Steyn can't take the Wicket of Hafeez in 3rd ODI

Steyn can't take the Wicket of Hafeez in 3rd ODI.

Dale Steyn, South Africa's premier fast bowler, and veteran allrounder Jacques Kallis have been ruled out of South Africa's third ODI against Pakistan with injury niggles.

Steyn has a mild left side strain while Kallis, who made his comeback to the 50-over format at the start of the series, has a badly sprained joint on the little finger of his right hand.

The pair were released from the squad for the final match against Pakistan, who are aiming for a 3-0 sweep, as a precautionary measure so they could be in "prime condition," for the upcoming series against India, according to team manager Mohammad Moosajee.

Steyn played in all four T20s but in only four of the seven ODIs. He was seen in some discomfort during first ODI in Cape Town on Sunday, where he was holding his left side but played in the second match of the series in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday. This is not his first side strain this year - the condition also plagued him during the Champions Trophy.

Afghanistan qualify for 2015 World Cup

Afghanistan qualified for its maiden ICC Cricket World Cup when it defeated Kenya by seven wickets, to finish second in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Deciding to field first after winning the toss, Afghanistan dismissed Kenya for 93 in 43.3 overs and then achieved the target in 20.5 overs with seven wickets to spare. The victory meant Afghanistan finished on 19 points - five behind champion Ireland, which qualified for ICC's flagship event in July.

The architects of Afghanistan's victory were left-arm spinner Hamza Hotak, captain Mohammad Nabi and Hashmatullah Shaidi. Hotak finished as the pick of bowlers with figures of 10-1-19-3, while Nabi scored 46 not out and Shaidi 13 not out. The pair of Nabi and Shaidi put on 62 for the fourth wicket, after Shem Ngoche had taken two wickets in five balls to reduce Afghanistan to 34 for three.

By virtue of finishing second in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship, Afghanistan has earned a place in Pool A that includes co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, as well as Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 3.

Afghanistan will play its opening match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against Bangladesh at Manuka Oval, Canberra, on 18 February while its other matches will be against Sri Lanka (22 February, Dunedin), Qualifier 3 (26 February, Dunedin), Australia (4 March, Perth), New Zealand (8 March, Napier) and England (13 March, Sydney).

It has been a remarkable journey for Afghanistan which was playing in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in 2008. In 2010, it qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 by winning the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2010. It then finished second to Ireland in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2012, to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

Afghanistan also played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand and the 2012 edition in Australia.

Stats highlights from Zimbabwe's rare triumph against Pakistan at Harare

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 5th day

September 14, 2013

Zimbabwe's Test win against Pakistan, at Harare, was only their fifth against Test-playing nations excluding Bangladesh. Pakistan have been at the receiving end three times. India have lost two Tests against Zimbabwe. The last time Zimbabwe won a Test against a major Test-playing nation was in 2001, when they beat India by four wickets. This was their 11th win in Tests from 93 Tests; six of these winshave come against Bangladesh.

 

The last time Zimbabwe drew a Test series against a major Test-playing nation, before this, was in 2001 against India with an identical score-line. This was only their eighth drawn series against the major Test-playing nations. They have two series wins, one each against Pakistan and India. The series win against Pakistan in 1998 was an away series involving three Tests, which Zimbabwe won 1-0. Zimbabwe had won their first series ever, just over a month before that, beating India in a one-off Test in Harare.

 

This was the first instance of two Zimbabwe bowlers taking five-wicket hauls in a Test win. Brian Vitori and Tendai Chatara, both joined Andy Blignaut, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga as the only Zimbabwe bowlers to take a five-wicket haul in Test wins.

 

This was Zimbabwe's closest win in term of runs; their narrowest win before this match was against India at the same venue in 1998, when they won by a margin of 61 runs. This was also Pakistan's narrowestTest loss, in terms of runs, beating their loss to England at Leeds in 1971 by just one run.

 

This calendar year is truly a rare one for Zimbabwe: they have won two or more Tests in the same year only twice since their Test debut in 1992. The year 2001 was the best in terms of the number of wins, when they won four Tests, one against India and three against Bangladesh.

 

The eleventh hour change of the venue increased Zimbabwe's chances of winning, at least statistically, with seven of their previous ten Test wins having come at the venue. With this win, their tally of wins at the Harare Sports Club has gone up to eight from 31 Tests. Four of their five Test wins against Pakistan and India have come at this venue. Zimbabwe have won only one away Test, against Pakistan, at Peshawar in 1998.

