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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Luke Woodcock called up for third ODI New Zealand v Pakistan, 3rd ODI, Christchurch

Updated at: 0807 PST,  Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Luke Woodcock, the only uncapped player in New Zealand's World Cup squad, has been included in 12-man team for the third ODI against Pakistan in Christchurch on January 29. Ross Taylor will captain the side while Daniel Vettori will stay with the team but won't play the match.We think it's important for everyone in the World Cup squad to get a run before they head to India," Mark Greatbatch said. "Normally theselection panel would pick a squad for two matches but because of the short game in Wellington and the rained-out match in Queenstown we wanted some flexibility Luke Woodcock comes into the squad and deserves his place after playing so well for Wellington over a number of seasons. It's important he gets some exposure to international cricket and I'm sure he will make the most of the opportunity when he gets his chance. Kyle Mills is a proven performer at international level and will slot back into the squad with Jesse Ryder and James Franklin going back to play domestic cricket.Franklin and Ryder will be available for Wellington's one-day match against Northern Districts on January 30.Squad: Ross Taylor (capt), Hamish Bennett, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Nathan McCullum, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Luke Woodcock, Kane Williamson

Rain wipes out second one-dayer New Zealand v Pakistan, 2nd ODI, Queenstown


 Updated at: 0807 PST,  Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Pakistan 31 for 0 v New Zealand Abandoned
Queenstown is the place for adrenaline-junkies but there was little excitement on Wednesday as persistent rain allowed only 4.2 overs of play in the second one-dayer between Pakistan and New Zealand.
There were showers early in the morning, but it cleared up before start of play, raising hopes of the fans who had gathered. The rains returned, however, soon after Daniel Vettori chose to field, as every international captain has done after winning the toss in Queenstown.
New Zealand stuck with their plan of giving James Franklin the new ball, ahead of the much quicker Hamish Bennett, and it didn't work as 19-year-old Ahmed Shehzad took 16 off his two overs, including a smash over square leg for six off the third ball. Shehzad, playing his first one-dayer in 20 months, also slapped Tim Southee for a couple of fours before the rains returned, and stayed through the day to cause the match to be abandoned.
The third one-dayer of the series is in Christchurch on Saturday, and the bad news is that rain is predicted during that game as well.

