No surprises as T20 heads into Super Eights

September 26, 2012

top_eight_team

There were no jitters for the big teams in the first round of the World Twenty20, as all eight of them cruised into the Super Eights starting from Thursday.

Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh failed to spring a surprise before bowing out in the group stage.

With the Super Eights split into two groups, Group 2 looks marginally more challenging, with South Africa, Australia and former champions India and Pakistan in the chase for semifinal berths.

All four Group 2 teams won their first round matches while West Indies is the only team to progress without a victory, doing so on superior run-rate after its matches against Australia (loss) and Ireland (abandoned) were affected by rain.

The three subcontinent teams India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be relying heavily on their spinners.

Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis broke his own world record with staggering figures of 6-8 against Zimbabwe.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh returned after a year out with an impressive four-wicket haul against England, as India shot out the defending champ for only 80 after posting 170-4.

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal also took four wickets against New Zealand and denied the Black Caps a victory with two wickets in the last over.

The Asian teams’ pacemen struggled to curtail the flow of runs, but there was no such headache for South Africa, New Zealand and England.

South Africa’s Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel bowled with lot of verve and Sri Lanka lost its rain-curtailed seven-overs-a-side match against the Proteas by 32 runs.

New Zealand’s Kyle Mills and Tim Southee knocked over Bangladesh’s top-order with six wickets between them after Brendon McCullum smashed a best-ever T20 innings of 123 off 72 balls.

New Zealand has the advantage of knowing the conditions well at Pallekele as it played both of its first round matches there.

Kiwis skipper Ross Taylor hoped his batsmen will also show as much aggression against the Sri Lanka spinners as they did against Bangladesh.

“The main message is to be aggressive and not let them settle,” Taylor said. “The two games that we’ve had against Pakistan and Bangladesh, there was one short boundary and one big boundary ... if there is a short boundary then we need to attack that.”

A host team has yet to win the World Twenty20, but Sri Lanka hopes to end that jinx thanks to Mendis, Lasith Malinga, captain Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.

Mendis missed the rain-shortened game against South Africa due to a side strain during his record-breaking performance against Zimbabwe. Coach Graham Ford said it would be a setback if Mendis could not recover for Thursday’s match.

“With the way he bowled and the x-factor he brings, it would be a big blow,” Ford said. “In T20 cricket you want guys who can win matches on their own and he’s one of those guys.”

Led by Luke Wright’s brilliant 99, England’s top-order flourished against the mediocre bowling attack of Afghanistan before it hit rock bottom against Indian spinners at Colombo.

There will be no letup for them in the Super Eights, where they will face the likes of Mendis and West Indies’ off-spinner Sunil Narine.

“I think it’s important for the batsmen to get back into the nets and feel hitting the ball again. It’s all a state of mind, getting yourself back into a positive frame,” England captain Stuart Broad said.

West Indies’ batting reputation precedes it, so much of its hopes rest on Narine helping to restrict opponents.

“Sunil is our trump card, he has done well for us in this format and hopefully he could have a big impact on the English batting line-up,” captain Darren Sammy said. “We definitely look to bowl spin against them, but we have quality seam bowlers up front in Fidel (Edwards) and (Ravi) Rampaul.”

Pakistan has problems with its pacemen, but its top-order batsmen all have showed decent form, with Imran Nazir smashing 72 against Bangladesh and Nasir Jamshed scoring 56 against New Zealand. Captain Mohammad Hafeez also played useful knocks of 43 and 45.

Pakistan struggles when chasing a target. Although it successfully chased down 176 on Tuesday against Bangladesh for the loss of only two wickets, the competition is much stronger from here on.

“In the pace bowling department there’s probably a bit of an issue with the implementation of the basics,” Hafeez said. “Mohammad Akram (the bowling coach) is working hard at this, but sometimes things just don’t work out.”



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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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News Network
April 22,2020

Dhaka, Apr 22: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has decided to auction the bat he used during the 2019 ODI World Cup to help raise money for the fight against deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Shakib, who is currently serving a two-year ban from all forms of cricket -- one of which is suspended -- for not reporting corrupt approaches, is the second Bangladeshi cricketer after wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim to auction a personal cricketing gear to raise money for the cause.

"I had said before that I want to put up a bat for auction. I have decided to auction the bat I used in the 2019 World Cup. It's a favourite bat of mine," Shakib said during a Facebook live session.

The 33-year-old all-rounder had a hugely successful World Cup in England last year, scoring 606 runs in eight matches at an average of 86.57, which included two centuries and five fifties.

Besides, he also picked up 11 wickets in the tournament and became the only cricketer to score 600 plus runs and scalp 10 wickets in a single edition of the World Cup.

"I had a good World cup with the bat and ball. There were some good performances especially with the bat. I had used a single bat throughout the World Cup and even used tapes on it to get through games," Shakib said.

"It's not that this bat has only been used at the World Cup. I have scored over 1500 runs with this bat and had used it prior to the tournament and after it as well.

"Although I like the bat a lot but I have decided to put it up for auction with the thought that maybe it can leave some contribution to forming a fund during the ongoing coronavirus crisis."

The money raised from the auction will go to the Shakib Al Hasan foundation.

"This is a very special bat to me, but my people are even more special to me," Shakib said.

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: As devotees across the world celebrate Easter today, former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday condoled the demise of people who lost their lives during last year's Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka and said someone must seek answers to the questions which still remain unresolved.

"A year on we all share the pain of the families grieving lives lost, we stand with you and for you. We remember. So many questions still unanswered, but answer them someone must," Sangakkara tweeted.

On April 21, 2019, multiple blasts ripped through Sri Lanka when the Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday.
The explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels across the country, killing 258 people and injuring over 500.

A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama'ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.

The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.

The Sri Lankan police had then said that 293 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings in the island country in April.

This year, most of the devotees would be offering the prayers from their homes as mass gatherings have been suspended in most countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion on Good Friday. It also marks the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance.

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