All posts by h716a5.icu

The Justice Mukul Mudgal panel, which is investigating allegations of fixing and corruption in IPL 2013, submitted an interim report to the Supreme Court of India on Friday. The court will take up the case on September 1

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2014The Justice Mukul Mudgal panel, which is investigating allegations of fixing and corruption in IPL 2013, submitted an interim report to the Supreme Court of India on Friday. The next hearing of the case will take place on September 1.The interim report was submitted following the court’s instruction in May that the investigation around the IPL allegations be completed within two months. It is likely that the court hearing on September 1 could focus on the question of granting a possible extension to the probe committee based on any findings to date.The report was submitted by Raju Ramachandran, the senior advocate of the Mudgal commission, before the bench of Justice MS Thakur, who, along with Justice Kalifulla, will hear the matter on Monday afternoon.Aditya Verma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar, who is the petitioner in the matter has said he is determined to thwart any effort by the BCCI to extend or postpone the Annual General Meeting and he will oppose the board’s plea against an earlier order of the court that stops N Srinivasan from resuming as BCCI president.The Mudgal committee, led by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, was set up by the Supreme Court in October last year to investigate the fixing allegations that arose during the IPL’s 2013 season. It had submitted its findings in February this year in a report that included a sealed envelope – to be seen only by the judges – with the names of 13 people who, the committee said, should be further investigated.In May this year, the court gave the panel greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope and the three-member committee was given the support of police officials and investigating officials. Former India captain, Sourav Ganguly, also joined the panel in June. The panel has been given the power to investigate, require attendance of witnesses, examine witnesses, search and seize and all other authority necessary for investigation except the power to arrest.The case dates back to June 2013, when Verma raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI’s original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel “illegal”. The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.

Essex crushed Leicestershire by an innings and 79 runs inside two days in the Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road

Press Association16-Sep-2014
ScorecardJames Foster’s hundred set up a fifth win in six Championship games for Essex•Getty ImagesEssex crushed Leicestershire by an innings and 79 runs inside two days in the Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road. The stunning win was the fifth in the last six games for Essex and provided a massive boost to their promotion hopes as they closed the gap on second-placed Hampshire with one match to go.Bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire were bowled out for 117 in 38.5 overs in their second innings, with the last six wickets falling for just four runs in five overs. The humiliating defeat stretched Leicestershire’s winless run in the Championship to 31 games.Essex captain James Foster hit his second successive century to steer his side to a total of 334, giving them a first innings lead of 196. Then David Masters, Jesse Ryder and 21-year-old Jamie Porter took three wickets each as Leicestershire collapsed from 48 without loss in the space of 25 overs.It was a hapless performance by the hosts and they now have only one game left, at Derbyshire next week, to avoid becoming the first side since World War II to fail to win a Championship game in two seasons.Essex are at home to Worcestershire in their final game while Hampshire play Glamorgan in Cardiff as the battle for the second promotion place goes down to the wire.Foster’s 132 from 203 balls, with 19 fours and two sixes, was the cornerstone of the Essex innings that resumed on 153 for 3 at the start of the second day. Ravi Bopara shared a fourth-wicket stand of 101 with Foster before dragging the ball back into his stumps trying to cut Rob Taylor when he was on 49. But Foster continued to hold the innings together before being last man out when he was caught at mid-on off Charlie Shreck, who finished with 3 for 82. Taylor was Leicestershire’s most successful bowler, taking 5 for 67.Cobb linked with Northants

Leicestershire’s mass exodus could be about to continue with growing suggestions that Josh Cobb is on the verge of moving to Northants. Cobb’s move, if confirmed, would follow that of Shiv Thakur to Derbyshire and Nathan Buck to Lancashire. Ned Eckersley has also been presented as another potential departure in what is fast becoming a crisis for the Second Division’s bottom club.

