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Naseem Shah moves to Islamabad United from Quetta Gladiators

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It is however not yet officially confirmed that Naseem will be fully fit for the start of the PSL

Danyal Rasool02-Dec-2023Naseem Shah has moved from Quetta Gladiators to Islamabad United in one of the most sensational trades of the PSL, ending weeks of speculation about his destination next season.After a tussle in which at least three teams competed for his signing, United won out, ending the battle for one of the most in-demand fast bowlers in Pakistan cricket. In return, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Jnr have moved from United to Gladiators before the transfer window shuts.Just days ago, Multan Sultans appeared to have beaten United to Naseem’s signature, and ESPNcricinfo understands they were on the cusp of making an official statement announcing the move. However, United’s interest in Naseem predated Sultans’, and ended up outlasting it.It’s understood Naseem’s move away from the Gladiators was partially influenced by the player pushing for the move himself after several frustrating years at the franchise. While the Gladiators were the most consistent team of the PSL over the first four years of its existence, reaching three finals and winning the title in 2019, it’s been a dramatic reversal since. They are the only side to have missed out on the playoffs each of the last four years, finishing fifth twice, and propping up the table in the other two seasons. It has meant Naseem, who has only ever played for the Gladiators and made his debut in 2020, has never reached the playoff stages of the PSL in his career.While Naseem is now recognised as a generational talent across formats in Pakistan, the PSL is yet to truly see evidence of that ability. His 29 matches have produced 26 wickets – nine of them in two individual games in 2022 – and his economy rate, strike rate, and average are all worse at the PSL than his T20 career in general.It is not yet officially confirmed that Naseem will be fully fit for the start of the PSL after a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the final part of the Asia Cup and all of the World Cup. He will also miss Pakistan’s tour of Australia and New Zealand, and is currently in the United Kingdom as he works his way back. While he is believed to be on track to ensure he is available for the PSL, this has not been officially confirmed.

Rajat Patidar 176, Joe Carter 197 the highlights of drawn game

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Other performers included Easwaran with 132, Varma with 121 and Mukesh Kumar with 5 for 86

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2022Centuries from Abhimanyu Easwaran and Rajat Patidar and Tilak Varma alongside Mukesh Kumar’s five-wicket haul in the first innings headlined India A’s dominant show in the drawn first unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Bengaluru.After Mukesh’s 5 for 86 helped bowl New Zealand A out for 400, Patidar led the way with 176 off 256 balls and found support from Easwaran and Varma. India A declared their first innings on 571 for 6 after securing a lead of 171 on the fourth and final day. Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav then struck twice to dismiss Chad Bowes and Mark Chapman before the umpires signalled the end of the game with the visitors on 133 for 4.New Zealand A’s first innings revolved around Joe Carter’s career-best 197 after they had opted to bat. None of the other batters could even reach fifty with Mukesh turning out to be the wrecker-in-chief. The 28-year-old Bengal fast bowler, who was representing India A for the first time, struck at regular intervals to finish with a five-wicket haul.Related

  • Tom Bruce, the free spirit who has finally found his identity as a cricketer

  • Patient Carter leads the show with highest first-class score

  • Chapman fuelling strong red-ball ambitions

  • Mukesh Kumar makes immediate impact on India A debut

The Indian batters then came out with positive intent with Easwaran and Priyank Panchal, the captain, adding 123 runs for the opening stand in 28.3 overs. Panchal fell just before stumps for 47 on day two to Rachin Ravindra, but Easwaran went onto notch up his 16th first-class ton on the third morning. He added 45 runs to his overnight score of 87 before falling to left-arm wristspinner Michael Rippon.It was Patidar, though, who stole the show on day three. In the midst of a golden run across formats over the last six months, the 29-year-old brought up his ninth first-class century. Coming in to bat at 157 for 2, he first added 104 runs for the third wicket with Easwaran, 64 with Sarfaraz Khan for the fourth and then shared a 186-run fifth-wicket stand with Varma to take India A into the lead.Patidar ended the third day on 170 but could only add six runs to his overnight tally falling to seamer Logan van Beek on the fourth morning. Varma, however, pressed on to bring up his maiden first-class century. He hit nine fours and six sixes during his 183-ball121 before his dismissal triggered India’s declaration. Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand A, taking 2 for 112 in 32 overs.New Zealand A got off to a steady start in their second innings with Bowes and Ravindra putting on 51 runs for the opening wicket. Kuldeep and Yash Dayal left the visitors wobbling before the game ended in a draw.The second unofficial Test between the two sides will take place in Hubbali from September 8.

