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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday January 16, 2014
Pietersen remains in England World Cup plans Chadwick Walton (airborne) jumps high to celebrate a wicket with Andre Russell, with Tino Best joining in during the second Twenty20 International yesterday. (Photo courtesy flickr.com/windiescricket)
SERIES LOST
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Poor fielding and a costly over from skipper Dwayne Bravo disrupted West Indies’ momentum and helped New Zealand to a four-wicket win in the second and final T20 match at Westpac Stadium, Wellington yesterday. West Indies dropped a number of catches in the field while an expensive 15th over by Bravo yielded 17 runs as New Zealand completed a successful chase after the visitors, who won the toss and elected to bat first, scored 159 for five to seal the series two-nil, after winning the opener last Saturday. The West Indies appeared to have lost their way when they were reduced to 67-4 in the 11th over before Denesh Ramdin and Andre Russell breathed life into their innings. Opener Lendl Simmons was off to an encouraging start hitting five fours to reach 29 before he was caught. Ramdin and Russell (10 not out) put on 70 for the fifth wicket which began when Andre Fletcher, who scored 40, opted to sacrifice himself after he and Ramdin ended up at the same
WEST INDIES innings L. Simmons c Neesham b McClenaghan 29 J. Charles c Guptill b Milne 7 A. Fletcher run-out 40 DJ Bravo b N. McCullum 12 C. Walton c Ronchi b Milne 0 D. Ramdin not out 55 A. Russell not out 10 Extras: (lb-2, w-4) 6 Total: (for 5 wickets, off 20 overs) 159 Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-37, 3-66, 4-67, 5-137. Bowling: McClenaghan 4-0-29-1, Milne 4-0-22-2, Neesham 4-0-390, Anderson 4-0-50-0, McCullum 4-0-17-1.
end in a running mix-up. Fletcher, who top-scored in the first T20 on Saturday, smashed three fours and one six. Ramdin carried on through to the end to be unbeaten on 55 off 31 balls in an innings which included three sixes and three fours. Chasing the 160 target, New Zealand were struggling at 79-5 before a 68-run partnership between Ross Taylor and Luke Ronchi turned the innings around. Taylor played the anchor role with 39 off 41 balls while Ronchi belted an unbeaten 51 off 28 deliveries in an innings that included four fours and two sixes.
The pair were particularly harsh on Bravo in the 15th over when they took 17 runs to reduce the target from 54 off 36 balls to a more manageable 37 off 30. They also took 15 off the 17th over by Jason Holder. Jesse Ryder was dropped twice as he raced to a quick 23 in nine balls, and Brendon McCullum received a life on his way to 17. Two chances were missed to remove man-of-the-match Ronchi on the first ball he faced, with Russell dropping a caught-and-bowled opportunity and when Ronchi scampered through for a quick single Tino Best was astray with his run-out throw at the stumps.
(REUTERS) - Kevin Pietersen’s Test future may be in doubt but the mercurial batsman was hailed as a “million pound asset” when named in England’s provisional 30-member squad for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh yesterday. A swashbuckling batsman who polarises opinion, Pietersen was a target for heavy criticism after England’s 5-0 Ashes surrender in Australia despite being the highest run-scorer for his side. Earlier this month, coach Andy Flower felt compelled to issue a statement denying a dressing-room rift after British media claimed he had threatened to quit if the South Africa-born batsman continued to be part of the team’s rebuilding process. Captain Alistair Cook has also ducked questions concerning Pietersen’s Test future but the 33-year-old’s international career looks far from over after selectors opted to consider the use of his hard-hitting prowess in Bangladesh. “There was no discussion at all about leaving him out,” England’s limited-overs coach Ashley Giles told reporters in Brisbane ahead of the team’s second one-day international against Australia tomorrow. “He’s another million-pound asset at least, he might be worth a bit more than that.” Pietersen has been rested from England’s limited-overs series (five one-day internationals and three Twenty20s) in Australia. “He’s a fantastic player and he’s shown that in T20 cricket. He’s not played that much for me in T20, but in other competitions how dangerous he can be,” Giles said. The squad will be pruned to a final 15-member party following the three-match Twenty20 series against Australia beginning on January 29. Led by Stuart Broad, 2010 champions England will begin their quest for a second title with a March 22 match against New Zealand at Chittagong. Squad: Stuart Broad (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Michael Carberry, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Steven Parry, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Boyd Rankin, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright.
England bowler Finn sent home to work on technique
(R euters ) - England paceman Steven Finn will miss the remainder of the limited overs series in Australia and
Messi misses out on UEFA’s team-of-the-year (REUTERS) - Lionel Messi, who lost his World Player-ofthe-Year crown to Cristiano Ronaldo this week, has failed
NEW ZEALAND innings M. Guptill c Ramdin b Holder 1 J. Ryder c Simmons b Holder 23 B. McCullum lbw b Narine 17 R Taylor c Walton b Narine 39 C Munro c Miller b Russell 5 C. Anderson c Charles b Russell 6 L. Ronchi not out 51 J. Neesham not out 14 Extras: (lb-3, w-4) 7 Total: (for 6 wickets, off 19 overs) 163 Fall of wickets 1-8, 2-36, 3-49, 4-69, 5-79, 6-147. Bowling: Holder 3-0-34-2, Best 3-037-0, Bravo 3-0-31-0, Narine 4-0-182, Miller 3-0-24-0, Russell 3-0-16-2.
to make the Team-of-the-Year picked by users of European soccer governing body UEFA’s website. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo were picked as forwards in the team which was dominated by players from the Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil was the only current Premier League player to make the lineup and there was none at all from Italy’s Serie A. UEFA said that 6.3 million people cast votes in the poll on its website. Real Madrid and Portugal forward Ronaldo was included for a record seventh successive year and Paris St
Germain’s Brazilian Thiago Silva was the only non-European. Team: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain and Brazil), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich and Germany), David Alaba (Bayern Munich and Austria); Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund and Germany) Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid/Arsenal and Germany), Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur/ Real Madrid and Wales), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain and Sweden)
returns home to work on the technical aspect of his game, his country’s cricket board said yesterday. Struggling with his rhythm and pace in the practice games, the 24-year-old right-arm bowler did not feature in England’s 5-0 Ashes rout and Sunday’s defeat in the first of five oneday internationals. “Steven is one of our most talented bowling assets who has played and will continue to play an important role for England,” England’s limited over head coach Ashley Giles said. “He has been working hard over the last couple of months on technical aspects of his bowling and Steven and the coaches all feel continuing this work out of the performance environment will be beneficial for him.” England’s shambolic tour of Australia has already seen
top-order batsman Jonathan Trott return home to deal with a stress-related illness and off-spinner Graeme Swann announcing his shock retirement from international cricket. Finn has collected 90 wickets from 23 Tests at an
STEVEN FINN average of 29.4 to go with 59 in 39 one-dayers, often combining his pace with an ability to generate disconcerting bounce.