Round-up of the second day’s play in the fifth round of matches of the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2011Fawad Alam scored 174 not out off 176 balls to give Sind the advantage against Federal Areas at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, helping them finish the second day 321 runs ahead with two wickets in hand. Alam’s knock led Sind to a score of 359 for 8 after Federal Areas had managed a 38-run first-innings lead.Sind, who had been bowled out for 202 on the first day, were in trouble early in their innings, finding themselves 16 for 2. When Alam came in, the score was 74 for 3. He hit 12 boundaries and two sixes in his unbeaten innings, and was given company by his captain Khalid Latif, who scored 94 off 103 balls. Sind kept up the first day’s trend of scoring quickly, maintaining a run-rate of 4.78 runs an over. After Latif was out, there was not much support for Alam until the No. 10 Anwar Ali came in and added 138 runs with him. Anwar finished the day unbeaten on 39.Federal Areas had started the day at 216 for 7 with Hammad Azam batting on 60. Azam could only add another 10 to his score, and Federal Areas folded for 240, with Mohammad Sami taking two more wickets on Thursday to finish with 6 for 67 in the innings.

A team batting effort helped Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province go past Punjab’s first-innings score of 354, and finish with a 65-run first innings lead on the second day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. There were no centurions in Khyber’s 419, but half-centuries from Rafatullah Mohmand, Adnan Raees and Akbar Badshah were supported by other contributions, with only three players in the line-up failing to get to double figures. Rafatullah got 59 and shared a 107-run opening partnership with Waqar Orakzai, who scored 43. Raees was the innings’ top scorer with 86 off 101 balls, and Badshah got 72.The tail wagged as well, with Khalid Usman getting 45 at No. 8. Khyber scored at 5.14 runs per over in their innings, which meant Punjab, who added just 14 runs to their overnight score of 340 for 9 in the morning, were already back in to bat by the end of the day. Their openers played out an over to finish 8 for 0.

Wes Durston inspired Derbyshire to a 52-run defeat of Yorkshire with one over remaining in the Clydesdale Bank 40 League encounter at Headingley

02-May-2011
ScorecardWes Durston inspired Derbyshire to a 52-run defeat of Yorkshire with one over remaining in the Clydesdale Bank 40 League encounter at Headingley. It left Yorkshire still seeking their first win in the competition in what has been a generally depressing start to the season, while their opponents claimed a second victory in as many days over the Bank Holiday period.Derbyshire owed a great deal to Durston, who contributed 95 to his side’s competitive 245 for eight and then helped to contain Yorkshire to 193 with 3 wickets for 25 runs. Captain Andrew Gale and Adam Lyth started out promisingly for Yorkshire but after they had added 35 in seven overs Lyth fell to a great two-handed catch by Garry Park flinging himself to his right at point.Joe Root joined Gale in a profitable stand in which Gale used his feet well to drive Tim Groenewald for a big six but accurate bowling and keen fielding never allowed the pair to take control, despite Gale completing his half-century from 62 balls.They added 90 in 18 overs before Root attempted a reverse sweep at too full a ball from Durston and was lbw for 45 and further pressure was applied on Yorkshire when Jonathan Bairstow drove Chesney Hughes straight into the hands of Wayne Madsen at long-off.But it was the departure of Gale, for 74, which really spelled the end for his team after he had faced 86 balls and struck four fours and two sixes, Durston scooping up a low return catch which television replays confirmed had carried to the bowler. Madsen flung up an outstretched left hand to send back Gerard Brophy and bring Durston another wicket and Yorkshire caved in completely as Steffan Jones chipped in with three quick wicketsWinning the toss, Derbyshire lost their left-handed openers, Usman Khawaja and Hughes, just when they appeared to be settling in nicely, but they made a solid recovery through two splendid knocks from Durston and Madden.After taking a careful look at the bowling, Durston soon blossomed, going on to hit two sixes off leg-spinner Adil Rashid. He was only denied his century by a breathtaking catch at short third-man by Ajmal Shahzad who flung himself to his right to hold on one-handed to a fierce cut which would otherwise have brought four runs. Durston departed for 95 from 99 balls with seven fours to go alongside his sixes and his two previous knocks in the competition this season had brought him scores of 64 and 70.He added 65 for the fourth wicket with Madsen, whose straight drive at David Wainwright rolled on to and over the roof of the football stand, and it was the final over of the innings before he was stumped down the leg-side by Brophy off Rashid for a classy 66 from 41 deliveries with five fours and two sixes.Ryan Sidebottom and Rashid each emerged with two wickets but the best analysis was returned by Richard Pyrah who claimed 3 for 41 off his eight overs.

