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A round-up of the North Zone matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy played on April 4, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2014Ishant Sharma’s 4 for 9 and an unbeaten 75 from Gautam Gambhir helped Delhi pull away with a four-point lead in the North Zone table after their nine-wicket win over Haryana in Chandigarh.A 103-run, second-wicket partnership between Avi Barot and Guntashveer Singh helped Haryana recover from an early setback after they opted to bat. Both batsmen scored fifties with Barot scoring 51 off 42 and Guntashveer slamming four sixes and three fours in his 49-ball 64. Then the slide began for Haryana, as the set pair were out in successive overs. Ishant compounded their problems, striking twice in the 17th over and once in the 19th, to keep Haryana to 140 for 7.Delhi’s experienced opening pair of Gambhir and Virender Sehwag shared a 121-run partnership, their third fifty-plus stand in four games, to ensure Delhi coasted to victory in the 18th over. Sehwag fell for 49 but Gambhir carried on, finishing with a 53-ball 75 that had seven fours and three sixes.Medium-pacer Akshay Chauhan turned in 4 for 16 to help Himachal Pradesh beat Jammu & Kashmir by 17 runs in Mohali.Chauhan built on the early strikes from Vikramjeet Malik, dismissing Parvez Rasool and Hardeep Singh in successive overs to leave J&K at 45 for 5 in the 10th over in chase of 128. Chauhan ended J&K’s brief resistance, breaking a 48-run stand between Pranav Gupta and Abid Nabi in the 19th over. Rishi Dhawan’s two wickets in the last over brought an end to J&K’s innings.Earlier, Chauhan was also involved in a handy 29-run, eighth-wicket partnership that helped Himachal reach 127 for 8. Dhawan’s 44 had ensured the side kept scoring runs in spite of losing wickets but after he fell, the side quickly slid to 98 for 7 in the 18th over. Waseem Raza and Rasool were the most successful bowlers for J&K, taking five wickets between them.Harbhajan Singh scored a 50-ball 78 and put on 99 with Himanshu Chawla to lay the platform for Punjab to beat Services by 9 runs in Mohali. Harbhajan and Chawla came together with Punjab, who had chosen to bat, 35 for 3 after seven overs. Harbhajan was out in the 18th over, after striking nine fours and four sixes, while Chawla was dismissed in the final over for a 34-ball 50, his first-ever T20 fifty.Chasing 155, Services lost wickets regularly but stayed in the hunt thanks to Soumya Swain’s 46 and a number of starts from the other batsmen. In all, seven of their batsmen got into double figures, but only two made more than 20, and that proved crucial in Punjab holding on to win. Rahul Sharma was Punjab’s most successful bowler, with figures of 4 for 21 in his four overs.

Spearheaded by captain Kieron Pollard’s 63 off 36 balls, the Barbados Tridents produced a stunning performance to knock off the Jamaica Tallawahs by 88 runs on Sunday night at Warner Park in St Kitts.

