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A round-up of Sunday’s matches in the MiWAY T20 Challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2012The Knights will play the qualifier after they notched up their seventh win of the competition in their last league game, beating the Warriors by seven wickets at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley. Put in to bat, Warriors were pegged back in the fifth over of the innings when they lost two wickets in two balls. Davy Jacobs (46) and Johan Botha (41) then shared an important 87-run partnership, but Jandre Coetzee (3 for 25), who is the second highest wicket-taker in the competition with 17 scalps, accounted for both the batsmen in the 18th over as the Warriors finished on 141 for 6. In reply, Knights captain Morne van Wyk (37) led the chase, along with Reeza Hendricks (48) and Dean Elgar (33), to achieve the target with five balls to spare.In another scramble for the qualifier spot, the Titans beat the Cape Cobras by six wickets at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Electing to bat first, the Cape Cobras struggled against the trio of Alfonso Thomas (2 for 22), Albie Morkel (2 for 37) and Roelof van der Merwe (2 for 26). But Dane Vilas (48) and Justin Kemp (24) clouted Morkel for three sixes and a four in the 19th over, which went for 27 runs, to lift Cobras to 156. In response, batsman-of-the-match Faf du Plessis (38) hit three sixes and was well supported by the top-order as the Titans completed the chase comfortably.The results of Sunday’s ties have put the Lions (35 points) straight into the final, which they will host at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, irrespective of the results of the remaining games. The Titans have a chance to leapfrog the Knights in the points table and host the qualifier, if they win with a bonus point in their last league game against the Warriors.

Johan Botha showed his international pedigree at Derby to give Northamptonshire a rare Friends Life t20 victory

09-Jul-2011
ScorecardSouth African allrounder Johan Botha showed his international pedigree at Derby to give Northamptonshire a rare Friends Life t20 victory and end Derbyshire’s faint hopes of reaching the last eight.Botha conceded only 14 runs from his four overs of off-spin and than scored an unbeaten 54 from 48 balls as the Steelbacks cruised past the Falcons’ 133 for 5 to seal a seven-wicket win – only their second in the North Group.Derbyshire needed an unbroken stand of 82 in eight overs from Garry Park (50) and Ross Whiteley, who hit 39 from 26 balls, to give them a respectable total. However, Botha and Rob White, who weighed in with 51, ended the home side’s chances of victory.The Falcons had been struggling to reach three figures after thoughtful tight bowling restricted them to 66 for 5 after 15 overs. Martin Guptill drove the first ball to the boundary but that proved deceptive as the Steelbacks bowled straight and full to frustrate the batsmen.After Wes Durston was caught behind and Greg Smith was leg before wicket padding up, Wayne Madsen was run out backing up before Guptill failed to clear long-off. t the halfway mark, Derbyshire were 46 for 4 and when Chesney Hughes was caught behind in the 12th over, Northamptonshire were firmly in control.Derbyshire did not hit a boundary for 12 overs until Park drove Rob Keogh for six but that broke the shackles as Whiteley swept the spinner high over the midwicket boundary. Whiteley drove Jack Brooks for another six as 67 came off the last five overs, although Andrew Hall strangely ignored strike bowler David Lucas – who had conceded only eight runs from two overs.Northamptonshire were still only chasing a modest total and although they quickly lost David Murphy to a brilliant leaping catch at cover by Guptill, White and Botha steadily chipped away at the target.It might have been different if White had not been dropped by Hughes at slip before he had scored but Derbyshire were never able to exert any pressure on the second wicket pair – who added 109 to take the Steelbacks to the brink of victory.White drove and pulled Jon Clare for three consecutive fours to reach his half-century from 43 balls and Botha reached the milestone in style by pulling Whiteley over the midwicket boundary. White was caught behind cutting at Mark Turner, who then bowled Alex Wakeley. However, the fast bowler then sent down a wide to give the visitors victory with 10 balls to spare.

