08-May-2011
ScorecardJames Cameron was the only Worcestershire batsman to shine with 69•PA Photos

Derbyshire hinted they could become a new force in the Clydesdale Bank 40 format after registering a third successive victory with eight balls to spare against Worcestershire at New Road.After winning only nine games in 40-over competitions over the last five seasons, the Falcons are already looking a revitalised team under new captain Luke Sutton. Rebounding from an opening defeat by Holland, they have since defended and chased totals with equal success.Worcestershire were never able to create a platform when batting first after losing the toss. Tim Groenewald took 4 for 22 in their 171 and left-handed opening pair Chesney Hughes and Usman Khawaja put on 84 in setting up Derbyshire’s six-wicket success.Khawaja, who made his Test debut for Australia in the final match of the Ashes series in January, completed his first half-century in county cricket in 76 balls and went on to see his side home with an unbeaten 89. A well-judged innings included 10 fours, as well as a six over the New Road stand, but with one run needed, Wayne Madsen was leg before wicket to Gareth Andrew for 21 after a partnership of 56.Derbyshire initially took control when Groenewald’s opening spell of two for eight in five overs saw off two of Worcestershire’s major stroke players. Moeen Ali tamely drove to cover and Alexei Kervezee was leg-before after hitting a couple of boundaries.James Cameron led a recovery with a competition-best 69 from 80 balls but Derbyshire’s spinners kept the scoring rate under control. The Zimbabwe-born left hander was responsible for nine of the 16 boundaries in the innings and it was a six, clubbed over long-on, that took him past his previous highest-score of 58 against the Unicorns last summer.Daryl Mitchell (29) and Neil Pinner (26) featured in the only significant partnerships as Hughes and the on-loan Yorkshire off-spinner Azeem Rafiq shared three wickets while conceding only 58 runs in their 16 overs.Cameron’s robust innings ended with a serious misjudgement which led to the last three wickets falling in five balls without addition. Chancing a second run to Greg Smith at deep point, he was run out by some distance.Hughes set the pace in Derbyshire’s run chase, hoisting a six over square leg in Andrew’s second over, and he went on make 42 before he was leg-before to Mitchell’s first delivery.The captain’s wicket-taking boost for Worcestershire quickly turned to disappointment when he was forced to go off with a side strain after pulling up in pain as he bowled the fifth ball of his third over.

A round-up of matches on the first day of the ICC World Cricket League Division Seven competition in Gaborone, Bostwana

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2011Kuwait’s captain Hisham Mirza scored a run-a-ball 51 to lead his team to a three-wicket victory in their opening game of the ICC World Cricket League Division Seven, against hosts Botswana in Gaborone. Chasing a target of 121, Kuwait were in trouble at 66 for 6, with Botswana’s medium-pacers Omar Ali and Aslam Chand cutting through the top order. Mirza then shared a 46-run partnership with Saad Khalid, who contributed 10, and secured victory as early as the 19th over. Ali finished with 3 for 42, while Chand took 3 for 36.While Kuwait reached their target in quick time, Botswana took ages setting it. Their innings was in tatters at 16 for 4 and it did not recover. A brace of 30s from James Moses and Denzil Sequeira dragged Botswana past 100 but the tail folded quickly. Mohammad Murad was Kuwait’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 30 as Botswana was dismissed for 120 in 40.3 overs.Mirza was concerned about the number of extras his side conceded – 19 runs – and their reading of the pitch. “It was new conditions for us to play on and a new surface to bat on too, so we were slightly shaky to begin with but Botswana are a good side and they showed that with their bowling early on in our innings.”The amount of extras we gave away today is a bit of a concern, I think we misjudged the bounce of the wicket but we’ll look at that and hopefully come back stronger.”Germany began their campaign with a convincing nine-wicket victory against Japan at the Lobatse Cricket Ground, reaching their target of 147 with 19.2 overs to spare. The victory was set up by Rana-Naved Iqbal, a 36-year old fast bowler, who took 6 for 25 to dismiss Japan for 146 in 49.3 overs. Patrick Giles-Jones was the top-scorer for Japan, with 56, while no one else made more than 20. Germany were sloppy with their extras, though, conceding 33 runs.Germany’s openers, Milan Fernando and Andre Leslie, shared a partnership of 77 before Fernando was dismissed by Munir Ahmed for 47. Asif Khan, Germany’s captain, scored an unbeaten 27 and Leslie remained not out on 49 when the winning runs were scored in the 31st over.Asif Khan said the early wickets Germany took were key to the end result. “We had Japan on the back foot from the start when we had them pinned at 5 for 12 and despite the side’s bounce back to increase the total to 146 we knew with some strong batting we could win the match.”Nigeria beat Norway by five wickets and 28 balls to spare at the Botswana Cricket Association Oval. Norway were dismissed for 166 in 42 overs after they were asked to bat, with Shahid Ahmed top-scoring with 37. Kunle Adegbola and Endurance Ofem were Nigeria’s best bowlers, taking 3 for 31 and 3 for 12.Nigera’s chase had a sound start – their openers Ademola Onikoyi and Ramit Gill added 76. From 95 for 1, however, they slumped to 121 for 5 but Sean Philips made 39 off 45 balls to steer the team to victory in the 39th over. The Shahzads, Babar and Umran, were the only successful bowlers for Norway, taking two wickets each.Nigeria’s captain Ofem admitted he’d expected more of Norway as a side. “I expected more from Norway today especially as they played in Division 6 but they were not nearly as tough as I had expected. I probably would have liked it if we lost fewer wickets than we did; we probably should have ended the game only two batsmen down.”