A lead of 196 looked more than useful but even Essex could hardly have imagined the home side would capitulate in such dramatic fashion. Leicestershire reached tea at 16 without loss off seven overs and were on 48 in the 14th over when Angus Robson was lbw to Porter, playing in only his second Championship game.Porter then dismissed Ned Eckersley and Dan Redfern in successive overs to end a spell that brought him three wickets for 26 runs in seven overs. And when Monty Panesar trapped Greg Smith lbw for 36 the collapse accelerated.Josh Cobb hit 37 but no other batsman reached double figures as Ryder took 3 for 40 in 12 overs and Masters 3 for 15 in 11.5 overs, picking up the final wicket of Shreck with one ball to go before the extra half an hour would have been claimed. Essex collected 22 points from the game and Leicestershire three.”We are in a good place with five wins in six games,” Essex coach Paul Grayson said. “Now it’s all to play for next week.”

Sanjay Bangar, India assistant coach, said that Rohit Sharma’s 142 against the Sri Lankans in a warm-up match on Thursday showed that the Mumbai batsman had fully recovered from the finger injury that had sidelined him for more than two months

Amol Karhadkar30-Oct-2014Sanjay Bangar, India’s assistant coach, said that Rohit Sharma’s 142 against the Sri Lankans in a warm-up match on Thursday showed that the Mumbai batsman had fully recovered from the finger injury that had sidelined him for more than two months. Bangar, who was in charge of India A for the warm-up game at Brabourne Stadium, also praised Manish Pandey, who scored an unbeaten 135 off 113 balls, in India A’s 88-run win over the visitors.”His [Rohit’s] match fitness had to be assessed and that was the reason the selectors had roped him in. He gave a fantastic account of himself,” Bangar said. “He has been practising really hard over the last 10 days at BKC [Bandra-Kurla Complex facility]. And he showed total recovery from that injury while batting and showed no discomfort at all. He fielded throughout the 50 overs and those are good signs for the Indian team.”Rohit batted five minutes shy of three hours and didn’t look in any discomfort despite playing with a heavily taped finger. With chief national selector Sandeep Patil watching the game, Rohit gave an indication that he had regained his fitness. The batsman, however, didn’t field in catching positions, and was placed at mid-off or mid-on during Powerplays and in the deep for the rest of the Sri Lankan innings. He shielded his right hand, which had been injured, while latching on to a skier in the deep to dismiss Thisara Perera off Kuldeep Yadav.Rohit was not considered for India’s squad for the first three ODIs against Sri Lanka, between November 2 and 9. Interestingly, the Mumbai selection panel, headed by Patil, also didn’t consider him for their first two games of the West Zone one-day league to be played on November 8 and 9.According to a Mumbai selector, Rohit was not picked as it would have been too hectic for him to play back-to-back games in Ahmedabad and then join the India squad for the fourth ODI in Kolkata, which will be played on November 13. It is likely that the team management may ask Rohit to join the squad before the third ODI to monitor his fitness.While the focus was on Rohit, Pandey played the best innings of the day. He unleashed his trademark drives against pacers and used his feet against the spinners, while playing some delicate shots, including the upper cut, with precision. The Karnataka batsman had received his maiden call-up two weeks ago when he was included in the squad for the T20 against West Indies. However, his wait for an India debut was extended after West Indies returned home before the completion of the tour. Bangar said he was delighted to see Pandey put the episode behind him and excel with the bat.”He has been batting pretty well, consistently. His state side won a lot of championships. They won the Irani [Trophy], the Duleep Trophy, the Ranji Trophy, most of the championships that they played in,” Bangar said. “He played a vital part in that. He had a fantastic IPL also, he won the final for Kolkata Knight Riders. He has been in tremendous touch.”He is always on the fringes. This innings of his can give him a lot of confidence because he came after we were put in to bat and you always expect the CCI wicket to do a bit in the first hour-and-a-half. So, from that perspective, it must have been very satisfying for him.”

