Champions Trophy: South Africa choke again as dominant England reach final

LONDON: An impressive bowling performance powered England to the Champions Trophy summit clash as the hosts thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the first semifinal on Wednesday.

The hosts bundled out South Africa for a meagre 175 after inserting them in to bat and then comfortably overhauled the target with 12.3 overs to spare.

Such was the domination of the England bowlers that AB de Villiers and Co found it difficult to buck the trend of faltering in major ICC tournaments.

It was complete team effort by England as all the bowlers played a part in demolishing the South African top and middle batting order.

England had their rivals on the mat as they had reduced them to 80 for 8 at one stage and Proteas owed their recovery to some gritty batting by David Miller (56), who in the company of tail-ender Rory Kleinveldt (43) added 95 runs for the ninth wicket in 16 overs.

James Anderson (2/14) and Steven Finn (1/45) excelled with the two new balls and were duly complemented by Stuart Broad (3/50) and off-spinner James Tredwell, (3/19).

England lost their openers early but Jonathan Trott (82 not out) and Joe Root (48) batted with clam and assurance to lead the hosts to the finish line. They shared a 105-run stand for the third wicket.

Trott paced innings well as he batted cautiously initially and started playing strokes once it was sure that England had reached a safe position.

It is second time that England have qualified for the Champions Trophy final. The last time they featured in the final was in 2004. That time also they had hosted the event and ended runners-up to the West Indies.

England will now play the winner of tomorrow's semifinal between World Champions India and Sri Lanka in the summit clash on June 23 at Birmingham.

South African bowlers did a decent job, specially spinner Robin Peterson, but England had the luxury of wickets with a small target at hand.

Proteas removed openers Alastair Cook (6) and Ian Bell (20) early but Trott and Root did not allow South African to seize the momentum. They batted with a lot of responsibility as they waited for loose deliveries.

Trott's knock came off 84 balls with 11 boundaries while Root helped himself with seven shots to the fence in his 71-ball knock. By the time Root JP Duminy dismissed Root, England were inches from the win.

Earlier, South Africa scripted a remarkable late recovery as they were down in the dumps at 80 for eight at one stage but managed to give their bowlers something to fight for.

Miller's unbeaten half-century and Kleinveldt's fighting knock provided some semblance of respectability to the total.

Miller's innings off 51 balls contained five fours and two sixes as he launched a swift counter-attack with an able ally in Kleinveldt who also didn't get bogged down by the reputation of the English bowlers. The South African pacer hit four boundaries and a six.

Just when it looked like South Africa would be dismissed for one of their lowest totals in ODI history, the duo provided stiff resistance with some positive strokeplay. Finally, Broad dismissed Kleinveldt with a rising delivery on the rib-cage, giving a catch to glovesman Jos Buttler.

Buttler enjoyed a field day behind the stumps with six catches to his credit as he also caught last man Lonwabo Tsotsobe to take his sixth scalp.

After being put into bat, Proteas wilted under pressure as none of the top-order batsmen save Robin Peterson (30), Faf du Plessis (26) were able to reach double digits.

The slide started in the very first over when the wily Anderson got one to straighten after pitching as he found the left-handed opener Colin Ingram (0) plumb in-front.

It became worse in the next over when Finn bowled a beauty which kissed Hashim Amla's (1) bat to be taken by glovesman Jos Buttler. The delivery landed on seam and moved a shade to take a faint edge for
Buttler to take a smart catch.

At four for two, Peterson and Du Plessis joined forces to add 41 runs for the third wicket. They did show some positive intent with the former going for the horizontal bat shots. However that proved to be his undoing when Anderson found his pads while trying a cross-batted shot.

Once Peterson was gone, there wasn't any resistance from other batsmen as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Skipper De Villiers (0) played an irresponsible shot as he chased a wide delivery from Broad to offer Buttler a simple chance.

Once the top-order was polished off, Tredwell came into the act and Cook's decision to field him was vindicated as he ran through the middle-order.

