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Cuttack awaits the mouth-watering prospect of a Kings XI Punjab batting show as they take on a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria10-May-20142:56

Hattangadi: Kings XI playing free cricket

Match factsSunday, May 11, 2014
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)With 256 runs, Robin Uthappa is the leading Indian batsman in the IPL•BCCIBig PictureOdisha may be one of the worst-hit states in India when it comes to tropical cyclones, but there is one storm they wouldn’t mind hosting again and again. By some strange IPL scheduling, they have landed two Kings XI Punjab home games despite being almost 1900 km away from Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. And they won’t be complaining after what happened few days back when Glenn Maxwell made a mockery of the bigger boundaries to lead the team to 231, the highest total this year. A similar mouth-watering prospect awaits the Cuttack crowd, now surely behind the Kings XI team just as the rest of the country, as Maxwell and Co prepare to take on Kolkata Knight Riders’ Narine and Co.Although they are faced with a daunting task, Knight Riders can take solace in a few facts. Firstly, their bowling has been the only one which has tasted success against Kings XI batting this year. Secondly, they have a settled top order that has, for now, mitigated some of their batting problems. Both Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa have been among runs in the team’s last two outings and now the team just needs their middle order to wake up. Thirdly, a loss to Kings XI may not hurt their chances much – everyone’s losing to them – but a win could be a huge bonus. Lastly, it’s a chance to get used to the conditions in Cuttack as their next match, against Mumbai Indians, has been rescheduled to the venue.Form guideKings XI Punjab WWLWW
Kolkata Knight Riders WLLLLWhere they standKings XI: First, with seven wins in eight games
Knight Riders: Fifth, with three wins in eight gamesPlayers to watchVirender Sehwag’s year in domestic cricket hasn’t been too different from Yuvraj Singh’s – both have been reduced to a shadow of what they once were. However, Sehwag is still managing to make a difference to Kings XI. He is third behind Maxwell and David Miller in the list of top run-scorers for the team despite a highest of 37. In six games out of eight, he has set the stage up for an onslaught, without appearing overtly-aggressive or mindlessly cowed. A Sehwag sticking to his supporting role seamlessly has worked wonders for Kings XI.The Knight Riders openers were critical in them reaching 160 in their last two matches, a welcome change from their inconsistent run this season. Quietly, Uthappa has crept up the batting charts – he is the top run-getter in the tournament among the Indian batsmen. Gambhir, after a horror start, is also back in form with two consecutive fifties. The two will need to fire again if Knight Riders are to challenge the intimidating Kings XI batting.Previous encounterThere has been only one blot in Kings XI batting’s otherwise almost faultless run this season. Maxwell was bowled for 15 off 12, Miller could only manage 14 and Sehwag was the top-scorer in a total of 132 for 9 with just 37 when they met Knight Riders earlier in Abu Dhabi. They tripped up against the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla, who shared three wickets apiece. But their seamers dished out an even rougher treatment to Knight Riders’ batsmen, trampling them for 109 all out.Stats and trivia Kolkata Knight Riders are the most economical team when it comes to the last five overs. They give away 8.30 runs per over at the death Virender Sehwag has hit as many fours as David Miller – 23. But when it comes to sixes, Miller has 11 more than Sehwag’s five. With 11, Gautam Gambhir has most run-out dismissals among IPL batsmenQuotes”The next few matches are crucial for us, especially now that we are back in Indian conditions, and we are confident that the two potent spinners will get us back into the reckoning by giving us the results we are looking for.”
“Hats off to our coach Sanjay Bangar. I was a bit tentative about playing as much spin here as it’s a small ground and Sanjay saw the wicket and felt like it was going to turn and he was spot on. He [Shivam] backed him up; he bowled beautifully.”

The Barabati Stadium will host the one-off Twenty20 International between India and West Indies on October 22 instead of the scheduled third ODI on October 14

04-Sep-2014The Barabati Stadium will host the one-off Twenty20 International between India and West Indies on October 22 instead of the scheduled third ODI on October 14, the Orissa Cricket Association has said.The BCCI has confirmed that the T20 which was originally scheduled in New Delhi will be held in Cuttack instead of the ODI due to unavailability of hotel rooms during the period, OCA secretary Asirbad Behera told PTI.”An all-India doctors’ conference is scheduled in the state capital Bhubaneswar from October 13 and hence all the rooms were booked,” Behera said. “Although the team hotel was booked, we needed an additional 250 rooms to accommodate other officials and TV crew. The Board has confirmed the change and they will soon issue a release.”The West Indies will begin their six-week tour with a five-match ODI series beginning in Kochi on October 8, followed by the one-off T20I and a three-match Test series from October 30 in Hyderabad.Behera also said the venue would get a priority in hosting an ODI in the next domestic series.Barabati Stadium has in the past hosted IPL T20 but it will be for the first time the venue will host an T20 International.The last International match here — between India and Australia on October 26 last year — was washed out without a ball being bowled and there would be similar apprehensions this time around as well.

