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PNG’s bowlers gave some hope after they folded for their lowest T20I score ever, but Uganda held their nerve in the end

Mohammad Isam05-Jun-2024A hard-fought three-wicket win on a challenging pitch gave Uganda their maiden win at the T20 World Cup. They beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a low-scoring game in Guyana where both teams vied for their first win in the competition. PNG’s batting crumbled to 77 all out after being put to bat, before Uganda, themselves in trouble at 26 for 5, reached home in the 19th over.Riazat Ali Shah, one of Uganda’s rising stars, used a low backlift in his careful 33 off 56 to shepherd them through the tricky chase, falling just three runs shy of Uganda’s target. PNG were left to rue their poor batting, but they also conceded 15 wides, the second-biggest contribution on the scorecard.But the story of the evening was Uganda’s bowling in the first innings, set up by the pair of 43-year old Frank Nsubuga and 21-year old Juma Miyagi.Both vindicated their inclusion in this game with superb spells. Nsubuga bowled the most economical spell (minimum four overs) in T20 World Cup history, with figures of 4-2-4-2. He also became only the second bowler to bowl 20 dot balls in a T20 World Cup game, after Ajantha Mendis in 2012.

Ugandan pace rocks PNG

Alpesh Ramjani gave Uganda a wicket on the second ball when left-hand batter Assad Vala played back to the left-arm spinner, who angled the ball from around the wicket and on to the stumps. Miyagi and Cosmas Kyewuta then kept PNG on the back foot with their pace.Left-hand batter Sese Bau couldn’t clear Miyagi over mid-off where Roger Mukasa took a tumbling catch going backwards. Kyewuta then got the big one when Tony Ura, PNG’s highest run-scorer in T20Is, also holed out to Mukasa. Lega Siaka was run out for 12 in the seventh over, trying to take a second run as he felt under pressure playing out dots against the two fast bowlers.

Nsubuga on target

When Nsubuga slid one through Charles Amini’s leg stump in the 11th over, he became the second-oldest bowler to take a wicket in the T20 World Cup. Nsubuga then had Hiri Hiri lbw although on first view it looked like the batter had come too far down the wicket. The review, though, went in Uganda’s favour.Ramjani’s second wicket came when he also trapped Kiplin Doriga lbw for 12. Captain Brian Masaba then got into the act with a topspinner that went through Chad Soper’s defences. Miyagi and Kyewuta took the last two wickets, as PNG were bowled out with five balls to spare.Frank Nsubuga, 43, bowled back-to-back wicket maidens•ICC via Getty Images

Nao hits back

Alei Nao gave PNG an identical start to PNG when he removed Mukasa in the first over for a second straight duck. Norman Vanua then removed Robinson Obuya who holed out to mid-on where Vala didn’t have to move to complete the catch.Nao then had Simon Ssesazi lbw in the third over as PNG slipped to a perilous 6 for 3. Ramjani then struck a nice boundary through the off side as he and Riazat tried to get Uganda out of trouble. Soper, though, got the seam-up delivery to scissor through Ramjani in the sixth over. When PNG captain Vala had Dinesh Nakrani caught and bowled, PNG were on the ascendancy.

Riazat’s calmness prevails

When Uganda were 35 for 5, Amini dropped Riazat when he was on 8. It was a simple chance at point after Riazat had played a false shot, but it turned out to be the turning point in Uganda’s chase. Riazat registered his only boundary in the 11th over when he struck a nice cover drive against Vala.He added 35 runs for the sixth wicket with Miyagi, but the latter was run out after a mix-up in the 14th over. Riazat kept calm despite the dismissal, though PNG also kept helping Uganda. Bau dropped Kenneth Waiswa on 4, although Riazat finally fell in the 18th over. John Kariko took a good catch at deep third, though it was a little too late for PNG.