The spot-fixing trial will be held on October 4, the Southwark Crown Court in London ruled on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2011The spot-fixing trial will be held from October 4, the Southwark Crown Court in London ruled on Friday. The decision was made during a hearing into corruption charges against Pakistani players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and the player-agent Mazhar Majeed, who were all named in the spot-fixing investigation.Strangely, none of the four attended the hearing, though Amir and Asif were in London. Butt had already been excused from being present.The players and the agent are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test last August in which they allegedly conspired to bowl pre-determined no-balls. The four appeared at a hearing – at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court – on March 17, which set the date and jurisdiction for this hearing and were granted unconditional bail at the time; Majeed was told to surrender his passport.Accepting corrupt payments is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. Cheating is an offence under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, carrying a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.The foursome was charged after being questioned by Scotland Yard detectives over the alleged scandal in the Test at Lord’s last August, following accusations by the tabloid newspaper. The players have already been banned by the ICC, which held a separate inquiry, for periods ranging from five to ten years. All three have, however, already filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Yorkshire gained their first victory of the season in the Friends Life t20 North Group but it was desperately close as they overcame Worcestershire by just two runs at Headingley

09-Jun-2011
ScorecardYorkshire gained their first victory of the season in the Friends Life t20 North Group but it was a desperately close run thing as they overcame Worcestershire by just two runs at Headingley. But it was just the tonic they needed ahead of Friday night’s Roses clash at Old Trafford.Defending a total of 152 for 7, Yorkshire were well served by Man of the Match Richard Pyrah who captured 4 for 21 and Adil Rashid who claimed 3 for 19 off his four overs. But the real star performance came from Worcestershire’s Gareth Andrew who followed up his 3 for 30 return by smashing an unbeaten 60 off 24 deliveries with five fours and four sixes.With Rashid and Pyrah each collecting two wickets in an over, Worcestershire slumped to 67 for 5 before Andrew set about the bowling, striking David Wainwright for two big sixes and a four in one over and hammering Steve Patterson for four and six to take his side into three figures.James Cameron helped him add 59 in five overs for the sixth wicket before falling in another double-wicket over from Pyrah but Andrew refused to give up the fight and Ryan Sidebottom had to bowl the final over with 12 wanted.Shaaiq Choudhry drove his first ball for three and when Andrew could only run a bye off the fifth his partner needed a boundary to win it for Worcestershire but he failed to make contact and the pair could only scamper another bye.Most of Yorkshire’s batsmen had earlier managed modest contributions but none was able to go on to make a good score with several of them getting out to indifferent strokes.As so often has been the case this season, Andrew Gale got the innings off to a cracking start in an opening stand of 40 in 28 balls with Jonny Bairstow, the Yorkshire captain smacking five boundaries in his 29 off 15 deliveries before miscuing Shakib al Hasan to Damien Wright running in from mid-on.A powerful off-drive by Adam Lyth at the expense of Jack Shantry raised the 50 inside six overs but when Choudhry came on the left-hander drove his second ball straight to Moeen Ali at deep mid-on.Bairstow was lbw swinging at Ali for 24 from 27 balls and Anthony McGrath just appeared to have got into his stride when he tamely played Andrew’s third ball to Shantry at midwicket, making it 99 for 4.The slide continued as Gary Ballance flicked a ball from Andrew into Ben Scott’s gloves and the seamer picked up his third wicket by getting Gerard Brophy to hole out to Daryl Mitchell.Shakib went full stretch to pluck a left-handed return catch from Pyrah out of the air and it was only some effective hitting by Sidebottom in the final over from Andrew that gave Yorkshire a total they were so narrowly able to defend.

