All posts by csb10.top

A slogged six that cleared the head of Warren Wisneski at mid-on from man ofthe match Tama Canning gave Auckland victory with two balls to spare in adramatic second round Shell Cup encounter.Canning’s 25 not out from 15 balls proved decisive after a superbhalf-century from Lou Vincent had put Auckland in a winning position.In a match that was in the balance until the final ball Canning’s cavalierinnings, together with his career best four-wicket haul in the Canterburyinnings, proved to be the difference between the two sides.Auckland won the toss and asked Canterbury to bat, but in doing so the Acesgifted Canterbury the best batting conditions of the match on a pitch thatslowed in pace as the match wore on.At 84/0 after 15 overs Canterbury would have been looking for one of itsopeners, Brad Doody or Mark Hastings, to bat through and guide the defendingchampions to a score in excess of 280.But as the pitch appeared to slow up the Aces, bowling depth came to thefore, with Canning, Andre Adams, Mark Haslam and Chris Drum combining todeny Canterbury a boundary between the 18th and 37th overs. Chris Harrisfinally broke the drought with a pull shot for six of Andre Adams.Umpire Brent Bowden’s reluctance to give decisions again came to the forewith the dismissal of Harris. A Chris Drum delivery appeared to take asubstantial deflection as Harris played away from his body and a nick wasclearly audible from the grandstand. The Auckland players gathered mid-pitchto congratulate Drum but to their amazement Bowden declined to send Harrispacking. Both Harris and the fielders stood their ground, prompting Bowdento confer with South African umpire Brian Jerling at square leg. Jerlingimmediately indicated he thought it was a dismissal and Bowden finally gaveHarris a nod.Debate about Bowden tends to centre on whether his clownish antics are goodfor the image of the game, but scrutiny of his umpiring would reveal a manhesitant to make a decision on even the most obvious of dismissals.Canning’s first spell of seven overs, 2/19 had been crucial in Aucklandchoking back the Canterbury run-rate and he struck again with the first ballof his second spell, having Gary Stead caught by cover sweeper RichardMorgan for 21, in the 41st over.At lunch Canterbury coach Gary MacDonald said the failure of either Harrisor Stead to bat on after getting starts, had resulted in score 20-30 runsless than he would have liked. However, he believed his side’s score of 228was defendable.Auckland began its chase in positive fashion, debutant Tim McIntosh, freshfrom his maiden first-class century, combined with a more circumspect AaronBarnes for a century opening stand. Both batsmen were dismissed soon aftermaking their half-centuries, McIntosh unfortunately run out when he lookedto have another hundred at his mercy.Auckland continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and the run-rateclimbed above seven. Carl Anderson bowled a tight spell, as did Shane Bond,but Harris bowled too many bad balls to be able to maintain the pressurefrom his end.Lou Vincent steadied the Auckland innings with an intelligent run a ballhalf-century. But when Bond bowled Vincent with the last ball of thepenultimate over Auckland still required six for victory.Three good balls from Geoff Allot conceded only two runs, leaving the matchin the balance. However the final act of the game was left to its starperformer, Tama Canning, who just got under an Allot attempted Yorker enoughto clear the desperately leaping Wisneski.