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has hit out at former captain Shahid Afridi in his tour report of Pakistan’s series in the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2011Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has hit out at former captain Shahid Afridi in his tour report of Pakistan’s series in the Caribbean, saying, “as a captain he is very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen to others’ opinions or advice.” The report, whose excerpts have been published in , confirms the existence of a rift between captain and coach during the end of the tour, with Waqar admitting that Afridi walked out of a meeting over differences relating to selection.The acrimonious relationship was also acknowledged by team manager Intikhab Alam in his tour report, in which he – while saying Waqar had at times been “arrogant” – described Afridi as a “highly hyper-active personality who lacks [the] temperament to listen to other people’s point of views or look for solutions for the betterment of the team.”Afridi was removed as ODI captain after the tour and reacted by retiring “conditionally” from international cricket due to the “humiliation” inflicted by the PCB. His criticism of the board led to the suspension of his central contract and revocation of NOCs permitting him to play cricket overseas. The matter now rests before a disciplinary committee, which is scheduled to meet Afridi – who faces charges of violating the board’s code of conduct – on June 8.”Besides myself, the rest of the coaching staff has worked very hard with him to improve his abilities as a long-term and successful captain but sometimes his volatile and immature nature have proved detrimental and led to unfortunate outcomes including game losses,” Waqar said.Pakistan won the ODI series 3-2 but lost the final two games, both dead rubbers. The tour report reveals there was considerable disagreement between Waqar and Afridi over the team composition for those two matches.Before the fourth and fifth ODIs, Waqar said, Afridi “came into the meetings with a decisive mindset and was refusing to discuss playing XI options. I, as a part of the touring selection committee, tried to discuss different options for the team but he behaved very inappropriately and walked out of the meeting.”His attitude and unwillingness to sort out matters led to a very uncomfortable dressing-room environment which affected the players’ performance, resulting in the last two losses of the ODI series.”Alam, in his report, said there was also a disagreement over Afridi’s decision to suddenly promote himself up the order in one of those two games, as that hadn’t initially been part of the team strategy. “At one stage we were 200 for two in forty overs. All of a sudden Afridi promoted himself and as soon as he went in, the very next over he took the Powerplay and got himself out. The entire batting order was reshuffled and as a result, we could only manage 40-odd runs after that.”After losing the match Waqar was furious why he was not consulted over change in order. Afridi in return told Waqar, ‘I am not having a good time as far as my batting is concerned, but how many times you have taken me to the nets and worked with me or talked to me about my batting’. After heated arguments, once again Afridi left the room.”Alam also claimed he told Afridi not to speak to the press about his differences with Waqar, but inform the PCB chairman if he had complaints. But, according to Alam, it wasn’t just Afridi whose behaviour had been a problem. “I have also been observing Waqar and feel that he is at times little harsh and arrogant which creates some problems.”

