All posts by h716a5.icu

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, has said he changed a winning line-up for Monday’s match to play to the team’s strengths

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2012Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, has said he changed a winning line-up for Monday’s match to play to the team’s strengths. Pakistan had won the second game but, after replacing fast bowler Sohail Tanvir with Shahid Afridi in a four-spinner attack, lost the final match in Sharjah and also a chance to record their first ODI-series victory over Australia in ten years.”Spinners are our strength. Moreover, everyone knows that the Sharjah track is slow and so opposition players struggle against spin, so we went in with only one pacer,” Misbah said after the final ODI. Afridi had missed the second ODI due to a back injury but the decision to recall him backfired, with Afridi failing to contribute much with both bat and ball – he was out for 7 off 6 balls after being promoted to No. 3 in wake of Pakistan’s solid opening stand, and then conceded 62 in his ten overs without picking up a wicket.Misbah said: “I’ve already said that [bringing in Afridi] was because we wanted to strengthen our spin department, and he bowled okay in the first game. So that is why we just brought him in and went in with one fast bowler. [When batting] we promoted him up the order so that he could get some time to settle in, but unfortunately he could not get runs.”Offspinner Saeed Ajmal was the most potent of the Pakistan bowlers, at one point his bowling figures reading 5-1-11-3. He could have had Michael Hussey, Australia’s top-scorer, out without scoring when the batsman got caught in front of middle and leg deep in the crease to one that skidded in. But umpire Billy Bowden turned down the appeal and Pakistan didn’t call for a referral. That, Misbah said, was an error in judgement. “That was a big mistake,” he said. “We couldn’t agree on a decision to take the review, and in the end it proved very costly.”Pakistan’s fielding, once again let them down. In the ninth over, Afridi put down David Hussey at mid-on – he leapt well enough to get both hands to the ball, but could not hold on – on 22, and the batsman doubled his score. In the 45th, Azhar Ali dropped a simple chance at deep midwicket to give Glenn Maxwell, who eventually took Australia home, a life.However, Misbah said, it was not just their fielding that needed improving. “I think we have to improve in every department of the game, especially [with regards to] finding the right combination of fast bowlers – an area in which we are really struggling.”Also, we have to improve our batting. At important stages of the game we collapse while batting. We have to improve [our batting in the Powerplays] because if you keep losing wickets in Powerplays, that is only going in favour of the other team. We have to understand that Powerplay are only for the set batsman out there; they can play the Powerplay just like Nasir [Jamshed] and [Mohammad] Hafeez did – they took full advantage of the bowling Powerplay, that is the way we have to play the batting Powerplay also.In Monday’s game, though, given the conditions Pakistan’s batsmen did decently, Misbah said. “The bigger difference [than the dew] was the behaviour of the pitch and also the outfield. Edges off even spinners went for boundaries [in Australia’s innings], but when we batted the ball wasn’t traveling. Even if we played the fast bowler to fine leg and third man, it was not going to the boundary.”I think, also, the wicket was slow in the first innings; it was not easy because ball would stop and come. So whenever a new batsman went in, it was tough for him: the ball was reversing and also stopping, and Australia also used variations effectively. I feel our score, according to the conditions, was good. If we played a bit more well [in the field], I think it was a good total and we held the match if we got a few more early wickets.”

