Daily Sports News

Bangladesh Cricket Board approved to confront England for a day-night test match held next year in England. This match would be the first day-night test ever played with the support of International Cricket Council. Bangladesh will play two test matches with England in May and June 2010 in Headingley.

One of the tests matches is allocated in Lord’s. Day and night idea is yet to obtain official approval from ICC. One of the predominant fears from the side of sports officials was over the color of ball to be use. In fact, white ball is exercise through day- night one- day internationals but not realistic to use white ball when players wear white for Test match, even though both pink and orange balls are been suggested and tried out but  they believes to be inappropriate. Bangladesh Cricket Board extended the contract with Australian Coach Jamie Siddons until 2011 World Cup. He joined as a couch of Bangladesh team In November 2007.

Australia beat England in the third one- day international in Nat West at Rose Bowl to take a lead of 3-0 in seven match series. Cameron White strike his first ODI century a prime mover for Australia’s victory. England won the toss and decided to take the first strike they congregated 228-9.

Match- winning joint venture by White 105 and Michael Clarke 52 added 143 runs made easy for Australia to win. White’s century included of one six and nine fours batted coolly right through the match. England batted inadequately in all the three series. In spite of this captain decided to bat first. England did not loose their heart and they remained determined with the final score 228 with the loss of nine wickets. England did set some calculated sort of target to try to defend the team. With the win, Australia is in leading position in the seven matches of one-day series. On the other hand, England does have a lot many issues to struggle about it. Aussie striking lead indicates of getting Champions Trophy.

Finally the 75 year wait is over; an Ashes test victory at Lords for England over rivals Australia at Lords. England are now 1-0 ahead in the Ashes as the first test at Cardiff resulted in a draw.

England gave the visitors a mammoth target of 552 to win, but Australia was bowled out by England for 406 in the post lunch session on the fifth day. The day belonged to Andrew Flintoff who just before the start of the match announced his retirement from test cricket after the ongoing Ashes series. He took five wickets in 27 over’s giving away just 115 runs with three on the fifth day. This is Flintoff’s third five wicket haul in test career of 77 matches. He was also awarded the Man of the match for his excellent effort.

Michael Clarke’s effort in the form of 136 runs to rescue Australia went in vain as the Aussie batting tumbled against England. There was good support from Off-spinner Graeme Swann who took four wickets for 87 runs.

A generous Ricky Ponting accepted defeat with grace and in a post match interview said that the Aussie team was outplayed by England from the very first delivery of the match. He also added that he looks forward to the next test at Edgbaston and his team would come back strongly in the third test. The biggest concern for the Punter is now his bowling attack, especially Mitchell Johnson.

SCORECARD

The Ashes 2009 – 2nd Test, Australia vs England,Played at Lord’s, 16-20 July 2009

Result – England beat Australia by 115 runs

Pakistan managed to avenge their loss to Ireland in the 2007 World Cup, which knocked them out. Now they have ended Ireland’s dream run in the T20 World Cup and have joined S.A in the semis.

Wicket-keeper Kamaran Akmal, scored a sparkling half-century. He scored 57 off 51, as is partners frequently changed at the other end to propel Pakistan to 159 for five in their stipulated 20 overs after skipper Younis Khan elected to bat. Afridi scored a blistering 24 off 13 balls which included 3 fours. Captain Younis Khan failed to score as hr just managed 10 off 8 balls! But still they managed to put up a challenging total for Ireland.

Ireland, in reply, never really got going. Ireland lost opener Niall O’Brien early in their chase when the wicket-keeper was caught and bowled off a miscued hook by 17-year-old paceman Mohammad Amir.Paul Stirling, himself only 18, came in for his first match of the tournament with Ireland 13 for one but got off the mark first ball with a superb cover-driven four off left-armer Aamir.But the teenager, on 16, became the latest batsman to be bowled playing across the line against leg-spinner Shahid Afridi, who struck with his sixth ball and Ireland were 42 for two off seven overs. Despite a brave 36-ball 40 from their captain Williams Portersfield as the fiery pace of Pakistan bowlers Saeed Ajmal (4-19) and Umer Gul (2-19) proved too hot to handle.

With six overs left Ireland needed 72 more runs to win, John Mooney, trying to keep Ireland up with the rate, also fell to Ajmal after he was caught in the deep by Abdul Razzaq. Then Umar Gul, who took a Twenty20 international record five wickets against New Zealand, got in on the act by bowling Trent Johnston for a duck. At 99 for five in the 17th over the game was up for Ireland, who later saw four tailend wickets tumble for three runs in six balls.

