All posts by csb10.top

Shivnarine Chanderpaul credits a little bit of divine intervention and some brute force for his last-ball six which won West Indies the first ODI at Queen’s Park Oval.”I’m happy, I’m very, very happy. I prayed and prayed and asked God to give me the strength to hit that ball out of the ground,” he said after the nail-biter. “The plan was to fire as hard as I could.”West Indies, chasing 236, needed ten from the last two deliveries of the game. Chaminda Vaas had done extremely well for the first four balls of the 50th over but Chanderpaul drilled the fifth for a straight four and walked down the track to loft the last over midwicket.”I watched the ball until it went over, then I was able to jump up,” said Chanderpaul, who was recently named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. “When it dropped over the rope then I was happy to celebrate. I was looking for anything. I was looking for a slower ball, a wide ball, I was looking for whatever Vaas had up his sleeve. I didn’t have to do all that. He sent down a full toss and I just had to fire and fire hard.”The second last ball I knew I just had to hit. I was looking to get under it but I then had to hit it straight and hard. I timed that one very well.”Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 86 helped West Indies level the two-match Test series with a six-wicket win at the same venue earlier this week. He went into the first ODI with a bit of flu but was thrilled to have sealed another win.”I am still suffering a bit, but I knew with God’s help it could happen for us today. I have not recovered from the flu properly,” he said. “I was shaking out there all day and I was feeling weak. When I went to bat I was trembling and I was still struggling, but it worked out for me.”The second ODI is also at Port of Spain on April 12.

Queensland’s reputation as the family state is growing with Craig McDermott’s 16-year-old son Alister picking up a contract with the Bulls for 2008-09. Following another disappointing campaign, Queensland are looking at players still at school to fill their rookie spots, with the Beenleigh-Logan batsman Michael Johnson also expected to be named when the full squad is released next week.Craig McDermott was selected for Queensland as a 17-year-old, earning the nickname ‘Billy the Kid’, and went on to a Test career of 291 wickets. His boy carries similar bowling characteristics and the instantly recognisable red hair.”My wife Ann-Marie and I are very proud of him and all our family, but we have said to him that getting a contract is where the hard work really starts,” Craig told the Courier Mail. “This is the first of a lot of steps he has to take to get where he wants to go.”Craig has helped his son, who plays with the Gold Coast club, with a couple of things, “but he has done most of the work himself”. “He has a good action and is getting the most out of himself.” Alister was named in the honorary Australian Under-17 side for 2007-08 along with Johnson, Queensland’s Youth Player of the Year.The father-and-son links at the Bulls are currently strong with Ryan Broad, the boy of the former batsman Wayne, Michael Buchanan, whose father John appeared in eight state games, and Ben Laughlin – his dad Trevor won three Test caps – representing the state over the past season. Nicholas Buchanan, Michael’s brother, could add to the list if he continues to develop while Andrew Tazelaar, the offspinner, is the offspring of the bowling hero Dirk. The teenagers were part of the Queensland Under-17 team along with McDermott and Johnson.

Match facts

Friday, April 11, 2008
Start time 15:00 local time (10:00 GMT)

Big picture

Despite having crushed Bangladesh in Lahore, Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, has emphatically stated that his side’s five-match contest against the visitors is ‘not a time-pass series’. Bangladesh have been swept on each of their trips to Pakistan but Malik refused to underestimate them and cautioned against complacency. Pakistan have blooded a few youngsters recently and they want to keep their options open with bigger assignments ahead.Bangladesh, on the other hand, may be wondering just what they need to do to win a game against Test-match opposition. Their recent form is disappointing and their batting lacks depth. Mashrafe Mortaza’s return to bowling form has been important but the lack of support remains a concern.With few teams touring Pakistan due to security concerns the local fans would be hoping for a win to boost spirits in these times of political unrest.

Form guide – Pakistan

Last five matches: WWWWWPlayer to watch: Shahid Afridi biffed 27 from 11 balls to get Pakistan past 300 in Lahore and then bagged 3 for 41 to help skittle Bangladesh out for 129. With the lucrative Indian Premier League kicking off this month Afridi could well use the remaining two games to get into some form with the bat. He averages 33.33 against Bangladesh.

Form guide – Bangladesh

Last five matches: LWWWLPlayer to watch: Dhiman Ghosh, the young rookie wicketkeeper, has been a livewire in his seven ODIs so far, most exceptionally in the first game against Pakistan where he took four catches. His batting has been disappointing, but he has got a good first-class record and is capable of big hits. A promotion up the order – he batted at No. 9 in Lahore – may not be a bad idea.

