All posts by csb10.top

Match facts

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Start time 19.00 (18.00 GMT)

Big Picture

Autumn certainly arrived in Manchester on Sunday as a full house huddled up against the cold and damp before being left unfulfilled when the first Twenty20 was abandoned seven balls into England’s chase. However, for the home side it looked like a reprieve after Australia’s new ball pair of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson rattled the top order.Joe Denly’s Twenty20 debut couldn’t really have gone much worse – a dropped catch and a first-ball duck – while Ravi Bopara’s problems outside off stump continued with a flash to slip. The Australians were pumped, with Johnson enjoying some heated banter with the crowd, and Lee eager to put weeks of frustration on the sidelines behind him.For Australia this period of one-day action is about moving on from the Ashes defeat, but also about building a side for the World Twenty in West Indies next April. Cameron White, on his return to side, staked a huge claim with the innings of the day and will aim for a repeat on Tuesday. Hopefully, too, there will be a chance to see Dirk Nannes in action.England are also plotting and planning having never settled on a Twenty20 side. The bowling unit was impressive in the opening match – although Stuart Broad’s round-the-wicket attack isn’t convincing – but they need to hold all their catches. Denly’s miss off White on 12 could have been the difference if the first game had gone the distance.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
England – NRLWLW
Australia – NRLLLL

Watch out for…

Brett Lee He was quick the other night. Very quick. There is pent up frustration to be let out and England’s top order could be in for a pounding. He won’t always be economical in Twenty20 (his over on Sunday included a no-ball and a wide) but he can make early inroads. Even fielding on the 15-yard circle at slip felt too close, White felt.Luke Wright He is England’s utility player in this side and has been moved down the order to add some kick to the late-over assault. He had his moments opening in the World Twenty20, but the selectors feel he can provide power later in the innings. Only bowled the one over, however is a lively option for Paul Collingwood if conditions suit. His dropped catch was a rare blemish in the field.

Team news

There seems little reason for Australia to change their side after little more than half a game, even though the batting struggled for momentum until the final five overs. Callum Ferguson could be an option for the middle order, but the current line-up are worth another chance.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Hauritz, 11 Dirk Nannes.England’s latest opening pair will get another chance while the bowlers all did a decent job in restricting the Australians. After the impressive performance of Collingwood’s cutters an extra spinner may be considered, but the three frontline quicks all offer something different.England (probable) 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Joe Denly, 3 Owais Shah, 4 Jonathan Trott, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.

Pitch and conditions

The surface was a little two-paced for the first match with the quicks getting the ball to fly, but the slower bowlers also proving hard to score off. However, once again the main concern is the weather with more showers forecast for Tuesday evening. And there’s also the effect of the floodlights to consider. Bring your brolly and a warm jacket.

Stats and trivia

• Joe Denly and Ravi Bopara were England’s 13th opening pair in 21 Twenty20 internationals. They also lasted the shortest amount of time together – three balls.
• Cameron White’s 55 from 36 balls was his first Twenty20 international fifty.

Quotes

“They have three 90mph bowlers and that’s something we are going to have to deal with.”
“I couldn’t adapt straight away cause there was a bit more pace and bounce and obviously they were targeting one area of more so I had to adapt. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a bit more of a free rein so I’m looking forward to it.”

