Warner's brilliance powers Sunrisers to maiden IPL final

The weekend and the determination of the second finalist of the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) drew in thousands to the Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday (May 27). With orange flags being hurled in equal proportions, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad's Orange Army, led by a magnificent innings from captain David Warner, that pipped Gujarat Lions in a thriller to book their maiden spot in the final where they will contest for the silverware against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
 
After a rather poor start that once again saw Gujarats top order fail as they have in the latter half of the tournament they did well to recover on Friday (May 27) with 95 runs in the second half to reach 162 for 7 in the second qualifier. Taking into account that the next-best score to David Warner's 93 off 58 balls, was a brilliant 11-ball 27 from Bipul Sharma at No. 8, it was reflection of the magnitude of the skipper's innings and his fortitude to hold his bat throughout. Warner's excellent essay, laced with 11 fours and 3 sixes, ended Lions' maiden season. His unbeaten 46-run stand for the seventh wicket with Bipul, that saw as many as three sixes hit, helped Sunrisers to a four-wicket win.
 
The blip in Sunrisers' approach to their chase was indeterminacy of whether to accelerate in the powerplay or set the base. In the end, they ended up doing neither. Shikhar Dhawan was caught short of his crease in the second over after Brendon McCullum fired in a throw at the stumps from cover point. Yuvraj Singh and Moises Henriques couldn't replicate their outings from the other night, a result of which, Warner had to once again don his steadfast cap and keep his side in the chase. Wickets tumbled at the other end as Warner struggled to forge substantial stands while doing the dirty work himself.
 
Surpassing the 700-run mark this season, he cruised to another half-century off 35 balls, to become the batsman with the most fifty-plus scores in the IPL. Gujarat couldn't curb Warner's trademark offside play as he creamed the cover regions.
 
Shivil Kaushik, coming in for Shadab Jakati, made his presence felt as Sunrisers slipped to 84 for 5. Kaushik troubled Yuvraj Singh, who seemed scratchy in his 13-ball stay. With the chinaman bowler varying his pace and lengths, coupled with the slowing down of the pitch under lights, Yuvraj holed out in an attempt to break free. Cutting was unlucky to be adjudged caught-behind off Kaushik after the bat hit the front pad, but was mistaken for an edge.
 
With Sunrisers still 66 short with 36 balls remaining, Warner took on Dwayne Smith and squeezed 19 runs with the pressure building. It was a no-brainer that Sunrisers needed Warner until the end; was also little surprise that Gujarat tried to get under his skin. After a brilliant 16th over from Dwayne Bravo that yielded just two runs, Praveen Kumar walked towards Warner with the two indulging in an exchange that needed Dinesh Karthik to intervene to stop an advancing bowler.
 
Two overs and 24 runs, Warner hit Bravo for a boundary and Bipul ended the over with a six as 19 were scored that over. Warner wrapped up proceedings quickly in last over that needed five, hitting a boundary off Praveen and pumping his fists in joy. He ended the innings with a single to break into a trademark Warner celebration with a jump and the air-punch of his helmet.
 
If Sunrisers' fielding effort against Kolkata Knight Riders pleased Warner, the one against Gujarat would've left him delighted - albeit only until a point after opting to bowl. The first half of Gujarat's innings saw spectacular ground fielding where Sunrisers held onto catches, didn't concede easy singles and a direct hit from Trent Boult dismissed Dinesh Karthik just when it looked like he was upping the run rate. That effort helped Sunrisers curb Gujarat's implosive batting line-up as they had only 67 on the board for the loss of three wickets.
 
In perhaps a ploy to protect Aaron Finch and Smith against the new ball, Gujarat promoted Eklavya Dwivedi to open with Brendon McCullum. The move didn't pay dividends as Bhuvneshwar had the batsman caught after slogging a short and wide ball.
 
McCullum timed the ball beautifully, but Sunrisers' fielders kept the batsmen in check with 19 runs in the opening three overs with as many as 10 dots. McCullum's wrists came into use early as the bowlers got the ball to lean into his pads as opposed to finishing on the off stump. As the ball angled in, he got into position early to score most of his runs in the fine leg region.
 
Aaron Finch was handed a life on 13 by Barinder Sran in the 12th over, who dropped a sitter at short fine leg, which Sunrisers paid the price for. McCullum departed in the same over for 32 off 29, but Finch went on to score a half-century which helped Gujarat finish on a high after a poor start.
 
