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South Africa Under-19 continued their winning streak with an easy 39-run win over Zimbabwe Under-19 in the first of two Twenty20s

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2011
ScorecardSouth Africa Under-19 continued their winning streak with an easy 39-run win over Zimbabwe Under-19 in the first of two Twenty20s despite a valiant effort from Zimbabwe opener Kevin Kasuza, who hit six fours and two sixes to top-score with 68.South Africa captain Keaton Jennings opted to bat first at Boland park, and was content to offer steady support to the more attacking Quinton de Kock during their 73-run opening stand. Both were dismissed in the same over by Zimbabwe captain Godwill Mamhiyo, and the visitors’ slow bowler did a reasonably good job of restricting the South Africans thereafter.South Africa’s innings was bookended by two savage knocks that boosted the total well out of Zimbabwe’s reach, however, as No. 3 James Price thrashed eight boundaries in his 42 and No. 10 Chad Fortune cleared the ropes four times in a brutal 11-ball 36. In between those two innings, Zimbabwe’s hydra of offspinners had the better of South Africa’s middle order, Liberty Nherera, Matthew Bentley and Brian Chari all striking twice.The Zimbabwean batsmen needed to make full use of the first six overs if they were to push South Africa close, but this was not the case as Chari fell early and Bentley and Kasuza struggled to assert themselves. Bentley managed to score at nearly a-run-a-ball before he offered a caught-and-bowled chance to offspinning allrounder Malcolm Nofal to depart for 23.The pressure to score quickly mounted on Zimbabwe’s middle order, but Kasuza settled into a fluent mode and reached his fifty off 43 balls with four fours and a six. He started to open up after reaching the milestone, hitting three more boundaries before he was caught by Jennings off fast bowler Rabian Engelbrecht for 68 in the 19th over.Zimbabwe’s chase had been a lost cause even before he was dismissed, and despite yet another positive performance from Kasuza – who impressed during the one-day series – South Africa remain firm favourites to wrap up the Twenty20s 2-0 with the second game at Cape Town on Sunday.

Andrew Strauss pinpointed the evening dew in Chittagong as a factor that severely hampered England as they slipped to a two-wicket defeat

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong11-Mar-2011Andrew Strauss pinpointed the evening dew in Chittagong as a factor that severely hampered England as they slipped to a two-wicket defeat but refused to blame his team’s loss on the conditions. In the first half of Bangladesh’s chase the dampness caused major problems, especially to Graeme Swann, and meant England had a lot of ground to claw back.Although Strauss said that these were not win-toss-win-match conditions, he also believe it wasn’t right that the spinner’s role was effected so heavily. “Something [is] not quite right when a spinner can’t grip the ball in these conditions, in these parts of the world, where spin plays such an important role.”As a result of the dew, England couldn’t use Swann, the only spinner in the side, exactly the way they would have wanted to. “There was a 20-over period when it was very very bad,” Strauss said. “Obviously Graeme couldn’t grip the ball. That was hard work for us. It wasn’t the reason we lost the game, I don’t think, but certainly there was quite considerable dew there.”With the ball getting wet, Swann got into an argument with umpire Daryl Harper, who refused to have the ball changed as often as Swann wanted. Including the mandatory change at 34 overs, the ball was switched three times according to Strauss. Swann was later fined 10 percent of his match fee for violating the ICC’s Code of Conduct. He was deemed to have breached article 2.1.4, which relates to “Using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match.””Graeme was obviously very frustrated that he couldn’t grip the ball,” Strauss said. “He felt he had a big role to play in the game. For a period we had to take him off, until later on when he could grip it. It was frustrating for him, it was frustrating for all of us that the ball got as wet as it did. That happens, that’s the conditions we encounter.”Graeme Swann became very animated with Daryl Harper over the damp ball•Getty Images

