ISB pages 18-11-11_Layout 1 11/18/2011 3:24 AM Page 18
Friday, 18 November, 2011
Serena set to marry boyfriend drake Page 23
Strauss to warm up for Pakistan with India stint LonDon AFP
England captain Andrew Strauss will prepare for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan by joining the England Performance Programme (EPP) in India next month. Opening batsman Strauss, no longer a one-day international cricketer, has not played cricket for his country since guiding England to a 4-0 Test series success at home to India in August. But the 34-year-old will tune up for the Tests against Pakistan, which will take place in the United Arab Emirates in January, at training camps in Mumbai and Pune. Strauss will be joined by fellow batsman Eoin Morgan, who is returning from a shoulder injury, and wicket-keeper Matt Prior. Fast bowlers Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett and Graeme Onions will also join the EPP in separate camps to be conducted in Potchefstroom in South Africa. “The England Performance Programme camps will offer the England players the perfect chance to step up their training and preparations ahead of the forthcoming Test series against Pakistan in January,” England performance director David Parsons said. “The players attending these camps didn’t participate in England’s recent ODI tour of India or have been sidelined through injury so this is the ideal opportunity to build up their preparations during an important period leading into January.”
taNvIR LIKELy tO REpLaCE Razzaq
Pakistan aim to get back to winning ways
dUbAI: Sri Lanka’s captain tillakaratne dilshan (C) speaks with coach geoff Marsh (L) as Kumar Sangakkara (2L) looks on during a practice session at the dubai Stadium. AfP DUBAI
P
AFP
AKISTAN captain Misbah-ul Haq hopes his team can learn from its mistakes and show improvement in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka on Friday. Pakistan won the first of five matches by eight wickets last week but allowed Sri Lanka to level the series with a 25-run victory in the sec-
ond, on Monday. Misbah said his team made mistakes in all three departments. “We discussed about mistakes committed in the last game,” he said. “We dropped a catch, then gave away 17 extra runs and lost early wickets while batting so we need to overcome those mistakes if we want to win the next game.” Sri Lanka posted a challenging 2357 on the back of Upal Tharanga’s 77 and Mahela Jayawardene’s return to form 50 before restricting Pakistan to 210.
Misbah agreed Sri Lanka, who scored three run-outs in Pakistan’s innings, were ahead in the field. “They definitely have an edge in fielding and that’s where we have to catch them because they effected good run-outs of Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi,” said Misbah. Pakistan are likely to bring in paceman Sohail Tanvir in place of Razzaq. Sri Lanka were also forced to summon left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara from Colombo after Suranga Lakmal broke down with an ankle injury and was ruled out of the remaining matches. Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said his team is determined to carry the momentum from Monday. “We played some good cricket and can take a lot of positives into Friday’s game because that’s an important match for both the teams as they can take lead in the series,” said Dilshan, who has yet to win a series since appointed captain in May. Dilshan said he was enjoying support from the Sri Lankan fans who came in big numbers in the first two matches. “It’s great to see so many Sri Lankans turning up and in between overs we feel the noise,” said Dilshan. “We hope more people come on Friday, which is a holiday here, it gives you encouragement.” The remaining matches will be played in Sharjah (November 20) and Abu Dhabi (November 23). Both teams will also play a Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi on November 25.
Dubai is not Pakistan’s favourite ground stats corner S. PeRVez QAISeR The third match of the five-match series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played at Dubai International Stadium on Friday (November 18). This day night/night match will start at 16.00 hours (PST). This will be the 124th match between the two teams in limited overs international cricket and third at this ground. Pakistan have won 72 and lost 47 in 123 previous encounters between the two sides. Three matches ended without a result while one match ended in
a tie. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by eight wicket in the first match of the series on November 11, 2011. Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi (3-27) led Pakistan’s spin attack to bowl Sri Lanka for a paltry 131 in 40.3 overs and then chased down the target in 21.5 overs on the back of halfcenturies from Imran Farhat (50) and Younus Khan (56 not out). In the second match on November 14, 2011, Lasith Malinga took three wickets to help Sri Lanka to a 25-run win over Pakistan in the second oneday international to level series 1-1. Lasith Malinga took two wickets in the first over and then returned in his second spell to finish with three for 36
to help dismiss Pakistan for 210 in 46.3 overs after setting them a target of 236 runs. Umar Akmal led the chase with a brilliant 102-ball 91 but Pakistan lost three wickets in succession in the batting power-play, including that of Umar Akmal which saw them lose their way. Umar Akmal hit one six and eight boundaries - three of them in Dilhara Fernando’s 38th over - before hitting the sixth delivery of the same over straight into the hands of mid-on to end Pakistan’s hopes of winning. Pakistan have won three and lost four in the seven previous matches played at this ground. They beat South
Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka once each while lost twice to South Africa and once each to Australia and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka have won six and Pakistan four in last 10 encounters between the two teams.
