All posts by h716a5.icu

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said that he is “ready” to take up the role of Pakistan’s bowling coach, if approached by the Pakistan Cricket Board

Umar Farooq17-Aug-2012Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has said that he is “ready” to take up the bowling coach role, even on a part-time basis, if approached by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The PCB has been searching for a bowling coach since the appointment of Dav Whatmore as the head coach and Julien Fountain as the fielding coach.”I am ready to be the bowling coach. I will offer my services If the PCB contacts me,” Akhtar told reporters at the NCA in Lahore. “It’s an honour to serve the country and it can be done by helping the upcoming bowlers. It will give me a chance to pay back what the country has given me.”Akhtar, who retired after the World Cup in 2011, had 178 Test and 247 ODI wickets in a 14-year-long career marred by controversies and injuries.”The current lot of bowlers are good, but not as good as what we are known for in our strong history of fast bowling,” he said. “I always hear that we have talent, but what is more important is to hunt down that talent. Unfortunately, we have been struggling in fast bowling for the last one and half years.”Akhtar suggested that the PCB use the services of past greats, like Imran Khan, to unearth talent. “He [Imran] has that eye to spot the talent and it would be ideal if he could take out some time.”Pakistan, Akhtar said, had the in-house talent for the job, but he also suggested Daryl Foster as a possibility to return to the job he held in 2003, if Pakistan had to look outside. Recently, the PCB had also made a formal offer to Wasim Akram for a short-term coaching role for young fast bowlers but an agreement couldn’t be reached owing to Akram’s busy schedule.Commenting on the upcoming series against Australia in UAE, Akhtar said that the onus would be on spinners in the absence of experienced fast-bowlers. Pakistan have dropped Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami for the tour. “Pakistan is already lacking true strike bowlers and [Umar] Gul obviously will be missed this time. If pitches in UAE are flat, then I am afraid things won’t be good for the young fast-bowlers and the spinners, as usual, will have to take the extra load.”

A half-century from Niall O’Brien and three wickets each from spinner George Dockrell and medium-pacer Alex Cusack helped Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 54 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2012
ScorecardA half-century from Niall O’Brien and three wickets each from spinner George Dockrell and medium-pacer Alex Cusack helped Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 54 runs in a warm-up match in Colombo.Ireland were sent in to bat and made a quick start before losing their openers in successive overs. Niall O’Brien and Ed Joyce steadied the innings with a 83-run stand, and Niall O’Brien carried on to score 62 off 49 balls. Kevin O’Brien provided the finishing touches by smacking 30 off 14 balls to lead Ireland to 181.Boyd Rankin gave the defence the perfect start by trapping Vusi Sibanda lbw first ball, before Hamilton Masakadza’s aggressive 44 off 27 balls powered Zimbabwe to 74 for 2 in the ninth over. Dockrell made the breakthrough by dismissing Masakadza and then got rid of Stuart Matsikenyeri the next ball. Cusack’s double strike in the 10th over reduced Zimbabwe to 75 for 6 and they did not recover. Zimbabwe slipped to 83 for 8 before the ninth-wicket partnership led them to 127.

Kevin Pietersen described his innings of 182 in Mumbai as ‘pretty satisfying’ but said it would mean more if England went on to win the Test

