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Derbyshire’s seam attack blew away Gloucestershire’s batting on a windy day at
Derby to put the home side in a strong position in the County Championship
Division Two match at the County Ground

11-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Derbyshire’s seam attack blew away Gloucestershire’s batting on a windy day at
Derby to put the home side in a strong position in the County Championship
Division Two match at the County Ground.They bowled the visitors out for 220 and forced them to follow-on after
all-rounder Will Gidman had taken a career-best six wickets for 92 runs in
Derbyshire’s first innings 413.Derbyshire lost their last six wickets for 84 but Gloucestershire were soon in
trouble and only a last wicket stand of 68 between Richard Coughtrie and David
Payne took them past 200. Jon Clare took three for 19 and Tim Groenewald, Tony Palladino and Mark Turner each bagged two wickets to earn a first innings lead of 193.Luke Sutton put Gloucestershire back in and Clare struck a big blow by having
Hamish Marshall caught behind for three just before the close with the visitors
seven for one, still 186 behind. After the bat had dominated on the first day, Jon Lewis struck with the fourth ball of the morning when Wes Durston got an inside edge onto his stumps without
adding to his 151.Clare hit seven fours in his 34 which came off 23 balls and Turner played some
impressive drives to secure maximum batting points before Gidman completed his
first six-wicket haul. There had been some movement and bounce for the pace bowlers and Derbyshire soon made inroads with Marshall falling for a duck on the stroke of lunch when
he played across the line at Groenewald.Chris Dent drove loosely to be caught behind, Chris Taylor was trapped on the
crease by Turner and when Alex Gidman was lbw to Clare for 20, Gloucestershire
were on the slide at 67 for 4. His younger brother had scored 89 against Derbyshire at Bristol in April but this time he managed only eight before he skied a wild hook to midwicket and
Kane Williamson also fell to a rash stroke after batting 117 minutes for 15.Lewis cut Turner for six but when he was lbw for 23, Gloucestershire were 125
for eight and in danger of being routed – but the last two wickets added 95.Coughtrie showed the application the earlier batting had lacked to score an
unbeaten 54 and Payne showed he is one of the better number 11s by stroking
eight fours in his 38 before he was stumped coming down the pitch to Greg
Smith’s off-spin.It was no surprise when Sutton invited Gloucestershire to bat again and he was
rewarded when Marshall went for the second time in the day to leave Derbyshire
scenting a three-day victory.

Worcestershire may well go on to avoid relegation this season, but goodness me, they are making life hard for themselves