After the loss of the second day, the warm-up match between Zimbabwe A and the Indians petered out into the expected draw, although India did turn down a chance of an outright win when they decided against enforcing the follow-on. In reply to their first innings of 336 for nine declared, they dismissed Zimbabwe A for 175 and then, batting again, scored 150 for seven.In contrast to the aborted second day of the match, Day Three began warm and sunny. With the notable exception of Craig Wishart, the Zimbabwe A Test hopefuls failed to make anything of their opportunity. Hamilton Masakadza (8) soon fell, caught at slip off Ashish Nehra, and Zimbabwe A were 37 for two.Then followed the only notable partnership of the innings, between opener Dion Ebrahim and Wishart. Debashish Mohanty initially erred in length and was punished by both batsmen. Wishart pulled short deliveries with particular relish, and also produced the odd powerful straight drive to the overpitched ball. He looked every inch a batsman with a point to prove – as he is. Had those responsible sought to boost his fragile confidence instead of condemning him to live in constant insecurity, he could be a successful Test regular, or more.By way of contrast, current Test player Ebrahim found it difficult to time the ball, but hung in there with determination. When Harbhajan Singh made a belated arrival at the bowling crease, Wishart immediately hit him for six over long on, but then skied a ball safely between two fielders. Just before lunch, Zahir Khan began a serious collapse by having Ebrahim (47) caught at slip and then yorking Craig Evans first ball. Viljoen (5) was lbw to Harbhajan and Zimbabwe A were suddenly reeling at 139 for five.Then Wishart, his concentration apparently disturbed by the comings and goings at the far end, hung a limp bat out feebly to Khan and was caught at the wicket. He had hit 68 off 85 balls. Finally Tatenda Taibu (1) was caught at short leg off Harbhajan on the stroke of lunch, and Zimbabwe A were 143 for seven, having lost five wickets for just ten runs. India had struck back with a vengeance.The disasters continued for Zimbabwe A after the interval, as Travis Friend (4) had his middle stump uprooted by a quicker yorker from Harbhajan Singh, and Bryan Strang (0) was caught at first slip off Nehra. Brian Murphy (9 not out) hung on while David Mutendera (13) enjoyed some thick edges and one powerfully driven boundary before being caught by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. Zimbabwe A were all out for 175, 161 runs behind, but India declined to enforce the follow-on, preferring batting practice.Shiv Sunder Das and Sadgopan Ramesh looked in need of it, as they both had some uncomfortable moments early on against Strang and Friend. Das was finally adjudged lbw playing forward to Strang for 12, and shortly afterwards Ramesh (6) was caught in the slips off Friend, reducing the tourists to 22 for two.VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar batted quietly until tea, playing occasional attacking strokes but seeming content to wait for the loose ball rather than plunder the bowling. Friend tried two short balls to Tendulkar, only to have them both pulled effortlessly for four. Immediately after tea Mutendera had the same humiliating experience, and it was difficult to fathom the mentality of these bowlers.However, Mutendera was to take the wicket of Tendulkar for the second time in the match, as the little maestro hit too early and was caught at extra cover for 33. The same bowler had Laxman caught in the slips, also for 33. Saurav Ganguly (17) disputed his lbw dismissal in a way that would have had serious consequences in a Test match, and two more quick wickets followed. Rahul Dravid did not bat again, and as the match meandered to a close Harbhajan Singh (25*) entertained the crowd of several hundred, mainly schoolchildren, with a few big hits.

