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On a night of mediocre cricket, Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket

The Report by Sidharth Monga09-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outHarbhajan Singh took 3 for 20, including the wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli•Associated Press

On a night of mediocre cricket, the Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal Mumbai innings, which helped them reach 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs. For the vanquished this was a painful repeat of their IPL final in Johannesburg where they froze while chasing 144. The victors, though, can claim they once again won the big moments: through Franklin’s sober innings, through Lasith Malinga’s two sixes amid a collapse, through an extra over given to Malinga that produced a wicket and through their spinners’ seven overs for 29 runs and five wicketsBe that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and MI’s’ keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin’s smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness. Yes the pitch was slow and it took turn, but not enough to justify the bizarre and spectacular collapse, which featured minimal attempts to take singles with the asking-rate around seven.MI didn’t even know there was turn in the pitch for them. As Dilshan hit the ground running in the chase, they made a necessary departure from their usual ways of bowling Malinga for only two overs at the top. Dilshan’s 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI’s innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn’t. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The last ball of the over, in which he had conceded just a wide, was tossed up, and Chris Gayle got a big stride in. The offbreak didn’t turn as much as expected, hit him in front of off, and he was ruled out. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman’s favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers’ 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for runs after the flat Bangalore pitch, but even he didn’t show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice, a complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.Franklin ensured the trend continued, hesitating during a second run to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard’s massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn’t look enough at the moment, Malinga’s two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus.Both teams were fined for slow over-rates. Harbhajan, the MI captain, was fined US$3,000 and each MI player $1,500 for being two overs behind the required over-rate. The Royal Challengers players were fined $750 and their captain Vettori $1,500 for being one over behind the required rate.

An unbeaten century from Wade Townsend and Peter Forrest’s 94 gave Queensland the first-innings lead against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2011
Scorecard
An unbeaten century from Wade Townsend and Peter Forrest’s 94 gave Queensland the first-innings lead against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Queensland continued their cautious approach from the second day, on which they reached 0 for 44, and their run-rate hovered around the 2.50 mark for most of the third. Townsend and Forrest’s 179-run partnership for the third wicket formed the bulk of the innings and Queensland decided to declare as soon as they secured points for the lead. They then managed to strike in the eight overs they bowled at South Australia, though a draw is still the likely result.Forrest joined Townsend after a couple of quick wickets but they looked began to build a partnership. Townsend looked solid while Forrest hit five fours and a six before reaching his half-century in the 70th over. He survived a confident appeal for a caught-behind off the bowling of Daniel Christian just before tea, and Queensland went into the break on 2 for 253.Christian had picked up the second wicket to fall in the morning, getting one to seam away and take the edge of Joe Burns’ bat to dismiss him for 7. It gave wicketkeeper Adam Crosthwaite his second catch of the day. The first had been a difficult one; Crosthwaite dived and caught an edge off Ryan Broad’s bat with one hand.That left Queensland 2 for 80 but Townsend and Forrest’s partnership ensured they took the first-innings lead. Forrest fell after tea, top-edging a pull to mid-off, but Townsend remained firm and moved to 166 not out. Chris Lynn gave him company in a quick partnership of 91 runs from 24.4 overs that took Queensland past South Australia’s score.

Mohsin Khan will continue as interim coach of Pakistan for the upcoming series against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2011Mohsin Khan will continue as interim coach of Pakistan for the series against Bangladesh, which starts later this month. The PCB said the decision to retain Mohsin was taken as a full-time coach had not yet been identified.Mohsin was initially put in charge of the team in early October, ahead of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, after Waqar Younis stepped down from the post citing health reasons. Pakistan won the Test series 1-0 in the UAE, and started the limited-overs leg of the contest on Friday.The PCB had formed a committee in late August to find Waqar’ successor and though it arrived at a shortlist of five candidates a month later, no full-time coach has yet been appointed. The committee was constituted by the previous PCB chairman Ijaz Butt but the process was delayed as Butt completed his three-year tenure and was replaced by Zaka Ashraf last month.Apart from the head coach, the PCB has also advertised for three other coaching roles – national batting, bowling and fielding coach. The closing date for receiving applications was set as November 18.Pakistan play two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 against Bangladesh in a series that begins on November 29.

