Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Marsh have been granted permission by their IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab to return home after Monday’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad

Nagraj Gollapudi11-May-2015Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson and batsman Shaun Marsh have been granted permission by their IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab to return home after Monday’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. According to Kings XI coach Sanjay Bangar, the two players made the request so that they could travel with the Australian squad for the series in the West Indies in June.Johnson and Marsh will miss Kings XI’s last two games, against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, in Mohali on May 13 and 16.”While both the players have been of great significance to the team and contributed immensely, we respect our players’ decisions,” Kings XI said in a release. “We have a fine line up in place and are hopeful of a good performance in the upcoming matches.”Having finished runners-up the previous IPL season, Kings XI were the first team to be eliminated from the running for the playoffs this year, having won only two of their first 11 games. Though Bangar had not singled out anyone as responsible for his team’s failures, the poor performances from the overseas contingent of George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Marsh and Johnson hurt the team severely.Marsh played only four games this season, and 65 of his 81 runs came in one innings against Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad, a match Kings XI won via a one-over eliminator after the match was tied.Johnson’s failures were more pronounced. He took only nine wickets in nine matches and had an economy rate of 9.37 per over, a performance that was at odds with his billing as one of the best fast bowlers in the world.

Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by two wickets with two balls to spare, in another last-over finish, to clinch the T20 series 2-0 and, like Friday, the occasion got bigger than the game

The Report by Mohammad Isam24-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:24

Mukhtar’s record, and Lahore leaves its mark

There was a pitched battle at Lord’s but at the Gaddafi Stadium, yearning hearts were won over once again in a thrilling contest. Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by two wickets with two balls to spare, in another last-over finish, to clinch the T20 series 2-0 and, like Friday, the occasion got bigger than the game.The unheralded batting talent of Bilawal Bhatti came to the fore with Pakistan needing 12 off the final over. He first smote Brian Vitori for a straight six and, after picking up two, carved the bowler through the covers for the winning runs.Zimbabwe will feel hard done by with the result as they fought tooth and nail with patches of excellent batting and fielding. However, the home side edged the game at the right moments – like the last two overs of the Zimbabwe innings or Shoaib Malik’s tight four overs which kept Zimbabwe’s score down to 175 for 3. Mukhtar Ahmed’s second successive fifty was also important, while the Lahore crowd kept Pakistan, in the game with their noise.Chasing 176, Pakistan lost their first wicket in the fifth over when Ahmed Shehzad chopped the ball to mid-off for Vusi Sibanda’s first of three catches. Shehzad and Mukhtar Ahmed had added 44 runs, but it was nothing like their dominating 142-run stand in the previous game.Mukhtar, however, continued to bat confidently, finding boundaries regularly even as debutant Nauman Anwar and Shoaib Malik fell to a catch at long-on and a run-out, respectively. Mukhtar hit boundaries through point, third-man and fine-leg in the second over before an onslaught against Graeme Cremer in the eighth over, in which the legspinner conceded 19 runs.He reached 50 off 33 balls but in the 14th over, holed out to long-on off Sikandar Raza’s bowling, with Pakistan needing a further 59 runs off 39 balls.Shahid Afridi entered with usual fanfare but lasted just three balls before skying Williams for a catch near mid-off. Raza fumbled for a moment but did not let go of the chance.Zimbabwe kept picking up wickets, even as Pakistan batsmen kept themselves within touching distance of the required run-rate. Umar Akmal was leg-before to Chris Mpofu before Anwar Ali was yorked by Willams in the 17th and 18th overs respectively. Mohammad Rizwan, playing in place of Sarfraz Ahmed, holed out to a great running catch by Raza when Pakistan needed 15 off 11 balls.Earlier, Zimbabwe started off soundly once again. Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda added a second successive 50-plus opening partnership. This time Sibanda started off with a boundary before Masakadza joined in the third over. Masakadza smacked Bhatti for three fours in a row before slamming a straight six in the next over off Mohammad Sami. He took two more fours before falling to Malik’s accuracy, having made 39 off 32 balls. This was Zimbabwe’s third- highest T20 opening stand, and second-highest in terms of number of balls faced.Sean Williams, promoted to bat at No 3 for the first time in his T20 career, got into action in the tenth over, finding two boundaries over long-on and midwicket. He kept finding fours and, despite the loss of Sibanda, for 49 in the 17th over, the pace of the innings didn’t dither. Williams reached his maiden T20 50 off 26 balls, with a swept six over cow corner.Zimbabwe got 50 in the last five overs and the only thrust came from captain Elton Chigumbura, who struck Sami for three sixes in the 18th over: over long-off, extra cover and long-on. It looked like a bigger total than the first game was on the cards but Afridi gave four in the penultimate over and Sami took Chigumbura’s wicket at the start of the final over. Zimbabwe did score three runs more than the last game but a bit more connection between bat and ball in the last two overs would have given them a bigger total.

