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A half-century from Riki Wessels, followed by early wickets from Sydney Sixers’ seamers saw the team overpower Sydney Thunder at Stadium Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRiki Wessels struck five fours and two sixes during his 50•Getty ImagesA half-century from Riki Wessels, followed by early wickets from Sydney Sixers’ seamers saw the team overpower Sydney Thunder at Stadium Australia. Aiden Blizzard did his best to make a fight of Thunder’s 181 chase – his unbeaten 42-ball 80 featured six fours and four sixes – but most of those big hits came when the game was already out of their grasp, and in the end, Sixers held on to register a 16-run victory.Both of Sixers’ earlier wins this season had been built around solid contributions from their top order, and that did not change on Saturday. After being inserted, Sixers raced off the blocks early as Nic Maddinson hooked Gurinder Sandhu for six off the third ball of the innings. Dirk Nannes got rid of Maddinson for 12, but he came in for special treatment from Michael Lumb, who blasted the fast bowler for three fours and a six in the space of six deliveries, as Sixers reached 50 inside six overs.Nannes eventually had the last laugh, having Lumb hole out at square leg with a slow bouncer, but Wessels and Sixers’ captain Moises Henriques kept the score ticking with a 51-run partnership. Wessels began slowly – his first 16 balls fetched just 15 runs – but he broke the shackles in the 11th over, hammering Nannes for six over midwicket. He collected a further 12 runs off an over from Jacques Kallis, and off his next ball, lofted Nathan Hauritz for six. Wessels once again came down the track the next delivery, but this time could only manage a top edge which landed in Sandhu’s hands at long-off.The boundaries dried up after Wessel’s dismissal – only one four was scored from the last three overs – but Sixers nonetheless scrambled their way to 7 for 180, meaning that Thunder had to score at more than nine an over right from the off. Kallis and Michael Hussey had turned back the years in Thunder’s previous game, against Brisbane Heat, but both batsmen got out playing expansive strokes, and at 4 for 79, Blizzard was left with too much to do. Sean Abbott was the pick of Sixers’ bowlers, taking 2 for 28, while Brett Lee and Mitchell Starc chipped in with a scalp each.

Akram Khan will leave his position as chairman of Bangladesh’s selection committee on the day the BCB election dates are announced

Mohammad Isam04-Jul-2013Akram Khan will leave his position as chairman of Bangladesh’s selection committee on the day the BCB election dates are announced. He confirmed this on Thursday after being asked to continue in the role till September, along with the other selectors Habibul Bashar and Minhazul Abedin.In the meantime, the BCB will formally ask the National Sports Council, Bangladesh’s sports regulatory body, to announce the board election dates. According to BCB president Nazmul Hassan, that could very well be this month.Akram has apparently been assured by the NSC that he will be elected unopposed as one of their designated directors on the board. In the 2008 elections, the number of NSC directors on the board was one, but it has not been made certain which constitution will be followed in the forthcoming election.”I will leave this position the day the election dates are announced,” Akram said. “If it happens to be before my term ends in September, I will let the board know. I am not interested in contesting elections in the present situation. I have been given an assurance. I may become a director through NSC’s quota.”I have already told the board regarding my desire to become a director, and I have done that before my tenured ended on June 30. I plan to make cricket better in the country, at all levels. I have a lot of plans about school cricket and age-group cricket. I have been a selector for six years, and I have worked with honesty and hard work.”

India allrounder Irfan Pathan has been ruled out of the upcoming tri-series in the West Indies due to a hamstring injury

