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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday September 9, 2015
Taylor century keeps England alive in series (REUTERS) - James Taylor’s patient century laid the platform for England to beat Australia by 93 runs in the third one-day international at Old Trafford yesterday, leaving the touring side 2-1 up in the series.
England’s James Taylor celebrates reaching his century. (Reuters/Philip Brown) Taylor made 101 to lift his team to 300 for eight and Australia struggled under the lights against the England spinners before being bowled out for 207 after 44 overs. Opener Jason Roy scored 63 off 45 balls to give England a fast start before captain Eoin Morgan and Taylor shared a third-wicket partnership of 119 to put the hosts in a good position to make a huge total. Morgan, however, was caught by Mitchell Starc off Glenn Maxwell for 62 and his side struggled to accelerate in the closing overs. Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Liam Plunkett fell cheaply and although Taylor completed his maiden international century, he hit only five fours and was dismissed by Starc before England scrambled to get to 300. Australia made a positive start to their reply, Aaron
Finch making 53 and Steve Smith 25 before the Australian captain was brilliantly caught by Steven Finn one-handed at mid-wicket off leg-spinner Adil Rashid. “It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it,” Morgan told Sky Sports. “Ben Stokes was in my eye-line and all I saw was a 6-foot-8 giant leaping. “I’ve known Steven Finn since he was 15 years old and I’ve never seen him take a catch like that.” Wickets fell regularly under the lights as spinners Moeen and Rashid bowled cleverly and the Australian batsmen were unable to break the shackles. “I’m very impressed,” said Morgan. “We improved in the areas I asked the guys to from the first two games. Jason Roy played his game, lots of strong shots down the ground and then James Taylor and I got a good partnership going.” Smith said England had made a good total. “They got a few too many,” he added. “With the bat we struggled in the middle overs. “The wicket was getting slower. We have to find ways to rotate the strike in the middle overs and then keep enough wickets in hand so we can go berserk at the end.” The fourth match in the five-game series is in Leeds on Friday.
SCOREBOARD ENGLAND innings J. Roy c Maxwell b Agar 63 A. Hales c M. Marsh b Cummins 9 J. Taylor c Agar b Starc 101 E. Morgan c Starc b Maxwell 62 B. Stokes c Finch b Maxwell 14 J. Bairstow run-out, (Smith) 17 M. Ali c Pattinson b Cummins 1 L. Plunkett run-out 1 C. Woakes not out 14 A. Rashid not out 1 Extras: (b-1, lb-5, w-11) 17 Total: (for 8 wickets, 50 overs) 300 Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-86, 3-205, 4-231, 5-271, 6-273, 7-279, 8-291. Bowling: M. Starc 10-0-79-1 (w5), J. Pattinson 6-1-36-0 (w-2), A. Agar 9-0-45-1 (w-1), P. Cummins 10-1-50-2 (w-1), G. Maxwell 100-56-2 (w-1), M. Marsh 5-0- 28-0 (w-1).
AUSTRALIA innings J. Burns c Morgan b Finn 9 A. Finch c Woakes b Rashid 53 S. Smith c Finn b Rashid 25 G. Bailey c Stokes b Ali 25 G. Maxwell c Bairstow b Ali 17 M. Marsh c Woakes b Plunkett 13 M. Wade b Finn 42 A. Agar c Roy b Plunkett 5 M. Starc c Bairstow b Ali 1 P. Cummins c Roy b Plunkett 5 J. Pattinson not out 2 Extras: (lb-3, w-7) 10 Total: (all out, 44 overs) 207 Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-75, 3-106, 4-128, 5-141, 6-154, 7-165, 8-167, 9-172. Bowling: S. Finn 8-1-43-2, C. Woakes 4-0-22-0 (w-1), L. Plunkett 10-0-60-3 (w-2), A. Rashid 10-1-41-2 (w-3), M. Ali 10-1-32-3, B. Stokes 2-0-6-0 (w-1).
