All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardSamit Patel hit four sixes then took four sixes•PA Photos

Nottinghamshire Outlaws blasted their highest ever score in the Friends Life t20 as they thrashed Yorkshire Carnegie by 53 runs thanks to rapid half-centuries from Adam Voges and Samit Patel.Despite losing two wickets in their first four overs, Nottinghamshire still racked up 215 for 6 with Voges hitting 74 from 46 balls, including 10 fours and a six. Voges innings looked pedestrian in comparison to Patel, who smashed 52 from only 23 balls, including three sixes in four deliveries from Joe Root, as the pair shared 94 for the fourth wicket in just eight overs before both were dismissed by Anthony McGrath.In reply, Yorkshire’s hopes of chasing down their target evaporated in the 13th over, with Andy Carter removing Adam Lyth (43) and McGrath in successive balls.Nottinghamshire chose to bat first but lost opener Riki Wessels third ball to Adil Rashid’s leg-spin, while former Notts star Ryan Sidebottom had Alex Hales caught at point in the fourth over.But Voges combined with fellow Australian David Hussey to up the run-rate, with Rashid’s second over going for 18 before Hussey was caught at long-on off David Wainwright for 28. Voges and Patel found the boundary at will, with Root’s one over of occasional off-spin despatched for 22, Patel hitting three sixes over cover.The partnership was ended by McGrath, who had both batsmen caught off a leading edge, but Chris Read thumped three more sixes in the last three overs to finish unbeaten on 34.Yorkshire began well with 33 coming off the first four overs before Ben Phillips yorked Andrew Gale, but found the going tougher once Nottinghamshire took the pace off the ball through Patel’s left-arm spin and the medium-pace of Steven Mullaney.Patel conceded just seven off his first two overs and had Jonny Bairstow caught at long-off for 31 and once Carter removed Lyth and McGrath, Yorkshire sunk rapidly. Four more wickets fell in the closing stages, with Scott Elstone’s stunning boundary catch to dismiss Gerard Brophy off Patel a particular highlight.Patel finished with 2 for 27 to collect the man-of-the-match award as Nottinghamshire made it two wins from two matches in the North Group.

Confusion remains over Elton Chigumbura’s position as captain of Zimbabwe, but it would appear he has been retained ahead of Zimbabwe’s return to Tests in three months’ time.It had initially been thought that Chigumbura was on the brink of handing in his resignation, wanting to concentrate on regaining his own form, but subsequent reports in local newspapers suggested first that he would retain control of the Twenty20 team but hand over the reins in the longer forms, and then that no resignation had happened and that Chigumbura was still in charge.”I’m still the captain of the national team and you can seek confirmation from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC),” Chigumbura reportedly told . “Yes, at one time I contemplated quitting the post but I never officially tendered my resignation.”This would appear to contradict comments previously attributed to ZC managing director Ozias Bvute in the same newspaper, in which he explained that “the board only received a formal resignation letter from Chigumbura recently and they are still deliberating on the issue. Honestly, there is no hurry at all to name the new captain as the international calendar only resumes in August. There is still a lot of time before that.”It was suggested that Chigumbura had been pressured into his initial decision, but decided to stay on as captain after talks with ZC officials. “Chigumbura never intended to quit and most of the players know that,” a source allegedly told .”He was willing to continue working hard and regain his form and that is what he told the officials who were asking him to step down. He is a talented player and he has not become the worst over night and it is unfair for ZC to strip him now. It is a sensitive issue which had the potential to degenerate into another fight with Takashinga as they were already planning to protest moves to oust the player.”Chigumbura, 25, has enjoyed some notable successes since taking over from Prosper Utseya, including victories against India and Sri Lanka in a triangular series, in which Zimbabwe finished runners-up, at home. His own form has dipped alarmingly, however, as he’s averaged 21.06 with the bat and 158.50 with the ball in 20 ODIs as captain and was a disappointment at the World Cup.Batsmen Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza, who was controversially left out of Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad, were apparently in the running to take over the captaincy. Left-arm spinner Ray Price, who recently joined the Mumbai Indians squad in the Indian Premier League, emerged as the fans’ favourite to take over the leadership role, topping a poll in the , Zimbabwe’s largest government-owned newspaper.