Gujarat were 83 for 5 after Dwayne Smith fell cheaply, but Finch and Ravindra Jadeja got together to put on 51 runs - a partnership that provided definition to their innings. Finch was flirting with danger, but his self-assurance was worthy of praise, given that Gujarat needed some lifting.

Ben Cutting's piece of brilliance at the boundary should've been enough to lift Sunrisers after Henriques was hammered for 17 runs by Finch. The burly Australian mistimed one off Sran which sailed to the deep midwicket fence, but found Cutting, who leapt into the air, clasped the ball, realised he was tipping over and chucked the ball in while in the air. That superman effort, however, didn't alter proceedings as Finch's sentience and power outdid Sunrisers bowlers in the final five overs as Gujarat took 53.

Mustafizur Rahman's last-minute hamstring strain made way for Boult to play his first match in three months. Having last played a practice match against England at Mumbai BKC on March 12, Boult's rustiness couldn't have been understated. The challenge in replacing Mustafizur wasn't so much how he started, but how he would fare at the death. Conceding 13 runs in his two overs upfront, and the wicket of Raina after trapping him leg before in his second over, Boult was taken to the cleaners in the death. First by Finch, and then taken apart by Dwayne Bravo, Boult leaked 26 runs as the momentum switched between the sides.
What didn't help Sunrisers in those final overs was also some shoddy fielding where they gave away one too many runs, but Warner's brilliant effort with the bat helped mask those blunders.

Source: cricbuzz.com
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Mustafizur ahead of the pack, feel former cricketers

Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh left-arm seamer, might have missed the 2016 Indian Premier League Qualifier against Gujarat Lions on Friday (May 27) due to an injury, but he is well on way to becoming the best pacer in the world in limited-overs cricket.
 
Since the time Australia's Mitchell Starc went down with an injury, world cricket has seen the emergence of the lanky Mustafizur, who is making life difficult for batsmen in One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. Be it his yorkers, off-cutters or the subtle changes in pace, the Bangladesh boy has been extremely difficult to get away.
 
Even in the ongoing IPL, his performances for Sunrisers Hyderabad have proved that he has the ability to keep doing it, game after game. Mustafizur, however, isn't getting too excited about this new-found fame. "I am just doing what I love. My only aim is to get better," Mustafizur told TOI. There have been many bowlers who have been successful with their national teams but when it came to IPL, they found the going tough. The likes of Dale Steyn, Trent Boult or Tim Southee, who have done brilliantly across formats, struggled to get going on the unresponsive pitches in India during the IPL.

"There are quite a lot of them like James Anderson or Steyn, who are very good in Tests. But right now, Mustafizur is the best pacer in limited-overs," said Rameez Raja, former Pakistan captain who is a part of the IPL commentary pannel. "Our Wahab Riaz is also good, but he is generally in his elements in Tests," he added.

Manoj Prabhakar, Afghanistan's bowling coach and former Indian pacer, too agreed with Rameez. "There is no doubt that Mustafizur is the best bowler right now. Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga was one who could bowl good yorkers. But right now, Mustafizur is at his peak. He bowls the cutters really fast and has other variations, which he delivers with the same momentum," he noted.

Mustafizur's economy rate of 6.74 in 15 IPL games underlines what Prabhakar is talking about. Of the 16 wickets that he has taken, many have come at crucial junctures, changing the course of games. Prabhakar also explained how a quality bowler like Steyn often bowls yorkers with cross seam for better control. "If you are struggling to control the swing, it becomes important to bowl cross seam. But Mustafizur doesn't need to do that," Prabhakar said.
 
Even Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former Indian captain, feels Mustafizur is the best in limited-overs cricket. "There aren't too many better than him at the moment. But he needs to perform like this for some more time before we can say he is the best. For now, he looks ahead of the pack," Srikkanth said.

It's now for the unassuming youngster to stay fit and keep it going for Bangladesh in the days to come.

Source: cricbuzz.com
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Amla's century guides South Africa to victory

Amla's century guides South Africa to victory
Needing 310 to win, Zimbabwe stutters to 216 in 49.5 overs

An unbeaten 132-ball 122 from Hashim Amla helped South Africa clinch the first One-Day International (ODI) of the three-match series against Zimbabwe on Sunday (August 17) by 93 runs.