Jason Gillespie, the former Australia fast bowler, has been named as Yorkshire’s new coach

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2011Jason Gillespie, the former Australia fast bowler, has been named as Yorkshire’s new coach as the county undertake a major restructuring following their poor 2011 season which saw them relegated in the County Championship.Gillespie played for Yorkshire from 2006 to 2007 and has been appointed on a two-year term alongside Paul Farbrace, the former Kent coach, who will take charge of the second XI. Phil Jaques, the Australia left-hander, has rejoined as overseas player having previously played for Yorkshire in 2004 and 2005.The new coaching structure will work under Martyn Moxon, the director of professional cricket, after the club opted for a clear-out. Craig White, who was the previous second XI coach, has moved into a career as an umpire while Steve Oldham, Kevin Sharp and John Blain, who all held various coaching position, were not retained having been invited to reapply for their positions.Gillespie, 36, only has previous main coaching experience with the Zimbabwe domestic team MidWest Rhinos, but he also spent time as a bowling coach with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and Australia A. He played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 259 wickets and also scored an unbeaten 201 in his final match against Bangladesh in 2006.”To be able to go back there in a coaching capacity is a fantastic opportunity,” Gillespie said in a statement issued from Zimbabwe where he is seeing out his current contract. “When opportunities like being first team coach at Yorkshire come up you don’t turn them down.”The one thing I’ll be bringing to Yorkshire is a bit of fun and enjoyment, but making sure our preparation is spot on and leaving no stone unturned.”Jaques, meanwhile, will add strength to a top-order that struggled last season and will build on an already handsome record for Yorkshire which measures 2477 runs in 24 matches at 61.92. He has also had prolific county spells with Northamptonshire and Worcestershire but his international career was limited to 11 Tests and six ODIs. He has more than 13,000 first-class runs.

The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India, the Asian Cricket Council has said. The tournament was originally supposed to be played from March 1 to March 11, but with the tri-series ending on March 8, the tournament will now be played from March 12 to March 22. The venue, Dhaka, remains unchanged.The 2012 Asia Cup will be the 11th edition of a tournament that has had something of a rocky existence, being played at irregular intervals and tacked on as an afterthought to the already jam-packed schedules of the big four teams of Asian cricket – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India are the defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka in the final of the 2010 edition in Dambulla.

Andy Flower says that England will seek to defend their new status as the world’s No. 1 Test side by attacking a series of short-term goals, starting with the winter tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Andrew Miller14-Aug-2011Andy Flower says that England will seek to defend their new status as the world’s No. 1 Test side by attacking a series of short-term goals, starting with the winter tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as they set about reassessing their priorities in the wake of a crushing innings-and-242-run triumph against India at Edgbaston on Saturday.That performance, which was built on the back of Alastair Cook’s career-best 294, took England to an unassailable 3-0 series lead with just the Oval Test to come later this week, and ensured that, in little more than two years since the squad was torn apart by the falling-out between the then-captain and coach, Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores, England have surged to the top of the world Test rankings.Flower, however, is already looking to the future as he plots a means to turn England’s spell at the top into something longer lasting. Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, Shane Warne conceded that the current England team has the look and feel of long-term champions, with big-match temperaments in every position from 1 to 11.Such heightened new expectations will be tough for Flower’s men to live up to, but he believes that two challenges in particular – the forthcoming challenge in the subcontinent, and the inaugural World Test Championship in 2013 – will provide all the focus his players need to ensure their ranking looks after itself.”I always think it is very dangerous to try to hold on to what you have got,” Flower told reporters after the Edgbaston Test. “We used that goal – to be No1 – as a motivational tool that drove us in training and in matches. Now that we have achieved that, what [Andrew] Strauss and I don’t want to do is hang on to No. 1 status. That’s not a very exciting way to go about our business. We are going to have to reset our goals.”This winter we go to play against two countries that the last time England toured those countries, we lost. We want to go away and play Pakistan and Sri Lanka away from home and win those series. Ignoring the ranking, those series will have their own importance.”We’ve also got the World Test Championship for the first time in 2013 and that’s in our own country. That is certainly something we are striving for – we have to be in the top four to get into the semi- finals of it and we are going to be working hard between now and then to ensure we are a strong unit ready for that semi-final.”It was a tour of Pakistan that ended England’s last comparable run of sustained form six years ago, when the 2005 Ashes winners were stunned by an unlikely defeat in Multan then crushed by an innings in Lahore. The squad never recovered its momentum after their run of six consecutive series wins had been ended, and Flower is wary that a similar fate can still await this team if they allow their guard to drop.”Now we are ranked No.1, people will be very hungry to knock us off that perch. There is no doubt about that,” said Flower. “It is one thing being good for a short period of time – but having a side that delivers some special results and has some special times together that they will remember for the rest of their lives, that will be a much better thing to look back on than a few victories here and there.”To that end, Flower heaped praise on his Test captain, Strauss, whom he lauded as a “an outstanding leader and a special man”. The pair bonded in the Caribbean during England’s tour in the spring of 2009, where a disastrous collapse to 51 all out in the first Test in Sabina Park gave both men the licence they needed to mould the team in their own driven images. “The players, after being asked to embrace responsibility, have delivered,” he said. “Strauss asked that of them when he took over the captaincy a couple of years ago, and they are repaying him.”At the age of 34, Strauss may not have many more series left at the helm, and so the prospect of taking part in the Ashes double-header in 2013-14 could prove to be a very personal motivation for the final stage of his career. However, his deputy, Cook, has enhanced his credentials as a leader, both through the sheer weight of his batting performances, and latterly through his impressive series win over Sri Lanka in the ODIs. The succession, it would appear, is in safe hands, which lends weight to the perception that England could yet establish a dynasty to rival those of West Indies and Australia in the past 30 years.Flower, however, does not want to address such grandiose ambitions, and prefers to keep his goals closer to home. “That isn’t a very clear target as yet,” he said. “I like goals to be fairly specific. I don’t think we can compare ourselves to those sides, to be quite honest. They dominated world cricket for lengthy periods. We have been playing well for a little while now but only for a short time in cricketing history terms.”Who knows what the future holds though? That is going to be up to us.”

