Deccan Chargers survived three huge blows in the first two overs of the match, and some more towards the end by Robin Uthappa, to keep alive their hopes of a semi-final berth

The Bulletin by S Rajesh12-Apr-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Dale Steyn’s three-wicket burst rocked Deccan, but they fought back superbly to keep their semi-final hopes alive•Indian Premier League

Deccan Chargers survived three huge blows in the first two overs of the match, and some more towards the end by Robin Uthappa, to keep alive their hopes of a semi-final berth. In a match that lurched wildly one way and then another, Harmeet Singh delivered the most decisive blow as Deccan held their nerve and eked out a 13-run win to move up to fifth in the points table.There were several moments in the match when it seemed Royal Challengers Bangalore had nailed the decisive advantage. First, when Dale Steyn took three wickets in first two overs, including those of Adam Gilchrist and Hershelle Gibbs, to reduce Deccan to 14 for 3; then, when Rahul Dravid creamed a classy and effortless 35-ball 49 to put Bangalore right on track in their run-chase; and again, when Uthappa struck two towering sixes off Ryan Harris in the 17th over to reduce the target to 18 from 12 balls.That’s when Harmeet delivered the blow from which there was no comeback for Bangalore. Bowling his back-of-the-hand slower deliveries, he ended Uthappa’s swashbuckling innings, and effectively ruined Bangalore’s run-chase. That over went for just one run, and it was clear which team would end up the winner.Teams have struggled at overhauling even modest totals at this ground, and it was a similar story today, thanks to the conditions which make it a far more even contest between bat and ball than most other venues – the boundaries were much bigger, ensuring shots which would have cleared the ground elsewhere stayed within the arena, and the pitch was slow and assisted spin, causing several batsmen to mis-time lofted shots.Even accounting for those factors, Bangalore, with their power-packed batting line-up, should have fancied their chances, and their run-chase seemed in good health while Dravid was timing the ball crisply after the first-ball dismissal of Manish Pandey. During his 35-ball knock he showcased a whole gamut of strokes, even as Jacques Kallis struggled for timing in a laborious 37-ball 27.The first ominous sign came when Pragyan Ojha, who turned in another sterling display, got one to turn, jump, and bounce at Kallis in his first over. The new ball was probably Bangalore’s best opportunity for runs, but Kallis’ slow knock ensured Deccan still had plenty of runs to defend when the slower bowlers came on. Ojha put in his second superb display against Bangalore – he had taken 2 for 24 four days back – while Harmeet was a revelation with his slower deliveries. Kallis, Dravid and Virat Kohli all fell to lofted shots, while Ross Taylor was done in by a fine yorker from RP Singh, who put forward a much-improved performance.In the end it was left to Uthappa to rescue the team again, but the combination of the conditions and the bowling attack was too much to conquer even for him.Deccan’s score of 151 owed largely to the 82-run fourth-wicket stand between Rohit Sharma and Monish Mishra, who lifted Deccan after a stunning burst from Steyn had them floundering. There wasn’t much pace on the track, but you wouldn’t know it watching Steyn bowl his first three overs. He clearly loves bowling at this venue: on his previous visit here a couple of months back, he returned match figures of 10 for 108 and destroyed India’s famed batting line-up; this time, he did the same with Deccan’s top order.He didn’t touch the 150 kph-mark like he had in the previous two games in his home ground, but the rewards were far more substantial this time. Gilchrist edged his first ball, T Suman had no answers to a perfect short delivery aimed at the body, while Gibbs was beaten by pace and away movement.Rohit and Monish then began the rescue act. After a slow start, both turned it on during a four-over spell between the ninth and 13th overs, which fetched 48. Mishra struck sixes off three consecutive overs, while Rohit caressed three fours in a single over from Kallis. The stand was already worth 82 and threatening many more when a terrible misunderstanding undid all the good work. Andrew Symonds struck a couple of powerful blows down the ground, while Rohit stroked his second half-century of the tournament, but both fell at inopportune moments. Even then, it turned out they had enough runs on the board to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Andrew Gale made his first century as Yorkshire captain to transform his side’s fortunes on the second day of the County Championship encounter with Somerset at Headingley