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Spearheaded by captain Kieron Pollard’s 63 off 36 balls, the Barbados Tridents produced a stunning performance to knock off the Jamaica Tallawahs by 88 runs on Sunday night at Warner Park in St Kitts. On a dramatic final day of the CPL 2014 regular season, the Tridents catapulted from fourth place into first to earn a bye through to the tournament final based on having the best net run rate after finishing deadlocked at 6-3 with the Tallawahs, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Guyana Amazon Warriors.A loss for the Tridents would have left them in fourth place at 5-4, leaving them needing two wins to reach the final. That fate has now been transferred to the Tallawahs, who could have clinched first place outright with a win. Instead, the nosedive they took on net run rate in a losing effort means they will have to beat the Red Steel in the first CPL play-off match on Wednesday followed by another win 24 hours later against the Amazon Warriors in order to reach Saturday’s final.Pollard’s decision to bat first after winning the toss was met with a good amount of criticism from the game’s television commentators, particularly because teams batting first had managed to win just seven of 26 games on the season heading into the match. The choice was vindicated in emphatic fashion as the Tridents recorded the CPL’s largest margin of victory by runs with the captain leading the charge.Dwayne Smith got the Tridents off to a solid start, bashing 32 of the game’s first 35 runs before falling in the sixth over to Daniel Vettori thanks to a tremendous catch from Andre Russell, who covered 30 yards running across from long-off to take a skied chance at long-on. Shoaib Malik and Raymon Reifer fell cheaply a few overs later and when William Perkins was caught behind off Rusty Theron in the 14th over for 36, the match was evenly balanced at 98 for 4.Pollard and Jeevan Mendis then produced a 57-run stand for the fifth wicket, with 38 of the runs coming off Pollard’s bat as the captain put his stamp on the game. The Tallawahs seemed to have the Tridents held in check at the 16-over mark with the score 124 for 4, but Pollard erupted for a four and two sixes off Russell in the 17th as part of a 20-run over and brought up his half-century off 28 balls in the process.Mendis was run out for 17 to end the 18th over before Rusty Theron nailed the stumps to remove Pollard and Kyle Mayers off consecutive deliveries to end the 19th to make it 161 for 7. Jason Holder cracked two sixes in the final over before falling to Russell for 12 as the Tridents ended on 175 for 8. Theron ended up with figures of 4 for 35.Considering that the Guyana Amazon Warriors chased 189 earlier in the day with relative ease on the same pitch in the small confines of Warner Park, doubts still lingered as to the wisdom of Pollard’s decision at the toss. The Tridents bowling unit turned in a sterling performance to ensure Pollard’s efforts with the bat did not go to waste.Ravi Rampaul struck a major blow in the second over of the chase, striking Chris Gayle low on the pads with a full inswinger to remove the Tallawahs captain leg before for 1. His opening partner Chadwick Walton joined him in the dugout one over later for 5 when the keeper Perkins pulled off an extraordinary one-handed diving catch down the leg side.The Tridents focused effort in the field continued with the run-out of Adam Voges for 10 in the eighth over before Owais Shah missed a sweep to the legspin of Mendis and was struck in front of the stumps for the second lbw dismissal of the innings to make it 54 for 4. Russell was the only player left with the kind of muscle needed to get the Tallawahs back into the game but a brilliant diving catch by Mayers running in from long-on removed Russell for 4 and sparked euphoric cries in the field.Nkrumah Bonner scored 47 at number three, but he and Voges were the only two to reach double figures for the Tallawahs as the tail was wiped out in quick time. Theron was caught on the boundary off Ashley Nurse for 3 to end the game as the Tallawahs were bowled out for 87 in 15.3 overs, the lowest total by any team in this year’s CPL. The Tridents now have five days to bask in the glow of Sunday’s win while the Tallawahs have 72 hours to dust themselves off and regroup for Wednesday’s play-off encounter with the Red Steel.

Inter Miami have officially set their first preseason friendly on the calendar, with a match against the national team of El Salvador on the books.

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Inter Miami schedule preseason friendlySet to take on El Salvador national teamRumors of River Plate friendly followWHAT HAPPENED?

January 19 will see the Herons return to the pitch for the first time in 2024, with Messi and co. taking on Los Cuscatlecos. The match will be played on the road in San Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlán, one day before the USMNT take on Slovenia in Texas in an international friendly. In addition to the El Salvador friendly, the Herons have also been linked with a match against Argentine powerhouse River Plate Thursday, that comes on top of previous rumors of matches against Al-Hilal and Newells Old Boys.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

With the match being played one day before the USMNT take the pitch, both Gregg Berhalter and Tata Martino will have to make a decision on where Benjamin Cremaschi and Deandre Yedlin go. The young attacker made his international debut in a friendly in September against Oman, but is not yet cap-tied due to not competing in an official competitive match. Yedlin, meanwhile, has been on the outskirts of the program of late, but could feature in January due to it not being an official FIFA window.

WHAT INTER MIAMI SAID

“We’re excited to start announcing our preseason plans and preparations ahead of a thrilling 2024 campaign. We look forward to facing the El Salvador national team in what will be a good first test for our squad against the best players from the country,” said Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR INTER MIAMI

The Herons will make their official return to the pitch on January 19, but in terms of build up until then, Inter Miami are in offseason mode. They'll go about planning roster additions, contracts and preparation for the 2024 MLS Draft, but more than anything, it's a small break from a congested schedule.

