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Andrew Strauss admitted he was “annoyed” that England had let slip the chance of a 5-0 whitewash

Andrew Miller at The Oval01-Jul-2010Andrew Strauss admitted he was “annoyed” that England had let slip the chance of a 5-0 whitewash against Australia, but played down suggestions that he had erred tactically in once again choosing to bowl first after winning the toss. After allowing Australia first use of a fast and true wicket, England were set an imposing target of 291, their highest run-chase of the series so far, but were bundled out by Ryan Harris for 212 in 42.4 overs.”We didn’t get enough things right today,” said Strauss. “We got off to a pretty good start with the ball, but [Michael] Clarke and [Ricky] Ponting played really well in the middle period, where we had done best in the first three games. We struggled to find ways of ‘dotting them up’, which was a little bit frustrating. We tried seven bowlers, but on a flat wicket it was easy to hit through the line of the ball.”Bowling first has been England’s modus operandi throughout the series to date, even though such a tactic flies in the face of conventional wisdom. With a varied attack that had helped to carry England to a run of eight ODI victories in a row – their best run of form since the 1992 World Cup – and batsmen of the calibre of Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen, England believe they have the personnel to keep any target within reach. But that notion received a bit of a reality check on a chastening day at The Oval.”It wasn’t as good a performance as the first three, and we’ve got what we’ve deserved,” said Strauss. “The idea of chasing down anything Australia set us has worked pretty well in the first three games – and we didn’t see any particular reason to change that today. When you lose in that fashion, you always think ‘Well, maybe we should have batted first’. But I’m pretty comfortable with that decision. I just don’t think we did enough things well today.”England have improved markedly as a one-day unit in recent months, but as Ponting made clear with his memorable “bragging rights” comment at Cardiff, they have an awfully long way to go to match the achievements and consistency of Australia’s one-day side – who, after all, haven’t lost a single World Cup match in the whole of the 21st Century. Another victory at Lord’s on Saturday would transform that 5-0 ambition into a far less imposing 3-2 result. It remains to be seen whether Strauss sticks to his guns by fielding first in that game.”You’ve got to play to your strengths, it’s as simple as that,” was Ponting’s take on the tactics. “If they think it’s in their interests to keep chasing they’ll keep doing it. They obviously like bowling first and trying to chase the runs down, although it’s not my preferred way of playing. If it’s dry when you start, it always gets that little bit tougher and it makes chasing hard.”But I wasn’t as surprised they bowled first as I was at Manchester,” Ponting added. “That was a wicket I thought looked particularly dry and hard to chase on, and as the game went on it certainly was that. But they seem to be very structured in everything they are doing at the moment, the way they are playing their cricket. We’ll see what they do at Lord’s.”For Strauss, the disappointment of the result was tempered by the small successes that came out of the game, such as Michael Yardy’s maiden ODI fifty – a tenacious but even-tempoed 57 from 63 balls that prevented England’s challenge from disintegrating until the final ten overs.”He played really well, and has played a lot of innings like that for Sussex – knocking the ball around, accumulating pretty quickly, and clearly we needed him to do that today,” said Strauss. “He stepped up to the plate – and on the back of his bowling in the first three games, it was good to see him scoring some runs. If you haven’t scored a one-day international fifty before, the first one is very important – regardless of the situation of the game.”The whitewash wasn’t a secret hope. We were very hopeful we could do it,” he said. “What we were trying to focus on was getting it to 4-0, trying not to look too far ahead. But Australia did what you expect them to do; they came back hard at us today and put in the better performances. They had three excellent performances in the game, and that’s why they won.”

