A clinical one-day performance from West Zone saw them thrash North Zone in Dharamsala and win the Deodhar Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2012
ScorecardWest Zone produced a clinical performance to thrash North Zone in Dharamsala and win the Deodhar Trophy. North were going for a third consecutive title but West had looked the more convincing team in the semi-finals, in which they beat East Zone by 108 runs, and put in another all-round effort to make the final a one-sided contest.West Zone played a near-perfect one-day game. One of their openers attacked, the other played the anchor role, their No. 3 scored 71 at better than a run-a-ball, and they had a swashbuckling innings in the end to put the game out of their opponents’ reach. Then, just to make things absolutely certain, they took wickets with the new ball, before the spinners mopped up the middle order and tail.North Zone captain Harbhajan Singh sent West Zone in, but was immediately put on the back foot as Parthiv Patel smashed 14 boundaries in his 78 off 63 balls. Parthiv got West Zone to 131 in 19 overs before he was trapped lbw by Harbhajan. Ajinkya Rahane, who had played second fiddle to Parthiv in the opening stand, anchored the innings, but kept the runs ticking over as well. His 118 came off 122 balls, and included 15 fours and a six. By the time he was dismissed, West Zone were 247 in the 39th over, and had the perfect launching pad from which to get a huge total.Cheteshwar Pujara had shared a 116-run stand with Rahane, and went on to get 71 off 67, but it was Kedar Jadhav, a centurion in the semi-final, who gave the innings a final boost. Jadhav struck three sixes and seven fours to get 67 off just 43 balls, and ensured West Zone reached 355. North Zone’s bowling figures made for sorry reading, with all the medium-pacers going at seven an over or more – Rish Dhawan’s 54 off six overs was the worst of the lot. Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma was the only bowler to concede less than five an over, taking 1 for 49 in ten.The match ended as a contest early in the chase. Munaf Patel continued his impressive comeback from an ankle injury, making it nine wickets in four games with four early strikes to snuff out any hopes North Zone may have had. Bipul Sharma completed an impressive all-round performance with his 68 off 54 balls. West Zone’s spinners came in for some stick as the tailenders threw caution to the wind: Dhawan hit two sixes in his 22 off 16 balls and Manpreet Gony struck three in his 28 off 11. The spinners hit back with wickets, though, Iqbal Abdulla following up his six-for in the semi-final with four scalps.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Ravindra Jadeja grabbed a five-wicket haul after an innings of 48 off 29 deliveries as Super Kings recovered in style from a patchy display in their opening game against Mumbai Indians

The Report by Abhishek Purohit07-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFaf du Plessis provided Chennai Super Kings a boost at the start•AFP

He was persisted with for all of India’s eight games in the CB series in Australia, for an average of 16.83 with the bat and 109.00 with the ball. He had an indifferent Asia Cup. Back in the IPL, this time with Chennai Super Kings, this year’s most expensive signing, Ravindra Jadeja, excelled right away in the tournament that had catapulted him into the limelight in 2008. A five-wicket haul followed an innings of 48 off 29 deliveries as Super Kings recovered in style from a patchy display in their opening game against Mumbai Indians.While Jadeja’s name was all over the scorecard, it was Dwayne Bravo’s late blast with the bat that took the game away from Chargers. Bravo blasted five sixes in the last two overs to propel Super Kings to a tall score, which was aided by loose bowling from the Indian component of the Chargers attack. Faf du Plessis provided the boost at the start, Jadeja built on it in the middle and Bravo took Chargers apart at the death.Forty runs came in overs 19 and 20 bowled by TP Sudhindra and Manpreet Gony. A leading edge off Sudhindra carried all the way over the straight boundary for the first six. Bravo wound up and deposited the next delivery, a length ball, over long-on. Gony was wayward in the final over, and Bravo clattered three sixes off an assortment of full tosses and short deliveries.Bravo ended on 43 off 18, with Super Kings taking 72 in the last five overs. Du Plessis had set the tone earlier, hitting Gony for three consecutive boundaries in the fifth over. Gony became too predictable with his shortish length, and du Plessis stayed back to steer for four to third man and pull for six over deep midwicket. Gony became predictable again when he went full with the last ball of the over, and du Plessis lofted him over long-off.Sudhindra had du Plessis holing out to long-on with his first ball, but was to go for 46 in four overs. Suresh Raina and S Badrinath looked in fine touch till Daniel Christian got them. Christian and Dale Steyn were difficult to get away, but Chargers had plenty of weak links in the attack.Jadeja went after fellow left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma, slog-sweeping and lofting him for three boundaries. Christian was taken for consecutive fours. Jadeja even tried to distract Steyn by moving around in his crease but was dismissed hit-wicket when he trod onto his stumps as he tried to nudge a short of a length Steyn delivery. Things weren’t looking as bad for Chargers at that point with the score on 147 in the 18th over, but Bravo’s innings turned a stiff chase into an improbable one.It did not help Chargers that the longest any of their batsmen managed to last was 18 deliveries and the most any of them made was 23. Super Kings’ spin battery smothered Chargers completely. R Ashwin gave 12 runs in his three overs at the start, Shadab Jakati got the important wickets of Cameron White and Christian, and Jadeja did the rest. He is an unspectacular bowler, but is generally accurate.By the time he was brought on in the 11th over, the asking-rate had already crossed 12. Chargers had no option but to go after the bowling. But this was Jadeja’s night, and there was to be no hitting him.

