Tag Futebol

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outIf yesterday at Edgbaston had been Test cricket at its very best, then today’s hopelessly one-sided farce was it at its worst – that it was even labelled as Test cricket was bordering on the ridiculous. It has to be assumed that the Trade Descriptions Act doesn’t apply in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe have had many wretched days on the international stage in the last year or so, but at Harare Sports Club today, they plumbed a depth that was spectacular even by their rapidly declining standards.They were bowled out by New Zealand twice inside a day, only the second side to suffer such a fate. The other were India at Manchester in 1952, but they were caught cold on a miserable and damp Old Trafford track which suited England’s bowlers. Zimbabwe had no such excuses. They were at home, and the conditions were not that one-sided.New Zealand did what they had to efficiently and clinically, but few of Zimbabwe’s batsmen troubled them and, more worryingly, few looked to be remotely good enough technically to survive at this level. New Zealand barely broke sweat, not that they had to.After declaring overnight, New Zealand unleashed Shane Bond and James Franklin. Bond showed impressive pace from his first ball, which rose and flew off Neil Ferreira’s gloves over the keeper’s head to the boundary. The die was cast.In the fourth over, Franklin had Ferreira caught at the wicket and he then trapped Dion Ebrahim and only a no-ball stood between him and a hat-trick as he had Hamilton Masakadza plumb leg before. Both batsmen’s footwork was questionable and both prodded half-forward. Next over Craig Wishart unwisely shouldered arms to a ball from Bond that cut back viciously off the pitch, and at 11 for 4 the innings was in shreds.Chris Martin also found movement to take three wickets in the middle order, with Stuart Carlisle (20 not out) standing alone as the tail collapsed around him; his was a fine but utterly futile rearguard. Daniel Vettori picked up the last two wickets immediately after lunch – his first-day hundred and six wickets in the match won him the Man-of-the-Match award. Zimbabwe’s only solace was that they just about passed their previous low – 54 against South Africa in March.Second time round, they started with a little more fight, although Brendan Taylor soon drove uppishly and was caught at short extra cover without scoring. That he was playing at all was a sign of Zimbabwe’s desperation. A month or so ago he was slapped with a six-month ban for disciplinary offences. But the cupboard is so bare that he was quickly forgiven and brought back.His was virtually the only attacking stroke to be played in the first 10 overs, as Ferreira and Ebrahim played with great application, but as they ventured out of their shells, the wickets again started to tumble.After tea Ferreira (16) seemed to lose his nerve, and played a couple of uncharacteristically risky strokes before he dabbed feebly outside the off stump at a ball from Franklin and provided Stephen Fleming with the first of three successive catches. The others were Wishart (5) and Carlisle (0), both softened up by short balls from Bond and then driving loosely outside off stump.What resistance there was was provided by Masakadza (42), who drove and pulled in impressive fashion, the only Zimbabwe batsman in the match to take the attack to the bowlers with any success. He had scored half the total of 84 when he tried to chip a drive on the leg side and had a leading edge well caught overhead by Vettori off his own bowling.As New Zealand closed for the kill, they got a stroke of luck as Vettori took his 200th Test wicket in dubious circumstances, Heath Streak adjudged leg before by Darrell Hair despite a thick inside-edge apparent to all but the umpire.

Tatenda Taibu hung around before being caught by Fleming and the last wickets fell without a whimper. Chris Mpofu set up his own Test record by being twice stumped for a pair inside two sessions. That summed up the wretchedness of Zimbabwe’s efforts.It is hard to see where Zimbabwe go from here. For the first time in 16 months they fielded their full-strength side, and yet the defeat was as one-sided as any they have suffered in that period. Their bowling lacked penetration and their batting at times would have embarrassed a good club side.In such hard times, world cricket has to be seen to support Zimbabwe. But there is an argument, which few who witnessed today would counter, that the time has come for a change of tack and a rethink about what is being achieved by ploughing on regardless. Nobody benefited from this massacre, and the pitiful attendance showed that even the locals have tired of such wretched fare. This was a match of interest to nobody but the statisticians.