16-Apr-2010
ScorecardAndrew Gale made his first century as Yorkshire captain to transform his side’s fortunes on the second day of the County Championship encounter with Somerset at Headingley.Yorkshire were in a difficult situation when the fall of their fifth wicket at 142 left them still trailing by 130 on the first innings but the arrears were then cleared in a sparkling 149 stand between the left-handed Gale and all-rounder Tim Bresnan. The pair had moved the score on to 291 when Gale was out for 101 from 157 balls with 16 fours, Bresnan departing soon afterwards for 61 as Yorkshire closed on 320 for 7, a lead of 48.The weather was much brighter when Yorkshire resumed in the morning on 17 for 1 and Joe Sayers and Anthony McGrath could make only slow progress against a keen pace attack, although McGrath still managed to punish the occasional loose delivery.The former captain appeared to have settled in well but, having reached 21, he
was lbw to one from Charl Willoughby which kept a shade low. Sayers continued to bat patiently and Jacques Rudolph was also becalmed before he opened his account with a cut for four off Willoughby from the 21st delivery he had received.It continued to be a tough battle for supremacy and Sayers managed to go to his
50 off the final ball before lunch when Yorkshire were 106 for two, but he departed lbw to Damien Wright soon after the interval without addition to his score, his 51 coming off 119 balls with seven fours.Rudolph, having progressed smoothly to 33, then played too casually outside off
stump at Alfonso Thomas and was caught by wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter. Gale’s first three scoring shots were all boundaries and Jonny Bairstow helped himself to two consecutive fours off Wright before playing round a ball from Peter Trego to become the fourth lbw dismissal of the innings – and the ninth out of 15 wickets to fall so far in the match.There was an escape for Gale on 23 when Willoughby saw him dropped at cover by Trego but it was a rare mistake by the captain and the sixth-wicket pair really began to flourish with the arrival of the second new ball, which came with the
score on 231 for 5 from 80 overs.Bresnan reached his 50 with his seventh boundary, a powerful off-drive at Thomas’ expense, but it was Gale who dominated the scoring with two fours in an over off Thomas and three off Willoughby to give his side the lead, 47 runs having gushed from the first seven overs with the new ball.A scampered single brought Gale the seventh first-class century of his career to loud acclaim from his team-mates but, just one run later, he flung back his head in despair as he smacked a long hop from Zander de Bruyn straight to Wright at cover.The 300-mark brought Yorkshire a third batting bonus point but at 304 Bresnan was lbw attempting to force Wright. He had used up 155 balls for his 61 with eight fours, leaving Adil Rashid and Ajmal Shahzad to bat out the remainder of the day.

The Bombay High Court has directed that Sharad Pawar be made party in a petition regarding the levy of entertainment tax by the Maharashtra government on IPL matches held in the state

Cricinfo staff05-May-2010The Bombay High Court has directed that Sharad Pawar, the federal agriculture minister and president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, Lalit Modi, the suspended IPL chairman, and Chirayu Amin, the interim chairman, be made party in a petition regarding the levy of entertainment tax by the Maharashtra government on IPL matches held in the state. While hearing arguments on Wednesday, it also raised the question of whether a minister being a member of a cricket body constituted a conflict of interest.The court’s direction and observations came on a public interest litigation that challenges the Maharashtra government’s decision to waive entertainment tax for the recent IPL season. The petitioner – Subhash Desai, a member of the Shiv Sena political party – claims that in January this year the state government, of which Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party is a member, decided to levy the entertainment tax on IPL but the decision was not implemented.The exemption is estimated to have cost the government several crore rupees.”If a minister holds a post in a cricket association, and the state cabinet is to decide on granting some exemption to the association…perhaps conflict of interest may arise,” the bench observed, while seeking the federal government’s view on whether any “conflict of interest” arose if a minister was a member of a cricket body.The BCCI’s counsel contended that Pawar currently had no connection with the BCCI or IPL, though he headed the apex cricketing body two years ago. However, the petitioner contended that since the finance portfolio in the Maharashtra government was with the NCP, the decision not to levy the tax was “politically motivated”.”This is a very important issue,” the bench said, seeking the assistance of the additional solicitor-general of India, who represents the Union – also impleaded in the case – on this.The court observed that “prima facie this activity (IPL matches) is covered under entertainment tax. If there is no exemption, then state has no option but to recover it”.The court adjourned the hearing till June 22.

