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[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

India's agony continues....

India’s cup of woes continued to overflow under the damp skies in England. The host defeated M.S. Dhoni’s men by three wickets in the third ODI of the NatWest Series at the Oval here on Friday night.

Chasing India’s 234 for seven, England scored 218 for seven in 41.5 overs after the overall target was reduced to 218 from 43 overs following a rain-interruption. England has now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead with two more matches left in the series.

England’s pursuit commenced on a healthy note with Craig Kieswetter (51, 46b, 3x4, 3x6) and skipper Alastair Cook sharing a 63-run partnership. Kieswetter clouted Praveen Kumar for two sixes and also enjoyed a reprieve when he popped a catch back to a tumbling Munaf Patel, who failed to hold on.

The texture of the contest changed when the spinners struck in tandem after Munaf prised out Cook. Jadeja and Ashwin castled Kieswetter and Trott respectively and with England on 95 for three in 20 overs, India sniffed a chance and at that precise moment the skies opened up.

England better placed

England was however better placed as per the Duckworth-Lewis method that required them to muster a par score of 90 for three in 20 overs. The inclement weather improved for the better and when the match resumed with England needing 123 from 23 overs, India again sensed a chance as Dhoni’s throw caught Ian Bell napping and Ashwin bowled Ben Stokes around his legs.

Ravi Bopara (40) and Tim Bresnan then nudged the score until Jadeja struck again. The left-arm spinner bowled Bresnan through the gate. It all boiled down to 17 from 18 deliveries and Ashwin added another twist to the tale by breaching Bopara’s citadel. India had no more luxuries as Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad sealed the match in England’s favour.

Fatal trigger

Earlier the Indian fans in their blue jerseys had hardly settled down when their favourite team re-visited its batting horrors in the Tests. The fatal trigger was the familiar mix of overcast skies, hint of swing and James Anderson steaming in.

The collapse forced Dhoni (69) to oscillate between attack and the hurried single. The skipper’s effort and Jadeja’s 78 helped India post a score that seemed impossible after the initial pavilion-bound procession once Cook won the toss and opted to field.

Anderson played an active hand in reducing the visitor to 25 for four in 10.2 overs. Ajinkya Rahane nibbled at his third delivery and deprived of the short-pitched stuff to pull and slash, a cramped Parthiv Patel pushed Bresnan to mid-off, tried to steal a single and Rahul Dravid failed to beat Anderson’s throw at the striker’s end. Anderson then cleaned up Parthiv with the fuller length while the opener tried to flick one off his toes.

The misery continued when Virat Kohli wafted at Anderson. Suresh Raina flicked Bresnan and lofted Anderson but a needless swipe against Broad proved costly and India needed a rousing effort and strong partnerships.

Dhoni (69, 103b, 5x4) complied with the requirement. He drove Anderson, punched Jade Dernbach and quickly switched to his tap-and-run routine. The Indian captain nearly inner-edged Ravi Bopara onto his stumps but the ball raced to the fine-leg boundary and it was the sort of luck that he and the team needed besides a strong ally and that he found through southpaw Jadeja (78, 89b, 10x4).
Good comeback
Making a comeback into the Indian team and picked ahead of Manoj Tiwary, Jadeja looked assured and threaded a few through the off-side . Along with his captain, Jadeja raised 112 runs for the sixth-wicket and just as the batting Power Play was sought from the 44th over, Dhoni fell. Jadeja and an enterprising Ashwin then batted with abandon. Dernbach was thumped for 19 runs in an over with the pick being Jadeja’s pick-up stroke and Ashwin’s upper-cut.
Jadeja was dismissed in the last over and later under lights he watched his effort go in vain as England reigned supreme.
Newspaper : The Hindu, 10th September

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Losing early wickets made a big impact, admits Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that losing top five batsmen quickly made a big impact on the result of the third ODI which England won by three wickets.

