Saturday, 2 July 2011
LATEST CRICKET NEWS
England v Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI, Headingley
Jayawardene century overpowers England
July 1, 2011
Sri Lanka 309 for 5 (Jayawardene 144, Sangakkara 69) beat England 240 (Morgan 52, Randiv 3-43) by 69 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Related Links Matches: England v Sri Lanka at Leeds Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of England and Scotland | |||
Mahela Jayawardene produced a beautifully crafted 144 from 150 balls, the highest of his 15 ODI centuries and his fifth against England, as Sri Lanka put the memories of their soggy defeat at The Oval to one side with an imposing 69-run victory in the second one-day international at Headingley. Faced with a stiff target of 310, England threatened for a while, particularly while Eoin Morgan was compiling a 37-ball half-century, but eventually succumbed to 240 all out.
With the sun on their backs and little on offer in the pitch, Sri Lanka's morale seemed transformed in the space of three days, and once Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had overcome the setback of two careless run-outs at the top of the innings, there was little that England could do to contain them. The pair added in 159 for the third wicket in 29.1 overs - a record for Sri Lanka against England, beating the mark of 140 that the same two men set at Durham during the 5-0 whitewash in 2006.
Though Sangakkara was eventually dragged out of his crease by Graeme Swann and stumped for 69, that wicket was the only one that any of England's bowlers managed in the first 45 overs of the innings. Jayawardene eventually followed in the same fashion seven overs later, but at 271 for 4 with 29 balls of the innings remaining, the stage was set for Angelo Mathews, who biffed 41 from 27, before Nuwan Kulasekera and Jeevan Mendis carried the score past 300 in the final over of the innings.
In reply, England's openers did begin with some confidence. With criticism of his role still being voiced in the media, Alastair Cook knew he needed to make his presence felt, especially after opting to chase on a good batting wicket. He and Craig Kieswetter pushed along to 52 without loss in the 10-over Powerplay, with Cook demonstrating his improvisatory side with a scoop for four over the wicketkeeper's head off Kulasekara.
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However, the weight of Sri Lanka's runs told on England's batsmen in the end. Kieswetter pulled a Lakmal bouncer to deep square leg for 25, before Kevin Pietersen was superbly caught on the long-on boundary by a diving Lasith Malinga. Cook's own stay ended when he drove Suraj Randiv down the throat of wide long-on for a 52-ball 48, while Jonathan Trott - who had once again been batting to his own tempo - had no answer to a superb inswinging yorker from Lakmal that crashed into his middle stump, and sent him on his way for 39 from 54 balls.
At 144 for 4 in the 28th over, the prospects of victory were bleak, but Morgan injected some genuine life into the innings with another superb display of calculated aggression. He signalled the charge with back-to-back sixes off the legspin of Jeevan Mendis, but with 109 still needed from the final 13 overs, Randiv tweaked an offspinner past his outside edge and Sangakkara, after a struggle to get the ball under control, whipped off the bails. It was all the invitation that Sri Lanka needed to go for the kill, as victory was wrapped up with 25 balls to spare.
Despite a few glimpses from England's batsmen, they lacked a player such as Jayawardene who could combine excellence with endurance. Despite his rough patch of form in the Test series, in which he failed to reach even a half-century in six attempts, this was Jayawardene's second ODI hundred in three innings, following his brilliant but futile performance in the World Cup final in Mumbai. In the absence of the retired Sanath Jayasuriya, he moved up the order to open alongside Dilshan, and responded just as he had done at Bristol in the Twenty20 last week, with a typically attractive and fluent performance.
With exquisite timing and placement through the off-side, and a voracious eye for an opportunity off the pads, Jayawardene racked up 14 fours in his stay, and picked his pace up as the innings progressed. After weathering a testing new-ball spell from James Anderson and Tim Bresnan, he reached his first fifty from 68 balls, his second from 50, and his final 44 came from 32.
At The Oval on Tuesday, both Jayawardene and Sangakkara had been among the early casualties as England reduced Sri Lanka to 15 for 4 in damp seaming conditions. That performance was no doubt a factor for Cook when he turned down the chance to have first use of a flat surface, and when Anderson followed up his Oval performance with seven probing overs for 20, runs did seem hard to come by.
Frustration was certainly a factor in both of England's early breakthroughs. Dilshan was sent on his way for a run-a-ball 9, as Stuart Broad swooped and dived in one motion from mid-on after a crass call for a single, and five overs later, Dinesh Chandimal fell in a carbon-copy fashion, as Anderson this time did the honours from Broad's first ball of the innings.
But the key moment of the innings came in Bresnan's third over, when Jayawardene attempted a glide over the slip cordon on 7, where Graeme Swann couldn't cling on with a fingertipped stretch. Three balls later, Jayawardene edged inches short of Swann again, and then compounded a frustrating over for Bresnan by stroking a drive through the covers for four.
England's fielding, which had been so tigerish in the early stages, began to get a bit ragged as the innings progressed. Cook at short cover dropped a tough diving effort with Jayawardene on 119, while another off-colour day for Broad was compounded when Kulasekara picked out Swann at short third man, who grassed his second clear-cut opportunity.
