14 SPORTS
Tuesday, 6 May, 2014
AFGHANISTAN, NEPAL WIN LEAD TO THREE-WAY TIE T SPORTS DESK
HREE wickets each from spinners Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari helped Afghanistan bowl Oman out for 186, before Noor Ali Zadran's 67 at the top of the order helped them wrap up a comfortable five-wicket win at the Selangor Turf Club. Sent in to bat, Oman began well, with openers Zeeshan Siddiqui and Zeeshan Maqsood putting on 76 in 13.5 overs. They lost wickets steadily after that partnership, though, and were reduced to 139 for 8 in the 36th over, before Amir Khan and Rajesh Kumar added 41 for the ninth wicket to help set Afghanistan 187 to win. They got there with 16 overs remaining, with Noor Ali anchoring the chase with his 83-ball innings that included 11 fours. He added 69 for the third wicket with Nasir Ahmadzai, who made 36, and 41 with Shenwari, before he was out with
17 to get. Shenwari saw Afghanistan home, scoring an unbeaten run-a-ball 29 to go with his three-wicket haul in Oman's innings. With the win, Afghanistan drew level with Oman at the top of the table with 6 points. Nepal joined them on the same points tally after beating Hong Kong by seven wickets while chasing a revised target at the Bayuemas Oval. Sent in to bat, Hong Kong were bowled out for 181 in 41.5 overs, but could have made far less if not for their opening batsman Irfan Ahmed, who batted through their innings and was last out for 106. Irfan faced 115 balls and struck 10 fours and three sixes. Irfan dominated a first-wicket partnership of 71 in 11.4 overs with Waqas Barkat, who scored 16, before Hong Kong lost a heap of wickets to subside to 117 for 5. Irfan then added 52 with Roy Lamsam, before the team lost their last five wickets for just 12 runs. Medium-pacer Sompal Kami took four wickets, while left-arm
Royals Take 6 foR 2 To sTeal game Rajasthan Royals 170 for 6 (Nair 44, Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 160 for 6 (Uthappa 65, Gambhir 54, Watson 3-21, Tambe 3-26) by 10 runs
SPORTS DESK Gautam Gambhir had hoped Kolkata Knight Riders had learned from conceding winning positions in multiple matches this season, but losing six wickets for two runs after 70% of the target of 171 was mowed down by a century stand between himself and Robin Uthappa indicated there was still a lot of work left to do. Rajasthan Royals were the beneficiaries this time as they recorded their fourth victory in five IPL matches in Ahmedabad. An equation of 50 off the final six overs is not cause for alarm and Knight Riders had all 10 wickets in hand. The events that unfolded at Motera were almost unfathomable. Shane Watson pried out Gambhir to tip the dominos. An inexplicable promotion for Andre Russell did not last long and before the over ended three wickets were down. Pravin Tambe claimed a hat-trick off the first three balls of the next over to complete the worst collapse for the first six wickets in T20 history. Before those nightmarish few minutes, Uthappa cemented the team's belief in him by melding stability and enterprise together. His fluency allowed Gambhir to work himself into form. Both batsmen embraced percentage cricket concentrating on keeping a straight face coming down on the ball. Uthappa used his feet to bolster his hits through and over midon while Gambhir peppered the cover boundary. It wasn't the most eye-catching innings but it was what Knight Riders needed from their captain and victory seemed more probable than the eventual outcome. Suryakumar Yadav and Shakib Al Hasan were suddenly faced with a required rate over 11 in the final four overs. They swung and swiped and even enjoyed a couple of free hits but they could not muster the same pace they are known for.