West Indies A will host India A for three four-day matches, three one-day matches and two Twenty20s during the month of June

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2012Cheteshwar Pujara, who is looking to work his way back into the national Test team after recovering from a knee injury sustained during the 2011 IPL, will lead India A on a tour of the Caribbean in June. West Indies A will host India A for three four-day matches, three one-day matches and two Twenty20s on the tour, which begins in Barbados on June 2.

India A squad

Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (vice-capt), Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Jalaj Saxena, RP Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Robin Bist, Akshay Darekar, Shami Ahmed

Pujara will be assisted by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Rohit Sharma, Abhinav Mukund, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Dinda, Rahul Sharma and RP Singh also feature in the 15-man squad named by the BCCI. The team will play three four-day matches, three one-dayers and two Twenty20s in all.West Indies chief selector Clyde Butts said that A tours provide an opportunity for fringe players to develop their game at the international level and impress the selectors. “The West Indies Cricket Board has shown a commitment over the last few years to providing a number of opportunities for our players to develop,” he said. “We hope that the players selected will take the opportunity to play meaningful cricket and put their hands up in the hope of making the senior team.”

Jonny Bairstow lifted Yorkshire with an unbeaten 141 but discontent over Ajmal Shahzad’s impending departure rumbled on

David Hopps at North Marine Road02-May-2012
ScorecardJonny Bairstow struck his fifth first-class hundred but it failed to derail the controversy surrounding Ajmal Shahzad’s impending departure•Getty Images

