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Jungade seals victory for Vidarbha

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

A wrap of the third day of the Ranji Trophy in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2012
ScorecardVidarbha’s 85-run first-innings lead came in handy as they defeated Odisha by 106 runs on the third day in Cuttack. A half-century from their No. 3 Amol Ubarhande was crucial in their second-innings total of 140 which helped them set a target of 226. In reply, Odisha were dismissed for 119, the collapse catalysed by Amol Jungade’s five wickets. The win took Vidarbha to third position in Group B.
ScorecardMaharashtra opener Harshad Khadiwale scored a responsible century to help his team take a first-innings lead against Baroda in Pune. Continuing from his overnight score of 69, Khadiwale was involved in valuable partnerships with five batsmen before departing for 168, including a 166-run stand with captain Rohit Motwani, who scored 91. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt claimed both the wickets, and added one more later as Maharashtra finished the day at 376 for 7.
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Ali Murtaza took seven wickets as Uttar Pradesh bowled Tamil Nadu out for 179 and took a commanding position on the third day in Chennai. Resuming on 149 for 6, Tamil Nadu lasted for less than 13 overs. In response, their bowlers, Aushik Srinivas and medium pacer Sunil Sam, shared seven wickets to restrict Uttar Pradesh to 207. But they have a tough target of 421 ahead of them after conceding a first innings deficit of 213.
Scorecard”As long as I play cricket I will remember Hubli, since I scored my first hundred and double-hundred here and my recall to the Indian team also came here,” Haryana captain Amit Mishra had said on Sunday. Karnataka will have less fond memories of the city since their batting buckled in little more than two sessions, needing a miracle to reach the knockout stages. Haryana started the round in seventh place, qualification looking a long way away, but an outright victory here will keep them in the hunt for reaching the next stage.Read more of the report here.

Pedro Ken celebra arrancada do Ceará e retomada da carreira

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

MatériaMais Notícias

Foram seis meses de dúvidas, angústias e muita torcida. Suspenso por seis meses após um exame detectar a substância anastrozol em um jogo contra o Santa Cruz, ainda em 2017, o meia Pedro Ken acompanhou de perto, mas fora de campo, a saga do Ceará para escapar de um rebaixamento que era dado por muitos como certo até a parada para a Copa do Mundo na Rússia.

Com o término da pena no fim de agosto, voltou em tempo de ajudar na arrancada que fez o Vozão chegar aos 37 pontos, 13ª colocação e respirar na briga pela permanência na Série A do Brasileiro.

– Foi um período muito complicado. Sempre fui um atleta muito disciplinado, com um histórico irretocável, mas acabei recebendo essa punição. O tribunal entendeu que mesmo eu não tendo tido intenção de usar nada pra me beneficiar, eu tinha minha responsabilidade. Cumpri a pena e agora não quero mais pensar nisso. É muito difícil ver seus companheiros lutando e não poder estar em campo – disse.

Com o término da suspensão, Pedro voltou a ser relacionado para os jogos e se tornou uma opção frequente do técnico Lisca.

– Considero que já tenho uma história bonita aqui no Ceará. Fiz parte da equipe que conquistou o acesso ano passado e fui bicampeão estadual. Fico muito feliz em voltar a tempo de dar minha contribuição nessa arrancada para a permanência. Ainda não conquistamos esse objetivo, sabemos que ainda faltam alguns passos, mas estamos cada dia mais próximos – afirmou.

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O jogador, que antes da punição jogava ao lado de Richardson como volante, tem sido aproveitado pelo técnico Lisca em outras funções, mas não vê nisso um problema:

– Sou um volante de origem e foi a posição em que me destaquei aqui no clube, mas sempre tive essa característica da polivalência na minha carreira. Nessa hora não pode existir vaidade pessoal. Estou à disposição do Lisca pra ajudar o Ceará da forma que ele precisar de mim.