ZimbabweNeil Ferreira c McCullum b Franklin 5 (9 for 1)
Dion Ebrahim lbw b Franklin 0 (9 for 2)
Hamilton Masakadza lbw b Franklin 0 (10 for 3)
Craig Wishart b Bond 0 (11 for 4)
Brendan Taylor run out (Styris) 10 (28 for 5)
Tatenda Taibu lbw b Martin 5 (46 for 6)
Heath Streak c McCullum b Martin 0 (46 for 7)
Blessing Mahwire lbw b Martin 4 (51 for 8)
Graeme Cremer c Martin b Vettori 1 (53 for 9)
Chris Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 (59 all out)
Zimbabwe second inningsBrendan Taylor c Vettori b Franklin 0 (5 for 1)
Dion Ebrahim b Martin 8 (14 for 2)
Neil Ferreira c Fleming b Franklin 16 (53 for 3)
Craig Wishart c Fleming b Bond 5 (76 for 4)
Stuart Carlisle c Fleming b Bond 0 (80 for 5)

Hamilton Masakadza c and b Vettori 42 (84 for 6)

Heath Streak lbw b Vettori 3 (90 for 7)
Tatenda Taibu c Fleming b Martin 4 (90 for 8)
Graeme Cremer c James Marshall b Vettori 3 (99 for 9)
Christopher Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 (99 all out)

Ricky Ponting will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Steve Waugh, AdamGilchrist and Mark Taylor by winning his first Test as captain on Australiansoil, when the second and final match against Sri Lanka begins at Cairnsthis morning.Ponting, who missed the opening Test in Darwin because of the death of hisaunt, is expected to be the only change in Australia’s victorious XI, replacing his temporary stand-in Matthew Elliott.He enters the game confident of both his batting form, having undergone a”really good workout” at a pre-series camp in Brisbane, and captaincypedigree. Already Ponting has led Australia to one World Cup and successiveVB Series triumphs, plus victory in all three overseas Tests in which he hascalled the shots.His vanquished opponents on all three occasions, needless to say, were SriLanka, who have never won a Test in Australia at seven attempts and wouldseem less well-qualified for optimism.Two changes to their side appear probable. Upul Chandana, the legspinner, whostruck an erratic length and failed to trouble the Australian middle orderin Darwin, might make way for the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, whoimpressed observers in the tour match against a Northern Territory ChiefMinister’s XI.Meanwhile Romesh Kaluwitharana, the veteran wicketkeeper, stands a strongchance of playing his first Test in more than a year at Russel Arnold’sexpense. Arnold, who was himself playing his first Test since November 2002,looked unconvincing in struggling to 6 and 11 at Darwin.Kaluwitharana’s possible elevation would reduce the workload of KumarSangakkara, the vivacious left-hander, who too often looks knackered by thedouble burden of keeping and batting at No. 3. If you discount Tests againstZimbabwe, Sangakkara has not passed 34 in his last 12 innings and last hit ahundred 27 months ago.The days leading up to this match have felt a bit like the traditionalbuild-up to a WACA Test, even if Cairns and Perth – according to the map -might almost be a couple of continents away. All attention has centred onthe rumoured bounce and zippiness, conditions considered ripe for theAustralians and anathema to the visitors.Even Shane Warne, seldom one to talk down his abilities, has publicly allbut ruled out his chance of securing the eight wickets he needs to becomethe supreme wicket-taker in Test history. Warne’s logic ignores the factthat precisely half the wickets during Cairns’s inaugural Test last yearfell to spin, and should be seen for what it probably is: a colossal bluff.As for Ponting, even if Australia conspire to lose this game the omens lookpositive. The last Australian skipper to blow his first Test on home dirtwas Ian Chappell; before him, Don Bradman and Monty Noble also began theircaptaincy careers in Australia with a thud rather than a bang. And thosethree turned out all right in the end. Australia (probable) 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 RickyPonting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Simon Katich, 7 AdamGilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11Glenn McGrath. Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya,3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 NuwanZoysa, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Glamorgan lost their opening game in the Twenty20 competition, losing toNorthants at Cardiff by 23 runs.The visitors, who elected to bat first, were restricted at first by an accurate openingspell by the Glamorgan attack. Mike Kasprowicz started the competition with a maiden,before David Harrison clean bowled Ben Phillips with his first delivery.However, the visitors recovered to make 159-5 in their 20 over allocation thanks toAustralian Mike Hussey who scored his second half-century in thecompetition, with a cultured 79 from just 58 balls.The Northants captain shared a useful stand of 45 in the last 4 overs withwicket-keeper Gerard Brophy to leave Glamorgan needing to score at 8 runs an over.After an early flurry from openers Robert Croft and Ian Thomas, there was thesteady clatter of wickets, as Glamorgan slipped to 44-3 after 7 overs, with Thomas,Mike Powell and Matthew Maynard all back in the pavilion.After the loss of David Hemp, Croft continued with some whirlwind blows, but shortlyafter reaching his 32 ball fifty, Croft was run out coming back for a third run after heand Adrian Dale had taken 18 from Mike Cawdron`s final over.The acting Glamorgan captain was one of four men to be run out as his batsmen struggledto keep up with the required rate against the visiting attack who bowled straight andfull. There was little on offer either from spinners Graeme Swann and Jason Brown, anddespite a few lusty blows towards the end of their innings from Darren Thomas, it wasBrown who finished things off by bowling Thomas with 8 balls remaining and Glamorgan 24runs adrift of their target.