It’s hard to decide which of Shakib’s performances was more meaningful as both were critical to Bangladesh’s win

Mohammad Isam06-Mar-2023Shakib Al Hasan packs many things into the regular phenomenon that is “Shakib Al Hasan Day”. He rescues Bangladesh’s batting from a slump. He farms the strike with a tailender as he looks for a late burst of runs. When handed the ball, he makes early breakthroughs, offers middle-overs stability and then adds the finishing touches with late wickets. These are supposed to be rare days, but Shakib has had many in his 16-year career.Shakib now has a fifty and a four-for in an ODI for the fourth time in his career, the most by any cricketer, beating the three times by Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi. He has also done the five-for.But a brilliant allrounder playing for a team often in trouble usually means that these Shakib Al Hasan days are more necessary than ornamental.In this game Shakib touched 300 ODI wickets, and is now 24 short of reaching 7,000 runs in the format. Only Afridi and Sanath Jayasuriya have reached these heights in ODIs. On most days, Jayasuriya and Afridi had seven or eight match-winners to share the load. For much of his career, Shakib had two or three others. Now perhaps there are a few more.It is hard to decide which of Shakib’s performances on Monday was more meaningful. Both were critical to Bangladesh’s win.He made 75 off 71 balls when the innings was in decline. He couldn’t find any of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz to stick around for long enough to share slogging duties in the last ten overs.To ride out Bangladesh’s mini middle-order collapse, Shakib waited for 35 balls before getting his first boundary. When he did, he struck Sam Curran for two in a row. The rest of his boundaries came towards the death, when he was running out of partners, but Shakib is the sort of busy player who reaches 30-odd without anyone noticing and then finds the boundaries.Related

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Shakib then had work to do with the ball. England went off to another quick start, before he removed both openers, Phil Salt and Jason Roy, to bring the home side into parity. Salt was cross with himself for getting out to a short ball, but Roy had no answer for what he calls Shakib’s “undercutter”. It is essentially the arm ball, which Roy played back, and allowed to sneak under his bat.Shakib kept bowling tightly but those watching had his impending 300th wicket in mind. It was also increasingly looking like his last two overs, which Tamim had kept him back for after finishing Taijul Islam’s spell from the pavilion end, were going to shape the match.Taijul removed Jos Buttler, but Shakib also took James Vince’s wicket to seal the deal, getting Vince to follow his line on leg and middle only for it to break sharply and take the outside edge (Mushfiqur Rahim juggled a bit but took it safely). For his 300th ODI wicket, Rehan Ahmed couldn’t time Shakib’s half-tracker, only to be caught at short midwicket.Bangladesh have always won when Shakib has taken four wickets and scored a fifty in an ODI. The first instance came in the seminal Bangladesh-New Zealand series of 2010. Shakib started the series with 58 and a four-wicket haul, apart from being thrust into the captaincy following Mashrafe Mortaza’s injury in the first over.The next double, against Zimbabwe in 2014, was in his return to international cricket after serving a BCB suspension. The third one came against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup, when pretty much everything Shakib touched turned gold. It was only the second instance of a fifty and a five-wicket haul in the World Cup.What takes Shakib to the strata of truly allrounders is his consistency in Tests. He has taken five wickets and scored a fifty in Tests ten times. Only Ian Botham has done it more. Shakib has done the single fifty and five-for six times, and one instance each for two fifties and a five-for, a hundred and a five-for, a hundred and a 10-wicket haul, and a fifty and 10-for. Bangladesh won only three of these Tests.It highlights the physical load Shakib has taken over the years, regardless of the team’s result. For a long time since Mohammad Rafique retired, Shakib had to do the attacking, consolidating and defending with the ball. He has always had to quickly put the pads on too, to get the team a fighting half-century. Only in the Tests against West Indies (2009), Zimbabwe (2014) and Australia (2017) did the rest of the team contribute enough to win the Tests.Tamim Iqbal, who has seen these days from Shakib for many years, praised his long-time teammate for his contributions.”I thought he was phenomenal,” he said. “The way he batted, especially with the tailenders, those 20-25 runs were very important. Honestly, the wicket didn’t have that much spin, but the way he bowled was brilliant. It gave confidence to Taijul, who didn’t start well. He was talking to Shakib. I thought it was a fantastic effort from him.”Tamim said Shakib’s ability to handle pressure made him a special cricketer and called him a “blessing”.”I think he is mentally very strong,” he added. “Most of the time you will see him come out of pressure situations with similar performances. He has done it in the past. He has great skill-set to back his mentality. Not many people are blessed like him to bowl 10 overs and bat the way he bats. Any team will be blessed to have a player like him.”Blessing is perhaps the best way to describe Shakib for Bangladesh. Over 16 years, it has at times been a bit of a stretch to ask him do it over and over again. But Shakib has done it, be it in a dead rubber or on the biggest stage. In another World Cup year, a final push from Shakib is critical to Bangladesh’s ambitions.

