Tag Futebol

Leicestershire stroll to target for only their second win of the season

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2023A maiden T20 century by Rishi Patel powered Leicestershire Foxes to an impressive six-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Durham at the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road.The 24-year-old right-hand bat – dropped on 38 – struck 103 from 49 balls with 12 fours and four sixes as the Foxes cruised home with 14 balls to spare with comfortably their most emphatic performances of an otherwise dismal season to date, Lewis Hill hitting the winning runs to finish on an unbeaten 54 from 41 balls.It was Durham’s second defeat by Leicestershire in six days although the Foxes remain bottom of the North Group table, having lost their other six games.Aussie Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 60 from 38 balls lifted Durham’s total to a challenging 172 for 4 against a makeshift Foxes bowling attack from which key man Naveen ul-Haq was missing though injury. Ollie Robinson made 30 from 31 balls and Graham Clark 27 from just 14 in the powerplay but spinner Callum Parkinson (2 for 21) and teenage pace bowler Josh Hull (1 for 26) made sure that the visitors were never able to dominate.Asked to bat first, Durham posted 59 for 2 from the opening block of six, 35 of those runs coming in two overs after the visitors went hard against the two new faces in the Foxes attack, with Matt Salisbury and Tom Scriven drafted in for their county Blast debuts after injuries to Mikey Finan and Will Davis as well as Afghan international Naveen.Salisbury, who did not play in the Blast during his four years at Durham but made eight appearances for Essex in 2014, took a wicket with his fifth ball against his ex-team-mates when Alex Lees swung optimistically and was bowled, but took some punishment in his second over as Clark and Michael Jones plundered 17 runs, the pair having taken 18 off Scriven in the previous over, although Clark survived a difficult chance to point on four.Hull finished the powerplay well for the Foxes as Jones miscued to mid-on and when left-arm spinner Parkinson produced a fine, full delivery to trap Clark in the crease in the next over, Durham were 61 for 3. At halfway, with Colin Ackermann and Rehan Ahmed applying the squeeze, they were 80 for 3, advancing to 112 for 4 from 15 overs after Parkinson made another big breakthrough, bowling Robinson to register his 100th Blast wicket for the county.The Foxes would have been disappointed not to claim more wickets in the last five, which saw Turner and Bas de Leede swell the total by 62 runs, both clearing the ropes of Rehan’s legspin, but Hull, the 18-year-old left-arm quick of whom they have high hopes, produced an impressive final over costing just eight runs to finish with 1 for 26.Needing to score at 8.65 runs per over, the home side suffered an immediate setback, losing Nick Welch to the fifth ball of their reply as he missed an attempted sweep against left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis, but recovered well, with Hill pulling and scooping profitably and Patel hitting powerfully down the ground, to be 69 for 1 from six, although the latter had an escape when Ben Raine dropped what should have been a straightforward chance at wide long-on.Back-to-back boundaries off Turner took Patel to a 21-ball half-century and two more off legspinner Nathan Sowter’s next over brought the target down to 70 with 70 balls remaining.And there was no holding the Foxes back on this occasion with Patel in destructive mood, needing just 24 more balls to reach his hundred, getting there his second six in three balls over wide long-on off Sowter, and although it all ended anticlimactically in the next over as an ill-advised decision to go for a second run to de Leede at midwicket off Wayne Parnell saw him run out.Nonetheless, the home side went into the final five overs needing just 21 to win and though Parnell dismissed Colin Ackermann, who chopped on, and Louis Kimber, caught behind, with consecutive balls, to induce a little anxiety in the home crowd, only 14 more were needed, Hill finishing the job by pulling Sowter for his third six before driving the same bowler through extra cover for four next ball.

England’s plans of qualifying for the final four hang in the balance after a second successive loss, this one by 64 runs