Segundo a maioria dos matemáticos, serão necessários 44 pontos para encerrar qualquer chance de rebaixamento. O Ceará, com a vitória de ontem sobre o Atletico-MG, chegou a 37, restando ainda sete jogos por fazer. Ontem, Pedro Ken entrou em campo no início do segundo tempo, e teve participação direta no gol de Leandro Carvalho, que decretou o triunfo cearense por 2 a 1:

– Não podemos relaxar. Estamos vindo numa sequência de resultados importantes e temos que aproveitar o embalo e a confiança. Queremos atingir logo essa pontuação pra não dependermos de ninguém nas últimas rodadas. Acredito que estamos no caminho certo, temos um grupo experiente e um grande treinador. Vamos fazer de tudo pra que o torcedor do Ceará tenha um final de ano feliz – finalizou.

O Vozão volta a campo na próxima segunda-feira (05/11), quando enfrentará o Sport, adversário direto na luta contra o descenso, na Ilha do Retiro.

بويول: أروخو من أفضل المدافعين في العالم.. وتشافي نجح في فصل الفريق عن قضية نيجريرا

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

علق كارليس بويول أسطورة نادي برشلونة، على مباراة الكلاسيكو التي ستجمع النادي الكتالوني بـ ريال مدريد مساء اليوم الأحد، ضمن الجول 26 من الدوري الإسباني.

برشلونة يستضيف ريال مدريد، وفي حالة الفوز سيوسع الفارق إلى 12 نقطة في صدارة الدوري، وسط الجدل المُثار حول قضية نيجريرا المتهم بها النادي الكتالوني بالفساد المالي.

وقال بويول في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو” الإسبانية: “الشيء الأكثر أهمية بالنسبة لـ برشلونة، هو أن غرفة الملابس بعيدة عما يحدث. الجميع يركز على عمله، وما يحدث في الملعب فقط. وكل الضوضاء المحيطة لا تؤثر على اللاعبين والفريق”.

طالع أيضًا.. كادينا سير: بيريز يتخذ موقفًا جديدًا ضد برشلونة قبل مباراة الكلاسيكو

وأضاف: “لا يمكن التحكم في أي شيء الآن، ولكن تشافي يدير الفريق بأفضل طريقة، يجعلهم يركزون في الملعب، ويفصلهم تمامًا عما يحدث في الخارج”.

وعن مواجهة ريال مدريد، أشاد بويول بـ رونالد أروخو، خليفته في دفاع البلوجرانا: “رونالد يمر بموسم جيد في ظروف استثنائية، إنه محترف للغاية ومتواضع، يبذل قصارى جهده في التدريبات والمباريات، والآن هو أحد أفضل المدافعين في العالم، إذا لم يكن الأفضل فهو من بين الثلاثة الأوائل، رغم أنه لا يزال شابًا ولديه مجالًا للتطور والتحسين، وفي السنوات القادمة سيكون له مستقبل باهر”.

وواصل: “هناك العديد من المواهب ستظهر في الكلاسيكو، جافي في برشلونة، وبيدري إذا كان جاهزًا، وأعتقد أن كامافينجا أيضًا في ريال مدريد لاعب رائع للغاية”.

واختتم: “برشلونة لم يكن جيدًا هذا الموسم في أوروبا، ولكن هذا الأمر أصبح من الماضي. يجب أن نركز على ما تبقى من الليجا، وكذلك كأس ملك إسبانيا. وفي حالة الفوز بالكلاسيكو اليوم، سيكون برشلونة حسم الليجا بشكل كبير، ولكن بشرط الحفاظ على المستوى، وأن يبقى التفكير كما هو، مواصلة الفوز ولعب كل مباراة على أنها نهائية”.