A battling century by Neil McKenzie held up Worcestershire’s Alan Richardson-inspired victory charge at New Road but Hampshire are still in danger of being cut off at the foot of Division One in the County Championship

20-Jun-2011
Scorecard
A battling century by Neil McKenzie held up Worcestershire’s Alan Richardson-inspired victory charge at New Road but Hampshire are still in danger of being cut off at the foot of Division One in the County Championship. With the 36-year-old Richardson taking 9 for 114 in the match, the south coast visitors followed on 164 runs behind after folding for 239 and edged into a slender lead of 105 when reaching 269 for 9.Having opened the season with six consecutive defeats, fast-improving Worcestershire can now aim to wrap up a second successive win which would put them 36 points clear of Hampshire.
McKenzie’s resistance may only have delayed the inevitable. After a sketchy start, the South African-born batsman went on to make 106 from 221 balls and put on 143 with Nic Pothas, who completed his second half-century of the match before falling for 72.The ever-willing Richardson got Worcestershire back on track when Pothas edged the first delivery after tea to second slip, and after an interlude of spin, with two wickets for Shakib Al Hasan, the strike bowler was back with the new ball. In his second over he finally broke McKenzie’s resolve, an lbw decision ending the 39th hundred of his career, but the last pair, James Tomlinson and Imran Tahir, survived until the close.Hampshire’s batting generally lacked confidence or conviction and the theory that they would benefit from a winning run in Twenty20 cricket was blown apart. Straight away they were back to where they left the Championship in a heavy defeat by Lancashire in their last match.Worcestershire, in contrast, are perhaps exceeding expectations, and once Hampshire’s fragility had been exposed, largely through the efforts of Richardson, they were relentless in driving home their advantage. From James Vince’s departure in the first innings to his second dismissal on the third morning, Hampshire lost 10 wickets for 69, the scale of the collapse underlining why they are the only side without a Championship win this season.Resuming at 232 for 7, they lasted for only 25 minutes as Richardson and Bangladesh spinner Shakib mopped up the tail for the addition of seven runs. More worrying for Hampshire was the way the top order imploded in the second innings.Liam Dawson avoided a ‘pair’ with an edged four through the slips but Richardson saw off the openers in his first five overs – Jimmy Adams taken at second slip and Dawson by wicketkeeper Ben Scott. Jack Shantry may lack Richardson’s zip but the young left-armer bowled a good line and backed up the senior seamer by removing Michael Lumb and Vince with catches in the slips by Vikram Solanki and Daryl Mitchell.

Gamini Goonesena, a former Sri Lanka captain and allrounder who also played for Cambridge University and Nottinghamshire, has died at the age of 80 in Canberra

Sa'adi Thawfeeq02-Aug-2011Gamini Goonesena, the former Sri Lanka captain and allrounder who also played for Cambridge University and Nottinghamshire, has died at the age of 80 in Canberra.Goonesena played for Sri Lanka in the country’s pre-Test era and captained them against India in the unofficial Test played at the P Sara Oval in 1956. He captured 7 for 69 with his legspin and top-scored for his side with 48 in the drawn game.In a career spanning 194 first-class matches, Goonesena scored 5751 runs at an average of 21.53 and captured 674 wickets at 24.37. He also held 108 catches.Goonesena studied at the Royal College, Colombo, and played in the annual Royal-Thomian encounter. Following his retirement from competitive cricket, he was appointed Sri Lanka’s representative at the ICC and subsequently managed the Test side on a tour of India in 1982. He also worked as a Test commentator before retiring in 2004 and settling down in Australia.Goonesena is best remembered for his contribution as an an allrounder for Cambridge University, a team he represented between 1954 and 1957. He became the first Asian to captain the university in 1957 and scored 211 against arch-rivals Oxford at Lord’s – it remains the highest score by a Cambridge player in the annual university fixture. He also took four wickets for 40 in the second innings to beat Oxford by an innings and 86 runs.Goonesena played for Nottinghamshire from 1953 to 1964 and also in seven consecutive games for Gentlemen v Players between 1954 and 1958, a record for an overseas player.Goonesena first represented Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) against Pakistan in 1950 and went on to play for international sides led by Joe Lister and EW Swanton and toured the West Indies twice. He also played for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield between 1961 and 1964, while employed with the Ceylon Tea Board in Australia.Bertie Wijesinghe, the oldest living Sri Lanka cricketer who played with Goonesena, said, “It’s a pity that Gamini was lost to Sri Lanka cricket and could not spend time at home to coach and inspire the younger generation with his vast knowledge of the game.”I’ve never known a cricketer apart from the late FC de Saram who was so clean about the game. He was an outstanding bowler and his record at Cambridge speaks for itself.”Chandra Sandrasagara, a close associate of Goonesena who played district cricket with him said, “Richie Benaud the former Australian captain and famed legspinner would always inquire about Gamini whenever I met him. Gamini was the back-up spin bowler to Benaud in the New South Wales side whenever Benaud was away on Test duty.”