The Report by Daniel Brettig25-Jun-2019As it happenedAustralia played Test match cricket in miniature to get the better of England and a set of conditions at Lord’s that were not really in the blueprint for Eoin Morgan’s side ahead of a tournament in which they now face the tightest of ropes to qualify for the semi-finals. Australia, meanwhile, are now in the final four, the first team to get there.The cut and thrust of this Lord’s ODI was a world away from the virtual home run derby of Trent Bridge a year ago. That day, England tallied a gargantuan 481 and seemingly set the tone for the way this World Cup would be played. Yet, in the crucible of a global tournament played in the damp of an early summer beset by rain, Australia’s more deliberate plans, built on a stable, steady top order and a collective of pace and class with the ball have held up; the fireworks of Nottingham might as well have taken place on Mars.Australia captain Aaron Finch deservedly claimed the match award for a century that represented not only leadership by example but also a personal triumph over technical troubles that had made him so susceptible to the ball seaming into him. It would have been hard to imagine conditions more conducive to such a risk than these, but Finch overcame them with help from David Warner to set up a platform that, if not fully exploited, was enough to take the Australians to the sort of score they have commonly defended in recent months.They did so via a bowling attack chosen specifically for England. Jason Behrendorff had played only once before this game, and Nathan Lyon not at all, but they gelled beautifully with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Marcus Stoinis to unbalance England at the start and then snuff out any subsequent rearguards before they assumed troubling proportions.Behrendorff’s swing and guile, if revelatory to Lord’s observers, were no surprise to those who know his best days for Western Australia. Starc’s speed and swing up front, then his late swerving yorker afterwards, were exactly what Finch required. In all this and another sublime fielding display, the Australians continued their march to a peak of performance at the definitive end of this World Cup. A sixth title is now closer than many, perhaps, expected before the tournament.Buckets of overnight rain drenched St John’s Wood and there was some question over the start time, but the weather cleared enough to allow for the scheduled toss, though not after Jofra Archer had required a fitness test to play. That interlude did not dissuade Morgan from bowling first on a green-tinged surface when calling correctly, although Finch admitted he had been somewhat more equivocal having called up Lyon and Behrendorff as replacements.Memories of Australia’s twin collapses to the moving ball in Birmingham and Nottingham in the 2015 Ashes are still fresh, and Warner was a victim of both. But, alongside Finch, he was to carve out an opening stand that confounded the expectations of an overcast morning, aided by English imprecision when choosing their length of attack. Too often short of a length if not outright short, they also saw numerous Australian edges avoid going to hand or falling short, meaning 44 for no loss was the tally after ten nervy overs for both sides.Acceleration followed, both Warner and Finch finding the boundary and the captain also clearing it twice, as English brows furrowed in the middle and in the stands. Warner looked as fluent as he has all tournament and it was a surprise when, having crafted a third century stand with Finch for the Cup, he was fooled by a Moeen Ali offbreak that held in the pitch and ballooned to Joe Root, running around from backward point.Aaron Finch’s second century of the World Cup took Austalia into the semis•Getty Images

Usman Khawaja was chosen to accompany Finch, and together they lifted the Australians to an imposing 173 for 1 after 32 overs – a platform from which a score of 350 was plausible on paper, if less likely in the prevailing conditions. Khawaja’s fall only succeeded in bringing Steven Smith to the middle with plenty of overs to spare, and when Finch went to his hundred via a Chris Woakes misfield at fine leg it appeared the Australians were well on top.But Finch chose the wrong moment to try a hook, top edging straight to Woakes the very next ball and reproaching himself with all the fury of a captain who knew he had done exactly what he has asked teammates not to – squander an opportunity to turn a century into a monument. His anguish was to be intensified by the decline that followed, as Glenn Maxwell followed two memorable blows off Archer with a wafty edge behind off the rapid Mark Wood, Stoinis was run out over a disputed second run with Smith, and the former captain lost his timing and his wicket while trying to get runs around the corner.It all added up to the loss of 6 for 86, and at 259 for 7 England may have been chasing as little as 270. However, some late salvaging by Alex Carey, including 11 from Ben Stokes’ final over of the innings and a boundary from the final ball, inched the total up to 285. A defendable total is all Australia’s bowlers have asked for this tournament, and there was a small but discernible nod from Ricky Ponting on the Lord’s balcony as Carey and Starc jogged off for the change of innings.If some surprise greeted the sight of Behrendorff limbering up to deliver the first ball of the England reply, there was slack-jawed shock in the Members Pavilion when his second ball curled fiendishly late to knock back the middle stump of an overcommitted James Vince. Behrendorff mixed swing and angle with skill and experience of his methods to provide an ideal counterpoint to Starc, who at the other end accounted for Root and then Morgan in the manner of his 2015 World Cup pomp.Root was pinned on the crease and in front of all three stumps by a ball that swung back just enough at pace, before Finch moved long leg finer and Starc delivered with a fast bouncer that Morgan could only sky off top edge and glove to Cummins, who made good ground to the catch. Having already retreated outside leg stump to try to drive Starc, Morgan’s brief innings will remain in the Australian memory bank.An attempt at recovery by Jonny Bairstow, speckled with some attractive strokes, was ended when he hooked unwisely at Behrendorff and was also held by Cummins, this time on the midwicket fence. A better outfield catch was to follow when Jos Buttler, just getting himself going, swivel-pulled Stoinis towards square leg and Khawaja did not break stride in taking a catch he might have struggled to reach before admirable fitness and fielding work in the year since Justin Langer became head coach.Even then, with Buttler out of the picture, Stokes harboured some hope of delivering England to victory, for he had shrugged off a calf ailment to climb to his highest score in a Lord’s ODI, and by helping England to 22 in two Cummins overs seemed set for a thrilling finish. This, however, was to reckon without Starc, called back by Finch for the late-innings clean-up job. He certainly did a job on Stokes, conjuring a 145kph yorker that screeched under the set allrounder’s bat to send the bails zinging and more or less end the match. Stokes, for his part, dropped his bat and kicked it away in exasperation.The rest of the game passed as if according to script. Behrendorff was able to complete a five-for at Lord’s, finding a beauty to leave Moeen then aided by the most composed boundary-line double-act catch from Maxwell to Finch. Starc, fittingly, took the last wicket, leaving Australia atop the Cup table and safely into the semi-finals. England, having waited so long for this day, must now play some of the best cricket of their lives to make the finals, let alone win them.