Australia win thriller in fading light

by csb10.top Uncategorized


Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson made an important half-century•Associated Press

Five years after Australia won the World Cup in a farcical finish in the dark at Kensington Oval, they again celebrated a victory there in fading light as the first Test went to the wire on the fifth afternoon. Set 192 to win in two sessions, the Australians started their chase slowly and were almost derailed by middle-order wickets, but Michael Hussey’s calm and rational approach ensured they narrowly outpaced the setting sun to win by three wickets.In a tense conclusion, Hussey was bowled by Kemar Roach for 32 from 26 balls with three runs still required, but Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus saw the Australians home and denied West Indies a satisfactory outcome despite them dominating the first three days. Hilfenhaus struck the winning run with a single scrambled to the off side and a direct-hit at the bowler’s end was sent to the third umpire, who found Hilfenhaus in his ground by a few inches.All the while, the players were keeping an eye on the umpires, who were keeping an eye on the light and under the new ICC rules have complete authority to determine whether play continues or ceases. By the last few balls the shadows had completely enveloped the ground but there was just enough time for the Australians, who celebrated a victory that was set up by Michael Clarke’s gutsy declaration behind on the fourth day.It was a decision that indicated Australia would attack in the final few sessions and by dismissing West Indies for 148 before lunch on the last day, they gave themselves hope. West Indies were not out of the contest either, and four wickets to Narsingh Deonarine gave them more that a slim chance, as the Australians still needed 52 runs with five wickets in hand when Clarke became the fourth of Deonarine’s victims.But Hussey used the finishing skills that have made him such a valuable ODI player, reverse-sweeping to find gaps and twice clearing the long-on boundary off Deonarine to bring the target within reach. The loss of Matthew Wade, who cut Roach high and was caught at deep point for 18, was a blow, and the departure of Hussey in Roach’s next over kept the game alive, but it wasn’t enough for West Indies.They were left to rue a couple of important dropped catches, particularly the captain Darren Sammy’s failure to hang on to a chance when Shane Watson had 4. Watson cut Roach viciously to gully and the ball fizzed through Sammy’s hands, and while it was a fearsome stroke it was certainly a catch that should have been taken. Ed Cowan was also reprieved when he edged Sammy and the keeper Carlton Baugh, standing up to the stumps, couldn’t glove the ball.Cowan and Watson compiled a 75-run stand after David Warner was caught behind off Sammy for 23, but their partnership was notable for the snail’s pace at which it was built in the early stages. Cowan went to tea on 11 from 61 balls and Australia needed another 131 in the final session, and their lack of urgency seemed at odds with Clarke’s aggressive declaration.The tempo lifted after tea and the dropping of Watson proved costly as he started to find the boundary and on one occasion cleared it. He was caught at deep backward square leg for 52 when he top-edged an attempted pull off Deonarine and Cowan followed soon after for an agonising 34 from 100 balls when he pulled Deonarine straight to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at midwicket.Ricky Ponting was bowled by a ball that stayed low and Clarke chipped a catch back to Deonarine, before Hussey and Wade steadied the chase. Australia had been favourites when they bowled West Indies out in an extended opening session in which the hosts added 77 to their overnight total for the loss of their last five wickets.The last specialist batsman, Deonarine, added only one run to his score and was the first to depart, lbw to Harris for 21. It was precisely the start the Australians needed if they were to give themselves time to chase down a target, and they had another perfect chance soon afterwards when Sammy skied a chance to long-on.Nathan Lyon put down a sitter to give Sammy a life on 12, and nobody was happier than Lyon when Sammy played on to Watson for 14, accidentally kicking the ball on to his stumps as he tried to prevent it rolling back. Baugh chipped a catch to mid-on from the bowling of Hilfenhaus (4 for 27) for 23 and West Indies were in trouble at 116 for 8.Fidel Edwards defended solidly for a while before he played a surprisingly rash stroke and skied a catch to mid-off for 3 from 17 balls to give Peter Siddle his second wicket, and that brought the No.11 Devendra Bishoo to the crease. Bishoo defended calmly and together with Roach set about eating up time and adding some important runs to the total.Their 23-run stand pushed the session beyond the scheduled lunch time but eventually ended when Roach was bowled by Harris for 25. That left the Australians with 192 to chase in two sessions and they were good enough to do so – just. West Indies were left to wonder what could have been.

