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Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast-bowler, has insisted he’s happy to support Tim Southee and James Franklin despite being an obvious new-ball candidate after his heroics in New Zealand’s nine-wicket defeat of Pakistan in the first ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2011Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast-bowler, has insisted he’s happy to support Tim Southee and James Franklin despite being an obvious new-ball candidate after his heroics in New Zealand’s nine-wicket defeat of Pakistan in the first ODI.He and Southee were expected to open the bowling but allrounder Franklin took the new ball with Bennett second change. The formula clearly worked well as Southee finished with man-of-the-match figures of 5 for 33 and Bennett chipping in with three wickets of his own.New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said a horses-for-courses approach was being taken and with the history of bowler-friendly conditions Queenstown, Southee and Franklin’s ability to swing the new ball would likely see them open again in Wednesday’s second match.”I think we’ll look to use James, particularly in Queenstown where the wicket probably suits the swing and seam bowler,” Vettori said. “When we get to the likes of Hamilton and Napier, maybe we’ll revisit it on the flatter wickets.”Vettori felt that Bennett, who finished with 3 for 26 from eight overs in just his third one-day international, was better suited to first or second change.”I think that’s where he’s most comfortable, but if he keeps bowling as well as he did [on Saturday], there’s no reason why he can’t step up into that opening role. We just hope he keeps performing that way.”Bennett, 23, is by far the quickest bowler in the team and generated good pace and bounce throughout the opening ODI. He was happy to start with the older ball in the circumstances but hopes to get hold of the new ball in future and feels he can generate more pace as he settles into the team.”I think Franky and Timmy do a good job swinging the new ball so we’ve got to use that, especially with the conditions we had [on Saturday],” he said. “I probably rely more on bounce so if I can use that and bowl a heavy nut it’s going to help.””I’ve never bowled [at the stadium] before so it was quite funny, it always felt like you were bowling into [the wind], so I found that quite tough. Hopefully in Queenstown I have the wind at my back. I think in Bangladesh last year I got clocked just under 145kmh so if I can get the conditions going my way, hopefully a bit quicker but who knows? If it’s not in the right area it doesn’t really matter, does it?”New Zealand routed Pakistan with their batsmen chasing down the modest target of 125 in just 17.2 overs. The new opening partnership of Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill surged with an 84-run stand in 10 overs as John Wright’s first move for the ODI team succeeded. Ryder returned to form after a difficult Test series with 55 from 34 balls, while Guptill ended 40 not out and Ross Taylor was unbeaten on 23.After an 11-match losing streak last year Vettori was pleased to return to winning ways but cautioned the conditions were nothing like what the side will face come the World Cup next month. “It’s a difficult one because we’re not going to play on any wickets like that at the World Cup but this series is about getting that winning feeling back.”

Auckland, propelled by a 152-ball 153 by Lou Vincent, defeated Canterbury in the final of the New Zealand Cricket One Day Competition by six runs, in a high-scoring nail-biter in Christchurch

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2011
ScorecardAuckland captain Gareth Hopkins poses with the trophy•Getty Images

A 152-ball 153 from Lou Vincent propelled Auckland to a six-run victory against Canterbury in a high-scoring final of the NZC one-day competition. The game saw 664 runs scored and included a spirited century in a losing cause by Canterbury’s Rob Nicol.Winning the toss and batting, Auckland got off to a solid start, with openers Vincent and Jeet Raval putting on 92 for the first wicket within 15 overs. Canterbury followed up fast bowler Andrew Ellis’ dismissal of Raval with two quick wickets, but a 136-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Vincent and Greg Todd asserted Auckland’s dominance in the match.By the time Canterbury knocked over Vincent in the 47th over, he had pummelled their bowlers for 16 fours and a six. A hard-hitting cameo by Colin de Grandhomme in the death overs gave Auckland the finish they wanted, and they finished with 335 for 6. Richard Sherlock was the only bowler to take more than one wicket, but bled 9.37 runs per over.Canterbury’s chase did not begin ideally, as they moved along to 52 for 2 in the 11th over. But a 136-run third wicket partnership between Nicol and Dean Brownlie (60 off 66 balls) got the innings back on track. After the two fell, Shanan Stewart’s 60 off 47 balls combined with the lower order to almost take Canterbury home, but they fell just short.Nicol’s century made him the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 648 runs in nine matches at 72.00, ahead of Lou Vincent, who finished with 642 in 11 matches.