Shaik Rasheed, Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh and Siddarth Yadav are the others to have sat out the game

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2022Yash Dhull, captain of India’s Under-19 team, Shaik Rasheed, the vice-captain, and four other players have returned positive tests for Covid-19 (or are suspected of being Covid positive), forcing them out of the Group B World Cup game against Ireland in Tarouba on Wednesday. The others who had to miss the match were Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh and Siddarth Yadav.A BCCI statement* detailing the medical status of the players said that while Sidharth had returned a positive RT-PCR test, Dhull, Aaradhya and Rasheed have returned positive Rapid Antigen Tests so far, while Parakh and Vats have shown symptoms of Covid-19, but have returned negative Rapid Antigen Tests; their RT-PCR results are awaited.The BCCI “is monitoring the situation closely and is in touch with the management and the coaching group,” the statement, which came in late on Wednesday evening, said. “The players will remain in isolation but will be under the constant supervision of the BCCI Medical Team.”Related

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Nishant Sindhu was named captain of the team for the match in the absence of the captain and his deputy. India had just 11 fit players for the game after the six went into isolation.India, who won their first match, against South Africa, by 45 runs, next play Uganda on Saturday, January 22.Before the competition, the BCCI had announced five travelling reserves: Rishit Reddy, Uday Saharan, Ansh Gosai, Amrit Raj Upadhyay and PM Singh Rathore. However, they are all in India and not with the team.If the need arises, matches can be rescheduled too, with the ICC stressing on the need to be fluid and flexible because of the circumstances.The tournament playing conditions state that if a match cannot be held on schedule [or is abandoned on the day of the match] because of Covid-19-related reasons, the event technical committee will try to find a way to reschedule the game, but the rescheduling will only be done “within reason and without unreasonably impacting on the participating teams or on the staging of other matches”.At the Under-19 World Cup, the bubbles are being managed in such a way that the wellbeing of the young players – both physical and mental – is taken care of. The ICC is taking cognisance of the fact that it is a long tournament, added with the fact that the young players have not been in such situations before. There will also be mental-health professionals available to the teams as it was during the men’s T20 World Cup last year.

It is hoped that fans will be able to attend the matches staged at Allan Border Field

Andrew McGlashan29-Aug-2020Victoria and New South Wales-based players from the Australia Women’s squad will undergo a 14-day quarantine in Brisbane next month alongside their New Zealand counterparts ahead of the T20I and ODI series which will be played at Allan Border Field.It is hoped that crowds will be able to attend the six matches but details of that are still being worked through by Cricket Australia and the relevant government departments. Crowds have been able to attend the winter sports codes hosted in Queensland since the end of June.The two groups of players will be able to access net facilities at Allan Border Field under strict bio-secure protocols during the two-week quarantine but the teams will not mix.ALSO READ: Maitlan Brown earns first Australia callMelbourne is currently under a stage four lockdown which means anyone travelling into Queensland is required to quarantine while New South Wales was declared a hotspot area earlier this month which meant the same restrictions for anyone coming from that state. That group of players will arrive in Brisbane on September 6.Players from the other states will not have to undergo the two-week quarantine ahead of the series and they will join up with the squad in Brisbane on September 20 ahead of the opening T20I on September 26.Meg Lanning steers the ball behind square•Getty Images