Amla, who scored his 15th ODI century, first put on 109 with Quinton de Kock for the first wicket and then added 123 for the second wicket in 21.3 overs with Faf du Plessis to help South Africa post 309 for 3 in its 50 overs. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 216 in the final over.

De Kock, who has converted each of his half-centuries into a century in the past, was dismissed for 63 when he mishit John Nyumbu, the offspinner making his ODI debut, for 63 and was caught by Brendan Taylor. De Kock raced to his half-century off 42 balls, smashing eight fours and a six along the way.

Du Plessis started cautiously as the Zimbabwe bowlers stemmed the flow of runs. However, both du Plessis and Amla attacked the bowlers in the batting Power Play, scoring 40 runs off the five overs.

Although du Plessis sliced a Nyumbu delivery to extra cover to depart for 59 soon after, Amla reached his third century in four matches to keep South Africa on course for a big total.

AB de Villiers and JP Duminy (22 n.o.) scored some quick runs and helped the visitors cross the 300-run mark. Duminy added 34 runs in three overs with Amla.

With targets above 300 successfully chased at the Queens Sports Club in recent years, Zimbabwe needed a solid start. However, Wayne Parnell dismissed Vusi Sibanda for seven in fourth over to give South Africa its first breakthrough. Zimbabawe was further reduced to 34 for 3 in 11 overs.

Although Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams brought the innings back on track with a 100-run stand for the fourth wicket, Parnell snuffed it out when he dismissed Masakadza for 61.

Imran Tahir then dismissed Williams for 51 to end any hopes of a Zimbabwe win. Aaron Phangiso and Tahir then cleaned up the tail to complete a convincing with for South Africa.

The second ODI will be played on Wednesday at the same venue.

Source: icc-cricket.com
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Saeed Ajmal reprimanded for breaching ICC Code of Conduct

Saeed Ajmal reprimanded for breaching ICC Code of Conduct
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been reprimanded and warned for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been reprimanded and warned for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the fourth day’s play in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC)on Sunday.

Saeed was found to have breached Article 2.1.4 of the Code, which relates to “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match”.

The charge related to an incident after the 105th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings when he used obscene language, which was picked up by the stump microphone and heard on television.

The charge was laid by the on-field umpires Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth, and third umpire Bruce Oxenford, all from the Emirates Elite Panel off ICC Umpires.

All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee.

Source: icc-cricket.com
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India's capitulation complete

England seals 3-1 series triumph after innings and 244-run rout as visitors are blown away for 94 in second innings

This was the sort of day when you had to suspend belief, especially if you had come through the turnstiles expecting a bit of fight from India. First, it gave England an hour of batting practice, conceding a whopping 101 in 11.3 overs. Joe Root, unbeaten on 92 overnight, romped to an unbeaten 149, an effort that would win him the man of the match award.

Chris Jordan, unsure of his place after an underwhelming display in Southampton, finished with 4 for 18 as India was skittled for 94 in 29.2 overs on the third day of the final Test at The Oval on Sunday (August 17).

Trailing by 338 after the first innings as England stretched its overnight 385 for 7 to 486, India thus slumped to an innings and 244-run drubbing, its third heaviest defeat ever, thus surrendering the series 3-1.

Both openers were back in the pavilion before lunch. M Vijay, whose series trajectory has mirrored India’s steep descent since Lord’s, was undone by a James Anderson delivery that swung back to rap the pads. Gautam Gambhir, who barely managed to put bat to ball, was then run out by a direct hit from Chris Woakes at midwicket, after setting off for a quick single.

The shower that followed Gambhir to the pavilion meant a 50-minute delay and on resumption, one batsman after another returned to the pavilion in quick succession.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who finished the series with 222 runs, got a beautiful ball from Anderson, one that held its line before kissing the edge. Ajinkya Rahane, whose century had set up a Test win in London a month earlier, then fenced at a length ball from Stuart Broad and looked back to see Gary Ballance dive full length to his left from third slip to pouch a stunner an inch off the ground.

MS Dhoni’s batting had been one of the few redeeming features of India's recent batting capitulations, but on this occasion he didn’t even trouble the scorers, as an inside edge on to the thigh pad off Woakes looped up to short-leg.

Virat Kohli had struck a couple of fine drives and seen Woakes put down a difficult return catch, but his dismissal for 20 summed up India's poor tour. Jordan found away movement, and Kohli’s attempt to clip the ball through midwicket flew off the edge to Alastair Cook at first slip.