Amol Karhadkar24-Jun-2013India allrounder Irfan Pathan has been ruled out of the upcoming tri-series in the West Indies due to a hamstring injury. He has been replaced by the right-arm seamer Shami Ahmed, who has already played five ODIs.Irfan was part of the Champions Trophy squad but did not get a game. He bowled in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka and finished with expensive figures of 0 for 45 from five overs. Irfan last played for India during the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in 2012 but another hamstring injury cut short his Ranji Trophy season.Shami, who represents Bengal, made his debut when Pakistan toured India for a limited-overs series in January. Shami’s inclusion is the only change to the squad, which otherwise has the same set of players who were picked for the Champions Trophy.”It is nice to be called back into the squad,” Shami told ESPNcricinfo from Kolkata hours before leaving for Jamaica, where India will open their campaign on June 30 against the hosts. “I think I fared pretty well against Pakistan and England (earlier this year) and had received encouraging feedback from my team-mates and coaching staff.”Shami made his international debut in a low-scoring ODI against Pakistan in Delhi in January. He returned with an impressive haul of 1 for 23 off nine overs, becoming the first Indian bowler to bowl four or more maiden overs on debut. The right-arm seamer, who relies more on line and length, then featured in four ODIs against England, taking three wickets.However, Shami was benched for most of the IPL, playing only three games for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Apart from the disappointment of being left out for the Champions Trophy, what hurt Shami more was the lack of faith shown on him by his franchise, having worked “really hard” and was “bowling very well” going into the IPL.”No doubt it was upsetting. But then I realised, the more you sulk, the more it hurts, so I stopped thinking about it,” Shami said. “Instead I started focusing on keeping myself fit and striving to improve in the nets and the results are there to see.”Shami had a good tour of the West Indies with the A team last year, picking up 13 wickets in three four-day matches. With India sticking to their winning combination throughout their victorious campaign in England, Shami realises that he may not get an opportunity in the tri-series unless the team management decides to rest one of the three main seamers.”All that would be in my hands is to be prepared, if and when I am asked to contribute and I am ready for that,” Shami said. “Last year’s tour to the West Indies was a memorable one for me. Let’s hope this year turns out to be no different.”

A round-up of Premier League Tournament matches played in Sri Lanka this week

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Apr-2013Moors Sports Club beat Panadura Sports Club by seven runs in a thrilling, final-round match of the Premier League tournament. The win put Moors at the top of Group A and helped them book a place in next weekend’s final.Moors, who were placed second before this match, needed an outright victory over leaders Panadura to secure a final berth. Panadura won the toss and put the opposition into bat on a result-oriented pitch. Moors were dismissed for 240, thanks largely to a five-wicket haul by Gayan Sirisoma. Panadura, though, were skittled for exactly half that score in their first innings as Malinda Pushpakumara took 7 for 56, dismissing five of the top six batsmen. Sirisoma grabbed another five wickets in the second innings as Moors fell for 130 with none of their batsmen crossing an individual score of 20. That collapse gave Panadura a second chance, but they fell eight runs short of a target of 251, in spite of contributions from Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene and Dinesh Ranga Cooray. The last-wicket pair of Sirisoma and Sujeewa de Silva added 23 runs together before de Silva was given out lbw, ending Panadura’s season.In Group B, a run fest helped Sinhala Sports Club (SSC) keep Tamil Union at bay as they qualified for the final, which will be played on their home ground. SSC captain Thilina Kandamby’s unbeaten 340, which broke the Sri Lankan first-class record for the highest individual score set by Kusal Perera two weeks ago, was the standout performance of the round.A Tamil Union bowling attack, that featured Chanaka Welegedera, Suranga Lakmal and Rangana Herath, failed to prevent SSC from scoring a massive 787 for 8, nullifying Tamil Union’s chances of an outright win. Dimuth Karunaratne was the first of three centurions, hitting 115 off 170 balls, after his opening partner fell for a four-ball duck. Kaushal Silva made 180 at No. 4. Kandamby arrived after Karunaratne’s dismissal, with the score at 241 for 3, and put on 195 with Silva. He later shared a 226-run partnership with Upul Bandara for the seventh wicket, before eventually declaring the innings at stumps on the second day. Needing almost 800 to get the first-innings points they needed to displace SSC, Tamil Union had little to play for on the final day and were all out for 314. Kaushal Lokuarachchi was the highest wicket-taker for SSC, picking 4 for 136.Air Force Sports Club and Burgher Recreation Club competed in what was effectively a relegation battle amid some controversy. The pitch prepared for the match was deemed unsuitable and the teams played on a different surface, which only allowed for a two-day match. The difference between the two teams was 1.7 points, with Air Force on 51.6 and Burgher on 49.9, but Air Force managed to secure first-innings points by gaining a lead of 29 runs to help seal their place in the Premier League. Opener Thuppahi Nadeera scored an unbeaten 105 in the first innings for Air Force and guided his side to 244, with little support from his teammates. Left-arm spinner Akila Isanka then took 5 for 90 as Burgher were dismissed for 215. With only two days of play possible, the match ended in a draw.Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club defeated bottom-placed Kurunegala Youth by six wickets. Navy needed an innings victory to stay in the first-class competition and, their six-wicket victory wasn’t enough to take them past Badureliya Cricket Club in the points table. Navy made 369 in the first innings, with Chanaka Ruwansiri making 122. Although they dismissed Kurunegala Youth for 212 and 182, they still had to bat in the fourth innings to chase a target of 26.Three left-arm spinners topped the list of wicket-takers this season. Moors’ Pushpakumara took 64 wickets, ahead of Panadura’s Sirisoma and Colombo Cricket Club’s Dinouk Hettiarachchi, who both took 58. No bowler with more than 30 wickets had a better average or strike rate than 19-year-old offspinner Tharindu Kaushal who finished with 50 wickets in spite of playing fewer matches than the table leaders due to his national commitments. Sachithra Senanayake, who led the table before he left for national duty, finished with 49 scalps.Among the batsmen, SSC’s wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva scored the most runs, hitting four hundreds and two fifties to pile up 814 runs. Former Test opener Malinda Warnapura made 804 runs while Air Force’s 20-year-old batsman Yashodha Lanka made 802. The best average however, belonged to Kusal Perera who scored 695 runs at an average of 115.83 in four fewer matches than the table leaders.The end of the season also sees six teams – three lowest-ranked teams from each group – culled from the top competition. These teams will move down to form an emerging league, which begins next year. The matches in the league will be treated as club matches. After the final round, Burgher Recreation Club, Lankan Cricket Club and Saracens Sports Club were relegated from Group A, while from Group B, Navy Sports Club, Galle Cricket Club and Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club will not play first-class cricket in 2014. The relegations are part of a three-year plan to halve the number of clubs playing in the top three-day tournament, in order to improve the quality of the first-class competition.