Les Smith at Headingley06-Sep-2012
ScorecardAdam Lyth scored 145 runs in the match•Getty ImagesYorkshire cruised to a second successive victory in the County Championship to leave themselves poised for a final promotion push next week at Chelmsford. Their target of 111 never looked like a challenge, and they knocked them off for the loss of two wickets at 4.45pm on the third day.While a revitalised Adam Lyth’s 145 runs in the match leap off the scorecard, it would be short sighted to ignore the tremendous contribution of Steven Patterson, whose name, according to Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale, “has been first on the team sheet all year”. It has not been difficult to see why over the course of three days during which he has taken 8 for 96, his consistency underlined by his almost identical figures in the two Glamorgan innings, and his contribution to a crucial ninth wicket partnership with Ryan Sidebottom.Glamorgan resumed this morning on 29 for 2, Steven Patterson having landed two damaging blows towards the end of the evening session on Wednesday. They moved on with apparent comfort for the first 40 minutes of the day, playing on a pitch which had lost much of the green tint that characterised it previously, but then lost three wickets for one run. Will Bragg attempted to on drive Moin Ashraf but he missed and his leg stump performed cartwheels.The other overnight not out batsman, Stewart Walters, was the architect of his own demise in Ashraf’s next over, launching a big drive well away from his body and thick edging to wicketkeeper Andy Hodd. This punctuated the game’s most tense passage of play.Bragg’s dismissal brought David Lloyd out for his second innings in first class cricket. His first, on Tuesday, had lasted twelve minutes and eight balls before he was caught behind off Steven Patterson. This time he stayed for three minutes longer, the same number of balls, and fell to the same combination. This time there was little he could do about a ball that lifted and left him, and it was difficult not to feel sympathy for the young batsman as he made his forlorn way back to the pavilion with a pair on debut.The introduction of Anthony McGrath’s under-rated, economical bowling in Glamorgan’s first innings had brought two middle order wickets, and today he performed the trick again, trapping Ben Wright when he went neither forward or backward in front of his stumps. Meanwhile Jim Allenby was batting as assertively as he had, briefly, in the first innings, but he was two short of a merited half century when Ashraf knocked back his leg stump to collect his third wicket of the day.Graham Wagg and Mark Wallace added useful runs but Wallace fell to the first ball of a Sidebottom spell, and Wagg was last man out giving Hodd his eighth catch of the game behind the stumps – a good way to mark signing a permanent deal at Headingley.Yorkshire’s openers Joe Root and Adam Lyth raced to 49 for 0 by tea, Lyth dominating the scoring as he had done in the first innings. But Root did not last long after the interval, being trapped lbw by a full length John Glover delivery. Lyth went untroubled to 50, then inexplicably attempted to reverse sweep Dean Cosker’s left arm spin and was also lbw.Phil Jaques and Gary Ballance saw off the remaining 48 runs comfortably, and the 22 points that Yorkshire take from the match keep them firmly in contention for promotion from Division Two going into their last fixture against Essex next week, a game which Andrew Gale expects to be a tough one.As well as recognising Patterson’s importance to Yorkshire’s successes this year, Gale singled out Moin Ashraf’s “game-changing spell” this morning, and Lyth’s efforts with the bat. He acknowledged that Lyth has had “a rough time over the last couple of years, but in the last six weeks he’s really come into his own and shown what a class player is.”Whatever the size of the task facing Yorkshire next week, Gale said that a situation like this “is what you play cricket for and where we wanted to be at the start of the season.”

Jacques Kallis will play in the third Test in Perth if he is fit enough to bat and field, although he will definitely not bowl

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval26-Nov-2012Jacques Kallis will play in the third Test in Perth if he is fit enough to bat and field, although he will definitely not bowl. South Africa called up allrounder Ryan McLaren as cover but are hopeful Kallis will be ready to bat at No.4, even after it was revealed that he would have exacerbated his hamstring injury by batting in both innings to help save the Adelaide Test.Kallis batted nearly two hours in the first innings for 58, and for two and a half hours in the second to make 47. He came in at No. 9 and No. 7 and had match-saving partnerships with Faf du Plessis on each occasion.Not one to show much emotion, Kallis was in discomfort throughout his time at the crease and battled to run between the wickets. Still, he told team-mates the injury did not cause him even a fraction of the pain he had suffered during a century with a side strain against India in January 2011. Kallis was on the physiotherapist Brandon Jackson’s bench for many hours of this Test and will spend more time there in the next three days.”I know he [Kallis] is working hard with Jacko and I know he wants to be a part of Perth,” Graeme Smith said after his team drew the second Test. “He is definitely not going to bowl but he could play as a batter.”If Kallis plays purely as a batsman, South Africa’s strategy would be different to the one Australia employed with their allrounder Shane Watson. A calf injury had ruled Watson out of the first Test and team management had indicated he would be recalled for the second only if he could bat and bowl.South Africa also have top-order batsman Dean Elgar in the squad as a possible replacement for Kallis, but Smith said they had not made a decision about who will step in if necessary. “If he [Kallis] is not fit, we will deal with it in the same way we have dealt with the other things that have dealt us a curve ball in the series,” Smith said.South Africa had suffered a major blow when they lost JP Duminy to a ruptured Achilles’ tendon after the first day of the Brisbane Test. They had to play with ten men for the rest of the match and were short a spinner in the attack. They were dealt a less severe blow when Kallis left the field after bowling 3.3 overs in Adelaide. Although he could not bowl, Kallis was cleared to bat in both innings.The Kallis injury occurred a few hours after Vernon Philander had been ruled out of the second Test with lower-back spasms that he sustained overnight. Philander was expected to recover in time for the Perth Test but given the bad luck South Africa have had in Australia, Smith was reserved about clearing him to play. “He is bowling and we expect him to fully fit for Perth. When we toss the coin, I will tell you if everything is fine.”

