Category Uncategorized

Australia are now looking for a new person to lead them into the 2023 ODI World Cup

AAP10-Sep-2022Aaron Finch insists there should be no reason why Steven Smith or David Warner can’t replace him as Australia’s ODI skipper, adamant the scars of sandpaper-gate have long healed.Finch’s announcement of his retirement from the 50-over format has again put leadership back on the agenda, with Cricket Australia on the search for another captain before next year’s ODI World Cup.Officials opted to hand back some leadership responsibilities to Smith last summer, when they made him new skipper Pat Cummins’ deputy for the Test team. But from that moment it was clear another long-term captaincy call was only just around the corner.Related

• Crucial days loom in Warner leadership ban

• Australia's system produces good captains, but you can't say the same about England

• McDonald pleased with Australia's ODI progress: 'We have challenged ourselves with the structure of our team'

• Smith, Cummins, Warner or someone else – who will be Australia's next ODI captain?

• Warner open to having 'honest conversation' with CA to get captaincy ban overturned

In the press conference where his Test appointment was announced, Cummins made it clear he had no interest in leading Australia’s white-ball teams as well. Finch on Saturday said he believed Cummins could juggle multiple roles, but the fact the fast bowler has missed 28 of 65 ODIs since the start of 2018 suggests he would be an unlikely option.Beyond him, Alex Carey would loom as another candidate, having previously held the vice-captaincy in the one-day team and stood in for Finch last year. However the fact he is not part of the T20 team suggests Australia will ultimately need three separate captains when Finch eventually retires from that format.Mitchell Marsh and Adam Zampa could also be potential ODI skippers, with selectors having two months before Australia’s next match in the format after Sunday’s finale against New Zealand.None however have the experience of Smith, who captained all formats before the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and was still helping set fields on his return.Finch said he had no preference but could not see why the Cape Town 2018 saga should stand in Smith’s way, believing he still had several years ahead of him.”I don’t think [it would be an issue],” Finch said. “He captained a Test match in Adelaide after Pat was out with Covid. “So I think that’s all been put to bed.”Warner would present a different issue for CA. He still has a lifetime leadership ban from the scandal, but there has been every indication recently that could be reviewed after Warner signed up for the BBL. Last month Warner said “it would be great” to have a conversation with the board.Finch on Saturday revealed he was of the view the ban should be lifted, and that his opening partner would be a sound option.”He [Warner] is someone I have played under a few times for Australia when he has had the opportunity to captain,” Finch said on . “He has been fantastic. He is an unbelievable tactical captain and someone at the time the lads loved playing under.”Would I like to see [his ban] overturned? Yeah, absolutely. What he can offer not just now as a player but going forward for him to be able to coach and help the next generation of players coming through is so important. You do your time, and he has well and truly done that.”

