All posts by h716a5.icu

Glenn Maxwell has received a reprimand for breaching the Champions League Twenty20 Code of Behaviour during the team’s seven-wicket victory against Cape Cobras in Mohali

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2014Kings XI Punjab batsman Glenn Maxwell has received a reprimand for breaching the Champions League Twenty20 Code of Behaviour during the team’s seven-wicket victory against Cape Cobras in Mohali. After being bowled for 23 by Sybrand Engelbrecht, a visibly frustrated Maxwell was seen hitting a trash can with his bat near the boundary while walking back towards the Kings XI dugout.Maxwell admitted to the Level 1 offence (Article 1.2), which concerns abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings. According to the CLT20 Code of Behaviour, for Level 1 breaches, the match referee’s decision is final and binding.Maxwell, one of the stars of IPL 2014 with 552 runs, is yet to really make a mark in the CLT20, though, that has not affected Kings XI, who had already qualified for the semi-finals before the game.After the match, Maxwell took to Twitter to apologise for the incident.

Apologies to the fans for my trash can abuse. I had a long chat with the trash can afterwards and we're on good terms now. #dentinourrship

— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) September 28, 2014

Opening batsman Imrul Kayes has been added to Bangladesh’s squad for the third Test against Zimbabwe, replacing Shamsur Rahman

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2014Bangladesh squad for the final Test

Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Shuvagata Hom, Mahmudullah, Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Taijul Islam, Anamul Haque

Opening batsman Imrul Kayes has been added to Bangladesh’s squad for the third Test against Zimbabwe, replacing Shamsur Rahman. That was the only change to the squad for the final game of the series.Rahman had a woeful run in the first two Tests, getting out for 8, 0, 2 and 23. Kayes is back in the squad after recovering from a skin infection that ruled him out of the second Test against West Indies in September-October. He has played 18 Tests in all, averaging 20.08 with one hundred and one fifty.Bangladesh won the first Test against Zimbabwe by three wickets, and were well-placed in the second going into the final day. The third Test begins on November 12, in Chittagong.

ESPNcricinfo previews the opening ODI in Colombo between Sri Lanka and England, two sides trying to find form and dodge the rain