Sri Lanka’s hero of the day, Lasith Malinga, said team batting under natural light had a definite advantage

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla16-Jun-2010The Asia Cup got off to just the sort of cracking start the organisers would have wanted – a tight, topsy-turvy match littered with classy batting and bowling efforts, and ending with victory for the home side. One cause for concern, though, is the quality of the floodlights at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, which held its first day-night match in nearly three years.Eight floodlight towers were installed in 2003, but Sri Lanka’s hero of the day, Lasith Malinga, said team batting under natural light had a definite advantage. “The lights are not good enough by international standards, it is a handicap for the side batting second,” he said after the match. “However, Sri Lanka are used to it as we have played number of matches under this condition. We faced only problems when fielding, the fielders found it a little difficult to pick up the ball at times.”The lights would have only made it harder for the Pakistan batsmen to pick the distinctive low, round-arm action of Malinga, who collected his first ODI five-wicket haul. That included the final three scalps of a see-saw game, but he felt the deciding factor was Shahid Afridi.Afridi, already charged with the task of uniting a squad notorious for infighting, had hauled Pakistan from a hopeless 32 for 4 to a position of control with one of the finest innings of his career. He dismantled Muttiah Muralitharan and overcame severe cramps to make his first one-day century since 2005, leaving Pakistan only 47 to get off the final ten overs with Afridi and Abdul Razzaq still at the crease.”I didn’t feel much pressure because we always felt Afridi had to finish off the match for Pakistan and it was solely in his hands,” Malinga said. “It was a matter of trying to contain him and putting pressure on Afridi, we felt that if we got Afridi at any stage, we would win the match.” Afridi fell in the 41st over to a blinder from Kumar Sangakkara, much to the delight of the flag-waving Sri Lankan faithful who had turned up, and the Pakistan tail was clueless against Malinga.The defeat adds to the pressure on Pakistan ahead of their high-profile clash against India on Sunday, but coach Waqar Younis remained optimistic of reaching the finals. “We are still not out of the tournament, if we win against India we are back in business,” Waqar said. “After a long time, we will be playing against India, which is good to see.”As with the batting, Pakistan’s bowlers didn’t finish off the job after reaching a strong position. “I think the way we got them down to 160-odd for 7 and then let them off the hook to reach 242,” he said. “We should have done a lot better in the field, we gave away a few too many runs.”Pakistan’s cause was also not helped by their cumbersome start to the chase, with debutants Umar Amin and Shahzaib Hasan struggling against the Sri Lankan new-ball attack. Waqar, however, was confident they would fare better in the matches coming up. “We are in a re-building process, we brought three youngsters in on the tour, and we are looking to bring in some more for the next England tour,” he said. “We’ve got to give them a chance, it’s tough out there, but that’s how you play top cricket, it was their first game, few nerves around.”The Pakistan batting wears a new look because of the absence of middle-order stalwarts, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, and the decision to push regular opener Kamran Akmal down the order made the top-order lighter on experience.

A stirring lower-order counterattack led by Alcindo Holder lifted Barbados to a challenging score of 159 and killed the fight in Windward Islands, who crashed to their second successive defeat in the Caribbean T20

Cricinfo staff26-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Javon Searles had a memorable Twenty20 debut, picking four wickets as Barbados prevailed by 39 runs•Nicholas Reid/West Indies Cricket Board