England unconcerned by Ajmal's action – Prior

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While there were murmurs from former players and members of the media questioning the legality of Saeed Ajmal’s action, Matt Prior said the England players were not talking about it

George Dobell in Dubai 17-Jan-2012

Matt Prior says England’s batmen had to hold their hands up for failing on a good batting surface•Getty Images

It was as inevitable as it was regrettable that another absorbing day’s cricket between Pakistan and England should be tarnished by more controversy.At a time when Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal should have been talking about the career-best bowling spell that had earned his side the initiative in the first Test, he was instead forced to defend the legality of his bowling action in the post-play media conference. It appears that games between these sides will always be plagued by one issue or another.Ajmal, utilising all his skill and variation, claimed 7 for 55 as England were dismissed for just 192. Though Ajmal gained little turn from a sluggish surface, there was just enough movement in each direction to send confusion through the English ranks. It was a masterful performance from a fine cricketer.There were no complaints from the England dressing-room. Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper, could not have made it clearer. “It’s not something we’re concerned about,” he replied when asked what the England team thought of Ajmal’s action. “It’s not something we talk about. It’s nothing to do with us.”But there were murmurs from former players and members of the media that suggested the issue could well dominate the headlines in the coming days. A waft of sour grapes, perhaps?The debate was sparked by the former England captain turned pundit, Bob Willis. Willis made the point, a quite legitimate point in context, that England are putting themselves at a disadvantage by not encouraging their young cricketers to bowl the doosra, a delivery that is harder to bowl while maintaining the legal margin of 15 degrees of arm straightening.There’s some truth in Willis’ complaint. Very few English coaches encourage the doosra and one of the very few county players who could bowl it with any degree of control and bite, Maurice Holmes, was recently suspended from bowling and released by his county after doubts about his action were raised.”The delivery that I have a problem with is the doosra,” Willis said. “The ICC have accommodated this delivery; they changed the rules to allow these bowlers to bend their elbow 15 degrees, which is what makes it so difficult for the batsmen.”The authorities are now allowing these mystery spinners, unorthodox offspinners to bend their elbow to a degree. If they are going to be allowed to do that then England have to address this and decide whether we should be teaching our young spinners to bowl like that as well.”Prior, whose performance stood head and shoulders above his team-mates, refused to encourage talk about Ajmal’s action. Instead he thought his side had to take responsibility for a poor display with the bat, while acknowledging that any bowler with the ability to turn the ball both ways always presented extra difficulties. Neither did he think that Ajmal’s talk of a mystery new delivery – the teesra – had proved to be a successful mind game.”We have to hold our hands up,” Prior said. “We had a bad day at the office. It was a pretty good batting surface and the ball wasn’t really turning. We just played a few cross-batted shots when we should have played straight.”I don’t think Saaed got in our heads at all. Any spin bowler who spins it both ways is tricky. His wrist is pretty quick when he delivers the ball so it’s pretty difficult to pick him at times and that obviously plays on a batsman’s minds, but we have to deal with him a lot better than we did today.Ajmal also chose to rise above questions on the issue. “I’m just going to concentrate on my bowling,” he said. “Umpires and referees are responsible for judging my action. Such questions were raised with Saqlain Mushtaq [the former Pakistan offspinner], too, but we both played county cricket and there were no problems. It’s no problem for me that someone in England has questioned my action.”This was the best performance of my life. I just bowled wicket to wicket and, while I had a good day, England had a bad one. They are all good players and it would be wrong to say that England doesn’t play spin well. Andrew Strauss should have played off the front foot rather than the back, but I’ve worked hard on my bowling against left-handers and I’m very happy to have dismissed four left-handers today.”

