ICC bans Salman Butt for 10, Mohamamd Asif for 7 & Mohammad Amir for 5 years

Doha: The verdict announced yesterday by the head of the independent tribunal Michael Beloff.

 

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ICC once again delayed the decision about Pakistani trio, Why?

Doha: The chairman of the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal Mr. Michael Beloff, QC, issued an statement to the media at the end of six day hearing of the Pakistani trio. As expected the decision is again postponed or can say delayed till February 05, 2011.

 

 

Lets start from the statement of Mr. Michael Beloff:

“The tribunal has been constituted to determine charges against Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif brought under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code in relation to two Test matches played during August 2010 in the series between Pakistan and England, The Oval Test and the Lord’s Test.

“For the purposes of the hearing, the tribunal has been provided with eight volumes of written evidence and legal materials.

“The hearing itself has lasted more than 45 hours spread over six days during which the tribunal has heard oral and written testimonies and tapes, watched video recordings and listened to forensic submissions.

“Counsel for all parties have acknowledged that they have had a fair opportunity to present their respective cases.

“The ICC has withdrawn all charges against the three players in relation to The Oval Test except for one against Mr Butt.

“The tribunal has formally acquitted the players in respect of the charges which have been withdrawn. The other charges which include all those relating to the Lord’s Test remain for consideration.

“The tribunal has throughout been very conscious of the importance of these proceedings to three players and to the wider world of cricket.

“Representations have been made to the tribunal to reserve any decision on the remaining charges until it has had sufficient time to give the issue the most careful consideration and until it is able, at the same time as handing down its decision, to provide written reasons. This was not feasible within the timetable agreed for this hearing in Doha.

“The tribunal has, therefore, determined to continue its deliberations and will hold a further hearing in Doha on 5 February 2011 at which its decisions will be handed down to the parties, and any consequential matters will be dealt with.

“Until that date, all the three players will remain suspended from all cricketing activities.”

Main points of the statement:

• The ICC has withdrawn all charges against the three players in relation to The Oval Test except for one against Mr Butt.
• The tribunal has formally acquitted the players in respect of the charges which have been withdrawn. The other charges which include all those relating to The Lord’s Test remain for consideration.
• Representations have been made to the tribunal to reserve any decision on the remaining charges until it has had sufficient time to give the issue the most careful consideration and until it is able, at the same time as handing down its decision, to provide written reasons.
• The tribunal has, therefore, determined to continue its deliberations and will hold a further hearing in Doha on 5 February 2011 at which its decisions will be handed down to the parties, and any consequential matters will be dealt with.
• Until that date, all the three players will remain suspended from all cricketing activities.

Now it means that ICC is also investigating the Oval Test (Aug 18-21, 2010) which was ended in a 4 wicket win for Pakistan. As the News Of The World also said that there was also a deal about the Oval Test but wasn’t completed. Salman Butt played a maiden over in that test which was so called predicted by Mazhar in front of the NOTW agent. That’s why Mr. Butt is also in involved in that case.

The cases against Mohammad Amir & Mohammad Asif about Oval Test are withdrawn by ICC.

The independent tribunal still need time to focus on the case. Now that is strange that everything is in front of them & they need time, the ICC Chief executive said early that the evidences are very strong. So can we say that after the hearing the evidences become week???

I agree with the one line of this statement that the lawyers of the Pakistani trio asked them to give written reasons, now these written reasons need 25 days???

And then he said this was impossible in the time frame agreed for the hearing in Doha. Then why they decided this time frame? May be to waste some more time…

Further he said that the tribunal will continue its deliberations. Again the same question, this all can be decided in 5-10 days as there are only three members.

So, on February 05, 2011, they will hold further hearing. What this mean? As the decision & the paper work will be completed before Feb. 05, they why hearing? He could say the results or just hearing. The use of ‘Further hearing’ confused the world of cricket.

In the end all these players will be suspended from all cricketing activities till the judgement date. Why cricketing activities? Now even they can’t play cricket in their house or with their friends & family members??? Are they proved guilty???

Main Reason:

In short, the complete statement of Mr. Beloff is the language of ICC. As we all know that what happened in between Asif & Butt in the hearing. The lawyer of M. Asif is the brother of British prime minister David Cameron who also know the chairman of the so called independent tribunal Beloff.

Asif cleared himself in front of the ICC that he bowled no-balls as according to the instructions of Butt (as he was captain) but he wasn’t aware of the plans of Butt. The evidences (videos) are showing truth.

Whereas Butt & Amir are standing on the point that they don’t know how the prediction of Mazhar came true. The case is now moving against Salman Butt.

This time frame (January 08, 2011 – February 04, 2011) will be used to judge the activities of Pakistani trio as the referee has rung the bell. !! Butt v Asif !!

Hope the trio will come out of this intelligent web, it is looking difficult after the proceedings. ICC is playing games, they are out of the team since August 2010 & ICC failed to decide anything in 5 months. The main purpose was to get rid of this trio as they were the shining stars of Pakistan Cricket Team.

Danger level of this trio:

Salman Butt: Maximum (99.9%)

Mohammad Asif: Below of the medium line (40%)

Mohammad Amir: Minimum (25%)

 

 

‎ICC Rules about fixing:

Failing to report an improper approach from a potential fixer: 6 month ban.
Minimum: 5 Year ban.
Maximum: Life time ban.

We have to wait for the upcoming days to get further updates as the bomb is about to blow.

1st Test: Die Hard performance of Pakistani team flushed Kiwis

Hamilton: Pakistan won the 1st test against New Zealand by 10 wickets. The test match with the flat pitch comes to an end on the ‘Dramatic Day’ (3rd Day). Pakistani team bowled out the New Zealand team in a session (3rd Session).

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The toss on the 1st day was not so important in the eyes of cricket analysts but in the end it proved that how important it was for Pakistan. On the 1st day, captain of Pakistan Cricket Team ; Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss & elected to field. It was very strange decision as the pitch was flat & it was good for batting.

 

Day 1:

According to the decision of Pakistani captain, Pakistani team came into the ground to bowl out the Kiwi’s batsmen. Tim McIntosh & Brendon McCullum were the opening batsmen from the New Zealand side.

The first wicket went down at the score of 9 in 2nd over when McIntosh got out. It was the 1st wicket for Tanvir Ahmed.

After that Brendon McCullum & Martin Guptill started playing beautiful shots. The Brendon McCullum wasn’t given out by the umpire Rod Tucker who was umpiring in his 9th match.

The dangerous man McCullum went out after scoring 56 runs. After that wickets started falling.

The key man for Pakistan was Abdur Rehman who was threatening Kiwis batsmen. The decision of the Pakistani captain was looking great as 7 wickets of New Zealand were down at the score of 177 in 64.5 overs.

Then the young batsman Williamson started building partnership with new batsman Tim Southee. It was shocking moment for Pakistan as the lower order was hammering them. Younis Khan got a difficult opportunity but failed to catch Kane Williamson after the ball deflected off Adnan Akmal’s gloves.

At the end of the day, the score of New Zealand was looking good then it was. Still 3 wickets were behind & Williamson & Southee were on 44 & 56 respectively. The score was 260/7 in 90.0 overs.

 

 

2nd Day:

On the 2nd Day, Pakistani bowlers were looking fit & the New Zealand batsmen were looking to score more runs. But in the play of just 7.5 overs, the complete New Zealand team got out with an addition of 15 runs. Williamson got 2nd Fifty of his career.

