Report
England flop despite Pietersen ton
Kevin Pietersen ended the first barren run of his international career with a commanding 129 on the opening day in Napier, although his performance only went to highlight another woeful effort from England's top orde
The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan
21-Mar-2008
England 240 for 7 (Pietersen 129, Broad 42*, Southee 3-46) v New Zealand
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
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When Michael Vaughan won the toss, his first of the series, Daniel Vettori's shoulders sank and he didn't even try to pretend he wanted to field with a makeshift attack including two debutants and Jeetan Patel in his third Test. However, when Ian Bell fell to leave England 36 for 4, Vettori might have considered it the best thing to have happened to his team. Southee and Chris Martin operated without the pressure of expectation and later on Vettori was able to go into a holding pattern with himself and Patel ahead of the second new ball.
Southee completed a memorable first day of Test cricket when he removed Pietersen with a full, swinging delivery as the new ball struck. He confirmed all the promise shown during his two Twenty20 outings last month and his Man-of-the-Tournament performance at the Under-19 World Cup where he claimed 17 wickets at 6.64. His late removal of Pietersen sealed New Zealand's day despite Stuart Broad's promised-filled 42.
Full postRaza's heroics keeps Badshahs winning
Hasan Raza bludgeoned the highest score in ICL history to ensure the Lahore Badshahs continued their triumphant march with a convincing 50-run win over the Mumbai Champs
Cricinfo staff
21-Mar-2008
Lahore Badshahs 187 for 5 (Raza 98, Imran Farhat 40) beat Mumbai Champs 137 for 7 (van der Wath 33*, Naved-ul-Hasan 3-17) by 50 runs
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Scorecard
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Hasan Raza bludgeoned 98, the highest score in ICL history, to ensure the Lahore Badshahs continued their triumphant march with a convincing 50-run win over the Mumbai Champs.
The Champs got a taste of things to come as Imran Farhat flicked the second ball of the match for a huge six and Imran Nazir crashed two fours to the point boundary in the next over. However, Johan van der Wath and Tino Best each struck early: van der Wath slanted one down the pads and Imran Nazir walked right across to lose his leg stump and Himayun Farhat received a similar delivery from Best which the umpire felt would have made contact.
Full postYorkshire win the desert Roses clash
Yorkshire ended Lancashire's unbeaten run in the Pro ARCH Trophy, winning the Good Friday Roses clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium by 41 runs
Cricinfo staff
21-Mar-2008
Yorkshire 237 (Marshall 4-47) beat Lancashire 196 (Flintoff 51, Chapple 51, Wainwright 3-31) by 41 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Yorkshire ended Lancashire's unbeaten run in the Pro ARCH Trophy, winning the Good Friday Roses clash at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium by 41 runs.
Yorkshire's 237 was about par for the course. They should have scored more but none of their batsmen were able to build a major innings, stand-in skipper Anthony McGrath top-scoring with 41. Andrew Gale (32) and Craig White (29) got Yorkshire off to a good start with a first-wicket stand of 66 before legspinner Simon Marshall accounted for White, the first of his four wickets. Yorkshire seemed well set for a late salvo but lost their last five wickets for 28.
Lancashire lost early wickets to Deon Kruis and Ajmal Shahzad and at 80 for 5 they appeared on course for a heavy defeat. But Andrew Flintoff and Glen Chapple revived the innings and raised hopes of victory before Flintoff holed out to midwicket soon after reaching his fifty. Left-arm spinner David Wainwright finished off Lancashire with 3 for 31.
Full postAbsolem the hero in big Hyderabad win
Alfred Absolem completely destroyed the Ahmedabad Rocket's chase of 175 with 7 for 15, the best figures in the ICL to date
Cricinfo staff
21-Mar-2008
Hyderabad Heroes 175 for 4 (Maher 84, Rayudu 65) beat Ahmedabad Rockets 127 (Absolem 7-15) by 52 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Steve Rixon's decision to play Alfred Absolem in Hyderabad's fourth game proved an absolute masterstroke, as the right-arm medium-pacer completely destroyed the Ahmedabad Rocket's chase of a VJD-ruled 180 with 7 for 15, the best figures in the ICL to date.
