Pakistan hold nerves to beat Sri Lanka

DUBAI :  Pakistani bowlers held their nerves to stop a threatening Sri Lankan team to win the third day-night international by 21 runs Check Out Cricket Ranking pakistan 5th position stay srilanka lost the two game and one game pakistan close losing the sexond odi between pakistan and srilanka the new ranking are pakistan 104 and srilanka 116 here on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.Umar Gul (3-48) bowled well in the final overs to make sure good work by spinners Saeed Ajmal (3-42) and Shahid Afridi (2-42) do not go waste as they dismissed Sri Lanka for 236 in the penultimate over at Dubai stadium.Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan topscored with 64 but it was Angelo Mathews whose aggressive 40-ball 32 kept Sri Lanka in the hunt before Gul took the last two wickets in a thrilling finish.Sri Lanka were in a tight corner at 186-6 in the 41st over before Mathews and Jeevan Mendis (19) added 32 for the seventh wicket in quick time to threaten Pakistan but in the end Pakistan carried the day.Pakistan won the first match by eight wickets last Friday while Sri Lanka levelled the series with a 25-run win in the second match on Monday both played in Dubai.The remaining matches will be played in Sharjah (November 20) and Abu Dhabi (November 23). Both teams also play a Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi on November 25.Sri Lanka were set on course for a win by Dilshan who added 106 runs for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (45) after they lost opener Upul Tharanga (four) in paceman Umar Gul's first over.Sangakkara, who survived a run out with the total at 89-1, finally failed to beat a direct throw from Shahid Afridi from mid-on after he set off for a quick single.He hit three boundaries during his 66-ball knock.Pakistani spinners Afridi and Ajmal then put the brakes on Sri Lankan innings, as Dilshan dragged a leg-break from Afridi onto his stumps after hitting eight boundaries in his 78-ball knock.Jayawrdene completed his 10,000 runs during his brief knock of 17, becoming the ninth batsman and second Sri Lankan to achieve the landmark.Earlier, openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat hit attractive half centuries to help Pakistan post a challenging total.Hafeez made a 101-ball 83 and Farhat notched an 82-ball 70 to give Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, a solid 151-run start before Sri Lanka grabbed four quick wickets in the space of 26 runs.Hafeez, who took 26 balls for his first ten runs, hit paceman Dilhara Fernando for four boundaries in the 18th over to step up the tempo before he was finally bowled by spinner Seekkuge Prasanna in the 30th over.Hafeez hit nine boundaries and a six during his 11th one-day half century.Ten runs later Farhat followed, caught at long-on off Tillakaratne Dilshan. He hit six boundaries and a six.Pakistan's decision to promote Abdul Razzaq backfired as the allrounder hit Prasanna straight into the hands of long-on after scoring just six off 16 balls Pakistan was forced to take the batting power-play in the 36th over and managed just 22 runs losing Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul Haq (seven each) but Younis Khan hit a fighting 52-ball 42 to ensure Pakistan cross the 250-mark.Prasanna and Malinga finished with two wickets apiece

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Watson, Hughes give Australia strong start

JOHANNESBURG : Shane Watson and Phil Hughes shared a century opening partnership as Australia made a strong start to their first innings on the second day of the second and final Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Thursday.Australia were 169 for no wicket at lunch in reply to South Africa's 266 all out.Watson, showing no sign of the hamstring injury which kept him off the field for more than two hours on the first day, played some crunching drives as he advanced to 76 not out, while Hughes was strong square of the wicket as he made 85 not out.The Australians scored at more than five runs an over during an extended morning's play, with South Africa able to bowl only three maiden overs.The host nation missed an opportunity to claim Hughes' wicket when the batsman got a thin edge to a ball from Jacques Kallis which then went on to his pad and through to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. The South Africans appealed and Hughes, on 38, was given not out by umpire Ian Gould. The South Africans did not seek a television review.In contrast to the first day, play resumed under an overcast sky and there was some early movement for the fast bowlers. Watson was beaten outside the off stump by both Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander as the Australian pair made a cautious start.The tempo lifted in the fifth over when Hughes punched Philander through the covers for four. In the next over Watson pulled a short ball from Steyn for six and Hughes hit another boundary in the same over.The fifty was posted in the 13th over as Australia sailed past their humiliating 47 all out in the second innings of the first Test and with the clouds clearing the batsmen took control.

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Butt and Amir appeals heard next week

 

LONDON : Britain's top judge will next Wednesday hear appeals by Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir against their sentences for spot-fixing, a judicial official said.Former Pakistan captain Butt, 27, was on November 3 sentenced to two and a half years in prison and fast bowler Amir, 19, was sentenced to serve six months in a young offenders institute.Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge, the head of the English judiciary, will hear their appeals, a spokesman for judiciary said, adding: "It has been scheduled for next Wednesday. In a scandal that rocked the world of cricket, Butt, Amir and fast bowler Mohammad Asif, 28, were all jailed for their parts in fixing elements of the August 2010 Test match against England at Lord's.Cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was also jailed.Asif and Butt were found guilty charges of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments after a trial, while Amir and Majeed admitted the charges.Under the current arrangements, the four will serve half their sentences before being released on licence.The fixing plot was uncovered by the News of the World, the Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid which was shut down over a phone-hacking scandal in July this year

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