April 19, 2017 issue |
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Cricket |
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Indian Premier League – Fixtures, Results and Points table as at April 18 | |
Teams Abbreviations: SH – Sunrisers Hyderabad; KKR – Kolkatta Knoght Riders RCB – Royal Challengers Bangalore; GL – Gujarat Lions RPS – Rising Pune Supergiant; MI – Mumbai Indians KXI P – Kings XI Punjab; DD – Delhi Daredevils |
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Wed Apr 5 (14:30 GMT), 1st match - SH v RCB, Pune |
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Points Table | |
Bangladesh win Twenty20 despite Malinga's hattrick | |
Lasith Malinga | |
Lasith Malinga became the fifth man to take a Twenty20 international hat-trick but it was not enough to prevent Sri Lanka losing the second Twenty20 by 45 runs to Bangladesh. The paceman bowled Mushfiqur Rahim and Mashrafe Mortaza before trapping Mehedi Hasan lbw in his final over to finish with 3-34 as the tourists made 176-9. It was the 33-year-old's sixth game back following a year out injured. Chamara Kapugedera struck 50 in the reply but Mustafizur Rahman's 4-21 helped dismiss the home side for 131. The result ended an eight-match losing streak for Bangladesh and meant the two-match series was drawn after the hosts won the opener by six wickets on April 4. Shakib Al Hasan top scored for Bangladesh with 38 off 31 balls after Imrul Kayes (36) and Soumya Sarkar (34) had put on 71 for the first wicket. Shakib also starred with the ball, claiming 3-24 off his four overs, including the wickets of both Sri Lanka openers, Kusal Perera and Dilshan Munaweera. Malinga has taken four international hat-tricks and 89 Twenty20 wickets for his country. He retired from Test cricket in 2011, having claimed 101 wickets, and has 291 in 191 one-day international appearances. |
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Afghan’s Rashid Khan: 2-1-3-5, gets Caribbean Twenty20 deal |
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Rashid Khan and Afghanistan cricket are having the time of their lives in 2017. The period from February to March has been a golden one for both. During the 2017 Indian Premier League auction, Rashid Khan became the highest paid cricketer from an Associate nation in the history of the tournament when he was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore. The 18-year-old legspinner has continued to make giant strides in March during the Twenty20 series against Ireland in Greater Noida. During the second game, Afghanistan had notched up 184/8 and Ireland had to chase a target of 111 in 11 overs. At 68/3, they looked comfortable but Rashid changed the whole course of the match when he took five wickets in nine balls to end up with outstanding figures of 2-1-3-5. His haul helped Afghanistan secured their 10th consecutive victory in Twenty20 Internationals, the best by any team. Rashid’s figures are the best by an Afghanistan bowler in this format and overall, it is the fifth-best by any bowler. Rashid’s performances have gotten the whole world talking. Following his acquisition in the Indian Premier League and his haul against Ireland, the Afghanistan leg-spinner has charted a new course when he was snapped up by the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League. The performance of the 18-year-old legspinner, combined with Mohammad Nabi’s inclusion in both the IPL and the CPL, is a sign off great things for Afghanistan cricket. With a record streak in T20Is, the team will only be aiming higher as 2017 progresses. |
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Clique has 'hijacked' Windies cricket, argues T&T PM | |
T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley | |
Port of Spain, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has accused a small leadership clique of “hijacking” West Indies cricket and argues that unless fundamental changes are made in the area of governance, the region will continue to languish behind the rest of the cricketing world. The outspoken regional leader, who in the past has been critical of the West Indies Cricket Board’s management of the sport, said the issue of ownership also remained a critical issue in the resolution of the crisis facing the game in the Caribbean. “Caribbean cricket has been hijacked by a small clique of people who are hell bent on destroying Caribbean cricket and my position [is], unless the question is answered as to who owns that asset, we’re spinning top in mud,” Rowley told CNC 3’s morning television show. “In Pakistan and in Australia that question has been answered and new arrangements were put in place and they rebuilt their team under new arrangements". “We’re being told in the West Indies – and I was told to my face along with my colleague the Prime Minister of Grenada [Dr Keith Mitchell] that you (Caricom) have no say in this. This is West Indies Cricket Inc. and it is their shareholders they have to