westindies vs zimbabwe 2013

Darren Bravo guides Windies to 3-0 sweep

West Indies 215 for 5 (Darren Bravo 72*, Powell 42, Mutombodzi 2-35) beat Zimbabwe 211 for 9 (Chibhabha 48*, Sibanda 41, Permaul 3-40) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Darren Bravo coolly kept collecting runs through the off side ©

The margins of victory became smaller as the series progressed, and in the final match, Zimbabwe even gave West Indies a scare in a modest chase. Darren Bravo, however, was around to guide the hosts to a 3-0 sweep after his mix-up with Kieron Pollard had caused a wobble in the middle of the innings.

Unlike in the second ODI, the asking-rate was never going to be an issue with Zimbabwe having managed just 211, but the rest of the West Indies top six gave away starts. However, Darren Bravo, having taken his time to settle in, coolly kept collecting runs through the off side till victory was achieved in the 47th over.

Zimbabwe had their second batting failure in three matches and their seamers lacked penetration again. The only positive for them was the performance of their young legspinners, Natsai Mushangwe and debutant Tino Mutombodzi. The duo kept West Indies' progress in check after the seamers had failed to break through.

Both Mushangwe and Mutombodzi were eager to flight the ball. They also got it to dip, drift and turn, and displayed admirable control for 22-year old legspinners. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Kieran Powell had eased themselves to a 46-run opening stand against the steady fare of Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu but were tested by the introduction of leg spin from both ends.

Mutombodzi struck with his third delivery in international cricket, getting one to drift into Sarwan for the batsman to push it back for a return catch. Powell used the sweep effectively against the spinners and also played a few pleasing drives through the off side, only to throw it away for the third time in three innings, lofting Mutombodzi to long-on while on 42.

Darren Bravo was cautious against the legspinners, but cut rare wide deliveries from both for fours. Both Mushangwe and Mutombodzi had already bowled seven overs each at the halfway mark, and Brendan Taylor had to bring on his part-time bowlers.

Narsingh Deonarine and Darren Bravo were motoring along without worry when the former clipped Hamilton Masakadza straight to midwicket. Two deliveries later, Darren Bravo took a start for a second run, Pollard responded, only for the left-hander to stop, and for Pollard to be run out without having faced a ball.

Dwayne Bravo came in at 121 for 4 and his quick 25 eased West Indies' nerves before he holed out to long-on. Denesh Ramdin joined Darren Bravo with West Indies 45 runs away, and the duo shut Zimbabwe out with a busy partnership.

The way the visitors had batted, it was quite a recovery with the ball for them to make a game of it. Zimbabwe went nowhere at the start, then began to find some direction, but soon sank further and further. Barring a short period when Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor counter-attacked, they were tied down by a disciplined and varied West Indies attack.

To make matters worse for them, an ill Craig Ervine, their best batsman in the series, was not available. In his absence, the middle order, when called upon to rebuild another stuttering innings, caved in, barring some fight from Chamu Chibhabha. The wiles of Sunil Narine and Veerasammy Permaul, the accuracy of Dwayne Bravo, and the pace of Kemar Roach and Tino Best were too much to handle.

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india vs austraila 2013

Australia calm despite Hyderabad blasts

	The second Test is unlikely to be shifted out of Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium © ESPNcricinfo Ltd  Enlarge
Related Links News : Board officials to meet on Hyderabad security Players/Officials: James Sutherland Matches: India v Australia at Chennai Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of India Teams: Australia | India

Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland has said the second Test in Hyderabad next week is not in doubt at this stage, despite bombs in the city killing at least 12 people on Thursday night. The BCCI too confirmed that the Test should go ahead as usual and is unlikely to have a change of venue.

The twin blasts came on the eve of the first Test between Australia and India in Chennai, and the teams are due to travel to Hyderabad on Wednesday ahead of the second Test.

The bombs hit the Dilsukhnagar region of Hyderabad about ten minutes apart and were labelled "a dastardly attack" by India's prime minister Manmohan Singh. Sutherland, who is in Chennai, said on Friday morning that he had spoken to a BCCI official on Thursday night and the two organisations would work together to assess the security situation.

"It is sad news overnight," Sutherland said. "From our perspective the focus around the team is very much on this Test in Chennai, everyone is very comfortable here in terms of the security arrangements in place. The players are focused on what they have ahead of them.

