All posts by csb10.top

Upul Tharanga’s ninth ODI hundred gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 lead over the West Indies in their three-match ODI series, and the opener has said that the plan was for him to bat through the innings once he got a start.”The team management and the captain had a chat with me and said that what they expect from me is if I get a start to bat till 40 or 45 overs. They said they would be happy if I get 80 or 90 runs by that stage and that’s what I am trying to do”Tharanga played that role to perfection in Sri Lanka’s run chase of 197 off 47 overs, contributing an unbeaten 101 off 143 balls and helping his team get there in the 43rd over. But it was not easy chasing down the runs, especially when he had to keep one eye on the weather and the other on the required run rate.”We had a plan to get to 20 overs without losing too many wickets,” Tharanga said. “We were doing well by that stage and we didn’t take undue risks as things were pretty much under control. There were slight drizzles and we had one eye on the weather.”We didn’t get a chance to bat in the first game and the way this game was going, I had a feeling that we wouldn’t get a chance to bat. But thankfully the weather cleared and it was good to finish off the game.”Our bowlers have been bowling well and we had a target less than 200. Our plan was for one of the top four batsmen to go on till the 40th over. I got a start and once that happened I thought I should finish the game off.”It was soon after the last World Cup in 2007 that Tharanga lost his form and he struggled for more than two years to regain it. “I am not at my best yet, but I can improve. I want to be a consistent batsman for the team. Consistency is the most important thing for a batsman.”The 27-year-old left-hander is fortunate that his opening partners have both been aggressive players, which allows him to play his natural game without taking undue risks. “Sanath [Jayasuriya] takes a lot of risks. [Tillakaratne] Dilshan is the same. They are free flowing. I try to bat my normal way. If the target is big then I have to adapt. When I am playing with the two of them I can play my natural game.”From the day I came into the team Kumar [Sangakkara] and Mahela [Jayawardene] have given me lot of support. They insist on showing patience. If I fail to score a run in an over they come and say not to rush, that we could cash in during the latter overs.”We played pretty well in the last tournament to reach the final, but simply because we reached the finals nothing is guaranteed this time around,” said Tharanga. “We have to work hard and if we do, we can reach the finals. From the first game onwards we need to focus and do well.”

