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Neil McCallum, the Scotland batsman, has announced he will retire from international cricket after a one-day game against Hampshire on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2011Neil McCallum, the Scotland batsman, will retire from international cricket after the one-day game against Hampshire on Sunday. McCallum, who held a full-time job in teaching through his career, said he could no longer devote sufficient time for the game.He first represented Scotland in 2000 but became a regular only around 2006 and played in a national record 43 ODIs and 11 Twenty20 internationals. The 2007 World Cup and the first two World Twenty20s were among the global tournaments he took part in.McCallum, 33, averaged over 44 in 14 first-class matches, including a career-best 181 against Netherlands in 2007, the third-highest score for Scotland in first-class cricket. Another highlight was the Intercontinental Cup final last year, when his unbeaten 104 helped Scotland take the first-innings lead.”It has not been an easy decision to retire this weekend, but I believe the time is right,” McCallum said. “These days Scotland are training and competing all year round. It was becoming harder to dedicate the correct amount of time to perform and train at an international level. I have been trying to juggle work and family, on top of school, club and regional cricket, as well as the demands of training and competing at the elite level.”Peter Steindl, Scotland’s coach, who worked with McCallum for four seasons praised his attitude. “His dedication and enthusiasm both on and off the pitch has always been a major factor in his success and has been the benchmark for other players to follow,” Steindl said. “He never shirked from putting in the hours preparing, improving his skills and getting fitter.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the CLT20 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Somerset in Hyderabad

The Preview by Dustin Silgardo24-Sep-2011

Match facts

Kolkata Knight Riders v Somerset, September 24
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Ryan ten Doeschate helped Knight Riders qualify for the main draw with his 46 against Somerset in the qualifiers•AFP

Big Picture

Kolkata Knight Riders and Somerset will meet for the second time in five days. During the qualifying stage, they were involved in a strange game where despite Somerset winning by 11 runs it was Knight Riders celebrating at the end. They had qualified, along with Somerset, as the best second-placed team from the two qualifying groups.Given the nature of Twenty20 cricket that win might mean little when the teams met again, but Knight Riders will be increasingly aware that their top order is consuming far too many balls to produce too few runs. Even Yusuf Pathan, on paper their most dangerous player, has struck at less than a run-a-ball in his two scores of 12 in the qualifying round.Somerset came to this tournament without three key batsmen and would have felt a little bitter that their 21-year-old star Jos Buttler did not even get a bat for England in the first Twenty20 against West Indies. Craig Kieswetter’s aggressive half-century in the same match, though, would have reminded them of what they can achieve once the two join them. Their bid to qualify for the main draw was helped by some tight bowling and outstanding fielding, with Roelof van der Merwe seeming to pop up everywhere with athletic stops or catches.These are the two weaker teams in their group, which also contains South Australia, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Warriors, so a loss for either would leave them with an uphill climb to reach the semi-finals.

Watch out for …

Ryan ten Doeschate came to Knight Riders with a big reputation after having done well in Twenty20 competitions in England and New Zealand, and having scored a century against England in the World Cup. He only had three innings in the previous IPL, but showed he can play the role of a finisher when he helped Kolkata qualify with a quick 46 against Somerset.Roelof van der Merwe is a player perfectly suited to the Twenty20 format. He bats aggressively, bowls flat left-arm spin that is hard to take for runs and saves 10-15 runs every innings in the outfield. Without Marcus Trescothick, Kieswetter and Buttler, van der Merwe has occupied the No. 3 spot during the tournament and may need to play a longer innings than he is used to in order to help his team.

Team news

Somerset will have left-arm spinner George Dockrell back for their first match in the main draw, as Ireland have completed their Intercontinental Cup fixtures against Canada. The man he replaces in the squad, legspinner Max Waller, had impressed in the qualifiers, taking 1 for 18 in four overs against Auckland and bagging two wickets against Kolkata. So there will be pressure on the 19-year-old Dockrell to repay Somerset’s faith in him. Wicketkeeper Steve Snell and seamer Lewis Gregory will leave once Kieswetter and Buttler arrive in India, so they will want to make use of this chance in the international limelight.Gautam Gambhir, who suffered a concussion during India’s Test series in England, is expected to play at some stage during the tournament, but whether he will be available for the game against Somerset is not clear. Brad Haddin has arrived from Sri Lanka but ten Doeschate’s performance in the last game and the effectiveness of Shakib Al Hasan’s spin on the slow Hyderabad wicket means he is not guaranteed of a place in the XI.

