All posts by h716a5.icu

From Venkataraghavan Srinivasan, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
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Dale Steyn crippled India in Nagpur•AFPNo. 10
13/5 in 32 balls
West Indies v South Africa
209/5 in 42.1 overs to 222/10 in 47.3 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
This was the first real ‘big name’ match of the World Cup. For 42 overs, it was shaping up into a cracker. With Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the crease and Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy still to come, 300 looked possible. However, Imran Tahir, on his debut, and Dale Steyn dismantled the lower order with tight, precise bowling. South Africa cantered home with a century from AB de Villiers.No. 9
27/5 in 51 balls
Ireland v Bangladesh
151/5 in 36.3 overs to 178/10 in 45 overs (chasing 206)
Result: Lost
Bangladesh had lost to Ireland in the 2007 World Cup. They needed to win this one at home for pride and to keep their quarter-final hopes alive. Instead, they struggled against a disciplined Irish bowling attack and an unflappable batting line-up. Shafiul Islam, who had World Cup figures of 9-0-80-1, came back for a fiery second spell of 6-1-10-4. The Irish lower order was mopped up and Bangladesh were on their way.No. 8
7/5 in 30 balls
Bangladesh v West Indies
51/5 in 13.5 overs to 58/10 in 18.5 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
Bangladesh were ranked higher than West Indies coming into the World Cup, and it seemed to rankle the latter. Electing to bat, Bangladesh were already in a heap of trouble at 51 for 5 in the fourteenth over, and were looking to rebuild. West Indies, however, went for the kill. Kemar Roach, Sammy and Sulieman Benn, who had shared the first five wickets, shared the last five as well, and West Indies had proven a point.No. 7
11/5 in 40 balls
West Indies v India
154/2 in 30.2 overs to 165/7 in 37 overs (chasing 269)
Result: Lost
Zaheer Khan started the slide by castling the well-set Devon Smith. The next over, Harbhajan Singh had the dangerous Pollard caught at long-on. The keeper Devon Thomas was stumped and the captain Sammy was run out. Yuvraj Singh then had Russell caught at point off an uppish cut. West Indies had collapsed against India, South Africa and England.No. 6
3/4 in 21 balls
West Indies v England
222/6 in 41.1 overs to 225/10 in 44.4 overs (chasing 244)
Result: Lost
England and Bangladesh’s place in the quarter-finals hung on the result of this match. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Andre Russell had taken West Indies to within 22 runs of victory. And then, Man of the Match James Tredwell trapped Russell in front and Graeme Swann took Sarwan and Roach. A Benn run-out later, England had lived to see another day.
No. 5
11/5 in 11 balls
India v England
327/5 in 48 overs to 338/10 in 49.5 overs (batting first)
Result: Tied
Tim Bresnan bowled a terrific 49th over. He started with a slower ball that Yusuf Pathan skied to mid-off. Next ball, he yorked and bowled Virat Kohli, who had given himself too much room. Two balls later, he yorked Harbhajan and had him adjudged leg before. The next over, two run-outs followed five no-balls and India had lost half their team in less than two overs.No. 4
8/4 in 17 balls
England v India
281/2 in 42.3 overs to 289/6 in 45.2 overs (chasing 339)
Result: Tied
If Bresnan did it for England, Zaheer did it for India. England were coasting to victory when they took the batting Powerplay in the 43rd over. In the fourth ball, Ian Bell skied Zaheer to mid-off. Next ball, Zaheer bowled an inswinging yorker to Andrew Strauss, batting on 158, and had him leg-before. Two overs later, he knocked back Paul Collingwood’s off-stump. The following over, Harbhajan had Matt Prior holing out to midwicket.No. 3
3/4 in 31 balls
South Africa v England
124/3 in 31.5 overs to 127/7 in 37 overs (chasing 172)
Result: Lost
A lucky wicket started this one. AB de Villiers left a James Anderson delivery outside off alone, but the keeper noticed belatedly that the bails had fallen. Replays showed that the ball had nicked off-stump. Two balls later, the other set batsman, Faf du Plessis was run out. The following over, Anderson returned to bowl JP Duminy and South Africa had lost three wickets on the same score. Three overs and runs later, Michael Yardy had Robin Peterson caught behind.No. 2
14/5 in 53 balls
Bangladesh v England
155/3 in 30.5 overs to 169/8 in 39.4 overs (chasing 226)
Result: Won
The only team on this list to collapse and still win. Bangladesh were cruising to victory until Imrul Kayes ran an impossible second and was found short. Five overs and seven runs later, Shakib Al Hasan played Swann onto his stumps. Two balls later, Ajmal Shahzad had Mushfiqur Rahim caught behind. In his next over, he bowled Naeem Islam. The following over, Bresnan took a diving catch off a high ball at long onto dismiss Abdur Razzak.No. 1
29/9 in 55 balls
India v South Africa
267/1 in 39.3 overs to 296/10 in 48.4 overs (batting first)
Result: Lost
The single largest collapse in the World Cup belongs to the most vaunted batting line-up. After dominating 80% of their innings, India let it go in the last 20%, and it all began with the batting Powerplay. Sachin Tendulkar, after a terrific century, sliced Morne Morkel to point. The next over, Steyn had Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan playing mistimed lofted shots to men in the circle. Yuvraj lifted the last ball of the Powerplay to long-on. Then, Kohli pushed the ball back to Peterson. Steyn crashed Harbhajan’s stumps. Peterson had Zaheer caught at long-on. Steyn returned to get rid of Nos. 10 and 11 off consecutive deliveries.