It’s one of those days when both teams would have hit the bed reasonably satisfied

Sriram Veera at Sabina Park21-Jun-2011It’s one of those days when both teams would have hit the bed reasonably satisfied. But there will be enough doubts lingering inside to make them wary about the next morning. India would take 246 from the depths of 85 for 6. West Indies would have taken 246 all out at the start of the day. But both will want to guard themselves against a slip-up.For some time now, India have been used to winning. For some time now West Indies have been used to losing. If the pitch continues to take considerable turn, and remain two-paced, India will be happy even if they concede a 50-run lead. They can always make it up in the third innings and leave West Indies with a target to chase on a wearing track. If West Indies manage to take a sizeable lead, then they can suffocate India with pressure. It’s Test cricket 101 and both camps tried their hand at it.”We would look to get at least 400 and bat once,” Fidel Edwards said. “It won’t be easy for them tomorrow,” Suresh Raina said when his turn came. “It will turn more, especially in the fourth innings.” Raina even slipped in a jab: “Couple of their batsmen don’t know how to play spin bowling.” The only points where their views merged was in their praise of Devendra Bishoo, the man who set off the dramatic events by packing off Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and MS Dhoni in 14 deliveries. “He is a star,” Edwards added, “I was impressed with him. He took three early wickets and then took a very good catch in the end.”Edwards rarely raises his voice in the press meets. He rarely talks much in the middle too. He stares at the batsmen often and likes to bowl either short or go full. The in-between length doesn’t quite feature often in his world and he probably isn’t easy to hit with his action. When he finds those spots, he can be a real handful as Virat Kohli found out when a delivery shaped away from a length and sucked him in to a lame prod.Fidel Edwards dismissed Virat Kohli and helped clean up the Indian tail•Associated Press

Edwards was told last evening that he would play and he admitted he was a “bit nervous” in his first spell. It was his comeback after all and by his own admission he didn’t make the batsmen play that much early on because he “didn’t have much match practice”. The four-wicket haul would have been heart-warming, as there would have been enormous pressure on him after replacing Kemar Roach. “It must have been hard [for Roach]; I was glad that I was playing. It felt really good to do well. It was good to come back after missing out on so much Test cricket.”Edwards was the finisher, it was Bishoo who left India in trouble. In the end, Bishoo didn’t need to set up India’s top-order batsman. His stock ball, the legbreak, did the job on its own without any elaborate planning. In 14 deliveries, with the wickets of Laxman, Dravid and Dhoni, he had driven a spear through India’s heart.It came as a bit of a surprise. It’s not that Bishoo didn’t bowl well; he bowled really well, but the Indian top-order fell without much fight. Laxman drove loosely at the first ball he faced from Bishoo; Dhoni stabbed out at his first delivery. The best ball was the one that removed Dravid. He slipped couple of deliveries short in that over and Dravid put them away to the boundary with utter ease. Then Bishoo tossed one up and got it to dip and turn. It was tempting, even for Dravid, who rarely hits three fours in an over in Test match cricket. He leaned forward into a drive, went too hard into it and didn’t quite cover for the turn.It was at this stage that Harbhajan Singh counterpunched and lifted the pressure off Raina’s shoulder. “We just told each other that we would spend as much time as possible [at the crease],” Raina said. “They have two main bowlers and we just wanted to bat long as possible.” They did that to drag India back into the game. With West Indies’ vulnerability against spin, as was evident in the Pakistan series, and the track taking turn, no side at this stage has an outright advantage.