Javed Miandad has turned down the role of Pakistan’s batting coach due to personal reasons, the team manager Intikhab Alam has said. Miandad had said earlier that he would consider taking up the job after Pakistan’s tour of West Indies, which begins on April 18.”The Pakistan team surely needs a batting coach and the board approached Miandad, but he unfortunately declined the offer because of personal reasons,” Alam said. “But I am sure that he will help the players in the near future.”Miandad was approached by Shahid Afridi and PCB chairman Ijaz Butt following a shaky performance in the World Cup, during which there was no Pakistan batsman in the top 20 run-scorers list. Miandad, who has had three stints as Pakistan’s head coach and is a director with the PCB, had said in early April that he would not travel with the team to the West Indies, but would work with the batsmen before their departure, as he did for Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand last year.Reacting to Miandad refusing the post, Afridi said the board should look for “other batting greats” to take up the role. “If he [Miandad] is not available, then the board can hire other batting greats that this country has produced, or even look at a foreign batting coach,” he said. “Pakistan cricket has to move on and it is not as if we have produced just one great batsman in the past.”

Match facts

Wednesday, May 4 Chennai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)”Well of course, let’s play poker”•Associated Press

Big Picture

The invincibles at home face off in back-to-back games over the next five days. Chennai go in as favourites for the first leg, but will not take things for granted. The Chepauk pitch has behaved a lot like the strip at the Sawai Man Singh – dry, slow and with lots of help for spin. The afternoon start will recreate the heat of Jaipur as well, and Shane Warne’s men might feel at home playing here. It will be up to the gladiatorial stands at Chepauk, and the vociferous fans filling them, to remind Rajasthan that this is an away game.Both sides are on the ascendancy, and will be keen to extend their three-game winning streaks. The game could be decided by the respective spin attacks. Both teams have used three-spinner arsenals to great effect in this tournament. Johan Botha has been flexible, opening the attack at times and coming in late at others – much like R Ashwin has done for Chennai. Shane Warne has rolled the years back in the middle overs, while Ashok Menaria has surprised everyone including himself with his guile. Chennai will look for the same kind of impact from Shadab Jakati and – if he plays – Suraj Randiv. Both have been inconsistent so far this year.

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai: WWWLL (fourth in points table)
Rajasthan: WWWLL (third in points table)

Team talk

Chennai will review Randiv’s role in the side. MS Dhoni likes to have three specialist spinners in the XI for home games, but Randiv has only managed five wickets in six games, and has gone at 7.69 runs per over. Jakati’s figures are worse, but he has improved dramatically in the last three games. Will Faf du Plessis be in line for an IPL debut? Or will Nuwan Kulasekara get another game?Stuart Binny has bowled only three overs and faced 24 balls in five games. Warne may consider benching him in favour of either a specialist bowler or a batsman.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

One of them is the best captain Australia never had. The other has nothing left to win – he leads the world’s ODI champions and the No. 1 Test side, and has World Twenty20, IPL and Champions League trophies in his cabinet. MS Dhoni and Shane Warne are diametrically opposite in demeanour and leadership styles, but bring the same innate flair and magnetism to their craft. Will they face off on the pitch tomorrow?We are three-and-a-half seasons into the IPL, and Rahul Dravid is yet to stamp his excellence on the tournament. He’s got starts in almost every innings this year, and has shepherded a couple of chases with his trademark assurance and correct shots. IPL glory can’t mean much to a man with over 10,000 runs in each of the formats that matter, but Dravid will still want to make a statement one of these days.

Prime numbers

• Suresh Raina is the only batsman with over 1500 IPL runs. MS Dhoni is ninth in the list with 1191 runs, while Rahul Dravid is 13th with 1074
• The last time these two teams played in Chennai, they scored a combined 469 runs in 40 overs – the highest aggregate in any single IPL game.

The chatter

“Once you have dismissed Sachin, you just develop a certain confidence. Any other wicket looks quite ordinary.”
“I am happy with the way we fought back. We play well in our home conditions and we showed that today. If we play with the same intensity we showed today, we will get far into the tournament.”

