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John Wright has replaced Mark Greatbatch as New Zealand’s coach, and Daniel Vettori has lost his role as a selector, as part of a review of the team’s recent tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2010John Wright has replaced Mark Greatbatch as New Zealand’s coach, and Daniel Vettori has lost his role as a selector, as part of a review of the team’s recent tour of India. Wright will take charge of the side immediately, while Greatbatch will become the convener of a three-man selection panel that will also include Glenn Turner and Lance Cairns.One of Wright’s major tasks will be to turn around New Zealand’s poor one-day form, after they suffered clean-sweeps in India and Bangladesh over the past two months. The team has lost 11 consecutive ODIs, hardly the sort of lead-up they wanted ahead of February’s World Cup, and they have also won only two of their past 19 Tests.”I’d always thought it would be a great challenge. When you look back at past history it’s been a tough one but that’s cricket,” Wright told reporters after his new job was announced in Auckland. “I feel some unfinished business. I’m excited and I want to test myself as a coach.”Wright is contracted until after the West Indies tour in 2012, and his appointment completes his return to the international scene after he ended a five-year stint as India’s coach in 2005. He knows that his first task is to get to know the New Zealand players ahead of their next international encounter, a Twenty20 against Pakistan on December 26.”I understand it will be small steps,” he said. “I look at particularly the one day team and they have potential. But the trick is to help the players find that consistency, find how to rediscover their form and confidence. I’ve been in a similar situation before going into a World Cup that was very, very low on confidence.”The decision to hand the reins to Wright was the central outcome of a review of New Zealand’s tour of India, but changes to the selection panel were also significant. Greatbatch is in charge of the new panel, which will be independent of the team, ending Vettori’s tenure as a selector.However, in a statement, New Zealand Cricket said the captain and coach would continue to contribute to the selection process and would be actively responsible for team selections on tour. Greatbatch will stay on as a batting coach in New Zealand’s high-performance programme.”A thorough review of the Black Caps tour of India has been undertaken over the last week,” said the New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan. “All aspects of the tour – playing performance, preparation, selection and support staff – were examined to ensure that the Black Caps have the greatest chance of succeeding. The changes being made are a direct result of that process and should make a real difference.”Wright will be the fourth coach New Zealand have had in just over two years. John Bracewell was the long-standing mentor until his departure in December 2008, and his replacement Andy Moles lasted barely a year before the search for a new coach landed on Greatbatch, who took over in January this year.

The Basin Reserve Test sparked into life on a third day filled with twists, turns and decisive shifts in momentum, with both sides inadvertently pushing the opponent to swap game-plans several times

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar18-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMartin Guptill adopted different approaches in each of the first two sessions to work his way to 73•Getty Images