It's a London-dominated team as West Ham, Crystal Palace and Arsenal are well represented after impressive victories over the weekend

GettyLukasz Fabianski | West Ham

The goalkeeper made four saves in preserving West Ham's clean sheet in the 3-0 win over Newcastle.

AdvertisementGettyAaron Wan-Bissaka | Crystal Palace

The 21-year-old defender made three interceptions and recovered possession eight times for Crystal Palace as they beat Burnley.

GettyJonny Evans | Leicester CityEvans made nine clearances and two tackles to help the Foxes keep a clean sheet as they beat Watford 2-0.ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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GettyShane Duffy | Brighton

Duffy made an incredible 14 clearances against Huddersfield, while no other Brighton player made more than five.

A round-up of the North Zone matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that took place on April 3, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2014Virender Sehwag blasted a 35-ball 67 and Gautam Gambhir hit 40 off 25 as Delhi hunted down 175 against Punjab with six wickets to spare. It was Delhi’s third win in a row and took them to 12 points, level with Haryana at the top of North Zone, eight points ahead of the rest.Punjab themselves had a flying start as their openers Manan Vohra and Mandeep Singh put on 59 in 5.3 overs. Though they kept losing wickets regularly after that, cameos from Gurkeerat Singh and Himanshu Chawla took them to a strong total.It didn’t prove that challenging a total once Gambhir and Sehwag got going. Sehwag hit form in the first-class game for MCC in Abu Dhabi last month, and had made a key contribution in the opening game against Himachal Pradesh, though this was his most explosive innings in a while. He hit 13 fours and by the time he was dismissed in the 13th over, Delhi were 142 for 2. Sumit Narwal joined the fun, with a 23-ball 42 to complete the chase.Haryana kept pace at the top of the table with Delhi after a seven-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir in Chandigarh. J&K had no clue against medium-pacer Joginder Sharma, who ripped through the top order to finish with figures of 4-1-14-4. Joginder began with two wickets in the first over, and added two more as he bowled out his four overs at the start of the innings itself.Parvez Rasool’s 35 helped J&K scrape to 122, a total which Haryana overhauled with an over to spare. The opener Avi Barot anchored the chase with a run-a-ball half-century, with the other opener Rahul Dewan providing the early impetus with four fours in his 22. No. 4 Sachin.Rana chipped in with 30 as Haryana lost only three wickets in completing the victory.In Mohali, Paras Dogra smashed 93 off 60 balls as Himachal Pradesh ran out winners against Services by 26 runs. What made Dogra’s innings stand out even more was that he came in with Himachal at 12 for 2, and none of his team-mates made more than 26. He clubbed five sixes and five fours as he made his highest T20 score and took Himachal to a challenging 175.In the chase, Services opener Nakul Verma and No. 3 Anshul Gupta scored at a strike-rate over 140 and reached 84 for 1 in the 10th over before Gupta was dismissed for 39. Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma’s double-strike in the 13th over sparked a collapse, however, and Services went from 114 for 2 to 136 for 8. Verma was the sixth wicket to fall, dismissed for 62, and the game was soon beyond Services.