Misbah-ul-Haq's 79 is the second-highest unbeaten score by a captain in a losing cause in chases in Tests.Clive Lloyd's 91 against Australia at the MCG in 1976 is the highest. Misbah's 79* is only the tenth instance of a captain remaining unbeaten on a score of fifty or more in unsuccessful chases in Tests.

 

Misbah's 79 also equals the highest score by a Pakistan captain in a losing cause in the fourth innings of a Test. Javed Miandad also scored 79 against Australia at Perth in 1981.

 

Younis Khan won the third Man-of-the-Series award of his career in this series, the most by a Pakistan batsman. He has drawn level with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.

CLT20 route cleared for Faisalabad Wolves.

Faisalabad Wolves, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions, will travel to India to take part in the Champions League T20 after the Indian Embassy in Pakistan granted the players their visas following days of uncertainty.

The Faisalabad players had dispersed on Thursday evening from their training camp and went home assuming they would need time to pack if the visas were issued. The PCB had also told that the visas had neither been issued nor denied. 

On Friday, the PCB asked the players to report at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore because the visas had been obtained, a Faisalabad player told.

The players are scheduled to depart in two batches; those in Lahore are due to leave on Saturday while three players in the Pakistan national team - Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Ehsan Adil - are due to fly from Zimbabwe on the completion of the current series. The last day of the ongoing second Test in Harare is on Saturday.

Faisalabad will be only the second Pakistan team to take part in the Champions League and the first in India - Sialkot Stallions competed in the 2012 tournament in South Africa. They play their first match on September 17 in Mohali against Otago Volts.

A team from Pakistan had been invited for the first edition in 2008 but that tournament was postponed because of the terror attacks in Mumbai and no further invitation was issued to Pakistan until 2012.

Akhtar to PCB: Stop running after BCCI

Instead of running after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for normalising cricket ties, the Pakistan Cricket Board should focus on converting the national team into a world class side, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has said.

The Indian government has rejected visa applications of the players of Pakistani side Faisalabad Wolves, which was to play in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

"I am not surprised that the Indians have not issued visas to the Faisalabad Wolves team for the Champions League.

The fact is that until and unless we have normal and friendly relations at the government-to-government level why do we expect the Indian cricket board to be supportive.

"I have always said that we don't need to run after India all the time and we need to stop begging on different issues whether it is resumption of bilateral cricket ties, allowing our players for the IPL or our team for the Champions League," Akhtar said.

The outspoken fast bowler said that BCCI simply followed the policy of its government when it came to Pakistan.

"We should have never expected them to issue visas for the Faisalabad team. When they first invited us we should have taken a bold stance and said 'thank you'. When will we as a nation or board show some self respect and pride in our stance towards India," he told a TV channel.

Akhtar said it was time that PCB starts making efforts to develop the national side into a strong team.

"(What we will lose?) A few hundred thousand dollars. But it is time we stopped going after India all the time. We need to set our house in order and strengthen our own domestic cricket and infrastructure.

"We need to concentrate on building up our cricket structure and building up a world class side. When we have a world class side everyone will not only want to play against us but on our terms as well," he said.

"There is no doubt that the standard of cricket has not only gone down in Pakistan but even worldwide. But in Pakistan we are facing problems because we haven't had a bold captain like Imran Khan for years now and we are not facing role model players who serve as inspiration to others," Akhtar added.

He said that Indian cricket had progressed not because of the IPL but because of just one man...Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Dhoni may not be as good looking as Imran but he has all the qualities of Imran as a captain and player and he has given their cricket a new direction and life. He has turned Indian cricket around."

He also lashed out at the ICC and member boards for not realising that there was urgent need to inject money into Test and one-day international cricket.

"These were the formats which are real cricket and these were formats where players should be earning more money but instead the money was injected into T20 cricket and the IPL has taken the lead in this," he said.

No Pakistan Team for CLT20 ?

Faisalabad Wolves, Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions, are optimistic of taking part in the Champions League though they have not yet been issued with visas for India. They have been training and focusing on their cricket, team officials said, in preparation for the tournament.

Faisalabad play their first match on September 17 in Mohali, and they called off their last practice session scheduled for Thursday evening in the expectation that they would be issued their visas and would need time to pack.

However, there was no official indication either way from the Indian government or the BCCI on whether the visas would be granted. The PCB also told that the visas had neither been issued nor denied.

 

"The players have been training assuming that they are going to depart as planned," Haroon Rasheed, the Faisalabad team manager, told. "There may be some uncertainty but the players are asked to just focus on cricket and nothing else. We have completed our conditioning camp and the players have dispersed to do their packing and get ready by tonight."

