All posts by h716a5.icu

As unease continues to surround the delayed USA Cricket Association elections, it has emerged that local elections in the New York region are turning out to be even more controversial

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2011As unease continues to surround the delayed USA Cricket Association elections, it has emerged that local elections in the New York region are turning out to be even more controversial.At the heart of the row is the fact that applicants for the various posts up for grabs were given a deadline of April 16 to submit their nominations, with the election itself set for April 24. But at the last minute the deadline was changed to April 22 with the elections postponed until April 26.In a surprising breaking of ranks, John Aaron, the secretary of USACA, wrote that Paul Da Silva, the chairman of the NY elections committee, changed the dates with the agreement of Selwyn Caesar, the regional director, and then added his own name to the list of candidates for the vacancy of regional representative. Both Da Silva and Caesar are familiar names to those who have followed the travails of USACA in recent years.Other members of the elections committee claim to have been unaware of the changes, and , according to Aaron, Da Silva then went to ground and refused to answer any questions about the situation. To add to the confusion, when the committee eventually sat, Da Silva withdrew his name from the list of candidates.Even Caesar appears to have been caught off guard. “I did not anticipate Paul entering the race, nor did he discuss same with me,” he told Aaron before the committee met. “If so, I would have given him a different direction prior to the application, and not to run. The inclusion of Paul DaSilva into the race, is a personal concern of mine and it bothers me.”But Caesar went on to say he had no issues with the deadline extension because no league presidents had contacted him to complain. However, Aaron cited several of them who expressed their unease with the way events had turned.USACA has stayed detached from the process – it has enough issues of its own – but it has also emerged it has embargoed results from elections in the North Californian region, leading to internal divides between its president, Gladstone Dainty, and other USACA board members. The fallout from this is that USACA is unable to meet as Dainty cannot find enough people to form a quorum.

illakaratne Dilshan led the way for Sri Lanka at Lord’s with an unbeaten captain’s innings of 127 in a record opening stand of 207

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan04-Jun-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan took the challenge back to England with an outstanding hundred•Getty ImagesEven in good batting conditions, for a team who were bowled out for 82 five days ago to reach 231 for 1 when the opposition have amassed 486 shows they have plenty of fighting spirit. Tillakaratne Dilshan led the way for Sri Lanka at Lord’s with an unbeaten captain’s innings of 127, in a record opening stand of 207 alongside Tharanga Paranavitana, to ensure England toiled after enjoying a fine morning when Matt Prior hit 126.Dilshan showed real emotion when he cut Steven Finn for his 11th boundary to raise Test hundred number 12, pumping his fist and punching the Sri Lankan badge. It has been a difficult week for the captain, who was at a loss to explain what happened on the final day in Cardiff, and his problems continued when England recovered from 22 for 3 in their first innings here. He doesn’t have a huge amount of bowling resources on offer – the disappointing fielding will have been a greater annoyance – but where Sri Lanka should be able to compete is in the batting.It looked as though they would when they posted 400 in the first innings at Cardiff, but their later capitulation threatened to leave scars for the rest of the series. England went for three tall quicks to exploit their perceived weakness, but with the sun on their backs the openers showed there were few devils facing them as they compiled Sri Lanka’s highest first-wicket stand against England. It was also the third time on tour the pair had added a double-century opening partnership.They were helped by the bowling attack being collectively below par. Chris Tremlett was poor with the new ball, Stuart Broad couldn’t make early inroads and Finn struggled for consistency. Dilshan, unsurprisingly, did most of the early scoring, including a top-edge for six off Tremlett, while Paranavitana made 5 from his first 41 deliveries. Finn, on his return to the team, should have broken through but Alastair Cook spilled a regulation chance at third slip when Paranavitana was on 13 and later the left hander was almost run out on 48.Dilshan, too, was offered a reprieve on 80 when he got a thin edge off Graeme Swann which Prior couldn’t gather to blot his copybook. Swann’s duel with Dilshan was an engrossing battle and earlier there had almost been a stumping chance when the ball was jabbed into the batsman’s boot but it rolled wide of Prior. Dilshan was eager to dominate the contest and lofted a six into the pavilion which struck an MCC member.Dilshan also took a painful blow on the thumb in Tremlett’s first over after tea, for which he was sent for a precautionary scan at the close of play. Nothing, however, broke his concentration as he picked off anything remotely loose. Yet Paranavitana’s role should not be underestimated. He is a perfect foil for the aggressive Dilshan and doesn’t get caught up trying to match his flamboyant partner. A 142-ball fifty was 13 more deliveries than Dilshan needed for three figures but the value was the same. However, like in Cardiff, a loose shot undid the hard work when he drove at a wide ball from Finn and edged to first slip.Smart Stats

