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Graham Napier celebrated a dramatic hat-trick but Essex Eagles’ day-night Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Glamorgan Dragons fell victim to the weather

06-May-2011
ScorecardGraham Napier celebrated a dramatic hat-trick but Essex Eagles’ day-night Clydesdale Bank 40 clash against Glamorgan Dragons fell victim to the weather.Glamorgan scored 222 for 7 after being sent in to bat at the Swalec Stadium, only for rain to then set in and force the match to be abandoned. It meant that Alastair Cook failed to get a bat for the first time since being named England one-day captain.Glamorgan were indebted to captain and opener Alviro Petersen, who made 88 from 104 balls, until he was out in the penultimate over. Petersen and Gareth Rees had given Glamorgan a useful start, putting on 116 for the first wicket in 22.1 overs until Napier struck with his hat-trick.It was the first hat-trick in the competition against the Dragons since Kevin Evans achieved the feat for Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 1994 and Rees was first to fall. The left-hander, who scored 51 from 70 balls, edged an attempted expansive drive behind before Napier had both James Allenby and Stewart Walters leg-before with inswinging yorkers that struck them on the boot. The home side suddenly found themselves 116 for 3.There was more problems for Glamorgan when Cook ran out Ben Wright, following a mix-up that Petersen could take the blame for, as they attempted a second run in the 26th over. The score became 148 for 5 soon after when wicketkeeper Mark Wallace was run out after racing down the wicket for a run that was not there.But Petersen shared in a useful partnership of 43 in 6.1 overs with Graham Wagg, and there was an unbeaten 19 from James Harris at the end as 18 runs came off the final over, but not before Petersen was caught at short fine-leg.Rain arrived in the interval and it left the umpires Peter Willey and Jeff Evans with no choice but to abandon play at 9pm.

Legspinner Devendra Bishoo added to his burgeoning reputation with a probing debut spell that befuddled Pakistan’s batsmen on the second day in Providence and gave West Indies a handy, and unexpected, lead

