Asia Cup future hangs in balance

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Asia Cup future hangs in balance

By AFP Published: January 4, 2014

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Asian Cricket Council chairman and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief N Srinivasan (L), Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council Syed Ashraful Huq (R) attend a Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Colombo on January 4, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

COLOMBO: 

Asia Cup’s future hangs in the balance as conflicting reports about holding the event in Bangladesh emerged on Saturday.

The Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Ashraful Haq claimed that violence-plagued Bangladesh would remain the venue for next month’s Asia Cup and added Afghanistan as the fifth team in the regional one-day tournament.

“The tournament will go ahead as scheduled in Bangladesh from February 25,” said Huq after an executive board meeting in Colombo.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a press release later in the day stating that no final decision has been made in this regard.

“The matter of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh was discussed at length with emphasis on the current security situation,” said the PCB in a statement.

5th Test: Rampaging Australia on brink of Ashes whitewash

SYDNEY:
Australia were closing in on a 5-0 Ashes sweep after demolishing England’s batting and pushing their lead to 311 runs after just two days of the final Sydney Ashes Test on Saturday.

The relentless Australians blasted out the hapless tourists for 155 – the fifth time England had been dismissed for less than 200 in the series – and set their sights on batting them out of the game with three days to play.
At second day stumps Australia were 140 for four with Chris Rogers compiling his fourth half-century in five innings on 73 and George Bailey not out at 20.
“Day two, 300 plus lead’s a pretty good position to be in,” said Australia paceman Ryan Harris.
“I don’t think the wicket’s getting any easier. If we bowl like we did today [Saturday], I think we’ll go alright.”
Australia’s pace trio of Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle earlier took three wickets apiece as England narrowly avoided the follow-on in response to Australia’s first innings score of 326.
The tourists never recovered from a disastrous morning session when they crashed to 23 for five despite the efforts of Ben Stokes, Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow to repel the hostile home attack.
“It was pretty disappointing, but 326 is way over par on this pitch in my opinion,” said England batting coach Graham Gooch.
“So once that score’s on the board it’s always going to be difficult and once we lost those early wickets it’s going to be tough from this position.”
The tourists have failed to fight with the bat through out with Ben Stokes scoring their only century of the series in the third Test in Perth.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.

First Test: Misbah praises match-turner Mathews

ABU DHABI: Pakistan national Test team captain Misbahul Haq praised his counterpart Angelo Mathews for his fightback which earned Sri Lanka a respectable draw in the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Mathews hit a career-best 157 not out following his 91 in the first knock to help Sri Lanka avert a probable defeat after Pakistan dominated the first three days.

Pakistan had gained a valuable 179-run lead over Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 204 and had their rivals in a spot of bother at 186-4 on day three.

But Mathews put on 138 for the fifth wicket with Dinesh Chandimal (89) and unbroken 156 for the sixth wicket with Prasanna Jayawardene (63 not out) to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble.

Set a challenging 302 in 67 overs on the last day, Pakistan finished on 158-2.

Misbah said Mathews turned the match on its head.

“Test cricket is all about this. In getting somebody out in the first innings, you can’t just think you’ve won the match,” said Misbah.

“This is how teams fight back, they fought hard and batted well and I think this Test ends up even-Stevens and both did really well. Mathews batted very well and turned the match.”

Misbah refused to agree his team did not try to achieve the target.

“No I don’t think so .. with first three wickets we were just trying to build partnership, that was our plan that if we can reach around of 170 – 180 with eight or nine wicekts in hand then we can push onward but when Ahmed Shahzad got out then we thought we should go for the draw,” said Misbah, who hoped the pitch would assist spinners more in the second Test starting in Dubai on Wednesday.

“Dubai must be different and the ball started to spin on the third day so there must be an important role of the spinner there,” said Misbah.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who took 18 wickets in Pakistan’s 1-0 series win here in 2011, went wicket-less in his 49 overs on a Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch which eased out for batsmen after first day.

Mathews said he went for safety-first on the fifth day.

“First of all we had to make sure that we didn’t get into a losing position,” said Mathews, who batted for an hour and 30 minutes before declaring at 420-5.

“It was a see-saw game and they dominated for the first three days and it was remarkable to stage a comeback and I am happy that we did that through our batting,” said Mathews.

“This was the best I have batted for Sri Lanka and I am proud to have justified my place in the team,” he said.

Pakistan-Sri Lanka First Test Ends in a Draw

Abu Dhabi: The first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended in a draw on the fifth and final day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Set 302 for a win, Pakistan finished on 158-2 with Mohammad Hafeez not out on 80 and Younis Khan unbeaten on 13 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Pakistan lost openers Khurram Manzoor for eight and Ahmed Shehzad for 55 soon after tea, before deciding not to go after the target.

Earlier Sri Lanka declared their second innings on 480-5 with skipper Angelo Mathews hitting a career-best 157 not out and Prasanna Jayawardene making an unbeaten 63.

The second match of the three-Test series starts in Dubai on Wednesday while the third will be played in Sharjah from January 12.

Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka captain and Man of the Match

Brief scores
Sri Lanka 204 (Mathews 91, Junaid Khan 5-58)) and 480 for 5 dec (Mathews 157*, Chandimal 89, Silva 81) 
Pakistan 383 (Younis Khan 136, Misbah-ul Haq 135) and 158 for 2 (Mohammad Hafeez 80*)
Result Drawn
MOM Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

.India beat Pakistan to Lift U-19 Asia Cup

Sharjah: The World champions of junior cricket have roared at the perfect time. With less than two months to go before they begin defending their Under-19 World Cup crown, India made an emphatic statement by winning the Asia Cup in Sharjah on Sunday, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by 40 runs in a thrilling final.