The Basin Reserve Test sparked into life on a fourth day filled with twists, turns and momentum shifts, as one side inadvertently pushed the other to swap game-plans several times. Pakistan began with unimaginative bowling at unacceptable over-rates, spread-out fields, and sloppy fielding. New Zealand cashed in, with their openers adding 120 enterprising runs, before Pakistan’s spinners rallied to reduce them to 208 for 5. For the second time in the match, though, Ross Taylor responded with a composed innings to help his side recover despite an inspired sortie from Umar Gul before stumps.With 273 to defend, New Zealand will begin as favourites on the last day, but Pakistan can take heart from the fact that seven years ago, they successfully chased the same target at this very ground. If they fall short, they will have their lacklustre start to the day to blame, a period when Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill were allowed to dictate terms.Pakistan’s fast bowlers came out without intent, spraying the ball around and gifting easy boundaries as McCullum and Guptill settled in before Abdur Rehman came on. Rehman attacked the rough with a slip, silly point and short leg, with Adnan Akmal imploring him to bowl the ‘magic ball’. One forceful shot from Guptill, a crunched back-foot cover drive, was enough for silly point to be removed. An over later, the magic ball came, stopping and turning sharply from leg stump to take Guptill’s edge before landing in the now vacant silly-point region. Pakistan had paid for their lack of proactivity.McCullum’s eagerness to dominate was counterbalanced by the state of the match and New Zealand’s recent batting woes. Rehman tossed them up, inviting the drive over mid-off, with men waiting close in for the edge. McCullum resisted, lunging forward to the flight, and working the odd arm-ball off the back foot to the leg side. Rehman almost broke through, getting McCullum to prod with hard hands, but Asad Shafiq dropped the chance, again at silly point. McCullum ran down the track to the next ball and clattered a flat six over long-off, before pulling a short ball for four more. Pakistan’s best bowler had been negated, with some luck, but he was not done for the day.Worried by the opening session, Pakistan came out with a plan in the second. Gul harried Guptill with bounce and movement, clunking his helmet with a bouncer in the first over after the break, and getting him to edge a legcutter in his second, but Adnan spilled the opportunity. Guptill altered his approach, hanging back in the crease, but resisting the impulse to pull.Rehman eventually found a way past McCullum, luring him to miscue to long-off after beating him in the flight. The run-rate dropped and Pakistan finally found their voice as Guptill got into a tangle against some well-directed bouncers from Wahab Riaz, the biggest culprit in the day’s no-ball stakes. Guptill barely survived the spell and then attacked Rehman, slicing an off-drive past a diving Tanvir Ahmed at mid-off, and teeing off down the ground for six. Rehman was not to be denied, though, and he eventually pinned Guptill in front with a skidder, an over after Kane Williamson had perished to an ungainly drive against Tanvir.Jesse Ryder avoided a third successive first-ball duck but was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez off the first ball following a brief rain interruption. New Zealand suddenly were in strife, at what was effectively 172 for 4. For a brief while, Hafeez transformed into Muttiah Muralitharan, producing a few unplayable deliveries that had New Zealand befuddled and Pakistan worried. Taylor survived one that turned in a mile, and James Franklin wasn’t good enough to edge another than turned across him and jumped over his stumps. He didn’t last long, nicking Hafeez to Younis Khan at slip before Shafiq dropped another crucial chance, lunging late from short leg as Reece Young poked nervously.Having taken a close look at Hafeez’s fare, Taylor dug deep to reverse the momentum once again. He negated the spinners with assured feet, late shots and soft hands, frustrating them into drifting onto his legs. When they did, he moved his front pad decisively across to flick and sweep into his favourite scoring areas. His first boundary came after 45 balls of caution, by which time his discipline had tired Rehman into errors. Hafeez also lost his sting, and Taylor asserted himself with a trademark slog-sweep over midwicket. Young held his own with a straight bat and a steady head for the second time in the game, and the 60-run stand turned the tide once again in New Zealand’s favour, but the day had some more surprise in store.Azhar Ali took a blinder close in to end Young’s effort before Gul charged in with an 86-overs-old ball and resorted to his most loyal weapon – reverse swing. He struck Taylor in front with an inswinger before rearranging Daniel Vettori’s stumps with a yorker. Brent Arnel came and went first ball, barely seeing a laser beam that pinged his toes. Chris Martin got the wildest applause of the day when he kept out the hat-trick ball, and Tim Southee connected with a couple of swings before Martin became Gul’s fourth scalp and New Zealand were bowled out.

Pakistan’s need for a substantial opening stand is growing and Mohammad Hafeez is confident he and Ahmed Shehzad can deliver