please.” He added: “I don’t know who the shareholders are but what I do know, is that unless there are drastic changes to the current arrangements, West Indies cricket will never get back where we expect it to be.” West Indies cricket has been in the doldrums for nearly two decades now, plagued by poor results on the field and player tensions with the WICB, and occasionally player strikes. The Test team currently sits in the nether regions of the international rankings at number eight while the one-day team is ninth, behind sides like Bangladesh and Pakistan. That lowly rank caused them to miss out on qualification for this year’s Champions Trophy and unless they can creep into the top seven in the world by September 30, they will also miss out on automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup. With the game immersed in conflict, a Governance Review Panel chaired by UWI Cave Hill principal, Professor Eudine Barriteau and commissioned by regional nation grouping, Caricom, recommended the “immediate dissolution” of the WICB in a 2015 report, arguing the body’s governance structure was “obsolete” and “anachronistic”. The report called for the “appointment of an interim board whose structure and composition will be radically different from the now proven, obsolete governance framework.” However, the WICB was quick to reject the report, labelling the proposal as an “unnecessary and intrusive demand. Since then, Caricom and the WICB have remained at odds over the way forward. Rowley pointed out that the decline of Caribbean cricket was underscored by the state of first class cricket, which has ceased to be attractive to the public. “For me, growing up in this country and lining up outside the Oval from 6 o’clock in the morning to get in, that’s how cricket used to be, and Barbados is playing Trinidad and Tobago and the Oval is full because you have to beat those Bajans,” recalled Rowley. “And now you’re passing outside the Oval and you’re asking what is happening in there. You know how painful that is.” |
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Centurion Malik, Hafeez lead Pakistan to 2-1 ODI series win against West Indies | |
Shoaib Malik (left) and Mohammad Hafeez run for a single during the third One Day International against the West Indies. | |
A sublime Shoaib Malik century and equally responsible knock from Mohammad Hafeez inspired Pakistan to a six-wicket win in the third and final one-day against the West Indies at the Providence Stadium, in Guyana, on April 10. Pakistan also clinched the series 2-1. Chasing 234, Pakistan were reeling at 36-3 when Malik joined Hafeez in a decisive partnership of 113 in 128 balls to tilt the balance in favour of the tourists, who protected their 26-year unbeaten streak against the West Indies and also remained eighth in the ICC team rankings. Man of the match Malik ended the game in style by completing a ninth ODI hundred by hoisting West Indies captain Jason Holder for a six. Malik’s 111-ball effort included 10 fours and two sixes. Hafeez scored 81 off 86 balls with eight fours and two sixes after the in-form Babar Azam was among three casualties upfront, edging Shannon Gabriel on to the stumps for 16. Earlier Kamran Akmal scooped a catch to covers on the first ball of the chase and Ahmed Shehzad was brilliantly held low to his right by Shai Hope. It was then left to Malik and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (24) to see Pakistan home with 41 balls left in an unbroken stand of 87. Earlier, Shai Hope and Jason Mohammed lifted the home side to 233-9 after Holder won his third successive toss, but unlike the opening two fixtures opted to bat first after the start was momentarily delayed by a passing shower. Hope and Mohammed, who both hit half-centuries, put on 101 after West Indies had slipped to 68-3 in the 19th over. Hope compiled 71 from 112 balls while striking one boundary and two sixes. Mohammed was more enterprising, making 59 off 64 deliveries with five fours and two sixes. Imad Wasim was easily the pick of the bowlers with 1-24 in 10 overs, while Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan claimed two wickets each. |
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2017 CPL matches to be played in Florida's Lauderhill | |