George Dobell at New Road08-Sep-2011
ScorecardWorcestershire may well go on to avoid relegation this season, but goodness me, they are making life hard for themselves.Whenever it appears they are on the brink of safety, they suffer a reverse that throws their survival into doubt once more. Most pertinently, they resume on day three requiring 27 more runs to avoid the follow-on.Perhaps such nerves are understandable. This is Worcestershire’s third spell in the top division and, on all previous occasions, their experience has ended in relegation after a single year. One bookmaker offered odds of 20-1 on, on them suffering a similar fate this time.They deserve to survive. Not only have they won four games, but they’ve been unlucky on several other occasions. One bad session has cost them in several matches, while they were robbed a possible victory by shoddy covering at The Rose Bowl recently.They continue to stumble with the line in sight, however. They have been several occasions during this game when it has appeared as if they had survival within their grasp. Firstly when Sussex slipped to 234 for seven, then when Worcestershire’s openers posted 64 without undue difficulty and finally when Alexei Kervezee and Gareth Andrew added 73 for their sixth wicket.Each time, however, Worcestershire have allowed Sussex back into the game. Whether it has been with some quite out of character awful fielding, or with their tentative batting, Worcestershire find themselves on the back foot in a game in which they could have been dominating.Perhaps such a summary is unfair on Sussex. Monty Panesar, in particular, has applied sustained pressure on the Worcestershire batting with a testing spell of bowling, while Sussex’s tail also wagged vigorously. Indeed, Sussex added 141 runs for the final three wickets, with Jimmy Anyon showing up the paucity of the Worcestershire support bowling with an increasingly accomplished innings.Worcestershire, however, will reflect that they made life far too easy for the Susses tail-enders. For all his unrewarded excellence on day one, Kemar Roach sprayed the ball around horribly on the second day, while the catch that James Cameron out down at mid-wicket off Anyon left his team-mates transfixed with shock and horror. By professional standards, they don’t come much easier. Doubts continue over Richard Jones’ ability to prosper at this level, too. While he does have the tremendous ability of bowling wicket-taking deliveries, such moments are interspersed with some far less impressive bowling. That Anyon, a batsmen of few pretensions, was able to hook him for a six and four in the same over speaks volumes.Anyon finished unbeaten on 44 having added 52 for the tenth wicket with Panesar. It was a valuable stand, for it helped Sussex to a fourth batting bonus point and a step nearer Division One survival.Panesar’s real work was always going to be with the ball, however. Beginning his spell about 40 minutes before tea, he bowled unchanged until stumps and claimed four important wickets. Vikram Solanki, playing with hard hands at one pushed through typically quickly, edged to short leg, before Moeen Ali was adjudged caught at slip off an arm ball (replays suggested Moeen might have been unlucky, as the ball appeared to have come off only the pad). Gareth Andrew was deceived in the flight and yorked while Ben Scott, who has agreed a one-year deal with Worcestershire, was leg before to the final delivery of the day, another that was pushed through and went straight on.It might be tempting to conclude that Panesar is now back to best. Tempting, but not quite true. Panesar certainly doesn’t bowl many poor balls. Indeed, he pushes the ball through at such a pace that the batsman cannot afford to make any mistake.But he also doesn’t turn the ball away from the bat much and continues to lack variety. The wicket of Andrew – victim of a delightfully well-flighted delivery that dipped sharply – stuck out for its novelty value and also hinted at the untapped promise that Panesar possesses. It is surely worth noting that three of his wickets here came either with deliveries that went straight on or drifted with the arm. In terms of flight and lateral spin, he has been out-bowled in this match by Moeen Ali.Worcestershire had started well in reply. Cameron, in particular, looked in fine touch and it was some surprise when he was yorked by the lanky Will Adkin. It was Adkin’s first wicket of the season and just the second of his career. Tall and blessed with a pleasing action, he looks as if he has the raw attributes to succeed as a bowler, though he could do with adding a yard of pace. Later Darly Mitchell and Aneesh Kapil were both beaten for pace.At least Alexei Kervezee resisted. The 21-year-old has been in horrid form of late, scoring just 17 runs in his last five Championship innings, but here he survived an uncomfortable start and resumes on day three charged with averting the follow-on.Earlier Moeen was the pick of the host’s bowlers on day two. Ending Ben Brown’s fine innings with his first delivery of the day – Brown charge down the pitch and was beaten by the flight – Moeen finished with admirable figures of 4 for 53. The statistics are modest as yet, but he could yet develop into an all-rounder at international level.Meanwhile the sizeable – and affable – contingent of Sussex supporters that have travelled to this game were joined in an impromptu game of cricket on the outfield at tea by their club’s chief executive, Dave Brooks. It’s hard to think of another county CEO who would have participated in quite such an unashamedly enthusiastic way and was an insight upon the friendly and approachable spirit on which Sussex pride themselves. ECB chairman Giles Clarke, watching on from a hospitality suite, didn’t join in.

On the 59th anniversary of their first Test win, Pakistan fast bowlers moved on sensationally from the demoralising fielding debacle in Abu Dhabi, but the spinners didn’t enjoy such good fortune

The Report by Sidharth Monga26-Oct-2011
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSri Lanka only half-recovered from Umar Gul’s early burst•AFP