Mahmudullah will miss the entire series against India after fracturing his index finger on his left hand in training

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2015Bangladesh allrounder Mahmudullah will miss the solitary Test and three ODIs against India after sustaining a fracture on his left index finger during training. His availability for the T20s against South Africa is still unknown.Nasir Hossain has replaced Mahmudullah in Bangladesh’s Test squad. Nasir has played the last of his 16 Tests against West Indies in September 2014. He missed the three Tests against Zimbabwe and the two Tests against Pakistan.”Mahmudullah got hurt while training this morning,” Bangladesh physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said. “He was injured on his left index finger. X-rays have showed he has a fracture. He didn’t train thereafter. It takes about three to four weeks for this type of fracture to heal.”Mahmudullah’s fractured finger was strapped when he left the Shere Bangla National Stadium, to have his injury examined.

Angelo Mathews admitted that his spinners had been overshadowed by Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar on a helpful Galle deck, after Pakistan’s 10-wicket win in the first Test

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle21-Jun-2015Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has admitted that his spinners had been overshadowed by Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar on a helpful Galle deck. Yasir and Babar claimed 13 wickets between them, with Mohammad Hafeez’ offspin adding a further two scalps. Sri Lanka’s front-line spinners, meanwhile, returned 5 for 221 in the first innings, and each went at more than a run a ball during Pakistan’s brief second-innings chase.Galle has historically been a stronghold for Sri Lankan spin. Muttiah Muralitharan has a 111 wickets at the venue – the most for any bowler at a single ground – while Herath also has 61 wickets there. Pakistan had lost each of their three previous Galle Tests, with Herath playing a significant role in each of those defeats.”I admit that our spinners were not as effective as their spinners on this track – where it was turning from day one,” Mathews said. “We needed our spinners to fire and fire quickly, but they didn’t.”I would say Rangana was not as effective as Yasir Shah or Babar was for them. I wouldn’t call it being rusty, but unfortunately he couldn’t make an impact in this game. We’re playing a Test match after a few months, and Herath is coming back after an injury. He’s having a lot of niggles. He knows he hasn’t done well in this game, but hopefully he can bounce back quickly.”Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq had also spoken of being prepared for Herath on this tour, which so far seems to be the case. Herath took 1 for 129 in a match where two thirds of the wickets fell to spin. “They played Rangana well – very positively,” Mathews said. “They know that if you give Rangana wickets it’s not easy. He continues to take wickets.”While Mathews acknowledged that Sarfraz Ahmed’s brisk 96 had played a role in turning the match, he was more regretful of the contributions from Pakistan’s tail, in the first innings. Babar and Asad Shafiq put on 101 for the ninth wicket on the fourth afternoon – with Babar hitting 56 of those runs off 60 balls.”I think Shafiq and Sarfraz’s partnership was crucial, but still what made the difference was Babar and Shafiq’s partnership. That made a massive difference to the game. They were in total control and we were put under lot of pressure. After having them 118 for 5, it was disappointing that they scored another 340 runs. We can’t let a number 10 come and get a fifty on this track. “Sri Lanka had been on the wrong end of a similar lower-order resurgence against New Zealand, in January. “It happened as well in New Zealand where we had the game in our hands and we dropped a catch and it slipped away. Here it was a chanceless innings by Asad, Sarfraz and Babar.”No matter where we play it’s tough to lose. If you take our recent history, we’ve only recently lost to South Africa in Galle, so we’ve historically played well here. On this occasion, we bowled and batted poorly – we accept that. Our fielding was good, but the other disciplines weren’t there.”

