Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned England’s status as the No. 1 side in the world Test rankings after their defeat inside three days against Pakistan in Dubai

Umar Farooq20-Jan-2012Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned England’s status as the No. 1 side in the world Test rankings after their defeat inside three days against Pakistan in Dubai.Miandad, one of England’s most redoubtable opponents in his playing days, always relishes a chance to revive battles of old and he did so again when he suggested England’s rise to the top of the rankings owed much to home advantage and took little account of their perennial weakness in Asia.”I don’t believe much in rankings because it doesn’t give a clear picture of the team’s overall performance in the world,” Miandad said. “England is mainly the top side without playing in Asia and you must give credit to Pakistan that they have been playing with no home advantage and still they are winning. England are now the No. 1 team because they had the home advantage and never lost in their backyard.”Miandad, who made 260 against England at The Oval in 1987 as Pakistan piled up 708, freely admitted that victories against them had a special piquancy.”I always feel an extra sense of satisfaction when Pakistan beat England or Australia – it always carries a special importance,” he said. “Practically everything clicked against England. A circle that includes every aspect of the game rotated smoothly. Batsman scored runs; bowlers did accordingly to the expectations.””We experienced a very bad time in 2010 and because of that our cricket was suffered a lot. Our victories always were overshadowed by the controversies. But the victory against England was a special one.”More criticism of England’s performance came from Abdul Qadir, a former Pakistan legspinner and selector. He expressed surprise that England had lost in such an “unprofessional manner”.”I was never expecting that England could go that low, to be packed up in just three days,” Qadir said. “The most pathetic things I observed about the England batting was that on the first day, when fast-bowlers were supposed to take wickets they were exposed by spinners and later on in the second innings, when the spinners were supposed to dominate they fell into the hands of fast bowlers.”This is a buzzer for the English think tank, about their strategy. It’s like they didn’t do their homework and that fact was exposed cheaply. I always deemed England a very professional side but the way they played [casts] doubts [on] my views about them.”Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s former fast bowler and coach, said that the spot-fixing scandal had made the players stronger and was a driving force behind their consistency over the last 18 months.”I’m really proud of the way they’ve responded to all the criticism and scepticism that they had to deal with after the spot-fixing scandal,” he said. “The players were determined to show everyone what Pakistan cricket is all about after the scandal. They realised that the only way to respond to the crisis was to perform well and let the results speak for themselves.”

New Zealand have retained their 14-man Twenty20 squad for the first two matches against South Africa this weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2012

Squad

Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), Michael Bates, Doug Bracewell, Andrew Ellis, Colin de Grandhomme, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson

New Zealand have retained their 14-man Twenty20 squad for the first two matches against South Africa this weekend. Ross Taylor remains sidelined with a calf injury, though he is hopeful of recovering in time for the one-dayers.Brendon McCullum continues to lead the side in Taylor’s absence, while the new faces like Colin de Grandhomme, Ronnie Hira and Michael Bates get more time in the national squad.New Zealand have been in top form in the current series against Zimbabwe, sweeping them aside in the only Test, the three ODIs and the first T20. The series ends with the second T20 in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Kedar Devdhar missed his century by four runs, but it didn’t matter as his team, Baroda, stormed into the finals after beating Delhi comprehensively at the Bandra-Kurla Complex

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2012Kedar Devdhar missed his century by four runs, but it didn’t matter as his team, Baroda, stormed into the finals after beating Delhi comprehensively at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Devdhar’s 96 came in a stand of 143 with Aditya Waghmode, who hit a half-century to help Baroda chase down 170.Delhi claimed their first wicket in the second over – Monil Patel – but had to wait till the 13th for their second strike. By that time, Waghmode and Devdhar had taken the score to 150. Waghmode hit eight fours and a six in his 60, before he was dismissed caught and bowled by Pawan Negi. Devdhar hit six sixes and 11 fours in his blazing 40-ball knock. He too was dismissed by Negi, but Baroda were already well on course to victory.Baroda’s spinners set up the win, sharing six wickets between them. Bhargav Bhatt, the left-arm spinner, was expensive, conceding 50 off his allotted overs, but picked up three wickets. Yusuf Pathan picked up two wickets but conceded only 30 runs. Shikhar Dhawan was the top-scorer with 62, but Delhi suffered because the middle order couldn’t put on substantial partnerships. In the end, the pair of Waghmode and Devdhar showed the way.Baroda will meet Punjab in the final tomorrow.

