All posts by h716a5.icu

The Zimbabwe cricket team landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore at 1.45 am on Tuesday to become the first Full Member nation to tour Pakistan since March 2009

Umar Farooq in Lahore19-May-2015The Zimbabwe cricket team landed at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore at 1.45 am on Tuesday to become the first Full Member nation to tour Pakistan since March 2009. Zimbabwe will play two T20Is and three ODIs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore between May 22 and 31 before departing on June 1.The visitors landed amid extensive security, with thousands of policemen deployed along the 14 kilometre route to a five-star hotel on the Mall Road, which divides the eastern and western parts of Lahore. The touring group – 16 Zimbabwe players, nine team officials and five board officials – was flanked by a large convoy of police commandos, after they had been received by two ministers from the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, along with the top brass of the PCB.The streets leading into Mall Road were closed off to traffic, petrol stations along the route were closed, and even the police vehicles on duty had been authenticated to guard against impersonation.”Safe and sound in Lahore … time for rest and training begins tomorrow,” allrounder Sean Williams said on Twitter.Pakistan has remained a no-go destination for major international teams since March 3, 2009, when gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus while it was en route to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the third day of the second Test. Eight people were killed during the attack – and some players were injured – at Liberty roundabout, located a kilometre and a half from the stadium.

#PAKvZIM We are in! #cricketthewinner @263Chat @ZiFMStereo @StarfmZimbabwe @ZBCNewsonline pic.twitter.com/N6WLM07yrv

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) May 19, 2015

The incident had occurred when there was political instability in the region, because the Punjab government had been dismissed and replaced by Governor’s rule in the province.Since then, the PCB has been pushing hard to convince teams to tour Pakistan, who have been forced to play their home matches primarily in the UAE. Pakistan invited West Indies A in 2013 but the WICB refused to send the team and asked PCB to host them in UAE, which did not happen.Afghanistan, who received Associate status from the ICC last year, had visited Pakistan several times but their fixtures were low profile. The PCB also had talks with Cricket Ireland last year but the tour was put on hold following terrorist attacks on Karachi airport in June.The PCB had, through the years, used diplomatic channels in a bid to win back lost confidence and there were frequent visits by the European Union delegation at the PCB headquarters. Kenya was the first country from outside the region to accept an offer to tour Pakistan and played five one-dayers last year in December against Pakistan A.However, after in-depth lobbying with Zimbabwe Cricket president Wilson Manase, PCB managed to convince them to play a short series in the country. “It’s their (Zimbabwe) trust and confidence in us which will strengthen our cricketing ties with them,” PCB’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed said. “We hope to change the perception of the world about Pakistan and build the confidence of other foreign teams to come here.”Zimbabwe’s arrival in Pakistan came after days of uncertainty over whether they would go ahead with the tour. In the end, Zimbabwe Cricket decided to proceed with the tour against the advice from their country’s Sports and Recreation Committee. The ICC also said it would not send its officials to stand in the games, and allowed the PCB to appoint its own officials.

A six-wicket haul from Varun Aaron, his first in first-class cricket, restricted Karnataka to 244 after Rest of India sent them in at the Chinnaswamy Stadium