spinner Basant Regmi finished with three. Chasing 182, Nepal were 121 for 3 in the 28th over, with Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar in the middle, when the match was interrupted by rain. Irfan, having kept Hong Kong in the game with the bat, had taken two wickets with his medium-pace. But an innings of 41 from opener Naresh Budayir kept Nepal on course. Set a revised target of 147 in 38 overs after the game resumed, Nepal got home without any further loss of wickets, with
23 balls remaining, and Khadka unbeaten on 43 off 52 balls. United Arab Emirates won their second match of the tournament, beating Malaysia by six wickets at the Kinrara Academy Oval. Chasing 159, they breezed home in just 25.4 overs, with opener Amjad Ali laying the base with a 49-ball 43 and Shaiman Anwar finishing things off with an unbeaten 33-ball 53, with five fours and three sixes. Right from the time they chose to field, UAE were on top of the game, with
PATTINSON UNDER BACK STRESS CLOUD SPORTS DESK Twenty20 may be removed from James Pattinson's rehab diet after it emerged that the fast bowler is suffering from a recurrence of back stress trouble and has no certain return date for the resumption of his international career. Among the re-signed pace bowling mentor Craig McDermott's more pressing assignments is to oversee further work to refine the bowling action of Pattinson, who once again fell prey to back problems following his lively return to the Test team in the deciding Test match of the South Africa series at Newlands in March. While initially Cricket Australia described Pattinson as simply complaining of "lower back soreness", further examination has revealed evidence of stress on his back. McDermott is adamant that at the age of 24, Pattinson should not be rushed back into service until a sustainable technique can be put into place. "With Patto it'll depend how he heals, first and foremost. That's got to improve from a clinical point of view before we get to the path we'll go down with his technical side of it," McDermott said. "The timeline on that hasn't even been determined yet, so we'll just see how he progresses over the next few months. "I want to make sure we take our time and get it right. He's obviously having some sort of trouble with his skeletal make up that's not coping at his age. He's almost at the age where you'd think he's not going to get too many more problems, but everyone's different. Patto does bowl fast, he's not a 130kph bowler, so we've got to make sure we get him right and take our time to bring him back
nice and slowly." Pattinson's performance in the match was particularly notable considering it was his first red ball fixture of any kind since suffering a stress fracture in the Lord's Test last year. Unready for the first bracket of Sheffield Shield matches and then in South Africa for the second, Pattinson was compelled to make his return in the Big Bash League with the Melbourne Renegades. Efforts to improve his technique and groove it during long-from cricket were thus frustrated by a format in which pacemen are obliged to bowl at top speed but also change their action on a ball-to-ball basis for slower deliveries, wide yorkers and other variations. "There's been some discussion about bringing him back through club cricket and formats where he can settle into a rhythm," McDermott said. "T20 cricket is always difficult to bring blokes back through, because they're under the pump, bowling different balls all the time. "It's a yorker, then a slower-ball bouncer, then a good-length ball or a wide yorker. And if they're getting whacked by the batsmen they're not going to bowl at 80% and build things up gradually. It's not in their make-up, and it's certainly not in Patto's make-up because he's such a competitor." Elsewhere Ryan Harris is continuing his recovery from overdue knee surgery, though McDermott agreed with the 34-year-old paceman that a return in time for Australia's next Test match assignment against Pakistan in the UAE would be doubtful. More likely is Harris' participation in the 2015 World Cup, having not played an ODI since 2012 as the selectors sought to preserve his body.
CMYK
a double-strike from medium-pacer Mohammad Naveed in the seventh over putting Malaysia on the back foot after a 39-run opening partnership. They slumped to 74 for 5 before a 54-run partnership from Suharril Fetri and Hammadullah Khan stabilized their innings. But it was only temporary respite, and UAE struck back to take their last five wickets for just 30 runs. Left-arm spinner Fayyaz Ahmed was UAE's most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 12 in 4.4 overs.
FAWAD LIKELY TO FACE THE MUSIC OVER CONTROVERSIAL TWENTY20 SERIES
LAHORE AGENCIES
Test batsman Fawad Alam is likely to face grilling in connection with the controversial Friendship Twenty20 Series where Danish Kaneria, serving a lifetime ban from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), also participated. Besides Fawad and Kaneria, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official namely Badar Rafaey and other Pakistan players including Nasir Jamshed, Wahab Riaz and Pakistan discarded Abdul Razzaq have also been found involved in the contentious Friendship T20 Series held in Houston, USA in April. The ECB which banned Kaneria in a 2009 match-fixing case raised serious objection over the said event by staging a protest before the International Cricket Council (ICC) that forced the PCB to take a quick action in shape of forming a three-member committee comprising two board officials - Usman Wahla and Colonel Azam - and headed by PCB director domestic Intikhab Alam. The probe committee will convene on Monday (today) and is expected to present its report to the PCB chairman the same day. Sources said that while the committee has been probing which PCB official or cricketer is involved in organising the said event in Houston and then inviting the cricketers there, Fawad seems to be the major wrongdoer as he along with his close relative namely former Test cricketer Mansoor Akhtar living in the US organised the event. Notwithstanding, the new selection committee headed by Moin Khan has invited all the three players - Wahab, Fawad and Nasir - at the conditioning camp starting here from May 6 despite the fact that the PCB probe committee has been enquiring against them.