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The thousands who made their maiden trip to the brand new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in the outskirts of Pune got their money’s worth as Pune Warriors pulled off a comprehensive 22-run win against Kings XI Punjab

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran08-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarlon Samuels helped Pune Warriors post a competitive 166•AFP

The thousands who made their maiden trip to the brand new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in the outskirts of Pune, proudly and loyally filling the stands with blue, got their money’s worth as Pune Warriors India pulled off a comprehensive win against a struggling Kings XI Punjab. It was an all-round performance, led by an 81-run partnership for the third wicket between Robin Uthappa and Marlon Samuels which set them to a competitive 166 before a combined bowling effort sealed the game.A score of 166 is normally considered slightly above par in these conditions, but Warriors made it a winning total by creating opportunities by sound ground fielding, effecting two early run-outs and not giving Kings XI any leeway. Warriors recorded their second win in as many games and now share the top spot with Rajasthan Royals.Warriors made the right move at the start, promoting the experienced Samuels to No.3. However, some circumspect running, and a subsequent run-out of an out-of-sorts Jesse Ryder gave Kings XI early control.Samuels combined well with Uthappa to boost the scoring after Warriors were 43 for 2 after seven overs. The eighth over went for ten runs and the 10th, bowled by the left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma, went for 13.With the more experienced Praveen and Dimitri Mascarenhas proving more difficult to score off with their restrictive stump-to-stump lines, also with the keeper up to the stumps, the pair took to Bipul. Both used their feet, clearing long-off for sixes, one of which just beat David Hussey’s desperate leap at the edge of the rope. The duo also studied the field well, using the pace of the ball to fetch a couple of boundaries off deft touches to third man, with the fielder within the circle.Uthappa fetched an audacious six, off one hand, over long-off but the bowler Harmeet Singh got the better of Samuels in the same over, bowling him off a slower delivery. Harmeet’s following over yielded just a run and the wicket of Callum Ferguson, but his next was bitter-sweet. After bowling Uthappa with another slower delivery, Harmeet had to be taken out of the attack for bowling two full tosses above waist height. Bipul completed the over, which produced three massive hits over the on-side thanks to Manish Pandey and Steven Smith.The 19th over produced 27 runs, and from that point, Kings XI found it hard to bounce back. The chase never took flight for a sustained period to threaten Warriors. The short of a length deliveries from Ashok Dinda and Ashish Nehra skidded off the surface, making strokeplay difficult. Smith’s fielding created the opportunities to derail the top order with two run-outs.Paul Valthaty sacrificed his wicket for the experienced Adam Gilchrist. Following an lbw appeal, the ball deflected to the off side but Gilchrist’s anxiety to get back on strike caused a communication mishap and Valthaty helplessly ambled out of his crease before the bails were broken at the non-striker’s end. The sacrifice didn’t help as Gilchrist himself was run-out the following over, failing to beat an agile pick-up and throw from Smith at short midwicket.Kings XI were poking around at 13 for 2 after five overs, with just one boundary. The drought had extended to 26 balls before Mandeep Singh cut Rahul Sharma to the deep point rope. However, even Mandeep failed to set a base and fell for 24, nicking Ryder to the keeper in an attempt to force the pace.Kings XI also lost the game tactically by not promoting Hussey, a batsman capable of turning a game. Hussey, Abhishek Nayar and Piyush Chawla all made starts, but the fact that none of the recognised batsmen scored more than 24 summed up what was a sorry batting performance. Late hitting by Bipul only reduced the margin of defeat.Edited by Abhishek Purohit

The BCCI has begun its investigation of the corruption charges against five players, with Shalabh Srivastava deposing before its inquiry commission