Century stand with No. 8 Olly Stone sees home side chase down target of 333

George Dobell18-Apr-2021Warwickshire pulled off a heist of which Robin Hood would have been proud in completing a three-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire.Set 333 to win – easily the highest score of the game – Warwickshire were reduced to 184 for 6 shortly after lunch on the final day. With all the specialist batters gone and the presumption that Dom Sibley, who sustained a broken finger earlier in the game, would be unable to bat, a Nottinghamshire win seemed all but inevitable.But nobody had told Tim Bresnan and Olly Stone. And in a seventh-wicket stand of 113 – the highest of the match – they turned the game on its head.Bresnan, apparently the calmest person on the pitch, finished unbeaten on 68, while Stone made the second-highest score of his first-class career, and his highest for Warwickshire, in contributing 43. Victory was achieved with 8.1 overs of the match remaining. It was Warwickshire’s first under their new head coach, Mark Robinson, and their first in first-class cricket since they last played Nottinghamshire, in September 2019.This was an impressively resilient performance from Warwickshire. They went into the third day of this match in an apparently hopeless position – Notts were 200 ahead and retained eight wickets in their second-innings – but produced an outstanding bowling performance on day three to give themselves an outside chance. To follow it up with a memorable run-chase reflects well on this new-look side and its coaching staff. It has been a while since a Warwickshire side showed this toughness.Bresnan was at the heart of that. He might, as a bowler at least, have lost a yard or two of pace. But he retains vast experience and remains a worthy batter. At tea, with 96 still needed, he returned to the dressing room to tell his team-mates, “It’s on boys, it’s on.” Such confidence, when backed with competence, can lift a side.It was noticeable towards the end of the game that Sibley padded up, too. He approached Robinson when the equation was reduced to 50 and suggested he would like to contribute if he could. It’s a gesture that reflects well on Sibley’s commitment and the spirit within the dressing room. Sibley sees a specialist on Monday and there is a possibility that broken finger is just a little more serious than they would have had us believe. He will not be playing cricket for a few weeks.This defeat will sting Nottinghamshire. It’s not just that it extends their horrendous run of form to 29 first-class games without a victory, but that they really did seem to have the win within their grasp. The dejection on their faces at the end spoke volumes. As, perhaps, did their anxiety as Warwickshire started to draw closer. This is a team that has lost a bit of confidence in itself to get over the line. Less than half of them have won a first-class match with Nottinghamshire. Afterwards, Peter Moores, their head coach, admitted the result was “a tough one to take”.To some extent they were unfortunate. Certainly, they came up against an impressively determined opponent and saw much of the life leave the pitch as the sun came out on the final day. The second new ball, taken when Warwickshire were six down and still required 136, moved far less than any of its predecessors. They were without two or three first-choice seam bowlers, too, due to injury or illness.But they might also reflect they lacked a bit of ruthlessness in their second innings, when they lost four wickets for three runs at one stage. And in struggling to 119 for 6 in their first innings, they failed to establish the platform they might have. They will forgive the young bowlers who served up a few more loose balls than they would have liked on the final day – these things are inevitable when trying to develop players – but might also reflect that their catching wasn’t as good it might have been.Crucially, Bresnan was reprieved on 56, when 33 were still required for victory. The chance, to the right hand of Tom Moores, was not easy by any means. But perhaps Moores, appearing to react late and then seeming to dive a bit far, made it appear more difficult than he might have done. Tellingly, there were also 19 byes in Warwickshire’s second innings.Stuart Broad was the unfortunate bowler on that occasion. He certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side in this game, getting through 49 overs including 20 on the final day and bowling with a pace and hostility that reflected his commitment. “Our lads couldn’t have given any more,” Moores said. “It was a great scrap.”Related

• Surrey face anxious wait over possible ball change charge

• Willey five-wicket haul steers Yorkshire to 200-run victory

• Robinson presses England claims with nine-wicket haul

• Harmer delivers to hand Essex stunning turnaround against Durham

Indeed, it was. Even before that Bresnan-Stone partnership, Warwickshire had shown admirable resistance. Matt Lamb and Sam Hain batted throughout the morning session and added 89 runs to revive their hopes.Hain’s contest against Broad was a particularly compelling session of play. Broad, alternating from round and over the wicket, unleashed a barrage of short-pitched deliveries with a field that included, at various times, a leg slip, short leg, silly point and long leg set for the hook.Hain just about weathered the storm. But he sustained three blows – one to the shoulder, one to the chest and the other to his head which resulted in a concussion check – and looked deeply uncomfortable. Later Broad unleashed a similar spell upon Stone, who continued to get into line bravely despite taking one horrid-looking blow to the left elbow.But when Dane Paterson struck three times in quick succession, it seemed the resistance had been futile. Paterson came into this match having not played a first-class game since January 2020, when he was part of the South Africa team beaten in Johannesburg by England, and improved markedly for the workout. He had Hain, attempting to hit an outswinger through the leg side, caught behind, Lamb bowled off his elbow by one that bounced more than anticipated and Michael Burgess bowled by a lavish inswinger.But that was as good as it got for Nottinghamshire. And while Stone was drawn into attempting a drive against one that left him from the deserving Broad, the target was down to 36 by then.Perhaps it was fitting that Danny Briggs should be there at the end. He had come out as nightwatchman on the first evening and then batted throughout the morning session to keep his side in the game. He returned his best bowling figures since 2016, too. He looks an astute acquisition.It will be little consolation to Nottinghamshire right now, but when both head coaches described the match as “a great advert for four-day cricket” they were right. Nottinghamshire did a lot right in this game. If they keep playing like this, the results are bound to come. On this evidence, there really isn’t much wrong with this team.For Warwickshire this result sets them up for a top-of-the-table encounter against Essex in a few days. The batting still looks a little fragile and it may be that Stone requires resting after his exertions here. But Graeme Welch, the Warwickshire bowling coach, rated his side’s bowling effort in the second innings as the best he had seen from them “for years” and this run-chase will instil great belief in that dressing room.”It was a really hard-fought game,” Robinson said. “And I feel sorry for Notts. They fought hard and it really hurts when you lose that sort of game. But from our perspective, there is a sense of excitement and pride. You don’t often win those sort of games. We’re going in the right direction.”