Weird banners to go with entertainment from Mr. Cricket and Mrs. Dhoni on a scorching Chennai afternoon

Sreekesh Krishnan29-Apr-2013Choice of game
I am an ardent Chennai Super Kings fan, and have been attending all CSK games this season. The KKR game, billed as the revenge match following the IPL 2012 final, was on top on my list. Who would want to miss a mouth-watering clash between two IPL champions?Team supported
I support CSK, not only because I grew up in the city, but also for (‘leader’ in Tamil) MS Dhoni, and Ravindra Jadeja, who has been in the thick of things for a while now.Key performer
Even though Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey stole the show, for me Chris Morris was the key performer. He bowled a splendid last over, literally yorking KKR’s chances.Two things I’d have changed about the match
I’d have liked to change the on-field umpires and the Chennai cheerleaders. The Manvinder Bisla run-out that was not given, was greeted by boos from the ‘knowledgeable’ Chennai crowd. The Chennai cheerleaders seemed quite lazy; they need to practice more, to keep the spirits high.Accessories
Unfortunately, the security at Chepauk is always very high, and thus, one cannot carry a lot of accessories to the stands. So CSK flags without sticks, and an empty water bottle without the cap were the only things I could get into the ground.Wow moment
The Hussey direct-hit that got Bisla out. It knocked the wind out of KKR’s chase and changed the complexion of the game.Close encounter
Before the game, the CSK squad practiced near the terrace stands. We were fortunate to witness a miscued Suresh Raina pull shot sail into our stand. We were allowed to bring the ball home.Shot of the day
The most memorable shot was played by Eoin Morgan. It was a cheeky stroke: he reverse-paddled a delivery that was outside leg stump, and bisected the gap between the wicketkeeper and short third man beautifully.Crowd meter
Despite the 4 pm start, the stadium was jam-packed before the match, with noise levels on the higher side. A single wave from Dhoni was enough to make the fans go crazy. We also witnessed half a Mexican wave, where the wave didn’t complete a full revolution. Instead this one stopped and went in the reverse direction.Twenty20 v ODIs v Test cricket
As a cricket lover, I have always preferred Test cricket. But T20 is food for entertainment. Like it or not, you just can’t ignore it.Star-spotting
As always, we were joined by Mrs. Sakshi Dhoni, who the city seems to have adopted as its own. During each game, her reactions to the on-field action drive the crowd crazy.Banner of the day
One banner got my eye before the start of the match. It said “Sir Jaddu, you are my ” – weird, but attention-grabbing. ( is an Indian sweet.)Marks out of 10
The Chepauk faithfuls were blessed to witness yet another close encounter, even though CSK weren’t chasing this time. I would rate the match 9/10.

Lancashire bet their house on a redevelopment that would return Test cricket to Old Trafford; with the arrival of Australia, that dream has been realised

Paul Edwards29-Jul-2013In sport, as in life, some events are freighted with so much significance that the moments in which they occur seem barely capable of holding the weight.For Lancashire’s officials and supporters, just such an event will take place at 11am on Thursday when, Manchester’s weather permitting, the first ball will be bowled in the Third Investec Test between England and Australia.An Ashes Test is always something to be savoured, of course, but this contest will be uniquely special for Mancunians because in the eight years since the last such game, Old Trafford has been redeveloped – some might say reborn – to the extent that spectators at the 2005 match might initially struggle to recognise the new stadium if they had seen no cricket at the ground in the intervening period.Gone are the broadcasting boxes at the Stretford End; gone is the massive stand opposite the pavilion; gone are the seated areas to the right of that twin-towered pavilion, which itself has been virtually gutted and rebuilt with only the façade and the towers remaining. Lancashire have even realigned the square on a north-south rather than east-west axis. If some have problems getting their bearings on Thursday, that is partly because those bearings have changed.In place of the old structures, which were, truth be told, a rather ramshackle collection of buildings badly in need of refurbishment, Lancashire have built a stadium with all the shock and awe that size often evokes.There are new player dressing rooms and a media centre at the Statham End, both of which seem to have the “wow” factor; there is a huge temporary stand of 9,500 tiered seats at the old Stretford End, all of them in the distinctive scarlet livery used elsewhere in the new arena; and there is a massive hospitality and function suite, The Point, which overhangs the ground like a symbol of the modernity its architecture exemplifies. If the familiar intimacy of the old ground has been lost, the new Old Trafford possesses a confident swagger befitting a stadium in Manchester, a world city to which many businesses and organisations, not least major departments of the BBC, are relocating. The new place may have only a third of the capacity of the other Old Trafford across the way, but it no longer looks like its poor relation.Yet the moment when the first ball is bowled on Thursday will be charged with even more emotional power because of what Lancashire risked in order to create their new home. The £44m redevelopment was financed, in part, by a four-way agreement between Lancashire, Ask Developments, Tesco and Trafford Council. As part of this agreement Tesco were given the go ahead to build a huge new superstore in Trafford. A rival developer, Albert Gubay of Derwent Holdings, objected to this permission being granted and took his case to the courts.Indeed, Gubay took his legal proceedings so far that he imperilled not only Old Trafford’s redevelopment but also the very future of the county club. Reviewing what he agrees was the most fraught time of his entire professional life, Lancashire’s chief executive at the time, Jim Cumbes, makes no attempt to hide the stakes for which Lancashire were playing. Given legal costs and the possibility of losing vital grants, Old Trafford officials had bet their beloved house on winning the case.

