Tag Futebol

de Klerk stars with ball as Vipers are restricted to 118 in their 20 overs

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2023The Blaze 119 for 5 (Beaumont 49*) beat Vipers 118 (de Klerk 2-10) by five wicketsThe Blaze made it four wins from four matches in the Charlotte Edwards Cup as they squeezed home by five wickets against holders Southern Vipers in a low-scoring match at the Incora County Ground in Derby.The East Midlands representative side, who had never beaten the Vipers in their previous guise as Lightning, made it home with two balls to spare thanks to an unbeaten 49 from England opener Tammy Beaumont.Batting first, Vipers were all out for 118 in 19.3 overs, skipper Georgia Adams top scoring with 31 as Nadine De Klerk, Kathryn Bryce and Sophie Munro took two wickets each.The Vipers attack made sure an apparently easy chase was anything but for The Blaze, but Beaumont used all her know-how to ensure her side did not miss out.Vipers were without key duo Charlie Dean and Lauren Bell, rested ahead of their upcoming England commitments, but The Blaze lost Nat Sciver-Brunt for the same reason and suffered a further blow when another of their England internationals, Sarah Glenn, had to pull out after suffering a back spasm in the warm-ups.Put in on a slow, dry surface, Vipers were 40 without loss in the powerplay after Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt had profited from hitting the ball in the air over the fielders in the circle, aided by a quick outfield.Yet wickets lost in each of the next three overs changed the tenor of the innings as Bouchier, Wyatt and Australian wicketkeeper-batter Nicole Faltum departed in quick order.Bouchier, having pulled Kathryn Bryce for four, connected with a leading edge attempting to do the same, Bryce herself taking a well-judged catch. Wyatt drove left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon’s second ball straight to extra cover and Faltum lost her middle stump as Bryce claimed a second success.From 44 without loss, Vipers were suddenly 49 for three and never recovered that early momentum, Adams unable to find a partner able to stick with her long enough to put any sustained pressure on the Blaze bowlers.Freya Kemp, making her first appearance of the campaign, slog-swept Gordon for six but misjudged Lucy Higham’s off-spin and was bowled, before Georgia Elwiss handed 18-year-old leg-spinner Josie Groves a Blaze debut wicket somewhat unluckily, an inside edge hitting her foot and rolling on to the stumps.Sophie Munro, whose sole powerplay over had cost 15 runs, came back well at the death, claiming the important wickets of Adams and Emily Windsor, while Nadine De Klerk, who went down so heavily in the field a few minutes earlier it seemed for a moment she would not continue, recovered so fully she was able to bowl Alice Monaghan middle stump and pin Mary Taylor in front, in between which Linsey Smith was run out at the non-striker’s end by an impressive direct hit by Beamont at mid-off, the last five Vipers wickets falling in the final four overs for 17 runs.After that, Vipers needed a good powerplay if they were to put The Blaze under pressure and achieved it, restricting the home side to 31 runs and removing two key batters in Marie Kelly, who clipped left-arm spinner Smith straight to square leg, and Georgie Boyce, who chipped a return catch that Elwiss grabbed at head height.Beaumont and Kathryn Bryce looked a combination that might take the game away from Vipers but against bowling that rarely offered easy runs were falling behind the required rate when the latter went down the pitch to off-spinner Adams and failed to connect, paying the price.A tight over from third seamer Taylor left The Blaze needing 72 from 54 balls but a contrastingly costly over from Monaghan then tilted the balance back in the home side’s favour as the fourth-wicket pair plundered 25 runs, helped by a couple of no-balls, Beaumont ending it with three consecutive fours.Smith claimed a second wicket when she beat Sarah Bryce’s swing but with Beaumont still there as a calm, experienced competitor The Blaze were able to edge home.