First, Jean-Paul Duminy (3) was bowled while going for a cut and was played on. Du Plessis, who looked set for a big score then edged a ball that didn't spin much after pitching.

Miller was getting frustrated at the other end as Ryan McLaren was run-out and Chris Morris (3) was out giving Buttler his fourth catch of the innings.

Sehwag century and Pujara give India control

Welcome to India. The greeting came from Virender Sehwag and, this being Sehwag, rather than scatter rose petals on the bed he scattered England fielders in all directions with a buccaneering century which brought a rousing start to the opening Test in Ahmedabad. This being India, where Test cricket no longer draws the crowds, there were only a few thousand in the stadium to watch it. 

That England recovered some ground by the close of the first day was almost entirely due to Graeme Swann, who, as their only specialist spinner on a chronically slow surface, bore an onerous responsibility and took all four Indian wickets to fall. In the process he passed Jim Laker as the most successful England offspinner in history. Roughly half of them have been left-handers, an advantage Laker never enjoyed in an era when lefties were in shorter supply. 

Only Swann, late in his innings, was able to stem Sehwag's progress as he struck a run-a-ball 117, his first Test century for two years. It was a strange first session, dominated by Sehwag, who was adventuresome but far from explosive. His innings was typically more reliant upon eye than footwork as he manipulated the ball with disdain, drove at an excess of wide deliveries and defended only as an afterthought. 

He is a character cricketer in the manner of Chris Gayle or Kevin Pietersen, an unconventional batsman with a commanding presence and a style all of his own and, at 34, especially on low, ponderous pitches such as these, he is not quite done yet. 

Swann's wickets served to strengthen the conviction that England had erred in omitting a second specialist spinner in Monty Panesar. This is a virgin surface, of lower clay content and with no time to bed down, which threatens to drive the pace bowlers to distraction and turn sharply as the Test progresses. Doubts about Stuart Broad's fitness will have made England especially reluctant to field only two fast bowlers and they will wave all manner of statistics to support their selection but the evidence of the game was against them. 

Swann's success was in strict contrast to the mood elsewhere. The only impression England's pace bowlers made was on the footholds. Anderson was wearing his worried expression, his new-ball spell limited to four overs. Broad stubbornly dug balls into an unsympathetic surface, saw them bounce no higher than the top of the stumps and looked at them quizzically as if he could stare it into behaving differently. Tim Bresnan went at nearly six an over. It was a huge toss for India to win.

By lunch, at slip, Alastair Cook pondered whether his elevation to the Test captaincy really was a good idea after all. By the close, Swann had reminded him that in a four-Test series Sehwag's assault was merely the beginning, but a trial by spin still awaits England. 

Gautam Gambhir was Swann's first victim after an opening stand of 134 in 30 overs, bowled trying to fashion one of his high-risk carves through point and beaten by a hint of turn and weary bounce. Sehwag had briefly fallen into contemplative mood in mid-afternoon, as if recovering energy for his next assault, when he was bowled, sweeping. 

Swann's third wicket the most remarkable of all, that of Sachin Tendulkar who lofted to deep midwicket in an extraordinarily misconceived manner only a few minutes before tea. Finally, Virat Kohli, who had played circumspectly, was deceived in the flight and bowled through the gate.

Smart stats Virender Sehwag's century is his 23rd in Tests and his 13th in home matches. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid have scored more centuries in India. The century opening stand is the first for India since the Centurion Test in 2010. In 20 innings in between, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir aggregated 605 runs at an average of 30.25. The century opening stand is only the third for India in the match first innings against England. It is also the second century stand between Sehwag and Gambhir in home Tests against England after the 117-run stand in Chennai in 2008. This is the sixth century that Sehwag has scored at a strike rate of 100 or more. In matches since 1990, only Adam Gilchrist has done so more often (7 times). Gambhir has now been dismissed six times by Graeme Swann in six matches. No other bowler has dismissed Gambhir as often as Swann. Swann is now behind only Derek Underwood on the list of most successful England spinners after going past Jim Laker's tally of 193 wickets.