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran13-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsImmediate impact: Devendra Bishoo is finding international cricket easy•AFPThirteen wickets went down on an action-packed second day at Providence which ended with West Indies ahead on a crumbling track. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo added to his burgeoning reputation with a probing debut spell that befuddled Pakistan’s batsmen, giving West Indies a handy, and unexpected, first-innings lead.If anyone was wondering whether the testing track had eased up since the first day, the answer was provided as early as the second over of the morning, when Saeed Ajmal’s delivery barely reached ankle height, fizzing through the wicketkeeper’s legs. That set the tone for a frenetic day when spin and bounce conspired to make life difficult for batsmen.Pakistan were a happy side at lunch, having wrapped up the West Indies innings for 226, before creeping to 45 for 1 with some safety-first batting. Bishoo, though, showed what a threat he was going to be right after the break by getting his second ball to spit off the pitch and fly off Azhar Ali’s edge past slip. In his next over, he got one to zip through low and Ali couldn’t get close to it as he thought of a cut.It was the more amiable bowling of Darren Sammy, though, that got the breakthrough, ending the dogged 52-run stand between Taufeeq and Ali. Sammy was getting the ball to dip in on occasion, but the wicket came off a delivery that went straight on; Taufeeq played around it and was struck in front of middle and leg. That ended Pakistan’s largest partnership and signalled the start of the slump.Misbah-ul-Haq survived a lbw call on 0 off an indipper from Sammy, but two overs later he became Bishoo’s first Test victim. Bishoo slipped in a straighter one, which Misbah looked to play off the back foot – he missed and was so plumb that he contemplated walking off even before the umpire raised the finger. In the next over, Ali inexplicably left a delivery from Sammy that ducked in sharply from outside off, and was mortified to see it take off stump. The two wickets will provide the under-fire Sammy some respite from his many critics.Asad Shafiq, another promising youngster from Pakistan, also didn’t last long, trapped on the back foot by a flat legbreak from Bishoo, who got the lbw decision after referring it to the third umpire. 57 for 1 had become 66 for 5.Pakistan’s hopes of getting close to West Indies’ score now depended on Umar Akmal, who began with a confident punch through cover for four. He had an entertaining battle with Bishoo, highlighted by the 32nd over. Even with the wickets tumbling, Akmal didn’t shelve his strokes, shuffling down the track and thumping over long-on for four, and backing that up with a powerful cut past point for another boundary. An unfazed Bishoo responded by sliding in a quicker legbreak that easily beat Akmal.Bishoo, bowling accurately with five fielders lying in wait for the edge, soon got his third wicket, with Mohammad Salman using up another referral after being adjudged lbw. Bishoo continued to produce the odd unplayable ball – combining turn and bounce to baffle the batsmen – but Abdur Rehman and Akmal survived till tea, putting on 33 to take Pakistan to 113 for 6. The final session began with several French cuts from Rehman, interspersed with some forceful hits, and despite the close calls, the pair put on 50 runs.That was when Akmal had his seemingly mandatory brainfade. Looking to swipe a short ball, he top-egded it high and only as far as the wicketkeeper. Rehman picked up a few more boundaries to finish as the top-scorer, though the Pakistan tail couldn’t put up the sort of fight West Indies’ had. The home side’s last-wicket pair battled gamely for eight overs on the morning, before Ajmal induced the inside-edge that brought him his five-for and best bowling figures in a Test.Bishoo’s control and subtle variations meant West Indies took the first-innings lead despite picking only one specialist spinner in the line-up. They still can’t rest easy though, as they have already lost two early wickets. Devon Smith confirmed he is Mohammad Hafeez’s bunny by being trapped lbw – the sixth successive innings that he has been dismissed by Hafeez – and Darren Bravo was caught on the crease by a straighter one from Ajmal.There is still the small matter of negotiating the dreaded Ajmal doosra, which none of the West Indies batsmen pick consistently. After all the controversy over the past month, tomorrow will be the day for Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan to prove the worth of all that experience.

Andrew Gale set up the easiest of Yorkshire victories at New Road and left Worcestershire stranded at the foot of Group A after their fourth defeat in five Clydesdale Bank 40 games

22-May-2011
ScorecardAndrew Gale set up the easiest of Yorkshire victories at New Road and left Worcestershire stranded at the foot of Group A after their fourth defeat in five Clydesdale Bank 40 games.Steven Patterson took four for 28 in the Royals’ laboured progress to 155 for 9 and Gale continued his good form in the competition as Yorkshire eased home by seven wickets with 21 balls to spare.The Yorkshire captain made 56 and lifted his aggregate to 285 from five innings after sharing in successive half-century partnerships with fellow-left handers Gary Ballance and Adam Lyth.Rotherham-born left-arm spinner Shaaiq Choudhry secured Worcestershire’s first success when Ben Scott stumped Ballance for 27 and Moeen Ali’s off-spin accounted for Gale with a tumbling catch at mid-wicket by Jack Shantry.Yorkshire never had to rush and Lyth was able to bat within himself until he took an unnecessary risk in going for a second run which would have completed a half-century. He was comfortably beaten by Alexei Kervezee’s return from deep square leg.Worcestershire were hopelessly short of runs despite James Cameron’s third successive CB40 half-century and an eye-catching innings by 17-year-old schoolboy Aneesh Kapil. Kapil, who later bowled five overs at a lively pace, joined Cameron in a stand of 88 in 20 overs, which was all that stood between the home side and total collapse.Struggling at 30 for 4 after two wickets each for Yorkshire’s new-ball pair, Patterson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, they folded again as soon as Kapil departed, lbw for 44 when pushing forward to the fourth delivery in a second spell by Adil Rashid.Kapil who played for Wolverhampton in the Birmingham League at the age of 13, was unfazed by registering a duck for his club team only 24 hours before he was called up for a competitive debut in the county side.A flamboyant stroke-maker, he hit four of the dozen fours that Worcestershire mustered in the entire innings, and fortunately for Yorkshire, a glaring let-off, when Hannon-Dalby put down a simple opportunity at short third man, cost them only two runs.Similarly a let-off for Cameron – Ballance spilling an awkward chance at mid-wicket – was quickly brushed over. One run later, the Zimbabwean-born left-hander fell for 51, driving to mid-off as Patterson struck twice in his second spell.Along the way, Cameron hoisted Rashid for a straight six but managed only two fours as Yorkshire, despite missing a contingent of first-teamers, took an unshakeable grip on what became a one-sided contest.

