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Baroda won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the second time, after a batting collapse from Uttar Pradesh handed them a three-run victory

The Report by Abhishek Purohit14-Apr-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Aditya Waghmode carried Baroda’s innings with a 31-ball 42•ESPNcricinfo LtdIt was Uttar Pradesh’s final to lose, at 116 for 1 in the 17th over chasing a target of 145. And they went ahead and lost it, managing just 25 off the final 21 deliveries to hand the title to Baroda, who took the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the second time. It was an inexplicable implosion after Prashant Gupta and Eklavya Dwivedi had put on 98 for the second wicket in 13.3 overs.As soon as Gupta holed out to Abhijit Karambelkar off the tournament’s leading-wicket-taker Lukman Meriwala for 68 off 53, UP lost their wits. Rinku Singh came in and had a wild heave first ball at a Munaf Patel short delivery, only to lob an edge to point. Four deliveries later, their captain Akshdeep Nath was run-out, leaving UP to get 18 off the last two overs.Dwivedi then mishit a full toss from Meriwala straight to deep midwicket, as UP continued to look for the big shots almost every ball. The wicketkeeper departed for 56 off 47, and UP had no other set batsman in the middle. Still, the equation was not out of reach, with 13 needed off nine. However, UP keptgoing for glory. It was Umang Sharma’s turn now as he mishit his first ball down the ground for Karambelkar to run across from long-on and take another sharp catch, giving Meriwala his third wicket.With Munaf having bowled his quota, Baroda turned to Rishi Arothe for the final over with UP needing 11. Praveen Kumar failed to get away the first three balls from Arothe, who kept it full outside off. Praveen somehow squeezed out the fourth to sweeper cover for a single, and Upendra Yadav gave his side some hope, cleanly launching the fifth over long-on for six. The last ball was a full toss outside off, but Yadav could only nick it through to the keeper as he heaved, sparking wild celebrations among the Baroda players.It had been a wayward start to the match for UP after they chose to bowl, with Praveen sending his first four balls down the pads, which cost his side 11 runs. Praveen was to come back strongly, taking 2 for 13 in his remaining three overs, but Kedar Devdhar and captain Aditya Waghmode built on that early momentum to give their side a start of 80 inside ten overs.It was Waghmode doing most of the hitting in his 42 off 31 while Devdhar contributed 26 off 32. Waghmode hit several boundaries over the off-side infield, setting himself up and calmly lifting the ball over the cordon. When there was a sweeper put in, he often made sure he placed the ball wide of the man. Baroda were to suffer a collapse as well, stumbling to 144 for 7 after the openers departed within an over of each other.Gupta and Dwivedi gave it back with a partnership that picked up pace as it developed. Both lofted over extra cover with superb control. Gupta seemed to be taking UP home when he swung Meriwala for a six that cleared deep midwicket comfortably, but the following batsmen were to undo all his efforts.

Suresh Raina said he had used his break from international cricket to make ‘small changes’ to his mental framework to help him make big scores

