All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardJimmy Adams’ tentative 60 edged Hampshire into a narrow 148-run lead at the Rose Bowl as they bid to avoid a sixth straight domestic defeat of the season. Adams was the only Hampshire batsmen to make a significant impact on the scorecard as Samit Patel’s two wickets left Nottinghamshire in a strong position to avoid defeat and maintain their strong start to the County Championship Division One season.Nottinghamshire allrounder Steven Mullaney had earlier taken the away side past Hampshire’s first innings total with a sturdy unbeaten 100, ably supported by Paul Franks’ 48 from 90 deliveries. Mullaney frustrated the home attack, taking the game to Hampshire and striking 12 boundaries during his century.Mullaney and tailender Franks put on 79 for the eighth wicket before the latter was trapped lbw by Dominic Cork with the Hampshire veteran then cleaning up the tail with the wickets of Darren Pattinson and Charlie Shreck to dismiss them for 329 and claim figures of 4 for 34.Hampshire began positively with in-form Michael Carberry looking to add to his first innings haul of 132 – and he and Adams looked in good shape building an encouraging first-wicket stand. However the England batsman nicked a swinging delivery from Pattinson to wicketkeeper Chris Read with Hampshire just five runs ahead – and you could almost feel the nerves enveloping around the Rose Bowl.Chris Benham did little to quell those fears with an underwhelming 18 from 44 balls, failing to find the boundary rope before he was removed lbw by Samit Patel, unable to judge a well-pitched delivery from the spinner. At the other end Adams kept his head with some fine drives and intelligent pinch-hitting to keep the score ticking over.He lost another partner when South African Neil McKenzie again failed to deliver on his return to England as he edged a quick Shreck delivery to Read for another disappointing score of just 12. Adams’ resolve lasted until the 49th over when he popped one up to BilalShafayat in the field from Patel and the collapse continued with Nottinghamshire eyeing a total below 200 to win.Thankfully for the hosts the experienced head of Nic Pothas (29 not out) and teenager James Vince (29 not out) glued together a 50-run partnership inside 30 gruelling overs at the end of the day’s play just when it was needed.

Yuvraj Singh, one of Kings XI Punjab’s most important players, is one step closer to getting fit. Yuvraj resumed competitive training this week and said on his Twitter page today, after batting “around 70 to 80 balls”, that he felt good about his progress towards a return to action in the IPL.”Wrist hurts a little bit but it will get better as I progress my training but feels good holding my bat after such a long time,” he tweeted. “Wrist was a bit sore but will definitely get better during the next few days. Really felt good after hitting a few balls. Should play first or second game max!”Punjab play their first game against Delhi Daredevils on March 13 in Mohali and will be desperate to have Yuvraj in the playing XI as soon as possible. One of the major concerns for Punjab ahead of the third season of the IPL is a long injury list, which includes Brett Lee, their most expensive player, the Australian opener Shaun Marsh, and Irfan Pathan.Yuvraj tore a ligament in his left wrist in late January and missed the second Test against Bangladesh and the entire series against South Africa that ended two days ago. He had been to Australia recently for treatment.

ScorecardMichael Lumb’s 110 ensured England Lions fought back from their defeat two days ago•Getty Images

Michael Lumb continued his impressive tour of UAE with 110 as England Lions levelled their one-day series against Pakistan A with a three-wicket victory in Dubai. Lumb, who hit the winning runs against England last week, added 109 with James Taylor after spin had again threatened to undo their run chase.In the opening match the Lions were skittled for 96 as Pakistan A’s spinners proved a real handful. A repeat looked on the cards when Andrew Gale and Ian Bell fell in consecutive deliveries to Raza Hasan to leave the Lions 56 for 3 chasing 232. However, this time a full-blown collapse didn’t ensue as Lumb and Taylor firstly consolidated then became increasingly aggressive during the chase, although there was a small wobble late on as three wickets fell in five balls during the 49th over.Lumb wasn’t involved with the England Performance Programme earlier in the winter, but has taken his chance with the Lions so much so that he is being talked about as a potential candidate for the World Twenty20 in West Indies. His innings only included six fours and a six as he ran hard between the wickets to keep England on top of the asking rate.”It was a good win for the boys today. I thought it was a fair score on this wicket, maybe we could have put a bit more pressure on them at the death but thought we bowled pretty well,” Lumb said. “We knew we needed a couple of big partnerships if we were going to chase down that sort of total and it was pretty special getting a hundred.”We’re 1-1 going into the last game so we did the job today and Friday is a really big game for us. They’re a good side and we’ll need to play good cricket to beat them but we know that we’re capable of it and it would be great to leave here with another series win.”Taylor, the Leicestershire batsman, also played a crucial role with his 61 which included five boundaries before he became Hasan’s third wicket to give Pakistan A a glimmer of hope. However, Steven Davies added 55 with Lumb to take the Lions to the brink before the three late losses made the result slightly less emphatic.The Lions bowlers had earlier chipped away steadily at Pakistan A, breaking partnerships each time they threatened to dominate. Peter Trego, drafted in for this match in place of Michael Carberry to strengthen the bowling options, helped control the scoring rate with nine overs for 24 and removed Asad Shafiq.Umair Khan top-scored with 61 before falling to David Wainwright, while Steven Finn impressed with 2 for 30 and Sajid Mahmood also collected a couple. Wahab Riaz swung two sixes in his 17-ball 22, but this time the target was within the Lions’ compass.