Marnus Labuschagne's one-man show falls short as Gloucestershire hold their nerve

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Unbeaten 93 takes Glamorgan to the brink of stiff run-chase at Cardiff

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2021Gloucestershire 179 for 6 (Phillips 44, Douthwaite 3-28) beat Glamorgan 175 for 9 (Labuschagne 93*) by four runsMarnus Labuschagne’s superb unbeaten 93 off 56 balls couldn’t stop Gloucestershire from starting their Vitality Blast campaign with a four-run win over GlamorganGlenn Phillips’ 44 and 30 from Benny Howell off 15 balls saw Gloucestershire post 179 for 6 in Cardiff which always looked like being a challenging total. And despite Labuschagne’s fine innings on his Blast debut, Glamorgan fell just short against some tidy Gloucestershire bowling.Glamorgan weren’t helped by batting second and the fact there were no floodlights available at Sophia Gardens as the skies darkened.Gloucestershire won the toss and chose to bat, and Glamorgan opened with spin at both ends. Andrew Salter cleaned up Miles Hammond in his first over. Ian Cockbain then skied to Timm van der Gugten at mid-on off the bowling of Ruaidhri Smith for 16 as Gloucestershire reached 34 for 2 from their first six overs.Gloucestershire struggled in the first powerplay, but Phillips got the scoreboard moving with consecutive sixes and then a four off Salter. But just when Gloucestershire looked like they were getting going, Chris Dent was caught superbly by Kiran Carlson on the cover boundary for 20 from the bowling of Dan Douthwaite.Phillips was the mainstay of the Gloucestershire innings as they went past 100 in the 13th over. But he fell short of 50 to the part-time spin of Labuschagne when Nick Selman took a fine catch on the mid-wicket boundary.Labuschagne followed in Selman’s path with another boundary catch to dismiss Jack Taylor, but Gloucestershire finished with a flourish as Smith’s 18th over went for 16.David Lloyd’s fine form continued as he started Glamorgan’s reply with a quickfire 28 which included two sixes before he was clean bowled by Josh Shaw. Selman soon followed Lloyd back to the pavilion and when Colin Ingram was clean bowled by Shaw for just a single Glamorgan were 46 for 3 from the first powerplay.Labuschagne and Chris Cooke rebuilt the innings to take Glamorgan to 80 for 3 at the halfway stage and Cooke was dropped on the midwicket boundary in the 11th over. But he wasn’t so lucky when he was caught by Hammond from the bowling off Tom Smith for 26, leaving Glamorgan’s chase in the hands of Labuschagne.He did go to the game’s first half-century from 36 balls, but Carlson fell for 14, Douthwaite was lbw first ball and Salter was run out for a duck trying to keep Labuschagne on strike.Labuschagne gave it everything, but he needed 19 from the last over and couldn’t find the boundary enough despite a six from the last ball as Ryan Higgins held his nerve.