When Pakistani team came out for batting, they were thinking of setting big target. They received a shock when Mohammad Hafeez got out in the 1st over. Then Taufeeq Umar & Azhar Ali tried to build a partnership.

On the score of 72, Azhar Ali got out at the ball of Martin. In the addition of 35 runs, Pakistan lost its two more wickets. Now the Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq was on the crease with unexperienced Asad Shafiq. Both tried to play a sensible innings.

The captain of New Zealand team, Daniel Vettori wasn’t looking good but he bowled his overs. The solid rocks (Misbah-ul-Haq & Asad Shafiq) were annoying Black Caps.

Before the end of play, Asad Shafiq completed his 2nd Fifty. Then Misbah-ul-Haq started playing aggressively against Kiwi’s bowlers. He played two beautiful sweep shots to complete his Fifty.

At the end of the day, Pakistan was on 235 with the loss of 4 wickets in 80 overs. Asad Shafiq was on 74 & Misbah-ul-Haq was on 50.

 

 

Day 3:

On 3rd day, both sides were looking confident. After the addition of 21 runs, well settled Asad Shafiq & Misbah-ul-Haq got out. The the new branch of Akmals, Adnan Akmal started building partnership with Abdur Rehman. All the frustration was for New Zealand. Both were hitting all around the ground.

At the score of 332, Pakistan again lost well settled Adnan Akmal & Abdur Rehman.Then Umar Gul & Tanvir Ahmed came in to keep the scoreboard ticking. Both played aggressively.

At the score of 367, all 10 wickets of Pakistan were down but all of them played well. New Zealand was not expecting this sort of performance from the lower order of Pakistan. New Zealand was trail by 92 runs.

The lead of 92 runs taken by Pakistan build pressure on the Kiwi’s batsmen. The opening wasn’t good enough for New Zealand as the 1st wicket went down at the score of 36 runs. The McCullum was given out by the umpire which wasn’t out.

After that wickets kept falling. The key bowlers for Pakistan were Wahab Riaz & Abdur Rehman. On one side New Zealand batsmen were facing spin & on the other hand they were facing high quality of fast bowling with great pace over 140km/h.

With this mixture of bowling & great traps, Kiwi batsmen failed to survive. Wahab Riaz for the first time bowled a spell of 11 overs with a great pace. Then Pakistani captain appointed Umar Gul to get rid of the tail & the plan again worked.

Chris Martin who was playing his 60th test succeeded in scoring century of his runs in test career.

The complete New Zealand team was bowled out at the score of 110 runs in a session (3rd session). Brendon McCullum was the man with the highest score of 35. Pakistan was just 19 runs behind the victory.

Taufeeq Umar & Mohammad Hafeez came in to score the winning runs for Pakistan. Both played nice & beautiful shots. At the 3rd ball of the 4th over, Taufeeq Umar got a thick inside edge at the ball of Southee which was comfortably taken by Young but umpire Daryl Harper refused to shook his finger up.

At the very next ball, Taufeeq Umar played a beautiful straight drive & scored the winning runs. It was a very wonderful moment for Pakistan.

The match was over on the 3rd Day. Everyone was saluting the Pakistan Cricket Team.

 

 

 

Result: Pakistan won by 10 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Abdur Rehman (Pakistan) {6 wickets in a match}

 

 

 

Difference between Pakistan Cricket Team & New Zealand Cricket Team:

Pakistan Cricket Team:

• Won the toss & chose the right decision.
• Tight Bowling.
• Great Batting.
• Sharp Fielding.
• Played the game according to their plan.
• Mentally prepared.

 

New Zealand Cricket Team:

• Lost the toss.
• Batsmen failed to stand on the crease & poor selection of shots.
• Bowlers failed to stop the flow of runs & to put pressure on the opposition batsmen.
• Played the game without any proper plan.
• Mentally not prepared.

 

 

Hope New Zealand will figure out their problems & will bounce back. Pakistani eyes are now on the series win as this will be the 1st series win after the 2006/2007 test series win against West Indies. So, All the Best to Pakistan.

3rd T20I: Dashing performance of Abdul Razzaq hammered Kiwis

Christchurch: Pakistan won the 3rd T20I against New Zealand by 103 runs. Black Caps failed to maintain their winning streak. Pakistan was best in every department.

 

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3rd T20I: New Zealand v Pakistan

Location: AMI Stadium, Christchurch – New Zealand

Date & Day: December 30, 2010 ; Thursday

 

Toss: Pakistan won the toss & elected to bat.

 

Pakistan Innings:

Today Ahmed Shehzad & Mohammad Hafeez were the opener from the Pakistani side. They started playing pretty well.

On one end Ahmed Shehzad was playing superb shots & on the other end M. Hafeez was playing timing shots. Kiwis bowlers were looking frustrated. They were trying their best.

It was great time when both batsmen made 50 runs partnership. In the 9th over, Pakistan got a blow when well settled batman M. Hafeez tried to lift the full & wide delivery over the infield & found the Kiwi’s skipper Taylor, who, in the end succeeded in taking the catch by one hand. He scored 34 runs on 23 balls with the help of 5 FOURS & 1 SIX. The score of Pakistan was 81/1.

The next man was Asad Shafiq from Pakistan. He tried to help Ahmed Shehzad but Shehzad got lbw out at 2nd ball of the 10th over. It was the 2nd wicket for Franklin. Ahmed scored precious 54 runs off 34 balls with 10 magnificent FOURS.

Then experienced batsman Younis Khan came in to assist Asad Shafiq but got run-out in the 13th over.

Junior Akmal was the new batsman. In the next over, Asad Shafiq tried to smash the ball out of the park but failed & caught out. He scored just 8 runs of 15 balls.

B00M B00M Afridi came in & tried to life-up the Pakistani innings. On the other hand, Umar Akmal was trying his best.

Shahid Khan Afidi got clean bowled by Southee at the full toss ball. He scored 14 runs of 9 balls with 1 FOUR & 1 SIX. Pakistani fans were disappointed. The score of Pakistan was 136/5 in 17.0 overs.

The Lion of Pakistan Cricket ‘Abdul Razzaq’ came in. The eyes of the Pakistani spectators were on him as he was the last hope of Pakistan.

In the 19th over, Abdul Razzaq played a shot but got a top edge, it straight went up in the sky & then Nathan McCullum caught it for a while but suddenly he dropped it.

Kiwis were looking not happy because of this catch drop by McCullum.  Abdul Razzaq smashed the very next ball out of the park & it was SIX. The next was a slow one from Southee which was missed by the lion. At the last ball of the over Abdul Razzaq again scored a SIX & it was huge.

Then Umar Akmal got out at the first ball of 20th over. He played a sensible innings of 30 runs off 19 balls with the help of 3 FOURS & 1 SIX. Wahab Riaz took the guard & came into the ground to assist Abdul Razzaq.

In the 20th over, Abdul Razzaq smashed the 2nd ball for FOUR, 3rd ball for SIX, 4th ball for FOUR, 5th ball for FOUR & the last ball for a single.

At the end Pakistan succeeded in scoring 183/6 in 20.0 overs. Abdul Razzaq & Wahab Riaz remained not-out. Abdul Razzaq scored 34 runs off just 11 balls with 3 well struck FOURS & 3 massive SIXES. 4 runs were given extra by Kiwis.

