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They beat a Western Australia Cricket Association XI by 13 runs with Arshdeep Singh also making a mark

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2022Suryakumar Yadav continued his good form as the Indian team beat the Western Australia Cricket Association XI by 13 runs in its first practice game ahead of the T20 World Cup, in Perth on Monday.The Indian team, which has been training at the WACA for the past three days, wanted to get used to the pace and bounce of the track. They made 158 for 6 in their stipulated 20 overs and in reply, the WACA XI managed only 145 for 8 in their 20 overs.Instead of captain Rohit Sharma’s regular partner KL Rahul, it was Rishabh Pant, who opened the innings for the visitors. But it was Suryakumar, whose 35-ball 52 was the highlight of the innings as a few hundred fans enjoyed his free-flowing strokeplay. He hit three fours and as many sixes during his knock and not for once did the pace and bounce of the track looked like troubling the world No. 2 ranked T20I batter.The other man, who made a significant contribution, was allrounder Hardik Pandya who scored 27 off 20 balls. Deepak Hooda, having recently recovered from injury, also chipped in with 22 off 14 balls at No. 3.India were 28 for 2 in the powerplay before Suryakumar’s intervention. His wicket, in the 18th over, left India at 129 for 5 but the last 16 balls yielded 29 runs and got them closer to the 160-run mark.Defending the total against a WACA XI wasn’t a big ask as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh basically blew away the home team’s top-order inside the powerplay. WACA XI were reduced to 12 for 4 in the third over and they could never recover from the setback.Arshdeep was the best Indian bowler on view with impressive figures of 3 for 6 from three overs, while Bhuvneshwar (2 for 26) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2 for 15) also chipped in.India’s next practice game against the same opposition is on October 13 before the team travels to Brisbane for two official T20 World Cup warm-up games against Australia and New Zealand.

“I don’t look to please people, I’m here to play the role that’s assigned to me accordingly, by the team management”

Annesha Ghosh04-Jul-20213:35

Mithali Raj: When young players like Rodrigues go through bad form, senior players back them

Mithali Raj has said she doesn’t heed criticism around her strike rate and instead focuses on shouldering the responsibility bestowed by the team management in terms of playing the anchor role in the Indian ODI side.”I do read the criticism about my strike rate but as I’ve said earlier also, I don’t seek validation from people,” Raj, the India Test and ODI captain, said after sealing a 220-run chase and her side’s thrilling four-wicket win on Saturday in Worcester with an unbeaten 75. “I have played for a long time, and I know that I have a certain responsibility in the team. I don’t look to please people, I’m here to play the role that’s assigned to me accordingly, by the team management.Related

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“When you’re chasing a target, you pick your bowlers, you pick the length, and you pick the areas. And because I am in good flow, I know I need to make the best use of me in the middle. In a way the batting unit revolves around me – that’s the job that’s been given to me by the coach.”I look to not get bogged down because somewhere I do know that the top order is already in the dugout and it was important for me to understand the situation how I can manoeuvre and try to get the match as close as possible with the batters who are yet to come and the batters that I had in the middle. And I guess I need to give credit also to Sneh Rana because that partnership was very, very crucial. She kept her calm, which is very important in such situations.”Picking up her third straight fifty in the ODI leg of the multi-format series, Raj steered India to victory in the final over of the chase after putting on two fifty stands. The second of those was with No. 7 Sneh Rana, whose vital 22-ball 24 earned her praise from Raj.”For me batting has always been a role-play in the team,” Raj said. “The sort of role that is assigned to me over the years is of taking the responsibility of the batting unit and play throughout. And that’s something I’ve always done.”Today also was one of those days where I could plan my innings. Chasing gives me a better picture of building an innings along with the other batters in the middle and I am able to control the game. I think that really worked for me. And having young girls in the side it helps to guide them when you’re in the middle to also sort of help them understand the situation and how to play in these conditions. It works well that way.”En route to her half-century, Raj surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards as the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket. She went past Edwards’ tally of 10,273 with a four off Natalie Sciver in the 24th over of the chase.Mithali Raj – “Because I am in good flow, I know I need to make the best use of me in the middle”•Getty Images