On the 59th anniversary of their first Test win, Pakistan’s fast bowlers moved on sensationally from the demoralising fielding debacle in Abu Dhabi, but the spinners didn’t enjoy such good fortune. Even though Misbah-ul-Haq took three slip catches off the quicks, Taufeeq Umar dropped Kumar Sangakkara on 27 and Younis Khan reprieved Rangana Herath off the first ball he faced. Consequently 73 for 5 became 154 for 6, and 154 for 8 turned into 239 all out. However, the early damage was so severe that the day still belonged to Pakistan, especially because the openers brought the deficit under 200 in the nine testing overs bowled at them.That the successful completion of regulation catches came as a huge relief in the morning tells the story. Three days after they had been ground into the Abu Dhabi dust thanks largely to their own fielders, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan somehow found the heart to create opportunity after opportunity once again. It was a new-ball pitch, and the two hit the seam with regularity to take five wickets in the first session.Both teams misread the track to an extent. Pakistan dropped the big-hearted Aizaz Cheema in favour of left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman. Expecting a flat track, Sri Lanka chose to bat first. As it turned out, with the ball seaming around in the first session, Gul and Junaid had to make up for the absence of the third seamer with 10-over spells before lunch, including a wicket in the last over of the session.The Sri Lanka top order was left with the task of seeing the new ball off. While not quite a demon, the pitch had enough seam and variable bounce in it to keep the Pakistan fast bowlers in business. True to their nature, they exploited every bit of life on offer. Gul got the ball to swing into the left-handed top three, and on the odd occasion got it to seam away after shaping up to swing in. The variable bounce was obvious from how two early edges didn’t carry to the cordon, and how on two occasions Gul missed out on lbws because of extra bounce.The top order bar Sangakkara came up short. Both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tharanga Paranavitana made the instinctive correction of planting the front foot across to cover the movement, leaving them prone to the balls moving in. Thirimanne survived one such shout because of the height, but was trapped dead plumb immediately after. Paranavitana played himself into a shell before finally playing a reckless cut off Gul. At first slip, Misbah held the ball close to his chest. Finally someone other than the wicketkeeper had taken a catch in 178 overs of bowling.More chances would soon come. Mahela Jayawardene got the classical Gul delivery that angled in, pitched short of a length, drew him into the shot, then held its line, and took a healthy edge. Misbah was there to accept the low catch again. Dilshan played a loose punch outside off to give Misbah his third. Junaid’s contribution to the dismissal cannot be overstated, though. In his sixth over, he went round the stumps, angled the ball in, making Dilshan play, and the open face did the rest.At 45 for 4, after six overs each for the new-ball bowlers, Pakistan would have wished they had Cheema to bowl first change. In his absence, Gul and Junaid put in the extra hours. After Gul’s unbroken 10-over spell, Junaid came back to trouble Mathews from round the stumps. Even as Mathews walked down the track to counter the movement, both his edges were beaten repeatedly until he nicked Junaid to Adnan Akmal, the only catching man Pakistan haven’t had to worry about.In between, Sangakkara played a rare loose shot, an uppish square-drive off Ajmal, but Taufeeq was late to attempt a high catch to his left at backward point. Missing his partner in crime from the first Test, the injured Prasanna Jayawardene, Sangakkara had no option but to score as many as possible before he was left stranded. He scored 49 of the 76 runs that came during his time after lunch.Even though Rehman trapped the debutant keeper Kaushal Silva to end a 54-run partnership, the pitch had settled down and the ball had become soft. Pakistan stopped trying to get Sangakkara out, but at the same time they were lousy enough to forget to bring the field up for the last ball of an over. Sangakkara gladly retained the strike, but exposed Dhammika Prasad to Saeed Ajmal for four balls of the next over. Prasad had no clue which way Ajmal was turning the ball, and despite a customary drop from Mohammad Hafeez, a thick edge from him was accepted by Akmal. Sangakkara took a risk against the first ball of the next over, but holed out to long-on. It could have become three wickets in four balls, but Younis Khan let through a low chance from Herath.The highest partnership of the innings, 75 for the ninth wicket, followed. Chanaka Welegedara and Herath fought bravely after tea, taking blows on their bodies, and putting behind them the plays and misses. Welegedara in particular drove well through the covers, hooked Gul for a six during a heated over, and slogged Abdur Rehman for another even as he fought cramps. He added 48 to his career 67 runs. Ajmal, though, kept coming at them, and made sure Sri Lanka were again dismissed inside the first day.