“If we’d lost, there was really no Plan B. The club might have just disappeared or we would have downsized and become a county ground”Former Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes on the legal battle to redevelop Old Trafford

“In that two- or three-year period there were times when you’d wake up at 3.30 in the morning and argue with yourself,” Cumbes says. “Outwardly I was confident and optimistic and I always thought we’d win, but I didn’t know when or how much it would cost.”It was hard because we were getting into financial difficulties. We were spending money on legal cases and as soon as we got over one hurdle, another appeared before us. All the staff were nervous but we ploughed on. Nobody got a rise in salary for three years but we told them there’d be no redundancies. We kept that promise and the curious thing was that we won the Championship in the year in which we’d had to clip the financial wings of Mike Watkinson and Peter Moores, as regards player recruitment.”And all the time that Cumbes was being reassured by the club’s QC Robert Griffiths that he was very confident of winning in court, he was also mindful of the barrister’s “but”: you never know what happens on the day.”If we’d lost, there was really no Plan B,” Cumbes says. “The club might have just disappeared or we would have downsized and become a county ground like Taunton, Northampton or Leicester. We wondered about the wisdom of going ahead with our plans but ultimately we thought we owed it to our members, to Manchester and to the people of the northwest to try to build a ground fit to stage an Ashes Test.”That Old Trafford was no longer fit to stage an Australia Test had been made abundantly clear by the ECB in 2006 when Cardiff, well-funded and soon to be well-presented, had got the nod in preference to Manchester for a game in the 2009 series.”We were going ahead with redevelopment before we heard the bad news in 2006,” Cumbes points out. “But we were all former sportsmen and being told that we had lost the Ashes made us all that much sharper and competitive. That was in our nature and when it went to court we were all saying, ‘We’ve got to win this bloody case.'”All the same, being reminded that hosting a Test was a granted privilege, not an inalienable right, was good for Lancashire officials who quietly accept that they had become a little complacent. So whatever emotions are felt by Old Trafford’s present hierarchy on Thursday morning, complacency is unlikely to be among them. On the contrary, Lancashire are now keen to present the best case they can for their new ground staging as many Test and one-day international matches as possible. Thus, there was manifest concern and urgency when a brief but embarrassing power cut occurred in part of the ground during last week’s FLt20 game against Yorkshire.The ground has changed significantly, more than half a century on from Jim Laker’s famous Old Trafford Test•PA PhotosDoes the new stadium have as much character as the old ground? Of course not. Or, at least, not yet. This is partly because experience often endows a place with character and only when spectators associate the new Old Trafford with games to cherish in the memory will they really think fondly of the place. What’s more, massive banks of tiered seats can be found in most Test venues now and not everywhere can be Trent Bridge. That said, while the old ground was an eccentric and endearing collection of bits and pieces, it was also a pain if you were queuing for almost anything.Ultimately, though, the story of Old Trafford’s rebirth illustrates the granite truth that heritage counts for diddly-squat in the brutal business of international cricket. When the Old Trafford hierarchy were fighting for Lancashire’s very future three or four years ago, they knew that little consideration would be given to black-and-white footage of Jim Laker modestly hitching up his flannels after taking 19 wickets against Australia in the 1956 Manchester Test, and even less to the epic battles of 1896 and 1902, both won by Australia.More recent memories of comparable richness – Benaud bowling May behind his legs in 1961; Botham’s hundred in 1981; Warne to Gatting and Gooch being given out handled ball in 1993, both watched by this journalist, who wondered if it was too late to make an honest woman of cricket writing – helped to make Old Trafford a much-loved home. If the match beginning on Thursday can produce one innings, one spell, or even one moment of comparable stature, Jim Cumbes may permit himself a quiet inward smile of satisfaction. The epic battle will have been worth it, after all.

Alex Tudor, the former England fast bowler, talks about his foray into coaching, 99 not out, and why he jumped at the chance to visit India

