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David Allen, the former England and Gloucestershire offspinner, has died at the age of 78

AFP27-May-2014David Allen, the former England and Gloucestershire offspinner, has died at the age of 78.Allen played 39 Tests for England in the 1960s, when he faced tough competition for a place from offspinners such as Fred Titmus, Ray Illingworth and John Mortimore, a team-mate at Gloucestershire. He took 122 Test wickets at an average of 30.97.Allen also scored 918 Test runs, including five fifties, with a best of 88. But perhaps his best known batting feat at international level was to block out the final over from West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall, when Colin Cowdrey had come back in as last man at the non-striker’s end after retiring hurt with a broken arm earlier in the innings, to ensure a draw in the Lord’s Test of 1963.Allen played for Gloucestershire from 1953 to 1972, taking more than 1200 wickets and scoring over 9000 runs in first-class cricket. He became Gloucestershire’s president in 2011.”Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is saddened to announce the death of former player and club president David Allen at the age of 78,” said the county said in a statement. “Our sincere sympathy goes out to his family and friends.”

Preview of the fourth match of the Champions Trophy, between New Zealand and Sri Lanka

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit08-Jun-2013Match factsSunday, June 9, Cardiff
Start time 9.30am GMTTime is running out for Sri Lanka’s greats to script a happy ending at a world tournament•Getty ImagesBig PictureNew Zealand are the David Ferrer of cricket. They are the good, friendly triers. They try to make up for lesser talent compared to the big boys with honest effort. Of course, plain honest effort does not get you the big titles. But more often than not, it gets you towards the closing stages of the big tournaments: the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the extremely occasional final. Once there, they are widely expected to make way for the Nadals or the Australias. Both have no qualms about that; they know reaching where they do using what they posses, in relation to what the big boys have, is no mean achievement.On Sunday, Ferrer, at age 31, will play his maiden Grand Slam final in Paris in a career that has seen about ten Slam campaigns fail at the quarter-final and semi-final hurdles. Across the Channel, New Zealand – admittedly with slightly more experience of making big-tournament finals, courtesy the Champions Trophy – will begin their campaign in the tournament that has given them their lone ICC trophy till date.Very rarely do you not count a New Zealand side as one of the underdogs, but a team that has beaten South Africa and England on their home soils in one-day series recently has to be treated with some respect. The Champions Trophy might just be to New Zealand’s liking. The crunched format means they don’t have to sustain their run of form for too long.And unlike in Ferrer’s case, their opponent on Sunday will not be that impenetrable returning wall that goes by the name of Rafael Nadal. It is a side whose lot might be compared with that of Andy Murray before he finally, to Britain’s relief, won a Grand Slam.All the quality of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga has not been able to deliver a world title for Sri Lanka in over a decade. More than being told by the outside world that they have it in them, they know they are too good a side to have finished on the wrong end of four successive final appearances in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. In the last one, at the World Twenty20 final at home, they had West Indies 32 for 2 after ten overs and still blew it. Age was on Murray’s side; it is not on the side of these four Sri Lankan greats. On Sunday, they will begin one of their last attempts to not go down in history as one of the best collections of men to not have won a world title.Form guideNew Zealand: LWWLL (completed games, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LWWLL
Watch out for…Two new balls? Helpful conditions for the fast bowlers? MS Dhoni defeated South Africa primarily through the stranglehold of his spinners in the opening match of the tournament in Cardiff. New Zealand could possibly face the combination of Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis and Dilshan at the same ground. Tackling the lone English spinner in the one-dayers was one thing; even Suresh Raina bowled as many as six overs in Cardiff a couple of days ago. How the New Zealand batsmen go against the Sri Lanka spinners will be crucial to the outcome.There may not have been too much swing in Cardiff when India played South Africa, but there was lots of bounce, and a couple of India batsmen copped blows to their helmets. While New Zealand may not have someone with extreme pace, they would have had a look at how South Africa overdid the short ball against India, and will come with a better strategy against another side from the subcontinent. How well will the Sri Lanka batsmen deal with the bounce?Team newsNew Zealand are still sweating on the fitness of Daniel Vettori and to add to that, Grant Elliott has a calf injury. Brendon McCullum said he was waiting on both before finalising the team on the morning of the game.New Zealand (possible) 1 Luke Ronchi (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Eliott/Colin Munro, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 James Franklin, 8 Daniel Vettori/Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanSri Lanka have not spent much time together as a squad after the IPL, compared to New Zealand who have been in England for over a month. But they do not seem to have as many injury worries, last-minute flare-ups notwithstanding.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Angelo Mathews (capt), 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Jeevan Mendis/Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Lasith MalingaPitch and conditionsWhen AB de Villiers won the toss against India, the skies were heavy enough to make it a straightforward decision to bowl on a cold morning. Soon after India started their innings, the sun came out and Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma prospered. There was little swing, some seam, and bounce was the only testing thing to handle for the batsmen.Cardiff had terrific, clear weather on the eve of the match, and more of it is expected on Sunday, with a high of 21 degrees.Stats The last ODI Daniel Vettori played was the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The last international match he played, in September 2012, was also in Sri Lanka, during the World Twenty20 Sri Lanka and New Zealand have met three times in the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka won in 1998 and 2006, New Zealand in 2009 Seven of the eight completed ODIs at Cardiff have been won by the chasing side. Only India have won batting firstQuotes”I don’t know what it is that makes us do well in big tournaments. We give ourselves every chance and we seem to be thereabouts semi-final or finals stage. Whether it’s the nature of being able to bounce between different opposition and making sure that we’re well prepared, I’m not sure.”
“To me Lasith hasn’t put on that much weight. He’s very professional the way he goes about things and he knows exactly what to do and how to do it. He’s our premier bowler and he tries to give the maximum each time he walks into the middle.”