New Zealand Cricket announced on Friday that their squad would fly to Brisbane on September 9 although that is still awaiting final approval from governments on both sides of the Tasman.The tour will be the first cricket both teams have played since the T20 World Cup in March and it will be the first international sport staged in Australia since Covid-19 took hold.”We would like to thank the Queensland Government for their support, which has allowed for the tour to progress in a bio-secure way,” Nick Hockley, the interim Cricket Australia CEO, said. “We can’t wait to get the season started and what better way to celebrate the return of our world champions.”We’re as confident as ever that we will be able to deliver a schedule of matches that excites and entertains fans across the country and around the world.”Terry Svenson, the Queensland Cricket CEO, said: “We’re pleased to have played a role along with Cricket Australia and the State and Commonwealth Governments in bringing international sport back to Australia, with the New Zealand Women’s visit to Queensland to be the first inbound tour to the country since the start of the pandemic and the first international cricket in Australia since that memorable ICC T20 Women’s World Cup won by Australia.”Queensland Cricket is very grateful to the State Government for the support shown for this tour, and their positive approach to hosting matches in Queensland this summer. We’re looking forward to providing the opportunity for fans to experience some top-quality cricket and enjoy the best that Australia’s world champion women’s team can deliver.”T20I series

First T20: September 26

Second T20: September 27

Third T20: September 30ODI series

First ODI: October 3

Second ODI: October 5

Third ODI: October 7

South African Kolpak player claims 5 for 24 to shackle the Outlaws

ECB Reporters Network01-May-2019A five-wicket haul by Worcestershire all-rounder Wayne Parnell led his team to a five-wicket win against Nottinghamshire, who surrendered their unbeaten record in this season’s Royal London Cup.South African Parnelll, who has signed a three year contract as a Kolpak player with Worcestershire, returned his best List A bowling figures in England of 5 for 24 as the Outlaws were restricted to 121 for 9 in 32 overs at Blackfinch New Road with Paul Coughlin having to retire injured.Three of Parnell’s wickets came in one over with his three previous five-wicket hauls in List A cricket all achieved in his native country, including his career-best 6-51.But it was a disciplined performance by the entire Worcestershire seam attack which included Pat Brown, the bowling star of last year’s Vitality Blast triumph, for the first time in 2019.Tom Fell followed up his first half-century of the season against Warwickshire at the weekend by hitting an unbeaten 48 as the Rapids triumphed with 24.5 overs to spare.Victory reinforced Worcestershire’s hopes of securing a place in the knockout stages in a competition where they have topped the North Group for the past two years.Nottinghamshire elected to bat and handed a List A debut to Lyndon James, who replaced Ben Duckett after his England call-up to face Ireland on Friday.But they never recovered from losing three wickets for 31 runs to the new ball pairing of Charlie Morris and Brown. Former Worcestershire batsman Joe Clarke was undone by a Morris delivery which cut back and James departed for a duck as he tried to whip Brown through mid wicket and was lbw.Morris collected a second scalp when Jake Libby nicked an away swinger through to ex Notts player Riki Wessels, who was deputising behind the stumps for the ill Ben Cox.Parnell then took centre stage with his treble wicket maiden just when Chris Nash and Samit Patel appeared to be steadying the Notts innings at 58 for 3. Patel (12) pulled the first delivery to Ross Whiteley at deep square leg and the third and sixth balls beat the defensive pushes of Steven Mullaney (0) and Tom Moores (0) who were both bowled.Nash offered the only prolonged resistance, striking Worcestershire’s stand-in captain Brett D’Oliveira for six over long off.But Notts’ problems heightened as Coughlin (11 not out) drove Parnell to mid off and suffered a hamstring injury completing a single. He had to be stretchered off.Nash completed an excellent half-century off 66 balls with six boundaries but then pulled the next delivery from Daryl Mitchell straight to Fell at square leg.Parnell then wrapped up the innings with Matt Carter holing out to mid-wicket and Jake Ball nicking to first slip.Wessels began as if he intended to finish the game in double quick time against his former county until he was lbw for 18 to Luke Wood.The paceman, who spent part of last summer on loan at Blackfinch New Road, then bowled Australian Callum Ferguson in the first appearance of his second spell with Worcestershire.Mitchell (20) holed out to mid off after Patel entered the attack and D’Oliveira (0) was run out in a mix-up with Fell after turning the same bowler on the leg side.A similar sort of misunderstanding between Fell and George Rhodes saw the latter depart in the same manner for five after failing to beat Mullaney’s throw from square leg.But some typically lusty blows from Whiteley in partnership with Fell saw the Rapids over the finishing line by mid-afternoon.