The Preview by George Dobell25-Nov-2014Match factsWednesday, November 26, 2014
Start time 2.30pm (9.00am GMT)Big PictureThis series, in itself, amounts to very little: just seven more ODIs squeezed into the Sri Lankan rainy season to accommodate a schedule that is already bursting at the seams.But its proximity to the World Cup provides relevance. Two sides struggling for form and to find settled line-ups have another opportunity to define positions and tactics before departing for Australia and New Zealand. Some players will see their Word Cup hopes enhanced or crushed in the coming weeks. Both sides will hope to have settled on their World Cup team by the end of this series.Neither side has been in the best of form of late. England have won only one of their past seven multi-match ODI series and that came in the Caribbean when they fielded their T20 side in preparation for the World T20. Sri Lanka suffered the worst ODI whitewash in their history in India, with some eye-wateringly vast defeats. As things stand, Sri Lanka are rated fourth in the ICC’s rankings, only a point above fifth-placed England. Sri Lanka won the last ODI series between the countries 3-2, in England in May.St Lanka have some mitigation for their recent run of modest form. Called to India at short-notice to replace West Indies, their lack of preparation was exposed as they lost 5-0. But the fact that they have recalled Thilina Kandamby – who has not played an ODI since July 2011 – and Jeevan Mendis – who has not played international cricket for more than a year – underlines that they are still searching for missing ingredients.They are without Sachithra Senanayake, who could be cleared for a return to bowling before the end of the series, and Lasith Malinga, who has undergone ankle surgery that renders him a doubt for the World Cup. But they do possess three batsmen in the top 10 of the ODI rankings – England have nobody in the top 20 – and must be considered favourites for the series.The wet weather means England have only completed one warm-up game and their middle and lower-order batsmen are without any competitive cricket since September. They are also missing their two senior seamers – James Anderson and Stuart Broad – so will provide opportunities to other seamers in the Powerplays and at the death.Form guideSri Lanka LLLLL (completed matches, most recent first)
England WLLLLIn the spotlightAlastair Cook’s position will remain the subject of media scrutiny – the selectors have pledged their commitment to him already – until he can discover some fluency at the top of the order. With Moeen Ali, Alex Hales and Ian Bell all vying for a position in the top three, Cook needs runs to justify his on-going selection ahead of them. More importantly, England require either more fluent starts or for Cook to provide more substantial contributions to relive the requirements of the middle-order.Kusal Perera has scored only four runs in his previous three ODI innings and has not reached 50 in his last 12. But he is likely to win another chance at the top of the order, with Sri Lanka requiring a little more solidity. It may be no easy task in conditions expected to provide a little more help than usual for new-ball bowlers.Teams newsWith so much rain of late, Sri Lanka expect conditions to help seam bowlers and might be tempted to field another seamer ahead of the spin of Ajantha Mendis. But given England’s less-than-glorious record against spin, that remains undecided.Sri Lanka (Probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Dhammika Prasad, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Shaminda ErangaSteven Finn is an injury doubt for England with a groin strain. He will undergo a fitness test ahead of the game. Moeen Ali will open the batting for England, with Ian Bell likely to go in at No. 3. That means that an England team crying out for aggression will make do without Alex Hales, the man who hit 116 off 64 balls against Sri Lanka at the World T20 earlier this year.England (Probable) 1 Moeen Ali, 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wkt), 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 James Tredwell, 11 Harry GurneyPitch and conditionsThe R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is probably best known as the venue for the highest Test score in history: Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6 against India in 1997-98. The winning side has scored in excess of 300 in three of the last four ODIs on the ground and the average run-rate since the start of 2013 has been 5.36 runs per over. The forecast suggests there will be thunderstorms in the afternoon. It would be a surprise if the match escapes unscathed.Stats and trivia 4 , 0, 4, 0: The scores contributed by Tillakaratne Dilshan’s opening partner in Sri Lanka’s previous four ODIs. 29 and 40: The amount of months and ODI innings respectively since Alastair Cook reached 80.Quotes”Moeen Ali is a good player, and he’s good against spin. Yesterday at the team meeting we planned a few tactics for him and how to bowl to him in the Powerplays.”
“Preparations have gone well in terms of training. Obviously it’s not ideal our second practice game getting washed out. We can’t control the weather and I’m not sure we’re going to control it over the next couple of weeks.”

Yuvraj Singh’s scintillating knock of 136 runs, and his two century partnerships with Jiwanjot Singh and Gurkeerat Singh for the fourth and fifth wicket, respectively, put Punjab on course of for taking away maximum points against Maharashtra

The Report by Amol Karhadkar in Pune 22-Dec-2014
ScorecardFile photo – Yuvraj Singh’s 136 was his second successive hundred in this season’s Ranji Trophy•ESPNcricinfo LtdFallah fined for excessive appealing, dissent

Samad Fallah, Maharashtra’s key pace bowler, has been fined 10% of his match fees for showing dissent and appealing excessively.
Fallah was pulled up for numerous reactions after lbw appeals against Jiwanjot Singh and Gurkeerat Singh were turned down. As a result, on-field umpires C Shamshuddin and Amardeep Pathania in consultation with match referee Sunil Chaturvedi charged him with Clause 2.1.3 according to BCCI Code of Conduct. The clause deals with “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during a match”.
Fallah pleaded guilty to the charge and there was no need for a hearing as a result.

