All posts by csb10.top

Group I

File photo – Kamran Akmal muscled 16 fours and four sixes in his 134 for National Bank of Pakistan•Getty Images

A rollicking hundred from Naved Malik led Rawalpindi Rams to their first win of the tournament, of six wickets against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited at the National Stadium. ZTBL scored 319 for 9 with the help of Yasir Hameed’s 121, but Naved’s unbeaten 179 off 140 saw Rawalpindi home with nine balls to spare.Put in to bat, ZTBL got an opening stand of 60, followed by a second-wicket partnership of 98 between Hameed and Shahid Yousuf (54). Their middle order could not capitalise on the platform laid early on before Sohail Tanvir scored 43 off 26 and Hameed’s 11th List A hundred put up a challenging score.Rawalpindi lost their openers for low scores which brought Naved on the pitch as he unleashed 20 fours and six sixes. He was supported by Usman Saeed’s 66 runs in the fourth-wicket stand of 178, before Naved steered them to their target.Hundreds from Kamran Akmal (134) Sami Aslam (114) gave National Bank of Pakistan a 70-run win against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, and kept them on top of the table. National Bank won the toss and piled on 356 for 3 after Nasir Jamshed scored 49 and Kamran and Aslam put on 200 runs for the second wicket. Aslam’s hundred was his fourth in List A, while Kamran’s 134 off 87 included 16 fours and four sixes.A few of the SNGPL batsmen got starts but only two went past 50. Mohammad Asghar’s three wickets troubled the SNGPL middle order as they approached 150. They slumped from 144 for 2 to 177 for 5 as three of their batsmen were stumped. Opener Azhar Ali scored 57 and No. 6 Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 76 off 75 went in vain as they finished on 286 for 7.A maiden five-for from legspinner Shahzaib Ahmed charged Karachi Dolphins to a massive nine-wicket win against Peshawar Panthers in Karachi. Peshawar were dismissed for 127 and Karachi surpassed that score in 21.2 overs with a 76-ball 98 from Rameez Raja.Peshawar were asked to bat and got an opening stand of 57 before things went awry. Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed and pacer Babar Rehman chipped in with two wickets to complement Shahzaib’s five to rattle Peshawar’s line-up. They lost their 10 wickets for 70 runs. In reply, Karachi lost one wicket early before Raja and Mohammad Waqas put on 111 for the second wicket, out of which Waqas scored only 21.

Group II

Khurram Mazoor’s 130 and Mohammad Sami’s four wickets helped Port Qasim Authority beat Islamabad Leopards by 42 runs in Hyderabad. Chasing 331, Islamabad were restricted to 288 for 8 after Sami removed their top order.Port Qasim were put in to bat and were led by a partnership of 157 runs between Manzoor and Umar Amin (80) for the third wicket. Manzoor’s second consecutive hundred, and fifth straight 50-plus score, included 13 fours and two sixes which propelled Port Qasim to 330 for 5. Islamabad were 55 for 3 but opener Faizan Riaz resisted with an 89-ball 81, and Imad Wasim (73) and Mohammad Irfan (71 off 43) also chipped in with fifties, but they weren’t enough. Islamabad suffered their third loss and are at the bottom of the table.Fifties from Umar Siddiq and Saad Nasim chased down 182 for Lahore Lions for a nine-wicket win against Karachi Zebras. The Lahore spinners bowled out Karachi for 181 in 49.2 overs, not letting any batsman score a fifty.Karachi were put in to bat and lost wickets at regular intervals as legspinner Nasim finished with 3 for 44, and left-arm spinner Raza Ali Dar and offspinner Agha Salman picked up two apiece. Lahore lost only one wicket after their opening stand of 45 and Siddiq and Nasim directed them to the target in 37.4 overs.Khan Research Laboratories continued their dominance in Group II with a six-wicket win, against State Bank of Pakistan with the help of Sadaf Hussain and Nauman Ali. KRL dismissed State Bank for 140 and chased down the target with nearly nine overs to spare to register their third straight win.The KRL bowlers did not allow any State Bank partnership to flourish as none of their top seven batsmen reached 20. Some lower-order contributions took them past 100 and eventually to 140 as Nauman finished with figures of 7-3-6-3. KRL were in a spot of bother early on, being 50 for 3. But Mohammad Yasin’s 37 kept them on track and an unbeaten stand of 70 runs between Saeed Anwar (44*) and Ali Khan (30*) helped them reach their target.