At one point the exhange Swann was threatening to boil over in his frustration and Strauss had to step in. “Graeme was asking to change the ball. I wasn’t there, I don’t know what was said between the two of them,” Strauss said. “Once the exchange happened, I told Graeme to calm down and get on with it, and he did do so.”Strauss knew, though, that dew wasn’t why England lost their second group match of a rollercoaster campaign. “Losing three wickets early certainly didn’t help us,” he said. “It was a pretty low, slow, stodgy wicket this afternoon. We needed wickets in hand to get to 240-250, which would have been a very good score.”As it was, Eoin Morgan played exceptionally well I thought, and obviously Jonathan Trott stuck in there. We thought it was a par score, we thought we could defend it, and we got ourselves into a great performance to defend it. In the end we weren’t able to take those last two wickets, which is desperately disappointing for us.”However, Strauss did make a pertinent observation about the dew. “One thing I would say is, it feels slightly strange to have the first ever day-nighter at a certain ground in a World Cup. So perhaps a lesson to be learned there.” That obviously hasn’t been a consideration in the tournament: the teams in Group A are playing at venues in Sri Lanka that are hosting their first matches, day-night or otherwise.

Shahid Afridi has said Umar Akmal is fit, though noises from the rest of the camp are not as positive about his finger injury

Osman Samiuddin in Pallekele13-Mar-2011Pakistan may be keen to stick to as stable an XI as possible as they go through the group stages of this tournament, but it doesn’t seem likely they will be able to do so. They take on Zimbabwe in a potentially tricky encounter, in a vital game in Pallekele, knowing that a win will ensure a quarter-final berth for them.But in the aftermath of last week’s loss to New Zealand, their preparations have been hampered by a re-enactment of the Akmal brothers saga, seen for the first time in Australia early last year. The younger, Umar, injured his finger in fielding practice forcing him to sit out practice over the last couple of days. It also ruled him out as a replacement for Kamran as wicketkeeper, an option that was being considered in light of Kamran’s costly, error-ridden hand against New Zealand.The team was forced to deny that Umar was faking his injury in order to keep Kamran in the side, a situation that reportedly occurred – with a twist – after the Sydney Test last year. The uncertainty over Umar’s availability has only deepened over the last two days. There is no fracture in his right index finger but he hasn’t batted and he only began fielding on Sunday. To complicate matters further, he took a knock on his left ankle during a session of football on Sunday morning, though that isn’t thought to be serious.Shahid Afridi sounded confident about Umar’s availability, though noises from the rest of the camp are not as positive. If Umar does not play, Asad Shafiq is likely to be the replacement. “Umar is fit, it is a light injury,” Afridi said. “He was fielding just now and looking better. He is fine and definitely he will play tomorrow.”All the confusion makes one thing clear: Kamran will be in, for lack of a credible alternative if nothing else. All week the team has made reassuring noises about his wicketkeeping, about how hard he has worked and trained.Shahid Afrid has backed Kamran Akmal, saying he has been working hard on his keeping•AFP

“His performance in batting hasn’t been bad but yes he is struggling with his keeping,” Afridi said. “But he is working very hard, you’ve seen it. We also haven’t got such an option in the squad to whom we can give a chance in this tournament. It’s been four days, he’s working hard, he has support and our confidence, he is a better choice. I think he knows the mistakes he has committed and he will try to make up for it for sure.”Another change Pakistan are likely to make is to rest Shoaib Akhtar, who gave away 71 runs in his nine overs against New Zealand, and bring in Wahab Riaz.Afridi is treading that fine line, currently, that all captains must at one point or another: to stick with struggling players and give them confidence in the name of stability, or bring in change for the sake of improvement. The matter is at its most acute with the openers Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez, both of whom have flopped with the bat. He doesn’t want to experiment much, but he knows Pakistan can ill-afford more poor starts.”I’m not trying to experiment as this is not the right time. I am trying to give confidence to everyone. During the competition we are trying to keep the same momentum and team with just one or two changes. At the moment the openers are thinking let’s play 15 overs but don’t lose wickets but also they are thinking let’s play our positive games. I’ve told them play to your strengths, like you play in domestic cricket, play like that.”Over the last couple of days they’ve worked really hard and the coaches have worked hard with them as well. I am confident they will perform.”Pakistan were unconvincing in the win against Canada in Colombo and fell apart against New Zealand, so Afridi hoped that they can get their campaign back on track. “We learnt a lot from that loss because we didn’t perform well in the field, with the ball or bat. We should be more focused on the way we are going to start with the bat, the way we bowl with the new ball. We need the kind of good start we got against Sri Lanka. We’ll try to put a decent total on the board and defend it and get them out as soon as possible.”