“I think the way things have gone, it wasn’t an easy journey,” Raj said, reflecting on her storied 22-year-long international career. “It had its trials and challenges. I’ve always believed that these trials always have a purpose, and there were times when I wanted to give up for various reasons but something kept me going and here I am, 22 years of international cricket but the hunger to score runs for India has never dried up.”[…] I know I have a few months in the run-up to the World Cup, and there’s certain areas, certain dimensions to the game that I would like to add to my batting. I look forward to working on those areas.”Raj, who retired from T20Is in 2019, had before the England tour said the 2022 ODI World Cup would be her swansong. With only tours of Australia and New Zealand so far scheduled before next year’s world tournament, the ODI assignment in England which concluded on Saturday may have been her last one in the country.”Obviously, before the World Cup we don’t have an England tour but I have always enjoyed playing in England against England, one of the quality teams on the world stage,” Raj, who made her international debut in England in 1999, said. “They say English conditions are always difficult, but the bulk of my runs I’ve scored on this soil. I’m just grateful that each time I come here…”There have been times when I’ve toured England from a bad form and I have scored heavily coming to England. So, I am happy the way I started in 1999, and today it’s come a full circle. I just look forward positively for the tours I am yet to play that I continue this form into those series as well.”

Hosts post record chase at Newlands to take 1-0 series lead after Joe Denly’s half-century guides England to respectable total

The Report by Valkerie Baynes04-Feb-2020Is this a new South Africa? Regardless of how this series ends or the eventual outcome of the hosts’ substantial rebuilding project, the answer, today, was yes.Led by newly appointed captain Quinton de Kock and a resurgent Temba Bavuma, South Africa recorded the highest successful ODI chase at Newlands to claim a memorable victory.De Kock and Bavuma put on a 173-run stand which blew South Africa’s previous best second-wicket partnership against England away and delivered a huge confidence boost after a disappointing World Cup and, more recently, a 3-1 Test series defeat to England.South Africa lost opener Reeza Hendricks cheaply, but not until the seventh over as he and de Kock made a controlled start.Bavuma joined de Kock with their side 25 for 1 and the pair played with poise and sense, never letting the required run rate out of site, running well between the wickets and not succumbing to any rash shot-making of the kind that drew criticism towards de Kock during the Test series.Bavuma, who forced his way back into the Test side for the fourth and final match at Johannesburg with some scintillating form on the domestic circuit, fell two runs shy of a second ODI century in just his third appearance.De Kock’s 107 off 113 balls oozed composure but was not without excitement, such as the massive six off Tom Curran that landed on top of the sightscreen and stayed there, or the four thumped off the back foot through midwicket to bring up his 5000th ODI run. Then there were consecutive fours through the covers to bring up his 15th one-day century.It was only when Joe Root re-entered the attack in the 36th over that de Kock fell, bowled as he missed an attempted slog-sweep.Rassie van der Dussen, who made his Test debut against England in December and finished as the fifth-highest run-scorer