Cold water was poured on Dale Steyn’s preparations for the Ireland game, his 100th in ODIs, when he learned of mountain fires raging in Cape Town, close to his home.”Massive fire behind my house in Stonehurst! Plz be safe and watch out for the mountain animals trying to escape it, porcupines, tortoises…” he posted on Twitter. “These little animals will also need ur help! Hope the homes don’t get hit!”Stonehurst Estate is located on the Muizenberg Mountains where multiple blazes sprung on Sunday night, forcing the closure of three main passes and evacuation of people from the their home. By Monday morning, South African firefighters and volunteers were still trying to control the spreading flames.Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel also live in Cape Town along with Faf du Plessis, the other player to tweet his concern, having recently purchased property close to Steyn’s. “Crazy mountain fire near my new house. Hope they can stop the fire before it does more damage,” he tweeted.Up-country resident Farhaan Behardien hoped troubles back home would not put out the fire in his or Steyn’s approach. “They’ve got people looking after that back in Cape Town, their agents, their people that’s close to them. Of course, it does affect you in some sort of way, but we have quite a strong support structure around us,” Behardien said.Steyn has yet to hit top gear at the tournament, having taken just a wicket a game so far. He has battled sinusitis and Shikhar Dhawan, before finding some of the inner mongrel against West Indies.But Steyn is a big-match player and South Africa are banking on him to step up later in the tournament. “I faced him a few times in the domestic scene, and it’s not fun facing Dale Steyn when he’s at full tilt,” Behardien said. “We all know what a wonderful performer he’s been over the years; 10 years as an international cricketer; No. 1 Test bowler. He’s performed admirably in the one-day circuit, T20s. His fire and his energy that he brings to the bowling unit are awesome.”For someone who had a decade of experience behind him it may seem strange that Steyn is only about to clock up a century of ODIs, but that is because of how his career has been managed. He made his 50-over debut seven months after his first Test appearance and only featured in four matches in the two years (2005 & 2006) before becoming a regular. He has also been rested on occasions when South Africa thought they could cope without him and keep him fresh for key games.Steyn’s role has changed from opening the bowling to coming in at first change and controlling at the death and he has adapted to those situations by showing different skill – be it swing, speed or reverse-swing. Behardien expects more of the same on a Canberra pitch where Chris Gayle notched up the competition’s highest score – 215 – especially if South Africa are bowling at night.”We are looking to him to start the innings off well, whether it be first-change or opening the bowling,” Behardien said. “I think at night the ball tends to skid on a little bit more, which would bring our fast bowlers into contention.”Although South Africa need Steyn to give them that little something extra to win matches, they also hope to give him something back to celebrate a career which will enjoy a champagne moment, no matter what, in Canberra. “A hundred caps is a wonderful achievement, something I aspire to, something most cricketers aspire to. We’ll try and celebrate his 100th game with a win, and yeah, we’ll be fighting tooth and nail come tomorrow.”So will the people in Cape Town, hoping to douse the flames that swirling winds and high temperatures continue to spread around Steyn’s beloved home town.