Two days into their first Ranji Trophy semi-final in 17 years, they were further ahead of Bengal than they would have thought it decent to dream

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Indore19-Jan-2014
ScorecardSangram Atitkar became the fifth Maharashtra batsman to cross 500 runs this season•MPCA’Have to take more initiative at No. 6 or 7′

When Sangram Atitkar went in to bat, Maharashtra were only 50 ahead of Bengal. Another wicket would have exposed their lower order on a pitch that retained its morning freshness. Atitkar saw out the early period alongside a well-set Ankit Bawne, and eventually scored 168 to help swell Maharashtra’s first-innings lead to 341.
“I went in thinking the ball is seaming a bit, so I have to play with the bat close to the body on this pitch,” Atitkar said. “If it you hang the bat out, you can lose your wicket, so I kept it close. Ankit was also playing well and we built a good partnership. Because of the partnership, it was easier.”
It was apparent that all of Maharashtra’s batsmen were looking to get in a big frontfoot stride to the full-length ball. Atitkar said it helped them narrow the seam movement.
“The thing is, when the wicket is seaming, if you take a big stride out, it’s good,” he said. “You minimise the chances of seam movement that way. You should play that way on this kind of pitch, with that big stride forward.”
For most of his career, Atitkar has batted at No. 3 for Maharashtra. More often than not this season, he has batted down the order at No. 6 or 7. This, he said, had forced him to take a more proactive approach.
“I have to take more initiative now,” he said, “because after me there are only bowlers most of the time. You have to carry them along with you while playing and take that initiative.”
Atitkar pulled Bengal’s bowlers with authority each time they dropped it short. In one over against Ashok Dinda, when the fast bowler went round the wicket and stationed three fielders on the leg-side boundary, the shot fetched him two fours.
“No, not really,” Atitkar said, when asked if the pull had always been such a productive shot for him. “The ball was not coming on quickly off the pitch, which is why I got more time.”

Koushik Ghosh could have done nothing about the ball from Samad Fallah that brought about his first dismissal in first-class cricket, in Bengal’s first innings, on Saturday. When he walked out to begin Bengal’s second innings, on Sunday, he might have assumed conditions were now much easier to bat in.Maharashtra had scored 455 and taken a 341-run lead. Sangram Atitkar, their top-scorer, had scored 168 at a 70-plus strike rate, with 116 of his runs coming in boundaries. Their No. 9, Anupam Sanklecha, had tonked four sixes in scoring 52. Surely, the Holkar Stadium pitch was now a beauty to bat on.Two imperious drives for four through cover point, off Sanklecha, might have sealed that notion for the left-handed Ghosh. But facing up to what was supposed to be the penultimate ball of the day, a nasty surprise awaited him. Fallah, angling the ball into Ghosh’s body from left-arm over, dug it in just back of a length. Ghosh opened up, and shaped to play the ball to mid-on. Most left-hand batsmen, in his situation, would have offered the same response.The ball straightened and took his outside edge. At second slip, Chirag Khurana turned towards his dressing room and raised the ball aloft. Maharashtra could do no wrong. Two days into their first Ranji Trophy semi-final in 17 years, they were further ahead of Bengal than they would have thought it decent to dream.Maharashtra had started the day in front, but not by that much. A clump of wickets could have brought Bengal back into contention. They must have known there would be life in the pitch initially, and Ashok Dinda and Laxmi Shukla confirmed this over the course of disciplined morning spells. When Shukla bent one in to strike the left-handed Rohit Motwani’s pads in front of the stumps, Maharashtra hadn’t added a run to their overnight total, despite having faced 15 balls.In walked Atitkar, to join Ankit Bawne, who was on 37 at that point. Of all the Maharashtra batsmen, Bawne had looked the least troubled. He had left well outside off stump, and his front-foot stride had narrowed the angle of the movement that Bengal’s seamers were still extracting off the pitch. Whenever they bowled too straight, he had leaned over the ball and turned his wrists to find the boundary wide of mid-on. He continued batting in this manner, and soon brought up 50 with a single pushed to cover.Atitkar, at the other end, seemed just as conscious of the need for a big front-foot stride, but did not look quite as comfortable executing it. He was much more certain on the back-foot, though, cutting and slashing whenever he had the chance. Dinda dug one in soon after he had come in to bat; it rose head-high, but Atitkar hooked it comfortably for four.Having looked at the pitch before the match, Bengal had replaced Writtick Chatterjee, a specialist batsman, with Sandipan Das, a seam-bowling allrounder. It took them till the 68th over of Maharashtra’s innings to give him the ball. Bawne, who had batted unhurriedly till that point, ran down the pitch to his first delivery and creamed it back past the bowler for four. Next ball, he went down on one knee and swatted a six into the second tier of the stands behind deep midwicket. The umpires called for a replacement ball.In the next over, Bawne punched Sourav Sarkar in front of point for four; he sent the ball racing in the same direction in Sandipan’s next over, this time with a horizontal bat. Bawne was showing the full range of his strokeplay. Just when he looked set for a century, though, he poked outside off stump for the first time in his innings, and edged Dinda to second slip.It was now left to Atitkar to bat with the lower order. There was an immediate change of gear. A punishing drive down the ground off Sarkar brought up his century. A flat-batted cover drive a few overs later – after the fall of Akshay Darekar’s wicket with Maharashtra 214 ahead – brought up the same milestone for Sarkar.Post-tea, the left-handed Sanklecha joined in the fun, clouting offspinner Saurasish Lahiri and legspinner Abhimanyu Easwaran merrily over long-on. Atitkar then drilled Lahiri to reach 150.Dinda now went around the wicket, and set his field elaborately: a squarish fine leg on the boundary, a deepish midwicket, a deepish square leg. He bowled two bouncers over the course of this over; Atitkar pulled both for four.Atitkar was out soon after, though, bowled by Shib Paul. By that time, he had reached 628 runs for the season. It put him in 15th place among the season’s highest run-getters. It meant that one-fifth of the top 15 – in a 27-team tournament – were Maharashtra batsmen. It meant that five Maharashtra batsmen had crossed the 500 mark. Those numbers have put their team on the cusp of something truly remarkable.

