Mohit Sharma, the 24-year-old seam bowler from Haryana who was a key component in Chennai Super Kings’ thumping victory over Delhi Daredevils, has said he came into the match with a clear mind and set plan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2013Mohit Sharma, the 24-year-old seam bowler from Haryana who was a key component in Chennai Super Kings’ thumping victory over Delhi Daredevils, has said he came into the match with a clear mind and set plan. Mohit knocked the top off the Daredevils batting on Thursday night, accounting for David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Manprit Juneja in the Powerplay to all but seal the game after Super Kings had posted 169.He was looking to lure Sehwag with a shorter length, Mohit said, and it worked for him. “I have played against him twice and he has hit me for runs. Since he is a compulsive puller, we decided to bowl him a short ball and what we did paid off,” he told the IPL website. Of the four legal deliveries he bowled to Sehwag, three were short-of-a-length balls, the final of which was mis-hit to the fielder at deep-square leg.His strategy, Mohit said, was to take it one delivery at a time. “[Suresh] Raina had told me not to think of how I will bowl the entire over or how I will bowl my quota of four overs, but to just think of the one delivery that I will be bowling at that point. So I bowled thinking about only one delivery at a time, and that probably worked for me.”Being rather familiar with the Kotla pitch, Mohit said, also helped: “What I knew about the wicket happened today; the wicket has usually been a bit slow and low and the same thing happened here. Coach Stephen Fleming and [bowling coach] Andy Bichel had also told me that the track is a bit slow and low, so just bowl wicket to wicket.”And that is what happened to David Warner. He slashed and played on because the wicket was slow.”Mohit was signed by Super Kings ahead of the 2013 tournament, following an impressive first-class season for Haryana – in eight Ranji Trophy games, he took 37 wickets at 23.24. He also played in one of the touring England team’s warm-up one-dayers in January, in which he claimed the wickets of Ian Bell and Craig Kieswetter.Talking about his style of bowling, Mohit said: “I am not the kind of bowler who experiments a lot. Only if things are going against me too much, then I try and experiment. Otherwise I believe in sticking to my line. That is my strength so I will work on that. I bowl on a spot.”Super Kings’ international players have been ideal teachers, Mohit said. “I get to learn a lot from all these players, Dirk Nannes, Bichel and the other fast bowlers. They keep telling me where I am going wrong and what I can do to improve, like increasing my speed and having better body balance.”There is never any communication gap. If they feel I am not understanding what they are explaining, they make it easier for me by explaining it to me in cricketing terms. And I have never met anyone more positive than captain Dhoni.”

Shiv Thakor made 75 and Matt Boyce 55 as Leicestershire recovered from 52 for 5 to enjoy the better of the opening day at Grace Road

30-Apr-2013
ScorecardShiv Thakor’s 75 helped Leicestershire recover from 52 for 5•Getty Images

A stand of 125 between Shiv Thakor and Matt Boyce put Leicestershire in the ascendency on day one at Grace Road. The pair made half-centuries to stage a recovery from 52 for 5 before two late wickets as Gloucestershire came out to bat for nine overs made it Leicestershire’s day.Gloucestershire looked like taking control and Benny Howell claimed career-best figures of 5 for 57 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 250. But from where they were in the morning session, Gloucestershire will feel they let an opportunity slip.Thakor and Matt Boyce sparked comeback to claim two batting points. Thakor top scored with 75 and Boyce also made a half-century before veteran Claude Henderson thumped 33 off 30 balls.But it was 24-year-old allrounder Howell made the biggest impact of the
day. Before this match Howell, in his second season with Gloucestershire, had taken only nine first-class wickets with a best return of 2 for 37 against Northamptonshire last season. He had bettered that by lunch, picking up 3 for 17 runs in a superb eight-over spell.The home side were already in difficulties when Howell came on as first change. Michael Thornely was bowled by Will Gidman with the second ball of the day and Niall O’Brien soon followed after edging behind off David Payne.Howell, finding some away swing with his medium pace bowling, then had
Ramnaresh Sarwan caught at gully, trapped Ned Eckersley lbw offering no shot to a ball that straightened before bowling Josh Cobb off an inside edge.With half the side out in the space of 22 overs, Leicestershire were staring down the barrel. But for the second Championship game in succession, Thakor and Boyce dug in to bring some respectability to the batting. They stayed together for 44 overs, Thakor reaching his 50 off 110 balls with seven fours plus an all run five. Boyce went to his half-century off 120 balls with four boundaries.But both fell quickly after tea. Howell had Boyce caught at slip and Thakor was also caught low down by Hamish Marshall cutting at a ball from offspinner Jack Taylor.Howell then picked up his fifth wicket when Jigar Naik edged to slip but
Henderson’s quick-fire 33 brought some valuable late runs.And the day ended well for Leicestershire, with Robbie Williams trapping Chris Dent lbw and Ollie Freckingham having Dan Housego caught behind as
Gloucestershire closed 219 runs behind.

