5th Test: Rampaging Australia on brink of Ashes whitewash

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5th Test: Rampaging Australia on brink of Ashes whitewash
By AFP Published: January 4, 2014
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Australia set to claim only the third 5-0 series whitewash in Ashes history. PHOTO: AFP
SYDNEY:
Australia were closing in on a 5-0 Ashes sweep after demolishing England’s batting and pushing their lead to 311 runs after just two days of the final Sydney Ashes Test on Saturday.
The relentless Australians blasted out the hapless tourists for 155 – the fifth time England had been dismissed for less than 200 in the series – and set their sights on batting them out of the game with three days to play.
At second day stumps Australia were 140 for four with Chris Rogers compiling his fourth half-century in five innings on 73 and George Bailey not out at 20.
“Day two, 300 plus lead’s a pretty good position to be in,” said Australia paceman Ryan Harris.
“I don’t think the wicket’s getting any easier. If we bowl like we did today [Saturday], I think we’ll go alright.”
Australia’s pace trio of Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle earlier took three wickets apiece as England narrowly avoided the follow-on in response to Australia’s first innings score of 326.
The tourists never recovered from a disastrous morning session when they crashed to 23 for five despite the efforts of Ben Stokes, Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow to repel the hostile home attack.
“It was pretty disappointing, but 326 is way over par on this pitch in my opinion,” said England batting coach Graham Gooch.
“So once that score’s on the board it’s always going to be difficult and once we lost those early wickets it’s going to be tough from this position.”
The tourists have failed to fight with the bat through out with Ben Stokes scoring their only century of the series in the third Test in Perth.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.

Brisbane International: Serena Williams begins new season on a high

BRISBANE:
World number one Serena Williams won the season-opening Brisbane International tennis tournament when she beat second seed Victoria Azarenka on Saturday.
Serena won a close first set then edged Azarenka in the second to win a tense final 6-4, 7-5 in 98 minutes.

The defending champion just shaded Azarenka throughout, with her powerful serve proving the main difference between the world’s top two players.
Serena broke Azarenka once in the first set. Although she lost her serve twice in the second, she broke Azarenka three times to seal victory.
The win was Serena’s 14th over Azarenka in 17 meetings, and stamps her as the player to beat for the Australian Open later this month.
“I want to congratulate Azarenka for being a great player and a great champion, and just someone I enjoy playing against and seeing around,” said Serena, according to ESPN.
“Brisbane is a wonderful city, which is why I have been here for three years in a row, and I enjoy being here every day.”
Serena, who also beat world number four Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals, did not drop a set on the way to the final.
The American lost only four matches in 2011 on her way to winning 11 titles.
She regained her number one ranking eight weeks into 2013 in a year that also included a winning streak of 34 consecutive matches.
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Federer survives scare to reach final
Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer survived a massive scare from Frenchman Jeremy Chardy Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
Federer was outplayed for large parts of the match but lifted when it mattered to beat the eighth seeded Chardy in three sets 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
The one hour, 55 minute win puts Federer into Sunday’s final against Lleyton Hewitt, who took 35 minutes longer to beat Japan’s second seeded Kei Nishikori 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Federer, who at 32 is the same age as Hewitt, admitted he found it difficult to like the Australian at the start of their careers but said they had both mellowed as they grew older, and now they sometimes practised together.
“We go back 17 years, our coaches back in the day were best friends,” said Federer.
“It’s amazing we have a chance to play in Australia.”
Federer and Hewitt have played 26 times in their senior careers, with Federer leading 18-8.
“It will be good (to play against him),” said Hewitt.
“You want to play against the best players, and obviously Roger and I have a good history and a lot of tough matches in the past in Slams and Davis Cups and everything.”

Asia Cup future hangs in balance

COLOMBO:
Asia Cup’s future hangs in the balance as conflicting reports about holding the event in Bangladesh emerged on Saturday.

The Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Ashraful Haq claimed that violence-plagued Bangladesh would remain the venue for next month’s Asia Cup and added Afghanistan as the fifth team in the regional one-day tournament.
“The tournament will go ahead as scheduled in Bangladesh from February 25,” said Huq after an executive board meeting in Colombo.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a press release later in the day stating that no final decision has been made in this regard.
“The matter of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh was discussed at length with emphasis on the current security situation,” said the PCB in a statement.
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“The matter will be further deliberated on 9th January in Dubai after some members have consulted their governments.”
Huq, on the other hand, had claimed that all arrangements were in place for the event.
“Everything is in place for the tournament, no one raised any issue about safety,” said Huq, adding the Bangladesh Cricket Board had made a detailed security presentation at the meeting.
Huq also claimed that Pakistan did not raise any security concerns at the meeting either.
However, a Pakistan board source said that it will seek further clarification during a meeting of the International Cricket Council.
Meanwhile, an ACC release said 11 matches will be played in the tournament with the final on March 8. Afghanistan will also join Asia’s four Test nations – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Afghanistan team, which has qualified for their maiden appearance in the 50-over World Cup, have also made it to their third successive World Twenty20.

Zol, Samson lead India to U19 Asia Cup title

Sparking centuries by Vijay Zol and Sanju Samson led India to the Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup title as they edged out arch-rivals Pakistan in the final at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Batting first, the winners amassed a total of 314 for eight in the allotted 50 overs, as Zol and Samson added 180 runs for the third wicket to ensure a big score.

Zol hit seven fours and two sixes in his 100-run knock, while Samson struck eight fours and four sixes in his 87 balls 100 run knock.