Zimbabwe Cricket have confirmed that Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand will be touring the country in the course of a busy schedule in 2011 that includes both one-day internationals and Test matches, as well as a triangular series including South Africa and an Australian A side.”The Zimbabwe Cricket team is scheduled to have a busy schedule in 2011-2012 season commencing in August,” ZC managing director Ozias Bvute told in Zimbabwe. “Tours have been confirmed with Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand and a triangular series against South Africa and Australian ‘A’ sides.”Bvute admitted frustration at Zimbabwe’s performance at the World Cup, where the team thrashed Canada and Kenya but struggled to be competitive against the top sides. He suggested that more matches against strong teams was the key to Zimbabwe’s development.”There is a lot of disappointment after our inability to progress to the quarter-finals at the World Cup, however, given the schedule of matches lined up over the next four years we feel this should adequately prepare our team for the next World Cup.”Zimbabwe’s home season begins with Bangladesh’s visit between July 1 and July 22. The two teams have been regular opponents in recent years, having played 18 ODIs against each other since January 2009, with Bangladesh winning 13 of those games. Zimbabwe will play a one-off Test match and four ODIs against them before Australia A arrive for a one-day tri-series also involving Zimbabwe and South Africa, and two four-day matches against the host. Match details are yet to be confirmed at this stage, but the tour will run from late June to late July.Pakistan then visit for another Test match, three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches from July 26 to August 19. New Zealand, who sent an A side to Zimbabwe for an unofficial Test series against Zimbabwe A last year, have not yet finalised dates for their tour.Understandably, the squads for visiting international sides are yet to be named, but Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel has announced a provisional 24-man squad which will be trimmed in May.”We have given the provisional squad advanced notice for this tour to allow them sufficient time to prepare for the series pending selection in the final squad,” said National Talent Manager Greg Chappell. “The Australia A program in recent years has played a big role in readying athletes for the rigors of international cricket, with players such as Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White and Mitchell Starc all coming into the Australian set-up at varying times over the last couple of years and having an impact.”This group is a cross section of the best young players in the country. Some of them have already had a taste of international cricket and show signs of being among those that will be the backbone of our teams in the future, while the others have shown enough in domestic cricket to suggest that they are the type of cricketer that we will need to be able to challenge India, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka for supremacy in the next few years.”With the new World Test Championship and the new ODI ranking periods beginning straight after the ICC Cricket World Cup and with tours to Sri Lanka and South Africa later this year and New Zealand and India touring Australia next summer, it will be a great opportunity for these young players to show their skills and put their name forward to be part of this challenging period for Australian cricket,” added Chappell.The last time an Australian representative team visited Zimbabwe was in 2008, when a Centre of Excellence Scholarship team toured Africa.Provisional Australia A squad: George Bailey, Michael Beer, Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Peter George, Jon Holland, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Nicolas Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Stephen O’Keefe, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

Match Facts

March 4, Mirpur
Start time 2.30 pm (0830 GMT)Chris Gayle found form against Netherlands, but he could be invaluable with bat and ball•AFP

The Big Picture

It’s not yet a knockout contest, but the loser of this one will require a standing count. After a week of ever-escalating entertainment in Group B, the tournament is just about to get deadly serious for two opponents who will have watched the past few days’ events in Bangalore with a host of contrasting emotions. Bangladesh and West Indies know a place in the quarter-finals is there for the taking, especially in light of England’s struggles to impose themselves on the tournament. But with Ireland on the march after their epic triumph on Wednesday night, there’s suddenly a sixth competitor waiting to pounce on the next team to blink.Bangladesh enter this contest on a tide of popular acclaim. The manner in which they overcame the Irish in Mirpur last week has reinforced the belief that in their favoured home conditions, with a quartet of canny spinners to take advantage of their slow, low surfaces, they are quite capable of holding their own against teams with superior credentials – let alone a team such as West Indies who are below them in the world rankings. That Ireland were able to saunter past 327 against England in Bangalore, yet flounder in pursuit of 206 in Bangladesh, will serve as a warning to West Indies’ power-hitters. Unless someone does a Sehwag – and no prizes for guessing the likeliest candidates – this one could be another war of attrition.That’s not to say that West Indies do not have the skill or patience to overcome the conditions. Chris Gayle’s diligent 110-ball 80 against the Netherlands was an atypical performance from such an explosive player, but it mirrored almost perfectly Tamim Iqbal’s 86-ball 70 in Bangladesh’s opening defeat against India. It’s almost as though the two men had primed themselves for a controlled explosion at a later date, and just as Tamim’s 44 made the difference against Ireland, the winner of their head-to-head tussle could well propel the destiny of the match.Realistically, this one is too close to call. Both teams have begun with a win and a loss apiece, but if West Indies’ dispatching of the Netherlands was eye-catchingly comprehensive, with Kemar Roach’s hat-trick setting the seal on an excellent day’s work, Bangladesh’s self-belief in their out-muscling of Ireland was no less impressive. Strength in adversity has rarely been Bangladesh’s strong-point, but right from the moment Mohammad Ashraful reduced the Irish to 75 for 3 in the 19th over, their body language was that of a team that knew it would win. In a tussle between two teams ranked eighth and ninth in the world, such displays of belief will be critical.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WLWWW
West Indies WLLLL

