Friday, March 18, 2011

England beat Windies to keep alive World Cup hopes


England kept themselves in the hunt for a quarter-final place in the World Cup with a thrilling 18-run victory over West Indies in a Group B match on Thursday.
Defending a 243-run total on a wicket that offered plenty of runs, James Tredwell (4-48) wrecked the West Indies top order while Ravi Bopara claimed two vital wickets to bowl out the Caribbean side for 225 in 44.4 overs.
Chris Gayle (43) and Darren Sammy (41) made a whirlwind start but West Indies were unable to keep up the momentum as they lost regular wickets.
Earlier, the English top order was guilty of squandering promising starts and not a single batsman could score a half-century against a West Indies attack, spearheaded by pace bowler Andre Russell (4-49) and debutant leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (3-34), which bowled them out for 243 in 48.4 overs.
Andrew Strauss (31) and Matt Prior (21) fell before their opening stand could really blossom and even though Jonathan Trott (47) and Luke Wright (44) down the order got the starts, none could hang on till the final overs to make it count

England set West Indies 244 to win


England stumbled to 243 all out after none of their batsmen managed to score a half-century in their must-win World Cup Group B match against West Indies on Thursday.
With their quarter-final hopes hanging in balance, skipper Andrew Strauss decided to bat first but the English batsmen squandered some good starts and folded in 48.4 overs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
England resisted the temptation to drop Matt Prior (21) down the order and sent him to open with Andrew Strauss (31).
The move seemed to have paid off until Andre Russell (4-49) struck to remove both in quick succession just when the partnership had started blooming.
None of these setbacks, however, seemed to affect next man in Jonathan Trott (47) who hit three boundaries off the first five balls he faced from Russell.
Trott looked in fantastic touch as boundaries continued to flow from his blade but Devendra Bishoo (3-34) could not be denied a memorable debut in one-day internationals.
The 25-year-old leg-spinner had his first victim in Trott who meekly chipped the ball to mid-wicket and Bishoo dealt a massive blow when he had Eoin Morgan (seven) caught behind, trying to play a cheeky reverse sweep.
Like all top order batsmen, Ian Bell (27) also got the start but could not convert it into anything significant, losing his stump to a Kemar Roach express delivery.
Down the order, Luke Wright (44) chipped in with a cameo but just when his team needed him to hang around, he fell to Bishoo.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Shoaib Akhtar announces to quit

COLOMBO: Pakistan's maverick paceman Shoaib Akhtar, whose colourful career has been a heady mix of on-field brilliance and off-field controversy, will quit international cricket after the World Cup.

"I have decided to retire. Mentally I wanted to go on forever but I have decided to make way for the youngsters," the 35-year-old said on Thursday. "I have no regrets. I made lots of friends but some people have misunderstood me. I thank all the players who played with me and against me.

"It was an honour to have played with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. I never imagined I would play for Pakistan. It was my greatest moment.

Akhtar, who made his international debut in 1997, took 178 wickets in 46 Tests, the last of which was against India at Bangalore in 2007. He is three wickets short of 250 in 163 one-day internationals and has taken 19 wickets in 15 Twenty20 internationals.

Pakistan squad members hugged him in the dressing room on Thursday before captain Shahid Afridi embraced him as the players entered the R. Premadasa stadium in Colombo for practice.

"I want to be remembered as an honest and patriotic player who never trod a wrong path," said Akhtar. Akhtar, known as the Rawalpindi Express during his tearaway days as one of Test cricket's most feared if unpredictable talents, once cracked the 100mph barrier at the 2003 World Cup.

At this World Cup, which was always likely to be his swansong, he looked neat and tidy with figures of 0-10 and 2-42 against Kenya and Sri Lanka respectively. He missed the win over Canada before being smashed all over the park at Pallekele against New Zealand -- including 28 runs off his last over -- and was dropped for the game with Zimbabwe.

Akhtar's last delivery against New Zealand -- which may prove his final one at international level if he doesn't get another chance at the World Cup -- was hit for six by Ross Taylor.(AFP)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Australia can apply finishing touches before quarters