New Zealand rebound from their opening-day loss to notch up two successive wins

Annesha Ghosh10-Mar-2022New Zealand 260 for 9 (Satterthwaite 75, A Kerr 50, Vastrakar 4-34) beat India 198 (Kaur 71, Tahuhu 3-17, A Kerr 3-56) by 62 runs
After their opening-day loss to West Indies, New Zealand have now bounced back to win two in a row. Their latest, by 62 runs over India in Hamilton, came on the back of impressive half-centuries from Amy Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr.Amelia also took a three-for with the ball, as did Lea Tahuhu, with India folding in 46.4 overs without even threatening to make a fist of their chase. Only Harmanpreet Kaur stood tall amid a collapse. She made 63-ball 71 before being the eighth Indian wicket to fall. For New Zealand, this was a continuation of their domination over India, who were beaten 4-1 in a bilateral ODI series last month.Just like in the previous game at the venue, between Australia and England that yielded 608 runs, Thursday’s fresh surface encouraged stroke-making. Satterthwaite led the charge with the bat, adding two vital fifty stands – with Amelia and Maddy Green – and a 49-run fifth-wicket partnership with Katey Martin.India’s decision to bowl – seemingly mindful of dew, which didn’t eventually play much part in the proceedings – didn’t pay off. New Zealand posted 51 for 1 in the powerplay, with just the loss of Suzie Bates. The former captain, who made 78 in the previous game, enjoyed the rub of the green early as a thick edge off Meghana Singh flew over the slips.Three balls later, though, a drop-and-run call from Devine had non-striker Bates run out for the second time in three innings, thanks to a superb direct hit at the wicketkeeper’s end by Vastrakar from cover.Captain Sophie Devine then launched a minimal-risk offensive, punishing the slightest width on offer and erroneous lengths without breaking a sweat. She clubbed two back-to-back fours in Meghna’s second over. Two more, off consecutive deliveries, came in the next over, this time off Jhulan Goswami.First-change, left-arm spinner Gayakwad then came agonisingly close to providing further inroads when she drew Kerr into the sweep when she was on 7, but Yastika Bhatia, who replaced Shafali Verma in the XI, shelled what was a tough chance at deep square leg.New Zealand had just lost the set Sophie Devine, in the 11th over, when Satterthwaite walked in. A run-a-ball 67-run third-wicket stand between her and Amelia then helped the hosts dictate terms. Amelia then brought up her maiden World Cup fifty, and her fifth on the bounce against India.Kerr, however, was trapped lbw soon after by Gayakwad. The onus then fell on Satterthwaite to take the hosts to a formidable total. And she delivered, with a fluent 75, at a ground she averages at over 104. Her nine fours, 31 singles, and four twos helped keep the run rate above four through the major part of her stay in the middle as India struggled to tighten the scoring areas against the left-hander.Martin’s innovations helped keep New Zealand’s scoring rate up in the initial part of the final 10 overs. With Satterthwaite she added 49 for the fifth wicket as the home team set themselves up for a 250-plus score.Vastrakar oscillated between extraordinary and sloppy in the field, conceding a four through her legs and then dropping Martin on 27 after handing India an early advantage with Bates’ run out. She rounded out her outing with a flurry of wicket-taking yorkers, and Goswami India’s with a five-run over where she bowled Martin to become the joint-highest wicket-taker in women’s ODI World Cups.Harmanpreet Kaur thrilled fans briefly with a counter-attack after her half-century•AFP via Getty Images

