problem is that they haven’t yet been formally reported by the umpires, so we cannot stop them from playing. But after the final assessment of the footage of all the matches, if it is felt that their actions need to corrected, they will have to go through the procedure.”The last bowler to be identified with a suspect action was Rajesh Sharma, the Punjab offspinner, whose career was temporarily put on hold in the 2006-07 season. Sharma eventually joined the Indian Cricket League last year and took three wickets in two games for the Chandigarh Lions.

James Ormond has signed a one-year contract with Surrey after proving his fitness to the county.Ormond, who has been dogged by injuries and questions over his general fitness, was out of contract at the end of 2007 but the county agreed he could return for pre-season on the understanding that if he proved his fitness in the early matches, he would be offered a new deal.”I am very pleased that Jimmy has worked so hard to turn his career around,” said Alan Butcher, the Surrey coach. “He is looking like the bowler he was three years ago before his injury problems, which is great news for the club.””I am obviously really pleased to get a contract after putting in a lot of hard work during the winter,” Ormond said. “I’d also like to thank our backroom staff for their efforts in getting me fit and ready for another season.”Ormond, 31, played twice for England in 2001 but he looked far from fit when he reported for duty at the start of the 2001-02 tour of New Zealand and that in effect seemed to finish his international chances. His county career appeared to be heading the same way after he played only 11 first-class games in 2006 and 2007, taking 18 wickets,His fitness problems were well documented but when he is on form he can still be one of the most penetrative bowlers on the county circuit.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:21

Bangladesh seal second-highest chase in T20s

Bangladesh outdid Zimbabwe in Khulna by being the scrappier of the two sides, winning the first T20 by four wickets. Zimbabwe suffered a middle-order collapse which left them with a much lower score than they had hoped for, and Bangladesh eventually gunned down their target of 164 with eight deliveries to spare.When Mahmudullah was the sixth batsman to fall in the 17th over of Bangladesh’s chase, Shakib Al Hasan had debutant Nurul Hasan to steer the hosts to score the remaining 27 runs in 3.1 overs. Brian Vitori then proceeded to leak 14 runs off an over, including a four off a Nurul scoop, and five wides down the leg-side. In the penultimate over, Shakib struck two fours, the first edged through third-man and the next a cool flick over square-leg, before Luke Jongwe bowled a horrible wide that flew past the wicketkeeper for a boundary, completing Bangladesh’s victory.Soumya Sarkar was Bangladesh’s first wicket, running himself out after a horrendous mix-up with Tamim Iqbal, with both batsmen ending up in the striker’s end after Tamim had whipped a ball to short fine-leg. Tamim was soon dismissed, in the seventh over, having struck three fours and a six in his 24-ball 29 which featured a commanding start but an insipid ending. Shuvagata Hom, one of two debutants for Bangladesh, fell for 6 when a Sean Williams delivery spun past his bat to knock off the off-bail.Bangladesh were nearly at par with Zimbabwe in the ten-over mark, but had a set Sabbir Rahman, sent to bat at No 3. Sabbir was dropped on 36 when Vusi Sibanda failed to claim a catch at long-on in the 12th over. He struck a clean blow over midwicket for six before giving a catch to deep midwicket off the next ball, falling for a 36-ball 46.Mushfiqur too fell in the same area, attempting a similar shot after making 26 off 19 balls, leaving Mahmudullah and Shakib with 39 to get from the last 4.1 overs. Mahmudullah smacked Luke Jongwe for a six over cover, but missed a straight delivery the next ball to get bowled for 7. Thankfully for him and Bangladesh, Shakib stayed till the end to power the hosts to a series lead.Earlier, Zimbabwe, having opted to bat, could not have asked for a better start from their openers Hamilton Masakadza and the returning Sibanda. The pair started off with seven fours and a six in the Powerplay overs, Masakadza finding the rope thrice in Mashrafe’s second over, while Sibanda launched into Shakib’s flighted offering over long-on for the first six of the match. They added 50 in 6.3 overs but the boundary hunting was still on. Two more sixes followed, the second of which, hit by Sibanda, was juggled at the boundary several times before Soumya toed the rope with the ball in his grasp.Sibanda, though, was out next ball, caught at cover for 46 off 39 balls with four fours and the two sixes. But the 101 runs he and Masakadza added were Zimbabwe’s highest for the opening wicket in T20s. Masakadza kept up the pressure and was about to topple his and his team’s highest individual score in T20s, but was run out for 79 in the 18th over, falling short of the crease as Nurul , the debutant wicketkeeper, managed a direct hit. Nurul had earlier combined well with Sabbir Rahman to also run out Malcolm Waller for 14.Masakadza’s 53-ball knock had nine fours and two sixes but Zimbabwe struggled to take advantage of his efforts. In the over after Masakadza’s dismissal, Zimbabwe’s captain Elton Chigumbura and Luke Jongwe were both yorked by Mustafizur Rahman; the first was on middle and the next on leg-stump. Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams got out in the last over to Al-Amin Hossain as Zimbabwe got only 21 runs in the last four overs, losing five wickets in the process.

