June 8 (CRICKETNMORE) – Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to field against India in a Group B match of Champions Trophy at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to field against India in a Group B match of Champions Trophy at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday.

Sri Lanka made three changes in the team that played against South Africa. On the other side, India are going with the same team which played against Pakistan.

Playing XI

India

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

Sri Lanka

Niroshan Dickwella(w), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews(c), Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch report by Saba Karim

“This is a fresh wicket and for the first time this pitch is being used in the Champions Trophy. There is fresh grass, which means the pace bowlers will get some lateral movement. When I put my hand on it, I can feel the moisture. I don’t see any assistance for the spinners. One would be tempted to bowl first here,” opines Saba Karim.

(CRICKETNMORE)

by BBC

England are into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy after beating New Zealand by 87 runs with an accomplished all-round display.

On a cold, blustery and sometimes wet day in Cardiff, England had set a total of 310, Joe Root top-scoring with 64 from 65 balls and Jos Buttler making a rapid unbeaten 61.

With their reply at 158-2 after 30 overs and captain Kane Williamson on 87, New Zealand appeared to be timing the chase with precision.

But Mark Wood’s clever cross-seam delivery saw off Williamson, and when the experienced Ross Taylor fell 10 runs later England took control.

It means they can afford to lose their final group match, against Australia on Saturday, and still qualify for the last four.

New Zealand must now beat Bangladesh here on Friday and hope Australia do not win, their own rain-abandoned fixture against Steve Smith’s men continuing to haunt them.

England a team transformed

When these two sides met at the last 50-over World Cup there was a chasm between them, England seemingly playing cricket from a different, slower era, outplayed by a team alive with innovation.

On Tuesday they produced a true team display: each of their five bowlers picking up at least one wicket, four of their top six batsmen getting in the runs.

Liam Plunkett finished with four wickets, taking three of the last four to fall, but it was arguably Adil Rashid who was the pick, the leg-spinner’s 2-47 off his 10 overs a fine display in a ground with short straight boundaries and in weather conditions far from ideal for slow bowling.

Jake Ball had clean-bowled the dangerous Luke Ronchi in the first over of New Zealand’s reply, and with Wood’s fine dismissal of Williamson and Ben Stokes getting through eight overs unhindered by his recent knee problems, it was a rewarding afternoon for the home attack.

Both Williamson and Taylor appeared unhappy with the behaviour of the pitch, Taylor being hit on the helmet grille by ball that leapt off a length, but it was trepidation about what the ball might do as much as what it actually did that stymied their efforts.

Birmingham: India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 124 runs in a rain-marred Group B encounter of the Champions Trophy here on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, the Indians rode on a power-packed performance by the top order to post a challenging total of 319/3 in an innings affected by rain twice — and consequently shortened to 48 overs.

Further rain interruptions forced the match officials to revise the target to 324 runs off 48 overs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The Pakistanis were off to a steady start thanks to openers Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad, who put together an opening stand of 47 runs in nine overs before pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck the first blow for India by trapping the latter leg before.

Ali continued to battle on, top scoring for Pakistan with a steady 50 runs off 65 balls before being dismissed.

But the rest of the Pakistan batsmen seemed to buckle under pressure and failed to rise to the challenge.

The promising Babar Azam – touted as Pakistan’s answer to Virat Kohli – seemed decidedly ordinary during his 12-ball stay in the middle, scoring just eight runs before a superb reflex catch by Ravindra Jadeja off Umesh Yadav’s bowling ensured his departure.

A 30-run stand between Ali and Mohammad Hafeez followed by a 23-run partnership by Hafeez and Shoaib Malik was the only bit of resistance that the Pakistanis could manage thereafter.

Apart from Ali, Hafeez was the only Pakistan batsmen who managed to stand up to the Indian bowlers even as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end. He scored 33 off 43 balls with two hits to the fence.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav was the most successful among the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/0 in 7.4 overs.

Fellow pacer Hardik Pandya and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja returned identical figures of 2/43 while Bhuvneshwar Kumar notched up 1/23.

Earlier, a brilliant batting display helped India post a challenging 319/3.

Top-order batsmen Rohit Sharma (91 runs in 119 balls), skipper Virat Kohli (81 not out), Shikhar Dhawan (68 runs in 65 balls) and Yuvraj Singh (53 runs in 32 balls) were the major contributors.

All forged crucial partnerships, played the ball to its merit and post-rain, when it was more difficult to bat with the same concentration, applied themselves to the English conditions.

Apart from the top order, all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s cameo (20 runs in six balls) was also useful.