of the series – and South Africa’s second-highest behind de Kock – entered with his side needing 61 off 89 balls.Even when Bavuma was trapped lbw by Chris Jordan, ending a wonderful knock on 98 off 103 balls, there was no sense of panic and van der Dussen and Jon-Jon Smuts guided South Africa to the target with 14 balls to spare.World Champions England doled out caps at opposite ends of the spectrum, handing debuts to Tom Banton and Matt Parkinson and marking Chris Woakes’ 100th ODI. But it was their team-mate with a curious mix of age and ODI inexperience, Joe Denly, who played the innings England needed after falling to 83 for 4 and then 131 for 6 as they battled the spin of Tabraiz Shamsi.Denly scored his third ODI half-century and his first in the eight innings he has played since his previous fifty, against Australia in September 2009.After being overlooked for the World Cup, Denly was given the chance to establish himself as a limited-overs player when he was awarded his first white-ball contract at the end of last summer. If his first innings since is any gauge, Denly has set himself on course to do so, with a fine 87 off 103 balls to help England to 258 for 8 from their 50 overs when a much smaller total had looked likely earlier.South Africa also had two debutants, batting allrounder Smuts and quick Lutho Sipamla, and it was in fact the spin of Smuts that made the breakthrough they needed.Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow brought up England’s 50 off 54 balls to set a strong foundation.Roy hit his stride by punishing Beuran Hendricks with three consecutive fours through long-on, long-off and extra cover but he also rode his luck, dropped on 24 by Andile Phehlukwayo off the bowling of Lungi Ngidi and barely evading the reach of van der Dussen as he cleared midwicket.As their stand reached 51, Roy lofted Smuts down the ground and found Reeza Hendricks at long-on to fall for 32 from as many balls. Bairstow followed his opening partner back to the pavilion a short time later, crashing a drive off Phehlukwayo straight to Sipamla at mid-off.A brilliant piece of fielding from van der Dussen broke a third-wicket stand worth 30 runs between Eoin Morgan and Root. Morgan swept Shamsi but van der Dussen was so sharp with his diving intercept at backward square he had all the time in the world to rise to his knees and take middle stump out of the ground with a throw fired in from nearly 30 metres away, as a sprawling Root was found well short of his ground.Shamsi removed Morgan just three balls later, edging to Bavuma who took a strong slips catch diving low to his left.Banton reached 18 off 23 balls but he was found wanting when he dropped to his knee looking to slog-sweep Shamsi and was struck high on his back thigh and given out lbw, failing to have the decision overturned on review when ball-tracking showed the delivery was headed for the top of off stump.Shamsi claimed his third wicket when he bowled Sam Curran round his legs.That brought Woakes to the crease and he joined Denly in settling the England innings, contributing 40 as the pair put on 91 runs for the seventh wicket.Denly accelerated through the closing overs, clubbing Ngidi some 87 metres over cow corner for six – the first maximum of England’s innings. He dealt out more of the same in Ngidi’s next over with a scornful smash over the fence at long-off.Denly was finally brought undone when he sent Beuran Hendricks to Reeza Hendricks in the deep with four balls remaining, his efforts at least giving England a fighting total – until de Kock and Bavuma played their part.