Western Australia 5 for 234 (Pomersbach 104*) beat South Australia 9 for 233 (Klinger 51, Edmondson 3-45) by 5 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLuke Pomersbach’s century guided the Warriors home•Getty Images

Luke Pomersbach kept Western Australia’s season alive with a maiden century that earned them a valuable bonus point against South Australia. Pomersbach raised his highest one-day score with 104 off 102 balls as the Warriors passed the visitors’ 9 for 233 with five wickets and 11 overs remaining.The win lifted them to second on a crowded table, leaving them needing to win their last group game to stay in contention for the final. South Australia remain on 17 points along with Victoria and New South Wales, four behind the leaders Queensland.Pomersbach entered at No. 3 and after a watchful start found his groove by hitting Dan Christian for two fours and a six over midwicket in consecutive balls. South Australia had the hosts 3 for 87 but Pomersbach picked up the pace in partnership with Marcus North (22) and then watched Mitchell Marsh thrash 29 from 13 before securing the win. Pomersbach had a couple of reprieves during a sloppy day for fielding, but walked off with a collection of 13 boundaries and the six.South Australia were on target for a big total when Michael Klinger and Mark Cosgrove were together after combining at 2 for 66, but life became much tougher and the tourists were unable to find the expected late surge. Klinger was patient early before increasing his tempo, including hitting Aaron Heal for six in his 51, which ended when he was stumped off North.Cosgrove was the brightest of the visitors, although he did benefit from two drops off Heal mid-innings, and enjoyed planting the spinner for a couple of straight sixes. However, his luck ran out on 43 when he pushed North to long off, where Marsh leapt for an athletic catch to have the Redbacks 4 for 154.Cameron Borgas (31) and Christian (20) chipped in but Ben Edmondson (3 for 45) made things difficult during the second half of the innings. Nathan Coulter-Nile was also impressive with 3 for 46 while North picked up 2 for 28 in a strong all-round display from the Warriors.

Close Kenya 91 (Obuya 40) and 30 for 1 trail Scotland 306 (Sheikh 108, Berrington 80, Odhiambo 3-60) by 185 runs
ScorecardQasim Sheikh and Richie Berrington cemented Scotland’s dominant position on the second day at Nairobi with career-best batting performances to help their side to 306 after Kenya were routed for 91 yesterday. Kenya went to stumps still 185 runs in arrears after Seren Waters’ second failure of the match, and face a mountainous task to salvage anything from this position.Berrington and Sheikh added a further 87 to their partnership this morning, with Sheikh reaching his third first-class hundred before he was caught on the crease by Steve Tikolo. The Kenyan bowlers stuck to their task admirably thereafter, taking wickets at regular intervals as they fought to keep their side in the game.Majid Haq was trapped lbw by offspinner Jimmy Kamande, who added to his frugal bowling by running Simon Smith out in the next over before he had faced a ball. Gordon Drummond edged Nehemiah Odhiambo through to Maurice Ouma behind the stumps shortly afterwards to leave Scotland at 233 for 7, but Berrington and Ross Lyons firmly ensconced themselves at the crease to frustrate the Kenyans.Berrington went to his maiden first-class fifty, to go with his sterling effort with the ball in Kenya’s first innings, before he became Kamande’s second victim of the innings. Lyons was finally prised out for a 93-ball 23 by Elijah Otieno, who bowled Dewald Nel for 5 to end the innings in his next over.In reply, Nel removed Waters for 12 to put Kenya in early strife at 24 for 1, but Rakep Patel and nightwatchman Hiren Varaiya held firm till the close. They, and the remainder of the batsmen, will have to play out of their skins tomorrow if Kenya are to save this match.