Michael Hussey has said he’d have liked an earlier crack at international cricket, but the long spell at the domestic level honed his game to perfection

Daniel Brettig30-Dec-2012No-one made more runs before being handed a baggy green cap than Michael Hussey, and it is highly likely that no-one ever will have to again. In addition to leaving an enormous hole in Australia’s batting order, Hussey’s exit from the game at 37 also poses a major question about the development of players capable of filling it.Was Hussey robbed of an even more illustrious career by a selection panel that scorned his talents until he was 30, or was the wonderfully dextrous and adaptable player he became a direct result of all those years spent honing his game for the opportunity? As he looked forward to more time at home, though he will continue to play for Western Australia and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Hussey said he wished he had been given an earlier chance, but reasoned that the completeness of his game and the maturity of his approach stemmed from the extra time he was left to shape it.”I would’ve loved to get an opportunity earlier, there’s no question about that,” Hussey said. “I would’ve maybe liked to go through what young players go through at international level where you come in, you’re so excited to be there, probably go through some hard times and then come out the other side a batter player.”But in a lot of ways it probably did help me to be able to perform consistently at international level, to have so much first-class cricket behind me. To learn about the game and learn about batting and learn about myself as a person, I think held me in very good stead when I came to the international game when there’s so many distractions externally, to be able to put them aside and concentration my game. Knowing what worked for me helped me definitely.”With Hussey soon to be gone from the team, Australia’s selectors are left to pick from the meagre batting options they have left. Usman Khawaja is part of the current squad and has worked at rounding out his game in the manner of Hussey, while the Twenty20 captain George Bailey has a fighter’s instinct and a leader’s brain and attitude, if not quite the record of batting achievement that suggests he will make as instant an impression at 30 as Hussey did after he debuted in 2005.Hussey’s most cherished moments

“The 2007 World Cup was just an amazing experience – the way the team played throughout that tournament was just incredible cricket,. So to be a part of that was absolutely fantastic and a huge highlight for me. Being part of an Ashes series where we won 5-0 here in Australia and to play with some of the true legends and greats of the game I’m really thrilled to play with these guys and to play in such a fantastic Ashes series like that. They’re the two that standout most to me over my career.
“From a personal point of view my favourite moment would be hitting the winning runs in the second Test in Adelaide in that Ashes series [in 2006]. I’m not sure how many I made that day, but that feeling I got, to win that amazing Test match and to be out there to hit the winning runs, was a fantastic honour.”