The performance of Chris Woakes, on his return to side was a huge boost for England as he absence of Ben Stokes was barely noticed

Melinda Farrell at Lord's12-Aug-2018England may be 2-0 up in the series after a resounding victory over India. They may have dominated the entire Indian batting line-up apart from Virat Kohli. Not to mention there is a chance Kohli may not be at full strength for Trent Bridge after battling back stiffness at Lord’s.And yet… Joe Root isn’t leading the wagon-circling just yet. That is to be expected of course. Captains are naturally cautious of prematurely blowing the victory horn, they’d rather wait until all the ladies of varying girth have packed up their vocal chords and gone home. So it was no surprise that Root was keen to play down any talk of smelling five-nil-type blood in the water after an innings victory that has left India in disarray.”Obviously, that would be the dream – to put in five complete performances and have five wins,” said Root. “But it’s important we don’t get complacent, arrogant, or look too far ahead.”We’re playing against the No. 1 side in the world, with some very talented players, and we have to make sure we keep looking to learn and develop.”We’re not the finished article – we’ve got a long way to go to where we want to get to. We’re going to have to start again and work extremely hard over the next five days to win the next game.”That’s got to be our mentality…of course, it’s a great position to be in – 2-0 up with three to go, going into Nottingham, which is a great place for us to play.”But we’ve really got to make sure we are realistic about things. Enjoy the position we’re in, and when we get our opportunities really try to put India under pressure and drive the game forward, but not get ahead of ourselves”The question of how to fit both Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes into one Test team is one that has hovered around the England camp for some time. Stokes’ availability for the third Test is completely out of England’s hands for now but his loss has been softened by Woakes’ Man of the Match performance – he took four wickets and made an unbeaten 137 – in his first match back from side and knee injuries.”Ben is obviously a huge part of this squad, so it’s a miss him not being here this week,” said Root. “But what it did do was create an opportunity for Chris to come in and perform – and boy, he didn’t disappoint did he? He was outstanding.”He’s a big part of our squad, all three formats, it’s been a frustrating summer for him, he’s been injured for a long part of it, and to get an opportunity to come in this week – the easy thing to do is get anxious, try a bit too hard, but he settled in magnificently well with that first spell in particular, then took that confidence into his batting, that partnership changed the game, turned it on its head, and got us miles ahead on that surface.”It’s a great headache to have for us, going into next week.”It’s nice to see guys really taking opportunities, and that’s something we really want to harness as an example to the guys in and around the squad – when you get your chance, make it as hard as possible to leave you out.England are mindful that their own performances with the bat and in the field have hardly been blemish free in the first two Tests and Root doesn’t want his side distracted by the prospect of any changes India make as they try to salvage the series.”We haven’t played the perfect performance yet, and that’s something we’ve got to keep striving towards, regardless of what team India have at Trent Bridge. We’ve got a place we want to get to as a side, and we have to continue to work hard to get there. It’s important we enjoy this win then we spend next couple of days getting good preparation into that third Test.”