David Hopps25-Nov-2012There must have been days during his exile from England’s dressing room that Kevin Pietersen feared he would never play again a Test innings as magnificent as the one he produced in Mumbai.There must have been days when he feared he would never play another Test innings at all.His response to that suggestion, a strikingly downbeat response for someone who had just produced one of the most memorable innings in Test history, was to shrug that he never looked as far ahead as the next day.”I never know what is going to happen tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t take myself that seriously. I do everything on a day-to-day basis. What will be, will be. I live my life day to day.”It sounded a cop out until one reflected that a lack of forethought had been evident the moment he embarked upon his rebellion against the ECB and ultimately became estranged from much of the England dressing room in the process.Day-to-day living looked the way to go as Pietersen turned 180 degrees on the boundary edge at the Wankhede Stadium to acknowledge the applause of the crowd. India loves his star quality, his individuality and his capacity to entertain.No Englishman, one would wager, comes anywhere near to his popularity. Boris Johnson, in Delhi to drum up trade with India as Mayor of London, could take back billions in trade deals if he was seen out for dinner with Pietersen.Pietersen produces great moments, and revels in them, but he rarely cares to assess them. “It will mean a lot more if we win tomorrow but it was a pretty difficult wicket,” he said. “You knew at some stage a ball had your name on it so to play as well as that was pretty satisfying.””We have come here to learn, we have come here to try to win, and we want to front up to the challenge. The captain asked that of us before the Test.”Along with that captain, Alastair Cook, he reached 22 Test hundreds, equalling the best by any England batsman. The sweep shot – often derided during England’s troubled year – had been well executed by both batsmen during a third-wicket stand of 206 that began to turn the Test in England’s favour.”I think some of the greatest batsmen who have come to India and been successful have been very good sweepers – our coach for one,” he said, recalling Andy Flower’s unbeaten double hundred for Zimbabwe in Nagpur.”It messes around with the lengths that the spinners bowl and it messes around with the fields. It negates that little leg gully that can cause issues if the spinners bowl straight to you. As long as you play it well and pick the right ball it’s fine. If you play it sixth or seventh ball and miss it like I did in Ahmedabad you look like a clown.”I wasn’t playing well at all in Ahmedabad. I didn’t trust my defence as much as I trusted my defence in this Test match and as a batter if you don’t trust your defence you try too many things, you try to force the issue.”So I went and did a lot of hard work as I always do and luckily it had paid off. I like to keep things simple. I just didn’t go into that Test match trusting my defence. I don’t think the warm-up matches going into that Test match tested my defence. It is just about keeping things simple and doing the basics right.”It was not a day for him to celebrate, certainly not in the company of an English media that, in some cases, had been critical of him in a personal way not seen to such an extent since Geoffrey Boycott began his own self-imposed exile from England nearly 40 years earlier. The hurt is not easily forgotten.The much-vaunted reintegration process with the England dressing room has been completed. Perhaps he needs another one with the media.He spoke in more relaxed fashion on ESPN Star Sports to Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain who also had his detractors and who saw him at his lowest moments when they worked alongside each other in a studio in Colombo during World Twenty20 after England refused to pick him.How did it feel to be back? “It feels really good, thanks Sourav,” he said. “I was with you for two weeks through the turmoil but, no, this is great. I’m back playing cricket for England, it’s amazing to get back into the Test scene and to get some runs on a wicket like this and hopefully help us win a Test match, would be magnificent.”Not that he was prepared to claim that the game was already won, with the memory still fresh of England’s collapse to 72 all out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in January.”It’s definitely a cliffhanger, for sure,” he said. “You’ve seen the wicket now, it’s spinning, bouncing, from straight, from off-straight. It’s going to be a tough time to go out there and hopefully we don’t have to face too many. We don’t want to have to chase a 100 or 120 on there; we tried that once this year and failed in Abu Dhabi.”

Angelo Mathews has expressed enthusiasm for the leadership role and appears ready to take over the captaincy once Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s current Test captain, steps down

Andrew Fernando in Hobart12-Dec-2012Angelo Mathews has expressed enthusiasm for the leadership role and appears ready to take over the captaincy once Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s current Test captain, steps down. Jayawardene accepted the post reluctantly in January and has seemed eager to be rid of the reins ever since. He has hinted he will step down after the tour of Australia as long as Sri Lanka avert disaster there, and his deputy’s apparent willingness to take over will only make that move easier.Mathews is already Sri Lanka’s Twenty20 captain and has been groomed for the role in the longer formats. He arrives in Australia in form, having been the team’s top-scorer in the home series against New Zealand, and has seen his Test batting bloom over the last 18 months. 