Yuvraj Singh’s scintillating knock of 136 runs, and his two century partnerships with Jiwanjot Singh and Gurkeerat Singh for the fourth and fifth wicket, respectively, put Punjab on course of for taking away maximum points against Maharashtra. At the end of the second day’s play, Punjab had cruised to 370 for 8, with a lead of 160 runs, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Gahunje.Soon after being excluded from India’s World Cup probables a fortnight ago, Yuvraj had scored a match-winning century against Haryana, before pulling out of last week’s game in Vidarbha. The break, however, did not hamper his touch as he played one of his trademark fluent knocks to first rescue Punjab and then put them on top.He came in to bat with Punjab in some trouble. The side had lost Amitoze Singh and Mandeep Singh to some spirited bowling by Maharashtra pacers in favourable conditions and at 57 for 3 were still 153 runs behind the hosts’ first-innings total. Yuvraj adopted a safety-first approach, scoring just a single off the first 18 balls he faced. Though the Maharashtra bowlers tied him down with full-pitched balls on a grassy turf, they did not try any short-pitched stuff.Then came the first of numerous cover drives. Anupam Sanklecha bowled a fuller ball wide of off-stump and Yuvraj drew his front foot to the pitch of the ball, which raced to the boundary. He followed it up with another stylish boundary in the same over. That set the tone for the rest of the morning session and lunch, Yuvraj was well-set. His 40 runs had eight scintillating boundaries, six of which were scored through the covers.Jiwanjot Singh, who has emerged as a reliable anchor for Punjab, also grew in confidence and played a perfect straight-drive off Anupam Sanklecha just before lunch. At the break, Punjab had moved to 116 for 3.Three balls into the second session, Jiwanjot celebrated his fifty and three overs later, Yuvraj got to his half-century by pulling a waist-high delivery by Shrikant Mundhe through square-leg for his tenth four. His first fifty came off 74 balls and the second was even quicker as Yuvraj cut loose in the second session.Despite losing Jiwanjot, who missed a straight one from Sanklecha after the duo had added 112 runs, Yuvraj kept on taking a toll on Maharashtra’s bowlers. Samad Fallah was overused by skipper Rohit Motwani in the first two sessions, while Akshay Darekar, their lead spinner, was introduced into the attack only in the 51st over.Soon after hitting offspinner Chirag Khurana into the stands over long-on, Yuvraj entered the nineties with a single that also gave Punjab the lead. With Gurkeerat matching him stroke for stroke, Yuvraj crossed his second successive, and 22nd first-class hundred, with a sweep off Darekar between the deep square leg and deep midwicket. The second fifty came in just 54 balls, and included eight fours and a six.With Gurkeerat and Yuvraj scoring at over five runs an over, Maharashtra were in danger of being batted out of the game. Gurkeerat completed his fifty off the last ball before tea with a boundary off Rahul Tripathi, third of the over. But Kedar Jadhav latched on to a sharp chance off Mundhe’s bowling soon after tea to end another 112-run association.Yuvraj continued to be aggressive after tea, but appeared to slow as the session wore, a likely after-effect of a throat infection and fever. It resulted in a tired cover drive off Darekar which went straight into Vijay Zol’s hands at covers.The Punjab lower order then continued to score freely, even though Maharashtra seamers picked three wickets with the new ball.Yuvraj was happy to rescue his team for the second time in three weeks and also help them get an upper hand.”When I went in, we were under pressure and we needed a partnership. I was lucky to get through that tough phase,” Yuvraj said, referring to his cautious approach early on. “On days when you get this kind of track and when you are batting well, you are happy when you don’t nick them.”He stated that the two hundreds in the tournament so far had come in contrasting conditions. “That [Patiala] was a turning track and here it was helping seamers a lot, so I am glad that I could score a hundred and put our team on top.”

India came into the final day in Adelaide knowing it was going to be a hard day’s cricket, with Australia setting a stiff target. At no point, though, was stand-in captain Virat Kohli going to settle for a draw