Chasing a modest 154, the belligerent openers flayed the Thunder attack in an opening stand of 136

The Report by Tristan Lavalette20-Jan-2020Liam Livingstone and Josh Inglis destroyed Sydney Thunder to reignite Perth Scorchers’ push for a home final with a crushing eight-wicket victory on Monday.Chasing a modest 154, the belligerent openers flayed the Thunder attack in an opening stand of 136 as the Scorchers mowed down the target with 27 balls to spare.Liam Livingstone led the Scorchers run chase brilliantly•Getty Images

The Thunder were outplayed after electing to bat and struggled to overcome the Scorchers’ disciplined attack. Only a lone hand from opener Alex Hales (85), who almost batted through the innings, defied the Scorchers’ probing quicks but he lacked support.The Scorchers ended a two-game losing streak and overtook the Thunder into fourth on the ladder amid a logjam mid-table.Thunder recover from slow startRuns have flowed during the Powerplays in Perth this season but the Thunder’s vaunted opening duo failed to fire. Hales survived a strong lbw shout first ball from Jhye Richardson and looked scratchy on the bouncy deck.Usman Khawaja handled the conditions better but felt the pinch of the slow run-rate in the fourth over and hit Mitchell Marsh’s first delivery to mid-on as the Scorchers’ quicks dictated proceedings with accurate short-pitched bowling.After the Thunder could only muster 32 runs in the Powerplay, Marsh wisely used spinner Fawad Ahmed who promptly claimed a desperate Callum Ferguson with his first delivery.An under pressure Hales decided to unleash and he managed successive boundaries in the eighth over, but only through unconvincing outside edges. The Englishman took a liking to Livingstone’s innocuous spin and smashed him down the ground for six with a rare clean strike to ensure the Thunder found momentum at the midpoint at 2 for 72.Chris Jordan picked up wickets at crucial points•Getty Images

Hales ensures competitive Thunder totalMarsh again showed his captaincy nous by discarding Livingstone and turning to Chris Jordan, as Hales and Arjun Nair – who had been promoted to No.5 – settled to rebuild the innings. Jordan repaid the faith in the 12th over with the wicket of Nair followed by Daniel Sams with a menacing bouncer.The Thunder’s momentum ground to a halt with Hales once again going back into his shell. He grew frustrated after repeatedly picking out the fielders, before breathing easier after landing sixes off Marsh and Jordan.Hales’ intent seemed to spark Alex Ross, who had initially looked out of sorts but belligerently attacked Matt Kelly in the 18th over as the partnership sped past fifty. Hales eyed a century after crunching two boundaries in the penultimate over to sour Richardson’s previously miserly figures. He needed 15 runs in the last over to notch a ton but could not add to his total after holing out to compatriot Jordan, who proved a thorn for the Thunder with his eclectic bowling.Inglis and Livingstone destroy ThunderThe Thunder’s total appeared under par reinforced by an aggressive Inglis, who bludgeoned four boundaries off the opening over. Inglis made it look easy marked by an outrageous scooped six off Brendan Doggett to underline his mastery of the stroke.Inglis and Livingstone pounced on wayward Thunder bowling, who were unable to replicate the hostility from their Scorchers counterparts. The pair reached fifty in just the fourth over in a notable juxtaposition to the Thunder’s earlier dawdling in the Powerplay.Alex Hales shored up the Thunder innings with a 59-ball 85•Getty Images

