India Green’s bowlers, led by Punjab legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, set up a comfortable six-wicket victory against India Red in Indore

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
India Green’s bowlers, led by Punjab legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, set up a comfortable six-wicket victory against India Red in Indore. After the bowlers had dismissed India Red for 185, S Badrinath led the chase with a fluent half-century as his team won with 13 overs to spare.Ladda and Rajasthan fast bowler Pankaj Singh had shared seven wickets between them as India Red collapsed from 106 for 2 to 185 all out. They were earlier off to a poor start after electing to bat when Manish Pandey was trapped leg before by Dhawal Kulkarni in the third over. Parthiv Patel was looking solid at the other end as he drove and cut the seamers for boundaries. However, Pankaj struck a big blow when he had Virat Kohli caught behind for 7.Then followed the best partnership of the innings between Patel and Dinesh Karthik. The duo added 57 in 9.2 overs before Karthik was run out going for a sharp single off Ladda. That was the opening India Green needed, and Ladda barged into it, picking up the next four wickets to finish with career-best figures. He had Saurabh Tiwary caught at point, and then lured Yusuf Pathan, Monish Mishra and Parthiv into holing out down the ground. With Parthiv falling for a well-made 86 off 100 deliveries, India Red had slumped to 162 for 7, having lost four wickets for 56 runs in 14.2 overs. Pankaj – who made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year in Harare – returned to clean up the tail to finish with 3 for 36.India Green were off to a quick start before Vinay Kumar removed the openers, having Naman Ojha caught at short point by Kohli and then trapping S Anirudha in front. Meanwhile, Badrinath was displaying his repertoire of strokes at the other end, taking Ashok Dinda for three boundaries in an over. He pulled a short ball outside off behind square, drove the next one back of a length through the covers, and finished with a pleasing on-drive to a full delivery.Rohit Sharma joined Badrinath for an 87-run stand, the highest of the match. He matched Badrinath in stroke-making, unfurling the cut, the pull, the drive and the flick with languid ease. He had moved to 48 before he was bowled by a slower one from Dinda, missing the line as it went through the gap between bat and pad. Dinda got Badrinath leg before in his next over for 67, but it was too little, too late for India Red, as India Green got the bonus point for their easy victory.

A day ahead of the India-New Zealand Test, Ahmedabad is more concerned about Diwali than the cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2010

Match Facts

Thursday, November 4

Start time 09.30 (04.00 GMT)
India will look to consistency from Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma•Associated Press

The Big Picture

The only buzz in Ahmedabad is about the Diwali, the festival of light and sound. The odd cracker goes off at night, the shopping malls are packed, as are the ‘soda shops’ with thirsty people waiting for their spouses to finish shopping. In this atmosphere of joy, temptation, greed, commerce and bonhomie, cricket seems a trivial affair but here we are with an India v New Zealand contest.The knee-jerk prediction for this series would have evoked memories of former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele’s 0-3 prediction ahead of an Indian tour Down Under, obviously in reverse. Yet Indians have rarely bossed their opposition like that, even at home. The last time was in 1992-93, when a poor English side was tormented by Anil Kumble & Co. The image of that series was of Richard Blakey being harassed and hustled by Kumble.India have rarely been that dominant since. The designer dustbowl pitches have been replaced by largely batting-friendly surfaces, the visiting batsmen have grown more adept at playing spin and the playing field has become relatively level. Even Zimbabwe were no pushovers when Andy Flower was in full bloom. So the general feeling that New Zealand will surrender tamely might be an erroneous assumption – and dangerous for India.It’s difficult to see New Zealand take 20 Indian wickets; it’s difficult to see them bat well in the second innings on turning tracks, and it’s difficult to see them consistently maintain pressure with bat or ball over sessions but it’s not difficult to see them bat well in the first innings in good batting conditions.Mark Richardson, that masterfully dour former New Zealand opener, recently wrote that the line-up per se – Watling, McCullum, Guptill, Taylor, Ryder, Williamson, Vettori – gives him confidence but not its achievements; barring Vettori and the untested Williamson, the players have failed to deliver on their potential. They could do worse than acquiring some of Richardson’s patience.India are in a unique stage in their cricketing history in that their fans are looking ahead to the overseas series against South Africa rather than what’s playing now. It almost feels like the Australians and English, who obsess about the Ashes and treat anything in between as practice. Nevertheless, India have some issues to deal with. A couple of things stand out: Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid getting some big runs, and Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth showing some consistency.