England prevailed by 16 runs in a thrilling finale to Sri Lanka’s tour, the bowling attack operating as a unit to defend 268 as the visitors were dismissed for 252 in the penultimate over

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill09-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Tim Bresnan picked up three wickets as England sealed a 3-2 series win with a 16-run victory at Old Trafford•Getty ImagesFour one-sided games preceded this match at Old Trafford, but with the series at stake, England and Sri Lanka traded blows in a see-sawing encounter that had no clear winner until the closing minutes of the match. England prevailed by 16 runs in a thrilling finale to Sri Lanka’s tour, the bowling attack operating as a unit to defend 268 as the visitors were dismissed for 252 in the penultimate over.Two fluent partnerships, first between Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter, then from Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan, bookended by clutches of wickets, had carried England’s innings. However, offspinner Suraj Randiv helped himself to 5 for 42 to spark a collapse of 6 for 40 as the hosts slipped after being well-positioned to score over 300.Sri Lanka, who showed their vulnerability against the new ball at The Oval, when they stumbled to 15 for 4, and Trent Bridge, when the damage was 20 for 4, once again struggled first up. They needed two fighting stands of their own: the first a counter-attacking 94 between Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara, and the second, a backs-to-the-wall 102 between Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis to get close before Jade Dernbach’s two wickets in consecutive balls sealed the result.Tim Bresnan had done the early damage to Sri Lanka, catching the edge of debutant Dimuth Karunaratne’s bat before Tillakaratne Dilshan, who has managed just 17 runs in five innings since coming back from a fractured thumb, hooked him straight to Dernbach at fine leg. Sri Lanka were wobbling at 12 for 2 and soon lost Mahela Jayawardene, who had been given a reprieve when he was badly dropped by Dernbach but chipped straight to Alastair Cook at mid-off not long afterwards.With England surging, Chandimal, who hit a match-winning – and controversial – century at Lord’s, provided a stylish counterpunch, displaying all the temerity of youth in a series of crisply-hit strokes, stepping out to thrash mighty sixes off both Bresnan and Swann. With Sangakkara ticking along in unpretentious style at the other end, Sri Lanka’s chase was put back on track.Chandimal eventually tried one shot too many, however, and was beaten in the flight by Swann and stumped for a 64-ball 54. When Sangakkara chopped the impressive Bresnan onto his stumps to be out for 48, Sri Lanka were 131 for 5 in the 30th over and England appeared to have complete control.Mathews and Mendis slowly pulled their side out of the mire, and Sri Lanka needed 116 from 18 overs when the batting Powerplay was taken. The batsmen managed to take a boundary from all but one of the Powerplay overs, milking 37 with the field restrictions in place and as they found fluency, the pressure was back on England.Mathews took their stand past 100 with a firm clip to the wide long-on boundary but Pietersen then kept his nerve to hold a good catch running in from the midwicket boundary – and looking into the sun – to get rid of Mendis for a career-best 48. It was now Sri Lanka’s turn to panic; Nuwan Kulasekara and Randiv falling in consecutive deliveries as they stumbled to 246 for 8.Unbelievably, Lasith Malinga strode to the crease and charged down the track to mow the first ball he faced high over long-on for six and the match hung in the balance once more. Cook tossed the ball to Dernbach for the 49th over, with 17 needed, and a contest that could have gone to the wire came to an abrupt end as he deceived Mathews with a slower one that took the leading edge and looped to point. Next ball he fired a searing yorker at the base of Malinga’s stumps to spark frenzied celebrations.Smart stats

In eight home series since the start of 2008, England have won six. Three of them have been won by a margin of 3-2 and their worst loss was the 6-1 loss to Australia in 2009. This is England’s second bilateral-series win against Sri Lanka after the 5-0 home defeat in 2006.

