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Showing posts with label cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cricket. Show all posts

Monday, November 9, 2015

Bangladesh seal fifth ODI series in a row

Bangladesh 241 for 9 (Kayes 76, Panyangara 3-41) beat Zimbabwe 183 (Chigumbura 47, Mustafizur 3-33) by 58 runs

The last four series wins have drilled into Bangladesh the way to get out of tight corners. So when they were faced with another, in the second ODI against Zimbabwe in Mirpur on Monday, they stuck to the known paths and ensured a way out. Their 58-run win defending a total of 241 for 9 gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead and sealed their fifth consecutive bilateral ODI series win. They beat their own record of four series wins in a row in 2006-07 and 2009 and the lead means that, in ODIs, Bangladesh will be unbeaten in bilateral series throughout 2015 unless there is another series next month.

Bangladesh's bowling effort was steered smoothly by the captain Mashrafe Mortaza and the line-up hardly missed Shakib Al Hasan, who left Dhaka to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 33 runs, while Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny and Mashrafe himself bowled with control and showed a knack for putting together dot balls.


Wickets in clumps always help and Bangladesh got those early in Zimbabwe's chase, and at a later stage when Elton Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza were starting to look dangerous.

The visitors started the 242-run chase by losing both openers Regis Chakabva and Chamu Chibhabha within the first 5.1 overs. Chakabva was trapped leg-before in Arafat Sunny's first over and four balls later Mashrafe Mortaza had Chibhabha inside-edge one on to the stumps.

Sean Williams and Craig Ervine were fidgety, edging many and missing some too. Williams was caught at short midwicket after he misread a Mustafizur off-cutter. Ervine and Chigumbura tried to consolidate for the fourth-wicket stand but the former was run-out after Liton Das threw down the stumps from mid-off to leave the score at 78 for 4 in the 21st over.

Chigumbura badly needed Sikandar Raza to stay with him, and the pair added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with minimal effort. Raza hardly played a false short after he blasted Sunny over long-off early in his innings. Chigumbura was looking for a release point and it came in the 32nd over when he went after Mashrafe for a six and two fours off consecutive deliveries.

The six was blasted over the bowler's head before Liton and Nasir Hossain couldn't chase down a ball near the leg-side boundary. The third boundary came off an outside edge but it seemed Zimbabwe were turning a corner.

Al-Amin removed both in the 34th and 36th overs. Raza holed out to mid-on for 33 off 42 balls, which included two fours and a six, while hit an upper-cut to Kayes at third man, who took the catch diving forward. The Zimbabwe captain's knock could hardly be described as berserk and he hit two fours and a six in 47 off 77 deliveries.

Mustafizur took two more wickets, removing Luke Jongwe and Tinashe Panyangara, while Nasir took the wickets of Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer, to shut Zimbabwe down for 183 runs in 43.2 overs.

Earlier in the afternoon, Bangladesh were presented with a situation similar to the first ODI when they were put into bat and lost two early wickets. This time, however, there were no moderate or big partnerships. Imrul Kayes was the only batsman with some semblance of prolonged authority as he made 76 off 89 balls and batted until the 32nd over.

Tamim Iqbal got out to peach of a Panyangara delivery that held its line and took the outside edge in the seventh over. Liton Das' tough start to his ODI career continued after he got out trying to pull Panyangara, when he could have left the high-bouncing delivery. Mahmudullah's struggle continued, too - this time he batted for 32 minutes to make 7 and his dismissal made it 79 for 3 in the 18th over.

Mushfiqur Rahim, fresh from his fourth ODI hundred in the first match of the series, looked in ominous touch as he started off with a slog-sweep and a loft over cover for boundaries. The fourth-wicket partnership added 48 runs before another attempt at an inside-out shot took the edge and he was caught at short third-man, in the 28th over. Sabbir Rahman also looked to be hitting clean but, like the batsmen above him, he flattered to deceive with his 40-ball 33 that had four boundaries. Just when it looked like he would take the team to a high-scoring finish in the last ten overs, Sabbir fell to a poor slash outside off stump that gave Chakabva his fourth catch behind the stumps.


Mashrafe and Nasir, who made 41 off 53 balls, tried to up the ante but Bangladesh ended up with only 53 runs in the last ten overs as Zimbabwe took good catches and bowled tightly to keep the scoring down to 241 for 9 in 50 overs.

