All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardSimon Jones showed some of his old spark to claim two key wickets•Getty Images

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff.It was their second win in three games – they beat Somerset on Monday – as they moved up to second place in the group, level on points with leaders Somerset with a game in hand.Glamorgan lost the toss and made 153 for 9 in a match reduced to 25 overs per side, but Middlesex, who will struggle to now make the semi-finals, could only make 142 for nine despite skipper Neil Dexter scoring 54 from 52 balls.Glamorgan made a fortuitous start when Gareth Rees top-edged Steven Finn for six in the first over but Finn got his revenge having Mark Wallace caught at point while at the other end James Harris delivered a tight three overs as the home side reached 31 for 1 after seven overs.That became 38 for 3 after Toby Roland-Jones struck twice to remove Chris Cooke and skipper Marcus North. Jim Allenby’s arrival saw some impetus injected into the Glamorgan innings as he took a four and a six off consecutive balls from Dexter, before Paul Stirling’s part-time offspin claimed two wickets.Allenby holed out on the midwicket boundary before Murray Goodwin top-edged a sweep to short fine leg as the Welsh county found themselves 85 for 5. Harris made that 89 for six as Rees was bowled making 32 from 53 balls.Some much-needed impetus to the Glamorgan innings came with 14 coming off an Ollie Raynor over including a Ben Wright six over long off and 18 from an over from Harris.The start of the batting power play saw Wright holing out to Finn ending a 43-run partnership with Wagg, who helped Glamorgan take 21 runs from the final three overs.Middlesex struggled at the start of their reply. Allenby bowled Dawid Malan with the fifth ball of the Middlesex innings and a good Michael Hogan over saw Joe Denly edge behind to leave Middlesex 14 for 2 at the end of the fourth. Allenby struck again in the seventh over as Paul Stirling drove him straight to mid-off to Middlesex 30 for 3.And Jones turned the game right in Glamorgan’s favour with two wickets in consecutive balls to leave Middlesex 32 for five in the eighth over. He got the prize wicket of Morgan with his third ball helped by a good catch by Cooke diving forward at cover and followed that up by trapping Voges lbw.But Middlesex recovered through John Simpson and Dexter who put on 59 in nine overs until the impressive Simpson was snaffled at mid-wicket off Dean Cosker, who took three wickets from 11 balls as the Panthers found themselves 138 for 8.Dexter, with the only half century in the match, got it down to 20 required from the final over but he holed out to the second ball of the final over.

New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has left the Wellington Firebirds to join the Otago Volts for the upcoming domestic season. Peter Clinton, chief executive of Cricket Wellington, confirmed that Ryder had been granted his transfer request.”We wanted him to stay in Wellington, as he’s a world class player,” Clinton said. ”But we respect his decision. He has decided he wants to move away and try it with Otago next season. We wish him all the best.”Ryder, who was assaulted outside a bar in Christchurch on March 27, had been put into a medically induced coma after suffering a fractured skull and collapsed lung. He has been going about his rehabilitation since and, despite his injuries, Clinton insisted that Ryder’s absence would be a big blow to Wellington.”On his day, he’s devastating as a batsman. He’s got a lot of pulling power in terms of the way he plays the game and cult hero status. So he’s a big loss to the team and we’ll perhaps lose a bit of interest around the spectator base as well. But we’re confident that this team is still very strong, even without Jesse in it.”Clinton said that Ryder might have made the move because he wanted a “change of scene”, and insisted that he had every chance of making it back into the New Zealand squad. “He’s obviously still very keen and committed to play for New Zealand, and I certainly hope he gets there. He thinks his best chance is to give himself a new start this season.”Ryder started his first-class career with Central Districts but then moved to Wellington in 2004 during the tenure of the then coach Vaughn Johnson – with whom he will be reunited in Dunedin.Ross Dykes, chief executive of Otago Cricket welcomed Ryder into the fold and was confident of providing all the help he needs for his recovery from the assault. “Well I think one of his prime motivations is to get back in the New Zealand side and we’ll support that one hundred per cent.””We’ve got a structure in place that hopefully looks after all our players and he’ll fit nicely into that. I think it would be foolish to try and do anything special. I don’t think its necessary.” he said.