 

 

Scorecard of Pakistanis’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————-R—-M—B—4s-6s–SR——-

Ahmed Shehzad	lbw b Franklin	54	42	34	10	0	158.82
Mohammad Hafeez	c Taylor b Franklin	34	36	23	5	1	147.82
Asad Shafiq	c Mills b McCullum	8	20	15	0	0	53.33
Younis Khan	run out (McCullum)	5	11	9	0	0	55.55
Umar Akmal†	c Brownlie b Milne	30	27	19	3	1	157.89
Shahid Afridi*	b Southee	14	13	9	1	1	155.55
Abdul Razzaq	not out	34	14	11	3	3	309.09
Wahab Riaz	not out	0	3	0	0	0	–
Extras	(b 1, w 3)	4
Total	(6 wickets; 20 overs; 84 mins)	183	(9.15 runs per over)

Did not bat:Tanvir Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman

Fall of wickets: 1-81 (Mohammad Hafeez, 8.4 ov), 2-90 (Ahmed Shehzad, 10.2 ov), 3-100 (Younis Khan, 12.6 ov),4-106 (Asad Shafiq, 13.5 ov), 5-136 (Shahid Afridi, 16.6 ov), 6-164 (Umar Akmal, 19.1 ov)

 

Bowling:

——Bowlers——O–M–R–W–Econ————-

	AF Milne	4	0	48	1	12.00	(2w)
	KD Mills	4	0	36	0	9.00
	TG Southee	4	0	53	1	13.25
	NL McCullum	4	0	29	1	7.25
	JEC Franklin	3	0	12	2	4.00
	SB Styris	1	0	4	0	4.00

 

New Zealand Innings:

Ryder & Guptill were the openers from New Zealand. Abdul Razzaq got the wicket of Guptill at the 4th ball of the 1st over. It was a beautiful start by Pakistan as the head of the Kiwi’s Innings was no more there. At the end of the over, the score of New Zealand was 1/1.

As Shoaib Akhtar & Umar Gul were replaced by Tanvir Ahmed & Abdur Rehman. Tanvir was given 2nd over to bowl & he got the wicket of Ryder at the 3rd ball of his over. He was very happy. Ryder was the 2nd batsmen went for a duck after Guptill. The new man Brownlie tried to took single at the last ball of the over but credit goes to B00M B00M, he threw the ball at the stumps in no time. Brownlie was given out. At the end of the over, the score of New Zealand was 2/3.

The next over was again of Abdul Razzaq. At the 5th ball, the skipper of New Zealand Ross Taylor got a blow on his pad which was given out by the umpire. The Hawk-Eye suggested that it wasn’t threating the stumps but the call was made.  At the end of the over, the score of New Zealand was 3/4.

The new batsmen Franklin & Styris were on the crease. They tried to build a partnership but Franklin was clean bowled by Abdul Razzaq. At the end of the 5th over, the score of New Zealand was 11/5.

McGalshan came in to assist Styris. Both were going good but Abdur Rehman clean bowled McGalshan in the 9th over. New Zealand was in very big trouble.

Then Nathan McCullum took guard & came in but failed to resist in front of Pakistani bowlers & this time the wicket was for B00M B00M. At the end of 12th over, the score of New Zealand was 7/58.

In the 14th over, Afridi was again on the move, he clean bowled Styris who was struggling alone. Scott Styris scored 45 runs off 34 balls with the help of 6 FOURS & 1 SIX.

At the next ball, Southee also got clean bowled by Afridi. It was the quickest ball delivered by Afridi (134 km/h). The next ball was hatrick ball but Milne was some how survived. At the end of the over, the score of New Zealand was 73/9.

In the 16th over which was of Afridi, Mills tried to play some kind of shot but got clean bowled because of the googly of Afridi.

B00M B00M got 4 wickets in the match & also becomes the 1st bowler in T20I to get 50 wickets.

In the end, New Zealand scored just 80 runs off 15.5 overs with a huge loss of 10 wickets.

 

 

Scorecard of New Zealand’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————R—-M—B–4s-6s–SR——

JD Ryder	c Ahmed Shehzad b Tanvir Ahmed	0	6	5	0	0	0.00
MJ Guptill	c Ahmed Shehzad b Abdul Razzaq	0	2	2	0	0	0.00
DG Brownlie	run out (Shahid Afridi)	0	6	5	0	0	0.00
LRPL Taylor*	lbw b Abdul Razzaq	0	6	3	0	0	0.00
JEC Franklin	b Abdul Razzaq	3	13	8	0	0	37.50
SB Styris	b Shahid Afridi	45	48	34	6	1	132.35
PD McGlashan†	b Abdur Rehman	7	17	13	1	0	53.84
NL McCullum	lbw b Shahid Afridi	8	13	10	1	0	80.00
KD Mills	b Shahid Afridi	7	14	9	1	0	77.77
TG Southee	b Shahid Afridi	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
AF Milne	not out	3	5	7	0	0	42.85
Extras	(lb 3, w 2, nb 2)	7
Total	(all out; 15.5 overs; 70 mins)	80	(5.05 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Guptill, 0.4 ov), 2-2 (Ryder, 1.3 ov), 3-2 (Brownlie, 1.6 ov), 4-3 (Taylor, 2.5 ov), 5-11 (Franklin, 4.4 ov),6-36 (McGlashan, 8.4 ov), 7-58 (McCullum, 11.6 ov), 8-73 (Styris, 13.4 ov), 9-73 (Southee, 13.5 ov), 10-80 (Mills, 15.5 ov)

 

Bowling:

——-Bowlers———O—M—R–W-Econ———————

	Abdul Razzaq	4	1	13	3	3.25
	Tanvir Ahmed	3	0	13	1	4.33	(1nb, 2w)
	Wahab Riaz	2	0	15	0	7.50	(1nb)
	Abdur Rehman	4	0	22	1	5.50
	Shahid Afridi	2.5	0	14	4	4.94

 

Result: Pakistan won by 103 runs.

Man Of The Match: Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan).

 

 

Note: For watching the highlights of the match, please click here.

 

Winner of the Series: New Zealand won the series by 2 – 1.

The Test series between New Zealand & Pakistan will start from January 7, 2011. The 1st Test will be played at Seddon Park, Hamilton – New Zealand & will start at 22:00 (GMT) {previous day}, 11:00 (local).

4th Test: England retains the Ashes after thrashing Australia in Boxing Day Test

Melbourne: England won the 4th test of the ‘Ashes 2010/2011’ against Australia by an innings & 157 runs. The batting & bowling line-up of Australia again collapsed.

 

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The toss is the main factor behind the victory of England. The pitch of the MCG provided a great support to the bowlers & batsmen. People all around the world enjoyed this test & want more tests like this one. Let’s have a brief view of the ‘Boxing Day Test’.

 

 

Day 1:

On the very first day, English captain Andrew Strauss won the toss & elected to field. The decision of the English captain proved right when the top three batsmen of the Australian team got out in the first 15 overs of the game. Even the Aussies captain Ricky Ponting failed to resist in front of English seamers.

The complete Australian team got out in just 42.5 overs & scored a trash of 98 runs. English fast bowlers were the shining stars. Anderson & Tremlett took 4 – 4 wickets while Bresnen took 2 wickets.

The openers of England Cricket Team, Strauss & Cook played an intelligent innings till the end of the day & scored 157 runs without any loss. The English fans were pretty happy with this performance.

 

 

2nd Day:

On the 2nd day, Strauss & Cook got out before the drink of the 1st session & scored 69 & 82 runs respectively. Both wickets were taken by the Australian seamer Siddle.