The pair’s 162-run stand gave New Zealand a solid platform from which they can think of batting just once in the Test

The Report by Shashank Kishore16-Dec-2018One of Sri Lanka’s two Test wins in New Zealand has come at the Basin Reserve. At the end of the second day’s play, it looks increasingly possible that they are unlikely to reprise that stunning win from 2006, after Kane Williamson and Tom Latham deflated them on a batting day as New Zealand nudged ahead by 29, with eight wickets in hand.In that Test, Sri Lanka had Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga to call upon after posting close to the 282 they managed here. On Sunday, barring Lahiru Kumara’s bristling pace and bounce, there was little bite in the bowling. This meant a party for large parts of a three-hour passage in the afternoon for Williamson, who put together 162 with Latham at more than four runs per over.

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If New Zealand were to be a little critical of their efforts, they would rue gifting both wickets to Sri Lanka. Jeet Raval’s wait for a maiden Test century continues as he was out to an ill-advised pull to a delivery that just didn’t come on, and took the toe-end off a Kumara short ball, as he played early, to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella.Williamson missed his 20th Test century by just nine runs shortly after tea when he swept an innocuous Dhananjaya de Silva delivery to backward square leg. But Latham carried on, in his own industrious way, overcoming pockets of struggle and a hint of luck early in his innings, to bring up his seventh Test century, thereby breaking a three-figure deadlock that eluded him for 11 Tests since his marathon 177 in Wellington against Bangladesh in January last year.If these two efforts weren’t enough, Ross Taylor came in to replace Williamson and helped himself to a buffet spread against a tired attack to eke out a half-century, surpassing Brendon McCullum along the way to become New Zealand’s second-highest run-scorer in Test history. Like Latham, Taylor too was a recipient of Sri Lanka’s generosity when Dhananjaya put down a wild slash at first slip on 23 off Lakmal. With the fields largely spread out on the face of Dinesh Chandimal’s defensive captaincy, this was a perfect recipe to build a lead. This meant New Zealand were in a position where they could entertain thoughts of batting just once in this Test.It seemed as if Williamson was on pause-play mode, continuing from where he left off in Abu Dhabi 10 days ago, where he made a remarkable Test century against Yasir Shah and company on a crumbly surface. In comparison, Sri Lanka’s attack was much milder here, with the three-man pace pack struggling to sustain any kind of pressure, first with the new ball and then later in the day even as there was a hint of reverse swing. Dilruwan Perera, a force on dry subcontinent turners, also went wicketless.Where New Zealand employed spin for just three overs, Chandimal bowled Dilruwan and Dhanajaya for a combined 21 overs, for the cost of 89 runs and Williamson’s wicket, much against the run of play. But while he was at the crease, he profited from punchy strokes on the up, his first three scoring shots coming off boundaries as he quickly matched Latham, who had taken 74 balls to make just three runs more.The first of those boundaries was off a genuine outside edge that raced past second slip. It would be the only streaky boundary from Williamson’s bat. The second and third were trademark back-foot punches that pierced the off-side ring. At the end of the first session, it was amply clear which side felt the heat, as Williamson raced past his 29th Test fifty with the promise of much more.All along, Latham kept soldiering along at a steady pace without actually being noticed at the other end. That he managed to stave off Suranga Lakmal’s late inswing from around the stumps was largely due to his tight technique and the shelving of loose drives. He survived early in the innings too, because of poor field placement. Jabbing at a late inswinger from Lakmal, the ball popped off a thick inside edge to where a short leg would’ve been.Sri Lanka’s frustration increased when they lost a review in the third over after lunch, the 26th of the innings, when they referred an lbw appeal against Latham off Lakmal. The ball would’ve smashed into the stumps, but for the line – it pitched outside leg. From there on, there was hardly any noise or intensity created by the bowlers, who largely went through the motions.After a brief spell in the morning session, Mathews wasn’t given a bowl for the remainder of the day when it seemed as if Sri Lanka could do with his relentless plugging away around the off stump. It’s also possible this could’ve been part of his workload management, given this was the first time he was bowling in a Test since January 2017 because of a spate of injuries. With more pace on the ball courtesy Kumara and the erratic Kasun Rajitha, Williamson treated the Sunday crowd to an array of dazzling off-side play.This stand was built upon a solid foundation laid by the openers – Raval and Latham putting on 59, nine more than their highest stand in six innings on the UAE tour against Pakistan.Earlier in the day, Dickwella played a trademark scoop to begin proceedings, but Sri Lanka added just seven to their overnight 275 for 9 before last man Kumara was dismissed. He was superbly caught at leg slip by Colin de Grandhomme, off a thick inside edge that flew in between the batsman’s legs. Dickwella was stranded on 80, three short of his highest Test score, as Tim Southee finished with 6 for 68 – his eighth five-for in Tests. This was also his maiden five-for at the Basin Reserve.

The spin duo strangled Rajshahi Kings after Comilla had won the toss, and left their batsmen a meagre target

The Report by Mohammad Isam12-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rashid Khan lets rip with an appeal•AFP