Younis Khan has said he was not aiming for a double-century on the third day of the Chittagong Test and only started thinking about it when his captain and coach told him to go for it

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2011Younis Khan, the Pakistan batsman, has said he was not aiming for a double-century on the third day of the Chittagong Test and only started thinking about it when his captain Misbah-ul-Haq and coach Mohsin Khan told him to go for it. Younis started the third day on 96, completed his century with a boundary off the third ball, and then switched gears to reach 200 and give Pakistan a 459-run first-innings leads.”This morning my focus was on getting four runs to complete my hundred,” Younis said. “I was lucky to get them off the third ball. Then suddenly the captain and coach changed the plan and told me to go for the double-century.”I missed two double-hundreds against India in Pakistan in 2006, once when I scored 199 [in Lahore] and once when I made 194 [in Faisalabad]. But this time I was sure that I will get my double-hundred.”During his innings Younis went past 6000 Test runs, and notched up his 19th Test century and third Test double-century. Younis, 34, said he was not focused on breaking any Pakistan batting records but just wanted to play 100 Tests. “It’s my dream to play 100 Test matches. If I am lucky enough to play 100 Test matches maybe I will be close to [some records].”Younis dedicated his double-hundred to his family and the Pakistan coaching staff and team management. He also reserved special praise for his captain Misbah, who he said was respected by the rest of the team.”I will give Misbah 100% marks on his captaincy because he is an educated person and he has the respect of the team. Everybody listens to him and if you want to give him advice he takes it with an open heart.”

England Under-19s kept their series hopes alive with a 28-run victory in the fifth game of their seven-match series against Bangladesh Under-19s

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012
ScoreboardEngland Under-19s kept their series hopes alive with a 28-run victory in the fifth game of their seven-match series against Bangladesh Under-19s, in Sylhet. Bangladesh still hold the advantage, despite failing to chase 196 for a victory that would have put them 4-1 up and out of sight.Medium-pacers Brett Hutton and Adam Ball led the way with five wickets between them as Bangladesh lost their top six with just 79 on the board. No.7 Zakaria Masud attempted to forge an unlikely revival with a patient, unbeaten 38 but despite putting on a 35-run partnership – the highest of the innings – for the final wicket with Abu Jayed, Masud eventually ran out of partners. No other batsman reached 20, while Hutton was the pick of the England bowlers, taking 3 for 34 from his allocation.After being put in on a slow wicket, opener Sam Kelsall top-scored with 43 as England reached 195 for 8 from their 50 overs. Kelsall departed with the score on 73 as England slipped to 85 for 4 but Ramanpreet Singh and Sam Woods rebuilt with a partnership of 54. Singh, who made 38, became Naeem Islam Jr’s third wicket in the 42nd over but some late hitting from Craig Overton and Ball helped add 38 in 27 balls to pull England up to an ultimately defendable total.

Ajit Agarkar, who walked out on Mumbai midway through the Ranji season, is among the probables for the domestic one-dayers

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Feb-2012Ajit Agarkar, who had pulled out of the Mumbai squad midway through the Ranji Trophy season after he was dropped for the group match against Orissa, has been included among the 25 probables for the West Zone one-dayers of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Agarkar met with Milind Rege, Mumbai’s chairman of selectors, Ratnakar Shetty, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president, and Nitin Dalal, the MCA secretary on Monday afternoon to sort out the issues after Rege had messaged Agarkar last week, requesting for a meeting. It is understood that at the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, both Agarkar and the MCA management regretted what had happened.”I am always happy to play for Mumbai and am looking forward to the return,” Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo. “I obviously can’t change what has happened. I now look forward to the one-dayers if selected.”On November 29, Mumbai were to start their Elite group match against Orissa in Cuttack. But the previous evening Agarkar was informed by the pair of Sulakshan Kulkarni and Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai coach and captain respectively) that he was not part of the playing XI. It was also Zaheer Khan’s first game of the Ranji season, as part of his recovery process from the injury he picked up during last year’s England tour.Annoyed at being dropped, Agarkar flew back to Mumbai on the morning of the match. The issue snowballed into a controversy after Zaheer supported Agarkar’s decision and blamed the pair of Rege and Kulkarni for “pulling down” Mumbai cricket. Thereafter Agarkar, who had played only one match in the season (against Karnataka and went wicketless) made himself unavailable for selection despite calls from Dalal and Shetty, who asked him to reconsider. In his absence, Mumbai’s fast bowling department lacked a leader.After Mumbai’s lukewarm performance during the Ranji Trophy campaign where they bowed out of the semi-finals against Tamil Nadu, the pressure increased on the selectors and the team management. Consequently, Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai’s captain for the last four years, stepped down, unhappy at the remarks expressed by Kulkarni to the media.Probably as a damage-control measure, Rege tried to convince Agarkar to return, to avoid any further rumblings in the dressing room.At Monday’s meeting, Agarkar once again made it clear to the MCA officials that if he was not picked in the playing XI, he would rather sit at home than “carry water.” “It is not that I have not been twelfth man in my life but there is a merit to it,” Agarkar said.Agarkar asked for a day to think over it before arriving at a decision. But later that evening, he called up Dalal to confirm his availability. Agarkar, who plays for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, said he also needed some match practice before the tournament begins in April, and the one-day tournament would be a good platform to get back to fitness.Probables: Ajinkya Rahane, Wasim Jaffer, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Aavishkar Salvi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Anup Revandkar, Praful Waghela, Siddharth Chitnis, Iqbal Abdullah, Ankit Chavan, Suryakumar Yadav, Parag Khanapurkar, Aditya Tare, Sushant Marathe, Kumar Subramanian, Balwinder Singh Sandhu Jnr, Kshemal Waingankar, Akhil Herwadkar, Kaustubh Pawar, Usman Malvi, Santosh Shinde, Murtuza Hussain, Shoaib Shaikh

