~~~CRICKET AROUND THE WORLD!~~~: 05/30/08

Friday, May 30, 2008

Afghanistan and Jersey continue on road to ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Fine all-round performance by Nabi Eisakhil; Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon feature in century opening stand; Mathew Hague takes 5-38

Afghanistan and Jersey qualified for the ICC World Cricket League Division 4, the next stage of qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, when they convincingly won their ICC World Cricket League Division 5 semi-finals in Jersey on Friday.

Afghanistan successfully defended a small total of 142 runs to defeat Nepal by 37 runs at the Grainville while Jersey outsmarted the USA by 84 runs at the FB Fields.

Afghanistan and Jersey not only progressed through to Saturday’s final but will also join Hong Kong, Fiji, Tanzania and Italy in the six-team ICC WCL Div. 4 set for the Tanzanian capital of Dar Es Salaam from 4 to 11 October.

In turn, the top two teams from that tournament will progress to WCL Div. 3 in Argentina next January and hope to finish in the top two to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in the UAE, which incorporates Divisions 1 and 2.

The top four Associate or Affiliate teams from the ICC World Cup Qualifier will book their places at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to be staged in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A feature on the USA cricket team will be available to all SNTV subscribers via SNTV’s 1900 or 2100 GMT feed. ICC will provide further video news releases during the tournament via SNTV, the content, date and timing of which will be provided in due course.

The star of Afghanistan’s victory was Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil who scored a priceless 48 from 64 balls with three fours in his team’s 142 all out in 49.3 overs and then returned figures of 6-0-15-2 as Nepal was bowled out for 105.

Electing to bat first in overcast conditions, Afghanistan made a confident start but collapsed from 26-0 to 40-4 in a space of 10.4 overs before Mohammad Stanikzai (18) and Nabi held the innings together with a 43-run fifth-wicket partnership off 72 balls.

After the departure of Stanikzai with the score at 83, Nabi added another 26 runs for the sixth wicket with Rais Ahmadzai (22). But when Nabi became the sixth batsman out at the score of 119, the last four Afghanistan wickets could add only 23 runs in 37 balls to be dismissed for 142.

For Nepal, Shakti Prasad Gauchan and Besant Regmi bowled well and shared six wickets between them while captain Binod Kumar Das took 2-20.

In turn, Nepal’s innings never got going after it lost opener Paresh Lohani on the second ball before it slumped to 72-7 in 33 overs. The last three wickets offered some resistance but it was not enough to guide Nepal home and it was bowled out for 105 with 25 balls remaining.

Afghanistan’s fast bowler Dawlat Ahmadzai was the destroyer of Nepal’s top order and finished with figures of 10-3-18-3 while Hamid Hassan (2-12), Abed Gul (2-13) and Nabi Eisakhil (2-15) also bowled well in favourable conditions.
Hassan was overjoyed with his side’s win. “It is a huge win for Afghanistan. For four months we have been thinking about ICC WCL Div. 4, so it is like a dream come true.

“The (World Cup) dream is alive and we’ll try our best to get to 2011.”

“The people in Afghanistan will be very happy and there will be huge celebrations. They will all be in the roads dancing and everything,” said Hassan.

At the FB Fields, a brilliant century opening stand between Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon and a five-wicket haul by captain Mathew Hague was the cornerstone of Jersey’s 84-run victory over pre-tournament favourite the USA.

The two openers featured in a 122-run partnership in 31.3 overs, the cornerstone of the home side’s 220-5 after being put into bat. Gough scored 65 from 110 balls with four fours and Carlyon’s 88-ball 45 included three fours.

In the middle-order, Ryan Driver (28 not out) and Hague (25) also batted well and added 37 runs for the third wicket. Driver and Jon Gough (15 not out) put on 33 runs from the last 22 deliveries.

The USA slumped from 25-0 to 32-3 in reply before it recovered to 99-4. But that was its high-water mark as it lost its last six wickets for 37 runs in almost 12 overs to be bowled out for 136 with 11.4 overs to spare.

Fast bowler Hague, later adjudged man of the match, was the wrecker-in-chief of the USA’s innings and finished with figures of 9.2-1-38-5. Driver also bowled to a teasing line and length to record figures of 10-2-32-3.