Watch out for…

Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib Al Hasan, is a combative cricketer and a top-notch left-arm spinner. With his unwavering accuracy and subtle variations in flight and bite, he is capable of rattling through his overs almost before a batsman has a chance to react, and no-one in the Bangladesh team is better equipped to turn the screw if West Indies allow themselves to lose momentum in the middle overs. With the bat he has looked in form without kicking on to a big one. There’s no time like the present to restate his credentials as the world’s leading allrounder in ODI cricket.It’s hard to look beyond Chris Gayle for West Indian inspiration in this fixture. As Virender Sehwag showed for India in the tournament opener, massive totals are possible at Mirpur if a batsman is willing to put his weight through every shot. His darting offspin might be of equal value, however. He rarely looks as though he’s trying with the ball, as he plods in off two paces and spears each delivery straight into the blockhole. But the slower they arrive, the slower they tend to be dispatched in Bangladesh.

Team news

Bangladesh have named their twelve: the XI that played in the last game, plus the offspinner Mahmudullah, who made way for Mohammad Ashraful in the Ireland game. A recall is conceivable, though it would be tough on either Naeem Islam, whose tidy spell backed up a vital 29, or Ashraful, whose de facto role as an on-field mascot got the Mirpur crowd right behind the team early in the contest.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mohammad Ashraful, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Rubel Hossain.With Dwayne Bravo ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, West Indies have been shorn of a key allrounder and a cunning allsorts bowler who would have been very handy in the conditions. But an unchanged side is on the cards after a handsome and morale-boosting win over the Dutch.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Nikita Miller, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

The word in town is that a more helpful spinning wicket has been prepared for this fixture, though that is a common refrain – the likelihood is another shock-absorber of a surface. The weather conditions are not a problem, and it’s much warmer than during the Ireland fixture, so dew should be even less of a factor under the lights.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh have not faced West Indies in 50-over cricket since their tour of the Caribbean in July 2009, in which they achieved a clean sweep in the three-match series, and also triumphed in the Test series, against a team stricken by industrial action.
• Bangladesh could have as many as nine survivors from that final ODI, at Basseterre. West Indies can still call upon the services of five players, including the captain Darren Sammy, and the paceman Kemar Roach.
• Chris Gayle needs one run to reach 8000 in ODIs.

Quotes

“Obviously we want to go to the next round. It is not as if we have to win tomorrow because we will have three more matches but a win will surely take us a step forward.”
“You can say Bangladesh are ranked higher than us, but we have to go out and play to the best of our ability. We won’t be taking them lightly, but at the end of the day, they are beatable, we have done it before. We have a gameplan and we will go out and execute it.”

Allen Stanford, the American billionaire who invested in cricket in the Caribbean, has been deemed unfit to stand trial on charges of running a $7 billion fraud and needs treatment for a drug addiction, a US judge has ruled.Stanford is facing charges of fraud, money laundering and obstruction but the court has ruled him incompetent to face trial. He sustained an injury after being attacked in jail in 2009 and has become addicted to the medication he was prescribed for treating depression and anxiety.”The court finds Stanford is incompetent to stand trial at this time based on his apparent impaired ability to rationally assist his attorneys in preparing his defense,” US District Judge David Hittner wrote in his ruling in Houston, Texas.Hittner denied a request by Stanford’s lawyers to release him on bond and place him in a private treatment facility for his addiction, ordering him instead to be committed to the custody of the attorney general to “undergo medical treatment for his current impaired mental capacity” and eventually take a competency exam. The judge also recommended that Stanford be sent to a medical facility within the US Bureau of Prisons.Stanford became famous in the cricket world after creating the Stanford 20/20 tournament in the West Indies. He then, in partnership with the ECB, launched a Stanford Super Series Twenty20 cricket competition with his All-star team from the West Indies taking on England in a $20-million winner-take-all match.Stanford has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of fraud, money laundering and obstruction. He faces up to 375 years in jail if convicted.

Ryan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder who played for Canterbury in the HRV Cup, has been declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.Canterbury finished third in the HRV Cup with 22 points behind Central Districts and eventual winners Auckland, and ten Doeschate was one of their most consistent performers right through the tournament. He ended the tournament as their second-highest run-scorer with 284 from nine games at an average of 40.57 with a strike-rate of nearly 122. He was also their joint fourth-highest wicket-taker, with 12 wickets in nine games at an average of 17.66 and played a key role in their wins over Wellington and Otago early in the competition.ten Doeschate will now play for Tasmania in the ongoing Big Bash series in Australia. He will also be the mainstay of Netherlands’ batting in next month’s World Cup in the subcontinent.

