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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

C r i c H o t L i n e

C r i c H o t L i n e

Preview: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Colombo, 2012

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 12:07 PM PDT


So far the series has been even with both Pakistan and Sri Lanka winning one game each. In the 2 games so far both teams failed in one or the other department. Sri Lanka which failed to put up a good score in 1st ODI came back quite well in the 2nd ODI.

One thing that didn’t change for Pakistan was their fielding. Catches were generously put down in the first ODI and a number of run-out opportunities were spurned in the second. Tillakaratne Dilshan made the most out of the Pakistan sloppy fielding and get his side up to a winning total.

Another problem that Pakistan team faced was lack of partnerships. Batsman again failed to put up scores to give Sri Lanka a tough fight. In the absence of allrounders such as Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik, Pakistan may consider playing an extra batsman in an attempt to shorten the tail.

Now the biggest threat in the match is rain. Heavy rain is predicted for Wednesday afternoon and evening in Colombo.

Teams
Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Sami/Rahat Ali

Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Upul Tharanga, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Lasith Malinga

Match Timings: 14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 14:30 IST

Rangana Herath rested for rest of the ODIs against Pakistan

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 09:29 AM PDT


Sri Lanka have decided to rest the injured left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for the remaining One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Pakistan.

Herath, nursing a knee injury struggling while fielding during a fitness test, revealed the Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene in après conference.

The spinner was spotted struggling during the first two ODI matches of the ODI series.

"Both his knees were operated soon after the England series. He played for Sri Lanka almost after a rest of one month and he was fine with his bowling. But he was not comfortable while fielding," said Jayawardene.

Herath will be substituted by Sajeewa Weerakoon, a left-arm spinner making his ODI debut at the age of 34.

The ODI series is well-balanced after Sri Lanka's series leveling win on Saturday.

Jayawardene was quoted by Sunday Times as saying, "The selectors and medical staff then decided to rest him from the remaining three ODI games as a precaution. He will be rested for at least a week before the Test series begins where we will need his services.

"Rangana has been our main spinner for quite a while now and we strongly feel that he needs some rest at present."

The first Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be played at Galle from June 22 to 26.

England announced ODI and T20 squad for Windies series, Bell recalled

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 03:15 AM PDT


Ian Bell was recalled to England’s one-day squad on Monday for the three-match series with West Indies following Kevin Pietersen’s recent retirement from limited-overs international cricket. Bell is the only player in the 14-man squad who wasn’t part of the England side that beat Pakistan 4-0 in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. He played the last of his 108 ODIs against India last October.

“Kevin Pietersen’s recent decision to retire from one-day cricket means we now start looking at other options available to us as we prepare to defend our ICC World Twenty20 title and look towards next year’s ICC Champions Trophy and the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup,” said Geoff Miller, England’s chairman of selectors.

“We are anticipating a very competitive NatWest Series against West Indies and are looking to continue to build on the progress we made in limited-overs cricket earlier this year against Pakistan.”

The series starts Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The teams then meet again at The Oval on June 19 and at Headingley on June 22, before playing a Twenty20 international at Trent Bridge on June 24.

England ODI squad: Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.

England Twenty20 squad: Stuart Broad, Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann.

Strauss backs England’s rotation policy

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 02:45 AM PDT


England captain Andrew Strauss has predicted the team will see the benefits of their controversial rotation policy when they put their number one Test ranking on the line against South Africa.

Strike bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad were rested from the side that drew a rain-ruined third Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston on Monday, with Anderson omitted from the squad after England had taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

That led to criticisms that England, who have traditionally prized the five-day game above all other formats, were devaluing Test cricket.

And when Tino Best set about stand-in seamers Graham Onions and Steven Finn while making 95, the highest ever score by a No 11 batsman in Test history, there were plenty of pundits saying England had got what they deserved by not playing their strongest team.

However, with a packed schedule ahead of them, England coach Andy Flower has repeatedly insisted it was right to rest Anderson and Broad from this Test ahead of the seemingly sterner challenges set to be posed when South Africa visit for a three-match series starting in July.

“One of the things about missing a couple of your senior players is it makes you realise what role they do play in the side as well as allowing you to see what role the other guys could play in the side,” said Strauss, named England’s man-of-the-series for a hundred in each of the first two Tests.

“I think the picture is a lot clearer now, having seen that,” he added after Onions had taken four for 88 and Finn three for 111 in West Indies’ 426.