A stirring lower-order counterattack led by Alcindo Holder lifted Barbados to a challenging score of 159 and killed the fight in Windward Islands, who crashed to their second successive defeat in the Caribbean T20. Barbados went the other way, charting their second win in as many games to enter the semi-finals.Windwards made a promising start to their chase with Johnson Charles crashing Kemar Roach for a six and a four in his opening over, but things unraveled quickly thereafter. Devon Smith cut Ryan Hinds straight to Dwayne Smith in the third over, and Charles, possibly disturbed by constant chatter from Sulieman Benn, was run-out attempting a tight single to cover.Andre Fletcher continued to attack with his trademark whips to cow corner, picking 20 runs off six balls he faced either side of Charles’ dismissal. Offspinner Ashley Nurse then wrested back the initiative, pinning Fletcher in front of the stumps for 33 off 17 balls and castling Liam Sebastien with a full delivery.Darren Sammy tried to stay in the game with some risk-free cricket but once he perished, pulling the impressive debutant Javon Searles to square-leg, the asking rate began to go out of control. Searles continued to keep things tight, but the match as a contest fizzled out long before he picked the last of his four wickets.It was not always so easy for Barbados whose innings seemed to have stalled on the starting line after they were asked to bat first. Jason Hinds, opening in his Twenty20 debut, was scratchy against the Windwards seamers and it was left to Dale Richards to generate the early push. He targeted left-arm spinner Gary Mathurin whose tight lines were interspersed with boundary balls. Craig Emmanuel who came on in the fifth over hit impressive lines and began with a maiden as Jason struggled to get bat on ball. In his second over, Emmanuel struck with his nagging length, getting Richards to miscue a pull to third man.Spinners Sebastien and Rawl Lewis maintained pressure following the Powerplay period before Jason’s listless innings ended in a mix-up in the eleventh over amidst cheers from his home crowd. Jonathan Carter dispatched Lewis for two sixes towards midwicket to reignite the innings, but fell attempting another heave off Shane Shillingford. In the meantime, Ryan Hinds lofted Nelon Pascal to long on and the innings seemed to be falling apart, but Alcindo Holder and Dwayne Smith had other plans.Holder was reprieved early, eluding the grasp of a diving attempt in the outfield with a lofted cover drive. Smith served notice with two lusty swings off Shillingford over midwicket before Holder trained his guns on Pascal’s hittable lengths. He smashed the first ball of the 17th over past long on for six, before pulling over midwicket, edging past the wicketkeeper and lofting over extra-cover as 19 runs were looted off the over. Butler was re-introduced to exert control, but he too was punished as Holder pinged long-on for six and point for four.Emmanuel got the better of Dwayne despite conceding a six over fine leg, and finished off with the wicket of Carlo Morris caught smartly by Sebastien at long on. Holder stayed put till the end and hustled Lewis for another six over long on as Barbados plundered 104 runs off their last ten overs. They had been helped along by some poor fielding under pressure, and muddled thinking from Windwards, who failed to make full use of Emmanuel, their best bowler on the day. As it transpired, their batting effort was even worse, and the 39-run margin of defeat summarised the rift between the two sides perfectly.

Pakistan’s tortured top order will have to find new levels of resolve if they want to extend this Test beyond the third day after England built a lead of 179 at Edgbaston despite a late collapse

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan07-Aug-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSaeed Ajmal bagged the best figures of his short Test career as England collapsed to 251 all out•PA Photos