New Zealand slipped into London almost unnoticed on Tuesday, minus their captain and senior batsman, but are determined to leave their mark on an English season where the main attraction is their trans-Tasman rivals.

Andrew McGlashan01-May-2013New Zealand slipped into London almost unnoticed on Tuesday, minus their captain Brendon McCullum and senior batsman Ross Taylor who are at the IPL, but are determined to leave their mark on an English season where the main attraction is their trans-Tasman rivals.”We don’t really have anything to do with the Ashes,” Kane Williamson, the captain in McCullum’s absence, said. It helps, no end, that the series played during March between these two teams was very competitive. Talk about flat pitches killing the game was off the mark – weather was the bigger factor in the first two Tests – and New Zealand came within one wicket of a famous victory in Auckland. That is enough for this return contest to be given the respect it deserves.Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, hopes his team can provide more than a footnote to the summer. “I can guarantee from our perspective these two Tests are massive for us. We are making progress as a side and we certainly wouldn’t like to be the entrée for the main course later on.”He was even keen to see the benefits in having two key players arrive late for the tour. McCullum and Taylor are due on May 7 or 8, ahead of the second warm-up match against England Lions at Grace Road. McCullum will still have a role to play in the early days of tour, albeit from thousands of miles away, and is in regular contact with Hesson.”I’m actually quite happy with it because with a squad of 15 it’s quite hard to get everyone a game,” he said. “Those guys, although they haven’t been playing a lot, they have been training a lot. To get our whole squad involved in those two warm-up games is critical for us. In previous tours we haven’t even had any warm-up matches so two is huge. There will be no complaints from us about being underdone.”It is nothing new for a touring side to arrive in England for the May Tests in dribs and drabs – Sri Lanka and West Indies have faced similar situations in recent years – and is unlikely to be the last time it happens. Perhaps there should be a sense of gratefulness, and relief, that McCullum and Taylor will be here in time for the Test series. They are both fascinating sub-plots to the series; McCullum’s leadership was a key part of the contest in New Zealand, while Taylor’s return to the set-up has been far from smooth.The abiding memory of the previous series was the dramatic final day where England survived nine wickets down through defiance from Matt Prior, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad – plus Monty Panesar’s desperate dive – and the feeling of a fantastic opportunity missed by New Zealand still lingers.”I’ve tried to forget about that game to be honest, especially the end of it,” Hesson admitted. “We felt we dominated but that’s the game. These two Tests will be tough in very different conditions. We gained a lot of confidence, but it was a series in isolation and we can’t get carried away.”After the upturn in their fortunes during March, there are unlikely to be many major selection headaches leading into the Test series. Hesson confirmed that Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton will continue their opening pairing even though Martin Guptill is in the squad again after injury, so the key decision may come down to whether they retain a spinner – Bruce Martin – in their XI or go with four quick bowlers. Doug Bracewell, who missed the home series after injuring his foot on a piece of glass, and Mark Gillespie are the extra pacemen in the squad.