A round-up of the eighth match-day of the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2011Scotland Under-19s beat Kenya Under-19s by 15 runs in a low scoring match at Woodvale Road, Eglinton, to stay at the top of the points table. After choosing to bat, Scotland were in trouble at 77 for 6 before a 65-run partnership between Anjan Luthra and Sam Page revived the innings. Page, who top scored with 48 built another handy stand with Kyle Smith as Scotland reached a respectable 188. The only substantial contributions in Kenya’s chase came from opener Rushabh Patel – who scored 50 – and No. 3 batsman Duncan Allan, with 43. The pair added 83 for the second wicket, but once they were dismissed in consecutive overs, the chase faltered, with Kenya managing only 173 for 8 in their 50.Wicketkeeper Mathew Cross, who had been the lone performer among Scotland’s top order and was part of five dismissals in the fiels – including those of Patel and Allan – was named Man of the Match. “We would have been happy with a score of 210-220, but still, to reach 188 after being six down early on was a big effort,” Cross said. “When Kenya batted, we felt that one wicket could change the match. Allan fell at the right time for us to fight back. We dried up the runs [after that] and the asking-rate increased.”At Lodge Road, Coleraine, Nepal Under-19s beat Papua New Guinea Under-19s by 29 runs and moved into the second spot on the points table. Batting first, Nepal scored 277 for 7, driven by a fluent 91 from Rajesh Pulami Magar. Magar’s knock, which included eight fours and a six, was cut short when he was run out by PNG keeper Dogodo Bau. Opener Sagar Pun and Pradeep Airee also scored half-centuries as Nepal finished with 277 for 7. Vagi Oala and Christopher Kent were the main contributors in the chase, scoring 64 and 80 respectively. However, a penetrative spell from left-arm fast bowler Avinash Karn – he picked up a five-for in 6.3 overs – made sure PNG were always behind, eventually folding for 248 with three balls to spare.Magar, who was named Man of the Match, said his team was wary of PNG replicating their successful chase against Canada in the previous round of matches. “We lost a few wickets early on, so I had to stay at the wicket and build a partnership,” he said. “PNG chased down Canada’s score of 266 yesterday and we were a bit wary of their ability to chase the score. But our bowlers bowled brilliantly and restricted them very well.”Canada Under-19s eased to a five-wicket win against USA Under-19s at the Bready Cricket Club No2 Ground, Magheramason. Asked to bowl, Canada shot out USA for 101 in 40.3 overs, courtesy a six-wicket haul from opening bowler Manny Aulakh. The chase was steered by a rapid 42 from Rayyan Pathan, who struck five sixes in his 42 off 29 balls. Though USA managed to pick up five wickets, Canada were never stretched, getting home with 16.4 overs to spare.Aulakh, the Man of the Match, said the pitch assisted the quicks. “There was something in the pitch for the fast bowlers. We stuck to the basics and they [USA] made a few mistakes. This was one of my best spells.”At the Bready Cricket Club Afghanistan Under-19s registered a comprehensive nine-wicket win against Vanuatu Under-19s. Afghanistan justified their decision to bowl, running through Vanuatu in 26.2 overs. The attack was led by left-armer Sayed Shirzad, who claimed 5 for 38 in nine overs. He was well supported by Yamin Ahmadzai and Abdul Naseri, who picked up two apiece. Chasing 112, Afghanistan lost an early wicket, but were solid thereafter with Javed Ahmadi and Hashmatullah Shaidi knocking off the target at over seven runs an over.Man-of-the-Match Shirzad said Afghanistan were pumped up as it was a must-win match for them. “It was do or die for us, we had to win to stay in the hunt,” he said. “I bowled wicket to wicket and that paid rich dividends.”Ireland Under-19s‘s match against Namibia Under-19s at New Strabane Park was washed-out after only eight overs. The match will be replayed on Monday. Ireland need a win to regain the second spot on the points table.

Led by the impressive Brian Vitori, who took four wickets on debut, Zimbabwe took an 83-run first-innings lead over Bangladesh

The Report by Firdose Moonda in Harare06-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Shakib Al Hasan made a brisk 68 but Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for just 41 runs•Associated Press