To try to understand why Yorkshire and Ajmal Shahzad are going their separate ways, it was tempting not to spend the entire day at the cricket at North Marine Road, but to retreat for a while to the warmth of Mr Jingles Dickensian Café in the centre of town. Scarborough claims tenuous links with Dickens on the grounds that he once gave a reading in the town and wandered around a few graveyards in the vicinity, and he would have relished a satirical take on Yorkshire cricket’s latest melodrama.There is something about Yorkshire cricket that in the end turns everybody into the sort of comically exaggerated characters that were Dickens’ stock in trade. Colin Graves, Yorkshire’s no-nonsense chairman, runs a chain of supermarkets rather than a mill and Ajmal Shahzad, depicted as the restless and ambitious type, could yet become a shoo-in for the first Yorkshire Asian to be cast as Pip in Great Expectations.Nobody emerges well from Yorkshire’s decision to end their association with Shazad less than a month into the season. Shahzad’s volatile temperament has run straight into the arms-folded, straight-talking, uncompromising nature of Yorkshire cricket. Yorkshire can take pride in Shahzad as the first Yorkshire-born Asian to play for the county, but they have failed to forge a deep loyalty and sense of team ethic. Shahzad has felt undervalued for a long time and Yorkshire have found solace in the assumption that he is not a team player.Graves is due to explain Yorkshire’s decision to cut their losses on Thursday lunchtime. It will be no surprise to learn that some counties have already made a formal approach. There may also be reference to an on-field tantrum against Essex at Headingley a fortnight ago, which drew the displeasure of the umpires, Rob Bailey and Alex Wharf. But there are faults on all sides. If Graves does not say “it’s a rum do and no mistake”, then perhaps he should.Somerset have become the first county to confirm their interest in taking Shahzad on a loan deal. “We are currently assessing the situation,” said their director of cricket, Brian Rose. “It has been publicised that we are looking at the list of potential loan players and of course he is an exciting addition to that list.”Other counties will follow – although judging by the feelers that were put out a couple of years ago, Shahzad will not be easily affordable. It was then that Yorkshire allowed another supposedly problematic pace bowler, Matthew Hoggard, to leave for Leicestershire and pronounced that Shahzad was the future. It has not been much of a future.On the first day, post Shahzad, Yorkshire did what for so long they have done best: they took a mess of their own making and stared it down. Andrew Gale, the captain who now has to restore equilibrium, and Jonny Bairstow, who like his father before him bats as if asserting that anything is always possible, added 160 in 40 overs for the fourth wicket. It was a stand steeped more than most in Yorkshire pride. Gale was the more secure of the two before, on 80, he edged an injudicious square drive off Wayne White but it was Bairstow, 141 from 213 balls at the close, who progressed to his fifth first-class century.It sounds carping to observe that Bairstow was not at his best for long periods as he rallied Yorkshire’s dressing room spirits so successfully, but he was not. He was a batsman in a hurry, as if eager to right wrongs, and was dropped on 19 off White by Jacques du Toit at second slip. It was a strange innings, reliant more on a sharp eye than confident footwork, although there were four sixes to cheer a crowd that had donned winter apparel to protect itself against a chill wind off the North Sea. He worked hard, though, to settle into a more reliable tempo after tea, taking more than an hour to move from 80 to 100 before he preyed upon a tiring attack in the final hour.Another stalwart, Anthony McGrath, rallied with an unbeaten 49 as Bairstow shared in a second century stand. His father spent an entire career bemoaning internal strife and was occupied for so long fighting fires that he was regularly compared to a little red fire engine, sirens clanging. It remains to be seen if Yorkshire will waste another generation of cricketers.Leicestershire did not help themselves in the field. Their ground fielding was shoddy and they missed at least four catches with Ramnaresh Sarwan, captain in Hoggard’s absence, reprieving both Joe Sayers and Gale, on 32, at slip and looking frozen to the ground – quite literally – as Gary Ballance edged wide of him in the afternoon.Many Yorkshire followers watched with a maudlin air. Jason Gillespie, the new coach, has seemingly decided that Shahzad’s breakdown of relations with Yorkshire is irreparable. But Yorkshire, however they dress it up, however much they plead that righteousness is on their side, have followed up a mediocre start to the season by abandoning a troubled relationship with just the sort of player who might have kick-started their promotion push.In an interview with the Grocer earlier this year, Graves said: “I was indoctrinated with a company and a brand and never thought there was anything outside it – so to step out of that and go into the unknown was a bit like jumping off a cliff.” He was talking about abandoning Spar for Costcutter. He could easily have been talking about the endless mystique of Yorkshire cricket.

South Africa’s bowlers finally arrived in Harare, where they kept Zimbabwe to a below-par total in a must-win encounter to book their place in the tri-series final

The Report by Firdose Moonda23-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRichard Levi scored 54 off 30 balls•AFP