Although pleased Pakistan were in the last four, Younus said their batting required improvement.

“We were still 20 runs short. It’s not possible all the time to score 150 and restrict the opposition,” he added.

“Especially against teams like South Africa, England and the West Indies, we need 170 plus.”

So, with this, Pakistan have kept their title hopes alive…. But they didn’t put up a great show against the Irish. So will Pakistan be able to hold on till the very end?

The experienced duo of Ramnaresh Sarwan & Shivnarine Chanderpaul put up a fine show at the end of the day to help Windies reach the final four. The game brought memories of 2004 Champions Trophy win over England which helped the team take their first major tournament home since the 79 World Cup also in England, seems UK is their favourite hunting ground. But after their horrific show in England this summer who gave them a chance as they were blown away two nil in both the test & one day series & failed to win a single game on this tour. The partnership of 37 from 20 balls helped them reach a target of 80 easily in the end even though the loss of five early wickets left them in more than a spot of bother. It might well be another pointer of things to come as Windies might just relive their glorious past in England where they’ve won 2 World Cups in a row, including the inaugural One Day World Cup in 1975, before their juggernaut came to a halt against the mighty Indians, who had won a single match in the previous two editions of the tournament, ending their reign at the top.

The result came as no surprise as the Windies’ captain was vindicated in his views of upholding T-20’s as his preferred format of the game. The match though was even shorter as the game was curtailed in the end with heavy showers which persisted throughout the match. England scored 161 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs after winning the toss & electing to bat. They never had any momentum to their innings as wickets fell regularly in their laborious effort at the end of which Ravi Bopara was the top scorer with 55 off 47 balls. England were hit hard as Luke Wright failed yet again at the top of the innings falling to Pollard in the second over scoring 6 runs. Pieterson was in form though as he scored 31 off 23 before Simmons got him out. There onwards wickets fell regularly as the batsmen to follow failed to convert their starts into big score especially since the next five batsman went to double figures without getting past 20 runs. In the end this might have been the thing which helped Windies as they chased a revised total of 80 from 9 overs successfully, M/S Duckworth Lewis favouring them this time.

The English football team was having a field day against Andorra but the same couldn’t be said for their cricket team. Well, it was the opposite as they were completely outplayed, as South Africa won the match comfortably by 7 wickets.

The home side never got going and was all out for 111 as they lost their last seven wickets for 33 runs!!!!!!! For a side which appeared to be doing so well in the series against the Windies before the start of the T20 World Cup, this is a total shocker. South Africa gave an all-round performance, as they bowled, fielded and batted well, proving once again why they are favorites for the trophy. This puts S.A in a commanding position and their pace attack seems to resemble that of the Windies which struck fear in the heart of every opponent. This leaves England in a precarious position because they have to beat India and West Indies if they are to progress and even so these two victories doesn’t guarantee them a position in the semis…..

Steyn took Bopara with an inside-edge from the batsman hitting the stumps. K.P on the other hand started with boundaries off his first two deliveries but hit an Albie Morkel full toss straight to Vd Merwe who caught it in an extraordinary fashion. This came in the 6th over and England’s score at the end of it was 25-3. This is the lowest score in the powerplay section in T20 history! The English batting managed to put up an insignificant total of 111 as the rest of the batting fizzled out….Wayne Parnell, the new weapon in S.A’s pace arsenal ended up with 3/14. As S.A began their batting they looked out-of-sorts as Smith top-edged Broad to James Foster, who had to dive to take the skier, and Herschelle Gibbs looked out of sorts – and could have been run out twice. And the batsmen struggled against the English spinners as the required run rate went up for more than a run-a-ball.

It was good for the English until Kallis decided to crash their party. Any pressure on S.A disappeared then, and even Gibbs made a few shots to the rope and Swann over the rope for a maximum as they seem to call it in this format of the game. Then it ended as Kallis cut Anderson to the point fence to end up with 58 from 49 balls. The English pace attack seems to be toothless and their over dependency on Swann isn’t paying them any dividends either. They have ways to go if they are to succeed in the shorter format of the game.

Ecuador Vs Argentina:

2                -           0

Argentina’s world cup dreams may come crumbling down if they continue their dismal form which they portrayed against Ecuador. The Argentinean’s were handed a shock 2-0 defeat by Ecuador, through late goals from, Walter Ayoví and Pablo Palacios, the second coming seven minutes before full-time, which condemned Maradona’s side to their third straight away loss.

This defeat comes after, the side lost 6-1 to Bolvia. This leaves them in fourth spot and just two points away from slipping from the automatic qualifying stage. The pressure is building up for Diego Maradona, who had a dream start with 3 consecutive wins.