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bangalore17-Mar-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA six-wicket haul from Varun Aaron, his first in first-class cricket, restricted Karnataka to 244 after Rest of India sent them in at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka could have ended with even less had RoI not offered their batsmen three lives.Two of them came in the middle session, after Karun Nair and debutant Abhishek Reddy had come together with the scorecard reading 107 for 4. First, Rishi Dhawan bowled a peach of an outswinger to Reddy, close to off stump and forcing him to play and edge to the keeper, only for replays to confirm he had overstepped.In his next over, Reddy nicked a wider, fuller outswinger, only for Manoj Tiwary, the RoI captain, to spill a simple catch at first slip. Reddy was on 18 when the catch went down, and he went on to score 54 and put on 113 for the fifth wicket with Nair.RoI might yet come to regret allowing that partnership to flourish. Left with five overs to bat out at the end of the day, they lost Unmukt Chand – who inexplicably shouldered arms to a straight ball from Vinay Kumar that was angling into his stumps – and played and missed at enough balls from Karnataka’s new-ball pair to suggest they will face quite a test, on a still greenish pitch, when play resumes on the second morning.Having picked up 11 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches after returning from India’s tour of Australia, Aaron looked in excellent rhythm. While he didn’t strain the speed gun needle to its limit, he was still sharp, hovering around the high 130s and low 140s, and picked up most of his wickets by simply hitting a good length on a fourth-stump line. There was a decent amount of bounce on offer when he bent his back, which meant driving or punching him with an angled bat was fraught with risk.RoI began with the medium-fast duo of Shardul Thakur and Rishi Dhawan, and both were guilty of bowling too full or too straight in an effort to find new-ball swing. Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal had picked up five boundaries – all via drives down the ground or clips off the legs – when Aaron came on to bowl the eighth over of the morning.By then, the umpires had already changed the ball twice for going out of shape – they would do so again after the 26th over. Aaron struck with his fifth ball, which Uthappa poked at outside off, his front foot a critical fraction late in moving across, and edged to the keeper.In his next over, Aaron induced R Samarth to edge an attempted drive, only for Paras Dogra to spill the low chance diving to his left from third slip.Runs came freely for Agarwal and Samarth, with the bowlers continuing to feed them balls to drive, and Karnataka were 58 for 1 after 15 overs. Aaron and Pragyan Ojha restored some control, giving away only eight runs in the first six overs after the drinks interval, before Dhawan struck to remove Samarth in the first over of his second spell. It was the same recipe that had brought Aaron his success – fourth-stump line, not quite up there for the drive – with the added ingredient of away-swing.Having survived through to lunch, Agarwal and Manish Pandey were both back in the dressing room five overs after lunch. Aaron dismissed both of them, his line catching an unusually tentative Pandey in two minds between playing and leaving, and forcing Agarwal into edging one that was too close to force off the back foot. Both edges came to rest within Naman Ojha’s gloves. They were his third and fourth catches of the morning.He had to wait a while for his fifth, and it came after tea, via a tactical switch from Thakur, who had till then had a poor day with the ball. With Reddy on 49, he went around the wicket and banged the ball in short, with a short leg, a leg gully, a long leg and a deepish square leg in place. Reddy gloved an attempted pull to the keeper on 49 itself, but the umpire didn’t spot it, but there was to be no such luck when the same thing happened four balls later.Aaron struck twice in the next over, getting Nair caught at second slip for the mistake of throwing his bat at a wide-ish ball, and slipping in the straighter one to trap Vinay in front to bring up the five-for.Pragyan Ojha, who had till then looked pedestrian bowling with a remodelled, round-arm-ish action, then picked up two lower-order wickets – the second giving Naman his sixth catch of the innings to equal Nayan Mongia’s Irani Trophy record – before Aaron returned to finish things off. This wicket was a departure from Aaron’s usual modus operandi, and involved a touch of artistry, a back-of-the-hand slower ball that froze Abhimanyu Mithun’s feet and spun like a googly to smack him on the front pad.

The World Cup has thrown up its share of embarrassing moments for the men between the posts. Here, Goal takes a look at some of the best, or worst!

Getty ImagesBarbosa | Brazil 1-2 Uruguay | 1950 Final

“Everywhere has its irremediable national catastrophe, something like a Hiroshima. Our catastrophe, our Hiroshima, was the defeat by Uruguay in 1950,” wrote renowned Brazilian author Nelson Rodrigues.

Playing in their own country, Brazil needed just to draw their final match of the final group stage to win the 1950 World Cup. Entertaining Uruguay, who had to win to steal the trophy from their South American rivals, the whole of Brazil were already in celebratory mood and expected nothing less than a comfortable victory at the Maracana.