In the 84th over, Harris bowled a beautiful ball to Pietersen & it missed the bat. The Haddin appealed for a nick but Pietersen was given not-out by Pakistani Umpire Aleem Dar. Australian captain Ricky Ponting asked for a review. The Hot Spot showed nothing & in the end the decision remained the same. On this, Ricky Ponting got furious & argued with the umpire Aleem Dar. Dar explained Ponting that the ball missed the bat but Ponting refused to agree with him.

In the 100th over, Johnson bowled a beautiful ball on which Prior got a thick edge & was caught by Haddin. Prior was given out but suddenly Aleem Dar asked him to wait for a minute because he thought it could be a no ball. He asked the 3rd umpire for finding about the delivery, whether  it is a legal or illegal delivery. In the end it was an illegal delivery & Prior was given out. It was a devastating moment for Australia.

 

 

At the end of the day, the score of England was 444 & their 5 wickets were down. Australians were not looking good because of having bad day. Ponting was fined 40% of the match fee because of the incident occurred with Aleem Dar.

 

 

3rd Day:

On the 3rd day, the complete English team was bowled out at the 513. Trott remained not-out with a score of 168 runs. The Australians were trail by 415 runs & 2 complete days were left behind.

This time the start of the Australian innings was good, the first wicket went down on the score of 53 & the second on 99. After it the remaining stories of Australian building started collapsing so fast that it was looking impossible to stop.

At the end of the day, 6 wickets of Australia were down & only Haddin was the professorial batsman on the crease. The score was 169 & still 246 runs were behind.

 

 

4th Day:

On the 4th day, English players were looking very happy because they knew that the match will over today with their victory.

Australia again started their innings but the wickets kept falling down after short intervals. In the play of just 20 overs, the remaining batsmen of Australian team were bowled out by English bowlers. Harris didn’t play because of injury & Haddin remained not-out with a top score of 55.

 

 

Celebrations by Champions:

This was the time for the celebration of England, its fans & Barmy Army. The headline running on every channel was “England won the MCG Test by an innings & 157 runs”. English Cricket Team also performed ‘Sprinkler Dance’ at their victory. English fans were delighted by the performance of their team. In short, a brilliant performance by England Cricket Team in every field.

 

 

Australian Cricket Team loses the match because of its own faults:

• Poor Captaincy.
• Poor Attitude.
• Poor Batting/Bowling/Fielding.
• Poor Selection.

Hope Australia will figure out the problems & will draw the series. English eyes are now on the ‘series win’ as they have retained the ‘Ashes’.

 

 

Best Umpire:

In the end, Hats off for ICC’s ‘Umpire of the Year 2009/2010’ Mr. Aleem Dar, he proved “Humans are significant than Machines”.

 

2nd T20I: Kiwi’s & Umar’s destroyed Pakistan

Hamilton: New Zealand won the 2nd T20I against Pakistan by 39 runs. Pakistan failed in every department in front of New Zealand. Nathan McCullum took 4 wickets for 16 runs in 4.0 overs.

 

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2nd T20I: New Zealand v Pakistan

Location: Seddon Park, Hamilton – New Zealand

Date & Day: December 28, 2010 ; Tuesday

 

Toss: Pakistan won the toss & elected to field.

 

New Zealand Innings:

Ryder & Guptill were the openers from the New Zealand side. The conditions were overcast & there was big responsibility on there shoulders.

Abdul Razzaq was the bowler from Pakistan. The very first ball he bowled was down the leg side; instead of leaving it, Ryder tried to pull it towards leg side but he got a sharp nick from the bat which was easily taken by Junior Akmal.

It was a very big moment for Pakistan. The score of Kiwi’s was nil. At the end of the first over the score was 1/1.

Next over was given to Shoaib Akhtar, he bowled some beautiful deliveries. In the 3rd over of the match which was given to Abdul Razzaq, Guptill smashed a massive SIX & a FOUR. The last ball of the over went to the boundary after hitting the pads of Guptill.

In the next over, Guptill again struck a huge SIX to Shoaib Akhtar. At the end of the 4th over the score of New Zealand was 34/1.

Guptill & Franklin were going very good but at the 2nd ball of 12th over, Saeed Ajmal took the wicket of the Mr. Hitler (Guptill). Guptill scored 44 runs off 28 balls with 3 FOURS & 3 SIXES.

Next man in was the skipper Ross Taylor. But in the next over of B00M B00M, Franklin got out. He scored 40 runs off 43 balls with 2 FOURS & 1 SIX.

Scott Styris took the guard & went into the ground to make a good partnership with the captain. In the 15th over of Umar Gul, he smashed 2 FOURS & 1 SIX. Next over was of Shoaib Akhtar but this over was like a hell for Pakistan. Styris scored two huge SIXES at the first two balls of the over, the third ball went to FOUR. This was very anxious moment for the Rawalpindi Express. Then he bowled a slower short ball to Styris & got his precious wicket after a huge loss.

It was like the presents of Christmas falling from the sky for ‘Black Caps’.

McGalshan came in to assist his captain. At that time the score of New Zealand was 133/4 in 15.4 overs. On the other hand, Taylor was taking singles & doubles.

The 18th over of the match was given to Umar Gul. McGalshan was on strike, the first three balls of the over went for FOUR, then the 4th & 5th ball went for a beautiful six. It was the very bad time for Pakistan. This over of Umar Gul cost 25 runs to Pakistan. Umar Gul’s over was like “Hell in a Cell” for Pakistan.

The 19th over was given to Wahab Riaz & at the 3rd ball of the over, Wahab bowled a beautiful delivery at the middle stump, in reply McGalshan tried to play a cross shot but failed & that’s how he was given lbw out. He played an innings of 26 runs on just 10 balls with the help of 3 FOURS & 2 SIXES.

In the last over of the New Zealand innings, Taylor scored a beautiful SIX at the first ball. At the 3rd ball, Nathan McCullum got out & the last ball of the over, Mills also got out. This was a great over by Saeed Ajmal. Ajmal took 3 wickets for 35 runs in 4.0 overs.

New Zealand sums up its innings after scoring 185 runs in 20.0 overs with a loss of 7 wickets. 10 runs were given extra by Pakistani bowlers.

Umar Gul’s over was like “Hell in a Cell” for Pakistan.

 

 

Scorecard of New Zealand’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————R—–M—B–4s-6s–SR——-

JD Ryder	c †Umar Akmal b Abdul Razzaq	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
MJ Guptill	c Shahid Afridi b Saeed Ajmal	44	50	28	3	3	157.14
JEC Franklin	c †Umar Akmal b Shahid Afridi	40	52	43	2	1	93.02
LRPL Taylor*	not out	30	40	21	1	2	142.85
SB Styris	c Ahmed Shehzad b Shoaib Akhtar	34	14	14	3	3	242.85
PD McGlashan†	lbw b Wahab Riaz	26	13	10	3	2	260.00
NL McCullum	c Asad Shafiq b Saeed Ajmal	1	5	3	0	0	33.33
KD Mills	st †Umar Akmal b Saeed Ajmal	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
Extras	(b 1, lb 4, w 4, nb 1)	10
Total	(7 wickets; 20 overs; 91 mins)	185	(9.25 runs per over)

Did not bat:LJ Woodcock, IG Butler, TG Southee

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Ryder, 0.1 ov), 2-91 (Guptill, 11.2 ov), 3-94 (Franklin, 12.1 ov), 4-133 (Styris, 15.4 ov),5-175 (McGlashan, 18.3 ov), 6-184 (McCullum, 19.3 ov), 7-185 (Mills, 19.6 ov)

 

Bowling:

——-Bowlers——O–M—R–W-Econ———————

	Abdul Razzaq	2	0	12	1	6.00
	Shoaib Akhtar	4	0	42	1	10.50	(1nb, 1w)
	Umar Gul	3	0	47	0	15.66
	Wahab Riaz	3	0	22	1	7.33	(3w)
	Shahid Afridi	4	0	22	1	5.50
	Saeed Ajmal	4	0	35	3	8.75

 

Pakistan Innings:

Mohammad Hafeez & B00M B00M Afridi were the openers from Pakistan. The first over of Franklin ended at the score of  10 including a SIX & FOUR by M. Hafeez.

