Report
England end the drought
Kevin Pietersen's brutal 10th one-day fifty handed England a consolation win in their final group match of a disappointing ICC Champions Trophy, after beating the West Indies by three wickets at Ahmedabad
Andrew Miller
28-Oct-2006
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When taken in isolation, and given the rash of low scores that this tournament has thrown up, it seemed a pretty impressive performance from England's cricketers and Kevin Pietersen in particular - doubtless he'll be first off the plane, strutting his stuff as if the World Cup is already in his hands, when the team skulks back into London later this week.
But, as we have been repeating ad nauseam in this tournament, there is no isolation available to England at the moment. Far from being the dawn of a brave new world, this was a hollow victory in a dead rubber against opponents already guaranteed a semi-final berth, and no amount of positive spin can disguise that fact. Pietersen was as magnificently belligerent as only he can be, the flaws in the rest of England's performance were manifest, but hey, sod it. The Ashes are around the corner and our boys are back in the groove. Got any more of that bunting?
If you do, why not drape it over Andrew Flintoff's shoulders? His cheery performance may not have reaped many runs or any wickets, but for the first time since his ankle operation in June, he looked like a leader with a full armory at his disposal. He shook off several layers of rust with the ball while cranking his pace up towards 90mph, and until the moment he drilled Chris Gayle to cow corner, he was a batsman in control of the situation and, more pertinently, in control of himself.
Full postGanegama and Chandana put Sri Lanka A on top
A round-up of the second day's play of the Duleep Trophy matches between Sri Lanka A and West Zone and North Zone and Central Zone
Cricinfo staff
28-Oct-2006
Day 2 Sri Lanka A 325 and 83 for 1 lead West Zone 149 (Muzumdar 51, Ganegama 4-47) by 259 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Akalanka Ganegama and Upul Chandana shared seven wickets between them as Sri Lanka A dismissed West Zone for 149 on the second day of their Duleep Trophy clash in Cuttack. By stumps, Sri Lanka A had moved on to 83 for 1 with a handy 259-run lead.
Ganegama dismissed Wasim Jaffer, the West Zone captain, for 0 in the first over en route to his figures of 4 for 47, while Chandana's legspin ran a ring around the lower order. Dammika Prasad, a right-arm medium pacer, struck two telling blows up the order when he removed Dheeraj Jadhav and Rohit Sharma. For West Zone, only the veteran Amol Muzumdar managed 51.
Siddharth Trivedi, the medium pacer, removed Mahela Udawatte for 10 but Michael Vandort (38*) and Malinda Warnapura (34*) took Sri Lanka A to a commanding position at the close.
Full postLehmann and Borgas rescue South Australia
Darren Lehmann and Cameron Borgas were the saviours for South Australia, as they recovered from a shaky 4 for 70 to a relatively comfortable 5 for 197 on the second day of the Pura Cup match against Victoria at Adelaide
Cricinfo staff
28-Oct-2006
South Australia 5 for 197 (Lehmann 75*, Borgas 66) trail Victoria 6 for 385 dec (McDonald 88, Crosthwaite 72*, Hussey 65) by 188 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Darren Lehmann and Cameron Borgas were the saviours for South Australia, as they recovered from a shaky 4 for 70 to a relatively comfortable 5 for 197 on the second day of the Pura Cup match against Victoria at Adelaide. Victoria had earlier declared their first innings on 6 for 385, with Andrew McDonald and Adam Crosthwaite both making their highest first-class scores.
Resuming at 5 for 244, Victoria piled on the runs - McDonald and Crosthwaite added 70 for the sixth wicket before McDonald finally fell for 88. If the Redbacks thought they could wrap up the innings quickly they were mistaken as Crosthwaite found an able ally in Jon Moss, who made an unbeaten 43 and helped add 86 more for the seventh wicket before Cameron White, the Victorian captain, finally declared the innings.
The Redbacks started poorly. Matthew Elliott and Shane Deitz, the openers, got starts but neither could kick on, and when Mark Cosgrove and Callum Ferguson fell cheaply as well, they were struggling and looking at a substantial first-innings deficit.
