Somerset skipper Jamie Cox, who has been missing from the team since sustaining a chipped thumb whilst fielding at Bath against Yorkshire, may well be fit to return to the side to face Essex in the four-day CricInfo Championship match that starts at Taunton on Wednesday.Coach Kevin Shine told me on Sunday: "Jamie is coming in for some tests tomorrow and will have a full net on Tuesday. If he comes through all of this then he will play on Wednesday."
James Anderson could have played his final Ashes Test after being ruled out of the last installment of this campaign at the Kia Oval due to the side strain he sustained at Edgbaston.Anderson had hoped to recover in time to return to the side, but Alastair Cook said that he had only been able to bowl at “60-70%” during England’s training sessions on Monday and Tuesday. Cook also confirmed that barring any late injury problems England will name an unchanged team which means they will resist any temptation to give Adil Rashid a debut.Although Anderson has said that he has ambitions to extend his England career for considerable time to come, at the age of 33 nothing is certain for a fast bowler. The next Ashes series is in Australia during the 2017-18 season.”Unfortunately Jimmy isn’t going to make it. He’s gutted about it,” Cook said. “He’s made real good progress from where he was at Edgbaston but it’s a week or so too early. He bowled in the nets yesterday at about 60-70%, that’s not how you go into a game. He’s worked really hard, it’s just a bit early.”With confirmation that England will retain the same XI which won so convincingly at Trent Bridge it means that Rashid continues to wait for his Test debut. Cook said he was now far more confident around the England set-up having been in the squad throughout the series and can expect to play a role against Pakistan in the UAE.”Clearly Adil has been with us for every squad but the pitches haven’t quite suited two spinners. Adil will have to wait his chance but as a cricketer he’s really improving and he feels a lot more comfortable in the England environment and he’ll probably get his chance in Abu Dhabi.”There were words of encouragement, too, for opener Adam Lyth who has struggled during the series in making 86 runs at 12.28 but there was a hint that this was shaping as a defining Test for Lyth’s short-term prospects.”He hasn’t scored the runs he would have liked, but he made a very good hundred against New Zealand which is where I thought you saw a lot of his talent,” Cook said. “It’s tough when your first seven games are against the bowlers he has faced, but he has to clear that out of his mind. He’s an Ashes-winning player and he can be very proud of that.”He’s been a big part of the squad and he has to go out there over the next five days and score runs. He’s a very good player who can succeed at international level.”
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:18
Agarkar: Match-winners aplenty on both sides
After losses in their respective first games, Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab have a few issues to fix when they face each other. Mumbai Indians’ innings stuttered at the start in Kolkata against the pace of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, and Kings XI did not fare any better in Pune against James Faulkner and Tim Southee. Wankhede Stadium could provide respite from those lively pitches and allow the strokemakers to flourish.But it’s the bowling that could prove to be the difference between the teams. While Kings XI looked well-rounded with pace, swing, and spin, Mumbai Indians hardly made an impression against Knight Riders. Lasith Malinga’s bulging waistline maybe hampering his bowling, or maybe the batsmen are used to him, but he did not look menacing at all. Pragyan Ojha, with his remodelled action, appeared to have lost his bite and Harbhajan Singh has long been on the wane. That Josh Hazlewood decided to opt out is going to put more pressure on the current lot.Kings XI would be satisfied with the way they bowled and are not likely to change a thing at Wankhede, except, perhaps the batting order, with promotions for David Miller and George Bailey. It is likely to be a run-fest. Mumbai Indians score their runs at comfortably more than eight an over on this ground, but Kings XI, in their seven matches here, score at a rate even faster than the home side.
Kieron Pollard is one of the icon players for Mumbai Indians but was almost invisible in the first game in Kolkata. He did not bowl, he did not get a chance to bat and when he took a catch, it was one of the easiest chances, not a madcap one-handed leap. In Mumbai, while in the outfield, he usually gets the crowd going. That was not going to happen in Kolkata. Now back in Mumbai, expect Pollard to be more vocal, more present.Playing his first IPL match in six years, Anureet Singh impressed not only with his movement – his known strength – but also his pace. One of his deliveries on Friday was clocked at 148 kph. He was as incisive from over the stumps as around, which added another dimension to his bowling. Kings XI let go an experienced bowler in L Balaji, but if Anureet keeps bowling like he did against Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI will continue posing problems for top-order batsmen.
