West Indies v Australia, 2nd Test, Port-of-Spain: match preview

2nd Test: West Indies v Australia at Port of Spain 

Apr 15-19, 2012 (10:00 local | 14:00 GMT | 20:00 BDT) 

The teams have moved on to Trinidad and the big question for Darren Sammy's West Indies side is how they can recover from the disappointment of losing a Test that was there for them to win. For the first three days at Kensington Oval, West Indies were on top. When they dismissed Michael Hussey early on the fourth morning and held a 200-run lead with only four more Australia wickets to take in the first innings, West Indies were in a position from which they simply should not have lost the match. But Australia's fighting qualities, Michael Clarke's aggressive declaration and the home side's fragility combined to create a memorable finale to the Test, as Australia bowled West Indies out cheaply a second time and then chased down 192 with the light fading late on the fifth afternoon.

Sammy and the coach Ottis Gibson must find a way to instil belief in West Indies players whose confidence was shot by those last two days in Barbados. The spin-friendly conditions in Trinidad might help them, for Devendra Bishoo bowled well in the first Test without reaping significant rewards. It could boost Nathan Lyon too, who did not have his finest Test and needs to regain his self-confidence. Most importantly, West Indies have to find a way to play out five days of a Test at high quality. In 2008, they matched Australia for a few days of each Test but were always let down by a trough at some point in the game. It happened again in Barbados last week.

Australia can take a lot from the way they fought back from a losing position. Theirs is a side with a mixture of experience and youth, and they have now won five Tests in a row, not losing since New Zealand surprised them in Hobart in early December. Clarke's captaincy credentials were already high and have been boosted further by his declaration when still behind in Bridgetown, in an effort to force a result. His confidence appears to be rubbing off on his men. If they win in Trinidad they will retain the Frank Worrell Trophy and will win the series, so West Indies cannot afford to be slow out of the blocks in this match.

Form guide

West Indies LDLLW (Most recent first)
Australia WWWWW

How do you solve a problem like Shivnarine Chanderpaul? Eventually Australia managed to do so in the second innings in Bridgetown, when he was squared up by Ryan Harris, but he had already made an unbeaten first-innings century. It was the fifth hundred Chanderpaul had made in the seven home Tests he has played against Australia. His last nine home innings against them read 104, 118, 11, 107 not out, 77 not out, 79 not out, 50, 103 not out, 12. If Chanderpaul finds a partner who is willing and able to stick with him, Australia could face a long, long time in the field.

Ricky Ponting is the only member of this Australia squad who has played a Test in Trinidad, and it was one of his very best. Back in 2003, Ponting scored 206 and 45 at Queen's Park Oval, and it was his first Test double-century. Last week in Barbados he was the unfortunate victim of a Shane Watson-scripted run-out and in the second innings was bowled when a ball stayed very low. However, he is coming off one of his finest Test series, against India, and will be keen for a long stay in the middle.

Team news

West Indies have included the offspinner Shane Shillingford in a 14-man squad and given the nature of the pitch they will consider a two-man spin attack in Shillingford and Devendra Bishoo, with Narsingh Deonarine as a backup. Should they include Shillingford, Fidel Edwards might be the man to miss out, for Kemar Roach was more of a threat in Barbados.

West Indies (possible) 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Narsingh Deonarine, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Shane Shillingford, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo.

Australia will consider two spinners as well, but including Michael Beer at the expense of one of three in-form fast bowlers would be a big call. Were they to make that decision, Ben Hilfenhaus might be the unlucky one to miss out, given that the pitch will also help fast men who attack the stumps, but the more likely scenario is that no change will be made from the side that won at Kensington Oval.

Australia (possible) 1 Ed Cowan, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Pitch and conditions

The Trinidad pitch was very dry on the day before the Test and is expected to provide significant assistance to the spinners, so much so that it even drew comparisons to Kanpur from Australia coach Mickey Arthur. Rain is expected to affect every day of the Test.

 

"We spoke about it, we just need to be mentally prepared to bat in two innings of a Test match."
West Indies captain Darren Sammy

"I think in [sharply spinning] conditions you just have to have a plan and stick with it through thick and thin, and that's probably been my attitude towards spin bowling my whole career. I do get out to spin bowling but I do find I have a plan against spin bowling and I'm going to back that."
Australia captain Michael Clarke

IPL-5: Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab match preview

Sunday, April 15, 2011 at 04:00 p.m. Eden Gardens, Kolkata .

  
  The Kolkata Knight Riders will play their second home game in a row when they take on Kings XI Punjab in Match 17 of DLF IPL 2012.