Nagraj Gollapudi16-May-2012The BCCI has begun its investigation of the corruption charges against five players, with Shalabh Srivastava deposing before its inquiry commission in New Delhi.The hearing was conducted by Ravi Sawani, head of the new anti-corruption wing announced by the BCCI on Saturday. Sawani, whose last job was heading the ICC’s ACSU, has been given 15 days to carry out his investigation and report to the BCCI.Srivastava, part of the Kings XI Punjab squad before his suspension on Tuesday, was allegedly caught on tape negotiating a fee for bowling a no-ball; India TV, which carried out the sting, ran the audio of the tape and showed footage of a player bowling a big no-ball in a limited-overs match. Srivastava has since denied any such incident.No official comment was made on the hearing, which was held at the Maurya Sheraton hotel. It is believed that while Srivastava attended in person, and was seen at the hotel for more than an hour, the rest were contacted over the phone.Sawani – who forms the one-man committee – will give the players time to present their defence both in person and in writing. It is also understood that at this stage there will be no legal personnel involved on either side.This will be Sawani’s first test, less than a week after his appointment to the job and before he has had time to either become acquainted with workings of the board or assemble a team.The other players suspended by the BCCI are Mohnish Mishra, T P Sudhindra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali. Mishra remained in Pune, where he has been suspended by his IPL team Pune Warriors. However, a Warriors official said he was being given “the benefit of doubt” until his case was completely heard.Another franchise, Kings XI Punjab – which has two players, Srivastava and Yadav, implicated in the sting – issued a media release, stating that it would support the investigation and abide by any decision eventually taken by the BCCI if any player was found guilty. The statement echoed comments made to reporters by the team captain David Hussey.Meanwhile, India’s sports minister Ajay Maken said the BCCI’s probe should go deeper than just the five players. “I have already said, and I am emphasising again that BCCI should go into the root cause of the problem,” he said. “Suspension of five players is not enough. BCCI has to come out with a long-term solution to sort out this mess.”He also suggested that the BCCI should de-link itself from the IPL, citing the example of football’s English Premier League. “IPL should be at a arm’s distance from BCCI. It should not be under BCCI. IPL and BCCI should be away from each other so that there is no overlapping of interests,” he said. “If you look at English Premier League and other leagues world over, they always have distance from their parent sports federations.”

Chris Gayle’s 15-month international exile is over after he was formally recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the forthcoming series against England, due to begin at Southampton on June 16

Daniel Brettig04-Jun-2012Chris Gayle’s 15-month international exile is over after he was formally recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the forthcoming series against England, starting in Southampton on June 16.In keeping with the fractious and drawn out nature of the dispute that kept Gayle out of the team, his recall was confirmed after a meeting of more political than selection nature in St Vincent. Gayle and the West Indies Players’ Association chief executive*, Michael Hall, spoke with an array of political and cricket figures including the island’s prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Baldwin Spencer, WICB president Julian Hunte, WICB director Elson Crick and the WICB’s legal officer Alanna Medford.The meeting, devised to smooth over any “residual matters” between Gayle and the WICB, was followed by the announcement of the squad for the limited-overs segment of the England tour, with Gayle returning to the ranks for the first time since the 2011 World Cup.

West Indies’ ODI squad

Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine

“Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board recently met by teleconference and are pleased that consistent with his previous commitment Mr Chris Gayle has made himself available for selection to the West Indies team,” a WICB statement had said of the meeting. “The board believes that Mr Gayle’s stated commitment to West Indies cricket will be an asset to the team and looks forward to his contributions in that regard.”Gayle’s recall was first mooted during West Indies’ earlier home series against Australia, when he met with WICB officials to repair a relationship that had deteriorated around the emergence of Twenty20 and the rise of the Indian Premier League. It then dissolved entirely when the former captain criticised the coach Ottis Gibson and the WICB during a radio interview last year.In England the mood for Gayle’s return has gathered strength, pushed along by the words of Kevin Pietersen, who said it would be “brilliant for the game” if he was recalled, while the former West Indies fast bowler and widely respected commentator Michael Holding effectively challenged the WICB to stop delaying Gayle’s rehabilitation as an international player.Lendl Simmons is the other notable recall to the ODI team after he missed the home matches against Australia. Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell also return to the team for limited-overs matches after completing their IPL duties.*15:44 GMT, June 5: The article had qualified Michael Hall as Chris Gayle’s agent. This has been changed.