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has won the top ICC awards for 2013-14, being named the Cricketer of the Year, as well as Test Cricketer of the Year

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-20140:53

Johnson named Cricketer of the Year

Mitchell Johnson’s stunning return to Test cricket has been capped by two awards•Getty ImagesAustralia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has won the top ICC awards for 2013-14, being named the Cricketer of the Year, as well as Test Cricketer of the Year.South Africa’s AB de Villiers was named ODI Cricketer of the Year, while Australia’s Aaron Finch won the T20 performance award for his 156 off 63 against England at the Rose Bowl in August.England’s Gary Ballance was named Emerging Cricketer of the Year, while Sarah Taylor was named the Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and Meg Lanning, the Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year.Scotland’s Preston Mommsen got the Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award, and umpire Richard Kettleborough was named Umpire of the Year.India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had previously been declared the winner of the People’s Choice award. England’s Katherine Brunt won the Spirit of Cricket award, for asking for a referral when a South Africa batsmen was adjudged out caught – the decision was eventually reversed.Responding to the ICC’s announcement, Johnson said his success as a fast bowler came down to his “attitude”. “Aggressive fast bowlers are something you’d have seen back in the day with the likes of [Dennis] Lillee and [Jeff] Thomson.For me, it’s nice to be able to contribute to the team and do the job that I’ve always thought I’ve been able to do. I suppose it comes down to the attitude I’ve got, the belief and the confidence,” he said. “I’m very happy with where I am at the moment and I want to keep getting better as a cricketer.”This [the awards] is something that I’ll be able to look back on in time when my career is over and be exceptionally proud of.”The winners were picked based on their performance between August 26, 2013, and September 17, 2014. In that period, Johnson took 59 wickets in eight Tests at 15.23 and 21 wickets in 16 ODIs at 33.04. Meanwhile, de Villiers had scored 963 runs in ODIs at 60.18 with four centuries.Ballance, meanwhile, made his debut in January at Sydney at the tail-end of England’s woeful Ashes campaign and went on to establish himself as the team’s new No. 3 during the home season where he scored 704 runs at 70.04 in seven Tests against Sri Lanka and India.His captain, Alastair Cook, paid tribute to the way he has slotted into the key position. “At the beginning of the summer I talked with Peter Moores about who was going to bat at three and for him to take it on and pass with flying colours is a real testament to him,” he said.”He’s a fantastic player and he knows his method incredibly well. The emerging player of the year is a justified title for him and he’s probably hurting he’s not in the one-day squad. You want people who are desperate to get in and play.”Awards list
ICC Cricketer of the Year – Mitchell Johnson
Test Cricketer of the Year – Mitchell Johnson
Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Sarah Taylor
ODI Cricketer of the Year – AB de Villiers
Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Gary Ballance
Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Preston Mommsen
T20 International Performance of the Year – Aaron Finch
T20I Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Meg Lanning
Spirit of Cricket Award – Katherine Brunt
Umpire of the Year – Richard Kettleborough
LG People’s Choice – Bhuvneshwar KumarICC Test Team of the Year
David Warner, Kane Williamson, Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers (wk), Joe Root, Angelo Mathews (capt), Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Broad, Dale Steyn, Rangana Herath, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor (12th man)ICC ODI Team of the Year
Mohammad Hafeez, Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli, George Bailey, AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Dale Steyn, Mohammed Shami, Ajantha Mendis, Rohit Sharma (12th man)