A five-wicket haul by Sulieman Benn restricted Jamaica to 266 for 8 after a strong start by the hosts on the opening day of the Regional Four-Day final at Sabina Park

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-2012
ScorecardA five-wicket haul by Sulieman Benn restricted Jamaica to 266 for 8 after a strong start by the hosts on the opening day of the Regional Four-Day final at Sabina Park.Jamaica got off to a sound start after opting to bat, with their openers adding 46. The second-wicket pair of Brenton Parchment and Donovan Pagon strengthened that position by adding 108. Benn broke the stand when he had Parchment caught for 58. The second session witnessed a collapse of five wickets for 41 runs. Pagon fell to Benn for 71, and the left-arm spinner found support from the seamer Carlos Brathwaite, who chipped in with three wickets.The captain Tamar Lambert and Danza Hyatt too fell cheaply to the pair. Nikita Miller and Sheldon Cotterrell were at the crease with an unbeaten stand of 27 at stumps.

Netherlands took over at the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 thanks to a nail-biting win over Lancashire in Schiedam

28-May-2012
ScorecardNetherlands took over at the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 thanks to a nail-biting win over Lancashire in Schiedam. The last-wicket pairing of Timm van der Gugten and Ahsan Malik managed to sneak the home side to their target of 237 with just two deliveries to spare.Stephan Myburgh (34) and Michael Swart (41) had given the Netherlands the perfect start in their run chase, sharing an opening stand of 83 inside 10 overs. There were also contributions from middle-order duo Cameron Borgas, who made 30, and wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi before Mudassar Bukhari belted a breezy 36 in the closing stages to give the Dutch renewed hope.When he fell with nine still required, Lancashire looked to be favourites, however Van der Gugten made a run-a-ball 15 not out to finish the job off and give his side a third win in four outings in this season’s competition.Stephen Parry claimed 4 for 29 in a losing cause for previously unbeaten Lancashire, who had been bowled out for 236 earlier in the day.Lancashire should have set their opponents a much tougher challenge after openers Stephen Moore and Ashwell Prince laid the foundations by putting on 89. Moore blasted 10 fours and a six to top score with 77 from 66 balls and even when he fell in the 20th over, the visitors still seemed to be making smooth progress.They reached 199 for 2 before suffering a dramatic collapse, losing their last eight wickets for just 27 runs once Karl Brown had departed for 41. Steven Croft (55) fought a lone hand from then on, but no other Lancashire batsman managed to make more than eight. Swart and Malik did the majority of the damage for the Dutch, claiming four wickets apiece.

Paul Horton batted for more than seven and a half hours as Lancashire escaped with what had appeared more than once to be a draw that was beyond their reach.

Jon Culley at Edgbaston19-May-2012
ScorecardPaul Horton’s long stay grabbed an unlikely draw for Lancashire•PA Photos