A strong all-round performance from Zimbabwe gave them a slender advantage in what has been a competitive Test match so far. The hosts batted their way to an 83-run first-innings lead after their bowlers put on an aggressive performance against Bangladesh’s middle and lower order and extended that to 175 by the close of play, though they lost four wickets in the process.Bangladesh would have been disappointed with their effort while batting. Their batsmen were able to negotiate Brian Vitori’s movement and Kyle Jarvis’ pace, but eventually fell prey to poor shot selection and lapses in concentration. Mohammad Ashraful, who had batted with a rare circumspection on day two, survived two chances in the first hour; a confident lbw appeal and a catch that wasn’t taken off a mistimed pull shot over gully’s head. Despite flirting with danger, he brought up a determined half-century with a confident cut through point.Despite flirting with danger, Ashraful reached a determined half-century with a confident cut through point which seemed to settle him down. Mahmudullah negotiated the attack with equal patience but then tamely pulled a short ball – one he should have sent over mid-wicket – to square leg. His departure brought Shakib Al Hasan to the crease, who formed a strong partnership with Ashraful. The pair ran well between the wickets and dealt with the persistent short-pitched bowling from Elton Chigumbura and Chris Mpofu in authoritative fashion.Ashraful looked set to bat for the rest of the day but gave his wicket away trying to run a short ball past slip, succeeding only in getting an edge through to Tatenda Taibu. With Shakib switching to anchor mode, Bangladesh would have still eaten lunch with some ease, despite being 170 runs behind at that stage.They returned to a more hostile Zimbabwe attack that had the new ball available to them after seven overs. Mpofu, who had bowled a containing line with the old ball after lunch shared the new ball with Vitori, who was getting impressive movement. Both bowlers started off bowling too short, but it didn’t cost them much. Shakib become the first victim when he came forward and edged an Mpofu delivery that was not full enough to drive.With the Bangladesh captain gone, the bowlers alternated full deliveries with bouncers and forced Abdur Razzak to contend with a good line as well. He didn’t last long and was out lbw to a Mpofu full toss that struck him low in front of middle stump. Mushfiqur Rahim was playing a patient knock but after negotiating a flurry of short balls, eventually played a lethargic pull and was caught at deep square leg.Jarvis finally claimed his first Test wicket, bowling Shafiul Islam with a full delivery that held its line and sent the offstump tumbling out of the ground. Rubel Hossain had some fun, sending a ball flying over the slip cordon for four and another through mid on but he was the last man standing when Robiul Islam was out lbw to the ever effervescent Ray Price.Having watched Bangladesh’s batsmen struggle, Zimbabwe’s openers made a cautious start as Shafiul and Robiul Islam were more consistent than they had been in the first innings, mixed up their full deliveries with their short pitched ones. In the first ten overs, Tinotenda Mawoyo and Vusi Sibanda had scored just 25 runs.But when Shakib al Hasan introduced spin early and brought on Abdur Razzak, he failed to apply the same pressure as the seamers, with Sibanda lofting him down the ground for a straight six. Mahmudullah replaced him but lasted just two overs, as he did in the first innings, before Shakib brought himself on.Rubel was the most impressive of the Bangladesh quicks, and bowled at decent pace with good control. His eventual reward came from an average delivery though, a short ball that was there for the pull. Sibanda obliged but was caught at midwicket. Mawoyo was judicious at the other end, choosing to leave deliveries outside the offstump, but after a short break in play, had his offstump uprooted by a Robiul delivery that sliced is way into the gap between bat and pad.The late wickets of Hamilton Masakadza, who gifted Shakib a caught and bowled, and Ray Price, who was out lbw to Razzak, gave Bangladesh’s bowlers something to be cheerful about at the end of the day, and dragged them back into a game that been slipping away from them.

USA’s Under-15 squad claimed first place on Saturday at the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament held in Winnipeg, Canada

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2011USA’s Under-15 squad claimed first place on Saturday at the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament held at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Canada. USA started off the tournament with back-to-back wins against Bermuda and Canada and eventually won the tournament on a net run-rate tiebreaker after all three teams finished 2-2 in the double round-robin format event.”It feels great. It’s amazing,” USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh said. “This is just the second time I’ve been captain of a team and we came through. We were the underdogs in this tournament and coming up through the top is great.”Parikh was named Tournament MVP after leading his side with seven wickets while giving away a tournament low 2.63 runs per over. He was the team second-highest scorer with 108 runs, including 67 not out in a victory over Canada, one of four half-centuries scored by USA. He was one of six players on the team who also represented the North West U-15 squad at the 2011 USACA U-15 National Tournament, where the North West took their fourth straight U-15 national championship after a dramatic five-run win against New York in the final, something that Parikh feels helped prepare players for success in Winnipeg.”The most important thing I learned from that match was to have faith in your players and to never give up,” Parikh said. “I honestly thought that match was finished, that New York would have won the match, but we came through.”Vibhav Altekar, who scored a double-hundred for North West in the national tournament last month, led USA with 140 runs from four innings with one half-century to finish second overall behind Canada’s Abrash Khan. Neil Tagare, another player selected from the North West region, turned in the highest individual score for any player at the event with 79 against Bermuda. Another noteworthy performer for USA was Michigan’s Gordon Makin, who made a superb 65 in a loss to Bermuda.Khan and Gayan Ferdinands stood out as ones to watch in the future for Canada with Ferdinands taking a tournament-high 12 wickets. Bermuda’s Delray Rawlins also showed excellent all-rounds skills at the top of the batting order along with his left-arm orthodox spin.At the same U-15 tournament in 2009, Steven Taylor and Nitish Kumar captained the USA and Canada squads respectively. Both players have gone on to excel at the U-19 level and have also played for their country’s senior teams. Parikh says he’s gained confidence from being part of a winning squad for USA and hopes he might be able to progress in the same way.”After coming off as the underdogs and winning this, I feel like I have a strong future in cricket,” Parikh said. “I think that I should really put some effort in for the Under-19s, try out, play my hardest and really see what I can do for that team.”