Police told a Dhaka court on Monday that they had found no proof of the charges brought by an actress against Rubel Hossain. In the final report, it also sought the Bangladesh fast bowler’s acquittal.The investigating officer, inspector Halima Khatun, submitted her findings to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Court. The court is scheduled to hold a hearing on the report on April 13.The actress, Naznin Akhtar Happy, had filed a case against Rubel on December 13 last year with Mirpur police station on charges of making false promises of marriage. Two days later, Rubel was granted bail for four weeks. But on January 8, he was sent to jail under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate Muhammad Anwar Sadat passed the order after Rubel surrendered before the court and pleaded for bail.He was granted a second bail on January 11 after which he was also allowed to travel abroad as he had been selected in Bangladesh’s World Cup squad.A couple of days after Bangladesh’s win over England, Happy said that she did not want to continue the case against Rubel.

The future editions of the Asia Cup, beginning in 2016, will be conducted by the Asian Cricket Council, despite the downsizing of the regional body and the takeover of its development activities by the ICC. In a press release on Friday, the ICC formally announced its plan for the takeover of the ACC and said that its decision to manage the ACC’s development initiatives was in line with a desire to integrate cricket’s global development.The Asian body will, however, host the Asia Cup with editions scheduled for 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Qualification processes that could allow Associate and Affiliate Members to play in the tournament are also being reviewed. Several members of the ACC staff will take up roles with the ICC.Outgoing ACC CEO, Syed Ashraful Huq, had announced a few days ago that the format of the Asia Cup would alternate between T20s and ODIs, giving countries like Nepal, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and UAE a chance to participate. The ICC, however, has not confirmed Huq’s statements and has not released any information pertaining to the format of the Asia Cup.”The ACC’s development work has been fundamental to the growth and improvement of many Associate and Affiliate Members in Asia, particularly countries like Afghanistan, UAE and Nepal,” ICC’s chief executive David Richardson, said. “We therefore look forward to building on this success in order for cricket to become even stronger across the region.”The ICC’s plans to limit the involvement of regional bodies in cricket development was revealed by Huq, in August 2014. The decision to downsize the operations of regional bodies came soon after changes to the ICC’s financial and governance structures last year which were driven by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board.The ACC’s work in Asia had played a part in the improvement of Asian teams, including the celebrated rise of Afghanistan – who played the 2010 World T20 and their maiden World Cup earlier this year – and Nepal, who qualified for the 2014 World T20. While Afghanistan made it to the 2015 World Cup after finishing second in the World Cricket League Championships, UAE’s second-place finish in the World Cup Qualifiers helped them enter their second World Cup after 1996.The ACC’s development work also extends to umpiring, coaching and other areas of cricket along with tournaments for the Under-16 and Under-19 age groups. It was set up in 1983 with the goal of promoting cricket in Asia and has 25 members at present, including the Test-playing countries of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Misbah-ul-Haq, coming in at No.5, slammed a 27-ball 67 to power Faisalabad Wolves to 183 for 6 and set up a seven-run D/L win against Multan Tigers in Faisalabad. Misbah’s blitz came at a crucial time, as his fifty meant that Tigers had to chase the big score at more than nine an over right from the off, and despite a late surge from Naved Yasin – 69 not out off 31 balls – the visitors found themselves seven runs short when rain forced a premature end to the game in the 17th over.After electing to bat, Wolves were 76 for 2 at the halfway stage of their innings, but Misbah whacked five fours and sixes each, including 16 off an over from Sadaif Mehdi, to wrest the advantage. Mehdi conceded 59 runs in his four overs without picking up a wicket.Tigers found themselves at 32 for 3 in the fifth over of the chase, losing their top three batsmen to Mohammad Talha. Yasin and Aftab Niazi led a recovery with a 65-run stand for the fourth wicket, but while Yasin stroked two fours and seven sixes, Niazi could only hit 25 runs from his 30 deliveries. It proved crucial in the end, as their slightly lower run-rate coupled with the intervention of rain, allowed Wolves to walk away with two points.The downpour in Faisalabad also meant that the clash between Karachi Dolphins and Lahore Lions was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, has been fined 10% of his match fee for making an inappropriate public comment with respect to an umpire’s decision.Dhoni had called umpire Richard Illingworth’s decision to give Dwayne Smith lbw “horrible” during the post-match presentation, after Chennai Super Kings lost the Qualifier to Mumbai Indians by 25 runs at Wankhede Stadium.”I felt we lost too many in the middle,” Dhoni had said when asked about Super Kings’ performance. “Not to forget Dwayne Smith got a horrible decision by any standards, but overall I think we need to blame ourselves, we were not up to the mark.”Smith was adjudged lbw to a full toss from Lasith Malinga in the first over of the Super Kings chase, but replays indicated the ball was missing leg stump by a substantial margin. Dhoni admitted the level 1 offence and accepted the sanction, the IPL said in a release.Super Kings will travel to Ranchi to play the second Qualifier on Friday. They will play the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore for a berth in the IPL 2015 final, against Mumbai.