The ECB has filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court to recover the fine from banned legspinner, Danish Kaneria, who is based in Karachi

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2015The ECB has filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court to recover the fine from banned legspinner Danish Kaneria , who is based in Karachi. Kaneria was banned from cricket for life and charged £100,000 in costs by an ECB panel in June 2012 for his part in the spot-fixing case involving Mervyn Westfield.Kaneria said he was unaware of the development. “I have come to know about this only through media and if I get any notice I will consult my lawyers,” he told .A disciplinary panel of the ECB had found Kaneria guilty of corruption – inducing his former team-mate Westfield to underperform – while playing for Essex in a limited-over match in 2009. The panel imposed a fine that covered all the legal expenses in his case until his appeal was rejected.Kaneria made an appeal hoping to get the sanction reduced, having earlier lost another appeal against the convictions in April 2013. Khawaja Naveed, the lawyer representing the ECB in Pakistan, said the petition demanded that Kaneria pay the fine as well as the costs involved.”I have filed a petition on behalf of the ECB in which we have demanded that a total cost of £249,000 be recovered from Kaneria,” Naveed told . He said the notice would be issued to Kaneria by Saturday and if he failed to pay, the court would be forced to sell his property.Since Kaneria was banned, he has used almost every forum to try and clear his name. He lost two appeals, however, and until last year had contemplated approaching the Court of Arbitration in Europe. In the meantime, Kaneria can not play recognised cricket anywhere in the world because an agreement among boards affiliated to the ICC made the ECB ban effective throughout world cricket. The PCB, after going through Kaneria’s case, endorsed his life ban.Kaneria was Pakistan’s most successful Test spinner and the fourth-highest wicket-taker for his country with 261 wickets in 61 Tests at an average of 34.79, putting him behind only Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. He picked up 1024 wickets in 206 first-class games at 26.16, including 307 for Essex. His regular Pakistan domestic team Habib Bank Limited, for which he took 231 wickets, had parted ways with him last year.

Billy Godleman became only the fifth Derbyshire batsmen to score centuries in three consecutive innings and the first for 25 years to put Kent under pressure in Derby

ECB/PA23-Aug-2015Kent 159 (Footitt 4-61) and 30 for 0 require a further 299 runs to beat Derbyshire 253 (Godleman 108) and 234 for 3 dec (Godleman 105*)
ScorecardBilly Godleman has three hundreds in a row, a rare feat in Derbyshire’s history•Getty Images

Billy Godleman had a day to remember as Derbyshire moved into a commanding position in the LV County Championship Division Two match against Kent.The opener became only the fifth Derbyshire batsmen to score centuries in three consecutive innings and the first for 25 years, joining William Storer, Levi Wright, Peter Kirsten and Kim Barnett in the county’s record books.Godleman followed his hundred at Leicester and 108 in the first innings with an unbeaten 104 out of 234 for 3 before Derbyshire declared after rain held up play for two-and-a half hours.Godleman said: “It’s very special, 25 years is a long time and I’m very humbled by that achievement. I know because I’ve done it for 10 years that opening in first-class cricket is difficult so when I get in I try and make the most of it.”Derbyshire elite performance director Graeme Welch also confirmed that Sri Lankan batting star Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was not selected for the Kent game, had returned home and would not play again for the club.”It’s amicable,” Welch said. “We can’t get promoted so we might as well play some of the young lads and he understands that.”Kent’s chances of chasing down a target of 329 looked slim on the evidence of their first innings but Rob Key and Daniel Bell-Drummond played well to reduce it by 30 when bad light brought an early close.Bell-Drummond knows the odds are against Kent but said: “We haven’t been batting well in the red ball game and didn’t bat well first innings but everyone knows the capability of our side with the bat so we will try and make sure we click tomorrow and do the best we can. We’re not favourites and it’s a tough ask and we will need to play smartly.”They had gone into the third day well behind in the game with Derbyshire 73 for 1, already 167 runs on, and the early breakthroughs the visitors needed failed to come as Godleman and Chesney Hughes took the second wicket stand to 114 in 34 overs.A strong wind, which blew Sam Northeast’s cap off at one stage, may have hampered the bowlers but there were few alarms for Godleman and Hughes with both reaching 50 with boundaries from James Tredwell.Hughes, who was dropped at cover on 46, was bowled going for another big hit at Tredwell but Wayne Madsen accelerated towards a declaration with 43 from 41 balls before he was bowled by Ivan Thomas.Goldeman’s progress had stalled as he approached the milestone and he was in the nineties for 41 balls before he nudged Tredwell behind square and raced through for the single that took him to three figures.Alex Hughes became the second Derbyshire player to retire hurt when a hand injury forced him to go for an x-ray but even against an attack two bowlers down, Kent had a hard road ahead of them but Key and Bell-Drummond negotiated 10 overs to leave a target of 299 on the final day.