Even the press took victory for granted, with O Mundo printing a picture of the squad with the words: ‘These are the world champions’. Brazil did start well and went ahead when Friaca scored on 46 minutes. But midway through the second half future Milan legend Juan Schiaffino equalised and what followed has since gone down in football history.

As it stood, Brazil were still set to be world champions for the first time until disaster struck and Urugauy scored again in the 79th minute. Alcides Ghiggia dribbled past Bigode before catching Barbosa out at his near post, the goalkeeper having anticipated a cross into the middle. Uruguay were World Cup winners, and the whole country of Brazil went into mourning over what became known as the Maracanazo (‘the Maracana blow’). 

Goalkeeper Barbosa became the main scapegoat for their country’s failings and was never forgiven up until his passing in 2000. “Under Brazilian law the maximum sentence is 30 years. But my imprisonment has been for 50,” he said before he passed away. Seven years earlier Barbosa had attempted to visit the Brazilian squad in training, only to be turned away for fear that he was a ‘jinx’.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesNery Pumpido | Argentina 0-1 Cameroon | 1990 Group Stages

The 1990 World Cup can only be described as a nightmare for Argentina's No.1 Nery Pumpido. In the tournament opener against outsiders Cameroon, the World Cup holders fell to a shock 1-0 defeat in Milan.

Francois Omam-Biyik towered above his man to head towards goal, but would not have expected his weak and central effort to go in. Pumpido somehow let the ball squirm through and under him as the Africans triumphed.

To make matters worse, in the next game against USSR, Pumpido broke his leg. His replacement Sergio Goycochea would go on to become a national hero after his miracles in penalty shootout wins over Yugoslavia and hosts Italy.

GettyRene Higuita | Colombia 1-2 Cameroon | 1990 Second Round

As eccentric goalkeepers go, Rene Higuita surely goes down as the most eccentric World Cup goalkeeper of all time. The Colombian became infamous during Italia ’90 for coming off his line and taking risks.

Higuita would sweep up miles outside his area, dribble past attackers, and regularly attempt nutmegs and flicks. During the second-round clash with Cameroon, this would prove to be his and Colombia’s downfall.

Deep into extra time, with the score still goalless, Higuita attempted to turn past the legendary Roger Milla close to the halfway line. The 38-year-old tackled him, though, and then dispatched the ball into an open net. Cameroon progressed to the next round, and Higuita was the villain.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyPat Bonner | Republic of Ireland 0-2 Netherlands | 1994 Second Round

Ireland had scraped through from that tournament's ‘Group of Death’ mainly thanks to their now famous opening victory over Arrigo Sacchi’s eventual runners-up Italy.

In the second round Jack Charlton’s men faced Holland in Orlando, but two big defensive errors would cost them as the Dutch ran out 2-0 winners. For their second, goalkeeper Pat Bonner allowed a 30-yard strike from Wim Jonk to go through his hands and into the net.

Michael Owen says he still feels 'resentment' towards David Beckham following his infamous red card against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Owen resents Beckham for '98 red cardDidn't think he should have been sent offStill bitter over 1998 World Cup incidentWHAT HAPPENED?

Beckham received a red card for kicking out at Diego Simeone, before England went out on penalties to Argentina in the last-16 of the competition. The then-Manchester United player received a huge backlash from the English media and fans for months and months off the back of his actions. Now ex-striker Owen, who burst onto the scene for his country in that tournament and scored a stunning goal against Argentina in the same game, says he still feels bitter about what the winger did 25 years on.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT MICHAEL OWEN SAID

He said on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan: "Firstly, I don’t believe David Beckham’s kick out at Diego Simeone should’ve been a red card, but that is irrelevant. He made a mistake and that is where my resentment lies. For a lot of players you only get one shot at a World Cup, and he made a big mistake – he would admit that. You could say that it contributed to us being knocked out and that is a big thing.

"You can resent a lot of things if you use that word, and I do resent a lot of things. Paul Ince missed a penalty and I resent him choosing to shoot the ball one way instead of the other, in the same way I resent Beckham making the decision to kick out at Simeone.