Team news

Pakistan have options with which to rotate their squad but they may hold off until the series is in the bag. Their top order wobbled a bit but they aren’t likely to tinker with Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed – at the start of what has been a promising six-game career – and Younis Khan, who may also have the IPL on his mind. The middle order remains Pakistan’s strength along with an effective and varied bowling attack.Abdur Razzak had a poor outing in Lahore but his one-day success and his experienced means he will stay in the starting line-up. Bangladesh could consider swapping Mahmudullah, who bled 59 runs in five overs and made just 2, for allrounder Nazimuddin.Bangladesh (likely) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Shahriar Nafees, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Nazimuddin, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Farhad Reza, 10 Dhiman Ghosh (wk), 11 Abdur Razzak.Pakistan (likely) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Shoaib Malik (capt), 6 Misbah-ul-Haq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Rao Iftikhar, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Sohail Tanveer.Umpires: Steve Bucknor, Aleem Dar.

Pitch & conditions

The Iqbal Stadium has only once witnessed a total of over 300 but the pitch – which looks firm and brown – is expected to offer good runs to the batsmen. The side that wins the toss should bat first, and hope to shut out the opposition. Inclement weather has often hampered play at the venue – and there was a cloud cover on the eve of the game -but at this time of year it’s not a worry, despite the late start.

Stats & trivia

ScorecardJake Lehmann (pictured playing in the BBL) completed his second first-class hundred on the third day in Adelaide•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Jake Lehmann completed his second first-class century on the third day of South Australia’s match against Queensland in Adelaide, but the Redbacks faced a huge task to push for victory on the final day. Set 418 to win, South Australia went to stumps on 0 for 29, with Tom Cooper on 18 and Mark Cosgrove on 10, and they needed a further 389 runs.The day had started with South Australia on 5 for 252 in their first innings and Lehmann was on 92; he moved into triple figures for the second time this summer and was the second-last man dismissed for the Redbacks, lbw to Peter George for 126. George finished with 3 for 50.Queensland’s 159-run first-innings lead ballooned in the second innings as Sam Heazlett scored 72 and Chris Hartley made 55, with Test squad member Chadd Sayers collecting 2 for 51. Test opener Joe Burns made 30 to add to his 35 in the first innings as he prepares for the series against New Zealand.

When Bangladesh Under-19’s captain Mehedi Hasan and wicketkeeper-batsman Zakir Hasan came together in the 29th over against Nepal Under-19, it was amidst much tension in Mirpur. The home side were 98 for 4 chasing 212 with a place in the semi-final on the line. Thankfully for Bangladesh, the pair did not panic and took the game away with their 117-run unbroken stand.The partnership was not completely smooth-sailing; only after the pair had batted together for 13 balls did Mehedi smash one through the in-field and get his first boundary. Singles were not missed at any opportunity, but the run-rate kept rising, and by the time the next four came, at the start of the 35th over, Bangladesh needed 86 off 15.5 overs. For the next 7.2 overs, Mehedi and Zakir only picked singles and twos. Finally, in the middle of the 43rd over, Zakir’s swept four off Dipendra Airee gave Bangladesh a release.From the 42nd to 45th over, the pair took six, eight, 12 and 10 runs, which reduced the target from 63 needed off 54, to 27 needed off the last 30 balls. In one instance, they ran three and then took twos off the next two balls before taking a relaxed single. This was in the same over in which Mehedi lofted Sandeep Lamichhane over extra-cover for a boundary. Some of the pair’s running between the wickets looked risky but their overall maturity proved much of it was calculated.Mehedi said that it was Zakir who came up with the calming influence by giving him a plan and then chiding him when the Nepal captain Raju Rijal missed his stumping in the 38th over.”He [Zakir] was unbelievable today,” Mehedi said. “He got back to runs after a long time with this fine innings. It was great timing for the team, as we really needed him today. There was some pressure when we started our partnership. Zakir told me that we will just play on singles, rotate the strike. We won’t go for fours or sixes. His words worked quite well for us.”When the stumping incident happened, I had lost a bit of focus at that moment. The mid-off was up so I tried to hit it over him. When I had settled down after the miss, Zakir told me it is no time to relax. ‘We have to bat long,’ he said. I was fine from that point.”The fifth-wicket partnership was also the coming together of two young men who made it to professional cricket through contrasting circumstances, about 480km apart. When he was growing up in Khulna and falling in love with the game, Mehedi’s father opposed the idea of his son taking up cricket seriously. But Mehedi would sneak out to play matches, and often get caught. However, after winning an award for Best Batsman in an Under-14 tournament, it became easier for Mehedi to convince his father that cricket was where his passion really lied.It was different for Zakir while growing up in Sylhet. Although there was some pressure on him to take studies more seriously, his elder brother brought news that BKSP were holding a trial nearby. Zakir was selected for the sport institute’s branch in Dinajpur, about 568km from his hometown.Mehedi and Zakir came together for the Under-19 national camp during the 2014 World Cup, and are one of five players to play a second World Cup. But despite spending the last three years together in training camps, hotels and cricket grounds, their understanding frayed at times during their fifth-wicket partnership. Nerves were evident from the beginning as the non-striker, whether it was Mehedi or Zakir, continued to get too far out of his crease even when a single was not on offer.There were plenty of close calls as Nepal missed the stumps on at least five occasions with the batsman short of his crease. Mehedi offered an explanation, suggesting that his team was not accustomed to the dimensions of the Shere Bangla National Stadium”The ground is slightly different, sometimes we didn’t understand where the ball was. Say, when we defended the ball we couldn’t at times tell if it went into the gap or not. The ground is quite large too. But we have good understanding, and there can be one or two mistakes. I don’t think it is a major problem,” he said.Mehedi and Zakir were possibly confused by the pronounced slope in Mirpur, which sometimes makes the ball hard to spot when it goes 15-20 yards from the pitch on either side. No matter, they have to get used to this ground quickly for the semi-final against either Pakistan or West Indies, on February 11.