There seemed no stopping Inglis until he was battered in the helmet by a rearing Gurinder Sandhu delivery and required medical attention. It failed to shake him as he smashed a six upon resumption, as a frazzled Ferguson turned to left-arm spinner Liam Bowe out of desperation in the sixth over.Livingstone promptly smashed another six as the Scorchers reached 0 for 76 after the Powerplay. The Thunder couldn’t take a trick with a diving Doggett dropping Livingstone on 32 in the outfield.Perhaps having learned from Brisbane Heat’s meltdown the night before, the openers batted sensibly by knocking the ball around until Livingstone decided to attack Bowe with consecutive sixes to reach his half-century off just 28 balls.Doggett’s nightmare endsDoggett’s horror night continued when he dropped a return catch that hung in the air to reprieve Livingstone on 57. It got even worse for him next over when he once again reprieved Livingstone much to the mirth of the sparse Scorchers faithful.Doggett breathed a sigh of relief when he finally held on to a diving catch to dismiss Inglis for 58 and emerged from the turf with a wry smile. Livingstone fell for 78 attempting a six for victory but it mattered little.

Opener smashes 25-ball 46 in a rain-shortened game to set the tone for the bowlers in a nine-over shootout

The Report by Shashank Kishore28-Nov-2018LatinContent/Getty Images

A frustrating rain-filled evening in Durban eventually turned joyful for Paarl Rocks as they lifted themselves off the bottom of the points table.Paarl were denied their regular complement of overs, thanks to as many as three interruptions. The third break that lasted close to an hour reduced the contest to nine-overs-a-side.Progressing serenely at 47 without loss in 5.4 overs before the third rain interval, opener Henry Davids teed off in style to hit two fours and a six off the first four deliveries upon resumption. Paarl smashed 51 off the remaining 3.2 overs to finish on 98 for 2, with the target then re-calibrated to 113. This proved 32 too many for the home team.Durban Heat lost Hashim Amla off the first delivery in their chase, Temba Bavuma off the fifth and Heinrich Klaasen off the fifteenth. That, right there, was game over.Bjorn Fortuin, the left-arm spinner, was the hero with the ball. He removed Amla with a slider that drifted in to trap him in front of middle and leg as he played all around it. Bavuma toe-ended a slap to Faf du Plessis at cover, while Klaasen mistimed a heave to midwicket off David Wiese.David Miller blasted 22, but it looked like he was just one mishit away from doom and gloom. When he fell, it soon soon became a question of reducing the margin of defeat to ensure the net-run-rate didn’t take a massive dent.Durban managed just four boundaries in the first four overs. On the night, this simply wasn’t good enough.Among the positives they’ll want to look forward with hope was the return of designated captain Albie Morkel. Initially unsure of playing because of a niggle, Morkel returned after scans on his right wrist allayed fears of an injury.In his previous outing prior to the rain-off fixture, Morkel copped a blow at the non-striker’s end when Vernon Philander smacked the ball back ferociously to hit him while taking evasive action. This forced him to retire hurt. On Wednesday, the second ball he faced was a fierce front-of-square pull that showed the injury wasn’t as serious as initially perceived to be.However, on the face of an ever-escalating run rate, Morkel managed just the one six in his nine-ball stay, eventually caught behind trying to cut Tabraiz Shamsi, who brought out the ‘telephone’ celebration by removing his right boot, dusting the sole off before bringing it to his hear as if to say ‘hello’ to the dressing room.It was that kind of night for Paarl, there was little or no pressure for the bowlers halfway into the innings. Philander briefly thrilled with his big hits, but the result seemed a foregone conclusion.