At the close Lancashire’s lead was 327 runs and should give them a chance to force their third Championship win of the season

Paul Edwards at Aigburth31-May-2013
ScorecardGareth Cross hit 64 to push Lancashire into a commanding position•Getty Images

Many more days like this and county cricket runs the risk of getting some rather decent publicity. In near perfect weather and on a good wicket Lancashire and Gloucestershire’s cricketers tussled for advantage in a game which neither side never completely bossed until the last hour of play.By then Glen Chapple’s batsmen were scoring more or less as they pleased against a tiring attack that was missing the left-arm spin of Ed Young, who has a wrist injury. At the close Lancashire’s lead was 327 runs and only some daft, ultra-cautious declaration will prevent them having a chance to force their third Championship win of the season on the final day.Perhaps the cricketer who personifies the search for hard-won advantage
which this match has been all about is Gareth Cross. The Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman made a hundred in his side’s last game against Hampshire but that game was as dead as last month’s Radio Times for a good proportion of his innings. More valuable was Cross’s 30 against Glamorgan or his 45 against Essex, both knocks which contributed important runs to eventual wins.On Friday, Cross signed up to do some more heavy lifting and this was all the more laudable given that he had been smacked in the mouth by the ball when keeping wicket in the morning session. Coming to the crease with Lancashire on 62 for 5, an advantage of a mere 150, and having lost five prime wickets to the Gloucestershire seam trio of Craig Miles, Liam Norwell and Graeme McCarter, Cross fought alongside Ashwell Prince – another cricketer who savours trench warfare – to build a potentially match-winning lead.Their 85-run stand had gone a long way towards achieving that goal when Prince chipped Benny Howell to Norwell at mid-off, but Cross then increased the tempo of the innings with Wayne White in some style. The pair added 67 in 12 overs before Cross was caught in the deep for 64 off the persevering Norwell. White completed his first fifty for Lancashire off 47 balls three overs before the close, but he would be the first to admit that Prince and Cross had earned him his licence to attack.”It was good to spend some time in the middle and continue from Hampshire,” Cross said. “I did a bit of work in the indoor nets in the winter on occupying the crease and, while I can play the shots, it’s also more risky to do that so I’m just trying to play to my ability. I’ve felt in good form all year and it’s nice to be making a contribution. If Ashwell or I had got out, we’d have been in trouble but he’s a calming influence and we played well, I think.”Yet each session of this day’s play produced players from each side whose qualities could be applauded by the good-sized crowd. In the morning Alex Gidman and Simon Kerrigan dominated proceedings, the Gloucestershire batsman completing his first Championship century of the season and the Lancashire spinner, bowling unchanged from the River End to take 5 for 40 in 14.2 overs.Indeed, at times the play constituted something of a duel befitting d’Artagnan et al, Gidman’s boundaries – he also hit Kerrigan and Kyle Hogg for sixes – being countered by the spinner’s wickets. Lancashire probably wanted something more than the 88-run first -innings lead they eventually gained whereas Gloucestershire entertained hopes of whittling the advantage down to less than 50. Both teams had to settle for less than their ideal; it made for splendid cricket.Gidman scored his century off 170 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes in the process. On the point of lunch, he was caught by White at deep square leg off Kerrigan for 110. The large Liverpool crowd applauded him generously; his innings had determined the strength of Gloucestershire’s position. For his part Kerrigan finished with 5 for 68 in the innings and there is every chance he will add a few more on the final day of this game. If so, the name of Gareth Cross may be to the fore once again.