Gautam Gambhir’s team was slow to get off the blocks. They lost their first two matches to the Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals. But they have since discovered their form, and have beaten the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals in their return fixture.

Kings XI Punjab’s fortunes haven’t been to dissimilar to KKR; they lost to the Rajasthan Royals and the Pune Warriors India in their first two matches, but won their home fixture against the Pune Warriors India.

KKR’s decision to drop Brendon McCullum has meant the inclusion of Manvinder Bisla and his elevation to the top order. The 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has impressed in both his outings so far; he scored 46 against RCB and followed it up with a run-a-ball 29 against RR. In a competition where the turnaround time between matches is next to nothing, it is important that the men in form continue to perform. Hence KKR will be hoping that Bisla continues to score runs.

From what we have seen so far, batsmen have found it next to impossible to decipher the KKR spinner Sunil Narine. The 23-year-old came into the tournament with quite a reputation, and he has certainly shown he is something special in the two matches he’s played so far. With several tricks up his sleeve, and on a spinner-friendly surface, he could run through sides on his day.

There’s a lot of pressure on Adam Gilchrist’s shoulders. Apart from being the wicketkeeper, the Australian is captain-cum-coach of the team, and he’s also the team’s premier batsman. He, along with Shaun Marsh and David Hussey, needs to start scoring big runs if KXIP are to compete.

Previous Meetings 

In seven previous meetings between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, the former hold a slight edge with four victories. In the three matches at the Eden Gardens too, KKR hold an edge – having won twice, including in the game last season.

TriviaThe Kolkata Knight Riders have an outstanding record in run chases at the Eden Gardens; they’ve won nine matches out of 11 when they’ve had to chase.

What next?
Both teams will square off yet again on April 18 when the Kolkata Knight Riders travel to Mohali for their away fixture.

IPL-5: Ryder & Smith smashes Pune to emphatic win

Smith & Ryder

Pune Warriors had only four wins all campaign in 2011, and were expected to struggle again in the absence of their marquee player Yuvraj Singh. Instead, they've got three victories in four and are top of the table after upsetting the fancied Chennai Super Kings in front of a fanatical home crowd.

It was an all-round performance from the Warriors, with their bowlers first stifling the power-packed Super Kings batting by hitting the blockhole as often as possible, backed up by some sharp fielding, something which is a rarity in the IPL.

Their chase was then controlled by two contrasting innings from two men struggling to hold down a place in their national sides. Jesse Ryder began in a hurry, but calmed down to play through the innings for the first time in his T20 career, and just when things started to become tense in the chase, Steven Smith hammered a bunch of boundaries, including two in the final over to complete the victory.

It hadn't seemed that it would be this close an encounter after Ryder, who would probably have been dropped if he failed again, provided a turbo-charged start, and even the run-outs of Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly weren't too big a hindrance. The spin duo of R Ashwin and Suresh Raina, though, choked the runs to inflate the asking rate, making it difficult to understand why Shadab Jakati and Jadeja were never used. It came down to 34 off the final three overs, in which Ryder only needed to take three singles - Smith's big hits took care of the rest.

Both captains had been uncertain about how the pitch at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune would behave, but it had few demons in it. Super Kings' innings was built around a clutch of boundaries at the start of the innings from one of their cheapest buys, Faf du Plessis, and a flourish from their most expensive signing, Ravindra Jadeja, in the second half.

The openers began slowly before du Plessis waded into the fourth over from Ashish Nehra, taking 18 off it including a six over the bowler's head after advancing down the track. Du Plessis went on to become the highest run-getter of the tournament, but his opening partner M Vijay's struggles continued.

Still, Super Kings were well placed after du Plessis' blast, but were slowed down by legspinner Rahul Sharma's strikes, who removed both du Plessis and Raina. Warriors then kept a lid on the scoring through some fast and full bowling from Marlon Samuels, who fired in a succession of quicker deliveries, some clocked as high as 127kph. The batsmen couldn't get under those deliveries, and even Dhoni couldn't find the boundaries, finishing on an underwhelming 26 off 28.

Jadeja came out firing, and provided some impetus. Samuels' darts and Ashok Dinda's impressive ability to consistently deliver yorkers, though, kept the scoring down. All through the second half of the innings, one kept waiting for Super Kings' big onslaught, but Warriors' bowlers ensured that it never came. 

pune fans cheering

Jesse Ryder(73 off 56 balls )

Jesse Ryder(73 off 56 balls )

Jesse Ryder(73 off 56 balls )

IPL-5: Kevin Pietersen has said, "England jealous of IPL"

Kevin Pietersen

ealousy could be the reason for negative attitudes in England towards the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), England batting star Kevin Pietersen has said.