Sidharth Monga at Trent Bridge29-Aug-2014When India came out to train for the first time after their demoralising three-day defeat in the fifth Test, Lord’s welcomed them with cold weather. All eyes were on the new team director Ravi Shastri and support staff, but well before everyone came out, Suresh Raina was in the middle taking catches. Raina is usually an enthusiastic soul, but this Raina had had a bit of a break, a bit of a heartbreak too, after being dropped from the ODI side and was even keener. More sorted, was his assessment. He said the axe hurt him a lot and all but said that that break actually helped him a lot too. He has scored a hundred in his first innings here, but he will have to make sure this is the first of a few.When asked what particular changes he might have made to his game in the time spent outside the team, Raina said, “Changes are mostly mental. When you are playing so much continuous international cricket, you don’t realise what weaknesses have crept into your game. Then when you sit alone you analyse your game, you meet your seniors. They all have an opinion, you pick the best ones from them. They have helped me a lot.”I would say you also become a better person. You spend time with your family, with your loved ones, and they nudge you into the right direction. Cricket is a passion for me. I have always enjoyed playing cricket. I am always on a different energy level when I play. I have always been positive. But during this time I discussed small little things with my coaches. Small things that you don’t realise have crept into your game. Did a lot of video analysis. Saw my graphs. Made the changes. Feels good now. Hopefully I can continue this.”What exactly did he work on? Raina said it was mostly the mental aspect of converting the 30s and the 40s into big innings. “I analysed a lot after I was dropped,” he said. “I was hurt. It was frustrating that I had enough scores of 30-40, but wasn’t converting those. I was batting well, everything was going right, but I wasn’t converting those. Then I went to domestic cricket, did well in the IPL.Suresh Raina: Have worked a lot with lefties. Here I have Duncan Fletcher. Stephen Fleming [the Chennai Super Kings coach] is also leftie. Gary [Kirsten] too•Getty Images”Trained a lot in Bombay. Praveen Amre has been working with me for a long time. Sachin Tendulkar would also come there sometimes. Spoke to Sourav Ganguly also. Discussed for two-three months as to how I can improve in overseas conditions. I improved as a person. The hunger inside grew. I realised the extent of competition, and at the same time you are a senior batsman so there is extra responsibility. I have improved my concentration a lot.”That unwittingly raises a point about the schedules, for India players will not openly criticise them. And this is coming from a player who has been on the international scene for nine years, although it is hard to tell with Raina, who is hoping once again that this innings will begin a turnaround that gives him a settled role in the side. Raina says he likes No. 5, and that he has worked towards getting better at it.”At No. 5 you can control the game,” Raina said. “Over the last eight-nine years, I have played at all spots. I have usually had MS [Dhoni] batting with me. I have learnt a lot while batting with him. At CSK, I had Michael Hussey to bat with. Have worked a lot with lefties. Here I have Duncan Fletcher. Stephen Fleming [the Chennai Super Kings coach] is also leftie. Gary [Kirsten] too. Have spent a lot of time talking to Gautam [Gambhir], when I was in Delhi during this break.”No. 5 is a challenging position. You can control the game from there, at the same time you have high responsibility. You know that after Dhoni and [Ravindra] Jadeja, you don’t have much batting. Over the years I have learnt how to bat with the tail. The two innings that I played in the World Cup, they were with the tail. There, I began to believe I can put together good partnerships with the tail. That there is no need to play rash shots with the tail. I have improved slowly.”The two innings he spoke about were his 34 not out and 36 not out in the quarter-final and semi-final. The quarter-final runs were scored alongside Yuvraj Singh. Raina can be forgiven such slips of memory if he keeps scoring hundreds of the quality of Cardiff.

Longest-ever unbeaten streak, most consecutive wins in all competitions, managers with the longest reign – Goal rounds up other European records

On February 22, Real Madrid will celebrate a historic 1000 days of being European champions after three consecutive years of winning the Champions League.

It is hard to remember a time when Los Blancos were not Champions League winners, and could very well win a fourth trophy in a row this season.

As the Spanish giants reach a victorious millenium, Goal looks into other momentous record-breaking feats in European football…

GettyMost consecutive Champions League titles – Real Madrid & Bayern Munich (3)

After defeating Liverpool 3-1 in the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev, Real Madrid won their third consecutive European title in a row. It is a feat that has not been achieved since Bayern Munich in the early 1970s.

Not only did Los Blancos equal the record for most consecutive Champions League titles won by a single team, but they also extended the record of most European trophies won by a club (13).

Should they be successful once again this year, they will set a new record of being the first team in history to win four consecutive Champions League trophies (not to mention their fifth in six years).

AdvertisementGettyMost consecutive Premier League title wins – Man Utd (3)

When the Red Devils won the Premier League for a third straight season in 2009, they equalled their own record for most consecutive league titles won by a club (which they set themselves between 1998 and 2001).

In doing so, they stretched the record of most top-flight titles won by a team in England to 20. They surpassed the record set by Liverpool in 1990 of most top-flight wins when they clinched their 19th title in 2011, thus leading them to adopt The Courtneers’ hit song ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ as their anthem of celebration.

GettyLongest unbeaten league run – Steaua Bucharest (104)

The Romanian side’s 1986 European Cup victory against Barcelona marked the start of an incredible run that saw them go 104 domestic games undefeated, starting from June 1986 to September 1989, setting a world record in the process.