Hussey himself believes his 35-year-old brother David deserves a chance, while Chris Rogers is of the same age and the possessor of endless first-class experience in England. Other young batsmen like Joe Burns in Queensland, Kurtis Patterson in New South Wales, Alex Doolan in Tasmania and Peter Handscomb in Victoria will in time press their claims, but their readiness for international cricket and all its myriad challenges will depend on how – and for how long – they are groomed.A major reason for Hussey’s exit is that he is no longer prepared to separate himself from his family for the long tracts of time required by international tours, but another is the wearing down effect of Test match pressure, be it from opponents, media, supporters, team-mates and the man himself. The support Hussey has been given from the likes of his first-grade batting coach Ian Keevan, the former Northants coach Bob Carter, and his wife Amy allowed him to push through much of it, and those relationships were also built up over the years he spent waiting for his chance.”There’s so much pressure, stress and tension around international cricket, on all the guys,” Hussey said. “I’m amazed how the guys handle it at times. But I think it’s very important to have a good support network around you, people who keep believing in you all the time, and keep you in a positive frame of mind when sometimes it’s quite easy to get yourself down and put more pressure on yourself. I’m very lucky to have that network around me that’ve remained really positive and confident and believed in me.”It’s a little bit sad and I will miss certain parts of it. But there’s so much more to life than just playing cricket, and I have those fantastic memories, but there’s going to be a lot of things I certainly won’t miss, like the really sick feeling in the stomach when you have to go out and bat in a Test match, the constant time away from home, training, travel, hotels and airports. It does wear you down after a while.”It’s taken me a long time to learn how I play my best cricket. It’s going to be different for everyone, but for me personally when I do relax, when I do enjoy the game I just stick to my very good preparation, and I just know and believe I will perform.”Hussey’s final summer has been played without the self-imposed expectations he had previously lived with, for he knew that retirement at the end of the season was always his most likely path. That allowed him to relax and play his best, just as he did not gain a start for Australia until after he had virtually given up hope of earning one.”I do feel like the pressure’s been off a little bit,” he said. “I was very keen to do well in this particular summer. Like every summer I guess. But I felt like I could go out there with nothing to lose a little bit because I knew in my own mind that it was probably going to come to an end at the end of the Australian summer.”So I could play with a bit more freedom and just go out there and relax. Maybe there is a lesson in there to be learnt – I have always been someone that has put a lot of pressure on myself and tried sometimes too hard and when you just relax and play and enjoy the game, that’s when I’ve played my best cricket.”There is a lesson in that for all those who will follow Hussey into Australia’s Test team, one of many that can be learned from observing the career and achievements of a cricketer who tried to – and usually did – do everything right.

Sam Robson’s name has slipped down the list of potential England partners since the last of his seven Tests in August 2014.