In reply, the Pakistan batsmen fought hard with prolific opener and captain Sami Aslam breaking Quinton de Kock’s record for the most runs in international U19 cricket during his 87-run innings.

Kamran Ghulam batted tenaciously in the lower order, scoring 102 off only 89 balls. However, his century went in vain as Pakistan ended their 50 overs at 274 for nine, falling 40 runs short of the target.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.

First Test: Misbah praises match-turner Mathews

ABU DHABI: Pakistan national Test team captain Misbahul Haq praised his counterpart Angelo Mathews for his fightback which earned Sri Lanka a respectable draw in the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Mathews hit a career-best 157 not out following his 91 in the first knock to help Sri Lanka avert a probable defeat after Pakistan dominated the first three days.

Pakistan had gained a valuable 179-run lead over Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 204 and had their rivals in a spot of bother at 186-4 on day three.
But Mathews put on 138 for the fifth wicket with Dinesh Chandimal (89) and unbroken 156 for the sixth wicket with Prasanna Jayawardene (63 not out) to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble.
Set a challenging 302 in 67 overs on the last day, Pakistan finished on 158-2.
Misbah said Mathews turned the match on its head.
“Test cricket is all about this. In getting somebody out in the first innings, you can’t just think you’ve won the match,” said Misbah.
“This is how teams fight back, they fought hard and batted well and I think this Test ends up even-Stevens and both did really well. Mathews batted very well and turned the match.”
Misbah refused to agree his team did not try to achieve the target.
“No I don’t think so .. with first three wickets we were just trying to build partnership, that was our plan that if we can reach around of 170 – 180 with eight or nine wicekts in hand then we can push onward but when Ahmed Shahzad got out then we thought we should go for the draw,” said Misbah, who hoped the pitch would assist spinners more in the second Test starting in Dubai on Wednesday.
“Dubai must be different and the ball started to spin on the third day so there must be an important role of the spinner there,” said Misbah.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who took 18 wickets in Pakistan’s 1-0 series win here in 2011, went wicket-less in his 49 overs on a Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch which eased out for batsmen after first day.
Mathews said he went for safety-first on the fifth day.
“First of all we had to make sure that we didn’t get into a losing position,” said Mathews, who batted for an hour and 30 minutes before declaring at 420-5.
“It was a see-saw game and they dominated for the first three days and it was remarkable to stage a comeback and I am happy that we did that through our batting,” said Mathews.
“This was the best I have batted for Sri Lanka and I am proud to have justified my place in the team,” he said.

Sri Lanka suffers Kulasekara injury setback

ABU DHABI: Sri Lanka suffered a big blow when experienced fast bolwer Nuwan Kulasekara was ruled out of the ongoing Test series against Pakistan due to a hamstring injury, skipper Angelo Mathews said on Saturday.

The 31-year-old paceman was rested for the first Test against Pakistan which ended in a draw on the fifth and final day on Saturday.
“Kulasekara suffered a hamstring injury which was discovered recently and will be returning home,” said Mathews.
However, Mathews ruled out an emergency replacement. There will be no replacement for Kulasekara as Sri Lanka have enough fast bowlers in the squad, he said.
Kulasekara has so far played 20 Tests, 146 one-days and 32 Twenty20s for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka have pacemen Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep and uncapped Vishwa Fernando in their squad.
The second of three Tests starts in Dubai on Wednesday.
Pakistan too have suffered from injuries with paceman Umar Gul released from the squad after not recovering fully from a knee operation and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal forced to return home after fracturing his finger during the first Test.

New Zealand win rain-hit fourth ODI

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New Zealand win rain-hit fourth ODI
By AFP Published: January 4, 2014
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Cory Anderson (R) of New Zealand congratulates teammate Martin Guptill for catching out Lendl Simmons of the West Indies during the fourth international one day cricket match between New Zealand and the West Indies at Saxton Oval in Nelson on January 4, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
NELSON:

New Zealand won a rain-affected fourth One-Day International (ODI) by 58 runs on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead over the West Indies in their five-match series.
The game in Nelson was decided under the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method after wet weather set in with the West Indies apparently heading for their second consecutive heavy defeat.
A timely return to form for opener Martin Guptill, who made 81, saw New Zealand make 285 for six in their 50 overs and the West Indies were 134 for five after 33.4 overs when the rain sent the players from the field.
New Zealand, who won the Test series 2-0, now lead the ODI series 2-1 with one match to play in Hamilton next Wednesday.
“It was probably a 250 wicket,” said New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.
“Obviously Martin, with his innings and the guys being able to bat around him, allowed us to get 30 runs over par.”
Frontline bowler Ravi Rampaul was ruled out with a broken finger, becoming the sixth injured first-choice ODI player in the West Indies squad.
With their bowling weakened, the West Indies needed their batsmen to compensate but were again let down.
“Losing early wickets, two run outs, batters getting starts but not making full use of it, we have only ourselves to blame,” said West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo. “We can’t blame the weather.”
Chadwick Walton (0) was run out in the first over and Johnson Charles was also removed for a duck in the fourth over to leave the West Indies two for two.
Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards managed to put on 60 for the third wicket before another run out when Edwards gambled on out-running Brendon McCullum’s throw.
Simmons departed for 43, caught by Guptill at midwicket off Kane Williamson, as the rain was starting to fall.
When the umpires eventually took the players from the field, Bravo was unbeaten on 43, with Ramdin on 17.