Jordan ran through the tail even as Varun Aaron ran himself out, Moeen Ali effecting the dismissal from deep square-leg.

Earlier, Root hadn’t dawdled while in sight of three figures and a clip through midwicket took him to the landmark off just 135 balls. What followed was just carnage. Jordan was caught behind off Ishant Sharma, but Broad came out and started swinging at nearly everything.

Anderson got a rough decision soon after drinks, giving R Ashwin a third wicket for the innings, but by then, the lead was 338 and Indian thoughts had long since turned to rain and survival. The rain did come down, briefly. But England became the first team since Don Bradman’s Australia in 1936-37 to win the last three Tests of a series after falling behind.

Source: icc-cricket.com
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ICC Cricket World Cup Global Trophy Tour to arrive in England

ICC Cricket World Cup Global Trophy Tour
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will commence on 14 February, with England taking on host Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

The most coveted prize in world cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy is scheduled to arrive at Lord’s on 18 August, where it will be welcomed by England ODI vice-captain Eoin Morgan along with representatives of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the ICC.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will commence on 14 February, with England taking on host Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). With only 180 days to go until the opening matches, Morgan said:  “The focus will be on 50-over cricket between now and the ICC Cricket World Cup once this Test match against India is over. There will be real competition for places in the England set-up and I know that playing in an ICC Cricket World Cup is special. It is the ICC’s pinnacle event and it is an event that really captures the imagination of the entire cricketing world.

“The fact that the World Cup trophy is now here at Lord’s and will tour England and Wales in the next few weeks will help raise not only profile but also excitement around the ICC Cricket World Cup.”

England is scheduled to participate in a tri-series also involving current champion India and four-time champion Australia, in Australia in January. This will be a good opportunity for the team to assess its preparation ahead of the tournament it has never won, but reached the final of three times – 1979, 1987 and 1992.

“Everyone in the England camp is hugely excited about the prospect of competing in Australia and New Zealand – in what is two hugely challenging environments against the very best players in world cricket,” said Morgan, who, having played 78 ODIs for England to date, is aiming to appear in his third ICC Cricket World Cup.

Morgan will be joined in welcoming the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy by Steve Elworthy, the ECB’s Managing Director of Global Events, Derek Brewer, Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC and, Nick Pink, Regional Development Manager- ICC Europe.at the Grace Gates.

Elworthy, who played in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 when it was last held in England, is looking forward to hosting the trophy at Lord’s: “The last time the ICC Cricket World Cup came to Lord’s was at the end of the 2010 season as a part of the build-up towards the 2011 tournament in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It proved incredibly popular with all the visitors to the ground and I am sure that will be the case again – especially the spectators at the Middlesex game against India here at Lord’s on Friday.

“For everyone in England and Wales, the trophy tour will not only add to the awareness of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 but also mark the build-up to the next round of ICC global events to be held on these shores – the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup, both in 2017, and, of course, the ICC Cricket World Cup itself in 2019.

Brewer added: “Lord’s has a special affinity with the ICC Cricket World Cup – staging the first three finals in 1975, 1979 and 1983- as well as the 1999 final. All those finals produced some really iconic images and special memories in the history of the ICC Cricket World Cup. On behalf of MCC it is an honour to welcome the trophy to England and Wales.”

The 11th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup will feature a total of 14 teams, which includes the four qualifiers Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  Pink said: “The ICC Europe regional office is based at Lord’s and so this is a special moment for us all. ICC’s Associate Members from Europe are again well represented with Ireland and Scotland - where the trophy will travel to after leaving Cardiff - both reaching next year’s tournament through a global qualification pathway that culminated in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand earlier this year.”

Members of the public will be encouraged to take their own photos with the trophy and tweet these using the following hashtags: For the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, the generic hashtag is #CWC15, and the trophy tour-specific hashtag is #CWCtrophytour.

The ICC Cricket World Cup trophy will travel to the following locations in the United Kingdom:

Date                Location         What's On

Mon 18-Aug   Lord's              Trophy arrives in England at Lord’s

Thu 21-Aug    Lord's              MCC Museum

Fri 22-Aug      Lord's              India v Middx 50 over match (MCC Museum)

Sat 23-Aug     Edgbaston       NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day

Mon 25-Aug   Bristol             Royal London ODI

Wed 27-Aug   Cardiff            Royal London ODI

Thu 28-Aug                             Trophy departs for Scotland

At each of the venues, legends of the game will be on hand to meet supporters and share their memories of challenging for the ultimate prize in the flagship ODI tournament of world cricket.