Comilla Victorians crushed Rajshahi Kings by nine wickets after Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan starred with the ball, taking four wickets collectively as Rajshahi lurched to their third loss in four games.Sent to bat, Rajshahi’s innings hardly put up a decent partnership. They succumbed to the deadly Afghan combination – Rashid’s subtle variations and Nabi’s accuracy- as they made only 115 for 7 in 20 overs. Nabi finished with 3 for 15 while Rashid gave away just seven runs in four overs for his wicket.Liton Das gave Comilla a brisk start before Imrul Kayes and Jos Buttler finished off the chase with their unbroken 97-run second-wicket stand, taking Cmilla home with 29 balls to spare.The only good partBefore he was stretchered off, Simmons was the only Rajshahi batsman to give Comilla something to think about. Off Nabi, he slammed a straight six before hitting Arafat Sunny for three consecutive fours in the sixth over. But off the next ball, he completed a single while clutching his hamstring and then went down. His 40 came off 23 balls with the solitary six and six fours. With his departure, Rajshahi were effectively 48 for three in the sixth over, having already lost Mominul Haque and Rony Talukdar in the fourth and fifth over respectively.Afghans rule MirpurMominul was Nabi’s first wicket before Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nihaduzzaman also fell to his accurate offspin. Credit for Miraz’s wicket was shared with Marlon Samuels too, who leaped to his right at backward point to hold on to catch.Rashid took the key wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim in the ninth over. Rashid had worked over Mushfiqur for six deliveries before an attempted flick took the top edge, and was easily caught at extra cover. Rashid also had a hand in the removal of Malcolm Waller in the 11th over when the Zimbabwean lost his concentration momentarily during an lbw appeal and took off for a single assuming the ball had gone past the square. Liton quickly whipped off the bails, getting him run-out.Liton goes sweepingFarhad Reza was subjected to four sweeps by Liton before he was bowled off the last ball of an over while attempting a punch over the infield. The first of those sweeps that connected, somewhat, went for a six over the wicketkeeper before the next one went off a glove through the same region. Off the fifth ball Liton connected properly with the sweep against an outswinger and it sailed over the square-leg boundary for a second six in the over. Despite conceding 22 runs in the over, Farhad had the last laugh when he snuck a slower ball in and beat the bat to find middle and leg.Chasing it down unflappablyLike he did with Samuels in Comilla’s last match, Kayes settled down to take his side closer to the chase. This time, Buttler was with him. Buttler made an unbeaten 50 off 39 balls with four boundaries and two sixes while Imrul was not out on 44 off 41 balls, finishing the chase with a pulled six off Malcolm Waller.

Essex will require three runs with only one wicket in hand to avoid the follow on after reaching stumps on day three in Canterbury on 289 for 9

ECB Reporters Network22-Sep-2016
ScorecardDan Lawrence made 88 but Essex were still short of the follow-on target at the close•PA Photos

Essex will require three runs with only one wicket in hand to avoid the follow on after reaching stumps on day three in Canterbury on 289 for 9. Responding to Kent’s 441 all out, Essex lost wickets at regular intervals in this Specsavers Championship top-of-the-table clash, but a last-wicket stand worth 22 between David Masters and Matt Dixon has at least given the visitors a chance to avoid batting again on the final day of the campaign.Batting for the first time by 11.35am on day three, Essex lost two wickets in the short 15-over spell through to lunch as Kent maintained their grip on events despite a plucky knock from No. 4 Dan Lawrence, who rode his luck to score 88 having edged through the cordon when on 5 only to see Will Gidman down a chance at third slip on the same score.The visitors and second division champions elect, lost Varun Chopra, lbw for 25 to Kent’s man-of-the-moment, Darren Stevens, then Tom Westley, caught at square leg by Sean Dickson off the bowling of Mitch Claydon in the over before the interval.Kent maintained a check on the run rate in the afternoon session and also collected a further three wickets in the process as Nick Browne, Ravi Bopara and Adam Wheater all trooped back to the pavilion. Browne edged the 12th ball after the resumption to Sam Billings off Claydon then Bopara, digging down late on a full ball from Hardus Viljoen, also nicked through to the Kent keeper. Just before tea Wheater’s miscued pull against Matt Coles flew to deep square leg where Dickson took a comfortable catch.Viljoen continued to shine after tea by having Kishen Velani and Will Rhodes both caught at second slip by James Tredwell off successive overs.With 27 needed to avoid the follow-on and just 12 short of his fourth Championship hundred of the summer, Lawrence inexplicably holed out to long-on against the offspin of Tredwell. Masters, in his farewell appearance for Essex, was given a guard of honour by the Kent side as he walked to the middle, but Tredwell soon struck again by ripping an arm ball though Paul Walter’s defensive gate to peg back the left-hander’s off stump to leave Essex nine down.At the start of the day Kent had secured the second division runners-up spot upon reaching 400. Resuming on their overnight score of 387 for 7, the hosts motored past 400 with a fearsome back-foot cut by Coles that registered a fifth batting bonus point to clinch the ECB’s prize money cheque of almost £57,000 for finishing second behind Essex.In trying to repeat the stroke in the next over Coles nicked to Wheater to depart for 32 and give Masters, the former Kent seamer, his first wicket in the match. Masters struck again with a lifter that Viljoen could only glove to third slip then Stevens, on 136 and just four short of equalling his season’s best, clipped to deep backward square to give Dixon figures of 5 for 124.