Quinton de Kock named captain, as Lungi Ngidi, Temba Bavuma return to South Africa ODI squad

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Faf du Plessis is absent from the 15-man squad to play England in three ODIs next month

Firdose Moonda21-Jan-2020Quinton de Kock has been named as stand-in captain of South Africa’s ODI squad to play England, which is without regular skipper Faf du Plessis and frontline seamer Kagiso Rabada, who are both being rested. The squad includes Lungi Ngidi, subject to a fitness test after he missed out on the Tests through injury, as well as Temba Bavuma, who is also back in Test contention after a first-class best of 180 last week, and five uncapped players.Fast-bowler Lutho Sipamla, death-bowling specialist Sisanda Magala, left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsmen Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne are all in line to earn their first ODI caps.The presence of so many new and returning faces, including that of a new captain, is part of South Africa’s efforts to plan for the impending retirement of all-format captain du Plessis, who will assess his future after the T20 World Cup in November. “We need to create leaders,” Linda Zondi, CSA’s independent selector told ESPNcricinfo. “Faf is still the captain and he is not out of the picture at all. This is part of our succession plan. Quinny is one of the guys we have identified for the future.”De Kock has leadership experience with the Cape Town Blitz in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) and was in charge of South Africa’s T20 side on their tour to India last September, which du Plessis sat out. He would appear to be the leading contender to take over when du Plessis steps down and is considered among the senior-most members of the squad, across all formats.De Kock made his international debut in December 2012 after an impressive showing at that year’s U19 World Cup in Australia and was called up into the ODI squad just a month later. He boasts 115 ODI caps with 4,907 runs at an average of 45.01, including 14 centuries and 24 fifties. De Kock is South Africa’s highest run-scorer so far after three of the four Tests against England with 265 runs at 44.16 but the manner of some of his dismissals, to rash shot-making, has drawn criticism. However, de Kock has CSA’s acting director of cricket, Graeme Smith’s stamp of approval.”We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become. Over the years, we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world,” Smith said.”He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street-smart. We are confident that the new leadership role will bring out the best in him as a cricketer and that he can take the team forward into the future and produce results that South Africans the world over can be very proud of.”However, South Africa have (and doubtless, will) also consider other options. Aiden Markram, who could not be considered for this series as he continues his rehabilitation on a broken finger, was trialled for a series against India in 2018. South Africa lost the series 1-5 and Markram’s form dipped in the aftermath, across formats. Another candidate is Bavuma, the Test vice-captain who has been at the centre of a social media storm after du Plessis called for him to earn his recall with “weight of runs” after recovering from a hip injury that forced him out of the first Test.ALSO READ: Moonda: It’s time for de Kock to step upIn essence, Bavuma, South Africa’s only black African batsman, was dropped after averaging 19.84 in 2019. At the time, South Africa’s leadership core indicated Bavuma would be given opportunities in other formats, especially after finishing in the top 10 in the MSL. Bavuma has two ODI caps to his name, played 13 months apart. He scored a century on debut against Ireland and 48 against Bangladesh more than a year later. Now, Zondi has indicated Bavuma will be given a decent run in the squad. “With Temba, when we played him before in some ODIs it was because of injury or resting senior players but now we have said to him that this is a big opportunity for him. And we want to see him make use of the opportunity,” Zondi said.Similarly, there are other players who will see the chance to nail down regular spots in the 50-over side which will be completely rebuilt in the aftermath of a disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign. South Africa lost five of their nine group stage matches and were the first team to be eliminated, an embarrassment that saw the entire coaching staff sacked and the retirements of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Imran Tahir.The survivors from that campaign are de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ngidi and Beuran Hendricks (who was a late replacement) with no room for Chris Morris or Dwaine Pretorius in this squad. Instead, Phehlukwayo is the lone seam-bowling allrounder with the focus on specialists.Reeza Hendricks, who narrowly missed out on a World Cup spot, will compete with Malan, who was second on the MSL run-charts, while Verreynne, Smuts and Bavuma will make up the top-order. Miller and Phehlukwayo will play the finishing roles but the exact composition of the attack will depend on fitness. Ngidi, Magala, Shamsi and Smuts are currently involved in a three-week-long strength-and-conditioning camp at CSA’s Centre of Excellence in Pretoria which ends on January 31 with a fitness test. All four are required to pass before they will be considered for the ODIs.For Ngidi, the challenge will be proving his match fitness, after being on the sidelines since the late stages of the MSL where he sustained a hamstring injury. “His workloads are on the rise and his progression is coming along nicely,” Zondi said.The other three have relatively long-running fitness concerns, with Smuts having been withdrawn from the T20 squad to play in India last September, Magala failing to pass fitness tests recently and Shamsi regarded as the first-choice spinner. Zondi is particularly hopeful Magala will improve quickly because “he has special skills in white-ball cricket.”Magala had an impressive domestic fifty-over cup in the 2019-20 season and a good MSL and could be a shoe-in for a more sustained role in future. The only other bowler who could not be considered is Junior Dala, who topped last summer’s 50-over wicket-charts, but picked up a knee problem in the MSL.South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (capt), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