Pakistan’s tortured top order will have to find new levels of resolve if they want to extend this Test beyond the third day after England built a lead of 179 at Edgbaston despite a late collapse. Saeed Ajmal took a career-best 5 for 82 as the hosts’ last five wickets fell for eight runs after Kevin Pietersen made a charmed 80, but James Anderson then struck early as Pakistan edged to 19 for 1.The visiting batsmen found life no easier in their second innings and Salman Butt fell to an almost unplayable delivery which seamed away late and took the outside via his pad to first slip. Azhar Ali extended his run-less streak in this game to 44 deliveries before he finally scampered a desperate single from his 13th ball to escape his pair.England thought they had removed Azhar moments before with an inside edge to the keeper but, after failing to review his caught-behind in the first innings at Trent Bridge, he was saved by the UDRS which clearly showed the ball had flicked the pad. Still, though, Azhar’s mind often looked frazzled, as when he tried to advance at Broad. Such was the stranglehold applied by the attack.Somehow, Imran Farhat survived until bad light hastened the close with five overs remaining after a severe working over from the pacemen. Anderson moved the ball both ways while Broad pitched the ball a touch fuller than usual and regularly beat the edgeEngland’s late collapse and the continued dominance of the ball increased the value of Pietersen’s battling innings and his 133-run stand with Jonathan Trott. It will go down as the ugliest effort of his career, and his 17-month wait for a hundred goes on, but he ensured the chance of a commanding lead wasn’t squandered.Having already been given two clear-cut chances yesterday Pietersen was dropped again without adding to his overnight score and it was the most embarrassing of all Pakistan’s lapses – which says something. He got an inside edge into his pad which ballooned towards gully, but Umar Amin was more interested in joining the appeal for lbw and dropped the easiest of chances.Pietersen’s innings, not for the first time, also included a dose of controversy as he left everyone diving for a copy of the Laws. The incident occurred as Mohammad Asif ran in for the fifth ball of his 12th over and he was well into his delivery stride when Pietersen began walking towards square leg. The batsman is allowed to back away if he is distracted, but Pietersen then continued to play a shot and lobbed a gentle catch to mid-off. The umpire Marais Erasmus called dead ball moments before the ball was struck, but Butt protested that it was too late.Law 23.3.b (v) states: “Either umpire shall call “dead ball” when he is satisfied that for an adequate reason the striker is not ready for the delivery of the ball and, if the ball is delivered, makes no attempt to play it.” It is that final part which raises questions about the decision although Pietersen later suggested he only played the ball because it followed him. Thankfully, though, given the heated history of England-Pakistan contests, the sting was taken out of the moment by a rain break.Pietersen tried to combat the threat of the swing from Asif and Mohammad Amir by using his feet and after lunch began to locate the middle of the bat with more frequency. He went to fifty with a well-timed flick through midwicket off Amir then took the attack to Ajmal.However, Ajmal also caused Pietersen problems and watched as an outside thudded into Zulqarnain Haider’s leg and ran away to the boundary. It was a huge deflection and a wicketkeeper isn’t expected to hold such edges, but it summed up Pietersen’s fortune. He was lucky again a short while later when a beautiful delivery from Ajmal gripped and spun between bat and pad and somehow missed the stumps.Compared to Pietersen’s rather manic display, Trott was a picture of total calmness as he went about his work in typically unfussy manner. With a better throw he could have been run out on 47, but went to a fifty on his home ground off 105 balls. Apart from a few issues picking Ajmal he was untroubled until he cut a short ball from Umar Amin to the substitute Yasir Hameed in the gully who showed how to take a catch.Amin was only in operation because Umar Gul had limped off after pulling up with a hamstring strain at the start of his 10th over which left Butt having to juggle a weakened bowling unit. He was therefore grateful for Ajmal’s spirited showing as his doosra confused the middle order. It began when Pietersen got a leading edge back to the bowler and, while it’s probably come too late to save this match, he has given Pakistan something to cling to for The Oval – which is a venue that can take turn.But despite the renewed vigour of the bowling effort, Pakistan produced further howlers in the field as Graeme Swann was twice dropped during his brief innings – firstly by Hameed at slip then by the captain himself at mid-off. Ajmal, though, didn’t miss the chance of his first five-wicket haul, but wasn’t going to risk leaving the final catch to anyone else as he safely pouched Swann’s top edge.

Nottinghamshire edged their way to the 400 runs required to secure a vital fifth batting point

Liam Brickhill16-Sep-2010

ScorecardShivnarine Chanderpaul’s dismissal sparked wild celebrations from Nottinghamshire•Getty Images