Shafiul Islam raised Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign from the dead, as he turned yet another astonishing contest on its head

The Bulletin by Andrew Miller11-Mar-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahmudullah kept his cool alongside Shafiul Islam to take Bangladesh home•Getty Images

Shafiul Islam raised Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign from the dead, as he turned yet another astonishing contest on its head with a breathtaking assault in the batting Powerplay to leave England stunned by their fifth cliffhanger in consecutive contests, and facing their own make-or-break encounter with West Indies in Chennai next week.In another unbearably tense finale, Bangladesh’s ninth-wicket pair of Shafiul and Mahmudullah transformed a futile situation with a glorious blaze of strokeplay, as they turned an asking rate of 57 in 62 balls into an emotional victory with an over to spare. The honour of the winning hit went to Mahmudullah, who belted a Tim Bresnan full-toss through the covers for four to cue pandemonium among the most passionate cricket supporters in the world, but it was Shafiul’s refusal to accept defeat that ultimately paved the way for glory.On a sluggish track in which runs had, for the most part, to be grafted, England batted first and were bowled out for 225 – a total that was no better than par, and which owed everything to a chalk-and-cheese stand of 109 between Jonathan Trott and the fit-again Eoin Morgan. In reply, however, and in dew-laden conditions that made the ball tricky to grip – particularly for their cantankerous spinner, Graeme Swann – Bangladesh were on cruise control at 155 for 3 in the 31st over, before a calamitous run-out gifted their opponents a way back into the game.The man who had the game in the palm of his hand was the eventual – and rightful – Man of the Match Imrul Kayes, the less-vaunted of Bangladesh’s opening batsman, who slipstreamed Tamim Iqbal during a captivating 38 from 26 balls that put Bangladesh firmly ahead of the run-rate, before settling down to play the holding role with a chanceless 100-ball 60.Chanceless, that is, except for his sketchy running between the wickets. For it was his ill-advised decision to take a second run to deep square leg that ended a fourth-wicket stand of 72 with Shakib Al Hasan that looked to have broken the back of England’s resistance. In the next five overs, as Bresnan and Paul Collingwood applied the emergency brake, Bangladesh were limited to seven singles before Shakib – gasping to lift the tempo after a doughty 58-ball innings – aimed a loose sweep at Swann and was bowled for 32.Mushfiqur Rahim had been virtually strokeless since the run-out, with two runs from 18 deliveries before the re-introduction of Ajmal Shahzad persuaded him to drive expansively through the covers. But one ball later he edged a beauty on off stump through to Matt Prior, and before another run had been added, Shahzad produced another superb delivery to take out Naeem Islam’s off stump for a duck.It was a near-replica of the delivery that had earlier sent Raqibul Hasan on his way in the same manner, and with eventual figures of 3 for 43, Shahzad was England’s most successful bowler of the day. In between whiles, however, his line had been all over the shop – a performance that too many of his team-mates had been willing to emulate, not least James Anderson, who had borne the brunt of Tamim’s early onslaught, and later served up a dreadful nine-ball first over of the batting Powerplay – including five wides first-ball – to give Bangladesh real belief in the closing stages.That belief had been ignited by the swinging blade of Shafiul, who turned a bad day for Swann into a dreadful one by leathering his final over for 16, including the only six of the day, over wide long-on. Up until that point, Swann had been more preoccupied with the wet and slippery ball, with Andrew Strauss forced to intervene during a heated row with umpire Daryl Harper, but those blows brought the requirement down to 39 from 48 balls, and brought an abrupt halt to the flow of disgruntled fans who were trooping out of the stadium.This was the day that Bangladesh had been rehearsing for all through 2010. They got to know England’s cricketers and strategies through the course of back-to-back series at home and away, and having ended their run of 20 consecutive defeats with a tight victory at Bristol in their last-but-one encounter in July, they knew they had what it takes to spring a surprise. But, having collapsed in a heap to be bowled out for 58 in their last World Cup fixture against West Indies, the chance to start from the position of rank outsiders seemed to suit their purposes every bit as much as the favourites’ tag unsettled their opponents.