AAP – Australia cricket captain Steve Waugh wants shorter Ashes tours anddescribed some fixtures on this year’s successful campaign as “a waste oftime”.Waugh and several of his colleagues who were part of both the triumphantTest and one-day squads returned to Australia today after completing agruelling three-month itinerary.The Australians schedule included 21 matches, including six threeorfour-dayers against county teams, some of which Waugh felt weren’t needed bythe tourists.”Three months is just too long to be away I think and it can be unhealthyfor everyone,” Waugh said.”You are in very close proximity to all the squad and it’s a long time to betogether and people obviously are missing their families.”So I think in future some of the county games are not needed, they are awaste of time basically half of them. Probably only two or three were goodmatches.”Waugh today admitted there was a danger Australia could look past its nextassignment against New Zealand as it awaits a showdown against South Africa,its closest challenger at the top of the ICC Test championship.Australia holds a slender lead over South Africa on the points table and thetwo teams will play three Tests here in December and January before hostingthe return series in February and March.Waugh admitted his team would already be thinking about the South Africamatches during the three-Test home series against New Zealand in Novemberand December.”New Zealand are a good cricket side and they are one of these sides thatare improving, so they will be hard to beat,” Waugh said.”But there’s no doubt we will be looking towards South Africa and they willbe looking at us. I think its a showdown for the number one Test side in theworld, so there is a danger element there that you can look too far ahead.”We’ve got to obviously make sure we play well against New Zealand, but atthe same time, we will be starting to prepare mentally and probably writingthings down about the South African players before we get to play them.”While Waugh praised bowling stalwarts Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath fortheir efforts in England, he made a point of complimenting his batsmen.Five of them managed at least one Test century with four of them averagingover 50.England never came close to bowling out Australia twice and only once did itdismiss Waugh’s side for under 400.”We probably surprised ourselves with the way we batted over there.”I thought the batting was superb and our general cricket all round waspretty good.”We were aggressive the whole time and positive and we played to win everyday of the tour.”

Suresh Raina has said he wants to establish himself as Test batsman, the only format in which he has not nailed down a spot in India’s batting order. Raina, the only Indian to have scored a century in all three international formats, attributed his inability to cement a Test spot to his lack of opportunities.”I have been doing consistently well in ODIs and T20s. Even in the IPL, I scored runs,” Raina told . “It’s true that I didn’t do well in three innings in Test cricket in 2012. It was the same story in 2015, but that doesn’t mean I am not experienced enough to be in the Test side.”I have not been given enough chances to prove my calibre as a Test cricketer. You can’t judge a player on the basis of just one match after a hectic series of one-day and T20 games. I am not asking for five Test matches to prove myself. Give me two-three games. And if I don’t perform, drop me forever.”

Raina moves on from Rhiti Sports

Suresh Raina has changed management companies, moving to IOS Sports and Entertainment from Rhiti Sports, a firm launched by MS Dhoni’s friend and in which the India captain had a 15% stake. Raina feels his decision to move on from Rhiti Sports will put an end to the conflict of interest allegations.
“I have signed a three-year deal with IOS Sports and Entertainment. I am happy to be associated with the new company. Above all, I am happy that there would be no conflict-of-interest under the BCCI system.”

