Hambantota: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the unpredictable pitch for his team's abysmal batting performance in the lost second ODI against Sri Lanka, rejecting suggestions that rash shots led to the stunning collapse.
India were last night bowled out for 138 in 33.3 overs - their fourth-lowest ODI total in the past five years - by the host team, which chased down the target in under 20 overs. The five-match series is now tied at 1-1.
"The pitch was next to the wicket we played on last time but it behaved in a completely different way," Dhoni said referring to the track used for the opening ODI in which India posted a 300-plus score. "Initially the wicket was slightly on the slower side. Once Virat [Kohli] got out, we lost a couple of more wickets very quickly.
"Before the batsmen could assess the wicket, we lost two wickets played on. I thought after that it was too much for batsmen like Irfan [Pathan] and [Ravichandran] Ashwin to come in and take us out of trouble," he added.
But his opposite number, Mahela Jayawardene, disagreed with Dhoni insisting that the wicket was not that bad. "Probably a touch slower; there were quite a few good balls as well. We bowled in good areas, created pressure, maybe a couple of bad shots as well, but I will take that any day. The important thing with the Indian batting line-up is picking up wickets and that's the only way we can control things and that is what we did today," he said.
Dhoni defended his batsmen's shot selection, refusing to call them rash. "I don't think they were shots that were really rash. People were looking for singles. If you see Rohit's ball [the one off which he was dismissed], the shot was on. But he got an inside edge and it went onto the stumps.
"It could have been his lucky day if it hadn't hit the stumps and he was still there to carry on with his innings. It is part and parcel of the game and a big learning curve. Hope the batsmen learn and they assess the wicket very quickly [in the next game]," Dhoni explained.
The wicketkeeper-batsman said the wicket here lacked pace and was difficult to bat on. "Over here the wicket was slightly different, it [the ball] was stopping before coming on. I don't think there was too much swing for the bowlers, though there was a bit of breeze - meaning you can swing it a bit - but nothing unusual. I just thought the pace of the wicket was not really coming onto the bat and that's the reason why we lost too many wickets initially."
India now move to Colombo for the third game of the series and Dhoni said that his team has learnt some important lessons from the Hambantota stay. "The boys adjusted well to the conditions whether it was the bowling or the batting department. Today [Tuesday] the performance wasn't so good but still the kind of wind we faced here was the kind that one usually gets to see in Wellington in New Zealand," he said.
"I think given the amount of time we had, we adjusted pretty well. So I am quite happy; [it was a] decent performance. Slowly and gradually you will see all the youngsters learning, especially about the importance of the middle overs, because that is where most of the cricket is played - right from the 15th-20th over onwards till the 40th over," he added.
Meanwhile, Jayawardene lauded his team-mates for putting up a near-perfect show in every department of the game. "We were much more focussed in executing some of the game plans," Jayawardene said. "I told the guys that we are capable of performing at the highest level, so let's try and execute the game plan. That's what we did," he added.
Thisara Perera, who took 3 for 19 in eight overs, said he was keeping it simple. "I just bowled on one side of the wicket as Mahela wanted," he said.
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Defeat has left sour taste, says Strauss
England captain Andrew Strauss was left with a "sour taste in the mouth" after his team suffered a crushing innings and 12-run defeat by South Africa in the first test on Monday.
In a battle between the world's top two teams, and with England's number one ranking on the line, Strauss had expected his men to flourish in the familiar conditions but instead floundered as South Africa dominated the contest to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
"Most of my regrets are that we did not come out with a draw," Strauss told reporters. "We should have done that."
Strauss especially rued how England lost wickets at times in the match when he thought they could have done better like on Friday morning when they plummeted from their overnight 267 for three to 385 all out.
In the second innings on Sunday, England lost four key batsmen to close 102 for four, en route to being 240 all out.
South Africa had far less trouble on a placid batting surface at The Oval, as they posted a huge total of 637 for two. Hashim Amla broke the national batting record with 311 not out.
"Losing four wickets last night was a body blow for us," said Strauss.
"The South Africans did get it reversing today and with more wickets in hand we could have batted out the day.
"There are a number of areas where we are frustrated. We did not deal better with those conditions and losing four wickets last night in placid conditions made life difficult for us today. There are regrets there but we will learn the lessons and come back strong next week."