A dramatic day of three declarations and two stunning centuries ended with Australia A in the ascendancy. Ireland, 51 for 3, need a further 250 for victory.

16-Jun-2013
ScorecardPaul Stirling transferred his one-day hitting to red ball cricket•BCB

A dramatic day of three declarations and two stunning centuries ended with Australia A in the ascendancy. Ireland, 51 for 3, need a further 250 for victory.Crucially, one of the Ireland wickets to fall on the third evening was first innings centurion Paul Stirling, who was unable to repeat his magnificent display earlier in the day.Following the Australians’ overnight declaration 22 year-old Stirling took a distinct liking to pace bowler James Pattinson, dispatching him for three boundaries in the first over which set the tone for another remarkable hundred – his 8th for Ireland.Stirling dominated the proceedings to such an extent that when he reached his half century off just 44 balls, with 10 fours and a six, the scoreboard read 58 for 3, which included six extras.Stirling found a willing partner in Andrew White, who excels in the longer format of the game. White was content to play second fiddle to the belligerent Stirling who hit 17 fours and a six. While the maximum was somewhat inadvertent, there was nothing fortunate about the other boundaries – many of which were magnificent cover drives and square cuts.His innings ended on 115 from 142 balls, when he was smartly stumped by Brad Haddin from the impressive Nathan Lyon who conceded just 34 runs in 16 overs.Debutant Fawed Ahmed went wicketless but following a nervous start he bowled with enough variety and control to suggest that he may indeed represent the senior Australian side before the summer ends.Ireland captain Kevin O’Brien declared their at tea, 126 in arrears, in an move designed to take the game forward after most of Saturday was washed out.What followed was a brutal assault by New South Wales opener Nic Maddinson. He made Stirling’s innings look positively pedestrian by smashing 113 from just 63 balls, which included 13 fours and 6 sixes.His partnership with Alex Doolan was worth 174 in just 122 balls before skipper Brad Haddin called off the carnage with the lead exactly 300.And his bowlers responded before the close as Moises Henriques dismissed John Anderson and Alex Cusack after Pattinson had made the initial breakthrough as Stirling edged through to Haddin.

Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria has said he is “disgusted” by the ECB’s decision to uphold his lifetime ban from cricket for sopt-fixing