Chief selector Kris Srikkanth has blamed India’s collective batting failure for their poor performances, and said it had nothing to do with fatigue or poor preparation in the lead-up to the series

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2011Kris Srikkanth, India’s chief selector, has blamed the collective batting failure for series defeat in England, and said the loss had nothing to do with fatigue or poor preparation.”If you see the FTP, all countries are playing cricket 365 days a year whether England or Australia,” Srikkanth said. “It is not the Indians only. The fact is that cricket is being played the whole year in whatever format – Test, ODI or Twenty20. So I don’t think that it is the fatigue factor for the performance in England.”However in the last 12 months India have played more Tests than any other team and more one-day games than anyone except Pakistan. In addition to 14 Tests and 29 ODIs over the past year, India’s players also took part in the gruelling IPL, which began within a week of the World Cup final.In the first three Tests this series, India have not managed to post a total in excess of 300, and Rahul Dravid is the only batsman to have averaged more than 40. Srikkanth said the batting had failed to perform as a unit. “The batting did not click for us. In the Indian side, if batting clicks everything clicks. We also did not do well in bowling and fielding. England bowling attack is ideally suited for the conditions.”It is a fact that our top five batsmen have not clicked in the series so far. But the same bunch of cricketers have been doing well during the last couple of years. The same combination had defeated South Africa in South Africa. It our bad luck that in this particular tour nothing has clicked for us.”India had England struggling at 124 for 8 in the first innings at Trent Bridge, but a ninth-wicket 74-run partnership between Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann played a crucial role in England getting to 221. Srikkanth said India’s failure to capitalise on the opportunity was one of the key turning points in the series. “It is a question of mental toughness and our cricketers are mentally very tough … [but] at 124 for 8, if you look at it psychologically … psychologically there we lost the battle,” he told .The BCCI has been criticised by former cricketers for its failure to prioritise Test cricket, but Srikkanth defended the Indian board. “Let us not indulge in the blame game – on the players or the administrators or the BCCI. Nobody is to be blamed and it’s not the time for that. It is just that we are going through a bad phase.”England have replaced India at the top of the Test rankings, but while Srikkanth was confident India would be able to bounce back, he said it was time to rebuild the team. “We have to learn from the series in England, look into what went wrong. We also have to identify and support new talent when the time comes,” he said.”We all have to put our heads together and plan for the future,” Srikkanth told the . “We have to start the process all over again without complaining. We have to try our various combinations to get the best team like we did before the World Cup. We even dropped Yuvraj Singh, who came back strongly into the ODI team and left a huge impact on the tournament. We want to do similar things now.”