The Lions became the first team to qualify for the MTN40 semi-finals, after winning their fourth consecutive match in the competition. It’s a remarkable turnaround from a franchise who, for the past three seasons, have been underachievers in every format. That tag seems to have been transferred to the Cobras, who have lost five out of five matches in the tournament.On Wednesday, they went down to the Knights by three wickets in Kimberley. The Cobras batted first and posted a solid 235 for 6. Andrew Puttick (71 off 76 balls) and Stiaan van Zyl (39 off 42 balls) shared a first-wicket partnership of 74, setting their side up well. Owais Shah (83 off 78 balls) was the other big contributor but received little support from the rest of the middle order. Con de Lange (0 for 27) and Dillon du Preez (2 for 39) did a good containing job for the Knights.The Free Staters’ chase went according to plan and they appeared well on track throughout their innings. Reeza Hendricks (56 off 68 balls) and Rilee Rossouw (46 off 26 balls) laid the foundation for the win. Ryan McLaren (55* off 51 balls) marshalled the middle and lower order to a victory with 10 balls to spare.Matters got worse for the men from the Cape on Friday. They lost to the Titans by two wickets in a low-scoring encounter in Centurion. It was a disastrous batting performance which saw them all out for 135. There was just one score over 20. That came from Puttick (46 off 74 balls). Ethy Mbhalati’s (3 for 21) sensational season continued and Albie Morkel (2 for 41), Roelof van der Merwe (2 for 23) and Mario Olivier (2 for 13) each picked up two scalps.The Titans made hard work of their reply. They slipped to 58 for 4 in the 14th over. Charl Langeveldt (4 for 34) kept the Cobras in the hunt but 30s from Jacques Rudolph (39 off 42 balls), Faf du Plessis (32 off 84 balls) and Farhaan Berhardien (33 off 40 balls) took the Titans to 136 for 8 after 35 overs.In Johannesburg, the Lions beat the Dolphins by five wickets to secure a place in the final four. An inspired bowling performance by the Lions reduced the Dolphins 35 for 4 in the 11th over. Loots Bosman (12 off 19 balls) was forced to retire hurt after getting hit on the hand by Friedel de Wet (2 for 25). David Miller (42 off 43 balls) and Glen Adicott (61 off 85 balls) helped the Dolphins to 196 for 7.The Lions survived an Imran Tahir (4 for 33) blitz midway through their innings. The home side were off to a comfortable start, but lost three wickets in as many overs when Tahir came on. Zander de Bruyn (52* off 80 balls) and Thami Tsolekile (49* off 49 balls) stood firm and the Lions won with more than four overs to spare.The defending champions, the Warriors, slumped to a fourth defeat at the hands of the Knights in Bloemfontein. They batted first and their innings hinged on Colin Ingram’s 92 (off 101 balls) and Justin Kreusch’s 55 (off 62 balls). The Warriors notched up 229 for 8, with wickets shared all round the Knights bowlers. Ryan McLaren (1 for 35) had the most economical return.The Knights were merciless in response. Hendricks (89 off 80 balls) and Rossouw (102* off 96 balls) took the game away from the Warriors. All their bowlers bar Rusty Theron (1 for 35) took a pasting and the Knights won inside 36 overs.The Cobras crashed to their fifth defeat on Sunday in Paarl, when they lost to the Dolphins by seven wickets. Another dismal batting performance saw them total just 161 for 9. Owais Shah (48 off 95 balls) and Rory Kleinveld, who was batting at number ten (45 off 30 balls) were the two most meaningful contributors. Tahir (2 for 14) was again a deadly assassin and Kyle Abbott (3 for 49) picked up the most wickets.The Dolphins were in trouble at 36 for 2 but recovered well. Ravi Bopara (50* off 75 balls) and new signing Vaughn van Jaarsveld (76 off 55 balls) took them to victory in the 29th over and also earned them a bonus point. With the Cobras yet to win a match in the competition the Dolphins joined the Lions in the semi-finals.The last match of the weekend saw the Titans beat the Warriors by 25 runs on the Duckworth Lewis method in Centurion. Makhaya Ntini (2 for 27) removed both Titans openers cheaply before Theron (3 for 46) got stuck into the middle order. Henry Davids (51 off 72 balls) was the only half-century scorer for the hosts as they were bowled out for 214 in 38.1 overs.Morkel (4 for 25) showed glimpses of form that may see him get reselected for South Africa as he plucked the Warriors openers early and returned to clean up the tail. Kreusch (68 off 62 balls) was the lone Warrior in a cause that cut short by rain. The heavens opened with the Warriors on 178 for 9 in the 37th over.Batsman of the week: For the only century in this week’s action, Rilee Rossouw gets this week’s award. He also tops the batting charts with an average of 81.25.Bowler of the week: Imran Tahir is knocking so hard on Andrew Hudson’s door, when he becomes eligible to play in December it will make be interesting to see what the selectors do. He single-handedly brought the Dolphins back into the game against the Lions and bowled an attacking but containing spell against the Cobras.

Ricky Ponting will not take part in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Brisbane, and will instead travel to Hobart to prepare for Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield game against Queensland in order to fit in as much first-class cricket as possible ahead of the first Ashes Test against England on November 25.”As the series against Sri Lanka has been decided the National Selection Panel has an ideal opportunity to provide Ricky with two solid weeks of red-ball cricket,” said Greg Chappell, who sits on the panel. “This allows him what we believe to be the best preparation to lead the Australian Test match team in Brisbane for the first Ashes Test match.”Australia lost the second ODI in Sydney by 29 runs to hand Sri Lanka their first ever series win on Australian soil, and have now lost seven successive matches across all three formats. Ponting admitted that “all departments are a little bit wanting at the moment”, but insisted that the team remained upbeat ahead of what is sure to be a challenging summer.”There is a good feeling around the group,” he said. “We had a good chat after the game in Melbourne and we talked about areas of our game we had to improve on and unfortunately we haven’t done that as well as we would have liked tonight. We are just far enough off to be losing games of cricket at the moment. We have had seven games in a row now where we have had opportunities to win games and we haven’t got there.Ponting refused to use the hype surrounding the Ashes as a reason for Australia’s poor form, adding: “You can’t use that as an excuse. We have known for a long time about this series and how important it was for us to play well here leading into the Ashes and we haven’t done that over the last two games. We have the chance now in Brisbane to get things back on track and a bit of state cricket after that.”We have to start winning games, it’s really important to have that attitude and feeling of winning games around the dressing room and we haven’t done that for a while now. It’s about time we got back to playing the brand of cricket we know we are capable of and if we do that I am sure we will win some games.”

