World Of Cricket

Melbounre: Australia’s test captain Michael Clarke won his 3rd Allan Border Medal and was also named TEST player of the year. Shane Watson was named ODI & T20I player of the year.

 

 

Clarke finished the medal count with 231 votes, a clear winner from the second-placed Michael Hussey on 174 votes while Watson, who had won the past two Allan Border Medals, was third on 166. Clarke first claimed the medal in 2005 and in 2009 he tied for the award with Ricky Ponting, and again this year they could hardly be split in the Test arena.

 

Clarke took over the captaincy from Ponting after the World Cup last year and the extra responsibility brought out the best in him. He scored a century in each of the four Test series Australia player over the past year and was the team’s leading scorer in three of those series, against South Africa, New Zealand and India.

 

Watson’s long injury lay-off – he missed almost the whole Australian summer due to hamstring and calf problems – did not hamper his chances in the 50-over format. He polled strongly enough in the World Cup and Australia’s tours of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa to secure 19 votes, and won the award by virtue of having more three-vote games than Clarke, who also finished on 19.

In the T20 category, Watson pipped Wade in a countback despite playing only half the matches in the voting period. Watson was Australia’s leading run scorer during the voting period and took home the award that was first handed out last year, when David Hussey was the inaugural recipient.

 

Winners:

 

Allan Border Medalist – Michael Clarke

Test player of the year – Michael Clarke

One-Day International player of the year – Shane Watson

Twenty20 International player of the year – Shane Watson

Bradman young cricketer of the year – David Warner

Belinda Clarke award – Shelly Nitschke

Domestic player of the year – Robert Quiney

Cricket Hall of Fame inductee - Shane Warne

 

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Abu Dhabi: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the last match of the tour by 5 wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Aizaz Cheema was awarded with the ‘Man Of The Match’ award for taking 4 wickets.

 

 

A full house with a few thousand fans stranded outside the Zayed Cricket Stadium, some with and most without tickets, witnessed some entertaining cricket but once again Pakistan turned in a superior display to complete a Test, ODI and T20 triumph over Sri Lanka.

 

The Zayed International Cricket Stadium wore a festive look as the set of cheer girls received a huge roar of approval from the fans. And seated in the Grandstand were a large number of VIPs which included former Pakistan President Pervez Musharaf and current Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Salman Basheer, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat among others. Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board also attended the match.

 

Misbah’s 38-ball innings helped his side chase down the 142 runs set for victory, after Aizaz Cheema (4-30) and Umar Gul (2-16) helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 141 in 19.3 overs on Friday.

 

Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga got the Lankans off to a smart start reeling off 30 runs within the first three overs but Cheema struck to remove Tharanga for 12. While Dilshan slammed four boundaries in his 15-ball 28 it was Dinesh Chandimal who scored the only half century of the game. Chandimal’s 44-ball knock of 56 came to an end in the 19th over in which Cheema picked up three wickets.

 

Aizaz Cheema bagged 4 wickets, Umar Gul took 2 wickets and Saeed Ajmal/Mohammad Hafeez shared 1 wicket each. Pakistani bowlers gave 16 extras (lb 3, w 13).

 

In reply, Mohammad Hafeez (13) and Imran Farhat (19) steered Pakistan to 31-0 from their first four overs before their dismissals, coupled with Umar Akmal’s wicket, left the Pakistan chase staggering at 3-44.

 

Misbah and Asad Shafiq steadied the ship before the latter was bowled by Lasith Malinga for a run-a-ball 33.

 

Shahid Afridi (22 off 15 ; 2 SIXES) then combined with Misbah for a 43-run stand before being dismissed by Dilhara Fernando, which left Pakistan needing another nine runs for victory off the final over.

 

The first ball of the last over went for six runs when Misbah-ul-Haq punched it down to the off-side for two but Sri Lankan fielder Mathews threw the ball at the wicket-keeper’s end to run-out Pakistani skipper dramatically he missed the stumps, Sangakkara over-ran the ball and failed to gather it, there was no back-up so it raced to fine leg boundary.

 

Misbah-ul-Haq at the next ball took single and gave it to Shoaib Malik to finish things off. The next one was a good yorker by Malinga but Malik squirted it out and got a thick outside edge down to third man. Malinga appealed loudly for lbw but he was disappointed by the umpire’s call of giving the batsman not-out. Both batsmen ran three to saw Pakistan home (two runs were required but they ran three just for comfort).