Trinidad & Tobago took a big stride towards qualifying for the main draw of the Champions League with a hard-fought win over Ruhuna

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran19-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Darren Bravo anchored the chase with an unbeaten 44•Associated Press

Trinidad & Tobago added to their list of happy memories in Hyderabad by taking a big stride towards qualifying for the main draw of the Champions League Twenty20 with a hard-fought win over Ruhuna. They first stifled Ruhuna by taking the pace off the ball, keeping the Sri Lankan champions to 138, but the same tactic worked for Ruhuna as well, until Sherwin Ganga clobbered 39 off 15 deliveries to seal a low-scoring game.Ganga forged the game-winning partnership with Darren Bravo to drag T&T out of the hole they were in after 14 overs, needing another 58 runs with half the team dismissed. Bravo had played a relatively measured innings, entering in the first over and shelving the Hollywood hits that consumed several of his team-mates. He finished unbeaten on 44, leaving Ganga to play the big hits.After a bunch of boundaries from Ganga got T&T back on course, a tight over from the previously expensive TN Sampath made it a challenging 19 to win off the final two. T&T didn’t even need one full over as medium-pacer Arosh Janoda was taken apart. Ganga powered the first ball to the long-on boundary where a jumping Sampath could only palm it over for six; he then scythed a high, wide full toss for four past point before rounding off the game by launching the ball over long-on for six more.For a man who has only made 75 runs in his 26-match Twenty20 career, it was an unexpected effort from Ganga, who had been given only two costly overs in his primary role as offspinner. A similar surprise was the performance of Ruhuna’s biggest name, Sanath Jayasuriya, who got the headlines in anticipation of some cavalier batting, only to fail as an opener but shine with his left-arm spin.Ruhuna looked in big trouble after their stuttering batting performance – that included a record-equalling five run-outs – left them with a small total to defend but Jayasuriya and offspinner Janaka Gunaratne choked the runs and scooped the wickets as the batsmen went for the big shots. Two of T&T’s most talented batsmen, Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons, were dismissed in the first three overs but the third of the exciting youngsters Bravo made sure his side stayed in the game.It had been another young batsman of whom much is expected, Dinesh Chandimal, who gave Ruhuna’s total some respectability, with a battling half-century after more experienced men in the top order flopped. Jayasuriya fell to a Samuel Badree googly in the third over, and a couple of run-outs in the next over – one a misjudged call for two, and the other a result of the bowler Ravi Rampaul barging into the non-striker’s path while looking to field – left Ruhuna at 26 for 3.Chandimal muscled a six over long-off in the sixth over but with Gunaratne lacking fluency, there were no boundaries for the next four overs. The relief was evident on Chandimal’s face when he tickled a leg side ball down to fine leg for four. The pair put on 67 to stabilise the innings, though the run-rate was only hovering around six.The introduction of Simmons into the attack kickstarted the Ruhuna innings as Sampath and Kushal Perera plundered 19 in the penultimate over. At 137 for 6 and one over to go, Ruhuna looked set to meet their captain’s toss-time target of a score of around 150 but Rampaul bowled a perfect final over to deny them. Some pinpoint yorkers and three run-outs ensured only one off the over and a smaller total than they would have hoped for.