Osman Samiuddin in Pallekele07-Mar-2011Three matches in and murmurs over Pakistan’s opening combination are increasing. Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have put on 11, 28 and 16 against Kenya, Sri Lanka and Canada but on two occasions the middle order has bailed the side out. There is no move from the team management to change things just yet – in fact there is a commendable rigidity to stick, as much as possible, to the same winning XI – but the need for a substantial stand is growing.Hafeez has looked the more fluent of the two, particularly in his 32 against Sri Lanka, where a disastrous run-out ended a promising knock. The surfaces they have come across, while good for batting, have been more competitive than some seen in the World Cup and that Hafeez concluded has also played a part.”When you assess the pitch as an opener, you have to plan out what it would be like, and both pitches at Hambantota and at the Premadasa had a lot of movement and swing,” Hafeez said in Pallekele, a day before his side’s game with New Zealand. “We need some time to build a good partnership but you get one good delivery or a decision goes against you, which are a part
of the game, and you have to take it positively. Here there has been some lateral movement with the new ball and swing as well.”Hafeez’s return to the ODI set-up in the last English summer has brought Pakistan a sense of stability at the top, though his most productive partnership has been with Kamran Akmal, now batting at one down. Hafeez averages nearly 33 in 19 ODIs since, with a hundred – in New Zealand – and three fifties. The figures don’t look outstanding, but he has chipped in otherwise, with wickets (13) and a safe presence in the field.”In the three series against England, South Africa and New Zealand I think I’ve been consistent,” Hafeez said. “It’s only that I haven’t performed in three World Cup matches. In one match I got run out and in another I got a bad decision. To perform in cricket you need luck other than your own potential as well sometimes.”A good start also gives Pakistan greater flexibility in their batting order. Because the openers have not so far come off, Pakistan has stuck with bringing Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq together behind Kamran Akmal, in order to insure against a collapse. But there are indications within the camp that if the openers provide a substantial, pacy start, Abdul Razzaq or even Shahid Afridi could be pushed up the order, as high as one-down.Having scored his first and only ODI hundred against tomorrow’s opponents in the series in January, a change of results, Hafeez believes, is due. “As an opener I know we have not given good starts to the team, but there’s no lack of confidence. We just need one good partnership to get back the confidence. We handled New Zealand’s bowling very well [in New Zealand], I also scored a century against them so the confidence is very high.”

Daniel Vettori did not look like his world has crashed around him, but was able to put the loss in perspective

Firdose Moonda in Colombo29-Mar-2011The Daniel Vettori who turned up at the post-match conference after the semi-final was not the Daniel Vettori that was expected to turn up. He was not grumpy, annoyed or irritable. He was not overly disappointed, he did not look like his world has crashed around him, or even like a small part of it was destroyed.For the sixth time, New Zealand have exited the tournament at the semi-final stage and they have never reached a World Cup final. Vettori would have had every right to appear upset, heartbroken and gutted, as he looked on the field when Thilan Samaraweera hit the winning runs. By the time the media conference came around, 15 or so minutes later, he had dried his eyes and put the loss in perspective. “I can only speak for this team, I can’t speak for the teams of yesteryear and we just came up short,” he said, pragmatic as you like.The coming up short started with the bat. New Zealand lost 6 for 25 runs at the end of their innings, including a dramatic 4 for 4, and were bowled out for 217. Already, they knew they were on the ropes. “We thought we were 20 to 30 runs short,” Vettori said, although he maintained that he had made the correct decision by choosing to bat first. “Our top order came up short and against the Sri Lankan bowling it was tough to recover.”Despite a below-par batting performance New Zealand – known for their ability to fight, and just four days after defending 221 in spectacular fashion against South Africa – may have gone into the field thinking they would do it again. For that, they would need the batting side to play along, but Sri Lanka were no South Africa, and made it difficult for New Zealand to repeat their giant-killing performance. “Our whole game plan was to try and get them three down,” Vettori said.New Zealand go out, not embarrassed or humiliated, but like their captain, proud of about what they achieved•AFP

By the time that three down happened, Sri Lanka were only 57 away from victory and had formed enough of a solid base for the rest of the order to build on. Kumar Sangakkara was still at the crease, looking as composed as ever and the inroads New Zealand made were not enough to cause an upset. “The [Tillakaratne] Dilshan and Sangakkara partnership went on too long,” Vettori said of the 120 runs the pair put on for the second wicket.That was the partnership that put the match beyond New Zealand’s reach and the only way they could get it back was to grab and pull with all they had. “When the opposition has to chase at less than 6 runs to the over, you have to get wickets and we were all about taking wickets and breaking partnerships. But we couldn’t break the sixth wicket partnership.” That stand, of 35 runs, between Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews won the match for Sri Lanka but had it been broken, it would have opened up the tail for New Zealand.Mathews joined Samaraweera at the crease with the score on 185 for 5, still needing 33 to win and with the required-rate nudging its way towards a run a ball. Southee had just completed a maiden over but instead of applying pressure on the other end as well, Vettori allowed Jesse Ryder, who had just conceded nine runs in his first over, to continue. “I needed to get through some overs, Jesse was in the game already,” Vettori explained.He was not going to go as far as laying blame on anyone, even young Southee, who persisted with short balls towards the end of the Sri Lankan innings, which the Sri Lankan were not too afraid off. “Short bowling is a good plan but you have to bowl in the right areas. Tim Southee has had a great tournament and I can’t blame him.” Vettori has praise for the whole team’s effort saying he was “impressed” with the way they fielded.If there was a hint of sadness in going home and not to Mumbai, he didn’t let it show. Perhaps it’s because the performance the team had in this World Cup has been better than the showing they’ve had in the last nine months, when they lost four ODI series to subcontinental sides. Perhaps because it gives him such a boost to be able sign off from the captaincy on this note, knowing that the team has regained its ability to fight.”Obviously we are incredibly disappointed. We fought so hard to stay in the tournament,” he said. It was that determined fight that sees New Zealand go out, not embarrassed or humiliated, but like their captain, proud of about what they achieved and realistic about what they hope to do in the future.

