Pakistan’s World Twenty20 squad has been hit by a spate of injuries during the rigorous training camp leading up to the tournament, but captain Shahid Afridi assures that there is “nothing serious”

Cricinfo staff06-Apr-2010Shoaib Akhtar has been selected to play in the one-day Pentagular Cup that begins in Lahore on April 17, while Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan do not feature in any of the five teams.”The event will help the selectors pick some talented boys from it as feedback for the national side which has some challenging tasks ahead, including the Asia Cup and six Test matches in England, soon after the World Twenty20,” chief selector Mohsin Khan told after announcing the teams for the tournament.Younis and Yousuf were banned indefinitely by the PCB following Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia. Yousuf has since announced his retirement from the game. Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan are serving one-year bans. Mohsin said that these players missed out since they were not available.”Younis is not in the country, while Yousuf has already announced his retirement. Similarly, Naved, who has left to play county cricket, and Malik [who is in India for his wedding] are not available,” Mohsin said.Squads:Federal Areas Leopards: Umair Khan, Raheel Majeed, Umar Amin, Babar Naeem, Bazid Khan (capt), Usman Saeed, Naveed Ashraf, Naveed Malik, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Rameez, Shahzad Azam, Yasim Murtaza, Ammad Wasim, Naeem Anjum; Reserves: Shoaib Khaliq, Muzammil Nizam, Jamal Anwar.Balochistan Bears: Taufiq Umar, Abid Ali, Kashif Siddique, Rameez Alam, Saeed Anwar Junior, Kashif Naved, Taimoor Khan, Rizwan Haider, Arun Lal, Nazar Hussain, Abdur Rauf (capt), Mohammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar, Jalat Khan, Gulraiz Sadaf; Reserves: Ata-ur-Rehman (wk), Ansar Javed, Taimoor Ali.Punjab Stallions: Imran Farhat (capt), Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Naeemuddin, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Ayub, Usman Arshad Zeeshan Butt, Qaiser Abbas, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, Imran Ali, Asad Ali, Abdur Rehman, Zulqarnain Haider (wk); Reserves: Mohammad Salman, Bilawal Bhatti, Sami Aslam.Sind Dolphins: Khurram Manzoor, Asad Shafiq, Shahzaib Hassan, Faisal Iqbal (capt), Shaharyar Ghani, Hasan Raza, Saeed bin Nasir, Aqeel Anjum, Tabish Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Lal Kumar, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk); Reserves: Azam Hussain, Junaid Ilyas, Mir Ali Talpur.NWFP Panthers: Yasir Hameed (captain), Imran Nazir, Riffatullah Mohmand, Adnan Raees, Azam Jan, Khalid Usman, Wajid Ali, Sajjad Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Armaghan Elahi, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah, Zohaib Khan, Ahmed Said (wk); Reserves: Imran Khan, Mehran Ibrahim, Israrullah.

Australia stormed to a resounding 81-run win as Sri Lanka were steamrolled by extreme pace and sustained pressure, folding for 87

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill09-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Cameron White slammed five sixes, including two in consecutive balls from Chanaka Welegedara, to power Australia’s fightback•Getty Images