Graham Stevenson, the former Yorkshire and England allrounder, was recognised as a cricketer of enormous natural talent. “As good as Botham,” Yorkshire observers were particularly inclined to claim.

David Hopps23-Jan-2014Graham Stevenson, the former Yorkshire and England allrounder, who has died aged 58, was recognised by many good judges as a cricketer of enormous natural talent. “As good as Botham,” Yorkshire observers were particularly inclined to claim. But while Botham enjoyed a hugely successful England career, Stevenson’s international experience amounted to two Tests and four one-day internationals.If his international career was brief, his England debut in an ODI in Sydney in 1980 provided a wonderful story. Stevenson was 25, eager to build on a fine season in county cricket. He returned bowling figures of 4 for 33 – Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Len Pascoe making up a famous quartet – as Australia were dismissed for 163.England were struggling at 129 for 8 when Stevenson joined his old Yorkshire mucker, David Bairstow, at the crease. “Evening lad – we can piss this,” Bairstow greeted him. They did, too, winning by two wickets with more than an over to spare, Stevenson ending unbeaten on 28 from 18 balls, and they sprinted from the field like a couple of jubilant schoolfellows.Stevenson made a Test debut the following month in Mumbai against India in a match to commemorate the golden jubilee of the BCCI. But he only made one more Test appearance after that, against West Indies in Antigua the following winter. Even so, he could count Dilip Vengsarkar, Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd among his five Test victims.That Stevenson’s talent never entirely flowered owed much to injury, but it was also due in some manner to his easy-going disposition and maddening lapses of concentration. His nickname of Moonbeam told its own story. He played in a deeply disunited era in Yorkshire cricket, but he was an affable, easy-going character who never had any time for politics, much preferring instead to pass his leisure time with a few pints and a frame or two of snooker. When his back hurt, he probably preferred the snooker a bit more than the cricket.Graham Barry Stevenson was born at Ackworth and played in 177 first class matches for Yorkshire between 1973 to 1986, taking 464 wickets at 28.56, scoring 3856 runs with two centuries and holding on to 73 catches. He was a fine seam bowler who could move the ball both ways at challenging pace, a late-order batsman of great insouciance who loved nothing better than to launch good-length deliveries high and hard over extra cover and a brilliant fielder with one of the most powerful arms in the country.He had all the qualities necessary to entertain on a grand scale and he played in 217 limited-overs games for Yorkshire, capturing 290 wickets and scoring 1699 runs. He would have been a quite wonderful Twenty20 cricketer, although one wonders what he would have made of IPL and what IPL would have made of him.But it was his laid-back nature, and dry, understated sense of humour, that endeared him to Yorkshire followers and led many of them to forgive his off days more easily than most. He always encouraged great hopes, even if increasinglly he failed to meet them. Geoffrey Boycott was an early mentor and arranged nets for him at Headingley when he was a youth. Boycott loved to tell all and sundry that Stevenson was one of his favourite cricketers.Stevenson’s most important contributions for Yorkshire were generally with the ball. Against Northamptonshire at Headingley in 1980 he grabbed the first eight wickets at a cost of 57. Only Tim Lamb, who was to become the chief executive of the Test and County Cricket Board, and Jim Griffiths, a notorious rabbit, were to come and he could well have gone on to bag all ten but much to the disbelief of his team manager Raymond Illingworth, he left the field to change his sweat-soaked shirt. By the time he returned, his chance was gone. In 1978 he was the scourge of Lancashire, destroying them in their first innings at Headingley with figures of 8 for 65, Yorkshire going on to win by an innings and 32 runs on the second day.But perhaps one of most headline-grabbing acts was with the bat when he shared a Yorkshire record-breaking last wicket stand of 149 with Boycott against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in May 1982. Coming in as last man, Stevenson thrashed 115 not out, at the time the highest unbeaten score ever recorded by a No. 11 batsman. “It was my brains and experience and Graham’s skill that saw us through,” Boycott said, adding later: “I coaxed him every ball and told him to get his head down and play sensibly until the fast bowlers tired.” Some felt he had taken too much of the credit, but it was a fair assessment.Stevenson was surely a candidate on that day as the finest batsman ever to stroll out for Yorkshire at No. 11. The 1980s was a lean period for Yorkshire, but they could boast depth in batting and on several occasions fielded an entire side with first-class centuries to their credit.Yorkshire were 143 for 9 on an uneven pitch when they joined forces. Stevenson began by responsibly blocking the leg-spin of Asif Din in extravagant fashion, much to the liking of Boycott at the non-striker’s end before, boring of his defensive role, he launched into the seamers, striking 15 fours and three sixes. Bairstow, dashed out with a message that the record was near. Boycott claimed not to know; Stevenson certainly had no idea. The innings came to an end when Asif defeated Boycott’s extravagant sweep.Stevenson had battled cancer in recent years and died in hospital after suffering a severe stroke over three months ago.

