All posts by csb10.top

Donkey drop, and a wicket
It was possibly the worst ball you could bowl to Virender Sehwag, slow, short and wide outside off stump. But the Gods must have been smiling on P Vijaykumar because Sehwag’s angry slash went straight into the hands of RP Singh at third man. Buy the man a lottery ticket.Try it once, try it twice
By his second over, RP was working up serious pace. When he bounced Gautam Gambhir with one timed at just 140 kph, the ball was nearly in the batsman’s face before a whiplash of a hook sent the ball soaring over square leg for six. The next ball was just as fast, and short, and this time Gambhir slammed it in front of square for another six. When you’re wearing the orange cap, pace isn’t a problem.Smart as you like
It takes a lot to get Gambhir out in this format of the game, but the Pragyan Ojha-Adam Gilchrist combination executed their plan perfectly. Ojha pushed one well down the leg side, and Gambhir sallied forth. Once he realised he had no shot to play, he tried frantically to get back, but Gilchrist’s left hand was far too deft.Brothers in arms
When the Hyderabad innings started, you had two intriguing match-ups. Adam Gilchrist, the ultimate big-match opener of his generation, against Glenn McGrath, old mate and prototype for the miserly pace bowler. At the other end, Mohammad Asif ran in to bowl to his fellow Pakistani, Shahid Afridi. McGrath won the battle of the Aussies, but it was Afridi who had the Pakistani bragging rights, with a massive six over square leg.Terminator 3
With his elbow protected by a brace that ran from bicep to forearm, Asif looked like he’d walked off the set of some futuristic movie. In his final over, he ambled in off five paces, with Dinesh Karthik standing up to the stumps. His four overs cost 51, another sure sign he’s nowhere near being fully fit.The perfect squirt
Rohit Sharma has carved out quite a reputation for classical strokeplay, even in this format. But the best shot he played today was a masterpiece of improvisation. When Rajat Bhatia pitched one full outside off stump, Rohit gave himself room, reached for the ball and tapped it with the toe end. It sped away, neatly bisecting the men at gully and point. Perfect.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
3:45

Star of the Match: Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum’s second IPL century, his first for Chennai Super Kings, set up a big second win for the hosts. His 100 not out off 56 balls featured hits into the deserted disputed stands of MA Chidambram Stadium, two ramps for sixes over the keeper’s head, and scarcely believable reverse-pull to take him to 99 after IPL debutant Trent Boult saw he had shaped up for the ramp and bowled a slower bouncer. McCullum was helped along by a domineering 53 off 29 from MS Dhoni, who was more at home coming in at 135 for 2.Even through David Warner scored a fifty, Sunrisers Hyderabad never really got going against the Super Kings bowlers, who used the variable bounce to their advantage showing up a pretty insipid bowling effort from the visitors. Then again when McCullum is going hard at you, it is not easy to stick to your plans. He drove for four the second ball he faced, and his intent meant the Sunrisers bowlers forgot about using the new ball and the bounce. They were forced to bowl yorkers early in the piece, and with no wickets taken in the first four the others were under pressure too.Ishant Sharma made a good start, but he bowled four no-balls, which ruined his figures. Two of the free hits went for sixes, one for four, and the fourth for a single. Take the 17 runs off his figures and his three overs for 29 look decent. Boult, chosen ahead of Dale Steyn, was neutralised by the immense pressure the openers put him under. Karn Sharma’s flat legbreaks were now just cannon fodder.Ravi Bopara, chosen ahead of Eoin Morgan, slowed them down a little with two tight overs that also featured two run-outs. Dhoni, not in the best of touches, promoted himself and prodded along to 4 off 8. This was a moment where Sunrisers would have fancied coming back in. In the next over McCullum cut Bopara in the air, but sent it in front of square because of the slow pace. The other IPL debutant, Kane Williamson, ran in from deep cover, but dropped him. That was the end of the mini comeback.Dhoni took almost all of the strike, and to devastating effect. The bowlers neither had the pace to bounce him nor the accuracy to bother him. Over the next 22 balls Dhoni added four sixes and four fours to eight sixes and six fours that McCullum had already hit. By the time he fell in the 20th over, Dhoni had taken Super Kings to 198, and had left McCullum four balls to go from 89 to 100. The first ball was taken by Jadeja, who was run out but managed to turn the strike over. McCullum then sent the first – a low full toss – over the keeper’s head, and then the slower bounce over short third man to reach 99. The single off the last ball brought the packed house to its feet. The few that weren’t already, that is.Super Kings bowled a lot of cutters and bouncers to exploit the abrasive surface. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul both fell to slower balls from Mohit Sharma, Warner was kept quiet by the lack of pace on the ball, and Sunrisers showed they had got their plans wrong, sending Williamson to bat in the 15th over. He came in at the fall of Warner, who had just reached his fifty, and was the only hope with the asking rate having reached three runs a ball. There was going to be only one winner from thereon.