Form guide

(most recent first)
India :WWWDL
New Zealand: LLWDL

Watch out for…

Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum need to up their game•AFP

Jesse Ryder was New Zealand’s best batsman when they last played India. For a man who is waging an inner battle to keep his head in control off the field, he showed a remarkably cool head in the middle. He batted almost as if in a trance and what especially stood out was how little he deviated from his game plan. The footwork was minimal but very precise, the shot-selections were awesome and his patience supreme. Can he perform an encore?Pragyan Ojha is not a headliner but he might be the one who troubles New Zealand most. Harbhajan Singh has been afflicted with injuries since his fine performance against South Africa in Calcutta in February this year and hasn’t turned in match-winning spells since. Considering how New Zealand struggled against the Bangladeshi left-arm spinners – Ojha is of course no equal to the vastly accomplished Shakib Al Hasan – Ojha might strangle them with his accurate spin.

Pitch and conditions

No one can predict this Motera track. The last two Tests have been chalk and cheese: South Africa crushed India for 76 in April 2008 while Sri Lanka amassed 760 in the next Test in 2009. Ten Indian wickets fell in 20 overs in the first Test while 21 fell over five days in the next. And there could be more strange behaviour in store for us this time around: an unprecedented cloudburst early in August flooded the stadium and it took three days to drain out the water. This will be the first big game after that. The curator reckoned that there would be help for seamers on the first day.

Teams

New Zealand (probable): 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 BJ Watling, 4 Ross Taylor,5 Jesse Ryder, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Hamish/Bennett/Andy McKay, 11 Chris MartinIndia (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Pragyan Ojha

Stats and trivia

• Vettori needs 38 runs to become the third allrounder after Kapil Dev and Ian Botham to have 4000 runs and 300 wickets
• If Dravid takes a catch of Harbhajan’s bowling, it would be the 50th time the pair have been involved in a dismissal. They would become the fourth pair in Tests to do so: Muralitharan-Jayawardene (77), Kumble-Dravid (55) and Warne-Taylor (51). Dravid needs two more catches to become the first player to hold 200 catches in Tests.
• Sachin Tendulkar needs one more hundred to make it 50. If he hits two fifties in this series it will be his 13th against New Zealand and with it, he will join Javed Miandad who has scored the most 50s against New Zealand.
• Vettori is set to become the second player after Stephen Fleming to play 100 Tests for New Zealand.

Quotes

“More than fast bowling support to Zaheer, I am concerned about injuries. Not one series we have been able to play our full strength team.”

“I think we are trying to improve our Test match ranking, trying to get better as a team and if you start off with a mindset of draws being acceptable, then it gets difficult. I want to go out there wanting to win and we will take it from there.”

Plays of the Day from the third day of the third Ashes Test between Australia and England at Perth

Peter English and Andrew Miller at the WACA18-Dec-2010Australia’s nearly man

Shane Watson has twice as many scores in the 90s as he does centuries after his latest near miss. Watson was only five from a hundred when he was given out lbw to Chris Tremlett in the first session. A referral was called immediately because Watson thought he had hit it, but the replays revealed his bat brushing his pad instead. Watson walked off showing his blade to the umpire, frustrated at his mistake, the perceived injustice, and his fourth score in the 90s in just over a year.Swann is sunk

Graeme Swann’s anonymity was one of the most notable features of Australia’s second innings. He did not bowl at all in the morning session as Hussey and Watson extended their stand, and when he did appear he was beaten back out of the attack after five forlorn overs, in which Michael Hussey and then Brad Haddin refused to allow him to settle. His sense of disappointment was best telegraphed by a rare lapse in the field, when Peter Siddle, on 0, swiped a pull to wide mid-on, where Swann leapt to his right but grassed a two-handed chance. After the scorcher he intercepted at slip on the first day, he returned to earth with a bump.Mitch’s miss

Mitchell Johnson was kept waiting for just five overs before being thrown the ball in England’s second innings, as Ricky Ponting tapped into his confidence at the earliest opportunity and set him the task of unsettling England’s openers. All he needed was one delivery to instil panic in the ranks. Alastair Cook hopped onto the back foot to defend a first-ball lifter, and set off for a crazy single in a bid to escape the strike. As Johnson hurtled past in his follow-through he soon recognised his error … but slipped as he tried to abort. Sadly for Johnson, his sidefoot skidded inches past the stumps, but England’s collective cage had been rattled.Ben breaks through

