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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:21

Ninety-seven balls, 10 wickets

Corey Anderson limped off the field with 15 overs of the third T20 still remaining, but by then he had done enough to tilt the match, and the series, decisively New Zealand’s way. He had smashed an unbeaten 42-ball 82 to power New Zealand to a total of 196, and by the end of his second over, when he pulled up with cramps, had picked up two wickets to help reduce Pakistan to 36 for 4.A good start is critical in a chase of such magnitude, and Pakistan did not make one. Failing to get on top of a short ball from Trent Boult, Mohammad Hafeez sliced a high catch into the point region. In the next over, Ahmed Shehzad picked out deep square leg while looking to pull Anderson, before Mohammad Rizwan ran himself out hurtling needlessly from his crease. Shoaib Malik struck three sweetly-timed fours off Boult, but the required rate brought out a miscued slog in the next over; Anderson had his second, and New Zealand were firmly on the road to victory.In the end, Anderson was not required to come back onto the field as New Zealand wrapped up the match with close to four overs still remaining. Only two Pakistan batsmen reached double figures as they only just scraped past the 100 mark.This was surely not the finish Pakistan had envisioned when Shahid Afridi chose to bowl after winning the toss. But the portents were clear right from the first ball of the match, which Martin Guptill flat-batted to the cover boundary. Carrying on from where he left off in Hamilton, Guptill tore into Anwar Ali, who replaced Umar Gul in Pakistan’s seam attack, spanking him for another four and a six off the last two balls of the first over.With Guptill in an equally punishing mood against Imad Wasim’s hitherto unhittable left-arm spin, New Zealand reached the half-century mark as early as the start of the fifth over. They could have gotten there earlier, had more if not for Mohammad Amir’s efforts to tie up Kane Williamson at the other end, bowling with pace and giving him no room.Guptill was looking unstoppable until Afridi brought himself on and pulled things back with his skiddy topspinners from just back of a length. He forced Guptill to miscue a slog-sweep and hole out, and gave away only seven runs from his first two overs. In between, a brilliant piece of fielding from Rizwan at midwicket ran out Colin Munro at the non-striker’s end.Not long after, Williamson had holed out off Wahab Riaz, and Ross Taylor had retired hurt with a side strain. But New Zealand still had the momentum, with Anderson already underway with two fours and a six off his first twelve balls.Anderson was not at his most fluent, but his method of clearing his front leg to make swinging room brought him rich dividends whenever anything was pitched in his hitting zone. All four of his sixes flew over the arc between deep midwicket and long-on, with those two fielders made to look like spectators.With the leg-side boundary packed and a sweeper square on the off-side, third man was usually inside the circle. This gave Pakistan’s seamers little margin for error when they tried to fire in the yorker, as Anderson made room, freed his arms, and carved the ball over or wide of that fielder for four of his six fours, with Wahab, who went for 43 in his four overs, receiving special attention for this form of punishment.

Mashrafe Mortaza, practicing at the Nairobi Gymkhana, will spearhead Bangladesh’s attack © Tiger Cricket

Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kenya will get in their final bit of practice ahead of the Twenty20 World Championship in a four-nation tournament beginning in Nairobi tomorrow. Uganda will relish the opportunity to play against higher opposition and dip their fingers into the slam-bang form of the game that has grown in popularity.The tournament begins with Kenya taking on Bangladesh and Pakistan playing Uganda. The most anticipated match, between Bangladesh and Pakistan, is on September 2.Geoff Lawson, the former Australian fast bowler and current coach of Pakistan, sees the tournament as an opportunity to practice. “We can prepare strategies, try and find the right balances, work out plans and play any number of practice games but that can only take you so far,” Lawson said. “Until the first match happens, we won’t really know what to expect.”Pakistan, with big names that can attract the crowds in Nairobi, are easy favourites to lift the tournament because of their Twenty20 experience. Shoaib Malik, who recently said that the captaincy has made him stronger, Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi are all big hitters of the cricket ball, and Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar are two exciting fast bowlers who form a lethal opening combination.Bangladesh, who have not played international cricket since late July, warmed up for the Twenty20 World Championship with a number of practice matches in Mirpur, near Dhaka. Mohammad Ashraful, the captain, hoped this tournament would offer much-needed exposure ahead of the bigger prize in South Africa.”It is good for us to play in this tournament since we expect the Kenyan conditions to be the same as in South Africa,” he told AFP. “We have not played many Twenty20 matches and this tournament will help gauge the playing abilities of the players.”Kenya struggled recently against the A sides of India and Sri Lanka and have little experience of the Twenty20 game. Uganda, led by Joel Olweny, have four Under-19 players – Roger Mukasa, Arthur Kyobe, Charles Waiswa and Ronald Ssemanda – and three new faces in Martin Ondeko, Kebba Nicholas and Jeremy Kibuuka-Musoke.The four-day competition will be completed when Pakistan face Kenya on September 4; two days later the teams – barring Uganda – fly to Johannesburg for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship.