Hague hailed his team’s achievement, saying: “It feels absolutely fantastic. I am so proud of everybody today. Posting 220 on the board while batting first when there was a fair bit in the wicket, was a fantastic effort.

“Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon got us off to a great start and the bowling performance was excellent.”

A disappointed USA captain Steve Massiah said: “Obviously I am disappointed because I had believed we would finish in the top one or two and move forward.”

In classification matches, Botswana beat Germany by 10 runs while Singapore defeated Mozambique by 54 runs, Japan outplayed Vanuatu by 99 runs and Norway beat Vanuatu by 52 runs.

Scores in brief:

Semi-finals

At Grainville, Afghanistan beat Nepal by 37 runs
Afghanistan 142 all out, 49.3 overs (Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil 48, Rais Ahmadzai 22; Shakti Prasad Gauchan 3-12, Basant Regmi 3-30, Binod Kumar Das 2-20)
Nepal 105, 45.5 overs (Dawlat Ahmadzai 3-18, Hamid Hassan 2-12, Gul Abed 2-13, Nabi Eisakhil 2-15)

At FB Fields, Jersey beat USA by 84 runs
Jersey 220-5, 50 overs (Peter Gough 65, Steve Carlyon 45, Ryan Driver 28 not out, Mathew Hague 25; Imran Awan 2-37)
USA 136 all out, 38.2 overs (Rashard Marshall 39, Aditya Thyagarajan 25; Hague 5-38, Driver 3-32)

5th-8th place, semi-finals

At Les Quennevais 1, Botswana beat Germany by 10 runs
Botswana 127 all out, 45.4 overs (Abdul Patel 46; Farooq Ahmed 4-15)
Germany 117 all out, 38.5 overs (Karan Kapoor 4-37)

At Les Quennevais 2, Singapore beat Mozambique by 54 runs
Singapore 203-8, 50 overs (Chris Janik 41, Narender Reddy Bonguram 44; Mohmed Aasif Aiyub Koliya 3-26)
Mozambique 149 all out, 46.4 overs (Abdul Razak 3-16

9th-12th place, semi-finals

At Victoria College, Japan beat Vanuatu by 99 runs
Japan 238-6, 50 overs (Gavin Beath 68, Ahmed Munir 66, Patrick Giles-Jones 38; Pierre Chilia 3-34)
Vanuatu 139 all out, 39.3 overs

At Farmers CC, Norway beat Bahamas by 52 runs
Norway 202-5, 50 overs (Shahid Ahmed 77 not out, Ehtsham Ul Haq 56 not out)
Bahamas 150 all out, 39.5 overs (Ryan Tappin 51, Mario Ford 32 not out; Mubasshar Bhatti 3-20, Zaheer Ashiq 3-33)

Saturday’s fixtures:
Afghanistan v Jersey, final, Grainville; Nepal v USA, 3rd/4th position, Farmers CC; Botswana v Singapore, 5th/6th position, FB Fields; Germany v Mozambqiue, 7th/8th position, Victoria College; Japan v Norway, 9th/10th position, Les Quennevais 1; Vanuatu v Bahamas, 11th/12th position; Les Quennevais 2.

No reward for coming first

Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils, 1st semi-final

No reward for coming first

May 29, 2008

Shane Warne: "I can't see any advantage for finishing on top. The top two sides should have home-ground advantage." © Getty Images

In just over 48 hours, a team that lost nearly 50% of its league matches could be crowned champions of the inaugural Indian Premier League. A competition spanning six weeks, nearly as long as the much-criticised World Cup in the Caribbean, will finally reach its climax at two venues that none of the four semi-finalists call home. The Rajasthan Royals, perfect over seven games in Jaipur, go into their semi-final against the Delhi Daredevils with no reward whatsoever for that pristine home record. The fact that they won four more games over the regular season also counts for nothing. So, what sort of league are we talking about here?

Traditionally, there are two kinds. The classic variety, still found in European football, has the teams playing a fixed number of matches, home and away. The team that accumulates the most points is crowned champions. If there's a tie, goal difference settles it [England] or it goes down to your head-to-head record [Spain]. Either way, the best team invariably wins.