Pietersen to return to South Africa for T20 bash (REUTERS) - England batsman Kevin Pietersen is to make a return to South African cricket having agreed to play five matches for the Durbanbased KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins in the country’s domestic Twenty20 championship. The 35-year-old had hoped to return to the country of his birth with England when they tour later in the year, but having been overlooked for this year’s Ashes victory over Australia that seems highly unlikely. “I’m very excited to return to Durban in a few weeks’ time and contribute towards the Dolphins’ cause,” Pietersen said in a statement from the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Cricket Union on Tuesday.
“Having grown up in KZN it is obviously a place that means something quite special to me and to have the opportunity to play there again is something I’m really looking forward to.” Pietersen will play five games between October 29 and November 15 for the province where he made his firstclass debut, aged 17 in 1997, bowling off-spin and batting low down the order. He was later lured to England with the help of his late mentor Clive Rice and went on to become that country’s highest international run-scorer with 13 779 runs across all formats. Having been dropped by England in 2014 and told there was no way back, Pietersen has focused on domestic
KEVIN PIETERSEN Twenty20 cricket and has played for the Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad (all India), St Lucia Zouks (Caribbean), Melbourne Stars (Australia) and Surrey (England). Pietersen played two first-class games for the Dolphins in 2010 in a bid to regain form ahead of that year’s Ashes series.
Albion Cricket Club dissatisfied with non-selection of Permaul
THE Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (ACCCC) wishes to express its extreme disappointment at the non-selection of Veerasammy Permaul on the West Indies team for the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka. Without any doubt, young Permaul should have been selected to accompany his fellow Guyanese and Albion club-mate Devendra Bishoo once there is need for two specialist spinners and, with there being no Sunil Narine, Permaul’s omission is very much mindboggling; more so, with the selection of fellow left-arm-spinner Jomel Warrican ahead of him. Selections must be based purely on merit and performance and Permaul has undoubtedly fulfilled such criteria as his performance has been remarkable in all formats of the game for Guyana over the years and more so in recent times, capturing 87 scalps in 25 regional matches (first class, List A and T20) this season. This included a record-breaking 67 wickets for 943 runs at a mere average of 14.7 in the last Regional First Class season where he was also the leading wicket-taker. Additionally, he had also been among the runs, rattling up a total of 226 in the lower order at an average of 22.86 inclusive of an unbeaten 86 against Jamaica to showcase his ability with the bat, coupled with his also being among the best fieldsmen in the West Indies. This is not the first time that Permaul, who has so far played six Test matches and captured 18 wickets, had to face the brunt of the Clive Lloyd-led West Indies’ Selection Panel as there were two other instances earlier in this year where Sulieman Benn and Nikita Miller were chosen ahead of him. Yes, the selectors may want to argue that Permaul had played in two Test matches one each in the two home series against England and Australia respectively earlier this year, where he took only six wickets, including a best of 3 for 43 against England, but the big question is: “Was (the result of) two Test matches enough for him to be sidelined” when he was the top bowler in the Regional First Class Tournament? A quick comparison of Permaul’s bowling performance as against Warrican in the 2014/2015 Regional First Class tournament shows that Permaul was ahead by a huge 18 wickets. Also, of importance is that Permaul and Bishoo (61 wickets in the 2014/2015 Regional First Class Tournament) have a successful record of bowling well together as was clearly demonstrated over the years for Guyana inclusive of the 2014/ 2015 Regional First Class season. Further, the ACCCC would also like to take this opportunity to urge the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), to at least commence attending the Guyana Cricket Board’s meetings so that cricketers and cricket generally in the Ancient County can have much-needed representation. The Club is of the firm view that serious attention needs to be paid where the interests of Berbice cricketers are concerned and once the BCB attends the GCB’s meetings, Berbice cricketers and cricket as a whole will benefit from proper representation not only at the GCB’s level but extension the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Vemen Walter (Secretary, Albion Community Centre Cricket Club)