In the next over of Mills, M. Hafeez again scored a SIX & took a single at the 4th ball. At the 5th ball of the over, Afridi smashed a massive SIX but at the 6th ball, Afridi got clean bowled at the full-toss ball of Mills.

The score of Pakistan was 24/1 in 2.0 overs. Ahmed Shehzad came in. Both M. Hafeez & A. Shehzad started building a partnership.

At the last ball of 8th over, Ahmed Shehzad left M. Hafeez alone on the crease after getting out at the ball of Butler. The next man was Umar Akmal. M. Hafeez; who was playing a sensible innings got run-out after getting trapped in the cabal of Umar Akmal. He scored 46 runs of 30 balls with 5 FOURS & 2 SIXES.

Younis Khan, the experienced bone of Pakistani batting line-up came into the ground but after scoring 3 runs of 4 balls went back to the pavilion. At that time the score of Pakistan was 76/4 in 10.0 overs.

Asad Shafiq came in to assist Umar Akmal. Umar Akmal was trying to lift up the heavy body of Pakistan but no one was helping him. In the 14th over, Asad Shafiq also left the ground after scoring just 6 runs of 11 balls. The score of Pakistan was 96/5 in 13.1 overs.

M. Hafeez; who was playing a sensible innings got run-out after getting trapped in the cabal of Umar Akmal.

The last hope of Pakistan, Lion of Pakistan; Abdul Razzaq came in. On the other side, Junior Akmal was struggling. At the 2nd ball of 15th over, Abdul Razzaq hammered the short ball of Butler & scored a SIX. Everyone was happy that Abdul Razzaq will lead the sinking ship of Pakistan towards the victory point.

In the 16th over, Abdul Razzaq again smashed a stunning SIX at the 2nd ball. The Pakistani spectators in the ground were looking very happy. At the very next ball of McCullum, Abdul Razzaq tried to cut & got a thick edge which was caught by the Kiwi’s wicketkeeper McGlashan. He scored 14 runs of 9 balls with 2 SIXES.

At the next ball of McCullum, Umar Gul also went out. It was like the presents of Christmas falling from the sky for ‘Black Caps’. The score of Pakistan was 114/7 in 15.4 overs.

Umar Akmal was about to play the hatrick ball of McCullum but he prevented to play a shot on it. Wahab Riaz was on the other side. Wahab smashed a beautiful SIX at the low full toss ball in 19th over.

After getting tired, Junior Akmal played the shot at the 2nd ball of the last over towards the fielder at the deep & caught out. He scored 26 runs off just 32 balls with the help of 1 SIX.

At the very next ball, Wahab Riaz again tried to hammer it but caught out at long-on by McCullum. He scored 18 runs on 17 balls with the help of 1 FOUR & 1 SIX.

It was the hatrick ball for Southee again, Shoaib Akhtar was the batsman. The ball struck on the pads but was going down. At the 5th ball of the last over, Shoaib Akhtar got a thick outside edge on a full inswinging full toss delivery of Southee which went towards the boundary behind the keeper.

In the end, Pakistan scored 146 runs in 20.0 overs after loosing 9 wickets. 6 runs were counted as extras from New Zealand bowlers.

 

 

Scorecard of Pakistanis’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————-R—-M—B—4s-6s–SR——

Mohammad Hafeez	run out (Guptill/†McGlashan)	46	36	30	5	2	153.33
Shahid Afridi*	b Mills	7	7	4	0	1	175.00
Ahmed Shehzad	c Styris b Butler	15	26	14	2	0	107.14
Umar Akmal†	c McCullum b Southee	26	44	32	0	1	81.25
Younis Khan	c †McGlashan b McCullum	3	5	4	0	0	75.00
Asad Shafiq	b McCullum	6	8	11	0	0	54.54
Abdul Razzaq	c †McGlashan b McCullum	14	9	8	0	2	175.00
Umar Gul	c Guptill b McCullum	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
Wahab Riaz	c McCullum b Southee	18	17	13	1	1	138.46
Shoaib Akhtar	not out	5	4	3	1	0	166.66
Saeed Ajmal	not out	0	2	0	0	0	–
Extras	(lb 5, w 1)	6
Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs; 84 mins)	146	(7.30 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Shahid Afridi, 1.6 ov), 2-68 (Ahmed Shehzad, 7.6 ov), 3-69 (Mohammad Hafeez, 8.1 ov),4-76 (Younis Khan, 9.6 ov), 5-96 (Asad Shafiq, 13.1 ov), 6-114 (Abdul Razzaq, 15.3 ov), 7-114 (Umar Gul, 15.4 ov),8-141 (Umar Akmal, 19.2 ov), 9-141 (Wahab Riaz, 19.3 ov)

 

Bowling:

——Bowlers——O—M–R–W–Econ————–

	JEC Franklin	1	0	10	0	10.00
	KD Mills	3	0	34	1	11.33	(1w)
	TG Southee	4	0	26	2	6.50
	IG Butler	4	0	35	1	8.75
	LJ Woodcock	4	0	20	0	5.00
	NL McCullum	4	0	16	4	4.00

 

Result: New Zealand won by 39 runs.

Man Of The Match: Nathan McCullum (New Zealand).

 

 

New Zealand already won the series but they still have to play the last & 3rd T20I which is scheduled on December 30, 2010 at AMI Stadium, Christchurch – New Zealand & will start at 06:00 (GMT), 19:00 (local).

1st T2OI: Southee Hatrick & Disgusting Umpiring destroyed Pakistan

Auckland: New Zealand won the 1st T20I against Pakistan by 5 wickets. Tim Southee got his T20I career best 5 wickets with gifted hatrick for 18 runs in 4.0 overs.

 

1st T20I: New Zealand v Pakistan

Location: Eden Park, Auckland – New Zealand

Date & Day: December 26, 2010 ; Sunday

 

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Toss: New Zealand won the toss & elected to field.

 

Pakistan Innings:

M. Hafeez & Shahid Khan Afridi were the openers from the Pakistan’s side. Both players were hitting huge hits. Mr. B00M B00M smashed too huge sixes.

At the last ball of the 4th over, Mills bowled a ball of extra bounce in result Afridi tried to play a pull short but it was short enough to carry an edge. Southee was the man who caught the catch. At this time the score was 37/1 in 4.0 overs. B00M B00M scored 20 runs off 12 balls with 1 four & 2 beautiful sixes.

Ahmed Shehzad, the young talented batsman took the guard & entered into the ground. He played some beautiful shots including a terrific six but got out at the ball of the 6th over. Ahmed scored 14 runs off 7 balls with the help of 2 fours & 1 six.