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers might well have batted Australia out of the Wanderers Test, according to South Africa opener Jacques Rudolph

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers19-Nov-2011Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers might well have batted Australia out of the Wanderers Test, according to South Africa opener Jacques Rudolph. The pair came together with South Africa having slipped to 90 for 3, effectively 60 for 3 because of their deficit, but their unbroken 139-run partnership has put South Africa in a winning position.”When we lost the first three wickets upfront, you still felt a little bit like the game was balanced on a knife edge,” Rudolph said. “But I thought those two [Amla and de Villiers] almost took it away from the Australians.”South Africa only need a draw to win the two-Test series and claim their first series win over Australia at home since readmission. However, Rudolph, as well as assistant coach Russell Domingo, said the team is still targeting a clean sweep of the visitors. They have been in discussion about what a comfortable enough lead would be.”I was speaking to Jacques Kallis and he also said that if we get anything around 300, it’s a competitive score and the Aussies will still be in with a chance,” Rudolph said. “Around 350 or 400, will be a good score. Tomorrow morning we’ve got 11 overs before the second new ball, which might give Hashim and AB a chance to get in and set up another good one or two sessions.” Rudolph said South Africa hoped to be “bowling in the afternoon” to give themselves enough time to dismiss Australia.Domingo said South Africa’s task will be to accumulate runs briskly on the fourth morning. “It’s a long way from looking at declarations. We know it’s generally a quick scoring ground here, so scoring runs tomorrow morning is going to be crucially important,” he said. “How much we set them and if we declare or don’t declare is not on anyone’s mind at the moment, it’s just to have enough to give us a good chance of winning the Test match.”With the pitch remaining a good strip for batting, Domingo said South Africa cannot afford to “be stupid” about the size of the target they set Australia. “We have to give the bowlers enough runs to [be able to employ] carry a third slip and the gully,” he said. “At a place like the Wanderers, where scores can be chased down because of the nature of the outfield and the altitude, we’ve got to be clever about what type of carrot we are going to dangle, if we are going to dangle a carrot.”Although the strip remains batsmen-friendly, something is also expected to be in it for the bowlers throughout the match. Rudolph said the result may hinge on which side have the more patient attack. “It [the track] has proven that if you just stick to the one area, there is enough in it for the bowlers. So it will come down to the bowler who will be willing to do that the most consistently.”Australia’s bowlers, barring Patrick Cummins, struggled on the third day. Siddle bowled well but was unable to make a breakthrough, and Mitchell Johnson shortened his run-up without devastating effects. Shane Watson said the bowlers are aware that they will need to find some extra spark, because they do not expect a favour, in the form of a sporting declaration, from South Africa. “We’re going to have to bowl them out, there’s no way they are going to let us in,” he said. “If we were in the position they are in, we’d be doing the same thing.”Watson said Australia will be up for the task, whatever it is. “If a few guys have a really good day, it means we can chase down a big total,” he said.Wet weather may thwart both teams’ plans, with rain forecast for most of the fourth day. Domingo said South Africa have not been keeping an eye on the clouds, though, and will stick to their plan of playing positively. “Our mindset will be to look to win, not to depend on weather to save [win] a Test series.”

Kaustubh Pawar rescued Mumbai from a precarious position with a fiercely-determined century and along with the lower order, all but batted
Madhya Pradesh out of the Ranji Trophy

Abhishek Purohit at the Holkar Cricket Stadium03-Jan-2012
Scorecard
Ankeet Chavan supported Kaustubh Pawar in an unbeaten stand of 129•Fotocorp