Scotland coach Peter Steindl has said his young team is capable of challenging more higher-ranked sides after they secured their first win against a Full Member nation

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2012Scotland coach Peter Steindl has said his young team is capable of challenging more higher-ranked sides after they secured their first win against a Full Member nation by beating Bangladesh in a Twenty20 international at The Hague. Steindl praised the composure and shot selection of Richie Berrington, who scored his maiden international century to lead Scotland to a 34-run victory.”We’ve set our sights at beating a Full Member and we haven’t done that in a bonafide international before, either ODI or T20 internationals,” Steindl told BBC Scotland. “We know we are capable of challenging teams that are above us.”We had a polished performance, we worked hard and got that result we were looking for. We’ve got a young team who are hungry for success but realise we have a long way to go.”Berrington, a 25-year old batsman who was born in Pretoria in South Africa, was the only player to score more than 20 for Scotland after they chose to bat. He was firm at one end, striking five sixes and ten fours in his 100 off 58 balls, the seventh hundred in Twenty20 internationals. He was dismissed in the 19th over and Scotland’s score of 162 proved too much for Bangladesh to chase.”That was an outstanding knock by Richie,” Steindl said. “He’s had a couple of really good knocks for Scotland over the last two years, but today the composure that he had, his shot selection and decision making was outstanding and he deserved to get a hundred. But Richie would say himself that it was made even more special by the result.”Berrington concurred. “I am absolutely delighted to get my 100, my first in T20 cricket for Scotland,” he said. “But it was an absolutely fantastic team performance. We haven’t had the greatest month or so, we haven’t had a lot of cricket and we’ve had a few disappointing results in the CB40 [England’s domestic one-day competition]. And Bangladesh are a very dangerous side with some top-quality players.”It has been one of our goals for a year or two and we had great belief going into today’s game that we could do it.”Scotland travel to Cardiff to play Glamorgan in the CB40 on Sunday and Berrington was keen to build on the success against Bangladesh.

Only 33 deliveries were possible before rain forced an abandonment of the first ODI between England and South Africa in Cardiff

The Report by George Dobell24-Aug-2012England 37 for 0 v South Africa – Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIan Bell hit Morne Morkel for six over midwicket in a brief display of hitting•Getty Images

Only 33 deliveries were possible before rain forced an abandonment of the first ODI between England and South Africa in Cardiff. The result means that England, who were presented with what looked remarkably like a hub-cap but was actually the ICC’s ODI Shield before play, retain the newly acquired No. 1 ranking in this format for a little while yet.Had South Africa won, they would have usurped England as the No. 1-ranked ODI side just as they usurped them as No. 1-ranked Test team with victory at Lord’s just five days ago.The weather flirted with spectators for much of the day and, as the covers were taken on and off with each passing shower, there was little to entertain the crowd other than 50 shades of grey sky. When play eventually began, the game was reduced to 24 overs a side, with another over deducted after a further interruption after just one delivery.England, who selected Chris Woakes for his first home ODI in place of the rested Stuart Broad, and retained faith in Ravi Bopara, despite his recent absence from the game for personal reasons ahead of the in-form Jonny Bairstow, were inserted when South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss at 9.45am. South Africa recalled left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell in place of the rested Dale Steyn.The first passage of play last only one delivery – a leg side wide – before rain forced the players from the pitch and, on the resumption, batting proved hard work. Alastair Cook might have been run-out before he scored had Parnell, at mid-off, hit the stumps with his direct hit and, after three power-play overs, England had scored only four runs.The next two overs cost 28, however, as Ian Bell, in particular, launched an attack that hinted he may yet have something to offer as a Twenty20 player. Cook signalled the acceleration by cover driving Lonwabo Tsotsobe for four before, later in the same over, Bell skipped down the pitch and lofted another four over mid-off.It was a tactic Bell was to employ even more impressively in the next over. Skipping down the pitch to Morne Morkel, Bell was able to turn perfectly reasonable back of the length deliveries into length deliveries and, having heaved one six over midwicket, drove another over long-off.But then, with 33 runs having come from 15 deliveries, the rain returned and, with time running out to fit in the minimum 20-overs a side to constitute a game, the umpires too the inevitable decision to abandon the game. Spectators will receive a full refund minus a handling fee.The second match in the five match series will take place in Southampton on Tuesday.