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide13-Dec-20143:51

‘We came here to play positive cricket’ – Kohli

When India began the final day’s play, and their innings, they needed 364 to win in 98 overs. It was a ridiculous thought at the time. “To win.” The obvious expectation was that India would have done really well to have got away with a draw. Many an Indian side of the past has responded to such situations with a draw on its mind, and has failed. This one, though, went for the victory, and a ball before the captain Virat Kohli fell agonisingly to a mistimed pull off Australia’s best bowler, Nathan Lyon, India actually needed just 60 with four wickets in hand and a little under 17 overs to go.Kohli had scored a scarcely believable 141 off 175. This was possibly only his second false stroke of the day, on a pitch that had ugly rough staring at him, with the ball turning and bouncing and performing all sorts of tricks. Kohli was visibly distraught when he was dismissed, a state that would have been worsened as India lost by 48 runs. Minutes later, he said India came so close in the first place because they had gone for the win, and that he was proud of what his side did even though it didn’t end in a win.”At no point did we not think about chasing the score down,” Kohli said. “We have come here to play positive cricket. No sort of negativity is welcome in this group. That’s the kind of belief we have come here with. This has been one of our strongest performances overseas in the past two-three years, and I am really proud the way the boys played in this game. Showed a lot of heart and a lot of character.”When I and [M] Vijay [who scored 99] were batting, it looked like we had the upper hand throughout. At no point did I think we had to pull out of the chase. I always believed that I could do it along with the tail as well. I backed myself in the first innings as well and did not regret the kind of shot I played. It’s about how you look at things. There is enough reason to regret things, but at the same time you have to look at the positives. I look at every outing as an opportunity to do something special for the team. If we had been able to pull it off, it would have been one of the most special moments of my life.”Listening to Kohli speak, you couldn’t help but wonder if there was another attitudinal change on its way. “The positive approach that we wanted was there,” he said. “We played the kind of cricket we wanted to play. Wins and losses are part of this game. We didn’t play for a draw. We played for a win. We lost. No problem. If we had won, the questions would have different, the answers would have been different. We have to maintain this kind of an approach if we have to win abroad. If we try to play for a draw, the negative approach creeps in. I am very happy with the way we played. We want to stay on the same page and the same zone. Going ahead, our results will get better and the series will be an exciting one.”Kohli was asked to compare the heartbreak of such a defeat vis-à-vis the disappointment of three-day defeats, two of which India have most recently suffered. “It’s not disappointing at all,” Kohli said. “I’m just, I’m only hurt because we didn’t cross the line when it looked pretty bright for us. But that’s the way sport goes, that’s the way Test cricket goes. But at no point did we back off, and we are not going to back off either.”If you see cricket like this for the rest of the series, it’s in the balance throughout. Guys believe in that. Unless you believe something there is no chance of achieving it. We have come here with that belief, and we have started on a really nice note. Really positive note. I think the boys can be really proud of themselves, the way they played the game. But Australia were much better.”Virat Kohli: “No sort of negativity is welcome in this group. That’s the kind of belief we have come here with”•Getty ImagesThe praise for Australia was forthcoming and unprovoked. “Obviously Australia were far better than us as far as taking chances and grabbing opportunities is concerned,” Kohli said. “They deserved to win today.”Kohli said he could play such an innings only because he was positive. “The only thing I kept telling myself was to believe,” he said. “Just believe in myself. Every ball that I play. The intent was to get a boundary every ball. That’s how I could keep out the good balls. If I was trying to defend already, I am giving the bowler a chance before I play the ball.”One good thing was, I wasn’t thinking about any milestones. I was only thinking of the target and trying to calculate whom I can go after, when to accelerate, what to do, at what point of time. The milestone was out of question, and that’s one thing I am pleased about that I have been able to do that in Test cricket at last. That was something new for me, and that felt good. Otherwise I was just reacting to watching the ball and being positive at the crease. Nothing more than that, no major planning, playing on my instinct, and at the same time I was trying to calculate the innings and target as well.”He also elaborated on the addition of the sweep shot to his repertoire, a shot that helped him counter Lyon on the spinning track: “[It’s] probably the first time in my life I’ve swept so much. Suprisingly, I haven’t practised it so much. I’ve been practicing the lap a lot but not the flat-batted sweep. But it surprisingly started coming off, I don’t know how. I saw the ball, put my foot down, tried to sweep and it came off. I was feeling good about it, mentally I was feeling positive that I can sweep and that’s a big thing with me.”Kohli was asked to describe what he went through when he got out. “I was hoping when Mitch Marsh was swinging at the boundary, I was hoping he will drop the catch,” he said. “But as I said I went for my shots, I don’t have any regrets. Probably could have placed it better. Had it gone for a boundary, things could have different. But then again those are big ifs and there is nothing that can be done about it now.”He might have lost it, but Kohli said this was the best Test he has been a part of. “I used to think the Test match in Johannesburg against South Africa was the best Test we played, hanging both ways but that ended in a draw,” Kohli said. [Now] I would prefer this one. I strongly believe both teams played with the same kind of attitude, and that’s why the crowd loved it as well. And all the players involved in the Test match enjoyed it as well. That’s what we play cricket for. There’s no point in having draws with both teams scoring 700 runs each. It has to be exciting, it has to be result-oriented, and I enjoyed it a lot. I will probably rank this as the best Test I have been part of, especially because it’s overseas for us.”