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 Group C matches played on December 29, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2014
ScorecardParas Dogra made his highest first-class score•PTI Paras Dogra hit an unbeaten double-century as Himachal Pradesh racked up 549 for 4 declared against Assam in Guwahati. Ankush Bains departed on his overnight score of 156 but Dogra ticked along from 76 to 230. His runs came at a fair clip, off 362 deliveries with 20 fours and three sixes. Dogra added 156 for the fourth wicket with Rashmi Parida. After Parida fell for 64, Dogra and Rishi Dhawan (39 not out) put on 111 in 21 overs. Himachal ended their innings after 166 overs, with three Assam bowlers conceding 100-plus runs. The Assam openers survived 12 overs till the close of play.
ScorecardSeamer Rituraj Singh scored 39 at No. 9 and then took three wickets to put Jharkhand in control against Kerala in Dhanbad. Jharkhand began the day on 246 for 6, and Kaushal Singh (53) and Rituraj played crucial knocks to stretch the innings to 337. Rituraj then removed the Kerala openers KB Pawan and VA Jagadeesh cheaply. Amit Verma and Sachin Baby could not last long and it was down to Sanju Samson to prop up the score. Samson made 89 off 176 deliveries with 12 fours and one six. Rituraj provided the breakthrough again, when he had Samson caught by Kaushal. Rohan Prem made an unbeaten 35 but Kerala were still trailing by 158.
ScorecardAmit Yadav and Gauresh Gawas reduced Tripura to 139 for 5 on a curtailed day in Agartala. Goa had resumed their innings on 234 for 8 in the morning, and were soon bowled out for 251. Both the wickets went to seamer Manisankar Murasingh. Tripura’s opening partnership was worth 43 but Gawas took two in two to peg them back. Bishal Ghosh (37) and Rakesh Solanki (43) steadied the innings for a while before Yadav struck twice in successive overs. Captain Abhijit Dey was battling on 23 as Tripura faced an 112-run deficit after only 43.3 overs were possible in their innings.
ScorecardHanuma Vihari’s sixth first-class century led hosts Hyderabad’s reply to Services. Hyderabad lost Akshath Reddy for a duck before Vihari and Tanmay Agarwal (35) steadied the innings. After Agarwal’s departure, Ravi Teja (32) got a start as well before becoming Roshan Raj’s second wicket. Vihari carried on, facing 214 deliveries for an unbeaten 114 which included eight fours and two sixes. He had added his third successive fifty-plus stand, with B Anirudh (24 not out), by stumps to take Hyderabad to 210 for 3. Earlier, Saurabh Kumar hit his maiden first-class fifty to guide Services from 235 for 7 to 306. Saurabh had retired hurt on 0 on day one after top-edging a sweep through his helmet. He hit five fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 57 off 48.

West Indies pulled off the highest successful run-chase in the shortest format, propelled by Chris Gayle’s 90 off 41 balls

The Report by Firdose Moonda11-Jan-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:20

West Indies gun down target of 232

The Wanderers is home to what it calls the greatest ODI of all time – the 438 game – and now it is also home to what could become known as the most thrilling T20: the 236 game. West Indies pulled off the highest successful run chase in the shortest format, propelled by Chris Gayle’s 90 off 41 balls, held together by Marlon Samuels’ seventh T20 half-century and finished by Darren Sammy, who led his side to a series win with a game to spare.South Africa could be forgiven for being shell-shocked. They would have thought their chances of squaring the series were strong after Faf du Plessis became the second South African to score a T20 hundred, helping them post their second-highest score in the format, and with the knowledge they had never lost a T20 defending a 180-plus score before.West Indies fined for slow over rate

Despite having to collect the ball from the boundary with regularity, West Indies were fined for a slow over rate in the second T20 in Johannesburg.
Captain Darren Sammy pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined 20% of his match fee and will receive a one-match suspension if he is fined again within 12 months.
The remainder of the West Indies XI were fined 10% of their match fee in accordance with Article 2.5.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