Mohammad Ashraful has continued to be the subject of discussion at all levels of the public sphere in Bangladesh over the last four days. Some of his national team-mates have also weighed in, expressing their surprise at his admission of involvement in match-fixing and spot-fixing during the BPL.Shakib Al Hasan said he had also heard questions about February’s BPL match between Dhaka Gladiators and Chittagong Kings, but wasn’t around the players’ dugout long enough to understand the situation.”After the match everyone was talking about it. The opposition players were asking us, ‘so you’ve thrown the game?’ Shakib told the Dhaka-based . “They were asking questions about Dhaka’s slow batting and the big no-ball (by Gladiators’ Mahbubul Alam).”I was not present in the dugout for too long. I was working on my injury inside the dressing room. Since I didn’t play that game, I can’t be sure how difficult the wicket was for batting.”Shahriar Nafees, a student of the same cricket academy where Ashraful began his career, lauded his courage to speak the truth, but wanted just punishment for the guilty. “This is a sad chapter in Bangladesh cricket.” Nafees said. “I have to compliment his courage to come out and confess. I am feeling bad for him, but if he has committed the crime, he has to be punished appropriately.”Mushfiqur Rahim, Ashraful’s Bangladesh captain for the last two years, sent him a text message that said: ‘Allah will be looking after you for being able to gather the courage to confess your guilt before you die. Thanks for the honesty you have shown and I hope you will again return to the cricket field.’Other team-mates like Enamul Haque jnr and Alok Kapali also spoke out. “I was totally shocked when I read about it in the newspaper,” said Enamul, now playing for Wolverhampton in the Birmingham Cricket League. “It seemed like someone close to you was going far away as I heard his confession.”Kapali, who was among 13 Bangladeshi cricketers who left for the Indian Cricket League in 2008 and was ostracised as a result, had a different message for Ashraful. “I am feeling bad for him but I don’t think we need so much money in our life that we need to get involved in fixing.” Kapali said. “Look at Shakib, he is playing the world over. If you play well, money will follow you.”

ScorecardJamaica’s run of 15 straight first-class wins was finally brought to an end•WICB

Trinidad & Tobago held on to a three-wicket victory over five-time defending champions Jamaica in their semi final, and will proceed to the final on May 9 where they will play Barbados. It was a huge upset as it ended a run of 15 consecutive wins for Jamaica in the Caribbean first-class domestic competition.Jamaica chose to bat, and were 87 for 6 at one stage as the T&T bowlers bowled incisive spells. Carlton Baugh played the lone hand with an unbeaten 88, with Tamar Lambert scoring a vital 38. Last man Sheldon Cotterrell scored 44 to help boost Jamaica’s innings to 246. Marlon Richards took 5 for 46, while Imran Khan took two wickets.T&T lost opener Jeremy Solozano early through a run out, but Lendl Simmons and Yannick Cariah shared a 64-run partnership to help steady the innings. However T&T’s innings was kept in check by Nikita Miller, who finished the innings with figures of 5 for 41 in 23 overs. Contributions from Simmons (79), Cariah (26) and Akeal Hosein (24) helped push the T&T score to 170 before they were dismissed.Although they began with a lead of 76, Jamaica did not fare any better in their second innings, as Richards and Rayad Emrit struck to pick up three wickets each. Apart from a 39-run partnership between David Bernard and Baugh, who once again top-scored with an unbeaten 38, the team was shot out for 102, leaving T&T 179 runs to chase.Jamaica’s chase looked as good as over with the score at 73 for 6 but Imran Khan and Emrit ensured the team would make it to the target, albeit seven wickets down. Bernard waged a lone war, taking six of the seven T&T wickets, and was not helped by two dropped catches.”It was a fantastic effort. It was a real fight,” T&T manager Omar Khan told the after the match. “Down to the end the guys rally showed a lot of character. In the batting department we continue to struggle, but Imran Khan and young Katwaroo gave us a partnership (of 57) and we really fought.”And then Imran and Rayad Emrit. We knew we had batting to the end, but at the end of the day the guys have to be commended.”

ScorecardSpin continued to play a key part as Gareth Batty took four wickets•Getty Images