England batsman Alex Hales will join Mumbai Indians as a replacement for the injured New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson. Hales will be available for selection for Mumbai’s final group match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 17.Anderson had returned home after playing just four matches owing to a finger fracture. But Mumbai delayed calling for a replacement and instead asked Anderson to rejoin the squad despite his finger not having healed. Anderson had joined the squad on May 3 but failed to regain fitness, thereby forcing the franchise to seek a replacement.That Mumbai went for Hales should come as no surprise. Hales is one of the few English cricketers known for aggressive batting, and the only England batsman to score a Twenty20 international century. That England played him in just two matches during the World Cup, preferring Gary Ballance in the top order, stirred a debate.Hales comes into the the IPL on the back of a formidable form in the county season where he is currently the leading run-scorer with two centuries including a double ton against Yorkshire.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
2:54

Muthu: Good first impression under Kohli

Once the first session of the final day was washed out, the draw was inevitable, but India gave a glimpse into the possibilities had this match not lost 248 overs to rain by bowling Bangladesh out for 256 and enforcing a follow-on. Though he couldn’t help India avoid slipping to fourth in the ICC rankings thanks to this draw, the most impressive player of the match, R Ashwin, registered his first five-wicket haul outside India. Bangladesh will be disappointed their first innings lasted only 65.5 overs on a pitch that India batted comfortably and lost wickets only when their batsmen went out of their way to score quick runs.The final day’s play began with Bangladesh needing 152 to avoid the follow-on with seven wickets in hand. A maximum of 67 overs could have been bowled on the day. Had Bangladesh batted sensibly they would have avoided the drama of having to bat again and hanging in grimly. Confronted with some excellent bowling from Ashwin but little else, Bangladesh failed to do so although theirs was a general air of just having a good time without having to worry about the result because it had been ruled out. In a live Test they might well have shown more application.Shakib Al Hasan fell manufacturing a cut, Imrul Kayes and Mohammad Shahid jumped out of the crease to Harbhajan Singh – all three of the returning offspinners’ victims were batsmen outside their crease – and Soumya Sarkar and others kept swinging away even when not quite in control of the shots. Ashwin, though, was in a different league, relying on his offbreak, getting it to drift and dip, drawing sharp turn and bounce, and brought some excitement into a match dulled by poor scheduling: the first in monsoon June in Bangladesh.Even after Shakib fell early on in the day, the shots kept coming. Some of them came off – Sarkar managed an ungainly 37 – but they brought about wickets. The bright spot for Bangladesh was debutant Litton Das’ 44 off 45, but he too struggled as Ashwin drifted the ball away from him. After having found himself away from the pitch of the ball, Das eventually gloved one bouncing offbreak to backward short leg. Das’ wicket made it 232 for 8, and it was followed by a poor shot from Mohammad Shahid and poor running from Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain.Intent to give it every possible shot, Virat Kohli asked Bangladesh to bat again, but there was never going to be enough time to force a result. Hands were shaken the moment Bangladesh had batted out 15 overs in the second innings and the mandatory overs became due.

Steve Harmison has been recalled by England for the third Test against South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday. In a 13-man squad, England have dropped Darren Pattinson – whose debut in the second Test at Headingley was fraught with controversy – but they retain Paul Collingwood who missed out on the XI at Leeds.For Harmison, it represents an impressive comeback after he was unceremoniously dumped in the Hamilton Test against New Zealand in the winter. Since then, he has gone back to Durham and bowled with the sort of venom that England have craved from him ever since his sparkling 2004. This season, he has taken 41 wickets at 22.82. With England trailing the Test series 1-0, Harmison’s firepower comes at a critical juncture.”Steve Harmison has been bowling well for Durham this season,” Geoff Miller, the England national selector, said, “and his inclusion in the Test squad gives us another option in terms of our bowling attack for the Edgbaston Test.”Miller had hinted at Harmison’s recall the previous day, noting that England could do with an extra injection of pace (even Pattinson’s county coach, Mick Newell, admitted he had been down on speed at Headingley).The fact that Matthew Hoggard has been overlooked once again cannot be ignored. Harmison has worked his way ahead of him in the pecking order and, barring injuries to the others, his international future looks bleaker than ever.England also welcome back Ryan Sidebottom, their most potent weapon since his revelatory international comeback last season, who missed the second Test owing to his back injury.”Ryan Sidebottom has been progressing well with his back injury over the past week and we’re confident he’ll be fit for selection but obviously he’ll be monitored closely in the lead up to next Wednesday.”Paul Collingwood was unlucky to miss out on a place in the team for the second Test match but this decision was based on a number of factors. He has shown what a true professional he is by returning to Durham over the past week and playing well for his county.”Victory for South Africa would give them an unassailable 2-0 series-lead.England squad Michael Vaughan (capt), Tim Ambrose (wk), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss.