The West Indies captain sees the World Cup qualifiers as an opportunity to finalise combinations for the showpiece event in England in 2019

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2018Jason Holder has sounded the call for fans to rally round the West Indies team as they begin their campaign to earn a place in the 2019 World Cup.A team which was an automatic pick in each of the past 11 editions, back-to-back champions in 1975 and 1979, now has to go through a qualifying tournament to even take part in the ICC event. But, after expressing disappointment at such a turn of events, Holder invoked the rich history of West Indies cricket and announced that they were putting things in place to win a third world title.”All the guys are motivated and we know what’s at stake,” he said. “I see it as an opportunity for us to grab some momentum heading into next year’s World Cup, get some games under our belt, finalise our combinations, get things right and hopefully turn things around in terms of the ODI format. It’s probably one of our weaker formats and no doubt that we’ve been inconsistent. Obviously it’s something we’ve addressed and moving forward I think hopefully we should see some good performances.”West Indies made it to the quarter-final of the 2015 World Cup, but since then they have won only 8 out of 42 ODIs. Their win-loss ratio of 0.2 is the poorest out of all the teams that have played the format over the past three years.”We have put ourselves in this situation,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “We have got only ourselves to blame. We are here for a reason. Our form off late hasn’t been the best. It is a matter for us to put that behind and make things right. It is something new for us. We never had to qualify for the World Cup. It will be a new challenge. All these Associates teams tend to play fearless cricket, play quite aggressive cricket, trying to taking down the bigger nations.”Considering they are going into a qualifying tournament that entertains 10 competitors but allows only two to progress, West Indies would be pleased to have some of the big players back. Chris Gayle has come off a two-year ODI hiatus in 2017. Marlon Samuels, who has a history of saving his best for World Cups, is also back in the squad having missed their most recent 50-over assignment in New Zealand.”I must commend a guy like Chris, also a guy like Marlon, who’ve come here with that motivation to do well for West Indies and give us a chance to play another World Cup. As I said to the ground, it’s an opportunity to finish their careers well. It’s also an opportunity for guys to make a spark in their career and start their careers in the World Cup.”West Indies will be facing teams that have done well against them in the recent past. In 2017, they suffered a colossal loss to Afghanistan. In 2016, with a place in a tri-series final on the line, they were beaten by Zimbabwe. And Ireland knocked them over with ease in the last World Cup. Nevertheless Holder was confident his players will place their best foot forward.”I think everybody understands the importance of being in a World Cup,” he said. “We’ve obviously won the World Cup on two occasions and I think we’re trying to formulate our plans in terms of getting a third. We’ve done well in T20 cricket, we’ve done well in women’s cricket, Under-19 cricket, so now I think it’s about time we win another World Cup in the ODI format.”West Indies play their first match against UAE on March 6, but they have a warm-up game against Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The Perth Scorchers claimed top spot in the BBL table with a 27-run win against Brisbane Heat at the Gabba

The Report by Geoff Lemon11-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrisbane Heat’s asking rate had climbed very high by the time Andrew Tye’s hat-trick came•Getty Images

