CRICKET NEWS

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Five bowlers to watch out for




Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka
Malinga has now played international cricket for almost 10 years but batsmen still struggle to read the paceman with blond-tinted hair and a sling-shot action. Malinga’s fast, unorthodox action, toe-crushing yorkers, slow bouncers and pinpoint accuracy make him one of modern day cricket’s most versatile bowlers. The 30-year-old plays only the shorter formats these days and it is difficult to score briskly off him due to his subtle variations.
Mitchell Johnson, Australia
The left-arm paceman will be tough to face even on the low and slow wickets in Bangladesh as he has the ability to generate express pace from the most docile of surfaces. His accurate swinging deliveries with the new ball and his prowess of dishing out fast yorkers in the death overs make him a genuine match-winner in the 20-over format.
Umar Gul, Pakistan
The 29-year-old is a veteran of the Twenty20 format, having proved his utility time and again. Gul was the highest wicket-taker in the inaugural edition of the 2007 event, when Pakistan finished as runner-up to India, and again in 2009 when his team won the title. He has not been in prime form since returning from a long injury layoff but is still capable of generating disconcerting bounce and bowl yorkers at will in the closing stages.
Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan
Ajmal, who was the joint second highest wicket-taker in 2009, will harass the batsmen with his bag of tricks. The off-spinner, the best exponent of the other way turning ‘doosra’, is also the most successful bowler in the format. Pakistan captain will depend heavily on Ajmal’s knack of restricting the scoring rate and picking up wickets under pressure. Along with Shahid Afridi, Ajmal quickly bowls through the middle overs to create extra pressure on the batsmen.
Sunil Narine, West Indies
The West Indian is the latest addition to the list of mystery spinners with his ability to turn the ball appreciably in both directions without any perceptible change in the bowling action. Batsmen have found it extremely difficult to score against the off-spinner who enjoys an enviable economy rate of 5.85 in the batting-dominated format. Narine’s miserly bowling puts extra pressure on the batsmen to score off the other bowlers and he is expected to be a key player during the defending champions’ campaign.

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Five all-rounders to watch out for


Shahid Afridi, Pakistan
An aura of unpredictability always hangs around Shahid Afridi when he takes the cricket field. His swashbuckling batting and fiery legspin make him an exciting player in the shortest format of the game but there is always a chance for him to self-destruct, by throwing away his wicket at a crucial juncture or by means of wayward bowling. On his day, however, the 34-year-old former captain can win a match single-handedly and Pakistan will hope that he can continue his Asia Cup form into the World Twenty20.
Yuvraj Singh, India
The left-hander was the hero of India’s Twenty20 World Cup victory in 2007 and was the player of the tournament during the home triumph in the 50-over format in 2011. One of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball, as England’s Stuart Broad found out when he was hit for six consecutive sixes in an over in 2007. Yuvraj’s gentle left-arm can also be very effective on the slow surfaces in Bangladesh.
Shane Watson, Australia
The highest run-scorer and player of the tournament in the last edition of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, Watson has the power to pummel any opposition attack and is particularly harsh against the spinners. The burly all-rounder’s ability of hit the spinners out of the ground will make sure Australia do not get tied down in the middle overs against the slow bowlers. Watson’s tight line and length is an added bonus for the team and he often reposes that faith by picking up vital wickets.
Marlon Samuels, West Indies
Samuels has already proved his worth by digging West Indies out of a hole to the World Twenty20 title with a brilliant half-century against hosts Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2012. The classy stroke-player can play all the shots in the book and is almost unstoppable when he is on song with the bat. A part-time off-spinner who can fire in deliveries in the block-hole, Samuels has great control in varying the pace of his deliveries and could be a vital weapon for the defending champions on the low and slow Bangladesh wickets.
Corey Anderson, New Zealand
The new kid on the block, Anderson grabbed eyeballs when he broke the record for the fastest century in international cricket with his 36-ball hundred against West Indies on the first day of 2014. The 23-year-old has played just eight Twenty20 matches for New Zealand but the left-hander’s big-hitting ability is tailor-made for the format. He has a five-wicket haul with his left-arm medium pace bowling in the 50-over format and will be a decent bowling option for captain Brendon McCullum in Bangladesh.

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Mahela to quit T20Is after World Twenty20


Sri Lankan batting stalwart Mahela Jayawardene will retire from Twenty20 Internationals after the conclusion of the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh.


