CLT20: Rain washes out Mumbai Indians vs Yorkshire

By Sheriff Michaels

Rain puts Mumbai Indians, Yorkshire under tremendous pressure in CLT2012

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (TheSportsNEXT) October 19, 2012: Rain played spoilsport for the second evening on the trot at the Champions League Twenty20 2012 on Thursday.

Due to inclement weather, an important Group B match between Mumbai Indians and Yorkshire was abandoned and both teams secured two important points from it.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale won the toss and asked Mumbai Indians to bat first.

Mumbai Indians lost Sachin Tendulkar (7 from 10 – 1 four) early in the innings but West Indian hard-hitting batsman Dwayne Smith (37 from 26 – 4 sixes) put on exhibition his ferocious lofty hits and together with Rohit Sharma (25 from 23 – 1 four, 1 six) added 36 runs for the second wicket.

However just when Mumbai Indians looked settled to score a big total they lost Dwayen Smith and Rohit Sharma in the space of three overs to put themselves under pressure.

Dinesh Karthik (12 from 8 – 2 fours) and Ambati Rayudu (15 from 10 – 2 fours) also failed to deliver goods and it looked all but over for the Mumbai Indians before skipper Harbhajan Singh and another West Indian basher Kieron Pollard (37 not out from 20 – 3 fours, 2 sixes) used the long handle to a great effect to score some quick runs.

However, the innings was stopped after 17.5 overs by heavy rain when the Mumbai Indians had scored 156 for six and were looking all set to score in excess of 180 runs.

Yorkshire bowling was pretty average and other than Sam Patterson (3-0-12-0) all the other bowlers were mustered by West Indian duo in the Mumbai Indians. Adil Rashid gave 42 runs for his two wickets while Azeem Rafiq also captured two wickets for 36 runs from his four overs.

After getting two points from this game, the Mumbai Indians now are third in the table with two points as a better net-run-rate keep them a place in front of the Yorkshire. Chennai Super Kings are yet to win a game and are languishing at the last place in Group B.

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Harbhajan Singh blows England away in ICCWT20

By Fathima Zanaida

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) September 23, 2012: Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh heralded his return to international cricket with an astounding performance on Sunday when India mauled defending champions England by 90 runs in their Group A match of ICC World Twenty20 2012 at R Premadasa Stadium.

Harbhajan Singh took four wickets for 12 runs while left-arm medium-pacer Irfan Pathan and right-hand leg-spin bowler Piyush Chawla also took two wickets apiece as England were folded for mere 80 runs total from 14.1 overs chasing 171 runs target for victory.

It was a clinical performance by Indian spinners as well as their top-order batsmen as they stamped their authority over England who were looking all set to defend their title successfully before this very encounter.

England’s inability to play spin bowling was once again exposed as they failed to get in terms with Harbhajan Singh’s doosras as they kept offering him their wickets like gifts on the Christmas Day.

England skipper Stuart Broad won the toss and invited Indian batsmen to bat first in a bid to avoid a strong batting line-up of the South Asian cricketing powerhouse as Indians are well-renowned for chasing down huge targets.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a surprise move by promoting all-rounder Irfan Pathan (8 from 8 – 1 four) on to the opening position who along with his fellow left-hand opening batsman Gautam Gambhir (45 from 38 – 5 fours) scored 24 runs in the opening wicket partnership.

India’s best batsman Virat Kohli (40 from 32 – 6 fours) joined Gambhir after Steven Finn bowled Pathan and the two batsmen added 57 runs for the second wicket before off-spinner Graeme Swann struck in the 11^th over to get England rid of the dangerous man Kohli.

Gambhir added another 38 runs for third wicket in company of promising Rohit Sharma (55 not out from 33 – 5 fours, 1 six) before Steven Finn captured his second scalp of the evening in shape of the left-hand Indian opener.

Despite of losing skipper MS Dhoni (9 from 8 – 1 four) Rohit Sharma kept India scoring at a handsome rate which helped them to a strong total of 170 for four from 20 overs.

On a pitch which was offering a world of assistance to the spinners, Graeme Swann was clearly the best bowler for England as he gave away only 17 runs from his four overs. Jake Dernbach proved the most expensive option as he leaked 45 runs from his spell while Steven Finn gave away 33 runs for two wickets. Skipper Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan also looked flat and ineffective as Broad was belted for 36 from his four overs while Bresnan blasted for 35 runs.

With Graeme Swann recording attractive figures, it was always going to be a daunting task for the English batsmen to face Indian spinners and they found them in trouble straight away after Irfan Pathan got in-formed opening batsman Alex Hales for a duck.