Pakistan coach rues the inconsistency in his young team as England bounce back from a humbling defeat at Lord’s

Andrew Miller03-Jun-2018Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach, said that he would need to “dish out a couple of hidings tonight”, as he rued the inconsistency in his young team that allowed England to bounce back from a humbling defeat at Lord’s to square the series in some style at Headingley.Arthur, who was also at the helm when Pakistan drew their last Test series in England, 2-2 in 2016, said that his players were “gutted” to have been rolled aside inside three days, but said that a setback such as this could be instrumental in helping them grow as a side, so long as the right lessons are learned.”I am incredibly disappointed to be brutally honest,” Arthur told Sky Sports. “It was a poor display from us, coming off the back of such a high at Lord’s. It’s all about trying to get this consistency right and trying to get us playing in the right style and manner, so I’m incredibly disappointed with what we’ve dished up here.”We’ll talk about it and have a hard discussion right now but as long as that dressing room has learned from it, it’s a young team and we can grow, and grow quicker.”Only four players remain from the side that toured in 2016, and Arthur admitted that his current team had not been able to replicate the levels of consistency that they were able to generate, especially in the absence of such proven performers as Younis Khan, Yasir Shah and the then-captain Misbah-ul-Haq.”The guys are feeling what it’s like to play tough Test cricket over an extended period, a lot of guys haven’t done that before,” he said. “But our expectation is more, it’s better than that. They will take it on the chin tonight, and they will hopefully grow and learn from it.”In particular, Arthur bemoaned Pakistan’s batting in this contest, particularly on the first day, when they slumped to 174 all out having won what could have been a useful toss.”Inconsistency is something that comes with a young team, however hard that is to take at the moment for all of us,” he said. “[At Lord’s] they were patient, they committed to defence, committed to attack and showed good intent.”We got the balance wrong here. We weren’t as disciplined, we weren’t as patient in this first innings especially. There was always going to be something in the wicket but we had to get through a session and a half there, because the sun came out and it became really good batting conditions late in the day .”If we had got ourselves a big score we could have put them under some pressure but we could never do that at 180 [all out]. The key thing is that a number of batsmen got starts and no one got a hundred. For us to grow as a team, we need someone in top six get hundreds consistently.”Another critical lapse in Pakistan’s hitherto high standards came late on the second day at Headingley, when Jos Buttler was dropped on 4 at short midwicket by Hasan Ali, off the bowling of the legspinner Shadab Khan. Buttler went on to blaze a decisive 80 not out from 101 balls, extending England’s lead to an insuperable 189.”It was a massive chance, massive in the way the game panned out,” said Arthur. “We knew in the moment it went down it had the potential to be big, and it was. Shadab had bowled a really good spell up to that point so that would have capped it off really nicely, in terms of him confirming he belongs at this level.”But that happens. No one drops them on purpose. On the whole we fielded well, we caught well, we’ve done a hell of a lot right in this series. We’re just disappointed at the eventual outcome.”We need to dish out a couple of hidings tonight, but that’s how they’ll grow. I can’t fault effort, the way the boys worked. They are hungry, they want to do well for Pakistan, most of these young players have advance their cause, and it confirmed to us we are on the right track.”I think to be honest, most of these boys have advanced. The talent in that dressing room is phenomenal, we’ve just got to get that consistency back and that’s what we strive for as a coaching team.”

AB de Villiers is expected to play in a three-day match against the touring Zimbabweans next month, before the four-day Boxing Day Test