Champions Australia have already booked their quarter-final spot and will hope to iron out any creases in their form against Canada in a World Cup Group A match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Unbeaten so far, with three wins and one match washed out, Ricky Ponting’s men play the second of three matches this week before they move on to stiffer competition in the knockout stages. On Sunday, Australia beat Kenya by 60 runs.
Australia will play Pakistan in Colombo next Saturday in what will be each team’s last match in the round-robin stage.
The Australian batting line-up, bolstered by the return of Mike Hussey, will look to have another field day against Canada’s fairly blunt attack on the batting-friendly pitch as the business end of the tournament approaches.
Ponting will aim to get some runs under his belt himself and may shuffle the batting order to get Cameron White higher up the order to allow him to spend some time in the middle too.
The skipper also has suggested that he might rest fast bowler Shaun Tait and give John Hastings his World Cup debut.
The Aussie spinners, Jason Krejza and Steve Smith, have been disappointing so far this in tournament, and will look to get some wickets against the North Americans whose best batsmen — captain Ashish Bagai and Jimmy Hansra — will still be exhausted after their efforts in vain against New Zealand on Sunday.
Both Bagai and Hansra made half centuries but were badly affected by cramp on a baking day in Mumbai.
This is Canada’s last match in the tournament and their only win in the tournament has been against Kenya. They will want to bow out with their heads held high in what is also the final match of the tournament at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

South Africa overpower Ireland by 131 runs

KOLKATA: A brilliant innings of 99 by JP Duminy and a disciplined bowling effort helped South Africa overpower Ireland by 131 runs in their Group B game at the Eden Gardens in KOlkata on Tuesday.

A fluent Duminy achored the Proteas ship which were in trouble at one stage after losing five wickets for just 117 runs.

The Southpaw hit six fours and a six before getting out in the last over of the innings.

Ireland were jolted early in their chase of 273 by Morne Morkel as the South African speedster picked up quick wickets.

The tall pacer first got Irish skipper William Porterfield caught in the slip. He followed it up with the wicket of Paul Stirling, whom he dropped in the previous Dale Steyn's over.

All-rounder Jacques Kallis got the wicket of Niall O'Brien, while Ed Joyce was trapped in front by Johan Botha.

Earlier, JP Duminy missed out on a century but rescued a shaky South Africa batting effort to drag the Proteas to 272-7 in a World Cup Group B game against Ireland at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Duminy topscored with 99 from 103 balls, sharing an 87-run stand with World Cup rookie Colin Ingram (46) and a half-century partnership with Johan Botha after a fighting Irish performance in the field had South Africa struggling at 117-5.

George Dockrell took a fine diving catch on the boundary to dismiss opener Hashim Amla for 18 and Graeme Smith (7) and Jacques Kallis (19) were both run out.

Morne van Wyk hit a quickfire 42, but also fell early in South Africa's carefree start, before the composed Duminy dragged the Proteas to a respectable total.

Duminy hit six fours and a six, but played a measured knock initially after South Africa's top order had tried to be too attacking against the Irish and paid for it.

Needing to win their remaining Group B games against the South Africans and Netherlands to keep alive hopes of a place in the quarterfinals, Ireland had recovered from two missed catches and had South Africa's top order reeling.

But Duminy delivered a 13th career ODI half-century and eventually fell one short of a maiden World Cup century when he skied a shot off John Mooney (1-36) and was caught three balls from the end.

Ingram supported him at better than a-run-a-ball after being called into the team in place of injured batsman AB de Villiers.

Botha finished 21 not out, while left-arm spinner Dockrell ended with 1-37 off 10 overs and was one of five Irish bowlers to take a wicket.

Amla and Van Wyk were both out to loose shots and Smith and Kallis fell to slick work from Ireland's fielders. When Faf du Plessis (11) edged to Trent Johnston at slip off spinner Paul Stirling in the 27th over, South Africa had lost five wickets and was facing a major shock.

Duminy came to the rescue, hitting just two fours for a carefully constructed half-century, before accelerating to lead South Africa to a defendable total on a green-tinged pitch which will likely suit the South Africans' pace bowling attack.

Amla had unleashed a cover drive for four and then a pull shot for six off Boyd Rankin in the fifth over as the Proteas targeted an attacking start at Eden Gardens after being put in to bat.

But he didn't see out the over, sending a top edge flying down to third man where Dockrell clung on to a diving catch.

Van Wyk's incident-filled innings included the two dropped catches, a flurry of boundaries and the run out of Smith.

Van Wyk was put down on 4 and 23, but he also carved out seven boundaries and a six.

He was missed first by Kevin O'Brien at short cover — with O'Brien unable to hang on to a blistering drive.

Despite the warning, the wicketkeeper batsman continued to go for his shots, lofting fours over mid-on and mid-off in the eighth and hitting successive boundaries off Rankin in the ninth.

He was dropped by Stirling off a straightforward chance at slip and was also to blame for Smith's run out, suggesting a single before sending the skipper back to the non-striker's end where he was beaten by Mooney's superb direct hit.

Dockrell ended Van Wyk's stay with a delivery that beat an attempted cut shot and rattled the stumps to reduce South Africa to 84-3.