The teams meet again in Leeds on Aug 2, before the final clash at Lord's on Aug 16. Strauss was keen not to panic by the defeat and said he still had faith in his team, especially the batsmen, who have flourished in home conditions “for a long period of time.
In a battle between the world's top two teams, and with England's number one ranking on the line, Strauss had expected his men to flourish in the familiar conditions but instead floundered as South Africa dominated the contest to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
"Most of my regrets are that we did not come out with a draw," Strauss told reporters. "We should have done that."
Strauss especially rued how England lost wickets at times in the match when he thought they could have done better like on Friday morning when they plummeted from their overnight 267 for three to 385 all out.
In the second innings on Sunday, England lost four key batsmen to close 102 for four, en route to being 240 all out.
South Africa had far less trouble on a placid batting surface at The Oval, as they posted a huge total of 637 for two. Hashim Amla broke the national batting record with 311 not out.
"Losing four wickets last night was a body blow for us," said Strauss.
"The South Africans did get it reversing today and with more wickets in hand we could have batted out the day.
"There are a number of areas where we are frustrated. We did not deal better with those conditions and losing four wickets last night in placid conditions made life difficult for us today. There are regrets there but we will learn the lessons and come back strong next week."
The teams meet again in Leeds on Aug 2, before the final clash at Lord's on Aug 16. Strauss was keen not to panic by the defeat and said he still had faith in his team, especially the batsmen, who have flourished in home conditions “for a long period of time.
'Shoaib brands Sami 'mentally weak athlete who buckles under pressure'
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has described his one-time new ball partner Mohammad Sami as a "mentally weak" bowler who is unable to handle pressure.
"Sami is a mentally weak athlete and he can't take pressure. Efforts were made to make Sami into the Karachi Express. He was constantly told that your competition is with Akhtar for a place in the team," the Daily Times quoted Akhtar, as saying.
"I played a lot with Sami and my observation is he tried to compete hard and lost discipline in bowling. When we bowled together we could put a lot of pressure on the batsmen and in such circumstances he bowled well," Akhtar said.
The former pacer said luck also plays a big role in any cricketer's career.
"Sami was an unlucky bowler as well many times straight forward catches were dropped off his bowling while in some instances umpires didn't give decisions in his favour," he said.
Akhtar said he believed that compared to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Sami was a mentally weak bowler.
"He has been playing for 11 years but if you tick him off once he loses focus and comes under pressure. He has the ability and I wish he does well now but for this he has to be assigned a role in the team and pressure must be put on him to perform as a frontline strike bowler," Akhtar was quoted, as saying.
The national selectors and team management have come under criticism for retaining Sami in the Twenty20 squad announced for the upcoming Australia series and the T20 World Cup, after he failed to make an impact on the Sri Lanka tour.
Sami's selection was a debatable one, with critics pointing to his abysmal Test record of 85 wickets in 36 matches at an average of 56. His performances in ODIs and T20 matches is better since he has captured 121 wickets in 85 matches at an average of 28 and 10 wickets at 14 in five T20 games, the paper said.
"Sami is a mentally weak athlete and he can't take pressure. Efforts were made to make Sami into the Karachi Express. He was constantly told that your competition is with Akhtar for a place in the team," the Daily Times quoted Akhtar, as saying.
"I played a lot with Sami and my observation is he tried to compete hard and lost discipline in bowling. When we bowled together we could put a lot of pressure on the batsmen and in such circumstances he bowled well," Akhtar said.
The former pacer said luck also plays a big role in any cricketer's career.
"Sami was an unlucky bowler as well many times straight forward catches were dropped off his bowling while in some instances umpires didn't give decisions in his favour," he said.
Akhtar said he believed that compared to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Sami was a mentally weak bowler.
"He has been playing for 11 years but if you tick him off once he loses focus and comes under pressure. He has the ability and I wish he does well now but for this he has to be assigned a role in the team and pressure must be put on him to perform as a frontline strike bowler," Akhtar was quoted, as saying.
The national selectors and team management have come under criticism for retaining Sami in the Twenty20 squad announced for the upcoming Australia series and the T20 World Cup, after he failed to make an impact on the Sri Lanka tour.
Sami's selection was a debatable one, with critics pointing to his abysmal Test record of 85 wickets in 36 matches at an average of 56. His performances in ODIs and T20 matches is better since he has captured 121 wickets in 85 matches at an average of 28 and 10 wickets at 14 in five T20 games, the paper said.