The 207-run opening stand for the opening wicket is Sri Lanka’s highest in Tests against England and their third-highest overall.

Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 127 is the seventh century and the third-highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman at Lord’s. The highest is Sidath Wettimuny’s 190 in 1984.

Dilshan’s century is the 19th instance of a visiting captain scoring a century at Lord’s and the third such instance of a Sri Lankan captain doing so.

Tharanga Paranavitana’s 65 is his seventh half-century in Tests and his second against England. He has scored 1094 runs at an average of 37.72 from 18 Tests.

Matt Prior’s 126 equals his second-highest Test score and is also his second consecutive hundred after the 118 against Australia in the final Test of the Ashes in January 2011.

However, such is the terrific platform Sri Lanka have they will now have designs on batting past England in a role reversal of Cardiff. That is some way off, but after dominating the morning session convincingly by collecting 144 runs in 25 overs – and the last five wickets added 285 – there is plenty for the hosts to ponder.Prior, though, played a fine innings. His 126 made it consecutive Test hundreds after his 118 against Australia, at Sydney, in January as England’s lower order gave another strong argument of being the best in the world. However, he had more than the occasional moment of fortune and was given a helping hand towards three figures.On 86 he edged past a diving Prasanna Jayawardene, then on 94 Mahela Jayawardene spilled a simple chance at second slip and one run later another edge chance flew between the keeper and first slip as neither moved. Three of the chances came off the luckless Suranga Lakmal, during a four-over spell that cost 40 runs, and next ball Prior worked a single to reach his second Lord’s hundred from 107 balls.It had been Broad who set the tone for England’s rapid-scoring morning as he took two boundaries in the opening over from Chanaka Welegedara. This was only Broad’s second Test innings since his 169 here against Pakistan – his only other knock being a first-ball duck in Brisbane – and, as he was last year, he was strong on the pull and drive.His fifty came from 47 deliveries but he fell four balls later as Welegedara managed to get one straight in a very similar dismissal to Andrew Strauss yesterday morning. Welegedara, the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, made it two wickets in the over when Swann edged to first slip although Prasanna did his best to put off the catcher by diving across in front of Paranavitana.Still, England motored on as Tremlett offered Prior further support. Prior continued to pepper the boundary despite a deep-set field before he was finally bowled in Rangana Herath’s first over when he went for a sweep. By the end of the day it was looking as though England will be grateful for all his runs.

Ricky Ponting has said he was shocked by the decision to drop Simon Katich from Cricket Australia’s list of centrally contracted players

