All posts by csb10.top

Paul Collingwood, the England one-day captain, is one of four players suffering from a stomach bug in Sri Lanka ahead of the one-day series next week, and is a doubt for their warm-up match in Colombo on Friday.Collingwood, Stuart Broad, Luke Wright and Alastair Cook are all struggling with what their coach, Peter Moores, described as a “stomach illness”, but he is hopeful of all four being available for selection for Monday’s first one-dayer at Dambulla.”If it’s like Stuart’s it was only a 24 to 36-hour thing so hopefully it will clear up pretty quickly,” Moores said. “Stuart trained for the first time and is still a bit weak and it looks like it’s going to be one or two days for the rest of the lads.”Alastair Cook’s version of it is that if you’re going to get it, let’s get it out of the way before the big games. There’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “We have a 15-man squad for these things and if you’re going to get a bug, you get a bug.”England’s only warm-up game is against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI on Friday, before the start of the five-match series.

Scorecard

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq made light work of a stiff target as the Hyderabad Heroes completed a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the Chennai Superstars.The two former Pakistan players were unbeaten on 44 and 40 as the Heroes hunted down the target of 163 with 13 balls to spare.For the Chennai Superstars, undefeated in the tournament before this match, Ian Harvey once again anchored the innings, remaining unbeaten on 63 as the Superstars scored 162. Stuart Law scored 44 while Hemang Badani’s 13-ball 31 provided the boost towards the end.Hyderabad Heroes needed to chase what would equal the highest total of the tournament and their top three – Anirudh Singh, Shashank Nag, and Ambati Rayudu – got them off to a solid start. When Rayudu fell for 28 with the score on 86 for 3, they needed 77 off 52 deliveries for the win.Razzaq joined Inzamam at the crease and the two didn’t take much time to get going, blasting 27 runs off the 12th over bowled by R Sathish. That brought the asking-rate down from over nine to around six and a half, making the remainder of the chase a cakewalk for the Heroes.

The match against Sri Lanka before the final was important on two countsfor the Indians. One was to establish a psychological dominance and otherwas to try and sort out Muralitharan. Unfortunately they failed on boththose counts and the Sri Lankans demolished them with panache. Thedifference between the sides was the mental strength and also the commonsense displayed by Marvin Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene. The broke therecord for the third wicket partnership and in the process they exposed thelimitations of the Indian attack.It is sort of strange that Anil Kumble has been under scrutiny when oneconsiders that his absence yesterday showed what a big difference he makesto the side especially in the middle overs. Ajit Agarkar dismissedJayasurya and Kaluwitharana in successive overs after Zaheer Khan kept thempinned to the back foot with an aggressive opening spell. Agarkar looked abit like himself and he has to pick up wickets to make up for his ordinaryeconomy rate. The double strike by Agarkar brought Attapattu andJayawardene together and the way they controlled the major part of theinnings was as smooth as silk.They had to play themselves in initially almost like in a Test match andafter having done that they gradually took the game away from the Indiansin a clever and stealthy manner. The remarkable aspect of theAtapattu-Jayawardene partnership was that they orthodox cricket shots andmade batting look so easy. The pitch was firm to start off with but sloweddown considerably as the game progressed. Atapattu, the more experienced ofthe two, took on the role of a sheet anchor and he allowed Jayawardene toadopt his methods. Not that the youngster went berserk but he showed greatpoise and played some delectable shots all round the park. A couple of latecuts he played off Robin Singh were reminiscent of Gundappa Visvanath, theformer Indian legend.By the time the game reached the halfway stage, the Sri Lankans wereadroitly manipulating the Indians and the Indian skipper tried all thetricks up his sleeves but in vain. The left arm spinners Joshi, Sriram andYuvraj Singh were dealt with ease and even Joshi lost his way in the laterstages of the innings. Robin Singh looked rusty and the Sri Lankan pairworked him around comfortably for runs. Ganguly tried his hand as well butthe dominant third wicket pair helped themselves to runs at will.Jayawardene played what must go down as one of the best innings ever to beplayed at Sharjah. Arnold rubbed salt into the wounds of the Indians withsome quickfire batting and Atapattu reached his hundred just in time. TheLankans should be given the credit as they showed what batting out theopponents is all about.The Indian reply started off in the most unwanted fashion with Gangulydeparting early and Sriram following suit. The youngster might well rue hismode of dismissals as he may be dropped at least temporarily. It would be abit harsh if he were to be dropped as he has the talent to come good giventhe confidence. Tendulkar looked in good touch and it was a pleasure to seestrike the ball with the authority one expects of him. His rash shot to becaught off Muralitharan was brought about by his over enthusiasm to try andtake charge of the proceedings. If it took a pair to take away the gamefrom the Indians in the first half, Muralitharan drove the nails in thecoffin on his own when the Indians batted. It was almost that he had thebatsmen mesmerised as he ran through the side with an incredible spell. Theresistance from Dahiya and Badani was not enough for the side but it hasdone their reputation no harm at all.The Indians will start as underdogs in the final and it is good in a waythat there will no undue pressures on them. Moreover things may go wrongfor the Lankans on the day that matters. Still the Indians have to play outof their skins to put it across the Sri Lankans.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Junaid Khan dismissed Chris Gayle off the first ball of the match•AFP

Peshawar Zalmi’s bowling attack had another fine night as they smothered Lahore Qalandars to 117 for 6 to set up a nine-wicket victory.With Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali and Dwayne Bravo, Lahore have arguably the best batting line-up in the Pakistan Super League. But Peshawar had the upper hand right from the first ball – Junaid Khan went full and straight and Gayle’s stumps went for a toss. Two deliveries later, Cameron Delport was run out for a duck courtesy a direct hit from Shahid Yousuf at mid-on. Azhar (31), Akmal (21) and Bravo (32) helped Lahore last the full quota of overs. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar picked up 2 for 11 and an economy rate of 2.75. Shahid Afridi, the captain, finished with 0 for 18 from his four overs.A required rate less than run-a-ball in the chase was never going to be a problem and it proved so as Peshawar openers Tamim Iqbal (55*) and Mohammad Hafeez (43) knocked off 80% of the target. They added 95 in 68 balls and the remaining 23 runs were secured with ease.

