NEWS ALERT

NEWS UPDATE : Asian Cricket Third Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI abandoned due to rain COLOMBO: The third One-day International between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was abandoned due to rain here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The umpires made this decision after consulting ... Australia want to master all forms of game: Clarke SYDNEY: Australia's limited-overs tour of England and Ireland represents the start of a two-year campaign to make them the top nation in all three forms of the game, captain Michael Clarke said ... Bopara glad to be back for England SOUTHAMPTON, England: Ravi Bopara is eager to make up for lost times as he tries to revive his ... South Africa name unchanged squad for England series JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-Test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on ...


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Scotland gets most out of draw

Scotland's ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia ended in a draw at the end of the four days of the contest at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek in Namibia on Monday.On the final day, Scotland began first at its overnight score of 260 for four, finally declared at 296 for five in 87 overs. Scotland had an overall lead of 383 runs.Set to chase 384 runs, Namibia lost early wickets to slip to 99 for three. But thereafter Pikki Ya France (63 not out: 225b, 7x4) and Gerrie Snyman (88: 97b, 14x4, 3x6) added 110 runs for the fourth wicket to put the innings back on track.When stumps were finally drawn, Namibia ended at 218 for four in 74 overs.For Scotland, Majid Haq (2-53) and Richie Berrington (2-38) were the key wicket-takers.In the end, Scotland took 13 points from the game and Namibia pocketed seven

Guernsey snatches victory from the jaws of defeat to win Pepsi ICC WCL Division 6