Jonathan Trott’s 72 is his 12th half-century in 29 innings in ODIs. His average of 52.44 is comfortably the highest among all England batsmen with 1000-plus runs in ODIs.

The 118-run stand between Trott and Eoin Morgan is the second-highest partnership for the fourth wicket for England in ODIs against Sri Lanka. The highest is 154 between Graeme Hick and Neil Fairbrother in 1999.

From a score of 213 for 3, England lost six wickets for the addition of just 40 runs. The 40 runs added is fifth on the list of least runs added between wickets five and nine for England against Sri Lanka in ODIs.

The 102-run stand between Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis is the highest sixth-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against England in ODIs surpassing the previous best of 93 between Russell Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara in 2003.

There had been a suspicion before the game that this could be a low-scoring encounter as this was the first international match at Old Trafford since the pitch was rotated 90 degrees. What was once the best strip in the country had now lost much of its pace and bounce, but Kieswetter and Cook showed that a hard new ball could still bring runs as the first Powerplay brought no less than 75 runs, 38 of them in boundaries.England looked to press home their advantage by taking the batting Powerplay in the 13th over after Sri Lanka had set the field back in defence, but it was the Sri Lankans who profited from the restrictions as Cook ran past a fizzing Randiv offspinner to be stumped for 31. Dhammika Prasad removed Kieswetter and Pietersen in quick succession as England lost 3 for 10 in 19 deliveries, but Trott and Morgan settled quickly and complemented each other well in their contrasting styles to keep England on course for a challenging total.They didn’t score many boundaries – England only hit five after the ninth over – but both rotated the strike with ease; Trott reaching a 63-ball fifty and Morgan following him to the landmark soon after, from 54 deliveries. A total of over 300 looked a given, but Dilshan got the vital breakthrough when Morgan was beaten by flight and spin to be stumped for 57.That opened up England’s middle order, and a succession of batsmen fell trying to force the pace before they had been given a chance to adjust to the variable pitch. Randiv bowled with exceptional control as the batsmen tried to get after him, removing Ian Bell and Trott – via a fortuitous inside edge that rolled back onto the stumps, and had his fourth and fifth wickets in the space of three deliveries as Samit Patel and Tim Bresnan both fell to failed slogs.There was a feeling that England had wasted an opportunity when a much more substantial total had loomed, but the good work of the bowlers powered them to a rousing win to extend their successful summer.