He has been the vice-captain in all formats since July 2011, and in the SLPL, he led the Nagenahira Nagas to the final of the competition.Mathews’ unflinching attitude and an expanding reputation for even-headedness under pressure have made him appear much more like captaincy-material than at the end of Kumar Sangakkara’s tenure, when he was considered for the role, but lost out to Tillakaratne Dilshan.”I think that’s totally up to the selectors – if they think I’m ready for the captaincy, I’m ready,” Mathews said. “It doesn’t really matter for now because Mahela’s been a great captain for years and I think he’s been serving the country for decades. But if the selectors think I’m ready – it’s up to them.”If he does succeed Jayawardene after the tour, and there are no retirements, he will lead a side with three former captains and several other players senior to him in age, if not always in international experience. At 25, Mathews may be leading one of Sri Lanka’ oldest Test sides, but he said he sees the older players’ presence as a boon, rather than a challenge. Indeed, the prospect of having time to mentor Mathews in the initial phase of his captaincy has been the reason Jayawardene has cited for wanting to relinquish the captaincy before he retires.”When I initially got into the team, there were so many captains. Sanath Jayasuriya was there, and now we have Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela. They teach us a lot and we can always go back to them to ask questions, and they’re always willing to help out. There’s a lot we can learn from Mahela.”Mathews has been penetrative with the ball in ODIs, but has performed more of a holding role in Tests, where he has been economical, but far less incisive. Jayawardene has said Mathews will continue to be kept low in the order to accommodate contributions with the ball, and Mathews was keen to bowl more overs in this series.”I’ve been managing myself on different conditions, and Mahela has been pretty good with that. In Australia, the conditions might suit my bowling and I’m hopeful of bowling plenty of overs.”Mathews also offered some insight into the team’s makeup for the first Test, which begins on Friday, marking out left-hander Dimuth Karunaratne as the more likely partner to Dilshan at the top of the innings, over Tharanga Paranavitana. Karunaratne made his debut against New Zealand in Galle last month, hitting a run-a-ball unbeaten 60 in the second innings, after failing to score in the first.”Dimuth is a very aggressive player, he always looks to score runs, while Paranavitana has been having a pretty bad run in the recent past. I think Dimuth has a slight edge, but we haven’t decided on anything.”He was less hopeful of Dinesh Chandimal’s chances though, despite his good ODI record in Australia. 

”Unfortunately I can’t see Chandimal getting into the team for this Test. We’ll have to see how it goes with the batters. He’s been batting really well in the nets, so it’s just that we won’t be able to give him a chance this time.”

Sri Lanka’s new chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has highlighted the value of senior players in the Test side

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jan-2013Sri Lanka’s new chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has highlighted the value of senior players in the Test side, after weeks of rumours suggested Mahela Jayawardene may be cut from the team after his public spat with the selectors last month.Other rumours also suggested Kumar Sangakkara’s place was in doubt, as he was captain when Jayasuriya was dropped from the limited overs sides, but Jayasuriya said he did not bring any prejudices to his new role, and that selections will be made objectively.Jayawardene had expressed his dismay at seeing a confidential letter to SLC in the papers in December, when he wrote to news outlets to clarify the letter’s context and stated he had “lost all confidence in dealing with SLC” as a result of the leak. SLC then issued a statement saying Jayawardene’s comments would be reviewed by the executive committee, but no concrete disciplinary action has been taken, over a month later.Jayasuriya reiterated that his panel would not be waylaid by past disagreements or politics, and would instead endeavour only to improve cricket in Sri Lanka.”I’ve already said that we need the senior cricketers in the set up,” he said. “Without senior players, it’s very difficult for the youngsters to go forward. As a selection panel, we haven’t had discussions yet, but the seniors have a role to play.”We haven’t been appointed to cut Mahela or Sangakkara from the team, we’re here to make good selections. It’s good to introduce one or two youngsters in the team, but you can’t make big changes at once. We will work step-by-step with the seniors.”Jayasuriya also laid out a rough strategy for his panel, two of whom will be employed as full-time selectors, and said there would be a greater drive to unearth talent from Sri Lanka’s club system. Hashan Tillakaratne and Pramodya Wickramasinghe have been given the full-time roles.”What we expect from the full time selectors is that they play close attention to every match, with specific objectives in mind. Maybe one of them will focus on Under-19 cricket and the A team, and the other will work closely with the national team and be there at training. The remaining members will also have specific roles, and we will be watching club cricket and will be informed about under-19 cricket as well.”Jayasuriya said he may also send a letter to each of the clubs asking them to select their six best players, who will then travel to Colombo for a two-day training camp which the selectors will oversee.”There might be cricketers in those clubs that are good enough to play for Sri Lanka, but they have been missed. If we have a two-day period when we can observe them, we will have a good idea of who the talented players are. We can even form a database, and if someone starts doing well at club level, we already have an idea of how good they are.”One of the new panel’s first tasks will be to name a new Test and ODI captain after Jayawardene stepped down from the post during the tour of Australia, but Jayasuriya would not be drawn on whether he favoured a split captaincy, nor would he name potential candidates for the job.”There are a few names, but we haven’t discussed anything yet, and we haven’t talked about any captaincy issues. There has been a lot of media speculation about what we have been discussing or who we will appoint, but there’s nothing like that. That’s a decision that needs to be thought out carefully and discussed a lot.”The new panel officially takes over on February 1, and will be charged first with naming a Test side for the upcoming Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka which begins on March 9.