India never quite looked the part to mount New Zealand a challenge in the chase. Dot-ball pressure induced opener Smriti Mandhana’s early dismissal to Jess Kerr, and the fall of No. 3 Deepti Sharma then saw them post their lowest ODI powerplay total since the start of 2017 (rain-interrupted matches excluded): 26 for 2. Bhatia’s promotion to the opening spot on World Cup debut, too, didn’t bring the desired results as she could manage only a 59-ball 28.Inside 20 overs, India’s top three – all left-handers – were back in the hut; Tahuhu, sensational with her mix of cutters, short balls and stock deliveries under lights, took out two of them: Deepti and Bhatia. Under a pile of pressure, India required 211 runs from 30 overs. Mithali Raj, dropped on 6 by Mackay off Tahuhu, and Harmanpreet Kaur reduced the deficit with a fourth-wicket 47 stand.India had only just begun staging a fightback when Amelia Kerr dented them further with a double-wicket third over. Raj was stumped off an orthodox legbreak and Ghosh lost the top of her offstump with a ripping wrong-un.On a hat-trick, Kerr brought five close-in fielders in but a loose delivery to the under-siege Sneh Rana meant the eventful over ended with an anticlimactic four. Not long after, off the final ball of her outing, did Tahuhu take out Rana, rounding out her exemplary returns with 10-2-17-3.Kaur’s late burst had an element of futility about it from the get-go given the required run rate had ballooned to over 10 by the 37th over. She strung a seventh-wicket 35 stand with Goswami but the prospect of a come-from-behind win for India was quashed when Amelia had Kaur caught at long-off.

Players hail Mumbai’s ‘hunger’ and the support staff for their success

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-20203:38

What makes the Mumbai Indians franchise so special?

Jasprit Bumrah: It means a great deal [us playing this tournament amid a pandemic]. As we know, it is a difficult time and everyone’s stuck at home. We are few of the privileged ones. We are grateful we can always play cricket and come back and do what we love to do. It is a big thing and we can entertain those who are watching us as well. It is a big thing in this difficult situation if you can give a bit of entertainment for people watching at home and you know facing difficulties. If we could bring smiles to their faces, that’s the best we can do. Hopefully we were able to do that.Very happy [to win the title]. We have worked very hard. We started preparing much earlier than the other teams and we were working hard towards the process. All the processes have got us results. As he [Suryakumar] said we had decided we were winning tournaments every alternate year, so this year’s goal was that we had to break that jinx and that aim has been successfully achieved. That’s the best feeling ever.Suryakumar Yadav: I think it’s an amazing feeling. Before coming here we had a chat in the bus and even in the team meetings that we have won tournaments in alternate years and odd years and we wanted to break that jinx and create history. So here it is, very happy with it. I think they [coaches and support staff] have been amazing throughout the tournament. Preparations, process are all important. They just said one thing, we will take care of all this you guys just go out there, express yourselves, enjoy and do what you do the best. I think he [Rohit] was batting really well at that moment [when I sacrificed my wicket]. Most importantly, he has been anchoring the innings since the first game. And I don’t mind sacrificing my wicket for him at all.Ishan Kishan: I think, to be honest, I wasn’t looking in good shape before this season. I had a chat with Hardik and Krunal , so they actually asked me to improve my fitness and keep working on my off-side game. I think that overall worked good for my batting and that was the plus point for me this season to score big runs.Krunal Pandya: I guess it’s the hunger to stay at the top always. We’ve never taken any season or any game lightly though we’ve we’ve played good cricket this season as well. The way we went about all the games – there was 100% effort from all the boys and a lot of credit goes to how we prepared before the season as well. Back in Mumbai for two months, everyone was training hard and from hereon, one month before we came, everyone knew their roles very clearly. Then, when the tournament started, everyone was in good shape and going out and executing what they’ve been doing at the nets.There has never been doubt at Ishan’s talent and the No.1 thing I liked about him this season was he was ready to improve. The moment you know you’re lacking something and accepting you have to work hard. All credit goes to him…the way he came back this season. He was not there in the first playing XI and he got his opportunity and capitalised on it. It’s not easy batting at 4, then again opening the batting, and again batting at 4.Mumbai Indians – five-time winners of the IPL now•BCCI