South Africa A showed clear intentions of aiming for a win in Potchefstroom, after declaring within the first day and picking up a Bangladesh A wicket

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSouth Africa A showed clear intentions of going for the win at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, after declaring at seven wickets down on the first day after being put in to bat. Captain Jacques Rudolph was rewarded for his aggressive decision, as seamer Ethy Mbhalati got a wicket in the fifth over of Bangladesh A’s innings, that of Shamsur Rahman, and South Africa finished the first day with the advantage.Mohammad Ashraful’s decision to bowl first looked like it had paid off when seamer Robiul Islam took two early wickets, reducing South Africa to 39 for 2. Ashraful then dismissed his counterpart Rudolph, and when 19-year-old seamer Kamrul Islam Rabbi trapped Farhaan Behardien lbw, the hosts were in trouble at 96 for 4.South Africa’s recovery was led by Justin Ontong and Stiaan van Zyl, who put together a 115-run fifth wicket stand. Ontong went on to get 93, and a handy 36 not out by Heino Kuhn took South Africa past the 300-run mark. They could have batted on – Kuhn and No. 9 Quinton Friend had put together the base of a partnership – but Rudolph decided to give Bangladesh a few overs before the close of play, and things worked out well for him.

The stands were sparsely populated, the outfield patchy and the West Indian batsmen once again failed to combat Pakistan’s spinners, their ineptness making the contest a mismatch

The Bulletin by George Binoy25-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAhmed Shehzad’s century was sedate, but it got the job done for Pakistan•AFP

Unlike the island on which this match was played – St Lucia – the cricket was not arresting at the Beausejour Stadium. The stands were sparsely populated, the outfield patchy and the West Indian batsmen once again failed to combat Pakistan’s spinners, their ineptness at reading variations making the contest a mismatch. Pursuing a middling target, Pakistan’s only fault was their crawl in the first half of their chase, raising fleeting hopes of a competitive finish. Ahmed Shehzad prevented any such thing, his century securing a seven-wicket victory and a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.For the briefest of whiles West Indies, spurred by Lendl Simmons, were making a more spirited effort in this game compared to their struggle in the first. Simmons, however, had no support as his team-mates either flickered and perished, or struggled to rotate the strike. Pakistan stacked up dot balls as Simmons looked on, and his dismissal for 51 was the beginning of the unraveling of the West Indian challenge. Eight of their first nine batsmen made it to double figures, but only three got past 20.Pakistan’s first break was a fortunate one. Devon Smith was struck on the pad outside off stump by Hafeez while playing off the back foot but umpire Asoka de Silva thought otherwise. While Simmons was batting with Darren Bravo, though, the signs were promising for West Indies. They were 53 for 1 after the mandatory Powerplay.Ajmal had bowled without deserved reward in the first one-dayer. He had teased and beaten Darren Bravo in that game. There was none of that today. Ajmal pitched his first ball just outside leg and spun it across the left-hander. Darren Bravo attempted to cut, and edged to first slip.Marlon Samuels then dragged West Indies into the mire. The run-rate plummeted after he entered, as only 14 runs came off the bowling Powerplay. Simmons tried to counter by launching Shahid Afridi out of the ground over midwicket and then charging and hitting Junaid Khan for a straight six. Samuels, however, had scored only 3 off 36 and Simmons felt the need to attack some more. Soon after reaching his half-century, Simmons drove Afridi to short cover, where Umar Akmal parried the ball above his head and caught the rebound.It became imperative that Samuels improve his strike-rate but he became Hammad Azam’s first ODI wicket, bowled for 29 off 74 balls. Of the threatening batsmen, only Dwayne Bravo remained, but he soon perished to Wahab Riaz, charging and slogging a wide ball towards deep cover. West Indies eventually reached 220, though at Dwayne Bravo’s dismissal – 148 for 6 in the 34th over – it didn’t look like they’d last 50 overs.Pakistan reached the target with only 12 balls to spare but they were never in any realistic strife. Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez took their time, seeing of the Kemar Roach threat and settling in at leisure against the rest of the West Indian attack. The outcome was an uneventful passage of play that lacked shots and appeals but had an abundance of defence.Roach hustled with the new ball, beating the bat several times and providing no space for stroke play. West Indies could have done with a similar bowler at the other end, but Jerome Taylor was in India, making his IPL 2011 debut for Pune Warriors. Instead they had Darren Sammy, who was flicked and cut for consecutive boundaries in his first over by Shehzad. Sammy wasn’t loose, but he just didn’t have the weapons to threaten batsmen with.Pakistan had scored only 35 after the mandatory Powerplay and Hafeez soon raised the pace, jumping out in the 13th over to cart Sammy over long-on and pulling the next ball for four. The next boundary came only in the 31st.Legspinners Devendra Bishoo and Anthony Martin, who was making his debut, pulled Pakistan’s run-rate back. Bishoo even provided the breakthrough, inducing Hafeez to cut in the air to point, and snapped the opening stand on 66 in the 19th over.Shehzad didn’t waste his start, though, and continued anchoring Pakistan’s innings. He got to his fifty off 94 balls and his century off 143. Only after he was dismissed in the 46th over did the asking-rate inch over a run a ball. Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal then struck a flurry of boundaries to secure the victory.