Netherlands will take on fellow 2015 ICC World T20 Qualifier co-champions Scotland in the headline matchup of round two in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2015Netherlands will take on 2015 ICC World T20 Qualifier co-champions Scotland in the headline matchup of round two in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship. Scotland will travel to The Hague for the four-day Intercontinental Cup match scheduled for September 8-11 at Sportpark Westvliet. Netherlands last played there in 2012 when they defeated Bangladesh by one wicket in a Twenty20 international.The two sides will then play a pair of 50-over WCL Championship fixtures at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen. Both sides are currently joint leaders after round one of the WCL Championship after Netherlands swept Papua New Guinea in June and Scotland claimed two rain-affected matches over Nepal in Ayr last month.Ireland will travel to Namibia in a top-of-the-table clash in the I-Cup from October 24 to 27 in Windhoek. Ireland claimed full points with an innings victory over UAE in Malahide in June to kick off round one while Namibia did the same, defeating Hong Kong by 114 runs in May. Namibia then host Kenya in two WCL Championship matches in Windhoek on October 30 and November 1.Hong Kong travel to UAE in the second week of November with both teams seeking their first win of the I-Cup. The four-day game will take place at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai from November 11-14 and will be followed by WCL Championship matches on November 16 and 18.The second round of the I-Cup will wrap up with Afghanistan hosting PNG in Sharjah from November 21-24. PNG will be looking to bounce back after their dreams of reaching the 2016 World Twenty20 in India were dashed by Afghanistan in Malahide last month.PNG are then scheduled to take on Nepal in a pair of WCL Championship fixtures on November 28 and 30, with both teams seeking their first wins in the competition. However, the venue for those games has not yet been decided. An ICC release stated that the matches are currently slated to be held in Kathmandu, though that is subject to a security and infrastructure assessment and clearance following a series of earthquakes that struck near Kathmandu in April and May.According to a source, the games may be shifted to the UAE. From a logistics standpoint, it would not require additional travel for PNG, who will already be there for the four-day match against Afghanistan, and the ICC GCA would be available to serve as a neutral venue. The ICC recently had to shift the 2015 U-19 World Cup Qualifier out of Nepal due to infrastructure damage from the earthquakes and it was announced earlier this month that the tournament will now be hosted this October in Malaysia.

Gladstone Dainty has cited insufficient investment to cover initial operational costs and a lack of turf wicket venues in key markets for another delay to the proposed domestic Twenty20 league