A few fitness reports could be the difference between a “largely unchanged side” and a “slightly different one” when the selectors meet in Bangalore on Monday to pick India’s squad for the first two Tests against South Africa.India’s heartening performance in the recent Test series in Australia would normally have resulted in a status quo, but the long tour took its toll on several players, some of whom could miss out on the three-Test series against South Africa, starting in Chennai on March 26.According to a report submitted by outgoing team physio John Gloster at the end of the Australia tour, Sachin Tendulkar needed a minimum of two weeks’ rest. However, Tendulkar quashed the notion of missing the series by declaring he was fit. Rahul Dravid has also recovered from the finger injury he sustained in the Adelaide Test while VVS Laxman, who recently suffered a cut in the webbing between his fingers, is also expected to be available for selection.It means the core of the batting is expected to be the same [Virender Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Sourav Ganguly] but the selectors will still have some key issues to address. The five-member national selection committee, led by Dilip Vengsarkar, will consult Anil Kumble, the Test captain, and Gary Kirsten, the newly appointed coach, during the meeting.Pace puzzle
Ishant Sharma, who made a fine impression in Australia, is a doubtful starter after being advised complete rest for three weeks by Gloster. He has a problem in the big toe of his landing foot as well as an inflammation in the right forefinger. He was examined indoors during a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy, the results of which will be sent to the board, who in turn will intimate the selectors.Zaheer Khan has already been ruled out, which means RP Singh – recently back from a hamstring injury – will be expected to lead the attack, with Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan supporting him. Pathan, not a regular in Tests, would be expected to make the cut after his impressive all-round efforts during India’s win in Perth. Munaf Patel remains an option in case India are looking for a fourth seamer. However, with the series expected to be played on tracks favouring spin, he’s more likely to be a back-up alternative.Batting back-up
Wasim Jaffer is likely to retain his spot in the squad, despite a poor series in Australia where he was dropped for the final Test, but the selectors will have to take a call on a third opener. There is a view that there is no need for a third opener for a home series – with the selectors in a position to call up reinforcements at any point – but there is a thinking that another opener could also act as a back-up in case of a middle-order requirement.Dinesh Karthik, till recently a first-choice opener, remains a contender – his wicketkeeping skills bolster his chances – but Gautam Gambhir’s recent one-day heroics put him in the fray too. Both can bat in the middle order if needed and it will be interesting to see which of them, if any, make the cut.The Yuvraj question
The selectors are also expected to dwell on the issue of Yuvraj Singh. The Gloster report advised him an ideal period of three weeks’ rest, which may automatically rule him out of the first two Tests. There was a suggestion that he could undergo a fitness test at the NCA on Monday but it’s still not certain that he will be there.There is also a growing concern about Yuvraj’s attitude and Vengsarkar recently came down hard on him. “I am disappointed as I always had expectations from him,” he told a weekly magazine. “Yuvraj needs to be more consistent. He is a great talent but he has to perform to his potential.”His exclusion – because of either fitness or form – will open up a slot for a middle-order batsman. A third opener, if picked, could double up for this role but there is also a chance of a specialist middle-order batsman being chosen. Rohit Sharma has done his chances no harm with some composed knocks in the recent CB Series and a few other domestic performers could be in the reckoning as well.Spin variables
Harbhajan Singh may miss out because of a hamstring injury, for which he was advised two weeks’ rest. Murali Kartik is expected to get a call-up, especially if the selectors decide to trust in spin. The pitches for the series are likely to favour spinners, given South Africa’s vulnerability against them. Harbhajan’s absence might open up another slot – one that might be filled up by legspinner Piyush Chawla or even Amit Mishra, another loopy legspinner who’s second on the domestic wicket charts this season, with 46 wickets in 11 first-class games.Probable 14-man squad: Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Sreesanth, RP Singh, Murali Kartik, Yuvraj Singh/Gautam Gambhir/Dinesh Karthik/Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh/Piyush Chawla/Amit Mishra.