Put into bat, the Indian colts made 314 for four, with skipper Vijay Zol and Sanju Samson - two of the hottest young talents in India presently - smashing hundreds after India enjoyed a 65-run stand in just 6.4 overs, largely due to opener Ankush Bains, who smashed 47 (34b, 7x4, 1x6). Both made exactly 100.

While Zol's effort took him 120 balls, and included seven fours and a couple of sixes, Samson's knock came off merely 87 balls (8x4, 4x6). Both added 180 for the third wicket to ensure India finished with a massive total. Pakistan, in reply, were restricted to 287 for eight, as Kamran Gulam (102 not out) and skipper Sami Aslam's (87) efforts went in vain. For India, left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav took three for 72.

It is a triumph that should stand India in good stead for the forthcoming World Cup which will be held in UAE too.

It was redemption time for the colts too. In the last Asia Cup, back in July 2012, India had to share the trophy with Pakistan after the final finished in a tie. In this edition, India had already lost to the Green Brigade once in the league stage - on December 31 - by two wickets.

While the coach understandably chose to praise all his wards, he conceded that Maharashtra's Zol and Kerala's Samson were 'special boys.' "Both are technically sound. They don't play rash strokes. They have tremendous power and the gift of timing which enables them to clear boundaries comfortably. They have the experience of the IPL and the Ranji behind them now. They are in for a bigger league," Arun gushed.

Amongst the bowlers, he singled out Kuldeep Yadav and medium-pacers Deepak Hooda and pacer Avesh Khan for special praise.

Brief scores:
India Under-19 : 314 for 8 (Zol 100, Samson 100)
Pakistan Under-19: 274 for 9 (Ghulam 102, Aslam 87*)
Result India� U19 won by 40 runs.

Special wins’ delight Misbahul Haq

The Express Tribune

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‘Special wins’ delight Misbahul Haq
By AFP
Published: December 29, 2013
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Misbah ended the year as the highest ODI run-scorer while Hafeez finished on number one spot in the rankings for ODI all-rounders. PHOTO: AFP
ABU DHABI:

Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq termed the One-Day International (ODI) victories over South Africa and Sri Lanka as ‘special wins’ which meant his team ended a tough year on a high.

Pakistan beat South Africa 2-1 last month – their first-ever one-day series win over the Proteas – before clinching the Sri Lanka series 3-2 on Friday.

Even though Pakistan lost the fifth and final match by two wickets in Abu Dhabi, Misbah said the series win was satisfying.

“I think it was a tough year for us but the two series we won in South Africa and now against Sri Lanka, they are very special and ended our year on a high note,” said Misbah.

Misbah hoped the ODI series win over Sri Lanka would lift his team’s morale ahead of the three-Test series starting in Abu Dhabi from Tuesday.

photo 5_zpsa55e44f0.jpg

“We did struggle in the middle of the year,” said Misbah of Pakistan’s loss in the Champions Trophy in June in England.

“We have to improve our fielding because we had Friday’s match in our hands but we let it go because of poor fielding.”

Misbah hit a solid 51 to end the year with 1,373 runs in 34 ODIs – the highest by any player in 2013 – to lead Pakistan to 232 all out.

However, Sri Lanka sneaked through in the final over with Dinesh Chandimal hitting an unbeaten 64.

Disappointed with series loss, says Mathews

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews showed disappointment over the series loss.

“We were good enough to get over it but I think we were nowhere near our brand of cricket and disappointed that we lost the series,” said Mathews.

“If you look at the series, the first game was very crucial, we lost that by 11 runs and had we won that game we would have been sitting 3-2 winners,” said Mathews.

Mathews said his team will be more competitive in Tests with experienced batsman Mahela Jayawardene and ace spinner Rangana Herath joining the squad.

“We played without Herath and Jayawardene in the one-days but they will back for the Tests and so we will be at our full strength and we will be more competitive,” he said.

The second Test will be played in Dubai (January 4-8) and the third in Sharjah (January 16-20).

Hafeez recognised for impressive batting feats

Mohammad Hafeez achieved a career-best ranking in the International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings for ODI batsmen after finishing as the leading run-getter in the five-match series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Hafeez aggregated 448 runs with three centuries, and for this performance he not only earned the player of the series award but has also been rewarded with a jump of 18 places that, in turn, has put him at a career-best 16th position.

He has now become Pakistan’s second batsman to feature inside the top 20 with Misbah retaining ninth spot. Meanwhile, Hafeez also regained the number-one spot in the rankings for ODI all-rounders.

Shehzad and Masood stake claims for Test spot

SHARJAH: Pakistan 'A' opening batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Shaan Masood staked their claims for next week's first Test against South Africa by scoring solid half centuries against the Proteas in the warmup match on Wednesday.

Shehzad scored an attacking 66 with 10 fours while Masood batted confidently against seam and spin before being retired out on 50 off 140 balls. Pakistan A finished the second day of the three-day game on 230-4 after South Africa declared its first innings at 354-8.

Pakistan selectors left the second opening slot vacant while naming a 12-man squad for Monday's first Test, and either Shehzad or Masood will get the nod to partner Khurram Manzoor at Abu Dhabi.

Asad Shafiq, who will likely play in the middle order in the first test, was unbeaten on 32.