George Dobell at Lord's17-Apr-2016
ScorecardSam Robson took advantage of Warwickshire’s early waywardness•Getty ImagesSam Robson’s name has slipped down the list of potential England partners since the last of his seven Tests in August 2014.But at Lord’s, against an attack with a good reputation and inserted on a damp April morning, he provided a reminder of his qualities with an assured century that has given Middlesex a strong platform in this match.Robson’s game is admirably simple. He cuts terrifically well, drives fluently and is efficient off his legs. That is every bit as strong a repertoire as Alastair Cook and he seems to have managed rather well.His problem in his spell in the Test side – his first spell we should probably say – in the summer of 2014 was some uncertainty on and outside off stump. Unsure whether to play or leave, he nicked off a few times early in the summer and was bowled in his final two innings, once as he left one that swung back into him. He passed 50 twice in 11 innings, including a century against Sri Lanka at Leeds.His experience of the life-cycle of an England player – the glare of the spotlight, the focus of the media and the disappointment of his axing – appeared to leave him struggling for equilibrium for a while. He had, until today, scored only one first-class century since he was dropped and, in a disappointing 2015 campaign, averaged a modest 30.72 in the Championship season.But here he showed a good defensive technique – and Keith Barker’s left-arm swing examines a batsman’s ability on the off stump as well as the best in county cricket – and an ability to punish the poor ball that suggested he had recovered his confidence in his style of play.”My off stump play is a strength of mine,” Robson said afterwards, “but, for a little while 18-months or two years ago, I went away from that a bit. But I’ve tried to strengthen it even more recently and I know I have to stick to my game and what I’m good at.”He also has a hunger for runs that is reminiscent of Cook, too. There was no sign of relief or relaxation once he reached his century. His next 10 runs were among his slowest of the innings and his determination to establish a match-defining position was impressive. His skills – patience, denial and accumulation – are not especially fashionable. But, in Test cricket at least, there is still a place for them. If he can sustain this start to the season, his time could yet come again.It would be premature to suggest he is ripe for a recall just yet. This Warwickshire attack, without the injured pair of Chris Woakes and Boyd Rankin (Rankin has “a niggle” in his side and will be assessed again in a couple of days, while Woakes has a minor strain behind his knee and is expected to be fit for the next match) bowled poorly before lunch and perhaps lacked the persistent pace to exploit any potential weakness against the short ball. On one of the few occasions Robson was tested, an attempted pull off Rikki Clarke flew off the top edge and perilously close to Chris Wright at fine leg.His opening partner, Nick Gubbins, was also impressive. While he, like Robson, was the beneficiary of some obliging bowling he played a couple of strokes – notably a back-foot force of a perfectly respectable ball from Wright – that hinted at unusual class. He, too, was troubled by Clarke’s bouncer – one attempted pull flew over the keeper’s head – but, that moment apart, he looked a player of considerable potential. It is no surprise that Middlesex felt they did not require Chris Rogers this season, or that Paul Stirling may be allowed to play on loan elsewhere in the coming weeks.Having effectively given Middlesex a 120-run lead – the score from 31 overs at lunch – Warwickshire tightened up considerably in the afternoon session. With the warmth of the sun appearing to quicken the pitch Wright struck twice in two deliveries, first taking Gubbins’ edge with one that appeared to surprise him with its pace and bounce and then, next delivery, having Nick Compton acrobatically caught off the shoulder of the bat as he pushed at one he could have left. It is unlikely one failure will have any adverse repercussions for his Test place, though Robson and Adam Lyth’s fine starts cannot be completely ignored.Later Dawid Malan left one from Barker that did not swing – he had been set-up by a series of balls leaving the bat – and Adam Voges played on, deceived by a little inswing. Had John Simpson, on 13, been taken by Ian Westwood at point off Clarke, Warwickshire might have felt they were back in the game.As it was, Robson – who scored 175 out of 317 on the day – continued to cut and drive his way merrily and needs only 25 more for his second double-century against this opposition. It could well prove a match-winning contribution.Ian Bell admitted that, in hindsight, his decision to bowl first was probably an error. He also knows that, with no heavy roller in use in this match, the indentations made on the first day on a damp surface could become problematic for batsmen later in the game.”We weren’t at our best before lunch,” he said. “And Robson has played very well. It was a 50-50 decision to have a toss. There had been a lot of rain around London in recent days and the covers were on all day yesterday. There was frost on them this morning.”It did enough, but were didn’t get enough balls in the right area. In hindsight, I’d probably have the toss, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

Trent Boult has been ruled out of the one-day series against England due to a side strain, putting in doubt his participation for the Champions Trophy, and will be replaced by Ian Butler for the one-day series that starts on Friday