Tasmania’s tail didn’t wag, but it stood firm against Western Australia’s pace attack during a tense final session as the Pura Cup match ended in a draw at the WACA today.The Tigers resumed this morning at 0-13 and batted all day to reach 7-237 at stumps, still 20 runs short of the home side’s first innings of 7(dec)-594.West Australians will probably remember the game for centuries by Justin Langer (133), Damien Martyn (189) and Murray Goodwin (141).Or maybe for veteran Jo Angel’s continued climb up the list of Australia’s leading Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup wicket takers. Angel finished the game with 7-104 to join NSW spinner Greg Matthews on sixth position on the all-time list with 353.Tasmanians will remember the tense final session when the Tigers withstood WA’s fired-up pace quartet, on an unpredictable WACA deck, after resuming from teaat 5-163.Although the pitch played true for most of the day, the Tigers had already lost Shane Watson (30) and Michael Dighton (0) in the afternoon session, LBW from balls that kept low on the usually bouncy strip.All-rounder Daniel Marsh looked like he was going to save the match as he batted for 125 minutes in front of the grand stand bearing the name of his famous father, Rod.But Angel struck, drawing an outside edge that presented Adam Gilchrist with a simple chance to send Marsh back to the pavilion for 47 with the score 6-209.Shaun Young then redefined the term slow play, at one stage rooted on 11 for 62 minutes. But after moving to 15 with a boundary off Brad Williams (2-65), he was dismissed one run later, after 116 minutes, when the fiery blond rattled his stumps.The Tigers made a comfortable start to the run chase in the opening session.Jamie Cox contributed 63 but the Tigers could have done without one attempt to add to his tally which resulted in the run out of in-form skipper Ricky Ponting.There was little doubt the captain represented Tasmania’s best chance of reaching the 257 needed to force WA to bat again. He proved as much from the outset, duplicating his whirlwind first innings 58 by smashing six fours to reach 29 before being run-out.The first 40 runs of a 49-run partnership between the pair came from boundaries as the Tigers set about saving the match.It looked like the only way the Warriors could remove the Australian No.3 was by run out and even that took a magnificent effort.It came when Cox pushed the ball straight back down the pitch past Gavin Swan (0-71) and took off for a single.Ponting, running to the non-striker’s end, appeared safe as he set off but Williams swooped on the ball and threw the ball past Ponting’s shoulder to scatter the stumps.Gilchrist said after the match he had no regrets over holding off his declaration until an hour before stumps yesterday and he was pleased with his bowlers’ efforts.”They toiled well today, they stuck at it,” he said.”If we had bowled with the discipline on the first day that we showed today, we probably would have been in a bit better position.”The Tasmanians fought well, but we’re a bit disappointed not to get the result given we were in a commanding position.”Ponting was also happy with the fight his side showed to hang on for the draw.”The wicket did a bit today, it was a bit up and down and there was a bit of movement off the cracks,” he said.”I thought our guys gutsed it out well to keep ourselves in the game for a whole day.”

After a two days play at the Bellerive Oval, Victoria’s dream of hosting the Pura Milk Cup final has evaporated as Tasmania have the upper hand thanks to centuries by Andrew Dykes and Shaun Young. The Tigers lead by 72 runs with five wickets and one would expect them to bat on and attempt to gain a big lead.Early on though it was all Victoria as they had Tassie reeling at 4/37 thanks to some good seam bowling and also thanks to helpful conditions.Dene Hills went in the days sixth over, caught at the wicket off Paul Reiffel, but it apparent following the days play that Hills was not delighted with the decision outside the off stump. Four overs later Michael Di Venuto essayed a cover drive which also went through Darren Berry and off the very next ballJamie Cox’s attempted drive found the hands of Laurie Harper at first slip to make it 3/24.Daniel Marsh added to the collapse being caught in the gully to give comeback man David Saker his first wicket. Tasmania went into recovery mode until lunch with Dykes and Young going slowly until the break, which wastaken with Tasmania at a precarious 4/60.In the middle session, both batsman continued on their partnership in varying roles, Dykes was playing the aggressive role with Young content to drop anchor. Dykes had some fortune at 48, when he pulled to mid on, where the skipper Reiffel put down what turned out to be a vital chance.Dykes continued on in positive style and brought up his century just before tea.The partnership had reached 162 at tea with Dykes on 121 and Young 41, Tasmania were 4/199. After tea Dykes eventually went top edging a hook shot to Berry and Tasmania were three and a half overs from the new ball at 5/256.Victoria’s bowlers couldn’t break through before the close and Tasmania, with little ease to play for except the six points and some pride will attempt to gain a big lead.