Even during his consecutive half-centuries for Ruhuna in the Champions League Twenty20, he has shown that he prefers playing orthodox shots better suited to the longer format

Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad21-Sep-2011Dinesh Chandimal carries himself with the smile of a schoolboy. His batting does not have the regal touch of Kumar Sangakkara or the raw power of MS Dhoni. What he has displayed so far in his short career is the pluck of Romesh Kaluwitharana allied with the patience to build an innings, a skill that has brought him consecutive half-centuries in the Champions League Twenty20 qualifier.In both matches, he came in early at No. 3 following the fall of Sanath Jayasuriya – the past of Sri Lankan cricket – and provided a glimpse into its future. He batted like he keeps wicket, busily and intelligently. It took him seven balls to get off the mark today but not once did he betray any signs of desperation. And the way he scored his first runs was telling. Offspinner Jigar Naik had kept him quiet with a succession of quick deliveries fired in full. Off the last ball of the over, Chandimal coolly made some room and lofted Naik over extra cover for six.As he had done against Trinidad and Tobago, he played spin with assured hands and quick feet, lofting cleanly whenever the opportunity was there. In the subcontinent, where he will play most of his cricket, that usually proves to be a productive combination.Chandimal chose the right pace to target when he picked on Abdul Razzaq, pulling and flicking him for three of his six fours. The quicker Wayne White, however, troubled him as had T&T’s Ravi Rampaul, who had dismissed him when he top-edged a pull. There will be time for the 21-year old Chandimal to work on that aspect of his game.He has expressed his desire to take over from Prasanna Jayawardene for Sri Lanka in Test cricket. And that is why it was a touch pleasing to see that he struggled to time the cross-batted swipes at the death. It is clearly not something that comes naturally to him. He is much more comfortable batting the correct and orthodox way, even in the shortest format.He is safe behind the stumps and bustles with energy on the field. He cringes at dropped chances and has regular words of advice for his captain. A first-class average of 58.52 points at huge potential and it is inevitable that Chandimal will increasingly put more and more pressure on the much older Jayawardene for the Test keeper’s slot.Chandimal has been judged good enough to be played as a specialist batsman in ODIs with Sangakkara still having not given up keeping in the format. With Sri Lanka opting to ignore Thilan Samaraweera for the upcoming Tests against Pakistan, Chandimal’s Test cap might not be far away, whether with the larger gloves or without them.

A round-up from the latest matches at the ICC World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2011It remains a tight battle at the top of World Cricket Division Six between Guernsey and hosts Malaysia, but Jersey were left frustrated by the weather.Guernsey held on for a 12-run victory as Kuwait suffered a late collapse at Bayuemas Oval. Jamie Nussbaumer was the matchwinner with 5 for 35 which included a crucial spell in the closing overs. At 183 for 5 – following Irfan Bhatti’s solid 66 – Kuwait needed 30 off 29 balls but Nussbaumer struck with consecutive deliveries and also had a hand in a run out. The demise was so swift that Kuwait still had eight balls of their innings unused when they were bowled out. Guernsey’s innings had also collapsed at the end after they’d been 177 for 5 in the 42nd over. Jeremy Frith had provided the anchor with 82 off 95 balls, but in the final outcome it was the 23 extras conceded by Kuwait (including 12 wides and three no-balls) which proved the difference.”I bowled with intent because we knew the guys top of the order batted well and we had to restrict them when it came to scoring runs,” Nussbuamer said. “I think things worked particularly well for me today when it came down to the Powerplays and I made sure I bowled my yorkers and made it hard for them and it paid off.”In regards to chasing down our total, they batted sensibly taking their time and I think they had 115 up off 20 overs or so and with eight or nine wickets in hand they thought they had the game in easy reach. They were slow to start but credit has to be given to them that they were in control until we managed to start taking wickets regularly.”Hosts Malaysia cruised to an eight-wicket victory against Fiji at Kinrara Academy Oval to remain top of the table on net run-rate, ahead of Guernsey. Captain Suhan Alagaratnam (54 not out) and Shafiq Sharif (55 not out) guided the run chase home with more than 14 overs to spare after Fiji had been bowled out for 129. Eszrafiq Aziz had done most of the damage with 5 for 36 as Fiji lost wickets at regular intervals and only two batsmen passed 20.”I think today we played a really good all-round game,” Alagaratnam said. “We were on the mark with our bowling and fielding in the first innings and credit should really go to Eszrafiq again who performed really well for us. In the batting department the top order contributed and it feels good to have won by a big margin to improve our run-rate even further in the points table. It’s by no means a done deal for us, we need to keep winning every game to secure ourselves promotion.”Jersey were in a promising position against Nigeria when their match was washed out after 44 overs at the Selangor Turf Club. Jersey had reached 218 for 6 after a series of solid top-order contributions. Ben Stevens top-scored with 48 before he was run out while Dean Morrison had opened the innings with a positive 50-ball 46. Nigeria chipped away with Endurance Ofem taking 2 for 30 in his 10 overs, but when the rain arrived Samuel de la Haye had placed himself to push the total towards 250. The match may be replayed on September 22 depending on the completion of Wednesday’s round of fixtures.