Kanishkaa Balachandran24-Dec-2013The opening day of the Saurashtra-Baroda match in Khandheri, on the outskirts of Rajkot, had an unlikely visitor. At the foot of the pavilion steps, several kids wearing identical uniforms clustered around the distinctive 6ft 4in figure of Alex Tudor, the former England fast bowler. A few other trigger-happy spectators, who had braved the cold Sunday morning, took out their camera phones, scrambling to get the best shot. Tudor is in the country for ten days on a coaching assignment with G Force, a cricket academy based in Dubai, and the 29 teenagers under his tutelage are in Saurashtra to play against local teams and experience Indian conditions.Tudor, who played ten Tests for England between 1998 and 2002, went off the radar in the late 2000s, when he was released by Surrey. He has since then taken up coaching full time and admits he finds the experience of being around youngsters stimulating.”I just seem to have a good relationship with kids, wherever I go,” Tudor says with a laugh. “Maybe it’s because I’m tall. I suppose I behave like them at times, I’m quite young at heart. I just enjoy seeing them with smiles on their faces, playing the game I love. If they go away learning something new from something I’ve taught, that gives me more fulfilment than a five-wicket haul or any runs I’ve got.”Tudor’s international career was only restricted to games in England and Australia. On pitches with bounce, he was a handful. When the opportunity came to tick off a box and visit India, albeit as a coach, Tudor wasn’t going to pass it up. A mutual friend introduced Tudor to Gopal Jasapara, who runs the academy and Tudor was on board.”As soon as he spoke of the opportunity to work in India I was sold,” Tudor says. “I had never been to India before. I told my wife about it and she was very accommodating.”I’ve always wanted to sample India, to see the kids looking happy, though not having the facilities that some of our kids have back at home and still enjoying the game, not moaning about the state of the outfields etc. I’m just really happy to be here and hopefully it won’t be my last visit.”‘Thorpey, what the hell have you done?’

Though a fast bowler, Alex Tudor is probably best remembered for an incredible Test innings – a freakish unbeaten 99 to help England win a Test against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999, on a pitch that had earlier seen 21 wickets falling in a single day. Tudor’s run riot as a nightwatchman took him within inches of a century, but Graham Thorpe was jeered for not giving him enough of the strike. What do the two men feel about that moment 14 years on?
“When Thorpey talks about it now he still says it’s one of his regrets. But he was in a single-minded mentality from the pressure of not qualifying for the World Cup. He wanted to come out and score some runs. There wasn’t a lot of runs left for me to score a century. But if I look back 15 years, it’s just one run! I was over the moon initially because I had just won a game for England. I remember Phil Tuffnell looking at Thorpe and saying, “Thorpey, what the hell have you done?”
As you would imagine, it all was a bit crazy for me and everyone wanted a piece of me. It was only a few weeks later when I realised that my dad and his friends were just not happy at all. Even now. I tell them, ‘look, it was 15 years ago. Leave it!’ I say to Thorpey that he shouldn’t drive at Wandsworth, because there will be people looking for him!

In the short time he has been here, Tudor has already noted a few aspects his students can learn from, particularly on the fitness side. “Our guys played a game yesterday and I was very impressed with the locals, with their fielding and attitude. I told my guys to take a cue from these kids. Twenty years ago, the fitness levels would have been different. The guys now are fit and I think the intervention of the IPL has helped because you can’t hide in the field any more.”Saurashtra has traditionally been a graveyard for fast bowlers, with pitches in Rajkot producing stale draws. Bowlers have had to go the extra mile, beyond their levels of patience, to fetch wickets. Tudor says that on flat tracks, a defensive line and length tactic will not work. The key, he says, is to induce mistakes by getting the batsmen to drive.”You need to bowl fuller, mix your pace up because it skids on. Keep close catchers and set straighter fields. You shouldn’t be cut and pulled on these wickets. Sometimes set silly fields, like my captain Adam Hollioake used to do at Surrey. He wasn’t a tactical genius but he would never let the game dwindle and be boring,” he says.”I find bowlers nowadays want to do too much. The art of bowling six balls on the same place is also a skill. But I think bowlers should look to bowl top of off stump repeatedly and bowl maidens. I don’t see too much of that.”While passing by the Baroda dressing room, Tudor had a quick chat with Irfan Pathan, who is playing only his second Ranji game of the season after returning from a rib injury. Irfan’s return is being monitored, and he is playing purely as a batsman for the time being. When asked about the injury-management tips he would pass on youngsters, Tudor says that fitness training should be non-negotiable. Tudor’s career was ravaged by injuries at various points and he said there were lessons learnt from his own experiences.”Prevention is paramount. Some people don’t like doing fitness training but if you want a long career, it has to be done. It’s not about looking like Hercules. You have to be supple, have good tummy muscles so that will help the back. You don’t have to go a gym for everything. Just do some running. Dennis Lillee would say that if you had 15 minutes in a day, just do sit-ups.”As for those who aspire to be allrounders, particularly of the seam-bowling kind, Tudor says players have to give every part of their skill the same amount of respect. Tudor was not a genuine allrounder but was still a handy lower-order batsman, scoring an unbeaten 99 in a Test and two first-class centuries.”For me, an allrounder is someone who is good enough to play as a batsman if he can’t bowl and vice-versa,” he says. “He isn’t someone who can just score 30. That doesn’t pay the bills.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second ODI