Tillakaratne Dilshan has become the latest Sri Lanka batsman to secure a deal in county cricket after signing for Derbyshire.His English season will be come in two spells, the first in June when he replaces Martin Guptill and then again in August and September following the Caribbean Premier League. When he returns for the second period he will be available for all Derbyshire’s matches until the end of the season. Sri Lanka have no limited-overs matches currently scheduled during the English summer that would see Dilshan needed for international duty.He has been one of the stand-out batsmen at the World Cup with 395 runs at 79.00 by the end of the group stage. He has also indicated that he has no retirement plans with a desire to play for another two or three years and perhaps as far as the 2019 World Cup in England.”Derbyshire are an ambitious club with an exciting young team and I’m looking forward to joining them in the NatWest T20 Blast and then returning to help them finish the season strongly,” Dilshan said. “I am really pleased with my current form and this makes me confident I can make a strong contribution to Derbyshire this season.”Graeme Welch, Derbyshire’s elite performance director, said: “Dilshan is a proven match winner who has shown this time and time again on the world stage. His record speaks for itself and he brings a wealth of experience across all formats and to the dressing room. He is also committed to helping our younger lads during his stay.”Dilshan will join Kumar Sangakkara (Surrey) and Mahela Jayawardene (Sussex) in the English domestic game for 2015.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDelhi Daredevils have not won at home since April 2013•PTI
Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowlers set up their third win in four games, restricting Delhi Daredevils to 146 for 8. Gautam Gambhir then made his third half-century in four innings to consign the hosts to their ninth successive defeat at Feroz Shah Kotla.Neither captain was sure at the toss about how the pitch, dry and grassy, would behave. Both wanted to chase; Gambhir won the toss. The ball seemed to come on decently, especially at the start, although Duminy felt the pitch deteriorated as the game progressed.The Daredevils batsmen fell to poor strokes, and many of them came just when a partnership was starting to build. Opener Shreyas Iyer played some superb shots off the back foot but having motored to 31 off 24, was bowled after missing a slog at Piyush Chawla. That ended a third-wicket partnership of 36 with Manoj Tiwary.Tiwary and Yuvraj Singh added 37 for the fourth wicket, the highest partnership of the game for Daredevils, but on 32, the Bengal batsman dragged a wide one from Morne Morkel straight to midwicket in the 14th over.Daredevils dealt themselves another blow in the next over when Yuvraj strolled out after missing a sweep off Chawla and was stumped for 21 off 19.Angelo Mathews helped Daredevils take 43 off the last five overs, including 20 off Sunil Narine in the 19th. The offspinner had bowled a couple of tight overs before but was repeatedly slogged over midwicket at the death by Mathews and Kedar Jadhav. Umesh Yadav did not let Daredevils go past 150, giving away just three in the final over.Gambhir and Robin Uthappa were in control of the chase when Domnic Joseph removed the latter and Manish Pandey in fifth over, both batsmen trying to force boundaries but failing to clear the fielders.Suryakumar Yadav clubbed a few boundaries to add 48 with Gambhir, but it was the Knight Riders captain who piloted the chase. Putting away loose deliveries off his pads and finding gaps through the off side, Gambhir put Knight Riders on course. He is a difficult batsman to stop when he is able to dab singles behind point at will, which is what he did tonight.Gambhir’s fourth-wicket stand of 65 with Yusuf Pathan sealed it for Knight Riders. Yusuf did not look too comfortable at the start, but he lashed out at short balls, and stayed unbeaten on 40 off 26.
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Brendan Nash, the Australian-born batsman, has capped off a remarkable year by being named in West Indies’ 14-man squad for next week’s ODI tri-series in Canada. As expected, the side will be led by Chris Gayle after he withdrew his resignation as captain.The squad also includes the uncapped Guyana middle-order batsman Leon Johnson, while the wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh is set for his first international action in nearly two years having replaced Denesh Ramdin. The most fascinating selection is that of Nash, 30, who relocated to the Caribbean a year ago.Nash was born in Western Australia and played first-class cricket for Queensland for seven seasons before losing his state contract last June. He decided to try his luck in Jamaica, which his father Paul had represented in swimming at the Olympic Games, and had a successful first campaign that ended with a century in Jamaica’s final victory.Johnson, 21, also had a productive Carib Beer Series and despite failing to make a century, he was consistent enough to average 42.70 from six games. Nash and Johnson could be competing for a middle-order place with Shawn Findlay, who was rewarded after making a strong start to his international career against Australia.Shivnarine Chanderpaul was rested and will rejoin the squad for the Champions Trophy, while Dwayne Bravo was unavailable due to an ankle injury. West Indies play Bermuda next Wednesday and Canada two days later, with the tri-series final to be held on August 24.West Indies squad Chris Gayle (capt), Xavier Marshall, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brendan Nash, Shawn Findlay, Leon Johnson, Carlton Baugh (wk), Dave Mohammed, Nikita Miller, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards.