Marcus Trescothick, Somerset’s leading performer on Twenty20 Cup Finals Day at Edgbaston, is now faced with a tough decision as to whether he will travel to India to play at the Champions League in October. He has three weeks to decide if he can cope with his first trip abroad since returning from the 2006-07 tour of Australia with his “stress-related illness.”Somerset are trying to help accommodate his situation with a tour plan to make him comfortable enough to play in India and Trescothick has until September 7 to make his decision, which is when the squad is cut from 20 to 15 players.Richard Gould, Somerset’s chief executive, has been working closely with Trescothick, discussing possible ideas to help him feel confident enough to perform in India.”We’ve got about a month to work out ways we can try to help him compete,” Gould told .”There has been some talk about whether or not we can base him with his family somewhere and then just fly him to India for games. We’ll have to look at the logistics of the flight times and costs. We’re not going to put any pressure on him whatsoever. If he wants to give it a go we will help him as much as we can. If at the last minute he says it isn’t going to work we will be fine with that.”Trescothick is the leading run-scorer in domestic cricket, with an average of 78.23, and his explosive batting display at Edgbaston on Saturday was a memorable spectacle. He scored 89 off 45 balls in two innings as Somerset, who were beaten by in the final Sussex, qualified for October’s Champions League.In the wake of England’s demise in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley, Trescothick was a name put forward to strengthen the top order. He admitted considering the option for a short while, but was never approached by the selectors and confirmed his retirement was permanent after a nightmare. However, Andrew Strauss had approached Trescothick requesting him to play in the ICC World Twenty20 this summer, but Trescothick declined.Gould suggested that if the England selectors re-examined their policy of players having to be available all year round, including tours, Trescothick may consider a return to international cricket.”I believe Marcus would be more willing to end his self-imposed retirement if he was told he did not have to be available for any tours due to his much-publicised [stress-related] medical condition,” Gould told .”There are not many truly world-class performers and those that are, like Marcus, need to be kept on the pitch for as long as possible. He is absolutely at the top of his game, still one of the best batsmen in the world with an unabated hunger for runs.”Before he retired for medical reasons, not because he was picking and choosing, he was looking to play for England until his mid-thirties and his form in Test cricket was unaffected when he pulled out of the tour to India in 2005-06.”Playing in the Champions League in October however, is the more immediate issue under question. If Trescothick decides he is happy to tour, he will have to manage Somerset’s schedule of playing a minimum of two matches in three days across two cities. But they will have to play six matches to walk away with their share $6million for winning the event.

England’s coach, Andy Flower, is confident that his team can build on the success and momentum they took from their historic victory over Australia at Lord’s on Monday, regardless of whether their two star players, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, overcome their fitness concerns.Amid the euphoria of England’s first Ashes win at Lord’s for 75 years, a result that gave them a 1-0 lead over Australia for the first time since 1997, there have been growing concerns about the ability of both Flintoff and Pietersen to take the field in the third Test at Edgbaston, which starts on July 30.Pietersen, who struggled through the Lord’s Test and made a laboured 44 from 101 deliveries in the second innings, will see a specialist later in the week, amid reports in some daily papers that he has already been ruled out of the contest. Though Flower denied that that was the case, he admitted that the prospect of surgery on Pietersen’s troublesome Achilles tendon could not be ruled out at this stage.”Kev is seeing a specialist later this week, they’ll assess his Achilles problem, and we’ll just get the expert advice and take it from there,” said Flower. “I’d rather not make a prediction [about his fitness], I’ll just let the medical guys make their decision. I don’t know if an operation is the right action to take, but those sorts of decisions will be made by the end of the week.”Pietersen required four injections to get through the Lord’s Test, and admitted at the weekend that the injury – the first significant problem of his career – has been playing on his mind “all day and every day”. The same could not, however, be said of Flintoff, whose immense performance on the final morning at Lord’s propelled England to victory with 10 unstinting overs off the reel.Flintoff’s final figures of 5 for 92 enabled him to become only the sixth player to score a century and take five wickets in Test cricket at Lord’s, a belated statistical accolade in a career that has often gone under-rewarded. But Flower admitted to feelings of unease as he watched his star player thunder in in the closing stages of the match, with the result more or less sewn up already.”Fred had a tough physical game,” said Flower. “I was sitting up there thinking I’d quite like to see him taking a break, but he carried on, and he feels strong, and it worked out okay in the end … I hope. Chatting to him afterwards he was very bullish about being ready for the third Test, but obviously with his injury record we have to be careful about wear and tear on his body, and he will be reassessed.”Regardless of what the doctors make of his conditions, with Steve Harmison finding menacing form for Durham in the County Championship, and James Anderson producing a superb four-wicket spell to help roll Australia over for 215 in their first innings at Lord’s, Flower was confident that England have the fast-bowling resources to see them through an arduous summer.”Flintoff is a world-class performer as we know, so if he’s out of the side, of course that’s a blow,” said Flower. “But we’ve got a few fast bowlers waiting in the wings that we know can play international cricket, and can be very successful. Obviously we want Flintoff in the side, but we’ll see if his body is up to it. If not there are other guys that can do good jobs for us. This is an Ashes series, a Test series, it’s not his farewell series.”With a ten-day break between matches, England’s players have got a timely opportunity to patch up their wounds before Edgbaston – and that includes the seamer Graham Onions, who was struck on the elbow while batting in England’s first innings, and was said to be experiencing a lot of pain when he straightened his arm. “I should imagine he’ll be fine because of the rest time available,” said Flower.”Usually the man involved knows his body best and can feel certain things,” he added. “If the guys are fit enough to get through and contribute to winning Test matches, then they’ll be selected. If they are not, it’s not a tough decision to make, they are just not fit enough to be selected.” Flower confirmed that, if Pietersen was unable to take part at Edgbaston, then Ian Bell – a squad member for the past two Tests – would be the logical man to stand in.”When asked before the series if we believed we could win the series, I said yes,” said Flower. “Whether we will win or not, we don’t know. The guys are confident, but we’ll have to play very good cricket. We’re playing against the No.1 side in the world. We know they will regroup and come back strongly at us, so we’ve also got to regroup. Sometimes you can get distracted as much by winning as by losing. We have to regroup this following week as well, and hit them hard at Edgbaston.”