"I resent his actions for all manner of reasons. It was a mistake that only he made and it makes you think that if he hadn’t done it, we could have beaten Argentina. I’m absolutely convinced that we would’ve beaten them with 11 men because we were the better team. We had an unbelievable team so of course I think to myself what could have been."

Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Beckham's red card in that World Cup was one of the biggest controversies in English football history. He was public enemy number one for a long time and his sending off certainly lessened his side's chances of advancing in the competition. But there have been better England sides since then and they have failed to win the illustrious tournament, and yet the fact that Owen has not gotten over this shows the scars from that incident run deep.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

WHAT NEXT?

Owen's comments may spark more debate about Beckham's red card and potentially lead to a response from the former England captain.

Jurgen Klopp feared midfielder Ryan Gravenberch could be out for a longer period after he left the pitch on a stretcher during the Carabao Cup final.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Klopp feared the worst for GravenberchForced to leave the pitch after Caicedo's challengeLiverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 to win Carabao CupWHAT HAPPENED?

The Liverpool boss was forced to substitute Gravenberch in the first half of the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea as the midfielder was stretchered off after a challenge from Moises Caicedo. After the game, Klopp expressed his concern over Gravenberch's condition as he feared the player could be ruled out of action for a long time.

AdvertisementWHAT JURGEN KLOPP SAID

Speaking to reporters after the game, the German coach said, "I hope nothing is broken, but it looks like ligaments."

Getty/ GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The Reds already have a long list of injured players as they missed the services of crucial players like Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the cup final on Sunday. Despite the absence of star players, a young Liverpool side clinched the trophy at Wembley courtesy of a late goal by Virgil van Dijk.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR LIVERPOOL?

After winning their first trophy of the season, the Merseyside club will now shift focus to the FA Cup where they face Championship side Southampton in a fifth-round clash on Wednesday.

Wayne Parnell has surrendered in a Mumbai court and been subsequently granted bail after allegedly testing positive for recreational drugs last year

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2013Wayne Parnell, the South Africa and Pune Warriors bowler, has been granted bail by a Mumbai court after surrendering before it on charges of testing positive for recreational drugs, following a police raid on a party in the city last year. Legspinner Rahul Sharma, who also tested positive in that case, played for Warriors on Sunday against Kings XI Punjab.A Warriors spokesman said Parnell went to the authorities with his lawyer. “He still hasn’t joined the squad,” the spokesman said. “He cannot do so until he gets bail and BCCI clearance.” However, it is understood that securing bail will make it much easier for him to secure the BCCI clearance – Sharma has already obtained it.Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), said the issue was being dealt with as an individual matter with Parnell and his agent. “He [Parnell] knew this was going to happen and he appointed Indian lawyers to deal with it,” Irish said to ESPNcricinfo. “He is going through the process and we don’t believe there is any substance to the charges. The next step is for the prosecution to see if there is sufficient evidence to have a trial or if they will dismiss the charges.”Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, Parnell had confirmed he would play in the IPL and claimed innocence on the drug charge. “As far as I am concerned, everything is fine,” he said. “I’ve received a mail from Pune saying I have to come. I’ve got nothing to hide. The full story will come out once I get over there. They tested everyone that was at the party. I need to find my sample, because if they tested me they must have my sample and we need to match that up.”I’ve been subjected to drug testing in my last five years as a professional cricketer, and I haven’t tested positive once. So I’ve got nothing to worry about. As far as I am aware, they didn’t give any specific samples and put them to names. They just said that a certain number of people tested positive. The individual samples need to be shown now.”Parnell and Sharma were among 90 people detained following the party at a hotel in the Juhu suburb of Mumbai on May 20 last year, a day after Pune Warriors’ IPL 2012 campaign ended. According to reports, drugs including cocaine, MDMA and cannabis were consumed at the party.Of the 90 people, 86 apparently tested positive – including 35 foreign nationals, who have been “shown as wanted” according to a police official. These 86 people had a 1200-page charge sheet drawn up against them last month, according to .