A round up of the sixth day of matches of the European Championship Division One Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2011Denmark won the European Division One Twenty20 final after beating Italy by six wickets in St Clement. Italy chose to bat and were left in tatters by the Danish bowlers, who skittled their opposition out for 83.Andy Northcote’s 38 (off 37 balls) was the only score over 20 in the Italy innings, and he was bowled while attempted a heave against legspinner Bobby Chawla, who took 3 for 26. Chawla was responsible for tearing through the top order and left-arm spinner Bashir Shah (3 for 14) crippled the middle order. Northcote had added 43 for the second wicket with Damian Crowley, who also perished while attempting a big shot, holing out to long-off. Italy were in a sound position at 67 for 2 in the 12th over, but in a dramatic collapse, lost the next eight wickets for 16 runs.Denmark stuttered in their chase and slipped to 16 for 3 in the fifth over. But Rizwan Mahmood’s patient 31 (off 47 balls) and Aftab Ahmed’s 24 (off 18 balls) saw them to victory with 11 balls to spare. Mahmood’s innings under pressure won him the Man-of-the-Match award. Both Denmark and Italy will participate in the World T20 qualifiers in the UAE next year.Jersey finished third in the tournament with a convincing eight-wicket win over Guernsey, also at St Clement. Guernsey’s innings began unsteadily when they were reduced to 20 for 2 but Ross Kneller’s 37 (off 32 balls) was the glue that held their innings together. With no sizeable partnerships and 19-year old left-arm spinner Ben Stevens (4 for 14) on fire, Guernsey made 158 for 8. Jersey had little trouble reaching the target. Edward Farley’s 90 (off 48 balls) was the mainstay of their innings; it also played a role in winning him the tournament’s Most-Valuable-Player Award. Jersey won in 17.2 overs.Norway took fifth place after a six-wicket demolition of France in St Martin. Norway chose to field and blasted France out for just 70. Forty-one year old Pakistan-born medium pacer Zaheer Ashiq’s 4 for 2 in 1.3 overs proved too much for France. Norway lost both their openers for ducks, No. 3 batsman Ashiq for 6 but Zeeshan Ali’s 33 not out (off 40 balls) took them to victory with 19 balls remaining.Gibraltar won the ninth place play-off, beating Germany by 23 runs in St Helier. Gibraltar recovered from 13 for 2 to 157 for 7. A third-wicket partnership of 65 between Mark Bacerese and Kieron Ferrary, which was the highest of the match, helped Gibraltar to a defendable total. Germany’s innings was punctuated by wickets and they were bowled out for 134. Iain Latin took 3 for 34.Croatia finished the tournament in last place, losing by 86 runs to Israel in St Brelade. Herschel Gutman scored 51 (off 37 balls) and small contributions from the rest of the batting line-up took Israel to 172 for 7, a target that was too stiff for Croatia. Eliezar Samson took 4 for 7 and nine of the Croat batsmen failed to get into double-figures. They were bowled out for 86.

Sri Lanka’s attack has been given a major overhaul ahead of the first Test against Australia, with the uncapped Shaminda Eranga and Seekkuge Prasanna among those vying for a position

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2011Sri Lanka’s attack has been given a major overhaul ahead of the first Test against Australia, with the uncapped Shaminda Eranga and Seekkuge Prasanna among those vying for a position. The Sri Lankans have named a 16-man squad for the Test series, which begins in Galle next Wednesday, and there was no room for Thisara Perera.Also missing from the group that toured England was Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof and the batsman Dinesh Chandimal, who is playing for the Sri Lanka Board XI in the ongoing tour match in Colombo. Angelo Mathews is back in the Test squad, while there was also a spot for the opener Lahiru Thirimanne, who replaced the injured captain Tillakaratne Dilshan in the third Test in England.The Australians are pleased Lasith Malinga no longer plays Test cricket, but they know they will have to respect the new fast man Eranga, who showed great promise in the limited-overs series. The nippy Eranga, 25, debuted in the third game in Hambantota and can already claim Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke among his international victims.The one-dayers also allowed the legspinner Prasanna, 26, to have his first taste of international cricket, and he stunned Australia with a triple-wicket maiden on debut. Prasanna, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv are the spin options for Sri Lanka, who will rely heavily on the slow bowlers knowing that on their home pitches, spin will be their best chance to run through Australia.Test squad Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Angelo Mathews, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath

They may have gone into the season as one of the bookies favourites to suffer relegation but, going into the final four weeks of the season, Warwickshire are emerging as genuine title contenders