New Zealand captain pleased with fight shown despite losing a second successive ODI series decider in India

Sidharth Monga in Kanpur29-Oct-20171:34

‘Hard to swallow loss in another decider’ – Williamson

New Zealand got five full tosses and two half-volleys in the last two overs. Only one of those was hit for a six. In a game that featured 668 runs, it is extremely rare for a side defending to get away with so many errors.Perhaps if one of those had been connected cleanly, India would have been under more pressure and thus more prone to more mistakes. Perhaps if Colin de Grandhomme had not frozen. Perhaps if he had sacrificed himself when Tom Latham wanted to steal a bye off an MS Dhoni fumble and was left to be run out. Perhaps if Bhuvneshwar Kumar had not got away with a wide on the last ball of the 49th over.These are exactly the things New Zealand want to stay away from thinking in the aftermath of their six-run defeat as they came heart-breakingly close to what would have been a maiden ODI series win in India. They are led by arguably two of the calmest men in the business. Captain Kane Williamson and coach Mike Hesson do not lack in perspective.”When you do come so close to victory, you can look at hundreds of different little things and go ‘what if’, but at the end of the day you can’t really do that,” Williamson said. “You need to accept it. Whenever you lose, whether it is by one run; or if you win by 100 runs, you still want to learn from the performance and be better next time. I think that’s where our focus will be.”I mean, naturally if you look back at a game, to lose by six runs, having come so close in a big run chase, is frustrating, disappointing, but if you sit back and look at the work that was put in in that batting innings to get so close, it is a really promising thing for this batting unit. Yeah it is hard to swallow, another decider here on India. I think we put in some good performances, but you have got to be at your best when you play this Indian team, especially at home.”Williamson said Hesson’s thoughts were not expected to be any different when asked what Hesson brings to the side. “Very calm. He Sheds perspective on things, which is always important. The players are obviously in the heat of the battle, and ride the emotion a little bit. Certainly one of his strengths has been to be able to sit back and look at it for what it is. I am sure his messages will be pretty similar to perhaps what I am talking to you guys.”Yes it is frustrating, yes you can look at different little things, but at the end of the day there were really good signs. All you can do, I suppose, after any game, whether win or loss, is to move on to your next opportunity. And try to learn from that as best as you can and grow as a team. I am sure these will be our discussions that we will have a little bit shortly.”As for lessons, there were a few satisfying signs in how well they adapted to the conditions, and some not so good ones too. “To come into the first game and adapt and play like we did was really promising,” Williamson said. “In the second game, it was a point that we made, reflecting on that loss, that we could have adapted and communicated a little bit better to the change of surface.”I suppose that brings us to this game. We spoke about it again. And I thought we did it pretty well. On a good surface, on a new ground again, which you do have to, I suppose, think on your feet when you turn up and make those decisions and learn as quickly as you can. Naturally being the touring side, you don’t have as much experience on some of these surfaces. There are a lot of good signs.”New Zealand have been a side known for their wicket-taking abilities through ODI innings but in this series they played on pretty decent surfaces and were missing their enforcer Mitchell McClenaghan. In a new role, building pressure through denial, Williamson felt the bowlers did fairly well. “I thought the bowlers stuck at it really well,” he said. “Good surfaces. They were able to restrict a lot of the time and put a little bit of pressure despite the very good batting unit that India have.”Even in the defeat in the decider, despite a rare consecutive wicketless match for Trent Boult, the bowlers came back well in the last 10 overs to concede just 85 runs. “I mean if you bowl first, you don’t want the opposition to get 337, but it was a very good surface and a very fast outfield,” Williamson said. “After the start India got, the way we pulled it back in the last 10 overs was a good effort.”The way the ball swung early on, you are never far away from perhaps taking some early wickets, but they are a very good batting unit and they played very well today. To restrict them was a good effort, the dew later in the evening was helpful, but you have got to move on, learn from that.”Williamson was mighty impressed with his middle order. “Our middle order with the bat was something of a highlight throughout this series,” he said. “Particularly Tom Latham, from opening the batting to coming into the middle order, taking that role, adopting it like he has and batting so beautifully, it was a great sign for us.”