Daniel Bell-Drummond was the sole casualty of a rain-ruined opening day in Canterbury where only 15 overs were bowled at the start of Kent’s final home game

ECB/PA14-Sep-2015
ScorecardA rainbow over the Spitfire Ground at Canterbury•Andrew Miller/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Daniel Bell-Drummond was the sole casualty of a rain-ruined opening day in Canterbury where only 15 overs were bowled at the start of Kent’s final home game of the LV= County Championship campaign against Gloucestershire.After barely an hour’s play Kent had reached 67 for 1 at stumps with Sean Dickson on 31 not out together with Joe Denly, who was unbeaten on 9.Play finally got underway at 5pm, when the visitors elected to bowl after winning the delayed toss, yet within five minutes match umpires David Millns and Paul Baldwin asked for the floodlights to go on. However, high wind speeds prevented use of the retractable pylons under health and safety regulations and Kent were made to bat on.Despite the blowy and gloomy conditions Kent opener Bell-Drummond made a breezy start by taking four early boundaries; two steers through third man, a clip through backward square and a crisp off drive all off the bowling of David Payne.At the other end, Dickson, the 24-year-old opening bat making his home debut, required 17 balls before getting off the mark with a steer for two through square leg.Bell-Drummond (22) departed when his late decision to shoulder arms at an in-ducker from left-arm quick bowler Payne left him susceptible to the lbw shout that immediately followed to make it 24 for 1.To Bell-Drummond’s chagrin, the other players followed him off for a seven-minute break for yet another shower and the loss of a further over’s play.Dickson re-emerged after the interval and, in tandem with Joe Denly batted out the final eight overs of the day without any further alarm.There had been no play in the opening two sessions at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence after overnight rain and blustery morning showers delayed the start for six-and-a-half hours.

A round-up of Ranji Trophy news on October 1, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2015Delhi coach Ajay Jadeja will miss his team’s opening game against Rajasthan because his son is unwell.
“Ajay (Jadeja) has informed us that he would not be able to perform the coach’s duty as his son is not well,” DDCA president Sneh Prakash Bansal told PTI. “He is expected to join the team from the second match.” There was speculation that Jadeja’s absence was motivated by his displeasure over Amit Bhandari’s appointment as assistant coach. Bansal, however, denied it was the reason. “For us, Ajay is the chief coach and his decisions are final. If there would have been such a problem, we would have removed Bhandari as Jadeja is more important to us.”

J&K have two teams on eve of game

Jammu & Kashmir were faced with the possibility of fielding two teams on the eve of their opening game. The reported that while the Mithun Manhas-led squad was announced by the Imran Reza Ansari-led faction a few days ago, the rival Farooq Abdullah group announced their own squad, which did not feature Manhas and had Parvez Rasool as captain. The Manhas-led team eventually took the field on the first day.

Tiwary likely to be named Bengal captain

Manoj Tiwary is likely to be named captain of the Bengal side, after Laxmi Ratan Shukla requested Sourav Ganguly, the CAB joint-secretary, and the selectors to not consider him for captaincy. According to a report in the , Tiwary was the only option after Wriddhiman Saha was not firm on taking up the job. The official announcement, the report said, will be made on Thursday when the squad for Bengal’s first match, against Karnataka on October 8, is finalised.

Sandeep, Aaron miss opening games

Sandeep Sharma has missed Punjab’s opening game against Railways with a back injury. He is reportedly out of action for two months. Meanwhile, Varun Aaron, who a few days ago said he wanted some game-time before the Tests against South Africa and was named Jharkhand captain, wasn’t part of the XI in their opening match against Services in Delhi.