Ben Hilfenhaus started the series with a third-ball wicket but it took him more than three weeks to gain his second. It was a good one. Kevin Pietersen was pushing outside off stump late in the day, his bat a long way from his body, when he nicked Hilfenhaus to Watson at first slip.
Hilfenhaus seemed to sprint to the cordon as quickly as he bowls after finally getting a result following some handy work over the first and third games.Replay reprieves

The umpiring technology helped Steven Smith twice on his eventful ride to 36. When he was 1 he was ruled caught at first slip, but the challenge showed the ball had hit the inside of his front knee. That meant he was vulnerable to an lbw until Hawkeye calculated the ball was going over the stumps. After lunch, Smith was not given out lbw on 28 and England appealed. He survived by millimetres when the video showed the ball would have just struck outside the centre of leg stump. The original decision was therefore upheld.Haddin survives, then falls

Paul Collingwood had a chance for a run-out when Hussey hit to him at cover, leaving Haddin stranded if the fielder had hit the stumps. He didn’t, but the miss wasn’t costly. Next ball Haddin was bowled, playing-on after playing back to Tremlett. Haddin has been a problem for England throughout the series but when he departed for 7 England’s spirits rose.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third Twenty20 international between New Zealand and Pakistan at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch

The Preview by Nitin Sundar29-Dec-2010

Match Facts

December 30, Christchurch

Start time 19.00 (06.00 GMT)Martin Guptill has provided strong starts for New Zealand in both games•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Before this series, New Zealand were in total disarray, having endured 14 successive defeats at the international level, and seemingly without a plan. Two Twenty20 matches were all it took to change the vibe in their side. It was made possible by the influx of players who hadn’t been a part of the misadventures in the subcontinent. Adam Milne hustled away with Shane Bond-like pace, Peter McGlashan’s innovative reverse sweeps left Umar Gul – a Twenty20 expert – looking out of place, and Luke Woodcock stunted a rampant chase with a tight spell. Suddenly, all of New Zealand’s experiments have begun to work and they look good for the remainder of the tour.It is unlikely that the hosts will drop their intensity in Christchurch. It has taken a lot of effort to end the losing streak and Ross Taylor’s men will want to savour the taste of victory for as long as possible.Things don’t look so bright for Pakistan though. Despite all the controversies, they were expected to stand up in the Twenty20s – after all it was the format least likely to test their admittedly thin resources. Yet, while they have managed to challenge Australia, England and South Africa in the longer formats, their T20 form has nosedived, and they have now lost six on the trot. The problem seems to stem from their team composition, with a fragile and inexperienced top order failing to put enough runs on the board for their accomplished six-man attack to work with. Given that the AMI Stadium is another rugby-cum-cricket ground that will wrong-foot the best of bowlers, Pakistan may find merit in going the other way and loading up on their batting.

Form guide

(most recent first)
New Zealand: WWLWL

Pakistan: LLLLL

Watch out for…

Ross Taylor has made two steady, but crucial, contributions lower down the order, and in both games, his intent to stay around till the end was obvious – a big improvement from the one-dayers in India when he often fell at key moments. Martin Guptill‘s form at the top has allowed Taylor to play a guiding role in the second half, but expect the captain to step on the gas in Christchurch.Younis Khan‘s return to the Twenty20 side has so far yielded five runs in two innings. He is, however, too good a player to fail three times on the trot. Another player due to come good is Abdul Razzaq whose manic hitting left South Africa dazed in a recent one-dayer in UAE. He showed signs of finding his range in Hamilton, and the crowds in Christchurch can expect him to send a few their way.

Team news

With the series in the bag, New Zealand have decided to give Brendon McCullum more time to rest his back, which means McGlashan will continue to keep wicket. Each member in their 14-member squad has got a chance in the first two matches, and they are likely to fiddle with the line-up some more in the third game. Will Adam Milne get another go?New Zealand (probable): 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Dean Brownlie, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Ross Taylor (capt), 6 James Franklin, 7 Peter McGlashan (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills / Adam Milne, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Luke WoodcockPakistan seem to have got their combination wrong – only eight of the 16 members in the squad, including allrounders Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, are batsmen. Afridi may have to give up the opening slot and add substance to a misfiring middle order. Sohail Tanvir is yet to get a chance and, if picked, his unusual delivery stride could rein New Zealand’s batsmen in.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shahzad , 3 Shahid Afridi (capt), 4 Younis Khan, 5 Fawad Alam / Asad Shafiq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Wahab Riaz / Sohail Tanvir 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Shoaib Akhtar

Stats and trivia

• Afridi’s average as an opener is 17.75, but it jumps up to 38.00 when he drops to No. 3, though the strike-rate falls from 191.89 to 139.44
• With 25 wickets to their names, Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills are New Zealand’s second highest wicket-takers along with Shane Bond. Daniel Vettori leads the list with 35

Quotes

“Getting that first win was something special for us … It had been a while and obviously to do it back-to-back was even more special. Hopefully we will continue with confidence from now on.”