Next man was the experienced & victorious captain of T20I World Cup 2009 ‘Younis Khan’ but here he failed to execute his experience & got out at the ball of Southee. He scored 2 runs off 5 balls. At this time the score of Pakistan was 62/3 in 7.2 overs.

At the very next ball, the well settled batsman M. Hafeez also got out. He scored 24 runs off 21 balls with 4 fours.

Another young batsman Umar Akmal came in but what!!! Umpire gave him out….Hatrick for Tim Southee. Umar could not believe what happened with him. The replay also showed that there was a clear inside edge on the pads with a great voice. But the debut & biased umpire from New Zealand gave him lbw out.

The sudden collapse threatened the position of Pakistan. Southee was very happy but Pakistani players & fans were really angry because of this decision. The score of Pakistan was 62/5 in 7.4 overs.

The two new batsmen were on the pitch, Fawad Alam & Abdul Razzaq. They were showing some calmness. But in the next over of Southee, Abdul Razzaq caught behind the stumps. It was the 5th wicket for Southee. The score was 68/6 in 9.2 overs.

Then Umar Gul came in to assist Fawad Alam. Both were trying hard to build up the Pakistan innings again but a bad choice of shot led Fawad Alam towards pavilion. Pakistan was going down, the score was 84/7 in 12.1 overs.

Still 7 overs were behind. Then Wahab Raiz entered into the ground. Both players showed activeness & steadiness. Umar Gul hit some fabulous boundaries but in the 18th over, Gul got a blow on his pad & it was given out. The score was now above hundred, it was 110/8 in 17.1 overs.

The next man was Saeed Ajmal. At the last ball of the same over, again umpire on debut gave him caught behind out at the ball of Mills which was totally wrong. It could be lbw out because it was hit on the pad & after seeing on screen, he gave him lbw out but also it wasn’t sure.

Now the last man of the Pakistan’s side was Shoaib Akhtar & the talented young fast bowler from New Zealand was Milne; who was playing his debut. Akhtar survived several time in his over but when Akhtar got angry of short balls, he smashed one of the ball out of the ground & it was six.

Wahab Riaz on the other hand was trying hard to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the last two overs, he was on fire. He scored 30 runs off 21 balls with 2 fours & 2 shining sixes. Shoaib Akhtar also got 8 runs from 4 balls with 1 huge six. Both remained not-out.

In the end, Pakistan succeeded in scoring 143 runs of 20.0 overs with the loss of 9 wickets. The tail enders scored half of the score, as 4 runs were given extra by the Kiwis.

 

 

Scorecard of Pakistanis’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————-R—-M—B—4s-6s–SR——

Mohammad Hafeez	c †McGlashan b Southee	24	35	21	4	0	114.28
Shahid Afridi*	c Southee b Mills	20	17	12	1	2	166.66
Ahmed Shehzad	c †McGlashan b Southee	14	9	7	2	1	200.00
Younis Khan	c Brownlie b Southee	2	5	5	0	0	40.00
Umar Akmal†	lbw b Southee	0	23	1	0	0	0.00
Fawad Alam	c Franklin b Styris	9	1	11	1	0	81.81
Abdul Razzaq	c †McGlashan b Southee	1	6	5	0	0	20.00
Umar Gul	lbw b Mills	30	31	31	3	1	96.77
Wahab Riaz	not out	30	30	21	2	2	142.85
Saeed Ajmal	lbw b Mills	1	3	2	0	0	50.00
Shoaib Akhtar	not out	8	7	4	0	1	200.00
Extras	(lb 1, w 3)	4
Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs; 88 mins)	143	(7.15 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Shahid Afridi, 3.6 ov), 2-58 (Ahmed Shehzad, 5.6 ov), 3-62 (Younis Khan, 7.2 ov),4-62 (Mohammad Hafeez, 7.3 ov), 5-62 (Umar Akmal, 7.4 ov), 6-68 (Abdul Razzaq, 9.2 ov), 7-84 (Fawad Alam, 12.1 ov),8-110 (Umar Gul, 17.1 ov), 9-112 (Saeed Ajmal, 17.6 ov)

 

Bowling:

——Bowlers—–O—M–R–W–Econ————–

	JEC Franklin	2	0	12	0	6.00	(1w)
	KD Mills	4	0	37	3	9.25
	AF Milne	4	0	46	0	11.50
	TG Southee	4	1	18	5	4.50	(1w)
	SB Styris	4	0	18	1	4.50	(1w)
	NL McCullum	2	0	11	0	5.50

 

New Zealand Innings:

The well known Ryder & Guptill were the openers from the New Zealand. Abdul Razzaq was the bowler from Pakistan. At the 3rd ball of Abdul Razzaq, Guptill scored a four, at the 4th ball, he scored a six & at the 5th ball he again scored a four. It was the poor show of bowling by Pakistan.

Both batsman were playing great. At the last ball of the 2nd over, Shoaib Akhtar got the wicket of Ryder. It was a brilliant catch by Younis Khan. The score was 27/1 in 1.6 overs.

Brownlie was the next man from New Zealand; who was on his debut, can’t make more then 5 runs & got out at the ball of Shoaib Akhtar. The score of New Zealand was 45/2 in 3.3 overs.

Scott Styris came in. He stroke a massive six. But then got clean bowled at the ball of Akhtar. He scored just 7 runs on 8 balls.

Captain Taylor came in & started building a good partnership with Guptill. Both played some beautiful shots. Guptill got his fifty in no time.

In the 10th over, M. Hafeez with Umar Akmal done some extra-ordinary work & succeeded in cleaning Guptill. He was run-out at the score of 91/4 in 9.4 overs. He scored 54 runs off just 29 runs with 4 fours & 4 stunning sixes.

At the very next ball of Mr. B00M B00M, Junior Akmal produced some dashing talent & stumped Franklin. Umar Akmal called for a appeal & it was handed over to the 3rd umpire. Clips were showing that the feet of the Franklin was on the line & the bails were off, even commentators & spectators were saying that ‘he is out’. But the 3rd umpire given him Not-Out which was unbelievable & wrong decision. Umar Akmal was looking frustrated.

In the 15th over of the professor M. Hafeez, Franklin got a stretched ball on his pad & after loud appeal it was given lbw out. At this time the score was 115/5 in 14.4 overs.

From there, Ryder & new batsman McGlashan started building a solid partnership. Captain of Kiwis Ross Taylor was on fire. In the 16th over, he screwed Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar & in the 17th over, he destroyed Professor M. Hafeez.

Taylor scored 39 runs off 31 balls with 2 fours & 3 sixes. McGlashan scored 5 runs off 8 balls with 1 four. Both remained not-out.

New Zealand succeeded in chasing the target & scored 146/5 in 17.1 overs. 11 runs were given extra by the Pakistani bowlers.