Brendon McCullum will return to the top of the order for New Zealand’s Tests against India, set to open with Martin Guptill after playing at first drop during the past two series

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2012Brendon McCullum will return to the top of the order for New Zealand’s Tests against India, set to open with Martin Guptill after playing at first drop during the past two series. Daniel Flynn, BJ Watling and Rob Nicol were all given a chance to partner Guptill during New Zealand’s past two series, against South Africa and West Indies, but that won’t be the case this time around.”Martin Guptill and Brendon will open the innings,” the New Zealand captain Ross Taylor told reporters in India after the squad touched down ahead of the first Test, starting in Hyderabad on Thursday. “Brendon batted well here on previous occasions and, hopefully, he will continue in the same vein in the upcoming Tests.”McCullum’s highest Test score, 225, came on New Zealand’s most recent Test tour of India, during the Hyderabad Test of 2010-11. McCullum and his team-mates don’t have long to acclimatise to the conditions ahead of the first Test, but Taylor said the players were familiar enough with India that he was confident they could adjust quickly.”We would certainly like to put some good plans in place and be positive about the way we look to play. India is a familiar place for a lot of us,” he said. “We have played well here and are looking forward to the contest.”New Zealand are coming off a demoralising tour of the West Indies in which they lost the Tests and limited-overs legs comprehensively. They also lost 1-0 last time they visited India for Tests, but their bowlers at times left the Indian batting in positions of trouble, and their batting clicked, the highlights being McCullum’s double-century and a debut hundred by Kane Williamson.Harbhajan Singh rescued India from dicey positions in the series, scoring two centuries and a fifty. Taylor said the side would nevertheless take heart from that tour.”We hadn’t had bad memories the last time we played here. Brendon got 225. We had our opportunities but Harbhajan batted well and took the game away from us. However, it is a different time of the year, and hopefully, we will continue to play well.”Daniel Vettori, with 14 wickets, was the highest wicket-taker in the series. Taylor said his spinners would be keen to take advantage of the conditions. “They have a few spinners in their side and we don’t play lot of spinners back home,” he said. “It will be a good challenge and we are looking forward to put India under pressure.”He said India played well at home and his side would have to take that into account. “India is always tough in their home conditions. Whether they play north or down south they play very well. We should be careful about the reverse swing and the spinners. We have to learn quickly through the series.”The two-Test series will be followed by two T20Is in September as a prelude to the World T20.

Harry Pilling, the former Lancashire batsman, has died at the age of 69. A right hander, he played for the county from 1962 to 1980

