England Vs New Zealand


Watch out for

Kevin Pietersen Not many cricketers have required a special MCC meeting to discuss the legitimacy of their genius, but that was what Pietersen brought about this week when he flipped his stance against Scott Styris, and drove him clean over a lefthander’s long-on and deep square-leg for two outrageous sixes. Quite apart from the sheer brilliance of his batting, Pietersen showed that his confidence levels have been utterly replenished after a difficult winter. And with Pietersen’s former countrymen, South Africa, lurking around the corner, New Zealand cannot expect any let-up.

 

Daniel Vettori New Zealand’s ship is close to sinking, and so all eyes are turning towards their captain, to see if he can find any inspiration to turn their fortunes around. Vettori cut a demoralised figure after the Twenty20 defeat at Old Trafford, and his mood has not been enhanced by the enforced absence of his best limited-overs allrounder, Jacob Oram, with a hamstring strain. It could require a virtuoso captain’s performance to reignite his team’s prospects

 

Team news

Alastair Cook is once again absent for England, having failed to recover from the right shoulder problem that hindered him during the third Test at Trent Bridge. His Test opening partner, Andrew Strauss, has been called into the squad as cover but is unlikely to break into a steady batting line-up that flourished as a unit in Sunday’s first ODI.

 

England (probable) 1 Luke Wright, 2 Ian Bell, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Owais Shah, 7 Tim Ambrose (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.

 

Oram’s hamstring strain is serious enough to sideline him for at least ten days, which means that the South Africa-born allrounder, Grant Elliott, has been called up from Surrey League cricket as cover. He has been thrust into the starting line-up, if only to provide an extra bowling option, because James Marshall has not taken his opportunities at No. 3, while the decision to relieve Brendon McCullum of the wicketkeeping gloves means that Gareth Hopkins is a fixture in the lower middle-order.

 

New Zealand 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Jamie How, 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Michael Mason, 11 Tim Southee.

 

Umpires: Steve Davis and Ian Gould

 

Stats and Trivia

# England may have passed 300 in their last ODI at Chester-le-Street, but it’s not a score that gets racked up at Edgbaston too often. Only twice in 40 matches has any team managed that many runs in an innings - and the two teams that have managed it are England in 1980 and New Zealand in 1975.

 

# Recently Edgbaston has been a happy hunting ground for England’s ODI team. Since 2000, they have won six of their eight completed matches at the venue - the two that got away were West Indies in 2007 and Pakistan in 2001.

Posted on June 18th, 2008 by admin
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India Vs Pakistan(Final)-Tri Series(Kitply Cup, Mirpur)

India

Player to watch:

Praveen Kumar’s ability to move the new ball both ways has made him a tricky customer for batsmen to deal with. He dismissed Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting cheaply in both finals of the CB series and continued the good work in this series - running through the Pakistan top order and stifling the Bangladesh batsmen. With India’s batting in top form, another incisive spell from Praveen could prove very costly for Pakistan.

Pakistan

Player to watch:

Mohammad Yousuf has perfected the art of scoring quickly while rarely seeming flustered or hurried at the crease. An array of conventional shots has ensured the runs keep flowing with minimal risks. He’s averaging a phenomenal 81.76 in his last 21 matches, and with Younis Khan and Afridi not in the best of form, he is the lynchpin of the Pakistan middle-order.

Note:Team news

With the team succeeding efficiently to the finals, India may not tinker too much with their combination. The only change could be Ishant Sharma coming back in place of RP Singh.

India:

1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rohit Sharma, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Ishant Sharma.

Pakistan:

1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik (capt), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9, Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz / Sohail Khan, 11 Iftikhar Anjum.

The pitches used in the tournament have come in for praise from Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach. “The ball has not spun much but it has good bounce. It has been a terrific pitch to play on,” he said. India’s coach Gary Kirsten was also satisfied with the pitch and felt it would remain good for batting through the match, reducing the importance of the toss.

Posted on June 14th, 2008 by admin
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India’s victory over Bangladesh

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Posted on June 13th, 2008 by admin
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India’s victory over Bangladesh

For the second time in the Kitply Cup, India’s openers laid the platform for victory with an aggressive partnership. Gautam Gambhir took centre stage today and, after an opening stand of 85 in ten overs, went on to score an unbeaten match-winning century.

Gambhir’s fifth ODI century was an extension of his recent Twenty20 form, especially in the IPL where he was, predictably, one of the leading run-scorers with 534 runs at 41.07 from 14 games. Gambhir is also no stranger to opening the innings in ODI cricket; he has taken guard at the top 29 times out of 49, scoring three hundreds at 35.88.

His form has been complemented by his opening partner, Virender Sehwag. His 89 dominated their partnership of 155 against Pakistan on Tuesday and his 59 off 32 balls against Bangladesh got India off to a furious start. Dhoni praised the efforts of his openers and said that their contribution was doubly important because of the conditions in Mirpur.