India looked a side at comfort with itself during their first fullpractice session with the whole squad for the Tests, butthere was cause for concern with Zaheer Khan choosing to go throughjust fitness drills due to what seems like a hamstring injury.ESPNcricinfo understands that the scans have failed to pick anything,but neither Zaheer nor the team wants to risk aggravating the injury.”As of now he is not [fit],” a team source told ESPNcricinfo. “Thereare still three days to go to the Test, so we didn’t want to take anyrisks.” So, even as the rest of the team had a good workout in the netsat the Supersport Park in Centurion, Zaheer spent time with PaulClose, the team physio. He went through the light fitness drillgingerly, often holding on to the groin area.It could be an injury picked up during the fourth ODI against NewZealand, in Bangalore. As he finished the 49th over of the New Zealandinnings – only his eighth in the match – Zaheer went back holding on tothe groin area. Then Zaheer was making a comeback from a groin injurythat had him miss the third Test and the first two ODIs against NewZealand. He also didn’t feature in the fifth and final ODI in Chennai.This hasn’t been a good year for Zaheer’s body. He missed the whole of the tour of Sri Lanka with an injury to the same shoulder that was operatedon two years ago. He started his comeback through the Champions LeagueTwenty20 in South Africa and did well in the home Tests against Australiabefore getting injured again.The team is hopeful Zaheer will make it to the first Teststarting Thursday, but, should he be ruled out, India have Umesh Yadavand Jaydev Unadkat to choose from – unless they want to go with twospinners, in which case Pragyan Ojha will come in.

Kamran Akmal scored 268, his first double-century in first-class cricket, to carry National Bank of Pakistan to a first innings total of 467 in their match against Faisalabad at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. Akmal, who has lost the wicketkeeper spot in the Pakistan Test side to his younger brother Adnan, got NBP accelerated on the second day as he scored 133 of the 191 runs made by his team. Faced with a big target, Faisalabad’s openers were undaunted, as Shahid Siddiq and Farrukh Shehzad both made unbeaten half-centuries to take their side to 152 for no loss at the close of play.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited put themselves in pole position against Islamabad in a low-scoring match at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. The hosts were 117 runs ahead with just one wicket in hand, as they attempted to set SNGPL a decent total to chase. SNGPL seamers Imran Ali and Asad Ali, who shared all ten wickets in Islamabad’s first-innings, did the job again taking five and three wickets respectively to reduce the hosts to 205 for 9. An unbeaten half-century by Imad Wasim provided Islamabad’s only resistance. SNGPL’s tail wagged in the morning, as they added 43 runs to their overnight score of 142 for 8.Water and Power Development Authority continued their dominance against Karachi Blues on the second day at the National Stadium in Karachi. Sohaib Maqsood scored 182 before WAPDA declared on 399 for 5. Pakistan fast bowler Naved-ul-Hasan, who took four wickets in Karachi’s first innings, struck an early blow by dismissing opener Naved Khan to leave Karachi 19 for 1, and needing another 247 to make the visitors bat again. WAPDA scored at a brisk rate of 3.78 in their innings, and their captain Naved-ul-Hasan showed real intent to win the match by declaring before the close of play on the second day.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited were three wickets away from their third victory of the season at the Multan Cricket Stadium, as they took 15 Multan wickets on the second day. Having scored 325, the ZTBL bowlers set about dismantling Multan’s batting, bowling them out for 134 and then getting a further seven wickets after making as the hosts followed on. Multan still trail by 42 runs.Rawalpindi took control of their match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as they bowled Habib Bank Limited out for 164 on the second day. HBL started the day positively, allowing Rawalpindi to add just 56 to their overnight score of 334 for 5, as HBL fast bowler Fahad Masood ran through the tail, finishing with figures of 5 for 83. Unfortunately for HBL, the start of their innings was equally wicket-laden, as they collapsed to 29 for 4. A couple of late partnerships pushed HBL’s score to 164, but they still conceded a 226-run lead to the hosts.A half-century by their captain, Mansoor Amjad, restored some parity for Sialkot at the end of the second day after Pakistan International Airlines had posted a big first innings score at the Jinnah Stadium. Sialkot were stuttering at 61 for 3 at one stage before their captain ensured they finished the day at 142, still 246 runs behind PIA with seven wickets in hand. PIA Wicketkeeper Anop Santosh scored the majority of the visitors’ runs on the second day, getting 105 off 159 balls.