With the series wrapped up 4-1 before the seventh ODI in Wellington, New Zealand will be looking to rest their key players and test the strength of their wider squad

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jan-20150:38

Sri Lanka search for inspiration

Match factsThursday, January 29, 2015
Start time 1400 local (0100 GMT)Big Picture”Winning breeds confidence,” New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan said ahead of the seventh match against Sri Lanka, and his team has now won eight of their nine most recent matches. Better even than the good results has been the nature of their wins. In the Test in Wellington, and in the ODIs in Christchurch, Nelson and the first match in Dunedin, the hosts have been in losing positions before a staggering comeback upended the run of play. Substantial contributions have come from such a diverse range of personnel, that it has felt like the bus driver could hit a hundred and take four wickets, if only he got the chance.Now they arrive at the dead rubber 4-1 ahead in the series with a chance to trial a new combination, and test the strength of their wider squad. They have already been rotating players during the series, but with two more ODIs against Pakistan scheduled in the next week, it is also a chance for key players to be rested and refreshed.Sri Lanka’s rotation has been of a different kind entirely. They have been on a ferris wheel of despair in New Zealand, taking early wickets then allowing the game to slip, shelling simple catches then watching that batsman grind the attack into the dust, before the younger batsmen’s repeated failures make the seniors’ work redundant. Next match they do it all again.Frustratingly for their fans, the team has not explored many options. Right through the ODIs, Sri Lanka have played only three frontline bowlers, and made the rest of the overs up with their allrounders. Perhaps the prospect of being slammed 5-1 is enough to shock the side into using a new team combination. Captain Angelo Mathews has been unwell with the flu in the approach to this match however and, if he is unavailable for the third game on the trot, Sri Lanka may struggle to balance their side.Form guide(completed matches only, most recent first)

New Zealand:WWWLW
Sri Lanka:LLLWL
In the spotlightRoss Taylor said he had never really felt out of form, following his first substantial score of the series in Dunedin, but with him now among the runs, New Zealand’s top order appears more formidable. Taylor’s chance of making another good score on Thursday has risen, with his main tormentor Rangana Herath unavailable for that match due to an illness in his family. Taylor is less likely to be troubled by Sachithra Senanayake, whose stock ball turns into him, opening up the batsman’s favoured leg side.The Sri Lanka selectors have not been enamoured with Thisara Perera’s work ethic at times in the past year, and with a mediocre stretch of returns with both ball and bat in this series, he is now approaching the time when he must again prove his value to the side. Perera is a confidence player however, and it may only take one good turn in either discipline to get his game humming again.With mediocre returns in the series so far, Thisara Perera is now approaching the time when he must again prove his value to the side•AFPTeam newsBrendon McCullum may have a match off on Thursday, with the hosts perhaps planning to trial Tom Latham in the opening spot. Kane Williamson would lead in his stead. If the pitch is spin-friendly, both Nathan McCullum and Daniel Vettori could play. Adam Milne is again unlikely to be available, but any combination of the remaining fast bowlers may be named.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt.)/ Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanIn addition to doubts over Mathews, and Herath’s unavailability, seamer Dhammika Prasad and legspinning allrounder Jeevan Mendis have also sustained niggles. If Prasad cannot play, young quick bowler Dushmantha Chameera might take his place. Suranga Lakmal appears to have recovered sufficiently from a groin strain to be available.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.)/ Dimuth Karunaratne, 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Dhammika Prasad/ Dushmantha Chameera 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga LakmalPitch and conditionsWellington Stadium is one of the larger grounds in the country, but as a drop-in pitch is used there, the nature of the surface is changeable. The weather is expected to be cloudy but dry for the duration of the game.Stats and trivia Out of the batsmen in New Zealand’s squad, only Tom Latham has not yet made a fifty-plus score in the series. He has only played three innings so far. Thisara Perera has hit seven runs in four innings in this series. With the ball, he has taken three wickets at 95.66, with an economy rate of 6.83.Quotes”It’s about keeping the foot on the throat in this match. The last game in Dunedin was probably our most complete performance across all three disciplines. There are areas we want to get better in, so we’re not satisfied. It would be nice to finish off a tour where we’ve been pretty dominant over Sri Lanka, with a win tomorrow.”
New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan

Harare 1995, Sheikhupera 1998, Harare 2013 and now, just 20 runs away from Brisbane 2015. Five fours. Three sixes and a two. So close. But Zimbabwean eyes would not have adored the end result.