Axar Patel has – not entirely undeservingly – earned the unwelcome reputation of being a one-dimensional bowler. A spinner who bowls flat, doesn’t let batsmen get under his deliveries, and takes wickets through containment. That is usually when he is one of the two or three spinners playing for India.When he is leading the Gujarat attack, though, he lets the whole range come out. Not that veers too much, but he is flexible. Against Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final, defending just 248, and coming in to bowl at 84 for 0, Axar took six wickets to dismantle the favourites. Four of his wickets were stumpings, three of them to forward defensive shots, which showed he dragged them out by beating them in the flight.”The way the wicket was behaving I thought it was better to bowl a little slower rather than bowling fast,” Axar said later. “To go against my style and get these wickets, four stumpings and catches in the slips, is especially satisfying.”When the batsmen were new to the crease, seeing the pitch and the situation, I knew they wouldn’t go on the attack immediately. My plan was to make them defend as much as possible. Make them drive the ball, which could bring wickets on this pitch.”Axar allowed himself a little chuckle, though, when reminded of Dinesh Karthik charging at him in the first over he bowled. That is something batsmen rarely do against Axar, who said he was surprised Karthik did so so early in the piece without having a look at what the ball was doing and what Axar was trying to do. The other wickets, though, were all beauties, turning past the outside edges of batsmen trying to defend.Hang on, though. Isn’t it the opposite of every self-respecting fast spinner in the world? If the pitch is turning, they bowl fast and go slow only if they have to make the ball turn. Axar agrees, but pointed out a subtle difference here. “I look at what the pitch is like, what the batsmen are trying to do,” he said.”It’s not that I go and bowl slow on every turning pitch. But this pitch had slow turn. So if you bowled slow it was causing the batsmen more problems. Sometimes you get a square turner, and on those pitches I also bowl fast so as to not give the batsmen time to recover. This pitch had slow turn so I bowled accordingly.”With his 19 wickets at an average of 13, Axar is now the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Having carried his team through to the final, Axar has a chance to go past Punjab’s Siddarth Kaul. He has also contributed a not-small matter of 214 runs to Gujarat’s cause, at an average of 43. Only two of his team-mates have scored more runs.This is perfect preparation for the tour of Australia, and gives Axar a bit of a head-start over Ravindra Jadeja in the competition for the second spinner’s slot in the first XI. Axar, though, doesn’t see it is a competition. “I have always maintained that your competition should be with yourself,” Axar said. “Bowl better than you did in the last match, and you will automatically find a place in the team. If you compete with team-mates, it can cause cracks and clashes in the team.”

Sanath Jayasuriya faces being dropped from Sri Lanka’s one-day squad for the three-match series against West Indies, starting next month. Cricinfo has learned the side has been picked – without Jayasuriya – and is awaiting ratification by the sports minister.The squad is also likely to be without Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga. While Murali is being rested, Malinga is believed to have suffered a knee injury that will require rest for about three to four weeks. He will be replaced by fellow pace bowler Nuwan Kulasekara for the Test and ODI series.Jayasuriya, 38, the most experienced player in the team with 411 ODI appearances, will make way for Mahela Udawatte, the hard-hitting opener who is being spoken of as his future successor. Udawatte, 21, plays for Chilaw Marians.Since his 63 in the World Cup final against Australia last year, Jayasuriya has had a poor run of form. He has failed to pass 50 even once in his last 20 ODI innings, scoring 305 runs at an average of 15.25. His decision to retire from Tests and focus on ODIs hasn’t helped his batting either.The selectors are believed to have picked the uncapped Ajantha Mendis, of Army SC, in Murali’s place. Mendis, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday, is also an offspinner and, with 54 wickets at an average of ten, the leading wicket-taker in the current Premier League season. He will operate alongside legspinner Malinga Bandara.Sources in the selection committee said the decision was aimed at preserving Murali, who turns 36 next month, for the 2011 World Cup. He will appear only in important ODI tournaments.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Mohammad Shahzad struck two fours and three sixes in his 53-ball 56•ICC/Donald MacLeod