Yawar Saeed, Pakistan’s manager in Sri Lanka, has denied reports that the players were “approached by suspicious characters” at their team hotel during the two Colombo Tests earlier this month. Saeed was quoted by , an Urdu daily, saying that some of the players had complained to him about the presence of undesirable people in the team hotel.”No such thing happened,” Saeed told Cricinfo. “There are usually many other guests at the hotel, who want autographs and photographs with the players, and then maybe invite them for a coffee or something. I just instructed the players not to go out with people they didn’t know from before. And that is the usual protocol.”The had quoted Saeed as saying: “Yes we were told by some of the players that a few suspicious people approached them during the Colombo Tests. We lodged a complaint with the hotel management, and they immediately shifted all of us to another floor of the hotel.”One of the players confirmed to Cricinfo that some of them were indeed approached in the teamhotel by “a few undesirable elements” who invited them for tea and dinner. “The players refused and informed the team management,” he said.According to team sources, the players were invited by individuals who claimed to be fans. The team then shifted to another floor in the same hotel after they found that these “fans” were on the same floor as the players, the sources said. Saeed, however, said that nobody in the team had changed their rooms, let alone the floor.Meanwhile Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain, told Geo TV, “No bookie has approached me. If ever one does, I will catch him and hand him over to ICC because these people have destroyed the game.”However Ijaz Butt, PCB’s chairman, told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports in Islamabad that the rooms were indeed changed. “We got some reports and we changed floors,” Butt said.

ScorecardMaurice Ouma cracked fifty on his first international outing as the new Kenya captain, as his side produced a reasonable second day’s play in response to Ireland’s dominant first innings of 404.By stumps, Kenya had reduced the deficit to 165 with Ouma, David Obuya and Jimmy Kamande, Ouma’s deputy, all reaching fifty. Kamande was unbeaten on 65 and Kenya urgently need him to reach three figures if they’re to threaten Ireland’s first innings total.Ireland resumed on 323 for 7 and were indebted to Regan West that they passed the 400 mark. West, whose square build and jaw resemble that of a rugby No. 8 rather than a left-arm tweaker and occasional seamer, flogged 44 from 50 balls with nine fours. With Kyle McCallan contributing 25, Ireland lifted their total to a challenging 404, and their bowlers were quickly up to pace in Kenya’s reply as Trent Johnston removed Kennedy Otieno for 8.Seren Waters dug deep with 26, putting on 53 for the second wicket with Obuya, but he fell to McCallan and Steve Tikolo, the former captain, departed for just a single when Andrew White trapped him leg-before.Obuya resisted, however, stroking five fours and lifting two sixes, and appeared to be settling into a big partnership with Ouma until on 64 he became the first of two wickets for West. West removed Obuya’s brother, Collins, ten overs later but Ouma and Kamande put on the day’s biggest stand for the sixth wicket, in 24.3 overs, as Kenya passed 200.Nothing is ever straightforward in Kenyan cricket, however. While the going was good, it took a hapless piece of cricket to end it when Kamande called his captain through for an unlikely single, and McCallan threw down the stumps from midwicket. Ouma glared at Kamande as he trudged back to the pavilion, and all the pressure is now on his deputy to produce an innings of substance on day three.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Dutch were completely bamboozled by Shahid Afridi’s top-spinning legbreaks•Getty Images