Four wickets for Jofra Archer continued an impressive start to his first-class career at Sussex and helped to justify Luke Wright’s decision to bowl first in Cardiff

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2016
ScorecardLuke Wright still senses a promotion chance [file picture]•Getty Images

Luke Wright’s decision to insert Glamorgan paid dividends as they fell for a below par 252 in 60.1 overs, before Chris Nash and Ed Joyce compiled an opening partnership of 111 that kept Sussex’s hopes of a late promotion challenge simmering. Sussex trailed by 142 at the end of the first day and are well placed to gain a substantial lead on first innings.Not for the first time this season Glamorgan relied on their middle and late order batsmen to get them out of trouble, slumping to 56 for 5 before lunch. The last five wickets added 196 runs with Graham Wagg and Mark Wallace scoring half centuries and Owen Morgan, who last week scored an undefeated 103 as night watchman against Worcestershire, again impressing with 32 not out.Jofra Archer, a former West Indies U-19 player whose breakthrough in all three formats in the past month has won a contract until the end of next season, achieved career-best championship figures of 4 for 91, but he will bowl better than this and be less rewarded.Nick Selman, who three weeks ago carried his bat against Northants, scoring 122 not out, was out to the fifth ball of the innings, and has now failed to score in four successive innings. He was quickly followed by Jacques Rudolph, whose miserable season continued when he gloved an innocuous delivery from Archer down the leg side to the wicketkeeper.The Sussex seamers continued to take wickets, but Glamorgan’s batsmen contributed to their downfall with some poor shot selection – Will Bragg following one from Steve Magoffin and David Lloyd, who struck his first ball for six, nudging to slip.Wagg and Aneurin Donald began Glamorgan’s revival with a partnership of 50, before Donald played on to Archer, and although Craig Meschede was out soon afterwards, Wagg went on to score 57 with ten boundaries before giving David Wiese a return catch.Wallace top scored with 61 from 59 balls, putting on 44 with Wagg and 62 with Morgan who surely deserves promotion in the batting order from No. 9. He shared a stand of 33 for the last wicket with Michael Hogan that enabled Glamorgan to gain two batting points.The green pitch was soon put into perspective by Nash and Joyce, who were soon into their stride, striking nine boundaries from the opening 12 overs, as Glamorgan’s opening bowlers Craig Meschede and Timm Van Der Gugten failed to make any impact.Nash reached his fifty from 89 balls, but Joyce nibbled at one from Meschede three overs before the close, having completed his thousand runs for the season.

A blistering spell of pace bowling from Haseeb Amjad decimated Nepal’s batting order for the second match running to set up a much needed five-wicket win for Hong Kong in Stormont

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Belfast15-Jul-2015
Scorecard4:06