The colour of the pitch, unusually dark because of the black soil used, also makes it difficult for new batsmen in the middle order to sight the ball because it gets discoloured around the 25th over. The pitch also tends to get slower as the ball gets older, hence it is imperative for the openers to score significantly while the ball is new.

India made just the one change for this game, bringing in RP Singh for Ishant Sharma, when it was thought they’d use this opportunity to give the bench strength a shot. Dhoni simply felt it was an “appropriate” change.

India’s victory over Bangladesh today has ensured Pakistan’s qualification for the final of the Kitply Cup on June 14.

Posted on June 13th, 2008 by admin
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India beat Pakistan by 140 runs (Video)

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Posted on June 11th, 2008 by admin
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India beat Pakistan

 

India showed how the hectic pace of Twenty20 cricket could be replicated in ODIs, pounding 330 on a sluggish pitch before their bowlers rounded off a thumping win in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan, coming off 12 successive wins against weak opposition, crashed to their worst defeat against India and their coach Geoff Lawson, who had hoped for a 150-run win, would have been embarrassed to see the shoe on the other foot.

India’s domination was complete. Their mammoth total was made possible not by one but three batsmen: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made the most of some sloppy catching, getting within four runs of India’s highest opening stand against Pakistan, before Yuvraj Singh raised visions of a 375-plus total. They settled for 330 but that didn’t matter in the final analysis. Once Pakistan crumbled to 26 for 3, it was only a case of picking up the pieces.

A run-rate of 6.6 is impressive in all conditions but the fact that India kept it up on a sluggish pitch that offered some assistance to the medium-pacers added more gloss to the effort. Their fifty came up as early as the seventh over but Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack didn’t start as badly as the run-rate suggested. They troubled the batsmen with swing and seam and even managed the edge on a few occasions but they were let down by poor fielding. Younis Khan allowed Gambhir two lives - on 4 and 29 - with identical edges flying past him at second slip and Kamran Akmal let off Sehwag on 43 when he lost control of the ball after appearing to have snared an edge to his right.

Sehwag, who walked all the way back to the boundary before returning, made the most of his good fortune, racing to his first fifty in a year. He was dropped for the final stages of India’s CB Series but an injury to Sachin Tendulkar allowed him another chance. He wasn’t his customary buccaneering self, and that was probably because of the nature of the surface, but he continuously peppered the region behind square. Preferring to use the pace of the bowlers, he walked across and whipped a few off his pads while settling for the judicious glide on other occasions.

The area behind square was productive for Gambhir as well but it was the occasional skip down the ground that unsettled the bowlers. He didn’t hesitate charging the quicker men and actually cut one over the infield, off left-armer Wahab Riaz, with both his feet in mid-air.

Incidentally it was in that game where India passed 300 for the first time in an ODI. Here, more than 12 years later, they were in sight of much more as Yuvraj began striking it clean. He gauged the slow nature of the track and ensured he played late. A couple of half-trackers were swatted away over midwicket and his neat clips towards square leg suggested a batsman preparing to explode, but he fell to Umar Gul in the quest for quick runs.

It was always going to be an uphill task for Pakistan and the contest was all but over once Praveen Kumar struck four big blows, including a two-in-two. Swinging the new ball either way, he showed how dangerous he could be in congenial conditions. Praveen had Rohit Sharma to thank for the opening breakthrough: a sensational reflex catch at short cover got rid of Salman Butt.

A slightly wide ball was lashed hard but Rohit, throwing himself to the left and ensuring his hands got around a low chance, hung on superbly. There was no need of any such acrobatics for the next one: Younis Khan snicked to the wicketkeeper and walked back for his second successive duck.

Akmal and Misbah ensured Praveen didn’t have a perfect day - taking 17 off his fifth over, including four cracking fours - but Akmal was livid after falling to a full toss, lobbing a leading edge to mid-on. Misbah too couldn’t carry on, falling to an injudicious waft, and it was left to Shoaib Malik to pick up the pieces. He soldiered on to a fifty but his meaty blows were largely inconsequential in the face of a steep mountain. Chawla finished with four wickets, tormenting the tail and giving the finishing touches to a near-perfect day for India.

Posted on June 11th, 2008 by admin
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Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers:

Chennai poised for final four spot:

Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. It was Rajasthan’s ninth win in 11 matches, second over Kolkata, and cemented their status as one of the tournament’s favourites.

Meanwhile, it was Kolkata’s seventh defeat in 12 matches and practically ended their chances of making it to the last four.
Chasing a target of 148 to win, the Rajasthan team had an early hiccup when Ishant Sharma induced an edge from opener Swapnil Asnodkar (5) to keeper Wriddhiman Saha when the scoreboard read just 16.
South African captain Graeme Smith and Sohail Tanvir , promoted up the order, took the score to 42. But in Umar Gul’s first over, the sixth of the innings, both fell in quick succession to reduce Rajasthan to 42 for three.