Shahid Afridi carried Pakistan into the Super Eights at the expense of a spirited but outclassed Dutch side at Lord’s, as he ripped his top-spinning legbreaks through a succession of bamboozled defences to deliver his team a thumping 82-run victory with the superb figures of 4 for 11 from four overs. For the Netherlands, the end came with unseemly haste as they lost their last nine wickets for 52 in 10.2 overs, but they still left the tournament with their heads held high after last week’s unforgettable floodlit triumph over England.Today, however, the greater class and knowhow of the Pakistanis came to the fore. They produced a chastened display after their error-strewn effort against England at The Oval on Sunday, and though their batting was kept on a tight leash by some determined Dutch bowling, the prospect of defeat was never seriously entertained. Netherlands were set 176 for victory, but thanks to their superior net run-rate going into this game, they could still have gone through with a score of 151 or more. In the end, the calculations were academic.Netherlands were given a typically brief but belligerent start from their pinch-hitter, Darron Reekers, who smashed three fours from his first five balls including two stand-and-deliver slaps over long-on from Mohammad Aamer, but that, realistically, was as good as their run-chase got. From his very next delivery, Reekers miscued another wild wallop, and Sohail Tanvir claimed a well-judged catch at deep midwicket.It wasn’t a faultless display by any stretch of the imagination, and Pakistan’s fallible catching again resurfaced when Alexei Kervezee was gifted two lives in consecutive overs. But Afridi struck with his first delivery of the match when he slid a topspinner through Bas Zuiderent’s defences, and Peter Borren followed one over later when he top-edged a sweep off Saeed Ajmal. Kervezee’s chancy innings came to an end in the same over as he galloped down the wicket to slap what would have been their first boundary in front of square for seven overs, but was defeated by the doosra and stumped by a mile.At 49 for 4 in the ninth over, the Dutch resistance had been all but crushed, and Afridi stepped forward to grind them down even further. Though he fumbled a run-out opportunity to let Tom de Grooth get off the mark first-ball, Afridi struck with the first ball of his third over, a full flat topspinner that flattened the leg stump. Two balls later, Daan van Bunge yorked himself as he charged down the track and was easily stumped for a duck, and though Ryan ten Doeschate stemmed the procession with a six over midwicket off Shoaib Malik, his same-over dismissal – again to a yorker-length stumping – reduced the score to a sorry 71 for 7.Afridi had time to claim one more wicket in his superlative four-over spell, as Edgar Schiferli flogged a lofted drive to deep mid-off, before Kamran Akmal completed his fourth stumping of the match – again off Ajmal – as Dirk Nannes was dragged out of his ground. It was left to Umar Gul to seal the contest with 14 balls to spare, when he splattered Pieter Seelaar’s stumps with another full-length delivery. Pakistan’s captain, Younis Khan, may have derided Twenty20 matches as “fun” after their defeat against England, but this was a very serious performance indeed.The tone of the Pakistan performance was set during their six Powerplay overs, in which they raced to 50 for 1. Salman Butt, singled out by his captain after the England match for the woeful state of his fielding, responded with the aggression of a man whose job was on the line as he whipped his first ball, from Nannes, through midwicket for four, before launching Schiferli over the covers and into the Mound Stand for six.Just as Butt was beginning to cut loose, however, he drilled ten Doeschate to Borren at mid-off for 18. Malik launched his innings with two fours in three balls before being badly dropped by Zuiderent at backward point on 14, and when Akmal found his range with a brace of sixes in consecutive overs, Pakistan had reached 77 for 1 with 11 overs remaining, and looked as though they were pulling clear.But Netherlands showed from a similar position against England that they are a side who will not give up, and Borren combined with the 21-year-old offspinner, Seelaar, to put the brakes back on the innings. Having reached 41 from 29 balls, Akmal found himself frustrated in a beautifully slow and teasing second over from Seelaar, which ended with an ambitious drill over midwicket, and a heart-in-the-mouth juggling catch from Schiferli in front of the Tavern Stand.The Dutch bowlers maintained their discipline admirably as the overs ticked away. If in doubt they went full, sometimes offering full-tosses, but there was scarcely a long-hop in evidence. Younis dented ten Doeschate’s figures by clearing his front foot to swipe Pakistan’s fourth six of the innings, then belted Seelaar for two more in two balls to hoist his team past 150 with 15 balls remaining. But Seelaar kept his cool, and his line and length, and before the over was out, de Grooth at long-on had intercepted Younis’s next shot in anger.Schiferli maintained the full-and-straight approach to deny Afridi the room to swing his arms, although he did finally connect with one to drill Nannes out of the ground with four balls remaining. The bowler responded by uprooting his leg stump with the very next delivery, but as Afridi would later go on to show with the ball, sometimes there is simply no stopping him. When the mood takes them, there is sometimes no stopping Pakistan either.