“In a way, although we didn’t play brilliantly, I am very comfortable we made that decision, because it will serve us well come the South Africa series.

“As I’ve said, Onions and Finn both showed that they are definitely Test quality bowlers and they offer a lot in a number of areas.”

England dropped several catches, with Ian Bell dropping two in the third slip position Anderson had made his own when he isn’t bowling himself.

“The catching side was disappointing,” said Strauss. “But I don’t think you could say that was because Jimmy wasn’t there because often he is bowling. That’s something we need to get better at.”

However, Strauss was happy to have wrapped up another series success, following five-wicket and nine-wicket victories at Lord’s and Trent Bridge respectively, even if this draw meant the end of seamer Tim Bresnan’s previously perfect career record of 13 Test wins.

“The West Indies have got some dangerous players there and we were able to overcome that challenge,” Strauss said.

“It wasn’t a perfect performance by us…you don’t want to be in a situation where No 11 gets 95 all that often!”

England and the West Indies now contest a one-day series before England face Australia in a separate limited overs campaign.

But none of those matches will feature Strauss, who quit white ball international cricket after last year’s World Cup.

“I’m going to take a little bit of a break but I’m going to keep batting all the way through,” said Strauss, who will be looking to blunt a powerful Proteas pace attack featuring Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.

“The worst thing you can do when you’ve got a bit of rhythm is to go away and not pick up a bat for a long period of time, so I’ll be batting again pretty soon and then obviously playing a game for Middlesex before the Test matches against South Africa.” (AFP)

Sammy expects West Indies to beat England in ODI’s

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 02:09 AM PDT


West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his team expects to win its upcoming one-day series with England after finishing the Test campaign with a flourish. Although rain washed out three of the five days in the third Test here at Edgbaston, the West Indies’ total of 426 featured an unbeaten century from wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, a stylish 76 by Marlon Samuels and Tino Best’s 95 – the highest score by a Test match No 11.

The three-match series may have already been lost after defeats at Lord’s and Trent Bridge but, with Best topping the 90mph mark against the opponents he could meet again when the three-match ODI series begins at Southampton on Saturday, it was a timely reminder to England of the perils of taking the West Indies lightly.

West Indies’ recent results suggest they are far more of a force in one-day cricket, and with Chris Gayle back on board after more than a year out following a dispute with Caribbean cricket chiefs, they have one of the world’s leading limited-overs batsmen in their line-up.

Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne and Darren Bravo could also pose problems to an England side captained by Alastair Cook in one-dayers now as his Test skipper and fellow opener Andrew Strauss has quit the white-ball game.

West Indies pushed Australia all the way in a five-match one-day series in March that ended all square at 2-2 after the third ODI in St. Vincent was tied.

“Everybody’s really excited about this one-day series and everybody believes we should beat England,” all-rounder Sammy said. “We are quite confident as a one-day team.” Sammy said West Indies coach Ottis Gibson, formerly England’s bowling coach, had identified one-day cricket as an area where the side, who’ve now won just two of their last 33 Tests, could make big strides.

“When Ottis came on board, we set goals and as a one-day team, looking to win the 2015 World Cup (in Australia and New Zealand), that’s possible,” said Sammy, who added that success at this year’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September and October was also a realistic target.

“In Test cricket, where you need a lot of concentration, it might take more time for us to get back and win games consistently because we’ve been losing at that level for a long time,” said Sammy, whose maiden Test century came during a nine-wicket second Test defeat at Trent Bridge. “We are more confident as a team playing one-day and T20 cricket.”

But against England the tourists showed enough glimpses of talent to suggest that, if they get their strongest side on the field, they could yet make headway in Tests even if there is no immediate prospect of a return to the heights scaled by the celebrated West Indies teams of the 1970s and 1980s.

“We competed but we didn’t compete for long enough over an extended period of time and hence we lost 2-0,” medium-pacer Sammy said. “Looking at the three Test matches, we scored over 320 (in an innings in each Test) with our top order not contributing. To do that was a plus for us.”

Samuels – the West Indies’ Man of the Series after making 386 runs at an average of 96.50 – proved a thorn in England’s side throughout while Ramdin and Best stunned the hosts with a last-wicket stand of 143 at Edgbaston.

“We said we would come here with a never-say-die attitude and that last-wicket partnership was just a perfect example,” Samuels said. “It was great to watch, and on that same flat wicket, we got five wickets.”
Posted by MohammaD IsmaiL at 1:27 PM

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