A round-up of the action from the first day of the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2011Fast bowler Junaid Nadir took five wickets in just 5.1 overs and Pakistan opener Imran Nazir made an unbeaten hundred to give Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) control of their game against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Junaid was instrumental in bowling Islamabad out for 123 on the first day, snapping up Zeeshan Mushtaq, the innings top scorer, for 38 before running through the tail to finish with 5 for 14. Nazir led ZTBL’s reply, making 105 and sharing an unbroken partnership of 115 with Faisal Athar (46*) for the fourth wicket, as ZTBL ended the day on 212 for 3, a lead of 89.Fourteen wickets fell on the first day at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Rawalpindi were routed for 153, with Naved-ul-Hasan and Sarfraz Ahmed taking four wickets each, before unbeaten Water and Power Development Authority stumbled to 68 for 4. Ahmed and Naved knocked over the hosts’ top four batsmen and Imran Khan picked up two wickets to leave Rawalpindi tottering at 97 for 6. It took No.8 Haseeb Azam, who made an unbeaten 35, to carry the side past 150. Left-arm seamer Mohammad Ayaz ensured it wasn’t all one-way traffic though, taking three early wickets to keep his side in the game.Ali Imran’s six-for helped Pakistan International Airlines scuttle last-placed Abbotabad for 175 before Kamran Sajid’s half-century took PIA to 106 for 3 at the end of the first day at the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium. Imran and Najaf Shah had Abbotabad in immediate trouble at 18 for 4. A mini-recovery ensued but at 90 for 7, Abbotabad looked hard pressed to post much over three figures, but wicketkeeper Mir Azam made an aggressive 63, and found support in Ikramullah Khan (23) to boost his side to 175. Imran finished with 6 for 48.Ahmed Shahzad and Shan Masood, the Habib Bank Limited openers, put their team in a dominating position against Karachi Blues at the National Stadium in Karachi. The pair added 195 for the first wicket, with Shahzad leading the way with a brisk 108 that included 18 fours, while Masood made a more sedate 90. Bilal Shafayat and Khaqan Arsal made sure the momentum would not be lost, putting on 96 together before Shafayat was dismissed for 54. Arsal remained unbeaten on 48, taking HBL to 329 for 4, and will look to pile further misery on the Karachi bowlers on the second day. Offspinner Atif Maqbool took all the four wickets to fall but conceded 142 runs.Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and Qaiser Abbas posted centuries, sharing an unbroken stand of 217 runs, to boost National Bank of Pakistan to 345 for 5 against Sialkot on the first day at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. The pair came together with their side in a bit of bother at 128 for 5 and proceeded to take charge. Kamran made 131, his second century this season, peppering it with 19 fours. Abbas matched Kamran almost stroke for stroke in making his 107 that included 16 fours.State Bank of Pakistan plodded to 224 for 3 in 83 overs against Faisalabad in Sargodha after Mohtashim Ali (63) and Waqar Orakzai put on 109 in a slow opening stand. Orakzai was bowled by Zeeshan Butt for 29 off 111 balls and SBP lost two more quickly to be in some bother at 128 for 3. A relatively positive Adnan Raees and Rameez Alam steadied things in an unbeaten 96-run partnership for the fourth wicket. SBP were also helped by 27 extras, including 12 no-balls.