International Cricket Council announced the news of Jayawardene's decision on Twitter.


"SL legend @MahelaJay to join @KumarSanga2 in T20I retirement after the #wt20 2014," .


The decision came a day after another Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara announced quitting the shortest format in the international circuit after the Twenty20 World Cup.


The 36-year-old Jayawardene has appeared in all four T20 World Cups till now and 2014 event in Bangladesh will be his last one. He was the captain of the Sri Lankan team which lost in the final of the last T20 World Cup at home against the West Indies.


Jayawardene has played 49 T20Is to date, scoring 1335 runs at 31.78, with a strike rate of 134.17. He has one century in the format -- a 100 which is also his highest T20 score -- which came against Zimbabwe in Guyana during the 2010 World T20. He has scored eight half-centuries in T20 international matc
Jayawardene made his T20I debut in June 2006 against England at Southampton. He led the Delhi Daredevils side in the IPL last season but found no buyers in the players' auction this year.
The ICC tweet also had a photo of both Sangakkara and Jayawardene posing together with the writing on the background: 'Last World T20. Let's make it count'.
Asked about the retirement of the veteran duo from T20Is, Sri Lankan opener Lahiru Thirimanne said, "They (Sangakkara and Jayawardene) are great cricketers. It will be difficult to match them."

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Bangladesh thrash Afghanistan in World T20 opener
Hosts Bangladesh made an impressive start in the World Twenty20 with a nine-wicket demolition of Afghanistan in the tournament opener in Dhaka on Sunday. Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan grabbed three wickets for eight runs as Afghanistan, sent in to bat, were skittled for 72 in 17.1 overs at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. The meagre total was the second lowest in the World T20 competitions, barely surpassing Ireland’s 68 against the West Indies in 2010. A sell-out home crowd of 25,000 then cheered every run as Bangladesh raced home in 12 overs, with opener Anamul Haque sealing the emphatic win with a six off Samiullah Shenwari.
Haque, who put on 45 for the first wicket with Tamim Iqbal, was unbeaten on a 33-ball 44 that was studded with three sixes and four boundaries. With just one team going into the Super-10 stage from the preliminary group A that also has debutants Hong Kong and Nepal, the defeat left Afghanistan facing an early exit. Shakib, who was named man of the match, said the turning pitch helped his team make a good start to their campaign.
“There was obviously spin out there,” he said. “We put the ball in the right areas and that did the trick for us. This is usually a good track, but today it was different.” The Afghans, who had beaten Bangladesh in the preceding Asia Cup one-day tournament, faltered badly on Sunday to reduce a much-anticipated contest to a one-sided affair. Skipper Mohammad Nabi admitted Bangladesh’s spinners did not let his side settle down after hard-hitting opener Mohammad Shahzad had been dismissed off the first ball of the match. “We were under pressure in this opening match,” said Nabi. “Shakib and the others bowled very well on the spinning pitch. But I am hopeful we will put up a better performance in the remaining matches.”
Six qualifiers -- Ireland, Afghanistan, Nepal, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands -- joined Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the preliminary league of two groups. The two group winners will then contest the Super-10 round with the top eight Test nations - Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, England, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies -from March 21. The final is on April 6 in Dhaka.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 72 all out in 17.1 overs (Gulbadin Naib 21, Shakib Al Hasan 3-8, Abdur Razzak 2-20) VS Bangladesh 78-1 in 12 overs (Tamim Iqbal 21, Anamul Haque 44 not out) Bangladesh won by nine wickets.

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World T20: Holland beat UAE


Tom Cooper took two wickets in a space of four balls before smashing an unbeaten 34 as Netherlands began their ICC World Twenty20 Qualifying campaign with a comfortable six-wicket win over United Arab Emirates in a Group B match, on Monday.


Chasing 152 to win, the Dutch team overhauled the target with seven balls to spare after openers Stephan Muburgh (55) and Michale Swart (26) set up the victory with a quick fire 69-run stand in just 6.4 overs.




After their dismissal, Wesley Barresi (24) and Cooper carried forward the good work as they consolidated their team's position with a 36-run stand for the third wicket.


Barresi was bowled by left-arm spinner Shahdeep Silva (2/19) but Cooper took the side home in company of Ben Cooper.


Left-handed opener Muburgh played some breathtaking shots, specially the powerful pulls, in his 36-ball knock which was studded with seven fours and two sixes.