Hardik Pandya: To be honest no [was this IPL difficult because you could just execute one skill?]. For me it was about opportunity, whether batting or bowling, for me bowling this year I wasn’t able to do. But, it’s just about backing myself and as Krunal mentioned it’s all about preparation. On that bracket, we did pretty well and we focused on improving our game day-by-day, and that’s what we were able to implement in the ground.Nathan Coulter-Nile: Ah, I think, Patto [James Pattinson] was bowling beautifully, so I was just quite happy to sit on the sidelines and wait [for] my turn. I got my chance at the end and [I was] lucky enough to kick him out of the side. He’s a very good bowler, and he’d have done the job just as well today, so happy I got the chance.Quinton de Kock: “Obviously it helps that Mumbai have a great set-up, so we’ve been able to move with the gym work and training and stuff. Missing the family has obviously been difficult for everyone, some of our families couldn’t come with us, but we held in and we’re reaping the rewards today for it. You can see how much it [winning] means to everyone in the Mumbai team – staff and the owners. I think this year because there were questions around Mumbai team in general whether we can win back-to-back. I think the guys really did the extra work to make sure we can hold on to the title for the second time in a row. I think everybody worked extra hard. You can see it’s paid off. Congrats to all the guys who worked extra hard on all the nitty-gritties.

Waugh will link up with the tour ahead of the first Test at Edgbaston on August 1 as Australia seek to win their first away Ashes since 2001

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2019Australia will continue to dip into their deep supply of former greats with former captain Steve Waugh joining the Ashes squad as a mentor.Waugh will link up with the tour ahead of the first Test at Edgbaston on August 1 as Australia seek to win their first away Ashes since 2001.Waugh played in nine Ashes series, losing just his first in 1986-87, and piled up 3173 runs in the contests at an average of 58.75. He captained two of the series, including 2001 on English soil.Head coach Justin Langer has been keen to integrate the knowledge and experience of former players. Ricky Ponting has been an assistant coach during the World Cup while Matthew Hayden and Mitchell Johnson worked with the squad on the tour of India earlier this year.”I know it is something that JL [Langer] and myself have been quite big on, that is to try and get some of our past legends in and around the team,” Test captain Tim Paine told . “I think to have someone like him around during a Test series is going to be great for our whole group.””I know I will be trying to bounce off him as much as I can. As I said, coming to England at times, particularly with the pressure and scrutiny that is around the team at the moment, I think he is someone who is regarded for handling that sort of stuff really well.”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2018Mark Wood has been released by Chennai Super Kings after playing just one match in this season’s IPL, and will return to Durham to prepare for the Test series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Lord’s on May 24.Wood, who was picked up by CSK for GBP166,000 in the IPL auction, made his debut against Mumbai Indians in this year’s tournament opener at the Wankhede Stadium, but didn’t pick up a wicket in conceding 49 runs.He is now set to be made available to Durham in their Specsavers County Championship match against Derbyshire this week, as he looks to cement the Test place that he reclaimed during the recent tour of New Zealand.”The decision has been made for me to return home to England to prepare for the English summer,” Wood wrote in a post on Instagram. “Having worked so hard to get back into the test team, and because I’m not currently not in the CSK side, I am coming home to play for Durham to hopefully put my name in the hat for Test match selection.”Ben Stokes, who is playing for Rajasthan Royals, and the Bangalore Royal Challengers duo of Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali are also set to return to England in the coming days to prepare for the Pakistan Test series.

Alex Blackwell and Beth Mooney made fifties to steer Australia’s chase of 254 against New Zealand women and level their three-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2017
ScorecardAlex Blackwell struck 65 to steer Australia’s chase of 254•Getty Images

