When England’s Kevin Pietersen bats against South Africa in a crucial World Cup Super Eights match on Tuesday he will be short of neither motivation nor confidence. That Pietersen reserves his best against the country of his birth can be gauged from his average of 151.33 against South Africa, and 56.55 overall.Pietersen is currently in good form, having scored England’s only century of the tournament against Australia in the Super Eights. England supporters hope he continues in the same vein in a match they need to win to sustain their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. If South Africa are successful, they will be in the last four.Lurking beneath the surface is a bitter relationship between Pietersen, who was condemned as an opportunist when he decided to qualify for England after protesting against the quota system in South Africa, and the opposition captain Graeme Smith. The two have been engaged in a torrid war of words for two years.”Everyone knows we don’t get on for whatever reasons, but that’s gone,” Pietersen said. “It’s not about myself, Smith, Andre Nel or Michael Vaughan on Tuesday, it’s about producing a big team performance.”I wouldn’t say that it is the game that matters to me more than the others because the match against Australia is big as well, but it’s an important game for me and I look forward to it. It’s going to be a big game with a lot of needle. I don’t know why there is needle between the two sides other than there are some really world-class players on both the sides.”
Smith was furious when Pietersen switched allegiances. “I’m patriotic about my country, and that’s why I don’t like Kevin Pietersen – the only reason that Kevin and I have never had a relationship is because he slated South Africa,” Smith has said in the past.Pietersen tried to diffuse a potentially explosive situation on Monday. “I saw Smith in India and I saw him in the world series and we said hello,” he said.Smith and Michael Vaughan, the England captain, will both face the added pressure of needing to get their sides off to strong starts. England’s top three has struggled during the tournament and Vaughan is determined to lift to improve their chances of a semi-final spot.”It is a mixture of reasons for the struggle at the top of the order and definitely form is one of those,” Vaughan said. “We need to spend some time in the centre. We have to improve in some areas.”South Africa lost to New Zealand on Saturday but Smith was confident of a quick recovery. “It is a crunch game for us and it always was going to be,” he said. “We’ll bounce back. We have a lot of experience and we’ve got a lot of big players looking forward to the England game.”
Sean Williams has ended speculation over his future by signing up with Clara Vale Cricket Club in Newcastle, England, as their overseas professional.Williams signed his contract on Monday and is now waiting for his work permit to enable him to apply for a visa to enter the United Kingdom, and he expects to leave in two weeks time. Williams, 19, got offers from a number of English clubs, but Clara Vale put forward the best deal.The latest developments mean that Williams will not be able to go to the South African National Academy where he had been offered place, because the Academy runs at the same time as the English domestic season.”My goal is to play county cricket next season and I am going to work hard to achieve that,” he said. “I have not made up my mind on whether I still want to play for Zimbabwe … it’s not an easy decision to make.”In March, Williams, a left handed batsman who is also effective with his left-arm spin, rejected a contract offer from Zimbabwe Cricket as he set his sights on a career outside the country.He represented Zimbabwe in two Under-19 World Cups, the first in 2004 held in Bangladesh and captained the team to a Super League finish at this year’s event in Sri Lanka. Williams has played four ODIs for Zimbabwe.
A sparkling and characteristically boundary-strewn 152 not out by Ali Brown gave Surrey a slim first-innings lead on an overcast day against Middlesex at Lord’s. With only one day left, the odds are still on a draw, but Surrey could still force an improbable win if they were to bowl Middlesex out fairly cheaply tomorrow. Although only 20 wickets have fallen in three days so far, the pitch showed a few hints that it might be getting a little more inconsistent.The beauty of Brown is you know what you are getting, and he was soon into his stride after Alan Richardson had removed Richard Clinton without adding to his overnight 73. Brown was in no mood to be subdued, and from the moment Richardson struck again, Jonathan Batty holing out to Paul Weekes at third man, Surrey took firm control.Brown and Dominic Thornely feasted on Middlesex’s all-seam attack cutting and driving with power and authority. Thornely, who a week ago was chilling out doing a little fishing in Australia, found his stride and hit the shot of the day, a straight drive which shattered a window in the refurbished pavilion.