A round-up of all the Faysal Bank T20 Cup matches played on February 14, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2014An incisive bowling performance from Faisalabad Wolves, spearheaded by Saeed Ajmal, helped the team defeat Larkana Bulls by 33 runs in Rawalpindi, and reach the semi-finals of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup. Ajmal notched four scalps to wreck Larkana’s middle order, and dismiss the team for 88.The win had seemed unlikely at one stage, as Faisalabad, put in to bat, could only muster 121 from their 20 overs. Khurram Shehzad top-scored with a slow 38, while the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Ali Waqas and Asif Ali all fell cheaply. Only four players reached double digits, as the medium-pacer Mohammad Siddiq and offspinner Imtiaz Ali picked up five wickets between them to run through the line-up.Larkana, however, failed to gather any momentum during their paltry chase, and lost wickets right from the off. Ayaz Jamali was the only batsman to offer some respite, scoring 34 off 36 balls, as no one else contributed more than 11. Ajmal eventually finished with 4 for 14- his best figures in Twenty20 cricket- while Asad Ali chipped in with two wickets to bundle Larkana out in 18.5 overs.Younis Khan’s quick half-century helped Abbotabad Falcons clinch a semi-final berth by beating Karachi Zebras by four wickets in a close match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.Younis blasted an unbeaten 55 off 33 deliveries with six fours and a six, as Abbotabad chased down 130 with five balls remaining. Medium-pacer Tariq Haroon was the pick of Karachi Zebras’ bowlers, finishing with 3 for 14 from his four overs.Karachi Zebras, choosing to bat, were propelled by a 77-run stand for the third wicket between Hasan Raza and Faisal Iqbal. However from 103 for 2 in the 17th over, the team could only muster their way to 129 for 6 by the end of the 20th, thanks to incisive bowling from Junaid Khan who ended with 3 for 17.

Sri Lanka A’s hopes of levelling the series diminished on Thursday, after England Lions had added a further 159 runs, but for Upul Tharanga and Suraj Randiv, the second day brought their possible return to the tips of the Test team

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo27-Feb-2014
Scorecard0:00

Tharanga defies England Lions again

Suraj Randiv is making a case for a Sri Lanka recall with a productive season•AFPA-team tours can seem a strange sporting environment. The teams are ostensibly a national 2nd XI, but, as is the case for the sides playing in Colombo, proven men with years of first-class refinement are omitted for youthful cricketers with porous records and raw techniques.Demoted international players may view unofficial Tests an easy hunting ground – a means of overcoming a crisis of confidence – but for others, it is the greatest test of their career to date. For selectors, coaches and players, individual gains overshadow the team cause, because no one in an A team wants to be there for long. There are no A-team rankings. No maces, or financial incentives.Sri Lanka A’s hopes of levelling the series diminished on Thursday, after England Lions had added a further 159 runs, but perhaps more importantly, for Upul Tharanga and Suraj Randiv, the second day brought their possible return to the tips of the Test team. On a surface not yet given to turn, Randiv collected four wickets either side of lunch, completing his fourth first-class five-wicket haul in six matches, before Tharanga fashioned a graceful, unbeaten 108 from 130 balls before stumps.Tharanga has played 15 Tests and 171 ODIs, but for most of that international career his place in the top team has been contentious. On days like this, when he drives Liam Plunkett serenely, on the up, through extra cover, or takes the Simon Kerrigan from out of the wicketkeeper’s gloves, you wonder how he managed to get himself dropped.There is little authority in his shots, as there was with Chris Woakes and Scott Borthwick earlier in the day, nor the calculation Varun Chopra showcased on the opening day. There is only time and talent – he feels the ball, more than he watches it. At times it seems there is little correlation between the quality of the ball and its eventual destination – especially if it comes to a stop beyond the rope. Of batsmen who have made more than 15 runs, his strike rate of 75 was the highest b y a distance.Early in his innings there were glimpses of the prods outside off stump and the creeping self-doubt that failed him in internationals, but he did not shelve his scoring strokes to get through the tough patch, as he has done in the past. Dimuth Karunaratne – one of the incumbent Test openers – was plumb in front to Graham Onions as he sought to whip him through the leg side. If Tharanga earns a place in Sri Lanka’s squad to England in June, it is Karunaratne’s place he will most likely threaten.The Premadasa pitch has worn quickly in the past, but Randiv’s wickets came on a surface that had not yet begun to assist the spinners – though three of his wickets were Nos. 8, 10 and 11. As Dilruwan Perera is currently Sri Lanka’s second spinner, it is unlikely Randiv will have earned a place in the squad with this performance, but more heavy hauls in the remainder of the season may ensure he is the next in line. Though both Randiv and Tharanga have been tried and discarded at the top level, they are not yet 30.The day began with an hour of patient batting from Woakes and Borthwick, as Woakes completed an eight first-class hundred. Dushmantha Chameera and Vishwa Fernando found zip off the surface early on, but just as he won through that test, Borthwick was afflicted by nerves as he neared his own hundred. Fernando sought to bounce him in the 90s, and Borthwick top-edged two fours – one of which flicked the keeper’s outstretched gloves. The bowler’s frustration then transferred to the batsman. Fernando bowled one full and straight, and Borthwick was trapped in front, one short of a fifth first-class ton.”I tried my best to get out a few times that over,” Borthwick said. “I don’t like being in the 90s, so I was trying to get through them as quickly as possible. He bowled me a couple of short balls, so I thought I’d try and take him on. Then on 99, I missed a straight one, so I’m a bit gutted about that.”When he departed, Lions’ sixth-wicket pair had put on 197, which may have gone a considerable way to making safe the match and the series. Woakes and Liam Plunkett added a further 72 for the seventh wicket, entrenching their position.Borthwick said Sri Lankan batsmen had played his legspin well in the series, and as he and left-arm spinner Kerrigan were handled with ease by Tharanga in the final session, it appeared the Premadasa surface remained good for batting. If Sri Lanka A are to level the series, they must progress quickly on the third day, but even if they do not, two individual performances ensured a pleasing day two.