A look back at the highs and lows from the third week of the Bangladesh Premier League

Mohammad Isam10-Feb-2013Chamara Kapugedera, along with other Rajshahi players, almost boycotted their match against Khulna over pending payments•Shaun Roy/SPORTZPICS/SLPLThe local flavor
The local players have made an impact in the second season of the BPL, compared to last year, when they were inconspicious. In the third week of the competition, seven out of the top ten run-scorers are Bangladeshis.In the Rangpur Riders-Duronto Rajshahi game on February 4, it was the local players who attracted all the attention. Shamsur Rahman, Junaid Siddique and Nasir Hossain batted merrily for the Riders while Jahurul Islam kept wickets for Rajshahi. Between them, these players were on the field for nearly 15.3 overs. While the Rangpur batsmen batted well, their inability to clear the boundary was also apparent, with just four sixes in the innings. Rajshahi had an easy chase, thanks to a fifty from Tamim Iqbal and an unbeaten 38 from Jahurul.Angry Asif
The bowlers’ celebrations have made for the most amusing scenes at the BPL. The most talked about celebrations have come from Khulna bowler Asif Ahmed, who scowls after a wicket. Ahmed was in the news for giving rude send-offs to Sabbir Rahman and Tamim Iqbal.Against Chittagong, Ahmed took a catch to dismiss captain Brendan Taylor. He promptly turned around and asked for the crowd to quiet down, only to realise that the only audience he had were a group of policemen seated far away in the grandstand.The close shave
One could sense something was amiss before the Rajshahi-Khulna game. There weren’t too many Rajshahi players warming up ahead of the match and the reserve umpire and match referee were lingering around their dressing room, talking to the team owner.It was soon clear that all was not right with the team as Tamim Iqbal headed out for the toss. He had only done the job in the first two games before Jahurul Islam and Chamara Kapugedera were given the task. Later, Kapugedera confirmed that the players had revolted due to unpaid salaries and had decided to play the game 20 minutes before start of play.The captaincy mystery
The seven franchises in this year’s BPL have been captained by 15 players so far. Mostly, the changes have been due to injury, but in some cases, there have been resignations, lack of enjoyment and even a player revolt.Duronto Rajshahi has been led by three players – Tamim, Jahurul and Kapugedera — though the man originally given the onus, Simon Katich, hasn’t captained in a single game. Tamim was the captain in the first two games before Jahurul took over. The wicket-keeper batsman struggled and asked the team owner to appoint another captain, after which Kapugedera was given the responsibility.Mahmudullah suddenly stopped captaining Chittagong Kings, stating that he wasn’t enjoying the role. Brendan Taylor took over and has enjoyed moderate success. Towards the end of their campaign, Khulna had a change in leadership, too, when Shahriar Nafees texted his resignation to the team owner, handing over the reigns to Lou Vincent. Alok Kapali led Barisal Burners in the absence of their regular captain, Brad Hodge who arrived in the later stages of the tournament. Abdur Razzak sat out a game for Rangpur Riders due to injury and was replaced by Nasir Hossain and Suharwadi Shuvo, too, led Sylhet Royals in place of the injured Mushfiqur Rahim.The captaincy switch that had tongues wagging occurred when Mohammad Ashraful led Dhaka Gladiators, in place of Mashrafe Mortaza. The latter claimed he was fully fit, contradicting a statement released by the franchise that he was struggling with back pain.