This is not the story of the Hauricane. It’s the story of the Gayle that engulfed the Hauricane. Chris Gayle said during the week that batting against Nathan Hauritz was like facing himself and now it’s clear exactly what he thinks of his own bowling. The six that Gayle struck off Hauritz that took him into the 90s was probably the biggest ever seen in an international at the WACA.The Lillee-Marsh Stand has five tiers and Gayle reached the top of them all, landing the ball on the roof and roughly 110 metres from where it started. The crashing noise when it hit the tin roof was so loud that the crowd’s cheers couldn’t drown it out. The ball rolled into a gutter and was recovered by a cameraman but could just as easily have bounced out onto Hay Street.What is it about the WACA? Three of the six fastest hundreds in Tests have been at the venue, which is far from the smallest ground in the world. There was Roy Fredericks’ 71-ball effort in 1975-76 and Adam Gilchrist’s 57-ball Ashes blitz three years ago, not to mention Mark Waugh’s near-century 12 years ago when he launched Daniel Vettori onto the same roof in what can be Gayle’s only competitor for the biggest stroke at the ground.It was one of six sixes in Gayle’s 102 – another in Hauritz’s next over brought up the fifth-fastest hundred in Test history – and was easily the most memorable moment in an unforgettable innings. It had some competition: there was a nonchalant flick off his pads and onto the hill off Doug Bollinger and a pair of consecutive sixes off Hauritz at precisely the moment that the WACA president Dennis Lillee was praising Gayle as the state’s star Twenty20 signing for this season.Perhaps the most amazing thing about the shot was that he said it wasn’t his biggest six – not by a long way. Most players could try for their entire career and never hit the WACA roof but Gayle was nonplussed. Earlier this year he launched a rocket off Jeetan Patel into some poor Napier resident’s backyard in a one-day international against New Zealand and he is certain that six was bigger than this Perth missile.”I have hit balls further than that before,” he said. “I don’t think that one went too far, to be honest with you. I just stroked it a bit. It wasn’t muscle or anything, just timing. A good bat, so you have to take that into consideration as well.”It’s no surprise that Gayle can play like this – he’s been doing similar things for a decade. What was more unexpected was his subdued, patient 165 at the Adelaide Oval last week. The two contrasting innings showed a real maturity in Gayle. In Adelaide he knew that he had to hold off Australia’s bowlers and accumulate a big lead for his team; here he was aware that they needed to win to level the series and quick runs were the best way to overcome Australia’s 520.For a man who said last year that he wouldn’t be sad if Test cricket disappeared, he has enjoyed the format over the past 12 months, with 949 runs at 59.31 and five centuries. His captaincy is often criticised and his laid-back approach irks some more proactive former skippers, but when Gayle reached his century and knelt on the ground, bowing to his colleagues in the dressing-rooms, it was clear that theirs were the only opinions that mattered to him.”I praised my team-mates, each and every one,” Gayle said. “There has been speculation published and so forth and I have the support of them. I really acknowledge and respect that. Being captain, I think it changed me a bit more and also you have to take into consideration I’m getting a bit more mature as well, getting to know my game a bit more.”He was frustrated at getting out to a soft shot soon afterward for 102, when he spooned Bollinger straight to point, but by that stage he had given his team and the fans 104 minutes of bliss. He’d also taken 32 off 19 balls he faced against Hauritz. Finally, the Hauricane damage was complete.

West Indies will “gamble” in their pursuit of a drought-breaking victory against an Australian side that no longer revels in pressure situations. Those were the bullish sentiments expressed by David Williams, West Indies’ interim coach, after an engrossing fourth day of the Adelaide Test during which the tourists’ batsmen subdued Australia’s bowlers to place themselves within reach of a famous win.West Indies will discuss overnight whether or not to bat the Australians out of the game on Tuesday, however Williams believes enough runs were already on the board. History supports his argument – only once, in 1902, has a team scored more in the fourth innings to win at the ground – and the prospect of both teams aggressively pursuing victory is a tantalising prospect.”We know for a fact that the Australians don’t like to be under pressure,” said Williams, proving Tim Nielsen isn’t the only coach in this match prepared to engage in psychological warfare. “It’s a pressure sport, especially when there is a Test match and a Test series up for grabs.”We’re going to probably sit tonight and come up with a decision whether we feel we need more runs or if we’re just going to call it quits and bowl from the start tomorrow. I think it’s enough runs, that’s my personal view, but again a discussion must take place with the captain and some of our senior players and we’ll take it from there.”A scare was thrown into the West Indian camp late on Monday when Sulieman Benn, their five-wicket hero from the first innings, was struck on the foot by a searing Mitchell Johnson yorker. Benn received treatment on the field for several minutes, raising fears that he might have sustained a serious injury.Williams, though, was confident his frontline spinner would not be troubled by the blow, and would again prove a handful turning out of the footmarks. “He bowled extremely well in the first innings to take five wickets and he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with tomorrow,” Williams said. “He’s alright. It’s a little bit swollen, but with some ice and some rest he should be alright for tomorrow. I don’t think [it’s a break]. He’s walking pretty well so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem tomorrow.”Johnson was also wary of the threat posed by Benn on a wearing, fifth day pitch. He anticipated the Australians would push for victory, rather than attempt to save the match, on a pitch that is proving difficult for scoring once the ball softens. “Down the middle of the wicket is pretty good but there are a few footmarks out near the edges so maybe, hopefully, they’ll be a bit too wide for the right-handers and be spinning away and won’t be too much trouble,” Johnson said. “[Benn] is obviously on a high at the moment. They bowled pretty well in that first innings. Kemar Roach was outstanding. I guess it just depends on seeing how Benn bowls out there again.”Williams, too, expects the Australians to take an aggressive mindset to the crease on Tuesday in their bid to secure the Frank Worrell Trophy. Not content with merely competing on the final day, Williams insists victory will not only go far to restoring confidence within his team, but also silencing the many West Indies’ critics.”This Test match is going to be very important for us,” he said. “We don’t want to go to Perth still one-down so we’re going to do everything in our power to try and win this one. We may take a gamble at times but this Test match is very important for us.”Before we came to Australia there were a lot of critics and people said a lot of ill things about the team, but I think this performance is probably going to change some of those minds. Hopefully we can go on and win the match.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outIndia went to No. 1 for the first time•Associated Press

