Yuvraj Singh played an inspired innings of rare quality after Rahul Dravid won an important toss on a sluggish pitch as India posted a mammoth 294 and overwhelmed England by 49 runs to take an impressive 3-0 lead in this seven-match series. A raucous Goa crowd cheered India all the way as a strident batting performance laid the base for a strong win.When India began to bat it was immediately obvious that this 22-yard strip of real estate was not unlike life one of Goa’s beaches – slow and not particularly conducive to getting anywhere in a hurry. The pitch at the Nehru Stadium in Goa has not been used for a single first-class match this season, and till late February the ground had been used for football. In that sense it is understandable – though by no means excusable – that the surface is as it was, slow, crumbling, taking spin, breaking up and deteriorating with every passing hour. Virender Sehwag was hardly amused when the first few deliveries shot under his bat and after having a biff or two was cleaned up by one that came back in a touch. India’s decision to leave out Gautam Gambhir worked well as Dravid opened, and he was best equipped to show the way to bat on this pitch.Dravid knuckled down and realised that protecting his stumps was priority No.1 with the ball being up and down. Only when he had picked the length really early did he reach for the ball outside the off stump, and even then he fetched it and placed it into the gap rather than trying to hit it too hard. Another thing that worked for India was pushing Irfan Pathan up the order. His uncomplicated technique worked well, and a partnership of 78 for the second wicket set things up nicely before Dravid (46) dragged Paul Collingwood back onto his stumps.Soon England sniffed a chance as Pathan failed to clear the infield and the out-of-form Mohammad Kaif tickled one to the keeper and India wobbled at 131 for 4. What they would not have accounted for was Yuvraj Singh playing as superbly as he did, using his power and free-stroking ability to best effect on a pitch where run-making was desperately difficult. Though he played and missed a few early on, and even inside-edged towards fine-leg as he tried to force the ball through the off side, Yuvraj settled down beautifully to play an innings that would form the backbone of India’s effort. His trademark big shots did not suffer even though the ball was barely coming onto the bat. The sweep was struck firmly and placed well, the booming cover-drive was a thing of beauty, the pick-up shot over midwicket was effortless. After laying a solid foundation through a long partnership with Raina, Yuvraj really let rip, taking 22 off the 44th over.
Yuvraj’s knock, a rollicking 76-ball 103 that included 10 fours and 3 sixes, made a mockery of the tough batting conditions. Ably assisted by Raina, who shared in a 142-run partnership in making 61 very compact runs of his own, Yuvraj had taken India to a score that would take some getting on a flat deck, forget about a slow crumbler. Mahendra Dhoni had his say in the few balls that he faced and India ended very comfortably placed.With a big score on the board India only had to bowl sensibly given the conditions to put the pressure firmly on England. Pathan showed that he was the man for the job, his well-disguised slower deliveries proving to be the undoing of the top order. With the ball gripping the surface all Pathan had to do was put the ball in areas where a mistake in timing would create problems and he did just that.Three slower deliveries accounted for Andrew Strauss, who tickled one to the ‘keeper, Ian Blackwell, who was bowled playing and missing early, and Owais Shah, who failed to get to the pitch of the ball and chipped to point. Matt Prior had battled hard for 37 and when he was run out in a mix up with Andrew Flintoff, England were in deep trouble at 48 for 4. Mere trouble gave way to complete disaster soon enough when Flintoff holed out to midwicket off Ramesh Powar. When the halfway mark came England were 100 for 5 and needed to score at 7.8 from the remaining overs to reach 295.Collingwood threatened to do a Yuvraj, showed he had the stomach for a fight, and battled it out for a belligerent 93 but there was just too much for him to do after the top-order had failed. After he holed out going for a big one England folded for 245 and India closed out the match by 49 runs.How they were outVirender Sehwag b Anderson 15 (27 for 1) Rahul Dravid b Collingwood 46 (105 for 2) Irfan Pathan c Collingwood b Flintoff 36 (130 for 3) Mohammad Kaif c Jones b Plunkett 0 (131 for 4) Yuvraj Singh c Collingwood b Flintoff 103 (273 for 5) Suresh Raina b Flintoff 61 (288 for 6) England Andrew Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 7 (8 for 1) Ian Blackwell b Pathan 9 (27 for 2) Owais Shah c Yuvraj b Pathan 7 (47 for 3) Matt Prior run out (Patel/Dhoni) 37 (48 for 4) Andrew Flintoff c Sehwag b Powar 15 (83 for 5) Vikram Solanki c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 10 (100 for 6) Geraint Jones c Sehwag b Pathan 32 (205 for 7) Paul Collingwood c Raina b Harbhajan 93 (223 for 8) Liam Plunkett b Agarkar 18 (242 for 9) Sajid Mahmood b Agarkar 8 (245 for 10)