David Hussey, the Australia and Victoria batsman, will lead Nottinghamshire in the Friends Provident Twenty20 competition this English domestic season

Cricinfo staff21-May-2010David Hussey, the Australia and Victoria batsman, will lead Nottinghamshire in the Friends Provident Twenty20 competition this English domestic season. Hussey is the club’s second overseas player, joining his Australia Twenty20 team-mate, left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes.Hussey will only lead the club during the Twenty20 tournament, while Chris Read will resume his duties as captain in the 40-over one-day competition and the County Championship.”Captaining in Twenty20 cricket can be very intense and I feel that it’s best for me and the team if I take a break and draw on David Hussey’s experience,” Read said. “David has an excellent record in this format and he’ll have his own ideas on how the team should approach matches that I’m sure we’ll all learn from.”He’ll have my full support and the support of every player in the dressing room.”Hussey has played 23 Twenty20 internationals for Australia, most recently in the ICC World Twenty20, and has scored 512 runs at 28.44. He starred for his team in the World Twenty20 final against England, making 59 to help Australia recover to a competitive score after a poor start, but one they failed to defend.

Jack Clarke, Cricket Australia’s chairman, will be more cautious in his dealings with India following its role in dismissing John Howard as the ICC’s vice-presidential candidate in Singapore

Peter English30-Jun-2010Jack Clarke, Cricket Australia’s chairman, will be more cautious in his dealings with India following its role in dismissing John Howard as the ICC’s vice-presidential candidate in Singapore. Australia has developed an increasingly strong relationship with the BCCI, including developing the Champions League Twenty20, but the board was part of the group that blocked Howard’s passage.A frustrated Clarke said India wasn’t the only country to oppose the joint recommendation of Australia and New Zealand at the meetings in Singapore over the past two days. However, the decision by the ICC’s board to request another candidate has altered the environment.”You hope it doesn’t affect your relationship but it obviously puts a block there for a while and makes you wary, I suppose,” he said. “But we have to deal with all the member countries of the ICC … We’ll have a board meeting in October and there’s no point not rolling up.”Zimbabwe and South Africa were the original opponents to Howard’s nomination, raising their protests outside an ICC meeting in Dubai in April, but a group of six members signed a letter on Tuesday night expressing their desire to veto the recommendation. The list didn’t include Zimbabwe, but India’s strength allowed them to bring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on board, highlighting a return to the days when the Asian and African countries voted en-masse.Despite seeing Howard “knocked off” by the alliance, Clarke refused to say the enormous power of the bloc was unhealthy for the future of the game. “In any business model where a company has 75% of the income it is not an ideal model, but that’s not India’s fault they do that,” he said. “With distributions that go to all the countries, [India] earn it and distribute it evenly among nine of the Test-playing countries and the Associates.”It is a powerful bloc, it’s a reality of life. But you’ve also got to remember that until 1992 Australia and England had a power of veto [in ICC meetings].”There is a strong feeling that if India had supported Howard he would have had no problems in becoming the deputy to Sharad Pawar, the incoming ICC president. “I can’t speculate about that,” Clarke said. “I’ve been on the board for 18 months, been to seven meetings, I think the bloc vote that was once there before my time doesn’t exist at the same level.”A BCCI source told AFP there was “nothing personal against Howard”. “But we do accept the argument that only a man with previous experience in cricket administration should head the ICC. Howard was not involved with Cricket Australia at any time.”

Surrey have signed Steven Cheetham, the Lancashire pace bowler, on loan for the remainder of the season to bolster their attack

Cricinfo staff04-Aug-2010Surrey have signed Steven Cheetham, the Lancashire pace bowler, on loan for the remainder of the season to bolster their attack.Cheetham, 22, hasn’t made any first-team appearances for Lancashire this summer and has just one first-class and five one-day games under his belt. Surrey have drafted him in after an injury to Andre Nel so that cricket manager Chris Adams can continue to rotate his fast bowlers.”Steven is a young bowler with terrific physical attributes, who bowls wicket to wicket and is very much at the start of his career,” Adams said. “Due to one or two injuries we need some seam bowling cover for the end of the season and this loan represents a big opportunity for him to enhance his first-class experience.”Cheetham has gone straight into the Surrey squad for Wednesday’s CB40 match against Glamorgan.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has called up 21 players for a conditioning camp starting Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium

Cricinfo staff04-Aug-2010The Bangladesh Cricket Board has called up 21 players for a conditioning camp starting Wednesday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. Most of the country’s first-choice cricketers are on a break after a packed season, and the camp is mainly for players hoping to either break into the national team or looking to cement their place in it.With Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons on vacation, his deputy Khaled Mahmud, the former national captain, will oversee the camp. “Basically the board arranged the camp for the players who were out of the national team and as well as players like Mohammad Ashraful who didn’t play enough matches in the last few tours,” Mahmud said.Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain, had said last month that he was ‘concerned’ by the performance of the bowlers after the side slid to embarrassing defeats against Associate nations Ireland and Netherlands. Mahmud said the camp would lay emphasis on bowling skills. “We will mainly focus on the fitness but work on the skill as well, especially with the bowlers. Our bowling has been struggling in the last couple of series and I believe this was because of the inexperience.”A preparatory camp for the World Cup will be organised for the national team players later this month, most likely starting from August 20.

Glamorgan opener Mark Cosgrove hit a magnificent 142 before Sussex’s bowlers fought back in the final session on the second day of the battle between the front-runners in Division Two of the County Championship

28-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Glamorgan opener Mark Cosgrove hit a magnificent 142 before Sussex’s bowlers fought back in the final session on the second day of the battle between the front-runners in Division Two of the County Championship. Glamorgan declared on 300 for 9 at Hove after losing their last six wickets for 61 as both teams gained three bonus points. Sussex closed on 30 without loss from five overs.Australian Cosgrove was at the crease for 10 minutes short of four hours, facing 177 balls and scored 100 of his runs from 25 well-struck boundaries. He dominated the Glamorgan innings but honours ended just about even with a draw still the favourite outcome after the first-day washout.There was a further hour’s delay this morning to enable part of the outfield to dry out and when Sussex won the toss they unsurprisingly asked Glamorgan to bat on a pitch which initially offered movement to the seamers. Both teams opted to leave out a spinner – Ollie Rayner and Robert Croft the unlucky pair – but it was Monty Panesar who broke the opening partnership when he had Gareth Rees caught from a reverse-sweep shortly before lunch.Cosgrove and Will Bragg, playing in his only second Championship of the season, then settled into a productive partnership with Cosgrove playing a series of punishing drives through the offside. The burly left-hander passed 50 for the eighth time this season with eight fours as the second wicket pair shared a century stand in 24 overs. They added 120 before Bragg, who had earlier been bowled by a no-ball from Luke Wright, was leg before to the same bowler for 44.Cosgrove, when he scored 97, passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season and when he chopped Panesar to the third man boundary reached his fifth century of the campaign. He also scored 102 runs in the afternoon session though Sussex gained their first bowling point in the final over before tea when Ben Wright was bowled by Yasir Arafat for 16.Sussex then captured two wickets immediately after the interval with Tom Maynard well taken at second slip off Corey Collymore before Arafat ended Cosgrove’s brilliant innings by yorking the opener. A collapse set in as the Sussex seamers bowled with renewed control. The recalled James Anyon took three wickets and Collymore two as the West Indian became the first Sussex bowler to take 50 wickets in the season.It was left to David Harrison with four boundaries to guide Glamorgan to their third batting point before acting captain Mark Wallace declared, although James Harris and Huw Waters were unable to claim a breakthrough before the close.

