Pakistan cricket team captain Younus Khan has confidently predicted victory for his resurgent team after they defeated favourites South Africa by seven runs in a nail-biting semi-final. All-rounder Shahid Afridi played a crucial role in the Pakistan’s victory by scoring 56 runs and taking 2-16 with his leg-spinners.
Jubliant Younus Khan said:
One more game and this World Cup is ours. In the big games we do well and now I think we will win this. We can take our chances and we can win the World Cup.
We are slow starters, we arrived late, didn’t have a lot of practice sessions so there was no pressure on us. Suddenly we are in a good position. Afridi is always a match-winner for us. Today he was batting three and he turned it on for Pakistan, it’s all about his commitment but also about our teamwork.
The last time time we went to Zimbabwe - in 2005 - there was almost fury over us going. The Green Party were signing petitions and bringing Henry Olongo over here to speak about how wrong touring would be, and a lot of people just didn't want us to go. Our chief executive, Martin Snedden, was effectively forced to take a pro-tour stance because of the financial penalties that New Zealand Cricket would have suffered if we didn't tour.
We were trying to work through that while also being mindful of being consistent - because there were other countries that we play cricket against that didn't have fantastic human rights records, either. I think it was important to take that into account - the need for even-handedness. The ICC rules insisted we couldn't renege on our touring commitments on any grounds other than safety and security.
You can see the logic in this. There's a decent argument that if you start drifting away from that position, you'll end up with a very dysfunctional playing programme and make sides vulnerable to every sort of political movement possible. Teams would be pulling out of tours regularly, depending on international relationships at the time. There'd be tit-for-tat reprisals. Chaos.
Having said that, Zimbabwe is in a terrible state, and I'm not sure what the right answer is in terms of our sporting contacts. You can argue that we should be isolating them in order to show our disapproval of Robert Mugabe's regime, and that to continue sporting contact is, by implication, endorsing and condoning the current administration. You could, but from where I stand that's an exceptionally political and theoretical point of view.
On the other hand, there's a claim that we should continue to have sporting contacts with Zimbabwe, because to do so would effectively help to keep their national cricket team in existence and afford some opportunity for the local people, as well as keeping at least one channel of communication open with the free world.
NEW DELHI - Former Australia cricket coach, John Buchanan has accused the Indian media of taking his comments on former and current Indian cricketers out of context.
He also said that he bore no malice towards anyone.
In his just released book ‘The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20′, Buchanan has taken a swipe at Sunil Gavaskar, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mark Ramprakash, Shoaib Akhtar, Kevin Pietersen and Vijay Mallya.
“People would have to read the entire book to understand its meaning,” he said.
While talking of the IPL franchisee meet in Goa before the second season of the T-20 league, Buchanan refers to an incident where his suggestion of allowing more international players to play in the IPL was referred to the IPL technical committee, which is headed by Gavaskar.
To this, Buchanan writes, “What this means is that any ideas that affect the way T20 might be played are referred to a committee chaired by a person who is blinkered by bias and tradition.”(ANI)
Brian, I hesitate to ask this,' I said, 'and I do so with all due respect. But, Brian, ask it I must. Brian, taking into account your run of low scores against England in this series and form of late that is possibly below the standards you expect of yourself… [by this time I was choking back the tears]... Brian, are you at all concerned that your great talent may be... on the wane?'
Three days later, West Indies declared their first innings closed at 751 for five. Lara was not out 400, the highest Test score ever made. He had batted for 778 minutes, faced 582 balls, hit 43 fours and four sixes and it was all my fault.
More memories? I won’t mention the first time I met Brian, when we were team-mates in a charity match as Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire in the early Nineties, when he got a duck and I scored 50, because that would be showing off. Get in.
And I certainly won't mention the time a Scottish colleague of mine, himself an occasional left-hander, attempted to demonstrate a flaw he had spotted in Lara's technique by moving back and across and promptly passing out blind drunk at The Pelican Bar, Port-of-Spain.
When discussing the claims of batsmen such as WG Grace, Don Bradman, George Headley and Jack Hobbs, Graeme Pollock, Viv Richards, Javed Miandad and others to the title of the greatest batsman of all time, the rivalry between Lara and Sachin Tendulkar for the best of recent times always crops up.