Shaharyar Khan: the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board © Wisden Cricinfo

The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced that Shaharyar M Khan has replaced Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia as its chairman.Shaharyar Khan, who is 69 and a member of MCC, enjoyed a distinguished political career. He had a spell as Pakistan’s foreign secretary, and was also an ambassador and a high commissioner between 1957 and 1994. He comes from a large sporting family. The senior Nawab of Pataudi was his uncle, and the junior Nawab – Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi – is his first cousin.In a statement published today, Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf, who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief, welcomed Shaharyar Khan into his new role, and also praised Tauqir Zia, who announced his resignation last week. He pointed out Zia’s “services for the uplift of the sport”, and praised “his role in the rebuilding of the Pakistan cricket team”. President Musharraf also mentioned the improvement of cricket at grass-roots level, especially the new academies, which took place under Zia’s time in charge. He concluded that his contribution would be remembered in years to come.Zia himself also issued a statement, saying he approved of his successor. “I spoke to him over the telephone in the afternoon and congratulated him,” he said. “We have worked together during the time we were preparing for the World Cup, and I find him an extremely knowledgable person.”He added: “As he has been with the team on a couple of occasions, he understands the players well and their requirements. He has the passion for cricket which will certainly make him a successful administrator.”

Harbhajan Singh has put his hand up in support of the Indian captain © AFP

The fracas surrounding Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly escalated on Sunday when several members of the Indian team stood up for their captain, on return to India. Newspapers around the country were awash with stories of how certain members of the team were unhappy with the manner in which Chappell was handling matters. There has been a clear polarisation in the team, into pro-Ganguly and pro-Chappell camps.The most vocal member of the pro-Ganguly camp has been Harbhajan Singh, who became the first member of this team to come out in defence of Ganguly, accusing Chappell of instilling “fear and insecurity” and slamming him for “double standards” in a Press Trust of India report. Cricinfo has learned that Harbhajan is not alone in feeling this way and that there is indeed a fair bit of anger within the team. “You can’t just talk to the Indian captain like that, asking him to stand down on the morning of a Test. Sourav has led India for long now and that’s not the way a coach should talk, no matter what his stature is,” said one player, who obviously did not want to be named.But it is not so much what Chappell has said, as the manner in which he has put things across that have irked members of the team – a mix of senior and junior players. “He’s a bit too rough in his approach. He’s just come to the job and he’s being ruthless. We all know that we have to work hard on fitness and all that, but you can’t just push people away the first time they struggle with a fitness regimen,” said another player.In all this though, it is not as though the whole team has turned against Chappell. “He’s very direct in his approach and some of the guys don’t like that. But the point really isn’t how he puts things across. He is trying to implement some plans and there’s some resistance to that. There’s always bound to be some resistance to change,” said another player.With the whole issue being thrashed out in the media rather than the dressing-room, it has become increasingly difficult for any of the concerned parties to back down from a stance. Had the matter been kept inhouse – as it has been when there have been disagreements in the past – the situation is unlikely to have deteriorated to this extent. In two days a panel including former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, will hear from Chappell and Ganguly, and they have their hands full.