Match facts

May 14, 2009
Start time 16.30 (14.30 GMT, 20.00 IST)

Big Picture

Dwayne Bravo has shone with the bat, but needs to contribute more with the ball•Associated Press

The IPL’s league stage is in its last leg, but who will make it to the final four is still anybody’s guess. Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings appear to have sealed a semi-final berth. But the other two spots are up for grabs in a five-way battle and the results of today’s games will provide a better indication of who will progress from the league stages.Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals have both had an erratic run thus far but their recent results have been contrasting. Mumbai shrugged off three consecutive defeats to win their last two games fairly convincingly while Rajasthan squandered the momentum of three wins in a row to lose their last two games, both by sizable margins. If Mumbai have an edge on recent form, Rajasthan are under the added pressure of winning back a place in the top four. A victory for either team will push them to No.3 while a loss will put them below the safe zone and it will all come down to their last two matches.Rajasthan have major worries. Two of their main strike bowlers, Kamran Khan and Amit Singh, have been referred for suspect actions, denting their pace attack; their middle order has performed woefully in their last two games; but most importantly, they are likely to be without Shane Warne, who suffered a hamstring injury against Deccan Chargers. Mumbai, on the other hand, have had Sachin Tendulkar return to form in the eight-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab, experimented with changes in the batting order – promoting Dwayne Bravo to open – which proved successful, and have been boosted by the performance of their spinners. No doubt about who start favourites, but that doesn’t count for much really.

Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)

Mumbai Indians: WWLLL
Sanath Jayasuriya needs to get firing at the top. His form has been patchy, and though he’s displayed flashes of his destructive play, he’s been lacking in consistency, averaging 19.44 in nine innings. JP Duminy has been their best batsman and Ajinkya Rahane’s half-century after a torrid run in the early phase will ease their No.3 worries. The most encouraging factor has been their spin attack, led by Harbhajan Singh, who’s been highly economical, conceding just three-an-over at an average of 8 in his last two games.Rajasthan Royals: LLWWW
Rajasthan’s middle order shares a bulk of the blame for their two successive losses. Nos 3 to 10 have averaged just 15.5 in the previous two games, in totals of 140 and 113. Yusuf Pathan has had two failures with the bat and so has Naman Ojha. Especially worrying is the form of Lee Carseldine, who has managed 9, 9 and 8 in his last three innings.

Watch out for

Dwayne Bravo: Left out of the West Indies touring squad to England, Bravo has answered his critics, scoring 168 runs in his last four innings at an average of 84. He adapted well to his promotion to the opening slot, making a 59-ball 70 against Punjab, and that innings has propelled him to second place among Mumbai’s highest run-getters this season. It remains to be seen if Mumbai retain him as opener if batting first, or when the target is more imposing than the 120 set by Punjab in the last game. Also, he’s only managed three wickets in his last six games, and will want to do more to live up to his role as an allrounder.