Source-  http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-zimbabwe-2015-16/content/story/938687.html

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Sakib to miss remaining Zimbabwe matches

Bangladesh all-rounder Sakib al Hasan will miss the remaining two one-day internationals of the three-match series against Zimbabwe for a family emergency, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Sunday. ‘The BCB has released all-rounder Sakib al Hasan from the national squad for the series against Zimbabwe due to a family emergency,’ said the BCB in a statement. ‘The Bangladesh vice-captain is scheduled to fly for the USA tonight to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.’ Sakib starred in Saturday’s 145 win in the first one-day international in Dhaka grabbing 5-47, his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs. Sakib, who has 206 wickets in 157 ODIs, is just one wicket shy of joining fellow left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak as the country’s leading wicket-taker in 50-over format. The second ODI will be held on Monday in Dhaka. Bangladesh will also play two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe after the ODIs. Opening batsman Anamul Haque has been named as Sakib’s replacement in the squad.

Source-  http://newagebd.net/173600/sakib-to-miss-remaining-zimbabwe-matches/
Spinner Ravindra Jadeja took his third five-wicket Test haul as India beat South Africa by 108 runs inside three days in the first Test in Mohali.

The Proteas, needing 218 to win, never recovered after a disastrous start left them 10-3 and were bowled out for 109.

Slow left-armer Jadeja took 5-21 on his comeback after being dropped for recent tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.



India began the day on 125-2 in their second innings but were skittled for 200, with Cheteshwar Pujara hitting 77.

South Africa had won the Twenty20 series 2-0 and taken the five-match one-day series 3-2 to raise hopes of a first Test series win on Indian soil in 15 years - and gave themselves a chance by bowling India out cheaply for a second time.

Trial by spin




The Proteas' bowling attack was lacking injured paceman Dale Steyn, off the field with a groin strain, but spinners Imran Tahir (4-48) and Simon Harmer (4-61) did the damage. Indeed, 34 of the 40 wickets in the Test fell to spin.

But South Africa, who trailed by 17 runs on first innings, failed to come to grips with the conditions. Their batsmen were rattled with the ball turning viciously and also keeping low on the odd occasion.

Stiaan van Zyl top-scored for the tourists with 36, but seven batsmen failed to reach double figures.

Jadeja and fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took the new ball and finished with match figures of 8-94 and 8-90 respectively.


With Virat Kohli having secured his first home Test win as India captain, the second of the four-match Test series begins in Bangalore on 14 November.

Source-  http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/34755199

Friday, November 6, 2015

Australia tightened their grip on the first Test as Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc's pace tore into New Zealand on day two in Brisbane.

Usman Khawaja top-scored with 174 as the hosts declared on 556-4, before the Kiwis faltered from 102-1 to 157-5.

Johnson removed experienced duo Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor cheaply to leave the visitors trailing by 399.

Earlier, New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee was forced off the field with an irritated disc in his back.

With the tourists still needing 200 more to avoid the follow-on, they face a mammoth task to avoid heading to Perth trailing in the three-Test series, but their hopes of staving off defeat may well rest with Kane
Williamson.



While the tourists' middle order crumbled around him, the 25-year-old withstood the pace barrage to finish the day in good touch on 55 not out.

With patchy cloud cover appearing over the Gabba midway through the final session, left-armers Starc and Johnson started to find movement through the air and off the Brisbane pitch.

Both captain McCullum and Taylor went edging balls angled away from off stump before Jimmy Neesham was bowled by a precise yorker from Starc.

By contrast, Australia's middle order held steady with skipper Steve Smith (48) and Adam Voges (83 not out) lending useful support to Khawaja.

The declaration came immediately after Khawaja, who began on 102 after making his maiden Test century on the opening day, was caught off Williamson's part-time off-spin.

Southee's injury has forced New Zealand to call up left-arm seamer Neil Wagner as precautionary cover for next week's second Test.

Source-  http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/34742981

Thursday, November 5, 2015

England subsided to a 127-run defeat in the third and final Test against Pakistan and a 2-0 series loss.

Resuming on 46-2 in pursuit of an unlikely 284, England lost four wickets for 11 runs in the first hour and were eventually bowled out for 156.

On a pitch turning sharply, only Alastair Cook resisted with 63 and was the ninth England wicket to fall.

Yasir Shah took 4-44 and Shoaib Malik 3-26 to give Pakistan's spinners a total of 17 wickets in the match.



In contrast, England's trio of slow bowlers returned combined figures of 7-423 from 115.2 overs.

England, who have lost seven of their past nine Test matches away to Pakistan, are without a series victory abroad for three years and slip from third to sixth in the world rankings.