There was one man who could change that and change it he did. Gayle scored his only international T20 century at the Wanderers – against South Africa in 2007 – and seemed set to bring up his second with a bruising batting performance. He could not quite repeat the feat but his team-mates ensured his efforts did not go to waste.It began in the third over, after West Indies got off to the start they needed but lost Dwayne Smith, who drove down the wrong line to a full, straight, Marchant de Lange delivery. Gayle faced a situation he relished: his team needed quick runs and aggression, someone who was willing to take on the bowlers no matter where they landed the ball.Luckily for Gayle, Kyle Abbott insisted on going full – perhaps after seeing what happened to West Indies’ bowlers, who erred by doing the opposite – and presented five full tosses in succession. Gayle let the first one go, took four fours off the rest and when Abbott held his length back to end the over, carted him over deep midwicket for six.Twenty-two runs came off that over and it was the sign everything was going to go. The next three overs cost 46 as David Wiese and de Lange also searched for the yorker but ended up offering runs. West Indies scored the second-highest number of runs in the Powerplay, 86, and Samuels cashed in as well.Aaron Phangiso and Imran Tahir bowled the first two overs that did not go for double figures but even their luck was short-lived. After Gayle brought up his fifty off 20 balls – three slower than at Newlands on Friday night – with a six off Tahir, he grew even more hungry. Phangiso was hit to the grass embankment, Tahir to the top tier of the stand and Justin Ontong, turned to perhaps because du Plessis had run out of options, flat out of the ground. While Samuels played a supporting role, the second-wicket stand grew to 152 off 11.5 overs.The required run rate was whittled down to under 10 runs an over when Tahir bowled the first boundary-less over of the innings and the pressure started to mount again. Gayle was desperate to see his team through and went after Wiese but the bowler took pace off the ball and had the Jamaican caught behind.That was where it could have all gone wrong for West Indies. On Friday, they lost five for 50 when Gayle departed and this time they threatened to unravel similarly. Tahir had another tight over, with just five runs coming from it, then Samuels holed out and Kieron Pollard was also deceived by a slower ball. Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo enjoyed two big hits each and fell attempting a third but the important thing was that even as wickets fell, West Indies kept adding runs.When Darren Sammy joined Denesh Ramdin, West Indies needed 23 off 14 balls – which set the scene for the captain to play a knock like the ones he had in the World T20. He kept his cool while neither Abbott nor de Lange held theirs and secured the victory with four balls to spare.South Africa would not have expected that after they were treated to a show by their own leader. Du Plessis was called on in yet another mini-crisis, after the first two wickets went cheaply, and was joined by David Miller, promoted to No. 4. They posted 105 runs for the third wicket at a run rate of 12.85 – a fraction more than the Gayle-Samuels stand of 12.84 – and took advantage of a West Indies attack who could not find their lengths.Sulieman Benn was either too full or too short and Sheldon Cottrell offered too many low full tosses. Their stand could have grown into something of even more substance but Miller was run out thanks to good footwork from Russell before he could reach a half-century, leaving du Plessis on his own. The middle order did not contribute enough around the captain’s hundred, which came off 46 balls, one more than Richard Levi’s record in T20 internationals. In the end, he would probably have taken less if he could have enjoyed what West Indies did.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the fourth ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Nelson

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jan-20151:06

New Zealand, Sri Lanka look to gain advantage

Match factsTuesday, January 20, 2015
Start time 1100 local (2200 GMT, previous day)Big PictureThe Sri Lanka and New Zealand teams see so much rain between them, they could travel around the more arid regions of the world to provide drought relief. Auckland’s only rains in two weeks of glorious sunshine coincided with match-day, and apart from Martin Guptill, who hit a half-century, and Angelo Mathews, who claimed three scalps, the teams took only some wet uniforms away from the 28.5 overs in the field on Saturday.New Zealand will feel the top-order issues that troubled them in Christchurch and Hamilton were dealt with at Eden Park, but while Guptill’s 99-run stand with Tom Latham was promising, there were two mitigating factors. The pitch had not offered much in the way of seam or spin, and once the rain began to fall, Sri Lanka’s attack had to contend with a wet ball as well.Mathews squeezed out three wickets for Sri Lanka through his economy, but their seam attack still feels a little light on penetration. Lasith Malinga’s introduction will still take some time, and the visitors may rely heavily on their spinners for breakthroughs in the interim. With Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis all having contributed encouraging spells in the past 10 days, Sri Lanka will hope for a Nelson surface that offers something for the slow bowlers.Form guide(last five matches, most recent first)