The second kind is the American league, and the dedication to Mammon dictates a convoluted finale that involves wild-cards and play-offs. Even there though, there's a sense of fairness, and reward for excellence during the course of the regular season. The teams with the best records get home-field advantage throughout the play-offs, and only in the case of American Football's Superbowl is the final game played at a neutral venue. The chances of a mediocre team coming through to upset a champion side are slim to non-existent, though once in a generation you'll get a Joe Namath or an Eli Manning inspiring a David outfit against the heavily favoured Goliath.

Unfortunately, the IPL offers no sort of protection to the best teams in the competition. Rajasthan and Punjab have clearly been the pick of the eight teams, and there would be no complaints at all if they were to contest the final. Instead, two teams, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi, who lost six of their 14 games could slip in through the back door thanks to the semi-finals being one-off games played at a neutral venue.

It doesn't help that the event was hopelessly compromised by the initial bidding process for the franchises. Whoever bid most [it happened to be Reliance shelling out $111.9 million for Mumbai] also won the right to stage the semi-finals and the final, while the second-highest bid won Vijay Mallya and the Bangalore Royal Challengers the opening game.

In the larger scheme of things, the opening ceremony, however many lasers, dancers or cheerleaders you muster up, is an irrelevance. That certainly isn't true for the semi-finals and the final. After beating Mumbai in Jaipur last Monday, Shane Warne was understandably worked up about the possibility of Mumbai sneaking into the last four. "If Mumbai sneak in, they get a home semi-final, despite having scraped through," he said. "I can't see any advantage for finishing on top.

"The top two sides should have home-ground advantage." No one, certainly no one that matters in the IPL, was listening though, and so it is that Rajasthan will play out their last-four clash 1000km removed from the passionate support that was such a factor in that perfect home run.

Warne's views were echoed by another antipodean legend, Martin Crowe, chief cricket officer of the Royal Challengers. If anything, his suggestion was even more radical. "With an eight-team format, I would look at the top team going into final and second and third-placed teams playing off on the home ground of the second-placed side," he said. "The Rajasthan Royals have won the league, they might get smashed in the semi and I think they deserve to be in the final. And with television, it's been condensed to have the semis and the final at one venue, back to back. That doesn't make sense to anyone except the television people."

Few events are perfect at the first time of asking, and we can only hope that this eyesore is fixed in time for next year. If not, you might just get the very ugly sight of a team that lost six or seven regular-season games walking away with the big trophy. Under the watchful gaze of the floodlight towers, that really would be daylight robbery.

Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils, 1st semi-final, IPL

Watson and Yusuf boost Rajasthan to 192

May 30, 2008

20 overs Rajasthan Royals 192 for 9 (Watson 52, Yusuf 45, Maharoof 3-34) v Delhi Daredevils
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Shane Watson ensured that the run-rate soared in the middle overs (file photo) © AFP

A string of sizzling cameos propelled the Rajasthan Royals to a commanding 192 for 9 after they were sent in on a humid evening at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A scratchy start could have disturbed a few other teams but Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan blasted their way out of trouble with a brand of strokeplay that was both unconventional and electrifying.

Swapnil Asnodkar's bravado helped them overcome a sluggish start and even Farveez Maharoof's triple-strike wasn't enough to apply the brakes. Watson picked off 21 off Yo Mahesh in the 11th over before Yusuf took Glenn McGrath for 16 in the 19th. Mohammad Asif's tight final over, where only four were scored for the fall of two wickets, kept them below 200 but Rajasthan will believe they possess the bowling ammunition to defend the target.

With Rajasthan's experiment to send in Sohail Tanvir at No. 3 misfired - 65 for no loss changing to 76 for 3 in a span of 2.1 overs - but Watson didn't waste any time settling down. With the high, straight back-lift that's been the feature of his batting in the tournament he swung through midwicket and square leg. A bat change in the 11th over appeared to spur him on - two massive sixes came off the new willow immediately after the swap.

If that was dazzling, Yusuf showed there was more fireworks in store. With four crisp sixes he celebrated his call-up to the Indian one-day squad with a 21-ball 45. Without the Watson back-lift, without too much initial movement, he showed what brute force could do, blasting over long-on and midwicket. He spotted slower balls too, smearing Mcgrath over midwicket for the shot of the evening.