Didn't play county cricket to return to Test side – M Vijay

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The India opener said he hadn’t tinkered with his technique and welcomed match practice in the lead-up to the Australia tour

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2018Opener M Vijay has made it clear that he did not go to play county cricket in Essex to make a comeback to India’s Test team. After making 20, 0, 6, 0 and 0 in the first two Tests of India’s five-match series in England, Vijay was not picked in the XI for the third Test and was later dropped from the squad for the last two games. MSK Prasad, the selection panel chairman, though, picked Vijay for the four-Test series in Australia, pointing to the rich form Vijay had hit at Essex.After being dropped from the Test squad, Vijay signed up with Essex and played three matches in the County Championship, scoring 56, 100, 85, 80 and 2. Speaking to reporters during Tamil Nadu’s first-round match last week in the Ranji Trophy, Vijay said he hadn’t tinkered with his technique either.”More importantly, I should keep faith in myself,” Vijay said when asked if the team management’s show of faith in taking him to Australia was a confidence booster. “I never went to county cricket to get back in the team. I just went to play some cricket, and I thought it was the ideal time for me to go and explore county. It happened that I could perform and give myself a chance.”In 2018, Vijay has had poor returns in Test cricket apart from hundred at home ” target=”_blank”>in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test. In five matches elsewhere, three in South Africa and two in England, he made 128 runs without a single half-century. Despite the below-par returns, Vijay said there was nothing wrong with his technique, and it was more about finding the right balance mentally that allowed him to get the runs at Essex. “There wasn’t any adjustment,” he said. “It was a great experience because it wasn’t easy. I should thank Essex for having me and giving me an opportunity to play the way I wanted to. We had a crucial three matches, and it really motivated me. I could step up and contribute, so I was happy to gain some experience there.”The Indian team management had belatedly agreed the absence of warm-up matches in South Africa and England was one of the factors behind losing both Test series. But for the Australia series, India will have some quality match practice. Along with several Test regulars, Vijay is part of the India A squad for their first four-day match against New Zealand A, which starts on November 16 at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Between that game and the first Test at the Adelaide Oval that starts on December 6, India will also have a four-day match in Sydney, as Ajinkya Rahane had revealed earlier this week.Vijay, who scored 482 runs at an average of 60.25 on India’s last tour of Australia in 2014-15, welcomed the move to get extra match-time before the Test series. “For me it’s a mental game. It’s never been a question of my ability. This time we have planned pretty well. We are going a little early and we are going to get a few practice games as well in Australia before we play the first Test match. That will be ideal for us. Hopefully our boys can gel as a team and put their best foot forward.”Any international game is more of a mental game than about the attack or conditions. For me it is about keeping myself in a clear state of mind during practice and preparation. It’s helping me out every game I play. It’s just a matter of time where I can get a big one.”While acknowledging that conditions in New Zealand would be considerably different from those in Australia, Vijay emphasised that the India A game was more about getting some “match practice and get some runs and be in the best form I can be.”On the tactics to adopt in Australia, Vijay said that it was important to not let bowlers like Nathan Lyon find their rhythm. “You can’t give bowlers the opportunity to settle down on their lengths. And especially a bowler of his calibre, you’ve got to be on top of the game all the time. Nathan Lyon and me had a good competition going, so I like to take up the challenge. Get some runs and put him on the back foot.”