A fine all-round bowling performance and Mohammad Shahzad’s 53-ball 56 set up a thrilling five-wicket win for UAE – their first victory of the tournament – against Canada in Stirling. Requiring 25 runs off the last two overs, the sixth wicket pair of Swapnil Patil and Abdul Shakoor struck three sixes in the penultimate over as UAE reached the target with five balls to spare.UAE got off to the ideal start after putting Canada in – getting two wickets in the first eight balls. However, a 58-run counter-attacking partnership ensued between Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar. Patel hit five fours and two sixes in his 27-ball 45. Again the momentum shifted as UAE picked up wickets in clumps as 63 for 2 turned to 109 for 9. Navneet Dhaliwal salvaged a competitive total for Canada with an unbeaten 39, lifting the score to 132. Four bowlers picked up two wickets each with only Mohammad Naveed not getting a wicket.UAE lost Faizan Asif in the third over but partnerships of 25, 40 and 19 kept them on course. Shahzad fell in the 16th over for 56 and another wicket was taken three balls later. An equation of 33 off three overs was brought down to 25 off 12 balls. Cecil Pervez, who had figures of 2 for 11 in three overs, was tasked with bowling the 19th over, where Shakoor and Patil took him for 21 – Shakoor hitting two sixes and Patil one, effectively killing the chase.

Mumbai were in sight of their first win this season after reducing Odisha to 93 for 4 in pursuit of 413 in Bhubaneswar. Seamer Akash Parkar dismissed Subhransu Senapati and Deepak Behera off successive deliveries, but captain Govinda Poddar (48*) remained firm at stumps.In the morning, Mumbai were in trouble as they slumped to 84 for 6 in their second innings, losing nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni, vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav and captain Aditya Tare in the space of five overs. However, Siddhesh Lad played the role of the ‘crisis man’ to perfection with his fifth first-class century to bail them out.During the course of his 153-ball effort, he notched up partnerships of 57 and 76 with Abhishek Nayar and Parkar respectively. Lad was the ninth batsman to be dismissed, and Mumbai declared their innings soon after on 268 for 9. Seamer Suryakant Pradhan finished with three wickets to add to his two in the first innings.Smit Patel’s sixth first-class hundred led Tripura’s strong response as they finished the day on 327 for 4 against Baroda in Vadodara. Smit remained unbeaten on 123 at stumps, but Tripura still trail Baroda’s first-innings total by 194.Resuming on 63 for 1, Tripura lost opener Bishal Ghosh in the sixth over of the day to seamer Sagar Mangalorkar, who also had Udiyan Bose caught and bowled soon after. At 94 for 3, Tripura were in trouble, but Smit found an ally in the experienced Yashpal Singh, who made 90 in a stand worth 181. It wasn’t until tea that the partnership was broken when Vishnu Solanki, Baroda’s centurion in the first innings, removed Yashpal. But, Smit and Rajat Dey (20*) ensured with an unbroken 52-run partnership that Tripura didn’t go off track and remained on course to secure the first-innings lead.Seamer Bandaru Ayyappa’s three-wicket burst reduced Madhya Pradesh to 67 for 5 after Andhra had secured a crucial first-innings lead of 55 runs in Vizianagaram. Ayyappa first struck in the seventh over to trap opener Aditya Shrivastava in front and then cleaned up Shubham Sharma two overs later. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt joined in the act, as he had Rajat Patidar caught behind to leave Madhya Pradesh tottering on 16 for 3.Ayyappa then returned to dismiss Harpreet Singh Bhatia, his third wicket in his third successive over. Captain Devendra Bundela and Ankit Sharma riefly restored calm, but Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari had Ankit lbw off what was the last ball of the day.Resuming their first innings on 177 for 5, Andhra surged ahead thanks to a 143-run partnership between Ashwin Hebbar (77) Ravi Teja (58). Legspinner Mihir Hirwani, however, dismissed Sumanth to break the partnership, and despite an unbeaten 36-ball 32 from Ayyappa, ran through the lower order. Hirwani, who picked up 5 for 22 in the previous game, finished with five wickets again.