Firdose Moonda28-Nov-2017AB de Villiers is expected to play in a three-day match for the South African Invitation XI against the touring Zimbabweans next month, in a bid to make a Test comeback. South Africa take on their neighbours in the inaugural four-day day-night Test starting Boxing Day, and to prepare for the fixture, Zimbabwe will play a three-day practice match in Paarl from December 20 to 22 where de Villiers may play.”We’d like to get him back in whites as soon as possible and we have some plans in place. There’s the practice match which will be good for him,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors told ESPNcricinfo.Zondi has kept an eye on de Villiers’ performances in the Ram Slam T20 matches – he has scored 130 runs with a half-century in three innings – and is satisfied that de Villiers has sufficient match fitness. “The manner in which he has played has shown that he is ready. It was never a case of him being rusty but just about getting him match fitness,” Zondi said.De Villiers has not played a Test since January last year because injuries kept him out of series against New Zealand and Australia in 2016 and a self-imposed sabbatical from the longest format has seen him sidelined throughout 2017. As a result, it was widely speculated de Villiers would retire from the format, something even former captain Graeme Smith confirmed he had heard, but in August de Villiers stepped down as ODI captain and committed to play across all formats. This week, he explained to reporters in Centurion that the long break had done him good.”I’ve had time at home to get fresh, time to work on my body, and time to work on skills I’ve not worked on in many years.,” de Villiers said. “I’ve sort of rediscovered that love of the game. I’ve not had an off-season where I’ve gone to nets to work on my skills and technique for ages. Last year, in the peak of the season, I was less ready for Test cricket than I am now.”Though de Villiers has played international cricket this year – he was part of the ODIs in New Zealand and the limited-overs matches in England – he has had most of the year, especially the winter, off. On comeback this summer, he struck 176 in an ODI against Bangladesh in Paarl and has since been back to his aggressive best. Since his last Test, de Villiers has only played one first-class game, for Titans, but still feels he is ready for a longer stint and the warm-up match will help.”It will be nice to go out there and spend some time on my legs. Form-wise I feel ready, but it’s important to stand in the field for a while and hopefully get a long knock,” he said.The only question that remains is how (not if – because coach Ottis Gibson made it clear de Villiers and Dale Steyn would play as soon as they were available) de Villiers will slot back into the Test XI. Not even Zondi has a proper answer yet. “For us as selectors, it’s about getting him into the squad and then it will be worked out from there. It’s a nice problem to have,” Zondi said.South Africa’s Test team composition has shifted from seven batsmen, three seamers and a spinner to six batsmen, two allrounders, two frontline quicks and a spinner in recent months which has complicated the case for de Villiers’ return. The six incumbents are Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, and of those, only Bavuma did not score a century against Bangladesh. Bavuma also occupies the No. 4 position that used to belong to de Villiers, so it would seem he is the likeliest to go. But Bavuma had only recently been promoted to the position and dug South Africa out of several holes and is seen as someone to invest in for the future, leaving South Africa with a conundrum.A possible solution could present itself if du Plessis is not declared fit for the start of the Test summer. Du Plessis suffered a lower-back injury during the third ODI against Bangladesh in late October and was ruled out of action for six weeks, which puts his comeback sometime in December. He has since also had surgery on a troublesome shoulder and is not expected to participate in the Ram Slam at all. Though Zondi is hopeful du Plessis will be available to lead the Test team against Zimbabwe, some of South Africa’s de Villiers puzzle may be solved if he is not. And then it remains to be seen how South Africa will line-up for the three Tests against India in January.

Virat Kohli followed up successive hundreds in the last two ODIs with another display of ruthless efficiency in a chase, and ensured India left Sri Lanka no crumbs of comfort at the end of a long and chastening month-and-a-half of one-sided contests

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy06-Sep-2017
2:58

Maharoof: Once Virat hit top gear, he never let it go

Three-nil in the Tests, five-nil in the ODIs, a crushing seven-wicket win in the one-off T20I. Virat Kohli followed up successive hundreds in the last two ODIs with another display of ruthless efficiency in a chase, and ensured India left Sri Lanka no crumbs of comfort at the end of a long and chastening month and a half of one-sided contests.Set 171 to win, India romped home with four balls remaining and Manish Pandey making his third important contribution in a row, following up 50* and 36 in the last two ODIs with his maiden T20I fifty.Kohli, the only batsman with 1000 T20I runs and a 50-plus average, ended his tour with 82 off 54 balls, an innings that oozed arrogance. It was present in the shots he played – an umpire-endangering blast down the ground and a bottom-handed whip through midwicket, both off Lasith Malinga, standing out among his seven fours and a six – but especially in the way he admonished himself, bat slapping pad in annoyance, for little moments of imprecision: for putting too much weight on a clip down the ground and ending up with a single rather than two, for placing a front-foot slap a few inches closer to the extra-cover fielder than he would have liked and ending up with a single rather than four. It was as if the opposition did not matter.Virat Kohli went to No. 3 on the list of top scorers in T20Is•NurPhoto/Getty Images