Sussex and Nottinghamshire squeezed in just seven overs on a heavily rain-affected second day at Arundel, but it was enough time for Chris Harris to dismiss Robin Martin-Jenkins. Jenkins added 12 to his overnight score of 25. Sussex ended the day on 274 for6.Harbhajan Singh ripped through the Hampshire middle-order, taking 6 for 36 as Surrey grabbed thesecond-day honours at The Rose Bowl. Surrey added 35to their overnight score to finish on 361 all out.Dominic Thornely was eventually dismissed for 73, thefourth of Chris Tremlett’s victims. Tremlett returnedfigures of 4 for 106. Harbhajan also chipped in withthe bat, posting a useful 25 before he was bowled bySean Ervine. Then came the bowling onslaught. MartinBicknell struck first, removing Jimmy Adams. MichaelBrown was the next to fall, to Mohammad Akram. ButHarhbajan did the bulk of the damage. And Hampshirewere in dire straits at 146 for 8 by the close.Daniel Cherry struck a sweet double century – thefirst of his career – as Glamorgan strode to animposing 584 for 3 declared. There were centuries toofor David Hemp (103) and Jonathan Hughes, who wasunbeaten on 134. Hughes shared an impressivepartnership of 239 for the third wicket as Glamorgansteered themselves into a very solid position. BenHutton turned to nine bowlers in all in a bid to gainbreakthroughs, but wickets were few and far between.And he failed to cash in on a belter of a pitch,making 16 before falling to Dean Cosker. Middlesexended the day at 96 for 1, with Ed Smith unbeaten on57, but the home side still have much work to do atSouthgate.Kent wrested control at Edgbaston through Robert Key(75) and Martin van Jaarsveld (62). At the end of theday Kent were 270 for 3, a lead of 18 with sevenwickets in hand.
Division Two
Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard each struck 80 asDurham added 200 to their overnight score to reach334. Johannes Wright was Northamptonshire’s mostsuccessful bowler, with 4 for 71. Northants’ reply gotoff to a steady start, with Martin Love and BilalShafayat sharing an opening stand of 54. But RobertWhite fell just before the close to leave Northants on98 for 2 and the match in the balance.Lancashire will feel the happier of the two sides,just, as they ended the second day against Derbyshirewith a lead of 51 and one wicket remaining. DominicCork chipped out the last two wickets for Derbyshireearly, to end with 4 for 40. Lancashire’s reply gotoff to a bad start, as they lost Mark Chilton and MalLoye with the score just 12. They were going along nicely, but a further threewickets fell for just eight runs to leave them in somedisarray at 128 for 6. Cork again came to the rescueand was unbeaten on 63 by the close, with some stronglower-order support from Muttiah Muralitharan (24 notout).Zander de Bruyn struck an unbeaten half-century asWorcestershire shaded the day at Grace Road. NadeemMalik took 5 for 71 as Leicestershire wickets fellsteadily – they ended on 225. In reply, Worcestershirewere in some difficulty at 27 for 2 – with SimonDavies and Graeme Hick back in the pavilion courtesyof Ottis Gibson, but Ben Smith (45), Stephen Moore(41) and de Bruyn all batted well to add stability.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to initiate legal proceedings against Rashid Latif for alleging that the fourth one-dayer was fixed. The Indian Express also reported that a request had been made to prevent Latif from issuing such statements. Shaharyar Khan, chairman of the cricket board, said, “We feel Latif’s assertions were baseless and unpatriotic, so we have decided to take legal action against him.”But Latif, who had first brought matchfixing to light, said that he was ready for a battle in court. “I am ready to face any legal action, I have done so in the past and since I believe that there was wrongdoing, I am ready to face legal action. I have some basis to form such allegations, and I have met the [ICC’s] Anti-Corruption Unit people in a hotel in Karachi and have shared my basis with them.”Latif met with Martin Hawks and Alan Peacock, both anti-corruption investigators, a day after the fourth ODI.* * *Javed Miandad is unsurprised by the allegations of matchfixing, and says that a Pakistan loss always provokes a whispering campaign, according to Press Trust of India. “I am not surprised that we have some people again questioning the commitment of the players and starting a whispering campaign about the match being fixed. It happens every time we lose. Why don’t people say anything when we are winning matches?”Miandad attributed loose bowling to the defeats, but believed that Pakistan could still win if the bowlers tightened up their game. “I think it is time they [the bowlers] sorted out this problem with their individual hard work. I can only work for hours with them and tell them why they are overstepping or bowling wides. I have done my best. Now they have to stand up and take responsibility. These extra runs and overs are costing us heavily. But I am confident that if we control this problem of gifting runs through extras, we can beat them despite their strong batting line-up.”* * *Rahul Dravid played down India’s underwhelming record in crunch matches, and spoke about a good run against Pakistan in pressure games instead. The Times of India quoted Dravid as saying, “It is true that we have not done so well in finals, but it is mainly against Australia. We had not played to our full potential in the past and we are aware of it. If we play to our full potential, the result will take care of itself.”He emphasised the importance of positive thinking, and said, “We have not done well against Australia in the finals, but we probably have better results against Pakistan. We have to go into the match with a positive frame of mind.”