"Early wickets made a big impact. I believe we did a good job to reach the score after losing five wickets quickly but it wasn't a safe score though. We needed to bowl well in order to defend that score," the Indian captain said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

He was all praise for Ravindra Jadeja who scored 78 runs and took two wickets.
"He played really well. Actually, when I came in to bat, it didn't seam as much as it was doing initially. It was all about adjusting to the situation and we did that," the skipper said. On personal front, he was happy to make a significant contribution.

"If you look at the earlier two matches, both were T20s and batting at No. 6, one can only think about stepping up the momentum. Here, we got lot of overs to plan our innings." About his team's bowling, Dhoni said that when seven overs were curtailed, he felt that his bowlers had an advantage.

"If you look at our score, not many runs were deducted when seven overs were reduced. But at the same time, the wet outfield ensured that the ball was heavy and came on to the bat nicely. It was just easy to score."

Dhoni's opposite number Alastair Cook termed it as team effort but heaped praise on James Anderson for his quick breakthroughs and Craig Kieswetter for his aggressive batting that set up the victory.
Newspaper: Press Trust Of India

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Australia take stranglehold of 2nd test

Australia took a stranglehold of the second test against Sri Lanka at lunch on the third day. The scoreboard read 471 for the loss of 7 wickets – more than 300 runs ahead of the Sri Lankan first innings score.

The only wicket to fall in more than a day was that Michael Hussey, who made 142. He was caught in the deep by Sangakkara, trying to push the scoring rate. The bowler? Batsman Thilan Samaraweera.

Earlier, Hussey and State team-mate Shaun Marsh completed their centuries in contrasting styles as the duo put the second test past Sri Lanka’s grasp. Marsh is still around, unconquered on 130. Usman Khawaja has joined him and has the huge task of pushing up the scoring rate and make a decent score to remain in the team.

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Australia take stranglehold of 2nd test

Australia took a stranglehold of the second test against Sri Lanka at lunch on the third day. The scoreboard read 471 for the loss of 7 wickets – more than 300 runs ahead of the Sri Lankan first innings score.

The only wicket to fall in more than a day was that Michael Hussey, who made 142. He was caught in the deep by Sangakkara, trying to push the scoring rate. The bowler? Batsman Thilan Samaraweera.

Earlier, Hussey and State team-mate Shaun Marsh completed their centuries in contrasting styles as the duo put the second test past Sri Lanka’s grasp. Marsh is still around, unconquered on 130. Usman Khawaja has joined him and has the huge task of pushing up the scoring rate and make a decent score to remain in the team.
Newspaper: The Hindu

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Bowlers have been off the mark
Article
Sunil Gavaskar

Another game, another loss. It really is incredible that the World champions have been snatching defeats from the jaws of victory in the limited-over series so far.

Perhaps their fortunes will change if they are chasing rather than defending, but to do that they have to win the toss and give themselves that option but that also is not happening. Luck seems to have turned its face away from the Indians.

In all the games so far they have managed good scores only to find the bowlers not able to keep the lid on the scoring. In conditions where seam and swing bowlers should prosper, India's bowlers have been wide of the mark and have offered scoring opportunities so that England's batsmen don't have to look to create them.

The conditions at the Oval were perfect for swing and seam and young Rahane found that out when a ‘peach' from Anderson consumed him for his first failure in international cricket. It is a learning curve for him and if he spends a lot of time with Rahul Dravid he will learn a great deal about batting, not just the strokes aspect but how to build an innings, when to go for the big shots, when to wait a bowler out. There has been no better builder of high rise innings than Dravid. It is for Rahane to learn that and create prose or poetry of his own.

It is the same for the other young batsmen in the team like Manoj Tiwary, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, who, by spending time with Dravid and Tendulkar, will learn more about batting than from anywhere else.

Unfortunately the same expertise and experience is not available to the bowlers with Zaheer injured and out of the team, but he is another whose inputs have been invaluable in the development of Ishant Sharma and others. What wouldn't Praveen Kumar give to open the attack with Zaheer, but even he is looking a bit jaded and tired now.