Andrew McGlashan30-May-2013Trent Boult has been ruled out of the one-day series against England and the Champions Trophy due to a side strain. Ian Butler has been called into the New Zealand squad, in Boult’s place, for the two tournaments.*Left-arm pacer Boult picked up the injury early in England’s second innings at Headingley where he bowled just two overs. An MRI scan on Wednesday confirmed the initial diagnosis of a muscle tear in his right side and he is expected to make a full recovery in six to eight weeks.Boult was one of New Zealand’s standout performers in the Test series against England, taking 5 for 57 in the first innings of the second Test, and could have been a threat in the one-day matches although his record of six wickets in eight matches means he was by no means a certain starter with the return of Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan.Butler does not have far to travel to link up with the squad as he was already in the UK playing for the Lashings side. He hasn’t played a one-day international since February 2010 although was recalled to the Twenty20 side to face England earlier this year. In 26 ODIs he has 28 wickets at 37.07.Boult is the second player from New Zealand’s one-day squad to be hit by injury after Andrew Ellis suffered a fractured rib and was replaced by Doug Bracewell.Although the injuries are not ideal for New Zealand they are able to welcome back plenty of experience to their one-day squad as they aim to recover from the two heavy Test defeats at Lord’s and Headingley. Mills, Grant Elliott and James Franklin are back in the mix, but the most significant return could be that of Daniel Vettori who New Zealand attempted to have ready for the second Test before both parties conceded it wouldn’t be possible.Vettori, who played his previous ODI at the 2011 World Cup, does not believe the outcome of the Test series will have much bearing on the limited-overs leg of the tour and drew on New Zealand’s previous experiences in England of 2004 and 2008 when they responded by winning the one-day series which followed the Tests.”This is a completely different format and there’s a more comfortable feel with the one-day matches,” he said. “The guys know their game and have put in some good performances – looking back to that South African series, of recent note.”So I think the guys go into this format a lot more comfortable, and that’s been the same for a number of years. There’s a lot of experienced one-day internationals coming back into the team. I think that helps … a lot of the guys feel pretty good about their one-day game.”*09.15GMT, May 31: This article has been updated after news of the ICC’s technical committee approval of Ian Butler arrived

Victory for Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street last season did not stop Durham ultimately winning the Championship but Andrew Gale will feel there is no harm in setting down a marker again

Jon Culley in Chester-le-Street04-May-2014
ScorecardGraham Onions was repelled for once on his favourite hunting ground•Getty ImagesVictory for Yorkshire in this match last season did not stop Durham ultimately winning the Championship but Andrew Gale will feel there is no harm in setting down a marker again, not least with the wounds inflicted at Scarborough last August still feeling raw. It was there that Durham effectively clinched the title.Joe Root’s second-innings 182 was at the heart of Yorkshire’s April win. In the first innings they had been bowled out for 177, which was as good almost as any visiting team fared in the bowler-friendly conditions that are the norm at Chester-le-Street. Only Warwickshire topped 200 all season, and even then only just.Yorkshire will use that as they measure of their performance this time. Not since Lancashire in May 2011 have Durham conceded 300 first-innings runs to anyone here yet Yorkshire stand just one run away and only three men down, a handsome reward for Andrew Gale’s boldness in choosing to bat first. Gale does not shy away from tough decisions, as he demonstrated last week at Lord’s, when the name omitted from the scorecard to accommodate Root was his.There is no Root this time, of course, following his selection, along with Gary Ballance, for the opening one-day international of the summer. They might see little more of them, which will make their performance here doubly reassuring if they are again to sustain a title bid.Jonny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan are back, at least for the moment, although it was to Adam Lyth and Kane Williamson that Gale was indebted for supporting his bravery. Lyth made his ninth first-class century, batting with a level of self-restraint that goes against his natural instincts; Williamson very nearly matched it.Lyth was not flawless, although with plenty in the pitch and the atmospheric conditions to interest the bowlers that came as no surprise. Of his streaky moments, the streakiest came when he was on 88, when an edge off Mark Wood flew high to Scott Borthwick, who parried the ball high enough for Paul Collingwood to scamper round from first, hoping to catch it coming down. He got his hands to it but it did not stick.Yet the left-hander did not take risks unduly, curbing his aggression for much longer periods than is his normal habit. He picked up a boundary, squirted off the edge, in the first over of the day but had faced 69 balls before he hit another. When he did attack, though, he made it pay, gathering 15 fours along the way.He was out just after tea, a little tamely in the end, pushing at a ball from Jamie Harrison he might have left alone, to be caught at second slip. By then Yorkshire had claimed their first point. Williamson, solid where Gale scratched around at the other end, guided them to a second before on 97, equalling his best so far for Yorkshire — in the Scarborough match, as it happens — he drove at a full-length delivery from Chris Rushworth, in his first over with the second new ball, and was bowled through the gate.Durham, it should be pointed out, bowled well short of their usual standards. Graham Onions, who took five first-innings wickets in this match last April, struggled with his line and length and while Harrison and Rushworth looked threatening sporadically, no one in the home attack achieved any consistency.They did not catch that well, either. Apart from giving Lyth a life, they allowed Williamson to escape on 92, when Phil Mustard, diving to his right, dropped a low chance offered off Mark Wood’s bowling. And a forgettable day for Onions was compounded when Gale, on 13, edged at comfortable height to third slip where Kumar Sangakkara, on his Durham debut, had the ball in his grasp only to let it pop out again.