Tom Cooper kept his nerves to steer his side home as he faced 26 balls and hit five boundaries, including a six.


UAE side paid the price for sloppy fielding as they missed a a few catches and run out chances.


Earlier, Tom Cooper struck twice in the 11th over before medium pacer Ahsan Malik ran through the lower-order as Netherlands shot out debutants UAE for 151 in 19.5 overs.


UAE got off to a poor start, losing their openers Amjad Ali (5) and Faizan Asif (6) with just 12 runs on the board.


Skipper Khurram Khan (31) and Swapnil Patil (23) resurrected the innings with an attacking 67-run partnership for the third wicket. However, both were dismissed by Cooper in the 11th over, reducing the UAE to 81 for four.


Cooper first dismissed Patel and then accounted for Khan to derail UAE's charge on a good batting surface.


Shaiman Anwar (32) and Rohan Mustafa (20) again raised hopes of a competitive total with their 47-run stand for the fifth wicket. But both the batsmen were dismissed inside three deliveries to leave their team struggling at 131 for 6.


Anwar hit four boundaries and a six over the extra cover region in his 19-ball stay at the crease.


UAE could not recover from the two jolts and lost their last four wickets for the addition of 19 runs.


Malik snared up Amjad Javed (2), Vikrant Shetty (10) and Kamran Shazad (0) in quick succession to put an end to UAE's innings.

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Pakistan defeat New Zealand in World T20 warm-up game


Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets in a World Cup Twenty20 warm-up on Monday.


New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum had led the Kiwis’ charge with an unbeaten 59 off 45 balls after his side won the toss and opted to bat first at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.


But Kamran Akmal (52) and Mohammad Hafeez (55) responded in kind for Pakistan, who won by six wickets off the penultimate ball after posting a score of 149 for 4 in reply to the Kiwis’ 145 for 9.





Colin Murno was the only other contributor of note apart from McCullum for the New Zealanders after making 20.Umar Gul did the damage for Pakistan, taking three wickets for the loss of only 16 runs.


Mohammad Talha took two wickets, but gave away 22 runs in his three-over spell.


In reply, Kamran Akmal scored 52 off 45 balls, comprising six fours and two sixes.


Hafeez played a handsome knock of 55 runs. He smashed five sixes and three fours. Shoaib Maqsood made 16 runs to bring Pakistan home with one ball to spare.

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West Indies beat England in warm-up match




England were soundly beaten in their penultimate warm-up match for the World T20 as West Indies cruised to a seven-wicket victory in Bangladesh.


Sporting 'solar red' coloured shirts as part of their new Twenty20 kit, England posted a modest 131-7 in the opening innings with captain Eoin Morgan top-scoring on 43 not out. Moeen Ali (22) was the only other batsman to post over 20 runs in the England innings.


Chris Gayle, who was rested last Thursday's final T20 international between the two teams, hit an unbeaten 58 from 38 balls to ease the current World T20 holders to victory with 23 balls to spare. England bowler Tim Bresnan proved particularly expensive, conceding 29 runs in two overs.




England face India on Wednesday in their final warm-up game before they open their World T20 campaign against New Zealand on Saturday.


England won the tournament in 2010 but face tough Super 10 group games against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa plus a qualifier from the ongoing first round stage

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Bangladesh thrash Nepal


Bangladesh thrashed Nepal by eight wickets in World T20 qualifier on Tuesday.


Bangladesh openers blazed to an opening stand of 63 runs off 47 balls that gave the hosts a perfect platform to keep the modest target of 127 well in sight and the hosts faced no problem to chase down the target from there on.


Anamul Haque 12 off 33 balls was the top scorer for Bangladesh.



Earlier, Bangladesh dished out a disciplined bowling effort to restrict Nepal to 126 for five.


Sent into bat, Nepal's innings was initially jolted by pacer Al-Amin Hossain (2/17) who picked up two wickets in the seventh over to reduce the Himalayan nation to 39 for three in 6.3 overs.


After opener Subash Kakhurel's (8) dismissal, Hossain accounted for two wickets -- Sagar Pun (12) and Gyanendra Malla (13) -- in a span of three deliveries to rock Nepal's innings.
But skipper Paras Khadka (41) and Sharad Vesawkar (40) then joined hands and shared 89 runs off 75 balls to lay the foundation for Nepal's score.