Four Caribbean Premier League games will be played in the USA this year, as Florida’s Central Broward Regional Park has been approved by the ICC to host the T20 league’s matches. The stadium in Lauderhill, which remains the USA’s only ground to have ODI and T20I certification by the ICC, will host two matches fewer than last year’s tally of six. CPL officials announced the development after receiving permission from the ICC – who is the approving authority, while USACA remains suspended – to host the event in Lauderhill. The 2017 edition of the tournament will be held from August 4 to September 10. A source at the Central Broward Regional Park has told ESPNcricinfo that the CPL has reserved Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6, to play two double-headers beginning at 10am and 2pm each day. However, after the Thursday and Friday matches in 2016 struggled to break 50% capacity, with 10,000 tickets allowed for each game, there are no matches scheduled for weekdays this time around. In contrast, the two weekend double-headers that followed on July 30 and 31 were played in front of virtual sellout crowds as an overwhelming number of out of town fans came to Lauderhill, particularly from New York and Toronto. The stadium source also told ESPNcricinfo that only four CPL teams will be coming to Florida this summer, rather than all six as was the case last year. It is as yet unknown which two teams will skip the USA leg. The time slots for the Saturday and Sunday double-headers have also been pushed forward by two hours – the weekend matches in 2016 began at 12pm and 4pm local time – ostensibly in an effort to better capitalise on TV audiences in the Asian subcontinent where the first game would air at 7.30 pm in India and 7pm in Pakistan. This would be similar to the 10am start that the India-West Indies T20I series in Lauderhill followed. Earlier, ESPNcricinfo had reported that CPL officials had asked Broward County Parks for two sets of week-long time frames to be blocked off in August for possible use for the tournament. The matches in 2016, played in July, were the first revenue-generating cricket to come to the ground in four years and increased interest in the India-West Indies T20I match in the following month. |
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Afghan wicketkeeper Shahzad tests positive for clenbuterol | |
Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad will be provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council after failing a drugs test. A sample taken at an out-of-competition test in January was found to contain anabolic agent clenbuterol. Shahzad, 29, will be provisionally suspended from 26 April - unless he challenges the decision - pending the outcome of the disciplinary process. His 116 internationals are split evenly between ODIs and Twenty20 matches. Shahzad is Afghanistan's leading run scorer in T20s and holds their record score in both ODIs and T20s. Clenbuterol is used to treat asthma but can also help build lean muscle mass and burn off fat. The maximum ban Shahzad could face is four years, but the starting point will be two years if he can prove the violation was not intentional. |
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Tigers win their 100th Test | |
Second Test, Colombo, March 15-19 Sri Lanka 338 & 319: Karunaratne 126, D Perera 50 Bangladesh 467 & 191-6: Tamim 82 Bangladesh win by four wickets - series level at 1-1 |
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Bangladesh celebrated their 100th Test with only their ninth ever victory - and their first against Sri Lanka - in Colombo. Opener Tamim Iqbal made 82 and Sabbir Rahman 41 in a third-wicket stand of 109 as the tourists successfully chased a target of 191 on the final day of the second Test. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (22*) kept his nerve after some middle-order wickets to see his side over the line for a four-wicket win, ensuring the two-match series was drawn. The victory continues Bangladesh's improvement in the longest format after they also beat England in October. Prior to that victory over Alastair Cook's England, Bangladesh had only beaten Zimbabwe and a weakened West Indies team in Test cricket. The Tigers also became only the fourth team to win their 100th Test, after Australia, Pakistan and West Indies. |
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Bangladesh club bowler concedes 92 runs in 4 balls |
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A Bangladeshi cricket team conceded 92 runs in the space of four balls to deliberately lose a match in a protest over umpiring. Lalmatia Club were dismissed for 88 in 14 overs last week Tuesday before bowler Sujon Mahmud sent down just four legitimate deliveries, despite bowling 20 balls. Three deliveries were no-balls and 13 were wides – all of which raced to the boundary, costing his side 80 runs. The four legal deliveries were hit for 12 runs by Axiom opener Mustafizur Rahman (not the Bangladesh Test bowler of the same name) as they completed a 10-wicket win in 0.4 overs. Club secretary Adnan Rahman said the deliveries were part of a protest against poor umpiring in the Dhaka Second Division League, and that his team's captain was not allowed to see the coin after the toss. The Bangladesh Cricket Board, which organises club cricket in Dhaka, told AFP they had asked match officials to submit a report before launching a formal investigation. The most runs conceded in a Test innings is Australian left-arm wrist-spinner Chuck Fleetwood-Smith's 1-298, which came from 87 overs against England in 1938. |
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