Ireland's fightback in the field continued when Kallis was surprised by captain William Porterfield's throw from short midwicket and wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien whipped off the bails.

Kallis had struck three early boundaries for his 19 from 31 balls but the TV umpire judged him just short of his crease to put South Africa in real trouble.

Du Plessis departed as the wickets continued to tumble, before Duminy, Ingram and then Botha saved South Africa from embarrassment.

Afridi targets Australia in race for top spo



PALLEKELE, March 14 (AFP) - Pakistan eased into the World Cup quarter-finals on Monday but captain Shahid Afridi was more concerned with victory over Australia on Saturday where they will target top spot in Group A.
Pakistan, the 1992 champions, saw off Zimbabwe by seven wickets in a rainshortened game to grab the fourth and final qualifying spot from the pool with eight points from five games.
But they are keen to finish top and avoid a more tricky assignment in the last eight.
A win over defending champions Australia in Colombo on Saturday will go a long way in helping that ambition.
"We will definitely play well against Australia. It's a match which we'll take very seriously," said Afridi, whose side are a point better off than the champions but who have played a game more.
Man of the match Umar Gul, who took 3 for 36 on Monday, said his team had already started planning to face Australia.
"We are looking forward to the game against Australia. We have done our homework, we will do our best," said the seamer.
Afridi also paid tribute to Asad Shafiq, who made an unbeaten 78 in his debut World Cup appearance. "Shafiq played an amazing knock," said the skipper.
Shafiq top-scored for Pakistan after replacing the injured Umar Akmal in the line-up while opener Mohammad Hafeez hit 49. "It's always great to play your first match in the World Cup and finish like this," said 25-year-old Shafiq.
"I knew my strengths and played to them. I have learnt a lot from (former Pakistan skipper) Mohammad Yousef and I am trying to learn more from him."
Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe to 151-7 in 39.4 overs before a second rain interruption curtailed their innings.
Left-hander Craig Ervine fought a lone battle, hitting a patient 52 off 82 balls with five boundaries for his third ODI fifty.
Pakistan were set a revised target of 162 off 38 overs which they reached in the 35th over. Defeated skipper Elton Chigumbura said the team's batting let them down when they were 43-4.
"We lost too many wickets first up. From there it was tough to come back into the game, and the rain also made it hard for us to get some momentum," said the captain.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Win takes Pakistan into last eight
Pakistan secured their ICC Cricket World Cup quarter-final berth with a seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in a rain-affected Group A clash at Kandy.
Click here for Scorecard

Two rain interruptions during Zimbabwe's batting meant Pakistan were chasing a revised target of 162 in 38 overs, and World Cup debutant Asad Shafiq's unbeaten 78 off 97 balls - backed by Mohammad Hafeez's 49 - helped see them through.

Earlier, Pakistan's Umar Gul picked up figures of three for 36 to help restrict Zimbabwe to 151 for the loss of seven wickets, with the Africans forced to rely on Craig Ervine's face-saving 52 off 82 balls.

Despite losing the toss, Pakistan enjoyed a very profitable mandatory powerplay from the first over, giving away just 35 runs and picking up three wickets.

First Abdul Razzaq dismissed dangerman Brendan Taylor for four, caught by under-fire wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, while Gul trapped Regis Chakabva (nought) lbw and Vusi Sibanda (five) to a brilliant diving catch by Misbah-ul-Haq at slip.

Wahab Riaz then had Tatenda Taibu caught by Shahid Afridi to strengthen Pakistan's position.

Ervine - who was dropped by Misbah when on 13 - helped stabilise Zimbabwe, but Greg Lamb fell caught behind to Afridi's googly for 16.

Following a nearly 100-minute rain delay, Ervine completed his half-century but a skidding delivery from Hafeez bowled the left-hander soon after.

Skipper Elton Chigumbura (32 not out) and Prosper Utseya (18) prevented a complete collapse for Zimbabwe, as the pair added 48 valuable runs to their team's cause before Utseya departed prior to the second bout of rain.

In response, Pakistan lost Ahmed Shehzad (eight) early on - stumped by Taibu off Ray Price - but Hafeez and Shafiq steadied things well and took the total to 57 in 15 overs.

The pair comfortably put on 82 for the second wicket before Hafeez fell, snared at slip off Utseya, while Price picked up his second scalp by bowling Afridi for three.

Taking a measured approach, Shafiq reached his 50 in 76 deliveries - he finished the game with seven boundaries to his name - and Younis Khan (13 not out) provided able support in tackling some tricky dew conditions as victory came with 23 balls to spare.

 
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