Australia stormed to a resounding 81-run win that all but assured their semi-finals spot as Sri Lanka were steamrolled by extreme pace and sustained pressure, folding for 87. Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson were the main destroyers of the Sri Lankan batting line-up, but the win was made possible by Cameron White’s unstoppable 85 from 49 balls, which rescued his side from a perilous 67 for 5.White was ably aided by Michael Hussey in an unbroken stand of 101 in less than ten overs, and when the Sri Lankan top order was bullied out by a formidable Australian pace attack in quick succession, the rest of the batsmen collapsed in a heap.Australia had been in a similar situation against Bangladesh in the group stage, sinking to 65 for 6 before they were saved by a 74-run partnership between Hussey and Steven Smith. Today, they had White to thank, as he saw off the threatening Suraj Randiv, making the most of a missed chance on 23 to establish his dominance over the rest of the attack, as he passed 50 from 32 balls.Shane Watson and David Warner have given Australia solid starts more often than not in this tournament, but today they were parted with the fifth ball of the innings, as Angelo Mathews snaked one in to rattle Watson’s stumps via an inside edge. In an impressively-controlled opening spell, Mathews then deceived Brad Haddin, sent in ahead of Clarke with Australia one down, with a slower one that took the leading edge and looped up to give Sanath Jayasuriya an easy catch.Australia were then under real pressure when Mahela Jayawardene held a blistering reflex take at slip when Warner nicked a flashing drive to Randiv’s third ball of the match. In a dramatic over, Randiv then set Sri Lankan hearts racing when he beat David Hussey first ball with a flighted delivery that went the other way as the batsman drove on the walk, and Kumar Sangakkara whipped the bails off milliseconds later – not that it mattered, as the ball had also brushed the edge on its way through.The hat-trick evaded him, but he topped off an outstanding spell when Clarke backed away to cut a turning ball and lost his off bail. Australia were 67 for 5 after 11 overs at that stage, and were in real danger of crumbling for an insubstantial total.But Sri Lanka could not carry the intensity from their opening onslaught into the second half of the innings. After racing to his half-century, White led Australia’s charge in the closing overs, lifting Welegedara down the ground with brutal hits from consecutive deliveries to move into the 70s.With that, Hussey, who had nudged his way to 9 from 15 balls, took his cue, walking across his stumps to paddle a knee-high full toss from Lasith Malinga to fine leg. Hussey followed that up with a majestic lofted cover drive, before closing the over with an audacious sweep to a searing yorker. White took Australia past 150 with his fifth and sixth sixes in the penultimate over, and an incredible 91 runs came from the final seven overs.Jayawardene has been Sri Lanka’s linchpin at the top of the order in this tournament, and when he swivelled to pull Nannes handsomely over square leg it appeared that the stage had been set for another excellent knock. But Nannes dug the next one in even shorter, and the ball rose alarmingly to take the splice and balloon up to give Smith an easy catch at long leg.It was pace and aggression that did for Sangakkara, too, as Shaun Tait sent down a brutish bumper that beat the attempted hook for pace, striking the glove on the way through to Haddin. The slide continued as Nannes fired one in at Jayasuriya’s pads in his next over, beating an aimless swish to pin the batsman lbw to reduce Sri Lanka to 26 for 3 in the fifth over.Watson was brought on in the last over of the Powerplay, and his medium-paced seamers proved to be a far more attractive prospect than the 90mph-plus barrage of Nannes and Tait. Dilshan responded with a caressed cover drive and a clean hit high over long on, and Mathews didn’t miss out either, slamming Watson straight back over his head as 15 were taken from the over.But they still had Johnson to contend with from the other end, and he made his intentions clear by banging his first two balls in before rolling his fingers over his third to induce an uppish cut from Dilshan. White at backward point went airborne to pull off a stunning catch inches from the turf, and when Mathews picked out Hussey on the cover boundary four balls later, Sri Lanka’s short-lived counterpunch was nipped in the bud.Sri Lanka were 67 for 5 after 10 overs – almost exactly the position in which Australia had found themselves in the first innings – but their middle order lacks White’s power and Hussey’s class, and from that point on the two sides went in opposite directions, Australia seizing back the game with a supremely confident fightback; Sri Lanka capitulating meekly in the face of sustained pressure. Such was the scale of the win, Australia are now virtually guaranteed a place in the semi-finals.