ScorecardBen Duckett made his second century of the season but Northants were struggling to avoid defeat•Getty Images

Ben Duckett’s third Championship century provided a spirited response for Northamptonshire on the second afternoon against Derbyshire but the visitors closed on course for victory with Northants 245 for 6 in their second innings and the scores level.Mark Footitt’s 5 for 41 helped fire out Northants for just 116 in their first innings, their lowest total of the season, but Duckett’s hundred as Northants followed-on at least ensured Derbyshire were made to work for the strong position on a day where 15 wickets fell.Duckett’s promotion to open the innings has proved a success. He made 222 runs, including a first century of the season, at Lancashire in his second match in the role, added another half-century against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham and here avoided a king pair in some style to raise three figures.Opening the second innings with Northants 245 behind, Duckett was dropped on 26 by Hamish Rutherford at cover but thereafter played carefully to go through to fifty in 75 balls. Typically strong square of the wicket, Duckett cut and pulled to good effect and enjoyed the best batting conditions of the day after tea with the Wantage Road ground bathed in sunshine.Three boundaries in six balls from Ben Cotton took him into the 90s before he was made to wait a while on 99 as Adam Rossington received treatment for what appeared to be a hamstring tweak. But Duckett was not flustered and struck Shiv Thakor through square leg to bring up a century in 134 balls with 17 boundaries.He had Rossington for company for much of the evening session in a stand of 98 for the fifth wicket. Rossington got off the mark with a six over midwicket off Wes Durston and struck a further eight boundaries – three of them cuts off Durston – before playing a scoring stroke that didn’t go to the fence. He fell lbw as Tony Palladino returned for a new spell with seven overs left in the day; Palladino then cleaned bowled nightwatchman Olly Stone with a perfect yorker.Northants had been blown away in the morning session, as Footitt took his third five-wicket haul of the season. Alex Wakely was set up with two deliveries going across him, then shouldered arms to an inswinger and lost his off stump for 8. Footitt also had Stone caught and bowled before coming back after lunch to have Rory Kleinveldt caught at point first ball and then clean bowled Maurice Chambers.Northamptonshire’s first innings lasted just 38.1 overs so Derbyshire had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on and it took just eight balls for Footitt to strike again as a lifting delivery had Stephen Peters caught at short midwicket. Wakely was then forced to battle hard and was beaten regularly but survived 36 deliveries – albeit for only five runs – before inexplicably pulling Cotton to mid-on.Rob Keogh and Richard Levi made contrasting contributions – Keogh 11 out of a stand of 46 with Duckett, Levi 22 out of 33 – before Rossington helped Northants towards parity in tandem with Duckett.

Perth – Brian Lara let his bat – and an Australian Cricket Board (ACB)official – do the talking for him yesterday. The star left-handedbatsman has advisedly kept his silence following allegations inIndia’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report last week that hetook money from a bookmaker to underperform in matches back in 1994.And yesterday he stroked 108 off 107 balls in the first match of theWest Indies’ Australian tour against an ACB Chairman’s team at LilacHill, a Perth suburb.He and opener Sherwin Campbell, who batted through the innings’ 50overs for an unbeaten 111, added 163 off 27.1 overs as the West Indiespiled up 276 for two.The bowling comprised of mainly Western Australian second team playersand retired Test left-arm fast bowler Mike Whitney, now 41.A rainstorm that swept the ground as the West Indies innings endeddeprived the large crowd of any more cricket and the new West Indiesbowlers their first chance of getting acclimatised.Lara did not speak directly to the media afterwards but passed histhoughts on through an ACB official.’It’s been a tough week but everything will come to fruitioneventually, I hope,’ Lara told the official.’I have responsibilities to West Indies cricket not to let otherthings affect me so I’ll just put on the blinkers and go out and do mybest by getting runs,’ he added.’Today was good. I hit the ball well. Now I have to get set to play alonger innings in the four-day match against Western Australiastarting Thursday.’Lara came to the wicket in the 21st over after Campbell and 21-yearold Daren Ganga added 87 for the opening partnership.Ganga, who is on his third West Indies tour, played impressively for43 off 52 balls. He stroked six fours, mainly in front of the wicket,before he was bowled by 20-year-old left-arm pacer Steve Nikitaras.Lara, in his first innings since the England tour on September 4,started so cautiously that he scored only two runs off his first 20deliveries.After that, he hit the ball cleanly and confidently, reaching his 50from 52 balls and his 100 from 97.By the time he was caught in the deep off Jo Angel, the 32-year-oldformer Australian Test fast bowler, he had 11 fours and three sixes inhis column in the scorebook.’This start was very significant for us,’ Lara noted. ‘We are lookingto get the team back on a good footing.’We need to be competitive so even a good performance in a festivalgame is a boost,’ he said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
4:21