They went on to win consecutive Liga 1 titles during that remarkable era while they also hold the record for most Romanian top-flight titles won (26).

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Longest-serving players at one club – Paolo Maldini & Francesco Totti

True one-club men are one in a million, and the football world must have done something right to bear witness to the greatness of Paolo Maldini and Francesco Totti for AC Milan and Roma, respectively.

The Italian legends are currently the longest-serving one-club men (from the top-five European leagues), with both careers spanning a momentous 25 seasons each.

Maldini has registered more Serie A appearances (647) than Totti (619), but both are just two of a rare breed of footballers who have pledged their entire senior careers to one club.

Lahiru Thirimanne, who had returned to the side after missing most of the Bangladesh series with an ankle injury, batted with a niggle during his century in the Asia Cup final

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2014After missing most of Sri Lanka’s series against Bangladesh with an ankle injury, Lahiru Thirimanne returned to the side ahead of the Asia Cup. After he scored a century in the final to help his team achieve a five-wicket win, Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews said Thirimanne had batted with a “bit of a niggle” in their last two games.”He [Thirimanne] has been amazing for us,” Mathews said. “He got injured, unfortunately, in the last series but he came back for us. He had a little bit of a niggle still, while he was batting, in the last two games, and he was very courageous to come out and play, the way he did.”[I am] very happy, because you push him up the order, you push him down the order, he’s one of those players who never get a chance at one spot. And wherever he gets the opportunity he scores runs for us. And that’s a team player for me, and he did amazing for us, and he’s a great find for us.”Mathews agreed when asked if Thirimanne was in line to become Kumar Sangakkara’s long-term replacement in the Sri Lanka side.”Yeah, after Sangakkara, Mahela [Jayawardene] retire, Thirimanne, [Dinesh] Chandimal are the ones who are going to take their reins. It is not easy to fill their shoes, but the way they are performing right now, I’m pretty sure they’ll take responsibility in the future.”After his century in the final, Thirimanne’s average in the top three rose to 49.08 in 14 innings. At No. 4 or lower, he averages 22.80 in 33 innings.”We’ve got to see how it goes,” Mathews said, when asked if Thirimanne would retain his role as opener in the near future. “He opened the batting because [Tillakaratne] Dilshan got injured in the Bangladesh series. As I said before, he’s one of those players, you give him the opportunity, wherever you bat him, he will score runs for us. We still haven’t thought about where he’s going to bat, but definitely he’s been a find for us this tournament.”Lasith Malinga was Sri Lanka’s other hero of the day, taking all five wickets that fell during Pakistan’s innings. He was returning to the side after sitting out the match against Bangladesh.”Really happy that he rested against Bangladesh,” Mathews said. “It’s not easy to play consistently, especially for the fast bowlers [who] especially tire out so much. We don’t have a lot of time in between [matches] so it’s always useful to manage the fast bowlers, especially their workloads, and we saved him for the final. He got a five-for in the first game against Pakistan, and also another five-for today, so he’s been performing tremendously for us and he’s been our premier bowler for so many years.”At the toss, Sri Lanka took the unexpected decision of leaving out Ajantha Mendis, who had till then been their highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Mathews said the team had wanted to play an extra fast bowler after looking at the pitch.”All we talked about was, the wicket is very good, and it played very good as well,” Mathews said. “It didn’t spin so much, that’s why we wanted to play the extra seamer, because the wicket wasn’t, it didn’t look slow, initially.”Asked why it was Mendis who sat out, Mathews said it had been a hard call, but the team went with Sachithra Senanayake’s ability to bowl economically in difficult situations.”He’s been performing for us, brilliantly, Mendis, and all the bowlers played their part in the last game as well, so it was a very tough decision,” Mathews said. “Even though Senanayake went wicketless in the last game [against Bangladesh], in his 10 overs he went for 37 runs and he bowled in the first Powerplay and also in the batting Powerplay and also in the last 10 overs, so those are the crucial times you have to stop runs and he’s been doing that for us.”It’s just that one game where he went off track today, can’t really blame, because bowlers tend to have one off day. He has been a star performer for us, even though he hasn’t taken a lot of wickets.”