Brisbane Heat became the first victims of Cricket Australia’s selection policy, choking on a run chase of 157 against Perth Scorchers that their big-hitting opener Chris Lynn would normally have devoured for breakfast.Instead, having created the sensation of this tournament by forming the opening pair known as the Bash Brothers with former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, Lynn was a spectator after being picked for Australia’s ODI series against Pakistan.It was a stark reminder of how uncomfortably these two forms of limited-overs cricket currently coexist in the Australian summer schedule. The unstoppable side of recent weeks was bowled out for 129 in the last over, finished off by an Andrew Tye hat-trick as the pace-change specialist finished with 4 for 22.In Lynn’s absence, the Heat could not create a sense of threat at the top of the order. His opening replacement, wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson, lasted all of three deliveries before left-arm menace Mitchell Johnson slanted a ball across him that took the edge to a well-placed Ashton Turner at slip.Johnson’s next over had Sam Heazlett miscuing a straight hit to Ashton Agar at mid-off, and from this unaccustomed position of disadvantage, McCullum skied a straight hit to mid-on one ball after pulling Jhye Richardson into the square-leg stands.From there the mounting run rate kept the pressure high, and wickets fell regularly. Test opener Joe Burns and former Adelaide Striker Alex Ross put on 43, but when Burns tried to force the pace, Agar grabbed a brilliant catch running back towards long-on.Michael Klinger held another running catch to get rid of Nathan Reardon, giving the microphone-wearing Scorchers captain the chance to chat breathlessly to Australian coach and selector Darren Lehmann as the latter moonlighted in the television commentary box, curious given Klinger is vying for national T20 selection.While Ross attempted to bat through the innings with a 40-ball 39, he got very lucky in the 12th over when his reverse sweep against Agar rolled back solidly into the stumps. Like a home-series umpire, the heavy Zing bail was unmoved.Nonetheless, Agar’s four overs for 18 runs were instrumental in slowing Heat’s chase, which looked over long before Tye could snuff it out.Earlier, Klinger had played to perfection the role Ross was attempting, batting through most of the innings for 81 in a knock that combined consolidation and counterattack.Conditions were trying: opening partner Shaun Marsh slashed a catch to third man, then Sam Whiteman hooked another, two overs after being struck a vicious blow to the head by English speedster Tymal Mills. Under a rare use of the concussion substitute rule, Cameron Bancroft entered the fray to keep wicket when Heat batted.Young legspinner Mitchell Swepson bowled his four overs unchanged for 22 runs, picking up the normally silky Ian Bell at long-on and the destructive Ashton Turner off a top edge.Around that damage, Klinger muscled sixes and fours down the ground and over midwicket, including one that Burns caught but carried over the rope. Klinger was finally out with seven balls left in the innings, and recent Test selection Hilton Cartwright could not ice the innings with 13 from 17.The Scorchers total shouldn’t have been enough, but the Lynn-less Heat were not able to keep up, loosening their hold on top spot with Sydney Sixers level on eight points, and Melbourne Stars on six with a game in hand.Perhaps as significant as the loss, though, was news that McCullum now faces suspension for a slow over rate, a punishment that Heat has indicated an intention to protest. They had better. To lose one Bash Brother may be regarded as misfortune. To lose two begins to look like carelessness.

The ICC match officiating team’s “poor” rating of the Nagpur pitch has had no impact on Virat Kohli’s outlook towards the playing surfaces

Sidharth Monga in Delhi02-Dec-20153:27

Wicket is blamed when visitors don’t play well – Kohli

The ICC match officiating team’s “poor” rating of the Nagpur pitch has had no impact on Virat Kohli’s outlook towards the playing surfaces. If anything, it has infuriated him further, to the extent that he has effectively accused the ICC of having double standards when rating the pitches. He brought up the recent Adelaide Test, which finished in three days, and a few others in South Africa where the ball dominated the bat, at least on paper.”Well there have been three scores of under 50 in Tests in South Africa,” Kohli said on the eve of the final Test of the series. “I haven’t seen any articles about that. Teams have been bundled out for less than 100 six times in South Africa. There’s not been an article about that. Articles are there to be written. It’s about the mindset or opinion of someone. I don’t relate to it. I don’t understand it, and I certainly don’t entertain it. It doesn’t bother me or the team. People can write articles as and how they wish.”

Kotla kickstarted my career – Kohli

On a happier note, Virat Kohli will be captaining in an international on his home turf for the first time. He spoke fondly of Feroz Shah Kotla memories. “Well, this ground is where everything fell in place for me,” Kohli said. “First time I was selected for junior cricket was because of a practice trial match here. All the selectors and administrators were watching and I was able to score some runs and probably caught their eye. That is how I was selected into the team after being rejected last year.
“This is the ground which has literally kickstarted my career as far as state cricket is concerned. I made my Ranji debut for Delhi here so that day remains special as well. I scored a lot of runs here at this ground in Ranji Trophy, IPL and ODIs, I have an ODI hundred here so I really like playing here. I like the feel of the ground so that is something that is always there in my mind and I can relate to that. It is a ground where I like walking in to bat. It is a very special feeling for me personally.”