Smart Stats

• Bangladesh’s two-wicket win is only their second against England in 15 ODIs. It is also their fourth win over a Test-playing team in World Cups.

• The target of 226 chased by Bangladesh is the highest successfully chased one in ODIs in Chittagong. The previous best was 222 for 9 by Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in 2009.

• The 58-run stand between Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam for the ninth wicket is the third highest for Bangladesh in ODIs.

• Eoin Morgan scored his first fifty in World Cups. He now has 154 runs from ten innings at an average of 15.40. In ODIs overall, he averages nearly 39 with four hundreds and 11 fifties.

• Ajmal Shahzad’s haul of 3 for 43 is his third-best in ODIs and his best performance in World Cups.

• The two-wicket win is the fourth in World Cups and the third such win to come against England.

With the honourable exception of the fit-again Morgan and the unflappable Trott, England simply did not look comfortable at any stage of the day. After losing the toss and being asked to set the agenda, they shipped three tame wickets in the space of their first 17 overs, as they dribbled along to 53 for 3, and though Trott was admirable in grinding out a 99-ball 67, it was Morgan’s departure for 63 to a fine catch by Kayes at backward square that derailed their ambitions of a 250-plus total. Their batting Powerplay once again proved problematic, with 33 runs and two wickets coming in five overs, and from 162 for 3 with 11.3 overs remaining, England were bowled out for 225 with two balls of their innings remaining.The left-arm spin of Abdur Razzak was especially impressive. It was he who stunted England’s ambitions with his first-ball removal of Matt Prior (who produced one of the doziest dismissals of the tournament to date, when he set off for a single with the ball already nestled in Mushfiqur’s gloves) and he did not concede a single boundary until Ravi Bopara larruped the third ball of his final over through the covers. Even then, Razzak had the last laugh, as two balls later Bopara tried the same trick and picked out Naeem Islam in the covers.It was Razzak’s earlier spell that set the tone, however, as he and Naeem squeezed all ambition out of England’s top-order in a boa-like alliance that resulted in 19 singles and nothing else between overs 7 and 16. Strauss reclaimed his status as the tournament’s leading run-scorer in the course of his 31-ball 18, but the fluency that had been the hallmark of his previous performances was nowhere to be seen as he eventually took on a cut shot that was too close to his body, and skidded a fast edge to Junaid Siddique at slip. And then Ian Bell, nominally England’s best player of spin, produced a timid aberration of an innings, which ended with a flaccid flick to short midwicket off Mahmudullah.England’s own trump spinner couldn’t come close to matching the efforts of Bangladesh’s quartet. Right from his first over, Swann was troubled by the dew-sodden ball and struggled to locate the flight, line and length that had proved so devastating in a similar situation against South Africa last week. England regained a small measure of control when the umpires agreed to a ball-change after 21 overs, and Swann was instantly in the thick of things with a tidy fourth over that went for two runs. However, the more notable aspect of the over was Swann’s petulance when called for a leg-side wide that might have brushed Shakib’s pad. Aside from the extra run, it was a sign that England were getting very seriously rattled.In the final analysis, however, there could be no quibbling with the result. The only reason that England were even given a chance of victory was that both sides knew of Bangladesh’s tendency to collapse under pressure. Sure enough, the choke when it came was dramatic and could have been game-changing, but thanks to the guts of Shafiul and Mahmudullah, justice was served in the end.Last week Bangladesh were being showered with brickbats – literally – after a spineless surrender in Dhaka. This evening those same players will be garlanded by a jubilant nation, and with a match against Netherlands still lying in wait, they now have a real chance to propel themselves to the quarter-finals. England, meanwhile, must ride the rollercoaster for the sixth match in succession. Another slip-up, and this time it really will be the end.