At the obvious risk of upsetting about a billion Indians, my own view, for what it is worth, is that while Tendulkar is and has been, indisputably, a truly great batsman, Lara played more truly great innings, when they really mattered, and I was privileged to watch my idea of the best of them all, in the third Test of the 1999 series against Australia at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
When West Indies were bowled out for 51 in the first innings of the first Test in Trinidad, Lara took most of the blame and when, the night before the start of the second Test in Jamaica, he was spotted in Kingston’s loudest nightclub, many commentators took great delight in pointing out it was called The Asylum.
Even after his double-hundred there had helped win the match and draw the four-match series 1-1, a proportion of the Barbados crowd booed when, on the penultimate evening of the third Test, Lara failed to appear as scheduled and a nightwatchman walked out instead.
Twenty-four hours later however, they were all cheering and cheering a match-winning innings kissed by genius, 153 not out.
That day Lara was too good for Australia and possibly too good for words. And to me, despite that early-morning phone call, that just about sums him up
Australian cricket team captain Ricky Ponting looks on the fourth day of the fourth and final test cricket match between India and Australia in Nagpur. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
Australia's batting is all that stands between India and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a farcical fourth day of the final cricket test in Nagpur.
The Australians are 0-13 chasing a highly unlikely 382 for victory today.
The target might have been far smaller had captain Ricky Ponting risked a ban for slow over rates by persisting with his pace bowlers after tea yesterday to support debutant spinner Jason Krejza.
Seemingly more worried about a ban than the second most prestigious trophy available to Australia in tests after the Ashes, Ponting used Cameron White, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke for 12 overs that gave up 47 easy runs to Mahendra Dhoni (55) and Harbhajan Singh (52).
"I don't think for one second that Ricky hasn't pressed for the win," coach Tim Nielsen said in the captain's defence.
"It's easy to sit up in the commentary box or anywhere in the ground and poke fire at the captain because of the decisions he's making out there.
"At the end of the day he's got the responsibility to bowl the overs he has to bowl, there's no way India can come here tomorrow and bowl 20 overs because they feel we're going well - there's a responsibility for both teams, all teams to make sure they bowl the 90 overs required in the spirit of the game."
Krejza, in particular, deserved a better fate after conjuring two wonderful deliveries to claim his ninth and 10th wickets of a memorable match.
His match haul of 12-358 stands as the equal third best test debut of alltime, but also the second most runs conceded by a bowler in a test.
With the high profile Indian Premier League taking place in India right now, interest in local cricket matches opposite weak sides like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been of little interest. It is certainly disheartening. But our team never gave up. In the past few weeks, Pakistan has played on home-ground with Bangladesh and before that Zimbabwe and our young players like Salman Butt, Umar Gul, as well as veterans Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan as well as cappy Shoaib Malik have won every single game.
In other words, we won 11 straight one-day international games in a row and in the process, the young guns of Pakistani cricket set a record.
We followed up this triumph by playing a Twenty20 game with Bangladesh and again thrashed them.
With major players like Abdul Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shabbir Ahmed among countless others out of the team - they now form Lahore Badshahs under the wing of Indian Cricket League - it must've been difficult for our players
to win every single match and that too at a time when most people are tuned to IPL matches that have Bollywood stars and international players pitched together.
ZFor having the heart to play their best and not giving in to pressure, we at Instep salute these young stars. And here's why the Pakistan cricket team are Instep's hotsteppers of the week!
With the high profile Indian Premier League taking place in India right now, interest in local cricket matches opposite weak sides like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been of little interest. It is certainly disheartening. But our team never gave up. In the past few weeks, Pakistan has played on home-ground with Bangladesh and before that Zimbabwe and our young players like Salman Butt, Umar Gul, as well as veterans Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan as well as cappy Shoaib Malik have won every single game.
In other words, we won 11 straight one-day international games in a row and in the process, the young guns of Pakistani cricket set a record.
We followed up this triumph by playing a Twenty20 game with Bangladesh and again thrashed them.
With major players like Abdul Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shabbir Ahmed among countless others out of the team - they now form Lahore Badshahs under the wing of Indian Cricket League - it must've been difficult for our players to win every single match and that too at a time when most people are tuned to IPL matches that have Bollywood stars and international players pitched together.
For having the heart to play their best and not giving in to pressure, we at Instep salute these young stars. And here's why the Pakistan cricket team are Instep's hotsteppers of the week!