Barbadian and Caribbean businesses could find themselves on the sidelines of the lucrative Cricket World Cup if they don’t seek to capitalise on opportunities thrown up by the event.That was the clear warning of themanaging director of West Indies World Cup 2007, Chris Dehring, yesterday’s.Dehring, an investment banker, said the cricket world cup was projected to gross US$300 million over the six weeks it would be run, generating US$500 million in direct foreign exchange flows and US$750 million in economic activity.He said that of all the enquiries he had received since it was announced thatthe international contest was coming to the region, 90 per cent were from outside the Caribbean."It will be a boon to direct and indirect employment and will create priceless international media exposure forcountries successful in hosting official results."Entire tourist industries could be built and rebuilt by such unprecedented marketing exposure."Dehring said: "If we promote this event right we will have upwards of 100 000 visiting supporters to the region. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of "Caribbean" visitors to the "venue" where the West Indies is playing.Other revenue opportunities will come through demand for inland and intra-regional transport, food and beverage, health services, entertainment andsouvenirs.Asked what economic packages would be available, Dehring said by the end of next year information would be available about the venues and categoriesof matches.Dehring said every contract assigned would go through a process of tendering but he felt it was almost wasteful to wait for official packages to come out."That’s not how entrepreneurs work," he added, as he pointed to how some business people were already making a number of deals and arrangements in New York in anticipation of that citywinning the bid for the Olympic Games scheduled for 2012.

Andrew Symonds believes his lack of form for Queensland will not stop him contributing to the Test team if he makes the starting line-up for next week’s first Test against New Zealand. Symonds has been named in a 13-man squad for the Gabba Test and if he plays it will be his first time back in the baggy green since the tour of the West Indies this year.He has completed a two-month Cricket Australia rehabilitation programme, which followed his axing from the squad in Darwin when he went fishing instead of attending a team meeting. The selectors have shown faith in Symonds despite his disappointing Sheffield Shield efforts in the past month, when he has scored 80 runs at 13.33 in three games.”I earned the right to wear my baggy green cap, and I lost that through my own stupidity, so now hopefully I can regain it and wear it with distinction,” Symonds told . “Bear in mind, I wasn’t dropped from the side for form but I’ll be doing my best to get myself back into batting form. Some of the wickets we’ve played on have been very difficult.”Symonds was an automatic selection in the No. 6 spot in Tests until his fishing trip and Shane Watson took the role for the recent tour of India. Both men have been named in the 13-man Gabba squad and the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said Symonds’ lack of domestic runs would not be held against him.”We’re selecting a great player, we don’t think he had anything to prove,” Hilditch told the . “We picked the side on the basis that we were really happy with Shane Watson in India. He’s got to cement a spot in the top six.”Shane we see as a top-six batter doing some very valuable bowling for us, which he did in India. [He] exceeded our expectations really; he bowled really well, so we are very happy with his performance. He deserves to be in the squad, whether they both play together we’ll decide up there.”One member of the group will be released from the squad on Tuesday although that is more likely to be one of the fast bowlers, probably Peter Siddle. The exact makeup of the starting 11 might not be decided until the morning of the Test, which begins on Thursday, and Symonds knows he is no certainty to play.”I’m only in the 13 at this point, too, though, that’s still playing on my mind a little bit,” Symonds said. “I don’t know what the balance of the team will be, so I suppose closer to the day and maybe even the morning of the game, depending on the weather and what the balance of the team will be. I’ve got a nervous wait to go yet.”Symonds has averaged 72.40 in Test matches in the past 12 months and Australia could have used his consistency in India, where they went down 2-0 and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Symonds said it was tough being at home in Queensland, where he could do nothing to help his colleagues.”It did hurt, watching the boys go through what they went through in India, and there were a couple of times where I was sitting there and I wanted to be the next in to bat,” Symonds said. “Hopefully, to be back will be a great feeling because it did hurt me deep down inside to be out of it for a while there.”