Sourav Ganguly: his captaincy is open to question as never before© AFP

Sourav Ganguly was greatly relieved yesterday when the ICC rescindedhis two-match suspension, which allowed him to play the second Test against South Africa in the Kolkata. As Ganguly noted at the pre-match press conference this morning, he had already missed four out of eight Test matches this year to injury, andhad been troubled by the prospect of having to sit out another two Tests.But there is also another reason why the captain does not want to missout on a chance to play. He is in a rather beleaguered state at the moment,and his authority is open to question as never before. But he canjustly claim to have had a major influence of shaping this Indian team, and hewants to prove that he still belongs among them, as both leader andplayer.India’s form in both Tests and one-dayers has been a distinct three orfour notches below that of last season, and there’s only so long thathe can keep fending off the charges being levelled at him by his critics.Ganguly also did he himself no favours by pulling out abruptly of theNagpur Test, and he has spent so much time on the sidelines this seasonthat he has every reason to fear that his players may grow used tobeing without him.There could be nothing better for Ganguly in the short-term than avictory, something to clear the darkening clouds of dissatisfaction andresentment that have built around in the cricket-watching public’sperception of Team India. Critics have asked if he still has thepassion and the energy for the captaincy, a draining task at the best of times.He needs to answer them with results. He could also do with a big score,as it has been a year – Brisbane in early December 2003 – since hisbatting had a major effect on a Test match, and also because his record atKolkata has been poor. Even though he is a veteran, he probably has more atstake in the game than anyone else.It is not without reason that Ganguly’s critics say that the time hascome to give up the top job to another man. It is possible that even some ofthose sympathetic to Ganguly might believe this is the course of actionthat is best for him. Captaining the Indian side, absorbing theintense scrutiny and measuring up to the expectations of millions ofpassionate followers must be the toughest assignment in world cricket,and not something the strain of which a man can bear for more than afew years.An example of this was witnessed by this writer this very morning.After a stint at nets, Ganguly walked off the ground and into the pavilion. Agroup of people, perhaps about 70 strong, had managed to get into theground to watch the players, and as Ganguly passed below they made arush for the railings, calling out: "Dada! Dada! Dada!"Why were they calling out in such a frenzy to a man occupied with his work and with a dozen important things on his mind? For a wave of the bat in return,perhaps, or some other mark of acknowledgement – some little thing totake away as a sign that they had been in proximity to the captain of India,and shared some interaction with him.Sometimes it must seem to Ganguly as if all of India is on its toes,shouting at him in many accents: "Dada! Dada! Dada!" Can he continue tosteer his way through the tumult for much longer? We shall know – maybenot at Kolkata, but soon enough.

Harbhajan Singh has warned New Zealand of a gruelling upcoming tour of India, saying that the hosts had not forgotten the 2-0 series drubbing late last year on fresh, batting-unfriendly wickets in New Zealand.”In India we don’t play in gardens like they do in New Zealand,” he said ina television interview. “I can’t wait to get my hands on the ball and have a go at the Kiwis. They will struggle here.”But Harbhajan hastened to point out that India would not prepare vicious turners to defeat New Zealand. “I have forgotten the last time we played on a square turner in India,” he said. “Wickets here are good for both batsmen and bowlers.”The whole team is looking to avenge the defeat in New Zealand. We want toshow we can beat them on good wickets.”