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Live cricket scores
Test matches
2nd Test: West Indies v India at Bridgetown - Jun 28-Jul 2, 2011
India 201 and 229/3; West Indies 190
V Kohli 26* VVS Laxman 72* DJG Sammy 24-8-45-0 D Bishoo 27-4-63-0
Stumps - India lead by 240 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Women's One-Day Internationals
3rd Match: Australia Women v India Women at Chesterfield - Jul 2, 2011
Match scheduled to start at 10:45 local time (GMT +0100) - India Women won the toss and elected to bat
4th Match: England Women v New Zealand Women at Derby - Jul 2, 2011
England Women 82/3 (21 ov)
SC Taylor 30* LS Greenway 7* SW Bates 5-0-19-1 KS Anderson 6-0-26-0
New Zealand Women won the toss and elected to field
County Championship Division One
Sussex v Warwickshire at Arundel - Jun 29-Jul 2, 2011
Sussex 251 and 273/5; Warwickshire 481
LJ Wright 115* OP Rayner 55* R Clarke 12.2-2-48-0 JS Patel 29-5-84-3
Sussex lead by 43 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Zimbabwe A Team Tri-Series
3rd Match: Zimbabwe XI v South Africa A at Harare - Jul 2, 2011
South Africa A 238/9 (50 ov)
J Theron 1* CJ Alexander 0* KO Meth 10-1-36-3 CB Mpofu 10-0-43-1
Innings break - South Africa A won the toss and elected to bat
Friends Life t20
South Group: Essex v Middlesex at Chelmsford - Jul 2, 2011
Match scheduled to begin at 17:10 local time (16:10 GMT)
CRICKET NEWS
Tendulkar finds a way to challenge himself: Webster
Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. (TOI Photo)
BRIDGETOWN: Newly-appointed West Indies team psychologist Rudi Webster is a Sachin Tendulkar fan and he admires the champion batsman for his ability to impose himself on opponents, situations and conditions.
"Sachin, like any great sportsman or businessman, finds a way to challenge himself. He finds a way to get on top of tricky situations and conditions. But only the very best can manage so," said the genial Webster, who has been roped in by the West Indies Cricket Boad (WICB) to boost the team ahead of the second cricket Test against India beginning here tomorrow.
India are 1-0 up in the series by virtue of their 63-run win over the hosts in the first Test at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica last week.
Webster feels cricketers must know when to let the storm pass and then get on top of situations - a quality which he terms as "flexibility of mind."
"Others must know to spot the situation which needs different responses. They should have that intense concentration to know when they must play against their natural instincts. They must challenge themselves to be flexible," he said.
"Australians, for example, never needled Lara. Lara was an extremely dangerous opponent. As for others, like Sir Garfield Sobers once said, mind more than skills make a difference in their careers.
"There has to be a reason why incredibly talented cricketers don't make it to the top while lesser cricketers achieve more than their skills deserve," he added.
Webster mentions two Indian cricketers -- Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh -- in the same breath as he finds the duo incredibly talented.
"Virender Sehwag is one another incredible talent. I haven't seen many who can time a cricket ball better than him. He too is a cricketer who loves to impose himself on a cricket field. But he would be still a better batsman if he respected conditions and opponents once in a while," he said.
"Yuvraj Singh is another. Not just as a one-day batsman but I feel he should have really made it big in Test cricket. It's just not his timing, his entire talent as a cricketer is striking," feels the Englishman, who played first class cricket for Warwickshire.
Webster now has the responsibility to make the West Indies team punch above their weight against the Indians in the second Test.
The hosts have some incredibly talented cricketers like Darren Bravo and Adrian Barath, to name a few, but they are unable to string together good performances on a cricket field consistently.
West Indian skipper Darren Sammy feels there is very little difference between the two sides and it is upon Webster now to make the Caribbean players mentally tough.
"Mr Webster is primarily working with our batsmen. He is trying to get their confidence up. Hopefully, we will see the result in this Test," he said.
"If batsmen bat with confidence and compliment our bowlers, we would be alright.
"We haven't handled pressure situations well. At key moments, we have suffered collapses. There is something which affects us. When we are in good position, we suddenly tend to lose it. We need to be mentally strong not to crumble under pressure," remarked Sammy.
"Sachin, like any great sportsman or businessman, finds a way to challenge himself. He finds a way to get on top of tricky situations and conditions. But only the very best can manage so," said the genial Webster, who has been roped in by the West Indies Cricket Boad (WICB) to boost the team ahead of the second cricket Test against India beginning here tomorrow.
India are 1-0 up in the series by virtue of their 63-run win over the hosts in the first Test at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica last week.
Webster feels cricketers must know when to let the storm pass and then get on top of situations - a quality which he terms as "flexibility of mind."
"Others must know to spot the situation which needs different responses. They should have that intense concentration to know when they must play against their natural instincts. They must challenge themselves to be flexible," he said.