England captain Charlotte Edwards scored her first Ashes Test century to help her team limp to 8 for 181 on the first day at the Bankstown Oval in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2011
Scorecard
A captain’s innings: Charlotte Edwards celebrates her first Ashes ton•Getty Images

England captain Charlotte Edwards scored her first Ashes Test century to help her team limp to 8 for 181 on the first day at the Bankstown Oval in Sydney, remaining unbeaten on 103. Ellyse Perry lead Australia’s charge with the ball, nipping out both openers and then returning to dismiss Danielle Hazell and Isa Guha to set herself for a maiden five-wicket haul in just her third Test.Perry had good back-up from new-ball partner Rene Farrell, who picked up two wickets, but Edwards’ support was rather more sparse with Jenny Gunn the only other batsman to reach double figures.Edwards won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch with a good covering of grass, but England’s openers didn’t last long against the moving ball with Perry, who bowled largely full and straight, dismissing both Heather Knight and Caroline Atkins lbw on either side of Lydia Greenway’s edge to Jess Cameron off Farrell.England were tottering at 3 for 28 when Edwards was joined by Gunn, and they put on a gritty 65 for the fourth wicket to keep their team afloat. Gunn contributed a dogged 33, from 117 deliveries, before she was caught behind off Rachael Haynes’ left-arm medium pace.Laura Marsh didn’t last long before she was trapped in front by Lisa Sthalekar but Katherine Brunt set her stall and opted for all-out defence in an effort to stay at the wicket. She made just 8 off 72 balls, with Edwards taking almost all responsibility to keep the score ticking over. England’s total had crawled to 131 when Farrell removed Brunt for her second wicket in the 80th over.Perry struck again almost immediately afterwards, holding a caught-and-bowled chance off Hazell, and when she had Guha caught at slip England were 8 for 147 and staring at a woefully under par total. Edwards found a stubborn partner in Holly Colvin, however, and they had put on a watchful 34 – the second-highest stand of the innings – at stumps. Edwards had Colvin for company when she reached a 4th Test hundred, and how long they can bat on for on the second day will be vital to England’s cause.”I’ve always wanted to score a Test hundred against Australia so this is definitely one of my career highlights so far,” said Edwards. “We did lose wickets in the middle today, but the lower order helped me along and contributed some important runs. I’m looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow and hope we can push past 200.””It was good to pick up those early wickets in the first session with both Rene Farrell and myself able to get off to a good start which is what we needed,” added Perry. “I think everyone put in a really good effort in the field, particularly in the slips and that really set the tone.””We were a bit surprised with the pitch; we probably thought there would be a little more life in it today because there is a fair bit of grass on it but it seemed pretty steady so it will probably start to keep more low over the few days and spin will probably come into it a bit more.””Charlotte batted extremely well and full credit goes to her, she was fantastic today. She has been the rock of their team for a long time now and has been all series so far as well.”