Scorecard

The third, soporific day at Hove inched the match inexorably closer to a batsman’s draw, with Sussex’s last five batsman adding 157 in 45 overs, only occasionally breaking into a trot. Scott Newman and Mark Ramprakash made the most of perfect May conditions for Surrey, but the only people breaking into a sweat were those in the bars searching for another Pimms.For periods of the day’s play, it almost felt as though the clock had been wound back to the 1980s. As Robin Marlar, the Sussex president, grumpily pointed out once Surrey had eased past 100 for the loss of just one wicket, “rain doesn’t suit this game”. The slips lounged with hands in their pockets; the fast bowlers ambled casually back to their marks, and not even Matt Prior could be stirred into verbal jousting behind the stumps.Prior had a more important role earlier in the day, however directionless the match had become. He played beautifully for his fifty – his fourth in succession in the Championship – and was particularly strong driving through the off-side but equally aware of the tuck to leg. Two spanking drives – one zipped through extra cover, the other down the ground – could not have been timed any more sweetly, so it was a disappointment for him and his home crowd that he gifted his wicket on 51.Chris Jordan, from the Cromwell Road End, slipped in a bouncer and Prior couldn’t resist a pull, chipping a skier straight to gully. Only when he reached the boundary edge did his anger become apparent to the rest of us, angrily bashing the boards with his bat and it soon became obvious why: Geoff Miller, the England selector, had been spotted.Nevertheless, he had urged Sussex past 350, and they had at least 400 in their sights. James Kirtley, the nightwatchman, had a spread-out field into which to nudge singles, but on 19 he swept Saqlain Mushtaq – for the second unsuccessful time in succession – and was trapped lbw. Luke Wright rarely looked comfortable at the crease, unlike Robin Martin-Jenkins who used his height to good effect in a slick 75-ball fifty. Martin-Jenkins dominated the pair’s eighth-wicket stand of 55 – 32 to Wright’s 20 at the landmark – and he was particularly adept against Mushtaq, punching him commandingly off the back foot. A deft back-cut down to third man brought up the 400.Martin-Jenkins was at it with the ball, too, but not before Jason Lewry produced a fine opening spell from the Sea End, testing Newman with several near-misses outside his off stump. Jonathan Batty cracked four fours and looked in fine touch before Martin-Jenkins finally won an lbw appeal, but thereafter Newman and Ramprakash took control. Newman was strong off his pads, sharing the same nuggety compact technique of Mark Butcher, and was quick to pounce on anything short.Ramprakash spent 20 balls on nought, but once settled he quickly dominated with trademark deflections down to third man and authoritative cover drives. He and Newman’s hundred stand came from 176 balls, and – as was the case for Surrey’s bowlers – there was little to encourage Sussex’s seamers. However, Martin-Jenkins returned for a second spell from the Cromwell Road End and immediately trapped Newman leg-before to complete his own fine day’s work.Ramprakash completed his second fifty of the season and his 99th hundred appears tantalisingly on the horizon. With perfect batting conditions set for tomorrow, Surrey members can begin to plan their pilgrimage to Southampton for their next Championship match against Hampshire on May 14.

Victoria’s coach Greg Shipperd could join his Western Australia counterpart Tom Moody in taking charge of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team after he was approached by the Delhi franchise. Moody has already signed with the Mohali side and Shipperd is keen to be involved provided Cricket Victoria has no objection.The appointments will create an interesting situation should either Mohali or Delhi reach the Champions League, which is to feature the top two domestic Twenty20 sides from India, Australia, England and South Africa. Western Australia and Victoria have already qualified but Shipperd and Moody have both said that if the conflict occurs they will guide their Australian state rather than their IPL team.”Clearly, my first priority is with Cricket Victoria as my employer,” Shipperd told the Age. “In the event of coaching both teams to a final, I would be looking after the Victorians and have a process behind the scenes in place to deal with the other side, which they are comfortable with.”Shipperd said he was surprised at the interest from Delhi, however his Twenty20 coaching record is unparalleled. In three years of the Australian domestic competition Victoria have won all three titles and have only lost one match. He is looking forward to the chance to test his management skills with a different group of players.”It would be a wonderful coaching opportunity to be involved with, to have four or five different international players in the team playing what is the red-hot form of the game at the moment,” Shipperd said. “It’s on-the-job training and hopefully bringing some positive spin-off to Victorian cricket down the track.”John Buchanan is also strongly tipped to coach the Kolkata franchise, although the only definite Australian signing at the moment is Moody as Shipperd’s appointment is not confirmed. Moody says surrounding himself with the world’s leading players will be a terrific experience.”Having to mould a team with stars from around the world into a competitive unit against other extremely talented teams will be a great challenge and one that I am very much looking forward to,” Moody said. “In addition to this, I will be exposed to the marketing and promotional expertise that will go into staging a world-class event.”