New Zealand LWWWL
Sri Lanka WLWWL
In the spotlightBrendon McCullum’s all-format ballistics have served him beautifully in the early summer months, but with a World Cup ahead, he must now sustain that form for another 10 weeks. Sri Lanka have attempted all manner of bowling plans to him, from peppering him with short stuff, to starving him of the strike, but he has bashed his way out of those gauntlets, and remains the series’ top run-scorer. He was out for 28 at Eden Park, and Sri Lanka will hope that innings marks McCullum’s descent from the stratosphere. McCullum, though, has arguably never batted more confidently, though his tossing leaves plenty to be desired.Lahiru Thirimanne has had a number of starts on tour, but as his only fifty-plus score came when Sri Lanka had virtually lost the second Test, he is yet to make a meaningful contribution to the side. He has expanded his ODI batting in the last 18 months, and has an unflappable temperament to boot, but he will be desperate to string a few strong innings together, to make his No.6 spot safe.Team newsGrant Elliott is available for Tuesday’s game, meaning he will likely reclaim his No. 5 spot from Daniel Vettori. The team will make a call on Kane Williamson on match-day, and Kyle Mills may also be in the mix.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Tom Latham/Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Matt Henry/Trent BoultSri Lanka will not hesitate to play four spinners (including two allrounders) if the conditions suit, but will more likely play an extra seamer. They have flown in leg-spinning allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna and quick Dushmantha Chameera as cover for Suranga Lakmal and Rangana Herath, who had been in doubt with a groin strain and muscle soreness respectively. But as both frontliners now appear to have recovered, neither of the new entrants are likely to play on Tuesday.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Thisara Perara, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga Lakmal/Rangana HerathPitch and conditionsIf there is one venue in the country that can be relied upon for a full match it is Nelson. The South-Island town has a reputation for blue skies and bright sunshine, and the forecast for Tuesday keeps true to that image. Only one ODI has been played at the venue, and as such, the nature of the surface is difficult to predict.Stats and trivia Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 66 on Saturday took him past 3000 ODI runs. He achieved the milestone in 90 innings – the quickest for a New Zealand batsman Tim Southee has not yet bowled in an ODI in 2015, but his 2014 average of 38.90 is his worst since 2009 Kumar Sangakkara needs 17 more runs to become Sri Lanka’s most prolific ODI batsman. His tally of 13414 runs is just behind that of Sanath Jayasuriya, who presently sits third on the all-time listQuotes”You never like missing games, but with the workload these days you have to manage the body – not only of the bowlers, but the batters as well. There has been a lot of cricket, and there is a lot of cricket to come. It’s common sense. You can’t physically play every game. You need to miss one or two here or there to prolong your period without injury.”

None of the New Zealand players have been afraid to laud the side’s recent performances, least of all Brendon McCullum, but on the eve of the World Cup he knew the time for looking back was finished

Andrew McGlashan in Christchurch13-Feb-2015In the last few days leading into the World Cup a popular statement to any New Zealand player has been along the lines of, “Every day is a good day for the team at the moment.” Their response has generally been to smile in agreement. None of them have been afraid to laud the side’s recent performances, least of all Brendon McCullum, but on the eve of the World Cup the captain knew the time for looking back was finished.This tournament can define a generation for New Zealand. It did so for the class of ’92, but from a position of performing so far above expectation. This time the players have been treading a fine line between riding the wave of emotion that has steadily built up and not being swept away by it. However, McCullum, who has three previous World Cups under his belt, admitted he had never been part of a team that felt so confident.”You always hoped things would work out well but did we genuinely believe it, maybe, maybe not. We believe we’re a good team and we have a chance at this World Cup but there’s some good teams around as well. We’re going to need things to fall in our favour.”It sits comfortably with me. If we get beat then we get beat, but if we play our best game we can walk away pretty satisfied and that will give us our best chance.””Everyone’s excited. It’s been a great build-up and all the management and coaching staff have done a brilliant job of getting us to this point and now it’s a matter of how we seize the opportunities we get. We’ve been playing some good cricket but we know the slate is now clean.”Smartly, New Zealand have not tried to shut out the public goodwill, they have not baulked or become edgy with questions about being one of the favourites. They have more than played their part – on and off the field – in raising the anticipation levels, to the point where everyone is relieved that the start is almost upon us.However, McCullum has also been keen to stress the need for level heads – “emotional stability” is one of his latest phrases – and he believes it has been the team’s ability to embrace everything that has been going on around them that has helped that, rather than pretend it is nothing different.”We knew that if we were able to gain some performances leading into a World Cup at home that the expectation would rise so we were able to put some things in place to deal with those,” he said. “One of things we discussed a lot is being really stable emotionally. The game has its ups and downs without having to add your own. We try to maintain a really stable environment. You never know if it’s going to work in the crunch situations but it will give us our best chance.”Although McCullum was relaxed on Friday, he will have to ensure he looks after himself as well as his team during this tournament. While the group-stage match schedule is not especially demanding, the focus will be on him endlessly.He met Richie McCaw, the All Blacks’ captain, at the opening ceremony in Christchurch and for a short time, at least, he will have a taste of what his fellow leader contends with. He said he had not asked for any particular advice yet, but may yet do so depending on how deep into the tournament New Zealand travel.”I’ve got a job to do, I guess it’s all encompassing in terms of leading the team, opening the batting. Is there extra pressure? I guess there is on everyone. I’m excited about it, I have high ambitions of what I want to achieve but whether you achieve them or not is another thing. But I go in feeling reasonably confident and secure in the fact that I’m surrounded by guys I trust and believe in. As a captain that’s a significant thing.”I hope to be able to make some significant contributions in the tournament. I believe we have guys who are capable of topping run-scoring charts and wicket-taking lists. It would be nice if I was one of them, but I’d take a World Cup win and having a low one in your own form any day.”