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2015Harare 1995, Sheikhupera 1998, Harare 2013 and now, just 20 runs away from Brisbane 2015. Five fours. Three sixes and a two. All the extras Zimbabwe gave away. So close. As Franki Valli and the Four Seasons crooned, “So close, so close and yet so far.”But Zimbabwean eyes would not have adored the end result.They started ahead, they clung on, they did the hard grind and then they saw it, and perhaps their World Cup dream as well, waste away.”We targeted this match,” Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe’s stand-in captain admitted. That is mostly because it was the only match left to target in a bid to reach the quarterfinals. With three wins being the minimum criteria, Zimbabwe identified UAE, Ireland and one of Pakistan or West Indies as the teams they needed to beat to reach the knockouts. UAE were dealt with, albeit in tense fashion, West Indies did the dealing in Canberra in Chris Gayle’s awakening and Ireland are still to come. So beating Pakistan was a must, despite the history.Zimbabwe have only beaten Pakistan three times in 48 ODIs and never at a World Cup. On paper, they were stretching themselves by hoping to change that here. On form, they were not.Pakistan’s batting gave way against India and had not put itself back together by the time it met West Indies. In fact, it had crumbled even further to the point where it seemed they would need more than a week and a trip across the Tasman to recover. They still need more than that and Misbah-ul-Haq knows it. He described them as being in “deep trouble” because of a top-order that cannot get it right but Zimbabwe seem to be in deeper trouble with their death bowling.Although they conceded fewer runs than they have in the last ten overs in their other matches in the tournament so far, they still leaked 73 in the final 10 and Tinashe Panyangara was still hit off his lines. But because of the work they had done earlier though, they believed “half the job was done,” at the break and expected to chase down 236.Pakistan had only had two partnerships over fifty runs in their innings, Zimbabwe had the same. Pakistan had a seventh-wicket stand of 47, Zimbabwe had a ninth-wicket one. So where did it go wrong?”We found ways to get out at crucial periods and that’s not helping the team,” Taylor said. Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams should have seen it home but all three of them were the cause of their own demise. Unlike Chamu Chibhabha and Sikandar Raza, they were not worked over in the same way by the aggression of Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz and should have been able to see them off better. “It was a good challenge,” Taylor said. “They came out and made it difficult for us. They bowled some heavy balls. But we had some experienced players who did not kick on.”Taylor identified lapses in temperament as being behind that inability to close out matches and said he did not expect it to be fixed quickly, despite the positive influence new coach Dav Whatmore has had. “There are some mental flaws as individuals which are costing us,” he said. ” He has been very good for us, he knows how to get into our minds but he has only been with us for six weeks.”They only have a third of that time left in this tournament, so its unlikely any major changes can be made in that time. But Zimbabwe have left themselves needing to beat both Ireland and India if they hope to show tangible results for the overhaul of their system and their attitudes. Taylor is not ruling that out.”There is some added pressure. Ireland have been playing some good cricket but we’re 80% there,” he said. “If we can close that gap, we’re heading in the right direction. India have been on the road for a long time. We saw hat happened at Eden Park the other day when New Zealand beat Australia. There’s no reason why we cant have the belief we can win.” Unless they do, the 20 runs they fell short in Brisbane may be the ones they remember more painfully than anything else.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have appointed former Indian fast bowler B Arun as the assistant coach

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Apr-2015Royal Challengers Bangalore have appointed former India fast bowler B Arun as the assistant coach. Arun, who is currently serving as India’s bowling coach, will be part of an IPL side’s staff for the first time, as deputy to Daniel Vettori.Before he was appointed to India’s coaching staff during the England tour last year, Arun was in charge of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in addition to being the head coach of the India team that went to the Under-19 World Cup. Arun believes his experience with the senior India team will help him settle easily in his role at Royal Challengers. “You can draw a lot of confidence after working with some of the top players of the world,” he said. “There is a lot of confidence I will be taking from the Indian job into the IPL.”Despite fast bowling being his forte, Arun has always believed in understanding the mindset of a player to make him grow. And this is one area he believes he can make a difference with at Royal Challengers. “I help a player to discover himself more and a player understanding himself better gives him the best chance to succeed.”Despite having a star-packed line-up Royal Challengers have tended to underachieve, and finished seventh on the points table last year. Arun is confident about bouncing back. “The team is pretty well balance and strong. They have always been front-runners to the title.”Arun also stressed that Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers captain, will continue to be the most important factor in the team’s success. “Virat has an outstanding work ethic, befitting a top athlete in the world. He is extremely passionate about the game. A captain having such an attitude makes it easier for the players to follow him. He walked the talk in Australia. So it would be quite exciting to watch him bring the same attitude into the IPL.”