"We will take advice from relevant authorities and work with the BCCI and others here to make assessments around Hyderabad, but at the same time plans have been in place for a long time and at this stage I wouldn't be calling into question things going ahead in Hyderabad as planned."

BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla confirmed that the Indian board had approached government officials regarding security in Hyderabad.

"I spoke to the Union home secretary [Sushil Kumar Shinde], who was in Hyderabad, and had a discussion with the chief minister [Kiran Kumar Reddy] and officials of the state government. After that he told me that adequate security will be provided to the players as well as the spectators. So Test match should not be shifted out of Hyderabad," Shukla was quoted as saying by PTI. "I have conveyed this to the BCCI president [N Srinivasan], who in turn is going to speak to chairman of Cricket Australia and convey that when government is giving a guarantee of security for the players and the spectators, we think we should not change the venue."

Australia's team manager Gavin Dovey spoke to the players and kept them up to date with developments, but Sutherland said they wanted to ensure they could remain focused on the Chennai Test.

"We don't hold anything back from the players, they know where everything is at," Sutherland said. "But at the same time they have expressed a desire to be focused and minimise this so that they can focus on cricket this week.

"We will work together with the players and the players' association on these sorts of issues. There is a high level of confidence among the group that the management will work through that. We will communicate openly and make assessments ... As far as I'm concerned we're playing the second Test match in Hyderabad next week."

Sutherland said Cricket Australia had great confidence in the BCCI's ability to deal with security issues on a day-to-day basis. Shortly before departing for the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Australia's captain Michael Clarke said his players were happy to be guided by the team's security experts.

"From the team's point of view, our focus is wholly and solely on the field because we've got people off the field who are experts in what is going on, we'll be advised by them," Clarke said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Hyderabad who have been affected."

england vs newzealand 2013

Anderson and Root deliver big win

England 270 for 2 (Root 79*, Cook 78, Trott 65*) beat New Zealand 269 (Taylor 100, McCullum 74, Anderson 5-34) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Joe Root's unbeaten 79 saw England to their target in style ©

England marched to a business-like eight-wicket win in Napier, completing their second-highest successful run chase against New Zealand in the process, to square the series at 1-1 after an unruly burst from Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum had threatened Alastair Cook's masterplan. Cook and Jonathan Trott made solid half-centuries, while Joe Root twinkled with impudent brilliance in top-scoring with an unbeaten 79 but it was James Anderson's 5 for 34 that set up victory on an excellent batting surface.

Having asked his bowlers to keep New Zealand to a manageable total, Cook was rewarded with early wickets and a modest run rate, only for Taylor's seventh ODI hundred to provide a rallying standard and McCullum to launch a familiar riposte. The fifth-wicket partnership was outside England's parameters of acceptability but after McCullum holed out off Stuart Broad for 74 the last six wickets fell for 26 runs, as they regained control of the scenario.

The combined aggression of McCullum and Taylor with the bat, putting on 100 in 52 balls, had brought New Zealand back into the match but they both put down straightforward chances off Root. The first, a skier to McCullum, came when Root, on 25, top-edged an attempted pull at Tim Southee towards short fine leg and although the wicketkeeper made his ground, he misjudged the trajectory and failed to get his gloves under the ball. The next delivery, Root ramped the ball for a flat four through the same part of the ground and the fuse had been lit: 12 balls later, he had reached his fifty, accelerating past senior team-mate Trott with a cheeky "Meep! Meep!", like a Yorkshire roadrunner.

His innings blended grace and power, with hefty cuts and pulls offset by lissome flicks and cultured drives. Such was the quality, it's doubtful the man whose place in the side he currently occupies, Kevin Pietersen, could have finished more stylishly, as Root and Trott combined for a decisive 121-run stand to continue the trend of reverses that has seen the teams swap victories over five limited-overs contests on the tour so far. His third half-century also made Root the first player to start their ODI career with six successive scores of 30 or more.

Not only did he upstage the contributions of his own team-mates, in what was an improved all-round display, Root also overshadowed Taylor's first significant score since coming back into the New Zealand team. After a slow start, in which New Zealand were 21 for 2 after the opening Powerplay and only reached their 100 in the 30th over, McCullum whirled about the crease with all the violence of a Quentin Tarantino shootout scene while Taylor, more the Gary Cooper type, calmly knocked it around at the other end.