Chris Gayle is back in Test squad
Chris Gayle is set to play his first Test in more than 18 months after being named in the West Indies squad for the first Test against New Zealand.
Gayle has not played Test cricket since the tour of Sri Lanka in December 2010, and he will provide a major boost to the West Indies batting line-up, which also includes Shivnarine Chanderpaul after he missed the final Test against England due to a side strain.
The selectors have left out an injured Darren Bravo from the 13-man squad. Bravo sustained the injury during the England tour.
Gayle has not played Test cricket since the tour of Sri Lanka in December 2010, and he will provide a major boost to the West Indies batting line-up, which also includes Shivnarine Chanderpaul after he missed the final Test against England due to a side strain.
The selectors have left out an injured Darren Bravo from the 13-man squad. Bravo sustained the injury during the England tour.
'Out of favour' Shoaib Malik set for ODI recall
Karachi, July 24 (ANI): Pakistan selectors are reportedly planning to recall some of the discarded batsmen, including Shoaib Malik, in order to strengthen the national team's batting line up.
According to the Daily Times, sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that in the first stage the selectors were planning to recall discarded opener Yasir Hameed, middle-order batsman Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik into the one-day squad.
Malik has been named in the national Twenty20 squad for the Australia series and T20 World Cup, but the selectors are yet to announce the One-day squad for the Australia series.
Yasir has not been selected to play for Pakistan since 2010, and Fawad has also been out of favour with the selectors.
"Their feeling is that the time is right to start planning ahead to stabilise the batting line-up in the ODI and Test formats," the source said.
"The selectors feel that the batsmen are not scoring consistently, and secondly they are not getting big scores as was the requirement of the team. The plan is not only to recall some discarded players like Yasir and Fawad but also to give more responsibility to Malik and also try out some new faces," the source added.
"The idea is to start rebuilding the batting line up by adding fresh players. That is one reason why the selectors have also picked the top performers of the last domestic season to attend a conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy," the source further added.
Sri Lanka thrash India by nine wickets, square series
Perera was declared Man of the Match for figures of 8-3-19-3.
HAMBANTOTA: Medium pacer Thisara Perera ransacked India’s vaunted batting card in blustery conditions as Sri Lanka thrashed India by nine wickets in the second ODI here on Tuesday.
The victory, achieved with more than 30 overs to spare, helped the hosts square the five-match series 1-1, and is India's second worst ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining.
India elected to bat as a strong breeze raged across the field, and after a devil-may-care beginning from Virender Sehwag found themselves shorn of their top-order in the face of smart bowling by Perera (who at one stage boasted figures of 3-3-0-3) and Angelo Mathews (7-2-14-3).
Unable to recover from repeated setbacks, India was shot out for 138 in 33.3 overs, with Gautam Gambhir (65) playing the lone hand.
Sri Lanka faced no trouble in chasing down the paltry target, with a little help from India who bowled 14 wides in 20 overs and grassed Tillakaratne Dilshan when he had score just one.
The openers Dilshan (50) and Upul Tharanga (59 not out) thwarted the Indian attack for 64 runs in eight overs before the early dinner break, necessitated by India’s hasty demise.
On resumption, more of the same fare was on the menu. The two extended their alliance to 119 in under 17 overs, helping themselves to half-centuries and reeling in victory in a shade under 20 overs, for the loss of Dilshan’s wicket.
India could have Dilshan earlier when the opener had scored one, but a loafing Sehwag grassed a straightforward attempt at slip.
The visitors bowling arsenal, spearheaded by Zaheer Khan and shouldered by Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav, was ineffective in the face of purposeful batting.
It was a comprehensive win considering the hosts’ awry beginning.
Earlier, India won the toss and in blustery conditions capitalized on some wayward bowling and fielding from the hosts.
Debutant left-arm seamer Isuru Udana marked his first ODI with a wide-strewn 11-ball over, conceding 16 runs and sending India into overdrive at 31 without loss in under four overs.
And then it was time for Perera, who rocked India with a triple strike. The medium pacer strangled the runs by keeping a persistent off-stump line, claiming a wicket in each of his first three overs and had figures of 3-3-0-3 at one stage, as India’s batsmen struggled against the away-moving delivery.
Sehwag was first to go. The opener threw caution to the wind (of which, incidentally, there was plenty) and swatted Perera hard, only to be plucked out of this air for a sensational return catch with the bowler almost parallel to the ground in his reflex dive.