Thisara Perera has said he likes playing T20 cricket around the world, but was also hoping to find a way back into Sri Lanka’s Test side

Arun Venugopal09-Apr-2015Thisara Perera is the archetypal modern cricketer offering his services in leagues across the world. But, he didn’t play a single game in the Big Bash League last season; he was denied permission to take part, with Sanath Jayasuriya, the then Sri Lanka chief selector, questioning his work ethic.He didn’t get to play a single game either for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2014, although he turned out for them five times in the Champions League T20 later that year, even playing the lead role in one of their wins. With captain George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson and David Miller nailing down the foreign-player slots, breaking into the first XI is going to be just as difficult this time around.Perera is also contracted with Guyana Amazon Warriors to play in the Caribbean Premier League this season. In 2012-13, he was a last-minute signing for Brisbane Heat, and was part of their victorious campaign. Perera said he liked playing outside Sri Lanka for the learning opportunities such leagues offered.”I think I play a lot of cricket inside the country and outside the country,” Perera told ESPNcricinfo. “In IPL, you can see a lot of foreign players and lot of captains and lot of coaches. I think that is main thing for us, you know, we can take advice from them, and we can change our thoughts.”Big Bash [is] also real competitive league. It’s not an easy wicket to play in Big Bash, Australia. I play a lot of domestic matches also, but the thing is they don’t have international players. That’s why I like to play outside the country because we can take good things, good thoughts [from others].”Perera admitted to favouring the shorter formats, but said he wanted to establish himself in Test cricket as well. “Actually my batting style and bowling style… I really like to play Twenty20 and 50-overs. [But] I [have] played only 7 [6] matches in Tests. I have to play another 20-30 matches because I like to play Test matches. Normally, my batting style is… I am the big-hitter. I am always hitting, hitting, hitting.”Such “hitting, hitting” style is making way for a more sustainable approach to batting, if Perera’s claims are anything to go by. “Right now, I am doing some bit of changing [to] my batting style. Now I am going to bat longer a little bit and not [try to] hit every ball and rotate the strike.”I like to bowl consistent length and my variation. Last year I didn’t do well in my bowling. I don’t know why and if this is a technical problem, but I am putting in hard work with my bowling.”In Sri Lanka I am working with Anusha Samarayanake and Champaka Ramanayake, my Sri Lankan bowling coaches. I really like to work with them.”Perera also credited his schoolmate and Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, with supporting his career “as a captain and as a friend.””We both played together in St. Joseph’s College. He is elder than me [by] two years,” Perera said. “I played under his captaincy at the Under-19 level, international level and school level also. I think we had good partnership as friends and brothers, you know.”Leading up to the World Cup, Mathews had said the seam-bowling allrounder was critical to the team’s balance, an assessment later endorsed by Mahela Jayawardene. Perera’s campaign, however, yielded only middling returns: he picked up six wickets from as many matches and scored 62 runs from four innings. In the IPL, Mathews, the captain of Delhi Daredevils, and Perera are in different camps.”I think it’s good for me he’s now our Sri Lankan team captain,” Perera said. “We work together a lot of times. I have to say he’s a good person, he’s a good captain and a good friend. And that’s why [we are] staying together.”Every time I make a mistake, he comes and tells me, ‘Thisara this isn’t good, you have to play like that, bowl like that.’ He gives me lot of advice as a captain and as a friend.”Perera said he was proud of having played alongside Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. “We miss these two legends. I think without these two [it would be] really hard for batting department. Mahela he has retired already, Kumar is going to be… another two-three years or so, I don’t know actually.”There was also praise for George Bailey’s leadership at Kings XI. “I have worked with him [for a] couple of years and I think he knows how to handle his players and get the best out of every player. Team meeting and everything he really handles well,” Perera said.