In a brilliant display of teamwork, commitment, and maturity, the Indian cricket team beat Australia 2-0 in the best of three finals to lift the Commonwealth Bank triseries in Australia. The second final in particular was an absolute humdinger and the manner in which youngsters responded in the pressure cooker situation was nothing short of remarkable. This is definitely the Indian team’s most notable achievement in the 50 over format in years and should prove to be a fantastic springboard for more success over the next couple of years.
All round performance gives India vital victory:
It is true that the Indian victory at the SCG and at the Gabba was set up by the little champion Sachin Tendulkar, but it is heartening to see that several individuals contributed over the two matches. From Rohit Sharma’s patient 50 that helped India chase down 240 in the final to Harbhajan’s crucial blows in the middle overs to Praveen Kumar’s spectacular 4 for 46 in the second final, both the finals had enough instances of Indian players stepping up during crucial moments. What was so remarkable about the matches is the fact that not one Australian player barring James Hopes was able to lift their game in either of the games. Vindication of selection policy:
India’s success in the triseries is not just a vindication of MS Dhoni’s captaincy skills but is also a shot in the arm for the selection committee that has been trumpeting the need to promote rookies at the expense of experienced warhorses. There has been a lot of criticism of the policy that has led to the introduction of several youngsters at one time rather than in phases. But, to the credit of the selection committee it has to be said that they gave the captain the team he wanted.
Fantastic climax to a long tour:
With this victory, an eventful Australian tour that will go down in history not for the runs scored but for the insults traded finally come to an end in a moment of triumph for Indian cricket. This victory will also hopefully give the Indian and Australian medias enough things to write about without having to resort to articles about the childish behaviour of the two sides. But mostly, I am hoping that this is not another false dawn for Indian cricket, and that this team can start putting together good performances consistently and is more than just a mere collection of several stars as has been the case for many years.
MORE SPOILS: Captain Daniel Vettori is confident he has the New Zealand cricket team to be serious Champions Trophy contenders in September - assuming they're not ravaged by player boycotts.
Relevant offers
Captain Daniel Vettori is confident he has the New Zealand cricket team to be serious Champions Trophy contenders in September - assuming they're not ravaged by player boycotts.
Fresh from their 3-1 one-day series win over England, the tourists head home on Friday after a two-match cricketing public relations trip to Aberdeen to play Scotland and Ireland, with Pakistan looming as their next serious challenge.
That's assuming they get there, with security fears over the volatile nation set to dominate cricketing discussions in coming weeks, and Sri Lanka and South Africa on standby as backup venues.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan admitted last week that "a fair number" of players had expressed concerns to him about visiting Pakistan for three one-dayers in August and the subsequent Champions Trophy.
New Zealand Cricket Players' Association head Heath Mills went a step further yesterday.
"I have no doubt that if the tournament takes place in Pakistan a number of players will pull out. That includes New Zealanders," Mills told the Herald on Sunday.
Vaughan and the players are awaiting security reports on Pakistan from the International Cricket Council (ICC), being tabled at the current executive meeting in Dubai.
He urged New Zealand players not to make hasty decisions on their availability until the reports were seen.
Safety concerns aside, Vettori felt after his side's 51-run win victory over England at Lord's marked them as worthy No 3 side in the world on official ICC rankings.
With big-hitting opener Jesse Ryder and allrounder James Franklin still to return from injury, and Chris Martin still seen as an ODI option, Vettori felt they could make a splash at full strength.
"It's a good one-day team, we cover most of the bases with what you need in a one-day set-up; we've got some good hitters, good bowlers and we're a good fielding side on our day," Vettori said.
"We've got the makings of a team that can compete at the Champions Trophy. Now it's about time we go away trying to win these tournaments as opposed to just maintaining that third ranking."
New Zealand have their names on the Champions Trophy, their only major tournament victory when Stephen Fleming's side won it in Nairobi in 2000.
Vettori said world champions Australia were always the obvious favourites but the retirements of Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and key spinner Brad Hogg had helped their opponents.
"Hopefully they come back to the pack but Australia always seem to have a knack of lifting for those big tournaments.
Durban: Cricket South Africa today lauded the national team for their win against Australia in the fourth ODI at Port Elizabeth, which have them an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
CSA CEO Gerald Majola said in a statement the victory confirmed the Proteas status as the world's best ODI team.