Chennai Super Kings’ powerful batting line-up was back to top form to spoil Shane Warne’s first game since announcing his retirement

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran09-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
MS Dhoni showed off his big-hitting skills•AFPChennai Super Kings’ powerful batting line-up spoiled Shane Warne’s first game since announcing his retirement and left Rajasthan Royals needing at least two wins from their remaining matches to qualify for the play-offs. Chennai’s top four all played their part to set up the win that pushed their side to 14 points, one victory away from virtually sealing their spot in the play-offs.There was some controversy ahead of the game as Warne said Rajasthan were forced to change the pitch on which the match was played. It proved to be a surface that wasn’t the typical slow-and-low Jaipur track, the sort on which Rajasthan have built their intimidating home record. Instead, it was a quicker pitch that favoured stroke-making, more suited to Chennai’s bruising top order.Michael Hussey provided the initial impetus as M Vijay took his time to find his range. It was the usual unfussy innings from Hussey. He relied on power-hits only for the rare heaves to midwicket, otherwise it was more about touch and placement. There was a reverse-sweep off Ashok Maneria, and plenty of eye-catching drives through the off side. Just as the man averaging above 50 in the IPL seemed set for another half-century, he was foxed by Johan Botha’s full delivery. Hussey looked to dispatch it over to short midwicket boundary and was bowled.While Hussey was scoring at a strike-rate nearly 200, Vijay was initially cautious after three failures. It would have been a fourth flop if Ajinkya Rahane had caught a chance in the fourth over at backward point. Soon after the reprieve Vijay showed signs of the destroyer of 2010, with his favourite lofts over the leg side making a regular appearance. All his boundaries – three sixes and two fours – were in the arc from square leg to long-on, a couple came perilously close to the knocking over the redesigned IPL trophy.With Suresh Raina regularly finding the cover boundary and Vijay muscling a half-century, Chennai galloped to 117 for 1 in 13 overs. During their stand, the most likely mode of dismissal seemed to be a run-out. There was plenty of confused calling and lazy running, and they escaped several times before a dawdling Vijay was caught out by a direct hit from Botha.There was no let-up even after that dismissal as MS Dhoni came out blazing. He thrashed Siddharth Trivedi onto the roof of the first tier for his first six before unleashing a series of shots that powered Chennai close to 200. In between, Dhoni also pushed his team-mates to race between the wickets, pressurising the Rajasthan fielders and picking off extra runs.The outfield was extremely quick and there was a short square boundary, but Rajasthan still needed either Shane Watson or Ross Taylor to play a blinder to pull off the chase. Neither did, and that killed Rajasthan’s challenge. After Rahul Dravid fell for a chancy 20, Watson holed out in the sixth over, attempting his trademark slog-sweep. Taylor was gone two overs later, lashing a full delivery from Albie Morkel to deep point, which left them at 63 for 3. Ajinkya Rahane unfurled a series of boundaries to reach his second Twenty20 half-century, but that proved too little to curb the spiralling asking-rate, and Chennai walked to a 63-run victory.