David Hopps02-Mar-2014Blow of the day
The days of lightning-fast Caribbean pitches appear to be behind us but, although a fairly docile surface in Antigua, there was still some encouragement for a bowler prepared to bend his back. Stuart Broad did just that at the start of Dwayne Bravo’s innings with a sharp bumper which Bravo turned his head from and received a nasty smack in the back of the neck, the helmet only partially taking the impact. It shook Bravo up and he was down for a while and needed treatment from the physio.Error of the day
There was general agreement that Jos Buttler’s attempting stumping of Dwayne Bravo was inconclusive. Even Buttler’s sheepish expression seemed to give the game away. The decision by TV umpire Marais Erasmus took the wind out of West Indies’ sails as they entered the Powerplay with a new batsman at the crease. There again, you could wonder what Bravo was doing charging down the pitch to James Tredwell in the first place.Catch of the day
James Tredwell does not immediately strike the onlooker as a slick fielder, but his slip catching has long been held in respect by those most au fait with his game. His quick catch to remove Kirk Edwards was further evidence of his ability: a lightning-fast dart with the right hand to hold a thick edge that came to him very quicklyBefuddlement of the day
Luke Wright’s understated gesture to Michael Lumb at the non-striker’s end told it all: he cannot pick Sunil Narine. Narine bowled him three legspinners in an over, he did not connect with any of them and the third smacked into his offstump. Narine is a special talent, but it all encouraged the belief that, whatever Wright’s qualities in T20, he does not warrant a place in England’s ODI side.Walk of the day
Ben Stokes walked when he tickled Nikita Miller down the legside, oblivious to the fact that the umpire, Joel Wilson, was shaking his head to reject the appeal. It was not immediately apparent whether he would have been given out on review. If it is unfair to castigate the likes of Stuart Broad for following the majority attitude by not walking, it would be shameful if Stokes was lectured within the dressing room for his honesty.

A superb innings by Katich, a sharp run-out by Mitch Marsh, and a near-full house at the WACA

Scott Hazebroek04-Jan-2014Choice of game
This was the game that could end the season for the Sydney Thunder and keep the Perth Scorchers’ season alive. I expected it to be a close match, as the Thunder would be aiming to end their losing streak, while the Scorchers would be hoping they could keep their chances of making the semi-finals.Team supported
As always I was hoping the Scorchers would come away with the win.Key performer
Simon Katich was the difference between the two teams. He was the only batsman who converted a start into a big score and he guided the Scorchers’ run chase very well. His experience proved to be vital.One thing I’d have changed
As a Western Australian I would have loved it if Michael Hussey was still playing for the Scorchers. As it is, he chose to move to the Thunder and in doing so joined a team without a lot of recent success. He got the odd boo but didn’t cop too much sledging from the WACA crowd. The revenge was his team losing!Face-off I relished
It was interesting watching Brad Hogg bowling to Eoin Morgan: two world-class players battling it out. Morgan attempted a couple of reverse sweeps, one of which went for four, however, he didn’t really look comfortable against Hogg. Unfortunately Morgan got run out, in rather strange circumstances, between Hogg’s second and third overs, preventing any more face-offs between the pair.Wow moment
The run-out of Morgan by Mitch Marsh. The ball on which it occurred was a free-hit. Marsh bowled a yorker that Morgan just managed to squeeze out. Not realising the ball had bounced straight down the pitch to Marsh, Morgan left his crease. Marsh flicked the ball at the stumps, and Morgan dived back. The ball hit the stumps but Morgan appeared to be comfortably in. There was a half-shout from the Scorchers, so the third umpire decided to go upstairs just to be sure. The Scorchers were not too confident. They all returned to their positions in readiness for the next ball. There were a couple of replays played on the big screen which seemed to confirm Morgan had made his ground, and then it cut to shots of the crowd. A minute later more replays were shown, and the crowd soon realised that Morgan might just be out. Hogg ran in from the boundary at deep midwicket to congratulate Marsh, and the rest of the team soon followed. The verdict was delivered soon after and the crowd cheered.Close encounter
Craig Simmons fielded in front of me during the Thunder innings and took a great diving catch to dismiss Michael Hussey. Dirk Nannes was there when the Scorchers were batting. He fumbled once to allow an extra run and got a cheer from the crowd. A couple of balls later when he fielded one cleanly, he got an even louder cheer and he doffed his cap to the crowd.Shot of the day
Katich’s six over cover off the bowling of Tillakaratne Dilshan was a marvellous shot, timed beautifully and easily clearing the fence.Crowd meter
There was barely a spare seat anywhere. The crowd was enthusiastic and cheered the Scorchers loudly. There were lots of beach balls being thrown around, and whenever a security guard took it upon himself to pop one he got a huge boo. There were also a fair number of Mexican Waves towards the end of the match.Fancy-dress index
There wasn’t a whole lot of fancy dress at this game, just lots of orange everywhere. There were orange wigs, face-paint, hairspray, and anything else you could think of.Entertainment
There were the usual fire and fireworks when the Scorchers entered the field. Under the Inverarity Stand there were three people playing big drums with drumsticks with fire on the end of them. There was also a dance group dressed in orange that performed during the innings break.Overall
It was an exciting game of cricket with plenty of runs and wickets and a fairly close result. The crowd was good as always, so overall it was another great experience.Marks out of 10
8.5.