Kaustubh Pawar rescued Mumbai from a precarious position with a fiercely-determined century and along with the lower order, all but batted
Madhya Pradesh out of the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai had begun the day 122 runs
behind MP with only five wickets remaining, but Pawar showed tremendous
character in grinding out his second hundred in his debut season at a time
Mumbai desperately needed someone to bail them out.That he struggled with his rhythm till he reached the three-figure mark
but did not throw his wicket away was a credit to Pawar’s temperament.
That Mumbai lost only two wickets today after 15 had fallen on the first
day was partly due to their tenacity and partly due to the pitch which had eased out.The first session was MP’s only real chance of trying to take the lead but
Pawar and Hiken Shah kept them at bay, giving no chances. As he had done
yesterday, TP Sudhindra kept the batsmen defensive with excellent control
over his lines and lengths but unlike they had done on day one, Mumbai did
not succumb against the lack of runs. They kept nudging and guiding for
singles and Pawar, especially, continued to leave almost everything that
was outside off stump.He was beaten on numerous occasions by Sudhindra who also had him down on
the ground a couple of times as he avoided bouncers. Pawar was even hit on
the helmet as he took his eyes off another bouncer but he just refused to
get out. There was also only so much Sudhindra could do alone. Hiken
signaled Mumbai’s growing confidence when he lofted fast bowler Amarjeet
Singh for a straight one-bounce four.Sudhindra managed to break the stand minutes before lunch when Hiken
finally fiddled with one outside off stump and nicked to the slip cordon.
Mumbai were less than 50 runs behind by then, though. Also, a tail that
has Ramesh Powar, Ankeet Chavan and Dhawal Kulkarni is not exactly a tail.
Kulkarni arrived ahead of Powar and Chavan and with Pawar holding one end
up, calmly pushed up the scoring rate with positive batting. MP were
forced to spread the field and bring their innocuous spinners on as
Kulkarni soon took Mumbai into the lead with a driven four through extra
cover.Sudhindra was still not done, though. He bowled Kulkarni for 40 with one
that bounced from a good length but MP now had Chavan to contend with.
With the crucial first-innings lead in the bag, Chavan was able to play
his strokes from the start. Pawar, meanwhile, got to his century in
uncharacteristic fashion off his 233rd delivery, stepping out to drive the
offspin of Jalaj Saxena through extra cover.The landmark brought out the strokeplayer in Pawar as he started to drive
and cut with authority. Chavan cruised to a fifty as well, swinging a six
over long-on in between his straight and cover drives. The eighth-wicket
stand swelled past 100, taking the game further away from a
flagging MP. Pawar showed no signs of fading, still finding the
energy to punch and push for the three runs that took him past 150.
MP’s bowlers tried everything after being let down by their batsmen but
once again, Mumbai had someone to do the dirty work and dig them out of
the hole.

Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has returned as the national team’s bowling coach for the series against England in the UAE that starts in January

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2011Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has returned as the national team’s bowling coach for the series against England in the UAE that starts in January.Aaqib will be part of a nine-man support staff for the series. He has been involved in coaching within Pakistan for almost a decade now, having started at the Lahore Regional Academy and then had stints as Pakistan Under-19 coach and head coach at the National Cricket Academy. He was with the national team on and off since 2009, first as bowling coach and then as assistant coach, before he was removed from that position ahead of Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe earlier in the year.Aaqib was part of the coaching staff when Intikhab Alam was Pakistan’s tour manager, and both were replaced prior to the tour of Zimbabwe. He is in contention to take the role of bowling coach on a full-time basis, as the PCB’s search committee is believed to be interested in hiring home-grown batting and bowling coaches.Ijaz Ahmed, the former Pakistan batsman, has been named fielding coach for the series against England while Mohsin Khan will continue as the interim head coach.

Virender Sehwag, the India opener, has not ruled out shifting down to the middle order once some of the senior batsmen retire