Fleming returns to New Zealand
Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings opener, will not be available for his team’s remaining matches as he is heading back to New Zealand for the birth of his child. Chennai have qualified for the IPL semi-finals and will now have to find a replacement opener for Fleming before Saturday.Jayaprakash retires
Indian umpire AV Jayaprakash has retired from all forms of the game after standing in the IPL match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians in Bangalore on Wednesday. Jayaprakash, 58, said he had come to a point where he was not enjoying umpiring matches and was mentally tired.Dravid not keen on two IPL’s a year
Rahul Dravid, the Bangalore Royal Challengers captain, said IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s idea of having two editions of IPL from 2011 would be a “difficult” proposition. “It would be difficult considering the way the future tours are structured and the way matches are scheduled,” Dravid said. “I, personally, would hate any dilution of Test cricket to fit in another season of Twenty20. Test cricket has history and has a lot of value and I hope it is never tampered with.”IPL performances not to influence Pakistan selectors
Pakistan selectors will not consider IPL performances while naming the squad for the triangular series in Bangladesh, according to the chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed. “We are not going to consider the players’ showing in the IPL,” Ahmed said. “We believe that twenty20 is a different ball game and you can’t compare it to proper one-day internationals where you have to play 50-over games.”
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Italy registered a notable scalp as they beat Netherlands by eight runs at North County. Joe Scuderi, the former Lancashire allrounder, hit an unbeaten 84 to steer Italy to 181, which proved too much for their higher-ranked opponents. Tim de Groot hit 51, but he lacked support and the lower order couldn’t quite see the chase home as Netherlands were bowled out with more than six overs remaining.Qasim Sheikh hit an unbeaten 80 to guide Scotland to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Denmark at Malahide. Scotland’s target was adjusted under the D/L method as rain interrupted the chase after 28 overs, but they were well on course at 151 for 3. Ryan Watson (34) provided good support in a second-wicket stand of 70 and Neil McCallum helped complete the victory with a run-a-ball 22. Denmark wasted a solid position after Carsten Pedersen (72) and Soren Vestergaard (50) added 99 for the third wicket. Three run-outs didn’t help their cause, while Scotland’s death bowling also held firm.Ireland had few problems completing an eight-wicket win against Norway as Gary Kidd impressed with four wickets at The Vineyard. Norway made a promising start, as the first wicket put on 35, but it was a false dawn. Kevin O’Brien made the breakthrough and wickets then fell steadily. Kidd nipped out two in the middle order before removing two tailenders. Ireland raced to their target in 22.5 overs with Gary Wilson, on the books at Surrey, striking 47 off 65 balls and Andre Botha making a quickfire 25 off 18 deliveries.
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Had the Champions Trophy gone ahead as scheduled, the A team triangular series, which starts in Hyderabad tomorrow, would have been pushed into relative obscurity. However, the postponement of the event could well be the best thing to happen to a bunch of hopefuls from three countries, India, Australia and New Zealand. The series serves as a warm-up for their respective domestic seasons as well as an opportunity to impress the selectors for the forthcoming international fixtures. For Australia, this series gives a couple of fast bowlers the luxury of more time to acclimatise to Indian conditions before the Test tour of India starting next month. India have players at the fringes of selection for both the Test and limited-overs squads and a handful will be playing for places in the home Tests. The New Zealand senior team is on a rebuilding phase, so this series assumes greater significance for future selections.Poor weather in Hyderabad washed out two whole days in the recent three-day match between the A teams of Australia and India. The normally sound drainage facilities at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium weren’t enough to counter the showers, and only 23.1 overs were possible in the entire match. However, the good news is that the opening match tomorrow between Australia and New Zealand looks a certain starter, with the ground apparently in good condition. The pitch, according to the head groundsman, should have plenty of bounce. The city has been hit by overnight showers over the last few days, so it’s fingers crossed for the three one-dayers scheduled at this venue. The teams then head to Chennai for the four remaining games.