ESPNcricinfo picks five of Sri Lanka’s most brutal performances against lesser oppositions in limited-overs cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Mar-2014
ScorecardSri Lanka had been minnows themselves not long before the 1996 World Cup, but as if to illustrate how quickly they had progressed since, their batsmen laid a record total of 398 on Kenya, in Kandy. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana achieved one of the rapid starts that would make Sri Lanka’s campaign famous, but it was Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga that took the total from imposing to momumental. De Silva hit 145 from 115 balls – incidentally Sri Lanka’s first ever World Cup ton – and Ranatunga struck the fastest fifty in World Cup cricket at the time, off 29 balls. Kenya managed 254 for 7 in their 50 overs, but in truth, were never in the game.
ScorecardZimbabwe have suffered the ignominy of recording the lowest ever ODI total at Sri Lanka’s hands, but another atrociously one-sided encounter is even more memorable, thanks to a world-record haul for Chaminda Vaas. Having asked Zimbabwe to bat in Colombo, Vaas began his plunder first ball, and he would account for eight Zimbabwe batsmen in a brutal spell of swing bowling. Just as it appeared Vaas would become the first bowler to take all 10 wickets in an ODI, captain Sanath Jayasuriya brought Muttiah Muralitharan into the attack, and he dismissed no.10 and 11 in the first four balls of his spell. Zimbabwe had sunk to 38 all out and Sri Lanka chased the target in 4.2 overs.
ScorecardNo Canada batsman would make double figures, and five would record ducks in this 2003 World Cup match, as Vaas, Prabath Nissanka and Dilhara Fernando steamrolled them for 36 all out – the second lowest ODI total. They were all out in 18.4 overs, and Sri Lanka would need only 4.4 to knock the runs off. Marvan Atapattu top-scored, finishing with a surprisingly brisk strike-rate of 171.
ScorecardFewer than four months after South Africa and Australia had played out the Johannesburg classic that tore the highest-ODI total record from Sri Lanka, they wrenched it back again in a mauling in Amstelveen. Typically, Jayasuriya was lead-butcher with the bat, walloping 157 runs from 104 balls. Almost 65% of his runs came in boundaries, as Sri Lanka collectively struck 56 fours and three sixes. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 117 from 78 balls brought the innings to a furious close at 443 for 9, before Netherlands were dismissed for 248.
ScorecardHaving achieved the highest Test and ODI totals against India and Netherlands respectively, Sri Lanka completed the set against Kenya, at the inaugural World Twenty20. As with the other two records, Jayasuriya top-scored. His 88 off 44 set the innings off apace, and it would only grow more frenzied as Mahela Jayawardene mauled a 27-ball 65 and Jehan Mubarak slammed 46 not out from 13. Sri Lanka finished on 260 for 6 and Kenya were blasted out for 88.

Seemingly collecting his runs in fractions, South Africa’s captain bent himself to the task of stalling Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda at the SSC26-Jul-2014On the same day South Africa’s first match on this Sri Lanka tour took place – July 3 – CSA announced a new sponsor: Rolux. The lawnmower manufacturers became an official supplier. Change one letter and you will get the name of the company they should have signed: Rolex.Time was the theme of the day traditionally known as “moving day” in a Test. The only things that seemed to shift were seconds, minutes, hours and sessions. Somehow that became runs and wickets, eventually. But that was because time was going to be used by South Africa as a luxury and they were going to do it with it what one does in a bath after a long day – soak among the soap suds, lean back and read a magazine, sip a cup of tea.In these conditions and with 1-0 lead in the series, they made it clear it would be up Sri Lanka to pull the plug and force the water to drain. That the hosts were frustrated in their efforts for a large part of the day only worked to South Africa’s advantage because it gouged chunks of time out of the match.For all but the third and fourth overs on the day, when 25 runs came, in an unexpected and spluttering burst of life, South Africa stuck to the task of almost standing still. Even AB de Villiers, who usually finds that impossible, did his best to do so but only half-succeeded. He put on 51 runs in the first 16 overs with Hashim Amla at a rate of 3.18.Hashim Amla’s 22nd century was his second slowest in Tests•AFPWhen both de Villiers and Quinton de Kock were dismissed in the same over, Amla and JP Duminy became statues. The remaining 13 overs of the first session produced just 13 runs. They had their fill at lunch instead.Then they were back to being stone walls for another eight overs in which they scored 12 runs before Duminy was dismissed. In total, from the morning session until the last recognised batsman left, South Africa scored 77 runs in 37.4 overs and crept along at a rate of 2.04.Usually that decimal point in the run-rate does not mean anything beyond the purely mathematical. We understand if the rate is 2.5 an over, it means 10 runs were scored in four overs. Today it seemed possible that runs were being collected fraction by fraction.Amla was the one taking all the bits and turning them into whole parts. His century will not be remembered for silkiness, like the 21 others, but for skill. Specifically, the skill to resist. Some of the signature strokes were still there: the cover drive snuck out once Amla had reached his half-century and again as he entered the nineties but most of his innings was about self-denial.Even when it was invitingly tossed up, Amla lunged forward and blocked. That was the shot he played more than any other. He used it to smother the turn and suffocate any chance Sri Lanka may have had of dismissing him. Sprinkled among the forward defensives, Amla had the opportunity to pierce the field many times but often he picked out the man in white, as though to save himself the trouble of having to make his way from one end of the pitch to the other.There was no need for over-exertion, as Amla conserved energy to be able to bat long rather than bat expansively. Not many batsman can do that without making a mistake. De Villiers was beaten by one that spun in; Duminy looked like he would be beaten by his own approach to pad up to fuller deliveries and was eventually done when he came dancing down the wicket.