Match Timeline

Accurate spells of fast bowling from the entire cast of seamers helped Deccan Chargers inflict a convincing 33-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have now suffered two losses in a row

The Bulletin by Nagraj Gollapudi14-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBharat Chipli set Deccan Chargers up for their maiden home win•AFP

Accurate spells of fast bowling from the entire cast of seamers helped Deccan Chargers inflict a convincing 33-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have now suffered two losses in a row. In the process, they laid to rest the curse of never having won a match at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in history of the IPL.Chasing the second-highest total in the tournament so far, Bangalore’s batsmen looked hapless throughout and had it not been for a battling half-century by Virat Kohli, they would have ended up in tatters. The four-man seam attack of Dale Steyn, Manpreet Gony, Ishant Sharma and Daniel Christian combined ruthlessly picking up eight of the nine Bangalore wickets.Tillakaratne Dilshan started off with a streaky boundary, a thick outside-edge off a seaming delivery from Ishant that raced through third man. But Ishant pitched the next ball perfectly on a length and hit the seam hard. Dilshan slashed wildly only for a thin edge to travel into the gloves of Sangakkara, who eventually ended the evening with five catches. If Sangakkara made the right decision to bowl Ishant’s four overs in one spell, Steyn – acting as the on-field bowling coach – made sure the Indian kept hitting a good length and avoided getting distracted bowling bouncers.A surprise move, actually ridiculous, by Bangalore to send Zaheer Khan in at No. 3 lasted three deliveries, before Steyn demolished the Indian’s furniture with a fast swinging full toss. Mayank Agarwal tried pulling hard against a short-pitched delivery from Gony which climbed too fast and was caught easily at mid-on. AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary, two proven match-winners, had miserable evenings. The South African was deceived by Gony’s outswinger and Sangakkara happily accepted another offering behind the stumps when Tiwary tried to slog sweep against the legspin of Amit Mishra, but ended up skying an easy catch, pouched safely once again by the Hyderabad captain.Only Kohli lasted the distance, keeping a calm head on his shoulders, while picking the right balls to hit to keep Bangalore’s flame of hope from being doused early on. A few good shots – including a raging straight six charging Mishra, and a fierce slog-sweep to go to fifty – were the highlights of his innings. But except for Cheteshwar Pujara, who have batted up the order, none of the Bangalore batsmen applied themselves to stand up to the challenge.If Bangalore’s batting seemed out of sorts, the Hyderabad men were solid and certain. Barring Shikhar Dhawan, who failed for the second match in a row, the rest of the hosts’ batsmen played smartly and kept pushing the run-rate consistently.Having failed to convert his starts in the first two matches, the onus today was on Sangakkara to keep the middle order intact. And he came up with his most fluent innings to date, playing with a straight bat while building a valuable 50-run alliance with Sunny Sohal for the second wicket, which was the highest for any wicket for Hyderabad so far in the tournament.Sohal hit the first six of the match and then got out attempting a second one, but Sangakkara played with measured aggression. He took advantage of a couple of easy full-tosses from Daniel Vettori early on, then rotated the strike smartly to keep the pressure on the bowlers, before charging Dilshan to hit an elegant six straight over the bowler’s head, his best shot. If Bangalore felt they could wrest the control after Sangakkara’s (tame) exit – he tried to chip a fuller and wider delivery from Johan van der Wath – Chipli quickly washed away those aspirations.He had started with two powerful pulls, both off the back foot, one a six (against Dilshan) and next over a four (off S Arvind). But his biggest victory came when he got the measure of Zaheer.The bowler of the World Cup was smashed for 22 runs in the nine balls Chipli faced. The onslaught included four fours, the last three coming back-to-back. The first one was slapped straight down the ground to the sight-screen, followed by a bottom edge which raced past the fine-leg ropes. And when Zaheer tried a sleight of hand by coming up with a slower delivery, Chipli, with a steady head, punched a handsome cover drive for another four to march to two runs short of a half century, which he duly completed. It was an innings of impact which caught Bangalore by surprise, and set his team up for that elusive first home win.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain, has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking the appointment of an arbitrator in relation to the termination of his contract with the BCCI