If they get their visas, Faisalabad will be only the second Pakistan team to take part in the Champions League and the first in India - Sialkot Stallions competed in the 2012 tournament in South Africa.

The mood within the camp was one of hope and excitement. "For us who haven't played at the national level it is a mega event," one player said. "It will boost our careers. We are obviously down but are hopeful. It would be really unfair for us to be denied at the last hour. If they did not want to allow us they should have denied earlier instead of taking so long."

The players are scheduled to depart in two batches; those in Lahore are due to leave on Saturday while three players in the Pakistan national team - Misbah ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Ehsan Adil - are due to fly from Zimbabwe on the completion of the current series. The last day of the ongoing second Test in Harare is on Saturday.

New records for Pakistan Test Cricket

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 2nd day - September 11, 2013

Younis Khan has become the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.

Younis  carried on from where he left off in the first Test as he played another solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the first Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zimbabwe's first innings total of 294.

When he reached 50 for the 49th time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests.

Runs - Player

8832  -  Javed Miandad

8829  -  Inzamam-ul-Haq

7530  -  Mohammad Yousuf

7004  -  Younis Khan

Khurram Manzoor became the first Pakistani opener to reach 50 this year

 Manzoor has become the first Pakistani opener to reach 50 this year before he was run out for 51 in an unnecessary mixup to leave Pakistan teetering precariously at 96 for three.

This year highest runs scored by Pakistani Openers 
51 - Khurram Manzoor

46 - Nasir Jamshed

30 - Imran Farhat

27 - Azhar Ali

22- Mohammad Hafeez 

The only Captain to have hit a century in all the three formats.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is the only captain to have hit a century in all the three formats of the game. While 48 captains have hit hundreds in both ODIs and Tests, Dilshan is the only captain among them to have hit a century in T20 Internationals.

The Chicken Run

 

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

September 10, 2013

 

  

It was not a former cricketer who made a surprise appearance at the ground this time but it could have been the property of one. Shortly after Masakadza was dismissed, a chicken was spotted clucking along the boundary. Having notched up 75 runs, there were no jokes on Masakadza about ducks, but there were many wondering if Eddo Brandes, the former Zimbabwe player who is also a chicken farmer, had anything to do with the visitor.

Sehwag,Yuvraj & Zaheer to make comeback against West Indies 'A'

The upcoming 'A' tour will give an opportunity for a few Indian stars to prove their fitness and ability all over again to try and forge a comeback. Former India regulars like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan will be the cynosure of all eyes when West Indies 'A' take on India 'A' in 3 one-day games, a T20 match and 3 four-day games from 15 September to 12 October.

Yuvraj Singh will be leading a 14-man India 'A' squad against West Indies 'A' for the 3 one-day games and a T20 match. All the limited over games are to be played at Bangalore. The squad also includes the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan.

The squad for the 4-day games will be led by Cheteshwar Pujara. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan will be part of the team for the 2nd and 3rd four-day games. Mohammad Kaif's inclusion for a couple of 4-day games comes as a surprise.

All the limited over games will be played at Bangalore while the 4-day games will be played in smaller centers in Karnataka such as Mysore, Hubli and Shimoga.

 

India 'A' squad for 3 ODIs and T20 against WI 'A':

Yuvraj Singh (C), Unmukt Chand, Robin Uthappa, Baba Aparajith, Kedhar Jadhav, Naman Ojha (w), Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Jaidev Unadkat, Praveen Kumar, S Narwal, S Nadeem, Mandeep Singh, Rahul Sharma

India 'A' squad for 1st 4-day game against WI 'A':

C Pujara (c), Jiwanjot Singh, KL Rahul, Manpreet Juneja, Rajat Paliwal, Harshad Khadiwale, Parvez Rasool, Bhargav Bhatt, IC Pandey, Mohammed Shami, Ashok Dinda, R Motwani (w), Dhawal Kulkarni, P Dogra

India 'A' squad for the 2nd/3rd 4-day games against WI 'A':

C Pujara (c), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sheldon Jackson, Abhishek Nayar, P Dogra, U Kaul (w), P Rasool, Bhargav Bhatt, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zaheer Khan, IC Pandey, Mohammed Shami, M Kaif.

Yuvraj Singh will also be leading the India Blue squad in the NKP Salve Challenger trophy between September 26 and 29. Irfan Pathan will lead India Red. The 3rd team in the tournament is Delhi, the reigning domestic one-day champions.