 

Pakistani skipper once again proved that how fit he is for this format (T20), he remained unbeaten on 48 off 38 balls with three FOURS and a SIX. Pakistan chased the target successfully by scoring 142/5 in 19.3 overs. Malinga, Perera, Fernando, Dilshan & Mendis took 1 wicket each. Sri Lankan bowlers gave only 5 extras (5 w).

 

Patriotic & optimistic Men in Green posed in front of cameras with their 3rd trophy of the tour. Friday’s game was the only T20 match between the two sides, after Pakistan won their three-Test series 1-0 and their best-of five one-day international series 4-1.

 

Pakistan will now fly directly to Bangladesh from UAE, it’ll start its tour with the only T20I match scheduled on November 29, 2011 at Shere Bangla National Stadium. Whereas Sri Lanka will travel back to home and will start preparing for the tour of South Africa, both teams will face each other in 1st test which will start from December 15, 2011.

 

Result: Pakistan won by 5 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Aizaz Cheema (Pakistan).

 

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Comments by both captains & by man of the match:

 

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Captain of Sri Lanka): ”We were short by 20 runs today. We are not finishing well and we’re repeating this mistake again and again. Bowlers did a great job.”

 

Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain of Pakistan): ”It’s all to do with the teamwork, including the management. We were under pressure when we started bowling and the spinners did really well. We thought they were going to score 200. We (me and Afridi) discussed that if we both stayed till the end we would pull it off. I’d like to thank the crowd, it looks like we’re playing back at home.”

 

Aizaz Cheema (Man Of The Match): ”I thank my coach, captain and family. In the first over I wanted to bowl line and length and thankfully I got wickets. It was a very good effort on our part to keep them under 150.”

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the last ODI by 3 wickets. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq & young Umar Akmal scored 66 & 61 runs respectively.

 

 

Sri Lanka limped to 9-218 from their 50 overs before Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal both hit half-centuries to help steer their side past the total with 16 balls to spare, giving them a 4-1 series win after a 1-0 triumph in the Test series.

 

Sri Lanka were in dire straits early in their dig at 4-46, but Kumar Sangakkara (78) and Angelo Mathews (61) put on 118 for the fifth wicket to be the best of the Sri Lankan batsmen.

 

Seamer Sohail Tanvir was the chief destroyer with 4-34 from seven overs, with Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez all taking one apiece.

 

Pakistan had few problems overhauling the target, with solid middle order knocks from Misbah (66) and Akmal (61) leading them to 7-219 in the 48th over. Shoaib Malik continued his dismal performance and this time got out at duck.

 

Leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis took 3-36 from seven overs, while seamer Dilhara Fernando claimed 2-47.

 

Pakistan’s series win lifted them to fifth in the ICC’s one-day international rankings. After showing wonderful performance in the ODI series, 3 Pakistani spinner are now among the top 10 ICC ODI bowlers. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has become the no.1 ICC ODI bowler, whereas Shahid Afridi & Mohammad Hafeez have moved up to position no.7 & no.8 respectively.

 

Result: Pakistan won by 3 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Umar Akmal (Pakistan).

 

Winner Of The Series: Pakistan (4-1).

Man Of The Series: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan).

 

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Johannesburg: Teenage debutant Pat Cummins showed poise beyond his years in a ‘man of the match’ performance to guide Australia to a thrilling two-wicket win in the second Test against South Africa.

 

 

Short Scores:

South Africa 1st Innings: 266/10 in 71.0 overs.

Australia 1st Innings: 296/10 in 76.4 overs.

South Africa 2nd Innings: 339/10 in 110.0 overs.

Australia 2nd Innings: 310/8 in 86.5 overs.

 

Chasing 310, the largest fourth-innings target to win at Wanderers, 18-year-old debutant Cummins steered Australia to the record-breaking win with 13 late runs including the winning boundary off Imran Tahir to add to his stellar 6-79 in the second innings.

 

Mitchell Johnson’s heroic 40 not out with an injured foot was crucial as was Brad Haddin’s 55 before he departed, with Australia falling to 7-287 following the pair’s 72-run seventh-wicket stand.

 

Australia level the series with the unlikely win having stoically chipped away at the required 167 on the final day to recover from the early loss of captain Michael Clarke (2) and Ricky Ponting (62).

 

The closing stages made for enthralling Test cricket. Back-to-back boundaries from Johnson reduced the deficit to less than 50 and drew some concerned looks from captain Graeme Smith with four wickets left.

 

When Peter Siddle departed soon after Haddin, Australia still needed 23 runs with just three wickets in hand. But Johnson refused to lie down despite clearly being hampered running between wickets and fended off a string of menacing Vernon Philander deliveries.