Stats and trivia

• Kolkata Knight Riders have not reached a score of 180 since the 2010 season of the IPL. The 222 they managed in their first game, in the 2008 IPL, is still the highest total for the franchise.
• Somerset have lost just one of the last eight Twenty20 matches they have played, though that match was the Friends Life t20 final.

Quotes

“It’s frustrating, obviously, but it’s pleasing personally that I did all I could do while I was out here. I knew I wasn’t going to stay for the main event if we qualified, so I wanted to do what I could do and help us qualify.”
Max Waller is disappointed to be going home before the main tournament begins

“I sometimes get a bit tied up against spin. But I have made it a point to watch the ball closely and it has helped. I do like to get after the spinners and I think that is the best way to play them.”
Ryan ten Doeschate gives notice of his intent against the slow bowlers

Dean Brownlie, who made his Test debut for New Zealand today in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, has said he would like to cement a place in the squad ahead the tour of Australia next month

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2011Dean Brownlie, who made his Test debut for New Zealand today in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, has said he is confident his first-class performances would translate into Test cricket. He forced his way into the side by making heaps of runs for Canterbury and New Zealand A during the winter, and believes he is ready for the challenge of Test cricket.”I’ve got lots of advice from the senior players and they’re all telling me not to change anything, to do what I did to get selected,” he said. “I think that’s the key.”I try not to think too much about outside pressures and just try and take it ball by ball, like I always do.”Brownlie was born in Australia and only moved to New Zealand in 2009, qualifying to play for them through his Christchurch-born father, Jim. So he would like nothing more than to cement a place in the squad ahead of the tour of Australia next month.”It would be good, but not just because it’s Australia and I was born there and grew up there,” Brownlie told the . More so my [Perth-based] friends and family can watch me play, and a lot of the coaches I had growing up.”While he is keen to play one-day cricket and has already played two international Twenty20 matches, Brownlie said succeeding in Test cricket was his greatest ambition. “That’s the pinnacle, isn’t it? That’s the hardest test of cricket and of your ability.”A calf injury ruled Jesse Ryder out of the Test and Brownlie could be called upon to bowl a few overs to support the frontline bowlers. He did that in the tour game, picking up the wicket of Malcolm Waller, but didn’t think it would lead his Canterbury coach, Bob Carter, to throw him the ball more often in domestic cricket.”They’ve seen me bowl, and they’re about as unimpressed with it as I am.”

Australia’s hopes at the Wanderers – and potentially for their home summer – took a major blow in the first session of the match when Shane Watson left the field with an injury to his right hamstring

Brydon Coverdale in Johannesburg17-Nov-2011Australia’s hopes at the Wanderers – and potentially for their home summer – took a major blow in the first session of the match when Shane Watson left the field with an injury to his right hamstring. The loss of Watson followed Australia’s decision to send the fast bowler Ryan Harris home due to a hip problem, which will place him in doubt for the first Test against New Zealand.Arguably Australia’s most important player, Watson left the field after bowling the fifth ball of his fourth over, having already made a breakthrough when he had Jacques Rudolph caught behind. It was not immediately clear how serious the injury was, but Watson’s history with hamstring complaints meant it was unlikely the Australians would risk him doing any further damage by bowling again in the match.Watson returned to the field later in the day and stood at first slip – he didn’t bowl again – and at the end of the day he was padded up ready to open the innings. However, the ICC’s new law forbidding runners means that Watson’s impact could be limited by how quickly he can make it to the other end of the pitch.While Watson is key to Australia’s setup due to his all-round abilities, the team is also without Harris, the best bowler in the side. Harris was ruled out of the Test, allowing the 18-year-old Pat Cummins to make his debut, and he was set to return to Australia immediately.”Ryan Harris had some right hip pain after the first Test in Cape Town,” Australia’s physio, Alex Kountouris, said. “He was still experiencing pain bowling during the team training session on Wednesday and has therefore been ruled out of the second Test.”He has had a number of investigations since arriving in Johannesburg that have at this stage excluded serious injury, however he will need to return to Australia for further assessment and to commence his recovery. His return to cricket will be guided by the improvement we see over the next week.”That timeframe does not bode well for his availability for the New Zealand series, which begins at the Gabba in a fortnight. Harris, 32, has been Australia’s best bowler since he made his Test debut in New Zealand early last year, easily topping the frontline bowling averages during that period with 35 victims at 21.37.However, Australia’s concern is that Harris has played only half the Tests during that time. He was sent home from the Pakistan series in England last year with a knee injury that required surgery, he suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during the Boxing Day Ashes Test last year and again needed an operation, and he missed the final Test in Sri Lanka in September due to a hamstring strain.Three Tests is the most he has strung together in a row. The injuries to Harris and Watson leave Australia with some serious concerns ahead of the New Zealand series and the four-Test series against India that follows.Harris was to be accompanied on the plane home from South Africa by the left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who the selectors felt would benefit from match-time back home. Trent Copeland and David Warner have remained with the squad but with an Australia A match against New Zealand set to begin next Thursday, it is not out of the question that one of them could be sent to take part in that match.