Steve Harmison took his first County Championship wickets for nine months as Durham set Worcestershire a mammoth task at New Road

19-May-2011ScorecardPhil Mustard’s hundred heaped the pain on Worcestershire’s bowlers before the Durham attack took control•Getty Images

Steve Harmison took his first County Championship wickets for nine months as Durham set Worcestershire a mammoth task at New Road.Re-emerging after an early-season injury, the 32-year-old former England fast bowler put the Division One strugglers in trouble with a return of 3 for 29 in 11 overs. With 19-year-old substitute Ben Raine holding two catches, Worcestershire ended the second day on 105 for 5 – still 333 short of the 438 required to avoid the follow-on.Harmison, out for a month with a broken arm, warmed up with 5 for 22 in a second-team match against Warwickshire. And he quickly had Worcestershire on the ropes on his return to the county side, dismissing both openers in the space of eight balls.Raine picked up a low chance when Matt Pardoe (11) clipped Harmison off his legs and James Cameron (18) was unfortunate to get a ball which nipped off a length and looped off the bat for a simple catch to Callum Thorp. Ruel Brathwaite then found some movement to bowl Vikram Solanki for 10 and Raine reacted brilliantly to pull down another chance when Alexei Kervezee (one) cut Ben Stokes to cover.Moeen Ali and Adrian Shankar, the latter unbeaten with 10 from 60 balls, put up some resistance but Moeen was caught down the leg side by Phil Mustard for 46 as soon as Harmison rejoined the attack.Captain Mustard earlier became Durham’s third century-maker before declaring on 587 for 7 following earlier hundreds from Gordon Muchall (175) and Ian Blackwell (134). Muchall and Blackwell’s partnership of 247 – a fifth-wicket record for the county – ended early on the second morning but Mustard’s 101 from 139 balls meant Worcestershire needed to reach their highest score in almost a year just to make Durham bat again.Although the northerners established a near-impregnable position with a mountain of runs, there was always a suspicion that the pitch held something for the better bowlers. The problem for Worcestershire was their reliance on the new-ball pair, Damien Wright and Alan Richardson. While they bowled 69 overs for 206 runs, the supporting seamers were considerably more expensive.Wright flattened Blackwell’s off-stump in the second over of the day but Muchall extended his innings by almost an hour, adding 23 runs before he was caught at slip when Richard Jones replaced Richardson. However, Mustard was well set by then and with Scott Borthwick he shared in a partnership of 154 for the seventh wicket.Mustard eventually fell to Moeen’s off-spin, giving Solanki his fourth slip catch of the innings, but Borthwick stayed unbeaten with 67 – one short of his career best – and Thorp (22 not out) hit two sixes prior to the declaration.