The New Zealand squad has three players from their victorious Emerging Players tournament campaign in Australia – Trent Boult, BJ Watling and Martin Guptill. The squad stopped over in Australia, playing three warm-up games against Queensland before setting foot in India. The opening three-day fixture was washed out, but the New Zealand top order enjoyed a good workout nevertheless. They ended the short tour on a high, winning the first one-dayer by 36 runs and the second by a much narrower margin of four runs.Players to watchPeter Fulton: Fulton made a comeback to the New Zealand senior team following an injury lay-off but he’s yet to firmly establish his place. He found his touch against Queensland earlier this month, scoring a run-a-ball hundred in the second one-dayer, as well as an 83 in the three-day game. Left out of the squads for the Bangladesh tour, Fulton’s target will be the tour of Australia in November.Martin Guptill: A right-hand opening batsman, Guptill was the top run-scorer in New Zealand’s State Shield with 596 runs at 59.60. His efforts took Auckland to the final, which they eventually lost to Otago. He carried his purple patch into the Emerging Players tournament, where he led the run charts for New Zealand with 280 runs. He may have missed out on selection for the one-day squad to Bangladesh, but age is certainly on his side – he’s pushing 22 – making him a prospect for the near future.Squad: Peter Fulton (capt), Brent Arnel, Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Mark Gillespie, Martin Guptill, Greg Hay, Nathan McCullum, James Marshall, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Reece Young (wk), BJ Watling
Australia have had the luxury of acclimatising to the conditions, with their three-day games scheduled before the one-dayers. Unfortunately, the weather in Bangalore and Hyderabad hasn’t allowed for much match practice. The team, led by Cameron White, has six players with very limited international experience, with Shaun Tait being the only one to have played Tests for Australia.Players to watchShaun Tait: Tait’s making his first serious comeback into the international reckoning after taking a break from the game in January, citing physical and mental exhaustion, and not surprisingly, his inclusion instantly hit the headlines. He joined the squad just before the second game in Hyderabad and opted for light training. Finding a place in the Australian squad isn’t guaranteed, but a stint in the subcontinent will give him the opportunity to convince himself and everybody that he’s ready for national selection.Doug Bollinger: A left-arm seamer, Bollinger’s 45 wickets in the Pura Cup – the highest in the competition – helped New South Wales progress to the final. His efforts earned a selection for the tour of the West Indies and for the Test tour of India. The Indians would want to keep an eye on him in particular if he eventually plays next month.Squad Cameron White (capt), Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Marcus North, George Bailey, Peter Forrest, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ashley Noffke, Xavier Doherty, Ryan Harris, Brett Geeves, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger, Shaun Tait
The time’s ripe for budding Indian cricketers to impress the selection committee, with the home series against Australia and England coming up. S Badrinath leads arguably the strongest outfit in the competition, with as many as nine players having international experience. Irfan Pathan, fighting to reclaim his place in the national squad, leads a seam attack not very heavy on pace, with the likes of Praveen Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni to partner him. The middle order has two explosive batsmen in Abhishek Nayar and Yusuf Pathan. Piyush Chawla is the lone specialist spinner.Players to watchRobin Uthappa: Indifferent form in the last few months led to Uthappa being dropped for the one-day series in Sri Lanka. Given another chance with the A squad, he will be scrutinised during these one-dayers and it can be gauged from his responses to the media that he’s very particular about letting his performances in the field do all the talking.Swapnil Asnodkar: Asnodkar was among several unknowns in the domestic circuit who grabbed everybody’s attention in the IPL. After a prolific season with Goa, a state not known for its cricketing talent, he aggregated 311 runs from nine matches for the Rajasthan Royals and his flamboyant starts as an opener won the praise of his captain Shane Warne. While his Twenty20 abilities aren’t in doubt, his suitability to the one-day format will be tested.Squad: S Badrinath(capt), Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Swapnil Asnodkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Abhishek Nayar, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Piyush Chawla, Ravi Teja, Yusuf Pathan, Jaydev Shah, Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