Teams

If Warne is absent, Graeme Smith is most likely to step in as captain. Rajasthan may look to Tyron Henderson to fill in as a replacement and boost an ailing middle order. They also have the option of playing their latest recruit, Johan Botha, who’s been drafted into the squad in place of the injured Shaun Tait. Though he can’t bowl his doosra – he was reported for a suspect action in the recent ODI series against Australia – he is a welcome addition to a team that is without the services of some of its key bowlers, namely Tait, Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir. Rob Quiney hasn’t done much to win a call-back but Carseldine’s poor form means his return cannot be entirely ruled out.Rajasthan (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Naman Ojha, 4 Lee Carseldine/ Rob Quiney, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Ravindra Jadeja 7 Abhishek Raut, 8 Tyron Henderson/Johan Botha, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.Given their performance against Punjab, it is unlikely that Mumbai will tinker with their line-up. Rohan Raje, who replaced Chetanya Nanda, bowled just one over and the two players could swap places once again.Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar/ Dwayne Bravo, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Sachin Tendulkar/Dwayne Bravo, 5JP Duminy, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 Rohan Raje/ Chetanya Nanda, 9 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Stats and trivia

England 172 for 5 (Pietersen 48) beat West Indies 146 (Flintoff 5-19) by 26 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Andrew Flintoff returned the stunning figures of 5 for 19 in five overs, and capped his efforts with the first hat-trick of his international career, as England ended a dismal winter on an improbable high with their first-ever ODI series win in the Caribbean. In a game reduced by rain to 29 overs a side, Flintoff’s efforts followed on from a run-a-ball 48 from Kevin Pietersen, as England came from behind to claim an unexpected 3-2 series win.It has been a tough winter for all of England’s cricketers, but Flintoff has had it harder than most – his struggle for runs continued today when he was brilliantly caught at midwicket for 3, and having missed the mid-part of the tour with a hip complaint, it’s hard to escape the fitness cloud that hangs over his career. But, when he’s injury-free he’s arguably the most irresistible bowler in the world game, and he proved that today with a performance that blew away both England’s opponents, as well as the fog of gloom that has been hanging around the squad in recent weeks.Set a testing but by no means unattainable 173 to win, West Indies’ prospects suffered an immediate set-back when their man of the moment, Chris Gayle, fell for a third-ball duck to the newly unveiled Wisden Cricketer of the Year, James Anderson. But it was Flintoff who changed the game in two distinct spells – first, he ended a dangerous second-wicket stand between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lendl Simmons by claiming both men in the space of five deliveries.Then, with West Indies already on the ropes following the back-to-back dismissals of Dwayne Bravo (33) and Kieron Pollard (30), Flintoff stormed through the tail to ensure against any late twist to the narrative. First to go was Denesh Ramdin, who shuffled into line to a full-length inswinger, but worked the ball onto the base of his own stumps. One delivery later, and Ravi Rampaul was gone as well, pinned on the crease by a shin-high full-toss, and then, with the England fans finding their voice and the West Indians starting to stream out of the exits, he produced a superlative yorker to demolish Sulieman Benn’s defences.That delivery made Flintoff the third Englishman in history to record an ODI hat-trick, and peculiarly, both of his predecessors, Anderson and Steve Harmison, were on hand to mob him as he struck a modelling pose in the middle of the pitch and awaited his plaudits. Though Fidel Edwards did exceptionally well to prevent it being four from four as he dug out another yorker, the end of the innings came swiftly, as Darren Sammy ran himself out for 7 while seeking a second run with six balls of the innings remaining.Sammy, the St Lucian local hero, had earlier been at the centre of the most controversial moment of the match, when he claimed a catch at backward point off Pietersen that appeared from the TV replays to have bounced on the turf as he dived forward to scoop it into his chest. It could well have been the decisive moment of the match, with Pietersen on 48 from 48 balls and bristling with intent after a week in which his commitment to the cause had been called into question.England’s innings had suffered an early set-back when Andrew Strauss fell for 3 to the first ball of Ravi Rampaul’s international comeback, but Pietersen and Ravi Bopara combined in a decent stand of 80 in 14 overs to revive England’s prospects of a defendable total. But as so often happens, Pietersen’s dismissal destabilised the innings. Bopara looked to be finding his range when he twice pulled Sammy over square leg for six, but having reached 44 from 48 balls, he tried the shot once too often, this time against Pollard, and Ramdin had all the time in the world to wander round from behind the stumps to claim a steepling top-edge.From that moment on, West Indies claimed the ascendancy through their battery of slower bowlers. Owais Shah tried to apply some oomph, but his aggressive swipe at Benn picked out Simmons at long-on, before Flintoff, in terrible form with the ball, clipped Pollard to midwicket where Chanderpaul dived full-length to his right to intercept another pull.Edwards, whose pacy two-over burst had disappeared for 17, was ignored as Gayle brought his teasingly slow spinners into the action, and England’s sixth-wicket pair of Collingwood and Matt Prior groped their way to seven runs in 3.1 overs before calling upon their batting Powerplay. Duly liberated, Collingwood heaved Pollard over square leg for six in an over that went for 14, England’s best of the innings.A frustrated Prior eventually found his range with three fours in a run-a-ball 25, and Collingwood cleverly worked the ball through fine leg in a final over that went for 13 to give England a chance. It was one that Flintoff grasped with both hands. The St Lucian beach attendants better pack up their pedaloes. There’ll be plenty to celebrate tonight.