A 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak

The Report by Firdose Moonda22-Nov-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Akmal helped Pakistan break a six-match winless streak•Getty ImagesA 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak. With both batsmen enjoying their first half-centuries in 13 innings, South Africa were required to chase the second-highest total in T20s at Newlands.The hosts started as though they would get there but their innings was halted by Pakistan’s spinners, led by Shahid Afridi who took the first three wickets. Bilawal Bhatti, in just his second match, showed the variations needed to stem the run flow of runs so that even a 34-run blitz in two overs by David Miller and JP Duminy at the end was not enough, with Sohail Tanvir bowling low full tosses at the death.The example for seamers was set by Bhatti, who used both the yorker and the slower ball bouncer to good effect, unlike South Africa’s seamers. They lacked the control that is usually provided by Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn started well but both fell into an over-reliance on the short-ball.This time, Pakistan’s openers were able to deal with them comfortably. They saw off the barrage and attacked the rest. Nasir Jamshed showed ominous signs when he tore into both South Africa’s front-liners.Ahmed Shehzad was equally confident but he slashed at Wayne Parnell’s first ball and was caught at slip. That over turned into a wicket maiden as Mohammad Hafeez gave himself time to settle in.The next shot in anger was off a free-hit, when Parnell overstepped and Hafeez sent his bouncer into the stands. Jamshed tried to charge Aaron Phangiso, off the first ball of spin he faced, and was stumped, to allow South Africa to pull Pakistan back to a scoring rate of under six an over before Hafeez really got going.He beat Steyn at short third man to hit his first four, played a delicate leg glance off David Wiese and then launched Phangiso for two straight sixes down the ground. Akmal started his boundary count with a similar shot. Hafeez brought up his half-century – the first of this marathon limited-overs series against South Africa – with a sweep off Duminy.With the spinners nothing but cannon fodder, Faf du Plessis brought back Wiese but he could not land two balls in the same area. Morkel’s third over was similarly wayward. He pitched it up and Akmal hit him for six, he went short and wide and Akmal did the same, just with a different shot. Parnell was also unable to contain and it was only when Steyn came back that runs dried up.Hafeez was caught at mid-of, trying to hit Steyn over the top and that slowed Pakistan down. They promoted Shahid Afridi up the order in the hope of finishing strongly but he was horribly out of touch. He played and missed at most of the next over before handing back to Akmal.While Afridi was a liability to Pakistan at the end, and they managed just 31 runs in the last four overs, he made up for it with the ball.Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock seemed up for the task as they motored their way to 49 runs in the first five overs. De Kock played the expansive shots, a drive through extra cover, a pull off Junaid Khan, while Amla accumulated runs with the fine-tuned placement and timing he is known for.Saeed Ajmal kept things quiet in the last over of the Powerplay before Bhatti continued his impressive start to international cricket. Nine runs came off their first two overs and it was enough to prompt de Kock into going for a big shot.He tried to slog sweep Afridi’s first ball but did not get enough on it and Jamshed took a good catch at fine leg to give Pakistan their first breakthrough. Bhatti kept up the strangulation with an array of short balls and varied pace to frustrate du Plessis.In Afridi’s next over, de Plessis pulled to deep midwicket to take the catch. With AB de Villiers still at the crease, South Africa’s hopes stayed alive. But when he tried to be innovative against Afridi, he failed. De Villiers stepped outside the leg stump and was bowled.South Africa needed 90 runs off 51 balls and despite Amla and Duminy’s efforts to work the ball around and find the occasional boundary, the required run-rate became too great. Miller and Duminy turned it on against an out of sorts Junaid Khan as the end approached to leave themselves with 17 runs to get off the last over.Tanvir took the pace off while keeping his length full to ensure Pakistan squared the series and moved up to No.4 on the rankings. South Africa have dropped from second to third.