In a result that seemed almost unthinkable this morning, Nottinghamshire have stormed to the County Championship title on a thrilling afternoon at Old Trafford. Needing to secure six bonus points to pull level with Somerset at the top of the table – and squeeze ahead by virtue of winning seven games to Somerset’s six this season – Nottinghamshire edged their way to the 400 runs required to secure a vital fifth batting point, with the tenth-wicket pair of Darren Pattinson and Ryan Sidebottom, in what could be his final game for the county, putting together 10 runs in 5.1 overs fraught with tension.Having declared, Nottinghamshire were left needing three wickets in 15 overs in order to secure the title, and Sidebottom soon came to the fore with the ball, snaffling Mark Chilton before Andre Adams’ double-strike sparked wild celebrations at Old Trafford. With Somerset settling for a draw at Chester-le-Street after quick wickets had put paid to their hopes of chasing down 181 in 17 overs, Nottinghamshire went into the final hour of the Championship campaign knowing exactly what they needed to do to secure the title. It took less than five overs, at the end of a long and arduous season, for a pumped-up Sidebottom and Adams to get them there.Sidebottom struck first as Karl Brown edged his eighth ball to Alex Hales at first slip. Though Brown might have left the delivery alone, in the next over Mark Chilton could do nothing about his dismissal as he got a feather on an unplayable delivery from Adams. Adams has been Nottinghamshire’s stand-out bowler in their Championship campaign, and he then struck for the 68th time and final time, having Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught by Samit Patel at third slip, to set the champagne corks popping.Nottinghamshire’s other option going into the final day had been to persuade Lancashire to forfeit an innings and set them a gettable total to chase this afternoon. Ultimately, however, their victory was hard-fought as they were given no quarter by Lancashire and it took a special partnership between Adam Voges and Samit Patel to push them towards the magic 400-mark.There would have been some frayed nerves in their dressing room during Sidebottom and Pattinson’s partnership, but the fact that Nottinghamshire got that close at all was thanks largely to Voges and Patel’s 153-run stand for the fifth wicket, which came before Simon Kerrigan ran through a nervous lower order to pick up 5 for 80.After a delayed start at 11.35am with 80 overs to be bowled after the players took the field in bright sunshine, the onus was on scoring quickly from the start. There was no sign of declaration bowling from Lancashire, with Tom Smith and Gary Keedy starting proceedings, but without being overtly reckless Voges and Mark Wagh managed to score at better than a run a ball almost from the first over of the morning.Sajid Mahmood replaced Smith at the Stretford End and his extra pace soon brought about a breakthrough as Wagh jabbed at an inswinger from the crease and had his stumps pegged back. Ali Brown looked to have settled, putting together 28 with Voges in good time, but fell on the stroke of lunch as Mahmood slanted one in to strike him above the left knee roll.The signs that Nottinghamshire would try to press on quickly after the interval were soon apparent, as Voges started aggressively by thrashing Mahmood to the cover boundary to go to his half-century. Soon after he charged out of his crease and clipped Keedy to the straight midwicket boundary to take Nottinghamshire past 200 – and their first batting point.Voges was on hand once again to secure another point when he took Nottinghamshire past 250 in partnership with Patel. Patel, who once again demonstrated the natural stroke-maker that has left England so frustrated by his fitness issues, eased to a rapid half-century from 60 balls and soon after brought up the century stand – from 117 balls – with a wristy cut through backward point.As Nottinghamshire neared 300 Voges and Patel upped the tempo noticeably, both using their feet to seamers and spinners alike and appearing unafraid to hit the ball in the air. Voges came down the track and bunted Keedy to long-on to register his first hundred for Nottinghamshire, and despite his head start, Patel rapidly caught up with him and had already reached 91 by the time he had gone to his ton. But he would not follow Voges to the landmark, falling in the pursuit of quick runs as he lofted Kerrigan to Kyle Hogg at long-off to depart for a 91-ball 96 that included 11 fours and a six.Kerrigan removed Chris Read and Steven Mullaney in quick succession, but with Nottinghamshire just 10 runs short of their 400-target and with two wickets in hand, Adams missed a wild mow into the leg side to be bowled by Kerrigan – the spinner’s fifth wicket. Then came Sidebottom and Pattinson’s vital stand, and Nottinghamshire declared their innings immediately after reaching the 400-mark to leave them 15 overs to push for the title.Despite Nottinghamshire’s fears that they would have to engage in horse-trading and negotiations in order to force a result in this game, ultimately they secured the title under their own steam and finished as deserved champions in a truly breathless finale to the county season.