The Twenty20 IPL was an instant hit when it began in 2008 as a mix of glamour, entertainment and international stars playing short-form cricket, but it has attracted little interest in England.

"It (the IPL) is very much struggling to find acceptance back home," the South Africa-born England batsman, who is playing for Delhi Daredevils in the ongoing tournament, was quoted as saying in the Indian media on Thursday.

"It saddens me because I have had an amazing time at the IPL, and it's down to a lot of jealousy I think which is sad. It saddens me all the negative publicity the IPL gets in the (British) media, I don't know why."

His comments came as the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, in its latest issue, blamed the influence of T2O games for India's recent dismal run in Test cricket which saw them lose eight successive matches in England and Australia.

"The disintegration of India's feted batting line-up has coincided with the rise of a Twenty20-based nationalism, the growth of private marketeers and high-level conflicts of interest," wrote Wisden editor Lawrence Booth.

"It is a perfect storm. And the global game sits unsteadily in the eye. India, your sport needs you."

Pietersen, the only big England star taking part in this year's IPL, said experience gained in the tournament will be useful when England tour India for a Test and one-day series later this year.

"It will benefit the team (England), especially because we will be touring India later in the year," he said.

"Playing another month in the subcontinent honing my skills, training with the spinners and practicing, I consider myself so very fortunate."

England fast bowler Stuart Broad was forced to miss this year's IPL due to injury, while pace spearhead James Anderson and leading spinner Graeme Swann went unsold at the auction in February.

England failed to cope with spin on their recent Asia tour when they lost four of their five Tests, three against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and one in Sri Lanka.

IPL-5:Faf du Plessis shown a supernatural innings for Chennai Super Kings to win

Faf du Plessis (71 from 46 balls)

Chennai Super Kings batsman Faf du Plessis described his side scoring 45 runs in two overs to pull off a sensational five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore as "supernatural" which he would cherish for his life.

"To be part of a match like that, I don't think I have ever been (in a situation) like that. I am super excited. To get those 45 runs or some thing in last two overs, I said it's going to take some supernatural," du Plessis, who scored 71 off 46 balls to be adjudged man-of-the-match, said in post match press conference.

"I think the special thing with our batting line up is that we bat so deep. Suresh comes in and he strikes the ball for fours and sixes and then Dhoni walks in and hits sixes. That takes a bit of pressure off me," said the South African.

Asked about the heroic effort by Albie Morkel who smashed 28 runs off seven balls to turn the match on its head in the 19th over, he said, "We were down and out. Hopefully that will be the turnaround of the season. We actually said this is going to be turning point. It will give us massive confidence in the games to come."

Du Plessis said his side knew that they could chase down the big target of 206 if they got a good start.

"It's a big score and so we thought we have to play really well to get there - To get a good start. We analysed the wicket and it was a good wicket. There wasn't much spin which was the key for us. If it started to spin in the second innings it really would have been tough. But it didn't spin much. The ball was coming on nicely. Just wickets in hand towards the end was the key."

On his batting as an opener, he said, "I have been hitting the ball nicely. I knew for myself that a big score was just around the corner. I knew that I had to stay at the crease a bit longer and if I stay the runs will come. I am really enjoying the opening slot. It is new to me."

Asked how he felt facing Daniel Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan together, du Plessis said, "Those two spinners are special. As a boy I watched them on TV. Muralitharan is a legend. So it was special to face him. First time I was facing him, I had to look at the ball closely. But really enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed (playing against) Zaheer also. He is a classy bowler. I knew I had to attack him."

Du Plessis was involved in a third wicket partnership of 40 runs with captain MS Dhoni and asked about what transpired in the middle between them, he said, "We talked about certain bowlers who we can take on. Obviously Murali was bowling really well. It was the case of playing positively against him and not taking too big risks and try and attack other bowlers.

"I said I will try and score (off) Vettori's over because the run rate was really getting high. So luckily for me, we scored a few sixes in that over. He (Dhoni) is just really calm. He is one of the best finishers in the game. To play with him was a nice learning opportunity for me," said du Plessis.

Muralitharan admitted that the 28 runs conceded by Virat Kohli in the 19th over turned the game.

On Bangalore captain Daniel Vettori giving the penultimate over to Kohli, Muralitharan said, "Raju (Bhatkal) wasn't tried because he was playing his first match and was quite expensive (35 runs in two overs). We had 42 runs to defend and we thought we could win even if we were to concede 20 in that over. But it went for 28 and that turned the game."