"Although it is now a dead rubber, the Proteas will be going all-out to stretch their lead in the world log even further with victory in the final match on Friday at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg," he said.
"The win is a personal milestone for century-maker Herschelle Gibbs, who has overcome several recent set-backs to reach the top again and to justify CSA s faith in him. It is also wonderful to welcome newcomers Wayne Parnell and Roelof van der Merwe into the Proteas ranks".
CSA would also like to thank and congratulate Graeme Smith and Johan Botha for their leadership and performances which have seen the Proteas beat Australia both at home and away to take top world ODI honours.
They were backed by a committed management team under Mickey Arthur, who has grown extraod inarily in stature as national coach. "The Proteas supporters, sponsors and suppliers have also been superb and the players have responded with unprecedented performances that have enhanced both their sport and their nation," said Majola. PTI
Johannesburg, March 23 India’s World Cup dreams were shattered by a savage batting assault from holders Australia who reaffirmed their status as the best one-day side with a comprehensive victory in the final here today for a record third title.
Ricky Ponting led his side to a 125-run victory with a blazing captain’s knock of 140 not out that propelled Australia to its biggest-ever one-day score, a virtually unassailable total of 359 for two, also the highest in any World Cup final.
The 1983 champions India, handicapped with the first-over dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar, fought hard till the 40th over but managed only 234 runs. Virender Sehwag kept India in the hunt for some time with a sparkling innings of 82 but the target proved too much.
The Indian pace attack, which had been highly impressive in this tournament, let the team down in the most important match after Saurav Ganguly had elected to field on a pitch that offered substantial help to the seamers.
The trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who have a combined tally of 49 wickets in this tournament, were together plundered for 211 runs from 27 overs without any success.
Apart from Ponting, who smashed eight sixes and four fours in his 121-ball knock, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist also helped themselves to fine half-centuries. Martyn, who was associated in a record 234-run unbeaten partnership with Ponting, made 88 not out while Gilchrist scored 57 from just 48 balls.
Matthew Hayden, who made 37, was the only batsman not to have registered a half-century in Australia’s run-feast which saw the team emulating the West Indies in winning back-to-back World Cup titles.
Australia remained unbeaten in this tournament, an unprecedented achievement, and extended their one-day winning streak to 17. Faced with a target that has never been chased before, the Indians were under pressure right from the start. Their biggest shock came in the fifth ball of the first over when Tendulkar, who had amassed 669 runs in this tournament from 10 previous innings, was dismissed by Glenn McGrath for just four runs.
Tendulkar, who struck a boundary in the fourth ball of the over, miscued a pull shot in the next delivery to give a simple return catch to McGrath, who finished with three wickets for 52 runs.
Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly lived on the edges in a 54-run partnership for the second wicket with India, who had successfully chased two 320-plus totals last year, looking totally helpless by the enormity of the task.
Both of them survived some close calls, with Sehwag even being caught off a no-ball, but continued with their policy of attacking the opening bowlers, McGrath and Brett Lee. Ganguly hit three fours and a six in his 25-ball 24 before skying a Brett Lee delivery to Darren Lehmann at mid-on. A third-ball dismissal of NatWest final hero Mohammad Kaif, who failed to score, reduced India to 59 for three in the 11th over.
Sehwag, who struck 10 fours and three sixes in his 81-ball innings, kept India’s slim hopes alive with some big hitting when the Australians, sensing rain, introduced Bradd Hogg and Darren Lehmann in a bid to quickly complete 25 overs, the minimum required for a valid match.
Rain did interrupt the proceedings with India placed on 103 for three in 17 overs but only for 23 minutes as sun came out again much to the disappointment of the partisan Indian crowd at the stadium which was frantically hoping that rains would wash out today’s play forcing the match to be played all over again on the reserve day tomorrow.
But that was not to be and play resumed without any reduction in the number of overs. Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, who made 47, put together a 88-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 13 overs before Sehwag was run out while going for a quick single.
The dismissal of Sehwag also dashed India’s hopes as a defeat became inevitable. PTI
.Muttiah Muralitharan, after a fantastic display in the second Test against South Africa in Colombo, managed four consecutive ten-wicket hauls for the second time in his career. No other bowler has done it even once. Is he the greatest spinner of all time? In the June issue of Cricinfo Magazine, Mukul Kesavan investigated.