Sam Robson’s hundred for Middlesex after a brilliant winter with England Lions moved him inexorably closer to a Test debut against Sri Lanka

Vithushan Ehantharajah14-Apr-2014
ScorecardSam Robson is moving inexorably closer to an England Test debut against Sri Lanka•Thusith Wijeduru / ECBIt has been less than a week since Middlesex collapsed twice at the hands of Sussex, but a fine hundred from Sam Robson which moved him ever closer to a potential Test debut and a punchy half-century from Eoin Morgan ensured they would not repeat the blip against Nottinghamshire.Indeed, for all the talk of England’s turmoil and Middlesex’s soft underbelly, today, for one and a half sessions at least, today was a welcome calm that for both parties gave way for quiet optimism.News filtered through to the upper tier of the Compton Stand of hundreds for Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, as Robson and Morgan were well into a 203-run partnership – the highest third innings partnership since Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan put on the same amount at Lord’s, against Lancashire in August 2012.Robson is promising to follow a highly-productive Lions winter with more heavy runs with Middlesex. An England debut against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, his home ground, is becoming likelier by the day.Idle natter turned to fantasy England XIs; some were balanced, others not. Others wondered if the hosts could take defeat out of the game and push on for the win. At stumps, Morgan felt it was too early to consider being involved in either.It was that pair of 2012 that fell in 10th over of Middlesex’s first innings, Rogers nicking off to third slip and Malan not moving his feet to nick behind, leading to groans from spectators, who feared the worst. At that stage, Peter Siddle had experimented with some hooping outswingers that had Robson groping outside off stump and Luke Fletcher was rewarded, twice, for getting the ball to nibble from his great height.”I loved watching him bat,” said Morgan at stumps, who revealed that the pair had never shared any time before coming together at 19 for 2. It was a baffling fact given they looked so at ease in each other’s company, with styles that complemented each other to exasperate a disciplined Notts attack.While the right-left combination helped push the bowlers back, it was their differing approach to lengths that really had Middlesex ahead on points. Back of a length deliveries which Robson would leave or defend were being drive, square, by Morgan, with his punchier wrists and springy footwork. Where Robson would bound into the full ones, driving crisply straight and through cover, Morgan would defend or pick up singles.The afternoon session represented the crowning glory of this bond as they added 132 runs, with little but one awry shot from Morgan, which landed safely between cover and the boundary rider running in from deep point. It was here that Robson brought up his first Championship century of the season.Very few openers on the county circuit convert toil to grace with as much ease as Robson. Once he got into the groove, he took control of the game and began timing the ball well in front of the wicket. Against Samit Patel, he skipped to the pitch of the ball and placed him expertly through a packed cover region. His return tomorrow on 144 gives Middlesex the edge and, with John Simpson set and Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner to come, ambitions of a first innings lead.Morgan kept himself in check, manipulating the field as he does in the one day game, while refraining from shots many feel he should leave to that format. There was one over-the-shoulder dink which earned him three runs, but the evidence from the man himself is that new priorities mean a new approach.Over the winter he had discussions with Paul Downton, incoming managing director of the ECB at the time, which touched on “where his head was at” in regards to Test cricket. His withdrawal from the IPL and a quick hefty pay-packet was as clear an indication as any that Morgan was given assurances that he was in the reckoning for Test consideration after two years out of that particular game following a horrendous tour of the UAE.Even with the change of heart towards participating in this year’s edition of the IPL, he needed assistance from the ECB and the BCCI so that he could waive his contractual obligations to participate in the 2014 auction. “They [the ECB and BCCI] were very accommodating,” he reflected.As aware off the field as he is on it, Morgan is not fooled by his knocked today. He will know that it is his highest score in Championship cricket since a century at Leicestershire back in April 2009. He will also know that his last first class hundred was a Test century against India in August 2011.For now, his focus is runs and success for Middlesex. His 86 today has gone some way to ensuring the latter is a very real possibility at the halfway stage of this match.