Midway into this sermon Kohli had to be reminded the issue here was not articles, but the ICC’s assessment of the pitch in Nagpur. “I’m talking about everyone,” Kohli said. “I’m not talking about people writing articles in general. It is an assessment that has happened in every condition, in every ground. Unfortunately, in our country and in our situation, it is highlighted a lot more. That’s a fact. Because all we have been talking about is the pitch.”In South Africa, the only thing we were talking about is how badly we were playing. So it’s been going on for a while. There’s no change in pattern. The Indian team is going into a new mindset. Apart from that, the thinking of the rest around it has not changed too much. Because we are criticised about our games and techniques when we don’t play well but when visitors don’t play well, it’s always the wicket. So there is no sense to it as far as I am concerned or the Indian team is concerned.”In India reporters are not allowed anywhere near the pitch, which leaves captains as the only sources of information on the pitch, but Kohli refused to talk about what to expect from Delhi. “I don’t want to talk too much about the pitch,” Kohli said. “Because there has already been a lot of talk about it. If we have to talk about the cricket, it will be better. Because when the team wins, the support should come from all quarters. Always, we look at points to criticise. There’s hardly a point where the team is backed to make them confident. So, in my view, I don’t understand the logic behind it. There have been comments from all sides about the pitch. I don’t think anyone has written articles about the Adelaide Test, which finished in two-and-a-half days. So I don’t see anything wrong with any kind of wicket that we play on.”If the pitches are not an issue, there must be some reason there have been only four half-centuries in the series, two of those from India. The team director Ravi Shastri has bemoaned the decline in the art of grafting for runs. When asked if he was concerned about his side’s performance against the spinners – and lesser spinners at that, when compared to R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra – Kohli again retorted with apparent frustration.”We are prepared to face anyone anywhere,” Kohli said. “We are prepared to take up any sort of challenge. I don’t understand why we are not sitting here and talking about the fact that we are 2-0 up in the series, and again we are trying to criticise our players. As regards our weaknesses we know them and we are working on them, we are international cricketers, and we are not here to hide from any mistake. But if that’s the only point that is going to be raised in press conferences and debates then as a cricketer you don’t see any sense in answering those questions after a while. I think we should appreciate what the team has done and move forward in the same direction.”Kohli was asked if the cricket played lived up to the billing in the lead-up to the series. “I think it was good Test cricket,” Kohli said. “People have liked watching it on TV. You saw the crowds in Bangalore, in Nagpur, even Mohali we had a decent crowd. People want to see results. People want to see exciting cricket, and that is what has happened in this series. We have certainly enjoyed it. Playing and putting pressure on the opposition, we have enjoyed as a unit.”

Pakistan’s six-day conditioning camp in Abbottabad concluded on Wednesday, ahead of the Champions Trophy in England

