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A wrap of the third day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group A

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2012
ScorecardYet another five-wicket haul for Pankaj Singh•Rajasthan Cricket Association

Punjab gave themselves a chance of winning their fifth game of the season – no side has won more than two – but before that, Uday Kaul gave them the first-innings lead as he added 31 with the last man Sarabjit Ladda. Punjab began the day on 227 for 7, still well behind Gujarat’s 266. They were 237 for 9 when Ladda, playing his first first-class game in two years, joined Kaul, who pushed Punjab to 268 before falling to Rush Kalaria on 93. Ladda then picked up four wickets as Gujarat, on the lookout for quick runs to try and force a result, were dismissed for 232. Manprit Juneja led the way with 79, but he had little support. It was left to Kalaria’s unbeaten 33 to drag Gujarat from 148 for 7 to set Punjab a chase of 231 on the final day.
ScorecardMumbai took the first-innings lead in Indore against Madhya Pradesh but slowed down considerably in their second innings despite desperately needing to push for an outright win. Ajit Agarkar struck early in the morning to remove Satyam Choudhary when MP resumed on 191 for 5 but Harpreet Singh and Ankit Sharma resisted. Abhishek Nayar, as he has done through the season, delivered the crucial wicket of Harpreet, bowling him with an inswinger which the batsman left alone. A couple of poor decisions brought the end of the MP innings on 244, giving Mumbai a lead of 60. With Kaustubh Pawar steady at one end, Aditya Tare and then Wasim Jaffer made quick runs, but Mumbai got stuck after the duo fell. Hiken Shah took 75 balls to make 18 and Suryakumar Yadav 28 to make 5. Ishwar Pandey was again among the wickets after his six-for in the first innings.
ScorecardFourteen wickets went down in Hyderabad as Railways collapsed from a strong position and Hyderabad limped past 100 in their second innings. Railways, on 145 for 2 at the start of the day, were dealt twin blows by Ashish Reddy, who dismissed the captain Sanjay Bangar and Nitin Bhille. Offspinner Amol Shinde took over after that, taking five of the remaining six wickets as Railways crumbled to 213. Hyderabad had a big lead in the bag, but it was now the turn of the Railways spinners. Karan Sharma and Murali Kartik took five wickets between them after Anureet Singh struck with the second ball of the Hyderabad innings. Hyderabad closed on 130 for 6, but their overall lead was a healthy 254.
ScorecardPankaj Singh’s 17th five-wicket haul in 67 first-class games helped Rajasthan take a decent lead against Suarashtra and fifties from Sourabh Chouhan and Vineet Saxena gave the visitors a target of 306 in Jaipur. Saurashtra began on 213 for 7 in reply to Rajasthan’s 299 and Pankaj needed less than four overs to dismiss the remaining three batsmen. He bowled Kamlesh Makvana for his overnight score of 54, and did the same to Sandip Maniar. Chouhan retired on 6, and Rajasthan lost the captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar for a duck when he was bowled by Maniar. First-innings centurion Ashok Menaria came in and made a breezy 46. Chouhan returned to join Saxena after Menaria fell and was seventh man out with the score on 220. Rajasthan declared on 234 for 9, and Saurashtra reached 11 for no loss at stumps.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said his side is undaunted by the return of Australia’s captain and several of their other key players for the third ODI in Brisbane