ScorecardBen Duckett dominated the first two sessions of the match with a fluent hundred•Getty Images

A brilliant century from opener <a href=”https://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/521637.html”>Ben Duckett</a> ensured Northamptonshire enjoyed a productive day against LV= County Championship Division Two leaders Lancashire at Old Trafford.Twenty-year-old Duckett struck 134 off 151 balls as the visitors recovered from the loss of Kyle Coetzer in just the second over of the game to reach a commanding total of 388 for 6 at the conclusion of a tough three sessions for the home side.Alex Wakely and Richard Levi chipped in with half-centuries while Northants will be confident of gaining maximum points on Tuesday with Adam Rossington unbeaten on 79.Lancashire started well after losing the toss, with Kyle Jarvis pinning Kyle Coetzer in front in the second over, but Duckett and Wakely then combined excellently to put Northants on top.With his captain happy to play the support act, former England Under -19s player Duckett revelled in his role as enforcer as he dispatched first Tom Bailey for six before targeting the spin bowling of Simon Kerrigan and Aaron Lilley as the morning session came to an end.The pair continued their serene progress from the morning session, compiling a second-wicket partnership of 170, before Australian James Faulkner uprooted Wakely's leg stump with a superb yorker, the skipper departing for a watchful 56.Duckett finally fell in the 50th over the day when he became spinner Kerrigan's 250th first-class wicket after the left armer trapped the century maker lbw for a thrilling 134 off only 151 balls, which included 19 fours and two sixes.Just two balls later, Kerrigan was celebrating again when Rob Keogh (19) popped a catch up to Lancashire skipper Steven Croft at short leg to give the home side some hope of a recovery as the afternoon progressed.The double wicket burst came as some relief to the beleaguered left-armer after his first over went for 15, during a period when he and fellow spinner Lilley were not allowed to settle by Duckett's aggressive stroke making.All hopes of a Lancashire comeback were slowly extinguished by the fifth wicket pair of Levi and Rossington, who steadied any nerves in the hour before tea to take the visitors to 272 for 4 at the break and then continued their steady but effective batting in the evening session.The new ball was negotiated without undue worry as both players reached their half-centuries with ease in the face of increasing frustration from the seamers, who struggled with both the unhelpful pitch and unsympathetic overhead conditions on a chastening day for the previously effective Lancashire attack.With the end of the day in sight, the partnership had extended to 142 when Levi uncharacteristically chased a wide one from Faulkner and nicked behind to wicket keeper Alex Davies for 57 before the Australian suddenly found himself on a hat-trick after Josh Cobb edged the next ball to Steven Croft at second slip.Rossington and former Lancashire allrounder Steven Crook dealt with the remaining five overs without any major scares to leave Lancashire with much to ponder going into the second day's play.