Agarkar: Daredevils just don’t know how to win

Yet another IPL match was decided by sloppy fielding. Ajinkya Rahane’s dropping of Angelo Mathews allowed Delhi Daredevils to post 184 when they looked like they might waste a good start, but Daredevils went a step further by missing youngster Deepak Hooda twice in two overs. The youngest player in this IPL took them apart with four powerful sixes in his 25-ball 54, but when he fell Rajasthan Royals still needed 19 off 11. Imran Tahir, as did Amit Mishra, kept Daredevils alive with his variations, but Chris Morris and Tim Southee scored the required 12 off the last over to make it 11 defeats in a row for Daredevils, the joint-longest losing streak in IPL.Royals shouldn’t have been chasing this big a total after their spinners dragged Daredevils back from a good start. Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer both scored 40s, but Pravin Tambe and that man Hooda again applied the brakes with seven overs for 38 runs and one wicket. However, as it has been happening far too often for a league that pretends to boast superlative fielding, the decisive moments in this match too were pieces of ordinary fielding. Angelo Mathews was 5 off 4 when he hit James Faulkner down long-on’s throat. JP Duminy at the other end was struggling, Yuvraj Singh had got out seven balls ago, and at 145 for 3 in the 18th over Daredevils were threatening to post an underwhelming total. Rahane dropped him, and Mathews went on to score 27 off 14 that took Daredevils to 184, a score that should have ideally been too far for Royals after the way the host spinners performed.Mishra struck in his first two overs, sending Steven Smith and Karun Nair back, and Tahir bowled the big overs to keep bringing Daredevils back with four wickets. However, at 107 for 4 in the 14th, a third spinner should have played a part in another wicket. Yuvraj bowled three tight balls, the fourth produced indecision in the running, but Yuvraj failed to collect a throw right beside the stumps. Had he broken the wicket coolly, Hooda would have been out for 23 off 13.In the next over, with the asking rate over two per ball, Hooda was forced to take risks. He did so in his own unique way. With Jaydev Unadkat looking to bowl yorkers outside off, Hooda kept shuffling across and took his back foot behind the line of the stumps to try to convert those into half-volleys. But so badly was Unadkat missing his yorkers that Hooda slogged two low full tosses for sixes. The second of those should have been caught at deep midwicket, but Manoj Tiwary just parried it over.This was when Tahir made Daredevils believe, beating Rahane with a wrong’un and hitting his stumps. Immediately Hooda snatched the advantage back with a big six over long-on. With 36 required off the last three, Daredevils went to their two big bowlers first: Nathan Coulter-Nile and Tahir. In the 18th Coulter-Nile served a half-volley, and generally kept bowling outside leg from round the wicket. Three boundaries came off the over, two off edges, but now only 19 were required off the last two.Tahir once again dragged Daredevils back. First Hooda hit a long hop straight down long-on’s throat, and then Faulkner failed to read a wrong’un. In between, though, Morris slog-swept him for a six, and we were back to two a ball in the last over.Daredevils went to international experience of Mathews ahead of Unadkat, but Mathews bowled the same angle when he decided to go round the wicket. The fourth ball of the over was a leg-side full toss, which Morris helped fine of short fine leg. Yet a good fifth ball meant Southee, known for his sixes, needed three off the last ball. The strategy now left a bit to be desired. Mathews bowled from round the wicket, and despite the angle taking the ball away he had no protection deep on the off side.With that field Mathews had to bowl a leg-stump yorker, but he bowled an off-stump half-volley, which Southee drove wide of long-off to spark wild celebrations in the Royals camp.