West Indies' chance to exploit rocked England

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The fourth ODI is unlikely to be the major talking point at The Oval, but West Indies must win to give themselves something to play for at the end of the tour

The Preview by Alan Gardner26-Sep-2017

Big Picture

Much of this series has been played amid mizzle and murk but there is a much bigger cloud hanging over England now. Ben Stokes’ arrest in the small hours after England had thumped West Indies in Bristol means both the fourth ODI and the Ashes squad announcement will be overshadowed by the off-field indiscretion of a star player.There could be far-reaching consequences but, in the very near term, England will have to replace two key members of their first-choice XI (Alex Hales, who was with Stokes, has also been ruled out of the Oval match). Eoin Morgan admitted the disruption had not been ideal – the news breaking while England were training – but will hope his players can remain focused on their attempts to seal the series.In normal circumstances England would feel confident against a West Indies side who they have beaten in 14 out of 15 completed ODIs – as Liam Plunkett suggested in the wake of taking five wickets to help them go 2-0 up in the series. Moeen Ali’s carefree hundred down the order once again demonstrated England’s strength in depth but, without their most-experienced opener and game-breaking allrounder, they look a little less secure in their overdog status.For a while in Bristol, as Chris Gayle marched ominously towards what would have been his first ODI hundred in 30 months, West Indies were in with a shot at chasing 370. Gayle was then run out and they quickly ran out of steam, as Plunkett and Adil Rashid rounded the innings up.This format looks to be West Indies’ weakest suit, with the block-and-bash formula that serves them so well in T20 exposed over longer innings. Stuart Law, West Indies’ coach, has already begun looking towards next year’s World Cup qualifier and will be hoping for a few improved individual performances to help instill confidence. It has been a bumpy old tour for West Indies but they still have a chance to level this series if they can surprise an England team suffering a self-inflicted wound.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WWLWW
West Indies WLLWL

In the spotlight

Moeen Ali waltzed out to take centre stage in Bristol, his 53-ball hundred the second-fastest by an Englishman in ODIs. As a top-order batsman in county cricket, he has sometimes struggled with the brief at No. 7, where can be required either to rebuild or slog from ball one, but this innings suggested he is mastering those demands; it was his first century outside of opening and helped shore England up from a position of 217 for 6, before an incendiary passage of 61 from 14 balls at the death blasted them out of West Indies’ gravitational pull.Key to West Indies’ victory in the T20 at Chester-le-Street was the intimidating opening partnership between Gayle and Evin Lewis. But while Lewis has proved himself adept as a Gayle-a-like force in the shortest format, he has struggled to take that into ODIs. After 19 innings, he currently averages less than 25, with almost a third of his runs coming in one innings (148 versus Sri Lanka) last year. Bristol highlighted his struggle to find the right balance, as he struck two towering sixes off David Willey before holing out in the same over.

Teams news

Jason Roy will come straight in for Hales, having lost his place to Bairstow earlier in the summer. Compensating for Stokes’ absence will be more difficult: Jake Ball and Tom Curran provide bowling options while Sam Billings has also been added to the squad.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 David Willey, 11 Jake BallWest Indies will hope Kesrick Williams is fit again after a back spasm but could otherwise be unchanged.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Miguel Cummins

Pitch and conditions

A day out, the surface at The Oval appeared firm and true with a touch of grass left on – so likely to be full of runs. The Champions Trophy saw England and Sri Lanka pull off 300-plus chases there earlier in the season. A clear, warm(ish) day in the capital should ensure the game goes off without delays.

Stats and trivia

  • West Indies have won two of their four ODIs at The Oval – including victory over England in the 2004 Champions Trophy final.
  • Liam Plunkett is now the second-leading ODI wicket-taker in 2017 with 33, three behind Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.