Their stand of 184 in two-and-a-half hours was ended when one from Scott Styris kept low and crept under Thornely’s jab, but the veteran Martin Bicknell hung around with Brown long enough to finally deflate Middlesex’s hopes. With Mark Ramprakash out of the match with a cracked thumb, the tail had beckoned.Bicknell eventually fell for 33 to a questionable leg-before to the occasional seam of Ed Joyce, the eighth bowler used by Ben Hutton, and as Brown cut loose, Surrey’s tail fell away in the hunt for quick runs as the gloom descended.If Brown dominated with bat, it was yet another successful day for Richardson whose six wickets took his season total to 38, the same as his previous best in a whole summer.
Mumbai 613 drew with Tamil Nadu 294 and 353 for 4 (Badrinath 110*, Badani 77*) and won the Ranji Trophy by virtue of a first-innings lead Scorecard Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy – a staggering 36th triumph – by virtue of their first-innings lead, as their final against Tamil Nadu petered out to a tortuous draw. Any hopes of a competitive match had ended on the third day, so by the close of the fifth, Tamil Nadu’s batsmen were consoling themselves with personal milestones.Subramanium Badrinath crawled to his fourth century of the season – without doubt the least meaningful of the lot – and Hemang Badani was equally painstaking in compiling an unbeaten 77, as Mumbai’s part-time bowlers sent down 49 overs between them. Their season had long resembled a walk in the park, but in the final session of the day, they took it literally. At least Vinayak Samanth, the wicketkeeper, ensured that nobody dozed off completely with his bursts of raucous appealing, although on most occasions, the bat was nowhere close to the ball.Badrinath took 37 balls to move from 98 to his hundred, and a soporofic air enveloped the empty stadium. Barring a flurry of boundaries after lunch, the scoring rate was largely stagnant. Badani’s innings was the antithesis of his century in the previous year’s final, which had given his team a faint chance of victory. This time the match was already long gone.Badrinath and Badani’s partnership lasted for 349 pride-salvaging minutes, and came after Sadagoppan Ramesh had fallen plumb lbw in the fifth over of the morning (180 for 4). But at least Tamil Nadu redeemed themselves after their shoddy showing in the first innings. “We had a great chance to put up a big score after winning the toss,” admitted their dejected captain, Somasetty Suresh. “We also had the home conditions favouring us. It was a really disappointing show on the first day. We learnt a lot when Mumbai batted and showed so much application. We tried to bat like that in our second innings and we did that pretty well. But it was all too late.”Having backed their batting strength and prepared a shirt-front of a pitch, Tamil Nadu lost the game on the very first day. From a spectator’s point of view, the match finished on the third, after Mumbai ground Tamil Nadu out of the contest. After witnessing this drab encounter, the need for sporting pitches could hardly be more pressing, but with the notable exception of Dinesh Karthik, Tamil Nadu’s batsmen simply gave the final away.For Mumbai, though, it was a culmination of a great couple of years. As soon as play was called off, there were shouts and huddles all around. Like a philatelist adding one more to his collection, they neatly pouched their 36th stamp – a full 30 more than their nearest rivals, Delhi and Karnataka.
JOHANNESBURG – West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt made a telling observation on his team following their World Cup defeat against New Zealand at Port Elizabeth four days ago."It was a very good test for the lads and perhaps a reminder that we haven’t gone as far forward as we would have liked to have gone," he noted.Skerritt was not taking a swing at anyone, but rather touching on the point that the West Indies team still needs to be more analytical in their approach and clinical in the execution of their duties.The West Indies let the Kiwis off the hook at the death of the innings, and then could not find the resolve to reach what was a challenging but not insurmountable target."We have the opportunity still to show we can do well in this competition and we now have the real test ahead," Skerritt added.Many observers believed the West Indies turned the corner from their barren run when they played brilliantly on recent tours of India and Bangladesh.With the return of Brian Lara and the excellent win over South Africa in the opening match, the Windies announced themselves as a good bet for at least the semifinals.The manager noted that the team is mentally very strong and the defeat against New Zealand served as a reminder that the other sides are very competitive and hard work must be put in to gain the necessary results.Some of this hard work was put in yesterday morning when the team had an intense three-hour net session at the Woolmore Stadium in Benoni, 20 kilometres outside Johannesburg.The only worry is a back complaint to left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins, and he is being well looked after by physiotherapist Suzette Liebenberg, who has been hired on contract for the World Cup.She is the wife of former South African wicket-keeper Gerhardus Liebenberg and has worked with the Free State team for the past six years.The West Indies also have other South Africans in their camp. Russell Metzer, a young business graduate who is pursuing a degree in physiotherapy and who has worked with Eastern Province, was hired as massage therapist for the duration of the World Cup. An architect is the baggage officer and a business manager is liaison officer.Today, the team goes to Actonville for a coaching clinic with junior players from Guateng, but it will be Tuesday’s match against Bangladesh at Benoni which will be foremost on their minds.