"Australians, for example, never needled Lara. Lara was an extremely dangerous opponent. As for others, like Sir Garfield Sobers once said, mind more than skills make a difference in their careers.
"There has to be a reason why incredibly talented cricketers don't make it to the top while lesser cricketers achieve more than their skills deserve," he added.
Webster mentions two Indian cricketers -- Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh -- in the same breath as he finds the duo incredibly talented.
"Virender Sehwag is one another incredible talent. I haven't seen many who can time a cricket ball better than him. He too is a cricketer who loves to impose himself on a cricket field. But he would be still a better batsman if he respected conditions and opponents once in a while," he said.
"Yuvraj Singh is another. Not just as a one-day batsman but I feel he should have really made it big in Test cricket. It's just not his timing, his entire talent as a cricketer is striking," feels the Englishman, who played first class cricket for Warwickshire.
Webster now has the responsibility to make the West Indies team punch above their weight against the Indians in the second Test.
The hosts have some incredibly talented cricketers like Darren Bravo and Adrian Barath, to name a few, but they are unable to string together good performances on a cricket field consistently.
West Indian skipper Darren Sammy feels there is very little difference between the two sides and it is upon Webster now to make the Caribbean players mentally tough.
"Mr Webster is primarily working with our batsmen. He is trying to get their confidence up. Hopefully, we will see the result in this Test," he said.
"If batsmen bat with confidence and compliment our bowlers, we would be alright.
"We haven't handled pressure situations well. At key moments, we have suffered collapses. There is something which affects us. When we are in good position, we suddenly tend to lose it. We need to be mentally strong not to crumble under pressure," remarked Sammy.
CRICKET NEWS
Dhoni should have been pulled up for his remarks: Australian media
Read More:Mahendra Singh Dhoni|International Cricket Council|Dave Richardson|Daryl Harper|Darrell Hair
Umpire Daryl Harper (left) and India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the first Test match against West Indies in Kingston. (AP Photo)
SYDNEY: The Australian media has come down hard on the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not taking any action against Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose criticism of umpire Daryl Harper's performance in the first Test against West Indies led to the withdrawal of the official from the third Test.
Harper was to retire from the elite panel after the third Test, but following the criticism he chose not to officiate in what would have been his farewell match.
"Indian harassment and the ICC's inaction have seen Australian umpire Daryl Harper pull out of his farewell Test in the West Indies," reported the Australian on Friday.
"While the ICC said it was unfair criticism and defended Harper's record, it has not taken any action against India's captain. And Harper, who was about to stand in his 300th international, walked away," the report said.
The report said that there were a number of disputed decisions that upset the Indians, but they were only in that position because the Indian players and board refused to countenance the use of the Decision Review System (DRS). "Match referee Jeff Crowe did not punish Dhoni for his outburst."
India won the first Test at Kingston by 63 runs and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: "If the correct decisions were made, the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now."
The ICC's cricket manager, Dave Richardson, defended Harper's record.
"The reality of the situation is that Daryl's statistics show his correct decision percentage in Tests involving India is 96 per cent, which is considerably higher than the international average for top-level umpires," Richardson said.
Harper's former colleague Darrell Hair supported him. "You can't have players picking and choosing umpires," Hair was quoted as saying.
The 59-year-old Harper, who has stood in 95 Tests and 174 ODIs, is not the first umpire to feel poorly treated. In 2008, Steve Bucknor was sent home by the ICC after India complained about his performance in the controversial Sydney Test against Australia. Mark Benson also walked away amid controversy over the DRS in Australia two summers ago, citing ill health.
Harper was to retire from the elite panel after the third Test, but following the criticism he chose not to officiate in what would have been his farewell match.
"Indian harassment and the ICC's inaction have seen Australian umpire Daryl Harper pull out of his farewell Test in the West Indies," reported the Australian on Friday.
"While the ICC said it was unfair criticism and defended Harper's record, it has not taken any action against India's captain. And Harper, who was about to stand in his 300th international, walked away," the report said.
The report said that there were a number of disputed decisions that upset the Indians, but they were only in that position because the Indian players and board refused to countenance the use of the Decision Review System (DRS). "Match referee Jeff Crowe did not punish Dhoni for his outburst."
India won the first Test at Kingston by 63 runs and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: "If the correct decisions were made, the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now."
The ICC's cricket manager, Dave Richardson, defended Harper's record.
"The reality of the situation is that Daryl's statistics show his correct decision percentage in Tests involving India is 96 per cent, which is considerably higher than the international average for top-level umpires," Richardson said.
Harper's former colleague Darrell Hair supported him. "You can't have players picking and choosing umpires," Hair was quoted as saying.
The 59-year-old Harper, who has stood in 95 Tests and 174 ODIs, is not the first umpire to feel poorly treated. In 2008, Steve Bucknor was sent home by the ICC after India complained about his performance in the controversial Sydney Test against Australia. Mark Benson also walked away amid controversy over the DRS in Australia two summers ago, citing ill health.
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