Ricky Ponting has quashed reports that he will retire after the World Cup, confirming that he has no plans to end his playing career or give up the captaincy

Brydon Coverdale in Ahmedabad23-Mar-2011Ricky Ponting has quashed reports that he will retire after the World Cup, confirming that he has no plans to end his playing career or give up the captaincy. The on Wednesday reported that Ponting, 36, would retire and was hoping to cap off his career by captaining an English county side this year, but Ponting said the story was untrue, and has still not ruled out being part of the 2013 Ashes tour.”I’ve never ever thought about retirement or where the finish line might be,” he said. “I’ve been trying to prepare myself as best I can as a player and lead the team as well as possible. For some reason, these retirement things keep popping up all the time. As we all know, you probably shouldn’t always believe everything you read in the newspaper.”It looks like every few weeks now I’m having to answer that question. I’m enjoying it as much as ever. We’ve got a big game coming up against India that I’m looking forward to, and more importantly I’m looking forward to getting out there and performing well as a player.”However, there was some truth to the report, with Ponting’s management having scouted around the county circuit in an attempt for Ponting to secure a first-class deal in the lead-up to Australia’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in August. Ponting said the county option had fallen through due to the timing of the English domestic competitions.”I looked at trying to play some county cricket before the Sri Lankan tour this year, for the fact that I would have been coming off three months of no cricket and I thought we were going straight in to Test matches,” Ponting said. “That’s why my management had a look around a few of the counties to see if they were interested. As it worked out, our programs just didn’t line up.”The Twenty20s and one-dayers are mainly on in England at that time and I wanted to get some four-day cricket under my belt before the Test matches in Sri Lanka. That’s how that started, but it didn’t work out and I certainly won’t be going to play there this year.”The retirement rumour came a day after a report in the , in which an unnamed Cricket Australia official was quoted as saying that Ponting faced a challenge at board level to retain the captaincy. Ponting said he was keen to play on in Test and ODI cricket and if he was asked to step aside as leader to make way for Michael Clarke, it would not be an issue.”If Cricket Australia believe, or the selectors believe that there’s someone out there better to captain any team that I play in, then so be it,” Ponting said. “If it happens that I’m still good enough to be playing in the team with another captain, then so be it as well. I’m open to any of that sort of stuff. By the same token, I’ll know when the time is right for me to step aside as captain or step aside as a player. Right now, I don’t think that’s the right time.”After the 2009 Ashes defeat in England, Ponting was bullish about his chances of returning for the 2013 trip. He will be be 38 by then, but if he regains his form, he still believes he has some chance of fulfilling that goal.”Maybe it is a realistic thing,” he said. “As far as the way my body’s feeling and how much I’m enjoying my cricket, I’d love to be able to do that. But I’ve got to be good enough to do it, which is what I’ve always quantified it with. I’ve got to be playing well enough. Other players around the world at my age are doing it pretty well and pretty regularly so certainly there’s some ambition there for me to be good enough to get back to playing the way I want to play.”