A round-up of the latest round of matches of the Sunfoil Series 2012-13

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2012A career-best 154 and a match tally of five wickets by Johan van der Wath helped Knights secure an eight-wicket win in Bloemfontein, their first in the competition. The Dolphins put on a better batting performance in their second innings, but could only manage to set a target of 115, which the Knights chased easily.The Knights did a good job keeping the Dolphins to 221 on the opening day after winning the toss. The seamers, Van der wath, Dillon du Preez and Malusi Siboto shared the wickets, with Siboto taking 4 for 37. The main batsmen failed, and it was up to the lower-order duo of Kyle Abbott and Calvin Savage to add 65 to take the score past 200. The Knights were in a spot of bother on the second day at 108 for 6, before Werner Coetsee and van der Wath compiled the highest partnership of the match. Their stand of 161 was the turning point, as it set up a healthy first-innings lead for the Knights. After Coetsee departed for 69, van der Wath got useful support from the lower order. Shadley van Schalwyk frustrated Dolphins with 80 at No.10 and there was no respite either from the No.11 Siboto, who scored 41 to stretch the lead to 277. Van der Wath smashed 19 fours and three sixes in his 154.The Dolphins showed better resistance in the second innings, with half-centuries by Imraan Khan, Khayelihle Zondo, Daryn Smit and Abbott. The Dolphins were under pressure to save the game when they ended the penultimate day 25 behind with five wickets in hand. The lower order put on three successive fifty partnerships to keep Knights at bay, but were bowled out for 391. The Knights knocked off the required runs in under 30 overs and remained in third place.A seven-wicket haul by the seamer Ayabulela Gqamane sent Lions crashing to 59, helping the Warriors come back from an 80-run first-innings deficit, setting up a ten-wicket win at the Wanderers. Gqamane’s career-best 7 for 24 swung the game Warriors’ way and the game was over after lunch on day three.The Lions chose to bat and ended the opening day at 275 for 7, with the captain Stephen Cook scoring 95, Neil McKenzie 50 and Thami Tsolekile unbeaten on 64. Gqamane took 4 for 46, while Andrew Birch took 4 for 68 to bowl out the Lions for 315. Tsolekile remained unbeaten on 88.The Lions spinners, Imran Tahir and Edie Leie, jolted the Warriors top order to reduce them to 118 for 5. Christiaan Jonker and Simon Harmer added 81 for the sixth wicket before Zander de Bruyn wrapped up the innings for 235, giving the Lions a lead of 80. What followed was a stunning turnaround as Gqamane ran through the line-up in 10.4 overs to finish with his maiden ten-wicket haul. Only two batsmen passed double figures in the second innings.It left Warriors chasing 140, and they sailed home thanks to the opening pair of Davy Jacobs (84*) and Michael Price (49*).Cape Cobras retained their position at the top of the table with a ten-wicket win over Titans at Newlands in a three-day finish. Put in to bat, the Titans were rolled over for 192 on the opening day with Justin Kemp taking 5 for 45. The Titans were struggling at 47 for 5 before David Wiese and Roelof van der Merwe scored half-centuries. The Cobras openers, Andrew Puttick and Alistair Gray nearly matched the Titans’ first-innings score on their own. Their stand of 169 set the platform for a big score, and the second-wicket pair of Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl took the game further away from the Titans with a stand of 120. Puttick managed a century, but van Zyl and Gray fell short, scoring 91 and 84 respectively. Qaasim Adams and the lower order then took the score to 476 for 8 before the declaration, giving the Cobras a healthy lead of 284.There was more trouble for the Titans at the end of the second day, losing two early wickets in the face of a huge deficit. In the third morning, things got worse when Pieter Malan edged Johann Louw to third slip. Heino Kuhn and Jacques Rudolph resisted with fifties. Louw broke their stand of 88 and dismissed the pair to finish with 5 for 89. Beuran Hendricks took 4 for 73 as the Titans finished on 301 leaving the Cobras just 18 to chase.

Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade, the three key players rested for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka, will return for the next two games in Brisbane and Sydney

Brydon Coverdale14-Jan-2013Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade, the three key players rested for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka, will return for the next two games in Brisbane and Sydney. The allrounder Moises Henriques, who last played for Australia in India in 2009, has also been included, while the selectors dropped Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Ben Cutting and Kane Richardson. Brad Haddin, who picked up a hamstring injury during the second ODI, was also left out.The widespread changes were not surprising after the selectors named a squad devoid of stars for the opening two games, preferring to have Clarke, Warner and Wade rest following their Test duties, and with one eye on the upcoming Test tour of India. However, their return means Khawaja’s one-day opportunity was limited to one innings ended by a run-out at the MCG, while a number of other players have had to make way having had limited time in the middle.John Inverarity, the national selector, said it was always the intention of his panel to play Khawaja in the first game in Melbourne and Smith in the second match in Adelaide, and that both men had benefited from further time around the national squad. He said he had spoken to both Smith and Khawaja on Sunday night about their omissions and said the players had been pleased to have been given an opportunity in the first place.”They saw that with those players coming back there was a good chance they were going to be squeezed out,” Inverarity said. “They would prefer one game to no games. They received a very clear message. It’s not only playing the game, but being in the Australian squad for four or five days and the intensity of training and being there with Mickey Arthur and the other support staff, it’s a very good experience for them.”The one surprise in the squad for the third match in Brisbane on Friday and the fourth game in Sydney on Sunday was the inclusion of Henriques, who started the domestic summer in outstanding form. However, the decision does fit in with Inverarity’s preference for players with all-round skills, and with the view that a seam-bowling allrounder would be required, especially at the Gabba.”We certainly need allrounders,” Inverarity said. “We’re really trying to groom Glenn Maxwell as a spin-bowling allrounder and obvious interest there for India. Mitchell Marsh was in the frame some time ago but he’s injured. Moises Henriques has been on the horizon for some years now, and this is his opportunity. We really hope that he will come on as a seam-bowling allrounder.”I saw him bat at the WACA when he made 78 in the Ryobi Cup and then 78 in the Shield match and he batted superbly. Then he went to Sydney and made 150 and 50 not out in the next game. Also when I saw him bowl in Perth he bowled very well, too. So he’s got a lot of talent. We hope that he performs and we want consistent performance from him.”Maxwell retained his place in the squad despite having done little with the bat or ball during the first two games, although his fielding had been excellent. Inverarity said the selectors rated Maxwell extremely highly and that he was viewed as a batsman who could provide some useful overs, not a frontline spinner, although his bowling had improved since he played for Australia A against the South Africans in early November.”When he gets an opportunity he’s showing signs of improving,” Inverarity said. “He’s not a frontline spinner, he’s a batsman who bowls. As I’ve said many times we are looking for batsmen who can bowl decently. With Dilshan in the Sri Lankan side he’s an opening batsman and bowls very decent offspinners. You need your four bowlers and you need some of your batsmen who can give you some decent overs. That’s where we’re trying to develop Glenn Maxwell.”The inclusion of allrounders is all the more important with the continued absence of Shane Watson. When he returns from his calf injury, Watson will be playing as a specialist batsman only and Inverarity said the selectors were hoping he would have a chance to play Sheffield Shield cricket towards the end of this month, but his availability for any of the limited-overs games this summer remained uncertain.”We’ll just wait and see when Shane is fit to play and then he will come under consideration,” Inverarity said. “But we’re certainly hoping he’ll be fit by the end of this month. In the last three or four days I haven’t heard how he’s progressing. We’ll have to see that. We’re really hoping that he’ll be ready for the Sheffield Shield match which I think starts on the 24th of January, and then we’ll go from there. It will be terrific if he’s available, but I don’t know yet if he’ll be likely or not.”There is also uncertainty over how long Haddin will have to sit out after suffering a hamstring injury during the loss to Sri Lanka in Adelaide on Sunday. Haddin top scored for Australia with 50 but during Sri Lanka’s chase, handed the wicketkeeping gloves to Phillip Hughes and left the field. Australia might take two wicketkeepers on the Test tour of India next month and the selectors are hopeful Haddin will be back in action soon.”We don’t know exactly. I saw Brad last night and again at the airport this morning. We’re hoping it’s not too serious,” Inverarity said. “We’re hoping it’s a couple of weeks and nothing more than that. There is a real chance we’ll take two wicketkeepers to India and/or to England. As I’ve said before the two we consider the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the country are he and Matthew Wade.”Cricket Australia also announced that the fielding coach Steve Rixon would stand in as head coach over the next few days and during the ODI in Brisbane on Friday to allow Mickey Arthur a break during the team’s busy summer. Arthur will spend a few days with his family in Perth before returning to coaching duties for the fourth ODI in Sydney on Sunday.Australia squad David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, David Hussey, Matthew Wade (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty.