‘Our seamers stuck to their plans’ – Burke

A blistering spell of pace bowling from Haseeb Amjad decimated Nepal’s batting order for the second match running to set up a much needed five-wicket win for Hong Kong in Stormont. Haseeb reduced Nepal to 12 for 3 in the fourth over, including the key wickets of Gyanendra Malla and captain Paras Khadka. He finished with 4 for 16 – a Man of the Match effort – as Nepal struggled to 109.After seeing the way Ireland had razed Nepal for 53 after putting them in to bat, Hong Kong captain Tanwir Afzal chose likewise at the toss, and before long Nepal were under heavy pressure.Haseeb broke through nine balls into the match, bowling Subash Khakurel, who was playing his first match of the tournament in place of Anil Mandal. Haseeb pitched short of a length on a wicket-to-wicket line and induced an edge behind from Malla for a second-ball duck. Two overs later, he trapped Khadka with a delivery that hit the Nepal captain high on the pads and South African umpire Johan Cloete took a long time before giving the decision.The pace battery continued to harass Nepal’s struggling batting unit: Irfan Ahmed got Sagar Pun to edge behind at the start of the seventh over to make it 17 for 4 and Basant Regmi gave wicketkeeper Jamie Atkinson his third dismissal. Regmi was Aizaz Khan’s lone wicket in a miserly spell of 1 for 7; Nepal were 31 for 5 in the 10th.Rajesh Pulami and Sharad Vesawkar provided some respite for their struggling side with a 41-run stand but both men were caught on the boundary trying to give Nepal a total they could defend. Amjad came back for the final over to nab Sompal Kami before a run-out off the final ball wrapped up the Nepal innings.Defending 109, Kami removed the dangerous Irfan with the first ball of the second over, and should have had Nizakat Khan for zero two balls later, but a drive to mid-off rocketed through the hands of Jitendra Mukhiya at head height and went all the way to the boundary. Nizakat would go on to top score for Hong Kong with 25.It was the first of at least four clear chances that Nepal missed in an uncharacteristically sloppy fielding effort, with the lone bright spot being a spectacular diving catch at deep backward square leg by Pradeep Airee to remove Mark Chapman for 9. That was the third of four wickets for Regmi, who produced a valiant spell of left-arm spin to match Hong Kong’s Amjad with 4 for 16.Hong Kong needed 11 with two overs to go but a pair of twos by Aizaz was followed by an elegant drive over extra cover off Shakti Gauchan to put them within one stroke of victory, which they achieved with a single off the first ball of the 19th. Aizaz walked off unbeaten on 14 off seven balls while Babar Hayat ended 17 not out.

Peter Fulton, the New Zealand batsman, will return home because of a knee injury that flared up during the tour match against the South African Invitation XI in Paarl

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-2012Peter Fulton, the New Zealand batsman, has been ruled out of the two-Test series against South Africa because of a tendon injury to his right knee. The problem is an old one that has recurred throughout Fulton’s career and flared up again during the practice match against the South African Invitation XI in Paarl.Fulton had opened the batting with Martin Guptill and was at the crease for an hour and six minutes on the first day. He scored 39 and did not appear to be in any discomfort, but on assessment on the second morning the injury was deemed too serious for him to stay on the tour.”We have been monitoring the injury closely and Peter played yesterday in an effort to determine whether the injury would affect his batting. By the end of his innings the pain was significant and it became clear that the injury would prevent him from playing a full range of shots,” Paul Close, the New Zealand physiotherapist said. “Due to the condensed nature of the tour there is insufficient time to fully recover and he has therefore been withdrawn from the squad. We believe it is best for Peter to return to New Zealand where he can undergo further assessment and continue his rehabilitation.”Fulton was unlikely to play in the two-Test series, with Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum set to open the batting. New Zealand retained Colin Munro from the Twenty20 series as cover and also have Daniel Flynn as an extra batsman in the squad.This is the second withdrawal from New Zealand’s Test squad after Tim Southee had to pull out of with a thumb injury. Southee was replaced by left-armer Mitchell McClenaghan, who was also part of the T20 squad and impressed with his performances in that series.

A tight bowling performance from Mountaineers helped them bowl Eagles out for 115 and win the Stanbic Bank 20 Series for the second time since its inception in 2009-10

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2011
ScorecardMountaineers have won two out of the first three Stanbic Bank 20 Series•Zimbabwe Cricket