Paul Horton batted for more than seven and a half hours as Lancashire escaped with what had appeared more than once to be a draw that was beyond their reach. It did not prevent Warwickshire overtaking Nottinghamshire at the top of the First Division table, but denied them the 15-point lead they were hoping to secure.Lancashire avoided a fourth defeat in their sixth match of the season and did so in such a way that it felt like a win. Horton finished unbeaten on 137, his best score in the Championship since September 2009 and his first century in the competition for more than two years, and found significant support too from Luke Procter, with whom he shared a partnership of 61 spanning more than 26 overs when the Warwickshire attack was at its most dangerous, and Gareth Cross, who himself survived for 13 minutes short of three hours for his unbeaten 75, playing his part in a stand of 139 that Warwickshire could not break in 51 and a half overs of trying.It could, perhaps, be a turning point in Lancashire’s season. Peter Moores, their head coach, will try to make it one for sure. “It does feel like a win in a way,” Moores said. “In some ways it is like a 19-point win, in that while we get only three we stop them getting 16, which makes it quite a significant result.”It was an opportunity to show some fight and get our season moving after a difficult start. We have struggled for runs so it was important to get some momentum to carry forward.”It was a great knock from Paul because he was under pressure throughout, in light that was not good against a Warwickshire side who went at us really hard. This was a chance to save a game in adversity and he took it. But Luke Procter deserved a lot of credit, too, as did Gareth Cross, of course.”Moores shied away from the opportunity to declare Lancashire’s title defence to be over already, although he would admit that the ground lost will be difficult to make up. Second-bottom of the table, they are 51 points adrift of Warwickshire, who have played one match fewer.”I don’t think you can say the title has gone but we are not thinking about that,” he said. “It is the time now to just think about the next game against Middlesex and take each session one at a time, as we always do. But this gives us some momentum, which you always want, and we just have to build on that.”A draw had scarcely seemed possible when Lancashire were 54 for 5 on the second evening after Warwickshire’s marathon first innings was finally declared. Nor when they were forced to follow on 360 behind midway through the third day.It still appeared unlikely on the final morning, given they had lost eight wickets in the course of Friday and somehow needed to preserve their remaining seven on a pitch, you supposed, that would be at its least benign.But Horton answered Lancashire’s call to shoulder the burden of responsibility by maintaining a vigil that revealed patience, good judgment and unwavering concentration. It was particularly merit-worthy not least because Horton had not scored a Championship century since April 2010 and had been out four times in the 90s last season, which only added to the psychological pressure under which he found himself.Warwickshire lead the First Division, yet will feel they should have taken the opportunity, having already won at Liverpool this season, to complete a double over the side that pipped them to the title last year, and put daylight between themselves and the pack.Lancashire were helped a little by the weather, in that the start was delayed until 11.45 because of rain, but reached lunch with only one more wicket lost after Steven Croft was given out caught at second slip in the seventh of the 84 overs left, the ball coming off a low part of the bat from a full length delivery by Chris Wright, the catch a brilliant one-handed effort by Rikki Clarke.But Horton, making light of the extra responsibility on his shoulders after Stephen Moore, Karl Brown and Ashwell Prince were out on Friday afternoon, had stuck to his task exceptionally well, adding only nine runs to his 56 overnight but more importantly preserving his wicket.The middle session was the toughest. Jeetan Patel did not find much help for his off-spin but was naggingly accurate, while he and Procter had to contend with a hostile spell from Clarke, who tested Horton’s supposed weakness against short-pitched bowling and was convinced he had him caught behind off the glove on 78, only for umpire Martin Bodenham to remain unmoved.A change of pace, with Darren Maddy entering the attack to skid the ball through, accounted for Procter, but Cross was no less dogged, and ultimately found opportunity to unleash some aggression as fielders crowded the bat. Once Warwickshire turned first to Ian Westwood and then even to Varun Chopra, Lancashire knew the job was almost done.Horton deserved his century, that came off 242 balls in a little over five hours and contained 14 fours, and equally so deserved to still be there at the end, at 20 minutes to six to be precise, when Jim Troughton, the Warwickshire captain, decided finally that the win had eluded him.

The BCB has sold various sponsorship rights for $14 million for four years to Aamby Valley, an affiliate of Sahara India Parivar, and Axiom Technologies

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has sold various sponsorship rights for $14 million for four years to Aamby Valley, an affiliate of Sahara India Parivar, and Axiom Technologies. It is the biggest sponsorship deal in Bangladesh cricket.Sahara’s winning bid ended Grameenphone’s eight-year association between 2003 and 2011 as Bangladesh’s sponsors. They bid approximately $9.4 million, substantially more than the $ 3.4 million from Grameenphone and $4 million from Robi, another telecom company. Sahara won branding rights for the national team and the national cricket academy, and title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship for 2012-13, among other rights.Apart from the national team sponsorship, Sahara was the only company to bid for the sponsorship rights of the academy at a price of $130,000 per year.Axiom was awarded title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship for 2014 and 2015, and beverage and ticketing rights from 2012 to 2015.