A round-up of the QEA Trophy matches that ended on January 16

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2013Group 1Quetta routed Peshawar by an innings and 171 runs inside three days at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.After being sent into bat, Quetta posted a formidable first-innings score, with Ali Asad making an unbeaten 210 and the captain Taimur Ali scoring 120. It was Ali Asad’s highest first-class score, and Taimur’s third hundred in 53 matches. Quetta declared on 483 for 8 on the second day.Peshawar ended that day on 70 for 4 in their first innings and collapsed to 117 all out in 41.3 overs on the third. Naved Khan was the only batsman to make more than 20 as Gohar Faiz took career best figures of 5 for 39 for Quetta. Peshawar had been 51 for 1 at one stage so they lost nine wickets for 66 runs.They fared only marginally better in the follow-on. Arun Lal took 5 for 69 for Quetta as they dismissed Peshawar for 195 in 41.2 overs. Gauhar Ali scored a run a ball 59 but with little support from his team-mates Peshawar slid surely towards a huge defeat.An unbeaten century from Majid Jahangir led Sialkot to a nine-wicket victory against Islamabad on the fourth day in Lahore. Chasing a target of 209, Jahangir made 112 and Faisal Khan scored an unbeaten 68 to help Sialkot get to victory in the 48th over.Sialkot’s fourth innings score of 212 for 1 was markedly different from the other three batting efforts. After choosing to bowl, Sialkot had taken the upper hand by dismissing Islamabad for 193 in 71.3 overs. Islamabad were struggling at 123 for 6 before Imad Wasim’s unbeaten 70 helped them add 70 more. Nayyer Abbas took 4 for 27 for Sialkot.Sialkot’s advantage was quickly neutralised, though, when Islamabad had them tottering at 75 for 7, with Nasrullah Khan and Iftikhar Anjum cutting through the top order. A brace of half-centuries from Abbas and Bilal Butt – a partnership of 103 for the eighth wicket – lifted them to 202. Iftikhar finished with 5 for 62.In their second innings, Islamabad lost a wicket before the deficit of 9 was erased, and two more when the lead was only 3. They then had a partnership of 89 for the fourth wicket and prospects were looking good. They slumped thereafter, though, losing wickets frequently to be dismissed in 76 overs for 217. Faizan Riaz and Wasim scored 51 and 50, while Ali Khan took 3 for 42.A target of 209 should have been challenging, considering the trend of the previous three innings, but Sialkot gunned for the loss of only one wicket.Multan earned three points for taking the first-innings lead in their drawn match against Lahore Ravi in Lahore.Multan made a poor start to their first innings after they were sent in to bat, and were struggling at 20 for 3. They were steadied by Shoaib Maqsood and their captain Naved Yasin, who added 176 for the fourth wicket. Maqsood scored 109, while Yasin made 80. They lost wickets in pairs thereafter, though, and were dismissed for 309 early on the second day. Adnan Rasool took 5 for 91 for Lahore Ravi.Lahore Ravi were coasting towards a first-innings lead, having reached 173 for 1 because of opener Irfan Haider’s half-century. They then lost two wickets on the same score and later on slipped from 220 for 3 to 248 