Impressive England charge to victory

England v New Zealand, Twenty20, Old Trafford

Impressive England charge to victory

June 13, 2008

England 127 for 1 (Bell 60*, Pietersen 42*) beat New Zealand 123 for 8 (Broad 2-17, Swann 2-21) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Stuart Broad was outstanding with the ball as he removed James Marshall early in the innings © Getty Images

Maybe it was the lure of Allen Stanford's millions, but England produced their most convincing Twenty20 performance since crushing Australia at The Rose Bowl during their first game in 2005. They restricted New Zealand to 123 for 8 at Old Trafford, then an effortless 60 from Ian Bell made the run-chase a cakewalk, as a full house watched them romp home by nine wickets with 15 balls to spare.

It was almost the perfect Twenty20 game from England. The bowlers were exemplary, led by Stuart Broad and James Anderson, as Brendon McCullum - the man who made 158, the highest Twenty20 score, in the opening IPL match - batted into the 11th over for 24. The ground fielding was fast and accurate while the catching, except for one drop by Paul Collingwood, was secure. Contrast this with New Zealand who lost Jacob Oram 10 minutes before the game, were laboured with the bat sloppy in the field and there's no question which side enters Sunday's first ODI with the momentum.

The stage scores of New Zealand's innings show the hold England exerted. After six overs they were 33 for 2, after ten 59 for 3 and in total the innings included just 10 fours and four sixes. Broad was outstanding, conceding a little over four an over, showing that he has long since recovered from the mauling he received at the hands of Yuvraj Singh in Durban, when he went for six sixes in an over.

By contrast, England's latest opening pair gave the run-chase the ideal flying start. Bell looked a different player than the one who scratched around during the Tests, cracking effortless boundaries during the Powerplay, while Luke Wright was more agricultural. Wright has been promised a run at the top, but at times he appeared to be trying to hit the ball too hard. A couple of drives, though, showed why the selectors like him as an opening option, before he swung a catch to long-on.

As he is prone to do after one too many energy drinks, Kevin Pietersen was rather skittish early on and offered a leading edge which Daniel Vettori couldn't hold before he'd scored. However, by the end he was dominating the attack with his usual strut, while Bell eased to a 38-ball half-century, more than he'd scored in his previous four innings put together. The strokeplay of Bell and Pietersen that sealed the crushing victory was what the visitors never managed.

New Zealand were never really in the contest once McCullum was denied the chance to light the fuse. He faced just eight balls in the first six overs, and by the end of the fielding restrictions didn't have a run. He was pinned to the crease, especially by Anderson whose second over was a maiden, a fine effort for a bowler who isn't renowned for his economy, and he also cracked him on the helmet with a bouncer.

You would have got long odds on McCullum taking nine balls to get off the mark, but the key for England's quick bowlers was the extra pace provided by the surface. Unlike in New Zealand, where the short stuff was dispatched by McCullum on easy-paced surfaces, here Anderson and Broad were able to keep him on the back foot.

Ross Taylor broke the stranglehold by taking 14 off the sixth over including a slog-sweep over deep square-leg for six, similar to those he played during his 154 in the Test on this ground. But Collingwood - fresh from his 5 for 14 for Durham on Wednesday - nipped one back between bat and pad for a crucial wicket. McCullum finally cut loose with a pulled six off Luke Wright, but it was brief onslaught. Wright had his revenge when he squeezed a yorker under McCullum's bat.

Batting was no easier against spin when Graeme Swann was introduced in the 12th over and his second ball spun through Peter Fulton's half-hearted push. He should have struck again next ball when Daniel Flynn edged to slip, but Collingwood couldn't get his hands in an ideal position.

Flynn, on the ground where he lost two front teeth against an Anderson bouncer in the Test, played as well as any of his team-mates, bustling between the wickets and connecting sweetly with a couple of powerful blows. However, Scott Styris barely middled a ball during his painful 22-ball stay, and it was clear that those batsman remaining from the Tests were low on confidence and those recalled short on practice.

For England the transition appeared seamless and they rode on the momentum created from the Test series. With one eye on Antigua in November, their only concern is that they might have peaked too early.

Immovable Chanderpaul guides West Indies

West Indies v Australia, 3rd Test, Barbados, 2nd day

Immovable Chanderpaul guides West Indies

June 13, 2008

Tea West Indies 167 for 4 (Chanderpaul 47*) trail Australia 251 (Symonds 52, Taylor 3-46, Edwards 3-55, Bravo 3-61) by 84 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

	Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the rock for West Indies yet again © Getty Images

Shivnarine Chanderpaul edged West Indies to a strong position at tea on the second day in Barbados, where they reached 167 for 4 and trailed Australia by 84 runs. At the break Chanderpaul was on 47 and Dwayne Bravo had 29 as Australia searched desperately for the much-needed breakthrough that would get them into the hosts' lower order.

While Chanderpaul was his typically obdurate self, Bravo gave Beau Casson a memorable welcome to Test cricket. Casson was bowling quite flat with little spin and he got away with it against Chanderpaul but the first three deliveries he sent down to Bravo were deposited for a six over long-on and two fours down the ground.

Chanderpaul was mostly content to deflect in his usual manner, but even he could not resist the wide and short gifts given by a wayward Mitchell Johnson. Twice in one over Chanderpaul dispatched Johnson to the boundary with confident pulls and Ricky Ponting had some concerns as the fast-bowling load was again falling back on Lee.

The mini-battle between Lee and Xavier Marshall, which began in Antigua, continued as the young Jamaican batsman refused to back down against some fast and fiery bowling. Despite taking a blow to the badge on the front of his helmet from a Lee bouncer, Marshall also sent the fast man packing for a string of confident cover-drives.

Marshall looked to be getting the better of Australia when Andrew Symonds, called on to bowl his medium-pace variety, tied things up with a string of four consecutive maidens. His nagging little spell culminated in a soft dismissal for Marshall, who clipped one off the stumps straight to Casson at midwicket to give Australia their only success of a slightly calmer session than the hectic pre-lunch period.

The two attacks shared the quick and lively pitch in the morning, West Indies knocking over Australia's tail within an hour before Lee and Stuart Clark both made inroads into the hosts' top order. West Indies began with the same approach Australia had used on the first day: all-out aggression. Not surprisingly several of their batsmen had similar results to Australia, impressing for a while before trying one shot too many. Chris Gayle in particular was looking powerful until he drove a wide Lee half-volley hard in the air wide of mid off, where Casson dived to his right to grab a tough chance in both hands, goalkeeper style.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was also keen to dominate the Australians and he cut a cracking six away behind point when Lee dropped short. But Sarwan (20) also fell victim to a super catch when his back-foot drive rocketed away wide of gully, where Michael Hussey dived to his right and grasped a flying chance. It gave Clark his first wicket and a confidence boost after he struggled to move the ball anywhere near as much as Lee.

Lee was clearly enjoying the sharp bounce, getting his speed well above 150kph and cracking Marshall on the head with a bumper - the first of two - that then raced away for four leg byes. He also found some healthy inswing to the left-handed openers and picked up Sewnarine Chattergoon with a good variation, pushing a straighter one across him to entice a tickle through to Brad Haddin.

The early wickets showed just how important it was for West Indies to have restricted Australia, who could only add 25 in the morning as they lost their last three wickets. Australia had been hoping their usually reliable lower order could nudge them up towards 300 but they had to settle for 251 thanks to some excellent fast swing bowling from Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor.

Edwards found some late inswing and when he curved one back in to Casson, striking him in line, Aleem Dar decided it was close enough to be lbw although the ball appeared to be sliding down leg. Johnson followed quickly when he got a leading edge to gully trying to work an awkward short ball on the body away to leg off Taylor, and Clark did not hang around, losing his off stump to a cracking Edwards inswinger.

Even that early in the day it was clear the frenetic finale to an intriguing series was set to continue. At least the rapid pace of action meant there was little chance the first draw between the two sides in 13 years, which was sealed in Antigua ten days ago, would be closely followed by the second.

Under-pressure Lawson talks tough

India v Pakistan, final, Kitply Cup, Mirpur

Under-pressure Lawson talks tough

June 13, 2008

	Geoff Lawson: "We created opportunities in the last game [against India]. Hopefully we'll take our catches" © AFP

Less than a week ago, Pakistan were the in-form team having recorded 12 consecutive victories, the joint second-longest winning streak in ODIs. In the five days since, they have crashed to their worst defeat in history against India, received a strongly-worded email from their board chairman criticising the performance, and head into Saturday's final as underdogs.

If the attitude of Geoff Lawson, the coach, on the eve of the final was any indication, Pakistan are charged up and ready to prove they can beat any team, and not just weaker opponents. Lawson was confrontational and even a little snappy as he answered questions from the media. Although he said the result in the first game against India might have been different if the teams had "swapped luck", in reality Pakistan were a distant second in each discipline.

Pakistan's bowlers conceded 29 runs in wides and no-balls against India, an inexcusable offence. In an attempt to rectify those errors, Pakistan's bowlers practised bowling on a strip parallel to the centre pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Lawson placed markers on the good-length areas for both spinners and fast bowlers and they ran in repeatedly during the hottest afternoon of the week, trying to keep it in the zone. Sohail Tanvir was especially accurate, hitting the single-stump target repeatedly.

"As professional players, we've got to work on aspects of our game," Lawson said. "We had a really long session yesterday [Thursday], which was much longer than today. We had a three-hour session yesterday and we worked hard on fielding, had very good centre-wicket practice and things came out alright."

As generous as they were with extras, Pakistan's bowlers did create wicket-taking opportunities with the new ball and India's opening stand of 155 would never had been if the fielders had held on. "We created opportunities in the last game," Lawson said. "Hopefully we'll take our catches. Hopefully Virender Sehwag won't play and miss 20 times, he'll actually nick one. We weren't unhappy with the way we bowled; things just didn't go our way. We created chances but didn't take them, that is our fault."

	We're more concerned with looking after our own performances than what other people think about it. We're not concerned about emails, we're concerned about our cricket performances

Another problem area for Pakistan, and one PCB chief Nasim Ashraf mentioned in his letter, was the composition of the team. They played only four regular bowlers against India - Umar Gul, Tanvir, Wahab Riaz and Iftikhar Anjum - Shahid Afridi the fifth with his legbreaks. This left Shoaib Malik, who hasn't been bowling because of a dodgy shoulder, with no options to fall back on if one of his bowlers goes for runs, as Riaz did. Batting allrounder Fawad Alam, who bowls left-arm orthodox, is the other spin option but there is no place for him in Pakistan's top seven. Lawson, however, downplayed the importance of spin in these conditions.

"This has been a really good one-day pitch," Lawson said. "It has a bit of bounce for the fast bowlers but the ball hasn't spun much. There's good bounce and it's a terrific pitch to play on. But to suggest that it takes spin more than other wickets is, in my professional opinion, not true. We're very fortunate to have a number of fast bowlers and spinning allrounders."

Pakistan's top-order collapse against India didn't receive much flak after the defeat but the fact that they lost three wickets within the first five overs while chasing 331 effectively ended their challenge. Malik held the middle order together with a half-century but they were dismissed in the 36th over, a collapse which prompted Ashraf to write the "strategy after losing early wickets should have been to bat out the 50 overs. No one applied themselves to build partnerships". Lawson, though, played down the controversy stirred up by Ashraf's letter. "Sometimes people get overtaken by the consequence of cricket matches," he said. "That [loss to India] was uncharacteristic of how we've played recently and the guys know that.

"That's why, when people over-react to those sorts of losses, you tend to dismiss it because you actually know what the guys are doing. We're more concerned with looking after our own performances than what other people think about it. We're not concerned about emails, we're concerned about our cricket performances."

The talk was tough from Lawson and the intensity was evident while the bowlers trained. However, with Ashraf attending Saturday's final, the stakes and the pressure on Pakistan is more than what it is for India.

India confident of executing final plans

India v Pakistan, final, Kitply Cup, Mirpur

India confident of executing final plans

June 13, 2008

	Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side head into the final as favourites, but will have to keep up their good form to clinch the trophy © AFP

Everything's peachy for India going into Saturday's final against Pakistan. There were concerns over a team coming right out of the IPL, but India have made the transition from Twenty20 to 50-over matches with two clinical victories. The batsmen have scored at more than six an over and the bowlers have dismissed the opposition in both league matches.

"There are no issues," Gary Kirsten, India's coach, said. "The team's playing well at the moment. We've had to remain focused on our preparation and at the same time give the guys rest. We've tried to balance the two and everyone's feeling good about tomorrow."

Both of India's innings in the tournament have got off to terrific starts. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir added 155 in 21.3 overs against Pakistan and 85 in 10 against Bangladesh. Both have scored more than fifty on each occasion and their success has left the middle-order with not much to do.

"It [the opening partnership] is important but we're not expecting too much," Kirsten said. "It might happen such that we don't get that partnership. It will obviously be nice to have it because they [Sehwag and Gambhir] score at a good rate and it sets our innings up. We've also got to be willing to know that we might lose a wicket early on. But we've got quality [middle-order] batsmen who can apply themselves in that situation."

It is an area which Pakistan can look to capitalise on: take out Sehwag and Gambhir early and put the middle order under pressure. Another aspect of India's play which Pakistan can target is the fifth bowler. In their previous encounter, Praveen Kumar's four-wicket burst with the new ball crippled Pakistan's innings but, if they can keep wickets intact, their batsmen could play aggressively against Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh and Sehwag.

An area where India scores heavily over Pakistan, however, is in the field. Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina cover plenty of ground between them in the inner circle and fielders such as Yusuf and Irfan Pathan have strong arms from the boundary. "It [fielding and fitness] is certainly an area that we're working very hard on," Kirsten said. "It's nice to have a lot of youth because there's energy and enthusiasm, which is great. They are very keen to prepare well physically. We're placing a lot of emphasis on that. We're still a long way from where we want to be but we're heading in the right direction."

The key for India is to ward off complacency. Both Kirsten and Mahendra Singh Dhoni said if they played to potential, India would win more often than not. However, Kirsten expected a different and far more competitive Pakistan outfit for the final. "They are going to be motivated and determined and we know they can play good cricket. We like to try and stay away from worrying about the opposition too much apart from expecting them to play at their best. We feel if we can execute our plans the way we want to, we are going to be difficult to beat."

The last final between India and Pakistan was at the World Twenty20 in Johannesburg and memories of Misbah-ul-Haq scooping the last ball to Sreesanth at short fine leg are still vivid. Dhoni said India had got the better of Pakistan over the last four years or so. His team would look to do the same come Saturday.

Gambhir century takes India to easy win

Bangladesh v India, 3rd match, Kitply Cup, Mirpur

Gambhir century takes India to easy win

June 12, 2008

India 223 for 3 (Gambhir 107*, Sehwag 59) beat Bangladesh 222 (Raqibul 89, Ashraful 36, RP Singh 3-46) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Gautam Gambhir guided India to a comfortable seven-wicket win with his unbeaten 107 © AFP

A fifth ODI century for Gautam Gambhir and another quickfire fifty from Virender Sehwag extended India's domination in the Kitply Cup as they thumped Bangladesh in Mirpur by seven wickets, with 14.5 overs to spare, and set up a final with Pakistan. Bangladesh needed to win by a bonus point to book their place in the final but, despite Raqibul Hasan's 89, they were always going to fall short of a fighting total after a miserly opening burst from Praveen Kumar.