The opener Nick Jewell’s half-century helped Victoria to 3 for 228 against Western Australia on a day disrupted by rain in Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2010

ScorecardNick Jewell’s surprise call ended in a valuable 74•Getty Images

The opener Nick Jewell’s half-century helped Victoria to 3 for 228 against Western Australia on a day disrupted by rain in Perth. Jewell wasn’t expecting to play much for Victoria this summer as he concentrated on his coaching career, but he was a late call-up to replace the injured Chris Rogers and showed he still had the batting form.Jewell, who knocked back a state contract in the off-season, opened with a useful 74 that provided a base for the Bushrangers. Dropped on 10 by Adam Voges, Jewell took advantage and put on 113 with Michael Hill, who fell to the debutant Ryan Duffield on 47.David Hussey also became the maiden victim of Michael Beer, the spinner who moved from Victoria during the winter. Hussey edged trying to cut and was out for 43 just before the players left the field for a second rain interruption. Aaron Finch (35) and Andrew McDonald (9) were not out when more rain and bad light cut the day to 67 overs.

Stuart Broad, the England allrounder, has said he’ll keep his emotions under control on the tour of Australia in what is expected to be a heated atmosphere in front of big crowds during the Ashes

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2010Stuart Broad, the England allrounder, has said he will keep his emotions under control on the tour of Australia, in what is expected to be a heated atmosphere in front of big crowds during the Ashes. Broad has had his share of troubles on the field with regard to discipline. Most recently, in August against Pakistan, he was fined by the match referee for hurling the ball at the batsman Zulqarnain Haider out of frustration.”I know the lines that are there and not to cross them,” Broad told . “I did cross that once this summer and got punished for it, but I’ve learnt from my mistakes and hopefully this winter all will go to plan.”Broad, who will be on his first Test tour of Australia, sought inspiration from his father’s exploits – Chris Broad scored three centuries – in 1986-87 when England last won an Ashes series in Australia. He’s picked up 97 wickets in 32 Tests so far and said he’ll remain aggressive while ensuring he stays calm. “I’m a passionate player when I pull that England shirt on; it’s a very special and proud moment for you,” he said.”There’s a fine line to it. I don’t want to lose any of that passion for the game; as a bowler I need to have that real desire to get the batsman out and be in their face and be aggressive.”You have got to try to make the batsman feel a bit uncomfortable to get him out.”It’s just important to try to keep a cool head and stay logical rather than emotional. But then again you have to keep that balance between not becoming too logical because you need to have that passion in order to play to 100% in the game.”The key to England’s success in Australia, Broad said, was for the batsmen to score big with a strong bowling line-up to back them. “Runs on the board is the key,” he said. “We’ve got a bowling attack with a lovely balance to it – two tall bowlers [Broad and Steven Finn], a fantastic spinner [Graeme Swann] and James Anderson who can swing the ball.”We all know that scoreboard pressure creates wickets. So if we go and get 400 in the first innings – which is what we target every time – it puts huge pressure on the Australians. Big first-innings totals are something we need to produce.”A worry for England over the past few months has been the form of Kevin Pietersen, who averaged 27.75 in the four Tests against Pakistan. Pietersen has not scored a Test century since March 2009 and was dropped for the ODI series against Pakistan. He then went to South Africa to play some first-class cricket in preparation for the Ashes, but has, so far, failed to impress. “The Ashes is set up perfectly for him to fire back into form,” Broad said. “He’s a big-game player and I have no doubt that he’ll step up and perform for us in Australia.”