Robin Uthappa, the Karnataka opening batsman, has injured his right hamstring and will be out for a couple of weeks. This is second time in a month a hamstring pull has affected his Ranji Trophy campaign

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Dec-2013Robin Uthappa, the Karnataka opening batsman, has injured his right hamstring and will be out for a couple of weeks. This is second time in a month a hamstring pull has affected his Ranji Trophy campaign.”The physio examined him and felt that Robin would be out at least for one week if not two,” J Arun Kumar, the Karnataka coach, told ESPNcricinfo. According to Kumar, Uthappa will work with John Gloster, the former Indian physiotherapist, but he is bound to miss at least the next two rounds of the Ranji Trophy.The Karnataka selectors have included Vinay Kumar and Stuart Binny in the squad for the moment. Vinay returns to lead the team after missing two matches due to India duty during the home ODIs against West Indies. Binny has recovered from a hamstring injury, and the pair’s inclusion has offset the absence of Uthappa. Karnataka next play Haryana away and Punjab at home, before rounding off 2013 by hosting Mumbai and travelling to Delhi.Although Karnataka registered their first outright victory this season, against Odisha on Sunday, Uthappa was able to play just about half of the four-day match. He injured his hamstring while fielding in Odisha’s first innings and then aggravated it while batting. He made 33 in Karnataka’s first innings before he was trapped lbw by Odisha fast bowler Basant Mohanty. Uthappa then did not take the field, and only returned to bat at No. 7 in the second innings. His inability to even move his back leg proved to be a handicap, which Mohanty used to his advantage for the second time in the match, trapping Uthapp plumb for three-ball duck.Uthappa had a busy off-season and then played various invitational tournaments as part of his preparation for the domestic season. But the hamstring tendinitis in his left leg, an injury that he suffered for the first time in 2007, resurfaced forcing Uthappa out for seven weeks.On his return last week, Uthappa did not show any rustiness, as he made an aggressive and influential 86 (in an opening partnership of 124) in Nagpur against Vidarbha. After Vidarbha had played out two days and a session to raise a massive 542, Karnataka were left with less than five sessions to secure the lead and Uthappa, in the company of his opening partner Mayank Agarwal provided the start for the middle order to build on. Karnataka eventually managed to gain the lead and the three vital points.

James Pattinson’s return has ignited the Renegades title ambitions after he tore through the Hobart Hurricanes top-order to help his team to their second successive victory

The Report by Alex Malcolm01-Jan-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Pattinson took 4 for 24 in his second match back•Getty ImagesJames Pattinson’s return has ignited the Renegades title ambitions after he tore through the Hobart Hurricanes top-order to help his team to their second successive victory.Pattinson celebrated his recall to national ranks with a four-wicket haul as the Renegades comfortably defended 162.He bowled with typical pace and aggression and found a terrific length and line on a slightly tacky surface at Blundstone Arena.Pattinson’s first over of the innings cost just one run as Hurricanes openers Ben Dunk and Shoaib Malik tried to adjust to his pace. Dunk fell to Matthew Gale in the second over trying to make up for the four dot balls he faced off Pattinson.The Hurricanes slumped to 3 for 10 six balls later as Pattinson found himself on a hat-trick. He nipped one back off a length to scratch the inside edge of Malik’s bat as the Pakistan international attempted to drive on the up. Pattinson then produced extra bounce and some away movement to account for Owais Shah who was well held at first slip by Aaron Finch.Jonathan Wells was not intimidated, however, as he allowed the hat-trick ball to pass harmlessly through to the keeper before striking three successive boundaries to finish the over.Wells and Travis Birt produced a brisk counter-attack to get the chase momentarily back on track but the early damage left them with too much to do.Nathan Rimmington, Aaron O’Brien, and Muttiah Muralitharan again squeezed their opponents through the middle overs. All three conceded less the six runs-an-over with Rimmington and Murali collecting two wickets each as the Hurricanes batsmen were forced to play big strokes to keep up with the required rate.The Renegades also caught well in the outfield. Tom Cooper took two catches late in the innings off the bowling of Pattinson who was named Man of the Match.Earlier, Aaron Finch continued his superb form combining with Michael Hill for 93-run opening stand to set up the winning total.The Renegades looked set for a big score as Finch and Hill found the boundaries at will to race to 90 after nine overs. But the innings turned south on the back of some very skilful bowling from Ben Laughlin. He removed Finch with some extra bounce, before Hill was run out four balls later over-eager to get on strike.The Renegades lost 8 for 72 from their last 11 overs of the innings. Doug Bollinger picked up two wickets in the 19th over and Laughlin two more in the 20th.But despite the bowlers’ best efforts, 162 proved far too many for the Hurricanes to handle.