Rob Nicol’s hundred and James Fuller’s six wickets see Gloucestershire comfortably beat Netherlands in Amstelveen and keep their CB40 campaign on course

27-Jul-2012
ScorecardNew Zealand batsman Rob Nicol scored a century•Getty Images

Rob Nicol and James Fuller were the stars of the show as Gloucestershire boosted their hopes of making the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals with a comprehensive victory over high-flying Group A rivals Netherlands in Amstelveen.New Zealander Nicol scored a brilliant 133 with seven fours and seven sixes as Gloucestershire ran up an imposing 290 for 6 batting first, with his countryman and opening partner Hamish Marshall contributing 47 while Fuller added a quickfire 40 late on.Fuller, who conceded 38 off one over as Gloucestershire lost their Friends Life t20 quarter-final to Sussex on Tuesday, then shone with the ball, taking 6 for 35 off his six overs as Holland were bowled out for 146 in the 22nd over. A rain interruption had seen Netherlands’s victory target changed to 237 off 28 overs, but they never seriously threatened and ended up losing by 90 runs.Tom Cooper top-scored for the Dutch with 51 but he was part of a major Netherlands collapse which saw the home side lose their last eight wickets for 43 runs in under eight overs.Gloucestershire’s victory sees them join second-placed Netherlands on 11 points in Group A, one point behind leaders Middlesex but with the Westcountry side having played a game less than both their rivals. Lancashire are fourth in the group on 10 points but with two games still in hand on Gloucestershire, who they meet at Old Trafford on Monday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has offered annual contracts to 105 first-class cricketers in addition to the 15 national cricketers