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2011Ricky Ponting has said he was shocked by Cricket Australia’s decision to drop Simon Katich from the list of centrally contracted players. Ponting also said Katich was justified in calling the decision to cut him from the list “absolutely ridiculous”, during a forthright press conference at which he announced he would play on for New South Wales.”It’s fair to say he [Katich] didn’t hold back in his press conference and rightly so as well,” Ponting said on the Nine Network’s AFL . “To be omitted from the contract list was a great shock to him. It was a shock to me. His performance in the last two or three years has been as good as anybody’s in the world.”The decision will put Ponting and Michael Hussey – the only two players over 35 left with a contract – under extra pressure to perform. The scrutiny on Ponting will be especially strong, given that in the past two years he has averaged 38 in Test cricket compared to Katich’s mark of 48.”It puts us 36-year-olds on notice now, Mike Hussey and myself,” he said. “It’s going to make us work that little bit harder. I would have liked to have another old bloke around the group with me. [But] It means a young guy gets a go and hopefully that guy can stand up and do the job for us.”Ponting’s comments came as Shane Warne, commentating in England on , said the selectors had taken the easier decision by removing Katich instead of Ponting. He said if Ponting’s form didn’t improve in his post-captaincy career, it was important he not hang around and occupy a space that could be given to another player.”It’s a lot easier to drop Simon Katich than Ricky Ponting,” Warne said. “I think what they’re trying to do at the moment with Ricky is to say, let’s take the captaincy off him and let’s see how he goes. I think they’ll give him a bit of a trial but I think if he’s not performing then hopefully he’ll put his hand up and say ‘you know what, I’m going to retire’.”Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, said he was as surprised as anyone to see Katich erased from Cricket Australia’s plans for next summer.”Obviously I was surprised that Simon missed out on a contract,” he said after being unveiled as the new coach of the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team. “Certainly his performances over the last few years I thought might’ve warranted a contract and selection in the team could go one way or the other over the next year or two. But missing out on a contract pretty much makes the decision that he’s not going to play at all. So that was a bit of a surprise.”Bayliss said opponents the world over had respected Katich greatly, and knew they would need to concentrate especially hard if they were to dislodge him from the batting crease.”Certainly he’s one of the hard heads, and I know playing against Australia, the Sri Lankans for example, the opposition teams know they’re going to play some hard, tough cricket to get his wicket,” he said. “Whoever takes his place, there’s going to be a bit of pressure on him.”

The ICC has defended its decision to do away with runners in international cricket, claiming there had been widespread abuse of the rule

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011The ICC has explained its decision to do away with runners in international cricket by saying there had been widespread abuse of the rule that allowed batsmen to ask for runners in the event of an injury. The runner rule has been in operation for more than a century, appearing in the MCC’s Laws of Cricket as far back as 1884 and perhaps even before then, but the ICC decided to repeal it on the recommendation of its Cricket Committee in May this year.”It’s been considered by the cricket committee… and there has been a strong feeling that runners were used not in the right spirit,” ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said in Hong Kong on Thursday at the conclusion of the the five-day annual conference. “It’s quite a difficult one for umpires to determine whether there has been a real injury to batsmen or whether it was a tactical use of runners.”The move was also an attempt to redress disparity between batsmen and bowlers Lorgat said. “If a bowler gets injured you can’t continue bowling for the rest of the day and the feeling was that it would be better to not allow the use of runners because there has been abuse in the past.”In the 2009 Champions Trophy, Andrew Strauss refused to allow his South African counterpart Graeme Smith a runner after Smith had requested one due to cramps. Strauss said cramps were a side-effect of a long innings while Smith claimed runners had been granted for that reason in the past, pointing to an inconsistency in the rule’s implementation.Among other changes decided on by the ICC at the annual conference were the use of new balls from each end in ODIs, batting and bowling Powerplays to be taken between overs 16 and 40, and bowlers being allowed to run out non-strikers backing up unfairly.

A fascinating penultimate day ended with Sussex 82 for 3, needing 233 for afourth victory of the season after winning promotion back into the top flightlast year