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2013Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria has said he is “disgusted” by the ECB’s decision to uphold his lifetime ban from cricket for spot-fixing and claims he has been victimised when there was no evidence to support the case.Kaneria has now been urged to publicly admit his role in spot-fixing, but he believes there has been double standards at work after Mervyn Westfield had his ban amended so that he is able to play club cricket from April 1, 2014.Kaneria was banned in June 2012 after being found guilty of corruption in the spot-fixing case involving Westfield, where he had been “cajoling and pressurising” his Essex team-mate into accepting money to concede a set number of runs in an over during a Pro40 match in 2009. He had been hoping to get the sanction reduced, having earlier lost another appeal against the convictions in April.”I am deeply disappointed and disgusted with the decision,” Kaneria said. “I have been victimised in this case and Westfield got his ban relaxed. Right from the outset there was no evidence against me and not even the Essex police charged me, but the ECB has been unjust towards me and it’s unacceptable.”I feel alone and at times I feel that because I am from a minority, people don’t support me. The PCB has not supported me in the case. I appeal to Pakistan President [Asif Ali] Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to please take up my case with England. I want to play cricket and don’t want to be stopped because of this unjust ban.”Kaneria said the PCB had set a precedent by asking for the ICC to allow Mohammad Amir, who was also banned following the 2010 Lord’s Test, to use national training facilities. “If they can raise a voice for one player why can’t they contest my case with England?” Kaneria said.However, Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, said that Kaneria should now fully reveal his role in the events and use his experiences to help Pakistan’s anti-corruption processes. Last week the former Pakistan captain Salman Butt admitted for the first time his role in the 2010 spot-fixing at Lord’s, in an attempt to earn his career.Clarke said: “We note, with regret, that Mr Kaneria has neither made any admission of guilt nor expressed any remorse for his corrupt actions despite the weight of evidence against him and the fact that, after two lengthy hearings, his guilt has now been resoundingly established on two separate occasions by two separate independent panels.”It is high time that Mr Kaneria came clean about his involvement in these corrupt activities and stopped misleading the Pakistan cricket fans and wider public with his empty protestations of innocence.”We urge him to apologise publicly for his past actions and to start the process of redeeming himself by supporting the Pakistan Cricket Board’s anti-corruption initiatives and assisting the police and law enforcement bodies in the Asian subcontinent with the vital job of exposing and cutting off the primary source of cricket corruption, namely the illegal bookmakers such as those referred to in the Appeal Panel’s findings in this case.”

Jos Buttler smashed 48 off 19 balls as Somerset returned to form in the Friends Life t20 with an emphatic 64-run victory over Glamorgan at Taunton

19-Jul-2013
ScorecardJos Buttler’s scoop was on display in Somerset colours•Getty Images

Jos Buttler smashed 48 off 19 balls as Somerset returned to form in the Friends Life t20 with an emphatic 64-run victory over Glamorgan at Taunton.The hosts posted an impressive 199 for 6 after losing the toss, Craig Kieswetter contributing a rapid 37 off 18 deliveries and Dean Cosker escaping the carnage to take 2 for 18 from his four overs.Jim Allenby and Mark Wallace got Glamorgan’s reply off to a smooth start with a stand of 73 in eight overs, Allenby cracking 69 off 39 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.But once he had fallen to the legspin of Max Waller (4 for 27) the visitors lost their momentum and plunged from 73 for 1 to 111 for 7 with only five overs remaining before being bowled out for 135 in 18.1 overs.There was no way back as Waller took a stunning caught and bowled when Marcus North blasted a full toss back at him and pulled off another fine catch at point to send back Nathan McCullum.Somerset went into the game on a three-match losing streak having failed to capitalise on their batting power plays and, even without skipper Marcus Trescothick, sidelined by an ankle problem, they put that right.Kieswetter struck five fours and two sixes and Chris Jones leant sensible support as the two openers brought the fifty up in just 3.5 overs before Kieswetter was stumped advancing down the track to Nick James.It was 70 for 1 off the six overs of Powerplay. Then Jones was brilliantly caught by the diving Graham Wagg at short cover for 20 and Glamorgan managed to put a brake on the scoring rate, thanks largely to the wily Cosker. Peter Trego could never get his timing quite right, while Nick Compton was content to push ones and twos in making 19 off as many balls.It was when Craig Meschede joined him that Buttler really began to cut loose. The 17th over, bowled by left-arm spinner James, went for 27 and the England one-day international then produced his trademark reverse scoop to hit Michael Hogan for four and six off successive balls. In all he hit three fours and four sixes in a savage display.The result keeps the Midlands/Wales /West Division open, with Glamorgan having won four and lost two, while Somerset have three victories and three defeats.