BCCI bars 22 Delhi players for age fraud

The BCCI has barred 22 Delhi players from participating in age-group tournaments because of allegations of age fraud, the reported. The BCCI’s game development manager, Ratnakar Shetty, advised the DDCA against fielding the players till a clearer picture emerged about their age. Shetty’s instruction followed a letter from DDCA vice president Chetan Chauhan seeking clarity on whether the players could be fielded. “Two of those against whom the FIR has been filed were part of the under-19 team,” Chauhan said. “We didn’t want a situation where they were part of the playing XI and then there is further trouble. We are not targeting a particular player but as an FIR has been filed we have checked with the BCCI.”

West Indies will welcome Australia and South Africa next June for a 10-match ODI tri-series, according to a press release issued Friday by the WICB

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2015

Tri-Series Schedule

• June 6: Australia vs South Africa, Guyana

• June 8: West Indies vs South Africa, Guyana

• June 10: West Indies vs Australia, Guyana

• June 13: South Africa vs Australia, St Kitts

• June 15: West Indies vs South Africa, St Kitts

• June 17: West Indies vs Australia, St Kitts

• June 20: Australia vs South Africa, Barbados

• June 22: West Indies vs South Africa, Barbados

• June 24: West Indies vs Australia, Barbados

• June 26: Final, Barbados

West Indies will welcome Australia and South Africa next June for a 10-match ODI tri-series, according to a press release issued Friday by the WICB. Three games each will be held in Guyana and St Kitts while the final four ODIs, including the final, will be held at Kensington Oval in Barbados.”This tournament promises to be very exciting with two of the World’s top teams coming to the Caribbean,” said Roland Holder, WICB manager cricket operations. “It will provide a golden opportunity for our team to test themselves against two of the best sides in the world in the ODI format.”Australia most recently toured West Indies in June, sweeping a two-match Test series to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy. Their last limited overs matches in the Caribbean came in March 2012 when they played five ODIs and two T20Is, along with three Tests. The two sides split the ODI series – with two wins each and a tie in the third ODI at St Vincent when Darren Sammy was runout with two balls to spare – and the T20 series as well. West Indies are set to tour Australia for three Tests in December and January, beginning December 10 with the first Test in Hobart but will not play any limited overs matches on the tour.South Africa demolished the hosts on their last tour of the West Indies in 2010, sweeping two T20Is and five ODIs before claiming the three-Test series with a 2-0 scoreline. Only a drawn runfest in St Kitts kept them from going a perfect 10 for 10 on tour. Their last encounter with South Africa came in Australia at the World Cup in February when AB de Villiers struck the fastest 150 in ODI history to pave the way for a 257-run South Africa win, tied for the biggest margin of defeat by runs in World Cup history.”Australia won the ICC Cricket World Cup on home soil earlier this year and South Africa are highly ranked in this format, but are also the No. 1 side in Tests,” said Holder. “These two sides have shared some fascinating rivalries not only in the ODI, but other formats of the international game in recent years.”The regional audience, therefore, will have a rare chance to attend and see this strong rivalry played out before their eyes, so we expect them to pack the three venues and bring the noise and colour associated with the game in the region.”

Saif Hassan’s century propelled Bangladesh Under-19 to a 58 run win over Zimbabwe Under-19 in the second Youth ODI in Chittagong on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2015
ScorecardSaif Hassan’s century propelled Bangladesh Under-19s to a 58 run win over Zimbabwe Under-19 in the second youth ODI in Chittagong on Thursday.Batting first, the home side made 241 for 8 in 50 overs. Saif batted till the 42nd over to make exactly 100 off 154 balls with a dozen boundaries. His opening partner Pinak Ghosh struck 65 off 99 balls with six boundaries and a six. The rest of Bangladesh Under-19s side added just 58 in their last eight overs after Pinak and Saif were dismissed in successive overs. Offspinner William Mashinge was the pick of the Zimbabwe Under-19s bowlers with figures of 3 for 37 in seven overs.In reply, the visitors were bowled out for 183 in 46.1 overs with Taufail Zaheer top-scoring with 63. Left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed Shawon took four wickets while captain Mehedi Hasan and Ariful Islam picked up two wickets apiece.The third youth ODI will be held at the same venue on November 14.