13-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Sussex’s County Championship match against Hampshire was finely balancedgoing into the final day at Hove.A fascinating penultimate day ended with Sussex 82 for 3, needing 233 for afourth victory of the season after winning promotion back into the top flightlast year. But with the south coast derby delicately poised, it is relegation-threatenedHampshire who are more desperate to register what would be their first win ofthe season.After resuming on 61 for 2, Hampshire were finally dismissed for 266following an impressive half century from Michael Carberry, who is playing hisfirst championship match since blood clots were discovered on his lungs eightmonths ago.Carberry’s career was under threat in November, just eight months after playinga Test match for England in Bangladesh. But after being given the all-clear earlier this month, he played a second XI match last week before replacing the injured Michael Lumb at number three in Hampshire’s side.Having been dismissed cheaply in Hampshire’s first innings, Carberry made agutsy 59 to help his side make the highest innings total of the match. He faced 136 balls during his vigil before attempting a slog-sweep too many against Monty Panesar six overs before lunch. James Anyon (3 for 35) and Amjad Khan (3 for 47) were the pick of theSussex bowlers.Nightwatchman Danny Briggs had started the day by frustrating Sussex with 21before Rana Naved-ul-Hasan got some extra bounce and found his outside edge. Only James Vince and Sean Ervine, who were caught behind either side of lunch, failed to make double figures.Neil McKenzie was bowled shouldering arms to Panesar for 34, and Hampshire’slower order also contributed potentially match-winning runs. Dominic Cork lofted a six against Panesar during his 25 and Kabir Ali, dropped on 27, had made his highest score of the season when he was the last to go, caught in the covers for 32.The wicket was not getting any easier to bat on, as Sussex discovered duringthe final session. Hampshire captain Cork delivered a beauty that surprised Ed Joyce for bounce on its way through to Michael Bates, when another lengthy Danny Briggs spell wasunder way from the Sea End.The left-arm spinner held a return catch to dismiss Sussex’s other opener,Chris Nash, before captain Murray Goodwin became his 100th first-class victim inhis next over, caught by Liam Dawson at silly mid-off.Sussex’s hopes rested largely on Luke Wells (29 not out) and England’s MattPrior (2 not out), who shepherded their side to stumps with no further loss.

Former Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons has come out in support of Shakib Al Hasan, the recently-sacked national captain

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2011Former Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons has come out in support of Shakib Al Hasan, the recently-sacked national captain. Shakib, Siddons said, has the ‘perfect credentials’ for a captain, but lacked the support required to lead the team.”He [Shakib] is the only person to lead the side,” Siddons, who now coaches Wellington in New Zealand, told Bangladesh newspaper, the . “A captain must be consulted on everything regarding the team and must be listened to when he speaks or raises an issue. This does not happen with Shakib or any other captain at present. He is a great thinker, and is also the team’s best and most-respected player, perfect credentials for a captain.”Shakib and his deputy Tamim Iqbal were axed earlier this week following Bangladesh’s poor performance during last month’s tour of Zimbabwe, with indiscipline being cited as one of the reasons for their removal. Shakib has always had strained relations with the board, having questioned team-selection more than once. Current Bangladesh coach Stuart Law had expressed surprise at Shakib’s removal and said he had the respect of his players.Siddons had coached Bangladesh between October 2007 and April 2010, and moved to the Wellington job after his contract was not renewed following a disappointing World Cup and home series against Australia. Siddons and Shakib worked together in the capacity of coach and captain for close to two years, barring brief spells when Mashrafe Mortaza took charge.The selectors have not named a new captain, triggering speculation about who could be ready to take over. Mushfiqur Rahim, who has played 24 Tests and 98 ODIs, and is one of the few players who is a regular part of the national XI, is tipped as a frontrunner for the job. Siddons, though, said he did not think the players were eager for the post. “Not one other player in the side apart from maybe Ash [Mohammad Ashraful] is willing to take it [captaincy] on. They know there is no support around them and they will be blamed for any results.”Siddons also said he did not understand the need to have a selector or observer in the dressing-room during matches. During the tour of Zimbabwe, Siddon’s successor Stuart Law had reportedly expressed displeasure over selector Habibul Bashar and ‘tour observer’ Shafiqur Rahman Munna’s presence in the dressing room.”I believe a selector should be allowed to visit the dressing-room and sit in there to discuss or chat at times, but should not make it his home during a game,” Siddons said. “I have never understood the reasoning behind having an observer with the team, and especially not in the [dressing] room. This is a blatant mistrust of the coach and players, and is never a positive.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second semi-final of CLT20, between Mumbai Indians and Somerset