The Pakistani paceman’s over was a double-wicket maiden, a rarity in this form of the game.

And when Kolkata captain Saurav Ganguly cleaned up the dangerous looking Shane Watson (19), Rajasthan were in some trouble at 69 for four after the tenth over.

But Mohammad Kaif (34 not out) and Yusuf Pathan (with an unbeaten 48) combined well to put on an unbeaten 81-run partnership for the fifth-wicket and steered their team through. In the final analysis, Kolkata’s total was never going to be enough.

Dwayne Smith joins Mumbai Indians:

Pathan was particularly impressive, his 18-ball knock included five fours and three sixes and helped his team regain the momentum while his big hits demoralised the opponents completely.

Rajasthan made 150 for four and won with 21 balls (3.3 overs) to spare.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen failed to build up on good starts to finish with a modest 147 for eight in what was a do-or-die tie for them.

Put in to bat, the Knight Riders could not build a single 50-run partnership with none of their batsmen even manging to reach the 40s.

Shah Rukh to be allowed in dug out:

The in-form Rajasthan Royals pacer Tanvir once again bowled well to have impressive figures of 3 for 26, with Munaf Patel (2 for 22) giving him ample support.

For the hosts, skipper Ganguly topscored with 32, but he was nowhere at his best.

Middle order batsman Debabrata Das (31 off 20 balls) looked in fine shape, but got out when his team expected a big knock from him.

The Knight Riders’ beginning followed a script that has become familiar for the team.

IPL winner’s trophy unveiled:

The first wicket fell in the second over as Mohammed Hafeez (4) tried to loft an away going ball from Munaf Patel over the infield, but only managed an inside edge which went straight to Swapnil Asnodkar at mid on.

The other opener, Salman Butt and Ganguly tried to overcome the initial jolt by stitching together a 33-run partnership, but the former Indian captain struggled to find his timing against the disciplined Rajasthan attack.

Butt (24) played some wristy shots and a couple of classy cover drives, but his essay came to an end in the seventh over when Patel found him plumb before stumps with an incoming delivery as the Knight Riders became 40 for two in the seventh over.

Australian David Hussey then joined Ganguly and the duo added another 31 runs with Ganguly trying to break the shackles as he stepped out to send Shane Warne packing over square leg to bring up the day’s first six.

Posted on May 21st, 2008 by admin
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Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab

In-form teams push for semi-final berths

The fortunes of both Mumbai and Punjab have changed remarkably since their first meeting in the Indian Premier League. Both teams had lost their first two games going into that match in Mohali, which ended with Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth. Since then, Punjab have moved to second place in the league; Mumbai have strung together six wins in a row; Harbhajan has been banned for the rest of the tournament; and Sreesanth’s bowling form has improved considerably.

Punjab have won seven games out of ten but another victory would virtually ensure a spot in the final four. Their top order - especially Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach - has been producing excellent starts, and Mahela Jayawardene, who has had a quiet tournament, came good to clinch a run-chase by the D/L method against Delhi. Their other strength is the ability of their medium-pacers to consistently hit the blockhole during the final overs.

The stakes are higher for Mumbai, though, for they have climbed off the bottom of the table into contention for the semis by moving into fourth place. They have the winning momentum and two games in hand over Delhi and Kolkata, the other contenders for the last semi-final berth. However, they are without Dwayne Bravo, a crucial allrounder in their line-up, and will have to fill his slot with one of the two new arrivals, Dwayne Smith and Andre Nel.

Quotes by Tom Moody

“It’s the biggest game for us, but I have been telling the boys not to focus on winning just this particular game but all the games because we have seen how important momentum has been in the tournament.”

Posted on May 21st, 2008 by admin
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Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils:

It was a dismissal that summed up Bangalore’s shambolic displays in this competition. Misbah-ul-Haq, who finally revealed why so many consider him a master of the Twenty20 IPL, smashed one hard to long-off. For a while, it looked as though it might be four, but Shoaib Malik, wo was placed on substitute for Gautam Gambhir, made good ground to stop the ball .

It was the last ball of the 16th over and the scoreboard was hardly moving, Cameron White ran across for the first and turned quickly for the second one ,and atlast he achieved it. Misbah, perhaps used to more leisurely step by step, didn’t respond, and Malik’s throw to the bowler was passed on to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. White, who now has a 57 runs in the IPL.