Rangana Herath was rewarded for a stand-out year by picking up honours at the SLC Awards for Best Cricketer of the Year and Best Test Bowler of the Year

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Sep-2013

SLC Awards 2013 recipients

Men’s International awards
Cricketer of the Year: Rangana Herath
Best Test Batsman: Kumar Sangakkara
Best Test Bowler: Rangana Herath
Best ODI Batsman: Tillakaratne Dilshan
Best ODI Bowler: Lasith Malinga
Best ODI Allrounder: Angelo Mathews
Emerging Cricketer: Dinesh Chandimal
Women’s International awards
Cricketer of the Year: Shashikala Siriwardene
Best ODI Batsman: Chamani Seneviratna
Best ODI Bowler: Deepika Rasangika
Best ODI Allrounder: Shashikala Siriwardene
Premier League Tournament (First Class)
Best Batsman: Kaushal Silva (SSC)
Best Bowler: Malinda Pushpakumara (Moors)
Best Allrounder: Dilruwan Perera (Panadura)
Premier Limited Overs Tournament (List A)
Best Batsman: Kusal Perera (Colts)
Best Bowler: Ajantha Mendis (Army)
Best Allrounder: Geeth Kumara (Chilaw Marians)
Under-23
Best Batsman: Shihan Kamileen (Colts)
Best Bowler: Dulanjana Mendis (Navy)
Best Allrounder: Shehan Jayasuriya (Moors)

A rich year in Tests earned Rangana Herath the top prize in Sri Lanka Cricket’s annual awards, for the first time in his career. Herath got the nod ahead of last year’s Best Cricketer and current ICC cricketer of the Year, Kumar Sangakkara, who took home the People’s Player of the Year award for the fourth year running. Sangakkara has also won the ICC’s People’s Choice award for the last two years. Herath and Sangakkara won the Best Test Bowler and Best Test Batsman awards respectively.Herath took 46 Test wickets at 22.13 during the period under consideration, and had been the top wicket-taker in the world in 2012. He also became the third Sri Lankan to 200 Tests wickets during the Bangladesh series in March. Sangakkara, meanwhile, hit 441 runs in the only two Tests he played in 2013, including three centuries in four innings.Tillakaratne Dilshan won the award for Best ODI batsman, while Lasith Malinga was given the nod for Best ODI Bowler. Angelo Mathews was the ODI Allrounder of the Year, with Dinesh Chandimal picking up the Emerging Cricketer of the Year for the second year in a row.Sri Lanka Women’s team captain Shashikala Siriwardene bagged the top award for women in a groundbreaking year for the women’s team. She was also awarded ODI Allrounder of the Year, while Deepika Rasangika was Best Women’s Batsman in ODIs and Chamani Seneviratna took home the bowling prize. The Sri Lanka women’s team had caused the upset of the women’s World Cup in February, when they defeated England by one wicket, and went on to place fifth at the tournament.In domestic cricket, Kaushal Silva, who top scored in the first-class tournament, was SLC’s Best Premier League batsman, with top wicket-taker Malinda Pushpakumara nabbing the first-class bowling award. Dilruwan Perera was selected as Best Allrounder, while Sri Lanka players Kusal Perera and Ajantha Mendis also took home domestic cricket honours.

Being gracious in defeat but scathing in self-examination is a Misbah-ul-Haq speciality and he was on top form with it again today