Fielding, though, is another matter and here the person must want every ball to come to him like Suresh Raina does. He is worth his place in any team for the enthusiasm and energy he brings to the task. The one thing that the fielding coach must tell his youngsters is not to throw unnecessarily.

The T20 effect means that fielders throw the ball even when there is no realistic chance of a run out and that could result in overthrows and upsets the captain and the bowler and makes the bowler lose his focus for the next few deliveries.

Ravindra Jadeja picked up the Man-of-the-match award in his comeback game. He has always been more of a batsman who could bowl and his batting performance was not a surprise but the way he exploited the turn was great to see and he will have more confidence in his bowling now. What the beleaguered Indian captain needs though is some fresh ammunition and not the spent bullets he has with him now.
Newspaper: The Hindu, September 11, 2011

 

[Karthik]

RE: General cricket talk

Lala Amarnath -- The big daddy of Indian cricket
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_lala-amarnath-the-big-daddy-of-indian-cricket_1585902

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Pak not to use DRS in Tests vs SL, England.

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided against using the Decision Review System in the Test series against Sri Lanka and England, but will have the technology in place for the ODI and Twenty20 matches.

A senior PCB official told PTI before leaving for the ICC awards ceremony and meetings, that the DRS would not be used in the six Tests scheduled against Sri Lanka and England due to the high costs of having it installed.

"We in principle support the use of the DRS and want it for both Tests and ODIs, but unfortunately we couldn't reach an understanding with our broadcasters for the Tests (in the United Arab Emirates)," PCB Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmad said.

"We have, however, reached a understanding with a company to bear the costs for the use of the UDRS technology in the one-day matches in both series," Ahmad said.

Pakistan play three Tests and five ODIs and T20 matches against Sri Lanka in October and November, and three Tests, four ODIs and two T20 matches against England in January and February next year.

Both the series have been confirmed at the UAE venues of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah due to the refusal of teams to tour Pakistan because of security concerns.

He said the board didn't include the use of DRS in its existing contract with its broadcaster, Ten Sports, as the deal was signed before the ICC approved the use of DRS in all international matches subject to both boards involved in a bilateral series agreeing to it.

"But when we sign our next contract for broadcasting rights we will try to ensure the broadcaster is willing to bear the costs of using the DRS system in our series, including Tests and ODIs," the official said.
Source: PTI

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

I will not crib about the tie: Dhoni

London: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni took the result of the fourth one-day international against England, which ended in a tie here on Sunday, in his stride.

Rain forced the match between the two sides to end in a dramatic tie under the Duckworth-Lewis method, allowing the hosts to clinch the five-match ODI series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead, but Dhoni did not seem too upset.

"I will not crib about the tie. Today when the ball got wet, we had enough resources. We know (Suresh) Raina has fair amount of firepower and if he gets going, can destroy any attack in the world. We have not won anything. It has been a long tour, we have one more game, we will give it our best," Dhoni said after the match.

As for Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni said, "Jadeja is doing his job brilliantly. In conditions like these, it is hard for the part-timers."

Jadeja conceded 60 runs for a wicket from nine overs and also made a wild overthrow in the 40th over of the innings, which helped England in scoring 15 runs.

England captain Alastair Cook though the tie was a "fair" result.

"It was touch and go towards the end, we ended up batting for D/L, being more defensive knocking off the singles, not sure when the rain was coming. Tie was a fair result. Great to see (Ravi) Bopara delivering on the big stage to get us a tie," Cook said.

Bopara scored 96 to bring England within touching distance of a victory, and Cook was, understandably, appreciative of his batsman's effort.

"We tried everything earlier but that partnership (between Dhoni and Raina) was fantastic. If we had kept them to 250, we could have got there comfortably. Possibly we missed Dernbach. We will know on (Stuart) Broad in 48 hours," Cook said.