Unlike in Test cricket, where you can have a poor session, or a one-day game, where you can be whacked in the Powerplays before staging a comeback, Twenty20 is an unforgiving format. A couple of bad overs and the game slides out of reach. Given the rain in the air and the cool conditions, Rahul Dravid would have been justified in expecting something special from his quick bowlers when they emerged to defend 154. Instead, Dale Steyn apart, they dished up the sort of rubbish that Geoffrey Boycott would have fancied his mum to hit.

For Delhi, Glenn McGrath and Farveez Maharoof had been almost immaculate, conceding 28 from eight overs and taking four wickets along the way. The contrast with Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar couldn’t have been more stark. Bangalore’s duo, both internationals, went for a whopping 70 from five overs, with Bharat Chipli’s brilliant catch at point gifting Praveen a wicket.

Bowling half-volleys and long hops to Sehwag isn’t clever at the best of times. To do so when your team had half a chance thanks to Misbah’s late flails was beyond the pale. Sehwag tried to defend his mates, saying: “The wicket was flat, good to bat on, and Gautam and I played really really well”, but in reality, the pitch was nowhere near as inert as some of Bangalore’s big-name players were.

Dravid was diplomatic as always, though he admitted that conceding 91 from the first seven overs wasn’t the best way to defend a modest target. “Given the conditions, I thought it was a good, fighting total,” he said. “Their top two are the guys in form and if we could have cracked one, or even both of them, open, we might have had a chance. But yes, we could have bowled a little better.”

The consolation prize, and that’s all that Bangalore will win this season, came in the shape of a tidy spell from Anil Kumble and a superb allround display from Sreevats Goswami. With just one wicket in his previous six outings, the $500,000 investment on Kumble was looking rather generous, but on Monday night the old tricks and temperament scripted a nice turnaround.

Tillakaratne Dilshan was smartly stumped by Goswami off a big legbreak and Dinesh Karthik then miscued one to cover for White to take a fine catch. Had a contentious caught-and-bowled appeal against Shikhar Dhawan been upheld, Kumble’s figures would have been 4-0-18-3. As it was, the spells from him and Steyn weren’t quite enough to camouflage the inadequacies of others.

Goswami, who has spent the last few weeks training alongside Mark Boucher, was as relaxed behind the stumps as he was in front of it. Bangalore’s batting displays in this competition have been dire to put it mildly, and it was no surprise that his 39-ball half-century elicited huge cheers from a sizeable crowd. He ran the singles and twos with purpose and also pulled the ball with immense power for a little man.

“He got an opportunity after quite a long wait,” said Dravid. “He’s got something about him. He showed some pluck and some fight out there.” Cautious against the accurate Maharoof, he chose his moments well, picking off Pradeep Sangwan, his Under-19 team-mate and Rajat Bhatia with aplomb.

Ultimately though, even Goswami had to cede centrestage to the real heroes, Delhi’s dynamic bowling duo. “Both of them hardly gave anything,” said a smug Sehwag later. “They know where to bowl and how to bowl.“

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by admin
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Play of the Day:

Australian way doesn’t impress Pidge……….
When Bharat Chipli edged one behind off Glenn McGrath, he stood there and waited for the umpire to make his decision, in the time-honoured Australian way. Steve Davis, Australian himself, said no, and a snarling McGrath was left to snipe constantly at Chipli until a miscued pull ended his stay. Even then, McGrath appeared to be saying “not out, not out” to taunt the young batsman.

Goswami wins Under-19 spoils……..
It was a contest within a contest, two of India’s victorious Under-19 team facing off against each other. Sreevats Goswami won it handily enough, taking Pradeep Sangwan for a six and three fours in the over. It was just about the only thing Bangalore savoured on a night when they were once again outclassed.

Last-over blues……….
Bowling himself for one hugely expensive over probably cost Virender Sehwag and Delhi victory in their last game against Kings XI Punjab. This time, he bowled out McGrath and Farveez Maharoof and left the final over to Rajat Bhatia. With Misbah-ul-Haq on strike and in a rampant mood, it wasn’t an inspired gamble. The 24 runs Bhatia conceded at least gave Bangalore something to defend.

All we need is just a little patience……..
Dale Steyn was working up considerable pace in his second over, with Gautam Gambhir not scoring off the first four balls. But just as Bangalore started to dream of a maiden, Gambhir showed off his orange-cap powers with a dazzling straight drive and an elegant push through cover.

Are you Jonty in disguise?
Chipli may have done no more than rile McGrath with bat in hand, but at least he could claim the catch of the match, a stunning dive to his left at point to send back Sehwag. The only problem was that Delhi already had 91 on the board by then, with Sehwag careering to 47 from just 19 balls.

On the ball……….
Cameron White has been a major flop with bat in hand, but he does bring some Australian virtues to Bangalore’s fielding. When Gambhir cut one to deep backward point and set off, White’s throw to Goswami was just about perfect. Gambhir didn’t even wait for the umpire, jogging all the way back to the pavilion.

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by admin
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