 

 

Scorecard of New Zealand’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ————————————————————————————————R—–M—B–4s-6s–SR——-

JD Ryder	c Younis Khan b Shoaib Akhtar	6	9	5	1	0	120.00
MJ Guptill	run out (Mohammad Hafeez/†Umar Akmal)	54	45	29	4	4	186.20
DG Brownlie	c †Umar Akmal b Shoaib Akhtar	5	7	5	1	0	100.00
SB Styris	b Shoaib Akhtar	7	8	8	0	1	87.50
LRPL Taylor*	not out	39	53	31	2	3	125.80
JEC Franklin	lbw b Mohammad Hafeez	19	21	17	2	1	111.76
PD McGlashan†	not out	5	11	8	1	0	62.50
Extras	(b 4, lb 1, w 6)	11
Total	(5 wickets; 17.1 overs; 77 mins)	146	(8.50 runs per over)

Did not bat: NL McCullum, KD Mills, TG Southee, AF Milne

Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Ryder, 1.6 ov), 2-45 (Brownlie, 3.3 ov), 3-55 (Styris, 5.1 ov), 4-91 (Guptill, 9.4 ov),5-115 (Franklin, 14.4 ov)

 

Bowling:

————Bowlers———–O—M—R–W-Econ————-

	Abdul Razzaq	1	0	15	0	15.00
	Shoaib Akhtar	4	0	38	3	9.50
	Umar Gul	2	0	16	0	8.00	(1w)
	Saeed Ajmal	3.1	0	14	0	4.42
	Wahab Riaz	1	0	10	0	10.00
	Shahid Afridi	3	0	19	0	6.33
	Mohammad Hafeez	3	0	29	1	9.66	(3w)

 

Result: New Zealand won by 5 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Tim Southee (New Zealand).

 

 

The next match will be played on December 28, 2010 at 06:00 (GMT) & 19:00 (local). Best wishes for both team specially Pakistan.

Boxing Day Test : MCG Pitch Report

Melbourne – Australia: The Boxing Day Test at the MCG is always special, and this promises to be one of the best.

 

Overview:

It may be known as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but in truth the MCG is the premier multi-sport venue in Australia.

The ‘G, as locals call it, hosted the Olympics in 1956 and the Commonwealth Games 50 years later, with countless international matches in both rugby codes, football and Aussie-rules in between.

But the highlight of the Australian sporting calendar is for many the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, with this year’s bigger than most as the ‘G prepares to host its first truly meaningful Ashes contest for a generation.

At one point the vast bowl had a capacity topping 125,000, but the conversion of virtually all areas of the ground to seating has seen the total drop below six figures.

But with the giant three-tier Great Southern Stand circling almost half the ground and holding nearly 50,000 people, the MCG remains one of the most spectacular and imposing venues in any sport.

The MCG hosted the first three Tests in history, and has gone on to host over 50 Tests against England alone.

The Melbourne surface traditionally stays true with even bounce, allowing for a fair contest between bat and ball, although not always between Australia and opposition…

The ground was evacuated in August 2006 when a fire broke out in a stand under construction, causing minor damage to the roof and an area of seating.

 

England’s last visit:

Another crushing victory for the home side. England won the toss and reached a relatively secure 101-2, with Andrew Strauss battling to a rare half-century on a difficult tour. Barely a session later, England were 159 all out with Shane Warne (5-39) once again their chief destroyer.

They did then reduce Australia to 84 for five before centuries from Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds took the game out of England’s reach and took the total to 419 despite four wickets for Saj Mahmood. Yes, Saj Mahmood.

England’s second innings was almost equally as shambolic as the first, the tourists limping pathetically to 161 all out to lose by an innings and 99 runs.

 

Happy hunting ground:

Ricky Ponting’s form is a major worry for Australia, and it’s mixed news for their broken-digited skipper from Melbourne. First the good news: he averages almost 62.50 at the MCG and made his highest Test score here – 257 against India. Now the bad news: against England at the ‘G, he averages under 20.

This is also that rarest of grounds, the sight of a Shane Watson hundred. The king of the half-century scored 120 not out against Pakistan here last year having made a more familiar 93 in the first innings. Small sample admittedly, but an average of 213 is always a decent starting point.

Generally, though, the Aussie batsmen are an inexperienced bunch here. Watson has just that one Test, Phil Hughes has never played here while Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke have one MCG century between them.

The same is true of the bowlers, with little course form to go on past Mitchell Johnson’s 11 wickets at 26. Peter Siddle has six expensive wickets from two appearances, while neither Ben Hilfenhaus nor Ryan Harris has Test experience at the ‘G.

Five of England’s top six have played here before, but all just the once and, as you’d expect, none have particularly fond memories. Unless the selectors spring a major shock and pick Monty, all the bowlers will be making their MCG bow.

 

They said:

“I would think on the WACA’s worst day they would still be faster and bouncier than anything we normally turn out. We’re quite slow on the first day normally.”

MCG curator Cameron Hodgkins dismisses talk of a fast, bouncy pitch for the Test.

“You’d expect everyone to do it. That is the beauty of home conditions, isn’t it? You can prepare a pitch to hopefully suit the home side. That is what we try and do in England in certain cases. There is no reason I would expect Australia not to do it.”

But England’s Alastair Cook is expecting another quick, green one.

 

“We won’t see similar conditions in Melbourne, because it doesn’t bounce as much there. When we were there for the three-day game they were preparing two pitches. One looked barer than the other, and they were debating then which they wanted to use. They weren’t that happy with the look of the slightly barer one, so more than likely they’ll go with the one with more grass cover.”

And coach Andy Flower isn’t bothered anyway.

 

“I’m glad we made the decision (to uses the alternative pitch) early. I’d hate to think if we released it after Perth whether anyone would think we were up to something. I’m not surprised with the conspiracy theory, given the success in Perth.”

It’s all entirely innocent, insists Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive Stephen Gough.

 

Weather forecast:

In a word: pleasant. Almost no chance of any rain spoiling what promises to be a magnificent occasion, with sunshine and fluffy white cloud the order of the day and temperatures ranging from the high teens to mid-20s Celsius.

Conclusion:

All the records and history here, of course, come with a caveat due to the whispers, conspiracy theories and flat-out panic about the pitch that’s being prepared for this one. But it is, in truth, something of a red herring.

While the groundsman will perhaps leave a bit more live grass on the pitch than normal, you can’t turn Melbourne into Perth in a week however hard you try.

Swing is also generally less of a factor here, which will be a relief to England’s middle order. Given the pitch is generally slow on day one and tends to flatten out, team selection will be interesting. Australia will obviously be keen to retain a winning side, but going in without a spinner is a far greater risk here than it was in Perth. It could also encourage England to bowl first again should they win the toss and try to exploit any early life in the pitch.

Generally the toss isn’t hugely significant on a pretty consistent pitch. The last eight have all batted first, but their mixed results suggest a) it doesn’t really matter and b) Australia usually win anyway.

Predicting the winner of an Ashes Test is becoming near impossible given the staggering shifts in momentum with seen in the last two series, both marked by the quirk of being extremely close despite featuring largely one-sided matches. But while it would be a surprise to see either batting line-up blown away here as they were in Perth (Australia’s batting, minus Hussey, was barely less pathetic than England’s), a positive result should still be expected: there have been no draws in the last 12 Tests here, and only two in the last 22.

 

From: Sky Sports

Poor start of the tour by Pakistan. Auckland thrashed Pakistanis by 5 wickets.

Auckland –  New Zealand: Auckland defeated Pakistanis by 5 wickets. Pakistani team who was under the shadow of fixing lost its tour match.

Tour Match: Auckland v Pakistanis

Location: Colin Maiden Park, Auckland – New Zealand

Date & Day: December 23, 2010 ; Thursday

Toss: Auckland won the toss & elected to field.

 

Pakistan Innings:

The captain of the Pakistan Cricket Team ‘Shahid Khan Afridi’ went out today to start the innings with Mohammad Hafeez.

But at the 4th ball of the match delivered by Bates, M. Hafeez got out. It was the frustrating moment for Pakistanis. As the score was just 1.

The new batsman was Ahmed Shehzad, he also got the blow in the last ball of the same over & left the pitch. It was the 2nd wicket for Bates. Ahmed Shehzad went for a duck.