Glen Chapple, the Lancashire club captain, will play on into his 40s after agreeing a one-year extension to his deal until the end of 2014 season

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2013Glen Chapple, the Lancashire club captain, will play on into his 40s after agreeing a one-year extension to his deal until the end of 2014 season.Chapple had made his intentions clear before the end of the 2013 season that he had no plans to finish his playing days. In an increasingly fluid professional game, Chapple has been with Lancashire since the beginning of his career and made his first-class debut in 1992.He enjoyed another productive season with the ball, taking 53 wickets at 20.73 in the Championship from 14 matches.Chapple was one of a raft of players to agree new contracts at Old Trafford after Lancashire claimed the Division Two Championship title to secure a swift return to Division One.Jordan Clark, who struck six sixes in an over during a 2nd XI match early in the 2013 season, wicketkeeper Alex Davies, offspinner Arron Lilley and allrounder Luis Reece have all extended their stays until the end of 2015.Established players Karl Brown, Kyle Hogg, Paul Horton, Simon Kerrigan, Stephen Parry, Luke Procter and Tom Smith, have also agreed deals until 2015. Meanwhile, alongside Chapple, Oliver Newby and Andrea Agathangelou will be around until at least the end of next summer.The one new name is allrounder Liam Livingstone who has signed a one-year professional deal after making the step up from a scholarship contract.Mike Watkinson, the cricket directior, said: “With the exception of Andrea, all the players are products of our development system, which is a great endorsement of the strength and effectiveness of the cricket played across the county. It also provides the squad with quality and stability as we look forward positively to the challenges ahead.”Lancashire’s major new signing for next season has been Jos Buttler, the England one-day and T20 wicketkeeper, who has joined from Somerset.

Brendan Taylor has said the biggest factor in Bangladesh’s 3-0 win over his Zimbabwe side was in the spin department, terming it a “chalk and cheese” comparison