Fifteen wickets tumbled on the second day at the MCG, to better the 13 on the first, and at the end of it all Tasmania were in a commanding position against Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2011
Scorecard
Fifteen wickets tumbled on the second day at the MCG, to better the 13 on the first, and at the end of it all Tasmania were in a commanding position, leading Victoria by 337 runs with two second-innings wickets intact. Their advantage was built by a strong bowling performance led by Jackson Bird, who took 5 for 35, as Victoria were routed for 94 in their first innings, conceding a lead of 123.Victoria began the day on 3 for 18, with Bird having taken three wickets in four balls on the first evening. He went on to scalp two more – both David Hussey and Cameron White were caught behind – to reduce the hosts to 5 for 55. Xavier Doherty then dismissed Rob Quiney, whose 33 was Victoria’s only double-figure score until then, without another run being added to the total.Andrew McDonald contributed 26 but the tail didn’t fight, and Victoria were dismissed before lunch for their lowest Sheffield Shield total since the 91 against New South Wales in 2004-05.Tasmania’s attempt to build on their lead did not have a happy beginning, though, and they were 46 for 4 after Evan Gulbis was dismissed for his fourth consecutive duck. James Faulkner, however, resisted with a half-century and he put on 65 for the sixth wicket with Mark Cosgrove, who made 36 off 34 balls and helped wrest the momentum. Both of them were dismissed in quick time but wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt scored 46 off 40 balls to lead Tasmania to 8 for 214.Jayde Herrick took 4 for 68 for Victoria, boosting his season tally to 26 to overtake Ben Cutting (23) as the season’s top wicket-taker.

England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 spot in Test cricket