Where it was lost

Though England were found wanting against the turning ball, they ultimately paid the price for errors over the first four days.

While they can rightly point to losing Ben Stokes through injury, England must also reflect on a first-innings collapse that saw their last six wickets fall for 78 runs.



Not only were England's spinners very poor in the second innings, but Mohammad Hafeez, who made 151, was afforded two dropped catches and a missed stumping.

Cook's men came some close to winning the first Test and were competitive for large parts of the series, but were defeated by batting collapses, fielding errors and inferior spin bowling.

England crumble to Pakistan class

If the suspicion was that England's Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Samit Patel failed to make the most of helpful conditions, it was confirmed by only the 10th ball of the day.

A Yasir short ball scuttled along the ground, leaving the helpless Joe Root plumb in front.

Zulfiqar Babar accounted for James Taylor and Patel, caught at slip and lbw respectively, either side of Jonny Bairstow's ugly sweep to Yasir.

England's numbers three to seven managed only eight runs between them - the fewest for 118 years. Going back to the fourth evening, the total collapse was six wickets for 25 runs.

Only Cook had the patience, technique and fortune to resist, looking set to become the first England player to bat through a completed innings since 1997.

But he was stumped when beaten by a Malik off-break and, in the next over, Stokes fell in similar fashion to Yasir to seal England's fate.



What next?

With former England opener Geoffrey Boycott saying that Cook's men have a "glaring hole at number two and number three", there is much to ponder before they face South Africa's fearsome pace attack.

Alex Hales looks to be next in line to open the batting, while a decision on Ian Bell must be made before the first of four Tests begins on 26 December.

Before that, nine of England's Test squad remain in the UAE for four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s against Pakistan.

Pakistan, now ranked second in the world, are not scheduled to play another Test until they travel to England for four matches next summer.

The stats

The total of eight runs managed between England's number three to number seven in their joint-lowest, equalling the Sydney Test against Australia in 1887
Stuart Broad was playing his 87th Test, all of them with Alastair Cook, but this was the first time they batted together; Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan played 90 Tests together for Sri Lanka without batting together
Cook scored 450 runs in the series at an average of 90 and Joe Root 287 at an average of 57; no other England batsman managed more than 158
Cook was stumped for only the third time in his Test career
Yasir Shah took 15 wickets in the series, more than any other bowler - despite not playing the first Test

Source-  http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/34730059

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Shoaib Malik played 35 Tests for Pakistan. The Test against England in Sharjah will be his last. He made a dramatic return last month after five years in exile

Shoaib Malik, who is currently playing the Sharjah Test against England, has decided to retire from the five-day format. The former Pakistan captain and all-rounder will continue to play limited overs cricket. (Shoaib Malik Hits Maiden Double Hundred)



Malik's sudden announcement on Tuesday to retire at the end of the Sharjah Test came as a surprise. He made a stunning return to Test cricket in Abu Dhabi last month. He scored a career-best 245 in Pakistan's first innings. Malik, who made a dramatic return after playing his last Test in Edgbaston in 2010, had replaced an injured Azhar Ali. He is playing his 35th Test. (Pakistan vs England Third Test: Scorecard)
Malik said it was "time to move on" during Day 3's play in Sharjah. After his fantastic double hundred, Malik's form nosedived sharply. On Tuesday, he was trapped LBW for 0, a big in-swinger from James Anderson doing all the damage. Malik hadn't got into double figures in his last four innings.
Inspired by wife Sania Mirza
The 33-year former Pakistan skipper has been in and out of the national side since making his Test debut against Bangladesh in Multan in August 2001. He had credited wife Sania Mirza for inspiring him to play for Pakistan again. Sania is currently the No. 1 player in women's doubles tennis. (Shoaib Malik Credits Wife Sania Mirza for inspired performance)
Malik has played 227 ODIs and with close to 6000 runs as a middle-order batsman, he remains among Pakistan's first choice all-rounders. Malik has taken 147 wickets with his off-spins and will now focus on the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.
"We have some good youngsters and now is the time to retire," Malik said in Sharjah. "Family comes first. I want to focus on the 2019 World Cup."

Malik had turned out for Delhi Daredevils in 2008, the only time Pakistan players turned out in the Indian Premier League. He should be in the Pakistan squad for the World T20 in India next year and the Asia Cup in Bangladesh before that.

Source-  http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/251202-shoaib-malik-retires-from-test-cricket-leaves-pakistan-cricket-in-shock

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Former England cricketer Tom Graveney has died at the age of 88.