Umar Farooq in Abbottabad08-May-2013Pakistan’s cricketers focused primarily on fitness and batting skills during the six-day training camp in Abbottabad, which concluded on Wednesday, ahead of the Champions Trophy in England. The players returned to their hometowns and will reassemble on Monday in Lahore before departing for Scotland.The weather in Abbottabad, at an altitude of 1260m, remained pleasant throughout the camp and the players took part in some practice matches. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the players had ample time to gel.”The purpose of coming here was that the team should train without any distractions,” Misbah said. “It’s a bit cooler here and the pitches had offered some movement for the batsmen to cope with.”Misbah also said the players needed to pay more attention to fitness. “We are seeking improvement in fitness, at least close to the requirements of international cricket. We are not there yet but we are trying to hit the benchmark.”During the camp, you must have seen that fielding is directly associated with your level of fitness and we are working on both,” Misbah said. “We understand that if your fitness and fielding does not improve you will suffer in international cricket, especially in T20 and one-day cricket.”Misbah said the team’s defeats in South Africa had made his players mentally stronger. “In South Africa we played some tough cricket in tough conditions and the boys will benefit from it mentally. You get ready to face difficulties and I think our performance will be good in the Champions Trophy.”Opening batsman and T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez had rigorous net sessions, mainly working on his technique against seam bowling. Hafeez had a poor tour of South Africa, where he scored only 43 runs in the Tests and 118 in the ODIs, and was dismissed by Dale Styen on six occasions.Pakistan’s coach Dav Whatmore said it was more of a skills camp. “Obviously this is not the northern hemisphere, but it’s a destination where we can achieve a few things,” he said. “This is not a conditioning camp, this is skills camp because we are close to the competition. We are pretty happy with what we got, we had some bad (rainy) weather on Sunday but we managed to get 70 overs for ample match practice.”Pakistan had lost the Test series in South Africa 3-0 but fared better in the one-dayers, losing 3-2. “In the last series we were one game from winning the series,” Whatmore said. “We are okay, we just needed to improve on a couple of areas and we would have been a series winner.”Chances in the Champions Trophy is difficult to predict accurately, but I tell you what this team has got the ability. If we play to our potential we can put pressure on any team. Our goal is obviously to win it.”Pakistan will play two ODIs each against Scotland and Ireland later this month before taking on West Indies, South Africa and India in its Champions Trophy Group B matches.

Pune Warriors got three victories in four and are top of the table after upsetting the fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of a boisterous home crowd

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran14-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jesse Ryder provided a turbo-charged start to Pune Warriors’ chase•AFP

Pune Warriors had only four wins in their entire campaign in 2011, and were expected to struggle again in the absence of their marquee player Yuvraj Singh. Instead, they’ve got three victories in four games and are top of the table after upsetting the fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of a boisterous home crowd.It was an all-round performance from Warriors, with their bowlers first stifling the power-packed Super Kings batting by hitting the blockhole as often as possible, backed up by some sharp fielding, something which is a rarity in the IPL.Their chase was then controlled by two contrasting innings from two men struggling to hold down a place in their national sides. Jesse Ryder began in a hurry, but calmed down to play through the innings for the first time in his T20 career. Just when things started to become tense in the chase, Steven Smith hammered a bunch of boundaries, including two in the final over to complete the victory.It hadn’t seemed that it would be this close an encounter after Ryder, who would probably have been dropped had he failed again, provided a turbo-charged start, and even the run-outs of Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly weren’t too big a hindrance. The spin duo of R Ashwin and Suresh Raina, though, choked the runs to inflate the asking rate, making it difficult to understand why Ravindra Jadeja was not used. It came down to 34 required off the final three overs, in which Ryder only needed to take three singles – Smith’s big hits took care of the rest.Both captains had been uncertain about how the pitch at the new Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune would behave, but it had few demons in it. Super Kings’ innings was built around a clutch of boundaries at the start of the innings from one of their cheapest buys, Faf du Plessis, and a flourish from their most expensive signing, Jadeja, in the second half.The openers began slowly before du Plessis waded into the fourth over from Ashish Nehra, taking 18 off it including a six over the bowler’s head after advancing down the track. Du Plessis went on to become the highest run-getter of the tournament, but his opening partner M Vijay’s struggles continued.Still, Super Kings were well placed after du Plessis’ blast, but were slowed down by legspinner Rahul Sharma’s strikes, who removed both du Plessis and Raina. Warriors then kept a lid on the scoring through some fast and full bowling from Marlon Samuels, who fired in a succession of quicker deliveries, some clocked as high as 127kph. The batsmen couldn’t get under those deliveries, and even MS Dhoni couldn’t find the boundaries, finishing on an underwhelming 26 off 28.Jadeja came out firing, and provided some impetus. Samuels’ darts and Ashok Dinda’s impressive ability to consistently deliver yorkers, though, kept the scoring down. All through the second half of the innings, one kept waiting for Super Kings’ big onslaught, but Warriors’ bowlers ensured that it never came.