Delhi did their bit on the field - Shikhar Dhawan and Virender Sehwag pulling off acrobatic catches before Tillakaratne Dilshan fired in a dart-accurate throw - but they will probably feel they conceded 15 runs too many. They will also look back and feel they didn't capitalise on the early juice in the pitch, allowing the openers to break away too easily.

Graeme Smith was in trouble in the second over, first with a run-out chance and next with his hamstring, an injury that forced him to miss the previous two games. A runner eased his pain a bit but he initially struggled with his timing, managing just 7 in the first 14 balls he faced. That was when he took a cue from his partner, decided to spoil the bowler's rhythm with some unorthodox shimmies and reeled off three successive fours off McGrath, the last of which was a powerful drill past mid-off.

By then the pocket-sized Asnodkar was already messing with the bowler's plans. He was lucky on 2, when a meaty edge fell just short of Sehwag at second slip, but that was never going to stop him from swinging.

Two lofted square drives off Asif provided a glimpse of his Kaluwitharana-esque audacity but it was the first over from Yo Mahesh where he truly exploded. A ferocious pull thudded through Maharoof's hands to injure his face (before trickling away for four), another broke a window pane at fine leg and the final slash screamed over the slips for four. The lights were in full force but that was the point where the innings was really infused with electricity.

Rajasthan Royals 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Shane Warne (capt), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.

Delhi Daredevils 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Yo Mahesh, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Mohammad Asif 11 Glenn McGrath.

Twenty20 match

Indian Premier League - 1st Semi-Final
Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals

2007/08 season

Played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on 30 May 2008 - day/night (20-over match)

Result Rajasthan Royals won by 105 runs


Rajasthan Royals innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	GC Smith	c Dhawan b Maharoof	25	21	5	0	119.04
	SA Asnodkar	c Tiwary b Maharoof	39	21	6	1	185.71
	Sohail Tanvir	c Karthik b Maharoof	5	5	1	0	100.00
	SR Watson	st Karthik b Mishra	52	29	4	3	179.31
	M Kaif	b Mishra	12	11	0	1	109.09
	YK Pathan	run out (Dilshan/Karthik)	45	21	3	4	214.28
	RA Jadeja	c Maharoof b Mahesh	7	5	0	1	140.00
	SK Warne	c Sehwag b Mahesh	0	1	0	0	0.00
	M Rawat	c & b Mohammad Asif	2	4	0	0	50.00
	MM Patel	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	SK Trivedi	not out	1	2	0	0	50.00
	Extras	(lb 1, w 3)	4

	Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs)	192	(9.60 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-65 (Smith, 6.4 ov), 2-65 (Asnodkar, 6.6 ov), 3-76 (Sohail Tanvir, 8.5 ov), 4-128 (Kaif, 13.4 ov), 5-155 (Watson, 15.6 ov), 6-171 (Jadeja, 17.4 ov), 7-172 (Warne, 17.6 ov), 8-190 (Rawat, 19.3 ov), 9-191 (Pathan, 19.4 ov)


Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
GD McGrath	4	0	38	0	9.50	(1w)
Mohammad Asif	4	0	32	1	8.00
VY Mahesh	4	0	50	2	12.50	(1w)
MF Maharoof	4	0	34	3	8.50
A Mishra	4	0	37	2	9.25	(1w)


Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 193 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	G Gambhir	c sub (T Kohli) b Watson	11	15	1	0	73.33
	V Sehwag	c Sohail Tanvir b Watson	3	4	0	0	75.00
	S Dhawan	c Jadeja b Watson	5	12	0	0	41.66
	MK Tiwary	c Asnodkar b Patel	0	3	0	0	0.00
	TM Dilshan	c Sohail Tanvir b Warne	33	22	5	1	150.00
	KD Karthik	c Kaif b Trivedi	10	12	1	0	83.33
	MF Maharoof	c Pathan b Warne	6	6	1	0	100.00
	A Mishra	b Patel	2	5	0	0	40.00
	VY Mahesh	c Rawat b Patel	3	10	0	0	30.00
	Mohammad Asif	run out (Pathan/Rawat)	3	6	0	0	50.00
	GD McGrath	not out	4	3	1	0	133.33
	Extras	(lb 3, w 4)	7

	Total	(all out; 16.2 overs)	87	(5.32 runs per over)