India Red squad for NKP Salve Challenger trophy:

Irfan Pathan (C), Robin Uthappa, Abhinav Mukund, Sourabh Tiwary, Gurkirat Mann, Kedar Jadhav, Smit Patel (Wicketkeeper), Yusuf Pathan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhimanyu Mithun, Umesh Yadav, Suraj Yadav

India Blue squad for NKP Salve Challenger trophy

Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Akshath Reddy, Naman Ojha (Wicketkeeper), Mandeep Singh, Ankit Bawane, Abhishek Nayar, Manish Pandey, Piyush Chawla, Ankit Rajpoot, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Iresh Saxena.

Zimbabwe stumbled after the century stand but Pakistan claw back after tea.

Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Harare, 1st day

Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor shared a century partnership before Zimbabwe suffered a collapse on the first day of the second Test against Pakistan at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe were 237 for eight at the close of play. Masakadza (75) and Taylor (51) put on 110 for the third wicket but the rest of the batting crumbled on a pitch which had cracks that caused several deliveries to keep low.

Masakadza's dismissal, caught at slip off a Saeed Ajmal 'doosra', was the first of six wickets that fell for 94 runs before the close of play. Masakadza and Taylor came together after Zimbabwe lost their first two wickets for 31 runs.Tina Mawoyo was caught behind off Junaid Khan without scoring off the second ball of the match after Taylor won the toss and decided to bat. Vusi Sibanda battled to 14 off 44 balls before dragging an attempted pull against Rahat Ali onto his stumps.

Masakadza, who captained the team in the first Test when Taylor withdrew because of the birth of his first child, batted solidly as he reached a half-century off 98 balls, taking advantage of any loose deliveries to hit eight fours and a six.

Taylor, by contrast, looked out of touch early in his innings and was given a torrid time by left-arm pace bowler Junaid. He scored only seven runs as the partnership became worth 50 but he played with more fluency to contribute 32 of the next 50. He faced 128 balls and hit six fours.

Junaid was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers and was unlucky not to have a better return than his three for 55. Fellow left-arm opening bowler Rahat Ali took two for 48 and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman two for 37. One of Rehman's victims was Elton Chigumbura, who was bowled by a delivery which barely rose off the turf after hitting a crack.

Pakistan won the first Test by 221 runs. With the second and final match of the series being played at the same venue as part of a cost-cutting exercise by Zimbabwe Cricket, there was concern that pitch preparation might have been affected. There were only two non-playing days between Tests, and Taylor said at the toss that he did not want to bat last after having had a look at the pitch.

Smith and Steyn return for SA Test

Test skipper Graeme Smith, who has been missing in action since May 2013, will return to lead South Africa in the Test series against Pakistan in October in the United Arab Emirates. Smith, who had to undergo a surgery after suffering a recurrence of an ankle injury during his stint with Surrey, is expected to be fully fit in the next two weeks and CSA Selection Convener Andrew Hudson mentioned that his condition will be monitored closely.

"We should have a definite picture on the status of Graeme's recovery from surgery within the next two weeks," said Hudson. "We will obviously be monitoring Graeme's condition very carefully and do not want to overload him too much during the early stages of his return."

Meanwhile, Dale Steyn, who missed several of South Africa's ODI matches in the recent months including the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, has made a full recovery and has been included in the Proteas squad for the five ODIs against Pakistan which follows the two-Test series.

Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir have been named in both the squads while Wayne Parnell finds a place in the 15-man ODI squad. JP Duminy also returns to the Test team after being out of action for several months due to an Achilles tendon injury.

"Both Imran and Wayne had good tours to Sri Lanka in the T20 series while we want to give Vernon the chance to show us what he can do. He and Wayne are both good lower-order all-rounders and have the ability to contribute significantly in the batting department as well," Hudson said.

"We have retained the 15-man Test squad that has served us so well over the past couple of years. They have impressed not just with the results but with the depth in the squad and a notable feature has been the manner in which players have put up their hands when we have had the inevitable injuries," the former South Africa batsman added.

The first Test starts on October 14 in Abu Dhabi and the second and the final Test will be played at Dubai from October 23. The ODI series starts on October 30 and ends on November 11. Following this, South Africa will play two T20I games on November 13 and 15. Cricket South Africa announced that The T20I squad would be finalised after the Champions League tournament, that starts on September 17 and ends on October 6.

Test squad: Graeme Smith (Capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile

ODI squad: AB de Villiers (Capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe