South Africa Thrashed Sri Lanka in T20 Worldcup 2012

South Africa topped Group C after skipper A B de Villiers led them to a 32-run victory over Sri Lanka in a rain-curtailed match of the ICC World Twenty20 here today.

South Africa rode on De Villiers' 13-ball 30 to post 78 for four after the match was reduced to a seven-over-a-side affair. In reply, the Sri Lankans were restricted to 46 for five as the Protea bowlers took centrestage at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium.

The loss meant Sri Lanka will enter the Super Eight stage as the second best team from the group.

Besides de Villiers, Hashim Amla (16), Faf du Plessis (13) and JP Duminy (12) chipped in with important runs to lay the foundation for a comfortable win, after being put in to bat.

In what was the first international T20 match between the two sides, the hosts always had a tough task at hands after the Proteas set a stiff target. It became even more difficult after the Lankans lost openers -- captain Mahela Jayawardene (4) and Tillakaratner Dilshan (0) -- cheaply.

The Sri Lankan batsmen simply failed to find their ground, even as Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis came up with tremendous bowling efforts to restrict the opponents.

The bowlers managed to tightened the noose further and the likes of Dilshan Munaweera, Kumar Sangakara (13) and Thisara Perera (1) could never get the momentum going.

Steyn finished with impressive figures of two for 10 from as many overs.

Earlier, South Africa also did not have an ideal start as Nuwan Kulasekara dismissed opener Richard Levi (4) in the very first over, when Dilshan Munaweera took a brilliant diving catch going back from mid on.

Read More

9:48 AM

Pune clash with rejuvenated Chennai

Pulled up by skipper Sourav Ganguly following a lackluster showing in their previous outing, the Pune batsmen would look to put up a much better display when they take on the formidable Chennai team in the Indian T20 League match played at Pune. Pune started the tournament on a positive note, notching up wins in their first two matches, till Punjab disturbed the momentum. Chennai, on the other hand, have not been their usual self at the start, but the thrilling win over Bangalore on Thursday when they chased down 206, should come as a shot in the arm for the visitors. The Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium is expected to be packed to the brim by Pune fans, but going by Chennai's depth and variety, the visitors are not likely to be too worried about that. As far as captaincy is concerned, Ganguly led the side well, but is yet to fire with the willow. Considering that they are not a side packed with experienced international stars, it is important that Ganguly takes the lead himself and inspires the rest who follow him in the batting line-up. The top-order hasn't fired yet. They would be expecting the likes of Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa,Manish Pandey and Angelo Mathews get into the groove quickly as it will benefit the team immensely. Their batting may not seem that formidable but Pune surely have a pretty good bowling attack in Ashok Dinda, Ashish Nehra and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma. Nehra attributed their seven-wicket loss on Thursday to fielding lapses and the failure to play the full quota of 20 overs, and Pune would do well to avoid repeating the same mistakes. In the match against Punjab, Pune were bundled out for 115 in 19 overs. In stark contrast, the Super Kings batted with aplomb as they successfully chased a mammoth target at the Chepauk stadium. While Murali Vijay hasn't really done anything of note till now, his opening partner Faf du Plessis has been in a rich vein of form. He cracked 71 off just 46 deliveries while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 41 off 24 that also marked his return to form after a quite start to the tournament. Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo, too, were in full flow as they tore into the Bangalore bowlers. The defending champions would be hoping to continue the momentum against Pune, who are placed third on the points table with two wins from three matches, while the Super Kings are on fifth position with as many wins as the hosts from four games.

Read More

3:05 AM

Nehra blames fielding lapses for the loss

Pune Warriors pacer Ashish Nehra has blamed the fielding lapses and not playing the full quota of 20 overs for his team's seven-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match at the PCA stadium.

"The kind of chances we got...(Robin) Uthappa missed one caught behind chance of Shaun Marsh. Jessy Ryder missed one run out and there was a drop chance off my bowling," Nehra said at a post-match press conference last night.

Pune were dismissed for a modest 115 in just 19 overs after Punjab won the toss and invited the visitors to bat. The hosts then returned to overhaul the target with 14 balls to spare.

Stating that losing opener Jesse Ryder (7) with the ball doing a bit early on, did not help their cause, Nehra said: "The first half was a bit slow, with ball doing a bit, but we didn't even play full 20 overs. Had we batted through and got 130-135 with the kind of bowling we have and supported with the fielding, things could have gone in our favour."

Nehra also felt that given the conditions on the ground with a hint of movement, it was a bad toss to lose. "Bad toss to lose, I would say. The ball was doing a bit," he said.

With the Warriors having won their first two games and losing one so far, Nehra said it was still early days.

"T20 is that kind of a format, there will be ups and downs. I am sure in future we will learn from our mistakes."

Nehra, who remained wicketless from three overs he bowled last night giving away 22 runs, was satisfied with his performance after missing the earlier games because of a muscle pull.

"The muscle pull is okay now and hopefully as the tournament progresses, I will keep bowling well," said Nehra, who also missed the last edition of IPL due to a hand surgery.

"Last year's IPL, I didn't play because of hand surgery. I am fine now and hopefully will have a good IPL (this season)."

Read More

11:38 AM

Asia Cup final: Bowlers may decide the outcome

Once again, fans in both India and Pakistan show that they value a victory over their arch-rival more than they do the tournament. If the 2007 World Cup taught us anything, it is that in the agony and disgrace of first-round exits, fans found ecstasy in seeing the same fate dealt to their neighbour. It may sound cruel, but India is eliminated from the Asia Cup on the back of wins over Pakistan and Sri Lanka and a loss to Bangladesh. The Indian fan will see the greater prize in a lifetime of memories from the team’s triumph over Pakistan.

Sri Lanka would do well to forget this tournament altogether. Upul Tharanga has demonstrated in the last handful matches that he is at home at No. 6. Chamara Kapugedera showed great fight and maturity when the top order collapsed to Nazmul Hossain. In every sense, the recent CB Series in Australia was a much better showing in a harder tournament, given the conditions. Sri Lanka would do well to not lose too much sleep over their three losses, and shift focus to their first Test against England which begins in less than a week.

Bangladesh will go into the final with a focused confidence. Since losing the curtain-raiser to Pakistan, they were forced to play with their backs to the wall, and won gritty contests. The only change Bangladesh made to the playing XI was to bring in Nazmul Hossain for Shafiul Islam after their win against India for the Sri Lanka match. Nazmul rewarded the coaching staff with three early breakthroughs and was the second-best player on either team after the ever-consistent Shakib Al Hasan. If there was a criticism to be made of Mushfiqur Rahim’s captaincy in the field, it was his late bowling changes that kept a wayward Shahadat Hossain running in while Nazmul languished on 3 for 22 with two overs to spare.

The team management has shown their willingness to tinker with a winning line-up, and they will surely consider sitting Shahadat, whose expensive figures belie his scattershot line. With an economy rate of 7.12, Shahadat has consistently been the most expensive bowler in an attack that prides itself on manufacturing dot balls and restricting single to apply pressure. Shahadat’s best match came against Pakistan where he took 3 for 53 from 8, and if he is kept for the final it will be on the hope that he can repeat that effort.

Looking for a change, Shafiul Islam could be brought back to strengthen the attack. Conversely, Bangladesh might look to strengthen the batting depth which was bowled out by Pakistan when they last met 21 runs short with two overs to go. In that case, they would do well to field a left-hander near the top with Imrul Kayes or Elias Sunny.

Where Bangladesh go into the final riding two victories, Pakistan does so on their only loss. Even though Pakistan won when the two sides met in their league match, the final will offer them a chance at redemption as they hope to improve on what was their worst performance of the tournament.

Pakistan will certainly make changes. Wahab Riaz will be the first to go after conceding a half-century with the ball in four overs. Sarfraz Ahmed must return to take the gloves after Umar Akmal played stand-in. That experiment cost Pakistan at least 20 runs in the field compounded by the loss of Umar Akmal marshalling the offside field from point and gully.

Those are the quick and easy fixes. George Bernard Shaw famously said, ‘Youth is wasted on the young.’ If there is any truth to the other side of the saying, then Misbah-ul Haq is proof that, ‘Experience is a burden to the old’. Misbah must make full use of his resources and trust Hammad Azam with the ball. His decision to not continue with Mohammad Hafeez’s offspin after taking Gambhir’s wicket in the first over against India showed too much reliance on the pre-match strategy. Hafeez had established himself as a threat with this second delivery and Misbah kept him out of the attack until the 12th over, by which point Tendulkar and Kohli had added 63 easy runs. Fortunately for Pakistan, Younis Khan found some form against India, and it was only an audacious blinder from the cat-like Raina that kept the batting side from posting a score north of 350.

One man who should find himself in a position similar to that of Shahadat Hossain is Shahid Afridi. It should have happened by now, but soon everyone will realize that Afridi is not doing enough to earn his place in the side. He positions himself as an allrounder, but his best days with either tool are behind him. Afridi is a liability with the bat and his bowling has been wayward. Like Shahadat, Afridi has the worst economy in his squad among those who sent down more than 4 overs. Like Shahadat, his reputation and the fact that his best (read: least worst) performance came against the other finalist will probably be enough to keep him on the field.

If Afridi is being played as a specialist bowler, the conditions point to Abdur Rehman, though that change is unlikely given the left-arm man has not played in the tournament. Bangladesh took more Pakistani wickets than any other opponent, so if Afridi makes room for a batsman, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are waiting in the wings, each of whom can sneak in a few overs of part-time legspin.

Bangladesh will prefer to chase their target, while Pakistan will prefer to defend theirs. This strategy will make the coin toss a formality and begin the chess match from the opening delivery. The final looks a contest to be won with the ball, and both teams will fancy their chances. As often happens when bowling is the focus of a match, it is the fielders who ultimately decide the contest, and Bangladesh hold a strong advantage in that department.

The Pakistan team has always had a second home in Bangladesh. The fans treat them as well as their own. This will be a moment of great pride for Bangladesh, possibly 100 overs away from being crowned the champions of Asia, and Pakistan will have to weather as hostile crowds as the friendly smiles in Dhaka can muster.

Read More

11:56 PM

All-round Bangladesh trump Sri Lanka, enter Asia Cup final

An all-round effort with the bat, ball and in the field helped Bangladesh continue their giant-killing run and defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a rain-affected match at Dhaka today to seal their spot in the final of the Asia Cup.

In a must-win match for them, Bangladesh bowled Sri Lanka out for 232 and then chased down the revised target of 212 in 40 overs with five wickets and 17 balls to spare. A lengthy rain delay after Sri Lanka's innings resulted in the truncated match, but Bangladesh held their nerve despite stumbling in the chase to earn a well-deserved win.

Bangladesh had a disastrous start to the run chase when they were slipped to 40 for 3 in 7.1 overs with Nuwan Kulasekara accounting for Nazimudding and captain Mushfiqur Rahim; and Suranga Lakmal had Jahurul Islam caught by Chamara Kapugedera at midwicket.

The in-form duo of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan got Bangladesh's chase back on course with their 76-run partnership in 12.1 overs for the fourth wicket to put the pressure back on Sri Lanka as the pair kept the scoreboard ticking over by rotating the strike and also hitting boundaries at regular intervals. None of the Sri Lankan bowlers made any impact on Tamim and Shakib as they adopted a low-risk but effective approach in their partnership.

Tamim, who was surprisingly left out of Bangladesh's original squad for the tournament before being reinstated, got to his half-century from only 46 balls; with Shakib continuing his brilliant form with the bat scoring his 50 from 43 deliveries. Tamim, who scored a 57-ball 59 had 28 dots, 19 singles, a couple of twos and nine boundaries in his innings; while Man-of-the-Match Shakib (56 from 46 deliveries) had 19 dots, 14 singles, four twos, two threes and seven boundaries to his name - this is as close as it gets to a
perfect partnership in ODIs.

Off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake dismissed both the set batsmen in quick succession to put the pressure back on Bangladesh with the hosts 135 for 5 in the 24th over. Senanayake dropped Tamim off his own bowling when the Bangladeshi opening batsman was on 51, but made amends soon after when he had the southpaw caught by Lahiru Thirimanne at point; before finally winning the battle against Shakib by trapping him plumb in front.

But, Nasir Hossain (36*) and Mahmudullah, who remained not out on 32 from 33 deliveries shared an unbroken partnership of 77 runs in 83 deliveries to ensure Bangladesh wouldn't be denied their just rewards.

Read More

11:52 PM