This defeat, where Carlos Tevez missed a first half penalty comes on the back of a 1-0 victory over Colombia. This puts Argentina in a precarious position, as they face group leaders Brazil for their next qualifier.

Engalnd Vs Andorra:

6         -        0

England are in the brink of qualifying for the WC following a 6-0 victory over the European minnows, Andorra. Coach Cappelo wanted an early goal an early goal, and that’s wat he got when a wonderful cross from Glen Johnson found Rooney, who put a perfect header past the goalkeeper.

The stage was set for a complete rout as another Glen Johnson’s pass found Walcott who played it to the evergreen Lampard who scored the goal.

Gerrard was substituted and on came Defoe who scored two goals latching onto a mistake from Andorra’s goalkeeper from a Beckham cross. Then Rooney scored his second and Peter Crouch scored a goal somehow squeezing it past two defenders and the goalkeeper.

This match proved to another milestone for David Beckham as he led the side to the highest victory since 1999 and is now convincing his Coach about his place in the starting 11. His presence in every game makes him surpass his own record as he spread panic among his shoddy opponents. He ghosted unnoticed to the edge of the PK box and managed to deliver his once famous crosses though they lacked their previous fizz.

So there is only one hurdle left in the form of Croatia, the team which knocked England out of EURO 2008. So, England will come out all guns blazing and better hope the Crotians are prepared for it…..

Brazil vs Paraguay:

2       -       1

In front of 60,000 home fans, Brazil put up a thriller of a victory over Paraguay as they lead their group comfortably at the top. The five time world champions dominated possession but suddenly, they saw themselves a goal behind, as Salavador Cabanas free kick took a wild deflection off Elano and went past Cesar. This was only te second goal conceded by Cesar at home.

But as expected Brazil threw themselves forward at every opportunity and it did pay off as Robinho scored a goal and followed by Nilmar goal in the second half.

As a result of this victory, Brazil will qualify for the WC if they clinch victory against their arch rivals Argentina in the next qualifier…..

In a desperate attempt to win, Pakistan won their second group match by a convincing margin of 82 runs to book a spot in the super eights. Pakistan produced their best show on the field on this trip so far in the ICC T-20 championships including the warm-ups. Pakistan scored 50 runs for the loss of a solitary wicket in the power play to lay the groundwork for a total which in the end was too big to chase for an associate team like Netherlands.

Pakistan have chopped & changed their opening pair a number of times in the past, today was no different with Kamran Akmal coming on to bat with Salman Butt. They started off aggressively with Akmal scoring two boundaries in the second over of the innings bowled by Schiferli. Dirk Nannes, the standout performer for the dutch team on the day, started off economically conceding just 5 of his first two overs. Butt who looked threatening was finally caught at cover off a loose cut shot in the fifth over. That did manage to put a brake on the scoring as the next two overs went for 4 runs apiece before Akmal took to Borren in the eighth over fetching 13 runs. Malik was dropped off the first ball of the very next over of Ten Doeschate, a chance which proved costly as he ended up scoring a crucial 30. From there onwards Pakistan looked to dominate scoring 108 in the next 12 overs with 5 sixes as against 1 versus England which came in the seventeenth over from Misbah.

Netherlands though must be disappointed that after defeating England they weren’t able to go to the next round as they put up a poor show, failing to score 151 required to qualify for the super eights, they were bundled for a paltry 93. Shahid Afridi spun his web taking 4 wickets, it seems his hard hitting days are over considering his poor show with the bat over the last many years but his legbreak or rather toe breaking pacy balls are often hard enough for accomplished players let alone lesser teams to play. The dutch were never really in the game especially at the end of 6 overs of power play after which they required nearly 10 an over to win & 114 to qualify for super eights. The introduction of spin on either ends with Ajmal & Afridi proved to be their undoing as the two produced spells of 3 for 20 & 4 for 11 respectively taking Pakistan home & through to round 2.

Score Card

Result – Pakistan beat Netherlands by 82 runs

Fall of wickets: 1. Darron Reekers 13 (1.3), 2. Bas Zuiderent 42 (7.1), 3. Peter Borren 47 (8.4), 4. Alexei Kervezee 49 (9), 5. Tom de Grooth 61 (11.1), 6. Daan van Bunge 61 (11.3), 7. Ryan ten Doeschate 71 (12.5), 8. Edgar Schiferli 74 (13.3), 9. Dirk Nannes 90 (16.4), 10. Pieter Seelaar 93 (17.3)

Man of the match: Kamran Akmal