Next man in was Younis Khan; an experienced batsmen from the Pakistani side. Afridi & Younis tried to give an assistance to the backbone of Pakistan but in the  3rd over of the match, Afridi caught out at the ball of Bates. It was the 3rd wicket for Bates. At this time, the score of Pakistan was 7/3.

Pakistani spectators were disappointed by B00M B00M. Umar Akmal came in & started building partnership with Younis Khan.

In the 8th over, Younis Khan went back to pavilion after getting out at the ball of Hira. He scored 18 runs on 16 balls with 1 massive six.

Fawad Alam took the guard & went into the ground for playing spectacular innings but was disappointed after getting run-out. He also went for a duck. At this time the score of Pakistan was 47/5 in 8.3 overs.

The new man was the Lion of Pakistan Cricket, Abdul Razzzaq who helped Pakistan to win the 2nd ODI against South Africa this year by scoring 109 runs of just 72 balls.

But in the next over, Umar Akmal left Abdul Razzaq alone after getting clean bowled on the ball of Hira. He was looking good. He scored 25 runs of 29 balls with 2 fours.

Umar Gul came in to help Abdul Razzaq. Both were giving tough time to the bowlers & were looking like the Wall of China.

At the last ball of the 15th over, Bhupinder Singh got the golden wicket of Abdul Razzaq. He scored 16 runs of 18 balls with 1 four.

Abdur Rehman came in & got out at the ball of Kitchen. He also went for a duck. At this time the score of Pakistan was 84/8.

Then Wahab Riaz came in to assist Umar Gul who was trying its best. But Wahab also loved to went back to the pavilion in the next over. This was the 4th wicket of Bates.

Saeed Ajmal was the next & last man. Here Umar Gul got out at the ball of Munro. He scored 19 runs of 23 balls with 1 four.

The complete Pakistanis team sums up in 17.4 overs after scoring just 91 runs. Their batting line-up was just like the heap of Ash.

 

 

Scorecard of Pakistanis’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ———————————————————————————————-R—-M—B—4s-6s–SR——-

Mohammad Hafeez	c & b Bates	4	2	4	1	0	100.00
Shahid Afridi*	c Kitchen b Bates	1	12	4	0	0	25.00
Ahmed Shehzad	c Vincent b Bates	0	2	2	0	0	0.00
Younis Khan	c Munro b Hira	18	29	16	0	1	112.50
Umar Akmal†	b Hira	25	30	29	2	0	86.20
Fawad Alam	run out (Guptill)	0	3	1	0	0	0.00
Abdul Razzaq	c Vincent b Bhupinder Singh	16	19	18	1	0	88.88
Umar Gul	c Guptill b Munro	19	28	23	1	0	82.60
Abdur Rehman	st †Hopkins b Kitchen	0	2	4	0	0	0.00
Wahab Riaz	c Guptill b Bates	1	4	4	0	0	25.00
Saeed Ajmal	not out	2	4	2	0	0	100.00
Extras	(lb 2, w 2, nb 1)	5
Total	(all out; 17.4 overs)	91	(5.15 runs per over)

Did not bat: Shoaib Akhtar

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Mohammad Hafeez, 0.4 ov), 2-4 (Ahmed Shehzad, 0.6 ov), 3-7 (Shahid Afridi, 2.3 ov),4-45 (Younis Khan, 7.5 ov), 5-47 (Fawad Alam, 8.3 ov), 6-52 (Umar Akmal, 9.3 ov), 7-83 (Abdul Razzaq, 14.6 ov),8-84 (Abdur Rehman, 15.5 ov), 9-87 (Wahab Riaz, 16.5 ov), 10-91 (Umar Gul, 17.4 ov)

 

Bowling:

———-Bowlers———O—M–R–W–Econ————–

	MD Bates	3	0	11	4	3.66
	DR Tuffey	3	0	12	0	4.00	(1nb)
	JDS Neesham	2	0	22	0	11.00	(1w)
	RM Hira	4	0	21	2	5.25
	Bhupinder Singh	4	0	19	1	4.75	(1w)
	AK Kitchen	1	0	1	1	1.00
	C Munro	0.4	0	3	1	4.50

Auckland Innings:

Grandhomme & Guptil were the openers from the Auckland side. The total was not a difficult task. Both openers started the innings aggressively & played beautiful shots.

The first wicket of Auckland went down on the ball of Rawalpindi Express ‘Shoaib Akhtar’. The Grandhomme was the man. He scored 20 runs of 12 balls with 3 fours. At this time the score of Auckland was 28/1 in 2.4 overs.

The next man in was Vincent. He tried to help Guptil but got clean bowled at the ball of Shoaib Akhtar. He scored 7 runs of 8 balls with 1 four.

Kitchen took the guard & went into the ground to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the 6th over, Younis Khan caught the catch of Kitchen at the ball of Saeed Ajmal. At this time the score was 46/3 in 5.4 overs.

The wicketkeeper Hopkins came in & after struggling hard went back to the pavilion. He scored 8 runs of 14 balls. The wicket was for Wahab Riaz.

Munro was the next man but at the individual score of 5, he was clean bowled by Saeed Ajmal. At this time the score of Auckland was 68/5 in 9.4 overs.

From there, Hakaraia assisted Guptil to win the match. Guptil scored 28 runs of 30 balls with 2 fours & Hakaraia scored 6 runs of 9 balls with 1 four. Both remained not-out.

The bowling of Pakistanis bowlers was very bad. 17 runs were counted as extra-runs (b 4, lb 6, w 3, nb 4).

 

 

Scorecard of Auckland’s Innings:

—————— Batsmen ———————————————————————————————–R—-M—B–4s-6s–SR——-

C de Grandhomme	c Ahmed Shehzad b Shoaib Akhtar	20	14	12	3	0	166.66
MJ Guptill	not out	28	63	30	2	0	93.33
L Vincent	b Shoaib Akhtar	7	7	8	1	0	87.50
AK Kitchen	c Younis Khan b Saeed Ajmal	1	5	5	0	0	20.00
GJ Hopkins*†	c Saeed Ajmal b Wahab Riaz	8	12	14	0	0	57.14
C Munro	b Saeed Ajmal	5	5	5	1	0	100.00
DN Hakaraia	not out	6	15	9	1	0	66.66
Extras	(b 4, lb 6, w 3, nb 4)	17
Total	(5 wickets; 13.2 overs)	92	(6.90 runs per over)

Did not bat:JDS Neesham, RM Hira, DR Tuffey, MD Bates, Bhupinder Singh

Fall of wickets: 1-28 (de Grandhomme, 2.4 ov), 2-43 (Vincent, 4.3 ov), 3-46 (Kitchen, 5.4 ov), 4-62 (Hopkins, 8.4 ov),5-68 (Munro, 9.4 ov)

 

Bowling:

——Bowlers———O—M—R–W-Econ————-

	Shoaib Akhtar	4	0	31	2	7.75	(2nb)
	Umar Gul	2	0	12	0	6.00	(1w)
	Saeed Ajmal	4	0	20	2	5.00	(2w)
	Wahab Riaz	2	0	9	1	4.50	(1nb)
	Shahid Afridi	1.2	0	10	0	7.50

 

Result: Auckland won the match by 5 wickets.

The Pakistan Cricket Team will play 1st T20I of the tour against New Zealand on December 26, 2010 & will start at 01:00 (GMT). Hope they will play good cricket.