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-2011England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 ranking. In 2011 they played eight Tests, winning six and drawing two, but in 2012 that number swells to 15 so the much-vaunted depth of England’s resources will be tested again.A mark of England’s success in climbing the rankings has been how seamlessly players have slotted in when changes have been made through form or injury, Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan being the stand-out examples. The players who are currently outside a likely first-choice eleven are vital to the make-up of the squad. If the selectors follow the same pattern as for Australia they will favour those players ready to step up to Test level at a moment’s notice rather than those with potential in the future. The England Lions trips of the subcontinent will allow those players on the fringe to play regular cricket in case reinforcements are required.The key position is which spinner (or even spinners) accompanies Graeme Swann in the squad. There needs to be at least one option who, if the worst case scenario struck and Swann was ruled out of a match, could be the frontline spinner in a Test. Currently that man remains Monty Panesar who toured Australia as Swann’s understudy but wasn’t required. Last season he was the highest wicket-taker in Division One of the County Championship in 2011 with 69 victims at 27.24.Scott Borthwick, the Durham legspinner, Hampshire’s Danny Briggs and Simon Kerrigan from Lancashire, who took 9 for 51 against Hampshire last year, are the rising stars so it is shaping as now or never for Panesar, who has spent the last couple of months playing club cricket in Sydney, to resume his Test career.Yet, whether Panesar makes the first eleven will depend on if Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower are willing to move away from the current balance of six batsmen, the keeper and four bowlers – albeit in conditions that haven’t demanded a second spinner, or specialist fifth bowler – unless they opt for the risky strategy of two quicks and two spinners.The prolific form of England’s top five, Matt Prior’s consistency in Test cricket, plus the developing allround skills of Bresnan and Stuart Broad, suggest England could cope with the shift in strategy but don’t be surprised to see the balance remain the same. However, there is no doubt that at some point next year – whether in UAE, Sri Lanka or India – England will need two spinners in the same attack.England’s previous Test team, against India at The Oval in August, was without Jonathan Trott due to injury and Ravi Bopara was in the middle order. Trott, the ICC International Cricketer of the Year, will be back at No. 3 against Pakistan and Eoin Morgan will expect to retain his spot if he completes a successful recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the one-day tour of India.At the end of England’s home season Bopara’s stock had risen considerably after a successful one-day series against India, but the return contest on the subcontinent didn’t see further development as he became one of a number of England batsmen to struggle against spin. The other options include promoting James Taylor or even taking Samit Patel to cover a number of bases with his spin bowling.In the pace-bowling department there are plentiful options to choose from. The depth available is highlighted by Tremlett’s situation. He began the year by helping seal the Ashes series then starred in the dramatic victory against Sri Lanka, at Cardiff, before bagging career-best figures of 6 for 48 at The Rose Bowl. Yet, so seamlessly did Bresnan replace him against India after injury struck that he was hardly missed.Now, having lost his place to injury he will need someone to break down – or Bresnan to not recover from his elbow surgery – for a spot to open up. Then there’s Steven Finn who was England’s one bright spot during the one-day series in India. He bowled with pace and hostility having developed his game away from Test cricket and looked primed for another opportunity.The final spot will be a reserve keeper and Steven Davies could fill the same role he did during the Ashes. That would mean only one change – Bopara for Paul Collingwood – from the original 16 that travelled to Australia last year. Davies hasn’t featured for England since the one-day series in Australia, at the start of which he was omitted from the World Cup squad in favour of Prior. He scored 1035 runs at 39.80 in the County Championship for Surrey although another option could be Jonny Bairstow if the selectors want to have a look to the future.Possible squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Steven Davies

Ricky Ponting needed to have his concerns assuaged by the national selector John Inverarity before he accepted the stand-in captaincy for Friday’s triangular series match against Sri Lanka in Sydney

Daniel Brettig in Sydney16-Feb-2012Ricky Ponting needed to have his concerns assuaged by the national selector John Inverarity before he accepted the stand-in captaincy for Friday’s triangular series match against Sri Lanka in Sydney.Aware that Michael Clarke had strained a hamstring at the conclusion of Sunday’s loss to India, Ponting took the vice-captain David Warner aside in the Adelaide Oval dressing room to say “make sure you’ve got yourself ready to captain Australia in a couple of days’ time”. However Ponting then took the call of Inverarity, who explained that Warner was not yet ready for the position, compelling the selectors to go back to the former captain at the SCG.”I did have a think about it and I had a good chat to John Inverarity about that and what some of my concerns were around that,” Ponting said on match eve. “But I decided to do what they wanted me to do and what I felt was probably right for the team right at the moment.”We’ve got a few of our experienced guys out on the sidelines at the moment, and I know Dave Warner had been named vice-captain at the start of the one-day series and the selectors made it very clear why they haven’t given him the captaincy for this game. I’m excited about leading the team again but hopefully it’s only for a very short period of time.”[My concerns] were all the things that have already been spoken about in the media in the past couple of days. The fact there was a vice-captain named and it looked like I was coming over the top of him and maybe not giving a younger guy an opportunity to captain Australia. They were the things I spoke to John about, but the fact they’d actually asked me, they’d put a lot of time and thought and energy into making me come back into this role, so I agreed to do it and felt and still feel right now that it’s probably the best decision for the team.”Ponting said he would now be spending plenty of time with Warner over the next two days or more – depending on whether or not Clarke returns from his hamstring strain in time for Sunday’s match against India at the Gabba – to impart as much wisdom as he could about captaincy and leadership. Their dialogue had begun when Warner called Ponting upon hearing he had been appointed captain, offering a cheeky rejoinder to the earlier dressing room conversation.Ricky Ponting will stand in for the injured Michael Clarke•Getty Images