Durham leapfrogged Lancashire in the northern section of the Friends Life t20 after a comprehensive 83-run victory at Chester-le-Street

25-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Durham leapfrogged Lancashire in the northern section of the Friends Life t20 after a comprehensive 83-run victory at Chester-le-Street. Liam Plunkett was the star of the show, posting career-best 20-over figures of 5 for 31 as he outshone England rival Jimmy Anderson, who finished the evening as the most expensive bowler on display.Plunkett took a wicket in each of his four overs as Lancashire failed to chase down Durham’s imposing target of 201, eventually finishing some way short on 117. The England seamer had Stephen Moore caught by Chris Rushworth at long-on early on, before David Miller produced an excellent diving catch to account for Steven Croft.Karl Brown edged Plunkett to Phil Mustard to depart for a first-ball duck, and the Teessider followed up with the wickets of Gareth Cross and Jordan Clark to claim his first five-wicket haul in the 20-over format.Plunkett, who also scored a quickfire, unbeaten 27 with the bat, completed a memorable evening’s work when he took a routine catch to dismiss Farveez Maharoof off the bowling of Gareth Breese as Lancashire briefly threatened a recovery.As it was, the visitors were never in the game once Plunkett struck repeatedly early on, and Durham enjoyed their most comfortable 20-over victory of the season so far. Batting first after losing the toss, Durham compiled their third-highest Twenty20 total ever as Anderson in particular failed to exercise any degree of control.Dale Benkenstein top scored, with the skipper’s 60 runs from 34 balls representing his best-ever 20-over score. He cracked sixes off Gary Keedy and Luke Procter, and appeared ready to lead Durham’s charge in the crucial closing overs when he holed out to Tom Smith at deep square leg with 12 balls left.Anderson was the bowler on that occasion, but the wicket was one of the Lancashire paceman’s few successes as his four overs went for a mammoth 54 runs. Both Benkenstein and opener Mustard inflicted considerable damage, before Plunkett and Will Smith plundered 25 runs off the final over of the innings.With one-day matches against Sri Lanka looming, the England selectors will be hoping Anderson rediscovers his best form in the shorter forms of the game soon.

Ian Blackwell has signed a two year extension to his playing contract with Durham

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2011Ian Blackwell has signed a two year extension to his playing contract with Durham. Blackwell, 33, moved to Durham after a nine-year spell with Somerset in 2009 and has since consistently contributed with the bat and ball in all formats of the game.”I’ve really enjoyed playing in such a competitive side especially having really settled at the club during my time here,” said Blackwell.”There’s real ambition within the squad and after winning the Championship once with Durham already I definitely want to be making even more of an impact as we look to secure more success over the coming years.”Blackwell was named Durham’s Player of the Year at the end of his first season with the county after helping them to defend their Championship title with 801 runs at 40.05 and 43 wickets at 23.53.He then received their Bowler of The Year Award in 2010 and currently averages over fifty in this season’s County Championship in addition to taking 20 wickets.”Ian has been a great addition to the team over the past three seasons, producing match winning performances and contributing to Durham’s continued development on the field,” added Head Coach Geoff Cook.”We’re pleased that he has decided to commit to the club for another two years, not only for his performances on the field but for his spin expertise which he can share with our younger players as the club plan for the long term future.”

