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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.

Somerset claimed a one-run victory over Hampshire, the form side in the NatWest T20 Blast, in a thrilling encounter at Taunton.

Press Association13-Jun-2014
ScorecardPeter Trego smashed 76 in 48 balls•Getty ImagesSomerset claimed a one-run victory over Hampshire, the form side in the NatWest T20 Blast, in a thrilling encounter at Taunton.Impressive half-centuries from Craig Kieswetter and Peter Trego helped Somerset to 176 for 4 from their 20 overs and it proved just enough.Hampshire appeared down and out when they needed 36 runs from their final two overs but despite a great effort from Will Smith with 25 from 9 balls and his batting partner Adam Wheater, 22 from 17, the visitors could not score the three runs required from the final ball to secure an unlikely victory.Put into bat, Somerset made a bright start – Kieswetter dispatching Smith’s final two balls of the opening over to the boundary to reach 11 without loss. Chris Jones emulated his partner in the second over – with a couple of fours taking the score to 19 – before he was bowled by Chris Wood for 10.Trego, who made 94 not out against Glamorgan last time out, made a cautious start as Somerset failed to score a boundary in three subsequent overs but two fours off Kyle Abbott in the sixth over got them back on track.Trego contributed 10 runs in a 13-run 10th over as Somerset reached 80 for one at the halfway stage. Kieswetter and Trego then took Sean Ervine to task in a 14th over that cost Hampshire 19 runs and saw both batsmen pass the half-century mark.Kieswetter’s innings came to an end on 57 in the very next over when he was caught by Abbott trying to hit James Vince over the ropes. Trego added two fours and a six to his total after passing 50 but he was dismissed for 76 in the 18th over – bowled by Abbott – as he once again went on the attack. Alviro Petersen was stumped off the bowling of Wood for 8 in the penultimate over as Hampshire were set a tough target of 177 to win.The visitors made a terrible start when Trego then did them damage with the ball – dismissing Vince for a golden duck in the first over before accounting for Jimmy Adams shortly after to leave Hampshire on 23 for 2. Michael Carberry got Hampshire back on track as he hit Alfonso Thomas for 14 off three deliveries – one of which was a no-ball – in the fifth over.Glenn Maxwell plundered successive fours off Craig Overton in the sixth over, before Carberry was caught on 38 by Max Waller in the deep trying to hit Craig Meschede to the ropes. Maxwell’s innings proved to be short but sweet when he edged a teasing Waller delivery to leave Hampshire in trouble at 77 for 4 in the eighth over.Owais Shah brought up Hampshire’s 100 with a maximum off Overton with the third ball of the 13th over but the bowler had the last laugh two deliveries later when the batsman was caught on the boundary having made 22.The game appeared all but over when Sean Ervine and Matt Coles were dismissed by successive Thomas deliveries in the 18th over, but 17 runs from the 19th over and 14 from the first five balls of the final over left Hampshire needing three runs off the final delivery to win the game.Wheater could not get bat on ball, though, and with just a leg bye conceded from the final ball of the game, Somerset held their nerve to secure only their second victory of the season in this competition.

Andrew Gale helped his side insure against defeat with his second ton of the season but now hopes he has left enough time in the match for his bowlers to make it a match-winning innings