After scoring a century on Test debut in Colombo in 2010, Raina has played just 18 Tests spread over four stints. His maiden stint lasted eight matches, when he was dropped after the first Test in South Africa in 2010; he had made 32 runs in six innings.He was drafted back into the side for India’s three-Test series in the West Indies in 2011. In seven consecutive Tests – three in the Caribbean followed by four in England – he managed 337 runs in 13 innings at 25.92. Sandeep Patil then took over as the selection-panel chairman and the new committee moved on to consider Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane to fill the open slot in India’s batting order.Raina made a surprise comeback for the two-Test series in New Zealand in 2012 but made just 58 runs. His last comeback to the Test team was the most disastrous of all, a pair in Sydney earlier this year.Since then Raina appears to have faded from the selectors’ radar for the longest format, having not even been considered for India A’s ongoing series against Australia A. Raina, however, is confident he has it in him to make a good Test cricketer.”I am sure I have the ability to be a consistent performer at Test level, but it’s just a matter of getting the chance to do so,” Raina said. “Before gearing up for the World T20, I will focus on my Test comeback.”Ahead of the World Twenty20, I have plenty of opportunities to play in the longer version of the game, especially in the Ranji Trophy in October-November before we tour Australia in January for an away series.”The domestic games will give me a platform to show my calibre and stake claim for a recall to the Test side. I am desperate for this. The Test series against South Africa in India will allow me to play at least four-five Ranji games for UP.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Persistent rain washed out the fifth day too•BCCI

The ninth-shortest, non-abandoned Test ended just before noon on the fifth day, with wet conditions and intermittent drizzle washing out a fourth day in a row. Only one Test in India has had fewer overs bowled than the 81 here. In that time, India put South Africa in, and their spinners bowled the visitors out for 214 before Shikhar Dhawan followed up his pair in Mohali with 45 not out. Playing his 100th Test, AB de Villiers scored 85, showing to his team-mates how to play spin in India.India led the series 1-0. The third Test is to begin in Nagpur on November 25.

Bangladesh can expect no respite from a charged up Sri Lanka when they confront them in a series of three Tests starting Monday at the SSC grounds.”One thing we’ve realized is that whether we play Australia or Bangladesh whoever it is, even Zimbabwe we are going to treat every game as top priority for us,” said Mahela Jayawardene.”That’s the attitude we’ve been having and its part of our success we’ve had in the last 2-3 years. We treat each and every game very seriously and make sure we put in more than 100 percent on every game. Attitude-wise, the enthusiasm, the aggression everything will be the same. The only thing we have to switch would be from one day cricket to Test cricket,” he stated.Sri Lanka will be greatly strengthened by the return of Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. All three have been playing county cricket in England and will return after the series against Bangladesh. “They are all keen to get back into playing Test cricket.”Sri Lanka will be playing a home Test after nearly 12 months. The last Test played at the SSC against South Africa in July 2006 was a memorable one for Jayawardene and Sangakkara. The pair shared a world record partnership of 624 runs for any wicket in Test cricket. Jayawardene went onto compile Sri Lanka’s highest score in Test cricket, a monumental 374, while Sangakkara hit a career best 287. Sri Lanka piled up 756 runs and beat South Africa by an innings.Bangladesh is keeping a close eye on experienced opener Javed Omar after he was laid ill with a virus. “Omar is coming through well and we hope he will be fit for the Test. Mehrab Hossain has been named as standby in the twelve just in case Omar fails to pull through,” said Bangladesh coach Shaun Williams.Williams who is standby coach until Bangladesh finds a successor to Dav Whatmore said that playing a full Test series of three matches would benefit Bangladesh a lot. “We are happy to have a three-Test series. It will give this young group in terms of experience a chance to educate themselves to get better at this level,” said Williams.”It’s a learning curve for every player in the side as they strive to achieve success. I wouldn’t at this stage set any goals for winning and losing. The more we face strong opposition the better it is for us to get to know how well we can play,” he said.

Although there has been a lot of rain in the past few days the pitch looked firm and Jayawardene assessed that it would be a great wicket to bat on. “The ground staff has done a brilliant job to keep it dry. It looks a very good wicket. There will definitely be something for the fast bowlers and the spinners will have bounce and probably turn in the latter part of the Test. It will be a great wicket to bat on because the ball will definitely be coming on,” said Jayawardene.Sri Lanka will go into the Test with seven batters and four bowlers. Jayawardene said there will be a toss up between Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof. “Both of them are bowling really well, absolutely brilliantly. It’s unfortunate that we have to keep one of the guys out. That’s the choice we have to make. Whoever gets left out here will get an opportunity to come back and play one of the other Test matches,” Jayawardene said.”One of the reasons we are going with seven batsmen is that the line up we have is a bit inexperienced,” he said. Sri Lanka are without experienced openers Sanath Jayasuriya (rested), Marvan Atapattu (unavailable) and Upul Tharanga (injured). They go into the Test with left-handers Michael Vandort who’s played in six Tests and Malinda Warnapura who will be making his Test debut at the age of 28.Jayawardene insisted that there would be no complacency on his team’s part. “We will not take it easy. It’s going to be 100 percent from the first ball. Bangladesh do show a lot of weaknesses in Test cricket. But then you’ll never know. They keep improving and they could be a surprise package. You shouldn’t leave them any room to come back at you. From the first ball onwards whether we are batting or bowling we are going to go after them and make sure we put them under pressure,” he said. Bangladesh has lost all seven Tests played between the two countries.Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Malinga Bandara, Sajeewa de Silva.Bangladesh (from): Mohammed Ashraful (captain), Mashrafa Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Rajin Saleh, Shahadat Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain.