For a side playing its first Test in over a year, Zimbabwe began promisingly in the morning against searing pace bowling but completely lost their way after lunch, a solid 100 for 2 turning into 211 all out

The Report by Abhishek Purohit12-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarlon Samuels took his best international figures of 4 for 13•WICB Media Photo/Randy BrooksFor a side playing its first Test in over a year, Zimbabwe began promisingly in the morning against searing pace bowling, but completely lost their way after lunch, with a solid 100 for 2 turning into 211 all out. Having battled hard against the onslaught from Kemar Roach and Tino Best, they came up short against the offspin of Shane Shillingford and part-timer Marlon Samuels.Roach and Best bowled with so much intensity they might have run through Zimbabwe by themselves on a luckier day. But, led by the plucky Tino Mawoyo, Zimbabwe took blows, got beaten, edged and stonewalled their way through the first hour before frittering away hard-earned starts on a largely harmless Kensington Oval pitch.Mawoyo started the downfall soon after lunch when he lunged forward to defend a Shillingford offbreak that spun and bounced to take the inside edge onto pad and straight to short leg. Brendan Taylor tried to turn a Shannon Gabriel delivery with the angle to leg but it moved away late and flattened his off stump. Minutes before tea, Craig Ervine pushed forward to a straight Samuels delivery, and left a fatally big gap between bat and pad.After trying to rebuild the innings from 158 for 6, Graeme Cremer slashed a wide Samuels delivery to point. Regis Chakabva blocked, ducked and left to plod to 15 off 92, before pushing Shillingford to short leg. All these batsmen promised a lot, and barring Mawoyo to an extent, delivered little.Zimbabwe had fared much better against a sterner examination in the first session. First ball of the match, Roach hit Mawoyo on the chest with a short ball, showing immediately what awaited Zimbabwe. However, Mawoyo showed there were runs to be reaped on the pitch following self-denial.For the first ten overs, though, there wasn’t much to be done apart from denying oneself, playing with soft hands and hoping for survival. There was movement in the air, but most of it only gave the wicketkeeper a rough time. There was some seam movement, but it was sheer, raw pace and testing lines and lengths that bothered Zimbabwe. Roach began with a barrage of short deliveries and Best, as always, held nothing back in terms of effort.The last ball of Roach’s fourth over proved too quick for Sibanda, and he had his leg stump uprooted through the gate. Best was running in so hard he soon appeared to pull something, and sat on his haunches a couple of times during his fifth over. That didn’t deter him from smacking Hamilton Masakadza on the back edge of his helmet.That was to be the last of Best in the session, with the third specialist quick bowler Gabriel and the captain Darren Sammy taking over. While Gabriel was not lacking in pace in comparison to Best and Roach, he got next to no movement, and also offered width.Sammy did what he does best, settling on a good length outside off stump, but Mawoyo and Masakadza were disciplined enough not to be tempted. It took Roach, returning in the 21st over, to break the growing second-wicket stand, although Samuels’ diving effort at gully deserved as much, if not more credit, for getting rid of Masakadza.Sammy persisted with himself from the other end after the breakthrough, and it allowed Mawoyo and Taylor some breathing space. Mawoyo started opening up as lunch approached, driving confidently off the front foot and even slashing Roach over the slip cordon. Zimbabwe had exceeded expectations with a first-session return of 91 for 2, but were to disappoint later on.Shillingford found bounce right away, and in his second over after lunch, took out Mawoyo. Gabriel hadn’t been able to get the new ball to do much, but started getting some reverse as it got older, and surprised Taylor in the first over of his second spell.Malcolm Waller never looked comfortable and was beaten repeatedly by Gabriel, before being given leg-before trying to paddle Shillingford. Chakabva and Cremer hung around for a while, before Samuels ran through the lower order to take his best figures in international cricket. Zimbabwe had two specialist spinners in their XI, and Samuels’ and Shillingford’s showing would have given them hope of containing West Indies.It was the pace and swing of Kyle Jarvis, though, that gave them a couple of early wickets. West Indies had 11 overs to get through. Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell had nearly got through seven of them without any alarms, before Jarvis moved one in to catch Powell in front of leg, and the batsman had to walk back after a failed review. That was to have been the last ball of the over, but Jarvis was allowed to bowl a seventh, and trapped nightwatchman Roach plumb in front with a full, away-swinging delivery. After not making Gayle and Powell play much, Jarvis had suddenly found the right line. Zimbabwe would want more of that on day two.