Amla’s eight hours and six minutes nibbled away at more than a day’s worth of cricket and sent a warning to Sri Lanka: you will have to do all this again to win the match

Instances like that exposed the risks in South Africa’s strategy. Because of how slowly they were scoring, if wickets fell quickly they were facing a large deficit. But the cluster of scalps never came. South Africa’s tail showed they could actually be classified as lower middle-order allrounders.Vernon Philander shared in the fastest-scoring partnership of the match with Amla, in which 29 runs came in 50 balls at 3.34, Dale Steyn contributed to a stand which lasted almost 20 overs and even Imran Tahir did his bit. He batted for more than an hour at Amla’s side, even as his captain tired.The intense concentration Amla employed took it out of him. He required water several more times than he usually does, although Russell Domingo could not remember him changing his batting gloves once. His sprightly jog became a laboured trudge and in the 127th over, when South Africa had faced five overs and two balls more than Sri Lanka but scored 151 runs less, he refused a run when Tahir was in the mood for a second.Amla would have known that at some point his bowlers would want a licence to try something. Tahir’s came five overs after the run was turned down. Like Steyn before him, he wanted to go big but ended up holing out. By then it mattered a lot less than if he had done it when he had just got to the crease and Amla deserves the credit for that not happening.He also deserves the credit for taking South Africa to a position from which they will probably not have to bat as long as they did in Adelaide or Johannesburg to save the game. His eight hours and six minutes nibbled away at more than a day’s worth of cricket and sent a warning to Sri Lanka: you will have to do all this again to win the match.It took Sri Lanka 134.5 overs, eight hours and 42 minutes, and the best part of four-and-a-half sessions to dismiss South Africa once. Even on a surface that will become more difficult to bat on on the final day, Sri Lanka will be mindful of needing time, more than anything else, to break through a stubborn South Africa line-up. And they don’t need a Rolex, or any other kind of watch, to know that one eye will have to be on the clock.

Batsmen who didn’t quite light up the tournament

25-Nov-2014Inzamam-ul-Haq
19 runs at 3.16 in 2003
Inzamam made his name with one of the greatest World Cup innings during the 1992 tournament. Famously, he helped Pakistan cane New Zealand’s surprise weapon, offspinner Dipak Patel, for 22 runs in Patel’s last two overs. In 2003, though, Inzamam couldn’t manage 22 runs across the entire tournament. In an effort to prolong his career, he had committed to a diet that helped him lose 17 kg, but the first evidence of its impact was disastrous. He made only 19 runs from six matches in South Africa, and not once could he reach double-figures. Recalling that trial for the , Inzy vowed, “I never do that again”.Allan Border
60 runs at 8.57 in 1992
Border might have turned the 1987 World Cup final Australia’s way with this weaker suit, getting England’s Mike Gatting to mis-hit reverse sweep off his left-arm spin, but just over four years later, as Australia tried to defend their title, Border couldn’t come through with his stronger suit. He averaged 8.57 in the tournament, totalling just 60 runs from seven innings. The captain’s nightmare series was not without consequences for his team, as they were knocked out at the group stage in a tournament they were co-hosting.Nathan Astle
79 runs at 8.77 in 1999
The New Zealand batsman’s World Cup career got off to a roaring start in 1996 as his century helped defeat England. That was not a harbinger of things to come: he had to wait ten more innings before reaching double-digits, and that when it came was a 11 against Scotland in 1999. He had three ducks in 2003 as well, but balanced those out with several important innings. His ’96 campaign was also salvaged a bit by that hundred against England. There was no such solace in ’99 as he ran up a sequence of: 4, 4, 2, 0, 11, 20, 9, 26, 3.Mahela Jayawardene made only 5 in the 2003 World Cup semi-final, but made up for it with a classic century in the semi-final four years later•Nick Laham/Getty ImagesMahela Jayawardene
21 runs at 3.00 in 2003
Jayawardene often finds himself being an example of how calculated strokeplay is always better than slogging. No one would have made that argument from his contributions during the 2003 World Cup though. The extra pace and bounce in South Africa got the better of him, and his best chance to get back in form did not pan out as he was not required to bat against Bangladesh or Canada. Coming away with 21 runs off seven innings in the showpiece event of the ODI calendar is not quite flattering to a man who likes the big occasion. But one thing he did do right was cling on to Ehsanul Haque’s outside edge that ensured Chaminda Vaas became the first and only bowler to claim a hat-trick off the first three balls in an international match.Keith Arthurton
2 runs at 0.40 in 1996
On each of his previous tours to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the West Indies batsman had reasonable success with the bat. It was expected that he would be able to cope with the conditions in the subcontinent during the 1996 World Cup. Instead, he had arguably the worst World Cup for a specialist batsman, scoring 2 runs in five innings. That wretched run included ducks in the loss to Kenya, and in the famous meltdown against Australia in the semi-final. It cost him his place in the one-day side for two years.