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide23-Jan-2012Virender Sehwag, the India opener, has not ruled out shifting down to the middle order once some of the senior batsmen retire. Sehwag began his career as a middle-order batsman, scored his first Test century there, but had to naturalise to the opener’s position because the middle order was packed. He has come to be known as the man who revolutionised how Test innings are opened. However, even at the highest points of his career, Sehwag has maintained he would love to go back to the middle order, where he doesn’t always have to negotiate the moving new ball.Sehwag said such a move would not happen in the Adelaide Test, in which he is captaining India. “No, not in this team because, you know, we have a very good middle order so when they retire then I’ll think about it,” Sehwag said.When the fact that there will be vacancies over the next year or so was pointed out to him, Sehwag said: “It depends on the combination, and who’s the captain, and who’s going to retire.”There has been a lot of criticism of MS Dhoni’s captaincy – defensive or pragmatic, depending on how you see it – over the past two away series, and against that backdrop Sehwag was asked if he saw himself as a full-time Test captain. Sehwag played the rare leave outside off. “Right now, no,” he said. “Right now I’m just concentrating on this Test match. It’s not in my hands; it’s just the selectors’ job and BCCI’s job.”Sehwag’s press conference ahead of the Adelaide Test was as much about the past as about the future. He was asked if the century he scored the last time he played in Adelaide gave him confidence. “Tomorrow is a different day, different game, different tour,” he said. “Last time when we came here, I didn’t play the first two games, and I was out of the team for some time, and I was fighting for my place. But now it’s a different story, a different thing, so I think it’s good to play in Adelaide because when you score a hundred on the previous tour you look forward to going and playing on the same ground and trying to make another hundred.”Sehwag has had a poor run on the Australia tour, with just 128 runs from six innings. He gave credit to the Australia bowlers, saying it was probably the best Australia attack he had faced. “I think they are bowling good areas. They are not giving easy balls to hit boundaries, and they are playing with your patience, so I think this is the best bowling attack I’ve ever seen. Against Australia, generally when I played in the past, I’d get a couple of balls in the early overs to hit to the boundary; but from this attack I hardly get a ball to hit, so I think it’s one of the best bowling attacks.”In a test of patience, he said, you need patience to win. “I think I have to show some patience against the bowling attack because if I show some patience maybe I’ll get some balls to hit for boundaries, but it’s a challenge. It’s a great bowling attack, which everyone loves to play against so I’m looking forward to playing in this Test match and doing well because whenever you do well against Australia people will appreciate and people will praise your performances.”There has been concern during this tour that India’s minds are elsewhere, sparked by on-field comments from the India players, telling the Australia players they will see them when they come to India. Sehwag, though, said that was not the case. “We are focusing on this Test, and looking forward to it. Adelaide is one of the favourite grounds for everyone because the pitch is good to bat on. We have great memories of when we won the game here in 2003-2004. So I think the dressing-room atmosphere is positive, and we are looking forward to this Test match.”

East Zone surged to their maiden Duleep Trophy title in less than eight sessions in Indore

The Report by Abhishek Purohit in Indore14-Feb-2012
ScorecardWriddhiman Saha flayed the Central Zone medium-pacers during his 170•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

East Zone surged to their maiden Duleep Trophy title in less than eight sessions in Indore, their fast bowlers ripping through a spineless Central Zone line-up with a succession of short deliveries. Despite trailing by 237 runs after the first innings in a five-day game, Central tried to pull and hook their way out of trouble, but only managed to top-edge catches.Central Zone had caved in for 133 in the first innings. Take out the opening partnership of 79, and they managed 138 in the second – they were minus opener Vineet Saxena, who wasn’t able to bat after fracturing a finger. The Holkar Stadium pitch had eased out on day two going by the way Wriddhiman Saha had flayed the Central Zone medium-pacers for 170. But Shami Ahmed and Ashok Dinda showed that there was still help from the surface for those who had the ability and the intent to extract it.Bengal fast bowler Shami was outstanding, consistently getting bounce and zip from just short of a good length. Dinda, whether he was running in during his first over or his 25th, leapt into his delivery stride with the same effort to end the first-class season with a staggering 59 wickets.The only sore point in an otherwise dominant performance was East Zone’s slip catching. Shami alone had at least a couple of catches put down and at one point shrieked at his blundering team-mates in frustration, “” (What are you guys doing?). It also led a spectator to wryly shout, “” (You should hold your catches at times as well).Central Zone, though, were in no mood to put up any sort of fight, despite national selector Narendra Hirwani’s presence. Central Zone began the day trailing by 189, and had to go for quick runs if they were to come back into the game. Saha had said yesterday that East Zone would look for wickets in the first session on day three, and their fast bowlers were relentless in that quest today. That Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena were able to last for almost nine overs today was down more to their good fortune than their survival skills.Jalaj had resisted through a mix of inside edges, slashes, slogs and lofted shots. On 46, he steered Dinda straight to gully, where Shahbaz Nadeem juggled and put down the catch. Two balls later, Dinda produced a searing bouncer, Jalaj went for the hook, but could only top-edge to fine leg. It was to become a pattern.Before that, though, Shami served more notice of his ability to get the ball to rear from just short of a length. Ojha could only fend the snorter to Saha. Mohammad Kaif, who is usually a jittery starter, seemed like getting out at any moment, edging through the cordon a couple of times. He chose to pull a short Shami ball from outside off stump, and fine leg was in business again.The Ranji Trophy’s highest run-getter, Robin Bist, fluffed another opportunity to push his case at the zonal level. Dinda sent one at his throat, Bist hooked, and Saha ran behind square leg to take the offering.
The bouncers to the batsmen before him made Parvinder Singh try to play even a good length Shami delivery from the crease, only to be trapped plumb in front. Parvinder fell off the last ball before lunch, and the talk during the break was about how soon the innings-defeat would arrive.It arrived just over an hour into the second session. If the specialist batsmen had not held back on the pull, there was no question of Piyush Chawla doing so. Another bouncer. Another top-edge to fine leg. Another tame dismissal.Mohnish Mishra played some big strokes during his 44, but he was put down three times in the cordon – two of the chances were straightforward. Anustup Majumdar finally held on to a chance to end Mishra’s stay and give Dinda his third wicket.The end came soon with TP Sudhindra holing out to deep midwicket, setting off celebrations among the East Zone players, who took back all six stumps as mementos. Three wins in three games, two of them outright. No longer were they pushovers in the Duleep Trophy.