A round-up of matches from the second week of the Standard Bank Pro20

Firdose Moonda06-Feb-2011The Dolphins have kicked off their Pro20 campaign with two wins in their first two matches, both times while defending a total. They lie on top of the table after week two. On Wednesday night, they recorded a six-run victory over the Knights in a rain-affected encounter in Bloemfontein. Loots Bosman was the mainstay of the Dolphins innings with a blistering 57 off 41 balls. He got the Dolphins off to a rollicking start and was beginning to form what could have been a dangerous partnership with David Miller. Miller was on 26 when a ball he hit off Dean Elgar struck Bosman on the helmet and flew to Ryan McLaren at cover. Miller was out, albeit bizarrely, and Bosman was left to bat with a headache. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s 27 off 22 balls was the other contribution to the Dolphins 171 for six. McLaren ended with three for 34.The Knights chase began on the wrong foot when Adrian McLaren was bowled by Kyle Abbott for 8. Elgar scored an aggressive 48 off 33 and was helped by Rilee Rossouw’s 23 and Ryan Bailey’s 31. The Dolphins rotated eight bowlers to strangle the Knights and ensured they were in front of the Duckworth-Lewis target when the rain came down with the Knights on 117 for 3.Rain didn’t interrupt the Dolphins‘ second victory on Friday, an 11-run triumph over the Warriors in East London. Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Birch pegged the Dolphins back early with the wickets of Devon Conway for 18 and Bosman for 11. There was no freak dismissal for Miller this time and he put on a fine display of his best asset, the ability to hit the ball cleanly, scoring 90 off 57 balls. There wasn’t much to speak of for the rest of the line-up, and the Dolphins ended on 155 for four. Rusty Theron was the Warriors best bowler 1 for 20.Pakistan international Yasir Arafat claimed the Warriors’ first wicket, that of Davy Jacobs for 1. Ashwell Prince and Justin Kreusch also fell cheaply and the Warriors were in trouble at 28 for 3. Mark Boucher threatened to take the game away from the Dolphins with a quickfire 43 off 31 and a potentially match winning partnership with Jon-Jon Smuts, who scored 68 off 51. The Dolphins used seven bowlers this time and although they only took five Warriors wickets, they were able to control the run flow. Smuts remained unbeaten at the end with the Warriors finishing on 144 for five.The Titans beat the Lions by one wicket in a thrilling last-ball finish at the Wanderers on the same day. The Titans put the Lions in to bat and they were off to a brisk start. When Jonathan Vandiar fell in the sixth over, the Lions had scored 44. At the halfway stage they were 90 for 1. Alviro Petersen’s 54 off 42 balls held the innings together. David Wiese and Ethy Mbhalati bowled tightly to drag the Lions back from a score that looked destined to cross the 200 mark. The Lions ended on 169 for five.The Titans lost Blake Snijman without a run on the board when he was bowled by Ethan O’Reilly’s third ball. Roelof van der Merwe and Henry Davids didn’t last lone. Big hitters Farhaan Berhardien and Albie Morkel came and went quickly, the former to the first ball Neil McKenzie bowled. Jacques Rudolph’s 58 off 43 kept the scales in balance and when he went, the Titans needed 29 off three overs. Andre Nel helped skittle that down to 8 off the last over and Mbhalati’s cheeky leg-glance off the last ball gave the Titans their first victory in three matches.Rain had its say in the last match of the week between the Knights and the Cape Cobras in Bloemfontein which was reduced to 14 overs a side, and then to 10 overs after an interruption. The Cobras were put in to bat and the Knights were left to rue their decision as none of their bowlers claimed a wicket. Richard Levi scored 51 off 30 balls and Herschelle Gibbs finally made an impact with 33 off 26. He was run out by Reeza Hendricks and the Cobras totalled 91 for one.It was a tricky chase for the Knights, who lost six wickets in pursuit of the revised target of 95. Rossouw’s 35 off 17 balls was the only notable score. Charl Langeveldt removed Elgar and Ryan Bailey fell to Johan Louw cheaply. Philander, Claude Henderson and Justin Ontong leaked 43 in four overs but Langevedlt struck again at a crucial time to remove Johan van der Wath for 13. At 71 for six in the ninth over, 24 were needed off 10 balls. The Knights managed to ten to end on 81 and hand the Cobras a 13-run victory.Batsman of the week: After being left out of the World Cup squad, it would have been easy for David Miller to crawl into a shell. Instead, he showed his mettle with a convincing innings against the Warriors and displayed his intent for a national recall in the near future.Bowler of the week: Under pressure, he is still one of the best death bowlers in the country. Charl Langevedlt conceded 10 in two overs and took two key wickets for the Cobras as they beat the Knights.

Chris Lynn struck his third first-class century, and his highest score, to put Queensland in total control on the second day against Victoria in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2011

ScorecardChris Lynn made 172•Getty Images

Chris Lynn struck his third first-class century, and his highest score, to put Queensland in total control on the second day against Victoria in Brisbane. By stumps, the visitors were 3 for 71 in their second innings, still needing 238 more to make the Bulls bat again, with Chris Rogers unbeaten on 25 and a new batsman yet to join him after Rob Quiney fell for 34 with the last ball of the day.The first day comprehensively belonged to Queensland and so did the second, with Lynn’s 172 the standout. He rode his luck throughout the innings, caught on 60 off a no-ball and dropped again on 99, when Peter Siddle spilled a return chance that he should have taken, and again on 151 when Glenn Maxwell dropped a caught-and-bowled opportunity.Lynn, 20, is in his 12 first-class match but is already developing a strong reputation and passed his previous best score of 142. James Hopes made 84 for the Bulls, while Victoria’s leading wicket taker was James Pattinson with 4 for 128, while Damien Wright collected 3 for 86.