A career-best unbeaten 81 by rookie allrounder Alex Blake helped Kent secure their first home win of the season with a comfortable 58-run Clydesdale Bank 40 success over Scotland at Canterbury

31-May-2010
ScorecardA career-best unbeaten 81 by rookie allrounder Alex Blake helped Kent secure their first home win of the season with a comfortable 58-run Clydesdale Bank 40 success over Scotland at Canterbury.Blake, 21, went to the wicket with his side in a spot of bother on 108 for 4, a situation that quickly worsened when in-form Darren Stevens drove on the up against Ross Lyons to go for 24 and make it 113 for 5. That brought together Blake, playing only his 13th list A game, and the experienced Azhar Mahmood for a sixth-wicket stand worth 102 in 24 overs that turned the course of the game.Having won the toss and elected to field in cool, overcast conditions, Scotland’s attack nipped the ball around and performed well to winkle out Kent’s top five inside the opening 24 overs. After an opening stand of 45 between internationals Joe Denly and Rob Key, Denly blotted his copybook by missing an attempted slashing drive against Gordon Drummond to be bowled for 24.Martin van Jaarsveld had his off stump plucked out by an off-cutter from Richie Berrington and, in the following over, Key worked across a straight one from Majid Haq and also had his stumps rearranged. Stevens and Geraint Jones added 47 for the fourth wicket but when both fell in the space of two overs Kent were in danger of becoming Scotland’s second county scalp of the campaign following their shock away win over Leicestershire a fortnight ago.But Blake, with eight fours and a cover-driven six in his 56-ball innings, joined forces with Mahmood, who clattered 44 from 41 balls, to bat the visitors out of the game and take Kent to a respectable 249 at a scoring rate of 6.22 an over.Scotland’s reply floundered from the off against the pace of Makhaya Ntini, on his last appearance for Kent, and the wiles of Mahmood. He knocked back Omer Hussain’s off stump in the second over and then Ntini bowled Gavin Hamilton to finish his eight over stint with one for 28.Simon Cook then took two wickets in as many overs on his way to figures of two for 50, he trapped Gregor Maiden leg before and had Berrington caught at slip off an edged drive.Scotland regrouped through George Bailey, with a 57-ball 50, and Neil McCallum who added 93 for the fifth wicket but much to the detriment of the required run-rate, which had escalated to 14.5 by the time Bailey went for 70, bowled around his legs by Khan when attempting a leg-side clip. Then, when McCallum holed out in Khan’s next over Scotland’s outside hopes of causing an upset went with him.

Bermuda endured a nightmarish first day in their Intercontinental Shield match against United Arab Emirates, crumbling for 56 after opting to bat first and then conceding a 136-run lead as UAE closed on 192 for 2

Cricinfo staff06-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Bermuda endured a nightmarish first day in their Intercontinental Shield match against United Arab Emirates, crumbling for 56 after opting to bat first and then conceding a 136-run lead as UAE closed on 192 for 2, opener Arshad Ali unbeaten on 75.Bermuda’s troubles started early, as their opening pair of Chris Foggo and Fiqre Crockwell were parted in the second over. What followed was carnage, the highest partnership of the innings a mere 18 as every batsman apart from Foggo was dismissed for six runs or less.The wickets were shared around by UAE’s bowlers, but left-arm spinners Shadeep Silva and Ahmed Raza proved particularly destructive. Raza found himself on a hat-trick in the 21st over as Foggo, who struck three fours and a six in his 29, and Stefan Kelly departed in consecutive balls.Joshua Gilbert survived the hat-trick ball, and he and Jordan DeSilva survived another 10 overs before Amjad Javed returned to trap DeSilva lbw and Gilbert was run out four balls later.Bermuda deflated further as Abdul Rehman and Arshad put on a steady 94 for the first wicket before Rehman was pinned infront by Rodney Trott for 65. Arshad then added 46 with captain Khurram Khan, registering his seventh first-class fifty and securing UAE’s dominance with an unbeaten 52-run stand in Saqib Ali’s company.