Just when it was time to accelerate, Khadkawas cleaned up by Mashrafe Mortaza as the batsman went for cheeky sweep.


Towards the end, new man Binod Bhandari did not help his side's cause as he wasted five deliveries without adding a run to Nepal's total.


Apart from Hossain, Mortaza (1/23) and medium pacer Farhad Reza (1/27) scalped one wicket apiece for Bangladesh.

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Dinda can play Tests for India in future: Waqar


Former Pakistan speedstar Waqar Younis says Bengal medium pacer Ashok Dinda has it in him to become a Test cricketer provided he makes a little adjustments to his bowling.


Impressed with the 29-year-old Dinda's performance in the coaching session organised by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) under its Vision 2020 programme, Younis said, "Our objective is to work on his weaknesses in the next six months so that he can be a Test player."


The three-day camp ended in Kolkata on Tuesday.


"Dinda is a good player. I had seen him earlier also. And I don't suggest any major change in his bowling. But a few things in his bowling have to be adjusted to make him a better bowler," the 42-year-old Younis .


Dinda, who represented the country in a T20 international against Sri Lanka is yet to earn a Test cap.


The session was held at the Jadavpur University cricket ground in Salt Lake area.


CAB has undertaken the 'Vision 2020' programme for next three years under the supervision of former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, to fine-tune the skills of Bengal's players.


Besides Younis, Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralithran has also given tips while Ganguly is looking after the batting department.


A world record holder in Test cricket, Muralithaaran is also happy with the spinning talent of Bengal.


"There are good talents in spin bowling department in Bengal and I am sure they would be able to prove their mettle soon," Muralitharan said.


The CAB has called about 200 players from its affiliated clubs for this camp and would assess their performance from time to time.


The duo would be back again after three months to monitor the progress.

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Afghanistan send Hong Kong packing from World Twenty20

Mohammad Shahzad and Shafiqullah Shafiq hit aggressive half-centuries to help Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by seven wickets in the World Twenty20 tournament in Chittagong on Tuesday. Shahzad notched up a fiery 53-ball 68 while Shafiq smashed a career-best 50 not out off just 24 balls to help Afghanistan reach their 154-run target with 12 balls to spare in the Group ‘A’ match.
Shahzad, who was in miserable form in the preceding Asia Cup and was out for nought in the first game against Bangladesh, hit three sixes and six boundaries in a chancy knock. Shafiq completed the task with a well-timed boundary to complete his maiden fifty and seal the win. Shahzad had his full share of luck. Sloppy Hong Kong fielding gave him two lives, on 25 and 64. And when he was finally dismissed in the 16th over with 38 still needed, the Afghans were far from home. But Shafiq hit three sixes off paceman Aizaz Ahmed’s 17th over to reduce the target to 11 runs.
Hong Kong had lost their first match to Nepal and a second defeat means they are out of the tournament. Afghanistan, who went down to hosts Bangladesh in their first game, earned a lifeline with Tuesday’s win as they try to get through to the next round. Shahzad said he was happy to contribute after his recent loss of form. “I didn’t play well in the last few matches so the coach told me to take my time,” he said. “Everybody supported me. It was a good fifty for me and it was a good win for us. In T20, everything is possible. We need to see the result of the next match and hopefully we can make it to the next round.”
Hong Kong who chose to bat, got off to a disastrous start when they lost opener Irfan Ahmed to the first ball of the match, bowled by left-arm paceman Shapoor Zadran who finished with 2-27. It was left to Mark Chapman (38), Waqas Barkat (32) and Jamie Atkinson (31) to put the innings back on track with some sensible batting. Barkat and Chapman added 60 for the third wicket and at 102-3 in the 14th over, Hong Kong should have put together a higher total then their 153-8. But spinners Mohammad Nabi (2-27) and Hamza Hotak (2-32) put the brakes on Hong Kong’s progress. The top team from each of the two preliminary groups will join the eight seeded teams in the Super-10 stage, starting March 21. Ireland and the Netherlands won their opening matches in Group B on Monday.
Brief scores:
Hong Kong 153-8 (M Chapman 38, Waqas Barkat 32, Jamie Atkinson 31; Shapoor Zadran 2-27, Mohammad Nabi 2-27; Hamza Hotak 2-32)
Afghanistan 154-3 (Mohammad Shahzad 68, Shafiqullah Shafiq 51; Tanvir Afzal 1-19, Haseeb Amjad 1-35)