Jeremy Frith named Player of the Tournament Channel Island goes 33rd in the world rankings while runners-up Malaysia go 34th ; Both travel to Singapore in February for Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 5 Kuwait beats Jersey in 3rd/4th play-off while Nigeria defeats Fiji in 5th/6th showdown Guernsey snatched victory from the jaws of defeat today to beat Malaysia and win Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6 (WCL Div. 6) at Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur. By virtue of reaching the final both teams have been promoted to WCL Div. 5 and will travel to Singapore in February.By winning the tournament, Guernsey has now climbed two places in the ICC Global Rankings to now occupy 33rd position while Malaysia occupy 34th place in the rankings. Guernsey did not lose a match throughout the entire week-long event held in Malaysia.Guernsey's Jeremy Frith earned his third Player of the Tournament award at the conclusion of the game while team-mate Tom Kimber was named Man of the Match. Frith previously won the honour in Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 7 in Guernsey and then again in Singapore after Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 6 both in 2009.Elsewhere, Kuwait defeated Jersey to win the third/fourth play-off while Nigeria claimed its only victory of the tournament when it beat Fiji the sides' fifth/sixth play-off at Bayeumas Oval.Under another sunny sky at Kinrara Oval, Malaysia took on Guernsey in the finals of Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 6 in Kuala Lumpur. The hosts winning the toss and electing to bat on home turf.The hosts took its time to score runs and had just reached the 50-mark when Guernsey all-rounder dismissed opener Faris Almas by re-arranging the 21-year-old's stumps in the process. Rakesh Madhavan and Ahmed Faiz did their best to steady things for the locals but captain Suhan Alagaratnam failed to put in a repeat performance from yesterday's game, the 25-year-old making just four runs before smashing the ball in the air to be caught at deep point.All-rounder Hammad Ullah Khan decided to step up to the plate, scoring 53 before being stumped off the bowling of GH Smit, the latter having a good day with the ball taking three wickets. Malaysia took its time to score runs in front of an enthusiastic bunch of supporters and by the time its 50 overs was completed had managed to just clear the 200 mark.As the clouds rolled in and fear of rain began to surface, Guernsey took to the field and made an abysmal start to proceeding with both Smit and Adam Martel departing for ducks, leaving the side reeling two down going into the third over. The arrival of stalwart Frith alongside Tim Ravenscroft should have steadied the innings but Almas had other plans and proceeded to run out the latter for 21 much to the delight of the home support. The top order proved to be disappointing in the afternoon heat, Frith departing not long after Ravenscroft and the side were soon five down with just 40 runs on the board and not even in the 10th over.Malaysia's trio of bowlers kept the opposition under pressure, Hassan Ghulam, Khan and Aminuddin Ramply continued to terrorise Guernsey's batting line-up while the side's quick actions in the field proved tough for the Channel Island side. The side promptly slumped to 65-7 before the 20th over had even begunBut all was not lose for Guernsey, a fight back from Tom Kimber and David Hooper saw the side push on the hosts with Hooper contributing some 45 runs before he was run-out while Kimber valiantly continued the side's push for victory alongside the side's tail-enders. Kimber's starred with the bat for the men in green to snatch victory for the side when he smashed his way to an un-beaten 82 off 92 balls in a patient innings by the 21-year-old right-handed batsman. He guided the side to victory with three balls to spare and clinch an ecstatic Guernsey team the title of Pepsi ICC WCL Division 6 Champions.Le Prevost said: "It feels simply brilliant to win today and to have been six or seven down and then see young Tom Kimber come out and guide us to victory with a fantastic knock of 82 not out."We've had two extremely tough games of cricket against Malaysia and it's been a fantastic week to have won every game and walk away as champions. I'm extremely proud of how the team has performed as a whole and I hope we can keep that momentum going for Division 5 in Singapore."Player of the Tournament, Frith commented: "It's obviously great to win another player of the tournament award but this week was very much a group effort and it is great to have won every game along the way and then to come out the end as champions too. I work with development of cricket in Guernsey and to see the likes of Tom Kimber, Jamie Nussbaumer, Tim Ravenscroft and David Hooper along with Ben Ferbrache come through this tournament and perform so well is pleasing."Malaysia captain, Suhan said: " It's been a great week of cricket in Malaysia and it's obviously disappointing to have lost the final but Guernsey played some great cricket and Tom Kimber should be congratulated for great knock."We need to work on our batting ahead of going to Singapore in February and we'll take each game as it comes but I'd definitely like a chance to beat Guernsey next year in Division 5.Meanwhile, in the third/fourth play-offs at Selangor Turf Club - Jersey had Kuwait steadily on the back-foot with two of the top order departing for just two runs each while captain Hisham Mizra's disappointing tournament continued when he retired hurt after scoring just eight runs.The lower order then proved to be the run-makers of the innings, with Muhammed Amin, Saad Qamar and Azmatullah all contributing substantially to the Kuwaitis final total, Saad adding 50 to the 212 that the side managed to make. Jersey's Anthony Hawkins-Kay once again proved to be the most successful the Channel Island's bowlers claiming three wickets.In reply, Jersey fell just eight runs short of the total, to miss out on third place position in the event despite some valiant batting once again from Corey Bisson and Peter Gough. The duo actually concluded the tournament as the third and fourth highest run-getters overall, just behind team-mate Dean Morrison and Guernsey's Frith.Kuwait Mohammed Naseer proved to be the man on target today claiming four wickets taking his total wicket-haul for the tournament to nine by the conclusion of today's game. By beating Jersey, Kuwait are now 35th in the world with the Jersey side one place beneath them.In the final play-off, for fifth/sixth position between Fiji and Nigeria, the Nigerian side posted a respectable total of 235 in its 50 overs with Ramit Gill and Sean Philips proving to be the stand-out batsman. Meanwhile Mohammad Khan and Tasheed Tawheed of Fiji picked up a trio of wickets each at the venue that was used for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2008.In reply, Fiji managed just 133 runs despite a valiant effort by Josefa Dabea who made 46 not out for the side but the day belonged to Varun Behani who claimed three wickets for 30 runs and alongside the Nigerian bowling attacked secured the side its first and only victory of the tournament.Score in brief Final
1st/2nd play-off at Kinrara Oval
Malaysia 208-9, 50 overs (Ullah Khan 53, Shafiq 38, Smit 3-31)
Guernsey 211-8, 49.3 overs (Kimber 82 not out, Hooper 45; Ullah Khan 3-58)
Guernsey won by two wickets
3rd/4th play-off at Selangor Turf Club
Kuwait 212 all out, 44.5 overs (Bhatti 32, Amin 43, Saad 50, Azmattulah 44; Hawkins-Kay 3-52)
Jersey 204 all out, 49.5 overs (Bisson 59, Gough 54; Naseer 4-29)
Kuwait won by eight runs
5th/6th play-off at Bayeumas Oval
Nigeria 235-9, 50 overs (Gill 48, Philips 43; Tawheed 3-50, Khan 3-39)
Fiji 133 all out, 42.4 overs (Dabea 46; 3-30)
Nigeria won by 102 runs

