B'desh win 3rd ODI, series 3-0 vs Kiwis

FATULLAH: Shamsur Rahman led Bangladesh to a stunning victory over New Zealand on Sunday, completing a 3-0 sweep of the one-day international series.

Scorecard

Shamsur's 96 rocketed the home side to 309-6, steaming past New Zealand's 307 with four balls and four wickets to spare at the packed Khan Shaheb Osman Ali stadium at Fatullah just outside Dhaka.

The 25-year-old opener hit seven fours and four sixes in his 107-ball knock as Bangladesh successfully chased down a 300-plus total for only the second time in their playing history.

Shamsur, playing only his second one-day international, fell short of what would have been a well- deserved century when his attempted drive off a Corey Anderson delivery became an edge and flew to wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi.

Naeem Islam continued to lead the charge after Shamsur's departure before he was run out for 63 after facing 74 balls.

Nasir Hossain (44 not out) stayed till the end to ensure Bangladesh never lost their way in the chase on the batting-friendly pitch.

Earlier, Ross Taylor hit his eighth one-day century as New Zealand posted their highest total in the series.

The visitors were desperate to avoid another humiliating whitewash, after their previous one-day series against Bangladesh.

Taylor, who was part of the New Zealand squad that lost 4-0 to Bangladesh in 2010, remained unbeaten on 107 while Colin Munro made 85 to give the tourists a fighting chance of victory.

The pair put on 130 for the fourth wicket after Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bowl at the Fatullah ground, which was hosting its first international match for seven years.

Former captain Taylor made the most of his chances after Rubel Hossain dropped him off his own bowling on 12, hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 93-ball innings.

Anton Devcich (46) and Tom Latham (43) gave New Zealand a decent start with a 66-run opening stand. But Bangladesh struck back soon afterwards through their spinners to reduce the visitors to 101-3.

Munro, playing his first match in the series, led the initial charge to complete his fifty before he fell to off-spinner Mahmudullah.

The left-hander smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 95-ball innings.

Taylor was initially sedate but accelerated after reaching his fifty off 69 deliveries.

His three sixes came in consecutive deliveries off a Sohag Gazi over as New Zealand added 73 in the last five overs to cross the 300-run mark.

The two teams will now play a Twenty20 International on November 6 in Dhaka before New Zealand fly to Sri Lanka for an ODI and Twenty20 series.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

B'desh win 3rd ODI, series 3-0 vs Kiwis

FATULLAH: Shamsur Rahman led Bangladesh to a stunning victory over New Zealand on Sunday, completing a 3-0 sweep of the one-day international series.

Scorecard

Shamsur's 96 rocketed the home side to 309-6, steaming past New Zealand's 307 with four balls and four wickets to spare at the packed Khan Shaheb Osman Ali stadium at Fatullah just outside Dhaka.

The 25-year-old opener hit seven fours and four sixes in his 107-ball knock as Bangladesh successfully chased down a 300-plus total for only the second time in their playing history.

Shamsur, playing only his second one-day international, fell short of what would have been a well- deserved century when his attempted drive off a Corey Anderson delivery became an edge and flew to wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi.

Naeem Islam continued to lead the charge after Shamsur's departure before he was run out for 63 after facing 74 balls.

Nasir Hossain (44 not out) stayed till the end to ensure Bangladesh never lost their way in the chase on the batting-friendly pitch.

Earlier, Ross Taylor hit his eighth one-day century as New Zealand posted their highest total in the series.

The visitors were desperate to avoid another humiliating whitewash, after their previous one-day series against Bangladesh.

Taylor, who was part of the New Zealand squad that lost 4-0 to Bangladesh in 2010, remained unbeaten on 107 while Colin Munro made 85 to give the tourists a fighting chance of victory.

The pair put on 130 for the fourth wicket after Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bowl at the Fatullah ground, which was hosting its first international match for seven years.

Former captain Taylor made the most of his chances after Rubel Hossain dropped him off his own bowling on 12, hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 93-ball innings.