A round-up of matches of the Campus Cricket World Final 2012-13 played on April 3

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2013DAV College Chandigarh defeated University of Karachi by eight wickets, recording their second win in as many matches in the tournament. Karachi’s loss was in spite of a valiant lone-hand from opening batsman and wicketkeeper Ammar Hasan, who hit 85 of his side’s 138 runs, in 60 balls. Only one of his teammates made it to double figures, as Chandigarh’s Gurinder Singh took 4 for 27 from four overs.In response, Chandigarh made short work of Karachi’s total, as their own wicketkeeper batsman, Jaskaran Singh, hit 75 not out from 44 balls to launch them towards the target, which they achieved in the 16th over.The Great Britain Combined University Team also extended their unbeaten streak early on day two, as they brushed Bangladesh’s University of Liberal Arts aside by nine wickets. Having opted to bat first, Liberal Arts managed a paltry 105, with none of their players breaching 30. James Lomas took 4 wickets for 18 for Great Britain Combined, before their batsmen made short work of the modest total. Chris Wakefield fell with the score on 0, but Syed Fuad, who made 44 not out, and Luke Blackaby, who was unbeaten on 55, ensured their side completed a simple win in the 15th over.In the evening matches, DAV College Chandigarh inflicted a third-straight defeat on University of New South Wales, and established themselves as one of the tournament favourites, with a gargantuan 147-run victory. Chandigarh were put into bat, and an 89-run opening partnership in 8.1 overs set them hurtling towards the 225 they achieved. Jaskaran Singh added 63 from 30 balls, his innings contributing seven fours and four sixes to the team tally of 20 fours and 16 sixes. A 30 from opening partner Deepak Sharma, a 45 off 15 from captain Kunal Mahajan, and a 36 off 16 from Simran Singh were the other notable contributions. Gordon Atalla took 4 for 38 from his four overs, and was the only New South Wales bowler to go for less than ten an over.In response, New South Wales stumbled to 12 for 4 in the second over, and never really recovered from that start. They were bundled out for 78, with Gurinder Singh starring with four wickets for 27.Home side University of Moratuwa turned the tables on the Great Britain Combined University Team in the other evening match, after Great Britain Combined had beaten Moratuwa by 63 runs on day one. This time however, Moratuwa snuck home in a low-scorer, hauling in the opposition’s 106 for 8, in the 19th over, with three wickets to spare. Great Britain Combined were reduced to 29 for 4 in the seventh over, thanks largely to Rumesh Madushanka, who took two of those wickets and bowled his four overs for only 12 runs. Great Britain Combined continued to lose wickets through their innings, but launched something of a recovery through Harry Bush’s 34 from 27, before the lower order chipped in runs as well.Moratuwa had a shaky start themselves, when they lost both openers in the first five overs, but handy innings from Sahan Perera and Randika Perera, who remained unbeaten on 29, helped steady the chase. James Lomas was again among the wickets with 3 for 20, but Moratuwa had enough batting to complete the win, despite losing regular wickets.

Harbhajan Singh went for 26 runs in a horror first over of the match, but he hit a six in the last over that broke the hearts of a packed Eden Gardens to top off Mumbai Indian’s comeback in the match