It will be interesting to see if India will become more aggressive in the third Test, for attacking consistently will go against what has worked for them in recent times

The Preview by Sidharth Monga19-Nov-2010

Match facts

Saturday, November 20
Start time 9.30 (0400 GMT)India will be wary of Brendon McCullum with the bat and in the field•AFP

Big Picture

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Australia was the country where teams went to get clean-swept. Pakistan, India and West Indies had managed the distinction in sequence, and the same was expected of New Zealand in 2001-02. Not least because of the form they carried across the ditch, having fought to draw a home Test series against Pakistan and having lost home ODI series to Zimbabwe and Pakistan, along with unsuccessful forays into tri-series in the subcontinent. Yet the top team in the world had to bowl wide outside off to draw the first Test, and then save the final through batting contributions from Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. Series result: 0-0.Not too different, in a way, from New Zealand getting Bangla-washed on their way to India, a team looking to extend its reign at the top, its broadcasters selling the series as “Mission Domination”. Score line going into the final match: 0-0, with India being made to save one of those Tests.Still there are differences, outside the obvious reiteration that New Zealand should never be taken lightly. New Zealand then had a much stronger side through the presence of Chris Cairns, Stephen Fleming, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle and Dion Nash, along with two promising youngsters in Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond. Also, the conditions in Australia aren’t as alien as the ones in India are. Which is what makes the performance in India so far every bit as sweet for New Zealand, if not sweeter.The way the top team played then and the way the top team is playing now cannot be more different. Australia made bold declarations, setting targets such as 284 runs in 56 overs. India are so used to playing on flat tracks that they send a deep point out the moment the leading wicket-taker still playing the game is hit for one boundary. With the exception of Virender Sehwag, India have shown no inclination to set the pace.It will be interesting to see if India will become more aggressive in the decider, for attacking consistently will go against what has worked for them in recent times: damage-control to stay in the game until the wickets arrive. Failing to win a home series against the No. 8 team in the world, though, might require much more damage-control than deep point and deep midwicket can provide.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India DDWWW
New Zealand DDLLW

Watch out for…

Gautam Gambhir scratched through in Hyderabad for his first half-century in 10 months. Those 10 months have featured an evil concoction of injury and poor form, the latter possibly a result of the former. There were signs, though, that he might be getting back to his free-flowing self. Still, being a man who is often too hard on himself, Gambhir can do with a century before he goes to South Africa.

Brendon McCullum invited pressure when he gave up the wicketkeeping gloves to concentrate on his batting. Two Tests into the exercise McCullum already seems to have made a change, albeit in a country that doesn’t test openers as much as some of the others do. Twice in three innings, his impetus at the top has put India on the defensive. India will be wary of his batting, and also keep an eye out for that flying object in the covers.

Pitch and conditions

The tracks in this series so far have received a lot of negative attention from the home team, who will be hoping for a better pitch in Nagpur. Both the captains have found this pitch to be drier than the ones in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, but neither of them expects a raging turner designed to give the home team the best possible chance of a win.
More than the pitch now, weather has become the centre of attention, with unseasonal rains washing out both of India’s practice sessions ahead of the match. The main pitch and the bowlers’ run-ups have stayed covered, but puddles have formed in the outfield. A delayed start won’t come as a surprise.

Team news

Zaheer Khan, India’s best bowler at the moment, has been ruled out with a groin strain, and Ishant Sharma is likely to take his place in the XI. Despite two draws, India are not going to make any other dramatic changes to their combination.
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 SreesanthNew Zealand are likely to bring in the left-arm pace of Andy McKay ahead of Brent Arnel’s steady seamers.New Zealand 1 Tim McIntosh, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Jesse Ryder, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Andy McKay, 11 Chris Martin

Stats and trivia

• India are sure to lose rating points irrespective of the result of this match. Even if they win the match, they will lose one point; a loss and a draw will cost them six and four points respectively.
• Six out of India’s top seven batsmen, Virender Sehwag being the exception, have scored at less than 50 runs per 100 balls.
• New Zealand last won an away Test, not counting Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, in 2002 in the West Indies, which was also the last time they won an away series.

