It was initially announced that Chittagong Kings would play Duronto Rajshahi in the first semi-final. After meetings late into the night, however, the BPL announced that Barisal Burners, and not Chittagong, were through

The Preview by Mohammad Isam28-Feb-2012

Match Facts

February 28, Mirpur
Start time 1400 local (0800 GMT)

Big Picture

The first semi-final of the BPL will have the team that finished first in the league playing the team that finished fourth. Duronto Rajshahi finished first, with 14 points, but until 2.00 am on the morning of the semi-final, it wasn’t clear who finished fourth.Initially, on Sunday, it was announced that Barisal Burners were through to the semis, after their victory against Chittagong Kings, on the basis of net run-rate. At that point, the other two spots were going to be contested between Chittagong, Khulna Royal Bengals and Dhaka Gladiators.On Monday, after Dhaka lost narrowly to Rajshahi and Khulna beat Sylhet Royals, Khulna went to second place with 12 points, leaving Dhaka, Barisal and Chittagong tied on 10 points at the end of the league phase.In the head-to-head results between the teams level on 10 points, Dhaka had beaten Barisal twice and Chittagong once and had a superior net-run rate and qualified for the semi-finals in third place. That now left Chittagong and Barisal in contention for the fourth spot.Chittagong had two wins, against Barisal and Dhaka, while Barisal had only one, against Chittagong. Barisal’s net run-rate, however, was better than that of Chittagong. It was initially announced that Chittagong were in the semi-finals, presumably on the basis of a better head-to-head record in the three-way tie on 10 points, which included Dhaka. At 2.45 am this morning, however, the BPL issued a release which said that Barisal was the fourth semi-finalist, presumably because their head-to-head record with Chittagong – not including Dhaka who had already qualified – was tied and they had a better net run-rate.The upshot of all this confusion was that Rajshahi had ample time to prepare mentally for their knockout clash, while their opponents were left in limbo until the wee hours of the morning.

In the spotlight

The hard-hitting Jamaican, Marlon Samuels, will be eager to finish his stint with Rajshahi on a high note as he prepares for his maiden foray into the IPL in April.Barisal will rely heavily on their captain Brad Hodge, who came good in the crucial game against Chittagong with a scintillating 67. He called the tournament fun but will have to take it seriously in the semifinals.

Form guide (most recent first)

Barisal Burners WLWWL
Duronto Rajshahi WWLWW

Head to head

Barisal won the first game by 22 runs, while Rajshahi came back with a nine-wicket win in the return leg.

Chatter

“If we can play well tomorrow and win the semi-final, then I can take stock of how well we played. Our first target was to reach the semi-finals, and our second target now is playing the finals and winning the trophy.”
Edited by George Binoy

Tim Southee has been dropped from New Zealand’s squad for the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton12-Mar-2012 Tim Southee has been dropped from New Zealand’s squad for the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton, starting on Thursday. After a tough first Test in Dunedin, in which he conceded 140 runs and failed to take a wicket, Southee will return to the Plunket Shield to work on technique and form.New Zealand have beefed up their bowling with the addition of Mark Gillespie and the re-inclusion of Brent Arnel, who was part of the squad for the first Test but was not included in the final 12.Gillespie has come off a run of fine form in which he has taken 20 wickets in his last three first-class matches. He is third on the list of wicket-takers, behind the yet-to-be-eligible Neil Wagner and Arnel, with 30 wickets at an average of 27.53.”Tim Southee hasn’t been included He’s a talented young fast bowler and we are confident he will return to the Plunket Shield and continue to put pressure on those in the Test team,” Kim Littlejohn, New Zealand national selection manager said. “Mark Gillespie returns to international cricket after showing good form recently and provides and a strong and reliable bowling option.”

New Zealand Test Squad

Ross Taylor (capt), Brent Arnel, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Andrew Ellis, Mark Gillespie, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Kruger Van Wyk (wk), Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson

Gillespie has played three Tests for New Zealand, one of them against South Africa in November 2007 at Centurion. Gillespie will have fond memories of that match as it was his Test debut and he took a five-for in South Africa’s only innings, dismissing Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher.There is the possibility that Arnel and Gillespie won’t feature in the final XI on a pitch that is no longer expected to be seamer-friendly. Although there was initially talk of a green wicket being prepared at Seddon Park, this has been doused by the suggestion that the strip may actually be a little dry.In anticipation of that, New Zealand have also added variety to their attack, with the inclusion of legspinner Tarun Nethula, who has yet to play Test cricket. “We are pleased to be able to offer Tarun an opportunity. He is bowling well and offers a point of difference to the attack,” Littlejohn said.Neither BJ Watling, who is recovering from a hip joint injury, nor Dean Brownlie, who has a fractured finger, were considered for the squad. South African-born wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk keeps his place along with Rob Nicol, who had a tough debut opening the batting.

Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, has received a no-objection certificate from the PCB, paving the way for his return to Lancashire for this season’s Friends Life t20

Umar Farooq21-Apr-2012Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, has received a no-objection certificate from the PCB, paving the way for his return to Lancashire for this season’s Friends Life t20.The decision was delayed as PCB wanted to ensure that the seamer had fully recovered from his patella (knee cap) injury. The PCB has released the bowler just for the Twenty20 tournament, to manage his workload and make sure he remains in the best shape for Pakistan’s forthcoming tours. He was cleared after appearing in a two-day fitness test and will be applying for his UK visa next week.Junaid sustained a fracture of the patella during the Twenty20-leg of Pakistan’s series against England in UAE in February and has been out of action since then. Junaid, 22, debuted for Pakistan in April 2011 but his fledgling career has been hurt by injuries in the last few months. Junaid was selected for the England series after he had recovered from the abdominal tear he picked during the ODI series against Sri Lanka last year, which ruled him out for six weeks.Pakistan’s next international assignment is a full series in Sri Lanka followed by the ‘home’ series against Australia, also to be played in Sri Lanka, before the ICC World Twenty20.Apart from his promising international career, Junaid excelled on county debut in last year’s Friends Life t20, taking 12 wickets in eight games for Lancashire at an economy-rate of 6.00.Recruited last season on the recommendation of Wasim Akram, Junaid made a big impact on the FLt20 and helped Lancashire reach finals for the first time in four years, only to miss the climax of the competition after being selected for Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe.”Junaid showed last season his ability to win a game from almost any situation,” Peter Moores, the Lancashire head coach, said. “His strength at bowling in Powerplays and at the end of the innings in one-day cricket adds another dimension to the squad and it will be great to have him back.”Edited by Devashish Fuloria

Northamptonshire took an iron grip on the third day of their County Championship match against Gloucestershire

25-May-2012
ScorecardNorthamptonshire took an iron grip on the third day of their County Championship match against Gloucestershire despite an unbeaten century by the visitors’ Hamish Marshall.Gloucestershire managed to avoid the follow-on before they were bowled out for 268 with former New Zealand international Marshall making a brilliant 117 not out from 196 balls. Northants then extended their lead to 389 as they closed on 246 for 5 with Scotland international Kyle Coetzer making 86 off 127 deliveries including two huge sixes over midwicket.Gloucestershire began the day on 156 for 6, 255 runs behind their opponents and needing another 106 to avoid the follow-on, with Marshall resuming on 49 and wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty on 9. Marshall quickly completed his half-century off 105 balls with a single off David Willey with the sixth ball of the day.Batty, however, was unable to add to his overnight score before he walked when he was caught by his opposite number David Murphy after edging Lee Daggett.Ed Young failed to score off five deliveries before he was trapped lbw by Willey but Marshall and Ian Saxelby hung in to add 90 for the ninth wicket. This set a new Gloucestershire record against Northants, going past the previous best of 84 made between David Graveney and Brian Brain at Bristol in 1981.Marshall completed his 20th first-class century off 165 balls but Saxelby was to perish on 30 when he was pinned lbw by Con de Lange. James Middlebrook finally brought the Gloucestershire innings to an end with the final ball before lunch when Liam Norwell edged him to Northants captain Andrew Hall at first slip.Middlebrook threw his wicket away on 19, 18 overs into Northants second innings, when he chipped Will Gidman straight to Saxelby at mid-on. But fellow opener Stephen Peters completed his half-century in the third over after tea off 99 balls as Northants steadily extended their advantage.But he departed on 58 when he gloved his attempted reverse sweep off New Zealand international Kane Williamson to Marshall at slip. Coetzer went on to reach 50 off 93 deliveries but his superb knock came to an end when he smashed Saxelby to Williamson at midwicket.David Sales then retired hurt on 33 after seemingly pulling a muscle running a single towards the wicketkeeper’s end. Alex Wakely was then stumped by Batty off Williamson before Willey launched the same bowler to Saxelby at deep square-leg with the last ball of the day.