Hampshire demolished Scotland by nine wickets with almost 25 overs to spare in a remarkably one-sided game in Glasgow.

13-Aug-2013
ScorecardJames Vince saw Hampshire canter to their target•Getty ImagesHampshire demolished Scotland by nine wickets with almost 25 overs to spare in a remarkably one-sided game in Glasgow.Scotland were put in and crumbled to 136 all out, with only Gordon Goudie’s late run-a-ball 26 providing a trace of respectability. James Vince then cracked an unbeaten 75 from 52 as Hampshire reached their target from the first ball of the 16th over for the loss of only Michael Carberry, who made 45 from 27.Scotland struggled from the outset, losing Freddie Coleman in the second over when he was trapped lbw by Dimitri Mascarenhas. Richie Berrington fell for a duck and Calum MacLeod made just 3 as the hosts slipped to 23 for 3 before Hamish Gardiner and captain Preston Mommsen put on 37 for the fourth wicket, albeit in almost 14 overs.Gardiner’s top score of 29 occupied 61 balls before he was dismissed by Danny Briggs, who removed Moneeb Iqbal in his next over for figures of 2 for 35. Mommsen was run out for 21, off 50 deliveries, and it was left to Goudie and wicketkeeper Matthew Cross to try and salvage the innings. Mascarenhas, Chris Wood and Sohail Tanvir all took two wickets apiece.Both Vince and Carberry found the boundary as 14 runs came from the first over of Hampshire’s reply, and their opening stand reached 50 inside seven overs. Goudie’s third over yielded three boundaries and Vice’s half-century but Carberry was stumped five short of the same landmark after a stand of 98.But Vince found the ropes twice more off Majid Haq in the next over and won the match with his 12th four as he and Jimmy Adams wrapped up victory.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola saw his side have just two shots against Aston Villa, the fewest ever by a team under his management.

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City lost 1-0 at Villa ParkChampions had just two shots on goalTitle race wide openWHAT HAPPENED?

City were roundly outplayed by Villa on Wednesday evening in a 1-0 defeat away from home. The Premier League champions had just two shots on goal, the fewest ever recorded by a team managed by Guardiola. Villa, by comparison, had 22 shots, the joint-most faced by a Guardiola side in his career, per .

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City have been in poor form in recent weeks and have failed to win their last four games. The defeat to Villa has followed draws with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, and has left them six points behind leaders Arsenal. They are also now two points behind fourth-placed Villa, who leapfrogged them in the table.

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The two shots recorded by City came within seconds of each other, as Erling Haaland first saw a shot and then a header saved by Emiliano Martinez. After the 11th minute, the champions failed to test the opposition goalkeeper, and Leon Bailey's goal proved decisive.

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The champions must refocus. They have not gone on a run of four games without a win since before Guardiola was manager. They face Luton Town this weekend and will be out to break their unwanted streak.