Chasing 223, India were off to a flier with Sehwag in imperious touch. He offered a few chances early in his innings but soon took the attack to Reza in the sixth over, smacking one over midwicket for a boundary and then another through point. Fortunately for him, an outside edge eluded a diving Mushfiqur Rahim. Gambhir repeated the dose in Reza's next over, taking three fours as the bowler erred in his line.

Ashraful brought on Dolar Mahmud, playing his second game, but Sehwag showed him no mercy and disdainfully dispatched twice him over the extra-cover boundary for six. To Bangladesh's relief, he then smashed a short ball straight into the hands of Tamim Iqbal at square leg at the end of an over in which he plundered 24 to rush to 59 off just 32 balls.

The platform had been set for the other batsmen to consolidate, and Gambhir took the cue from his Delhi team-mate. Rohit Sharma was lucky to survive an outside edge off Dolar and then pulled one superbly for six, but it was Gambhir who stole the show once the spinners come into play.

Gambhir, reputed to be the best player of spin in this Indian XI, justified that tag; he didn't hesitate to come down the track - giving himself a bit of room as well - and launched boundaries with ease in the arc between wide long-off and extra cover. Forty-four of his runs came in that region and when the Bangladesh bowlers pitched it short on middle and leg, he pulled or slog-swept them. Abdur Razzak's entry into the attack was greeted with a inside-out shot over extra cover for four, and he was then launched over long-off for six.

Gambhir was much slower than Sehwag to his fifty - it took 57 balls - but he stayed till the end to get a well-deserved hundred. Some innocuous spin from Mahmudullah and Alok Kapali was hardly a problem for a man who'd handled Muttiah Muralitharan with aplomb in the CB Series. Rohit and Yuvraj Singh fell at the other end, but that didn't matter as Gambhir's unbeaten 107 saw India home.

Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, was left helpless as Sehwag and Gambhir plundered runs, but it was his batsmen who'd let the team down with an inadequate 222, which owed much to Raqibul's 89.

Along with Ashraful, Raqibul rebuilt a tottering innings - Bangladesh's openers had fallen for just 17 - with a 76-run stand in 19.4 overs. Ashraful's 67-ball 36 ended in a tame manner, one driven back to Yusuf Pathan handing him his first ODI wicket. Although the more experienced Ashraful failed to capitalise, Raqibul didn't disappoint. In his eighth innings, he came up with his highest score - his 89 also being the best for a Bangladesh batsman against India - surely one of the few positives for coach Jamie Siddons from this tournament.

Bangladesh crawled in the early half of their innings. Praveen's opening spell of 7-2-8-1, backed by a disciplined effort from the other Indian bowlers, ensured runs came at a premium. It was Alok Kapali's entry - with Bangladesh at 106 for 4 in the 30th over - that gave the innings much-needed momentum. Both he and Raqibul found the gaps and ran hard for the singles. There were only four boundaries and just when Bangladesh looked set for a late-over surge, Kapali was cleaned up by Irfan as he walked across the stumps. The fifth-wicket partnership added 46 in 8.4 overs.

Raqibul brought up his fifty off 78 balls, and he upped the pace in the latter half of his innings as India's bowlers failed to make inroads in the middle overs. Praveen's returns in his last three overs fetched three times the runs off his first seven, but with Raqibul cramping up, Bangladesh didn't make full use of the final few overs. Mahmudullah chipped in with 24, but Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for 26 as they were bowled out in 49.5 overs.

India rout Pakistan by 140 runs

India v Pakistan, 2nd match, Kitply Cup, Mirpur

India rout Pakistan by 140 runs

June 10, 2008

India 330 for 8 (Sehwag 89, Gambhir 62, Yuvraj 55) beat Pakistan 190 (Malik 53, Praveen 4-53, Chawla 4-40) by 140 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Virender Sehwag made his first ODI fifty in a year © AFP

India showed how the hectic pace of Twenty20 cricket could be replicated in ODIs, pounding 330 on a sluggish pitch before their bowlers rounded off a thumping win in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan, coming off 12 successive wins against weak opposition, crashed to their worst defeat against India and their coach Geoff Lawson, who had hoped for a 150-run win, would have been embarrassed to see the shoe on the other foot.