all out. Rahat Ali took 5 for 44 and Zulfiqar Babar took 3 for 99 for Multan.Multan were more solid in their second innings, with the openers Usman Liaqat and Zeeshan Ashraf scoring half-centuries and the rest of the top order getting starts. They progressed to 252 for 5 – Ali Manzoor took four of those wickets for Lahore Ravi – before declaring 313 runs ahead.Lahore Ravi lost two early wickets in the chase but Ikhlaq Butt made 105 and Saadullah Gauri scored 62 to ensure there would be no outright defeat. They finished on 219 for 5 as the game was drawn.Group 2Mohtashim Ali and Fawad Alam scored centuries to help Karachi Whites earn first-innings points from a drawn match against Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium.Hyderabad had won the toss and decided to bat at home. They lost an early wicket but were steadied by opener Sharjeel Khan’s 64. Rizwan Ahmed made 105 at No. 4 but unfortunately for the hosts those were the only two innings of substance. Atif Maqbool took 5 for 97 for Karachi Whites to help them dismiss Hyderabad for 309.Karachi Whites had taken the lead, thanks to Mohtashim (121) and Alam, before they slipped from 312 for 4 to 322 for 7. Mohammad Sami scored 77 off 99 balls though and Alam remained unbeaten on 153 as Karachi Whites eventually declared on 496 for 8.Hyderabad slipped to 69 for 3 in their second innings before Rizwan Ahmed scored his second century of the match to prop them up. They ended on 277 for 6, with Maqbool and Faraz Ahmed taking three wickets each for Karachi Whites.Rawalpindi overcame a significant first-innings deficit to pull off a thrilling chase by two wickets against Faisalabad at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium.Faisalabad, after getting sent in to bat, had been dismissed for 226 in the first innings. Moazzam Hayat made 52, Mohammad Salman scored an unbeaten 70, and Zeeshan Butt scored 45, but there was not much else from the others. Sadaf Hussain took 4 for 63 for Rawalpindi.In their reply, Rawalpindi were shot out for 132 in 40.1 overs. They were floundering at 73 for 7 before Umar Waheed made 39 and Mohammad Nawaz 22. Waqas Maqsood took 4 for 62 for Faisalabad, while Nasir Akram and Hasan Mahmood took three each.Rawalpindi then returned the favour, dismissing Faisalabad for 130 in their second innings. Sadaf Hussain claimed 4 for 17 in 5.3 overs and Nasir Malik took 3 for 55. Faisalabad would not have got past 100 if not for Mohammad Salam’s 42. They were 66 for 8 at one stage and he was the only batsman to make more than 20. Because of their first-inninsg lead of 94, Faisalabad were ahead by 224.Rawalpindi’s chase began poorly: they were 46 for 4. Umar Waheed, the No. 3 batsman, was steady at his end and he found a partner in Adnan Mufti. They added 90 runs for the fifth wicket before Mufti was dismissed. Waheed then dominated a sixth wicket stand of 56 with Zahid Mansoor that took Rawalpindi to 192. Though wickets fell at one end, Waheed remained firm at the other and he was unbeaten on 99, with the No. 10, Nasir Malik for company when the winning runs were scored.

Even after England Women scored a challenging 238, Shashikala Siriwardene said she believed her batsmen could achieve Sri Lanka’s first win over one of the top four sides