Mohammad Isam16-Nov-2014Brendan Taylor has said the biggest factor in Bangladesh’s 3-0 win over his Zimbabwe side was in the spin department, terming it a “chalk and cheese” comparison. Zimbabwe went down by 186 runs in the third Test and he said that the 3-0 series loss was hurtful not just to him but the whole team.Zimbabwe lost the first Test in dramatic fashion after a spectacular collapse at the hands of Taijul Islam on the third day in Dhaka. It was followed by big defeats in Khulna and Chittagong. Throughout the series, Bangladesh’s spinners held sway in most of the key moments.Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul were the top two wicket-takers in the series, with 18 and 17 respectively, while Jubair Hossain picked up 11 wickets, including a five-for in the third Test. Shakib’s scalps came at an average of 18.27 while Taijul had Bangladesh’s best bowling figures, 8-39 in the fourth innings of the Dhaka Test.In comparison, Zimbabwe’s Natsai M’shangwe took seven wickets at 62.14 and though Malcolm Waller took six wickets in Khulna, he was pulled up by the umpires for a suspected action and was promptly dropped in Chittagong.Sikandar Raza bowled 82 overs in the series, picking up five wickets, a bonus for a part-time spinner, while specialists Tafadzwa Kamungozi and John Nyumbu were dropped after taking one wicket between them in Dhaka.”I think Bangladesh are a slightly better side in their conditions,” Taylor said. “The difference is in the spin department. Chalk and cheese. The first Test match set the tone. In hindsight had we gotten 20-30 runs [more], it could have been a different result. I think if we managed to pull that first Test off it would have given the side momentum. To lose in the fashion we did is tough. Toss is always important, you cannot control that. But that’s not the reason why we lost the series. We lost the series because Bangladesh have been better than us in the three Tests.”It certainly hurts as an individual. It hurts the team. It is tough to comprehend that, but Bangladesh have played better cricket so we’ve got to give them credit. They made it difficult for us. In all three Test matches, batting first in the last two Tests and getting 450, 500, it’s always tough to try and come back and win from there. So we fought pretty hard but the better team held on in the end and got the results.”Despite the trouble against spin throughout the series, Zimbabwe were actually on equal footing going into the fifth day’s play at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. They had nine wickets in hand, with Hamilton Masakadza and Sikandar Raza creaming the Bangladesh attack for 19 overs on the fourth evening after being set 449 to win.But rather than being patient and getting on top of the spinners, aggression cost both batsmen in the first hour of play. Masakadza’s reverse-sweep went awry while Raza struck a full-toss down midwicket’s throat. It triggered a slowdown and ultimately the bowling out of Zimbabwe by the end of the second session. Apart from Regis Chakavba, none of the Zimbabwe batsmen or allrounders were able to stand up to spin.Taylor said the batsmen’s approach was correct but they had little experience of playing on such a deteriorating pitch on the fifth day, against a spin attack that was making them play differently. “I think we did show the right approach,” he said. “We don’t really bat on wickets like this on day five when it deteriorates like that. They are very good batting wickets for the first three days then they become really difficult.”When you’ve got a quality spin attack, on day five it is certainly going to be a massive challenge. I think that’s certainly the difference between the two sides. They have got world-class spinners and we are struggling for a couple.”Taylor praised Chakabva for his two fifties and hundred in the series, including his resistance on the fifth day in Chittagong, but otherwise he said an opportunity to show survival instinct was not taken.”[There have been] players who have found a bit of form and have been good for us throughout the series,” he said. “There have been other players, including myself, who haven’t really had the series they would have liked. It was an opportunity for us to step up and bat 90 overs. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Regis Chakabva showed a lot of character. But that’s done now; we need to focus on the shorter format.”

UP were undefeated in the group stages last season, and then fell at the first knockout hurdle

Vishal Dikshit06-Nov-2013Where they finished last time Uttar Pradesh topped Group B last year without losing a match. Their successful run was ended by Services in the quarter-finals.RP Singh has played only one first-class match in nearly two years•Associated PressBig PictureUP started the 2012-13 season with a bang, beating Delhi, who featured all the big stars – Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma. Two draws later, they handed Baroda a 10-wicket loss and after another two draws, thrashed Tamil Nadu by 195 runs.But they fell in the first knockout, to a spirited Services side. Much of their success came courtesy Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took 27 wickets in six games at an average of 20. This year it is likely they will have to cope without him for long periods, when he is away on India duty.Openers Tanmay Srivastava and Mukul Dagar had prolific seasons but the middle order couldn’t always build on their platforms. Parvinder Singh righted some of that imbalance when he started scoring in the second half of the season. His recent hundred in the draw against the touring West Indians will give him and the team confidence, along with the wickets taken by RP Singh and Piyush Chawla.RP Singh missed the previous Ranji season with injury but looks “extremely fit” this year, coach Venkatesh Prasad said. Praveen Kumar, though, is out for a couple of months with a shoulder injury. While the pace attack has other promising options such as Imtiaz Ahmed and Ankit Rajpoot, UP’s spin hopes will rest with Chawla and left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza, who didn’t enjoy much success last season.Players to watchThe team will be led by Suresh Raina, who has frequently reiterated his desire to play Test cricket. For that, though, he is not making the kind of impact he should in long-format matches. He averaged 33.77 from 10 innings last Ranji season. With India soon heading off on overseas tours in tough conditions, he’ll need a truckload of runs for UP to get the selector’s attention. The retirement of Sachin Tendulkar will open up a spot in the middle order, but can Raina put himself in contention?In the absence of Bhuvneshwar and Praveen Kumar, and RP Singh having played only one first-class match in nearly two years, there will be plenty of expectations on UP’s relatively unheralded pair of quicks, Imtiaz Ahmed and Ankit Rajpoot. While Imtiaz was their most impressive bowler through the season, Rajpoot made headlines in only seven outings with 31 wickets at an average of 18.80.Click here for the full squad.