Be aggressive in the Powerplay and then bat deep. That is Chris Gayle’s advice to Andre Fletcher, the Man of the match in West Indies’ second win of the World T20 against Sri Lanka on Sunday, and the rest of his team if West Indies are to progress deep into the World T20.Gayle, who did not bat against Sri Lanka because of a minor twinge in his left hamstring while fielding, is understood to be fit and available for selection against South Africa in Nagpur on Friday.”In the second game against Sri Lanka I started, but didn’t get a chance to bat. But Fletcher came in, played his part and grabbed his opportunity with both hands,” Gayle told WICB media in Nagpur. “He played a fantastic knock and carried right through till the end. And that’s the sort of thing batters require – once you are set in these kinds of conditions, it is very important to bat as deep as possible and it just makes it easier for the team to chase or set a target, so it is very important to see Fletcher come on board and be Man of the Match.”Gayle said the key for Fletcher was not to be “overconfident” when he goes in to bat next. Fletcher is likely to open with Gayle against South Africa, considering Johnson Charles made a duck against England and 10 against Sri Lanka. “Just continue to play smartly, pick and choose his bowlers to target at a particular time. Also whatever it is that works for him, like continue being aggressive in the first six. It’s very, very important to try and capitalise on that new ball as a batter. So just keep that aggression going and once you get past that first six, try and take it as deep as possible, look to pick up the odd boundary in the middle overs as well. Just build on whatever start you get.”I’ve opened the batting with him on many occasions so I know what sort of a player he is, he is very dangerous and he’s capable of getting big scores as well. So hopefully he can build on this and carry on, not leave it for anybody and get more Man-of-the-Match awards.”Though Fletcher played an aggressive innings, the crowd in Bangalore was desperate for Gayle to bat. He had sat out for about half of the Sri Lankan innings as a precautionary measure, and despite the crowd’s urging and his own insistence, he had to wait for a certain amount of time to pass before he could bat. By then the match was over. Gayle finally emerged after the win and thanked the crowd, a gesture that was well received by the fans.Gayle had already lit up the tournament and made West Indies a force when he hammered a 48-ball century against England in Mumbai last week. The innings had a characteristic that is usually missed when talking about Gayle: patience. In the Powerplay, Gayle had faced barely six deliveries as Marlon Samuels took charge.Gayle said he was not thinking of the century until he was a handful of runs away. The focus until then was just on riding with the momentum built by Samuels. “I wasn’t really thinking about the hundred because if you look at the way we started, after facing the first over, in the second Marlon came in and he actually batted the entire Powerplay. I was saying to myself, regardless of what happens, I need to be here, and the good thing about it is that Marlon was getting the ball away and keeping the run rate intact so it was very important to be there then. We knew they had two spinners, especially a leg spinner, so being a left-hander it was good to be there in the middle overs, it was crucial.”Talking about the century, Gayle said the turning point was him hitting England offspinner Moeen Ali for three consecutive sixes, when West Indies needed 59 runs from the final seven overs. Andre Russell had just come in after Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo had fallen. “I got some momentum when I took down Moeen Ali – when I got three consecutive sixes. And then the momentum was actually built from there and when the rest of the bowlers come to bowl in the back end, we’re always going to be on the go at that particular time. That’s when the opportunity presented itself. I had done the hard work already, so I said, ‘I’ve done the hard work, let’s get the hundred’. At that point, we were way ahead, and I wasn’t going to risk it, and batting there with Andre Russell we just wanted to finish off things. When I got to 96 or something like that, that was the time I said I’ll get the hundred.”Gayle said the century brought back memories of his ton in the first edition of the WT20, where he scored a century, too. Having won their first two games, West Indies are now favourites to make the semi-finals from Group 1. “We have a lot of back-up. I shouldn’t be using this word back-up, we have a lot of guys who are match winners themselves who actually can do the same thing and destroy different bowling attacks around the world.”