World Cup representatives Jessica Cameron and Erin Osborne have been elevated into the Australian women’s squad for 2009-10 while three new players have been selected. Alyssa Healy, Elyse Villani and Rachael Haynes are the new faces in the 19-woman outfit as the side attempts to rebuild after the disappointing fourth place at the global tournament last month.Six players are under 19 and Marg Jennings, the national selection chair, said it was one of the youngest line-ups ever. “While we have lost some experienced players, we believe the squad selected has the ability to perform well for Australia at the upcoming World Twenty20 and beyond,” Jennings said. “We have taken the opportunity to introduce three new players to the group in Alyssa, Elyse and Rachael. All three are exciting prospects and deserve their place.”Healy also has the added versatility of being a wicketkeeper and she will assume the back-up role to Jodie Fields following the retirement of Leonie Coleman. The panel believes these players have the potential to play important roles into the future.”Coleman and Emma Sampson stepped down after the World Cup while Clea Smith and Renee Chappell are unavailable for the next year. Melissa Bulow and Kris Britt have been cut from last year’s squad.The players will attend camps at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in April and May before the squad is named to contest the World Twenty20 and series against England. Lauren Ebsary, Rene Farrell, Osborne, Ellyse Perry and Villani will also attend the Centre of Excellence for four weeks from April 24.Australia squad Sarah Andrews (NSW), Alex Blackwell (NSW), Kate Blackwell (NSW), Jessica Cameron (Vic), Lauren Ebsary (WA), Sarah Edwards (Vic), Rene Farrell (WA), Jodie Fields (Qld), Rachael Haynes (Vic), Alyssa Healy (NSW), Delissa Kimmince (Qld), Shelley Nitschke (SA), Erin Osborne (NSW), Ellyse Perry (NSW), Kirsten Pike (Qld), Leah Poulton (NSW), Karen Rolton (SA), Lisa Sthalekar (NSW), Elyse Villani (Vic).AIS scholarship holders Lauren Ebsary, Rene Farrell, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Elyse Villani.Under-21 squad Sarah Coyte (NSW), Ashleigh Endacott (NSW), Katelyn Fryett (Tas), Emma Inglis (Vic), Jessica Jonassen (Qld), Meg Lanning (Vic), Renee Melton (Vic), Angela Reakes (NSW), Kara Sutherland (NSW), Selina Tainton (Qld), Jo-Ann Verrall (Qld), Amanda Williams (WA).

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is in doubt for the proposed home series against Pakistan after suffering a groin strain. The injury has already ruled him out of the remainder of the local Premier League season and the Bangladesh team physio Michael Henry has advised a month’s rest.”It’s an old injury which keeps coming back to me,” Shakib told the . “For the time being I will have to rest for at least four weeks and then see how much it heals and whether I can start training again. I am out of the Premier League for now but I desperately want to play when Pakistan comes here later this month.”Shakib last played for his team Biman against Old DOHS on February 22 and the loss of their key allrounder will be a huge setback.Pakistan were to tour Bangladesh between March 10 and 22 for five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals but the series was postponed due to security reasons. The Bangladesh Cricket Board is working with the PCB to work out a new schedule and officials are hopeful of starting the series by the end of the month.