Quotes

“It has been a little bit of a distraction. As a group we are strong at sticking together and working well as a team. It has the potential to affect the game but not letting that happen is something we will strive to do.”
Eoin Morgan addresses the Stokes situation“We’re not quite playing at the tempo that I think that suits one-day cricket. We are caught between Test cricket and T20 cricket — of course we’re very good at T20 cricket and we’re ever-improving in the Test match arena. This is the arena we need to make sure that we start grabbing hold of and we start understanding.”
Stuart Law on the challenge for his players

Tamim wants more cricket for Bangladesh

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Batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that Bangladesh’s ongoing lengthy break from international cricket will hamper the team’s chances of performing at its best

Mohammad Isam29-Jun-2016Batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that Bangladesh’s ongoing lengthy break from international cricket will hamper the team’s chances of performing at its best. He also suggested that other international sides should be more willing to play against Bangladesh.”After such a great season, we are not playing for six months,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “It would definitely hamper us. People should be more interested in playing against us but instead we are sitting on the sidelines. We don’t know who we are going to play after six months. There’s no team in the world apart from Zimbabwe who sit out for so long between matches.”Bangladesh’s last international appearance was at the World T20 in India on March 26. Their next assignment is scheduled to be against England at home in October, after their maiden Test in India was pushed back to early next year. A proposed West Indies tour of Bangladesh in September is under discussion but is yet to be confirmed.Tamim said it was all the more frustrating to wait for international cricket after having had a successful 2015. Bangladesh reached the World Cup quarter-finals in early 2015, before going on to beat Pakistan, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe in consecutive ODI series at home. That string of wins secured their place in the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. In light of the team’s improvement, Tamim wondered why other teams were still reluctant to play Bangladesh.”Sitting for six months is not doing justice to anything,” he said. “I could have understood if we played like we did five years ago when our result was predictable, but after performing so well they still don’t want to play us, I don’t know.”Bangladesh have been growing accustomed to such long breaks in international cricket over the last five years. Usually they face a lull in Test cricket but, this time, they are missing out on all formats after busy 2015 and 2015-16 seasons. The BCB said that it was trying to get teams to play against Bangladesh but also felt that players needed a break after non-stop cricket for 15 months.Tamim said any team would suffer after such a prolonged break, and stressed that Bangladesh deserved more cricket at the highest level.”Take any top team and tell them to sit for six months,” Tamim said. “You will see how they perform after sitting for eight months. They won’t play the way they were playing.”

Australia win inside three days

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On Wednesday morning Australia began their defence of the Frank Worrell Trophy. By Friday evening they had retained it

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc claimed 4 for 28 to ensure Australia faced only a small chase•Getty Images

On Wednesday morning Australia began their defence of the Frank Worrell Trophy. By Friday evening they had retained it. Such is the nature of modern scheduling that a two-Test series was all Australia and West Indies could arrange. Such was the nature of the Roseau conditions that this abbreviated campaign began with an abridged match, won by Australia within three days.The third and final day began with West Indies on 25 for 2 and in danger of capitulating. They needed 145 more to make Australia bat again. Australia’s morning began perfectly when Darren Bravo was taken at mid-off by a diving David Warner off Josh Hazlewood for 5. But then came the complication: Marlon Samuels and debutant Shane Dowrich ground out the highest partnership of the Test.Their 144-run union threatened not only to take the match into a fourth day but to pull it out of Australia’s grasp and back into competitive territory. Only one wicket fell in each of the first two sessions. But then came the collapse. After tea West Indies lost their last six wickets for 27, set Australia a target of 47, and provided the rain and light held out, a three-day finish was on again.David Warner had no intention of coming back on Saturday. He thumped a four and a six off Jerome Taylor’s first over, then another six off Shannon Gabriel in the second over. Warner edged Taylor to slip for 28 with five runs still needed, but Steven Smith joined Shaun Marsh and finished the job within the first five overs of the innings, a nine-wicket win satisfying the Australians ahead of the second Test in Jamaica.In the end it looked clinical, but there were times throughout the match that West Indies were in the contest. When they reduced Australia to 126 for 6 on the second day, they sent some nervous moments through the Australian camp. But the unbeaten 130 from debutant Adam Voges was the big difference, his work with the tail giving Australia a comfortable first-innings buffer.While Dowrich and Samuels were together there were also slivers of hope for West Indies. Both men were steady in the morning session before becoming more expansive after lunch. Within the space of three balls, Samuels lifted Nathan Lyon over mid-on for a four and a six, and his half-century came from his 115th delivery.Dowrich also cleared mid-on for a six off Lyon and brought up his fifty from his 153rd delivery with a pull for four off Mitchell Johnson. Soon, West Indies were back into the lead. If Dowrich and Samuels could bat on, if they could set up a chase of 150 or 200 runs, who knows what might have happened. But it was not to be. Dowrich drove Hazlewood to a catching short mid-on for 70, and it signalled the beginning of the end.After tea, the wickets began to tumble. Jermaine Blackwood advanced, missed a low full toss from Lyon and was stumped by Brad Haddin, who failed to take the ball cleanly but kept his head well enough to complete the job. In the next over, Samuels top-edged a pull off Johnson to Hazlewood at fine leg for 74, and it was all down to the wicketkeeper and bowlers.Denesh Ramdin chopped on off Lyon, Jerome Taylor was lbw for a golden duck to a Mitchell Starc inswinger, and a few overs later Starc finished the job by bowling Devendra Bishoo and Gabriel from consecutive deliveries. Jason Holder was left not out on 12, and Australia were left with the task of beating the cloud and bad light if they wanted an extra day off between matches.Warner made sure they did just that. All that was left was a Man-of-the-Match presentation for Voges on debut, and a reworking of weekend plans for the Dominican fans, who reasonably would have expected cricket in their country on Saturday and Sunday. By collapsing before tea on the first day having chosen to bat, West Indies set themselves behind from the start of this game. And it was an advantage Australia were never likely to give up.