Muralitharan, who claimed 3/21, denied that his side were complacent after posting a big total.

"We were not at all complacent. We knew they had batters who can chase down the target and wicket was also good. Both sides fought hard and in the end one side won. Cricket is a funny game and in T20 the chances are always 50-50. We also made a few mistakes, but nothing specific," he said.

On Gayle, a useful bowler, not taking the field during bowling, Muralitharan said, "It was so hot and humid compared to Bangalore, so he got cramps while batting. With a lot more matches coming, we didn't want to risk him and thought we should give him enough time to recover for the next match. We definitely missed him because he usually bowls 2-3 overs every match."

IPL-5 : Dimitri Mascarenhas was the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab

Dimitri Mascarenhas(5/25)

Dimitri Mascarenhas' sensational five wicket haul and Shaun Marsh's unbeaten half-century helped Punjab notch up their first win of IPL 5. Asked to bat first, Pune Warriors were dismissed for a sub-par 115 in 19 overs, courtesy a brilliant spell by Mascarenhas who claimed five wickets for 25 and was well-supported by Harmeet Singh (2-23) and Piyush Chawla (1-23). The hosts then returned to overhaul the target with 14 balls to spare with Marsh hitting an unbeaten 64 off 54 balls studded with seven fours and one six. Skipper Adam Gilchrist (21) and Chawla (21) were the other notable contributors.

With this win, Punjab avenged their first leg defeat to the Warriors at Pune and also spanned their two-match losing streak, where they had also lost to Rajasthan Royals.

Punjab began their run chase on a faulty note when hero of last year's edition, Paul Valthaty was removed off the very first ball by Ashok Dinda. After the initial blow, skipper Gilchrist along with Marsh, who made a comeback in this game after injury, tried to steady the innings. However, Gilchrist fell at the end of eight overs when Angelo Mathews had him caught by Steven Smith. A few overs later, Rahul Sharma earned his only scalp with Mandeep Singh (10) falling in the 12th over, handing over a catch to Smith.

After that Marsh along with Chawla ensured their were no more hiccups. Luck was also by his side as Pune let go of several opportunities to send Marsh back. A run out chance went abegging when Jesse Ryder failed to collect the ball cleanly to dislodge the stumps. As Marsh was inching towards half-century, he was dropped by Dinda off the bowling of Ashish Nehra. The Australian made good use of the chances and saw his team through in the end.

Earlier, there was a hint of movement in the wicket after overnight rain and the hosts made good use of it as they bowled a good line to make life difficult for Pune, who had beaten them in their first leg match. Pune suffered their first blow when New Zealand's Jesse Ryder (7), who tried to steal a cheeky single, was run out in the third over.

However, it was Mascarenhas who dealt the massive blow when in the sixth over, he had Ganguly caught by Marsh of the leading edge. The former India skipper's nine-ball innings was laced with three fours. Mascarenhas then struck again in the same over when he had a struggling Samuels bowled to an incoming delivery. Uthappa, who looked in good form in the previous two games, tried to hold one end as wickets kept tumbling and Pune was tottering at 3-29 at one stage.

Harmeet Singh, who has been bowling intelligently, tasted success in his first over when he trapped Angelo Mathews (11) leg-before in the ninth over. Mascarenhas once again came back to inflict more damage when he had Uthappa (17) caught by Bipul Sharma in the 13th over.

Middle-order batsman Mithun Manhas was the top-scorer for Pune and his 28-ball innings included three hits to the fence and a six, but he also fell to Mascarenhas in the 18th over while trying to play a sweep shot over the short fine-leg region. In the same over, Rahul Sharma became Mascarenhas' fifth victim when he had him caught by Mandeep Singh. Ashok Dinda was the last man out when he was found short of crease in the last ball of the 19th over.

Piyush Chawla also played his part and picked up a wicket when he cleaned up Steven Smith (13) in the 16th over. Manish Pandey (0) offered little resistance giving Harmeet his second wicket. Praveen Kumar and Parvinder Awana bowled a tight line, giving away 19 and 18 runs respectively, though both ended up wicketless.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) blamed for present crisis in cricket