Martin Williamson24-Sep-2012Harry Pilling, the former Lancashire batsman, has died at the age of 69. A right hander, he played for the county from 1962 to 1980 and was a key member of the side which dominated domestic one-day cricket in the first half of the 1970s.Standing at 5ft 3in, Pilling never took a backward step and one of his more famous innings came in the 1970 Gillette Cup final at Lord’s when he struck an unbeaten 70 to guide Lancashire home against Sussex.Pilling’s lack of height was inevitably what headline writers concentrated on – and perhaps accounted for him never being selected by England when far inferior batsmen were – but it underplayed his bravery and ability. Given his lack of reach he was not a great driver, but his ability to nudge and nurdle made him well suited to the limited-overs format which started around the same time as he did. He was, unsurprisingly, unfazed by short-pitched bowling.At the start of his career he was an offspinner but he soon graduated into a specialist No. 3, passing 1000 runs in a season for the first of eight times in 1965. Although he went on to make 25 hundreds he never passed 150, and despite his early potential as a bowler he took just one first-class wicket.But one-day cricket was his forte. In 1970 he was the first player to pass 1000 runs in the fledgling John Player League, and after his success in that year’s Gillette Cup final he was in the side that retained the trophy in 1971 and 1972.In first-class cricket, Pilling made 15,279 runs at 32.23 in his 333 matches. Off season, as David Frith recalled, saw him make ends meet in a wide variety of ways. “For a while [he] had been a coffin salesman. His … earnings over the years came from an extraordinary variety of means: apprentice butcher, toolmaker, coalman, general labourer, lorry driver, and ‘an umbrella-handle putter-onner’.””He should have played for England,” former Lancashire team-mate Farokh Engineer told the Manchester Evening News. “He was a really good cricketer, but more than that he was a good team man and a real character. He was one of the first people I met when I arrived at Lancashire from India and he greeted me with a traditional ‘alreet lad!’ I will never forget it, I didn’t have a clue what he was saying..”We used to call him Mr Reliable in the dressing room because we knew that whatever happened at one end, he would be at the other steadily going along making runs, whatever the wicket.”Former Lancashire captain Jack Simmons, who went into business with Pilling after they had retired, told the newspaper that “he could just bat and bat … and he would guarantee you 1,000 almost every year. When he was in nick, which was most of the time, he never went in the nets he just used to put bat on ball. But if at any stage he was struggling, he would be the first in the nets and the last one out.”But the greatest thing was that wherever I went in the world, whether it be in England, Australia or the West Indies, people always asked me how ‘Little Harry’ was.”Lancashire’s outgoing chief executive Jim Cumbes said: “We are greatly saddened to hear about Harry’s passing. He was a stalwart of the Lancashire side in the 1960s and 1970s and was a key member of the successful one-day teams from that era.”

So lopsided was West Indies’ obliteration of Australia in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20, the victors had near enough to 13 overs to bask in their looming progress to the final against Sri Lanka

The Report by Daniel Brettig05-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle anchored the West Indies innings•ICC/Getty