West Indians eased to a comfortable 65-run win over Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Fatullah07-Oct-2011
Scorecard
Darren Sammy and Denesh Ramdin added 57 crucial runs for the sixth wicket•Associated Press

West Indians eased to a comfortable 65-run win over Bangladesh Cricket Board XI and the abject surrender of the home batsmen, many of whom are in the Bangladesh squad, to the West Indies’ bowling attack would have given a genuine boost to the visitors. West Indians still have areas of concern – their batting against spin in particular – but Ravi Rampaul soothed their nerves after they struggled to 217 for 9 in 45 overs.Rampaul took his time to settle into a rhythm but with the slightly older ball, he hustled the batsmen with his steep bounce and pace. Alok Kapali mustered 41 before Rampaul had him guiding one straight to Denesh Ramdin in the 31st over, the batsman clearly beaten by pace. Naeem Islam’s attempt at a pull shot was embarrassing as he only top-edged the ball to the covers before Nasir Hossain’s swish had him caught behind, both off Rampaul. He took his fourth by removing the last man Robiul Islam, as the hosts were bowled out for just 152 in 41 overs.Mohammad Ashraful had given the BCB XI some momentum when he struck six boundaries in his 29-ball 32, but he had an immovable object at the other end – Shahriar Nafees meandered to 16 off 51 balls before sweeping an Anthony Martin leg-stump delivery down square-leg’s throat.While the BCB XI batsmen struggled to cope with the short ball, West Indians had a tough time handling the slow, turning one. They were stuck in one of two gears after being put into bat: too watchful or going for broke at every opportunity.With the start of the innings going nowhere, Lendl Simmons wound up at the first sight of a loose delivery in the seventh over, only to see his ferocious square-cut go straight to Nasir Hossain at point, while Kieran Powell misread the wicket and was caught at long-off going after Naeem’s offspin despite having already having been dropped earlier trying the same shot.A 59-run stand between Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels followed but that too flickered between a very cautious approach and bravado. Bravo eventually missed his half-century by three runs when he was caught straight down the ground after he hit five sweet boundaries and a six in his 74-ball knock. Samuels’s innings ended similarly when he chipped it right down long-on’s throat while Danza Hyatt’s first outing in the subcontinent ended lasted just 19 deliveries.The next partnership gave the visitors some respectability as Denesh Ramdin and Darren Sammy added 57, out of which 23 were taken from one Robiul over, but the manner of Ramdin’s dismissal left everyone at the ground bemused. He miscued a double-bouncing Ashraful delivery into the hands of long-off, where Shuvogoto Hom ran in to take a good catch.Ashraful’s surprise introduction was the result of Naeem having to keep wicket after Sahagir Hossain was injured in the 21st over, but it was productive as his combination of slow cutters got him three wickets in two overs. It was Kapali, however, who was the pick of the bowlers, the leg-spinner picking up 2 for 32 from his nine overs.

Virender Sehwag has said there was “no excuse for anybody not scoring runs” after his side limped to a one-wicket win in the first ODI against West Indies in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2011Virender Sehwag, India’s stand-in captain, has said there was “no excuse for anybody not scoring runs” after his side limped to a one-wicket win in the first ODI against West Indies in Cuttack. Chasing 212, India’s batting order collapsed before and after Rohit Sharma, who made 72, and the hosts needed the last pair of Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav to secure victory.”In India you hardly see the team tottering at 59 for 5. Hopefully we will come up with strong batting performances in the next games,” Sehwag said after the match. “We have to learn from our mistakes. There were two good balls. The ball came in and we [Virat Kohli and I] played early and made mistakes.”Sehwag was critical of the “soft dismissals” of Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina, which left India on 59 for 5 in the 12th over. “There were three soft dismissals of Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina. There is no excuse for anybody not scoring runs. We have to back our batting. We have some exciting youngsters playing for last three four years. But I am happy with bowling and fielding.”Rohit anchored the chase by scoring 72 off 99 balls and was praised by Sehwag for winning the game for India. “Rohit is one of the talented batsmen. He is improving match by match. He is proving himself. He is one of the best. Full credit to Rohit Sharma, [Ravindra] Jadeja and Vinay Kumar. One by one they did it for us.Rohit added 83 for the sixth wicket with Jadeja, who made 38, and then 42 with Vinay Kumar for the eighth. “When you lose five quick wickets, it’s difficult to come back. I praise Rohit Sharma and Jadeja as their partnership took us there. After that Vinay and Rohit had a good partnerships. The way Rohit, Jadeja and Vinay batted was great to see.”The previous ODI series in India, against England, had poor attendances at the grounds but the match at the Barabati Stadium had a strong crowd. “It feels great when people come to watch a game. We hope people will come and support us in the next matches,” Sehwag said. “I love to play in smaller towns. People give so much respect and love. They bring all kinds of food and stuff to you to make sure you are happy.”The second ODI between India and West Indies is in Visakhapatnam on December 2.