“As soon as the game finished in Adelaide I actually dragged [Warner] over and made him sit with me for a few minutes and I said to him then ‘make sure you’ve got yourself ready to captain Australia in a couple of days’ time’,” Ponting said. “Then as soon as the decision was made he was on the phone to me straight away saying ‘don’t worry about me, you better make sure you’re ready to captain the team’, so we’ve had a bit of a chat about it. Davey’s very clear on the direction the selectors have taken, and I’m just going to do the best I can to make sure he gets the most out of the game that he possibly can.”As I’ve always done when I was captain is ask the opinions of the players out on the field at different times in the game and for Friday’s game it’ll be Davey that I’ll be going to a lot to one let him know what my ideas are and what we’re trying to achieve and also try to get some ideas out of him as to where he sees the game at any particular time. I think he came out yesterday and said he enjoys working under Michael and George Bailey in the T20s and for him tomorrow he’s got a chance to work with me and I’m looking forward to that.”Chief among Ponting’s priorities for the match against Sri Lanka is to help refocus a team that struggled for energy and precision in the field in Adelaide – perhaps a hangover from the Perth commute, having played a match on the west coast on Friday night.”That’s the hardest one you have during the summer, there’s no doubt about that,” Ponting said. “When you’re travelling from Sydney to Brisbane like we are this week then it’s not as big a deal. Coming from Perth, we left at one o’clock and arrived in Adelaide about half past six. Then you’re having dinner and up and playing the next day. Probably for the fast bowlers in particular that was the hardest thing that they’ll have to do for the summer.”We’re not using that as an excuse. We knew about that at the start of the summer and we have to gear our training and our preparation around a trip like that. That game’s behind us now. We’ve got to look forward to this week and make sure we’re lifting our standards again.”It should not be forgotten either that Ponting’s own start to the series has been particularly quiet, returning scores of 2, 1 and 6. So amid all the assorted concerns of captaincy, Ponting said he was making sure he paid adequate attention to his own batting, having scaled considerable heights during the Test series against India.”I’ve been doing pretty much the same stuff this series as I was doing towards the end of the Test series,” Ponting said. “To miss out in the first couple of games, you have a reasonable break between games. We’re playing Friday-Sunday right through this tournament so it’s a little bit hard to get some momentum going when you’ve got that big break between games.”Today becomes an important day for me as far as my preparation is concerns to get everything out of it I can. It’s important for the team as well. We started this series really well and our last two performances probably haven’t been at the level that we’d expect of ourselves so we have to make sure that by the end of training today we’ve got ourselves back to a level that’s going to be good enough to dominate the remaining games.”