Luke Wright (6 from 4 – 1 six) soon followed the same fate against the same bowler before MS Dhoni unleashed Harbhajan Singh on England batsmen.

Harbhajan Singh got rid of Eoin Morgan (2 from 6), Jos Buttler (11 from 12 – 1 four), Tim Bresnan (1 from 8), and Graeme Swann (Duck) as the pitch offered him a great comeback opportunity.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla also bowled with great control and showed good variations as he captured scalps of Craig Kieswetter (35 from 25 – 4 fours, 2 sixes) and Jonny Bairstow (1 from 8) as England slumped to 80 all out from 14.4 overs.

This was England’s lowest total in Twenty20 International cricket and the 90-run was their worst margin of defeat in the shortest format of the game.

Harbhajan Singh was expectedly awarded Man of the Match accolade for his brilliant return to international cricket after sitting out of the side for over a year.

Harbhajan Singh dedicated his Man of the Match award to his beloved mother and close friends. Talking to reporters after the match, the Turbunator said, “It has been a hard year being out of the side. Other boys were doing exceedingly well so it was really difficult for me to make a comeback. This award is for my mom and those who have stuck with me in turbulent times”.

Talking about the match, Bhajji said, “For me it was an important game. I hadn’t played international cricket for a full year. Getting a wicket first or second ball gives you a lot of confidence. In T20 cricket, it is important to read the game. I have tried to cut down my run-up a little bit. I was running in too fast and struggling to find my areas before. So I was consciously coming in off a short run and slowly”.

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Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets in ICCWT20 warm-up

By Fathima Zanaida

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: A classy match-winning unbeaten knock by Karman Akmal helped Pakistan defeat India by five wickets in their warm-up match on Monday ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 at R Premadasa Stadium.

Kamran Akmal turned himself into hero from a zero with a brutal knock of 92 not out from just 50 balls and hit as many as six maximums and five boundaries as Pakistan chased down a daunting target of 186 runs with five balls to spare.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first to challenge a somewhat weaker Pakistani batting line-up by putting them under pressure of chasing.

Fast bowler Umar Gul got rid of Gautam Gambhir (10 from 16 – 2 fours) early in the innings and world’s best off-spinner Saeed Ajmal removed dangerous looking Virender Sehwag (26 from 14 – 4 fours, 1 six) to leave India two down for 45 runs on the board in the sixth over.

However, at ICCWT20 India’s batting sensation Virat Kohli (75 not out from 47 – 7 fours, 2 sixes) once again accepted the responsibility of taking the burden of batting on his young shoulders and together with quality batsman Rohit Sharma (56 from 40 – 6 fours, 2 sixes) scored 127 runs for the third wicket partnership which almost took the game away from Pakistan.

In the end, India finished with a massive total of 185 for three from their 20 overs.

Saeed Ajmal, expectedly, was the top bowler for Pakistan as he grabbed two wickets for only 22 runs from his four overs while Umar Gul took one wicket for 31 runs from his four. Shahid Afridi proved expensive option as he went for 41 runs from his four overs.

Very few cricket pundits and experts expected Pakistan to make a good match of the target but Pakistan’s WT20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez (38 from 29 – 4 fours, 1 six) set the tone with an aggressive knock and when he left the field Pakistan had scored 84 for three in the 10^th over and looked good to chase down the target but someone had to take the responsibility.

Imran Nazir (13 from 11 – 1 four) looked good before giving his wicket away to Ravichandran Ashwin while unlucky Nasir Jamshed (Duck) failed to face even a single delivery before getting run out to a mix up.

Shahid Afridi (Duck) also failed to trouble either Indians or scorers before Umar Akmal (2 from 5) also gifted his wicket to Ashwin thus leaving Pakistan in a quagmire of problems.

However, Kamran Akmal (92 not out from 50 – 5 fours, 6 sixes) joined forces with former skipper Shoaib Malik (37 not out from 18 – 2 fours, 2 sixes) made sure that Pakistan achieve the target with an unbeaten 95 runs partnership for the sixth wicket.

This was the first time that Pakistan defeated India in any match under the ICC World Cups and India had enjoyed an upper hand in the last three meetings between the two arch rivals.

Kamran Akmal, who was declared Man of the Match, was exceptional with his batting and showed no signs of nervousness and used his big-hitting ability to the maximum and finished the game in style by hitting Irfan Pathan over the Extra Cover position for a maximum to clinch the target on the first ball of the 20^th over.

For India, Ravichandran Ashwin was the only bowler who looked impressive as he bagged four wickets for 23 runs but none of the other bowlers cold support him and once again doubts were raised on the potency of Indian bowling attack ahead of the ICCWT20 which is starting from Tuesday.

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