South Africa’s bowlers finally arrived in Harare, keeping Zimbabwe to a below-par total in a must-win encounter to book their place in the tri-series final. Zimbabwe, however, managed to delay defeat until the 18th over, which allowed them to qualify as well, pipping Bangladesh on net run-rate. Bangladesh needed the hosts to lose inside 15 overs.An improved Wayne Parnell did the bulk of the damage on a sluggish pitch. His triple-strike midway through the Zimbabwe innings left South Africa with a moderate total to chase. Richard Levi took control of the reply and his half-century led South Africa to a relatively straight-forward win.Zimbabwe had decided to bat and Hamilton Masakadza showed his intent early on, flat-batting Chris Morris for a stunning six over cover. He did not have much support, though, as Vusi Sibanda was out lbw to a full, straight ball from Morris, and Brendan Taylor holed out to mid-on.Masakadza tried to rebuild the innings but became Parnell’s first victim when he decided to accelerate. Masakadza cut towards cover, where Farhaan Berhardien took a low catch that had to be referred to the television umpire. It was shown to be clean and Masakadza’s run of three fifties in as many matches, ended. Parnell struck again in that over to remove Malcolm Waller.Both wicket-taking deliveries in Parnell’s first over were fairly ordinary but he showed marked improvement from the previous matches through better lines and lengths. He claimed a third scalp when Elton Chigumbura edged a ball that moved away slightly.When Chigumbura departed, Zimbabwe were only five down but their tail was already at the crease. It was up to Stuart Matsikenyeri to prevent a collapse and he did through his 32-run stand with Graeme Cremer. An Albie Morkel slower ball eventually accounted for Matsikenyeri, when he hit down the ground and du Plessis took a one-handed catch looking into the sun. Cremer stuck around until the end and showed good temperament to combine with Prosper Utseya and give Zimbabwe 124 to defend.Zimbabwe’s only real sniff at making things difficult for South Africa came in the first over of the chase. Hashim Amla tried to flick Chris Mpofu fine on the leg-side but got an edge that carried to Taylor.Amla’s dismissal allowed for the much-heralded pair of Richard Levi and Faf du Plessis to combine. Levi dominated the 55-run stand and muscled anything too full or straight, which all the Zimbabwe seamers were guilty of bowling, over the leg-side. Du Plessis was caught behind in Jarvis’ second over but Levi powered on.When Levi was run out in the 11th over, he had done enough to put South Africa on course. Richard Muzhange’s yorkers and Cremer’s googlies, however, kept South Africa at bay long enough to ensure Zimbabwe also qualified. Justin Ontong and Behardien could not find the boundary in their 34-run partnership but they secured South Africa’s place in the final.

AB de Villiers says he is “looking forward to the challenge” of combining his role as a batsman with succeeding Mark Boucher, as expected, as South Africa’s Test wicketkeeper.

Alan Gardner12-Jul-2012
AB de Villiers says he is “looking forward to the challenge” of combining his role as a batsman with succeeding Mark Boucher as South Africa’s Test wicketkeeper, if he is handed the gloves as expected.South Africa will begin their attempt to wrest the No. 1 ranking away from England at The Oval next Thursday in what is set to be an emotional first Test after Boucher’s enforced retirement from international cricket due to an eye injury sustained whilst standing up to the stumps in a warm-up game at Somerset.De Villiers has kept in only three of his 74 Tests but became South Africa’s first-choice ODI wicketkeeper in 2010 and is now likely to get the job for the Test series against England as well. He will keep wicket in South Africa’s three-day match at Kent, although the specialist Thami Tsolekile has also been added to the squad and a final decision is yet to be made.The unexpected loss of the world’s leading wicketkeeper, with a record 555 Test dismissals to his name, has undoubtedly affected South Africa. Boucher was such a part of the fabric of the team that Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, had to be reminded of his absence during a practice session at Canterbury. However, de Villiers, who regarded Boucher as a mentor, believes that the team can draw strength from the situation.”He will be in the back of our minds no matter what,” de Villiers said. “In our keeping drills today, Smithy even called me Bouch at one stage, and I was like, ‘it’s me now.’ He will be there in the back of our minds but it’s more for inspiration as much as anything else. He’ll take us a long way to winning this series. It’s not a bad thing, as long as you don’t get too emotional about it.””He’s been an idol in South African cricket for many years. He’s been the rock, the guy with the guts. He’s someone who was there when I started off my career, who looked after me, took me under his wing and helped me a lot in my cricket. I probably wouldn’t be here without him – it’s a big call but it’s true.”They’re huge boots to fill, obviously, if not the best. I’m a little bit undercooked when it comes to Test wicketkeeping but I’ve had a lot of experience, in IPL, T20, ODIs for my country and my keeping has improved a lot over the last few years. It’s something I’m looking forward to, if the gloves come my way, in the Test matches. It’s something I’ll take with both hands.”It could be quite a challenge, as de Villiers is also a key part of South Africa’s batting line-up. Greats of the game such as Alec Stewart and Kumar Sangakkara have struggled to combine wicketkeeping duties with consistent runscoring – both averaging significantly less when taking on those extra duties – but de Villiers was sanguine about having to multitask, even suggesting that he might have an easier time of it than in his usual fielding position at point.AB de Villiers has no qualms that keeping wicket in the first Test at The Oval would affect his batting form•Getty Images