Assam go top with tense win

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A wrap of the final day of the first round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2012
Scorecard
Saurabh Tiwary’s patient 27 was not enough in Jharkhand’s unsuccessful chase of 213 (file photo)•Getty Images

Assam’s spin twins, J Syed Mohammad and Arlen Konwar, delivered them a second win in as many matches, keeping Jharkhand down to 157 in their defence of 212. It will be ironical to Tamil Nadu supporters that on the day their spinners struggled badly on a rank turner, Syed, who has played Under-19 cricket for them, took his first five-wicket haul for another team and took them to the top of Group C.Jharkhand began the day needing 157 with eight wickets in hand, but Syed took little time in dismissing the first-innings half-centurion and danger man Rameez Nemat for 42. Saurabh Tiwary and Deepak Chougule then added 29 for the fourth wicket, but Syed dismissed Tiwary too to make it 101 for 4.To make things worse for Jharkhand, he trapped Chougule too, and at 120 for 5 Assam were the favourites. Wicketkeeeper Shiv Gautam, though, had other ideas, and took Jharkhand to 155 for 6. By now, the first-innings hero, Konwar, had swung into action, and had begun chipping at the lower order. To seal the deal, Syed dismissed Gautam for 30. At 155 for 8, it was all but over. Konwar completed the formalities, and the four wickets gave him a maiden 10-wicket match haul.
Scorecard
Shadab Jakati’s four-wicket burst at the top of Jammu & Kashmir’s innings injected some interest into an otherwise drab match, but Bandeep Singh and captain Samiullah Beigh fought it out to a draw and their first point of the season. Playing their first match of the season, Goa had already secured three points when they went past J&K’s 338 in the first session.They began the day needing 81, and even though they lost Manvinder Bisla early, Goa kept moving towards the target steadily. Reagan Pinto and Ravikant Shukla were at the wicket when the first-innings lead was secured, and Pinto went on to score an unbeaten half-century.An innings run rate of 2.63 an over didn’t suggest any desperation for an outright result, but Jakati livened up the proceedings. At 40 for 6, J&K were still 28 short of avoiding an innings defeat. However, Beigh, who scored a fifty in the first innings, and Bandeep batted out a whopping 41.3 overs for an unbeaten 55-run partnership. That was a point well earned.
Scorecard
For the second game in a row, Himachal Pradesh went into the final day looking to force an outright win. And for the second time, they were thwarted by some dogged batting.Himachal needed eight wickets, they began well enough, claiming the third wicket in the second over of the day, but Soumya Swain and Anshul Gupta of Services played out 46.4 overs for the fourth wicket, and Swain and Yashpal Singh remained unseparated for 26.5 overs. Swain’s unbeaten 118 was his second first-class century, while Gupta and Yashpal posted fifties too.
Scorecard
Andhra bowlers took three early wickets, but that was not enough to bring to life a sleepy contest in Anantapur. Andhra had already taken the lead on the third day, and Tripura were not showing any inclination to go for quick runs.Once Andhra reduced them to 74 for 3, though, they had to dig deep to salvage the solitary point. Subhrajit Roy and Ajay Ratra did just that. They batted out 41.2 overs for the fourth wicket. That was enough even though they added 83. Once Roy got out for 81, there was no interest left in the game, and the draw was amicably called.