Ajinkya Rahane’s serene unbeaten 91 off 54 balls helped return Rajasthan Royals to winning ways, and returned the tournament’s orange cap to him

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando03-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:00

O’Brien: Daredevils bowled and fielded poorly

Ajinkya Rahane’s serene unbeaten 91 off 54 balls helped return Rajasthan Royals to winning ways, and returned the tournament’s orange cap to him. He had a 52-run opening stand with Shane Watson, then struck up a 113-run partnership with Karun Nair, as Royals strode to 189 for 2.Delhi Daredevils sputtered in response, losing both openers early, and leaving themselves too many to score in the second half of the innings. The chase petered out during the middle overs, and Daredevils eventually fell 14 runs short.Rahane was flowing from early on in his innings, stroking Zaheer Khan through the covers in the fifth over before sending Nathan Coulter-Nile to the leg-side boundary with a flick of the wrists next over. Shane Watson bludgeoned and hacked with mixed success, until he edged Angelo Mathews behind, but Rahane was rarely troubled by seam movement, as he played late and continued to rely on timing over power.Mathews’ nagging seamers presented the greatest threat to the batsmen on the fresh Brabourne Stadium pitch. Rahane’s one major indiscretion came against him in the 11th over, when on 34, he toe-ended a ball aerially over cover, but survived when Gurinder Sandhu grassed the catch in the deep.Daredevils will rue dropping Karun Nair too. The pair made brisk progress through the middle period, finding the boundary almost every over, as the Daredevils seamers continued to bowl too short. Rahane reached his half-century, off 36 balls, with a sublimely-timed pull for six off Coulter-Nile in the 15th over. Nair sped to the milestone himself two overs later, when he slammed Sandhu over the midwicket boundary, then cracked him for fours off successive balls.With the score on 149 for 1 after the 17th over, both batsmen launched the attack that would ensure the excellent foundation would become an imposing score. Of all the strokes Rahane hit this evening, the two consecutive lofted straight drives off Zaheer in the 18th over were perhaps the prettiest, so economical was he with his movement.Nair holed out to deep cover in the penultimate over, but Rahane still had a few big shots in him. He whipped Coulter-Nile over long leg for six, then hit another straight four in the final over.Sandhu leaked 49 runs from four overs on IPL debut, but the remaining bowlers didn’t fare much better, with Amit Mishra also conceding more than 10 an over. Mathews was the best of the Daredevils bowlers with 1 for 27.Daredevils were brisk in the opening overs, but Mayank Agarwal fell to Stuart Binny, then Shreyas Iyer inside-edge Shane Watson onto his stumps to leave Daredevils two down in the fifth over. JP Duminy progressed with measure, but was abandoned one-by-one by his middle-order teammates. Yuvraj Singh was out to an outstanding Binny catch on the deep square-leg boundary, and Mathews’ mediocre batting returns continued, when he edged behind for a 17-ball 16. With 79 required off the last six overs, the chase was going cold. Only seven wickets fell in the end, but the result had long been decided.