Shapoor Zadran has already become a cult figure and now Afghanistan’s shock-haired fast bowler faces Australia backed by the quickest, bounciest pitch in the World Cup

Jarrod Kimber03-Mar-2015Too much swing. Bouncer is good. Dennis Lillee, Brett Lee, Shoaib Ahktar. Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Shoaib Akhtar. Waqar, Shoaib, Wasim. Too much bounce, too much speed. My height is very big, my hair is very big and I have too much style. I copied Shoaib Ahktar: even when I was a small boy I was running 38 steps. Too much hair. Too much style. Height. Hair. Style. Speed, run up, too much six.These are the English words of Shapoor Zadran.He doesn’t need these English words. His description is quite evident from his every step. Shapoor could be driving a tuk tuk, hosting the G8 summit or piloting a probe to Mars: the pace, the hair, the style, it would still all be there. It is always there.At the WACA Ground, where he was preparing to unleash himself on Australia, they have a large net dividing the middle of the nets. It is there to stop the balls escaping. But what it does is really curtail Shapoor. He kicks off the net. Like a stallion bucking at a gate.At the nets at Manuka Oval, he had to practice in one of the nets on the right, as the ones on the left were about half a Shapoor run up. For all the talk of Eden Park being small, nothing could illustrate that more than Shapoor kicking off the fence before coming in to bowl.Every single thing in his life is about pace. His kid’s haircut is the same as his, and his haircut is the same as Shoaib’s.When he was interviewed about bowling, not one of the bowlers he mentioned wasn’t a quick bowler. Even his sentences are quick.Shapoor wants to be fast, and look good doing it.Before this tournament he was a man that cricket hipsters knew about. Now he is a bona fide cult hero. He is Eddo Brandes. He is Colin Miller. He is Pakistan cricket. He is pace. He is bounce. He is style. He is Afghanistan.There is not a single thing he does that is not worth watching. The flick of his hair seems designed for nothing more than turning on the whole cricket world. People are obsessed with him. I am obsessed with him.When I found out there were clips of him dancing on YouTube, I watched them. More than once. He was dancing the Attan, and it was absolutely every bit as good as you hoped it would be. I don’t watch it because of the religious connotations or cultural importance, but because I truly want to see Shapoor dance. I want to see Shapoor do everything. Shapoor is more than a cult hero, he is a cult.I want to see him hit more match-winning runs, and respond by running as if he invented life itself. I want to see him bowl short balls that slice batsmen in half. I want to see him scream as a catch is missed. I want to see him scream when a wicket is taken. I want to see him play cricket until his run up is quicker than his delivery.I have met most of the greatest modern-day cricketers because of my job. I have never taken a selfie with one. I wanted a selfie with Shapoor. Most of cricket wants one with him. He almost seems too good to be true. Like some film-maker came along and scripted this giant passionate man with style, with hair, with bounce, with pace, to save cricket.At the end of this World Cup, Shapoor will be walking in slow motion to a power ballad while the World Cup blows up behind him and a woman runs over to be in his arms. Sometimes it feels like this happens just on his epic walk back to his mark.And, if it was just Shapoor in this side, that would be enough. But Afghanistan have Hamid Hassan as well. Rocky; Rambo.There are times when it looks as if Hassan is just going through the motions. His run up is not a 12-second ode to joy, it’s like listening to a Rolls Royce engine start. It looks as if he is giving no real effort; that he is just jogging in the park. But you can hear the purr, and you can see the blur.Hassan is pace. Too much pace. Too much pace even for Shapoor.When the ball leaves Hassan’s hand, people make swooning noises. There was an eight-minute period in the nets at the WACA where Hassan either beat his team-mates’ bat or took the edge.Andy Moles, Afghanistan’s coach, yelled out: “That’s where you live, H”. Yes, that is where he lives, in a state of pure liquid awesomeness. Every ball is angled in at the stumps, and then leaves the batsman, it goes sideways, and it goes up. The back net stops it, barely. Without that net, the ball could have just kept going up forever.Later, Moles says: “Bowl there till you’re dead.” What he really means is, bowl there till everyone else is.In 30 minutes the only shot forward of square is a mis-hit drive that comes to an apologetic stop near his feet. He doesn’t bowl a bouncer, he doesn’t have to. This is the WACA. It gives him the bounce, the pace; too much of each. He just provides the ball.After terrifying his top order with length balls, Hassan is told to bowl yorkers. Mohammad Nabi, his captain, is batting. Nabi is told by the coaches that all balls to come will be yorkers from now on. Dawlat Zadran, no slowcoach, bowls a yorker first. Nabi plays it beautifully through cover.The next ball is from Hassan. It starts at leg stump, Nabi opens up, and before his muscle fibres have twitched, his off stump is out of the ground.”H, bowl yorkers” was all the command he needed. Hassan bowled the yorker.And he did it like that. Switched from unplayable length bowling to killer outswinging yorkers.After Hassan took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, he cartwheeled. At the Fan Zone park in Dunedin, people watched, people screamed. A few minutes later a kid in a Black Caps shirt tried to do a cartwheel. His inspiration wasn’t Rambo, it wasn’t Rocky, it wasn’t Shoaib, it was Hassan.The WACA has been graced by all the bowlers that Shapoor mentioned. It has had Devon Malcolm, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Imran Khan, and Jeff Thomson. The WACA is pace. The WACA is bounce.On March 4 the WACA is hosting a couple of blokes from non-Test playing countries. They are pace. They are bounce. They are Afghanistan cricket. They are cricket.