Colin Ingram has been called up to South Africa’s side for the two limited-overs series against Zimbabwe and Pakistan, while fast bowler Wayne Parnell has been named in all three squads after recovering from injury. Wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn has taken the injured AB de Villiers’ place for the Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe.Allrounder Jacques Kallis and fast bowler Dale Steyn have both been rested for the two Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Kallis recently picked up a neck injury and withdrew from the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 on the advice of Cricket South Africa’s medical team.”They are two key players for the ICC World Cup next year and we need to manage them carefully,” selection convener Andrew Hudson said. “The next ICC World Twenty20 is 18 months away and this also provides us the opportunity to look at several younger players.”Hudson said Ingram, currently playing for the Warriors in the Champions League, deserves his chance at international level after playing “outstanding cricket in both MTN40 and Standard Bank Pro20 domestic competitions.”Ingram topped the 2009/10 MTN40 scoring chart with 600 runs at an average of 60, with one century and five half-centuries, and a strike-rate of 103.62. He followed that up by topping the 2010 Pro20 scoring chart as well, making 283 runs at 47.16 and a strike-rate of 144.38. The Warriors won both tournaments.Fast bowler Rusty Theron and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson both found places in the Twenty20 squads but not the ODI teams. Theron was part South Africa side that played in the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies, but did not get a game.”We only have a relatively small number of ODIs before the World Cup and it is our intention to go in with our strongest combination in all these matches,” Hudson said.Parnell has been cleared to begin playing again next month after needing surgery to fix an injury he suffered while warming up for an IPL match in March. Ryan McLaren misses out on a place in the Test team as a result. De Villiers meanwhile should be fit in time for the ODI series against Zimbabwe, which begins on October 15.Test squad (to play Pakistan): Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo TsotsobeODI squad (to play Zimbabwe and Pakistan): Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo TsotsobeTwenty20 squad (to play Zimbabwe): Johan Botha (capt), Loots Bosman, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Heino Kuhn (wk), David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo TsotsobeTwenty20 squad (to play Pakistan): Johan Botha (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

A day after Ricky Ponting called for a controversy-free tour, he was ironically involved in the first real incident of the series. After he was run out by a superb direct hit from Suresh Raina, Ponting was seen exchanging words and gestures with Zaheer Khan. Ponting was walking off, and it seemed Zaheer had something to say to him from the team huddle. Ponting turned back and was seen pointing his bat towards Zaheer.Both sides, though, played down the incident, and no charges had been pressed last checked. “When two top teams are playing, you expect some competition and that’s what it was,” Pragyan Ojha said after a tough old-fashioned day of Test cricket. “When you play hard, you obviously exchange some words. Nothing more than that.”Watson sought to play with the similar straight bat as was the hallmark of his unbeaten, restrained century, but cheekily opened the face at the last moment. “The umpires didn’t get involved, did they?” he said. “Wasn’t too bad. Something that does happen on a cricket field when people are competitive. As you did see, on the footage – everyone really knows how Ricky is, he is not going to go looking for a fight unless someone steps out of the line, out of the huddle, and has a bit to say. It was there for all to see.”The good thing, though, is that neither team seems to be bothering too much about it. And in what was a welcome sight, at stumps, the Indian players, including Zaheer and Harbhajan Singh, almost queued up to congratulate Watson on his effort. All’s well that ends well. At least until the next incident.

The BCCI and suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi will each have the opportunity to present witnesses over the course of six future hearings scheduled by the board’s disciplinary committee at its meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. The board will get its chance to do so from September 13th through September 15th while Modi will get his turn from September 26th through September 28th.”It is agreed that the BCCI would submit a list of witnesses along with their witness statement on or before 7th September 2010, with advance copy to counsels of Mr. Modi,” the board said in a statement. “It will be the responsibilities of the BCCI to make these witnesses available for cross-examination by the counsels of Mr. Modi.”Once the BCCI has finished presenting its evidence, Modi’s lawyers will have a week to file their list of witnesses and their statements, and make the witnesses available for cross-examination on the dates set by the committee.The two sides also have to submit a list of documents belonging to the other party that they dispute by the same September 7 deadline. The hearings will be held at the Taj Palace hotel in New Delhi. They will be split into two sessions, the first from 10.00 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the second from 6.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.Modi’s legal counsel Mehmood Abdi said he also had the option of taking the matter to the High Court once the disciplinary proceedings concluded.At its last hearing on August 11, the committee rejected a request by Modi asking for interim IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley to recuse themselves from the proceedings on grounds that they were biased against him.The committee has until October 26 to submit its recommendations to the board. The BCCI suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a parallel league in England.