Full postHenriques takes five as Queensland stumble
Moises Henriques returned outstanding figures of 5 for 17 in only his second first-class match as New South Wales managed a slender first-innings lead of 16 on the second day of their Pura Cup match against Queensland
Cricinfo staff
28-Oct-2006
New South Wales 323 and 1 for 39 lead Queensland 307 (Hopes 72, Hartley 67, Henriques 5-17) by 55 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Moises Henriques returned outstanding figures of 5 for 17 in only his second first-class match as New South Wales managed a slender first-innings lead of 16 on the second day of their Pura Cup match against Queensland. Despite a 108-run seventh wicket stand between James Hopes (72) and Chris Hartley (67), the Bulls only managed 307, while New South Wales finished the day on 1 for 39, an overall lead of 55.
Henriques got into the act when he dismissed Jimmy Maher, the Bulls' captain, for 41. That was the third wicket of the innings, and Brendan Nash and Clinton Perren fell soon after as Queensland, resuming the day on 0 for 29, slumped to 5 for 107.
Hopes and Hartley then got together in a crucial partnership to ensure Queensland got close to the Blues' total. Hopes lashed ten fours and needed just 79 balls for his knock, while Hartley was more patient, playing out 113 deliveries. Henriques returned to nail Hartley, and though the lower order made useful contributions, the Bulls still fell short of New South Wales' total.
Full postAustralia seal a clean sweep
A 71-run undefeated stand for the seventh wicket between Sarah Edwards and Julie Hayes sealed a four-wicket wicket win for the Australian women as they wrapped up the series against New Zealand 5-0
Cricinfo staff
28-Oct-2006
Australia 6 for 205 (Edwards 45*, Goszko 40) beat New Zealand 8 for 204 (McGlashan 45, Pike 4-23) by four wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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A 71-run undefeated stand for the seventh wicket between Sarah Edwards and Julie Hayes sealed a four-wicket wicket win for Australia as they wrapped up the series against New Zealand 5-0. New Zealand fought back well in the last match in Brisbane - after posting just 204, they reduced Australia to 134 for 6 before Edwards and Hayes snatched the game away.
The target wasn't a stiff one, but the Australians got into early trouble, losing both their openers with only 18 on the board. Michelle Goszko and Lisa Sthalekar, the captain, put the run-chase back on track with a 53-run stand for the third wicket, but when Sthalekar was dismissed for 17, the innings slumped again as three more wickets went down quickly.
Full postPietersen blitz hands England consolatory win
Kevin Pietersen's brutal 10th one-day fifty handed England a consolation win in their final group match of a disappointing ICC Champions Trophy, after beating the West Indies by three wickets at Ahmedabad
The Bulletin by Will Luke
28-Oct-2006
England 276 for 7 (Pietersen 90*, Bell 50, Strauss 50) beat West Indies 272 for 4 (Gayle 101, Bravo 112*) by 3 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out - West Indies
How they were out - England
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out - West Indies
How they were out - England
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Kevin Pietersen's brutal 10th one-day fifty handed England a consolation win in their final group match of a disappointing ICC Champions Trophy, after beating the West Indies by three wickets at Ahmedabad.
The match - a meaningless one for England who were knocked out last week - was effectively sealed in the 47th over when Pietersen fortuitously inside-edged Jerome Taylor past his leg-stump for four, and followed up with a crunching square drive off the front foot which reached the boundary boards before anyone could move. It was the first comprehensive shot of a carefully constructed innings, at a time when England most needed to edge their noses in front of the run-rate. His fifty was what England had greedily come to expect as routine from Pietersen a year ago, yet his dip in form this season - this was his first fifty in eight one-dayers - has hurt England more than they will concede. Every side has a linchpin, and Pietersen is theirs.
Full postTrivedi wraps up Sri Lanka A for 325
A round-up of the first day's play of the Duleep Trophy matches between Sri Lanka A and West Zone and North Zone and Central Zone
Cricinfo staff
27-Oct-2006
Day 1 Sri Lanka A 325 (Udawatte 68, Silva 61, Trivedi 5-79) v West Zone
Scorecard
Scorecard
Fast bowlers Siddharth Trivedi and Zaheer Khan shared eight wickets between them as West Zone bowled out Sri Lanka A for 325 in the opening day of their Duleep Trophy match in Cuttack. Trivedi wrapped up the lower order to finish with 5 for 79 while Zaheer finished with 3 for 76, against a strong Sri Lankan side consisting of eight international players.
Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka A were led by half centuries by opener Mahela Udawatte and Chamara Silva (61), the middle order batsman who has played ten ODIs for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka A suffered an early blow as Zaheer bowled Michael Vandort in just the second ball of the match. Udawatte and Malinda Warnapura then added 89 at a healthy rate, before Rajesh Pawar dismissed Warnapura, ten short of his fifty.
Udawatte was impressive during his knock of 68, scoring ten fours and a six and looked set for three figures, before offering a return catch to Zaheer. Trivedi struck twice in quick succession, sending back Samaraweera and Jehan Mubarak to leave Sri Lanka A in a bit of trouble at 149 for 5. Silva and Upul Chandana consolidated, adding 88. When both were dismissed with the score at 253, Kaushal Silva resisted with an unbeaten 47 to take the score past 300, supported by Rangana Herath's useful 30. Trivedi returned for his final spell and accounted for the last three wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Full postNtini's five-for destroys Pakistan
On a bouncy pitch with predominant seam movement, South Africa ran away to a thumping 124-run win and catapulted themselves to the top of their group
South Africa 213 for 8 (Boucher 69, Kemp 64, Gul 3-36) beat
Pakistan 89 ( Ntini 5-21) by 125 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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Makhaya Ntini unleashed an opening spell like few others seen in one-day
history, taking five wickets for just eight runs, to book South Africa's place
in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. On a bouncy pitch with
predominant seam movement, South Africa ran away to a thumping 124-run
win, eliminated Pakistan from the competition, and catapulted themselves
to the top of their group.
In a game when the ball passed the bat's outside edge more often than it
hit the middle, a couple of vital fifties allowed South Africa to fight
back gallantly. Pakistan's new-ball pairing inflicted serious damage early
on, reducing South Africa to 42 for 5, but the efficient 131-run stand
between Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp propped them up to a reasonable 213.
Full postRedbacks put the brakes on Victoria
South Australia's impressive all-round attack almost stalled Victoria on the first day at Adelaide as the visitors crawled to 5 for 244
Cricinfo staff
27-Oct-2006
Victoria 5 for 244 (Hussey 65, McDonald 58*) v South Australia
Scorecard
Scorecard
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South Australia's impressive all-round attack almost stalled Victoria on the first day at Adelaide as the visitors crawled to 5 for 244. On a surface offering little help to the bowlers, the Redbacks insisted on giving away few donations and the visitors crawled at around two an over until Cameron White, the captain who won the toss, was the fourth out when the score was 122.
David Hussey provided some energy in the final session along with Andrew McDonald and they each collected half-centuries to end an attritional day on a high. Hussey, who pounded two sixes and five fours in his 65, became the second victim of the legspinner Cullen Bailey as stumps approached while McDonald was 58 not out.
Full postHaddin century pushes Blues to 323
A stunning Brad Haddin century and support from Dominic Thornely carried New South Wales to a respectable 323 after a poor start to their Pura Cup match against Queensland
Cricinfo staff
27-Oct-2006
Queensland 0 for 29 trail New South Wales 323 (Haddin 139, Thornely 97, Bichel 3-84) by 294 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
A stunning Brad Haddin century and support from Dominic Thornely carried New South Wales to a respectable 323 after a poor start to their Pura Cup match against Queensland at the Gabba. New South Wales, who won the toss, were in trouble at 4 for 52, but Haddin and Thornely put on 205 for the fifth wicket to justify the decision.
Haddin rocketed to his hundred in 95 balls - it was his seventh first-class century - and finished with 139 from 140 deliveries. While Haddin was striking 20 fours and a six, Thornely was closing on three figures, but he fell for 97 when trapped lbw by Andy Bichel, who was the most successful bowler with 3 for 84.
The two innings stood out as the nine other batsmen could only scrape together another 78, and the Blues were bowled out late in the day. Stuart Clark belted 23 valuable lower-order runs, including two sixes, but the opener Greg Mail was the only other batsman to reach double figures. Queensland were 0 for 29 when bad light stopped play.
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