“In my experience, I rest a bit more when I keep, I really do,” he said. “The only thing I have to look after is my back – that takes quite a bit of stress when I’m keeping. But you don’t run a lot as a wicketkeeper. I’m at point and, during a big partnership, I’m running all over that field and I’m really tired after. If anything I might rest a little bit more. I don’t think it will influence my batting, maybe I’ll go through a bad patch, maybe I’ll do even better.””The captain and coach will have to sit down and take a proper call. I’m keeping in the three-day game, I’m preparing like I’m going to take the gloves in the first Test match and obviously I’m going to prepare like I’m going to bat at five as well. It’s not a massive tweak; it’s the way you’ve got to adapt at this level.”While South Africa may worry about increasing the burden on their No. 5, who is ranked the third best Test batsman in the world, de Villiers’ record as a keeper in ODIs is worth noting. In 37 matches he has averaged an astonishing 80.36 – scoring eight of his 13 hundreds – compared to 38.81 when playing solely as a batsman. He also seems to thrive when taking on added responsibility, having assumed the ODI captaincy earlier this year while continuing to pile on runs.Although he described Boucher’s injury as a “freakish accident,” de Villiers will wear a helmet to stand up to stumps. “I always do,” he said. He is not about to change after the horrors of the past week.

Shane Bond has expressed interest in taking up the role of New Zealand bowling coach

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2012Shane Bond, the former New Zealand fast bowler, has expressed interest in being the national team’s bowling coach. The job became available after the incumbent, Damien Wright, announced that the World Twenty20 would be his last assignment. “I am interested in the role, but I want to know more,” Bond told . “There’s not much else to say really, until I see a job description.”Bond’s statement evoked a positive response from New Zealand Cricket director John Buchanan, who said that NZC would be keen to discuss it further. “We’ll go through the advertising process,” Buchanan said. “We’re aware that Damien Wright has to move on so we’ll go through that process, but obviously someone like Shane Bond presents [himself] as one of the candidates that we’re very interested in talking with.”The position in the New Zealand coaching set-up became available when Wright announced he was stepping down from the role after a 13-month stint citing family reasons. Wright was appointed to the role in mid-2011, after retiring from Australian first-class cricket.”We are very disappointed to lose a quality coach like Damien but can totally understand his reasons for having to step away from the job,” Buchanan said.Bond, who took 87 wickets from 18 Tests, works with the NZC and Central Districts team as a bowling coach and has worked with current New Zealand bowlers Doug Bracewell and Adam Milne.

Alviro Petersen progressed to his best score in Test cricket to lead South Africa to 419 before England’s openers negotiated their way to the close

The Report by David Hopps03-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlviro Petersen progressed to his highest score in Test cricket on day two•PA Photos