Jon Culley at North Marine Road21-Jul-2014
ScorecardAndrew Gale’s century put Yorkshire in a strong position•Getty ImagesAndrew Gale, the Yorkshire captain, helped his side insure themselves against defeat with his second century of the season but now needs to keep his fingers crossed that he has left enough time in the match for his bowlers to make it a match-winning innings as he seeks to regain the lead in the Championship race.Yorkshire take a lead of 421 into the final day, having resisted any temptation to expose Middlesex to a few overs of hostile attack before the close. Only four wickets fell on day three compared with 21 over the opening two days, but Gale thinks there is enough life left in the pitch for Ryan Sidebottom and company to take 10 more.Middlesex scored 472 in the fourth innings to beat Yorkshire at Lord’s in April – when they were captained by Joe Root, incidentally, Gale having left himself out through lack of form – but it was not so much caution as the timing of the new ball that put him off going for an earlier declaration.”The new ball was due three overs after tea and if we had gone too hard against that new ball, trying to accelerate, we could have easily lost three wickets in 10 overs, say, and then you can’t accelerate,” he explained. “So the key was for me and Jack Leaning to build a good partnership after tea and then push on and the way we accelerated at the end has set the game up nicely.”I still think there is enough left in the pitch for us to get 10 wickets. The ball is still beating the bat, there is good carry and their lads are a lot more tired than ours, having spent more time in the field. If we can take wickets with the new ball, and get rid of Chris Rogers early on, we’ll have a good chance.”Gale finished 126 not out. He has had an inconsistent season, two or three decent scores sitting among clusters of small ones, but he enjoys the pace in the pitch here and even a couple of blows inflicted by Steven Finn, one on the left thumb and another on the left elbow, the second at a critical moment after he made moved to 97, did not diminish the pleasure he drew from it, which he signalled by raising his bat to all corners of the ground after driving the ball through the offside for four off Finn to reach three figures.He now has four hundreds on this ground, including his career-best 272 against Nottinghamshire last season. This one has lasted more than four hours and included 13 fours. Apart from the painful moments, he was also dropped on 40, when Rogers put down a difficult chance at point.Yorkshire had started the day well, adding 117 runs at not far short of four an over in the morning session with no wickets lost. Kane Williamson, himself hit on the helmet by Finn, and Alex Lees both completed half-centuries in a partnership that put on 132.They were each out in turn early in the afternoon session as Yorkshire were obliged to regroup for the first time. Tim Murtagh dismissed both in the space of 14 deliveries as Williamson, shaping to cut, top-edged a ball that bounced more than he anticipated, Ollie Rayner using his height to pluck it out of the air above his head, one-handed, at first slip. Then Lees, pushing forward, edged low to second slip, where Dawid Malan claimed the catch, Lees waiting for confirmation it had carried before walking off.Jonny Bairstow was the only subsequent casualty before Jack Leaning joined Gale, top edging a pull off a short ball from Toby Roland-Jones to be caught at long leg.The support Gale received from 20-year-old Leaning was impressive, providing more evidence that this is a young man who bats with composure beyond his years. They added 182 runs in 44.2 overs, Leaning letting loose with some powerful blows towards the close when he hit three sixes in the space of four balls faced, against Finn, Rayner and Malan.He was stumped looking for another against Malan for 76, having helped swell Yorkshire’s total by 75 in the last 10 overs of the day. A win will take Yorkshire back to the top of the Division One table. Whether they can pull it off remains to be seen.

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.

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.

Adam Voges and Marcus North helped Western Australia chase down 256 to stay in contention for the Sheffield Shield final as they secured a four-wicket win over Tasmania in Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2014
ScorecardMarcus North continued his outstanding summer with 79•Getty ImagesAdam Voges and Marcus North helped Western Australia chase down 256 to stay in contention for the Sheffield Shield final as they secured a four-wicket win over Tasmania in Perth. The Warriors began the final day on 2 for 27 and the early loss of Marcus Harris for 18 gave the Tigers hope that they might be able to skittle the home side.However, North and Voges then put together a 135-run partnership that brought victory within sight for Western Australia, although both men fell after reaching the 70s. North was caught off the bowling of Sam Rainbird for 79 and Voges was caught by Rainbird off Xavier Doherty’s spin for 75, leaving 53 runs still required.But contributions from Mitchell Marsh (18), Ashton Turner (13 not out) and Sam Whiteman, who made 29 not out, got Western Australia home. The win means with three rounds still to play, Western Australia sit in third position on the Shield table, four points behind both New South Wales and South Australia.