Sri Lanka may have thwarted India through the fourth day, but Zaheer Khan sliced through the remaining four wickets to take India to a 2-0 series win and the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings. Zaheer started with a ripper in the first over to get rid of Kumar Sangakkara and finished his best performance of the series with his eighth five-wicket haul. This was the fourth time in the last four years that India had won two matches in a row; two of those braces came against Sri Lanka.In comparison with day four, the end came swift. Sangakkara was yet to get his eye in again when Zaheer bowled the perfect left-armer’s outswinger that took the edge. After that it was all a matter of time: both Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara succumbed to sharp short deliveries from Zaheer. Muttiah Muralitharan scored a quick 14 but edged Harbhajan Singh to MS Dhoni to kick off India’s celebrations.

Michael Vaughan has called for England to rest Andrew Strauss for next year’s tour of Bangladesh to ensure against burn-out before another packed home season. Vaughan said cricket’s administrators should “look at playing a little bit less, and making the product that much better” in order to ease the workload on players.”This needs to be addressed now. Andrew Strauss should be rested for that trip, as should Paul Collingwood, as should Jimmy Anderson,” he told the . “They should announce it now because until they do, if the South Africa series goes wrong, then I guarantee that Strauss, Anderson, Collingwood will end up going to Bangladesh. I know what will happen. I’ve been in the job and I know what happens with the England selectors and I know what happens with the England team.”Strauss has already clarified that the situation would be assessed when England return from South Africa in January but Vaughan said the ECB had to decide now. “We might lose in South Africa, we might lose heavily. Then everyone will start to worry about their position in the team, about young guys coming in. They will know that whoever you put in the team for Bangladesh should do well, so the players will start to get a little bit frightened about their position in the side.”The selectors will say, ‘We must start winning again’ ahead of the next Ashes. England have got to let the players know they’re being rested now so that if the South Africa series doesn’t go the way we want it to there is not a mass call for these guys to go Bangladesh.”During the seven-match ODI that followed the Ashes this summer, Collingwood said he felt his body was “shutting down” as various injuries started to catch up with him, and some England players even told the Professional Cricketers’ Association of their feelings. Having been rested during the ODIs against Australia, Collingwood did well in the ICC Champions Trophy before picking up an injury in the semi-final that ruled him out of the Champions League Twenty20.”He [Collingwood] came back and started believing in himself again,” Vaughan said. “He had a fresher mind. He needed to recharge his batteries. He came back and suddenly started hitting the ball. You need to be fresh to play at your maximum. More time at home for the players is paramount.”

ScorecardGeorge Bailey finished the third day unbeaten on 72•Getty Images

Tasmania’s new captain George Bailey loomed as the key man for his team after three days in Adelaide, where Tasmania held a slender lead with six wickets in hand. The Tigers closed at 4 for 151, with Bailey unbeaten on 72 and Luke Butterworth on 23, and a 42-run advantage over South Australia.However, Tasmania had little batting depth left in the pavilion and will need Bailey to kick on for a century on the final day. The Redbacks had already claimed first-innings points thanks largely to James Smith’s second-day century and Graham Manou kept the lead ticking over.Mark Cosgrove prodded a return catch to Daniel Marsh on 53, having added only seven to his overnight score, before Manou and Aaron O’Brien guided the lower-order effort. Manou played on for 40 and was one of three wickets for Brett Geeves, while Jason Krejza finished with 4 for 70.In reply, Tasmania’s second innings began shakily when they stumbled to 3 for 56. The run-out of Alex Doolan for 13 did not help matters and Peter George chipped in for two wickets but Bailey led by example and at stumps had put on 78 for the fifth wicket with Butterworth.