World No 8 Pakistan, on the other hand, were seen struggling throughout the innings. Their fielders dropped several catches and their bowlers bowled poor length.

For India, Rohit and Shikhar started on a cautious note and just when both the batsmen seemed to be settling in the middle, rain played the spoilsport.

After almost a 40-minute hold-up, with the scoreboard reading 46 runs in 9.5 overs, India regrouped their strategy and started counter-attacking.

Rohit and Dhawan displayed some brilliant shots in order to boost the run rate. Rohit, who was struggling initially, got to his half-century in the 19th over with a pull that went for a six at the mid-wicket. Soon, in the very next over, Dhawan also brought up his 50 with a fine shot at backward point.

After scoring 110 runs in 20 overs, both sought to exploit the conditions and poor fielding from the Pakistani players. But while doing so, Dhawan was caught at deep mid-wicket by Azhar Ali off Shadab Khan in the 25th over, breaking their 136-run partnership.

Kohli, who came in, supported Rohit well at the other end by simply rotating the strike.

Rohit, who now seemed confident at the crease, kept on punishing the bowlers. But in the 33rd over, the skies opened up again and play was interrupted.

After a 45-minute hiatus, the Virat-Rohit partnership soon ended in the latter’s run-out — and he missed a well-deserved ton. In the 37th over, Virat wanted to steal a single but a strong throw from backward point by Babar Azam did the trick and Rohit, who slammed seven boundaries and two sixes, failed to scramble home.

Incoming batsman Yuvraj Singh, true to his reputation, started thrashing Pakistani bowlers all around. The pressure started building on the bowlers and fielders and, as a result, they dropped Yuvraj and Kohli in the process, which cost them hugely in the death overs.

The two batsman forged a 93-run partnership for the third wicket before Yuvraj was adjudged leg before wicket in the penultimate over after the Pakistan skipper went for a review and was called correct.

An unperturbed Kohli and new batsman Pandya played freely and started knocking the ball out of the ground. Pandya hit three consecutive sixes off Imad Wasim in the last over.

Shadab and Hasan Ali took one wicket each.

(IANS)

Birmingham: Shahid Afridi was appalled by Pakistan’s abject surrender but he credited India for their commanding show, saying the defending champions lived upto the favourites tag in their Champions Trophy opener here.

Afridi, a former Pakistan captain, said his country’s drab show last night took away all the excitement from what was expected to be a high-voltage Group B encounter.

“The Indo-Pak Champions Trophy encounter failed to live up to its hype as Pakistan produced a forgettable performance at Edgbaston. As a Pakistani supporter, the drab show was a painful watch indeed as India once again proved that it has a stranglehold over its neighbour that it is in no mood to relinquish,” Afridi wrote in a column for the ICC.

“India started as the favourite and played the entire game in the same frame of mind, even as Pakistan crumbled limply.”

India launched their ICC Champions Trophy campaign with a resounding 124-run victory over Pakistan last night, extending their dominance over the arch-rivals in major ICC tournaments.

Analysing the match, Afridi said India came hard on skipper Sarfraz Ahmed’s shoddy game plan.

“Sarfraz Ahmed won what was a crucial toss in tricky weather conditions. When rain is around, the team batting second gets a huge advantage. Unfortunately though, a poor game plan and shoddy execution, besides abysmal fielding, nullified the advantage,” he said.

“Mohammad Amir bowled a splendid first over and I thought he would strike with the new ball. Strangely though, Sarfraz handed the other new ball to Imad Wasim despite the overcast conditions. The tactic was perplexing for me since the match wasn’t being played in the UAE! Even if Sarfraz wanted to surprise India, he should have deployed his faster bowlers after an over or two from Imad.”

Afridi said Pakistan had allowed Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to settle down and once that happened, it was difficult to stop the duo.

“Players of the calibre of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are very hard to stop if they are allowed to settle early, and that is what Pakistan allowed them to do,” he said.

“While the Indian openers negotiated Amir carefully, they gradually got their eye in against Imad. Pakistan missed a trick and for the rest of the Indian innings there was hardly a period where they looked troubled.

“Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh than flayed a tiring attack before Hardik Pandya’s cameo turned the match totally in the defending champion’s favour,” Afridi added.

Afridi also came hard on Pakistan’s shoddy fielding effort.

“Pakistan’s fielding was very ordinary too, with easy runs given away inside the circle, besides the dropped chances, which made life tougher for the bowlers. The players looked tense and nervous despite the claims to the contrary before the start of the game,” he said.