Pakistan swept through Australia on day three in Abu Dhabi, with Mitchell Marsh offering the only resistance in an innings that more or less sealed the series for Misbah-ul-Haq’s men

The Report by Daniel Brettig01-Nov-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsZulfiqar Babar took two wickets as Australia’s batsmen struggled again•Getty ImagesSometime in the next two days, Australian ineptitude on slow wickets will very likely have delivered Pakistan a richly deserved series victory after the visitors’ first innings melted away in Abu Dhabi.Mitchell Marsh offered the only resistance in an innings that more or less sealed the series for Misbah-ul-Haq’s men, moreover the most convincing since a 3-0 hiding in 1982 – the selector on duty Rod Marsh will remember it all too well.Misbah chose not to enforce the follow on despite a lead of 309, and two early wickets to Mitchell Johnson were too little, too late.More pivotal was the fact that Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah all delivered vexing spells, on a surface that seemed far more lively in Pakistani hands than it ever did when Australia’s bowlers allowed their opponents to run up to 570 for 6 declared.The gambit of placing Glenn Maxwell in the top order worked only briefly, his rapid 37 ended with an unsightly ran down the wicket to Babar, who once again showed the wiles of a high class left-arm spinner by also defeating Steven Smith.David Warner began the day’s wickets with a spendthrift swish at Rahat, who placed Australia’s pacemen in the shade by gaining movement both ways. Imran followed suit after lunch to swerve through Michael Clarke, and Yasir Shah’s beguilement of Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson left Marsh alone with the tail.Lyon and Warner began the day well and truly behind in the match but with the hope of establishing a foothold on Australia’s first innings. Lyon played commendably straight, though he was fortunate to escape an lbw appeal from Babar.Warner needed to reprise his Dubai hundred, but the subtle movement being gained by Rahat drew him into chasing a wide delivery that was caught at backward point – Warner himself having missed a similar chance from the bat of Younis Khan the previous morning.Maxwell thus went out to bat to join a nightwatchman rather than a batsman, but quickly demonstrated that his hurtling method would not change in any circumstances. Briefly it worked, as he advanced the scoreboard more rapidly than Australia have managed at any time in the series.But Misbah and his bowlers remained patient, reasoning that this could not last. Logically and almost inevitably it did not, as Maxwell danced down the wicket to Babar, lifted his head as he did so, and was beaten by a little turn that diverted the ball to hit off stump. A tally of 37 from 28 balls can win a Twenty20 match; in a Test it is barely a cameo.Rahat was continuing to move the ball both ways, and an inswinger burst through Lyon’s defences after 85 stubborn balls. Smith was the token batsman dismissed before getting settled as can happen, beaten by another lovely delivery from Babar that struck the top of his back pad and was, according to Hawkeye, going on to hit enough of the stumps.Clarke played with energy and intent to the interval, but when play resumed he was bewitched and then dismissed by Imran, who gained sharp reverse swing that Clarke seemed unable to adjust to. After twice miscuing balls that bended in to him, he missed a third completely, and middle stump was knocked flat on the ground.Haddin was inconvenienced by the AC joint problem he suffered on day two, but was dismissed rather simply by Yasir, who spun one leg break past his outside edge before bowling the wicketkeeper via inside edge with a flatter ball that did not turn. Johnson skied a slog at Yasir the ball after being dropped by Sarfraz Ahmed behind the stumps, and Marsh fell short of a century by falling on Australia’s devil’s number – 87.The closing passage of the day saw Ahmed Shahzad and Mohammad Hafeez defeated, but it mattered little. The series is decided.