Until he miscued a leg-side whip and holed out with India just 10 away from their target, it was easy to miss the assured hand played by Pandey in a 119-run partnership for the third wicket. He came in with India not entirely secure; they had lost both openers by the end of the sixth over, and Kohli not yet fully settled, having just been beaten twice in a row by Malinga’s seam and Isuru Udana’s left-arm angle. But Pandey promptly calmed any nerves in the dressing room, turning the strike over with dabs and pushes either side of point, and switching gears with a straight six and a fierce, airborne cut in the 12th over, off Angelo Mathews.With Kohli also blazing five fours and a six in that period, India sped from 47 for 2 after seven overs to 118 for 2 after 13. Four of those six overs were either Mathews’ medium-pace in conditions with no swing or seam or Seekkuge Prasanna’s quickish and not particularly ripping legspin, showing the lack of genuine wicket threat from Sri Lanka in the middle overs.The story was rather different when Sri Lanka batted. Sent in after a 40-minute rain delay, their batsmen, Dilshan Munaweera in particular, seemed liberated by the switch to the shortest format as they sped to 60 for 2 in their first six overs. They finished well too, scoring 52 for 1 in the last five, with Ashan Priyanjan turning around a slow start and Udana clubbing the quicks powerfully down the ground.They faltered in between, though, losing four wickets in those nine overs while scoring at under six-and-a-half per over.For India, the middle overs illuminated the value of playing two wristspinners. Kuldeep Yadav only conceded 11 in his three overs in that period, and bowled Munaweera with a quick skidder, the batsman sending his bat flying in the direction of square leg in a sweaty-gloved attempt at a pull.Yuzvendra Chahal gave away 13 in his one Powerplay over, Munaweera greeting him with successive sixes, over extra-cover and down the ground. He continued to go for runs in the middle overs, with Munaweera launching him for two more sixes in his third over and Thisara Perera pummeling him over long-on in his fourth. But he picked up three key middle-overs wickets: Mathews stumped while reaching out to a big legbreak and overbalancing; Perera bowled trying to cut one that cramped him for room; Dasun Shanaka lbw playing outside the line of a wrong’un.And so, despite conceding 43, Chahal probably bowled the crucial spell for India to keep Sri Lanka in check. Kohli and Pandey did the rest.

Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe with a strain on his left side

Mohammad Isam05-Nov-2015Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar has been ruled out of the three ODIs and two T20s against Zimbabwe with a strain on his left side. He has been replaced by Imrul Kayes for the first two ODIs after Sarkar’s MRI report on Thursday confirmed that he would be out for around two weeks.During Tuesday’s training session at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Sarkar overstretched his left side during a bowling stint in the nets. He immediately withdrew from training and also didn’t bat on Wednesday despite planning to do so.”Such injuries take around 2 to 3 weeks to heal and therefore he will miss the matches against Zimbabwe,” BCB’s senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said. “He will begin his rehab under the BCB’s medical team as soon as the pain subsides.”Since making his ODI debut in December last year, Soumya has been a regular in the Bangladesh side throughout 2015, during which he became the team’s highest scorer in ODIs with 672 runs.His replacement Kayes last played an ODI during this year’s World Cup but he has been consistent in Tests, becoming the highest scorer in the format for Bangladesh this year with 384 runs at an average of 54.85.”It is a huge opportunity for me,” Imrul said. “I haven’t played ODIs since the World Cup. I have been in decent touch since the NCL started in September. I have worked on a few things and I have made some tactical changes to my batting.”I hope to do something good from this chance. I think my Test form will help me in ODIs. Scoring runs in international cricket, regardless of the format, gives a player confidence.”Imrul and Anamul Haque were the leading candidates to replace Sarkar and their 105-run opening stand against the Zimbabweans in the practice match in Fatullah was a duel. Imrul came out on top because, according to the chief selector, of his fluency this season.”I didn’t take this innings as a path into the ODI team. I just tried to bat better in a one-day setting. I worked in the gaps in my game. I am batting well, and if I can continue in this vein, I can bat better,” Imrul said.

Yorkshire have signed offspinner James Middlebrook to cover for Adil Rashid ahead of their Championship match with Warwickshire on Sunday.