New Zealand staved off collapse for 87 overs, but gifted South Africa an opening to push for the win, when they lost five wickets for 33 on day four in Wellington

The Report by Andrew Fernando26-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Vernon Philander bagged his sixth five-wicket haul in his seventh Test•Getty Images

New Zealand staved off collapse for 87 overs, but gifted South Africa an opening to push for the win, when they lost five wickets for 33 on day four in Wellington. Only two edges past the keeper allowed the hosts avert the follow on, and at stumps South Africa led by 274 runs, with 10 wickets remaining and an opportunity to crack New Zealand again on the final day of the series. Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen scored at five runs an over late in the day, hinting a declaration might come early on day five, to give their bowlers a chance to clinch the series 2-0.Vernon Philander became the fastest man to 50 Test wickets in 116 years, as he bagged his sixth five-wicket haul in his seventh Test. His 6 for 81 was all the more impressive for the lack of movement at the Basin Reserve. Rarely straying from his impeccable off-stump line, Philander threatened even when his team-mates seemed flat and the batsmen well set. He removed Daniel Flynn to claim the first scalp of the morning, dismissed Martin Guptill on the stroke of lunch, then returned to crush the lower order with second new ball. Sharp and accurate, but uncomplicated, no side yet has learnt to play him – not even New Zealand, who might have devised new plans, having suffered so severely at his hands in Dunedin and Hamilton.New Zealand’s reply was dealt a blow when Ross Taylor took a Morne Morkel bouncer on the wrist. Morkel had intimidated, bruised and winded Taylor throughout the series, but seems to have delivered the knockout blow in Wellington. A golf-ball sized lump on the end of Taylor’s forearm hid a fracture to his ulna, and he will only bat again if the situation is dire for New Zealand – perhaps not even then.Despite Taylor’s injury though, New Zealand had laid the foundations for a competitive reply. At 219 for 3 (effectively 4, with Taylor having retired hurt), eclipsing the follow-on target seemed a foregone conclusion. South Africa had stuck rigidly with a plan to bowl back-of-a-length and, at times, New Zealand seemed to be handling it. Williamson and Brownlie both pulled powerfully when the lifters didn’t quite get head-high, and they had little trouble swaying away or ducking under the rest.South Africa’s perseverance eventually paid off though, and it made plain once again the definitive trait of the series: New Zealand have fought hard to get themselves in good positions, but South Africa have been the more patient side – sticking to their modes of attack until New Zealand make the errors and gift it all away.The pull shot had been productive for Brownlie, but ended his promising 59-run stand with Williamson when he top-edged a Philander short ball to Dale Steyn at fine leg. Williamson rebuilt momentarily alongside Vettori, but was undone by another short one – this time from Steyn himself, who moved it slightly away to take Williamson’s edge. Vettori was the exception, hitting a full delivery to gully, but Doug Bracewell resumed the pattern, deflecting a short ball onto his stumps for nought. Kruger van Wyk top-edged another pull before Mark Gillespie’s edges saved New Zealand the ignominy of following on. Even he fell to a short ball. After having seemed so comfortable, six New Zealand wickets had fallen for 56 and three in a heap with the score on 263.New Zealand’s woes might have been even greater, had they not been given five reprieves earlier in the day. Martin Guptill provided the early substance to the reply with his first 50 of the series, but he had been given three lives.Steyn and Morkel put New Zealand’s overnight pair through a harrowing interrogation first up, testing technique and temperament with searing pace and movement through the air. Steyn drew several plays and misses with a series of outswingers to Martin Guptill, failing only to extract first blood. It was a surprise no batsman was bleeding at the other end either, where Morkel fired in bouncers at close to 150 kph.Guptill and Daniel Flynn were intimidated into caution, having steadily introduced aggression into their play the previous evening, and though the pair applied themselves in periods, only luck prevented their early demise. Twice Guptill was dropped in the gully, Steyn fuming as JP Duminy spilt both chances diving to his left, while Flynn was hounded by Morkel – an inside edge flying whiskers wide of off stump amid a bruising chain of bouncers.Flynn eventually lost his wicket to Philander, before Guptill got his third life on the fence where deep square leg had wandered too far infield to intercept his pull. Brendon McCullum also got a chance, Duminy spilling another catch off a now-furious Steyn, before he departed attempting to pull – he managed only to give the keeper a straightforward take.South Africa’s reply was predictably belligerent. Petersen hammered two fours off the first over of the innings, and the pace rarely relented thereafter. Twos were run hard to the outfield, and though acting-captain McCullum retained the slips in the opening overs, more defensive fields were set towards the close. Smith waltzed down the pitch to slam Gillespie into the crowd to bring up the team’s 50, and soon no less than seven men patrolled the fence for the hosts. The cut-off time for the evening came before the full quota of overs had been bowled, ending a day that again promised much for New Zealand in periods, but ultimately left them in a tangle thanks to one burst of poor cricket.