Anton Devcich (46) and Tom Latham (43) gave New Zealand a decent start with a 66-run opening stand. But Bangladesh struck back soon afterwards through their spinners to reduce the visitors to 101-3.

Munro, playing his first match in the series, led the initial charge to complete his fifty before he fell to off-spinner Mahmudullah.

The left-hander smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 95-ball innings.

Taylor was initially sedate but accelerated after reaching his fifty off 69 deliveries.

His three sixes came in consecutive deliveries off a Sohag Gazi over as New Zealand added 73 in the last five overs to cross the 300-run mark.

The two teams will now play a Twenty20 International on November 6 in Dhaka before New Zealand fly to Sri Lanka for an ODI and Twenty20 series.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ravindra Jadeja fined for foul language

DUBAI: Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was today fined 10 per cent of his match fee for using offensive language against Shane Watson after dismissing the Australian batsman in the seventh One Day match in Bangalore.

The incident happened in the 29th over and Jadeja was found to have breached Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to 'using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match'.

After the end of the play, Jadeja admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Match Referee Andy Pycroft.

"Mr Jadeja's reaction after dismissing Shane Watson was clearly in breach of the Code as the players are always expected to respect their opponents, no matter what the match situation. Mr Jadeja apologised for his action when on-field umpire Nigel Llong spoke to him immediately after the incident and reminded him of his responsibilities," Pycroft said in an ICC release.

All Level 1 breaches for this offence carry a penalty of a warning/reprimand and/or the imposition of a fine up to 50 per cent of the applicable match fee.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Virat Kohli becomes No.1 ODI batsman

DUBAI: Virat Kohli today became the number one batsman in One-day cricket after a superb batting show against Australia in the just-concluded series, in which he scored 344 runs.

Kohli had scores of 61 (in Pune), 100 not out (in Jaipur), 68 (in Mohali), 115 not out (in Nagpur) and 0 (in Bengaluru).

This gave the 24-year-old a series aggregate of 344 runs at an average of 114.66, and a reward of 38 ratings points which helped him to jump three places to top of the ICC ranking table for ODI batsmen.

He has achieved the number-one spot for the first time in his career, just a few days before his 25th birthday.

Kohli has now become the third India batsman to hold the number-one batting rank in ODI cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni.

Tendulkar first claimed the number one position when he took over from Brian Lara in February 1996. He was last number one in March 2008.

Dhoni first reached number one when he took over from Ricky Ponting in April 2006. He was last ranked number one in July 2010.

Kohli now leads South Africa's Hashim Amla by 13 ratings points. Amla had been holding the coveted number-one position since November 2010. Kohli is not the only batsman who has gained in the latest rankings, which were released today.

Australian skipper George Bailey jumped six places to claim the number-three position for the first time in his career. Bailey scored 478 runs with a century and three half-centuries to earn 121 ratings points, which, in turn, has put him on a career-best 835 ratings points alongside a career-best ranking to-date.

India's Shikhar Dhawan has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career after he jumped 12 places to claim 11th position in the batting chart. The left-handed opener scored 284 runs at an average of 56.8.

Dhawan's opening partner Rohit Sharma has also achieved a career-best ranking of 15th after finishing as the leading run-getter in the series, with 491 runs at an average of 122.75, including 209 in the final ODI on Saturday.

Rohit's results have earned him 102 ratings points and a leap of 25 places.

Rohit is now India's fifth batsman to feature inside the top 20, with the others being Kohli (first), MS Dhoni (sixth), Dhawan (11th) and Suresh Raina (19th).

The other big movers in the series were Australia's trio of Glenn Maxwell in 38th spot (up by 47 places), Adam Voges in 59th (up by 11 places) and James Faulkner in 61st (up by 77 places).

In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal has regained the number-one position, while Jadeja has slipped two places to finish in third spot.

Saeed had trailed Jadeja by 10 ratings points before the start of the series and, while the India spinner took eight wickets in the series against Australia, the Pakistan bowler has claimed six wickets in two ODIs against South Africa so far.

The biggest movers in what has been a difficult series for the bowlers are Vinay Kumar, Faulker and Mohammad Shami.