 

Philander terrorised the visitors as he had done all series with the wickets of Clarke, Mike Hussey and Haddin in the second innings and received ample support at the other end from Dale Steyn.

 

Cummins batted courageously and survived a caught-and-bowled scare with nine runs required and a referred lbw decision off Tahir from the delivery before his winning boundary.

 

Earlier, a half-century from an embattled Ponting had given Australia hope at stumps on day four with the visitors still staring down a deficit of 167 runs.

 

Clarke and Ponting resumed at the crease on day five after Usman Khawaja had fallen on the second-last ball of day four.

 

It shaped as a classic in Johannesburg, with Australia at 3-142 and Ponting fighting for his life, but the hosts had the early ascendency when Clarke failed to make an impact.

 

The visitors desperately needed early solidarity from two of their more experienced campaigners but when Clarke fell for just two off Philander, his stumps a mess, the outlook for Australia looked gloomy.

 

At 4-145 Australia needed to hold firm and with Hussey striding to the crease after a lean series, the advantage was surely South Africa’s.

 

He was trapped lbw by Philander for 39 and it looked as though Australia’s resistance would be short lived.

 

But Haddin and Johnson held firm before Cummins completed what was one of the more impressive Test debuts in history.

 

Courtesy: Cricket Australia

 

Result: Australia won by 2 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Pat Cummins (Australia).

 

Result Of The Series: 2-match series drawn (1-1).

Man Of The Series: Vernon Philander (South Africa)

 

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Sharjah: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in a nail biting game by 26 runs. All rounder Shahid Afridi answered his critics by scoring 75 runs, taking 5 wickets & 1 catch.

 

 

~ Pakistan Innings ~

 

It was all started at the crazy Sharjah Cricket Stadium which later on was honored by Guinness World Records for hosting the most no. of ODI’s  (201) in cricket history.

 

For the second time, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat opened the innings for conquering new targets.

 

Both played the 1st five overs nicely but then a lazy shot by Imran Farhat & a good catch by wicket keeper Kumar Sangakkara changed things for Pakistan.

 

Younis Khan came in to handle the situation with the burden of his experience. M. Hafeez who was looking settled at the crease caught out by Chandimal at the ball of Prasanna in 16th over. M. Hafeez scored 27 runs off 51 balls (3 FOURS).

 

It was 57/2 when Pakistani skipper came in but a loose shot by Younis Khan in the next over turned it into 62/3. Shoaib Malik who was making his comeback was trapped by Mendis in front of stumps. Next man was Umar Akmal who was on song in the 2nd ODI but failed here and also became victim of Mendis.

 

No one in the whole ground was believing this situation. Pakistan was down to 5 in 24 overs and the score was 72. BOOM BOOM Afridi came in to support his skipper, he was looking calm and quite.

 

For pressurizing the field, both batsmen took some close singles; in between all this one call went against them and that cost Pakistan the wicket of its skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

 

Wicket keeper Sarfraz Ahmed supported Afridi and stayed at the crease for 24 min. but that was too short. Pakistani fans were looking sad and Sri Lankan fans were singing and dancing.

 

The score of Pakistan was 120/7 in 34.2 overs. Saeed Ajmal then became the one whom Afridi was looking for. He played in gaps, gave strike back to Afridi and kept the scoreboard ticking.

 

Boom Boom stayed calm in the 3rd and last powerplay and planned for attacking in the last 10 overs of the game.

 

The day was for Afridi, he smashed two balls for FOUR & 1 for SIX in 43rd over. He skied one high up in the air but the fielder (Fernando) dropped it.

 

In the next over, he tried to play the full and wide delivery of Perera but couldn’t timed it well and got an outside edge which flew to Sangakkara’s right where he took another one-handed good catch.

 

Spectators enjoyed that knock of 75 (65 balls, 4 FOURS, 3 SIXES) from Afridi. He and Ajju created a partnership of 61 runs.

 

Pakistan lost its last two wickets for 19 vital runs. Saeed Amal and Umar Gul were the batsmen who got dismissed. Fernando bowled 3 maidens and took 3 wickets for 26 runs (10 overs), Mendis and Prasanna shared 2 wicket each, Malinga and Perera bagged 1, 1 wicket.

 

Pakistan scored 200/10 in 49.3 overs. Sri Lankan bowlers gave 10 extra-runs (lb 2, w 8). The target wasn’t difficult to chase but it became competitive because of the bowling attack of Pakistan.