Ian Bell thinks the India series is his chance to start making amends for what has been a lacklustre one-day career so far

Andrew Miller05-Sep-2011Now that they have achieved one of their stated goals – that of becoming the No. 1 team in Test cricket – England’s next challenge is to emulate that achievement in the one-day arena. But if one batsman epitomises the problem of translating such success across formats, it is Ian Bell, whose silken batting in Tests has been one of the major reasons for England’s recent rise, but whose role in the shortened versions of the game remains up in the air.Bell has played in just seven of England’s 38 Twenty20s (and did not feature in last week’s one-off at Old Trafford), while his one-day career includes two World Cup campaigns but just one century in 103 appearances. That solitary score came on India’s last tour of England in 2007 – at the Rose Bowl, no less – when he and Alastair Cook added 178 for the second wicket in a comprehensive victory. However, an overall average of 34.48, and a strike-rate of 72.69, provide damning evidence of his shortcomings to date.The current India series, in Bell’s opinion, is a chance to start making amends. Kevin Pietersen’s absence has created a vacancy at No. 4 which, he believes, will suit his accumulative style much better than was the case earlier in the season, when he was inked in at No. 6 against Sri Lanka, with a licence to play his shots, but made 81 runs from 117 balls all told.”I was desperate to give it a good go, but I didn’t feel I had done it as well as I possibly could have done,” he admitted. “The majority of the time I [was going] in with 15 overs to go and had to work on scoring boundaries from ball one. I’m not the kind of guy who is going to hit the ball into a few rows back, and I have to go over extra cover, or whatever, and use the skills that I have and find boundaries that way.”Part of the problem for England at present is that they have too many players who need to build up a head of steam – such as Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, who are bankers in the top three – and too few who are capable of raising the run-rate from a standing start. In the right conditions Craig Kieswetter can do just that, although he has struggled with the moving ball, while Ben Stokes hasn’t yet had a chance to strut his stuff.Only Eoin Morgan has the proven versatility to cope with all situations than arise in 50-over cricket, but given the fluency of his Test run-making, Bell ought to be capable of making the necessary adjustments. “I try to learn off Morgs in how he plays the spinners and scores boundaries off the front and back foot,” he said. “I want to be a cricketer improving all the time in one-dayers and Test cricket so you have to learn and be open to new things. The game is going forward all the time and you have to stay with it.”His stated preference, however, is to be allowed the time to “go through the gears”, as he puts it. “I can still hit sixes. I can do it against spinners in Test matches so I can do it in a ODI, but if you are coming in late, you actually [have to be] able to clear your leg, which is not something I grew up doing,” he said. “I grew up trying to get a nice cover-drive and play Test cricket, whereas young lads now grow up looking at Twenty20 and hitting the ball, and that becomes a lot easier to them to do that, rather than someone who grew up looking to play Test cricket.”That is where the likes of Stokes, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler – all of whom have turned professional since the advent of Twenty20 cricket – have the change to steal a march on their elder colleagues. “You can see the skills they come in with now,” said Bell. “They have more skills than batters ten years ago would have. The little sweeps with fine-leg up, to clearing your leg is, I guess, just what modern cricketers grow up with. We are working on it and I’m desperate to improve in my one-day cricket because that’s what you are going to have to do – that’s the way it’s going.”That need to get down and dirty is something that Bell has been actively practising since the end of the Test campaign, but ultimately, he wants to be able to stick to what he knows best. As Mahela Jayawardene has demonstrated throughout a brilliant one-day career, there is a place for graceful shot-making in the shorter form of the game. All that matters is the speed at which the scoreboard ticks over, not the speed at which the ball sails to the boundary.”Speaking to Goochy, there are different ways to score runs,” he said. “You can pick the ball over midwicket or you can lift it over extra cover. There are a lot of shots. There is no point me trying to become something I’m not. I have to play to my strengths. I have to pick the gap like I do in Test cricket.”We’re all trying to score at a run a ball. Andy Flower pushes us hard to score at a run a ball. With the spinners on, we want to score off every ball bowled and push down the number of dot balls in the innings. That would be a perfect day, but you’re not going to have every day like that. A goal of ours in the middle overs is to score off as many balls as possible. If we can achieve that, we’ll score more runs and be a better one-day side.”Despite 10 series wins in their last 12 bilateral campaigns, England’s ODI team is still very much a work in progress. However, Bell is excited about their prospects in the coming months and years, and believes that Jade Dernbach’s emergence has added an extra dimension to their bowling.”We’re trying everything we can to improve,” he said. “Watching the Twenty20 the other day, it looks like we’ve got some players who can really bowl well at the back end, and when we go to India, the reverse-swinging ball and slower balls become so important. It looks like we’ve got an attack which can do that, which is a massive improvement already.”We’re targeting to become one of the better fielding teams in the world,” he added. “We’re desperate to do it. As with Tests, the group is hungry for improvement and success. If we keep that, I’m hoping it will be exactly the same as in Tests.”