Southee and Ryder crush Pakistan


Updated at: 0807 PST,  Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Shahid Afridi won the toss and batted. Daniel Vettori wanted to do the same. Both captains expected the drop-in pitch at the Westpac Stadium to have runs in it. Instead, Pakistan's batsmen faced a torrid examination of their techniques during an extravagant display of swing and seam bowling from Tim Southee. They were beaten innumerable times on both edges and five eventually succumbed to him. And the rest of the New Zealand attack, Hamish Bennett in particular, supported Southee by building pressure, giving away nothing. The outcome was a spectacular collapse that ended in the 38th over, leaving New Zealand with a modest target, which they overhauled with aggression.The same sequence of events, with different characters, played on loop. A bowler pitched on a good length, the ball angled in before seaming away, the batsman fished, and if he was lucky, he missed. Pakistan's run-rate dipped below 3.50 after the second over and it did not reach that height again. Of the six boundaries that were hit in the first 30 overs, only two were the product of fluent strokes. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, who secured victory in the Test series, struggled but appeared to be guiding Pakistan out of the mire. Then Bennett, a fast bowler built like an All Black, ripped through the resistance with a double-strike in two balls. Amid the uncertainty over the identity of Pakistan's World Cup captain, Afridi failed while his deputy Misbah, defiant at one end, watched his team-mates come and go. Allan Donald, New Zealand's brand new bowling coach, looked on with satisfaction.
When New Zealand came out to chase, though, the Pakistan bowlers were unable to recreate the trouble their batsmen had suffered. Their lines and lengths were not bad initially, but the lateral movement was negligible, and Jesse Ryder, hurting after one duck too many in the Tests, went after them. He drove, hooked and slashed his way to a rapid half-century, and in the company of Martin Guptill, set up a nine-wicket victory with 32.4 overs to spare. The result continued the trend of New Zealand skittling teams cheaply at the Westpac Stadium, and chasing with relative ease.The afternoon had begun with Kamran Akmal threading a square drive through the narrow gap between two fielders in the point region - a false dawn. Southee's first ball was a wide outswinger that Kamran chased and missed. He then strayed on to the pads twice but wasn't punished by the openers. Southee was fine-tuning his line and length, and once he found it, he was swinging the ball into off and seaming it away. The one that cut back amid the outswingers only added to the confusion.
Mohammad Hafeez had struggled for eight scoreless deliveries before he poked at one that seamed away, edging Southee to Brendon McCullum. Kamran, who had shown patience and adequate technique for 22 balls, eventually chased another seaming delivery and watched Ryder leap to his left at point to take a sharp catch. Asad Shafiq was unlucky to be given lbw because the one that nipped back into him, after he had been beaten by several outswingers, hit him high on the back thigh. Southee's first spell was 6-0-16-3.
Southee was not without support, though, for Franklin, Jacob Oram and Bennett were tight. There was pressure at both ends and wickets from one. Younis and Misbah nudged around for singles, unable to do much else. Younis, beaten several times, smiled in the knowledge that today, unlike most other ODI days, would not be a batsman's day. And then he was late in pushing off the back foot against a quick one from Bennett and edged behind. Umar Akmal came and went in a jiffy, edging a rising delivery to first slip. Pakistan were 57 for 5.They could have been worse off but Afridi's attempt to attack Vettori, a mis-timed loft to long-on, was dropped by Oram. Afridi was on 3. They were worse off soon, though, when Southee returned for his second spell and got Afridi to edge to McCullum, who leapt acrobatically across first slip to take his 200th catch. In the 30th over Abdul Razzaq, the last of the recognised batsmen, square drove Oram for four. It was only the second shot of authority of the innings. A ball later he hung his bat out to edge behind. Abdur Rehman did likewise next ball.Misbah, rapidly running out of partners, took the batting Powerplay in the 35th over and carted Oram over the midwicket boundary for the innings' only six. He attacked Southee too, lofting over cover and driving down the ground, desperate to add whatever he could to Pakistan's meagre total. He got to a well-earned half-century, but then walked too far across his stumps to play to leg and was bowled. Fittingly, Southee was the bowler and the final wicket was his fifth.Any hopes of Pakistan's bowlers triggering a collapse ended in the fifth over of the chase. Ryder took on Shoaib Akhtar, lofting over the off side for four, hooking for six and powering past mid-off in an over that cost 17. In the next over, Ryder carted Sohail Tanvir over mid-off and then swung a full ball over the square-leg boundary. New Zealand had raced to 50 after six overs, when the tea break was taken. Ryder fell after the resumption but New Zealand, steered by Guptill, stormed to an emphatic victory that ended a streak of 11 consecutive defeats. 

John Wright hints at changing opening combination

Updated at: 0807 PST,  Wednesday, January 26, 2011
New Zealand coach John Wright has hinted at splitting the one-day opening combination of Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder for the series against Pakistan, as his side seeks to end a 11-match losing streak in the format. Wright hopes to use the six games against Pakistan to zero in on the right line-up for the World Cup, which begins on February 19.
"They [McCullum and Ryder] may not be at the top of the order," Wright told NZPA. "There may be only one of them at the top of the order. We really need to look at the way we have been playing and to consider where we have our firepower, particularly our impact batsmen. There is the opportunity to start with the Powerplay, and then who plays where when we get to the next Powerplay. We will have a look at that and make the decisions.
"It's something we just have to consider carefully. Dan [Daniel Vettori] will have some strong views on it and you look at the batting line-up, and if we can get players in form, and get our order right, then we should be able to do the job."
McCullum and Ryder formed one of New Zealand's most successful opening pairs, and Wright said the decision to move one of them lower down would be to beef up a misfiring middle order. "The one thing about New Zealand one-day sides is that they always appear to be at their strongest when you had great batting depth around Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8," Wright said. "When you played against New Zealand they were just a hard side to break down. We will be looking to bat as deep and with as much quality as we can around those areas."
Martin Guptill, who opened in the second Test in Wellington when Tim McIntosh was dropped, is likely to take the role in the one-dayers, if New Zealand decide to make the change. "Obviously the development of Martin Guptill has been a huge plus for us," Wright said. "He has played incredibly well in the Twenty20 series and he worked ever so hard in the Test series, and he looks ever so promising."
Despite the 1-0 defeat in the Test series, Wright was encouraged by New Zealand's show in the second Test when they stretched Pakistan for a hard-fought draw. "I was pleased with the improvement and quality of our play in Wellington. It was disappointing not to get a win, if we had broken that partnership [between Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan] we probably would have. I suppose we have got to learn to play sessions and we had a terrible session in Hamilton that cost us the series."