A natural progression, business expansion, brand synergy and an attractive fan presence are the main reasons that convinced owners of Kolkata Knight Riders to buy total ownership of the Trinidad & Tobago franchise in the Caribbean Premier League

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Jun-20154:59

‘CPL has all the ingredients for success’ – Mysore

A natural progression, business expansion, brand synergy and an attractive fan presence are the main reasons the owners of Kolkata Knight Riders bought total ownership of the Trinidad & Tobago franchise in the Caribbean Premier League. The deal raised curiosity because it was the first time an IPL franchise had invested in an overseas league.The majority shareholders of Knight Riders are Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri, who own 55% of the franchise, with the remainder held by the Sea Island group, a family-owned trust of Jay Mehta, husband of Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla.According to Venky Mysore, the chief executive of Knight Riders, T&T Red Steel was the best place to invest from the perspective of crowds, sponsorship opportunities, the rich cricketing tradition in the region, and the talent base. “Forty percent of the population in Trinidad & Tobago is of Indian origin. There is a very strong connect of those people to Bollywood,” Mysore said. “And they are all extremely big Shah Rukh fans. And Trinidad is among the most advanced economies in the Caribbean.”Mysore said his vision had always been to expand the Knight Riders brand and go beyond the IPL in terms of earning revenues. One of the ways was to globalise and the CPL opportunity came at the right time. Peter Russell, the CPL’s chief operating officer, traveled to India during this IPL to meet Mysore and place the deal on the table.In 2013, Mysore had rejected a proposal from the CPL because the “timing” was wrong. “There were people involved at that stage with the league [CPL] with whom we did not vibe well so we let it pass.”So what convinced him the second time? “There has to be a strategic fit, firstly. Secondly, you have to figure out if it is a viable business. If the answer is yes, you take it forward,” Mysore said, adding he had rejected similar proposals from various organisers of franchise-based tournaments in other sports who had approached him to leverage the value and reach of the Knights Riders’ brand.The day the T&T deal was made public, the news made the front page of most of the newspapers in the country. Few days later, Mysore was in a meeting with Shah Rukh when he received the call from Trinidad. It was Gerald Hadeed, who holds the twin portfolios of communications and tourism in the T&T government.Hadeed extended support to Mysore and said he and his country were looking forward to seeing Shah Rukh soon. Hadeed was subsequently elated when Shah Rukh personally accepted the invitation over the call and said he would try to come for a couple of matches this CPL. According to Mysore, Shah Rukh is “extremely kicked” about the CPL deal.Mysore, who is in the Caribbean for the season launch, is already thinking of making some plans: changing the franchise name from T&T Red Steel to T&T Knight Riders, as well as changing the kit to purple and gold. “We will be very careful in making sure when we go out there we are not imposing ourselves. We know the business. But our aim would be to let us learn the environment first and how to manage it and what are the sensitivities there.”Mysore is not only looking at this as a business expansion into an overseas market but also as an expansion of the fan base to the Indian origin fans from the Caribbean to the strong Indian diaspora in North America, which falls in the same timezone.Mysore is aware that the CPL is working hard towards increasing the Indian presence and viewership. “If we are able to impact that and influence that we will do that. Our role is to go in and say let us partner. Let us figure out how we can bring in the best practices of what we have done into an environment which is very exciting.”Mysore pointed out that apart from the look and feel – logo, name, uniform – it will be the cricket that will attract further business. “If you are able to make an impact, Indian brands will get interested in that property, especially brands that are interested in that market place. Another ancillary excitement for me is that this league is in the best position to tap into the US market. They are in the same time zone.”It is also a case of synergising and leveraging the various brands Shah Rukh & co own. “We are in the entertainment space. So how do we disseminate entertainment? You have to be aware of the different platforms on which this entertainment is being disseminated and consumed.”That is where the synergies come in. We are going to be in Kolkata. We are going to be playing in the Caribbean. We are going to be say playing in the US. At the same time if we are launching a movie. Now Shah Rukh is huge in international market and by far the bigger than any star in India. So this [CPL] gives us a platform to market as well in many ways when you think about the business.”