LAST 10 MATCHeS BeTWeeN TWO TeAMS:
DATe 24-01-2009 30-07-2009 01-08-2009 03-08-2009 07-08-2009 09-09-2009 15-06-2010 26-02-2011 11-11-2011 14-11-2011
VeNUe Lahore dambulla dambulla dambulla Colombo Colombo dambulla Colombo dubai dubai
ReSULT SL beat Pakistan by 234 runs SL beat Pakistan by 36 runs SL beat Pakistan by 6 wickets SL beat Pakistan by 6 wickets Pakistan beat SL by 146 runs Pakistan beat SL by 132 runs SL beat Pakistan by 16 runs Pakistan beat SL by 11 runs Pakistan beat SL by 8 wickets SL beat Pakistan by 25 runs
vinod Kambli: 1996 world Cup semi final was fixed
LAHoRe STAFF RePORT
Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli has alleged that the historic 1996 World Cup semi-final between India and Sri Lanka, which the former lost badly, was fixed, reported an Indian website. In a TV show, Kambli said he was suspicious of the then captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s decision to field first even though batting was the norm after winning the toss in those days. Batting first, Sri Lanka had set a target of 252 for India. In reply, India too started badly as Chamindas Vaas got rid of Navjot Sidhu at eight. However, with Sachin Tendulkar in full command at the crease, India hoped for a comfortable entry into the final. However, Sanath Jayasuriya bowled a magical spell and very soon India were reduced from 98/1 to 120/8 that made Kolkata fans go berserk with anger and disappointment. The fanatic cricket buffs set the chairs of Eden Gardens on fire and hurled bottles at the Lankan players in protest against India’s collapse, forcing match referee Clive Llyod to award the match to the visitors. It was one of India’s most heart-breaking defeats in ODI history with cricket pundits attributing the loss to Indian skipper Azharuddin for inviting Sri Lanka to bat. Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, both serving ban by the ICC for match fixing, were out for duck in the match. Very few can forget the tears of Kambli after Sri Lanka was declared the winner. “I cried because I thought I was robbed of a chance to do it for my country. The entire team hugged me. Most of us were crying,” he recalled.
Pakistan’s new attack creates a different sort of challenge g
250 is a good score under the new rules
exPeRT COMMeNT
MAHeLA JAYAwARdeNe
I
T was quite pleasing to finally get that first win, considering how we lost the first one-dayer by a big margin. In the Test matches, we played some good cricket but didn't grasp some of the opportunities, and we repeated that in the first ODI. We had to make sure we didn't do that again in the second match, which we did. I think we controlled the game very well. We had a very good chat after the first one-dayer, particularly about the areas we were found lacking in. We looked at where
we didn't focus enough, and how we could get over a quality side like Pakistan. We were not consistent enough in our batting performances, and we didn't pick up early wickets. This time we managed a decent score, Lasith Malinga took early wickets, we controlled the middle overs, and as a good fielding side we knew we could create some run-out chances. Pakistan's new-ball attack creates a different sort of challenge, so we had to see through that period. At the same time, we've tended to lose too many wickets in the middle order. That's an area we need to look at, because with the new Powerplay rules, I don't think we will see big totals unless a team gets a really good start and works towards 300. With two new balls at either end, the ball is going to do a lot more most of the time, so we need to rethink our strategy with the new ball and the Powerplays. Given the situation and momentum we got, we were maybe 20 runs short in the second game. I think 230-250 would be a par score these days with the new rules.
When I went in to bat it was the 27th over, we had lost a few wickets, and Pakistan were trying to get on top. I told Upul Tharanga not to panic as we had a Powerplay coming up in another six-seven overs. We just needed to settle the ship, get about three or four runs an over and launch during the Powerplay, and that's what we did. it came at the right time for us, at the 36th over, and we scored 48 runs without losing a wicket. Upul lost his wicket shortly after that but we had enough batsmen to come, so I just had to bat through with them and make sure we got to a competitive score. During the interval we did fancy our chances, but given that Pakistan bat deep, we knew we had to strike early, and we had to cling on to every opportunity. We did take early wickets, which gave us a lot of confidence, but we dropped a catch off Umar Akmal, batted very well. Lasith definitely adds a different dimension from our Test attack because he is an attacking bowler who takes wickets at different stages of the game,
with the new and old ball. Because of him the others become more effective. We have a few guys with a lot of variations who give us options. We knew in this second ODI that we had to take control in their batting Powerplay, as they still had Shahid Afridi to follow. Giving them just 26 runs and picking up three wickets was crucial. Till then it had been a 50-50 game. Regarding my batting position at No. 5: we had spoken to the management and selectors about giving opportunities in different ODI series to youngsters. We talked about sandwiching Dinesh Chandimal between myself and Kumar Sangakkara so as to be able to control things better. We need to experiment more with this sort of thing going forward, and if it doesn't work, fall back on other plans. Chandimal is a very talented player, so hopefully we can guide him. The Test matches were disappointing for me as a batsman, and I've been trying to spend time in the middle in the ODIs. I started well in the first one but couldn't
Aizaz Cheema handle the situation very well, as we were losing wickets. Here, I had the opportunity to take the initiative, which I did, so hopefully I can build on this. Getting to 10,000 runs in both forms of the game has been one of my targets from about three years ago. I try not to think too much about those milestones. After I get to 10,000 I will sit down and set myself other goals to achieve over the next six months. CRICINFO