The excitement of the World Cup is already in the air, at Newlands in the beautiful city of Cape Town. The first encounter is going to set the tone for this World Cup – host South Africa taking on West Indies.
On paper South Africa might look like a stronger team, and many pundits wouldn’t even dare to give West Indies a chance of pulling off a big upset. I think West Indies will give their best to make this a close and entertaining encounter.To my thinking, both the teams are evenly balanced. West Indies batting can be very explosive and tear apart any attack. The likes of Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Carl Hooper should never be taken lightly by any side. The resilience of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the talent of Ramnaresh Sarwan makes the West Indies batting line-up an awesome one.
It will be interesting to see whether the stylish batsman Marlon Samuels makes it into the side. If he has recovered from the injury and is fit to play, any bowling attack will find it hard to have a crack at the West Indies batting.I would think that West Indies would go in with four fast bowlers, with Hooper and Gayle wheeling their arm over to fill in the fifth bowler’s role. Merv Dillon, Drakes and the extremely quick Jermaine Lawson have it in them to cause panic in the South African batting line up.What might possibly give South Africa the slight edge over their opponents from Caribbean is their better fielding talent and the number of allrounders they possess. The likes of Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs are simply brilliant in the field, and surely they will try to set the tempo by stopping valuable runs, putting pressure on the batsmen, effecting run outs, and importantly taking stunning catches. Yes, someone like Jonty flying across the turf is something people travel miles to watch.
The old warhorse Allan Donald still has it in him to strike like a lightning, and the most improved fast bowler in recent times – Makhaya Ntini provide wonderful support to the extremely efficient South African skipper Shaun Pollock. The South African batting looks a well-oiled machine and is capable of posting huge scores, with someone like Mark Boucher scoring consistentlylow in the order.The availability of Jacques Kallis for this important game is going to make a huge impact. Kallis is possibly the best allrounder in world cricket today, and if he were to miss the game, that will only help the happy-go-lucky Windies team’s cause. Possibly the one thing that will go against the home-crowd favourite South Africa is their uncanny knack of crumbling under pressure.When the two teams met last in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka last September, South Africa almost choked and scraped through to a narrow win.I am sure that the first game of the competition is a very important one, and I for one won’t be surprised if both these teams qualify for the Semi Finals.
New Zealand will have three less One-Day Internationals to play in what was shaping as a full scale ODI summer after Bangladesh withdrew from three planned matches in the New Year.The Bangladeshis will play only two Tests in New Zealand in December. The proposed dates for the ODIs clash with matches in the Asian Test championship.That will make New Zealand’s leading players available for a much greater percentage of the domestic one day competition than was originally thought.New Zealand Cricket is also looking to assist the six major associations provide a suitable career path for coaches by support funding full-time coaching positions in each association.The move was agreed at Friday’s NZC board meeting and will provide a level of continuity and consistency not always available due to the part-time nature of several of the positions in the past.The funding will be individually negotiated with each association and conditions will be attached to the funding to ensure that time is managed properly in providing quality coaching, not only to senior provincial teams, but through the grades as well.The initiative is expected to lift the standard of coaching experience available in New Zealand and provide a realistic career path that does not exist at the moment.Umpires are also to be contracted to NZC to provide some financial security for their commitment to being available on a required number of days during the summer.Also benefiting from an input of opportunity will be New Zealand’s fringe internationals. A New Zealand A team will play in India’s Buchi Babu tournament from August 15 to September 5 this year. The tournament will be played in Chennai.A New Zealand Academy team took part in the event last year and played well enough to secure a more permanent invitation to take part.Coaching and management personnel for the side will be announced later.New Zealand’s only woman Test double century maker Kirsty Flavell has been added to the selection panel for the CLEAR White Ferns to join Lesley Murdoch, Eileen Badham and Mike Shrimpton. Diana Goodall of Wellington has been appointed to the new position of national junior selector.NZC’s women’s cricket administrator Catherine Campbell said the need for an extra selector arose out of the increased playing programme for the women and reflected the growing demands of the women’s game.A New Zealand A team is to travel to Australia this summer while the selection load will be spread wider while Shrimpton is away with the national team in India.Flavell has been convener of the Canterbury women’s selection panel for the last two years. She will relinquish that position in order to take up the national role.The Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright has accepted the invitation to serve as patron of New Zealand Cricket. Dave Hoskin has been re-appointed for a second year to the position of president.The long-awaited strategic vision for the grassroots development of the game is near fruition and is expected to be announced soon.Details on New Zealand’s hosting of the under-19 Youth World Cup will also be announced soon after the formal agreement was reached on the hosting of the event.