Former Australia coach Mickey Arthur has defended himself against criticism from Brad Haddin, who said Arthur was “very, very insecure” as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2013Former Australia coach Mickey Arthur has defended himself against criticism from Brad Haddin, who said Arthur was “very, very insecure” as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team. Haddin said this week that there were smiles on the faces of the players in the lead-up to this Ashes series, unlike the previous series in England, in which Arthur was sacked shortly before the first Test and replaced with Darren Lehmann.Haddin said Lehmann had reminded the players of the brand of cricket they wanted to play and had sent a clear message of how to get there, while Arthur had not been “secure enough in himself to get us to where we needed to go”. However, Arthur responded during an interview on Perth radio on Wednesday, in which he noted that Haddin had not been part of the setup for much of the time Arthur was in charge.”Brad for a long period of the time wasn’t part of the team,” Arthur said. “So for Brad to say those things is a little bit naive. Brad wasn’t aware of the direction I was taking the team. Brad was one of the senior players who lost his place, was left out for a young guy like Matthew Wade to come in for us to build a brand that was going to be sustainable over a period of time, because at 35 the brand wasn’t going to be sustainable with Brad Haddin keeping wicket.”A couple of them that were jumping at shadows were the guys who weren’t doing what was expected, those were the guys trying to take short cuts. You don’t come in and mess with a culture that has been successful … [but] the cycle had turned, we had lost a lot of experienced players, which meant we needed to create our own brand, our own culture, and put in place a sustainable value system that any player coming up from state level could walk straight in and feel comfortable and know what is expected of them.”I did that job to the best of my ability, I can look back on my time there and say I gave it an almighty crack. If that crack wasn’t good enough, I can live with that, but I did try to get Australian cricket back to where it deserved to be.”Arthur was appointed head coach in late 2011, following the departure of Tim Nielsen in the months after the Argus report, which in turn followed the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes campaign at home.

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).

Persistent rain in Port-of-Spain meant play was called off for the day after only 19 overs were bowled during Sri Lanka’s innings

The Report by Devashish Fuloria07-Jul-2013Rain stops play; to be completed on Monday

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWest Indies’ bowlers troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen on a pitch that afforded them consistent movement•AFPPersistent rain in Port-of-Spain meant play was called off for the day after only 19 overs were bowled during Sri Lanka’s innings. The match will continue from the current state on Monday.West Indies, motivated by the appearance of the pitch, chose to field second time in a row, but unlike the previous match where they failed to make an early strike, this time, the bowlers found the right length on the pitch to topple Sri Lanka’s top order while keeping their run-scoring in a leash. Kemar Roach was the wrecker-in-chief, bowling a menacing spell upfront and was it not for a long and patient vigil by Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara, the situation could have been far worse for Sri Lanka.While Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were slugging it out like it was a hard court on the grass at Wimbledon, the pitch at Queen’s Park Oval was offering bounce and expected sideways movement to excite the fast bowlers. Roach’s first ball was certainly an indication of what he thought of the pitch as he ambled in and got a shortish delivery to rear towards Upul Tharanga’s throat. It was harshly called a wide, but it was the tonic West Indies needed after beefing up their attack with three fast bowlers in addition to Darren Sammy.The tall Jason Holder, playing his third ODI, was handed the other new ball and he started by extracting disconcerting bounce off a length, with some deliveries ending up head-high for the wicketkeeper. But he did the smart thing by repeatedly testing batsmen with fuller-length outswingers.It was another full-length delivery that brought him his first wicket as Tharanga, who had been dropped by the wicketkeeper in the previous over, drove him uppishly to cover where Darren Bravo took a good sharp catch leaping to his right. Sri Lanka’s troubles were compounded when they lost Mahela Jayawardene off the very next ball, a brute by Roach. It is seldom that Jayawardene looks ungainly even while getting out, but he was too late on a sharp bouncer and top-edged his pull to the front lid of his helmet and saw the ball popping in the air for the point fielder to take a simple catch.Roach’s best delivery was however the one that got Dinesh Chandimal, who hasn’t been in any form, but even if he was, it is hard to see how he would have tackled it. The ball pitched on a length and cut in sharply to hit the top of off stump. Chandimal, who had gone forward to play a drive, was holding his pose, but the result left him shocked and embarrassed.Sri Lanka limped to 50 for 3 after first 15 overs, with the 17 extras being the top-scorer in the scorecard. The rains came at the end of the 19th over to break West Indies’ rhythm, while in a sunny London, Murray finally ended Britain’s achingly long wait for a Wimbledon winner with a straight-set victory against the World No. 1.