Firdose Moonda in Harare14-Sep-2013Being gracious in defeat but scathing in self-examination is a Misbah-ul-Haq speciality and he was on top form with it again today. The Pakistan captain was sincere in congratulating an opposition who outplayed his own team and stern in his assessment of a group, specifically a batting unit, who did not play well enough together.”Our batting was the culprit on a pitch which was good for batting,” he said. “In both innings we couldn’t cross 250. We only crossed 300 once in the four innings on this tour. How can you win a Test match without scoring 300 runs?”Pakistan were bowled out for 230 and 239 in this match and 249 in the first innings of the previous Test, in which they also piled on 419. But it was the inability to chase on a surface Misbah deemed “at its best” on the final two days which irked him most.The demons in the mind far outweighed the almost non-existent demons in the surface, which was feared underprepared because the groundstaff only had two-and-a-half days to get it ready, but actually provided a good contest between bat and ball. “It’s all about the pressure,” Misbah said.”There was nothing wrong with the pitch. We were playing shots and drives which were not there for the first three days because the ball was stopping. So it was all in the mind of the batsman. Chasing in the fourth innings, the pressure makes you make mistakes and panic. That’s what happened.”More than careless strokeplay, Pakistan’s batsmen succumbed to frustration against an attack that kept them quiet and tired them with consistency. “They had a set plan in bowling and asked questions of the batsmen which we could not answer,” Misbah said. “To do well against bowlers who are good in their own conditions you need experience, patience, technique and a lot of hard work.”With Younis Khan and Misbah leading the run-charts, the value of old hands is obvious but it also brings to the fore the problems Pakistan’s young crop are having. Azhar Ali showed good temperament in the first Test and Khurram Manzoor was promising with his two half-centuries but Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal battled, particularly Shafiq against bounce and movement.Concerns over the next generation are well-founded and shared by Misbah, who insists they will only learn through experience. “These youngsters were really performing well in pressure series against Sri Lanka and England, but at the moment, they are struggling,” he admitted. “Zimbabwe really exploited our inexperience. This morning, we were positive right from the start and decided wherever we can attack them, we’ll do it. That’s how we approached it but nobody could stand.”One of the players who put up the least resistance was Mohammad Hafeez, who much earlier in the innings had been dismissed cheaply and scored only 59 runs from four innings. Misbah conceded there was a worry over his performances in the longer format but he was not certain it would lead to changes. “It’s a big concern because he was in good form in the ODIs and he did not contribute in Tests,” he said. “It’s not my decision, it’s a board decision so let’s see.”Perhaps the only thing he was pleased about was his own leadership which was, once again, formed by example. But Misbah said his undefeated 79 gave him little joy. “It matters when your team performs. If your team is losing, you really hurt as a captain. You don’t want to lose or tie these sort of series. You win matches as a team, you can’t win matches as individuals. You really need to stand up as a team.”By “these sort of series”, Misbah was referring to the opposition who he said “won most of the sessions” but who Pakistan were expected to beat. Their inability to do so has seen them slip from fourth to sixth on the Test rankings and are certain to cop even more criticism from their fans.Misbah resigned to that and said when the fault-finding begins, he will be ready to hear it. “Actually, we’ll have those guys for some solutions,” he said. “It’s easy to say things but not that easy to find solutions.” Judging by the numbers already being proposed, Misbah may find himself with a lot to consider before Pakistan host South Africa next month in the UAE.

Canada’s Twenty20 squad will travel to Houston, Texas ahead of the ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament to play three warm-up matches against an invitational XI assembled by local entrepreneur Sakhi Muhammad