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2011Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain, has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking the appointment of an arbitrator in relation to what he claimed was the BCCI’s failure to abide by its contract with him while he was a consultant with the board as well as a member of the IPL governing council. He has also claimed an amount of Rs.1.16 crore as fees for services rendered.According to the application filed by Pataudi in the High Court, his agreement with the BCCI came into effect in October 2007 and was to last for a period of five years, where he would be paid Rs 1 crore annually. In the event that one of the parties chose to terminate the contract, as stated in Pataudi’s application, they would have to invoke the agreement’s arbitration clause.In October last year, the BCCI made wholesale changes to the IPL governing council, slashing its membership term from five years to one year and taking a decision that no payment will be made to any member of the original council. These new terms were unacceptable to Pataudi, as well as Sunil Gavaskar, and both turned down posts in the new governing council.In January this year, Pataudi wrote to the BCCI seeking the appointment of an arbitrator since his ties with the governing council had ended. When there was no reply from the Indian board, Pataudi took the matter to court. The case will be heard next week.Pataudi was critical of the BCCI following his withdrawal, saying the board was in a “mess” over the controversies that plagued the IPL, it no longer enjoyed the goodwill it once did in the global cricket community and that the time had come for it to back its financial clout with moral leadership.

The qualifying stage would be held a few days before that tournament, which is aimed at giving a fourth IPL team a chance to play in it

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2011The IPL governing council is considering holding an additional qualifying stage for the 2011 Champions League T20 a few days before the main event, which would give a fourth IPL team a chance to play in it.”Fourth team may have the opportunity to play CLT20,” Sundar Raman, the IPL chief executive, tweeted on May 22. “But they need to play a qualifier tournament a few days before CLT20 with 3 other teams.”According to Raman’s twitter feed, the tournament proper is scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 9 in India. The qualifying event – if it gets the green light – will have to be shoe-horned into the tightly packed international schedule, in the week following India’s tour of England, that ends on September 16.When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, Raman did not confirm or deny there were plans for a qualifying tournament, saying in an email, “We will inform the media on the developments around CLT20 soon”, but a member of the Champions League governing council told ESPNcricinfo that the tournament would be formally confirmed at the end of the governing council meeting in Chennai on Sunday.Meanwhile the reported on Tuesday that the three other teams in the potential qualifier would be the domestic T20 champions from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies, with the top two teams qualifying for the Champions League proper after a six-match tournament.If the qualifier were to take place, that would turn the Champions League into a 10-team tournament from a 12-team one. Three teams from India, two each from Australia and South Africa and one from England would have guaranteed spots in the event. The competition for the remaining two spots would leave at least one of New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies without representation, with two countries standing to lose out if the fourth IPL team qualifies.According to the , one of the reasons for the qualifier is to make sure the strongest teams make it to the main event. Given the $1 billion ESPN Star spent on the television rights for the event, there is a concern about television ratings, which have been subdued compared to the IPL. So far most of the viewer interest has centered on the IPL teams, which is another incentive for more IPL participation.

Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in semi-final equivalent of this IPL

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga25-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Aiden Blizzard’s early blitz allowed Mumbai Indians the cushion to overcome a middle-overs crisis•Associated Press

Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in the semi-final equivalent of IPL 2009. What will irk Kolkata is that they were the better side for 39 overs in the previous match between these sides, but one bad over then set up this rematch in the quarter-final equivalent. Mumbai then did enough to make use on the second chance.Kolkata’s top order came out trying too hard for a big start, losing four wickets for 20, and Ryan ten Doeschate’s 70 was not recovery enough on a good Wankhede track with short boundaries. A blazing start from Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have put to rest Mumbai’s habit of muddled chases, but they choked again. For the second consecutive game, though, James Franklin scuppered Kolkata’s hopes. This time, with much more on the line, he produced a less dramatic, but more assured 29.Munaf Patel bowled smartly to capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable nervous energy, taking three wickets, including those of Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. It was a subtle change-up immediately after being driven for four that sent Kallis back. The wicket-taking delivery was pitched in the same area, but was bowled with a scrambled seam and was hence a touch slower. The slice settled with a diving Tendulkar.Gautam Gambhir, Shreevats Goswami and Manoj Tiwary concentrated just on the boundaries, in the process failing to place the good balls for singles. The dot balls mounted, and all three fell to shots they would normally not play. ten Deoschate played sensibly, though, looking for singles and punishing the bad balls. That calm rubbed off on Yusuf, their 60-run stand took the run-rate past six an over, and a big finish could not have been ruled out.Munaf, though, returned to interrupt the comeback with more clever bowling. Convinced that the short ball would trouble Yusuf, he let his Baroda team-mate have some. The first one took a top edge for four, the second went for a single along the ground, and the third one was mistimed over midwicket. Munaf persisted, and with his fourth bouncer of the over, he sent his man back.Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wicketkeeper, proceeded to miss ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. ten Doeschate went on to score the highest for a No. 6 this IPL and Kolkata got 60 in the last six, yet a blazing start to the chase was always going to knock them out. Blizzard and Tendulkar provided just that.Blizzard relished the pace of Brett Lee, while Tendulkar took care of the spin of Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan. A lot of class and a lot of power merged effectively to bring up the fifty in the fifth over. There was a remote semblance of redemption for Lee when he came back to remove Blizzard, but not before the batsman had hit him for four and six in that over.Then Mumbai stumbled. Rohit Sharma ran himself out, Tendulkar fell to a sharp bouncer, and Rayudu seemed to have been sawn off. From 81 for 0 in the eighth over, Mumbai had been reduced to 103 for 4 in the 13th. A mini-partnership ensued, but Shakib trapped Pollard to make it 123 for 5. T Suman couldn’t handle the nerves and holed out to long-off.The asking-rate crept past run-a-ball for the last two overs, but a top edge off Lee’s first ball brought it back to 11 off 11. L Balaji, who failed to defend 21 in the last match, didn’t get a shot at redemption. The last over went to Shakib – his figures 3-0-17-2 until then – who needed to defend seven. Harbhajan lofted the second ball over midwicket, and let out a roar.

It took Middlesex only 21 minutes on the third morning to complete a nine-wicket victory against Kent in an County Championship Division Two encounter which attracted an ECB pitch panel to Lord’s