Peter Della Penna04-Feb-2013USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty has cited insufficient investment to cover initial operational costs and a lack of turf wicket venues in key markets for another delay to the proposed domestic Twenty20 league. ESPNcricinfo reported last week that Cricket Holdings America LLC, the partnership headed by USACA and New Zealand Cricket to stage a Twenty20 league in the USA, has pushed back the starting date for the league from 2013 to 2014.According to Dainty, who is also the chairman of CHA LLC, the organisers did not want to rush the start of the league with partial funding. They hope for enough revenue to make up the balance so that incidences of players not getting paid in time – as in last summer’s T20 All-Star exhibition match in Toronto and reportedly, in the Bangladesh Premier League last year – can be avoided.”The bottom line is that we did not get all the money to have a quality league,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “We got enough money. We can go start a league but you’ve heard the stories. Players not getting paid, vendors not getting paid. In America, that could be trouble. We don’t want to get involved because we’re not a Full-Member country and we’re really not trying for people to say, ‘Well this is a Mickey Mouse league.'”Besides operational costs, the other key issue revolves around the type of facilities available. While CHA LLC chief executive Neil Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last year that the proposed league would be played on artificial pitches in order to take advantage of bigger metropolitan markets, Dainty has said that it would be harmful to the league’s image if games were not played on turf.”As long as the ICC says it’s turf wickets, I’ll vigorously defend that position,” Dainty said. “If the ICC changes to artificial wickets, then I’ll change but I don’t think we should be going and starting a league with artificial wickets, at least not in America. I don’t think that our cricketing pedigree is as such that we should be initiating those changes.”Currently the only ICC ODI approved turf wicket venue in the USA is in Florida. Dainty says that more funds should be raised for installing turf wickets in the New York metropolitan area, rather than use any artificial wicket venues that currently exist in the city, for the league to be successful and seize the sizable expatriate fan base there.”You need these wickets to have a quality league. As far as I can see, most of the games are going to be played close to each other, maybe New York-New Jersey, New York- Washington D.C., depending on whether we can get wickets rather than spreading ourselves all over the country. I don’t think we should compromise quality of play and turf wickets, I don’t think you can have the best quality without turf wickets.”Even though the league is expected to be the key driver of revenue to USACA from licensing fees through the CHA LLC agreement, revenue can also be generated from staging other events. Dainty says he is confident there will be as many as three series arranged this year in the USA which may include Full Members or “international club teams”, hinting that IPL franchises may be sought to tour in the same way that European soccer teams have often played exhibition fixtures around the USA outside of their own domestic seasons.The concept of having IPL teams tour the USA was first broached in 2010 when former USACA chief executive Don Lockerbie met with former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. Although CHA continues to target New York as the base market, Las Vegas has been identified as an ideal destination to host a one-off series. A new cricket stadium would need to be constructed in Las Vegas if such a series were to take place.”I feel confident that that’s one of the places [Las Vegas] we’re gonna have cricket this summer,” Dainty said. “This summer we’re hopeful to maybe have one or two events in Vegas. Vegas is hot in terms of putting a facility together. We have a couple of strong groups putting packages together to have cricket in Vegas, a couple of strong groups that the CHA LLC supports.”If any series are organised for this summer, they would be the first genuine CHA LLC revenue-generating events since the partnership was formed in December 2010. The pair of Twenty20s held in Florida last summer between the West Indies and New Zealand were organised by the West Indies Cricket Board after CHA LLC, which holds the rights to stage Full-Member matches in the USA, sold those rights for the series to the WICB for $1.”It was more important to have the games and to make it work than to make money, so technically it’s a loss but that’s the way we had to do business. It’s the game first and building the game. Everybody’s treating this as maybe the next El Dorado. The streets are just paved with gold and once you find the city you’re rich. Well, we’re planning to build a city.”

David Warner’s 180 powered Australia to a strong lead before their bowlers set about routing India a second time on day two of the third Test at the WACA ground

The Report by Daniel Brettig14-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMitchell Starc dismissed Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings to send India hurtling towards defeat•Getty Images