Andrew Fernando17-Jan-2013Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said his side is undaunted by the return of Australia’s captain and several of their other key players for the third ODI in Brisbane, and is confident Sri Lanka can maintain the momentum earned with their eight-wicket victory in Adelaide on Sunday.Michael Clarke sat out the first two games as he recovered from a hamstring strain, while David Warner was also rested for the first two ODIs. Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson were also left out for the second ODI in Adelaide, and will likely return for Friday’s match at the Gabba.Sri Lanka suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of what was held by some to be an Australia ‘B’ team in Melbourne, before they rebounded to level the series comfortably. But Jayawardene said it would be his side’s good form in Australia in recent years that has Sri Lanka believing they can achieve a series win. The teams have played each other in 12 ODIs in Australia since 2010, and Sri Lanka have won on seven of those occasions.”It’s good to have Davy [Warner] and Michael back, but we’ll prepare the same way,” Jayawardene said. “When we played them last year, we had a good outing against them. We just need to change our game plan a little bit and execute those plans to those guys.”Jayawardene said a turnaround from the bowlers had been key to his side’s impressive second performance, where they dismissed Australia for 170 on a seam-friendly pitch. Sri Lanka have three allrounders in their preferred XI in addition to three frontline bowlers, and also have the offspin of Tillakaratne Dilshan at their disposal, giving Jayawardene seven reliable bowling options in all.”In Melbourne, we were not up to standard. Especially with the ball – we bowled too many four balls. In Adelaide we had a bit more help from the surface and we bowled good areas and created opportunities. If we can keep up that pressure with the spinners we have and the allrounders, we have a well-balanced side. Even though we are missing players through injury, and are fiddling around a little with our line-up, we’re pretty comfortable.”Sri Lanka are unsure about the fitness of Dinesh Chandimal, who sustained a hamstring strain in the course of making a half-century in the first ODI. Chandimal missed the Adelaide match, with reserve keeper Kushal Janith Perera stepping in, and had not yet returned to full fitness on the eve of the Brisbane match.”We haven’t decided on an XI because we want to give Dinesh another 24 hours to see how he pulls up. He did bat yesterday and had a few run-throughs, and he pulled up pretty well. We just wanted to give him a little more time. Kushal kept wickets pretty well and batted pretty well, but we’ll make the final call when we see the pitch, and we can decide if we need to change our combination with the bowling attack.”Jayawardene has also been a vocal critic of the new ODI rule that only allows four fielders outside the 30-yard circle at any time in the match, and his opinion on the issue had not changed since his side played the first match under the new regulations in October last year.”I’m not a big fan of the new rule. I thought the last product we had was pretty decent. The two new balls gives the quicks a bit more venom – which is great, but the downside with the field restrictions is that the spinners are taken away from the game. It’s challenging, but I think it’s restricting the bowlers more and the batsmen are having a free hand.”

Lou Vincent, the New Zealand batsman, has announced his retirement from all cricket via Twitter

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2013Lou Vincent, the New Zealand batsman, has announced his retirement from all cricket. He made the announcement on Monday evening via Twitter.
An occasional wicketkeeper, Vincent, 34, played 23 Tests and 102 ODIs for New Zealand, the last of which was in December 2007. Then he signed with the now defunct Indian Cricket League – by joining the unsanctioned Twenty20 league, he was temporarily barred from playing for New Zealand and lost his central contract. He followed up with a stint in English county cricket, and later played domestic Twenty20 cricket in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, apart from turning out for Auckland on the New Zealand domestic circuit.Vincent battled depression during the course of his career, which he had to monitor through medication. The condition, he had said, affected his “hunger for cricket” at one of his lower points.He had a brilliant start to Test cricket in 2001, scoring 104 and 54 while opening the innings in Perth, against an Australian attack that included Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shane Warne. However, consistency eluded him in his career and he finished with 1332 runs at 34.15. His highest score of 224 came against Sri Lanka in April 2005 in Wellington, in a Test New Zealand won by an innings.In ODIs, Vincent finished with 2413 runs at 27.11. He played 98 first-class games and 220 List A games in all. His last competitive cricket was in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League, for Khulna Royal Bengals.

Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinner, has been added to the Bangladesh squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2013Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinner, has been added to the Bangladesh squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka.Razzak, 30, is among the most experienced players for Bangladesh in the limited-overs formats but has not been a regular in the Test side. His last Test came in August 2011, when Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in Harare.”We received a request from the Bangladesh team management in Sri Lanka and according to their requirement Razzak has been included in the side,” Akram Khan, Bangladesh’s chief selector, said.Razzak will join the squad on Monday, in Galle where the first of two Tests is currently taking place.Meanwhile, another senior bowler, Mashrafe Mortaza said he was worried about the slow recovery from an ankle injury, though he didn’t rule out playing the ODI series that begins on March 23. “I still want to wait for another four-five days but right now the recovery has taken more time than I would have liked,” he said.Mashrafe suffered the injury during the BPL final, when he also hurt his heel after taking the first wicket. He continued playing in the game, but afterwards had to go through a rehabilitation process which was expected to last three weeks.