The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Security Unit (ACSU) has begun an investigationinto the claims of Shoaib Akhtar, who said last week he was offered moneyto under-perform in matches in South Africa and India.Sources close to the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed to Cricinfothat the team had arrived and investigations had begun, though thereconfusion remains over whether they have completed their task or are stillhere. One source close to the investigation said that the team had alreadyleft, having interviewed several players.Details of the visit are currently sketchy and the ICC has refused toconfirm or deny the development, maintaining that it does not comment onthe movement of the ACSU. A report in claimed that theinvestigators had spoken to Younis Khan, who was vice-captain and stand-incaptain on Pakistan’s last tour to India, and Umar Gul.The investigation comes after Shoaib told Geo TV last week, “A briefcasefull of money was placed before me and I was asked to under-bowl in amatch at Johannesburg but I refused. Then on tour to India I was offeredmoney but I again turned it down.” Dates were not specified on eitheroccasion but the ICC said subsequently the claims would be investigated.The claims came after Shoaib was handed a five-year ban over a series ofbreaches of the players’ code of conduct, including public criticism ofthe PCB. Under its own code of conduct the ICC can ban a player who failsto disclose any approaches for fixing to his captain or to his teammanager or to a senior board official or to the ICC’s officials from oneto five years.

Cricket goes on, as perhaps it should. Pakistan, over the last year, and Zimbabwe, for some time, have probably realised the significance of that sentiment more than most nations. Both countries, bedeviled by any variety of issues, might even empathise over the turbulence of what is happening within their borders and the coverage of it from afar, which they might complain is often hyped, often poorly-informed, often misperceived.Which is why this tour is less low-key, and more important for both, than it may immediately appear. Pakistan won’t mind trialing some of their bench strength through the four-day game and the ODI series. Neither will they mind, with Australia nervously looking on, an incident-free visit.Zimbabwe, meanwhile, have all manner of incentives, not least clocking up further mileage on the road back to Test status. They take on a strong-ish Patron’s XI led by Shahid Afridi in a four-day game from Monday and Prosper Utseya, the touring captain, is confident his side can put on a good show.”We have played some good cricket in recent months and we have done it against big teams,” he told reporters in Karachi. “We have also played a few four-day games and that has helped prepare us. If we can beat Australia, we can beat anyone. We want to continue doing that in Pakistan.”Indeed, Zimbabwe have taken an upward turn in recent months, and without too much attention being roused. That Twenty20 World Championship win over Australia noted, but since then they have quietly beaten the West Indies in an ODI as well as won all three four-day games against a South African Composite XI in South Africa.Robin Brown, who was appointed coach last August and is a one-time international, knows just how those results have come: “A lot of hard work. We’ve improved enormously not only technically, but psychologically and we are not afraid coming here. We want to win a few games.”To that end, the return of several vital, experienced players such as Ray Price and Tatenda Taibu has helped. It might not immediately make up for the loss of the many who made Zimbabwe so competitive earlier this decade, but Brown points out that the current side are not quite the newbies Pakistan might expect.”We have lost a few over the years, but we are young in age, not experience,” he said. “Many of our players have now played between 50-60 ODIs, so we have experience. We played four-day games in South Africa with good results and the more cricket we play, the more experience we will gain. We’re not too far away fromgetting back to where we were.”Still, whatever the strength of the Pakistan sides, they will provide an altogether different and unique challenge. “Most sides are good at home, but good cricketers adapt to different conditions,” Brown said. “We have a few spinners so our bowling will be up to strength. Our batting will have to adapt but we’ve had lots ofpractice and preparation and we’re keen to play.”That eagerness to play will see them through some tough days for sure, but so will the attitude of Utseya, the only international captain younger than Shoaib Malik. Not yet 23, the captaincy, he admitted, had been hard at times and little wonder. He didn’t say too much else, but what he did was honest and fearless. When asked theinevitable question about handling the pace of Shoaib Akhtar, he said simply, “We don’t fear anyone.”

Two of the players who have turned their backs on Zimbabwe’s national side have agreed club contracts in New Zealand, in effect signaling their intention not to return to international cricket.Gavin Ewing has signed up for Inglewood Cricket Club in the Taranaki District Cricket League in New Zealand. He leaves Zimbabwe on Wednesday to join his new club. He recently returned from England where he led Paignton to a third-place finish in the Devon Premier League.Ewing will be joined in New Zealand by Dion Ebrahim, who finished as the leading run scorer for Stony Stratford Town Cricket Club in Northamptonshire.Ewing, 26, retired from international cricket last year citing neglect by Zimbabwe Cricket after he suffered a stress fracture and headed off to England while Ebrahim went to England after Zimbabwe Cricket did not offer him a contract.Ewing and Ebrahim are just some of the players still owed money from the New Zealand, India and Kenya series in 2005. The players are still holding onto cars that were issued to them when they were still contracted to ZC and have vowed not to return them until they get their money.

Scorecard