Discussions about Taylor's form had begun to overshadow the positive of his return, so this was an important innings for the New Zealand No. 4, even if it came in defeat. In his four previous innings, he had made 45 runs but here he progressed to his first international half-century since scoring 142 and 74 in his last match as captain, the Colombo Test in November. His ousting may still smart on a personal level but the detente can only be good for McCullum, Taylor's replacement, who will head to Auckland seeking a victory that would give him back-to-back ODI series wins at the start of his tenure.

After a level-headed, recovery stand of 72 with Kane Williamson, Taylor began to add some impetus, slugging Broad over deep midwicket for the first six and then sweeping Graeme Swann hard in front of square. He was joined in the middle by McCullum five balls into the batting Powerplay, after Grant Elliott had top-edged Steven Finn to deep square leg, and the pair were soon exchanging fist bumps in the middle. Should they reach the level of the brotherly bum-tap anytime soon, then all will be considered well within New Zealand cricket.

McCullum's fifty came from 26 balls - and that included just a single from his first seven - as Swann, Chris Woakes and then Broad were each targeted in succession. Swann's final over disappeared for 17 and included a six so dismissive that McCullum managed to crash the ball over extra-cover even as he slipped and lost his footing; Woakes and Broad then went for 21 and 20 respectively. England had been criticised for bowling too short at McCullum in the series so far but he tore up their plans to go full, as Broad was twice thumped down the ground in searching for the yorker.

Such was the volte face in scoring rates, that while the two opening bowlers, Finn and Anderson, went at less than three-and-a-half an over, the other three all conceded above six. The last time these two teams met at Napier, they split 680 runs precisely down the middle, with Luke Wright keeping New Zealand to six off the final over to force a tie. Paul Collingwood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Owais Shah and Wright all bowled that day, exactly five years ago, but Anderson was the most expensive, with 1 for 86.

How things have changed. Anderson, fresh from passing Ian Botham as England's leading wicket-taker in international cricket, had talked of bowling until he was 40 before the match. You suspect even as an Oldsmobile he would cruise in smoothly and more experienced drivers than BJ Watling have nicked to first slip pushing at Anderson's length ball, which just veered away enough to take the edge in the seventh over. Hamish Rutherford, on debut, also fell early to Anderson, as the new-ball pair denied the batsmen width.

Finn was trotting in off a shorter run-up in an attempt to cure his knock-knee problem but showed no lack of pace and perhaps a touch more control - though he still managed to clip the stumps at the non-striker's end later in the innings. McCullum cracked the delivery for four and Cook received short shrift when asking Rod Tucker if it should not have been called dead-ball.

pakistan vs southafrica 2013

Injured Morkel out of third Test, Kyle Abbott in

Morne Morkel will play no further part in the Pakistan Tests ©

Morne Morkel, the South Africa fast bowler, will miss the third Test of the series against Pakistan due to the hamstring injury he picked up during the course of the second game. Dolphins' quick Kyle Abbott has been named as his replacement for the Test, which begins on February 22.

Rory Kleinveldt, who was already part of the Test series squad, is expected to make South Africa's starting XI though, ahead of Abbott.

Abbott's domestic form prompted his call-up, CSA selection convener Andrew Hudson said: "Kyle swings the ball nicely and is another player who has earned a call-up through outstanding form at franchise level. He has done extremely well in the Sunfoil Series [the domestic first-class competition] this season.

"He had an outstanding match return of 12 for 96 against the champion, Cape Cobras, and finished the series as the leading wicket-taker [49 wickets] and an economy rate of under three to the over."

Morkel had pulled up halfway through his 21st over in Pakistan's first innings, and left the field. He came out to bowl in the second innings, but managed only 3.1 overs before his hamstring trouble flared up again, leaving Jacques Kallis with the job of finishing his over for the second time in the match.

Meanwhile, seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe is likely to have fully recovered from his ankle injury in time for the limited-overs leg of the Pakistan series, Hudson said. "We did consider Lonwabo Tsotsobe [for the Tests] but unfortunately he is still recovering from an ankle injury. He will only be fit in time for the limited overs segment of the tour."

Tsotsobe was ruled out of December's Twenty20 series against South Africa with ankle issues, but managed to play the ODIs that followed in January. He has not played any competitive cricket since.

srilanka vs bangladesh 2013

Mahela unlikely for Bangladesh series

	Sri Lanka may miss the services of Mahela Jayawardene after he sustained a fracture during a first-class match on Sunday ©

Mahela Jayawardene has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh and is also likely to miss the rest of the tour after sustaining a fracture to the middle finger of his left hand. Thilan Samaraweera will replace Jayawardene in the Test squad.