Tiwary, Menaria score tons on batsmen's day

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

A round-up of the action from the first day of the third round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2011On a day dominated by batsmen in the Ranji Trophy, Tamil Nadu managed to bowl Delhi out for 212 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Seamers L Balaji and Jagannathan Kaushik used what was a surprisingly green surface to take six wickets between them and restrict Delhi, who had chosen to bat. The ball nipped around in the morning, and Balaji and Yo Mahesh took a couple of early wickets. Unmukt Chand stayed firm and was the top-scorer in the innings, getting 86. Chand had managed to get Delhi to 157 for 3 with the help of Yogesh Nagar, who scored 59, but a couple of quick strikes from Kaushik derailed the innings. Balaji came back to get rid of the tail with the help of left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas. Delhi were missing allrounder Rajat Bhatia, who had to sit out after injuring himself while playing with his pet dog.Centuries from Rahul Dewan and Nitin Saini gave Haryana a firm base of 281 for 3 against Baroda on the first day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Baroda put Haryana in but had to wait till the 77th over to break Dewan and Saini’s 239-run opening partnership. Saini scored 112, including 15 fours and a six. Baroda were given some relief at the end of the day when Saini’s wicket was followed by two more quick strikes. But Dewan was still at the crease at stumps on 131 not out.Bengal had two centurions too – Arindam Das and Manoj Tiwary – and reached 318 for 3 against Madhya Pradesh at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata, with Sourav Ganguly batting on 37 at stumps. Das and Tiwary came together with the score on 49 for 2 and put together a 209-run partnership to justify Bengal’s decision to bat. Das scored 105 off 225 balls while Tiwary was the aggressor, reaching 136 not out off 201 balls by the end of the day. Tiwary had a reprieve on 68 when he was dropped by Mohnish Mishra at leg slip off the bowling of offspinner Jalaj Saxena. Das’ dismissal brought Ganguly to the crease for his second match of the season and he stroked six boundaries.It was a similar story at the Veer Surendra Sai Stadium in Sambalpur where Orissa chose to bat and reached 295 for 3 against Uttar Pradesh thanks to Biplab Samantray’s 110 not out. Orissa were given a firm base by Natraj Behera and Niranjan Behera, who both scored half-centuries and Samantray built on it. Samantray came in with the score on 101 for 2, after Natraj Behera had been dismissed for 53 and built an 87-run stand with Niranajan Behera. After Niranjan was dismissed Abhilash Mallick gave Samantray company in a 107-run partnership.Sagar Jogiyani was one of seven centurions on the first day of the third round of matches in the Elite division. His 126 not out helped take Saurashtra to 280 for 4 after they were put in to bat by Punjab in Mohali. Chirag Pathak hit four boundaries in a run-a-ball 22 before he was dismissed in the 7th over. It was the only success Punjab were going to have in a while as Jogiyani and Bhushan Chauhan put together 169 runs for the second wicket. Punjab fought back with Chauhan being dismissed for 68 in the 61st over and Manpreet Gony taking wickets with the first and second balls of the 66th. That flutter did not lead to a collapse though as Jogiyani put together an unbeaten 56-run stand with Shitanshu Kotak and ended the day 126 not out. Harbhajan Singh went wicketless in the 20 overs he bowled on the day.Ashok Menaria got his highest first-class score to help Rajasthan reach 257 for 2 against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Rajasthan elected to bat but were rocked by the loss of two early wickets. Aakash Chopra was dismissed for a duck off the fourth ball of the game and Vineet Saxena followed seven overs later to leave Rajasthan 17 for 2. Menaria and Robin Bist then put together an unbeaten 240-run partnership. Bist was cautious and reached 85 not out off 271 balls by stumps, while Menaria played a few more stokes and reached 142 not out. Both batsmen could have been dismissed early in their innings: Menaria was bowled on 11 off a no-ball by seamer JP Yadav, while Bist was put down by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat when on 10. Menaria had another life when on 136, after being dropped by Shivakant Shukla at second slip.For a full report on the first day’s play of the Mumbai v Karnataka game, click here.

فيديو | محمد شريف يسجل هدف الأهلي الثاني أمام الزمالك

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

نجح الأهلي في تسجيل الهدف الثاني في شباك الزمالك، خلال المباراة الجارية بينهما الآن، في بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلتقي الزمالك مع الأهلي على أرضية ملعب استاد القاهرة الدولي، في الجولة الـ14 من عمر المسابقة الأكبر محليَا.