India's domination was complete. Their mammoth total was made possible not by one but three batsmen: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made the most of some sloppy catching, getting within four runs of India's highest opening stand against Pakistan, before Yuvraj Singh raised visions of a 375-plus total. They settled for 330 but that didn't matter in the final analysis. Once Pakistan crumbled to 26 for 3, it was only a case of picking up the pieces.

A run-rate of 6.6 is impressive in all conditions but the fact that India kept it up on a sluggish pitch that offered some assistance to the medium-pacers added more gloss to the effort. Their fifty came up as early as the seventh over but Pakistan's four-pronged pace attack didn't start as badly as the run-rate suggested. They troubled the batsmen with swing and seam and even managed the edge on a few occasions but they were let down by poor fielding. Younis Khan allowed Gambhir two lives - on 4 and 29 - with identical edges flying past him at second slip and Kamran Akmal let off Sehwag on 43 when he lost control of the ball after appearing to have snared an edge to his right.

Sehwag, who walked all the way back to the boundary before returning, made the most of his good fortune, racing to his first fifty in a year. He was dropped for the final stages of India's CB Series but an injury to Sachin Tendulkar allowed him another chance. He wasn't his customary buccaneering self, and that was probably because of the nature of the surface, but he continuously peppered the region behind square. Preferring to use the pace of the bowlers, he walked across and whipped a few off his pads while settling for the judicious glide on other occasions.

The area behind square was productive for Gambhir as well but it was the occasional skip down the ground that unsettled the bowlers. He didn't hesitate charging the quicker men and actually cut one over the infield, off left-armer Wahab Riaz, with both his feet in mid-air.

Riaz dismissed both openers in the space of a couple of overs but went on to have a forgettable day. It was the first time he was up against top-class opposition and the wheels began to come off once Yuvraj went after him. He even let slip two beamers - the second was probably because of the slippery ball - and wasn't allowed to complete his final over. It meant he earned the dubious distinction of bowling the most expensive spell against India, conceding one more than what Ata-ur-Rahman did in Sharjah back in 1996.

	Praveen Kumar's four-wicket haul floored Pakistan's hopes of chasing 331 © AFP

Incidentally it was in that game where India passed 300 for the first time in an ODI. Here, more than 12 years later, they were in sight of much more as Yuvraj began striking it clean. He gauged the slow nature of the track and ensured he played late. A couple of half-trackers were swatted away over midwicket and his neat clips towards square leg suggested a batsman preparing to explode, but he fell to Umar Gul in the quest for quick runs.

It was always going to be an uphill task for Pakistan and the contest was all but over once Praveen Kumar struck four big blows, including a two-in-two. Swinging the new ball either way, he showed how dangerous he could be in congenial conditions. Praveen had Rohit Sharma to thank for the opening breakthrough: a sensational reflex catch at short cover got rid of Salman Butt.

A slightly wide ball was lashed hard but Rohit, throwing himself to the left and ensuring his hands got around a low chance, hung on superbly. There was no need of any such acrobatics for the next one: Younis Khan snicked to the wicketkeeper and walked back for his second successive duck.

Akmal and Misbah ensured Praveen didn't have a perfect day - taking 17 off his fifth over, including four cracking fours - but Akmal was livid after falling to a full toss, lobbing a leading edge to mid-on. Misbah too couldn't carry on, falling to an injudicious waft, and it was left to Shoaib Malik to pick up the pieces. He soldiered on to a fifty but his meaty blows were largely inconsequential in the face of a steep mountain. Chawla finished with four wickets, tormenting the tail and giving the finishing touches to a near-perfect day for India.