On a frustrating day in the field England were given cause for concern over James Anderson who needed treatment for back and side stiffness

Andrew Miller at Cardiff27-May-2011James Anderson will not bowl for the rest of the first Test in Cardiff, after scans revealed he had sustained a Grade 1 side strain, having left the field for treatment during the second day’s play against Sri Lanka.Anderson was the pick of England’s pace attack on Friday and produced a superb spell of swing bowling during the morning session to remove Mahela Jayawardene, but spent time off the field during the afternoon and was only able to bowl one over after tea before heading back to the dressing room.”It’s a huge concern for us,” said his new-ball partner Stuart Broad, who was himself ruled out of the latter stages of the Ashes after sustaining a side injury during the Adelaide Test in December. “He felt a bit of tightness in the back and side, and I know what side injuries are all about after this winter. If you do get a little bit of pain it’s not great, so we’re being pretty cautious.”Anderson came into this match having completed 71 overs for Lancashire in the build-up to the first Test following a winter where he was the stand-out bowler during the Ashes and claimed 24 wickets.Although Anderson was dropped during England’s World Cup campaign, and missed part of the one-day series in Australia to return to the UK, he was the only one of England’s quicks not to pick up an injury throughout the winter. However, he did suffer a serious stress fracture of his back in 2006 which forced him to miss all but the final match of the home season.There was encouragement for England when Anderson emerged from the pavilion as nightwatchman after Andrew Strauss’s dismissal in the final over of the day’s play. However, Broad explained that the requirements for batting and bowling are entirely different when it comes to side strains, and that his fitness should not be taken for granted as a result.”With my side injury I could do anything but bowl, so it’s one of those frustrating ones as a bowler,” he said. “Hopefully it will just be a bit of tightness and [the scan] won’t show a huge amount, but Jimmy’s not feeling pain when batting, so hopefully can have one of those frustrating hours for us tomorrow where he wears a few, but gets some away.”Anderson’s injury compounded a difficult day in the field for England, as Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene belied a career average in the low 30s to produce a doughty third Test century. Nevertheless, having experienced the placid nature of the Cardiff wicket against Australia two years ago, Broad was confident that a first-innings total of 400 was not insurmountable.”We got 420-odd against Australia in 2009 and we were under the pump for last 120 overs,” he recalled, after Australia had posted a post-war Ashes record of 674 for 6 declared. “That has got to be the mindset, to do what Australia did to us – bat big, bat once, and then hopefully Swanny will be in the game on last day.”But that doesn’t come about by focussing too much on that game,” he added. “Tomorrow is going to be the key day in the game. The ball moved about a bit in the morning, and they could easily have nicked a few more than they did, so it’s important we get through that session tomorrow morning and build big partnerships. Having watched the guys in Australia we can do that.”On a personal note, Broad reached a notable milestone in the evening session when he had Thisara Perera caught at mid-on to bring up his 100th wicket in Test cricket. At the age of 24 years and 337 days, he was the second-youngest Englishman to do so after Ian Botham, although the moment had been a long time coming. He had been limited to just two scalps in Australia before injury curtailed his Ashes campaign, and then had to wait a further 105 overs in Cardiff before finally breaking through.”I felt in really good rhythm,” he said. “The rub of the green didn’t go my way with a few decisions and nicks, but that happens in Test cricket from time to time, and our percentage of runs to third man was pretty frightening to be honest, so that’s something we might look at for the rest of the series.”It was hard work out there. We bowled pretty well and stayed together. It would have been quite easy to get quite ragged this afternoon but I thought we actually bowled pretty well, and created chances. We’re still in a decent position in this Test.”