Anthony Ireland claimed five wickets as promotion-chasing Gloucestershire bowled out Middlesex for 236 on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match in Bristol

28-Jun-2010

ScorecardAnthony Ireland prospered on a good day for Gloucestershire’s bowlers•PA Photos

Anthony Ireland claimed five wickets as promotion-chasing Gloucestershire bowled out Middlesex for 236 on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match in Bristol.But 19-year-old Josh Davey ensured Middlesex gained one batting point with a fine 61 on his Championship debut. Davey received good support from fellow debutant Toby Roland-Jones, who contributed 19 to a ninth-wicket partnership of 53, which was broken when Roland-Jones miscued a pull to give Ireland his fifth wicket.Ireland finished with 5 for 25 from 11 overs, while there was good support from Gloucestershire’s four other seam bowlers. Gemaal Hussain took 2 for 70 and there were also two wickets for Jon Lewis. Gloucestershire reached the close on 81 for 2 with Chris Dent unbeaten on 13 and Hamish Marshall not out 21.After Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman won the toss, his decision to insert Middlesex looked like it might backfire as Sam Robson and Scott Newman put together an opening stand of 63. Robson was reprieved before a run had been scored when James Franklin dropped a difficult chance at gully off Lewis.Steve Kirby had both batsmen playing and missing during an impressive spell from the Pavilion End, but Robson and Newman otherwise remained largely untroubled. The game changed dramatically in the 50 minutes before lunch, as Gloucestershire took five wickets for 34 runs in 11 overs.Newman was the first to go when he edged Hussain to Gidman, who took an excellent low catch at first slip. Gidman took another sharp catch to dismiss Owais Shah off Lewis, and two wickets fell in the next over as Ireland had Robson lbw for 39 and Neil Dexter caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.Gloucestershire had more to celebrate from the last ball before lunch when John Simpson edged Ireland to Hamish Marshall at second slip. Dawid Malan and Davey hinted at a Middlesex revival with a partnership of 37 for the sixth wicket, but Malan departed for 29 when he was caught at cover by Chris Taylor off Franklin.Ireland claimed his fourth wicket when Tom Smith fended a delivery into the hands of Kadeer Ali at short leg, and it became 181 for 8 when Tim Murtagh snicked a drive off Hussain into the gloves of Batty. Davey and Roland-Jones responded well and Davey reached his half-century with a hook off Kirby for three runs. His maiden fifty came from 102 balls and contained eight fours.The pair guided Middlesex to 224 for 8 at tea, but both were dismissed within three overs of the resumption. Roland-Jones top-edged a pull to Kirby and Davey then thick-edged a drive off Lewis to Franklin at gully.Gloucestershire’s reply got off to a good start as Ali and Batty took the score to 28 without loss off nine overs before light rain forced the players from the field. But when they returned Pedro Collins struck twice, bowling Ali with a ball which kept low and then trapping Batty lbw for 20.

Matthew Hoggard and Nadeem Malik claimed four wickets apiece to put Leicestershire in command on the first day against Derbyshire