A round-up of the third day’s play of the seventh-round Group A games of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2013
ScorecardBhargav Merai scored his second century of the season•ESPNcricinfo LtdBhargav Merai’s second first-class century helped Gujarat mount a solid reply as they looked to hunt down Haryana’s mammoth first-innings total in Ahmedabad. He and Venugopal Rao, the other unbeaten batsman, still have considerable work to do as the home side went to stumps 259 runs behind.Gujarat took more than 20 overs to move from 68 to 96 – a run rate of 1.36 – but the arrival of their captain Parthiv Patel instilled life into the innings. His 44-ball 37 was part of a 71-run stand with Merai which was accumulated at 4.68 per over. When he was out leg before to medium-pacer Ashish Hooda, Rao ensured a similar rhythm was maintained as he struck nine fours and a six in his 64.Gujarat, who are placed fifth in Group A, have one more day left to snare a first-innings lead and collect a crucial three points and push past mid-table mediocrity.Read the full report of Mumbai v Odisha here: Odisha fight to prevent innings defeatRead the full report of Karnataka v Punjab here: Vinay ton leaves Punjab battling for survivalRead the full report of Delhi v Vidarbha here: Delhi stay in hunt with crushing win

James Faulkner and Lasith Malinga led a high-class Melbourne Stars pace attack in demolishing the Adelaide Strikers in a one-sided encounter at the MCG

The Report by Brydon Coverdale09-Jan-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLasith Malinga was one of the Stars bowlers who caused problems for the Strikers•Getty ImagesJames Faulkner and Lasith Malinga led a high-class Melbourne Stars pace attack in demolishing the Adelaide Strikers in a one-sided encounter at the MCG. A woeful batting performance from the Strikers – only Michael Klinger and Kane Richardson reached double figures – meant they were only able to post 9 for 90 from their full 20 overs and the Stars sailed past the target in the eighth over of the chase.After the Strikers chose to bat, Jackson Bird’s new-ball swing caused some issues and Alex Hales was caught at slip for 5. The promotion of Tim Ludeman to No.3 as a pinch hitter failed as he could only manage 6 from 11 deliveries before he sliced a catch to point off Faulkner, who picked up Phillip Hughes for a golden duck next ball, caught behind off a delivery that found some extra bounce from the drop-in pitch.From there it was all downhill for the Strikers; Klinger kept the runs ticking over as much as he could but his partners kept disappearing at the other end. A magnificent inswinging yorker from Malinga bowled Nathan Reardon and it was Malinga and Faulkner who caused the most problems. Faulkner finished with 3 for 9 from his four overs and Malinga’s four brought 2 for 8 as the batsmen had no answers to their pace, aggression and swing.The legspinner James Muirhead also got in on the act by deceiving Michael Neser, who was stumped off a good legbreak, and it took a 24-run stand from Klinger and Richardson (21) to get the Strikers to within range of even batting out their overs. Eventually Klinger was caught in the deep off Faulkner for 42 and the Strikers had to rely on their own fast men if they were to defend the tiny total.Realistically, though, that was never going to happen, and Luke Wright’s 49 from 20 balls made certain of it. He struck eight fours and two sixes in a 62-run opening stand with Cameron White (13) before both men were caught attacking Neser from consecutive balls, but Glenn Maxwell easily finished the job with 25 off 10 balls, a top-edged six of his securing the win.

Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan and Abhinav Mukund picked up five wickets between them to put South Zone firmly on top in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final clash against West Zone in Chennai

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2013
ScorecardMalolan Rangarajan struck 58, before picking up three wickets for 50 runs•ESPNcricinfo LtdOffspinner Malolan Rangarajan and Abhinav Mukund picked up five wickets between them to put South Zone firmly on top in their Duleep Trophy quarter-final clash against West Zone in Chennai.Double centuries from B Aparajith and Manish Pandey on Friday had propelled South Zone to a mammoth 553 for 7 at stumps, and Malolan added to the flurry of runs on day three with a 132-ball 58 that included four fours, as the hosts eventually declared on 600 for 9.West Zone began their innings slowly, as the openers Wasim Jaffer and Aditya Waghmode added just 32 in the first 18 overs, before Malolan made the breakthrough, dismissing Jaffer for 11. West Zone stabilised with an 82-run second-wicket stand between Waghmode and Ankit Bawne, but three wickets in seven balls helped South Zone seize the advantage.First, Abhinav dismissed Waghmode for a patient 57 of the second ball of the 55th over, and in his next delivery, he bowled Manpreet Juneja for a golden duck. Yusuf Pathan went in at No.5 to salvage a recovery, but was caught by Rohan Prem off left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas in the next over, leaving West Zone precariously placed at 115 for 4.Bawne carried on, making an unbeaten 62 with six fours, but West Zone were dealt two more late blows, as Malolan trapped both Hiken Shah and Rohit Motwani for lbw in the 74th over to finish the day with 3 for 50, and give South Zone the edge heading into the final day.

A batting collapse from New Zealand women handed West Indies women a four-run victory and a 4-0 whitewash in St Kitts

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Stafanie Taylor’s 66 laid the foundation for West Indies women’s innings•WICB Media/Ashley AllenA batting collapse from New Zealand women handed West Indies women a four-run victory and a 4-0 whitewash in St Kitts. Set 215 to win, New Zealand were comfortable at 176 for 2 in the 39th over, thanks to an opening stand of 114 between Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest. However, they lost their last eight wickets for just 34 runs and were bundled out for 210, with none of their last six batters contributing more than 7.Offspinner Anisa Mohammed claimed 4 for 41 to wreck New Zealand’s top order, while medium-pacer Shakera Selman chipped in with two late wickets and also effected the run-out of Morna Nielsen to secure the win for West Indies.After being inserted, West Indies had made 214 for 8. Their innings was built on Stafanie Taylor’s 66, and thirties from openers Kycia Knight and Natasha McLean. Regular blows from Georgia Guy and Nielsen (2 for 27) pegged West Indies back to 183 for 8, but Shanel Delay provided a late impetus by striking three fours during an unbeaten 29.

Johan Botha, the former South Africa spinner who’s now playing for South Australia, has had his bowling action cleared by Cricket Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2013Johan Botha, the former South Africa spinner who’s now playing for South Australia, has had his bowling action cleared by Cricket Australia. Botha had undergone biomechanical analysis of his action after he was reported by the umpires in a domestic one-day match in early October.The analysis, conducted under CA and ICC testing procedures, required Botha to bowl six balls each of the various deliveries in his repertoire – an offspinner, a quicker ball and a flicker. The analysis found that all of those deliveries fell within – or equal to – the allowed 15 degrees of flex that is deemed legal by the ICC.Botha was cited by umpires Simon Fry, Michael Graeme-Smith and Geoff Joshua in the Ryobi Cup match between South Australia and Victoria in Sydney on October 4. He was eligible to continue playing, though, and would have only been suspended from bowling if the analysis proved his action to be illegal.Botha has had problems with his bowling action throughout his career. He was reported first soon after his debut Test in January 2006 and was subsequently banned from bowling by the ICC. Another examination in August that year found his action to be illegal once again and he was cleared to bowl only in November. In 2009, following an ODI against Australia in Port Elizabeth, Botha was reported once again and this time the ICC ruled that his action while bowling the doosra was illegal and he was banned from bowling it. His other deliveries, however, were found to be within permissible limits and since then Botha had no problems with his action until now.Cameron White, the Victoria batsman, who had faced Botha during the match in which he was cited, and said he did not think any doosras had been delivered during the spells he faced.