The Preview by Sidharth Monga07-Oct-2011Match factsMumbai Indians v Somerset, October 8, Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Kieron Pollard helped Somerset reach the Champions League qualifiers, but will now try to prevent them from making the final•Getty ImagesBig PictureThis is the less glamorous of the semi-finals by a country mile. Barring a few names, you are left with either journeymen or cricketers before or after their prime. The pitch will be slow and low. If the league games were any indication, there will be no atmosphere at the ground because the home team is not playing. Even the cheerleaders’ legs will be covered. That, though, is not the story here. The story is the odds these two sides have beaten to come so far.Mumbai Indians haven’t exactly endeared themselves to the watching public. When faced with a spate of injuries, they played an extra overseas player as opposed to picking an unknown name from among thousands of cricketers in Mumbai, the city they claim to represent, or the tens from the Mumbai Ranji team. Moreover, one of their “injured” players has been scoring runs in Under-22 matches in Mumbai.Loved by the public or not, it should not be forgotten that a team that struggled to put an XI on the field has made it to the semi-finals. It can also be argued MI have hardly gained form all this. Their extra overseas player, Andrew Symonds, was clearly not expecting a call-up, has not been in shape, and has yet to make any impact in the tournament. Even after the start of the tournament, they lost opener Davy Jacobs. Yet they have refused to go away. They have bowled a side out for 98, and they have chased two targets through lower-order work, mainly from Lasith Malinga, who has nearly doubled his T20 runs aggregate.If Somerset had an advantage over MI in that they had played as a team through a long home season, they had more obstacles. Jetlagged and nursing two heartbreaks from the two limited-overs finals back home in England, they had to go through the qualifying phase, not being, of course, from one of the three countries that co-own the Champions League. Two of their big T20 players were then picked for England to play against West Indies. Yet they kept winning, once through a third-choice keeper, once through the hefty hitter who never realised his potential at international level, once through a feisty South African, once through the journeyman South African captain. Along the way they have warmed people to the tournament, not by screaming for attention ala Trinidad & Tobago two years ago, but gently nudging people to watch them.Come Saturday, another chapter will be added to one of the stories.Watch out for …MI might have lost their last game in Chennai, but there was a moment in that game that should stand out: when Lasith Malinga took the dead pitch out of the equation, dismissing Simon Katich with a slower yorker. It will be an interesting contest because the batsmen in Chennai have realised that a majority of the scoring has to be done against the new ball, and the new ball will be with one Malinga.Murali Kartik is Somerset’s local man, and was expected to be their big performer, especially given the slow pitches at two of the three venues. Kartik has been steady, with his economy-rate 6.63, but he will be disappointed with the wicket count that is stuck at three. This is as good a time as any to correct that statistic.Team newsThe injured MI player who has been scoring runs in Under-22 matches has now been welcomed back, in turn ending MI’s permission to play five overseas players. Welcome back, Suryakumar Yadav. There was another injury scare when Pollard injured his hand during training on the eve of the match, but Harbhajan said he was fine and would play.Somerset brought in Adam Dibble for George Dockrell for their last game, in Bangalore, but on the slower pitch they might want to go back to left-arm spin over right-arm medium pace.Stats and triviaSomerset captain Alfonso Thomas has bowled nine maidens in T20 cricket, which is one behind the all-time leader Praveen Kumar. Surprisingly Malinga has bowled only five.Pollard has hit 144 sixes in T20 cricket, but he is fourth on the six-hitters’ list. David Hussey sits at the top with 167, followed by Ross Taylor with 164. Chris Gayle is just ahead of Pollard with 147 sixes. Quotes”I think we’ve to just adjust on the day. I mean we don’t quite know how the pitch is going to play until we arrive and see how the first five or six deliveries behave. It’s going to be strange, because we’ve played two games and we’ll adapt pretty well, I think.”
“There is room for improvement, and we don’t want to peak too early. I think our fielding can sharpen up a bit more. We are certainly hitting the straps now. Nobody gave us a chance and we did well and that shows the character of this team.”