Raina, who struck a blazing 84 off 75 balls, said, the plan was to hit the balls in his zone.

"I was batting well but not getting big scores. My game plan is simple, when I get the ball in my areas, I play my game. Disappointing for Ravi to not have got the 100," Raina said.

More than missing out on a well-deserved century, Bopara was disappointed with the way his side had to clinch the series.

"Not an ideal way to clinch the series, with the rain around, we did not know when to accelerate. Should I knock it for ones and twos, or go for the big shots, once (Graeme) Swann got out I thought we should really go for it towards the close. (The) last couple of games have been nice for me, (but still a) long way to go ahead," Bopara said.
SourceTI

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

2nd ODI: Pakistan maul Zim by 10 wickets

Harare: Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat led Pakistan to 228 runs for no wickets in a domineering opening partnership that secured a 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the second one-day international in Harare on Sunday.

Hafeez hit an unbeaten 139 while Farhat stroked 75 not out as Pakistan reached the 226-run winning target set by Zimbabwe with almost eight overs to spare and took a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

"he 30-year-old all-rounder Hafeez was the more aggressive of the two batsmen as he cracked 13 boundaries and a six from 147 balls, while Farhat got six fours in his 106-ball innings.

Earlier, Hamilton Masakadza (68) and Brendan Taylor (50) hit half-centuries as Zimbabwe totaled 225-6.

Pakistan's opening bowler Sohail Tanvir bowled with good accuracy and pace to claim 2-33 as Zimbabwe struggled for runs on a tricky wicket for batting.

"We haven't come close to winning the game today but Wednesday (in the final match) is another day," said Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher.

"Every game that we play is important for us to get credibility on the international scene," he added. "I don't think we coped well earlier on with the new ball. I think we are trying to hit the ball very hard instead of just playing it simple."
SourceTI

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: Cricket In Daily Newspapers

Sri Lanka, Australia draw rain-hit second Test

Resolute Sri Lankan batting and bad weather frustrated Australia's bid for a series-clinching win as the second Test ended in a draw in Pallekele on Monday.

Just 35.3 overs were bowled on the final day, in which Sri Lanka moved from their overnight score of 223-2 to 317-6 in the second
innings, an overall lead of 80 with four wickets in hand.

Three half-centuries led a determined batting display by the hosts, who had faced defeat after being shot out for 174 in their first knock.

Seamer Ryan Harris finished with 3-54 as the tourists chipped away at the Sri Lankan middle order, but rain did not leave enough time for Michael Clarke's men to force the result that would have given them the series.
Australia lead the three-match series 1-0 after their 125-run win in the first Test in Galle, with the final Test starting at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Friday.

Sri Lanka, who trailed by 14 runs at the start of the day, lost both their overnight batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, within the first hour.

Australia removed the two star batsmen with the second new ball, which was taken as soon as it was due after one over from Trent Copeland with the old ball.

Sangakkara failed to add to his overnight score of 69 when he was squared up by a lifting delivery from Harris and edged a waist-high catch to Clarke at second slip.

The dismissal broke a threatening 101-run stand for the third wicket between Sri Lanka's main batting hopes.

Clarke then dived to his left to snap a stunning low catch in the slips and send back Jayawardene for 51 off the bowling off Copeland.

Jayawardene stood his ground as the umpires debated whether the ball had touched the ground before landing in Clarke's hand, but replays confirmed it was a clean catch.

Sri Lanka were 288-4, a lead of 51 runs, when a sharp shower drove the players back to the pavilion and the umpires ordered lunch 30 minutes early.

When play resumed, Australia grabbed two wickets in the space of six runs to reduce Sri Lanka to 307-6.

Harris picked up his third wicket of the innings when he forced Prasanna Jayawardene (21) to edge a catch to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin.

Thilan Samaraweera made a dogged 43 when he was dismissed in similar fashion by Shane Watson in the post-lunch session.
Newspaper: Hindustantimes