Lahore Eagles record second successive win in T20 Cup

KARACHI : Three wickets off first three balls in the final over of the match by fast bowler Junaid Zia sealed a 15-run victory for Lahore Eagles against Abbottabad Falcons in the Faysal Bank National Twenty20 Cup here at the National Stadium on Monday night.Chasing 151, Abbottabad Falcons were collapsed for 135 runs in 19.3 overs as six of their batsmen could not get into double figures and two of them including captain Younis Khan got out for a duck.Only opener Yasir Hameed, who had hit a century against Quetta Bears previous day, resisted to score 44 runs from as many balls while Yasir Shah contributed 28.For Lahore Eagles, Junaid, Taufiq Umar and Mustafa Iqbal claimed two wickets each for nine, 16 and 24 runs, respectively.Earlier, Abbottabad Falcons scored 150 runs for four wickets in the allotted 20 overs after captain Taufiq Umar won the toss and decided to bat first. Openers Imran Farhat and Taufiq Umar provided a fine start, making 87 runs in ten overs.Imran made 43 runs from 31 balls with four boundaries and a six while Taufiq scored 35 off 36 balls with three fours.Hamza Paracha was unbeaten on 28 while Azhar Ali hit 21 with a six.For Abbottabad Falcons, Wajid Ali claimed two wickets while Junaid Khan and Khalid Usman took a wicket each

Lahore Eagles record second successive win in T20 Cup

KARACHI : Three wickets off first three balls in the final over of the match by fast bowler Junaid Zia sealed a 15-run victory for Lahore Eagles against Abbottabad Falcons in the Faysal Bank National Twenty20 Cup here at the National Stadium on Monday night.Chasing 151, Abbottabad Falcons were collapsed for 135 runs in 19.3 overs as six of their batsmen could not get into double figures and two of them including captain Younis Khan got out for a duck.Only opener Yasir Hameed, who had hit a century against Quetta Bears previous day, resisted to score 44 runs from as many balls while Yasir Shah contributed 28.For Lahore Eagles, Junaid, Taufiq Umar and Mustafa Iqbal claimed two wickets each for nine, 16 and 24 runs, respectively.Earlier, Abbottabad Falcons scored 150 runs for four wickets in the allotted 20 overs after captain Taufiq Umar won the toss and decided to bat first. Openers Imran Farhat and Taufiq Umar provided a fine start, making 87 runs in ten overs.Imran made 43 runs from 31 balls with four boundaries and a six while Taufiq scored 35 off 36 balls with three fours.Hamza Paracha was unbeaten on 28 while Azhar Ali hit 21 with a six.For Abbottabad Falcons, Wajid Ali claimed two wickets while Junaid Khan and Khalid Usman took a wicket each

Abbottabad Falcons restrict Lahore Eagles to 150-4

KARACHI : Lahore Eagles were restricted by Abbottabad Falcons to 150 runs for four wickets in the allotted 20 overs in the last match on second day of the Faysal Bank National Twenty20 Cup here at the National Stadium on Monday.Winning the toss, captain Taufiq Umar decided to bat first but Lahore Eagles could not make any big score despite losing only four wickets despite a fine opening stand of 87 runs in ten overs from Imran Farhat and Taufiq Umar himself. Imran made 43 runs from 31 balls with four boundaries and a six while Taufiq scored 35 off 36 balls with three fours.Hamza Paracha was unbeaten on 28 while Azhar Ali hit 21 with a six.For Abbottabad Falcons, Wajid Ali claimed two wickets while Junaid Khan and Khalid Usman took a wicket each

Karachi Zebras defeat Quetta Bears by 44 runs

KARACHI : Karachi Zebras, after having a two-run shock defeat from Lahore Eagles last night, came back today with an easy 44-run victory against Quetta Bears on second day of the Faysal Bank National Twenty20 Cup here at the National Stadium Monday. They set a target of 173 runs for Quetta Bears who failed to chase and were all out for 128 in 18.3 overs.Karachi Zebras skipper and experienced spinner Danish Kaneria grabbed three wickets for 23 while Uzair-ul-Haq and Azam Hussain claimed two wickets each.Main scorers for Quetta Bears were Abid Ali (26), Fareed-ud-Din (24) and Mir Wais (21).Earlier, Karachi Zebras made 172 runs for five wickets in the allotted 20 overs after Danish Kaneria won the toss and elected to bat.Opener Khurram Manzoor was the top scorer with 62 from 52 balls, hitting six fours and a six. He was later declared man-of-the-match.Other main scorers were Anwar Ali (32), Rameez Aziz (24) and Akbar-ur-Rehman (23 not out).