Kumar's seven wickets in the series have given him a lift of nine places into 61st position, while Faulker and Shami took seven wickets apiece and are now in 62 and 64th spots, respectively.

In the Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Watson and Jadeja have slipped one place each. The list is headed by Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan.

The 3-2 series win for India means that it continues to sit on top of ODI Team Rankings with Australia in second position, nine ratings points behind.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kohli hints at chasing target in decider

BANGALORE: Virat Kohli has indicated that India would prefer chasing rather than setting a target if the home side wins the toss in Saturday's series-decider cricket one-dayer against Australia.

"Personally I feel good to chase because you know the target to meet. (We) can plan better and analyse how to play in different situations. I (also) feel good to calculate and play, which bowler to target and which ball to hit," he told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

"While batting first, we need to assess the batting conditions and big partnerships are important to score high. Whether batting first or second, partnership is very crucial for the team. We need to be in strong position," he added.

The seven-match series is now levelled 2-2 after the Ranchi and Cuttack ODIs were washed out and India's both wins have come while batting second, with the home side recording the second and third highest ever successful run chases in ODI history.

Kohli said the series has turned out to be a thrilling contest between the two teams, especially the way India have fought back from difficult situations.

"Personally, my form has been pleasing for me so far. Hopefully, I can do it once again in the last game," he said.

"We need to execute our plans to win the series, which has been a hard-fought battle so far."

He said the home team has no fitness issues and all the players are fit to play tomorrow's match.

When told that he is being seen as someone who can break some of Sachin Tendulkar's ODI records, Kohli said, "I used to dream of doing what Sachin did single-handedly against Pakistan in 1998 in Sharjah.

"But now we have so many talented batsmen like Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who have given great starts. They have been brilliant at the top and have given me a good platform to go and express myself. The credit has to go to everyone in the team," he said.

Kohli has been the most consistent Indian batsman in the series so far having hit two of the three fastest hundreds (off 52 and 61 balls respectively) by an Indian in the second and sixth ODIs but he said winning is more important than personal records.

"It has been good so far. I never expected get a 100 in 50 plus balls and another 100 in 60 balls," he said.

"Winning is the best drug one can have and winning is more important than records. A win tomorrow will give us a lot of confidence for the two Tests against the West Indies. We will do our best to give a winning farewell to Sachin," he added.

Asked how much does technique help him to smash quality bowlers, Kohli said, "I keep working on that in practice sessions. It gives me a lot of confidence practising on my technique."

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

2nd ODI: Pak elect to bat against SA

DUBAI (United Arab Emirates): Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat first in the second one-day international against South Africa on Friday.

Scorecard

South Africa leads the five-match series 1-0 after a sensational 1-run victory in the low-scoring first game on Wednesday.

Pakistan kept faith in the same playing 11 despite losing the last six wickets for 17 runs in Sharjah while chasing 183 runs.

South Africa also named an unchanged squad, which means another chance for opening batsman Colin Ingram, who hasn't scored in his last three one-day internationals.

The Proteas are without its two key players. Hashim Amla flew back home after the first Test defeat last month to be with his pregnant wife. Fast bowler Dale Steyn will rejoin for the third one-day international after being rested.

Teams:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Wahab Riaz

South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Coiln Ingram, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Graeme Smith, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Bowlers face difficulty due to new rule'

BANGALORE: Indian batsman Virat Kohli on Friday said the new ODI rule, which enforces an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle at all times, should be looked into as it is working against the bowlers.

"In batting-friendly conditions, it is very hard for the captain to contain runs and has been difficult for the bowlers. Hence, the rule should be be looked into as far as keeping five fielders (inside the circle) is concerned," Kohli told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

"It is ICC's decision to give us the rule. So I can't comment more," he added.

With this new rule in place, India and Australia together have scored a phenomenal 2,565 runs from four ODIs so far, excluding the 295 the visiting team scored in the abandoned one-dayer in Ranchi.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also had commented that a few Indian bowlers felt it would be better to put a bowling machine in the field instead of they rolling their arms in the ongoing ODI series, after they were being hit all over the park by Australia.