Bowlers give WAPDA control against Islamabad

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A round-up of the action from the first day of the sixth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2011A strong bowling performance helped top-of-the-table Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) knock over Islamabad for 232 on the first day of their game at the Diamond Club Gound in Islamabad. Islamabad made a strong start with the openers adding 83 before Afaq Raheem was caught behind for 44. They were still well placed at 130 for 1 but then began to lose wickets in bunches. First they lost 5 wickets for 10 runs, with Naved-ul-Hasan and Sarfraz Ahmed picking up two apiece. Imad Wasim and Naeem Anjum briefly stemmed the rot, adding 35 together, before another 3 wickets fell for 20 runs. It was only an obdurate tenth-wicket stand worth 37 between Wasim and Nasrullah, who made 7 from 52 balls, that took them past 200. Naved was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 4 for 66 from 28.5 overs.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) made a strong start to their match against Abbottabad, piling up a score of 305 for 3 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Three of ZTBL’s top five batsmen made half-centuries, two of them unbeaten, as Abbottabad’s decision to bowl first backfired. After opener Sharjeel Khan went without scoring, Imran Nazir and Yasir Hameed added 121 before Hameed was out for 48. Nazir fell agonisingly short of a hundred, trapped lbw on 99, but that was the last success of the day for Abbottabad as Shahid Yousuf (77*) and Haris Sohail (73*) put on 142 and take their side to stumps.Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria picked up four wickets as Faisalabad struggled to 219 for 8 against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Habib Bank chose to bowl and Fahad Masood removed the openers with only 14 on the board. Kaneria then took two wickets to end burgeoning partnerships, before Zeeshan Butt and Naved Latif came together to add 98 for the fifth wicket. Kaneria picked up his third wicket when he bowled Butt for 66. The home side were 207 for 5 at that stage but Zeeshan’s dismissal triggered a mini-collapse and Faisalabad lost another three wickets for 12 runs, including Latif for 51, to hand HBL the advantage.Asad Baig’s unbeaten century guided Karachi Blues to a total of 247 for 4 against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the National Stadium in Karachi. Baig batted for six and a half hours to make exactly 100, and shared in three substantial partnerships. He added 56 with fellow opener Shahzaib Hasan (33), 87 with Khalid Latif (51) for the third wicket and 104 with Wajihuddin for the fourth before the latter was caught behind off Wahab Riaz for 48 off the last ball of the day.Rameez Raja’s painstaking half-century carried State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to 162 for 4 against Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Only 68 overs were bowled in the day, and the openers started cautiously. Waqar Orakzai needed 101 balls, and two and a half hours, to make 20, while his partner was somewhat quicker, taking 51 balls, and 80 minutes, to make 27. Rameez Raja continued to bat in the same vein and progressed to 69 not out by the end of the day. Mohammad Rameez and Barbar Naeem took two wickets each.Kamran Sajid’s century ensured Sialkot toiled in the field and took Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a strong 253 for 2 after the first day at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Opener Agha Sabir was bowled by Naved Arif for a duck but it was all PIA after that. Sajid added 153 for the second wicket with Sheharyar Ghani (68) and then a further 97 with Faisal Iqbal. He was not out on 122 at close, with Iqbal on 46.