Marizanne Kapp’s hat-trick spearheaded South Africa women’s second nine-wicket win in as many matches to secure the T20 series against Bangladesh women in Potchesfroom

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2013Allrounder Marizanne Kapp’s hat-trick spearheaded South Africa women’s second nine-wicket win in as many matches to secure the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh women in Potchesfroom.Bangladesh composed a slow start after winning the toss, requiring 12 overs to cross 50 but made sure they had nine wickets still in hand. Taking advantage of their foundation proved difficult though with Ayasha Rahman the top-scorer with 34, holing out at long off in the next over. Lata Mondal held firm at the other end, but Kapp returned for her final spell in the 19th over, which ended up as a triple-wicket maiden.No. 5 Rumana Ahmed top-edged to the keeper and both Ritu Moni and Fahima Khatun were bowled. All three fell without scoring and Bangladesh managed 84 for 6 in 20 oversThe chase proved straightforward with the openers Lizelle Lee and Trisha Chetty recording 71 runs in nine overs. Rumana got rid of Lee for 37, but by then the result was all but decided.”I enjoyed my bowling today,” said Kapp, “I stuck to my plans and that really paid off for me. I wasn’t really thinking about the hat-trick, my game plan was to bowl line and length and fortunately that plan came off.”Winning the series is a great way for us to start the season,” she added. “We haven’t played a lot of cricket together in the off-season so it was important for us to start this series off positively. Hopefully we can make it 3-0 tomorrow and move that momentum into the ODI series starting next week.”

Opening for the first time in a T20 international, Sarfraz Ahmed made a breezy unbeaten 76 to steer Pakistan to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in Dubai

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy04-Dec-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCorey Anderson’s 48 was the bright spot in a sub-par New Zealand innings•AFPOpening for the first time in a T20 international, Sarfraz Ahmed made a breezy unbeaten 76 to steer Pakistan to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium. Sarfraz put on 51 with Awais Zia for the first wicket, and an unbroken 43 with Umar Akmal for the fourth wicket, to take Pakistan past their target of 136 with five balls remaining, Akmal ending the contest with a straight six off James Neesham.New Zealand had two good partnerships in the middle part of their innings, with Corey Anderson involved in both, but struggled either side of them. Their total was at least 15 short of being genuinely challenging, even if Pakistan kept the game interesting by losing two wickets to run-outs.Sarfraz had only batted once in his four previous T20 games for Pakistan, at number eight, and he quickly set about showing what a waste of talent that had been, slapping Mitchell McClenaghan to the point boundary and stepping down the track to the debutant fast bowler Matt Henry to sweep him over the fine-leg boundary.At the other end, Awais Zia looked a little leaden-footed against the pace of Henry and Adam Milne, but quickly realised he would be best served giving Sarfraz the strike. The pair brought up Pakistan’s first half-century opening stand in 18 matches before lazy running brought about its end at the start of the ninth over. When Luke Ronchi threw out Mohammad Hafeez an over later, when the batsmen unwisely tried to pinch a leg-bye off a fumble, Pakistan were in a bit of a bother.Sarfraz, though, wasn’t letting the wickets disrupt his flow. He immediately crashed Corey Anderson for successive fours, and slogged him for a six over cow corner to bring up his half-century. That over brought Pakistan 17 runs, and brought the equation down to 59 required off 54 balls.Sarfraz simply needed someone to stay with him and Haris Sohail seemed to be doing that before he swiped McClenaghan straight to the short midwicket fielder with Pakistan still 39 short of their target. Akmal came in, having missed out on Pakistan’s recent Test upsurge, and instantly reminded fans of what they had been missing. Henry returned to bowl the 16th over, and Akmal took three fours off that over, the middle one a sweet pick-up shot over wide long-on. It was a canter from there on.Sent in to bat, New Zealand lost three wickets in their first three overs, each to a different bowler. Anwar Ali and Sohail Tanvir trapped Kane Williamson and Anton Devcich lbw, respectively, before Mohammad Irfan then consumed Ross Taylor with one that lifted from just back of a length and popped off the shoulder of the bat to point.Martin Guptill and Anderson rebuilt the innings, picking up a boundary roughly every other over and putting on 46 off 41 balls. Guptill made 32 before Shahid Afridi bowled him through the gate with a slightly slower ball.New Zealand entered their most productive period after the dismissal, with Anderson and Ronchi bringing up their half-century partnership off just 32 balls. Anderson’s effortless power was in full evidence, particularly when he pulled Anwar for two flat sixes in the 13th over, and Ronchi was timing his drives through and over extra cover quite exquisitely.At 110 for 4 at the end of the 15th over, New Zealand looked set for 150 at least, but their scoring stalled once Anderson miscued a pull to deep midwicket two short of 50. Irfan and Tanvir varied their pace expertly in the last two overs, giving away just nine runs between them and dismissing Neesham and Ronchi in the process. New Zealand found the boundary only once in their last five overs, and even that came off the bottom-edge.