BCB logo

As the domestic cricket has fallen in chronic problem, the former cricketers lashed out at Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) harshly saying that the country’s cricket would have to pay a price badly in future if such troubles continue. According to the former cricketers, it is BCB’s fault to make the matter complicated as they failed to tame the clubs and took them to the ground. They also lambasted BCB for being club oriented leaving the interest of country’s cricket in murk.
The Premier Division Cricket League this season faced huge ups and downs and was postponed six times. The uncertainty over the resumption of the league looms large day by day but the BCB is yet to take any control over the clubs.
The current stalemate is created over the transfer fiasco of Victoria’s Pakistan recruit Mohammad Yousuf as Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited and Abahani Limited cited his transfer as fake. As the domestic powerhouses were related with it, Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) referred the issue to the cricket apex body. But the BCB failed to give any ruling though asked CCDM to restart the league on April 10. Abahani and Mohammedan remained adamant of not playing the league unless the transfer of Yousuf is declared invalid. The situation got more complicated when other clubs joined Abahani and Mohammedan. The rain for the time being gave the BCB a relief as CCDM announced the ground unplayable.
In the wake of the situation, the players also were concerned about their future. They however were not in a position to make any comment.
Former Bangladesh skipper Roquibul Hassan termed ‘poor management’ and ‘corruption’ as the reason behind the hindrance of the league.
“It is very unfortunate that the league faced obstacle repeatedly. BCB should not interfere into the matter because this issue should be handled by CCDM. But the people who are in CCDM are completely unprofessional to run the office. They just saw their interest, but not for cricket. That’s why they could not handle the issue,” he said.
He simultaneously lambasted the clubs as well for not being sincere to resume the league.
“BCB boosted them up financially as the league was halted by BPL. So they should be sincere. The big clubs should think about the interest of the cricket but they could not show a liberal attitude.”
“However I believe that we could overcome the situation and the league will be restarted. But I urged all stakeholders not to make delay to start the National Cricket League.”
Another former captain Faruk Ahmed however blamed the BCB wholly rather making the clubs culpable.
“BCB failed to take control over the clubs since the directors are completely club oriented. Their activities over the issue made it crystal clear that they gave more importance to their clubs rather than the country’s cricket,” said Faruk Ahmed, the former national captain.
“As they are morally weak, they could not overcome the trouble. But if it continues, the cricket would have to pay a severe price in future,” he added.
“It’s not new that they create the problems for the first time. They rather created problems relentlessly since they took the office. They have no plan, no vision. There was no development in any arena. There were no activities in Academy so the players were not produced.”
Though Bangladesh cricket did extra ordinary job in Asia Cup, Faruk thought that the scattered success came up with relying on some world class performers like Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
“BCB could not claim the credit. Success came up only for some world class performers. They are produced in our regime. But the way they run the board, there was possibility to collapse our cricket in next three or four years.”
The CCDM however declared that the league would be restarted on April 13 though the clubs stuck to their previous decision.
“We never said that we would not play the league. They (BCB) would have to tell about the Yousuf’s transfer clearly and should give reply to our letter,” Mohammedan cricket committee chief Khandokar Jamiluddin said.
As the problem lingers, the expenditure of the clubs got higher since they continued the practice session. The five clubs excluding Victoria of the super league may claim compensation from the BCB.
“We are thinking about it but yet to discuss the matter with all clubs. However we’ve to discuss first before taking any decision,” he said.

West Indies vs Australia1st test : West Indies still hold upper hand in first Test

 West Indies held the upper hand at the end of the third day of the first Test here on Monday as they reduced Australia to 248 for 5, still trailing by 201 runs. Only a solid 73 by captain Michael Clarke and a typically stubborn unbeaten 47 by veteran Mike Hussey all but ensured that the Aussies would avoid the follow-on.
Clarke was disappointed with his team’s performance in the match so far.
“We have no excuses for not bowling and fielding as well as we would have liked day one, day two and certainly no excuses for being five down on that wicket today,” he said.
However, he was still confident the Australians could win the match.
“I think we’re going to have to bowl better than what we did in the first innings and we’re going to have to try to make as many runs as we can in this first innings to see how close we are to them.
“I certainly think we can still win the Test match from here.”
His West Indian counterpart Darren Sammy was by contrast delighted with his team.
“The team played well. The bowlers supported each other,” he said.
“We’re quite happy with the way the day went.”
Sammy snapped up the first wicket to fall as having added only one run to his overnight score of 13, Ed Cowan was drawn into a shot to a ball just outside off stump and edged through to the keeper.
Shane Watson, batting for the first time in a Test at number three, was fortunate to survive twice when he had scored five.
Sammy’s persevering line just outside off stump worked again when David Warner, having scored 42 off 55 balls, played at a ball without much foot movement and Darren Bravo took the catch at second slip.
After the early scares Watson had settled but when he turned a Fidel Edwards delivery to fine leg he was looking for a second run which would have been tight.

edward