Cricket – Page 33

Pakistan win first test series against Australia in 20 years

November 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan achieved their first series win over Australia in 20 years with a thumping 356-run win in the second Test here today, taking the two-match series 2-0.

The elusive win lifts Pakistan to number three in International Cricket Council’s Test rankings behind number one South Africa and Australia.

Spinners Zulfiqar Babar (5-120) and Yasir Shah (3-44) rocked Australia once again for 246 in the second innings soon after lunch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Pakistan won the first Test by 221 runs in Dubai.

Pakistan had taken a big step forward after scoring a mammoth 570-6 declared in their first innings and getting a 309-run lead by dismissing Australia for 261. That never allowed Australia to stage a comeback and avoid series defeat for the first time since losing 1-0 in Pakistan in 1994.

The defeat was Australia’s third worst in all Test cricket behind their 675 run loss against England in Brisbane in 1928 and by 408 against the West Indies at Adelaide in 1980.

In contrast Pakistan registered their biggest win in terms of runs, beating their 341-run victory over India at Karachi in 2006.

Pakistan had to fight hard in the morning session as Steven Smith defied Pakistan during his resolute knock of 97, but once Smith departed, leg-before by Shah, Australia lost their last four wickets for the addition of just eight runs.

Smith added an invaluable 107 for the fifth wicket with Mitchell Marsh, who fell after scoring 47.

Smith missed a sharp turner from Shah who also bowled Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc to finish with 12 wickets in the series. Babar had Nathan Lyon caught for his second fifth wicket haul, following up his first in the first Test in Dubai.

Babar finished with 14 wickets in the series as Pakistan did not miss ace spinner Saeed Ajmal’s absence who is suspended due to illegal bowling action. Before lunch Smith batted resolutely, using his feet against the spinners during his 204-ball knock and hitting a dozen boundaries.

Smith reached his eighth Test fifty with two boundaries off spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who failed to add to his three wickets on Sunday.

Marsh, who top-scored with 87 in Australia’s first innings, played Pakistan’s pace-cum spin attack confidently and he and Smith added 55 runs in the first hour.

But Mohammad Hafeez provided the breakthrough when he had Marsh caught by Asad Shafiq off an uppish flick. His 130-ball innings included six boundaries. Hafeez finished with 2-38.

The win is also special for skipper Misbah-ul Haq who equalled the most wins record by a Pakistani captain with 14. Imran Khan and Javed Miandad also won 14 Tests as captains.

Misbah set the world record for the fastest half-century and equalled the feat of fastest century in all Test cricket during his 101 not out on Sunday, capping a memorable Test match.

(AFP)

Rahane and Dhawan score centuries, lead India to win over Sri Lanka

November 3, 2014 by Nasheman

Batting first, Indian Openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan scored tons to take India to 363/5 in 50 overs. The home team then defeated Sri Lanka by 169 runs in the first ODI. Photo: PTI

Cuttack: India defeated Sri Lanka by 169 runs in the first of the five match ODI bilateral series which kick-started at Cuttack yesterday.

Angelo Matthews won the toss and considering the dew factor, opted to bowl first. His decision looked good until the 20th over as the openers added only 90 runs , though both were given a life by Sangakkara.

It was in the 21st over bowled by Randiv, back into the side after 3 years, that things started to turn around. First it was Rahane who reached his 50 off 61 deliveries and then it was Dhawan’s show. He paddle swept the 3rd delivery to the boundary and in the next, reverse swept the bowler to bring 100 of the partnership. Not wanting to tail behind Rahane, he hit the bowler for a six to bring up his 50 in 65 deliveries.

With both the batsmen in full flow, the Indian team took the batting power play in the 24th over. The flood gates opened and each and every bowler on sight were dealt without mercy as boundaries were scored at will. The 2nd over of the power play bowled by Gamage yielded 15 runs while Matthews was taken apart for 18 runs in the 28th over. The Indian batsmen scored 62 runs in the power play overs and 105 between the 20th and 30th over.

Rahane was the first to reach his century in 99 deliveries while Dhawan reached it in the next over with a majestic six off 96 deliveries, his last 64 runs coming in just 35 deliveries. This was the first time after 2003, that both the Indian openers scored a century . The pair was separated only at the end of the 35th over with the score at 231 which consisted of 27 boundaries and 5 sixes.

Raina, playing his 200th ODI, scored a quick fire 52 off just 34 deliveries to keep up the scoring rate and in the process completed 5000 ODI runs. Quick wickets slowed down the rate, but it could not stop the Indians post 363 runs in 50 overs.

Chasing a mammoth score of 364 at a scoring rate of 7.3 RPO from the offset, Sri Lanka had a huge task ahead of them . India had a set back early on as Varon Aaron, bowling at speeds in excess of 150 had to leave the field after bowling just 4 overs. Thankfully it did not create a huge impact as by then the dangerous Dishan was back in the hut and Sri Lanka had just scored 39 in the first 10 overs. They lost wickets at regular intervals and with Sangakkara falling cheaply for 13, it was left to Jayawardane and Matthews to rescue the team.

Jayawardane was dismissed for a well made 43 off just 36 deliveries but his dismissal with the score at 130/5 with a required rate of 9.36 was a bit too much for the tail enders to achieve. The team folded in the 40th over with the score on 194 giving the Indians a huge 169 run victory. Ishanth Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped 4 batsmen giving away only 34 runs in his 8 overs while AR Patel bowled well to pick 2 wickets.