A round-up of matches from the sixth match-day of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2012Group ADawlat Zadran’s five-wicket haul helped Afghanistan demolish Hong Kong by nine wickets in Sharjah and confirm their place in the knockout rounds. Zadran took 5 for 14, and along with Izatullah Dawlatzai, who took 2 for 19, dismantled Hong Kong’s batting line-up with only two batsmen getting into double figures. Irfan Ahmed scored 54 off 52 balls to provide some respectability to the total as Hong Kong finished on 103. Afghanistan’s opener Karim Sadiq did not waste any time as he hit 20 runs off the first over during the chase. After Sadiq’s dismissal for 22, Javed Ahmadi’s 38 and Mohammad Shahzad’s 43 prevented any further damage and finished the game in the 12th over.In another low-scoring game, Netherlands beat Nepal by six wickets in Dubai, also sealing a berth in the knockouts. Nepal, who were put in to bat, had no answers to Netherlands’ bowling as they were reduced to 25 for 5 after 11 overs. Michael Swart took 2 for 13 and Mudassar Bukhari took 1 for 9 to stifle Nepal. That was followed by similar spells by other bowlers as only one boundary was hit in the first 17 overs. Some frantic shots by Gyanendra Malla, who scored 32, and Basanta Regmi took Nepal to 85. While chasing, Netherlands lost four wickets, three of them to Regmi, but maintained a healthy scoring-rate to win the game inside 14 overs.”I think Nepal has played some reasonable cricket in this competition, so we weren’t taking them lightly,” Netherlands captain Peter Borren said. “We bowled pretty well and they were always going to struggle to defend 86. It is going to be really difficult for us. The format of the tournament means, having lost to Afghanistan, if you are first in your group you have a huge advantage here.”Janeiro Tucker’s hat-trick of sixes in the last over helped Bermuda steal a win against Papua New Guinea by five wickets in Dubai. Sixteen runs were required off the last six balls, but Tucker only needed three, the last six bringing up his half-century as well. The chase was setup by Dion Stovell’s 31 off 24 balls and David Hemp’s 30. However, when Rarva Dikana, who had given away 18 runs in his previous three overs, was given the ball in the last over, PNG looked favourites. But Tucker’s last-minute violence earned Bermuda their first win in the tournament. Earlier, PNG had set Bermuda a competitive target of 156, courtesy a 31-ball 49 from Vani Morea. At one stage, PNG were tottering at 105 for 5 after 16.2 overs. But, 46 runs came off the last three to give PNG bowlers a defendable score. A victory for PNG would have given them an outside chance of making it to the knockouts, but this result means that both teams have failed to make it to the next stage.”My personal performance was really outstanding today,” Tucker said. “I haven’t really had a good last four or five games, but today all came together.”Hitting that last ball was amazing. That was always my intention to try to get us to victory in the last over. I guess our strategy for the last couple of games will be pretty much the same as today. We got a victory so I guess we’ve done something right.”Ruvindu Gunasekera scored a 65-ball 95 in Canada‘s 55-run win over bottom-placed Denmark in Abu Dhabi. With the heavy win, Canada are in a strong position to become the third team from the group to qualify for the next stage. Opting to bat first, the team was bolstered by a 109-run second wicket partnership between Gunasekera and Hiral Patel to post 178. In response, Denmark’s Rizwan Mahmood hit 65 and Freddie Klokker scored 40 in a third-wicket partnership worth 84 runs. But Canada bowlers, led by Henry Osinde’s 2 for 16 kept the scoring rate under control as Denmark finished on 123. Canada play Nepal in their last league game and barring a heavy defeat, they should finish third in the table.Group BTwenty20 is a tough format to be consistent in but Namibia have made victory a habit, winning their sixth game in row to stay on top of Group B. Despite being restricted to 120 for 7, Namibia beat Oman by 36 runs in Sharjah. Their total was set up by the captain, Sarel Burger, who made 53 off 44 balls. The defence was headed by Christi Viljoen, who took 4 for 8 in 3.4 overs, and Burger, who claimed 3 for 14 to cap a terrific all-round performance. Oman were dismissed for 84 in 18.4 overs.A half-century by Richie Berrington helped Scotland ease to a seven-wicket win against Italy in Dubai. Italy were restricted to 136, thanks to a combined bowling effort. The Italy top order failed to convert their starts, with Gareth Berg top-scoring with 29. Majid Haq, the offspinner, finished with the best figures: 2 for 16 off four overs. Scotland lost Calum MacLeod early, but the stand of 76 between Berrington and Preston Mommsen put them on course for victory. Berrington’s 67 contained six fours and three sixes. Scotland are currently third in Group B, and a win in their final group game, against United States of America, will guarantee them a place in the next round.”The boys played very well today and bounced back after yesterday’s game against Ireland. It takes a lot of character to come back and win today,” Berrington said. “So, we’re just focusing right now on every game and taking each game as it comes.”It was very nice to spend a bit of time in the middle today and bat through most of the innings. I would have liked to have seen it through to the end, but the boys managed to put a few away.”United States of America slid to their fifth defeat in six games after they were demolished by nine wickets by Kenya in Abu Dhabi. The USA scorecard was littered with single-digit scores, with only their captain, Sushil Nadkarni, passing double figures. Nadkarni made 41 as opener and when he departed, USA were 73 for 6 in the 14th over. Ragheb Aga and and Nelson Odhiambo took three wickets each to dismiss USA in 18.2 overs. Kenya reached the target in ten overs, with Duncan Allan and Alex Obanda scoring 34 each. They will need to beat Uganda in their final group game, and hope other results go their way, to qualify for the next phase.Ireland trounced Uganda by 82 runs in Dubai to put them in the playoff stages of the World Cup qualifiers. Read the full report here.

Before today, Virat Kohli’s scores against India’s fiercest rivals were 16, 18 and 9. He was thrilled that his Mirpur masterclass has cleared that blot on his CV.