Although the ECB has told Cricinfo that no plans have been made to identify the two additional sides joining the 18 first-class counties in the new EPL, Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith had said that he does not expect his side to be one of them.It is widely believed that one slot will be filled by a team belonging to Allen Stanford, as part of his recent multi-million pound deal with the ECB. Despite media speculation that the other could come from Australia, county sources have indicated to Cricinfo that they believe the second side could come from the IPL for commercial reasons, assuming some deal could be agreed with the BCCI.”Ourselves and Ireland both applied to the ECB about being involved in the EPL but were unsuccessful in doing so,” Smith told The Scotsman. “For us it wasn’t to be, which is fair enough. The ECB are under no obligation to do anything for us.”

The National cricket selectors have named the following South African squadfor the first Castle Lager/MTN Test match against Sri Lanka at the Wanderersfrom the 8th to the 12th of November.Shaun Pollock – Captain, Mark Boucher – Vice-captain, Steve Elworthy, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Mornantau Hayward, Claude Henderson, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Graeme Smith.Coach: Eric Simons
Assistant Coach: Corrie van Zyl
Physiotherapist: Shane Jabbar
Fitness Trainer: Andrew Gray
Manager: Goolam Rajah
National selection convener Omar Henry said the final eleven will be namedon the morning of the Test. He added: “Neil McKenzie has shown good formlately, and his century in Kimberley for the A side last weekend wasimpressive”.McKenzie’s Titans teammate, fast bowler Steve Elworthy, is recalled, havingalso impressed the selectors for the A side. His last of two Test matcheswas at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand in 1999.In form Easterns all rounder Andrew Hall, who like Elworthy was named one ofSouth Africa’s Mutual and Federal Five Cricketers of the year last month,has been rewarded for his consistent performances with both bat and ballthis season.

Darren Gough could be included in the England line-up to meet Queensland in their last warm-up match before the first Test of the Ashes series. The Yorkshire fast bowler’s recovery from injury has gone more quickly than expected since England’s arrival in Australia, and he has bowled several sessions in spikes in the nets without any reaction from his troublesome knee.Gough fielded for part of the final day of the drawn match against Western Australia in Perth and will have another workout tomorrow before England decide whether he will face Queensland.”He’s improving every day,” said the England coach, Duncan Fletcher. “We put him on the field in the last match for a bit of fielding just to get some mileage into his legs, but we’ll make a decision on Friday after he’s had another good bowl.”Gough’s Yorkshire teammate Michael Vaughan is also expected to make his comeback from recent knee surgery against Queensland, so there are several dilemmas over the exact composition of the side.”The selection of this next three-day game is going to be very difficult,”Fletcher admitted. “Nasser (Hussain) and I have got quite a difficult job trying to get the balance right.”Who do we give a game to and get mileage into their legs, or do we pick theTest side? There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and we have to come up with some answers over the next few days.”People say (Andrew) Caddick likes to bowl overs, but he bowled a lot in Perth and you have to be careful because he’s our senior bowler at the moment. Those are the sort of decisions we have to make and we have to come up with an answer which hopefully will be the right answer, but we’ll be hoping to play as close to the Test side as we can.”Meanwhile Andrew Flintoff, who joined up with the Academy in Adelaide to speed up his recovery from a double hernia operation, will also face a fitness test before a decision is made about whether he is fit enough for a three-day match.Fast bowler Simon Jones is keen to play against Queensland after impressing with a five-wicket second innings haul against Western Australia.”He’s slowly building up his confidence within himself, he looks more confident,” said Fletcher. “He’s been concerned about his line and length, but he’s bowled with a lot of control since he’s been here which is very encouraging.”He’s slowly built up his pace, but we don’t want to rush these guys intothings. We could have come out here and told him to bowl flat out and lost hisline and length and it’s very hard to get that back again.”We’ve just tried to control him and just gradually build him up a little bit. He might get a game next week and hopefully he will be able to bowl a little bit quicker for longer spells which is important.”