وأحرز محمد شريف الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 74 من عمر المباراة، بعد عرضية من محمد هاني قابلها شريف بتسديدة قوية على يمين عواد.

طالع..مباشر بالفيديو | مباراة الأهلي والزمالك في الدوري.. إعلان التشكيلين

ويدخل صاحب الرداء الأحمر هذه القمة متصدرًا ترتيب جدول الدوري المصري برصيد 31 نقطة، بينما يأتي الفارس الأبيض رابعًا بـ26 نقطة.

وتلاقى الأهلي والزمالك في 124 مباراة بمسابقة الدوري المصري، نجح الأهلي في الفوز في 47 مناسبة، بينما استطاع الزمالك الانتصار في 27 مواجهة، وحسم التعادل 50 لقاءً. هدف الأهلي الثاني أمام الزمالك في الدوري

Misbah sets sights on finishing the job

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Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies. Pakistan need only five more wickets to beat West Indies and level the series 1-1, while the hosts require 297 runs for an unlikely victory, or to bat all day to salvage a draw.”Until the time you’ve taken the last wicket, the match is still not finished,” Misbah said after stumps on the fourth day in St Kitts. “It’s a game of cricket and you have to finish the game otherwise it’s really half the job done.”Pakistan had Misbah to thank for giving them an excellent chance at victory, after he and Taufeeq Umar both made centuries in the second innings. It was Misbah’s third Test hundred and he was unbeaten on 102 when he declared with a lead of 426, a fine effort for a 36-year-old in his sixth Test as captain.”It’s really, really good to have a hundred, especially when you are captain,” Misbah said. “For your own confidence and for the sake of the team, it’s really important that the captain chips in and perform at all stages in the game.”West Indies made a poor start to their chase, with two of the top four out for ducks, and by stumps they were 130 for 5 and relying heavily on the vice-captain Brendan Nash (30 not out) to salvage something on the final day. Abdur Rehman caused the biggest problems with three wickets, all of which came soon after the tea break and shattered West Indies’ hopes of ending the day in a reasonable position.”At tea, my coach [Waqar Younis] and my captain came to me and said, ‘Go back there and go back to your normal bowling,” Rehman said. “Don’t give them flight, just tight, tight, contain and you’ll get the wickets’.”To rescue West Indies, Nash will need not only a major innings himself but also help from the lower order, including Carlton Baugh (7 not out) and the next man in, the captain Darren Sammy. West Indies won the first Test in the two-match series.

Sri Lanka aim to build momentum

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Match Facts

March 10, Pallekele
Start time 2.30pm (0900 GMT)Zimbabwe need more from their top order to stand a chance against Sri Lanka•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Like all four major Test nations in Group A, Sri Lanka are on course to progress to the quarter-finals without any serious problems, and the chances of Zimbabwe providing an upset to create a modicum of the excitement witnessed in the other group is slim to none. However, for Sri Lanka it’s an ideal time to produce a commanding all-round performance and build momentum ahead of the quarter-finals.There is a feeling that Sri Lanka haven’t quite clicked yet. They have eased past Canada and Kenya – the latter thanks to Lasith Malinga’s hat-trick – but came unstuck against Pakistan with an 11-run defeat. The clash against Australia was shaping up to be a cracker when the rain came and interrupted a well-paced innings by Kumar Sangakkara and denied the spinners their chance to shine.Zimbabwe shouldn’t provide many problems having suffered a 10-wicket hammering at the hands of New Zealand in their last game. Their batting has lacked consistency and will face a tough examination from whichever combination of spinners Sri Lanka opt to field, while there’s Malinga’s toe-crushes to overcome as well. Ray Price and Prosper Utseya are good spinners themselves but desperately need the batsmen to back them up.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WLWWW
ZimbabweLWLLL