Scorecard
India: A. Rahane c Jayawardene b Randiv 111, S. Dhawan b Priyanjan 113, S. Raina lbw b Randiv 52, V. Kohli c Perera b Randiv 22, A. Rayudu c Perera b Gamage 27, W. Saha (not out) 10, A. Patel (not out) 14. Extras (lb 5, w 7, nb 2) 14. Total (for five wickets in 50 overs) 363.

FoW: 1-231, 2-247, 3-299, 4-314, 5-344.
Bowling: Prasad 9-0-60-0, Gamage 9-1-59-1, Mathews 4-0-33-0, Perera 7-0-51-0, Randiv 10-0-78-3, Prasanna 6-0-47-0, Dilshan 3-0-19-0, Priyanjan 2-0-11-1.

Sri Lanka: U. Tharanga c Dhawan b Ashwin 28, T. Dilshan c Saha b Yadav 18, K. Sangakkara c Saha b Sharma 13, M. Jayawardene c Kohli b Patel 43, S. Prasanna c Rahane b Patel 5, A. Mathews c Patel b Raina 23, S. Priyanjan c Saha b Sharma 12, T. Perera c Sharma b Yadav 29, S. Randiv b Sharma 5, G. Prasad c Saha b Sharma 0, L. Gamage (not out) 0. Extras (lb 4, w 13, nb 1) 18. Total (in 39.2 overs) 194.

FoW: 1-31, 2-61, 3-84, 4-109, 5-130, 6-144, 7-167, 8-175, 9-175.
Bowling: Yadav 6.2-2-24-2, Aaron 4.1-0-26-0, Sharma 8-1-34-4, Kohli 0.5-0-6-0, Ashwin 9-0-52-1, Patel 6-0-24-2, Raina 5-0-24-1.

Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews(c), Ashan Priyanjan, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suraj Randiv, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Gamage.

Justice Mudgal submits final IPL probe report to SC

November 3, 2014 by Nasheman

New Delhi: Justice Mukul Mudgal Monday submitted to the Supreme Court the final report of its investigation into the allegations of betting and spot fixing in the 2013 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).

Justice Mudgal committee that investigated the allegations against sidelined BCCI chief N. Srinivasan and 12 others submitted the report in a sealed cover.

The apex court bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur, before which senior counsel Raju Ramachandran submitted the report Monday, said that it will be taken up for hearing as scheduled Nov 10.

In the course of the last hearing on the matter, the court gave Justice Mudgal committee another two months time to complete its probe.

BCCI asks $42 million settlement from West Indies Cricket Board

November 1, 2014 by Nasheman

Bridgetown: The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will have to cough up nearly $42 million in order to stave off a lawsuit from the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI), stemming from the abandoned tour of India last month.

Indian authorities Friday told the WICB that its losses as a result of the abandoned one-day and Test tour had been estimated at $41.97 million, and gave the regional board 15 days in which to come up with a plan of compensation, reports CMC.

The BCCI had announced two weeks ago it would seek compensation from the WICB for losses sustained as a result of the cancelled tour, and followed through with formal correspondence to the Antigua-based organisation Friday.

Media rights make up the bulk of the losses with the BCCI estimating them at just over $35 million, while ticket sales account for around $2 million and the title sponsorship from Micromax estimated at $1.6 million.

The BCCI has also factored in losses in kit sponsorship from Nike, team sponsorship, in-stadia sponsorship and stadium concessionaires, in the compensation package.

“The BCCI calls upon the WICB to formally inform the BCCI, in writing, of the steps it intends to take to compensate the BCCI towards the losses quantified above as well as those losses yet to be quantified by the BCCI in relation to the cancelled WICB tour,” said the letter, signed by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

“In the event the BCCI does not receive such a proposal in acceptable terms, within a period of 15 days from receipt of this letter, please note that the BCCI has peremptorily instructed its attorneys to initiate steps for recovery of the losses by filing appropriate legal proceedings against the WICB in the appropriate Indian court and you may treat this notice as a formal demand in that regard.”

Imran Khan, the WICB’s corporate communications manager, confirmed the WICB had received the BCCI letter but opted not to comment further.

In detailing its losses, the BCCI said the cancelled tour had resulted in “adverse financial ramifications” and accused the WICB of having “complete disregard” for legal commitments.

“The consequences on the BCCI of not delivering a scheduled home tour to its members, sponsors, broadcasters and the fans are multi-fold and crippling,” the BCCI letter said.

“The BCCI is faced with huge revenue losses, a loss of reputation and is at risk of losing valuable commercial partners. The consequences of cancellation of a committed home tour during the biggest festival season.

“Diwali in India is a monumental disaster for the BCCI. It is during this season that our partners derive the most value from their rights. Our broadcaster had committed to its advertisers during this season and on account of your actions, is facing a severe crisis the effects of which are felt by the BCCI.

“The BCCI holds the WICB responsible and liable for all such consequences and intends to enforce its rights to seek compensation from the WICB to the fullest extent permissible in law.”

Noting the figures outlined were “tentative and constitutes an approximation of the losses that BCCI is able to quantify at this time”, the Indian board said any other losses would be communicated to the WICB at a later date.

The BCCI also informed the WICB it was formally suspending all bilateral relations until the legal issues were resolved.

Indian authorities were furious after the West Indies players quit the tour following the fourth ODI in Dharamsala, with an ODI in Kolkata and Twenty20 in Cuttack remaining.

The three-Test tour, scheduled to bowl off Oct 30, was also scuppered.

The Windies players were protesting new playing contracts which they argued would have resulted in up to a 75 percent reduction in their earnings.

(IANS)

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