Rohit Sharma dazzled the senses, Harbhajan Singh sucker-punched with three wickets in an over, and Mumbai Indians hustled on the field to go around a sublime S Badrinath and clinch a well-fought win at the Wankhede Stadium

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera22-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRohit Sharma lifted Mumbai with his 87•AFP

Rohit Sharma dazzled the senses, Harbhajan Singh sucker-punched with three wickets in an over, and Mumbai Indians hustled on the field to go around a sublime S Badrinath and clinch a well-fought win at the Wankhede Stadium.Though Badrinath batted with so much serenity under pressure that he eclipsed Rohit’s knock on the elegance scale, he was left with too much to do on his own. And in the end overs, he looked a forlorn figure in the middle, hardly getting the strike as his team-mates succumbed meekly.Badrinath tried his best, though. His first scoring shot – a gorgeous off-driven boundary against Munaf Patel of the third ball he faced, set the tone for the night but it was the late cuts that really caught the eye. In the seventh over, he caressed Harbhajan Singh to third man and in the ninth over, he glided Rohit Sharma to backward point boundary. He even lofted Rohit for a pretty six – with the high front elbow and a graceful swing of the bat – over long-off in the same over. He pulled down the shutter briefly to consolidate after the fall of Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni before he opened up again in the end overs.With 59 runs required from 37 balls, Badrinath sashayed to the leg side and laced an excellent square drive off Lasith Malinga to close the gap. The situation turned grim again as S Anirudha, who had pulled Kieron Pollard for a six, swung a full toss from Harbhajan Singh to deep midwicket to leave Chennai needing 42 from 24 deliveries.It was an over later that Harbhajan, who had earlier lured Suresh Raina into hitting a return catch, killed the contest with a triple strike. He slipped one past the attempted slog-sweep to bowl Albie Morkel, lured R Ashwin to hole out to long-on, and induced Joginder Sharma to top-edge a slog. Badrinath kept up with the fight, even getting a six in the final over, but Chennai’s fight had evaporated into the Mumbai night during that Harbhajan over.Before Badrinath’s sensuous knock, Rohit Sharma owned the evening. He collected three boundaries in his first four deliveries, never looked back from then on and charged Mumbai Indians to a competitive 164. Big hitters usually pulverise the opposition with violence but Rohit seems to caress them to submission.When Sachin Tendulkar fell in the fourth over with Mumbai on 13 for 2 and with the ball jagging around, Chennai had a great chance to strangle the hosts but they were thwarted by Rohit’s belligerence and let down by their bowlers. Rohit was involved in a 61-run partnership with the enterprising Ambati Rayudu and a brutal 87-run stand in 8.1 overs with Andrew Symonds but it was his imprints that lay all over the Wankhede.Sometimes, you just need a shot or two to get going. Rohit entered the scene after Tendulkar was done for pace and bounce by a sharp lifter but got two gift-wrapped boundary deliveries from Doug Bollinger to kick start his innings. He creamed two over-pitched deliveries to the point boundary and all of a sudden, venom evaporated out of Chennai’s bowling. Even Albie Morkel, who was menacing until then, slipped a half-volley on the legs and Rohit collected his third boundary in just four deliveries.A potentially nervy settling-in period in seamer-friendly conditions had turned into an imperious start and Rohit never looked back, unfurling an array of dazzling shots. He crashed a length delivery from Joginder Sharma over long-on before he was involved in a mini-contest with Suraj Randiv. The off breaks, the doosras, and the topspinners came swirling down and Rohit started to caress and steer his way out of trouble. He glided one to backward point boundary, late cut another to third man and nonchalantly lifted another over extra cover.He brought up his fifty and Mumbai’s 100 in the 15th over with a six over long-off against Randiv and the floodgates were well and truly open. With Mumbai on 107 for 3 in 15 overs, Dhoni turned to Joginder. Mistake. Rohit flayed a length ball to point boundary and shuffled across to pull another to square-leg boundary. That was the start for more imperious innovations.He paddle-scooped a low full toss from Bollinger for a six over fine-leg before he turned brutal against Suresh Raina in the 19th over. He smote the second delivery, a gentle length ball, over wide long-on, top-edged a slog sweep for couple, and torpedoed the next delivery over cowcorner as Raina leaked 17 runs. Rohit fell in the final over, holing out to long-on, but by then he had entertained the Mumbai crowd in some style.Rohit had one more crowd-pleasing, and game-turning, moment left in the night. When Chennai needed 64 runs from 47 balls, Dhoni top-edged a swat-flick and Rohit charged in from third man and flung himself forward to pouch a stunner. It was the beginning of the end for Chennai.