Lahore Eagles’ 2-run win shocks Karachi Zebras

KARACHI : Lahore Eagles shocked Karachi Zebras by two runs in a thrilling encounter.Batting first, Lahore Eagles scored 143 for the loss of six wickets. Ali Azmat top-scored an unbeaten 36 off 37 balls with one boundary and one six.Skipper Taufeeq Umer contributed 33 with three boundaries and test opener Imran Farhat made a quick 27 in 21 deliveries striking five boundaries.Taufeeq and Imran gave Lahore Eagler a rapid start of 43 in the first five overs. Captain Danish Kaneria grabbed two wickets for 26 runs.Karachi Zebras were set to win the match after a solid 96 runs third wicket stand etween Hasan Raza and Faisal Raza. However after their departure, Karachi lost the way.Man of the match Hasan hit four boundaries in his 49 in 54 balls and Faisal's 47 was laced five hits to the boundaries. Anwar Ali hoisted a six in his six ball cameo of 14.Karachi Zebras needed ten runs in the final over but they could manage just eight runs. Off-break bowler Saad Nasim took two wickets for 32 runs in fours

Windies stun England with 25-run win

LONDON : Spinner Garey Mathurin enjoyed a memorable debut as he inspired the West Indies to a surprise 25-run win over England in the second Twenty20 international at the Oval on Sunday. The 28-year-old left-armer from St Lucia took 3-9 in his four overs as England crumbled in pursuit of the West Indies' total of 113-5 and were bowled out for 88, their lowest total in a Twenty20 international. On a turning pitch, Mathurin opened the attack and bowled Craig Kieswetter, Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow in quick succession to give the tourists a stranglehold on the game.Ben Stokes hit some big shots in making 31 but was trapped in front by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and in a much-improved West Indies fielding performance Samit Patel was run out by a direct hit from Bishoo. Joss Buttler and Scott Borthwick were both run out and with them went England's last hopes of a successful run chase and when Jade Dernbach was last man out he was the fourth run out victim of the innings. This was England's first defeat in any form of the game since July 3, when they lost the third one-day international against Sri Lanka at Lord's.The win was also sweet revenge for the West Indies who were crushed by 10 wickets in Friday's first game as the two-match series ended 1-1 Samit Patel took 2-22 as the West Indies were kept to 113, a total that did look big enough until their spinners came into action.After their defeat on Friday the tourists were hoping to post a bigger total but their depleted batting line-up was kept in check by England's slower bowlers who were shrewdly rotated by Swann.The West Indies, who were put in by England, struggled to get the bowling away and Marlon Samuels was the only batsman to make more than 30, hitting 35 not out. The tourists struggled to get the English bowling away and by the end of the 14th over they had just 62 on the board and at one point went 43 balls without hitting a boundary. Chris Barnwell tried to accelerate but when he attempted to hit Patel over the top he fell to a stunning catch by Alex Hales.Patel opened the bowling and had Miles Bascombe plumb leg before whilst Johnson Charles and Dwayne Smith got themselves in but failed to go on and convert their starts into significant scores. Smith was caught in front by Dernbach and Charles was bowled by a googly from young leg spinner Borthwick. Borthwick then pulled off a smart catch in the deep off Ravi Bopara to get rid of skipper Darren Sammy as he was trying to increase the run rate. Samuels and Andre Russell managed a few big blows in the last two overs which were to prove significant in the end with Friday's bowling hero Bopara going for 36 in his four overs.

Sialkot Stallions defeat Hyderabad Hawks

KARACHI : Sialkot Stallions defeated Hyderabad Hawks in the National T20 Cup, The batting line up of the Hawks collapsed and the team only managed to score 96-8. Sarfaraz Ahmed claimed four wickets while Raza Hassan bagged three for Sialkot.The Stallions chased down the target in 17 overs and former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik scored a half century.In other matches being played today, Karachi Zebras will face Quetta Bears and Lahore Eagles will face Abbottabad Falcons.All matches of the tournament are being telecast live on Geo Super.