Bowling seam-up and regularly hitting a nagging length, Absolem first struck to clean up No. 3 Parvez Aziz, who made 35 from 22 balls. Next to go was Wavell Hinds, also cleaned up attempting a big shot. Murray Goodwin and Damien Martyn followed in quick succession, undone by Absolem's sharp movement, and Heath Streak held out to deep extra cover after Nicky Boje spun out top-scorer Sridharan Sriram.
Reetinder Sodhi didn't bother the scorers as he lofted his first delivery down to a leaping long-on fielder, who held the catch just inside the ropes. That equalled the most wickets taken in an ICL innings, and when Baburao Yadav missed a straight one first up a record had been set. Absolem and his team-mates whooped it up on the field as Rixon rocked back and forth in laughter on the sidelines. It was a super performance and there was nowhere else to look when handing out the Man-of-the-Match performance.
Full postSathish and Harvey star in giant win
Chennai Superstars climbed up to second place in the league standings following their crushing 56-run win over Delhi Giants in Hyderabad
Cricinfo staff
20-Mar-2008
Chennai Superstars 180 for 5 (Sathish 62, Arnold 49, Srivastava 2-27) beat Delhi Giants 124 (Mishra 38, Harvey 4-24, Kumaran 3-12) by 56 runs
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Scorecard
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Chennai Superstars climbed up to second place in the league standings following their crushing 56-run win over Delhi Giants in Hyderabad.
Chasing an imposing 181, the Giants never looked in the hunt after three wickets fell with the score on 64: T Kumaran struck off successive balls in the seventh over, while Mohish Mishra, who blazed his way to 38, fell to Syed Mohammad in the next.
Full postJaffer, Rohit star in West's massive win
North Zone wilted in their chase of 242 against West Zone, crashing to 121 inside 36 overs in Visakhapatnam. Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma struck half-centuries for West, before the seamers dictated terms
Cricinfo staff
20-Mar-2008
West Zone 241 (Rohit 78, Jaffer 64, Sehwag 4-17) beat North Zone 121 (Bhatia 35, Munaf 2-16, Abdulla 2-17) by 120 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
North Zone wilted in their chase of 242 against West Zone, crashing to 121 inside 36 overs in Visakhapatnam. Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma struck half-centuries for West, before the seamers dictated terms. Only three of North's specialist batsmen managed to get past double figures, with Rajat Bhatia top scoring with 35.
North had immediate success after choosing to field first as seamer Manpreet Gony sent back Yusuf Pathan in the first over before claiming Ajinkya Rahane in the seventh. Jaffer and Rohit combined to add a brisk 138 for the third wicket at just over five runs an over. A double-strike brought North back into the match as Jaffer fell for 64 to the legspinner Amit Mishra, and Rohit followed suit for 78, stumped off Bhatia. Rohit was the more aggressive of the pair - his 78 coming off 97 balls with nine fours and two sixes - while Jaffer's 64 came off 92 balls with seven fours.
The middle and lower order failed to build on after making starts as Sehwag and Gony chipped away at the wickets. Gony finished with 4 for 35 off ten overs while Sehwag managed his four-wicket haul in less than three.
Full postvan der Merwe helps Titans clinch title
Roelef van der Merwe followed up a fifty with four wickets as the Titans clinched the MTN Domestic Championship with a 38-run win over the Warriors
Cricinfo staff
20-Mar-2008
Titans 269 for 6 (Behardien 59*, van der Merwe 52) beat Warriors (Kreusch 63, Ackerman 62, van der Merwe 4-42, Joubert 3-52) by 38 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Roelef van der Merwe followed up a fifty with four wickets as the Titans clinched the MTN Domestic Championship with a 38-run win over the Warriors in the final in Centurion.
The Titans were the leaders after the group stage of the tournament, which helped them edge out Cape Cobras after the semi-final - also in Centurion - between the two sides was washed out.
Warriors put Titans in to bat, and the top-order batsmen built a solid foundation. The openers added 44 in nine overs, and van der Merwe put on a 79-run third-wicket stand along with Francois du Plessis. van der Merwe hit two sixes off Robin Peterson, but holed out to deep midwicket for 52, which came off 58 balls.