Nottinghamshire breathed life into their Clydesdale Bank 40 League campaign with a seven-wicket victory over fellow Group C strugglers Unicorns

15-May-2011
ScorecardNottinghamshire breathed life into their Clydesdale Bank 40 League campaign
with a seven-wicket victory over fellow Group C strugglers Unicorns at
Wormsley.The hosts reached 200 for 4 from their 40 overs after being put in to bat – with Michael Thornely (97) top-scoring. However, a solid all-round batting effort enabled Nottinghamshire to wrap up a comfortable success – their first in three matches – with 39 deliveries to spare.Australian Adam Voges led the way with an unbeaten 60 from 56 balls, including nine fours, sharing in a 103-run stand for the third wicket with Samit Patel.Earlier, Thornely and James Campbell put on 64 for the first wicket for Unicorns, before the latter fell leg before wicket to Paul Franks on 33. Thornely and Josh Knappett contributed 105 for the second wicket, with the stand ending when Knappett was caught and bowled by Darren Pattinson for 43, an innings which contained five fours.Robin Lett fell for 10 when he was bowled by Franks and Thornely had moved to within three runs of a century when he was bowled by
Pattinson off the final balls of the innings, ending an entertaining 95-ball knock which contained nine fours.Nottinghamshire’s reply started strongly, with Akhil Patel and Mark Wagh
putting on 72 runs for the first wicket. The stand ended when Wagh was dismissed for 31, caught by Lett off the bowling of Glen Querl.Just one run had been added when Patel departed for 35, bowled by Amar Rashid. However, that brought together Patel and Voges – and they had taken their team to the brink of victory by the time they were separated.Patel fell for 50 from 53 balls, caught by Luis Reece off the bowling of Neil Saker. But Voges and Ali Brown (16 not out) teamed up inflict a fifth defeat in as many matches on Unicorns.

Jeetan Patel took his first five-wicket haul for Warwickshire as they sealed an eight-wicket win against Sussex in the County Championship at Arundel

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Jeetan Patel took his first five-wicket haul for Warwickshire as they sealed an eight-wicket win against Sussex in the County Championship at Arundel.A hundred from Luke Wright and a half-century from Ollie Rayner had raised Sussex’s hopes of saving the game. However, Patel removed them both in quick succession to finish with figures of 5 for 96 while Boyd Rankin (4 for 60) added two wickets to the two he had taken on day three as Sussex were dismissed for 301 to leave Warwickshire needing just 72 to win.That proved a simple enough task, as Warwickshire wrapped up victory 44 minutes after lunch for the loss of just two wickets. Sussex resumed day four still requiring 29 runs just to make Warwickshire bat again, but any hopes the visitors had of wrapping up the game quickly were thwarted by Wright and Rayner.The pair extended their partnership from 87 overnight to 163 and at one point looked as if they might do enough to set Warwickshire a tricky total to chase. Wright continued to play in a positive manner and brought up his fourth Championship century off just 98 balls by lifting Patel for a four to long on. His hundred included 14 fours and a six.Rayner played a more circumspect innings, but brought up his 50 off 137 balls by pulling Rikki Clarke for successive boundaries. Patel finally made the breakthrough half an hour before lunch in controversial circumstances when Wright tried to turn one off his pads and was caught at short mid-wicket by Jim Troughton for 116.Wright stood his ground claiming it was a bump ball but after a discussion between the umpires he was given out. Rayner followed four overs later when he was lbw for 58 trying to sweep Patel to complete a five- wicket haul for the spinner.Sussex’s lead was only 62 at that stage and they immediately lost Amjad Khan lbw to Rankin’s fourth delivery with the new ball. Rankin picked up his fourth wicket when Monty Panesar tried to hook a short ball and skied a catch to Varun Chopra at short leg just before lunch.With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan unable to bat due to a shoulder injury sustained on Thursday it left Warwickshire chasing 72 to win. Chopra looked in the mood to knock them off quickly as he launched James Anyon for successive sixes before being bowled for 24 by Rayner.Panesar trapped William Porterfield lbw to leave Darren Maddy and Jim Troughton to knock off the winning runs inside 16 overs.