A late assault from Louis Klazinga, including a brace of sixes in the final over, helped Namibia snatch an unlikely one-wicket victory in the second limited-overs game against Uganda in Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2010
Scorecard
A late assault from Louis Klazinga, including a brace of sixes in the final over, helped Namibia snatch an unlikely one-wicket victory in the second limited-overs game against Uganda at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek.Uganda looked certain to level the two-match series when left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa removed Willem Groenewald to leave Namibia’s last pair needing 18 runs from 11 balls, but Klazinga and No. 11 Elton Ambambi responded in spectacular fashion to seal victory – and a 2-0 series victory – with two balls to spare.Namibia’s win was set up by a pair of aggressive half-centuries from opener Ewaid Steenkamp and captain Craig Williams. After the early loss of wicketkeeper batsman Raymond van Schoor, Steenkamp added 109 – the highest partnership of the match – with Wessel Myburgh to keep Namibia’s pursuit of 258 on course.Though Myburgh was somewhat subdued at the crease, hitting only one four in his 63-ball 27, Steenkamp had no trouble reaching the boundary, cracking eight fours and a six before he was run out for 84 by Ronald Ssemanda.His dismissal set Namibia back to 144 for 3 in the 34th over, giving Uganda an opening from which to attack the middle order, and when Louis Burger and Norbert Manyande fell in quick succession the home side slipped to 177 for 5. But Williams counter-attacked in style, clearing the boundary three times to bring Namibia back into the match and rush to a 38-ball 58 before he fell to make Uganda favourites once again.When Louis van der Westhuizen, Christi Viljoen and Groenewald were also prised out with the required run-rate rocketing past 9-an-over few would have given the tail much chance of chasing down the runs, but Klazinga responded with a career-best effort to crush Uganda’s hopes.Klazinga’s efforts made up for a wayward performance with the ball from him, as he gave away 62 runs while Uganda racked up 257 for 8. After Roger Mukasa launched the innings with an aggressive 38 Benjamin Musoke’s career-best 79 provided the ballast of the visitors’ innings as he added 101 for the fifth wicket with Frank Nsubuga, who contributed an enterprising 55, to lay the platform for a late charge.Musoke took Uganda to 228 before he was bowled by Viljoen, and though Deusdedit Muhumuza and Ssemanda added 29 in 3.4 overs to take the score past 250, Klazinga’s last-gasp hitting proved the difference between the two sides.After losing their Intercontinental Shield fixture and both limited-overs games, Uganda have one last chance to salvage some pride when the two teams meet in a Twenty20 match at the same venue on Sunday.

A round-up of the third day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2010S Badrinath’s unbeaten half-century gave Tamil Nadu a third consecutive win, as they comfortably beat Hyderabad by six wickets at the Gymkhana Ground.Medium-pacer C Ganapathy had started positively for Tamil Nadu by bowling Hyderabad captain Ravi Teja in the second over. Tamil Nadu kept striking regularly throughout the innings, reducing Hyderabad to 72 for 6 in the 15th over. Akshath Reddy – who was part of the India squad for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup – took Hyderabad past 100 before he was bowled by L Balaji for 34 in the 18th over. Rain intervened at that point and the target was revised to 101 from 17 overs.Hyderabad medium-pacers Pagadala Naidu and Ashish Reddy ran through the Tamil Nadu top order, leaving them struggling at 57 for 4. But Badrinath stood firm, hitting three sixes and as many fours in his unbeaten 51 off 40 deliveries as Tamil Nadu won in 15 overs.P Prasanth’s all-round performance took Kerala to a four-wicket victory against Karnataka, in another rain-hit match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.Karnataka’s spinners had Kerala in trouble at 76 for 6, chasing a rain-adjusted target of 110 from 14 overs. However, Prasanth came in at No. 8 and smashed four fours in his unbeaten 21 off 11 deliveries to take his side home with an over to spare.Prasanth’s left-arm spin had restricted Karnataka to 149, after Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa added 80 to take them to 110 for 1 in the 14th over. Pandey made 49 off 45 while Uthappa – who also had three dismissals behind the stumps later – was more aggressive in his 38 off 26. However, both fell to Prasanth who finished with 3 for 20.Goa won their first game of the tournament at the Gymkhana Ground, scraping home by three wickets to hand Andhra their third consecutive defeat.Fast bowler Saurabh Bandekar led a disciplined performance by Goa’s bowlers in a match shortened to 16 overs-a-side, as Andhra lost half their side for 44 runs. Hemal Watekar ensured Andhra would have a modest total to defend, top-scoring with 41 off 29 deliveries.Sagun Kamat, the Goa captain, led the chase with 37 off 28 after fast bowler Syed Sahabuddin had jolted Goa with two early wickets. Left-arm spinner Shankara Rao struck repeatedly to leave Goa reeling at 86 for 7. However, No. 8 Robin D’Souza hammered 19 off 10 to bring up victory with two balls to spare.