Kohli said the rule of five fielders inside the circle puts part-time bowlers, who were big weapons in ODIs before, out of contention.

"Yuvraj Singh bowled so well for us in so many games with four fielders inside the circle. Now, none of the teams can use part-time bowlers properly because of the fifth fielder. In conditions, which are batting-friendly, it is very hard for the captain to contain those runs," the Indian vice captain explained.

Asked about the morale of the bowlers after being hit for big scores, Kohli said it was necessary for bowlers to have confidence otherwise team's winning momentum goes for a toss.

"If bowlers don't have the confidence, it will be difficult for the captain to contain runs. Bowlers did face difficulty in this series due to the new rule. We have no choice but to play according to the rule," he said.

More often than not, Kohli said "it is bowlers who win the games for the team".

"Whichever team bowled well, has won the game, though they were tight," he added.

Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said the teams would get used to the new rule in the due course of time and would slowly get a hang of what is a good score.

"The more you play (with the new rules) you will get more trends and patterns to see what is a good target," said Haddin.

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

FIR against Srinivasan and Gurunath

JAIPUR: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's legal counsel Mahmood Abdi on Friday lodged an FIR against BCCI president N Srinivasan and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan at a local police station charging them of fixing an IPL 6 match between CSK and Rajasthan Royals held on May 12.

Abdi, who is also the president of Sriganganagar District Cricket Association, lodged an FIR at the Jyoti Nagar Police Station.

Abdi filed a complaint in a local court on October 26 and 28 October. The court of the additional Chief judicial magistrate-8 issued directions to Jaipur police to investigate into the allegations.

In compliance with the directions of the court, Jyoti Nagar police station registered an FIR on Friday in the matter.

He claimed that in accord with the directions of the Honourable court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate - Satish Chandra Godara, an FIR has been registered to investigate into the allegations of match fixing by the BCCI president and managing director of India Cements Ltd, N Srinivasan and his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan.

In his complaint, Abdi alleged that Srinivasan and Meiyappan had used their substantial influence to ensure that CSK underperform, in order for the accused to gain financial benefits through illegal match-related betting activities.

He further alleged that pre-match rumours suggested that Chennai Super Kings would deliberately underperform and score around 130 to 140 runs to ensure a Rajasthan Royals victory.

CSK scored 141 and the Royals chased down the target in 17 overs.

21.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

WI series: Zak snubbed, Ishant picked

MUMBAI: Off-colour pacer Ishant Sharma was surprisingly retained even as senior bowler Zaheer Khan was ignored in the 15-member Indian squad announced on Wednesday for Sachin Tendulkar's farewell two-Test series against the West Indies next month.

Ishant, who has been taken to cleaners in the ongoing ODI series against Australia, has come in for scathing criticism due to his poor form and was even dropped from the last two matches of the ongoing series.

Zaheer, on the other hand, had made a case for his selection by picking up five wickets in Mumbai's Ranji Trophy opener against Haryana but the selectors thought otherwise and decided to stick to Ishant. The 35-year-old Zaheer has been out of the Test team since December last year owing to fitness and form issues.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batsman Suresh Raina were also dropped from the squad. But while Jadeja went out due to a shoulder strain, Raina had to make way for a fit-again Shikhar Dhawan, who has shown sparkling form in the ongoing ODIs after recovering from a hand injury, striking a hundred in the sixth ODI last night.

"Ravindra Jadeja has a shoulder strain. The physiotherapist of the Indian team has advised two weeks' rest for him, after the end of the ODI series against Australia, as a precautionary measure," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement after the selection committee meeting.

Pacer Umesh Yadav, who had been rested after the tri-series in the West Indies, made his way back to the side. Also there was young pacer Mohammed Shami.

The pace attack was, in fact, notably overhauled by the selectors with Ashok Dinda making way for 23-year-old Shami, for whom it would be his maiden Test series.

Young seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has retained his place. Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was, however, shown the door with Amit Mishra taking his place in the side. Harbhajan was ousted despite picking nine wickets in Punjab's opening Ranji match against Tamil Nadu.