While Tottenham star Harry Kane continues to hunt down the goal-scoring record for England, one of his Three Lions teammates could well have been playing alongside him at club level: Ollie Watkins.
The 26-year-old was initially reported to be of interest for Spurs back in the summer of 2020 when Jose Mourinho was still in charge, and Football.London’s Alasdair Gold admitted at the time that the striker’s arrival in north London would tick a lot of boxes.
He said: “This makes more sense than the Benrahma links, with the 24-year-old Englishman having struck 26 goals in the Championship this season for Brentford.
“With his homegrown status he ticks a few boxes and could prove to be an exciting back-up or partner for Kane. As with Eze though, it would be all about that game time and other Premier League clubs would be able to offer more. Brentford reportedly value him and Benrahma at more than £25million each which would put off Spurs.”
Watkins would of course instead make the switch to fellow Premier League side Aston Villa where he has blossomed into a star earning international honours with England – the striker was of course on the score-sheet against Ivory Coast in mid-week when he started in place of the rested Kane.
In September of 2021, it was suggested that Spurs were back in for the Three Lions ace as they looked to bolster their attacking options, but once again, couldn’t strike a deal for the 26-year-old.
The striker was a key reason behind Villa’s successful campaign last year, bagging 16 goals in all competitions and netting in home and away fixtures against Liverpool (including a hat-trick at Villa Park) and also against Arsenal.
This season has seen him continue to be a fine performer for Steven Gerrard’s side, netting seven times in the top-flight, and scoring against the likes of Manchester City and Spurs themselves.
Dubbed a “machine”, the £75k-a-week earning Watkins has proven himself to be a fine Premier League striker in his time at Villa Park, and it certainly comes off as a bit of a disaster that Spurs saw two attempts at signing him fail to materialise.
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The £34m-rated star would have been a perfect foil for Kane at Spurs.
AND in other news – Left for £0, now worth £40m: Spurs suffered huge howler over “very explosive” U21 star
Kent have signed Yasir Arafat as their overseas player for the 2008 season. Arafat has received clearance from the Pakistan board, and is expected to be available for the entire season unless on international duty.”We are delighted that Yasir is coming back to play for us again,” Graham Ford, Kent’s director of cricket, said. “He made an immense contribution to the playing squad last year and I know he is keen to repeat his performance for the club again this year.”Arafat was one of Kent’s overseas players along with Andrew Hall last season, but the rules this season allow for only one overseas signing. Arafat was Kent’s second highest wicket-taker during their successful campaign in the Twenty20 Cup, and also played for Pakistan during the ICC World Twenty20. He subsequently made his Test debut against India in Bangalore, and picked up a five-for on debut.
Latest league tableEasterns put themselves on course for the Logan Cup title with a crushing nine-wicket win over Westerns at Bulawayo. Their success was, however, marred by a scuffle between Hamilton Masakadza, the Easterns captain, and Westerns batsman Thabo Mboyi.The pair clashed during a ninth-wicket stand which ensured Easterns avoided an innings defeat. Masakadza, who had already appeared to sledge Mboyi, clearly blocked the batsman as he looked for a second run and the two clashed and had to be separated by team-mates. The umpires penalised Easterns five runs and at the end of the match the pair were summoned to appear before a disciplinary committee. Masakadza was subsequently fined his entire match fee and banned for his side’s crucial last-round match against Centrals. Mboyi was also fined but not banned.The incident overshadowed an excellent result for Easterns who started the match trailing Westerns. They batted first and made 432 for 8, their top five all passing 40 with Masakadza leading from the front with 84. Westerns, who had won all three of their games in the competition coming into this match, were always struggling, and only Tawanda Mupariwa, who made 64 not out and 50, looked likely to steer his side to safety.At Kwekwe Sports Club, Kenya Select ended their losing streak in a tame draw with Centrals, the home side meandering to 78 for 4 in the second innings after the Kenyans opted for batting practice rather than trying to force a result. Click here for a more detailed report.Southerns and Northerns drew their match at Masvingo Sports Club.