George Dobell at Edgbaston19-Aug-2011
Scorecard
They may have gone into the season as one of the bookies favourites to suffer relegation but, going into the final four weeks of the season, Warwickshire are emerging as genuine title contenders.If they win this game and other results go their way – notably the match at Blackpool – Warwickshire will go top of the table over the next day or two. As Warwickshire wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose put it: “There isn’t a side whose position I’d swap with. No-one has really considered us as potential winners, but we’ve won more matches than anyone and we have a game in hand.”The next day or two could also have strong ramifications for Hampshire. While they will not be mathematically certain to suffer relegation if they lose here, their realistic chances of survival will be horribly slim.This match isn’t decided just yet, however. While Hampshire only lead by 54 with four of their second innings wickets spent, Warwickshire will not fancy chasing many more than 250 in the fourth innings against Imran Tahir. The pitch is no minefield, certainly, but there’s enough assistance for bowlers of all types to ensure batting is never an easy business. The involvement of Warwickshire’s Rikki Clarke, who nowadays is a vital member of Warwickshire’s bowling attack, may also be heavily restricted after he strained a hamstring.There was a time, while Michael Carberry and Neil McKenzie were together, when it looked as the visitors might well set a testing fourth innings target. But when Carberry, who had looked in tremendous form, played across a swinging yorker and McKenzie felt for a fine ball that bounced and left him, Hampshire were left on the back foot again. Earlier Jimmy Adams missed a straight one and Liam Dawson edged one angled across him. Keith Barker, the left-arm seamer, claimed the first three wickets to fall and generated decent pace and pleasing swing into the right-handers.If Warwickshire do fail to win this match, they may well come to rue their first innings performance with the bat. While they established a useful lead of 109, it could have been far more and a series of soft dismissals meant they squandered the chance to bat Hampshire out of the game.Indeed, for a while, it seemed the visitors might snatch a first innings lead. When Jim Troughton flashed at the second ball of the day and Rikki Clarke held his bat out at one he should have left, Warwickshire had lost their sixth wicket and were still 28 behind. Troughton hasn’t passed 50 in the Championship since April and has only made three half-centuries in this competition in since August 2009.Ambrose and Chris Woakes, however, ensured that Warwickshire retained the initiative. The pair both made polished half-centuries as they added 73 for the seventh wicket, with Woakes following up his excellence with the ball by making the top score of the match so far.Both, however, undid some of their good work with soft dismissals. Ambrose edged a loose drive moments before lunch, while Woakes ran himself out attempting an improbable single. On a blameless pitch, a haul of just two batting bonus points was a missed opportunity. It may yet come back to haunt them.It was another decent day’s work from Ambrose, however. After enduring a miserable 2010 when he considered giving up cricket, he’s back to something approaching his best with bat and gloves. The stats might not show it, but his five half-centuries in a summer of tricky batting conditions have played a huge part in Warwickshire’s success.Ambrose is out of contract in a month and, as yet, has not held formal discussions over his future. While Warwickshire would like him to stay, there will surely be other offers waiting.”I went into this season with an open mind: if I hadn’t enjoyed it, I would have given up cricket,” Ambrose admitted. “But I can honestly say I’m enjoying my cricket as much, if not more, than I ever have done. I haven’t thought about next year just yet. There will be time for that soon. For now I just want to concentrate on winning a second Championship title [Ambrose also won one with Sussex].”I feel I’m in fantastic nick at the moment. I’m seeing the ball really well at the moment and I’m enjoying keeping to this attack. Boyd Rankin is as hostile as anyone out there on his day, while Chris Woakes is a high-class bowler who just keeps building up the pressure on batsmen. I’d fancy us to chase 200 in this game. And, if we wrap this up, we’re in a better position than anyone to win the title.”

The fact that South Australia play together more regularly than some of the IPL teams will be an advantage for them going in to the Champions League Twenty20, their coach Darren Berry has said