Sri Lanka Cricket has signed a new deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to hold the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in 2012, ESPNcricinfo has learned

Tariq Engineer07-May-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has signed a new deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to hold the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in 2012, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The deal was signed on May 5 and the tournament has been tentatively scheduled to be held between August 10 and August 31, just ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 that will be held in Sri Lanka in September.The SLPL was supposed to kick off last year, with SLC’s then interim committee signing a five-year deal with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to organise the event. However, the Sri Lankan board was forced to postpone the tournament after the BCCI refused to allow its players to participate at the last minute, causing a delay in the naming of the final composition of the teams and affecting overall preparations for the event. In addition, the interim committee that signed the deal was subsequently replaced and there was criticism of some of the clauses in the contract by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).A new set of administrators were elected in January and they have been negotiating with Somerset Entertainment Ventures to resolve their differences. The new deal has addressed the concerns raised by the COPE report and has been cleared by the office of the Sri Lankan attorney general, ESPNcricinfo understands.The format of the tournament remains the same. SLPL will have seven teams that will play each other in a league format followed by semi-finals and finals. The games will most likely be played in Colombo and Kandy. Last year’s event was scheduled to kick off on July 19, 2011, with the final to be played on August 6. The tournament hit its first hurdle when the BCCI decided to withhold its permission to allow Indian players to take part on the grounds that Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which owned the commercial rights, would be handling the contracts for international players and that it could lead to complications, should disputes arise over payments.In order to assuage the Indian board, SLC was willing to back the Indian players’ contracts so that their financial interests were protected, but that was not enough to satisfy the BCCI. There were also suggestions that former IPL chairman Lalit Modi had a hand in the event, but SLC and Somerset Entertainment Ventures repeatedly denied them, as did Modi.

Eoin Morgan sent a timely reminder to the England selectors by hitting the fastest century of the season as Middlesex crushed Lancashire by 167 runs at Lord’s.

10-Jun-2012ScorecardEoin Morgan will hope to return to international cricket in England’s ODI series against West Indies•AFP

Eoin Morgan sent a timely reminder to the England selectors by hitting the fastest century of the season as Middlesex crushed Lancashire by 167 runs at Lord’s.Morgan, who struggled in both Tests and one-day internationals during the winter, showed that he is back to his audacious best by reaching his hundred off only 49 balls, 17 fewer than the previous quickest by Durham’s Phil Mustard against Nottinghamshire last Sunday.He went on to make 116 off 54 balls with 11 sixes and six fours and, with Paul Stirling, Morgan’s fellow Irishman, making a rapid century of his own as Middlesex ran up a total of 350 for 6, their highest in one-day cricket. It was always going to be too many for Lancashire who slumped to 55 for 5 before Paul Horton’s defiant 49 enabled them to reach 183.The stage had been set for Morgan by a second wicket partnership of 142 in 20 overs between Stirling and Joe Denly, who had made 58 off 57 balls with six fours and a six when he sliced Gary Keedy to backward point.It was not long before Stirling completed his century off 84 balls and he had scored 119 off 99 balls with five sixes and 12 fours when Keedy had him caught at square leg off a top-edged sweep but he was to be upstaged by Morgan in a third wicket stand of 126 in only 11 overs.A scoreboard showing 168 for 2, a short boundary on the Tavern side of the ground and a Lancashire attack containing three left arm spinners could not have been more inviting for the Morgan.He had scored only 66 runs in four one-day internationals for England and did not get a game for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. But ahead of the naming tomorrow of England’s squad to face the West Indies he was back to his best.He impudently reverse-swept his first ball from Keedy for four, straight drove Ajmal Shahzad for his first six soon afterwards and then began peppering the Mound and Tavern Stands with a fusillade of sixes which had spectators ducking for cover.One of them off Sajid Mahmood took him to his first century for Middlesex in any form of cricket since 2009 and he was trying to clear the boundary again when he was caught at wide long on off Keedy, who emerged from the onslaught with the exemplary figures of 5 for 55.

Varun Aaron, the India fast bowler, has suffered a recurrence of a back injury that had ruled him of India’s tour to Australia last year and is likely to be out of cricket till at least September