New Zealand and Pakistan have managed something special over the last week and a half – a bilateral one-day series that does not want for context

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu18-Dec-2014Match factsFriday, December 19, 2014
Start time 1500 local (11 GMT)1:02

Pakistan and NZ set for decider

Big pictureNew Zealand and Pakistan have managed something special over the last week and a half – a bilateral one-day series that does not want for context.Throughout this tour, both teams have been in a see-saw battle that is yet to have a winner. The Test series was drawn. So was the T20 series. The ODI series stands at 2-2 with one match to play because of a riveting showdown in Abu Dhabi. In some ways, Wednesday’s ODI summarised the tour so far: one team got the upper hand, then the other picked itself up and fought back vigorously.Key individuals have also stepped up. Shahid Afridi has shown an awareness of how match-changing a 30- or 40-ball stay from him can be. Kane Williamson has developed the kind of consistency that adjectives can’t catch up to. Sarfraz Ahmed has been fearless and calculating. And for a bowler who regularly touches the 150kph-mark, Adam Milne’s accuracy has been striking.New Zealand’s ability to adapt to the UAE conditions has been matched by Pakistan’s doggedness and whatever happens on Friday, the gains from this series is likely to stand both teams in good stead for the upcoming World Cup, and perhaps beyond.Form guide(most recent first, completed matches only)
Pakistan LWLWL
New Zealand WLWLLIn the spotlightIt should not have taken an injury to accommodate Umar Akmal into Pakistan’s XI. A player with over 100 matches to his name should be able to command a regular place in the side, but it shows that he is still considered a gamble. And some of his dismissals corroborate that. He did well in Abu Dhabi and would need to build on that if he wants to compete for a middle-order position, especially when it is likely that that Sohaib Maqsood and Misbah-ul-Haq might slot back in once they regain fitness.Martin Guptill is tall, strong and a typically stand-and-deliver batsman whose game is built around power. The only problem is that he tends to have some starting troubles. New Zealand have struggled to find a settled opening combination, so much that their regular captain Brendon McCullum is mulling a move to the top of the order. Should Guptill devise a way to increase his consistency, New Zealand might just have one of the most explosive opening pairs in the World Cup.Team newsShahid Afridi has thrived as Pakistan captain•AFPThe experiment with Nasir Jamshed as opener did not yield a good result and also forced Mohammad Hafeez to occupy an unfamiliar batting position. Pakistan might go back to the Hafeez-Ahmed Shehzad combine at the top and either use Jamshed in the middle order or bring back Asad Shafiq.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Asad Shafiq/ Nasir Jamshed, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Anwar Ali, 11 Mohammad IrfanDaniel Vettori left the UAE on the eve of the final ODI for his brother’s wedding, which opens up a spot for Nathan McCullum.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Dean Brownlie, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Adam Milne 11 Mitchell McClenaghanPitch and conditionsAbu Dhabi tends to be a slow but flat track and batting first has been a marked advantage.Stats & trivia Shahid Afridi has a strike-rate of 165.51 with the bat and an economy rate of 4.22 with the ball in this series – the best among both teams Mitchell McClenaghan, with 55 wickets from 27 matches – is the only bowler from either side to be among the top-10 wicket-takers in the last two years. Mohammad Irfan with 52 is 11thQuotes”This series is for us to utilise and get the clear picture who are the final 15 [players for the World Cup] and besides that win this series.”
“Last night, once again, in quite foreign conditions, he showed how clever he is and then at the end how destructive he can be”

Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman, has passed on the captaincy of the Lahore Lions team to Mohammad Hafeez

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2012Mohammad Yousuf, the former Pakistan batsman, has passed on the captaincy of the Lahore Lions team to Mohammad Hafeez, the national team’s T20 captain, for the ongoing Faysal Bank T-20 Cup to help the latter gain experience.”Yousuf himself surrendered his captaincy and offered Hafeez to lead the side,” Lahore City Cricket Association president Khawaja Nadeem said. “It’s a great gesture from a great player to let Hafeez gain experience as captain. I have happily accepted his decision.”Hafeez, who was appointed the Pakistan T20 captain in May this year, wasn’t considered for the role originally. But minutes before the Lions’ first match against Karachi Zebras at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Yousuf announced his decision.Hafeez has been playing for his native side Faisalabad Wolves in the national twenty20 cup since 2004. But this year, being a resident of Lahore city, chose to represent Lions – a side possessing nine international cricketers.