The trophy will arrive in the UK from Bangladesh, before which it had toured Sri Lanka, and it’s next stop will be Scotland. After visiting 13 countries over four months, the trophy will arrive in Melbourne on 6 November.

About the trophy

The current ICC Cricket World Cup trophy was created for the 1999 champion, Australia, and was the first permanent prize in the tournament's history. Prior to this, different trophies were made for each ICC Cricket World Cup.

The trophy was designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co over a period of two months. It is made from silver and gilt, and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns. The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe represents a cricket ball. The trophy stands 60cm high and weighs approximately 11kg. The names of the previous winners are engraved on the base of the trophy, with space for a total of twenty inscriptions.

TROPHY WORLD TOUR SCHEDULE

18-27 August – England and Wales

28-29 August – Scotland

9-10 September – Ireland

12 September – Afghanistan

15-20 September – Pakistan

25-29 September – South Africa

2 October – Zimbabwe

7-14 October – United Arab Emirates

18 October – Jamaica

19 October – Barbados

From 6 November – Australia and New Zealand

1-31 December - India

Source: icc-cricket.com
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West Indies triumph in low-scoring battle


Quite suitably, it took an up and down day to end an up and down Test, a cracker between two faltering sides. At the end West Indies had wrapped up their first and most significant Test win in over two years, since they beat England at the start of 2009. Ravi Rampaul and captain Darren Sammy were at the centre of it, taking eight wickets between them to lead the side to a 40-run win in Providence. Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal battled but Pakistan had been outplayed, their batting as brittle as ash.

Though Sammy took five wickets, Rampaul was actually the key, the best fast bowler in this Test by some distance. Devendra Bishoo's arrival has taken the limelight away from Rampaul, for whom, in a normal non-dysfunctional cricket set-up, this would be hailed as a breakthrough performance. He's bustled in all game, with pace, intelligence and movement.

He was terrific yesterday and began similarly today, generating incoming swerve and then more off the surface. Asad Shafiq's charmed but vital hand was defeated early by one such delivery, coming in and going through. He gave little away in that first six-over spell. Then, after lunch as the ball softened and got old, he raced in for a spell of subtle reverse swing, dismissing the stubborn Abdur Rehman in his second over back.

In between, Sammy took over, playing a real captain's hand. Bishoo and Kemar Roach had looked particularly flat in the morning, so Sammy brought himself in and at his gentle pace, immediately started getting some inswing. The key intervention came in his third over - two wickets in three balls turned around what was becoming Pakistan's morning. He found enough late in-drift to first trap Misbah and then Mohammad Salman lbw; the latter's leg-before took the total number of such dismissals in this Test to a world-record 18.

After tea he picked up three more in a similarly simple manner: pitch on a length on off and bring it in. Umar Gul was first and then came the killer blow, Akmal. The pair were trapped in successive overs before Saeed Ajmal was bowled to cap the win.

With Misbah and Umar putting on a breezy 52 in the morning, the game had been shifting into Pakistan's control. But the fragility of their batting is swiftly becoming legendary, especially in chasing small-ish targets. Misbah continued his extraordinary revival as captain-batsman with a seventh fifty in eight Test innings, employing a familiar method designed to frustrate and exhilarate equally. Most deliveries he blocked, as you might with the Most Exaggerated Forward Defense in world cricket.

But he does possess a keener mind than most Pakistani batsmen and his mini-assault in the morning on Bishoo was well-conceived. Having been tied down against him through the Test, he suddenly lofted him straight for a big six. In the next over, he lofted him through midwicket for a boundary and the field spread, Bishoo a little rattled.

With him, Akmal provided such easy impetus that the surface was forgotten about. He'd already cut a faltering Bishoo, before producing a sumptuous drive on the up off Rampaul. Soon he began to look so good, cutting square, picking through the leg side as well as driving to bring the target under 100, that a rash dismissal felt inevitable, as it so often does with him.

At lunch, he was still around though, poised between his most significant Test innings and yet another pretty but futile hand, and the game was just about still on. Post lunch, he went soon enough, another of the latter in his bag, and one of Pakistan's more shocking recent Test defeats was sealed.

Source & picture: http://www.espncricinfo.com
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