So lopsided was West Indies’ obliteration of Australia in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20, the victors had near enough to 13 overs to bask in their looming progress to the final against Sri Lanka.Matthew Wade’s departure in the eighth over of Australia’s reply to 205 for 4 left George Bailey’s team at a forlorn 43 for 6, their campaign collapsing in a few fevered minutes. Bailey was left to offer his team’s last gesture of defiance, a breathless 63 from 29 balls, but it served only to narrow the margin.That they were chasing such a tall tally was down to Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. Gayle was starved of the strike early and later battled an apparent muscle strain, but in between produced an innings of controlled aggression that helped foster a trio of partnerships with Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo. Pollard clumped three of four sixes to be brutalised from Xavier Doherty’s final over of the innings, a sequence that broke Australian spirits.This much was clear in the early overs of the chase, the only blow landed by any batsman other than Bailey were the verbal ones delivered by David Warner before the innings had even begun. Australia entered the tournament resolved to fight with Test match zeal for the T20 trophy, but they have ultimately exited the event at an earlier stage than Michael Clarke’s team had done at the 2010 tournament in the Caribbean.Darren Sammy’s team have some concerns over Gayle’s fitness, and will be a little perturbed to have lost focus momentarily during Bailey’s rearguard, but will otherwise enter the final with the confidence earned from a thumping result. West Indies’ bowlers showed plenty of wit and variation on a dry surface, Ravi Rampaul catching the eye by using the short ball to make Australia’s belatedly included David Hussey look nobody’s idea of a saviour.Warner and Shane Watson – until a few days ago the prohibitive favourite to be the Player of the Tournament – were both winkled out by the flat leg spin of Samuel Badree. Warner’s dismissal required video evidence to confirm that the stumps had been flicked after the batsman missed a cut shot, but there was no room for doubt about Watson’s exit, losing his leg stump as he tried to pull a skidder. What followed would confirm the suspicion, maintained all tournament, that Australia’s batting fell away beneath them.Michael Hussey had performed a miracle to get Australia through their semi-final against Pakistan in 2010, but this time skied Samuels having made just 18. Cameron White glanced Rampaul into the gloves of Denesh Ramdin, and David Hussey’s two deliveries in the tournament provided a reminder that his technique against the short ball is some way short of international standard, irrespective of a handsome record in all domestic formats.Bailey’s subsequent counter-attack seemed driven by frustration as much as anything, and may serve at least to shore up his place as a batsman in Australia’s limited-overs plans for the future. But the final margin will stick uncomfortably in the gullet of Bailey and his entire squad, as their tournament ended with a disheartening whimper.Such a scenario had seemed remote when West Indies made a sedate start on a fair surface. Gayle began carefully, wary of the new ball swing on offer for Mitchell Starc, and watched from the other end as Johnson Charles heaved without foot movement and edged behind.The non-striker’s end was the vantage point from which Gayle watched an inordinate amount of deliveries, as Australia’s bowlers and fielders did their best to keep him away from the batting crease. His brief encounters with Doherty were satisfying enough, but Brad Hogg was a little more successful in keeping the runs down with his indecipherable googlies.By the time 10 overs had elapsed Gayle had faced only 18 balls, while Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, chosen ahead of his brother Darren, took a greater share. Samuels managed a quartet of clean blows before being outsmarted by Pat Cummins and bowled by a slower ball. Bravo soaked up plenty of dot balls but summoned a six whenever he was becalmed.Australian sloppiness also helped West Indies keep momentum. Wade missed a full toss to allow four byes, Starc swung one delivery down the legside for five wides, and both Hussey brothers allowed bouncing shots to burst through their hands on the boundary.The innings still required a supercharge, and it arrived in the 15th over, delivered by Hussey. Gayle sent one delivery into the stratosphere, and pinched another two boundaries for the over to be worth 19. In the next, Bravo crunched a steepling six but perished to a flatter hit next ball, the partnership ending at 83 from 51 balls.Pollard offered sound support in the closing overs as Gayle finally enjoyed a greater share of the strike, though he was by this time clearly hampered by an apparent abdominal strain. It mattered little in the final over, however, as Gayle slammed a full toss for six first ball then left Pollard to collar three more. Pollard’s dismissal from the final ball of the innings was scant consolation for Doherty, and Bailey will wonder at length whether he might have handed the ball to someone else.

If England had any illusions about the enormity of their task in India, they would have largely been dispelled on the second day against Haryana

George Dobell in Ahmedabad09-Nov-2012
ScorecardEngland’s bowlers were made to work hard for their wickets on an unresponsive pitch•Getty Images