Rain delays NZ-Pak second ODI


Updated at: 0323 PST,  Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Rain delays NZ-Pak second ODI QUEENSTOWN: Rain delayed the start of play in the second one day international between New Zealand and Pakistan in Queenstown on Wednesday.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Queenstown Events Centre, a venue where no side batting first has ever won.

The tourists, coming off a nine-wicket hiding in the first game of the six-match series, will field a rejigged line-up as they seek a winning combination ahead of next month's World Cup.

"We have time now to do some experimentation before the World Cup because you can't do experiments in the World Cup," Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said.

Pakistan brought in batsman Ahmed Shehzad for Asad Shafiq, while bowlers Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul replaced Abdur Rehman and Shoaib Akhtar.

New Zealand, whose victory on Saturday ended an 11-match losing streak in one-dayers called up batsman Jamie How in the place of Nathan McCullum.

The Black Caps stayed with their new opening partnership of Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill.

Captain Daniel Vettori said conditions should suit paceman Tim Southee, who took five wickets in the first game in Wellington on Saturday. "It's overcast, it should assist the bowlers early on," he said.

Queenstown, a South Island ski resort town, has hosted only six one day internationals since 2003.

In each of them, the side that won the toss has elected to bowl first and gone on to win.

New Zealand: Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Jamie How, Scott Styris, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi (captain), Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz

Umpires:Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Amiesh Saheba (IND)
TV umpire: Barry Frost (NZL)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)

Inzamam blasts PCB over World Cup build-up


Updated at: 1607 PST,  Monday, January 24, 2011
KARACHI: Former Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq Monday accused the sport's authorities of creating factions within the national side by delaying the naming of a captain for next month's World Cup.

Pakistan is the only one of 14 competing teams to have failed to name a captain for the tournament, to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19 to April 2.

Inzamam, who played 120 Test matches for Pakistan scoring 25 centuries, said the delay had disrupted the team's preparations for the showpiece event and stoked divisions among the squad.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last week named a 15-man squad for the tournament but did not name a captain, fanning speculation that current one-day captain Shahid Afridi could be replaced with Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

"With only three weeks left to the World Cup, Pakistan have no captain and the blame goes to the PCB for creating an impasse which has divided the team into two groups, supporting Afridi and Misbah," Inzamam said in an interview.

"In this scenario one cannot have high expectations for the team."

Inzamam was at the helm when Pakistan crashed out in the first round of last World Cup in 2007 -- a tournament overshadowed by the sudden death of coach Bob Woolmer a day after the side's shocking defeat against Ireland.

The team also tumbled out in the first round of the 2003 tournament.

But in 1992 Inzamam's inspired innings in the semi-final and final helped propel Pakistan to their only World Cup triumph.

"I am surprised, why does it always happen to Pakistan?" said Inzamam, who managed just 19 runs in the 2003 World Cup and was blamed for the team's poor performance.

"The PCB has failed to control the situation and if Pakistan fares badly in the World Cup, people will accuse the players and not the board."

Inzamam accused the PCB of in selecting the 15-man World Cup squad without consulting one-day captain Afridi or coach Waqar Younis.

"So if the team loses, the captain and coach will say that it was not their team and was selected without their consent. And they will rightly not accept responsibility for a poor showing," he said.

"When a team is without a captain how can a proper strategy be made? The team is playing a one-day series in New Zealand but they do not know who will be their captain in the World Cup which is very damaging."

Pakistan is in Group A of the World Cup and start their campaign with a match against Kenya at Sri Lankan resort of Hambantota on February 23.