Guernsey and Malaysia both claimed victories on day two of Pepsi ICC
World Cricket League Division 6 (WCL Div. 6) here in Kuala Lumpur.However, heavy downpours at the Selangor Turf Club saw Jersey's match
against Kuwait abandoned in the 18th over, just as Kuwait had the
islanders on the back-foot at 55-4. The match will be replayed tomorrow
at Kinrara Oval.Guernsey looked well set to continue its winning ways of Pepsi ICC WCL
Div. 6 when Lee Savident and GH Smit headed to the middle to start the
day for the island nation against Fiji at Bayeumas Oval.Savident made his intentions clear for the day when he raced his way to a
half-century in 57 balls, Smit was removed from matters though after
scoring just 23 when he was judged to be leg-before off the bowling of
Waisake Tukana.On a blustery day in Kuala Lumpur, Savident was joined by Jeremy Frith
and the duo continued to add runs to the board but Savident's run of
form was to be bought to an end on 82 runs when he was also judged lbw
but this time off the bowling of Jikoi Kida.As the clouds became grey there was a brief stop for rain but that
didn't stop the sides completing the first innings. Frith had another
good turn with the bat striking 82 runs before departing after Kitiano
Tavo rearranged the 33-year-old's stumps.Tim Ravenscroft and Ross Kneller failed to fire but Stuart Le Prevost
made a star-turn with the bat scoring 52 not out in his outing to the
middle to help Guernsey to post a score of 279 at the conclusion of the
innings.Kida and Tukana proved expensive for the Fijians with the pair taking a
wicket each and both going for some 46 runs. Iniasi Cakacaka bowled his
full set of overs but the spinner had no luck today with taking wickets,
while Tavo and Kika took two-a-piece
In reply, things didn't start well for the Fijians losing two of their
top order before it has even made 25 runs. Sekove Rakova and Cakacaka
both departed early leaving Joe Rika at the top of the order and then
later Tukana and Joe's brother Colin to help make runs.Unfortunately for Fiji, Guernsey had other ideas and Frith alongside
Gary Rich the pair took two wickets each while wicketkeeper Tom Kimber
had a good day with the gloves, catching Cakacaka, Josefa Dabea
Balecicia and Colin Rika and rounding off his day with a stumping of
Maciu Gauna. Frith earned his second Man of the Match award of the
tournament for his efforts with bat and ball.A delighted Guernsey captain, Le Prevost said: "Fiji did challenge us
early on, their new ball bowlers were fairly tight but when we got past
200 their heads began to drop. I don't think we take any opposition
lightly and they certainly challenged us."There were great runs from Jeremy Frith again and also good to see Lee
Savident adding to the total and obviously it's nice to be able to
contribute myself.Next up the side face Kuwait on Tuesday, an opposition the team has not
faced before. "We've seen Kuwait's scores, but not seen much of them at
all as a side, so we will go look at them tomorrow when Jersey play
them in their re-match at Kinrara to get a feel for the side," said Le
Prevost.Meanwhile, at Kinrara, hosts Malaysia took on Nigeria with the former
taking its time to put runs on the board after some strong and tight
bowling from the Africans.Saheed Akolade and Oluseye Olympio both going for few runs as the duo's
medium pace seemed to perplex the Malaysian openers. The first wicket
fell after some 73 runs when Shafiq Sherif departed for 43 after being
judged lbw off the bowling of Oluwaseun Odeku again a medium-pacer.Rakesh Madhavan was run-out off the bowling of Olajide Bejide but the
next two batsmen made just 16 runs between them before a heavy downpour
stopped play for close to four hours but good drainage at Kinrara Oval
allowed the teams back on to play a game reduced to 29 overs.Nigeria was set a target of 181 after Duckworth-Lewis was calculated,
which the side began to chase down in the afternoon sunshine as the rain
clouds burned away. The side failed to spark against strong bowling and
fielding from the hosts, Eszrafiq Azis being the pick of the Malaysian
attack with 4-27.Poor batting saw the Nigerians requiring 82 runs of the final over of
the game, a near impossible task as the sun began to set over Kinrara
and the hosts wrapped things up scoring a 108-run victory.A disappointed Nigerian captain Endurance Ofem said: "I was really