A tight bowling performance from Mountaineers helped them bowl Eagles out for 115 and win the Stanbic Bank 20 Series for the second time since its inception in 2009-10. Mountaineers only managed to get 142 after choosing to bat on a humid afternoon in Harare and considering Eagles had scored 207 runs on the same ground in the qualifying final, they were the favourites to win at the half-way stage. However, Mountaineers’ new-ball pair of Dirk Nannes and Shingi Masakadza rocked Eagles chase early before Chris Harris, the former New Zealand allrounder, and Prosper Utseya, the Zimbabwe offspinner, made important strikes and ensured a 27-run victory for Mountaineers.Shingi Masakadza struck the first blow, getting rid of Ryan ten Doeschate, who had scored a rapid century in the qualifying final the previous day, in the second over of the chase. ten Doeschate cut straight to Shingi’s brother Hamilton Masakadza at point when he was on just 1. Peter Trego was dismissed slashing at a Nannes delivery and when Rory Hamilton-Brown was caught at deep square leg Eagles were in trouble at 25 f or 3.Stuart Matsikenyeri made a solid 34 and forged together a 44-run partnership with Forster Mutizwa to get Eagles back into the game. Matsikenyeri was run out in the 12th over and Mountaineers pounced on the opening. Mutizwa, who had been struck on the shoulder by a throw, gave Utseya a return catch to be dismissed for 27, Elton Chigumbura lofted Harris into the hands of long-on and Eagles could not recover. Utseya ended up with figures of 2 for 10 from three overs while Shingi Masakadza had 3 for 21, taking the final wicket with a yorker that bowled Tinotenda Mutombodzi.It was a stirring performance from the Mountaineers bowlers after their batsmen had fallen a few runs short of a good total. After a brisk start, Mountaineers had lost three quick wickets: Kevin Kasuza was caught in the covers, Hamilton Masakadza, the Mountaineers captain, missed a yorker and was bowled and Timycen Maruma was run out. Those losses left Mountaineers 51 for 3. Phil Mustard ensured the scoring-rate did not dip, hitting seven fours and two sixes in his 56 off 31 balls.Chris Harris played a sensible hand to steady the innings and then Shingi Masakadza chipped in with 23 runs off 18 balls. Mountaineers reached 142, which though not a big total was enough for the bowlers to defend.

Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, PIA’s Aizaz Cheema and Kamran Sajid sparked an HBL middle-order collapse that left the game finely poised at the end of the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2011ScorecardImran Farhat laid a solid foundation for HBL with his 109•Getty Images

The tea break came to Pakistan International Airlines’ rescue on the second day at the National Stadium in Karachi. Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, left-arm seamer Aizaz Cheema and their captain Kamran Sajid sparked a middle-order collapse that saw Habib Bank Limited lose six wickets for 28 runs in the last session and left the game finely poised at the end of the day.HBL still managed build a lead of 52 thanks to a rearguard action by fast bowler Fahad Masood, but PIA will hope they can knock off the two remaining wickets tomorrow and then improve on their first-innings batting performance to set HBL a decent total.At the tea break, HBL were cruising. Farhat and his captain Hasan Raza had put together 104 for the third wicket and they were already within 14 runs of PIA’s total with eight wickets still remaining. It came down to Cheema, who has led PIA’s bowling attack almost single-handedly at times this season, having taken more than twice the number of wickets any of the other bowlers have, to make the breakthroughHe got one to nip back in sharply from outside off to Raza, in the first over after tea, and had him out lbw for 38. That suddenly opened the floodgates for HBL. Sajid, who had only bowled one three-over spell in each of the first two sessions, brought himself back in the attack and struck in his third over, bowling Aftab Alam for a duck with an inswinger. In his next over, he got the big one: Imran Farhat was struck in front of middle stump, swinging across the line, but he was unlucky as the ball had pitched well outside leg stump.PIA built on their luck, though. Cheema went on the rampage, bowling wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat with another late inswinger and then startling Danish Kaneria with a short ball that he could only fend to short leg. By the time Kaneria went, HBL were suddenly 242 for 8, only 14 ahead of PIA, when at tea they would have been dreaming of a lead of well over 100. PIA would be slightly disappointed they didn’t finish the job as tail-enders Masood and Mohammad Aslam saw off nine overs with the new ball at the end of the day.Before the dramatic collapse, Farhat had played a well-paced innings. Having come to the wicket in the fourth over after Kamran Hussain fell early, he started off slightly scratchily – three of his first four boundaries were thick edges to the third-man boundary – but settled in once the spinner Shoaib Malik came on to bowl, picking him for boundaries on either side of the wicket. He favoured the off side against the quicks, driving and cutting as HBL built a solid foundation for a big score.Unfortunately for Farhat, HBL’s scorecard looked very similar to PIA’s first-innings one: one batsman scoring big while the others struggled. For PIA it had been Sajid, and for HBL none of the middle-order players could build on Farhat’s start.