21-Jun-2011
Scorecard
It took Middlesex only 21 minutes on the third morning to complete a nine-wicket victory against Kent in an County Championship Division Two encounter which attracted an ECB pitch panel to Lord’s.Twenty-three wickets fell on the first day of the match, prompting ECB pitch liaison officer Tony Pigott to convene a three-man panel at the end of the second day’s play. Pigott, fellow pitch officer Jack Birkenshaw and ECB pitches consultant Chris Wood interviewed both captains and coaches, both umpires and the Lord’s groundstaff before deciding that the surface did not warrant a points penalty. But the panel did mark the well-grassed pitch “below average” for producing excessive seam movement.Kent employed occasional bowlers Joe Denly and James Goodman when Middlesex resumed on 120 for 1 as they chased 167 for a fourth championship victory of the season. Opener Sam Robson, unbeaten on 59 overnight, pulled Denly for six into the Tavern Stand and also hit him through extra cover off the back foot as he finished on 94 not out.Dan Housego late cut Denly for four and Kent continued to go through the motions as Robson extra-cover drove Goodman to the boundary and then deposited a long hop from Denly for another four.The end came even more quickly when Rob Key, the Kent captain, brought himself on to attempt some leg spin from the Nursery End. Robson first straight drove Key for four and then punched a full toss wide of mid on for the winning boundary.Robson faced 121 balls overall, hitting 12 fours and a six, while Housego finished on 13 not out.
Middlesex took 19 points for the win, which maintained their bid for promotion from the second division, while Kent picked up just three points.

Perhaps it was the loss of 23 overs to poor weather on the third
night. Perhaps it was the lack of a really good quality spinner. Or
perhaps they were just unlucky

George Dobell at Wantage Road23-Jul-2011
ScorecardPerhaps it was the loss of 23 overs to poor weather on the third
night. Perhaps it was the lack of a really good quality spinner. Or
perhaps they were just unlucky; certainly several edges flew
tantalisingly close to fielders. But, in the end, Derbyshire had to content themselves with a draw at Northants.The visitors were the better side for a large portion of
the game, but were unable to finish off a home side that bat deep and
fight hard. It was, in many ways, an excellent advert for the benefits
of two division, four-day cricket. The days when sides simply rolled
over and died when the pressure mounts are, largely, gone.These are exciting times for Derbyshire. Perhaps, in terms of a
promotion challenge, this will prove a year too soon. But they have a
developing squad of young players – Dan Redfern and Tom Knight are
among the talented youngsters who missed this game – and will surely
only improve in years to come. The prospect of Mark Turner and Mark
Footitt bowling in tandem is mouth-watering. Derbyshire have not been
blessed with such pace bowlers for many years.John Morris is a man with many positive qualities. He has an excellent
eye for talent and assembled a gifted squad at Derbyshire. Perhaps,
however, he was not the most sympathetic man-manager. His replacement,
Kark Krikken, a fellow who shows a bit more carrot and a little less
stick, may well prove better at nurturing the developing team.
They have some challenges. Greg Smith and Tim Groenewald are both the
subject of multiple 28-day approaches from other counties and
Derbyshire may face an uphill struggle to persuade the high-quality
role-model cricketer to join them for next season. Paul Collingwood
remains the target; Rob Key, whatever the rumour-mill may suggest, is
not.Earlier in the day, Derbyshire thrashed 97 in 14 overs to set-up their
declaration. Whiteley, who looks a fine prospect, scored his final 35
runs from just 10 balls, with both he and Smith registering selfless
half-centuries. It left Northants requiring a most unlikely 358 to win
in a minimum of 80 overs.Any chance they had of achieving that was ended by another excellent
spell from Turner. His extra pace accounted for both openers before he
had conceded a run which meant that, including his spell that ended
the first innings, he had taken five wickets for no runs in 24 balls.For those who last saw him ball in the CB40 final, it was a remarkable
improvement. Rob White briefly lifted hopes of a run-chase as he plundered 18 off
one over but, when he was run out after attempting an insane single,
the draw was Northants best hope. Jon Clare accounted for Rob Newton,
with a full ball, and Mal Loye, with one that bounced more than
expected, but O’Brien and Hall ensured there was to be no collapse.Hall, who passed 50 with two successive sixes, occasionally lived
dangerously, but the edges either flew through vacant fourth slip, or
bounced just in front of the cordon.”It was a bridge too far,” Krikken said afterwards. “But I’m proud of
the way we’ve played. Turner and Whiteley stuck their hand up in this
game and we can take great confidence from the way we’ve played. But of course I’m disappointed. If we’d have won we’d have put ourselves right in the mix. But I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. We just need to take it ball-by-ball and match-by-match and
we’ll do fine.
“We’ve given them a chance to play with freedom. We have a great team
spirit and all the guys are enjoying their team-mates’ success.”In the end, it wasn’t such a bad match for Northants, either. They
stopped the rot after the Championship defeat to Essex and the horrid
run of T20 form and showed some character as Niall O’Biren and Andrew
Hall added an unbroken 106 for the sixth wicket to make the match
safe.They still remain well-placed in the promotion race. They lead the
table by 18 points, though Middlesex have a game in hand. More
importantly, the lead over third-placed Glamorgan is 20 points.In the longer-term, their efforts must be to retain the services of
promising players such as Jack Brooks. Brooks, who has been one of the
best seamers on the circuit this season, is the subject of interest
from five other counties, with Yorkshire, Warwickshire and Kent among
them.Many a young man can have their head turned by the offer of big money
and the chance to play at a big club. But Brooks is a level-headed fellow. He’s enjoying his cricket at Northants, he’s enjoying the responsibility he has been given and he’s
enjoying the company of his team-mates. It would be a bit of a
surprise if he left.