India’s largest telecom company, Bharti Airtel, has won the corporate sponsorship rights for all international series played in India for the next three years. Airtel bid Rs 3.33 ($707,545) crores per match, which covers Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 games, according to a BCCI press release. India will play roughly 50 matches in that period, which puts the total value of the deal at approximately Rs 165 crores ($ 35 million).”Cricket is a game that the Indian masses and millions of sports lovers in other parts of the world are extremely passionate about,” Mohit Beotra, brand and media head at Airtel, said. “We believe that cricket as a sport truly represents the zeal and vigour that today’s youth stands for, and are hence looking forward to Airtel’s long term association with the game.”Infact, keeping in mind the affinity of India and South Asia towards both cricket and Bollywood – we have identified these as key areas that Airtel as a brand will continue to associate with, in the future.”Ten companies had submitted bids for the rights, including Idea Cellular, the telecom company from the Birla group, and cell phone makers Karbonn Mobile and MicroMax. The bids were opened at the marketing committee meeting in Mumbai today. It is the first time international cricket in India will have a regular tournament and series sponsor, like England does with nPower or Australia with Vodafone.In the past the board has awarded the rights to sports agencies, which have then parcelled out sponsorships on a series-by-series basis. The previous period’s sponsorship rights were with World Sport Group. This time the Board debarred agencies from bidding for the rights or representing other companies in the bidding process. It also excluded firms that provide audio-video production services of live cricket. The minimum bid price set by the board was Rs 2 crore ($428,815) per match.Airtel is also the lead sponsor for the Champions League, having paid a reported Rs 170 crore ($36 million) for a five-year period. The company also bid for the rights to sponsor the Indian team earlier this year, but lost out to the Sahara Group.

Bangladesh will assess their captaincy situation following the one-day series against England after Shakib Al Hasan asked for a break from leadership duties as he struggled to combine all his roles. Mashrafe Mortaza is captain for the limited-overs matches, but coach Jamie Siddons hinted that Shakib was his preferred choice to guide the team into next year’s World Cup.Mortaza has only recently returned from a long-term knee injury which limited his participation during England’s tour of Bangladesh earlier this year to one disappointing ODI appearance. However, he has resumed the captaincy position that was his when he broke down in West Indies last July during the side’s famous victory at Kingstown.Shakib’s form has tailed off in recent months since he became the game’s leading allrounder. He averaged 13 with the bat in the Test series against England earlier in the season, although did manage eight wickets – including a five-wicket return at Old Trafford – with his left-arm spin, and followed that by scoring just 52 runs in three innings at the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.”Shakib was the main person behind the decision, he decided it was a bit much for him,” Siddons told Cricinfo. “His form was down with the bat and he needed a rest. Mashrafe was always going to come into the one-day side so it was a perfect chance for him to take the reins.”We’ll see how it goes after this tour, I think Shakib is ideally suited to the captaincy particularly leading into the World Cup but if Mash performs with the ball – and that’s his big challenge – he may be a good choice as well. If Shakib gets into form we may stick with it.”One good piece of news for Shakib as he strives to regain form is the absence of Graeme Swann, who has been rested for the series. Swann has dismissed Shakib five times in seven innings and it hadn’t escaped Siddons’ notice that the offspinner wouldn’t be around. “He’s been a thorn in our side so I’m happy to see him out and I’m sure Shakib is happy to see him gone,” he said.It is a gamble to put Mortaza back in the captaincy hot seat because he is still feeling his way back into the side and, although he remains the country’s leading pace bowler, he certainly isn’t the threat of a few years ago. Siddons, while backing Mortaza for the three ODIs which start on Thursday, added that it was vital he justified his position in the team.”The body I think will get through it’s just the form and the performance,” he said. “I think he’s dropped a yard of pace so we’ll have to see how he goes against the big boys. England certainly won’t hold back on him so we’ll see how he stands up. If he swings the ball he’ll be fine.”England will be expected to collect another whitewash in the one-day series, but Siddons warned that his team can pull off a surprise. They should have won the second match in Dhaka earlier in the year but couldn’t stop Eoin Morgan, and the visitors will look to Tamim Iqbal to continue his form from the Tests where he scored two thrilling hundreds.”If Tamim goes off in any of these three one-day games England are in a whole heap of trouble,” Siddons said. “We can put on a big score if the other guys bat around him. Anything is possible. Each time I speak to him he is learning more about the game. He will get out silly sometimes, but he is the bloke who sets up big scores which win matches. I won’t be pulling him back.”One man who has returned to the squad, although is unlikely to feature at the start of the series after Siddons said the batting line-up which piled up 301 for 7 against Middlesex was his No. 1 choice, is 22-year-old Raqibul Hasan who stormed out of the squad on the eve of the first Test in Chittagong.”There was a bit of a battle to get him back in, but he’s one of our really good up-and-coming young players,” Siddons said. “He needs to stay in this group to develop, a bit like Jahurul [Islam] who has just come in and is developing. It’s great to have Raqibul back and to see Jahurul making runs – they are the future of Bangladesh.”We have to keep them. Both of them are potentially world-class players and down the track should be there for years to come when Bangladesh come good.”

Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium has been dropped as the venue for the third Test between India and New Zealand from November 20 to 24 due to the ongoing renovation work at the stadium. The venue has been undergoing a facelift ahead of the World Cup next year, and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) said it didn’t want to rush things and host a Test without a proper trial run.”The MCA managing committee took the decision yesterday that we won’t be in a position to host it (the Test) at the Wankhede Stadium in November as we would like to play a few first-class matches (on the newly laid wicket) before the World Cup. We would write a letter to the Board tomorrow,” MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput told . “We would ask the BCCI to consider our case for the next series.”Since the renovation work began, the nearby Brabourne Stadium has been hosting matches, including first-class games. It staged a Test between India and Sri Lanka last December and the home matches of Mumbai Indians during the third season of the IPL.The BCCI is expected to announce a revised itinerary in due course.

ScorecardUsman Afzaal batted well in the first innings but fell for a duck second time around•PA Photos

Leicestershire spinners Claude Henderson and Jigar Naik combined superbly toinflict an innings and 60-run defeat on Surrey in their County ChampionshipDivision Two match at The Brit Oval.Left-armer Henderson was the star performer in Surrey’s first innings, taking6 for 84, and after they had followed on off-spinner Jigar Naikrecorded figures of 7 for 96, the first five-wicket return of his career. Surrey were bowled out for 183 which, even allowing for a pitch offering considerable help to the spinners, was a poor effort.The defeat, Surrey’s first at Leicestershire’s hands in the competition since1998, would have been even more clear-cut but for an entertaining last-wicketstand. Last pair Younis Khan, who hit three leg-side sixes off Naik as he made anunbeaten 77 off 110 balls, and Jade Dernbach put on 46.Fittingly, Naik had the final word, 20 minutes from the scheduled close, whenhe bypassed a wild thrash from Dernbach. Surrey, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table, were already deep in trouble on 160 for 6 at the start of the day, but at least Usman Afzaal andChris Schofield resisted for almost an hour before, with the score on 202, before Schofield was leg before wicket to Henderson offering no shot.Afzaal reached a valuable 91-ball half-century with a cover-driven four offHenderson. He repeated the shot, but in Henderson’s next over he edged anotherattempted drive to Tom New behind the stumps. The last thing Surrey needed was a run out, but when Chris Tremlett failed to answer Stuart Meaker’s call for a quick single to extra cover Meaker failed to regain his ground as Jacques du Toit scored a direct hit. The following ball brought Henderson his sixth wicket, a sharply turning ball finding the edge of Dernbach’s bat.Surrey followed on 243 behind and had already lost Steven Davies before lunch.Davies, a model of consistency with the bat since joining Surrey at the start ofthe season, was lbw to the eighth ball of the innings when Nathan Buck swung oneinto the left-hander.A gritty stand of 41 in 23 overs between Arun Harinath and Mark Ramprakash atleast suggested that Surrey might be capable of taking the match into the finalday, but Naik claimed the wickets of Harinath, Ramprakash and Afzaal in quicksuccession.Harinath edged to slip, Ramprakash’s defensive stroke cannoned into the groundand back onto the stumps and Afzaal was leg before without scoring. At thatstage Naik had figures of 3 for 6.Surrey’s plight worsened five balls after tea when captain Rory Hamilton-Brown,was bowled trying to work Henderson against the turn. Gareth Batty was lbw to aball from Naik which kept low and Schofield was taken at silly mid-off.