 

 

~ Sri Lanka Innings ~

 

As usually Tharanga and Dilshan started things for Sri Lanka. Both went hard on the ball and Cheema was the one who suffered but also made a comeback by sending Tharanga back in pavilion.

 

There was a close chance for getting golden wicket of Sangakkara but the big gap between wicket keeper and 1st (only) slip turned it down. Aizaz was a bit disappointed because he was doing a lot of work.

 

At the score of 37, Sri Lanka lost its 2nd wicket in the form of their skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan who nicked one back to Sarfraz. Strangely Dilshan challenged the decision using his DRS right but in the end technology also proved him wrong, it was a clear nick & sound was there too.

 

Young Chandimal  was the new batsman, he struggled at the crease for sometime and then he dragged one onto his stumps. Mohammad Hafeez was the bowler who was thrilled with the wicket.

 

This was the 3rd wicket which Sri Lanka lost in its chase. Most experienced batsman Mahela Jayawardene arrived at crease who in the last match reached a milestone (crossed 10,000 runs in ODI’s).

 

The real test for Pakistan started now as both batsmen stopped playing big shots and started relying on singles/doubles. Shahid Afridi who hurt his knee during chasing a ball struck by Chandimal came back on the field. Misbah-ul-Haq was going quickly through the overs of Malik & M. Hafeez.

 

Afridi was given ball in the 21st over, crowd was happy to see their favorite all-rounder back. But there was nothing going in favor of him or his team. Pakistani skipper tried his all options, he gave the ball to Ajmal, Malik, M. Hafeez, Afridi, Gul & Cheema but there was nothing then a disappointment.

 

Sri Lanka was cruising to the target, their fans were happy for this partnership. Pakistani fans who were shouting and praising their team in the start were now looking silent and upset.

 

At the end of 37th over, the score for Lanka was 149/3 & they were just 52 runs away from the victory.

 

Who was thinking that the main event is still to come, Afridi in the next over rattled the stumps of Sangakkara who was playing at 58 (103 balls, 6 FOURS).

 

May be that was the hope for which Pakistani players were looking for. A hint of light to dispel dark.

 

In the next over, Ajmal found the outside edge of Mathews’s blade which Sarfraz behind the stumps took beautifully. He was the 5th one to go down. Tension was rising in the dressing room of Sri Lanka.

 

After a couple of overs, Afridi managed to trap Mendis in front of stumps, this was the 2nd one for him. Crowd was shouting ‘Afridi – Afridi – Afridi’. This was something the world of cricket never observed before.

 

In his next over, Afridi grinned the hopes of Sri Lankans by taking another golden wicket, this time batsman was Jayawardene. Mohammad Hafeez was the fielder who took a beautiful catch. Mahela scored 55 runs off 87 balls (2 FOURS & 1 SIX).

 

On the very next ball, Afridi caught Prasanna on his own ball. It was incredibly done by B00m B00m. Score of Sri Lanka was 168/8 in 43.3 overs. 33 runs were required off 39 balls.

 

Ajmal in the next over sent Malinga back on a good lbw shout. Pakistan was just 1 wicket away from the victory and that was booked for Afridi by the ALMIGHTY (GOD). Perera gave up in front of Afridi and caught out. This completed 5 wicket haul for Afridi, fantastic win for Pakistan and fascinating match for the crowd.

 

Last 7 wickets of Sri Lanka fell for 19 runs. Shahid Afridi again toppled the table with 5 wickets, Aizaz Cheema & Saeed Ajmal shared 2 wicket each and Mohammad Hafeez took 1 wicket.

 

Sri Lanka scored 174 in 45.2 overs and lost their all wickets. Pakistani bowlers gave 10 extra-runs (lb 3, w 6, nb 1).

 

 

The difference was the Transformer – Afridi who transformed everything he touched into Gold. The thunder & lightning tonight struck Sharjah emphatically. He is definitely a match winner. World will remember this historic & crazy match played here in UAE.

 

The next and last ODI match will be played at Abu Dhabi on November 23, 2011 which will start at 15:00 (local) & 11:00 (GMT). Pakistan will have to win it to go one place up at no.5 in ICC ODI rankings and Sri Lanka will have to play for its pride.

 

Result: Pakistan won by 26 runs.

Man Of The Match: Shahid Khan Afridi (Pakistan).

 

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Mumbai: India continued its assault as England suffered another defeat by 6 wickets at Wankhede Stadium. Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli played fine innings and scored 80, 86 respectively.

 

 

England’s search for a first win of their India tour goes on after they slipped to a fourth straight defeat in Mumbai.