Despite a spirited chase by Lions, Titans won by seven runs in a tight contest in Centurion

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2013
ScorecardAn all-round performance from Albie Morkel – vital lower-order runs and top-order wickets – helped Titans clinch a seven-run victory against Lions in a tight contest in Centurion. Seamer Alfonso Thomas, who contributed to the win by bowling a crucial spell – 2 for 28 – became the highest wicket-taker in Twenty20s.Chasing 179, Lions were kept on course by Quinton de Kock, who anchored the innings with a 40-ball 73. After losing the first two wickets to successive Morkel deliveries with the score on 41, de Kock led his team to 121 in 14 overs, before becoming Morkel’s third wicket. Neil McKenzie was run out next ball and Lions began to lose their way.Needing 23 off the last two overs, Tanvir helped Lions score 12 runs in the 19th over. Thomas, however, took two wickets and conceded only three runs in the final over to secure victory for Titans. Lions still occupied the top spot in the points table, with Titans second after this win.Solid top-order batting had helped Titans put up a big score, after they had lost the toss. Although opener Jacques Rudolph departed early, a 62-run partnership off 38 balls between Henry Davids, who top scored with a half-century, and Roelof van der Merwe, laid the foundation. Towards the end, Morkel smashed a 22-ball 40, with three fours and two sixes, to lift his side’s total to 178 for 5.

Rory Hamilton-Brown is hoping a more caring environment at Hove can help him begin a new phase of his career on Wednesday when he is expected to return to Sussex colours in their opening match of the new season at Headingley.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2013Rory Hamilton-Brown is hoping a more caring environment at Hove can help him begin a new phase of his career on Wednesday when he is expected to return to Sussex colours in their opening match of the new season at Headingley.Hamilton-Brown, 25, has said he needed to leave The Oval, where he had been club captain, after a desperately difficult year in which his team-mate and best friend Tom Maynard was killed. He was one of the last people to see Maynard alive and gave evidence at his inquest in February.”I needed to play in a place where I felt like people cared about you and they wanted you around,” he told the “Ultimately I think that kind of care and love when you go through tough times brings the best out of you. It’s easy when you go through a time like that to feel quite isolated and alone.”Having began his career with three years at Sussex, Hamilton-Brown will hope to again display the talent that saw him taken to Surrey by Chris Adams and made the youngest captain in the country, trying to put the tragic events of last year behind him.He attempted a return to the Surrey first XI in August, something he now realises was a mistake. “I was disappointed to be brought back and dropped and brought back and left out, but ultimately I should never have played in the first place,” he said. “Mentally I had a lot going on and I was not able to get myself in the place I was before the tragic incident. There was no way I should have been on a cricket field, but I wanted to try it and see what I could do.”Hamilton-Brown averaged 46.55 in first-class cricket with two centuries in seven matches during his first stint at Sussex and hopes the memory of Maynard will inspire him to fulfil his potential. “Undoubtedly a little part of me wants to think that I’m carrying him with me,” he said. “And that’s going to give you a deeper, harder drive than I’ve had before.”I’ve been on a road of discovery, which has been brilliant in some ways, but I’m really looking forward to being back on the pitch. It’s not going to be something you’re going to get over overnight – it’s not something you ever get over – but for me it was imperative that I went away and had a look at myself, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and the rest of my career.”

There has long been chatter over Chris Jordan’s international allegiance, but it has somehow never really felt relevant – a topic best reserved for a rainy day

Tim Wigmore at Hove02-May-2013
ScorecardChris Jordan’s early-season form shows no sign of abating•Getty Images