Peterson struck again with the wicket of Martin van Jaarsveld, but an unbeaten 31-ball 59 from Farhaan Behardien boosted the Titans to 269 for 6, their highest total in the tournament. For the Warriors, Juan Theron, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, was the pick of the bowlers - with 2 for 36 off his nine overs.
Full postReza bowls Bangladesh to series win
A five-wicket haul by the right-arm medium pacer Farhad Reza, backed by restrictive spells by the left-arm spinners shot out Ireland for 162 to claim an 84-run victory in the second one-dayer at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium and a 2-0 series win
Cricinfo staff
20-Mar-2008
Bangladesh 246 for 8 (Aftab 61, Nafees 60, Langford-Smith 3-43) beat Ireland 162 (Cusack 34, Razzak 5-42) by 84 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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A five-wicket haul by the right-arm medium pacer Farhad Reza, backed by restrictive spells by the left-arm spinners, shot out Ireland for 162 as Bangladesh claimed an 84-run victory in the second one-dayer at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium and sealed the series 2-0 with one left to play. Set a target of 247, Andre Botha and Alex Cusack stabilised the chase with a half-century stand before a sudden burst of wickets by Reza saw Ireland crashing from 144 for 5 to 147 for 9. It was a complete all-round performance by the home side, fashioned by half-centuries by Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed before the bowlers sent Ireland crashing.
Ireland's openers Reinhardt Strydom and William Porterfield began steadily, adding 42 before Reza and the left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak struck with three quick wickets. After Razzak trapped Strydom in front, Reza sent back Eoin Morgan and Porterfield - both caught while trying to clear the infield on the offside - off successive deliveries. A stand of 36 by the O'Brien brothers - Kevin and Niall - lifted the visitors before the pair succumbed to the left-arm spin of Shakib Al Hasan.
Full postWarnapura fires again in drawn tour match
Malinda Warnapura enhanced his chances of opening in the first Test by adding a second-innings half-century to his first-innings 132 in Sri Lanka's tour match in Guyana
Cricinfo staff
19-Mar-2008
Sri Lankans 492 for 5 dec and 177 for 6 (Warnapura 50, Bishoo 3-25) drew with Guyana President's XI 248
Scorecard
Scorecard
Malinda Warnapura enhanced his chances of opening in the first Test by adding a second-innings half-century to his first-innings 132 in Sri Lanka's tour match in Guyana. Sri Lanka reached 177 for 6, with an overall lead of 421 over the Guyana President's XI (GPS), when the captains agreed to end the match at tea on the third day.
Warnapura retired out for the second time in the game and his success means he has a strong chance of partnering Michael Vandort at the top of the Test order. His 93-ball innings featured seven fours but none of the other specialist batsmen made full use of the second innings.
Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in with 36 and Chaminda Vaas finished unbeaten on 40 as the legspinner Davendra Bishoo picked up three middle-order wickets. Bishoo, 22, has only one first-class match to his name, but he proved his worth with 3 for 25, including Mahela Jayawardene caught without scoring.
Full postBinny the hero as Tigers are tamed
An unbroken 73-run stand between Jimmy Maher and Stuart Binny saw the Hyderabad Heroes clinch an unlikely win at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium
Cricinfo staff
19-Mar-2008
Hyderabad Heroes 168 for 6 (Maher 65*, Binny 44*) beat Kolkata Tigers 165 for 5 (Klusener 73, Harris 2-16) by four wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
An unbroken 73-run stand between Jimmy Maher and Stuart Binny saw the Hyderabad Heroes clinch an unlikely win at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.
Strikes from Sujay Tarafdar and Nantie Hayward had reduced the Heroes, chasing 166, to 28 for 3, before a 54-run stand between Justin Kemp and opener Jimmy Maher. Tarafdar's wicket of Kemp triggered another collapse and at 95 for 6, the Heroes were staring down the barrel.
However, then came the whirlwind 73-run stand off just 6.1 overs, with which the Heroes sealed the game with four balls and four wickets to spare. Stuart Binny, the son of former India allrounder Roger Binny, was the chief architect of the chase, smashing 44 off just 19 at No. 8. Maher stayed right till the end; his 59-ball 65 anchored the innings, but even his Man-of-the-Match effort would have been in vain had it not been for Binny's heroic knock.
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