Abhishek Purohit in Mumbai01-Feb-2013Belief. Faith. Both words figured prominently in the reactions of Sri Lanka Women captain Shashikala Siriwardene and Player-of-the-Match Eshani Kaushalya. Even after England Women recovered from 29 for 3 to a challenging 238, Siriwardene said she believed her batsmen could achieve Sri Lanka’s first win over one of the top four sides – Australia, England, India and New Zealand. Kaushalya, whose defiant, hard-hitting 56 made victory possible, said despite Sri Lanka losing batsmen regularly, she never lost faith that they would win.”Our batting line-up is strong with our No. 10 being the wicketkeeper-batsman, so we always had the faith,” Kaushalya said. “So even though wickets were falling, the next person coming in was a batter, so that faith I had.”Kaushalya had been dropped on 10 by Jenny Gunn. She said the let-off gave her further assurance about it being Sri Lanka’s day. “I believed today is a lucky day and I knew then we would definitely finish the match.”Siriwardene called it a “very special day” and credited “team effort” for the win, something she said had been lacking in the past from Sri Lanka. “We just wanted to keep them under 200 but there were 39 extra runs [conceded]. But I knew that my players would finish it and I had the faith in them.”When we played against them in 2010 we lost by five runs, so again we always had the belief. This is the highest run-chase for us for a victory, this is not easy. The main reason is the team effort because out of the 11 there are seven-eight performers. That was lacking for us as a team. So this has changed from today and hopefully that continues.”England captain Charlotte Edwards was left hoping for a quick turnaround after an embarrassing defeat for the defending champions. Edwards had said in the run-up to the tournament that defending the title successfully would be the crowning glory for her in an outstanding career, both as leader and batsman. England left little to chance as far as preparation goes, turning up a couple of weeks ago for a training camp in Pune.Edwards looked gutted after the last-ball loss but was candid enough to say Sri Lanka were not to be taken lightly as opponents. “We are bitterly disappointed, it is not the perfect start to the World Cup,” Edwards said. “I think a lot of credit has to go to Sri Lanka and how they played. I think we had a decent score and we let it slip there in the end with a couple of dropped catches. It is not all bad cricket from us but the credit has to go to Sri Lanka.”They have been playing pretty good cricket, when we went over there two years ago they gave us two good games of cricket, and it is not any surprise to me today because they have got some talented players and unfortunately they have all come good on the same day. For the outsider looking in, it is a huge upset and we have just got to come back strong here on Sunday [against India] and hopefully go on and beat West Indies.”Edwards said it would not be difficult at all to get the team to pick themselves up. “I was very pleased how we came back [with the bat] and how Amy Jones played on her debut. Probably the bowling is a slight concern at the moment, especially the middle overs. It is hard to take wickets over here. I thought we didn’t field particularly well either so that is an area we need to work on. We don’t have long between games and I don’t want to put pressure on the girls. We can beat India in India and we got to believe in ourselves and come out here and do that.”

England’s bowlers will know plenty about BJ Watling after the wicketkeeper guided New Zealand XI to an excellent three-wicket victory with eight balls to spare in Queenstown

Andrew McGlashan in Queenstown02-Mar-2013
ScorecardBJ Watling played two crucial knocks to down the England XI in Queenstown•AFPEngland’s bowlers will know plenty about BJ Watling going into the first Test, after the wicketkeeper guided New Zealand XI to an excellent three-wicket victory with eight balls to spare in Queenstown, to leave the visitors in far from perfect form heading into the series.It was England’s first defeat in a first-class warm-up match on tour since they lost by eight wickets against an India Board President’s XI in Vadodara in February 2006. The attack, except for Graeme Swann, struggled for consistency on a surface that, while offering a hint of turn, remained true for batting throughout.At tea, England were favourites with New Zealand XI 167 for 5. Watling and Corey Anderson, who together bludgeoned a 105-run stand in the first innings, produced a repeat performance in the second innings by adding 89 runs in 19 overs. Graham Onions again came in for punishment, as a two-over spell went for 23, on another dispiriting day for him. He claimed forgettable match figures of 1 for 213.Joe Root was given an extended bowling spell during the evening session, partly because Swann was off the field for a few overs, and also probably with a view to have him filling in for a few overs during the Tests. Root struck twice to keep England in the hunt. Anderson advanced down the pitch to Root and ended up yorking himself. After a 46-run stand for the seventh wicket, Jimmy Neesham picked out Stuart Broad at deep square-leg.However, Watling, who was dropped in the gully on 47 by Swann, shortly after he came back on the field, provided a calm head as the home side ended up winning with time to spare. Neil Wagner, after being added to New Zealand’s squad for the first Test earlier in the day, did not need to be shielded from the strike and played some handsome strokes, including a top-edged hook for six off Broad, and a boundary that leveled the scores, to ease the pressure on Watling in their match-sealing stand of 52England declared overnight, leaving the New Zealand XI a full day to chase the target. As in the first innings they made a solid start, seeing off the new ball through an opening stand of 56. Hamish Rutherford showed his intent by upper-cutting Broad over point for six, before departing playing a similar shot off Chris Woakes, which was taken by Nick Compton at point. Broad returned for a second spell and pitched the ball a touch fuller, which brought reward when Carl Cachopa was caught on the crease and lost his off stump.For the next 23 overs either side of lunch, Tom Latham and Neil Broom resisted solidly and kept the score ticking over. Onions was given another extended chance to bowl himself into form, but never suggested he would find his groove.Swann broke the partnership when he removed Latham while playing the sweep, and there was a touch through to Matt Prior who held on while in the process of appeal for lbw. Broad, who again maintained his pace throughout each spell, removed Broom offering no shot and when Dean Brownlie fenced to second slip the game looked to be England’s. Instead, they will travel to Dunedin on Sunday with another reminder of the fighting qualities of New Zealand cricketers.