Alviro Petersen had been the batsman in South Africa’s top six that England least worried about, the only one to fail during their crushing innings victory at The Oval.For Petersen to respond with 182, his highest Test score, did not really fit the script, especially as the script also involved England winning the toss in the second Test and putting South Africa in to bat, anticipating that their quartet of fast bowlers would cause mayhem. Instead, the tourists survived until tea on the second day.Petersen did not just prove less vulnerable than England had anticipated, he produced the Test innings of his life: 182 in 365 balls, a ball for every day of the year, a year which from England’s perspective will go down as an .It could have been worse for England. As their captain, Andrew Strauss, reflected on a strategy that had failed to bring the desired effect, he could at least take solace from the 17 overs that he survived alongside Alastair Cook before rain forced a premature end.South Africa’s new-ball bowling was awry, with Morne Morkel in particular spraying the ball wide of the left-handers’ off stump. Dale Steyn, whose entrance was delayed until the sixth over, was driven down the ground as Strauss passed Len Hutton, on his home ground as well, in the list of England’s leading Test runmakers. That is not the sort of statistic they announce on the PA at Headingley; if Strauss gets 200, somebody might deign to mention it.But Petersen was the opener to celebrate. His innings was the cornerstone of South Africa’s austerely compiled 419. Unless the weather forecast proves entirely wrong or Headingley, the great trickster among Test grounds, stages its greatest ruse of all time, it should at the very least protect South Africa’s 1-0 lead entering the final Test at Lord’s.He needed treatment shortly before lunch for a hamstring strain, which was serious enough for him not to field during England’s innings and go to a Leeds hospital for a precautionary scan. It might put him out of the rest of the match but the same levels of pain were felt by the media, who were unable to talk to him.He finally succumbed to Stuart Broad in mid-afternoon, edging to the wicketkeeper, Matt Prior. He departed with his reputation enhanced, a fourth Test hundred secured and a Test average now comfortably above 40.The manner of his dismissal begged the question why England had not countered him with fullish deliveries on or around off stump more often because this was the area where he rode his luck. England’s lengths were shorter, their lines straighter, and Petersen flourished throughout with strong leg-side strokeplay, reaching both his fifty and hundred on the first day with confident pulls.England had to resort to DRS to claim Petersen’s wicket. The not-out decision by Rod Tucker was such a howler that Broad grinned at the absurdity of it all, knowing that the TV umpire would routinely overrule it. It was yet another example of how the Decision Review System enhances the game.Once Petersen departed, at 353 for 7, England began to make progress, Vernon Philander swung Steven Finn to Tim Bresnan at deep square leg, Morne Morkel’s attempted lofted drive against Broad fell tamely to Alastair Cook at mid-off and Imran Tahir fell without scoring, steering James Anderson to slip.England remained committed to their long-held policy under Strauss and Andy Flower, the director of cricket, to play controlled Test cricket and draw their opponents into error. But their opponents were South Africa. They are not easily deflected from their task.England had to settle for just the wicket of Jacques Rudolph in the first two hours. Even Rudolph’s dismissal served to challenge the sense of England’s omission of Graeme Swann in favour of an all-pace attack. Kevin Pietersen, whose part-time offspin was introduced in desperation 20 minutes before lunch, puffed out his cheeks and turned his second ball sharply past Rudolph’s outside edge for Prior to complete the stumping.It was referred by the square-leg umpire but Rudolph’s foot was on the line, not behind it. It was a narrow call – and will doubtless be too narrow for some partisan observers – but all the evidence was in favour of the third umpire, Asad Rauf. England had taken a wicket that they sorely needed. Back in the dressing room, Swann’s testosterone levels probably rose sharply with frustration.Petersen also resorted to technology with telling effect earlier in the day. He had successfully overturned an lbw decision made by umpire Steve Davis shortly before the close on the first day when he was 119 and he did so again, this time before adding to his overnight 124, when Anderson’s delivery was shown to be both high and going down the leg side.It was a perfect first session for South Africa. The second new ball was less than eight overs old at start of play and there was enough movement to encourage England’s bowlers, but Petersen and Rudolph absorbed the pressure, accepted their moments of fortune with composure, and maintained a rigorous approach that has characterised South Africa’s cricket through the series.The day began with six successive maidens but to term it stalemate would be misleading because with every over that passed the ball was ageing and, much to their frustration, England’s chances were receding. Both Anderson and Broad were on their mettle, more purposeful than the first day, and nearly half an hour had elapsed when Petersen pushed Anderson into the off side for the first run.England bowled shorter at Rudolph than Petersen, recognising his unwillingness to hook or pull, but he was in no rush and a series of conscientious leave-alones were combined with an occasional flirt to third man.Rudolph had managed 19 from 73 balls on the ground where he played with distinction for Yorkshire for several seasons, imagining that his South Africa career was over, before Pietersen struck.But the other Petersen ground forward, surviving an occasional flash at a wide one, willing himself to remain true to the stern disciplines that South Africa believe will bring them the series.