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2011The fact that South Australia play together more regularly than some of the IPL teams will be an advantage for them going in to the Champions League Twenty20, their coach Darren Berry has said.”Teams like [Royal Challengers] Bangalore, with Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes are very strong. However, we play together all year and have a great synergy. IPL teams can be full of stars but disjointed,” Berry, who was formerly part of the coaching staff of IPL side Rajasthan Royals, told the .South Australia won the 2010-11 KFC Big Bash in Australia and were semi-finalists in the last edition of the Champions League Twenty20. They have won 15 of their last Twenty20 matches across the Big Bash and Champions League.Berry said they would be aiming to win the tournament this time and that his side had enough backup to cover for Aiden Blizzard and Kieron Pollard, who will play for Mumbai Indians in the tournament. “We are going there [the CLT20] with the expectation that we will win it. If you go there saying you’ll be okay, then that is all you will be.”Taity [Shaun Tait] is the trump card with the pace, while Daniel Christian’s played for Deccan [Chargers] in the IPL and his variety with bat and ball covers for Pollard.”Captain Michael Klinger, Berry pointed out, finished the third-highest run-scorer in last year’s CLT20, while batsman Daniel Harris was named state Twenty20 player of the year in Australia. South Australia also have strong and varied spin options, who, he said, could prove handy in Indian conditions. “[Legspinner Adil] Rashid was underdone entering the Big Bash but will come straight from a county season with Yorkshire. [Left-arm spinner Aaron] O’Brien’s been a standout Twenty20 bowler for us and Nathan [Lyon, an offspinner] will come from the Sri Lanka Test series.”Apart from the team combination, Berry said the research put in by the team’s support staff could prove to be a big advantage. “It can be as simple research as knowing when Zaheer Khan is most likely to bowl a full toss. I pride myself on providing research as a coach.”South Australia’s first assignment in this year’s CLT20 will be a match in Kolkata on September 25 against the side they lost to in last year’s semi-finals – Warriors from South Africa.

Kumar Sangakkara has said that Pakistan’s attack bowled “exceptionally well” on a day when only he stood between Sri Lanka and defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2011Kumar Sangakkara has said that Pakistan’s attack bowled “exceptionally well” on a day when only he stood between Sri Lanka and defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi. Sangakkara batted through the fourth day to score 161, whittling the deficit from 267 to 16, as Sri Lanka finished on 298 for 5. Pakistan would have taken several more wickets, though, had their fielders not dropped five catches.”Pakistan bowled exceptionally well, they used the new ball well. The spinners came on and they also continued to keep the pressure up and that doesn’t help,” Sangakkara said. “It’s a new attack, they got two seniors in [Saeed] Ajmal and [Umar] Gul but it’s heartening to see two young bowlers come in.”Junaid [Khan] used his angles well and used his pace variations well. He bowled in the right areas and that has been a challenge. We have not yet been able to overcome that challenge, but we should do it.”Sangakkara added 153 runs for the second wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne but then watched wickets fall at regular intervals as Sri Lanka lost four batsmen for 80 runs. Sangakkara was also let off twice, off Junaid and Mohammad Hafeez’s bowling, and he made his good fortune count by scoring his 26th Test century and his 11th second-innings hundred.”It would have been nice if I had I got it in the first innings but it was a tough fight and one of my better hundreds,” he said. “But there is still work left and if we can get through the first session, we can put some pressure on Pakistan.”Hundred or 150 [more] would be fantastic, that will also take time away. Let’s see tomorrow, first we have to get the morning session out [of the way]. We have to first come out and fight again.”Pakistan opener Taufeeq Umar had ground out a double-century and batted for more than 12 hours in energy-sapping conditions. Sangakkara, however, said the fourth day had not been as bad.”It was pretty alright, the weather was much cooler than the first day, the breeze helped you keep cool and wicket was flat, so I was just making sure we made few mistakes,” he said. “I feel fantastic and great, once you bat and do the hard work it’s great and there is more to be done.”