Celtic are on the road again tonight as the Hoops take on Dundee United at Tannadice to try and finally clinch the Premiership title.

Their previous outing saw Ange Postecoglou’s side overcome an early scare by beating Hearts 4-1 at Parkhead.

With just three minutes on the clock, Hearts striker Ellis Simms fired past Hoops goalkeeper Joe Hart to give the away side an early lead.

Much to the delight of Postecoglou and the home supporters, the Bhoys not only equalised but took the lead by half-time thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda.

Second-half strikes from Matt O’Riley and Giorgos Giakoumakis sealed the victory for Celtic and set them up nicely for tonight’s showdown.

On the chalkboard

One player who should be in the Celtic starting XI to take on Dundee United but didn’t start against Hearts is winger Forrest.

After replacing Jota on Saturday after 81 minutes, the Scotland winger certainly made the most of his short cameo. With just 10 touches of the ball, the winger set up Giakoumakis’ late goal and even managed to have one shot on target himself.

This display earned the 30-year-old a solid overall match rating of 7.2/10 from SofaScore, which is a higher rating than Maeda posted.

Speaking of the Japanese winger, after he recently spoke about how much he’s looking forward to having a rest after playing such a hefty amount of football over the past 18 months, this could sway Postecoglou into taking him out of the team on this occasion and finally unleashing Forrest.

Having only made two substitute appearances since early March, now could be the ideal time for the 56-year-old to put the winger back in the starting XI.

The attacker was previously described by former Celtic interim manager John Kennedy as being “frustrated” with missing chances. Given his lack of regular game-time in recent weeks, there’s every chance he could be frustrated by that as well.

Taking into account how Dundee United have only been able to keep one clean sheet in their past 10 league games, there’s every chance that Forrest can be a real attacking threat against a team with such a weak defence, potentially firing his side to the title.

In other news – “Postecoglou knows”: Insider drops Lennoxtown claim, Celtic supporters will be elated

Shaun Tait is about to embark on his second World Cup, confident he made the right decision to stop playing first-class cricket two years ago

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2011Shaun Tait is about to embark on his second World Cup, confident he made the right decision to stop playing first-class cricket two years ago. Tait played the last of his three Tests in January 2008, after which he took a break from the game to deal with physical and mental fatigue, and he has no plans to return to four-day cricket any time soon.Although he has sometimes broken the 160kph mark in the shorter formats, and he is an especially dangerous weapon in short Twenty20 bursts, Tait knows his body can’t handle the rigours of the longer game. He also knows there will always be critics of his decision, but he is certain that giving up the four-day game was the best thing he could have done.”People are probably disappointed and think I’m copping out and turning my back on my country, which is not the story at all,” Tait told reporters in Ahmedabad on Thursday. “The reason I’m not playing first-class cricket and not playing as much cricket as people maybe think I should be, is because of my body. I’d love to be able to play all forms of the game but it’s just not the case.”You try to do the best you can to keep your body right and stay on the park but you can’t do anything about it. You read things and get a little bit cranky at times but who cares? It’s my career, not theirs. There’s going to be critics all the time and ‘back in our day we were tougher’ and all this sort of bollocks.”There’s a lot of people out there who have different thoughts but they’re not in the inner circle and they don’t know the full story. When you’re injured, people get on your back. When you’re not performing well, people get on your back. You put a decent performance in and everyone takes an interest again.”Tait’s slingy action is hard on his body, and elbow surgery at the start of this season seemed to have hurt his chances of making the World Cup squad. But the Australians were always keen to have Tait, who turns 28 next week, in their armoury alongside other fast men including Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger.A key part of Australia’s triumph in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, when he was the equal second-leading wicket taker at the tournament with 23 at 20.30, Tait is yet to play an international on the subcontinent. He will need to find some speed from the expected slower conditions to give Australia hope of defending their title and winning a fourth consecutive World Cup.