Alex Blackwell struck a timely 65 to help Australia recover from a middle-order slide and chase down 254 against New Zealand in the second women’s ODI in Mount Maunganui. Blackwell’s knock followed on from Beth Mooney’s 57 at the top as Australia made 256 for 6 to win by four wickets and level the three-match series.Mooney helped Australia recover from the early loss of Nicole Bolton for 17 in the seventh over. She added 87 for the second wicket with her captain Meg Lanning. However, the introduction of 16-year old legspinner Amelia Kerr dented Australia’s chase. Kerr struck twice in her first over, the 21st of the innings, bowling Lanning for 44 and Elyse Villani for a first-ball duck. Mooney fell in the same fashion six overs later, as Australia slid from 109 for 1 to 138 for 4.But Alyssa Healy and Blackwell made sure the runs kept flowing and shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 81 off 85 balls. Blackwell, in her first game back from a hamstring injury, walked out to face the hat-trick ball, but managed to get off the mark straight away. “It’s never nice to face a hat-trick ball. I was just thinking about playing as straight as possible,” she said. “It was a bonus to score off the first ball, that settled me. I would have liked to finish not out.”Healy became Kerr’s fourth victim when she was caught and bowled in the 41st over for 36. Blackwell was caught behind with Australia 17 away from the target. Jess Jonassen and Ashleigh Gardner ensured her effort wasn’t in vain as they knocked off the remaining runs with 16 balls to spare.”We know it’s a really good wicket here and the outfield is exceptional, so 250 wasn’t something we were too concerned about,” Blackwell said. “I think we can continue to improve with the ball as well, but today was a much better effort.”Suzie Bates, the New Zealand captain, felt lapses in the field cost them. “I don’t think we fielded well today, it was probably our worst fielding performance this series,” she said.Bates showered praise on Kerr, who finished with 4 for 54 runs in 10 overs. “I probably left her a little bit late. For a 16-year old, you would think she’d be under pressure, but there is no such thing as pressure to her, she just wants to bowl. She knows her game and the game of cricket really well. She knows exactly what she wants to do and has pretty good control. She is going to be a massive star for us and she was a key bowler for us today.”Kerr, who dismissed Lanning with a googly, especially cherished that wicket. “She’s one of the best players in the world, and to get her with a googly is wow, it’s something I have been working on a lot,” she said. “The bowling coach told me to bowl the googly to Lanning, and luckily, it worked. And she is tough to bowl to, so I was glad I didn’t need to bowl to her for too long.”When New Zealand batted, after being asked to, Bates dominated the early going, and made 35 of the 55 runs her team had scored at the time of the dismissal. Amy Satterthwaite and Katey Martin joined hands for a third-wicket stand of 87. Once the association was ended, with the dismissal of Martin, the onus on building the innings fell on Satterthwaite. Perkins chipped in with 38 and helped Satterthwaite add 63 for the fifth wicket that pushed the score past 200.Satterthwaite hung on till the 47th over. She made 85 off 117 balls, falling 15 short of what would have been her fifth consecutive ODI century. New Zealand stumbled towards the end, losing two more wickets after her dismissal to finish with 253 for 8. Amanda-Jade Wellington took three wickets for Australia, but Perry, who opened the bowling, stood out in her short spell, finishing with 1 for 9 in four overs.

Murali Kartik has given his whole-hearted support to the West Indies at a time when they have been criticised for mankading a Zimbabwe batsmen to get through to the Under-19 World Cup quarter-finals

Gaurav Kalra03-Feb-20165:33

‘People hide behind the spirit of cricket bunker’

Former India spinner Murali Kartik has whole-heartedly backed the West Indies after their controversial win over Zimbabwe at the Under-19 World Cup on Tuesday. West Indies fast bowler Keemo Paul mankaded the last man Richard Ngarava with three runs needed off the final over to help his team through to the quarter-finals. The incident has led to fierce debate but Kartik, who has dismissed three batsmen in such a manner over his playing career, remains steadfast in his belief that a bowler is completely justified in effecting what is just another “mode of dismissal.”Among the arguments given by pundits who were critical of West Indies was that Paul had failed to warn Ngarava. But Kartik argued the rules do not demand that courtesy.”It is one of those things where people are once again going to bring up the spirit of cricket issue,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s very simple; you are not allowed to steal anything in life so stealing anything whether an inch or a yard when it’s a crucial time, it’s not done. People are going to say he wasn’t warned, but the rule is very clear, you are not supposed to leave the popping crease before the bowler delivers the ball. There are different modes of dismissals and this is one of them and I don’t know why people create such a hue and cry about the spirit of cricket.”Most bowlers do warn a batsman before mankading him and Kartik used to do so at least thrice. However, he believes he had the time since he was playing a first-class cricket across four days. Here, West Indies were defending only a handful of runs with six balls left and needed the wicket to progress in a World Cup.”For me the situations were different, I was playing a four-day game,” Kartik said. “I had the time to warn, that was something that was happening for a very long time. I didn’t want to get that person out, I just wanted to warn him and if somebody doesn’t heed to the warnings after three times, then obviously there’s nothing left. Over here, there were just three runs required and the last man was in and they wanted to win the game, so it’s a different situation.”Zimbabwe’s players were visibly distraught after the match, with captain Brandon Mavuta repeatedly saying “No comment” in the post-match presentation ceremony. Their coach Stephen Mangongo was more vocal: “It is my honest and sincere opinion as a coach, who has been coaching this game for nearly two decades, that at youth cricket you want to teach them sportsmanship, you want to teach them to win with honour and valour. And I do not think that they’ve won with honour, by sneaking a run out in such a manner.”Kartik laughed off that view, saying the West Indies players should in fact be complimented for their game awareness in a high-pressure situation.”They are not kids, they are 19-year olds and many people have played for their countries at the age of 14 and 15.” he said. “When you get to that level, there’s no kid, everybody is treated at par, at the end of the day they are playing for their country. If the other team is trying to win by stealing, is that what you are trying to tell everyone that Zimbabwe were trying to win by gaining that extra yard.”I don’t know why people use the word “Mankad”, it should be on the name of the person who is trying to steal that extra advantage. The person who does it is always the one who is vilified but for me, I have always believed whether you steal a rupee or a million rupees, stealing is stealing. They were just trying to win the game. I am glad they know the rules, and somebody was aware enough to see that someone was trying to take unfair advantage in a tight situation.”TV commentator and former Zimbabwe bowler Mpumelelo Mbangwa, in his post-match analysis for the host broadcaster, said he would have wanted the on-field umpires to take charge of the situation and ask if the West Indies captain really wanted to go ahead with the appeal. Other critics have also argued that the intent of the batsman should have been taken into consideration before he was ruled out via a mankad. Was he willfully stepping outside his crease or was it simply the result of a natural urgency that comes with wanting to get the required runs in a tense situation? But Kartik did not entertain those views either and offered a few analogies to back his stance.”When a bowler misses the crease by a micrometer, isn’t it a no ball?” he said. “Or when a run out or a stumping is referred to the third umpire, the line belongs to the umpire, [and] whether you are a millimeter or a micrometer out, you are out.”Let me put another situation [across]. As a spinner, when I am bowling and someone is beaten in the air and he drags the foot by a micrometer, is the keeper going to ask him, ‘Can I stump you or not? Are you out? Are you trying to take a single?’ No, that’s not the case. So, I am really sorry, whether it’s a micrometer or an inch or a mile out, he’s out.”The spirit of cricket is a convenient bunker for people to hide behind. Everybody needs to look into themselves. How many times do people nick and not walk? How many times do people claim catches that aren’t catches and they know it? The situation was such, the kids were trying to win a game and anybody who flouts rules, obviously you have to pay a price.”

Danza Hyatt and Vernon Philander robbed 41 runs in 14 balls to post just enough for Jamaica Tallawahs as they beat Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel by five runs

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdrian Barath’s wicket triggered a middle-order collapse for T&T•Getty Images