Ruhuna trumped Wayamba in the eliminator after a tie, and booked their place in the qualifier stage of the Champions League to be held in India later in the year

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2011

Scorecard
Thilina Kandamby’s half-century was in vain•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The final of the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament at the Premadasa Stadium turned out to be a thriller that was decided by the one-over eliminator. Ruhuna trumped Wayamba in the eliminator after a tie, and booked their place in the qualifier stage of the Champions League to be held in India later in the year.Opting to bat, Ruhuna lost some early wickets but opener Mahela Udawatte held firm, making 65 off 47 and controlling the innings from one end. He ceded the floor to Janaka Gunaratne when the pair got together at 51 for 3. Gunaratne was unstoppable, launching six sixes in his 83 that came off just 42 balls. He added 93 with Udawatte and 36 with Shaluka Karunanayake to propell his team to 198.There are several Sri Lankan internationals in the Wayamba line-up, the most experienced of them all, Mahela Jayawardene, fell cheaply in the chase. But Thilan Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby, who was left out of the home series against Australia, struck half-centuries to lead a strong reply. Samaraweera opened the batting and made 57 in 37 while Kandamby struck four sixes in his 60. A crucial contribution came from Indika de Saram, who blitzed his way to an unbeaten 46 and levelled the scores even as offspinner Suraj Randiv grabbed three wickets in the final over.Randiv bagged a wicket off the penultimate ball but wicketkeeper de Saram smashed a boundary off the final ball to make it 198. His effort, however, went in vain, as Wayamba managed just six in their one over. Ruhuna chased it down off the penultimate ball to seal victory.

Quietly and unobtrusively Michael Beer has bolstered his knowledge of spin bowling on the subcontinent across his first three days of cricket in Sri Lanka

Daniel Brettig at P Sara Oval27-Aug-2011Quietly and unobtrusively, Michael Beer has bolstered his knowledge of spin bowling on the subcontinent across his first three days of cricket in Sri Lanka. Beer is a man of few words, but his left-arm orthodox vocabulary was handily expanded in the drawn tour game against Sri Lanka Board XI.While his counterpart Nathan Lyon also had his moments, not least on the final day when Thilan Samaraweera was lured into giving his wicket away in a flurry of aggressive strokes, Beer’s ability to keep the batsmen quiet and draw variable degrees of turn and bounce from the P Sara Oval pitch will have heartened the tour selectors more than his figures of 2 for 42 and 0 for 39 might suggest.Australia’s plans around spin bowling have been generally less imaginative without the genius of Shane Warne, and Beer’s ability to bowl reliably – plus his greater amount of time in the Australian team dressing room – lends itself to selection for the first Test in Galle.”It was good, I enjoyed it. The first day was a bit hot but I enjoyed being out in my first real experience of subcontinental conditions,” Beer said. “I think the way the game was played I think everyone in the team benefited, especially myself bowling on day one and day three.”It was a trial to different batsmen, the way they play, they train differently to us from a young age, and that is definitely something. Also just try a few things in different conditions. It’s totally different to the WACA but it’s something where you vary your pace, you see what works and you go from there.”I feel more settled. I feel part of the group. I’ve wanted to help Trent [Copeland] and Nathan as they’ve come in, it’s the sort of group where it’s very easy to settle into, they’re great guys and good fun to be around.”In each innings Beer began a little sluggishly before growing into his work, spinning the ball more as his fingers warmed to the task and gaining the occasional instance of bite out of the footmarks. Since learning of his selection for the tour, Beer has sought as much advice as possible while also running his eyes over plenty of footage of the Sri Lankan batsmen, and of matches played in Galle, Kandy and Colombo.”We’ve done a lot of homework on their big players and all the way through to some of the blokes who played here that might play during the Test match,” Beer said. “We’ll do a lot of research and just back ourselves, back what we’ve been working on and hopefully do our job. I’ve definitely tried to speak to as many people as possible back home, and I’ve watched a lot of footage of games here, I’ve used that for research.”Beer and Lyon have taken similarly hard-working paths to the Test squad, playing plenty of lower grade cricket before being recognised at a higher level. They first met at an off-season spin summit and have similarly laconic gaits.”A couple of years ago we were both at the spin camp together,” Beer said. “I just got contracted and I knew SA were talking to him, we were both in a similar situation, both came from different sorts of surroundings, playing lower cricket and working our way up. I definitely respect that and saw him play his first Shield game at the WACA and he bowled really well in that. He’s a great bowler and got a lot to offer.”