A round-up of the action from the second day of the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2011Kavesh Kantasingh and Ryan Austin wrested the advantage away from the Windward Islands by cutting a swathe through their top order, before Kantasingh and Carlos Brathwaite completed the job to knock Windward over for 173, and hand Combined Colleges & Campuses an unlikely 83-run first-innings lead at the Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. CCC extended that lead to 168 for the loss of three wickets, with Romel Currency once again at the forefront with an unbeaten 32 following his 95 in the first innings.The left-arm spin of Kantasingh and the offspin of Austin were introduced early on a pitch that had rewarded the Windward spinners when they bowled, and the move paid off immediately with Kantasingh trapping West Indies opener Devon Smith plumb in front for 6. Austin got into the act shortly after, picking up two quick wickets, and when Kantasingh added two more, Windward were tottering at 54 for 5. Kantasingh’s third wicket was his 100th in first-class cricket, and came when he had Andre Fletcher (31) snapped up at silly point by Shacoya Thomas. A 68-run partnership between the two James, Kevin and Lyndon, added some respectability to the innings, but Brathwaite bowled both men, and Kantasingh snapped up the last two wickets to finish with 5 for 38. Austin picked up 2 for 53, while Brathwaite had figures of 3 for 24.Brendan Nash powered to his maiden first-class double century and Wavell Hinds added an unbeaten hundred of his own as Jamaica amassed 574 for 7 against Trinidad & Tobago at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St. Augustine. Nash had already been involved in two century stands when Hinds joined him after Tamar Lambert fell for 41, and the pair made sure there was no respite for the T&T bowlers, adding a further 166 for the fifth wicket. Nash was eventually dismissed by West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard, who had him caught behind for a career best 207 from 349 balls, an innings that included 20 fours and two sixes.Hinds continued the momentum after Nash’s dismissal, getting to his second hundred of the season and ensuring that Jamaica are in pole position to reach the final. Nash and Hinds are now the second and third-highest run scorers in the tournament, with team-mate Marlon Samuels leading the way.

Round-up of the first day of the seventh round of Division Two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2010Khan Research Laboratories surprised table-toppers State Bank of Pakistan, bowling them out for 148 at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi. KRL seamer Yasir Arafat, who has played three Tests for Pakistan, took 5 for 53 – his 40th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Only five of SBP’s batsmen got to double figures. KRL, who are sixth in the table, 18 points behind SBP, finished the day at 78 for 2.Thirty points separate Abbottabad and Quetta in the table, and the gulf in class showed at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium where the visitors were all out for 215 on the first day. Abbottabad’s bowlers shared the wickets with left-arm seamer Armaghan Elahi taking three, and seamer Nabeeullah and left-arm spinner Khalid Usman taking two each. Quetta had lost both their openers with the score still on four. Captain Arun Lal’s 52 and Mohammad Aslam’s 49 offered some resistance, but the last four wickets fell for 12 to give Abbottabad a clear advantage.Karachi Whites hold the advantage in their match against Lahore Ravi after bowling them out for 206 on the first day at the Gaddafi Stadium. Karachi seamer Sohail Khan took his second consecutive six-wicket haul to break the spine of Lahore Ravi’s middle-order. Only four Lahore Ravi players reached double figures, with wicketkeeper Zeeshan Ali the only half centurion.Three wickets late in the day got Lahore Shalimar back into their match against Pakistan Television after a 112-run stand between Ammar Mahmood and Awais Zia had threatened to take the game away from them. After electing to bat at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground, Pakistan Television captain Raheel Majeed, who is the leading run-getter in Division Two this season, got them off to a solid start with his 30. Mahmood and Zia then piled on the runs with Zia reaching 75. But Lahore Shalimar seamer Aamer Hayat , who is third in the wicket-taker’s charts this season, helped his team restore some parity with three late strikes.An unbeaten century by Aqeel Anjum took Hyderabad to 310 for 7 on the first day against Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. The two sides are stuck at second-last and third-last in the table and it was Hyderabad who took the honours on the first day. Opener Sharjeel Khan gave them a solid start with his 61. Anjum then struggled to find a partner willing to stay with him before left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti stuck with him through a 92-run eighth-wicket stand. Offspinner Sajjad Ahmed took four wickets, but gave away 109 runs in his 28 overs.