Danza Hyatt and Vernon Philander smashed 41 runs in 14 balls to post just enough for Jamaica Tallawahs as Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel failed to muster similar momentum to overhaul an achievable target at Port-of-Spain on Wednesday and lost their third match in a row.Jamaica were benefited by a swift and solid start after being invited to bat with Chris Gayle and Ahmed Shehzad collecting 44 runs before the latter holed out in the sixth over. But stifled by lack of pace, Jamaica scored 13 in the next four overs. That pressure resulted in four quick wickets as Jamaica stumbled to 81 for 5 after 15 overs and then 107 for 6 in 18. Danza Hyatt, whose 42 off 26 balls was the source of most of Jamaica’s runs during that time, was joined by Vernon Philander and they dismantled T&T captain Dwayne Bravo’s bowling in the 19th over, collecting 26 runs courtesy three sixes and a four. The final over yielded 13 more to set up a target of 147 that looked unlikely after the slowdown during the middle overs.A 62-run second wicket partnership between opener Adrian Barath and Ross Taylor kept T&T steady. However, Barath’s wicket triggered a middle-order collapse as Taylor and Darren Bravo followed him to leave T&T at 82 for 4 in 14 overs. Dwayne Bravo and Nicolas Pooran kept the home team in the game, but neither was able to tackle a constantly swelling required rate which had reached nearly 13 by the last five overs. Bravo fell in the penultimate over and his team was left six runs short of victory.

The resumption of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan remains in the balance after inconclusive discussions between the heads of the two boards in Kuala Lumpur

Umar Farooq29-Jun-2012The resumption of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan remains in the balance after inconclusive discussions between the heads of the two boards in Kuala Lumpur. The BCCI president N Srinivasan and the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf met on the sidelines of the ICC annual conference and agreed on a series in principle, but not on any specific details.”We’d already agreed [in May] to playing each other, which he [Srinivasan] reconfirmed,” Ashraf told ESPNcricinfo. “We will play, that’s for sure, but dates and revenue matters are yet to be finalised.”Ashraf said Pakistan were ready for progress on the series but Srinivasan had said he would only be able to commit after checking with Indian authorities. It is Pakistan’s turn to host a bilateral series, though Ashraf said the BCCI had the prerogative to decide on the dates. It’s understood the BCCI is not keen to play at a neutral venue, and Pakistan are ready to play in India. However, the PCB would want the BCCI to share revenue because it has apparently not yet recovered from the loss suffered when India pulled out their planned tour in 2009.The PCB is currently facing a shortfall of approximately $75 million in its annual budget and is looking at the India series to make up the deficit.Pakistan and India have not played each other in a bilateral series since December 2007, and ties have been frozen since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike. Pakistan did, however, travel to India to play the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.Talks of reviving Pakistan-India cricketing ties began when Ashraf requested Pakistan President Asif Zardari to take up the issue with the Indian government. A meeting between the head of states in Delhi in April indicated that the Indian government had no objections to the resumption of cricket between the two countries. Last month, Ashraf visited India for the IPL final and it emerged that one window for the series could be during the gap in England’s split tour to India at the end of the year.

Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, believes that his bowlers can take plenty of positives out of the series against Pakistan despite the home team losing the final Test in St Kitts

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2011Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, believes that his bowlers can take plenty of positives out of the series against Pakistan despite the home team losing the final Test in St Kitts. Pakistan levelled the 1-1 with a comfortable 196-run victory, denying West Indies the chance to win a Test series for the first time in more than two years.”We did a great job getting the win in Guyana and we were looking for similar success here in St Kitts, but things did not go our way,” Sammy said. “Pakistan played some good cricket and you have to give them credit. Our bowlers did all that was asked of them all throughout the series. They bowled with heart and that is what we asked. This is one of the positives we could take out of the series.”We had momentum coming into the match, and we had them on the run in the first innings but the last-wicket stand switched the momentum a bit and took it away from us at that stage. When we batted we did not put enough runs on the board and we were always playing catch-up from that stage.”Especially impressive were Ravi Rampaul, who collected 11 wickets at 20.90 during the series, and Sammy himself, who took 10 at 17.90. The challenge for West Indies now is to regain their focus for the upcoming series against India, who will soon arrive for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20.”It’s all about hard work and putting into play what we worked hard on during the training sessions,” Sammy said. “We have a full series against India coming up and it will be a tough series. We have to continue to put in the hard work and look to put totals on the board so the bowlers will have runs to work with. We are a confident group of young men and we will go into that series with the belief that we can win.”The first match against India is the Twenty20 in Trinidad on June 4.