David Warner continued to carry his team forward in the tournament on the back of his own personal form, his sixth half-century this season laying the foundation of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fifth win in six matches that helped them catch up with Rajasthan Ro

The Report by Devashish Fuloria11-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:35

O’Brien: Captaincy helps Warner flourish

David Warner continued to carry his team forward in the tournament on the back of his own personal form, his sixth half-century this season laying the foundation of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fifth win in six matches that helped them catch up with Rajasthan Royals on the points table.But not before David Miller gave them a brief scare by hitting first four balls of Ishant Sharma’s last over for 6, 6, 0 and 4, bringing the equation down to 12 off two balls. He missed the penultimate ball, but hit the last one for a six again, exposing how poor that over had been. Or how poorly Kings XI Punjab’s batsmen had fared on course of their seventh consecutive loss.Ishant was the first person to embrace Miller after a scintillating 89 that included nine sixes, but Sunrisers knew it should have never come that close after how the first 34 overs of the game had panned out, with Warner’s 81 leading the way.During the course of his innings, Warner went past AB de Villiers’ tournament tally first, overtook Ajinkya Rahane as the leading run-scorer, and then became the first batsman this IPL season to cross 500 runs. He also crossed the 1000-run mark for Sunrisers, the second batsman after Shikhar Dhawan to do so.Warner’s energy rubbed on to the rest of his team-mates. Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma, playing only his third game this season, struck twice in three balls to remove the Kings XI Punjab openers, before Moises Henriques’ 3 for 16 tightened the screws in the middle overs and left Miller, who walked in at No. 5, with too many to get. By the time Miller started teeing off in the 14th over, the required rate was already close to 15 an over.Sunrisers’ innings had suffered from similar dips but they never lasted more than a couple of overs. Warner and Dhawan blazed away to add 56 in the Powerplay, but as the spinners found some help, Warner let Henriques push on for the next six overs, while scoring 14 runs himself off 15 balls in that period.He stepped on the accelerator in the 13th over, smashing Axar Patel for a couple of sixes, the first one of which brought up his fifty. Fifty-eight runs came off five overs but just when Sunrisers looked set for 200, Warner mistimed a punch to midwicket. However, the following batsmen ensured the scored reached a challenging 185.Kings XI made a sprightly start, with M Vijay hitting a six and two fours off Trent Boult’s first over, but the innings went pear-shaped with the introduction of spin. Bipul removed both the openers, Boult edged out Glenn Maxwell with a rising delivery and Kings XI could only score 21 runs in the five overs after eighth.

The new deal will run until the end of April 2021 and includes the broadcaster’s hosting rights for all home internationals matches played in this period.

Firdose Moonda15-Apr-2015Cricket will remain the property of pay-television consumers in South Africa, after CSA renewed their deal with SuperSport for the next six years. The new deal will run until the end of April 2021 and includes the broadcaster’s hosting rights for all home internationals matches played in this period.Fans without access to the channel should still be able to watch the South African team’s home matches because SuperSport provides the state broadcaster, SABC, with a live feed. The same does not apply when South Africa play abroad or to domestic matches, which are only available to watch on SuperSport. SuperSport will broadcast a minimum of 60% of matches in the domestic one-day cup and 20-over tournament but no live first-class cricket.Despite that, television viewership of cricket in South Africa is growing according to sports marketing agency Repucom. In Johannesburg last week, the agency revealed that the viewing time of the average South African cricket fan has increased by 21%, helped, no doubt, by the availability of cricket to watch.Last October, SuperSport launched a temporary 24-hour news channel which ran until the end of the World Cup and broadcast series including India’s tour of Australia and the triangular competition which followed, as well as Sri Lanka’s trip to New Zealand. South African pay-television users also have every match of the IPL shown live but for the first time in many years, they do not have any coverage of the series between West Indies and England. SuperSport has not acquired the rights for that series.