Watch out for…

Ajantha Mendis may have been worked out by some of the top international teams, but against lower-ranked opponents his unique variety of wrist and finger spin still proves a handful. He surprisingly went wicketless against Kenya, did not play against Pakistan and took just one wicket against Canada. He’ll hope for a chance to make his mark on the World Cup and build confidence ahead of the knockout stages, but faces competition for his place from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.Elton Chigumbura needs to lead from the front. The captain has struggled so far with three low scores and it means Zimbabwe’s middle order is lacking someone to either rebuild after early problems or increase the scoring rate later on. Chigumbura has the talent to be a major run-scorer which is why his lean World Cup is such a frustration, and perhaps the stresses of captaincy are weighing on his shoulders. Conditions haven’t proved conducive to his medium-pace, either, which makes it even more important that he delivers with the bat.

Team news

If Sri Lanka want three spinners in their XI again it means the new ball is either in the hands of one of them or Angelo Mathews. With Malinga also more of a threat with the older ball it can leave Sri Lanka a little light early on so it may be an opportunity to assess the balance of their team. Mahela Jayawardene hinted that Dilhara Fernando could earn his first outing although Nuwan Kulasekara provides more batting.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk) 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah MuralitharanThere aren’t really many options for Zimbabwe to strengthen their team so it’s a case of asking for better from what they already have. The pitch in Pallekele offered some assistance to the seamers during Tuesday’s match between New Zealand and Pakistan, and Chigumbura said they may play one or two seamers although Chris Mpofu is carrying a side strain so is doubtful.Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Charles Coventry, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 6 Regis Chakabva, 7 Greg Lamb, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Ray Price, 11 Tinashe Panyangara

Pitch and conditions

Pallekelle will be staging its second ODI following the match between Pakistan and New Zealand. Ross Taylor didn’t have many problems with the conditions – and comfortably cleared the ropes – but batting proved trickier under lights when the ball zipped around.

Stats and trivia

  • Thirteen of the 16 wickets Zimbabwe have taken at the World Cup have gone to their spinners
  • Compared to their record against some other major nations, Zimbabwe have had their moments against Sri Lanka with seven victories in 46 ODIs, with the most recent an eight-wicket win at Harare last June.

Quotes

“If we keep our wickets in hand, I’m sure we can handle them a bit better. But if we lose wickets first up then it is going to be hard for us to come back in the game.”
Elton Chigumbura says it is Zimbabwe’s top order that needs most improvement”It’s such a big and long tournament it’s important that we be consistent and try and get better and better going forward because you get big games and tough games coming in a few weeks.”
Mahela Jaywardene is keen to build some momentum ahead of the knockouts

Former Western Province cricketer dies in parking-ticket brawl

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Luke Fairweather, who played twice for Western Province in the apartheid years and was manager of the province’s junior team, died after being shot in the stomach during an altercation with a traffic officer. He was 49.Witnesses said Fairweather got into a row with Ian Sinclair outside Newlands when Sinclair issued a parking ticket to his mother’s car. The pair quickly became embroiled in a heated argument and started fighting, and during the struggle Fairweather was shot. Such was the ferocity of the brawl that a car windscreen was smashed when Sinclair was allegedly thrown against it.Fairweather was rushed to hospital but died a few hours later. Sinclair, who also had to be treated in hospital, was charged with murder and released on bail.An eyewitness told the Weekend Argus Sinclair had been watching cricket when he spotted the illegally-parked vehicle. “He left the group, went to the motorist and was busy writing her a ticket, when the victim arrived. There was an exchange of words, after which Fairweather got into his vehicle. He was about to reverse, when he stopped the car and got out again.”A police spokesman took up the story. “The woman’s son [Fairweather] … started arguing with the traffic officer. He started to push the traffic officer around and assaulted him. He smashed the traffic officer’s head into the parked vehicle. The traffic officer warned him to stop. In between the fighting [Fairweather] was shot at several times,”Fairweather had been a guest in the Western Province Cricket Association president’s box during the Test between South Africa and India when the incident occurred. “This news defies belief and the cricket fraternity is in deep shock,” WPCA president Mohamed Ebrahim said.