There has long been chatter over Chris Jordan’s international allegiance, but it has somehow never really felt relevant – a topic best reserved for a rainy day. But as the sun shone at Hove, the subject of whether he would sooner play for England or the West Indies felt rather more than a time-passing hypothetical.Warwickshire have a formidable fast bowling trio in Chris Woakes, Chris Wright and Boyd Rankin, but Jordan has so far outshone them all. His downhill spell (which began on the first evening) with the second new ball – 15-3-39-4 – contained sustained pace, bounce and movement both ways. A ball that left Jonathan Trott just enough to claim his edge and deny him a century stood out.That he was denied his third five-wicket haul of the season owed only to two dropped chances off his bowling – Woakes was reprieved by Rory Hamilton-Brown in the gully on 4 – but his season’s work now amounts to 17 wickets at 18 apiece.Both the English and West Indian selectors may be interested to learn that Jordan refuses to commit to any country. He has played for Barbados over the last two years. “I just want to keep putting performances in for Sussex and obviously if international honours come on the back of that I’d be more than happy,” he said.His multifarious cricketing talents – Jordan is also an excellent slip-fielder – will become even more enticing if he can make good on Sussex coach Mark Robinson’s assertion that “he’s got 850 Championship runs in him if he applies himself.”The vigour of Jordan’s Sussex start prompts the question of whether the club’s old-fashioned TLC is the salient contrast with his Surrey career, in which he failed to match the 20 wickets of his 2007 breakthrough season. “I’m definitely getting a bit more playing time so that’s probably a change,” he said. “Since I’ve been here everyone has helped me settle off the field quite quickly which has in turn helped me to get on with my game on the field… If there’s any difference it’s probably that.”The ideal foil for Jordan – Steve Magoffin’s parsimony and tenacity – was also on the field for Sussex. Unfortunately it was only to receive his Sussex Player of the Year award for last season, though he should return from injury for Sussex’s next game.Woakes took advantage of his absence in a well-crafted 72 that may reinvigorate one of the cricketing Twitterati’s favourite debates: could he bat at No. 7 for England? He will face better bowling attacks on more difficult tracks than this, but Woakes has an authority and range of shots that suggests he could replicate his considerable county success – he averaged 71 last season and 75 so far in this – at international level.Not everyone agrees. After a couple of particularly well timed off drives, a pair of supporters engaged in the seemingly obligatory Woakes allrounder debate. “More Derek Pringle than Ian Botham” one pithily concluded. So that was that, even as Woakes launched Monty Panesar over long-on for six. Panesar, bowling with a little more flight than the opening day, soon dismissed him attempting a repeat.Like his team-mates, Woakes was unable to extract as much from the wicket as Jordan. Typically frugal, he had the misfortune of encountering Luke Wells in one of his unyielding moods. Accumulating in an undemonstrative manner and timing the ball particularly sweetly on the legside, Wells batted as serenely as he had in registering 208 at The Oval last week.It was a matter of surprise when he almost fell to a sharp return catch to Jeetan Patel. After a century stand that oozed inevitability, his opening partner Chris Nash had earlier been dismissed in Chris Wright’s impressive end-of-day spell, William Porterfield parrying the ball onto Varun Chopra in the slips.Had Sussex shown similar juggling ability in the field – they dropped three chances in all, including Trott on 1 – they might have aspirations of victory. Instead the spectre of further “attritional cricket”, as Robinson put it, looms.

Zaka Ashraf has been suspended as PCB chairman by the Islamabad High Court. The court heard a petition on Tuesday against the Pakistan board’s elections, which were held earlier this month, and ruled that the election was unconstitutional

Umar Farooq28-May-2013The Islamabad High Court has ordered the suspension of Zaka Ashraf, the head of Pakistan’s cricket board, over what it called the “dubious” and “polluted” process to elect him.Ashraf, the PCB chairman, was ordered to “refrain from exercising his power within his incumbency” till the court’s next hearing on June 13.The court was responding to a petition filed by a former Rawalpindi Cricket Association official against the Pakistan board’s elections that were held earlier this month – through which Ashraf was elected to a four-year term as chairman.”The petitioner has a good arguable case in his favour, as entire process of election of PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf appeared to be motivated and polluted,” Justice Shaukat Siddiqui said.PCB’s legal representative Tafuzul Rizvi in response told ESPNcricinfo that the board will assist the court during the next hearing. “We will present the facts before the court and after that any decision will be followed in letter and spirit,” Rizvi said.The board of governors meeting and the AGM that was scheduled to take place in Karachi on May 28 and 29 has been postponed in wake of the court’s decision. The board however will continue to function without a chairman in the interim.In more bad news for the PCB, five top regional associations – Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad and Sialkot – have also revolted against Ashraf, alleging a fallacious electoral process. The five associations, presently dismissed by the PCB, constituted an interim committee to run the city associations.There are two more petitions relating to the election pending against the PCB – one in the Lahore High Court, and the other in the Sindh High Court that was filed by former wicketkeeper Rashid Latif. The petition in the Sindh High Court is scheduled to come up for hearing on Wednesday.Ashraf was elected in the first week of May, under the new PCB constitution that replaced the system of appointing the PCB chairman by the patron of the board, the president of Pakistan. It was the first election of a PCB chairman.He was one of the two candidates – the other being former Lahore Stock Exchange chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan – recommended by the patron and then interviewed by the nomination committee. The committee then unanimously recommended Ashraf for the chairman’s post, before the board of governors unanimously endorsed him.As per the new constitution, the board of governors was restructured to include ten members – five regional representatives on the basis of rotation and five representatives of service organisations and departments – with voting rights. Of the ten, PCB was able to appoint nine, all of whom voted in favour of Ashraf’s nomination. However, there was no representation from Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province with 60% of country’s population, while two new regions without any first-class team – Larkana and Dera Murad Jamali – were drafted in to the board.The process was conducted without any prior announcement, the PCB revealing the appointment through a press release.The PCB’s new constitution was produced as a result of the 2011 ICC directive, which required that its member boards become autonomous and free of interference from governments by June 2013. Removal of government interference had also been one of the Woolf report recommendations approved by the ICC. However, in November 2012, the ICC said it was reviewing its stance against government involvement in the administration of cricket.Ashraf has been the PCB’s chairman since 2011, previously working under the old constitution, under which he was appointed for an indefinite period by the patron, President Asif Ali Zardari.