John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2012John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions. Ryder was dropped from the third ODI against South Africa after breaking team protocol following New Zealand’s defeat in Napier. He went out to a hotel after the game, along with Doug Bracewell, who was also dropped, and got into an argument with a patron.When asked if Ryder, who has had problems with alcohol and has been involved in three other such indiscretions as an international cricketer, was testing his patience, Wright said, “It’s fair to say that.” He added: “He’s a talented cricketer and it’s up to him and certainly everyone has the opportunity to play if they perform and are fit and abide by some of the rules that go with being in the team.”The door is open for any player but there are standards you need to reach.”It’s a distraction to be honest. We have talked about it, we are over it and we have a big game tomorrow – we are up against a good side. You do get a little bit disappointed. But it’s part of life and people make mistakes and you get on with it. We wouldn’t want this to be happening regularly.”Ryder was recovering from a split webbing in his hand and Bracewell from a hamstring injury; team protocol dictated that players “rehabilitating from injury should not consume alcohol.” Asked if other players should be looking out for Ryder, Wright said, “That can be difficult. Most players at that time of night are in bed … the professional ones.”Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman and captain for the ODI series, also expressed his disappointment. “You’ve got a very disappointed bunch of players, and hopefully New Zealand Cricket will take that on board as well,” he told .”There’s obviously some contractual obligations which need to be met along the way, which Jesse isn’t meeting at this stage, and I’m sure that there’ll be some intense discussions between Jesse’s people and New Zealand Cricket around that contractual stuff.”The players wanted Jesse back when he was playing well and in the right head-space, but the team did not want these sorts of distractions’.”From our point of view, we’d just suffered another tough loss, our fourth in a row, and it certainly wasn’t the time to be out socialising and being seen in public drinking.”Ryder has also been left out of the first Test against South Africa, though for form reasons. McCullum, however, admitted such breaches were frustrating for the team. “This is probably one of the more minor events, but ultimately it’s probably one of the more definitive ones as well. So from a team-mate perspective, it is frustrating because you just want your team performances to be doing the talking rather than any off-field behaviour.”Bracewell’s father Brendon Bracewell, who played six Tests for New Zealand, said his son was “extremely embarrassed” by the incident. “Hopefully he’ll learn a lot from it. I said, mate, you’ve got to take this kind of stuff on the chin. Doug’s a young guy and it’s a steep learning curve but there’s no excuse not to stick with the team protocol.”Edited by Siddhartha Talya

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is among the candidates shortlisted to be Northamptonshire’s second overseas player in this summer’s Friends Life t20 competition

George Dobell13-Mar-2012Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is among the candidates shortlisted to be Northamptonshire’s second overseas player in this summer’s Friends Life t20 competition.Shakib, the 24-year-old left-arm spinner who is currently rated as the world’s best allrounder in the ICC’s Test rankings, has previously enjoyed two successful spells at Worcestershire. He took 42 first-class wickets at an average of 21.66 in just nine games for the club in 2010, while in 2011 he played 12 T20 games, averaging 9.16 with the bat. He proved a potent bowler, however, claiming 19 wickets at 16.57 apiece and conceding an average of 6.84 runs an over.”He is one of three or four overseas players we are considering,” David Capel, Northamptonshire’s director of cricket, said. “But it would be premature to say he is definitely coming.” Northamptonshire have already secured the services of Chaminda Vaas as one of their overseas players for 2012.While Northants were obliged to cancel their plans for an overseas tour of South Africa due to financial constraints, it is understood that a couple of private sponsors have emerged to cover the costs of a second overseas player.