All the arguments about whether fast bowler Darren Gough should have stayed with the England team for the Test series in New Zealand have been rendered academic by the fact that he is undergoing an operation to repair cartilage damage to his right knee.When Gough made himself unavailable for the Test tour to India, the England management made it plain that such a decision would also disbar him from the New Zealand series as well. However, with Gough showing such impressive form during the one-day internationals in both India and New Zealand, there was a clamour in the press for Gough to stay on for the duration of the tour.The selectors were not to be moved and stuck by their original policy, but now news has emerged that the bowler sustained his injury during the final one-dayer in Dunedin where he bowled his full quota of ten overs, taking 2 for 42. He is expected to be out of action for a month, but should be fit for the start of the domestic season.Commenting on the situation as far as Yorkshire is concerned, Liz Sutcliffe said: “Fingers crossed he will be back in action at the start of April when the players are returning from overseas duty. It’s not that serious, it’s key-hole surgery on a small tear in his cartilage and we expect him back, if all goes to plan, for the start of the season.”Gough only played in two CricInfo Championship matches for Yorkshire last season as they won the title and he attracted a certain amount of adverse publicity because he was spending so much time on international duty during a lucrative benefit year. There was some talk that he might leave the county, but he decided to stay and will now be keen to get back into action with a view to reclaiming his Test place.

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has been docked 70% of his match fee after his side failed to meet the minimum over-rate requirements during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Trinidad.Gayle, after a hearing with match referee Chris Broad, was fined on the basis of having breached Level 2.11 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct regulation relating to the “failure by a captain to ensure that his team meets the minimum over-rate requirements.”The rest of Gayle’s team-mates were each fined 35% of their match fee for the same offence, as West Indies were found to have bowled six overs short of the required over-rate.”During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,” Broad said.”I saw very little evidence that the West Indies team, after learning of their slow over-rate predicament, actually tried to speed things up. Therefore, they left me with little option but to enact this penalty,” he said.Gayle has the right to contest the verdict, and must do within 24 hours of receiving the same by lodging an appeal in writing with the ICC’s legal counsel.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) believes the national players are likely to be allowed to participate in the initial stages of the Indian Premier League before beginning preparations for the tour of the West Indies in May.The ACA said Cricket Australia has indicated there would be no objection to players taking part during the first 14 to16 days of the Twenty20 tournament in India, which begins on April 18. However, they would have to return to Australia for a training camp before leaving for the West Indies in the second week of May.”I don’t think there will be a problem,” the ACA chief executive Paul Marsh told . “Certainly based on our discussions with Cricket Australia to date I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t be able to play in the IPL, assuming there are no other commitments to Cricket Australia.”The Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said the first priority was to ensure the team had adequate preparation for the tour of the West Indies. Australia are scheduled to play a warm-up match on May 16 ahead of the first Test in Kingston from May 22.

Offspinner Mark Craig has been called into New Zealand’s squad for the opening Test against Australia in Wellington, which begins on Friday. New Zealand Cricket selectors named Craig as a replacement for Mitchell Santner, was ruled out with a foot injury.Santner experienced soreness in his right foot following the second ODI against Australia. A subsequent scan revealed a bone bruise and the decision was made to have Santner sit out. A decision about Santner’s availability for the second Test will be made later.”It’s unfortunate for Mitch as he has been a key player for us so far this summer,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “The positive news is that we picked it up early and hopefully Mitch can make a quick recovery.”Craig was part of the New Zealand squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in December but was not selected to play. His last Test match came against Australia in the inaugural day-night Test, in Adelaide, where he finished with match figures of 2 for 75 in a three-wicket defeat.Squad for the Wellington Test: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk)*, Kane Williamson*