India had a slight scare ahead of their triangular one-day seriesmatch against West Indies tomorrow with captain Saurav Ganguly runningmild temperature today.Ganguly, who ended his run-drought with a 85-run knock in the previousgame against Zimbabwe, did not come out for practice today but teammanager Chetan Chauhan was confident that the captain would be fit fortomorrow’s game. “He should be alright tomorrow,” Chauhan said.However, VVS Laxman, who sat out in the previous game with a fingerinjury in the first match against Zimbabwe, has been ruled out fortomorrow’s game as well. “He is not 100 per cent fit. He can stillfeel the pain in his finger and we would give him rest,” Chauhan said.”He should be fit for the remaining two games of the competition, onJuly 4 and the final on July 7,” he said.Chauhan confirmed that pacemen Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar wouldskip tomorrow’s match.”All the others who have not played so far will get a game tomorrow.Debasish Mohanty, Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Harvinder Singh are all inthe starting line-up,” he said.West Indies captain Carl Hooper said his side was looking forward totake on India who appear a very strong team at the moment.”Obviously, the way the competition has gone, Zimbabwe is down at themoment and we want to do well against India,” Hooper said.”We expect India to be a strong opposition, certainly better thanZimbabwe – without meaning disrespect to the latter – and we willfight all the way,” he said.Hooper said it has been apparent in the tournament that the teamwinning the toss puts the opposition in to bat.”It is because it is winter here. There is heavy dew in the night andthe wicket has early moisture. The ball certainly does a bit in thefirst hour and that’s why the opposition choose to insert the otherside in to bat,” the skipper said.But West Indies won their first match against Zimbabwe by a convincing27-run margin after being put into bat.”We have gained confidence from that win and I feel these are goodtracks to bat provided you can see off the first 8-10 overs,” he said.Hooper said he would not mind playing two spinners against theIndians, even though the latter have the reputation of havingoutstanding players against spin bowling. “Spin or seam, we got tobowl well on these tracks. We have got two spinners to be thrown atthe opposition should the need arise,” Hooper, who himself is aneffective off-spinner, said.Hooper said even though two of his fast bowlers, Reon King and MervynDillon, did not bowl well in the opening match, he did not want to beharsh on them. “I do not want to be harsh on them. They are stillfinding their feet. Reon has come after a long gap into the side whileDillon has had problems with his line and length in one-dayinternationals,” he said.
West Ham United face a colossal final two months of the season as they look to secure European football for next season with eight Premier League matches remaining as well as at least two more Europa League games with the Hammers set to take on French side Lyon in the quarter-final next month.
With a busy run-in that will have a major impact on how next season will look as well as the sort of transfer window they may have, David Moyes could do with some alternatives in what is a pretty light squad in order to manage.
Attack, in particular, is short of personnel with Michail Antonio the East London club’s only senior striker. Therefore, now may be the perfect time to promote U23s star Armstrong Oko-Flex.
In the Pipeline
Although predominantly a winger, Oko-Flex did play at centre-forward in the 2-1 EFL Trophy win away at Ipswich, in which the 20-year-old Irishman netted.
However, it’s his campaign in the Premier League 2 that has caught the eye, with the winger scoring 11 goals and assisting two in 18 appearances for the U23s.
The Irishman has made a handful of first-team squads and Moyes is very much aware of his talent, although the 20-year-old is yet to get his first taste of senior football.
Formerly a youth player at West Ham’s city rivals Arsenal, Oko-Flex joined the Hammers from Celtic last summer on a free transfer, having made two first-team appearances for the Scottish giants.
U23s coach Dmitri Halajko was very pleased with the early signs shown by the 20-year-old, saying: “Armstrong’s finishing is a real strong point of his. When he gets into the final third, he’s a very dangerous player. We wanted to do that tonight and he managed to take his chances.”
Goals have been shared out rather equally across the Hammers team this campaign, with six players having scored five or more goals so far this term.
Wide man Jarrod Bowen is currently the club’s top scorer with 12 goals, but the Englishman could miss both legs of West Ham’s Europa League quarter-final with a time frame on his return from injury still uncertain.
Moreover, both Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma have endured a less fruitful second half of the season compared to their first, with the duo scoring a combined five Premier League goals since early November.