If England had any illusions about the enormity of their task in India, they would have largely been dispelled on the second day against Haryana.Having lost their last five wickets for 14 runs in the morning session, England’s bowlers then spent the rest of the day toiling under a hot sun, claiming just four wickets in 61 overs. Matt Prior was forced off the pitch suffering from a stomach upset and, perhaps more worryingly, the Haryana offspinner, Jayant Yadav, delivered a less than glowing review of England’s performance against spin bowling.While England’s total of 521 underlines the ease with which the batsmen flourished for the main, it is worth noting that against 40.1 overs of spin they lost eight wickets for 177. Yadav, an unremarkable bowler playing only his fifth first-class game, finished with 4 for 110, the best figures of his career to date.It may be wrong to read too much into that. In the latter stages of the innings, with the total over 500 and the lack of intensity in the match situation producing lethargic cricket, England played some carefree strokes. But, given England’s recent history against spin bowling, and bearing in mind that this surface is offering precious little help to bowlers of any type, those statistics will be just a little unsettling.England’s top-order looked comfortable against Yadav. Several batsmen, notably Ian Bell, Nick Compton, Prior and Kevin Pietersen, quickly took advantage of the lack of spin to come down the pitch to drive him over the top. But, far from being impressed by such confidence, Yadav interpreted it as a sign of insecurity.”They looked very uncomfortable against spin,” Yadav said. “That’s why they resorted to playing that way. If you are comfortable you play from the crease. You would use your feet once or twice. But from the outset they had a mindset to attack the spinners, because they were unsure how to play them. The wicket was not offering much to the spinners. It was very slow and didn’t turn much at all. There were uncomfortable.”Whether that is fair or not, it is certainl that England’s tail – without Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad – folded quickly. After Bell fell early, attempting to run one to third man but edging to slip, Samit Patel and Prior added 69 in 12 overs. Both looked in fine form, with Patel registering his third score over 50 in succession on the tour. He could hardly have done more to nail down the No. 6 position for the first Test.But when Prior, perhaps already feeling unwell, skipped down the pitch and missed one, it precipitated a sharp decline. Tim Bresnan and Patel, unwilling to grind out runs with the total already over 500, both slogged down the throat of long-on, before Stuart Meaker’s drive was sharply taken by Amit Mishra in his follow through and Graham Onions was bowled playing back to one that skidded on. So, it was five quick wickets, but a far cry from the hopeless displays that characterised the trip to the UAE earlier in the year.England’s bowlers were also made to work hard. While Nitin Saini, unsettled by a good bouncer, soon steered Bresnan to point, Rahul Dewan and Sunny Singh added 97 for the second wicket. At one stage Singh, a man with a first-class triple century to his name, took Bresnan for three successive boundaries and also skipped down the pitch to drive Patel for successive fours, while Dewan, cutting particularly well, hit Onions for two boundaries in a row and looked a well organised, patient batsman. He enjoyed only one moment of fortune when Prior, clearly unwell by this stage, dropped a tough chance down the leg side off Meaker’s second delivery.Poor Prior was obliged to make two emergency dashes for the bathroom, but England’s initial request to use a substitute wicketkeeper from outside their playing XI was declined by the umpires and match referee. While the convention in English domestic cricket permits a substitution on the grounds that the ECB believes that county cricket could be lessened as a spectacle by the use of a make-shift wicket-keeper, the Laws of the game (Law 2:3 specifically) actually forbid it. Ultimately, however, the BCCI, in an admirably magnanimous gesture, were contacted and made a special dispensation towards England. Jonny Bairstow took the gloves and Prior retired to a dark room.England did eventually break through – Jonathan Trott clinging on to the first of two sharp catches in the slips – but Bresnan later rated the wicket the best for batting he had ever experienced.”That wicket out there is possibly the best I’ve ever bowled on,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s easy-paced, has nice bounce and just comes on to the bat lovely. You get the feeling you’re in an ‘indoor school’ scenario. It’s not doing much off the straight, not seaming, not really bouncing much – and it’s not spinning at all. So it’s difficult.”All three of England’s seamers worked up a decent pace – Meaker in particular – but the line was just a little too wayward to build any pressure. Monty Panesar, in stock bowler mode, gave away little and, on a warm afternoon against determined but limited batsmen, the game drifted in somnambulant fashion. Indeed, it will tell you much about the day that the most entertaining moment came when play was briefly suspended while two monkeys ran across the pitch and enjoyed a romantic liaison at third man. You don’t see too much of that sort of thing at Lord’s.There was better news off the pitch for England, though. Steven Finn has improved more than expected and was able to bowl off his full run-up in the nets and, while Stuart Broad continued to rest and Graeme Swann remains in the UK, both are expected to be available for the first Test.”Finn is off his full run now,” Bresnan said. “That’s a very good sign. With six days to go, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be fully fit. If he can bowl at 90mph plus consistently, and get that bounce and lift, he’s going to add to any team. He would probably get in any side in the world at the minute.”