In was nightmare for the sponsors, but a dream for Colombo’s policeauthorities, who were reportedly in a quandary as to whether to imposeanother post-election city-wide curfew in the afternoon, as Chaminda Vaasensured the first game of the LG Abans triangular ODI series was theshortest ever One-Day International.By midday, after just two hours, Sri Lanka had wrapped up a nine-wicket winhaving bowled out Zimbabwe for just 38, the lowest ever total in ODIcricket, surpassing the 43 scored by Pakistan against West Indies at CapeTown in 1992/3. They then knocked off the required runs in just 4.2 overs.For the second time in the week, it was Vaas who created the mayhem, asZimbabwe’s shocked batsmen wandered across their stumps like rabbits caughtfull-beam. The 27-year-old left-armer took the first eight wickets to falland looked to be heading for all ten before Muttiah Muralitharan took twowickets in four balls to finish off the innings.His eight for 19 was the best ever bowling analysis in one-day cricket’s31-year history, surpassing the seven for 30 taken by Muralitharan last yearagainst India at Sharjah.Vaas bowled well with the new white ball, which does swing more than the redone, and Sri Lanka had won a good toss in the morning on a greasy SinhaleseSports Club pitch, but there could be no proper explanation for such amiserly total. This was no minefield and Vaas has bowled better for lessreward – in fact he probably swung the ball more prodigiously in his lastTest match.But Vaas still deserves great credit for record-breaking spell, which wouldhave pleased no one more than his wife who was celebrating her birthdayalone at home today. Vaas has worked extremely hard during the past year,both on his fitness and skills. Coach Dav Whatmore praised his “focusedattitude to training” and believed that “performances like this don’t happenby accident.” His performance was a victory for the humble hard-workingmedium pacer, who success depends on the twin virtues of accuracy andmovement. Today he was spot on.Zimbabwean captain, Stuart Carlisle, called it a “freak result” and hopedthat his side could quickly flush today’s disturbing events out of theirsystem tomorrow, when they take on the West Indies. But the tourists will beconcerned that they struggled so much against the swinging ball; a weaknessthat cost them both practice matches against young Sri Lankan board XI’s.Vaas started his wicket-taking spree with the first delivery of the match; afull-length inswinger that curved onto the toe of opener Dion Ebrahim.Stuart Carlisle then added 11 runs for the second wicket with Grant Flower -a noteworthy partnership in the context – before Vaas severely dentedZimbabwean hopes by dismissing both Flower brothers in his third over: Grant(1) was bowled and Andy (0) was caught behind for a second-ball duck (11 forthree).Carlisle added a couple of boundaries with Craig Wishart in 25 minute stand,but Vaas’s sixth over singled the start of the end as the last seven wicketsfell for just 11 runs.Nuwan Zoysa has taken a Test hat-trick but no Sri Lankan had taken a one-dayhat-trick till today, when Vaas had Carlisle (16), trying to be positive,caught at third man, Wishart (6) and Tatrenda Taibu (0) trapped lbw withsharply swinging induckers (27 for six).Heath Streak (0) was dismissed in a similar manner and Mluleki Nkala (1)edged to Sangakkara behind the stumps (32 for eight).Sanath Jayasuriya then called up Muralitharan and the off-spinner zipped histhird ball through the defenses of Travis Friend (4) and had last man, HenryOlonga, caught at slip next ball.Sri Lanka started badly, losing Avishka Gunawardene in the first over, butstill cruised to victory as Marvan Atapattu stroked four fours in his16-ball 23 not out and Jayasuriya walloped 13 from seven balls.Zimbabwe now will play West Indies tomorrow and they will take some heartfrom the fact that the West Indies tour slipped further into disarray lastnight when their premier fast bowler, who would have been a real handful onthis SSC pitch, was sent home for disciplinary reasons.