Elite performance director: Graeme Welch
Captain: Billy Godleman (Championship), Wes Durston (limited-overs)
Last season

In: Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire), Tom Milnes (Warwickshire), Neil Broom (UK passport)
Out: Mark Footitt (Surrey), Wayne White (Leicestershire), Jonathan Clare (released)
Overseas: Hamish Rutherford, James Neesham (T20)
2015 in a nutshell
The arrival of Graeme Welch as elite performance director encouraged much optimism last season, but Derbyshire rarely lived up to it. Mark Footitt was the outstanding bowler in Division Two of the Championship for the second successive season, but an inexperienced squad had little else to celebrate. Wayne Madsen and Billy Godleman, captains old and new, delivered with the bat, but Shiv Thakor disappointed.2016 prospects
How to replace Footitt, who has decamped to Surrey, is Derbyshire’s first challenge. Welch has raided his former club, Warwickshire, for Tom Milnes; Andy Carter – signed from Notts – has bags of ability but a poor fitness record; and Tom Taylor and Ben Cotton will look to continue their development. Hamish Rutherford can bring zip to the top order, and his fellow Kiwi Neil Broom has dusted off a dual passport at the age of 32. Youngsters such as Matt Critchley (see below) and Harvey Hosein, an excellent wicketkeeper who made a maiden first-class 50 last summer, should also progress. A Godleman captaincy – he has had his share of disciplinary problems – is intriguing.Key player
Derbyshire can probably assemble enough runs this season – particularly in the Championship – but replacing Footitt is a different matter. It would be a much easier task if Andy Carter stays fit. His wickets come well below 30, but he has managed only 29 first-class matches since his debut in 2009. A tall fast bowler, he is able to mix the short stuff and yorkers.Bright young thing
Matt Critchley was initially seen as a promising legspinner, but he made history when he became Derbyshire’s youngest first-class century maker with 137 against Northamptonshire last May. It was enough to bring him his first professional deal. Proof of developing legspin would also be enthusiastically received.ESPNcricinfo verdict
Derbyshire’s youngsters have the talent to kick on, but not enough to fill their impressive new media box or make a concerted challenge for honoursBet365 odds: Specsavers Championship, Div 2: 12/1; NatWest Blast n/a; Royal London Cup 40/1

ScorecardBen Raine picked up 4 for 30 as Sussex collapsed (file photo)•PA Photos

Leicestershire enjoyed a dream first day against Sussex in their County Championship Division Two game at Hove, dismissing their hosts for 163 before making a confident reply which took them to 140 for 2 at stumps. Sussex’s batting fell apart with a succession of soft dismissals during the afternoon session when they lost seven wickets for 33 runs in 12 overs including three in five balls.Ed Joyce made 56 and Ross Taylor 36 and when they added 76 either side of lunch for the third wicket Sussex looked capable of making good use of a decent batting pitch after winning the toss. Their problems began shortly after lunch when Taylor tried to pull out of an attempted hook as Charlie Shreck dropped short and gave a thin edge to Niall O’Brien, one of five catches in the innings for the Leicestershire wicketkeeper.Their decline gathered pace in the 46th over when Luke Wells, who had begun positively, picked out midwicket and three overs later Joyce, who had played fluently for his second half-century of the season, was strangled down the leg side by Wayne White.White’s next over fatally holed the Sussex batting as three wickets fell in five balls. O’Brien produced a superb diving catch when Ollie Robinson clipped another ball down the leg side, Ajmal Shahzad was run out by Neil Dexter’s throw from the covers when he was sent back by Ben Brown looking to get off the mark first ball before Brown, driving loosely outside off stump, was held by O’Brien.Sussex had lost five wickets for 12 runs as they slumped to 142 for 8 and although George Garton and Danny Briggs managed to cobble together 21 runs together the innings ended in the 58th over when Ben Raine’s late away movement accounted for Garton and Steve Magoffin.It completed an excellent day for the promising Raine, who had dismissed Chris Nash and Matt Machan with the new ball during a testing spell in the first hour. He finished with 4 for 30 from 15 overs and got consistent seam movement.Sussex did make an early breakthrough when Angus Robson lost his middle stump as an attempted cut cannoned off his inside edge but Horton and Dexter showed their experience in putting on 100 for the second wicket with relatively few alarms. Brown rung the changes in an attempt to find a breakthrough but his seamers lacked the control shown by their opponents until Dexter was leg before to Robinson the ball after he’d received lengthy treatment when he was hit on the glove.