While the opening day belonged to youth with Ryan Buckley’s maiden five-wicket haul on debut, the second was a day that celebrated the experience of 35-year-old Gareth Batty and 38-year-old Dale Benkenstein.As Batty kept Durham in check with four wickets, Benkenstein, who had already played eight first-class matches before Buckley was even born, negotiated a turning pitch and rain delays to take Durham into a first innings lead, and himself past 9,000 first-class runs for the county.It wasn’t just rain that stalled proceedings at The Oval. Pigeons, never shy of tucking into the seeds here on the outfield, were ballsy enough to wander close to the pitch, some even having the temerity to dart across the pitch as the bowler ran in.It irked Stuart Meaker, who needed three attempts to complete a single delivery in the 73rd over after pulling out initially because one of the feathered troublemakers started hopping toward the pitch, ominously. However, it was only Batty who could really look at himself and say he gave it his all; on three occasions he dispersed a cluster of pigeons by charging at them and waving his arms about like a man possessed by a, well, pigeon.In the morning session his arm waving was more right-arm orthodox, and accounted for the wickets of Will Smith and Mark Stoneman, who started the morning with a host of boundaries as he brought up 50 off only 53 balls. Bowling in tandem with Gary Keedy, the pair – with a combined age of 73 – made use of a good, turning track although it was Batty who generating the most bite.Were it not for Batty, Durham could have built up a far more convincing lead by stumps, which should tell you a lot about the calculated nature of their batting. The forecast for the day was for showers an hour or so after lunch and, after an initial stoppage, the rain settled in and hung around to tea.A turgid period of play resulting in Ben Stokes dragging one on and Collingwood going five balls after tea, both to Zander de Bruyn but the introduction of Phil Mustard looked like it might get up the nose of Surrey, as he played his natural game to good effect; driving well off the seamers and saving a variety of sweeps against the spinners.At the other end, Benkenstein picked up singles and patiently waded through overs to find the bad balls and when they arrived he put them away. But when Mustard went, the tail soon followed as Batty tricked Callum Thorp into playing inside the line of his arm-ball, catching the edge and allowing Jason Roy to do the rest at slip (albeit at the second attempt). Tim Linley then removed Mark Wood and Chris Rushworth in the first over with the new ball, in successive deliveries, bringing young Buckley to the crease.He was shielded by his elder, who took it upon himself to try and thrash a few runs as the day wound down. Batty placed eight men evenly spaced out to cover the entire boundary; bringing them in from the fifth ball of the over to trap Buckley on strike for the change of overs. When they did, he stood up to Linley and defended with confidence off the back foot before seeing out the last over of the day.It was a day that tested the resolve of the few watching, but one that did enough to move this game along at a decent pace. Both sides should be credited for that.

ScorecardWarwickshire wrapped up an innings victory during Wednesday’s first session in Abu Dhabi, with Rikki Clarke taking three of the remaining six MCC wickets to fall.Joe Denly, who had recorded a century on the third day, and Peter Trego took the MCC score on to 350 before Oliver Hannon-Dalby broke through. Trego departed for 87 from 76 balls but, with 81 still needed to make Warwickshire bat again, the MCC innings rapidly subsided.Clarke and Chris Wright claimed the wickets, with Denly the eighth man out for 146. The last six wickets fell for 52 runs in 16 overs, Clarke finishing with 4 for 33 and Wright 8 for 110 in the match.”The way the MCC guys played in the second innings showed what good players they are,” MCC head of cricket, John Stephenson, said. “On paper this team is extremely strong, but after losing the toss and being asked to field first on a pitch like that, was always going to be a bit of a struggle.”With respect to the day-night format, the match went really well on the whole. All the pink balls stood up fantastically well, they were very durable, had good visibility throughout, and there were no complaints from any of the players. I’m really pleased with how things went from that perspective – I just wish we could have got a few more runs in our first innings.”

The World Cricket League Championship resumes this week with a crucial round five of matches for Associate nations that will go a long way to deciding who qualifies for the 2015 World Cup.Two automatic places are available at the World Cup for the top-two finishers in the Championship table and with six matches to play, Ireland and Scotland are currently leading the race.Just four points separate the top four teams in the table and teams will be eager to add to their tally with 12 points available from the remaining matches.Leaders Ireland currently top the table with 13 points and will hope to extend their two-point advantage over second-placed Scotland. Ireland and Scotland both take on Asian countries in conditions more familiar to their opposition.Ireland face the UAE without fast-bowler Boyd Rankin for the first time. Rankin has ended his Ireland career to concentrate on playing county cricket and has ambitions to play Test cricket for England.Scotland have more changes to their squad with several current county players, and Neil Carter who ended his Warwickshire career last season, included for the first time. They play Afghanistan, whose strong showing in recent years has made them the fairytale story of Associate cricket. But they have never appeared at a World Cup before.Netherlands could be the big winners of round five. They play Namibia and are firm favorites for maximum points. They will be looking for Afghanistan to beat Scotland and hope UAE can take at least one victory from Ireland. That would put Netherlands into a strong position in the final two rounds of matches.Four games from round five will be streamed live by the ICC with both matches between Afghanistan and Scotland, and Ireland and UAE forming part of up to 18 matches that the ICC will stream live before the end of the World Cricket League Championship.Teams that don’t make it through to the world cup automatically can still qualify for the 2015 World Cup through the qualifying tournament next year.Alongside the World Cricket League, nations will be back in Intercontinental Cup action hoping to climb the table with the top two teams reaching the final at the end of the season.Fixtures
March 6, Afghanistan v Scotland, World Cricket League, Sharjah, *Streamed Live
March 8, Afghanistan v Scotland, World Cricket League, Sharjah, *Streamed Live
March 11, Kenya v Canada, World Cricket League, Dubai
March 12-15, Afghanistan v Scotland, Intercontinental Cup, Abu Dhabi
March 12-15, UAE v Ireland, Intercontinental Cup, Sharjah
March 13, Kenya v Canada, World Cricket League, Dubai
March 18-21 Kenya v Canada, Intercontinental Cup, Dubai
March 18, UAE v Ireland, World Cricket League, Sharjah, *Streamed Live
March 20, UAE v Ireland, World Cricket League, Sharjah, *Streamed Live
April 11-14, Namibia v Netherlands, Intercontinental Cup, Windhoek
April 16, Namibia v Netherlands, World Cricket League, Windhoek
April 18, Namibia v Netherlands, World Cricket League, Windhoek