Manish Pandey and Ganesh Satish added 182 for the third wicket, recovering from early setbacks and helping Karnataka end the day in a dominant position

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai17-Nov-2011There was an element of déjà vu to this contest. Two seasons ago, in one of the most exciting Ranji Trophy finals, chasing 338 runs for victory on treacherous green pitch in Mysore, Karnataka had nearly pulled the rug under Mumbai’s feet before falling short by six runs. Karnataka’s charge was led by a 209-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Manish Pandey and Ganesh Satish. In front of a baying home crowd, against hostile bowling, the pair had shown the right character, grit, spirit and imagination to take the bull by the horns, but couldn’t take them past the finish line.Remarkably, today, it was the same pair that inflicted damage on Mumbai in the first match between the teams after game. Pandey and Satish added 182 for the third wicket, recovering from early setbacks and helping Karnataka end the day in a dominant position.Karnataka won the toss and opted to bat on a track different from the one used in the Mumbai-Rajasthan game last week. Its character, though, was the same: slow, offering innocuous bounce with little turn unless the bowler bent his back. Yet KB Pawan, one half of the visitors’ opening pair, went into a cocoon straightaway.Robin Uthappa was playing his shots fluently, proving there were no demons in the pitch. After 80 excruciating minutes, Pawan left, edging an away seamer from Dhawal Kulkarni that was caught safely at second slip by Rohit Sharma. Until the 77th delivery of the game, only Uthappa had scored runs for Karnataka before Satish picked up a single. Disappointingly for Mumbai the new-ball pair of Ajit Agarkar and Kulkarni failed to dominate with the new batsman at crease. Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer even shelled an easy catch at second slip from Satish when the batsman was on 15, depriving Abhishek Nayar of a wicket.Uthappa, by now, was dictating terms. With a lofted drive over mid-on against Kulkarni, he went past his previous best of 41 against Mumbai to move five short of a half-century. Then, on 49, facing Nayar, a part-time medium pace bowler, Uthappa walked across a delivery that was going down the leg side and tried to flick it hard only to get a thick edge. Onkar Gurav moved swiftly to his left, then threw himself to complete a spectacular catch that no TV or media photographers were present to record.The wicket brought together Pandey and Satish. Their contrasting batting styles made it easier for the pair to complement each other and simultaneously ensured it was difficult for the bowlers to set plans to attack them. Pandey’s was a dynamic unbeaten century; Satish started off vigilantly before opening up toward the latter half of his innings.Pandey initially countered Nayar smartly when he was offered tempting fuller but wider deliveries outside the off stump. Though patient, he never let go any scoring opportunities. He was severe on Iqbal Abdulla, who gave him enough time and space to play his shots. At lunch, he had raced past Satish – 42 against 20 – but had to be wary. In the first round against Rajasthan he hit 58, including eight fours and two sixes. He then failed against Railways last week with just four runs in a game Karnataka won comfortably. The challenge today was to build on the starts. The presence of Satish at the other end proved crucial. Satish may lack a silken touch to his shot-making, but he knew which balls needed to be left alone and where the gaps were. Pandey only prospered due to his partner’s patience.Pandey, who topped the aggregates in 2009-10 season, resumed confidently, clipping an easy four between short midwicket and mid-on. He then stepped out against Ramesh Powar to push a cover drive for four, which got him to his second half-century of the season. When Kulkarni bowled a short delivery on the off stump, Pandey collected a powerfully-driven four.Pandey nearly hit a straight six off Abdulla after lunch but the resultant four got him three runs within reach of his first century of the season; it also turned out to be his second ton against Mumbai and eighth overall. Suffering from cramps, Pandey retreated to the dressing room.The onus was on Satish to maintain the tempo established by Pandey and he did so with gusto. Short balls were either pulled or slapped in front of square and yet he never played with any undue haste. By the end, Satish would have faced 141 dot balls and run 20 runs in singles and fourteen in twos. It only showed his perseverance. Unfortunately, 17 runs short of his century, Satish mistimed a pull against Chavan to square leg and slumped to his knees in disbelief at his mistake.Though Mumbai grabbed two more wickets in the space of nine deliveries for ten runs, Vinay Kumar and Amit Verma did not allow Mumbai to wrest control and were involved in an undefeated 48-run stand for the sixth wicket. With Pandey ready to walk in tomorrow, and declaring that Karnataka could target a score of at least 450 in the first innings, Mumbai’s troubles are far from over.