Quotes

“If you look at the schedule players like myself and Suresh Raina have been playing non-stop cricket since the Sri Lanka tour … So there has not been enough time to switch on and switch off.”

“We are not satisfied because once we are satisfied, it will be the start of our downfall.”

Western Australia debutant Tom Beaton launched his career with an impressive 71 to help his side secure a five-wicket victory

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2010
ScorecardTom Beaton showed his potential on his first-team debut•Getty Images

Western Australia debutant Tom Beaton launched his career with an impressive 71 to help the side secure a five-wicket victory against Queensland at the WACA. Beaton added 141 for the fifth wicket with Adam Voges who played a captain’s hand to finish unbeaten on 85 when victory came with five balls to spare.The home side were behind the game at the 20-over split having fallen to 3 for 9 following incisive new-ball bursts from Nathan Rimmington and Chris Swan. However, when the innings resumed with a target of 212, Beaton and Voges made strong progress. Twenty-year-old Beaton hit three sixes in a 73-ball stay before he was run out by James Hopes, but by then the result was almost assured.Voges provided an experienced figure to the chase and paced his innings perfectly while Beaton scored at close to a run-a-ball in the highest score by a Western Australia debutant. Luke Ronchi gave the match a swift conclusion with a quick-fire 23 to guard against any last-minute nerves for Western Australia who remain firmly in contention for a place in the final.Queensland, who are stuck to the bottom of the table, suffered a major batting collapse as they wasted an ideal platform of 1 for 146 after 31 overs. Chris Hartley (58) and Chris Lynn (47) both departed to Brett Dorey in the 32nd over and the innings never regained any momentum. Dorey claimed two more to finish with 4 for 53 in 11 overs although Michael Neser (30 not out) edged the total over 200.

Round-up of the third day of matches in the Caribbean T20 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2011Defending champions Guyana clinched a thrilling one-run win over Somerset at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Guyana won the toss and elected to bat, but it was a decision that backfired as none of their batsmen, bar Ramnaresh Sarwan could get going.The Somerset bowlers lead by Alfonso Thomas, who picked up three wickets, strangled the Guyana batsmen and at 51 for 5 Guyana looked in grave trouble. A 36-run partnership between Sarwan and Royston Crandon inched them towards the 100-run mark. Sarwan fell for 59 and Guyana managed to reach a below-par 112 for 8 off their allotted overs.However, that total proved enough to thwart Somerset who started their chase in positive fashion. At 105 for 3 in the 18th over, they looked to be cruising to victory. However, as a result of some tight Guyana bowling and sharp fielding, they suffered a spectacular collapse to lose seven wickets for six runs. Two wickets to Esuan Crandon, one to Veerasammy Permaul, who had earlier dismissed opener Peter Trego, four run-outs and it was all over for Somerset as they were bowled out for 111 to hand Guyana their first points of the tournament.In the second game in Antigua, Combined Colleges and Campuses beat Jamaica by seven wickets. Jamaica, who beat Guyana in their first game, won the toss and elected to bat.They got off to a sluggish start when Gilford Moore dismissed Xavier Marshall in the third over and were 43 for 2 in their first 10 overs. However, the arrival of No. 3 Marlon Samuels swung the momentum in Jamaica’s favour. He was aggressive, taking the attack to the CCC bowlers as he raced to 50 in 44 balls. He clouted 30 runs off the next 10 balls he faced to end unbeaten on 80 off 54 balls which included five fours and five sixes. Wavell Hinds made 21 off 18 balls as Jamaica reached 138 for 4 in their 20 overs.CCC’s chase started poorly as Romel Currency was dismissed in the second over with just five runs on the board. However, Miles Bascombe, William Perkins and Kyle Hope all chipped in with solid thirties as CCC made short work of the Jamaica total. They reached their target in 19 overs for the loss of three wickets to earn their first points in this competition.