Having scored a century in his previous three matches against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli perished when he tried to guide a widish delivery to third man and edged to Sangakkara behind the wicket.
Rohit Sharma played on to Mathews for a duck. Suresh Raina too departed in similar fashion, chopping Perera on to the stumps to become the Lankan’s third victim.
Perera could have had his fourth had Mathews not dropped a sitter of Dhoni at slip when the Indian skipper was yet to get off the mark. But Mathews atoned for his lapse soon after by cramping Dhoni with a gorgeous off-cutter, which the batsman could only snick to a graciously accepting Sangakkara.
India were 60-5 after 15 overs and it only went downhill from there.
All this while, Gautam Gambhir held one end firm. He launched a quasi rearguard with R. Ashwin, but the off-spinner was run-out farcically when he sought, lethargically, to retrace his steps back to safety from an aborted third run attempt.
Gambhir was finally the last man out, having scored a responsible 96-ball 65, but all his stoicism counted for naught when appended to the callous batting of his teammates.
HAMBANTOTA: Medium pacer Thisara Perera ransacked India’s vaunted batting card in blustery conditions as Sri Lanka thrashed India by nine wickets in the second ODI here on Tuesday.
The victory, achieved with more than 30 overs to spare, helped the hosts square the five-match series 1-1, and is India's second worst ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining.
India elected to bat as a strong breeze raged across the field, and after a devil-may-care beginning from Virender Sehwag found themselves shorn of their top-order in the face of smart bowling by Perera (who at one stage boasted figures of 3-3-0-3) and Angelo Mathews (7-2-14-3).
Unable to recover from repeated setbacks, India was shot out for 138 in 33.3 overs, with Gautam Gambhir (65) playing the lone hand.
Sri Lanka faced no trouble in chasing down the paltry target, with a little help from India who bowled 14 wides in 20 overs and grassed Tillakaratne Dilshan when he had score just one.
The openers Dilshan (50) and Upul Tharanga (59 not out) thwarted the Indian attack for 64 runs in eight overs before the early dinner break, necessitated by India’s hasty demise.
On resumption, more of the same fare was on the menu. The two extended their alliance to 119 in under 17 overs, helping themselves to half-centuries and reeling in victory in a shade under 20 overs, for the loss of Dilshan’s wicket.
India could have Dilshan earlier when the opener had scored one, but a loafing Sehwag grassed a straightforward attempt at slip.
The visitors bowling arsenal, spearheaded by Zaheer Khan and shouldered by Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav, was ineffective in the face of purposeful batting.
It was a comprehensive win considering the hosts’ awry beginning.
Earlier, India won the toss and in blustery conditions capitalized on some wayward bowling and fielding from the hosts.
Debutant left-arm seamer Isuru Udana marked his first ODI with a wide-strewn 11-ball over, conceding 16 runs and sending India into overdrive at 31 without loss in under four overs.
And then it was time for Perera, who rocked India with a triple strike. The medium pacer strangled the runs by keeping a persistent off-stump line, claiming a wicket in each of his first three overs and had figures of 3-3-0-3 at one stage, as India’s batsmen struggled against the away-moving delivery.
Sehwag was first to go. The opener threw caution to the wind (of which, incidentally, there was plenty) and swatted Perera hard, only to be plucked out of this air for a sensational return catch with the bowler almost parallel to the ground in his reflex dive.
Having scored a century in his previous three matches against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli perished when he tried to guide a widish delivery to third man and edged to Sangakkara behind the wicket.
Rohit Sharma played on to Mathews for a duck. Suresh Raina too departed in similar fashion, chopping Perera on to the stumps to become the Lankan’s third victim.
Perera could have had his fourth had Mathews not dropped a sitter of Dhoni at slip when the Indian skipper was yet to get off the mark. But Mathews atoned for his lapse soon after by cramping Dhoni with a gorgeous off-cutter, which the batsman could only snick to a graciously accepting Sangakkara.
India were 60-5 after 15 overs and it only went downhill from there.
All this while, Gautam Gambhir held one end firm. He launched a quasi rearguard with R. Ashwin, but the off-spinner was run-out farcically when he sought, lethargically, to retrace his steps back to safety from an aborted third run attempt.
Gambhir was finally the last man out, having scored a responsible 96-ball 65, but all his stoicism counted for naught when appended to the callous batting of his teammates.
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