Kevin Pietersen has not made a habit of helping himself off the field – at least not this summer – and it could be argued that maintaining his recent vow of silence today was counter-productive

David Lloyd at Taunton29-Aug-2012
ScorecardKevin Pietersen has not made a habit of helping himself off the field – at least not this summer – and it could be argued that maintaining his recent vow of silence today was counter-productive.Saying too much has led to Pietersen current state of separation from England. But saying nothing at all here after rain had ruled out any chance of cricket and following Andrew Strauss’s retirement speech at Lord’s will be seen by some as a bad misjudgment.The – for the moment, at least – former England batsman has kept his thoughts to himself for a fortnight, and wisely so. Here, though, a short statement praising Strauss’s achievements over the years and wishing the ex-captain well for the future would have gone down well. Perhaps he has done that privately and, if so, then fair play to him, but a short public tribute might have mended some fences.Instead, Pietersen turned down several requests for a TV interview and it was made clear to newspaper and web site journalists that he would not be speaking. Instead, with the rain hammering down, he put himself through a series of shuttle runs on the sodden Taunton outfield.Marcus Trescothick, Strauss’s long-time opening partner at Test level, was happy to chat.”I wasn’t surprised, although I was hoping Andrew would continue as an England player,” he said. “I didn’t think he would come back and play county cricket once his Test career had ended and the only other scenario I could foresee was him quitting the captaincy while continuing to play Test cricket for a while.”He took England to No 1 in the world which had been a massive challenge for him and for the ECB, and winning the Ashes away from home would probably be the pinnacle of his time as captain.”I’m sure he would like to have gone out on a high by beating South Africa and keeping the No 1 ranking but sadly that didn’t prove possible.”I don’t believe the Kevin Pietersen issue had any effect on his decision. I’m sure this has been part of his planning for some time.”We were opening partners for England for a number of years and we became good friends. He was a good guy to share a dressing room with a strong leader. I wish him nothing but the best for the future.”

Andrew Strauss, whose alliance with Andy Flower was at the heart of England’s success, has insisted he remains the best coach available and that he should not be made a scapegoat for a humiliating Ashes series.

David Hopps29-Dec-2013Andrew Strauss, whose alliance with Andy Flower was at the heart of England’s success, has insisted he remains the best coach available and that he should not be made a scapegoat for a humiliating Ashes series.Flower’s role has been brought into question after England’s eight-wicket defeat at the MCG left them facing the possibility of a whitewash if they lose in Sydney. The last time that happened, seven years ago, Duncan Fletcher clung on as coach for a disastrous World Cup challenge before resigning three months later. Strauss, whose retirement has coincided with England’s steady decline, remains convinced that England should do everything to convince Flower to remain.”Andy Flower is one of the great coaches in world cricket,” Strauss told . If he is not the man to take England forward I don’t know who is.”The only question is whether he has the hunger and the energy to continue in the job. He is not a guy to give up easily. He will be hurting as much as anybody.”That is the territory you enter at 4-0 down. You get scapegoated.”Darren Lehmann, the Australian coach whose adventurous and aggressive style has left England in a state of tactical confusion, also give strong support to his vanquished opponent.”It is a very stressful job, but he is a very good coach and he has a done a fantastic job for England over a period of time,” Lehmann said. “I am sure he will come up with solutions.”We regard their structure very highly and we may have copied it in some shape or form.”

Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has been ruled out for three to four weeks after picking up a calf strain

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2012Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has been sidelined for three to four weeks after picking up a calf strain on the second morning of the only Test against Zimbabwe in Napier. Taylor will miss the rest of the Zimbabwe series and is hoping to be fit for the home one-dayers against South Africa in late February.Taylor was injured attempting a single and was forced to retire hurt on 122 early on the second day. Only 15 overs of play was possible before rain intervened with New Zealand at a strong 392 for 5.Paul Close, the New Zealand physio, said that Taylor would have further tests before starting a rehabilitation programme. “While it is early days, our target is to have Ross available for the one-day series against South Africa in late February,” Close said.Opener Brendon McCullum is expected to take over the captaincy from Taylor, although no official vice-captain has been named for the Zimbabwe series.