India batsman Virender Sehwag has formally retired from international cricket. On Tuesday, his 37th birthday, Sehwag made the announcement via Twitter, with a crisp message that said he would no longer play the IPL either.On Monday, Sehwag had revealed he would be participating in the Masters Champions League, a UAE-based Twenty20 tournament that requires its participants to have retired from all international formats, and said a formal retirement announcement would follow soon. He indicated that he would continue playing for Haryana till the end of the Ranji Trophy season.”God has been kind and I have done what I wanted to do – on the field and in my life and I had decided sometime back that I will retire on my 37th birthday,” Sehwag said in a statement. “So, while I spend the day with my family, I hereby announce my retirement from all forms of international cricket and the Indian Premier League.”Cricket has been my life and continues to be so. Playing for India was a memorable journey and I tried to make it more memorable for my team-mates and for the Indian cricket fans. I believe I was reasonably successful in doing so. For that, I wish to thank all my teammates over the years – some of the greatest players of the game. I would like to thank all my captains, who believed in me and backed me to the hilt. I also thank our greatest partner, the Indian cricket fan for all the love, support and the memories.”I also want to thank everyone for all the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologise for not accepting most of it! I had a reason for not following it: I did it my way!”Sehwag is widely considered one of India’s greatest opening batsmen, and he revolutionised the art of batting against the new ball in Test cricket with his aggressive approach, scoring at a strike rate of over 80 in the longest format. He has been out of India’s plans for over two years, having last played for the national side in the Hyderabad Test against Australia in March 2013.Sehwag played 104 Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is, scoring over 17,000 international runs and picking up 136 wickets with his offspin. His greatest moments came in Test cricket, where he made 23 hundreds including the only two triple-centuries by an Indian batsman, while his ODI achievements included the format’s second double-hundred. He was part of India’s victorious campaigns at the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup.

An update has emerged on Newcastle United and their pursuit of RC Lens gem Seko Fofana… 

What’s the talk?

According to French outlet Le10Sport, the Magpies are set to battle it out with Ligue 1 giants PSG to land the Ivorian in the summer.

The report claims that PIF are prepared to make a move for the midfielder and will not ‘hesitate’ to open their chequebook to secure his services, although it remains to be seen how much money the French side want for their star man.

Imagine him & Bruno

Dan Ashworth is reportedly set to become Newcastle’s director of football in the summer and the signing of Fofana could be an incredible first piece of business for the former Brighton man.

He must ensure that he can get a deal over the line for the powerful midfielder as he would be a sensational signing for the club and potentially be an exciting partner for Bruno Guimaraes in the middle of the park next season.

In Ligue 1 this season, Fofana has scored seven goals and averaged 1.2 key passes per game whilst averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.93. He has also completed two dribbles per game and this shows that he is a progressive player who likes to drive at the opposition to make things happen, with his goal tally showing that he has the end product to match the build-up.

Author Tom Scholes once dubbed the £14m-rated player as “unbelievable” and French journalist Tanguy Le Seviller described him as a “monster” earlier this year. These comments and his impressive statistics for Lens highlight why Ashworth needs to bring him in as he would be a big asset for Eddie Howe to call upon with his ability to make things happen from midfield. 

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He could form a strong partnership with Guimaraes in midfield, with the Brazilian having also caught the eye in Ligue 1. In the first half of the season for Lyon, the 24-year-old averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.21 as he made an outstanding 3.6 tackles and interceptions per game.

This suggests that he will be able to provide the defensive anchor to allow Fofana to express himself going forward for Newcastle. Guimaraes would be the sturdy, reliable, operator to win possession back and then the Ivorian would be able to break and attempt to score and create goals in the final third knowing that he has the Brazilian machine behind him.

AND in other news, Howe can find his own Ake for NUFC in “special” £80k-p/w tank who’s “very underrated”…

West Indies Cricket Board has withheld the no-objection certificate (NOC) that Jason Holder needed to participate in the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) on the grounds that he is a contracted player and his primary objective is to serve West Indies cricket.Holder, who is the captain of West Indies in Tests and ODIs, was picked by Quetta Gladiators in the player draft held on December 21. It became clear he won’t be able to play for them when he took to twitter and said… According to WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead, Holder had just signed a fresh retainer contract, which allowed the board to hold the rights to grant or deny him permission to play in overseas domestic leagues.”He is a retained player. So it gives us a right to say to a retained player, if you request a NOC in a time, that we have something geared towards the development of West Indies cricket, and then we have the right to say no to him,” Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo.Muirhead also pointed out that Holder had the responsibility to captain the Barbados team, which is currently competing in the Nagico Super-50, West Indies’ List A competition. “We have our premier 50-over competition going on now and it is going to be played at the same time as the league (PSL). He is the captain of the Barbados team, which wants him to play. We need him in the region. It promotes cricket. It sends a sense of unity. It sends the right message.”