 

Beaten in Mohali on Thursday to end the series as a contest, England’s ambitions for the remaining two games centred around “maximising our learning and development”, according to team director Andy Flower.

 

Instead, he saw them soundly beaten by six wickets by an India side who have now won 10 of the last 11 matches in which they have batted second.

 

England’s total of 220 proved wholly inadequate, overhauled with 9.5 overs to spare as Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina did what none of England’s top or middle order managed by making decisive contributions.

 

Kohli finished unbeaten on 86, taking his tally for the series to 270 runs at an average of 135, while Raina struck an increasingly violent 80 off 62 balls that reached a crescendo during one of many heated exchanges with the England fielders. The series has been played in a spirit unbecoming of both sides.

 

That this encounter took place on the ground where India won the World Cup in April served as a reminder of their dominance in their own conditions, and England face an unenviable task to salvage some pride in the final ODI in Kolkata on Tuesday.

 

Their failure here stemmed from another unfulfilled performance with the bat, on a surface offering appreciable turn and occasional variable bounce.

 

England’s early response with the ball was admirable, but there remained the suspicion even as Steven Finn, who finished with 3-45, and debutant Stuart Meaker reduced them to 46 for three that more early incursions were needed.

 

Earlier, Craig Kieswetter, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen perished after making promising starts as England, for whom Tim Bresnan top-scored with 45, were bowled out without using up their allocation of overs for the third time in four games.

 

Ravinchandran Ashwin, India’s off-spinner, claimed 3-38 and slow left-armer Ravindra Jadeja 2-41, while debutant Varun Aaron went some way to justifying his tag as his country’s fastest bowler by collecting the last three wickets in as many overs.

 

England’s innings, which spanned 46.1 overs, was fatally undermined by a middle-order collapse that saw four wickets fall for the addition of 33 runs – after Trott and Pietersen had seemingly repaired the damaged caused by the loss of both openers in successive deliveries.

 

Alastair Cook, despite a decent stride, was lbw to the last ball of Ashwin’s first over, and Kieswetter, who hit two towering sixes in his blistering 29, was trapped in front by a Praveen Kumar leg-cutter that kept a touch low.

 

Trott, who pushed his first ball sweetly through extra-cover for four, accumulated steadily while Pietersen showed only glimpses of his attacking best, most notably in lifting Praveen over long-off for six.

 

Their third-wicket alliance was worth 73 when Vinay Kumar nipped one back to uproot Trott’s off stump, and a splendid catch by substitute fielder Manoj Tiwary, leaping to his right at deep square-leg, to hold a powerful sweep from Pietersen gave a far from sell-out crowd further reason to cheer.

 

Ravi Bopara laboured 19 balls over his eight, an innings that ended when he was lbw sweeping at Jadeja, who topped that by seeing off a disbelieving Jonny Bairstow with a beauty that pitched on middle and hit the top of off.

 

From 145 for six, England were grateful for a seventh-wicket stand of 47 between Samit Patel and Bresnan, although the former never looked like reprising his 43-ball unbeaten 70 in Mohali before he swept the impressive Ashwin to Kohli on the deep square-leg rope.

 

Aaron, a 21-year-old of whom India expect much, mopped up the tail with haste. A leaden-footed Scott Borthwick – playing at the expense of the rested Graeme Swann – and Meaker were both beaten for pace, while Bresnan, having batted with good sense and no little gumption, had his off stump tickled by one that held its line.

 

India’s response began in inauspicious fashion. Parthiv Patel, aiming across the line, and Gautam Gambhir, via inside edge as he attempted to force on the up, were bowled by Finn, before Meaker’s extra bounce, allied to an open face and Kieswetter’s wonderful one-handed catch to his right, accounted for Ajinkya Rahane.

 

In hindsight, Samit Patel’s failure to run out Kohli, on 26, with just one stump to aim at from point cost England dear.

 

Kohli and Raina, manipulating the ball superbly and running with an aggression that matched the feistiness of the game, added 131 for the fourth wicket in fewer than 19 overs.

 

There was little to chose between the two before a visibly riled Raina launched a ferocious assault against Bopara and Finn, who exacted a measure of revenge by beating the left-hander’s wild swing in his first over back, which nonetheless cost 15. Finn’s foul-mouthed send-off was unnecessary.

 

Kohli, who has hardly been shy of offering his opinion in this series, kept his head, though, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived to accompany him to the finishing line with considerable ease.

 

Result: India won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Suresh Raina (India)

 

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