David Warner’s 180 powered Australia to a strong lead before their bowlers set about routing India a second time on day two of the third Test at the WACA ground. Australia were cut down for 369 after an opening stand of 214 between Warner and Ed Cowan, but any gains made by India’s bowlers were frittered away by their batsmen, who limped to 4 for 88. They were still 120 runs short of making Australia bat again, and a handful of wickets away from surrendering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.It was the left-armer Mitchell Starc’s turn to be the visitors’ chief tormentor, swinging the ball at high pace while also gaining some steepling bounce. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus also struck to maintain their summer jaunt through the visitors’ batting, while Ryan Harris beat the bat often.Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli were India’s last faint hope, but it seemed a forlorn one given how the ball continued to swing, seam and bounce. The failures of the other top-order batsmen opened the question of whether or not Rohit Sharma will debut in Adelaide.Starc defeated Gautam Gambhir with a ball that pranced at the batsman and looped to gully off the bat handle, and then pinned Sachin Tendulkar lbw with in-swing. Tendulkar was unhappy about the decision, shaking his head as he walked off then reacting with dismay to replays that showed the ball clipping leg stump. Virender Sehwag was undone by a Siddle delivery that lifted and left him, while VVS Laxman made another duck on a wretched tour, edging Hilfenhaus’ outswinger into the cordon.For all of India’s woes, their bowlers had again found a trace of brittleness in the hosts’ batting. Australia lost all 10 wickets for 155 from the time Cowan was the first man out, underlining the value of Warner’s innings, among the most brazen played by a Test opener, and his partnership of contrast with the more restrained Cowan. However it reflected poorly on the batsmen that Siddle’s 30 was the next best score.Yadav claimed five wickets for the first time in Tests, striking three times in a hostile morning spell, then Ishant, Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar chimed in across the afternoon to limit the hosts’ lead to 208.Resuming at 0 for 149, Cowan and Warner played in more or less the same vein as the previous evening. If Warner reined in his game at all, it was only in a nod to better bowling from the visitors. He was still inclined to swing for the fences every now and then, and crashed another straight drive over Ishant’s head for his fourth six.The first chance of the innings arrived at 193, Warner touching a well-pitched delivery from Zaheer only for it to be dropped by Kohli at first slip. Cowan accumulated soundly at the other end, reaching his second half-century of the series and rotating the strike intelligently. It was he who raised the 200 stand, pulling Yadav to the square-leg boundary to take Australia’s openers past that mark for the first time since Simon Katich and Phil Jaques did it against West Indies in 2008.Thoughts had turned to the possibility of a Cowan century when Yadav moved around the wicket and produced a delivery that moved back a shade to burst between the opener’s bat and pad and disturb the stumps. Cowan was crestfallen to have left the middle, but the following passage would show that batting was not as easy as it had seemed.Warner was struck a painful blow on the elbow, requiring the physio’s attention for the second time in his innings, and Marsh fell cheaply for the fourth time in as many innings this series. He played at a delivery that left him and snicked to Laxman at second slip. Ponting managed one back-foot cover drive before he too was undone by Yadav, who found just enough swing and seam from the off to flatten the former captain’s middle stump.The merry progress of Warner continued in a stand of 48 with his captain Michael Clarke, before the opener finally miscued a loft to offer an outfield catch. Much as Warner cussed, the end of the innings reflected the crazy brave manner of its construction.Clarke received a fine delivery from Zaheer, angled in then moving subtly away, and a similar ball also accounted for Brad Haddin, the wicketkeeper’s duck raising further questions about his place in the side. Michael Hussey battled for fluency and was oddly subservient to the cleaner hitting of Siddle in another brief stand, before Vinay collected his first wicket when Hussey cut to gully.Siddle’s fluent stay was ended when Yadav beat the outside edge to flick off stump, Harris perished for 9 when he lobbed a pull shot to square leg, and Hilfenhaus could not contain himself against Sehwag’s off spin. But bad as Australia’s batsmen had done once Warner departed, India would do worse.

Left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan has said he is not overawed at the prospect of making his international debut on the World Cup stage

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2011Left-arm pace bowler Junaid Khan, who replaced the injured fast bowler Sohail Tanvir in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, has said he is not overawed at the prospect of making his international debut on such a big stage.”I’ll treat it as just another game of cricket,” Junaid told . “I’ve represented my country at junior levels and Pakistan A, so I know what the responsibility of playing for your country is like. I don’t think I’ll have any nerves and I’m confident I can handle the situation.”Junaid was selected on the basis of his consistent showing on Pakistan’s domestic circuit. In 35 first-class games, he has picked up 167 wickets at an average of just above 21. He was also the second-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan A in the unofficial ODI series during their recent tour of West Indies where he picked up five wickets in three games.”I’ve been working so hard over the last couple of seasons and I feel that I have consistently improved as a bowler, “Junaid said. “I’ve also been working hard on my batting and I feel that my call-up for the World Cup is warranted as I have done consistently well at all levels for Pakistan.”There have been several high-voltage clashes between India and Pakistan in previous World Cups and Junaid said he was looking forward to another such encounter. “Just getting a chance to play in the World Cup is a dream come true for me,” he told . “But if we get to play against India in the World Cup, it would be a blast to bowl at [Sachin] Tendulkar and get him out. It is an ambition for me.”