The spin attack will be spearhead by Ravichandran Ashwin with Pragyan Ojha and Mishra backing him up.

The batting line-up was not touched too much with Dhawan's re-entry being the only change brought about by the five-member selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil.

The spotlight will, however, firmly be on Tendulkar, who would be completing 200 Tests in international cricket before drawing the curtains on his career.

The landmark match would be played in the 40-year-old's home ground in Mumbai from November 14, preceded by the opening game in Kolkata from November 6.

Squad for Test series: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Kohli can break Sachin's ODI ton record'

NEW DELHI: With Virat Kohli regularly slamming centuries in ODIs, former captain Sunil Gavaskar today said the Indian batting sensation can break retiring legend Sachin Tendulkar's record number of tons in the 50-over format.

In the 112 ODI innings he has played so far, Kohli has scored 4919 runs with 17 centuries while Tendulkar at the same number of innings had scored 4001 runs with eight tons.

At the rate the youngster is scoring centuries currently, Gavaskar said Kohli can break Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds.

"Records are meant to be broken. While we know that some of Tendulkar's records are well nigh impossible to be able to get like 200 Test matches, nor anybody can reach 51 Test hundreds.

"But the manner in which Virat is batting, the record for (Tendulkar's) 49 hundreds looks possible. Now Virat needs 32 more hundreds to go and the number of ODIs Indians play he can do it. This cricketing season itself, Virat can get to 20 or 22 hundreds," Gavaskar told 'NDTV'.

In a span of just 15 days in the ongoing seven-match ODI series against Australia, Kohli smashed two of the three fastest hundreds by an Indian to help the home side level the series 2-2.

On October 16, he scored the fastest century by an Indian off just 52 balls in the second ODI against Australia before hitting the third fastest ton in 61 balls in the sixth ODI yesterday.

Asked if Kohli can take Tendulkar's place in the Indian team after the senior batsman retires next month, Gavaskar said, "I think Virat has been simply outstanding. If you compare the statistics with what Sachin had achieved after 115 ODI games, you'll find that Virat is well ahead. I think Sachin took around 80-odd ODIs to get his first hundred."

He said Kohli was fortunate to have played alongside greats such as Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman early in his career.

"India is blessed to have somebody of the talent of Virat Kohli coming through. The fact that he has in his emerging years spent a lot of time with the likes of Sachin, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and put that experience to good use on the field speaks very highly of this young man's cricketing intelligence. That is the key," Gavaskar said.

"He reads the conditions and situation well, he knows the opposition well and that's the reason why he is scoring so consistently," said the former captain.

Kohli is the fastest Indian to score 4,000 ODI runs and he needs 81 runs in his next ODI innings to break Vivian Richards' record of being fastest to 5,000 ODI runs.

Gavaskar also said that he agreed with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's view that the ODI game has now become a boundary hitting contest due to the new rule changes which do not favour the bowlers.

"I agree with Dhoni that we don't want to see this seven hours of bang-bang cricket. This has become an extended version of T20 which is bang-bang from very beginning. But it was expected in T20 but not in 50-over cricket, where you expect bowlers to have something. But if you have pitches like these that's is not going to happen. The best of the bowlers will get smashed," he said.

"It is a pretty valid question. The game has always got to be a balance between the bat and the ball. I know it is being skewed in favour of batsmen for such a long time that I would have thought that by allowing to bowl bouncers in limited overs cricket you gave the bowlers some extra bit.

"By having two new balls you have certainly taken out the spinners from the game to an extent because you have got a ball which is 25 over old on either side, so the spinners will not come into play that often. And the most crucial rule has been that of having only four fielders outside the circle. That is of no help at all to the bowlers. That is the rule we need to have a look at," said Gavaskar.

Interestingly, Gavaskar said the 50-over format will still remain as batsman's game even after a re-look of the recent changes in rules which disfavour the bowlers.

"If we do that (have a re-look at the recent rule changes) may be the balance might again be redressed a bit and but not all. Because after all at the end of the day whether anybody like it or not it's a batsman's game and people come to see a batsman bat and not a bowler to bowl."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More