Sri Lanka Cricket has apologised for the generator failures that halted play for 99 minutes in the first ODI in Hambantota, and said an investigation into the problem will be launched tomorrow

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Hambantota23-Mar-2013Sri Lanka Cricket has apologised for the generator failures that halted play for 99 minutes in the first ODI in Hambantota, and said an investigation into the problem will be launched tomorrow.One floodlight tower lost power after the 41st over of the Bangladesh innings, before both the towers on the western side of the ground went out during the innings break, causing the major 85-minute delay. Sri Lanka’s innings was curtailed to 41 overs as a result, and their target adjusted to 238 according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.”Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to apologize to the millions of viewers & the general public for the inconvenience caused due to this technical fault,” a release said. “Two of the four light towers at the ground had failed. It should be noted that these generators were tested the day before and were fully functional during the said testing period.”One generator provides electricity to two floodlight towers, and each of those primary generators has a back-up generator that kicks in if the first one fails. The first generator on the western side failed during the Bangladesh innings, causing the first delay, but although the backup generator took over after a short break, that too failed during the innings break.The generator that provides electricity for the southern grandstand was then brought in to provide power for the floodlights.SLC has contracted state owned power company Ceylon Electricity Board, to provide and maintain the generators required for cricket matches, but an SLC engineer is employed to oversee the electricity arrangements for each match. The investigation into the failures will be carried out by the power company.There have been several instances of floodlight failures affecting international matches, with the Twenty20 between South Africa and New Zealand in East London last year being the most recent example. This is the first time a floodlight failure has stopped play in Sri Lanka.Hambantota hosts the second ODI on Monday, and SLC said two new generators would be brought from Colombo on Sunday, to replace the faulty ones.

South Australia’s interest in the Victorian legspinner James Muirhead has cost them a $15,000 fine after they were found to have breached Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2013South Australia’s interest in the Victorian legspinner James Muirhead has cost them a $15,000 fine after they were found to have breached Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements. Muirhead, 19, was given a rookie contract by Cricket Victoria in July last year and made his Sheffield Shield debut against the Redbacks in Adelaide in January.But a Cricket Australia grievance tribunal has found that during the 2012-13 season, the South Australian Cricket Association held discussions with Muirhead before informing Cricket Victoria, thus breaking the rules regarding to contracted players. The tribunal made its ruling on April 3 but delayed a decision on its penalty until reconvening this week.Rule 4 of Cricket Australia’s Rules for Interstate Competitions states that a “state association must not (and must ensure that its constituent clubs do not) hold discussions with a CA contracted player or a state contracted player who is bound to another state association concerning the possible transfer of that player without first informing the player’s home state association”.Keith Bradshaw, the SACA chief executive, said: “SACA has always maintained that it has not breached Rule 4 of the Rules for Interstate Competitions but accepts that the Cricket Australia grievance tribunal process is now complete and a $15,000 penalty issued”.Muirhead had made his BBL debut for the Adelaide Strikers in the 2011-12 summer before he was given his rookie deal with Victoria. However, he switched to the Melbourne Renegades for the 2012-13 season.