Afridi was also scathing on his attack on the Pakistani batsmen, who could muster just 164 runs.

“I feel that our batsmen are short on the skills side and freeze under pressure. The senior lot failed to cope with the increasing run-rate and got out after occupying the crease for long but barren durations.

“There is simply no excuse for a 164-run score on a flat wicket where the opposition managed 319 with consummate ease,” he said.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Noted historian Ramchandra Guha on Thursday resigned from the four-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) appointed by the Supreme Court to implement the R.M. Lodha Committee recommendations on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

According to reports, Guha has cited personal reasons for quitting the position.

Guha was a member of the CoA that is headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Vinod Rai.

Former cricketer Diana Edulji and IDFC Limited Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye are the other members on the panel.

The CoA was appointed by the apex court on January 30, after the BCCI was reluctant to implement the Lodha panel recommendations.

The Supreme Court will hear Guha’s plea to relieve him on July 14.

(IANS)

New Delhi: India on Monday said it won’t play a bilateral cricket series with Pakistan as long as Islamabad continues to support and sponsor cross-border terrorism.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel made it clear that the Indian government will not allow the bilateral cricket series as long as Pakistan continues to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“The BCCI should come up with a suggestion or proposal in this regard only after consulting the government. I had said earlier also that the possibilities of bilateral series with Pakistan are very remote,” Goel told reporters here.

“As long as Pakistan continues to sponsor terrorists, it will not be possible to have sporting ties between the two countries. Terrorism and sports will not run side by side,” he added.

India and Pakistan, however, will continue to play each other in international tournaments.

The arch rivals from the sub-continent will meet each other in a group clash of the upcoming Champions Trophy at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on June 4.

“As far as multi-lateral events are concerned, we have no control over those. So the two countries will continue to play each other in such tournaments,” Goel said.

Goel’s remarks came ahead of a meeting between officials from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Dubai on Monday to discuss possibilities of a bilateral series.

The Indian board was represented by BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager (Cricket Operations) M.V. Sridhar while the Pakistani delegation was led by PCB Executive Committee head Najam Sethi.

Following the Sports Minister’s declaration, the BCCI officials reportedly told their PCB counterparts that the series will not go ahead.

“The delegations of the BCCI and PCB have met in Dubai today and shared their stated positions. The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and its outcome will be shared with the members of their respective boards,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Chaudhary had said that a bilateral series with Pakistan was possible if the government gave the go-ahead.

“We are not averse to a bilateral series with Pakistan. But everything depends on whether the government gives the clearance,” Chaudhary told a news channel. “The series will not be possible without approval from the government.”

Pakistan last visited India in December 2012 for a limited overs series that included three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20I).

India has not played Pakistan in a full bilateral series since 2007 when Pakistan visited India to play five ODIs and a one-off Test match.

Since then, worsening political ties and accusations of terrorism hurled at Pakistan have stalled bilateral cricket.

Recently, the BCCI had urged the ICC not to put Pakistan and India in the same group in global tournaments.

The financial health of the cash-strapped PCB depends to a large extent on a bilateral series with India.

The two boards had signed an MoU in 2014 according to which the two countries were to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

Last year, the PCB offered to host the Indian team for a bilateral clash in the United Arab Emirates. But the BCCI had rejected the venue.

The PCB sent a legal notice to the BCCI on May 3, initiating proceedings to seek compensation of around $70 million for not honouring the agreement to play six bilateral series.

(IANS)

New Delhi: Sports Minister Vijay Goel Monday made it clear that the government will not allow any bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan till the time “cross-border terrorism” does not stop.

The minister’s firm statement comes on a day the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board are meeting in Dubai to discuss their bilateral ties, which have remained suspended since 2012 due to diplomatic tensions after terror attacks in India.

“BCCI should speak to the government before giving any proposal to Pakistan. I have made it clear that bilateral cricket with Pakistan is not possible till the time there is cross-border terror. We have, however, no say on multilateral events (ICC tournaments),” Goel told reporters here.

The PCB has already sent a legal notice to BCCI claiming damages in tune of USD 60 million (Rs 387 crore approx) for allegedly not honouring the MoU that had stated five bilateral series in the cycle between 2015-2023.

It is learnt that the BCCI officials led by joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary will explain to their PCB counterparts that the series can’t be held without government permission and would also request them to withdraw the case.

If Pakistan refuses to budge, it is learnt that now way will BCCI pay any compensation in this case.

The cash-strapped PCB’s finances heavily depend on a series with India which would mean a financial windfall for the nation, where no international cricketing activity has taken place since terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team.

(PTI)