We regret that we do not have scorecards or more details for some of the matches. This is entirely down to Zimbabwe Cricket which refuses to make details available to the media.
In mid-April last year, in the final of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament at Mumbai, one batsman, touted by many as an India prospect, made a couple of selectors’ jaw drop. He walked in at 12 for 1, with Uttar Pradesh chasing 249, spanked nine fours and a six in his 33-ball 48 before rushing off to catch a flight to complete his class 12 exams. One year on and he delivered a performance, on the international stage, that had both captains gushing. When Andrew Flintoff uses the word “fantastic” three times, you know you have witnessed something special.Suresh Raina’s was a calculated effort; one where sense blended beautifully with cheek. He made sure he cashed in on the lollypops; but occasionally summoned the courage to walk right across the stumps and execute lap sweeps to the vacant fine-leg region. “It was a tough time to bat when he came in at 90 odd for 5 but he got his head down,” said Flintoff at the post-match press conference. “We tried to squeeze him and try and get him to hit through the off side but he stayed patient. He works hard for his runs and it was a fantastic knock.”The secret probably lies in the cricketing nurseries of Uttar Pradesh. Raina, like Mohammad Kaif before him, was groomed in the state’s hostels and matches him not only on the field, but also with his calm temperament. “For a 19-year-old to have such a temperament is something special,” said Dravid, who has used adjectives like “stupendous” and “extraordinary” in his past references to Raina. “He’s an exciting talent and we’re happy that he’s developed into such a good player in his first year of international cricket.”Raina surged India to their 14th successful run-chase on the trot, a record that comes as a pleasant shift from the days when they invariably choked while faced with a target. “It’s got a lot to do with the good learning environment we have,” Dravid explained.” These young guys have come in and shown that they enjoy pressure situations. It’s also got to do with us trying to be flexible in the past. We have given the guys different challenges in different positions and it comes of use when put under pressure.”England might have gone down but Flintoff will be encouraged by the “mightily improved” batting performance after the Delhi debacle. “Andrew Strauss batted well at the start and I thought Kevin Pietersen played magnificently,” Flintoff continued. “We can take a lot of heart from this performance, taking India down to the wire. Their bowlers tied us down and it wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on. Ramesh Powar took the pace off the ball and we found it hard.”Powar’s effort might have been overshadowed by Raina’s spunk but it was an impressive return for a man playing in just his fifth one-day game. It must be tough to be perennially on the fringes but Powar, extracting considerable turn and varying his pace, showed virtues which had made him the highest wicket-taker in this year’s Ranji Trophy. “I thought he bowled beautifully,” said Dravid, “and with a bit more luck he could have had more wickets.”It was a triumph of sorts for Powar, ending with his best figures in one-dayers. One of cricket’s strengths lies in accommodating men of all shapes and sizes, and the roly-poly Powar, sporting red goggles and increasingly looking like a modern-day Duleep Mendis, managed absolutely fine in athletic company. If one had to pick the moment of the day, it had to be when he tried to run-out Ian Blackwell, when the pillars in the stadium creaked and when every single cricketer silently applauded.
Scorecard Khuram Khan and Syed Maqsood took just eight overs to knock off the 41 runs needed as UAE completed a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Hong Kong in the Intercontinental Cup at Sharjah. Resuming at 144 for 3, UAE reached the target without the loss of further wickets with both Khuram and Maqsood managing half-centuries.Khuram, who had made a crucial 56 in the first innings, carried on his fine form with a breezy 55, which contained seven fours and a six. Maqsood was more patient during his 51 but managed to strike six fours and a six.Both teams had fallen for 127 in their first innings before Hong Kong appeared to be seizing the initiative on the second day. But Ali Asad, who ended with four wickets, and Khuram Khan triggered a collapse and Hong Kong mustered only 184, a target that UAE easily surpassed.