Pakistan’s senior players credited the bowlers for the team’s Test victory over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo05-Sep-2011Pakistan’s senior players credited the bowlers for the team’s Test victory over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. After conceding 412 runs in the first innings, Pakistan bowled their opposition out for 141 in the second, leaving their batsmen with only 88 runs needed to win the match.”After the first day, the management worked really hard with the youngsters and the way they came out on the morning of the second day was the major turning point,” Mohammad Hafeez, opening batsman and offspinner said. “The pressure was on the bowling, much more than the batting, and the hard work from our bowlers really made the difference.”Pakistan were made to toil by Tino Mawoyo, who carried his bat through the first innings in the course of scoring 163 in over ten hours. Although he struggled at times, particularly against the spin of Saeed Ajmal, Mawoyo’s marathon knock kept Pakistan on the back foot for most of the first two days and captain Misbah-ul-Haq was pleased to see the fight the team showed from that position. “After the way the match started, with them scoring over 400 runs, I thought it was good to see how we came back.”The comeback started with Hafeez’s quickfire 119, a wonderful package of strokeplay, after two days of placid prodding from Mawoyo. “It was my own plan to bat aggressively against them,” he said. “I feel I have some responsibility as a batsman and I wanted to show that.”After Hafeez departed, Younis Khan planted roots in the pitch, scoring 88 off 265 balls, and steered Pakistan to what turned out to be an important lead. “The pitch slowed down a lot and batting was more difficult,” Hafeez said as an explanation for Younis’ method. “But, it was a good Test pitch and we really enjoyed batting on it.” Younis made his comeback after missing out on the series against West Indies and Misbah said much more can be expected from Younis now that he has, “proved that he is the main man for us.”The rest of the batting, with the exception of Taufeeq Umar who was out in single figures in both innings, also gave a respectable account of themselves. Misbah said they have been working towards building such an innings for almost a year. “Since the series against South Africa last November, we have done well with the bat and we’ve have seen some real improvement,” he said. “Hopefully we will be able to continue to be consistent in future.”Their aims for continuity could be dented by the loss of their coach, Waqar Younis. The win marks Waqar’s last Test as Pakistan coach after 18 months in the job, and Misbah said the team was sorry to see him go. “We had just settle down as a team and started to understand each other, so this will definitely affect the team, but we will have to adjust.”Zimbabwe are in a similar situation, seeking fluency after making their return to Test cricket last month against Bangladesh, following five-year exile. Misbah had kind words for his opponents, praising their development as a Test team. “They played wonderful cricket,” he said. “They put us under pressure and made things difficult for us. Their discipline was good and they will do well in future.”