Siddarth Ravindran in Mirpur18-Mar-2012Since Virat Kohli made his debut in 2008, he and India have played just four ODIs against Pakistan. The Champions Trophy game in Centurion when Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf took the game away from India, the 2010 Asia Cup match in Dambulla where Harbhajan Singh sealed it with a penultimate-ball six, the World Cup semi-final in Mohali, and today’s encounter. Before today, Kohli’s scores against India’s fiercest rivals were 16, 18 and 9. He was thrilled that his Mirpur masterclass has cleared that blot on his CV.”I hadn’t done too well against Pakistan, played thrice before. Even in the World Cup semi-final, I got out and I was really disappointed. Playing against them is always a high-pressure game, all eyes are on that game. It is really satisfying to chase down a big score in a crunch game for us.”Still only 23, Kohli already has so many big innings that he was asked to rate where this stood among his best knocks. “I rate this (equal) with Hobart but yes this is special because of the game today, to get a hundred against a good opposition.” The Hobart demolition job had given India a chance of reaching the final of the Commonwealth Bank series if Sri Lanka lost their final match. The 183 today gives India a chance of reaching the final if Sri Lanka win their final match.Kohli’s innings really skyrocketed once the batting Powerplay was taken after 35 overs. At that stage he was on 110, and India needed 115 to win. Eleven overs and a spree of Kohli boundaries later, he was on 177 and India needed 23 more, raising an outside chance of a third one-day double-century.Virat Kohli’s made 183, his highest ODI score, to lead India’s highest ever successful chase in one-dayers•AFP

Did the thought ever cross his mind? “I don’t know, I was just looking at the ball and hitting it,” he said. “It did cross my mind once and I was like, this can’t be real and I decided to focus on the game and react to the ball. It sort of crossed my mind but it was about keep batting, keep hitting the ball.”Another offshoot of the lack of matches against Pakistan is the lack of chances to learn how to read the variations of their top-quality spinners, particularly Saeed Ajmal. “Well I have seen him bowl earlier as well but I can tell you that is not easy to pick him,” Kohli said. “You can watch the videos but still to play him is tough because he can turn it both ways. We had a plan against him, me and Rohit, it kind of worked for us. He is a world class bowler, perhaps the best spinner in the world right now.”While the headlines will belong to Kohli, it was a big day for another young India batsman as well. Rohit Sharma hit a rough patch in the one-dayers in Australia, and had been deprived of opportunities so far in the tournament. He responded with a half-century, and the 172-run stand with Kohli put India on the brink of a memorable victory. “I am a big fan of Rohit Sharma’s batting,” Kohli said. “When he plays a long innings, he is a treat to watch. It is an absolute pleasure to bat alongside him.”Their efforts silenced a largely pro-Pakistan crowd. If Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh on Tuesday, Kohli will get a chance on Thursday to improve his Pakistan record once more.

Back spasms have forced Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai Indians fast bowler, to return to Sri Lanka for treatment, and he could miss up to two weeks of the IPL as a result

Tariq Engineer21-Apr-2012Back spasms have forced Lasith Malinga, the Mumbai Indians fast bowler, to return to Sri Lanka for treatment, and he could miss up to two weeks of the IPL as a result. Malinga last played for Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals on April 11 and missed the match against Delhi Daredevils on April 16.”He is undergoing treatment [in Sri Lanka],” Nishantha Ranatunga, the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket, told ESPNcricinfo. However, Ranatunga was not certain how long Malinga would be out and said the fast bowler would have to be evaluated by the Sri Lanka team’s physio. It is understood that Malinga is planning to return by April 25 and targeting full fitness for the match against Delhi Daredevils on April 27.Malinga has reportedly not been training since the game against Royals and flew back to Sri Lanka on the morning of April 16. The team spokesperson said that Malinga “required rest and it made sense to send him back home”, but they were hopeful he would return in a few days.The loss of Malinga weakens the attack of Mumbai Indians, who have made an inconsistent start to the tournament and currently sit in sixth place in the points table, having won three of their five games. Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL and has been in good form again this season, taking nine wickets from four games at an economy-rate of 4.54.Injuries have been a problem for Malinga in recent years. A knee injury he picked up during Sri Lanka’s Australia tour in 2007 threatened to cut short his career and in April, 2011, he retired from Tests in order to spare his knee further damage.