Mohammad Isam28-Aug-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board has, for the first time, offered central contracts to 105 players from outside the national team, taking a major step towards decentralisation of the game from its present Dhaka-centric structure. The decision is aimed at increasing competition in the NCL, long called a “picnic tournament” because of the lack of seriousness among players preferring the Dhaka club circuit.The list includes cricketers from each of the eight designated regions of the country – Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur, Dhaka and Dhaka Metropolis – that take part in the NCL.Cricketers with more than 11 years of first-class experience will be paid Tk 25,000 (approx $300) per month under Catergory A. Players with 6-10 years of experience will receive Tk 20,000 (approx $240) per month in Category B and Tk 15,000 (approx $180) per month in Category C for players who have played for 1-5 years.
The 2012-13 domestic season will begin in the second week of October, but the contracts will be effective on January 1, 2013. These salaries will be in addition to the match fees that the players will continue to receive.The BCB chief AHM Mustafa Kamal made the announcement at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur during a function attended by BCB directors, national selectors and some first-class players, who were handed the contracts.”This is just the beginning. We have given the players the contracts and soon we will be able to put in place the infrastructure across the country,” Kamal told ESPNcricinfo.Hannan Sarkar, who has played 17 Tests, 20 ODIs and 92 first-class games, spoke on behalf of the players and talked about the need for such a system.”We have waited a long time for such an initiative. We always wanted to be under the BCB’s contracts. We thank them on behalf of the players,” Sarkar said. “Every player now will want to be under the BCB’s contract. This is a big recognition for a professional cricketer. The competition that I felt as a salaried national cricketer will be replicated at the first-class level.””This is the start of a journey, so for those who are going to be enrolled in the future, it will be much better for them. And I also think the careers will be longer from now on,” he said.Former national captain Habibul Bashar, who is now a national selector, underlined the importance of this contract to the players. “From my personal experience, I have often seen that it is hard to motivate players in first-class cricket. We have talked about the lack of professionalism in this format, but from now on, I hope this question will never arise,” Bashar said.”The standard will be higher because everyone will be serious from this point onwards. I think this step will take Bangladesh cricket a long way ahead,” he said.First-class cricket began in Bangladesh in 1999 with the six divisional sides taking part in the NCL, which is now in its thirteenth season, and it is the only first-class competition in the country.List of cricketersCategory A (playing experience of 11 years and above): Tk 25,000 ($300) per month.Category B (playing experience between 6-10 years): Tk 20,000 ($ 240) per month.Category C (playing experience between 1-5 years): Tk 15,000 ($180) per month.Barisal: Shahin Hossain (category A); Syed Rasel, Nasiruddin Faruque, Shahfaq Al Zabir, Monir Hossain, Abul Bashar, Iftekhar Nayeem and Shahriar Nafees (category B); Ishraq Sonet; Tariqul Islam, Fazle Mahmud, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Bikash Sharma, Mohammad Sajib and Sohag Gazi (category C).Chittagong: Nafees Iqbal and Faisal Hossain (category A); Aftab Ahmed, Gazi Salahuddin, Yasin Arafat, Kazi Kamrul Islam, Raihanuddin Arafat and Rezaul Karim (category B); Sadid Hossain, Mahbubul Karim, Mominul Haque, Iqbal Hossain Rony and Noor Hossain (category C); Tamim Iqbal and Nazimuddin (central contracts).Dhaka: Imran Ahmed (category A); Mahbubul Alam, Hannan Sarkar, Mohammad Sharif, Anwar Hossain, Mosharraf Hossain, Uttam Sarkar, Raqibul Hasan and Shahadat Hossain (category B); Nazmul Hossain Milon, Rony Talukder, Saikat Ali, Taibur Rahman, Nazmul Islam (category C); Shuvagata Hom (central contract).Dhaka Metro: Mohammad Ashraful, Tareq Aziz Khan, Arafat Sunny, Arafat Salahuddin, Nadif Chowdhury, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Talha Jubair, Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Arman Hossain and Sharifullah (category B); Asif Ahmed and Tasamul Haque (category C); Elias Sunny and Mahmudullah (central contracts).Khulna: Tushar Imran (category A); Nazmus Sadat, Sahagir Hossain, Ziaur Rahman and Nizamuddin (category B); Dolar Mahmud, Taposh Ghosh, Murad Khan, Mithun Ali, Anamul Haque (category C); Mashrafee Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes and Rubel Hossain (central contracts).Rajshahi: Anisur Rahman (category A); Mohammad Shahjada, Farhad Hossain, Junaid Siddique, Farhad Reza, Saqlain Sajib and Delwar Hossain (category B); Jubair Ahmed, Mizanur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman, Mukhtar Ali, Sanjamul Islam (category C); Mushfiqur Rahim, Jahurul Islam and Shafiul Islam (central contracts).Rangpur: Naeem Islam, Dhiman Ghosh, Sajidul Islam and Sohrawardi Shuvo (category B); Ariful Haque, Shuvashish Roy, Mahmudul Hasan, Tariq Ahmed, Tanveer Haider, Alauddin Babu, Saymon Ahmed, Naeem Islam Jr, AR Rahman Rony and Liton Das (category C); Nasir Hossain (central contract).Sylhet: Rajin Saleh and Imtiaz Hossain (category A); Ezaz Ahmed, Tapash Baisya, Alok Kapali, Enamul Haque Jr, Nabil Samad, Golam Rahman, Golam Mabud and Robiul Islam (category B); Abul Hasan, Sayem Alam, Abu Jayed and Shaker Ahmed (category C).

MS Dhoni asked New Zealand to bat as the expected rains stayed away in Chennai for the second Twenty20 international after the first one was washed out in Visakhapatnam

The Report by Abhishek Purohit11-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Franklin held his nerves in the last over to ensure a New Zealand win•Associated Press

A solitary Twenty20 it was, but it featured multiple narratives, an emotional return for Yuvraj Singh and his fans, an anti-climax for India and an incredible comeback from New Zealand. After Brendon McCullum had punched a furious 91, Virat Kohli counter-punched with a majestic 70, leaving India with 49 to get off 42 deliveries with seven wickets remaining.That is when the Chennai pitch started to behave more like a typical Chennai pitch; the ball had come on nicely till then. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj struggled to get the ball off the square, James Franklin and Jacob Oram took all pace off the ball to make it harder, and the asking-rate surged suddenly. Dhoni, having promoted himself ahead of Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma, ended unbeaten on a perplexing 22 off 23 deliveries, failing to find any timing on his swipes and slogs and reduced to nudging singles on the leg side.With 20 needed off the last eight deliveries, Yuvraj managed to heave Oram over deep midwicket for six. With 12 needed off the last five, Dhoni managed to pull Franklin to deep square leg for four. With six needed off three, Yuvraj heaved and was bowled for 34 off 26.There was still time for one final narrative. Enter Rohit, under pressure for his lack of form, with six still needed. He tried gamely, swinging both the remaining deliveries for a couple of runs each, but India had to pay for tapering off after Kohli’s dismissal in the 14th over.