The Report by Sidharth Monga24-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Redemption arrived on the same night for Harbhajan Singh•BCCIHarbhajan Singh went for 26 runs in a horror first over of the match, but he hit a six in the last over that broke the hearts of a packed Eden Gardens to top off Mumbai Indian’s comeback in the match. From 46 for 1 after three overs of the match, Mumbai clawed their way back through Mitchell Johnson, Lasith Malinga and Pragyan Ojha who went for 72 runs in their 12 overs and took six wickets, including just three runs in the special last over bowled by Malinga. Dwayne Smith then led the chase with batting more hit than miss, followed by handy contributions from Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard before Harbhajan redeemed himself for the night.There was a measure of redemption for Rohit too, who was leading in the absence of Ricky Ponting who had sat himself out. Rohit went against the common knowledge that Yusuf Pathan has been going through a wretched time against pace, and instead provided him spin at the start. Yusuf tucked into Harbhajan who seemed to lose fresh chunks of confidence every ball.Immediately partial redemption arrived for Harbhajan when Yusuf edged to him at slip the first legitimate delivery of pace he faced. Mumbai had got a toe in the door there, and little by little they shoved their foot in. Johnson got Yusuf, Ojha frustrated and got the other big two, Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis, the latter once again for a pedestrian strike-rate, which often gets masked by Kallis’ all-round ability and stylish stroke-play. Kallis wasn’t available to bowl today, and the man substituting for him was involved in a crucial and unfortunate incident.Coming together at 92 for 3 in the 12th over, Eoin Morgan and Manoj Tiwary tried to force the pace, but Johnson and Malinga proved to be too good towards the end. Morgan hit Johnson straight to midwicket, and Malinga’s last over was a reminder of how impossible it was to hit him was when he was at his best. A mix of yorkers and slower balls had two sets of stumps demolished.In the chase, it seemed like Mumbai were playing against one man, Sunil Narine, who took three wickets for 17, and turned the game around every time he was called upon, but the batsmen were smart and batted well against the others. Narine dismissed the birthday boy Sachin Tendulkar through the gate pretty early, but by then the scratchy Smith was beginning to time a few.And Smith is a dangerous batsman that way. He can look scratchy before hitting a brief purple patch and taking the slightly relaxed opposition by surprise. As he did in this game, even with wickets falling at the other end. By the time he got out – in Narine’s second over, in his second spell – he had clobbered 62 of Mumbai’s 82 runs, and had left them 78 to get in nine overs.Captain Rohit now targeted Sachithra Senanayake, who registered his most expensive Twenty20 figures: 1 for 50 in four overs. Two sixes in one over brought the target down to 56 off seven overs, an asking rate consistent with the one at the start of the innings. Normally, you would back the chasing side, but Narine still had two overs remaining, but even before Narine was called back a slice of luck awaited Mumbai.For the second time this season, a Knight Riders fielder at long-off lost a catch in the lights, and this one proved to be mighty expensive. Pollard was missed by substitute Brendon McCullum, and he had brought the target down to 10 by the time he eventually got out. Narine, though, had his last say before retiring for the night, taking Rohit with the last ball he bowled, leaving Mumbai 28 to get off three overs.Pollard looked assured for two overs, but was done in by an extremely slow delivery at the start of the last over, bowled by Rajat Bhatia. It was clear the trick had lost all its novelty when Harbhajan waited deep in the crease, and smacked a slow dolly over midwicket. Three off three was easy to get after that.

New Zealand appear to be moving towards sticking with the 11 players used in the home series against England when the return contest starts at Lord’s next week

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road08-May-2013New Zealand appear to be moving towards sticking with the 11 players used in the home series against England when the return contest starts at Lord’s next week.An unchanged top-order seems certain after Martin Guptill was left out of the final warm-up match against England Lions, while Doug Bracewell could struggle to force his way into the line-up although has a chance to impress at Grace Road in the absence of Neil Wagner who has been rested.Guptill missed the series in New Zealand due to a hamstring injury followed by thumb surgery and both opening slots in the side have been successfully filled by Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton, although neither shone against Derbyshire. That left Guptill battling for a middle-order place but he made just 25 and 8 in the first warm-up match while Dean Brownlie, the most under-pressure of the incumbent batsmen, made 71 in the first innings.Wagner, who formed a three-pronged pace attack with Tim Southee and Trent Boult in New Zealand, took eight wickets in the match against Derbyshire. Brendon McCullum confirmed there were no injury worries over him after he had problems with a toenail towards the end of that game. “Wagner has a huge chance of playing at Lord’s,” he said. “He’s fine, it was just a case of bowlers and toenails.”McCullum has also previously said that he is keen to retain balance in the attack with Bruce Martin’s left-arm spin, although it is not inconceivable that if conditions were persuasive enough New Zealand may consider an all-pace attack at Lord’s and rely on Kane Williamson’s offspin for variation. Williamson was a surprisingly effective bowler in the previous series, taking four wickets in the second innings in Auckland, when England hung on nine wickets down, while Martin went wicketless.”We have got a pretty good squad here and what we think is a reasonable eleven,” McCullum said. “The guys who played the other day performed well and put pressure on the incumbents and we haven’t bedded down our Test team just yet.”Bracewell, who has 46 wickets at 31.89 in 15 matches, made a case for a Test recall with seven wickets against Derbyshire having missed the home series after injuring his foot standing on glass. However, another factor in Wagner’s favour is that England have at times struggled against left-arm pace bowlers. Alastair Cook fell to either Wagner or Boult in four out of his five innings in the recent Test series.”We’ll see how Doug goes but I’m confident both can do a role,” McCullum said. “It’s more a horses-for-courses policy rather than favouring one person.”New Zealand XI 1 Hamish Rutherford, 2 Peter Fulton, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Dean Brownlie, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 BJ Watling, 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Bruce Martin, 11 Trent Boult