Normal people don't think about sportsmen, they watch them. The thinking comes later, it's a second-order pleasure. There are those of us who add Virender Sehwag's latest score to his aggregate and divide by the number of innings played (minus the not-outs) to work out how many decimal points his career average has risen, but we do this in secret because we know that it is, like picking one's nose, a furtive pleasure that not everyone is likely to understand. To understand Muttiah Muralitharan, to appreciate what he means to cricket, we should begin, not with his statistics, but his Presence.
The difference between the great and the very good is that the great ones have an aura. Sometimes, first-rate players are undervalued because they lack that je ne sais quoi. Among batsmen, Ken Barrington, Dilip Vengsarkar, Andy Flower, Jacques Kallis, even Rahul Dravid, come to mind as extraordinary players who aren't given their due because of a certain anonymity, whereas Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, even Mahendra Singh Dhoni, walk the field swaddled in an aura that magnifies them and their doings. Among contemporary bowlers, Anil Kumble suffers most in this area, forever typed as a dogged striver, a wonderful senior pro, but not a Master of the Universe, whereas Imran Khan's cricketing record is lacquered into immortality by his charisma. Glenn McGrath, without question the most dangerous bowler of the modern era, doesn't get his due because his sour glower - either natural or cultivated - and the mean parsimony of his manner make him hard to like or even admire.
Murali lucked out in the business of Presence. He is naturally theatrical, a television camera's delight. That bobbing run-up, the whiplash speed of his arm action, the helicopter wrist, the eyes huge with effort at the point of release, the conspiratorial smile at his team-mates as he returns to his bowling mark, the radiant joy in playing and competing, reach out to the spectator and draw him in. Murali lacks Shane Warne's confidence that every ball bowled might have taken a wicket but for the obtuseness of umpires, or the fiendish luck of batsmen; nor does his body language assert, as Warne's does, that he has an answer to every problem. Sri Lanka have lost too many matches, and Murali lived through too many ambushes, for that kind of swagger. To the spectator, Warne's minimalist, impassive walk-up implies magic; Murali's animation suggestsel ectricity.
The Master Sachin Breaks the record of another master Brian Charles Lara on October 17th in a test match at Mohali against Australia making 88.Conicdentely it was Anil Kumble 's Birthday and the man with him at non striker end was Sourav Ganguly who was also with him when he break record of most test centuries.Sourav Ganguly was batting on 39 at the other end after playing the supporting role to Tendulkar to perfection when Sachin broke Sunil Gavaskar record of 34 test centuries.His father Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist named him after his favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He was encouraged to play cricket by his elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar. He has 2 more siblings - brother Nitin Tendulkar and sister Savitai Tendulkar. Nitin's son Rohan Tendulkar born in 1990 is also a cricketer and represents Mumbai in junior cricket tournaments
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two teams linked with tragedy, will clash in the ICC T20 world cup 2009 final at Lord’s .
Srilanka are unbeaten in this world cup 2009, they beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the Super Eights match , but captain Sangakkara said: “We’ve played Pakistan many times before but in T20 you must take every game in isolation. Different players come into form at different times.
Srilanka have won all 6 of their last t20 matches wheras pakistan have won 4 and lost 2.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have played in two 50-over World Cup finals in the past, with one victory and one defeat apiece. Pakistan beat England in the final at Melbourne in 1992, then lost to Australia at Lord’s in 1999. Sri Lanka beat Australia at Lahore in 1996, then lost to the Aussies at Bridgetown in 2007.
All five of the tournament’s leading wicket-takers will be on display in the final. Ajanta Mendis, Umjar Gul, Malinga and Ajmal have all taken 12 wickets, Shahid Afridi is just behind them on 10 wkts.
The two teams have had fairly contrasting lead-ups to the semi-finals but past records matter little in a knockout game, as Pakistan opted to bat at a packed Trent Bridge. They fielded an unchanged team from the game against Ireland. Their opponents, who will be keen to maintain their unbeaten record in the tournament, brought back Jacques Kallis, who had been rested for the dead rubber against India. Morne Morkel, his replacement for that match, was back on the bench.