Neil McGarrell, 41, has been named as USA’s captain in a 15-man squad for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE

Peter Della Penna24-Oct-2013Neil McGarrell, 41, has been named USA’s captain in a 15-man squad for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE. McGarrell, who played four Tests and 17 ODIs for West Indies between 1998 and 2001, made his debut for USA in 2012 against Canada, and takes over from Steve Massiah, who had been captain for seven years. Massiah was retained in the squad along with Orlando Baker, who captained USA to an 8-0 record in a stand-in capacity at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in March.Adam Sanford, 38, and Imran Awan are also making their way into the squad as fast bowlers. Sanford, who played 11 Tests for the West Indies from 2002 to 2004, played for USA in a series of trial matches against Bermuda this past weekend, and is set to make his official debut for USA in their opening match against Canada in Abu Dhabi on November 15. Awan, once considered one of the fastest bowlers in the Associate world, hasn’t played for USA since 2010 after struggling with his accuracy.USA’s lack of experienced pace bowlers was apparent earlier this year during the ICC World Cricket League Division Three competition, where they finished third. Seamer Usman Shuja, who was dropped ahead of WCL Division Three, was not brought back into the squad for the tour to the UAE, though he had been included in a list of 28 probables in September. Timroy Allen has decided to return for USA after announcing his retirement following the end of WCL Division Three in May to focus on work and family commitments. Allen has subsequently been named vice-captain for the tour.Three players from USA’s tour of Bermuda for WCL Division Three earlier this year are not in the squad for the qualifier. USA’s batting will likely struggle in the absence of Sushil Nadkarni and Rashard Marshall. Nadkarni had to withdraw due to work commitments, and it is believed Marshall was unavailable for the same reasons. Medium pacer Naseer Jamali is the third player not retained. Only five players who played for USA at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in 2012 – Baker, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Japen Patel and Steven Taylor – will be traveling back to the UAE in November.Besides Sanford, the only other player in the squad yet to play in an official match for USA is Srinivasa Santhanam. An allrounder originally from Tamil Nadu, Santhanam now plays for Microsoft Cricket Club in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest, and Microsoft CC in particular, has been a growing source of talent for the USA in recent years, with former USA spinners Samarth Shah and Saurabh Verma also hailing from the club, while Naseer Jamali plays in the Seattle area.USA has been placed in Group A along with Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Namibia, Uganda and the UAE. USA finished 12th at the qualifier in 2012, but posted a noteworthy upset of Scotland at the event. The top six teams in this year’s qualifier will advance to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.USA Squad: Neil McGarrell (captain), Timroy Allen (vice-captain), Danial Ahmed, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Akeem Dodson (wk), Karan Ganesh, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Steve Massiah, Japen Patel, Adam Sanford, Srinivasa Santhanam, Steven Taylor (wk).