Pakistan have again delayed announcing their 30-man preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy. The selection committee and the PCB management met in Lahore today, but didn’t name the squad. A release said the team is likely to be named on Tuesday.Although the release said “the availability status of few cricketers is still unconfirmed”, Cricinfo has learnt the announcement was delayed till the identity of the player who tested positive in the Indian Premier League was revealed. This was done in order to “avoid further controversy”, an official said. Last week Pakistan had deferred naming the squad after disagreements between selectors and a board committee over some names in the list and the confusion over Shoaib Akhtar’s eligibility.The IPL later named Mohammad Asif, the fast bowler, as the player who failed the drug test. Asif was detained in Dubai for possession of contraband drugs last month for 19 days and he is already the subject of a PCB inquiry into those events. “Obviously, given the present circumstances he would not be considered for the Champions Trophy preliminary squad now,” Zakir Khan, PCB’s director of cricket operations, said.In October 2006, Asif, along with Shoaib Akhtar, had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in PCB’s internal tests ahead of the Champions Trophy. He was banned for one year, which was overturned on appeal. Asif had cleared a dope test in August 2007 ahead of the World Twenty20 in South Africa.

Thomas Odoyo, the Kenya allrounder, is wary of the favourites tag that his team carry into the World Twenty20 qualifiers, in Belfast next week, with the main prize of a place in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. Kenya, who are grouped with Netherlands and Canada, have been playing warm-up games in England which Odoyo said are providing “the real platform from where we can deliver our best performance.”All the same, the side were thrashed by a club team in Surrey during the week, although they bounced back to beat Guernsey the following day. But Odoyo said the pre-tournament matches are helping with acclimatisation: “Let’s not forget that we are coming from Africa where the weather is hot.”It is good to be considered as favourites but I have always preferred an underdog’s tag because I don’t want to carry avoidable pressure on my shoulders,” he added. “But it is good to know that people consider us a team to be reckoned with and I hope we come out with flying colours.”Kenya are seeded second behind hosts Ireland, but are expected to win owing to their additional international experience. They have nearly three times as many ODIs under their belts than the other competitors vying for the two, or most likely three, places up for grabs at next year’s World Twenty20 in England.The two finalists will automatically qualify, while the third place, to be decided by a play-off, is dependent on Zimbabwe Cricket ratifying a decision taken by its officials during ICC Annual Conference week, to step back from the tournament.Nevertheless, for all of Kenya’s superior number of ODIs, their experience of Twenty20s has been limited to four matches, two in the lead-up to the last World Twenty20, in South Africa last September, and two in the tournament itself. Since then they have been relying on getting hints and tips from watching other international sides on television.”Although we didn’t perform well [in South Africa], we learnt plenty of things,” Odoyo said. “It was a new format for all of us and since then we have followed and tried to learn from watching most of the Twenty20 matches that have been played across the globe.”They also learned the importance of mental toughness. “Since Twenty20 cricket is played at a fast pace, the mindset has to be sharp to cope with the proceedings and that’s where it can sometimes become mentally tiring.”Odoyo also highlighted the importance of this tournament for the development of the game in Kenya. “Every international tournament or match we play only helps Kenya cricket. While the team gets stronger and tougher, more youth get attracted to the sport that helps to increase the pool of players.”Steve Tikolo will lead a side which includes 11 players who participated in the World Twenty20 in South Africa.

India have named a 14-man squad for the Under-15 Asia Cup to be played in UAE. Piyush Chawla will captain the squad while Talluri Aaron Paul will be the vice-captain.Four stand-byes were also named.Squad:
Piyush Chawla (captain), Talluri Aaron Paul (vice-captain), Ishaan Dogra, Bodapati Sumanth, V Sandeep, Sanket Chauhan, Ajinkya Madhukar Rehane, MR Darshan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sanjeev Martin, Atish Kumar Jena, Aditya B Sagar, Sarabjeet Singh, Tanmay Kumar SrivastavaStand-byes:
Mounty Sharma, Karan Harit, Ian Dev Singh Chauhan, Rajdeep Darbar