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With the possibility of the Hammers having to play another 13 matches this season, having already played 44 times, Moyes will need extra depth to ensure that the run-in doesn’t have too much of a serious impact on his star assets.
There is no doubt that West Ham will need to add personnel to their front-line this summer, but the East London club may already have a solution to that issue in Oko-Flex. Once Bowen is fit again, the dynamic attacking duo could create quite the partnership up top for Moyes.
In other news: West Ham now submit offer to sign “serious liability”, he’s even worse than Diop
A mammoth 431-run second-wicket partnership between Yasir Hameed, the Pakistan opener, and Asad Shafiq powered NWFP to 503 for 2 against Baluchistan at stumps on day two in Peshawar.NWFP, resuming on 36 for 0, lost Rafatullah Mohmand early to Abdur Rauf, but from then on it was all toil for the Baluchistan bowlers. Hameed smashed an unbeaten 265, with 43 fours and six sixes, while Shafiq made 181 off 251 balls, with 33 fours and six, in their stand of 431.Rauf struck again much later to remove Shafiq, but Hameed was unbeaten at stumps, with his 265 coming off 309 balls.NWFP finished the day with a lead of 195. Rauf conceded 122 off his 21 overs, while Sohaib Maqsood’s 16 overs went for 108. ScorecardSind needed 2.5 overs to take the final wicket in Punjab’s first innings, before their batsmen secured a 119-run lead for the loss of six wickets.After Punjab were bowled out for 184, Sind were reduced to 86 for 3, but a 138-run stand between Rizwan Ahmed and Faisal Iqbal took them into the lead.Rizwan made a patient 79, while Iqbal chipped in with 65. Wahab Riaz was the key bowler for his team; he removed both Rizwan and Faisal after having snared Khalid Latif and Naumanullah earlier.Shahid Afridi, the Sind captain, fell for 14, but Fawad Alam and Safraz Ahmed remained unbeaten in the 20s as Sind closed the day at 303 for 6. Riaz took 4 for 71 from his 22 overs.
Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan board, has been asked by the senate committee for sports why lawyers were not sent to Jamaica when police interviewed the Pakistan players after the murder of their coach Bob Woolmer.”We asked the chairman why no legal assistance was provided to the players in Jamaica when they were facing the investigation. Ashraf said the board would do it in future if required,” said Senator Anwar Baig, a member of the committee.Ashraf said that if any player was required by the Jamaican police for further investigations the PCB would provide him with full legal assistance. He also reiterated to the committee that no Pakistan players or officials were involved in the murder or in match-fixing.The Jamaican police questioned the whole team once and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, the assistant coach, and Talat Ali, the team manager, twice after Woolmer’s death. The squad also gave DNA samples and fingerprints.
Tejinder Pal Singh’s unbeaten 90 helped Railways advance to the finals of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament beating Bengal by 101 runs at Lucknow. Tejinder, the Railways left-hander, anchored the innings, after Sanjay Bangar (44) and Amit Pagnis (31) laid the foundation with another solid opening stand. Shib Shankar Paul was most effective bowler for Bengal with figures of 3 for 44 as Railways finished on 266 for 8.Bengal had a reasonably good start, with the openers putting on 62. Sourav Ganguly was unable to carry on his good form from the last game, falling to Harvinder Singh for 22. From then on, the Railways slow bowlers led by Kulamani Parida (3 for 15) struck at regular intervals and combined to bundle out Bengal for 165. Madan Yadav and Bangar shared four wickets between them as Railways set up a title clash with Uttar Pradesh.Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh gave themselves a chance to bag another title this season, as they comprehensively beat Baroda by 102 runs in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament at Lucknow. Jyoti Prasad Yadav, the UP middle-order batsman, was unlucky to be stranded on 99, but played a major role in overcoming a shaky start and lifting the total to 217 for 9. Sankalp Vohra, the Baroda medium pacer, struck early blows, picking up the first three wickets, including that of Suresh Raina, the captain. Yadav held the innings together till the end, facing 113 balls and cracking seven fours.Baroda failed to get going from the start and were staring at defeat at 44 for 7. The UP seamers, Shalabh Srivastava, Ali Murtaza and Praveen Kumar shared seven wickets between them and bundled out Baroda for a paltry 115. UP, who were joint winners in last year’s edition of the tournament, will have the home advantage when they meet Railways in the finals at Lucknow on March 21.