pleased with how we bowled this morning. We kept things tight and things
looked to be going really well until the rain set in. Obviously that's
disappointing and we didn't do well at chasing down the target set with
the reduced overs but we have to take the positives and move on for
Tuesday's game.Malaysia's coach Thushara Kodikara was pleased with how his bowlers went today in the reduced-overs fixture I think credit has to go Nigeria's bowling in the first innings, the
first 10 overs of the game they had us on the back-foot with some good
tight bowling and they were superb in the field too.It's disappointing that we didn't get a full 50-over game but I was
pleased with how my young side performed to restrict Nigeria in the 29
overs. Eszrafiq did particularly well bowling in all the right places to
take four wickets and deservedly the Man of the Match award."At Selangor Turf Club, heavy rainfall the night before saw a late start
at the ground and Jersey losing quick wickets against a rejuvenated
Kuwait.The Division 7 winners had the men in red three down by the 15th over
and the side had only managed 51 runs on the board in the process. Ben
Stevens was a disappointment again, scoring just six runs today before
he was caught and bowled by Sibtain Raza. Things didn't get any better
for the Jersey side as the game was called off in the 18th over, with
the team four wickets down, due to heavy rainfall. The two sides will
replay tomorrow at Kinrara Oval with a 1030 (local time) start.Scores in brief after Day Two
At Kinrara
Malaysia 104-2, 29.5 overs (Sharif 43, R Madhavan 33; Odeku 1-36)
Nigeria 101 all out, 29 overs (Azis 4-27, Khan 3-25)
Malaysia won by 79 runs, D/L method
At Selangor
Jersey 55-4, 18.2 overs
Kuwait
No result
At Bayeumas
Guernsey 279-6, 50 overs (Savident 82, Frith 82, Le Prevost 52; Dabea 2-20)
Fiji 171 all out, 42.3 overs (Tukana 30; Rich 2-22, Frith 2-50)
Guernsey won by 108 runs
KARACHI: With the conclusion of the sucessful Zimbabwe tour, Waqar Younis’ tenure as Pakistan coach has come to an end as former players and team management hail the performance of the former captain.Former team manager Intikhab Alam, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) committee formed to find Waqar’s replacement, has given a thumbs-up to the former fast-bowler’s performance and termed his tenure a successful one.Former chief selector Abdul Qadir hoped Waqar could serve Pakistan cricket in the future while former captain Aamir Sohail believed that controversies came in his way to do better.Waqar, who took over as head coach in March 2010 after Pakistan’s win-less Australia tour, announced before that he would quit the post after the Zimbabwe series citing health reasons.During his 18-month stint, his first as head coach, Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, won a Test and One-Day International series against hosts New Zealand, clinched the ODI series against West Indies and Ireland before whitewashing Zimbabwe.However, Waqar’s term was filled with controversies, first by the spot-fixing scandal in England before reports of rifts between him and former captain Shahid Afridi resulted in the retirement of the all-rounder. A heavy loss to England in the Test series also tarnished an otherwise impressive show by Pakistan.Waqar’s exit to affect continuity Alam, who was replaced by Waqar, felt the 39-year-old did a good job given the amount of young blood in the team.“He did a good job,” Alam told The Express Tribune. “It’s a demanding job and Waqar handled it well.The team started showing progress and his exit will affect continuity.Lack of coaching experience may have created issues Meanwhile, Qadir said that Waqar’s lack of coaching experience may have raised issues linked to team management.I know Waqar as a sincere and hard working person,” said Qadir. “He has given huge services to Pakistan as a cricketer and coach.“But I believe his issue with Afridi was just because of his lack of experience as coach,” said the former leg-spinner.“This may have happened because he was based abroad or issues within the team management hampered his performance He could have done much better: Sohail However, Sohail felt his time with the team could have been more fruitful. “His service as a coach was relatively better said Sohail. “But to me he failed as per expectations because he was a legendary cricketer