West Indies will provide an exciting brand of cricket on their tour of Bangladesh, team manager Richie Richardson has said

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2011West Indies will produce an exciting brand of cricket on their tour of Bangladesh, team manager Richie Richardson has said. West Indies play two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 on the tour, which begins with a warm-up game on October 7 in Fatullah.”Bangladesh can be a tough side especially playing at home in favourable conditions,” Richardson said on his team’s arrival in Dhaka, after a one-week preparatory camp at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai. “They are a force to be reckoned with and have some good players in their team. But we believe we can beat them. Our players are in good form and we are really looking forward to the upcoming series. I believe you will see an exciting brand of cricket from the West Indies team over the coming weeks.”We expect a very competitive tour here in Bangladesh. We don’t expect it to be easy, but we know we have the players with the skills to come here and be successful and beat Bangladesh. We have done our homework. We will be ready for whatever combinations we come up against, be it spin or seam or pace.”Bangladesh beat a depleted West Indies side the last time the two teams played a Test series, in 2009. It was a historic series win for Bangladesh – their first overseas. West Indies were missing several of their senior players due to a stand-off with their cricket board. When the two teams met in this year’s World Cup, Bangladesh were humbled after being shot out for 58.”That result was uplifting for us,” Richardson said. “When we arrived in Dhaka there was a lot of hype for that match and to win the way we did, dismissing Bangladesh in double figures, was a huge boost for the team. We played exceptionally well and that is the way we would like to play every game. We will draw on performances like that as we look to quickly get acclimatised to the foreign conditions.”We have some good young cricketers in our squad as well as some experienced players who have done well for the West Indies over the years so this tour is a good opportunity for them to demonstrate their skills in the coming matches.”

Five dropped catches and four wickets summed up a profligate day for Pakistan on which their bowlers toiled to create numerous chances only for their fielders – led by Mohammad Hafeez – to spill them

The Report by Abhishek Purohit21-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara made his 26th Test century•AFPFive dropped catches and four wickets summed up a profligate day for Pakistan, on which their bowlers toiled to create numerous chances only for their fielders – led by Mohammad Hafeez – to spill them. Kumar Sangakkara’s fighting century was the only positive for Sri Lanka, and his continued presence their only hope of saving the match.The bowlers created pressure and some panic but Sri Lanka emerged relatively unscathed, with Sangakkara and Pakistan’s fielders taking the match into a fifth day. After four catches had gone down during a 153-run second-wicket partnership that was beginning to hurt Pakistan, they were given an opening via Lahiru Thirimanne’s suicidal attempt at a second run. Thirimanne and Sangakkara had survived for more than 50 overs; Sri Lanka then lost three batsmen in little over ten, before an astonishing fifth let-off kept them afloat.Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan, who had both been denied by the slippery hands of Hafeez, took the fielders out of the equation, bowling Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan respectively for single-digit scores. An inside edge off an attempted cut against an offbreak accounted for Jayawardene while Dilshan drove loosely at one that sneaked through the gap between bat and pad.It was a characteristic burst from Pakistan after a period of frenzy before lunch when their fielding fell apart in a rush of squandered catches. It allowed Thirimanne and Sangakkara to survive a testing first session as the bowlers were let down three times by Hafeez, including twice off successive deliveries from Junaid.On a pitch that did not offer much even on the fourth day, the bowlers gave Sri Lanka a hard time, producing false shots, going past the outside edge and hitting the pads. The batsmen countered in their own ways, Thirimanne using the sweep to ward off Ajmal, Sangakkara playing straight, and nudging and cutting when the opportunities came.Junaid produced the first real chance off the last ball of the 27th over when he induced Thirimanne to edge an attempted drive. It went low to first slip where Hafeez grabbed at the ball and grassed it. Hafeez was to deny Junaid and reprieve Thirimanne again, off the next delivery. If anything, this one was easier. Thirimanne had another escape as lunch approached, when he cut Ajmal straight to the gully fielder, who backed away and was hit on the body. It was Hafeez yet again.Junaid was to suffer a third time when Younis Khan was unsure whether he had taken Sangakkara’s edge cleanly after diving forward at second slip. Younis let off Sangakkara once again before lunch, on 56, dropping a tough diving chance at slip off, ironically, Hafeez.Thirimanne could not capitalise on the good fortune but Sangakkara continued to resist, even as wickets fell. He used the abundant short deliveries to cut and steer for boundaries on the off side and kept nudging and clipping for runs on the leg. Pakistan fed his strengths throughout the day. Sangakkara looted 81 off 42 deliveries square on the off side and another 51 off 33 square on the leg. Yet another cut shot to the point boundary off Junaid earned him his 11th second-innings Test century, off 173 deliveries.Angelo Mathews could not reprise his first-innings salvage effort, though. Umar Gul – who hadn’t bowled after sending down four overs in the morning – trapped him leg-before off the first delivery with the second new ball, after having got Tharanga Paranavitana right away with the first last evening.Almost inevitably, Pakistan’s fielding came to haunt them again as substitute fielder Wahab Riaz put down a mistimed pull by Prasanna Jayawardene off a disgusted Gul. Jayawardene was also fortunate to get away with a close leg-before shout against Junaid but by the end, he had frustrated Pakistan along with Sangakkara for 125 deliveries.With Sangakkara’s effort beginning to rival Taufeeq Umar’s first-innings marathon, Pakistan had no one to blame but themselves for what could have been.

Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla both struck centuries that completed South Africa’s humiliation of Australia on the third day at Newlands, where they cruised to victory by eight wickets

The Report by Brydon Coverdale at Newlands11-Nov-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHashim Amla chose a fine time to score his first Test century against Australia•Associated PressGraeme Smith and Hashim Amla both struck centuries that completed South Africa’s humiliation of Australia on the third day at Newlands, where they cruised to victory by eight wickets. If Australia thought their Cape Town experience could not get any worse after they were dismissed for 47 on the second afternoon, they were badly mistaken, with Smith and Amla adding to the hurt for the visitors.The winning runs came when Smith, who finished unbeaten on 101, clipped Peter Siddle through midwicket and South African fans jumped to their feet to celebrate a famous victory. This was a team that on the second day had been bowled out for 96.In doing so, South Africa became just the second team in 60 years to win a Test having been bowled out for less than 100 in their first innings; the only other occasion in the modern era was New Zealand’s success against India in Wellington in 2002. They also completed the second-highest chase in a Newlands Test.But it was the way they batted on the third morning that highlighted the ridiculous nature of the second day, on which 23 wickets fell. After a quiet first hour in which they added 31, getting accustomed to the conditions, Amla and Smith demolished the Australia attack. Amla played some wonderful strokes, straight drives, cover drives and flicks off the pads, proving that there was nothing in the pitch that could not be handled by good technique.He brought up his century, his first against Australia, with a cut for four off Mitchell Johnson from his 126th delivery and the crowd – by that stage anticipating a South Africa victory any moment – erupted. Amla had been dropped twice by the Australians, including off the last ball of the second day, and he made them pay for those errors.The 195-run partnership ended when Amla, on 112, slashed at Mitchell Johnson and was caught at gully by Michael Clarke with 14 runs still needed for victory. Kallis and Smith pushed them over the line with ease.Smith was equally masterful, after a couple of lucky edges early in the day. He brutalised Shane Watson during an over that cost 13, smashing a cut for four and walking at the bowler to drive another boundary. His hundred came up with the run that levelled the scores, a single pushed past mid-off from his 138th delivery.The South Africans batted superbly but Australia’s bowlers were disappointing. Johnson collected the late wicket of Amla and in doing so avoided the second wicketless Test of his career, but he found no swing and was rarely threatening. Harris did not bowl terribly but was costly, while Peter Siddle tried hard. But they never looked like taking nine wickets under sunny skies.Australia had their chance to break into the middle order when in the third over of the day, Amla, on 30, edged Harris to first slip, where Watson moved to his left and put down a catch he should have taken.It was the last realistic opportunity Australia had, until the match was gone. A desperate use of the referral system confirmed that an lbw appeal from Harris to Amla was rightly denied by the umpire Billy Doctrove, the ball sailing well down the leg side, and it was just another example of the frayed mindset the Australians were experiencing after their humiliating day on Thursday.They have six days to collect their thoughts before the second Test at the Wanderers.