George Dockrell’s fifth five-wicket haul and incisive opening burst from Max Sorensen ripped through the Netherlands batting order to give Ireland a thumping 279-run win with one day to spare in Deventer.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew White’s calm 62 helped Ireland set a formidable target of 407 against Netherlands•ICC/Sander Tholen

George Dockrell’s fifth five-wicket haul and an incisive opening burst from Max Sorensen ripped through the Netherlands batting order to give Ireland a thumping 279-run win with one day to spare in the Intercontinental Cup match in Deventer.Facing a stiff target of 407 runs, the home side lost opener Lesley Stokkers off the second ball of the innings. Sorensen, who claimed Stokkers, accounted for opener Eric Szwarczynski as well, reducing Netherlands to 9 for 2 in the fifth over. Switching his ends, Sorensen has more success when James Gruijters shouldered arms to an inswinger that brushed his pads and clattered his stumps.Dockrell dismissed Tom Cooper and wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi in his second and third over respectively. With half the opposition dismissed, Ireland captain Kevin O’Brien kept Dockrell on at one end and the left-arm spinner provided rich returns, claiming four of the next five wickets. Netherlands captain Peter Borren was only one of four men to reach double figures, top scoring with 33.Dockrell had No. 10 Quirijn Gunning edging to slip to end up with 6 for 39 in the innings, which, along with three wickets in the first innings, gave him career-best figures of 9 for 71.Ireland, who were on 68 for 4 overnight, stretched the lead past 400 after a composed half-century, that included five fours, from Andrew White, who forged a crucial 61-run stand with wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter. An aggressive John Mooney joined White after Poynter’s fall and dominated their 73-run partnership with six fours and a six. Both batsmen were dismissed before lunch but Ireland batted through and declared fifteen balls after the interval.

T&T captain Dwayne Bravo has said he trusted in Delorn Johnson’s variations and his ability to deliver under pressure and it paid off as he defended 19 runs off the final over against Antigua Hawksbills on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2013Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel captain Dwayne Bravo placed faith in Delorn Johnson, who had bowled only one over till then, to defend 19 off the final six balls in a rain-curtailed match, and it paid off as they beat Antigua Hawksbills by one run to record their second win in five matches in the Caribbean Premier League.Johnson, the left-arm seamer, was given the ball ahead of fast bowler Fidel Edwards and Bravo himself, the latter having picked up two wickets as well.”I think it was a tactical judgment on my behalf to let the slower bowler, the one with more variations, bowl the last over,” Bravo said. “In our last two games he [Johnson] was our best bowler and he has a lot of variations and different balls in terms of slower ball, short balls, he can bowl full, wide and yorkers and then Edwards bowls fast-paced yorkers, so with an Australian [Ben Rohrer] at the wicket, I believed he would have been more comfortable facing Edwards in terms of using his pace.”Johnson Charles’ rapid 46 off 28 balls, with four fours and four sixes allowed Rohrer, who had been at the crease since the sixth over, to settle and his 28 off 23 balls ensured Antigua were always in with a chance. He hoisted Sulieman Benn for a straight six in the 13th over and sent Kevon Cooper to the point boundary in the next to reduce the equation to 19 off the last over – the 15th, which began with Sheldon Cotterrell slamming Johnson straight over his head.”When the first ball went for six, I did not panic,” Bravo said. “Two balls and eight runs, I told him that this ball, the fifth ball was the most important ball. I asked him to bowl a wide yorker which he did and hence the reason why I had so much faith in him because he has so many variations and I trust that under pressure situations, he can deliver.”Bravo was confident the win was the beginning of a turnaround for his side, with his batsmen also beginning to find form. Bravo had top-scored with a 25-ball 46, which included four sixes, while his brother Darren and opener Adrian Barath had identical scores of 38. Despite the victory, T&T have to win both their remaining matches, against St Lucia Zouks and Jamaica Tallawahs, to qualify for the semi-finals.”Our last two games were pressure games and it was like finals for us and for the guy to come out and perform after three losses it shows that the team has a lot of character and fight and that the guys are hungry for success,” Bravo said.