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Varun Aaron, the India fast bowler, has suffered a recurrence of a back injury that had ruled him out of India’s tour to Australia last year. He told ESPNcricinfo that he was targetting a return during the Champions League T20 in October.Aaron, whose last international game was in December in an ODI against West Indies in Visakhapatnam, returned to competitive cricket during the IPL. He played eight games for his franchise, Delhi Daredevils, and picked up eight wickets.”There was a slight niggle, but I was still good enough to bowl at my best during the IPL,” Aaron told the . “But as soon as I experienced the pain again, I returned to the NCA some five weeks back.””The back injury must have relapsed after the IPL,” TA Sekar, Daredevils mentor, said. “He was 100% fit during the matches he played and he even bowled at 145 kmh-plus in them.” Sekar said it was only after putting Aaron through the franchise’s rehab schedule that Daredevils decided to play him; Aaron played his first game only midway through the tournament.”Ideally the board should have sent him to Australia for treatment in December itself, especially since they had a qualified physio in Evan Speechly with them,” Sekar said. “The two-month delay really cost him.” Aaron was sent to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for his rehab after he was ruled out of the Australia tour.Aaron, who has played one Test and five ODIs for India, has had a history of back trouble, having suffered two stress fractures soon after he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Jharkhand in the 2008-09 season. He first played for India during the ODI series against England last October and made his Test debut the following month against West Indies. He was picked in India’s Test squad for Australia, but once the stress reaction in his back was diagnosed, he was replaced by Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar.

David Masters helped Essex fight back against promotion favourites Derbyshire after a four wicket haul by spinner David Wainwright had secured maximum bowling points for the Division Two leaders at Derby

28-Aug-2012Derbyshire 28 for 3 trail Essex 245 (Napier 52, Wainwright 4-64) by 217 runs
ScorecardDavid Masters helped Essex fight back against promotion favourites Derbyshire after a four wicket haul by spinner David Wainwright had secured maximum bowling points for the Division Two leaders at Derby.Wainwright took 4 for 64 and Mark Turner two wickets as Essex were bowled out for 245 but the visitors hit back by reducing the home side to 28 for 3 at the close.Masters followed a season’s best of 35 with the bat with 2 for 3 in seven overs on his return from a side strain and Graham Napier, who top scored with 42, also claimed a wicket to leave the game in the balance.Derbyshire dominated the first part of the day after their decision to put Essex in was quickly justified as Tony Palladino struck against his former county by having Jaik Mickleburgh caught behind for five in the fifth over. It was the seamer’s 49th Championship victim of the season but he was kept waiting for his 50th as Essex subsided to the spin of Wainwright and two needless run-outs.After Tom Westley had played down the wrong line at Tim Groenewald and Owais Shah had been beaten for pace by Turner, Wainwright got a ball to spit at Mark Pettini who was caught off his glove by Wes Durston at first slip.Ryan ten Doeschate has played some explosive innings against Derbyshire in the past and he briefly threatened to leave his mark on them again when he drove Wainwright over long on for six.But he made a misjudgement on 29 when he went back to Wainwright and was lbw to the arm ball and although James Foster was dropped by wicketkeeper Tom Poynton and saw a top edge hook carried over the ropes by Palladino, he did not make Derbyshire pay.The Essex captain had moved to 31 when he pushed Wainwright to mid on, set off for a single which was never on and was run out by yards thanks to Wayne Madsen’s direct hit.When Adam Wheater was lbw to a full length ball from Turner, Essex were 151 for 7 but Napier and Masters at least earnt their side a batting point with a stand of 74 in 19 overs. Napier fell to Wainwright when he edged a big drive to slip and Maurice Chambers’ attempted slog ended in the hands of backward point, leaving Masters to drive the spinner for six before he was run out going for a second run.Masters continued the Essex recovery when he bowled Madsen, who made a double century in the previous game, for two and had Usman Khawaja well caught low down at second slip by Westley for a 14-ball duck.Palladino was sent in as night watchman but Napier trapped him lbw in the penultimate over to end an absorbing day’s play on a high note for Essex.

A bright 93 from Liam Davis and a striking allround display by Nathan Coulter-Nile helped Western Australia to a 25-run victory over Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2012
ScorecardLaim David held the WA innings together•Getty Images

A bright 93 from Liam Davis and a striking allround display by Nathan Coulter-Nile helped Western Australia to a 25-run victory over Victoria in the domestic limited overs match at the WACA ground.Mitchell Johnson also claimed a trio of wickets for WA as the Bushrangers fell short of what had appeared a quite manageable chase at the change of innings.The Warriors’ innings was a series of fits and starts apart from Davis’ innings until Coulter-Nile emerged at No. 8 to thump 42 from 31 balls and lift the tally near 250. The sometime Australia seamer John Hastings used his height to good advantage on the early season surface to snare four wickets.Victoria’s reply was deliberately paced, the No. 3 Chris Rogers and the wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb going closest to a substantial union in their stand of 50. However both fell after making starts, and the required rate climbed ever higher from that point.Andrew McDonald and Michael Hill made handy scores and Will Sheridan clumped 25 from only eight balls, but Coulter-Nile’s quartet of wickets – plus a pair of run outs – was critical in helping the Warriors to ease to their first points of the summer.