Will Gidman claimed a career-best five for 38 as Gloucestershire bowled out Kent for 205 on the opening day of the County Championship match at Cheltenham.

20-Jul-2011Gloucestershire 107 for 3 v Kent 205
ScorecardWill Gidman claimed a career-best five for 38 as Gloucestershire bowled out Kent for 205 on the opening day of the County Championship match at Cheltenham.It was the former Durham all-rounder’s maiden five-wicket haul and his first three scalps helped reduce the visitors to 59 for 6 before Darren Stevens (67) and James Tredwell (45) put together a seventh-wicket stand of 83.By the close, Gloucestershire had reached 107 for 3 in reply, Hamish Marshall (37) and Kane Williamson (29) having added 78 for the second wicket.It was Jon Lewis who put the skids under Kent on an overcast morning, sending back Championship debutant Chris Piesley lbw for a duck and fellow opener Joe Denly, bowled for 13, to make the score 21 for 2.Marshall produced a fine low catch off his own bowling to dismiss Martin van Jaarsveld, who was captaining Kent in the absence of Rob Key with a hand injury. Then Gidman took over, claiming a wicket in each of his first three overs. Sam Northeast was caught behind having played positively for his 34 off 33 balls.Geraint Jones departed without scoring and Alex Blake could make only two as Gidman worked up good pace from the Chapel End. By lunch Kent had struggled to 89 for 6 off 33 overs. The over after the interval saw Tredwell, on 15, dropped by Ian Cockbain at gully off Lewis and it proved an expensive miss as the sun broke through and the left-hander counter-attacked to hit seven fours and a sixth in his 90-ball innings.Stevens was more watchful as the pair dug Kent out of a deep hole. The partnership ended when Gidman returned to have Tredwell caught by wicketkeeper Richard Coughtrie. The same bowler accounted for Simon Cook, taken at second slip by Chris Dent for six and Ian Saxelby wrapped up the innings by removing David Balcombe and Stevens.The latter was last man out having been forced to go for his shots. He was caught on the extra cover boundary by Chris Taylor having faced 138 balls and hit nine fours.Gloucestershire’s reply had reached unlucky 13 when Dent got an edge to Stevens and fell to a catch behind for 12. Marshall and Williamson then produced the most attractive batting of the day before a short shower interrupted play at 5.50pm.The first ball after the resumption at 6.10pm saw Marshall bowled by Tredwell first delivery of the match. There was further success for Kent when Williamson nicked a rising ball from Balcombe to be caught by wicketkeeper Jones.

Leicestershire completed a massive 223-run win over Sri Lanka A on the fourth day at Grace Road, Jigar Naik’s offspinners bringing him four wickets as several bowlers contributed to the county’s win

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011
ScorecardLeicestershire completed a massive 223-run win over Sri Lanka A on the fourth day at Grace Road, Jigar Naik’s offspinners bringing him four wickets as several bowlers contributed to the county’s win. Lahiru Thirimanne’s gritty 70 was the only bright point for the Sri Lankans, with most of their middle order making starts but failing to build a significant innings.Sri Lanka A had lost opener Malinda Warnapura to the first ball of their second innings on the third afternoon, but entered the fourth day in the reasonably stable position of 71 for 1. Things went downhill very quickly on day four, however, Bhanuka Rajapaksa falling to Wayne White’s first ball of the day.What followed was a regular chipping away at their line-up, rather than a dramatic collapse, but once Thirimanne fell to Nadeem Malik to reduce Sri Lanka A to 159 for 5 just after lunch, Leicestershire were very much favourites for the win. Naik bowled Roshen Silva for a 58-ball 17, and Alex Wyatt then removed Kosala Kulasekara and Seekkuge Prasanna with consecutive deliveries to reduce the Sri Lankas to 210 for 8 at tea.Naik continued his good work after the interval, trapping Shaminda Eranga lbw and then having Tharanga Lakshitha caught by White to end the match. Sri Lanka A will now face Durham at Chester-le-Street in another four-day game, starting on July 27.