Essex have applied for the right to become tenants of the Olympic Stadium after London 2012. The club, based in Chelmsford, have made a joint bid with the University of East London.

George Dobell30-Mar-2012Essex have applied for the right to become tenants of the Olympic Stadium after London 2012. The club, based in Chelmsford, have made a joint bid with the University of East London to use what will become a 60,000 seater venue after the games.While the club would rarely utilise the venue for first-class games – it is most unlikely a division two championship clash with Derbyshire would attract 60,000 – Essex do have an excellent record of generating T20 audiences and regularly sell-out their Chelmsford ground, which has a capacity of 6,500. The Olympic Stadium’s situation in heavily populated east London therefore makes it an attractive proposition.A statement from Essex read: “We can confirm that the University of East London and Essex County Cricket Club have jointly put in a bid to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) to utilise space in the Olympic Stadium.”We cannot provide any further detail at this stage, as we are bound by a legal confidentiality agreement. We see this as a fantastic opportunity and are committed to supporting the achievement of the best possible outcomes from the legacy operation of the Olympic Stadium.”Essex have confirmed, however, that they have no intentions of moving from their home at the Ford County Ground in Chelmsford.”It is very important we make it clear to people that we have no intention of moving from Chelmsford,” Essex’s chief executive, David East told ESPNcricinfo. “This is our home and we are actively pursuing the redevelopment of the ground.”We also have a responsibility to develop the game in east London. We look after five boroughs – including Newham, the location of the stadium – and we have coaching and scouting programmes in place there already. Strategically this would be a very good move for us.”West Ham United were awarded the stadium in a partnership with Newham Council in October, but the deal collapsed after complaints from rival football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient.As a result, OPLC decided the venue would remain in public ownership and retain its athletic capabilities. They subsequently opened a new bidding process to find a tenant – or tenants – which closed on March 23. It is understood that there were four bids.West Ham, should they win the bid, are not thought to be hostile to any application from Essex to use the stadium for a limited number of cricket fixtures.