Left-arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee shattered the Railways lower middle-order in their second innings with a spell of incisive spin, bringing Bengal roaring back into their Ranji Trophy elite group tie at Siliguri and bagging 10 wickets for the match in the process.After Bengal were bowled out for 222 – trailing by 24 runs – Railways struggled early against Laxmi Rattan Shukla’s medium-pace. After Chatterjee came into the attack, though, the wickets really started to tumble. From 70 for four, Railways collapsed to 129 all out, with Chatterjee picking up 5-34 in 13.3 overs. Jai P Yadav, at the very top of the order, was the top-scorer with 24. In their quest for the target of 154, Bengal were 42 for one at the close of play, with Deep Dasgupta and Debang Gandhi at the crease.At Jaipur, Rajasthan reached a total of 371 in their first innings, resuming from 332 for seven. While centurion Nikhil Doru made an unbeaten 122, M Aslam chipped in with a valuable 15 even as left-arm seamer S Vishnuvardhan took the last three wickets in the innings. Hyderabad, trailing by 159, made up the deficit relatively easily, with opener Daniel Manohar striking 70 (192b, 7×4) and G Arvind Kumar making 50 (85b, 8×4). The real excitement lay in Ambati Rayudu’s stroke-filled 55 (71b, 5×4, 1×6). At the close of play, Hyderabad were 226 for four, 67 runs ahead.It was a good day with the bat for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh. From 240 for one overnight, the hosts reached a mammoth 506 for six declared. Gautam Gambhir went on to make 157, Pradeep Chawla ground out 66, and Mithun Manhas made 111 in just 140 balls (13×4, 1×6). Trailing by 262 runs, Himachal Pradesh managed to make it to stumps without losing any wickets and with 50 runs on the board.Punjab occupied the entire third day’s play at Guwahati, ending up bowled out for 338 as play ended. They were rescued from a precarious 62 for three by Pankaj Dharmani (121, 237b, 17×4) and Ankur Kakkar (122, 267b, 11×4, 2×6) who added 214 runs for the fourth wicket. Assam now need 286 for a win on the final day.At Chennai, Tamil Nadu found themselves bowled out for 260 – 44 runs less than Uttar Pradesh’s first-innings score. Wicket-keeper KKD Karthik remained unbeaten on 88 and added 22 runs more for the final wicket with L Balaji on the third day. Ashish Winston Zaidi ended with 6/62. Apart from Jyoti Yadav’s gritty 66, few others could make an impact in Uttar Pradesh’s second innings as S Sriram, finding turn, took 3-26 in 18 overs and reduced the tourists to 158 for six at stumps.The tie between Baroda and Orissa at Cuttack ended early, with the tourists winning by an innings and 141 runs. Following on, Orissa were 31 for two overnight, and they could not do much better in the second innings, being bowled out for just 135. Rakesh Patel took 4-47.Plate Group: Tripura in trouble at KochiBowled out for just 170 in their first innings, Tripura found themselves in dire straits again at 62 for three when play ended on the third day. Leggie KN Ananthapadmanabhan did immense damage to the tourists’ batting in their first innings, scalping seven for 39 in 24.1 overs and destroying the line-up. Only TK Chanda offered any resistance, making 61. Ananthapadmanabhan had bowled only two overs in the second innings before stumps.At Nagpur, Goa were dismissed early on the third day for 262, a lead of 74 for hosts Vidarbha. Opener Amit Deshpande’s unbeaten 157 (230b, 17×4, 1×6) then gave Vidarbha enough runs to declare at 294 for three, setting Goa a target of 369 for victory. The tourists lost their captain in the very first over to Chandrasekhar Atram and were 10 for one at stumps.Karnataka comprehensively demolished Jammu & Kashmir at Bangalore, converting their overnight 77 for three to 163 all out. Venkatesh Prasad took three wickets and chipped in with three more in Jammu & Kashmir’s second innings, which ended on a paltry 114 and gave the hosts a win by an innings and 321 runs.A Shafiq Khan century enabled Haryana to bounce back from 166 for six to 285 at Rohtak, thereby conceding a lead of only 13 runs. Shafiq hit 107 (240b, 12×4) and was given good support by Joginder Sharma (75, 155b, 11×4). Maharashtra’s second innings was poised at 124 for two at the close of play, with Hrishikesh Kanitkar unbeaten on 47 and Abhijit Kale on 20.At Indore, Madhya Pradesh completed the formalities by bowling Bihar out for 201 in their second innings and notching up a win by an innings and 38 runs. Although the Bihar batting showed more spine than in the first innings – with skipper Rajiv Kumar making 49 and S Panda an unbeaten 46 – they were no match for Yogesh Golwalkar’s leg-spin. The leggie took 5-57 off 23 overs to hasten Bihar’s end.