South Africa: 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Johan Botha, 11 Dale Steyn
Well the England cricket team would be in high spirits for the 1st Npower cricket test match vs the West Indies starting May 6 2009 at the Lords cricket ground but thier coach Andy Flower in not very sure about it. Flower in an interview expressed that many of the Star England players are not prepared to take on the West Indies in the first cricket test match. The reason he cited was the players were busy with the IPL T20 cricket tournament.
The English coach Andy Flower only took charge of team in January 2009 and officially the English Cricket Board (ECB) declared this only last month. This is the reason why Andy Flower did have any say in ECB's decision to allow England players to play till so long in the IPL T20 tournament.
Andrew Symonds rewarded the faith of the Australian selectors as he led his side to a six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Dubai. The all-rounder got the call for this series after undergoing counselling to deal with a series of off-field controversies, but after failing with the bat in the first-game defeat, displayed the talent which keeps Australia coming back for more. His two wickets for 12 runs helped finish off the Pakistan tail as they made 207, and his brisk half-century carried Australia almost all the way as they reached their target with 29 balls to spare. After Brad Haddin went for just eight, Shane Watson's 30 and 48 from James Hopes had helped Australia build a solid platform, but Pakistan dismissed the pair within the space of three balls to leave the tourists in a more nervous position at 93 for three when Symonds strode to the crease. He took a while to play himself in, but after the offer of a free hit against Shoaib Malik was smashed for his first four in the 29th over, Symonds began to express himself a little more and hit Saeed Ajmal for six in the next over. By the time he was bowled by Shahid Afridi for 58 off 62 balls, the damage had been done with Australia well ahead of the run rate and only 25 runs from their target. Michael Clarke's unbeaten 39 and 10 from Callum Ferguson saw them home. Pakistan v Australia 2nd ODI at Dubai
Pakistan cricket selectors have recalled fit-again fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for the five one-day internationals and a twenty20 game against Australia in the United Arab Emirates later this month. "Akhtar is super fit," chief selector Abdul Qadir told reporters Monday while announcing a 15-member squad. Akhtar, 33, has played just two one-day internationals in 16 months due to disciplinary and fitness problems. Nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express, Akhtar underwent a strenuous three-day fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore last week and impressed selectors with his pace. "The doctor and physio told us that his fitness level has increased which is a good sign for Pakistan," Qadir said. "He also bowled four overs in the nets last Friday in front of the selectors and one of his deliveries was recorded at 149 km/h." In January, Akhtar made an unimpressive return to international cricket after 14 months out and he was subsequently dropped after taking just one wicket for 88 runs in two limited-overs games against Sri Lanka at home. He failed to complete his full quota of 10 overs in either of the games. He was later ruled out of the Test series against Sri Lanka due to a knee injury. Pakistan team: Younis Khan (capt.), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Akhtar. Wed 22, April 2009: Pakistan v Australia 1st ODI at Dubai
Fought his way back from a torn quadricep muscle, suffered in the season-opening interstate four day competition fixture against New South Wales at the WACA Ground, to figure prominently in the Warriors’ campaign in the latter half of 2007-08. Took 20 wickets in five first-class matches at 24.90, including eight in the win against South Australia in Perth which gave him Man of the Match honours, and was the equal-leading wicket-taker for the Warriors in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash with nine at a respectable average of 20.44. One of the most lethal pacemen in the country when on song, he represented Australia in four one-day international matches during the 2005-06 season. www.cricket.com
No one knows who is going to win the next match - not you, not me, not even the cricket experts. So if you put your bet on Team A, you may win the bet if you are fortunate, or you may lose. In T20 cricket, even putting your bets on a higher ranked team is not a safe bet, as many punters realized when the Netherlands upset England and then Ireland defeated Bangladesh. So most people who are betting on cricket matches are just waiting for lady luck to smile, and when she doesn’t they lose a lot of money. But is there a way to eliminate the luck factor, and guarantee a win on the bets you place?!
Pakistan cricket team captain Younus Khan has confidently predicted victory for his resurgent team after they defeated favourites South Africa by seven runs in a nail-biting semi-final. All-rounder Shahid Afridi played a crucial role in the Pakistan’s victory by scoring 56 runs and taking 2-16 with his leg-spinners.
Durban: Cricket South Africa today lauded the national team for their win against Australia in the fourth ODI at Port Elizabeth, which have them an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
.jpg)