03-Aug-2010
ScorecardMatthew Hoggard and Nadeem Malik claimed four wickets apiece to put Leicestershire in command on the first day of their County Championship Division Two match against bottom of the table Derbyshire at Grace Road.The two seamers had Derbyshire reeling at 68 for 8 at lunch and it needed a battling innings of 85 from Dan Redfern to spearhead a recovery that steered the visitors to a total of 182. By the close, Leicestershire had regained the momentum reaching 117 for 1 with opener Matt Boyce still there on 51 having shared half-century partnerships with Greg Smith and Jacques du Toit.Derbyshire’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired on them in a remarkable morning session. The ball swung and seamed and half the side were out inside 17 overs with only 37 runs on the board. Wayne Madsen, the only player to reach double figures in the 29 overs before lunch, was dropped on 4 off the bowling of Nathan Buck to prevent Derbyshire’s position being even worse.Hoggard, who bowled 15 overs unchanged, and Malik exploited the helpful conditions superbly. Skipper Hoggard took the first three wickets in his opening seven overs. Chris Rogers was trapped lbw, Madsen chased an away swinger and was caught behind for 14 and Garry Park edged low to second slip.When Malik replaced Buck at the Pavilion End he immediately had Greg Smith lbw with the fourth ball of his first over before Hoggard picked up his fourth wicket at his next visit. Chesney Hughes was also adjudged lbw offering no shot.Malik plunged Derbyshire deeper into trouble by picking up three more wickets in his last three overs before lunch. Robin Peterson, Lee Goddard and Steffan Jones all fell to driven edges leaving Malik with eye-catching figures of four for seven in seven overs while Hoggard had 4 for 43.It was a different story after lunch as Redfern led the fight back and Derbyshire’s last two wickets added 115 runs in 29 overs. Redfern and Tim Groenewald shared the bulk of that with a ninth-wicket stand of 89. Redfern reached 50 off 83 balls to post his best score of the season, the innings containing six fours and a six off Malik that flew high over wicketkeeper Tom New’s head.Groenewald was finally bowled by Buck and Redfern’s excellent innings came to an end when he was caught at mid-wicket off Claude Henderson having made 85 off 121 balls.Boyce and Smith shared a half-century opening stand when Leicestershire replied before Smith was bowled by his namesake, Derbyshire’s Greg Smith, for 21. Boyce reached 50 with nine boundaries and was still there at the close alongside du Toit, the second-wicket pair having added another 63 runs to put the home side in a strong position.

Former West Indies seamer Pedro Collins did the damage in more ways than one as Middlesex had the better of the first day

16-Aug-2010
ScorecardFormer West Indies seamer Pedro Collins did the damage in more ways than one as Middlesex had the better of the first day of their County Championship clash with Glamorgan at Cardiff. Collins not only finished with figures of 4 for 55, as Glamorgan were bowled out for 198, but he was also responsible for breaking Jamie Dalrymple’s thumb on his right hand. The Glamorgan skipper is almost certain to miss the rest of the season.Responding to Glamorgan, who won the toss, Middlesex finished the day on 68 for 2 in their first innings, 130 behind with Scott Newman on 40. The leaders were soon in trouble after electing to bat when Mark Cosgrove went for a first-ball duck edging the perfect out-swinger from Collins behind.And matters did not improve for the Welsh county as they found themselves 8 for 3. Tim Murtagh broke through twice in consecutive overs. First, Gareth Rees was caught at short leg by Scott Newman and then Ben Wright edged to Dawid Malan at first slip. Murtagh produced a fine opening spell of 9-6-10-2.Dalrymple and Tom Maynard set about some repairs in a stand of 50 for the fourth wicket. Maynard was the dominant partner striking seven boundaries in his 37. But just before lunch the 21-year-old was adjudged leg before playing round his pad.Though Dalrymple and James Allenby attempted a second rescue mission either side of lunch the wickets carried on falling at regular intervals. Allenby was caught behind from a Collins out-swinger.From 90 for 5 Glamorgan were soon 117 for seven as Collins struck again twice in three balls claiming the wickets of Mark Wallace, who was out tamely, caught at fine leg, and Dalrymple who edged a lifting ball to Neil Dexter at second slip. It was a double blow for Dalrymple, as that was also the ball which broke his thumb.Skipper Dexter got in the action to take the wickets of James Harris, caught by wicketkeeper John Simpson standing up, and Robert Croft, well caught in the gully by Owais Shah. But after that the tail wagged impressively as Cosker and Harrison compiled their record stand.Harrison hit Dexter over long on twice for six and four as Glamorgan reached 150 and when the partnership went past 60 they had set a new record for the county beating the 10th-wicket partnership by George Lavis and Wilf Jones at Cardiff Arms Park in 1960.Glamorgan’s innings came to a close from the first ball after tea when Harrison was caught at point off Murtagh to leave his side stranded two runs short of a batting point.Glamorgan dropped both Newman, on 12, and Simpson at fine leg and gully respectively before fighting back to have Middlesex 39 for 2. First Simpson was leg before to Allenby and Shah was caught behind off James Harris.