Kings XI Punjab added two India uncapped players – Manan Vohra and Sandeep Sharma – to their squad for the sixth IPL season. Vohra and Sandeep are the two new players after Aniket Choudhary was signed by Kings XI in February.Both from Punjab, Vohra is a right-handed batsman and Sandeep a right-arm medium pacer. Sandeep was a part of India’s Under-19 squad in the 2012 World Cup which India won. He took four wickets in the final and was the joint highest-wicket taker from India with 12 wickets from six matches at an average of 15.75.Both Sandeep and Vohra were part of the India squad in the Quadrangular Under-19 series in Australia and in the Under-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2012. Vohra was involved in a record-chase with Unmukt Chand when India chased 164 against Australia in only 12 overs and Vohra was unbeaten on 79 off 35. Sandeep was India’s highest wicket-taker in the series with eight wickets from four matches at an average of 19.25.While Vohra has played two first-class matches, Sandeep has 12 first-class matches to his name and played for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in which his side reached the quarter-finals.Commenting on the signings, Col. Arvinder Singh, COO, Kings XI Punjab, said, “I am very delighted to have a good performers like Aniket, Manan and Sandeep to be part of the Kings XI team and believe they will effectively contribute to the tournament. We wish them all the best and hope that they can utilise this opportunity as a platform to make a mark a niche for themselves as well.”Kings XI play their first IPL match against Pune Warriors on April 7.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLions prevailed over Titans, scoring a six-wicket win in their Sunfoil Series match in Benoni. Chasing 181 runs for victory, Lions, who began at an overnight score of 69 for 0, wrapped up proceedings in the first session of play, with a day to spare. The win puts Lions at the top of the points table in the series.Much of the credit for this win rests with fast bowler Hardus Viljoen and batsman Neil McKenzie. Viljoen’s finished the match with figures of 9 for 81, including a six-wicket haul in the second innings that was instrumental in dismissing Titans for 187.McKenzie’s knock of 70 in the first innings helped Lions gain a slender seven run-lead as they scored 202 in response to Titans’ innings of 195. McKenzie, who has played 58 Tests and 64 ODIs for South Africa, then put on 56 runs for the third wicket with Temba Bavuma to seal the match for Lions.

India were 10 to 15 runs short of a “safe” total against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 international, according to their captain MS Dhoni. India’s openers put on 77 runs inside 11 overs to give the hosts a solid base but Pakistan struck regularly after that, as India collapsed to finish on 133 for 9.”We should have got more runs,” Dhoni said. “We got a fantastic start from the openers but we couldn’t capitalise. We lost regular wickets and that hurt us. We should have got 10-15 runs more, 145 would have been a safe score.”India began superbly with the ball as the debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets but fifties from the Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik set the platform for the visitors’ five-wicket win. India’s quick bowlers picked up all five Pakistan wickets to fall, but the part-time bowlers conceded 75 runs in 7.4 overs as Malik’s six off Ravindra Jadeja in the final over ended the game. Dhoni used up his fast bowlers by the 19th over, and had to bring on Jadeja for the 20th.”It was a gamble to finish the pacers early,” Dhoni said. “Malik and Hafeez were going well so we needed wickets. They were also going at a very fast pace so we had to take a gamble. The pacers did well, they left 10 runs for the last over which I thought was good.”Malik said Pakistan were struggling when Bhuvneshwar struck early but credited Hafeez for playing a “brilliant innings.” Hafeez said once the India spinners came on, Pakistan knew they had a chance. He also praised his bowlers for bringing Pakistan back into the game.”We wanted to do well at the start of the series,” Hafeez said. “[Mohammad] Irfan was the surprise package for us and everybody. We knew we had a good attack. We knew that [Umar] Gul is always good with the old ball. They restricted India where we wanted them to. Once the [India] spinners came on after the new ball, we knew we had a chance, we took a risk at the right time and it worked. It is a gift for the whole nation. It is Quaid day back home.”