Jayawardene will undergo surgery on Tuesday after he dislocated his finger while taking a catch in the slips during a first-class match for Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) on Sunday. While he couldn't avail medical attention immediately, scans later showed that a chip had come loose from the bone. He may be ruled out for four to six weeks.

"His scans have already been dispatched to Australia for further investigations, but experts have said that the forecast is not very good for the veteran batsman to play the Bangladesh series," Sri Lanka Cricket said.

Samaraweera had been dropped from the side after a poor tour of Australia, but has been among runs in the ongoing first-class tournament. He has made two hundreds and a fifty in five innings for SSC, and is the second-highest run scorer in the league so far.

Kumar Sangakkara is also fighting to recover in time for the first Test, and has begun light batting in the nets after fracturing his hand during the Boxing Day Test. He will begin more demanding practice sessions next week, but is likely to be playing through pain as he aims to be fit for the last round of first-class matches before the Bangladesh tour.

He had hoped to be fit and back in the game by mid-February, but it is still uncertain if he will play in the first Test in Galle.

Bangladesh arrive on February 28 for a tour which includes two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20s, in addition to a tour match. They play their last match in Sri Lanka on March 31.

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srilanka vs bangladesh 2013

sangakkara in squad for tour match

	Kumar Sangakkara injured his finger during the Boxing Day Test and hasn't played any cricket since ©

Kumar Sangakkara has been named in the squad for the Emerging XI that will play a three-day warm up match in Matara against Bangladesh, while offspinner Akila Dananjaya misses out due to injury.



"I've started batting in the nets this week and have had a good week of practice, so the match against Bangladesh is a good opportunity to get some match practice," Sangakkara said. "As long as I pull through ok, I will play in the Galle Test."

Sangakkara has not played competitive cricket since fracturing his index finger during the Boxing Day Test. He is the only player above 23 in the side captained by middle-order batsman Angelo Perera.



Offspinner Dananjaya had been named in the preliminary squad for the match, but has been left out after straining his finger while taking a return catch in the latest round of first-class cricket. He will be rested for one to two weeks, but is likely to be available for the limited-overs leg of the Bangladesh tour. Allrounder Ramith Rambukwella takes his place in the Emerging XI squad.

Batsmen Ashen Silva and Kithuruwan Vithanage, who are also in the Test squad, have also been included for the fixture, but 19-year-old offspinner Tharindu Kaushal misses out, and may instead be given a Test debut in the two-Test series. Kaushal is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing first-class tournament, having bagged 31 wickets at 13.22, with four five-wicket hauls in four matches. He had also been named in the Test squad for the home series against New Zealand in November, before he'd played any first-class or List A cricket, but didn't get a match in the series.

The Emerging XI is coached by former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana.

pakistan vs southafrica 2nd twenty20 2013

Pakistan look for victory in comfort zone

Match Facts

March 3, 2013
Start time 1430 local (1230 GMT)

Pakistan will be looking to Shahid Afridi to give them their first win of the tour ©

Big Picture

After the first T20 was washed out in Durban, the T20 trophy is up for grabs with just one match to be played. Unlike in the Tests, the gulf between the two teams hardly exists and Pakistan may have an upper hand in this format given their record and a new line-up for the new series.

A win for Pakistan will be a much-needed confidence enhancer after the Test-series whitewash and before the five ODIs which will conclude the tour. They have featured in two finals and two semi-finals in the four T20 World Cups but still need to overcome inconsistency and poor form on the current tour.

Experience in their T20 side and a win percentage of 59% in 66 matches might turn out as the ingredients they need for the winning recipe. With the addition of their limited-overs expert, Shahid Afridi, in the dressing room, Pakistan will be itching to taste success on this tour and give Gary Kirsten a headache before the ODI series, for which they will have a different captain.

Beating Pakistan in this format won't be as easy for South Africa as it was in the three Tests, as they have a new permanent captain, have rested Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis, and are without an injured JP Duminy - their highest T20 run-scorer in 2012. Faf du Plessis showed his leadership skills with a 2-1 series win against New Zealand in December, but Pakistan are a different kettle of fish, especially with the bowling attack they possess. South Africa also do not enjoy the supremacy in this format as they do in the Tests, ranked No. 5, only one point ahead of Pakistan.