Smart stats

• New Zealand’s win is the seventh by a margin of one run in Twenty20 internationals. New Zealand had beaten Pakistan in Barbados in 2010 by the same margin.

• New Zealand have won the most Twenty20 matches against India (4). They are also the only top team never to lose a single match against India.

• Brendon McCullum’s 91 is the second-highest score in an Twenty20 international against India. The previous record for a New Zealand batsman (69) was also held by McCullum. McCullum has three fifties in four innings against India.

• McCullum, who is the highest run-getter in Twenty20 matches, also holds the record for the most fifty-plus scores (10).

• India’s score of 166 is their third-highest in a losing cause (in chases). The highest is 186 against Sri Lanka in Nagpur in 2009.

• The number of wickets lost by India (4) is the fewest in an unsuccessful chase (minimum 15 overs in the innings).

• MS Dhoni has three20-plus innings at a strike rate less than 100. Two of those are against New Zealand. On each of these occasions, India have gone on to lose the game.

India’s defeat was the last thing on the Chennai crowd’s mind when Kohli, opening in place of the injured Virender Sehwag, was raining boundaries on New Zealand during his 15th fifty-plus international score this year. Wide deliveries were swatted away with disdain, length deliveries were willed into gaps with confident pushes, spinners were lofted inside-out over extra cover, fast bowlers were charged at and hammered down the ground.Kohli’s assault and his 60-run second-wicket stand with Suresh Raina allowed Yuvraj to ease into his comeback knock. The crowd erupted when Yuvraj thick-edged Adam Milne past slip for his first boundary and swung Daniel Vettori over deep midwicket for his first six. In between, he was let-off when McCullum and Kyle Mills collided trying to take a top-edged pull off Milne.It was Franklin who began the turnaround when he had Kohli lofting his second delivery to wide long-off. New Zealand also had McCullum to thank, for lifting them from 2 for 2 with a calculated 91 that highlighted his importance to his side, especially in Twenty20s. McCullum had support from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, but he was almost single-handedly responsible for New Zealand reaching a competitive score with a knock that began watchfully, and then exploded into a frenzy of powerful hits over extra cover, down the ground and over midwicket.McCullum often begins a Test innings with a charge down the track and it was probably the two early wickets that made him play with some caution initially. Rob Nicol and Martin Guptill came out swinging but were bowled by incoming deliveries from Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan.McCullum broke free in the fifth over, flicking and cutting Zaheer for boundaries. L Balaji, making his T20I debut and playing his first game for India since February 2009, was inside-edged past short fine leg and sliced over point for boundaries in the next over.Williamson, a calm man under pressure usually, ensured he gave the strike to McCullum, who was now in control enough to ward off his usual self-destructing tendencies.Sweeps, reverse-sweeps and scoops were kept away. The one time he tried a reverse-sweep, on 38, he got away with a close lbw shout against R Ashwin, with the umpire ruling there was an inside edge when replays indicated there wasn’t any. McCullum’s one good innings during the Test series against India was ended when the umpire did not spot an inside edge. It was his turn to benefit today.McCullum went after Ashwin, lofting him over extra cover for boundaries and down the ground for sixes. Ashwin, the lone spinner playing ahead of the recalled Harbhajan Singh, went for 34 in three overs.McCullum was only nine short of what would have been his second T20I hundred when he was eventually bowled after missing a sweep off a slow cutter from Irfan in the 17th over. Taylor and Oram were around to take New Zealand to a respectable score.India rode on Kohli’s brilliance in the chase, bottled up for a while after he fell, and when they tried to catch up, it was too late.