An elegant batsman, Graveney played 79 Tests for England, scoring 11 centuries at an average of 44.38.

He scored more than 47,793 first-class runs - including 122 hundreds - in a career that stretched from 1948 to 1972 and included spells at Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Queensland.

After retiring, he became a BBC commentator and served as the 200th president of the MCC in 2005.

He was the first former professional cricketer to be appointed to the post.

Graveney captained England once at the age of 41, deputising for Colin Cowdrey against Australia at Headingley in 1968.

His older brother Ken died recently at the age of 90. Both were former Gloucestershire captains.

'Synonymous with a golden era'



Graveney was Worcestershire president from 1994-98 and remained a regular visitor to New Road.

In a statement, the club said he had had Parkinson's disease for some time.

Worcestershire chief executive David Leatherdale said: "He was one of the stalwarts of our first two championship triumphs and will be hugely missed by everyone at Worcestershire CCC and by cricket as a whole."



BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said Graveney was "renowned as a great stylist" and later a "forthright pundit".

"I knew him as someone who loved cricket, someone who really loved talking about the game," said Agnew. "He would sit in the bar and just talk for hours about the modern game, and how he used to play.

"He had pretty strong opinions. He would talk a lot about some of the West Indian throwers he faced in his batting days and how he thoroughly disapproved of that, but he was a real gentleman.

"I think that's what he'll be remembered for as much as for the style that he brought to the crease."


England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves said: "I count myself privileged to have seen Tom Graveney bat. He was one of the game's great stylists; a batsman whose name became synonymous with elegance and whose perfectly executed cover drive will live long in the memory of those who saw it.

"He was also a true gentleman; someone who served our county game with distinction and who, later in life, gave back much to the game he so dearly loved by becoming MCC president."

Simon Hughes, BBC Sport's cricket analyst, said: "Tom Graveney was a fantastic bloke, charming, self deprecating, always smiling. Tried to copy his gorgeous cover drive. Failed miserably."

Lancashire head coach Ashley Giles, a former England bowler, tweeted: "Very sad to hear that the great Tom Graveney has died. Such a lovely man."





Source-  http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/34716024

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Monday, November 2, 2015

Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed 59 off 32 balls as Sri Lanka edged past the West Indies by one wicket in the rain-curtailed first ODI in Colombo on Sunday. Set a Duckworth-Lewis target of 163 in 26 overs, the hosts survived anxious moments before winning with seven balls to spare at the Premadasa stadium to grab the lead in the three-match series.



Dilshan hit six boundaries and three sixes before Sri Lanka floundered while chasing the revised target after the West Indies, sent in to bat, had scored 159-8 in their 26 overs. The hosts, cruising at 104-2, lost seven wickets for 48 runs before tailender Ajantha Mendis hit the winning six off Johnson Charles in the company of last man Suranga Lakmal. The start of the day-night match was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to persistent rain. Further bad weather during the West Indies innings reduced the game to 26 overs-a-side. Dilshan put on 46 for the first wicket with Kusal Perera and 43 for the second with Lahiru Thirimanne to give Sri Lanka a bright start. But spinner Sunil Narine claimed three wickets, and Carlos Brathwaite and Jonathan Carter took two each, to cause a sensational Sri Lankan collapse when all seemed lost for the West Indies. Earlier, Andre Russell and Darren Bravo put on 58 runs off 37 balls to steer the West Indies to 159-8 after they slipped to 24-3 before the rain break and then became 42-4 soon after resumption. Russell smashed three sixes and as many fours in 41 off 24 balls and left-handed Bravo chipped in with 38 during an entertaining fifth-wicket stand to retrieve the situation. Skipper Jason Holder then hit 36 off 13 balls with three sixes and two boundaries as the West Indies plundered 59 runs in the final five overs. Lakmal claimed the first three wickets and spinner Mendis took two. Sri Lanka swept the preceding Test series 2-0. The second one-dayer will be played at the same venue on Wednesday. The ODI series will be followed by two Twenty20 games.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

All-time greats Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar have called for Twenty20 cricket to become an Olympic sport.
Cricket has not featured since 1900 but the sport's governing body is meeting the International Olympic Committee next month to discuss a possible bid.
"I'd love to see it as an Olympic sport and, who knows, down the track it might be," Warne told BBC Stumped.
"I think it's a great idea and I reckon T20 is the best format for it," added Tendulkar on the World Service show.