A round-up of Faysal Bank T-20 Cup matches played on December 1, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMultan steamrolled Quetta by 10 wickets in their first Group A Faysal Bank T-20 Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. After putting Quetta in, Multan’s fast bowlers, Abdur Rauf and Mohammad Irfan, struck thrice in the first three overs to reduce Quetta to 16 for 3. The situation got worse for Quetta with the introduction of spin in the sixth over as left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar struck with this second ball. Babar continued his stranglehold as he picked up two more wickets off consecutive balls in his second over and finished with incredible figures of 4-2-3-2. Irfan, who came back to bowl the seventeenth over, cleaned up the tail as Quetta were bowled out for 72. In response, it took Multan’s openers Zain Abbas and Sohaib Maqsood just 11 overs to overhaul the target.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBuoyed by opener Imran Farhat’s second T20 century, Lahore Eagles scored a comfortable 58-run win over Hyderabad. Farhat, who remained unbeaten on 100 off 59 balls, launched an attack with his opening partner Taufeeq Umar, who scored 65, to bring up the team’s 100 in the sixth over. The two batsmen put up 168 runs for the opening stand which set-up the base for the team’s 224-run total. Hyderabad remained on track till the halfway stage as opener Sharjeel Khan single-handedly fought on. Sharjeel remained unbeaten on 103, an innings laced with eight sixes and five boundaries, but didn’t receive support from the rest of the cast. For Lahore, Asif Raza and Junaid Zia were both economical and picked up two wickets apiece.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDefending champions Sialkot completed a commanding eight-wicket win over Islamabad in their first match. Islamabad, who chose to bat, struggled to force the pace and lost regular wickets from the start. Fast bowler Umaid Asif was the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 21 runs while Navel-ul-Hasan picked up two as Islamabad were restricted to 122. In response, Imran Nazir scored a quick half-century and was out after taking the team only 19 short of the target in the thirteenth over. Shoaib Malik and Haris Sohail, both stayed unbeaten on 21, and completed the chase without any further hiccup.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi led Karachi Dolphins to a 40-run win against Peshawar with a half-century that lifted the team from a slump in the middle to a strong total of 164. Karachi Dolphins lost their first wicket off the first ball, but Shahzaib Hasan attacked with a flurry of boundary hits to score a quick 33 off 14 balls. But three wickets went down for six runs slowing the Dolphins down. But Afridi held one end together and stayed on the crease till the nineteenth over to ensure the team got to a decent total. Peshawar stumbled early in the chase when they were reduced to 20 for 4 in the fifth over, but a 68-run stand between Iftikhar Ahmed and Akbar Badshah resurrected hopes of a fight back. However, once Afridi removed the half-centurion Iftikhar, Peshawar collapsed and were all out for 124.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOpener Imranullah Aslam’s quick-fire 89 off 53 balls helped Bahawalpur beat Rawalpindi by 19 runs. Aslam attacked from the start by dispatching Yasir Arafat for five fours in the third over of the match. He went on to hit 12 boundaries and two sixes in total before falling in the nineteenth over and helped them post 173. Rawalpindi faltered at the start as they lost opener Awais Zia off the fourth ball for a duck. Naved Malik and Babar Naeem kept them in the hunt, with Malik scoring 51 from 22 balls, with nine fours and a six. But his dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse and Rawalpindi managed 154. Siddiq was the pick of the Bahawalpur bowlers finishing with figures of 3 for 22.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSoon after being appointed the captain, Mohammad Hafeez scored a half-century to help Lahore Lions beat Karachi Zebras by seven wickets. Chasing 142, the strong Lions team was not put under any pressure at any stage and even though they lost their openers with the score on 60, Hafeez and Umar Akmal used their experience and remained in control. The two batsmen shared a 67-run stand which came off 47 balls. Hafeez was out after scoring 53, but Umar continued to attack and helped complete the chase with 11 balls to spare. Zebras, after chosing to bat, made a solid start and were placed at 98 for 2 after Fahad Iqbal’s half-century. But three wickets went down for eight runs, slowing the the team down in the process. Aizaz Cheema was the most successful bowler with 2 for 21.