Rahul Dravid sent out an ominous signal to Sri Lanka, saying his young team were better prepared to reverse their dismal record there. Dravid, India’s captain, said his teammates had worked hard on some of the problem areas which should stand them in good stead for the tri-series which includes South Africa and begins on Monday.”It’s a great opportunity for us to go to a place where we have not done well,” he told a press conference in Bangalore, prior to departure. “We have worked hard and we would like to get better there.”He added that the series would be challenging for them as they would take on two other good teams in their title hunt. “This is an important series.” he said, and identified the hosts Sri Lanka as a big threat for them, given their current form. “Sri Lanka are playing well – they even play better at home. So we have to play well there.”However, he refused to divulge India’s gameplan. “I cannot tell you the strategies before a week of the series. Strategy will be known on the match day. But, it is important to play according to the potential.Dravid would not disclose who will open the innings. “A lot of players have opened earlier. It is not an issue who plays up – rather it is important how we play.” Rather, there were other priorities. “We talked about batting in the middle overs on slow wickets, how to create best chance for scoring a lot of runs in that part of the match.”He added that the team must not rest on their laurels. “We need to keep doing better. We need to play better against all oppositions in all situations. That’s what you play cricket for.”Greg Chappell, India’s coach, added the experience of playing on slow wickets in the West Indies would come handy during the tri-series. “In Sri Lanka the wickets would be similar. It is about putting pressure on the opponents and resisting pressure. It’s about executing our plans well.”Chappell expressed hope that the innovative training the players were put through during the conditioning camp would benefit them in the long run. “You should not expect a miracle. They did different activities and met with many challenges which may help them.”Dravid said he did not consider the absence of a genuine allrounder in the team as an issue. “We don’t have a Flintoff or Kapil Dev, it’s true. But players like Irfan, Viru, Dhoni, Mongia and Raina are developing their skills and trying to compensate for that.”He added that he had no fears over security issues in Sri Lanka. “The Sri Lanka Cricket board is putting everything place.”

Ricky Ponting will join the Test squad in India and is hopeful of being fit for the fourth Test after X-rays confirmed that his injured thumb is healing well.Dr Trefor James, the medical adviser for Cricket Australia, said that Ponting’s broken thumb, which he injured in the Champions Trophy, has shown significant improvement since an examination last week. “His grip is a lot stronger than what it was, and while he will fall a few days short of being right for the third Test, we are hopeful that he will be fit for the final Test of the series.”Ponting said he was encouraged by the latest diagnosis. “Obviously I’m not certain to play, but I have a lot more strength and movement in my hand, and I’m certainly hopeful to be right for Mumbai,” he said. “I should be OK to start hitting balls by the end of this week, and will continue to work on it when I join the squad later this week.”Ponting said he was looking forward to rejoining the team in India as soon as possible. Australia are currently 1-0 up in the four-match series. The third Test will be played at Nagpur from October 26, while the fourth one Test starts at Mumbai on November 3.

Bruce Patterson, 39, has been called up to play for Scotland in their Intercontinental Cup match against Holland at Mannofield, Aberdeen, next week. Patterson’s last international game was against Ireland in the home countries tournament in 2001. He is an opening batsman with three first-class hundreds to his name, and a wealth of experience.Stewart Bruce, the 34-year-old left-arm pace bowler, has also been named in the side. Bruce was forced to postpone his Scotland debut earlier this season, as he was serving in Iraq as an explosives expert. Majid Haq, the 20-year-old offspinner, is also in the squad for the Intercontinental Cup. Scotland’s success in the tournament could determine their future prospects in world cricket.Scotland captain Craig Wright said: “All the players for the Intercontinental Cup have to be Scotland-qualified, so neither Sriram nor Arafat is eligible. Instead, we are fortunate to have both Bruce Patterson and Stewart Bruce, with whom we were greatly impressed during the winter, available for this game.”Scotland C Wright (capt), S Bruce, A Butt, C. English, M Haq, P. Hoffmann, S. Knox, B Patterson, C. Smith, I. Stanger, R. Watson, F. Watts.