The England fast bowler Tim Bresnan has been fined 7.5% of his match fee by the ICC for showing dissent towards an umpire during Thursday’s third ODI against India in Mohali

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2011The England fast bowler Tim Bresnan has been fined 7.5% of his match fee by the ICC for showing dissent towards an umpire during Thursday’s third ODI against India in Mohali.Bresnan was deemed to have committed a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct at the end of the 18th over of India’s innings, when he snatched his cap from umpire Sudhir Asnani after finishing his fifth over.Bresnan pleaded not guilty to the charge, which led to a hearing at the end of the match attended by the player, the umpires, England coach Andy Flower and England team manager Phil Neale.”The umpires deserve the utmost respect not only because they do a difficult job in the middle but also because millions of budding and aspiring cricketers watch every move of the players,” said Roshan Mahanama, the ICC match referee.”This makes all the international cricketers more responsible and accountable for their actions, particularly in their dealings with the umpires in various match situations.”Bresnan’s action came during an ill-tempered performance from England, who failed to defend a total of 298 for 4 and so lost the match by five wickets and the series 3-0 with two games to play.”A bit of chit-chat is fine, that makes the game interesting,” noted India’s captain, MS Dhoni. “You don’t always want a friendly series, as long as things don’t get too personal but I think they should change the plan for the next two games.”

Taufeeq Umar, the Pakistan batsman, defended his side’s cautious batting approach on the third day of the Mirpur Test, saying that the plan was to first get close to Bangladesh’s 338 without losing too many batsmen

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2011Taufeeq Umar, the Pakistan batsman, defended his side’s cautious batting approach on the third day of the Mirpur Test, saying that the plan was to first get close to Bangladesh’s 338 without losing too many wickets. “I think we were on the back foot [initially] and we would have been in deeper trouble had we lost two, three early wickets,” Taufeeq said. “We wanted to get closer to the [Bangladesh] runs and then see how it stands.”We wanted to stay at the wicket and wait for the bad deliveries. I think we were quite successful. Now we are in a good position and we will accelerate tomorrow and see how the things are going.”The safety-first batting strategy has worked well for Pakistan so far as they have won five out of nine Test matches this year. Taufeeq, whose patient accumulation at the top of the order has characterised this approach, made 130 today, his third century in 2011. He has made 828 runs this year, the most by a Pakistan batsman in 2011.Taufeeq said that his batting style was dictated by the instructions of the team management. “It all depends on what the team needs from you. If the captain and the coach say that you have to survive the new ball and then play shots, you have to do that.”He also said that while every Test hundred was important, the 236 that he made against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi earlier this year stood out for him. “I scored a double hundred against Sri Lanka and that was very special because I had not made a double hundred before. I think that century [104 against Bangladesh in Multan in 2001] was the best one because that was on my debut and I will always remember that century.”With only two days left in the game which has been affected by fog and bad light, Taufeeq maintained that Pakistan still had time to force a result. “Definitely we have got two days to go but it all depends on the weather. I still believe we have a chance. We have a world-class bowling attack that can bowl out any side if they get two sessions. If we can take a good lead we will try our best to win this game.”