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2015Yorkshire have signed James Middlebrook, the 37-year-old offspinner, to cover for Adil Rashid ahead of their Championship match with Warwickshire on Sunday.Yorkshire asked England to release Rashid from their tour of the Caribbean but the request was denied with the legspinning allrounder in contention to play the third Test in Barbados on May 1.Middlebrook, originally from Leeds, was released by Northamptonshire at the end of last season in a cost-cutting purge despite being one of their more effective players in a grim season.He has been playing for New Farnley in the Bradford League and has been included in the 12-man squad for the match at Headingley starting on Sunday. Head coach Jason Gillespie said he was likely to play.Middlebrook, who began his career at Yorkshire and last played for the White Rose In June 2001, described his unexpected comeback as “surreal”.Yorkshire feel they had fair reasons to request Rashid’s return, believing that he has no prospect of playing in the third Test in Barbados and that he is being used as little more than a glorified net bowler on a tour that, improperly, clashes with the start of the England season. Their request has been criticised by the BBC’s cricket correspondent, Jonathan Agnew.”Karl Carver has been in our squad this season and we have been pleased with his development over the past 12 months,” Gillespie said. “But at this point in time, we feel he is best served learning his trade in the second team.”We felt that James could come in and do a job for us in the short-term. He is an experienced campaigner and knows the county system inside out. I expect him to do well for us and add to our squad in the short-tem.”Middlebrook added: “It has been surreal. I wasn’t expecting a call to come and play first-class cricket again and to get the call from Yorkshire was a shock. It will be a big honour to walk out in front of the Yorkshire members on Sunday at Headingley.””Yorkshire are a talented side with some great players. I’ll do my job and hopefully help the lads get a win against Warwickshire.”

Zimbabwe remained on course for their first Test win in nearly two years, ending the third day with at 187 for 7 with a convincing lead of 442 as Brendan Taylor took charge on a bowler-dominated day

The Report by Mohammad Isam19-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShingirai Masakadza took his first four-wicket haul in Test cricket in his second game•AFP

Zimbabwe remained on course for their first Test win in nearly two years, ending the third day at 187 for 7 with a convincing lead of 442, as Brendan Taylor took charge on a bowler-dominated day.He was unbeaten on 80 in the second innings, to add to his 171 that shaped Zimbabwe’s 389. Taylor, however, didn’t find any help from the top or middle-order, which was dismantled single-handedly by Robiul Islam. The pace bowler took the first six Zimbabwe wickets to fall, his maiden Test five-for and the first by any Bangladeshi pace bowler since June 2010.But Robiul’s 6 for 55 didn’t take away any advantages from Zimbabwe. Graeme Cremer once again offered resistance before he was run out for 43, bettering his previous highest Test score from the first innings. He and Taylor added 79 for the seventh wicket, rounding off a very good day for the hosts.Zimbabwe began the day by triggering a massive collapse in the visitors’ batting line-up. Bangladesh went on to lose nine wickets for just 32 runs, giving away their last five wickets without scoring a run. They ended their first innings on 134 runs, trailing by 255, but Taylor didn’t enforce the follow-on.Instead, he let his young pace attack put their feet up for some time, after their efforts in the morning put Zimbabwe ahead. Kyle Jarvis and Shingirai Masakadza picked up four wickets each, while debutant Keegan Meth took two in a lengthy spell.It was Meth’s medium-paced seam bowling that struck first. He ended Jahurul Islam’s promising 43 although the batsman had slowed down considerably on the third morning. He had added just five runs off 35 balls before he was trapped leg-before in the 11th over of the day. Mahmudullah prodded needlessly at an away-going delivery and dragged it back onto his stumps to give Meth his second wicket. Bangladesh’s good work from the previous evening was coming undone.Bangladesh’s over-reliance on a defensive approach, although it looked sensible at the onset, cost them dearly. The second-wicket pair between Ashraful and Jahurul added only seven runs in 10.5 overs on the third morning and soon after, the batting imploded. As soon as Jahurul and Mahmudullah fell, Shakib Al Hasan tried to up the ante but wasn’t successful.Ashraful’s poor shot was not much of a surprise with his career in mind, but in the context of his 88-ball innings it was actually a shock that he had actually pulled that ball in the same over of Shakib’s dismissal. Mushfiqur Rahim and Nasir Hossain have been Bangladesh’s saviour in many a collapse over the last two years, but it was a day when nothing worked and whenever the ball was pitched up, the Bangladeshi batsmen succumbed. The timidity goes completely against their recent approaches of solidity this season, but it was a reminder that they are still prone of collapsing in a mighty heap.Masakadza, playing his second Test, was the most successful bowler as he removed three top batsmen in the space of four overs. Shakib couldn’t keep a bouncing delivery down, guiding a simple catch to Vusi Sibanda at gully. Ashraful was out a ball later, giving an easy catch to Malcolm Waller at square-leg. It was a waste of diligence after he had batted well for more than two hours. He was dismissed for 38, the last Bangladesh batsman to get to double figures in the first innings.Mushfiqur was trapped leg-before by Masakadza, before he finished off Bangladesh’s misery with the wicket of Sohag Gazi just after lunch.Meth and Masakadza reaped the rewards of Jarvis’ superb first spell. Giving away just one run in six overs, the young pace bowler kept the Bangladesh batsmen either leaving or using the forward defence regularly. Neither Ashraful nor Jahurul could force him off the square, though they had played the same bowler with much ease in his first eight overs the evening before.Jarvis returned after lunch to remove Nasir Hossain with an away-going delivery after sucking him in with fuller balls. He added the wickets of Enamul Haque jnr and Rubel Hossain to finish with 4 for 40 from his 16 overs.Bangladesh’s reaction to the collapse came through Robiul, who took the first six wickets. He bowled a beautiful full delivery to bowl Sibanda for the second time in the match.
Hamilton Masakadza gave Robiul a simple return catch in his next over, before he got rid of Timycen Maruma with another full delivery. He took three wickets in successive overs before he added Waller’s wicket an over later as Zimbabwe slipped to 27 for four.After the tea break, Robiul had Elton Chigumbura caught at gully by Jahurul Islam to give him a first five-for at this level. Wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami missed a late-moving inswinger and was adjudged out leg-before off the next ball. But the Taylor-Cremer partnership rescued Zimbabwe from 85 for 6.Zimbabwe had lost their last five Tests before this match but against Bangladesh they turned into a competitive unit. The lead is handsome and should be more than enough to give them a well-deserved win but Bangladesh’s collapse said a lot about overcompensating on an approach that is relatively new to them.

Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, has lashed out at the players and coaches of the national team for their dismal performances against Pakistan

Sa'adi Thawfeeq06-Nov-2011Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors, has lashed out at the players and coaches of the national team for their dismal performances against Pakistan in the ongoing Test series in the United Arab Emirates.”The performance of our cricketers is way below of what we expected of them,” Mendis said.”We may not have played Test cricket in the UAE before but then we should have gone there a few weeks ahead and got ourselves acclimatised to the pitches and conditions.”Apart from Kumar Sangakkara the batting has been a complete let down. There have been occasions where other batsmen have also contributed but overall our batting from one to six has been disappointing. Sangakkara has been brilliant and he alone is carrying the Sri Lanka batting most of the time.”Mendis noted that this was not the first time the Sri Lanka batting has failed to live up to its potential. “This has happened in three consecutive series starting in England and Australia and now against Pakistan. Compared to Pakistan we have one of the best batting line-ups in Test cricket and experienced players who have made centuries at the highest level. I think it has something to do with the mental approach. Something is not right there and it is the coaches who have to address it.”Unlike during our time, today there are coaches to handle every aspect of the game, batting, bowling, fielding, so it is their duty to see where we are going wrong. As much as it is the responsibility of the coaches the players must also take a fair share of the blame.”
Pakistan’s bowling attack has been much more incisive than Sri Lanka’s over the course of the series, and Mendis felt that was an indictment of the bowling coach. “You take our bowlers there is a marked difference when Pakistan bowl and when we bowl. Their bowlers are able to get life out of a lifeless pitch. I think it is something to do with technique and our bowling coach is responsible for it.”He was also critical of the rest of the support staff for not performing their roles properly. “See the number of players who are injured? Dammika Prasad is unable to play in two consecutive Test matches without breaking down. Yesterday (third day) he did not bowl and we were down to four bowlers. Thankfully we played five bowlers in the Test.
“Apart from Prasad there is Nuwan Kulasekara, Shaminda Eranga, Ajantha Mendis and Prasanna Jayawardene all on the injury list. I don’t know what our physios and masseurs are doing with the players for them to get constantly injured.”On the question of promoting captain Tillakaratne Dilshan to open the batting in the third Test against Pakistan at Sharjah, Mendis said it was a tactical change to allow for an extra bowler in the XI.”We tried the 6-5 combination in England also but it didn’t work in our favour. We are 1-0 down in the present series and we need to win the final Test to square it. We made the change with that intention. [Lahiru] Thirimanne didn’t bat all that badly for a newcomer. He was left out because we are looking for a result in this Test.”Mendis also pointed out that Sri Lanka was presently in the process of rebuilding the team after the retirements of Muthiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu and during such a period there can be setbacks.”It is not easy replacing players in the calibre of Murali, Sanath, Vaas and Marvan overnight. It will take some time and we will hit some rough patches while in the process of doing so.”