Peter Della Penna21-Apr-2015Canada’s Twenty20 squad will travel to Houston, Texas ahead of the ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament to play three warm-up matches against an invitational XI assembled by local entrepreneur Sakhi Muhammad.A Cricket Canada official confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the games will be played on April 28, 29 and May 1 before the ICC Americas qualifier which begins on May 3 in Indianapolis. Muhammad’s Smart Choice Auto Group is a former sponsor of the USA national team, and they will play an XI that is likely to include former West Indies internationals Mervyn Dillon and Ricardo Powell, as well Timroy Allen, Usman Shuja and former USA captain Steve Massiah, who were omitted from USA’s squad for the ICC Americas tournament.Muhammad, 48, will cover Canada’s local expenses in Houston including hotel accommodation, ground transportation and meals. He says he made a similar offer to USACA to host USA’s squad for warm-up matches ahead of their participation at ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia last October, but USACA never responded to his phone calls or emails. It played a part in his decision to end sponsorship ties with USACA after an 18-month partnership beginning in May 2013.”How can you ignore people who have sponsored you?” Muhammad said. “How can you forget those guys and not respond to them? Every customer is important to me. If they contact you, you must respond. It doesn’t look good from a business point of view. You don’t do stuff like that.”Though he is no longer a sponsor of USACA, Muhammad says he has an interest in helping out cricketers from around the region. His Smart Choice club team, which participates in various private cash tournaments around the country, has featured many USA players including new captain Muhammad Ghous, Steven Taylor, Jasdeep Singh and Adil Bhatti. Muhammad also has a good relationship with Canada players like Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema – one of the reasons he invited Cricket Canada for the mini-tour.”Canada will be better prepared,” Muhammad said. “This is the fact right now and we cannot walk away from it. You’d have to ask USACA why they refused yesterday and weren’t approached this time. I waited to assemble my team for about a month before finalising. If they had approached me and said we’d like to have our guys play against Canada, I’d have loved to do it because ultimately our preference is to help out the USA team too.”The games will be played at the Smart Choice Moosa Stadium – a brand new turf wicket complex in the suburb of Pearland located about 20 miles south of downtown Houston, for which Muhammad pitched in $2million of his own money. He insists he does not want his initiative to be seen as a threat to other facilities in the country like the World Sports Park or Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida.”We are not here to compete against California, Florida or Indianapolis,” Muhammad said. “More turf wickets are good for the country overall. You can’t just have Houston only. There need to be four or five centers where you can do this but the advantage we have is that Houston has a subcontinent population of over 250,000. Even if you get 5,000 of them interested you’re still doing good and if you have a good facility that gets people to come out and doesn’t cost too much to maintain then I think it’s worth it.”The winner of the mini-series will claim the Sushil Nadkarni International Trophy, named after the recently retired USA batsman.”He (Nadkarni) is from Houston and he has done a lot for US cricket,” Muhammad said, when asked about his reason for naming the trophy after Nadkarni. “After he retired I noticed that there was nothing done officially so being a Houstonian, it was important for us to acknowledge him. Doing this is something good in the long term for other players, especially for Houston people and for other senior players who play for the national team.”

Ireland tightened their grip over the Intercontinental Cup game against UAE in Dublin, seamers Craig Young and John Mooney chipping away at the visitors’ batting to reduce them to 207 for 8 in pursuit of the hosts’ massive total

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Craig Young picked up 3 for 46•Getty Images

Ireland tightened their grip over the Intercontinental Cup game against UAE in Dublin, seamers Craig Young and John Mooney chipping away at the visitors’ batting to reduce them to 207 for 8 in pursuit of the hosts’ massive total.Ireland ended within touching distance of 500, but UAE would have been pleased with their bowlers’ efforts in the morning, when the hosts lost their last seven wickets for 68.Seamer Amjad Javed started UAE’s fightback when he dismissed double-centurion Ed Joyce, Andy Balbirnie and Gary Wilson in three successive overs. While Joyce and Balbirnie were trapped leg-before with full deliveries, Wilson nicked a lifter to the wicketkeeper.When Mooney edged a drive off Mohammad Naveed to gully three overs later, Ireland had been reduced to 435 for 7, having started the second day on 420 for 3.Kevin O’Brien and George Dockrell halted the fall of wickets with a 35-run partnership, but Fayyaz Ahmed broke the stand as soon as he was brought back into the attack when he removed O’Brien for a swift 29. Dockrell was stranded on 22 when Javed took out last man Young for his fourth wicket.Ireland had lasted 24.3 overs into the day, and the UAE top order built on their bowling momentum. Amjad Ali took 31 deliveries to score a run and then pulled Mooney straight to midwicket, but Asif Iqbal and Saqib Ali developed a partnership, taking the score to 75 for 1.Young sent back both set batsmen in successive overs, bowling Iqbal for 43 and getting Saqib lbw for 27.Khurram Khan (24) and Swapnil Patil (30) put on 51 for the fourth wicket, but Ireland found someone else to nip another growing partnership, and UAE lost two set batsmen in consecutive overs again, this time to Mooney.Now Dockrell struck twice as UAE slipped to 162 for 8. Ireland would have eyed a 300-plus lead at that point, but Shaiman Anwar and Naveed denied them till stumps with an unbeaten 45-run partnership. Anwar, UAE’s leading run-getter at the World Cup, pulled Dockrell for his eighth four to reach his half-century in the penultimate over of the day.