A Gujarati hero emerged for the crowd to applaud. Cheteshwar Pujara, upright and accomplished, was two runs short of his second Test century by the close and looked a convincing replacement for Rahul Dravid in an understated innings, showing a collected manner and good timing. But he needed a let-off on 8 as his gentle leading edge against Bresnan was misjudged by James Anderson, who ran in too far at mid-on. 

England spurned three other opportunities. Sehwag was dropped on 80, glancing Anderson, whereupon Matt Prior spilled a difficult chance and Prior also missed a stumping against Gambhir. The most embarrassing drop, though, belonged to Jonathan Trott, who fluffed a slip catch off Swann from Kohli and rolled the ball into the turf before shamelessly claiming the catch in a slightly perplexed manner. The umpires sought replays; for Trott they did not look good. 

Gambhir and Sehwag had been an alliance in decline, and fleetingly there were hints of vulnerability, but these were not conditions to ask questions of defensive technique. Gambhir had proclaimed before the match that they were the best opening duo in the country and few would find much cause to question that as India sailed to 120 without loss by lunch. It was their first century opening partnership since India faced South Africa in Centurion in 2010. 

Sehwag spoke of playing watchfully,and met by a deep point, he did glide regularly to third man, but his 50 still came in only 45 balls and by lunch he had 79 from 66 with 12 fours and a six. England's pace attack strayed wide too often and runs came at a tempo that Test cricket rarely sees: 50 by the 12th over; 100 by the 20th. Sehwag possessed a hunched, insouciant air that suggested the match was of little consequence and he was just having a bit of a bash. 

England calculated that the ball might reverse for Bresnan, as it did as early as the ninth over in a warm-up match on the adjacent B ground, but Bresnan had a dispiriting day, never worse than when Sehwag took him for 4-4-6 in his sixth over, the second boundary, a drag through mid-on against a ball that crept past the fielder verging on the insulting; the six over wide long-on that followed, a full swing at a length ball. 

India have never lost a Test at home after beginning with a century stand. That statistic tells England that their chances are already slim. It was all a long way from England's domination of India in English conditions last summer. 

SA vs Aus: Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets

COLOMBO: Shane Watson's unbelievable run in the ICC World Twenty20 continued as he virtually assured Australia a place in the semifinals of the event with a comfortable eight-wicket win over South Africa in the their second Super Eights match on Sunday. 

Chasing a modest target of 147, Watson once again showed his all-round prowess with a smashing 70 off 47 balls after taking two important wickets as Australia reached the target with 14 balls to spare.

His innings included eight boundaries and two sixes off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson and that fetched him his fourth consecutive man-of-the-match award.

Watson has so far scored 234 runs in four matches at an astonishing average of 78, not to forget the 10 wickets that he has taken.

Watson's 99-run second wicket partnership with the ever-dependable Mike Hussey (45 not out) laid the foundation of the Australian chase.

When Watson finally got out at the team score on 109, the victory was just round the corner.

After Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn had kept the Australians quiet for the first five overs, the counter-attack started in the sixth with Watson hitting Morkel for three boundaries. The first boundary was hit through point, the second through covers and the third one through the short fine leg.

With 15 runs coming from that over, the Australian innings finally got the momentum it required.

There was no stopping Watson after that as he played shots all round the wicket. When Peterson dropped it short, he rocked back to pull it over deep mid-wicket. When Parnel bowled it short, he pulled over square leg for a six which also brought up his third half century in the tournament.

Earlier, leg-spinner Xavier Doherty sparkled with figures of three for 20 to help Australia restrict South Africa to a modest 146 for five.

Australian skipper George Bailey's decision to play Doherty ahead of Dan Christian on a slowish track turned out to be a masterstroke.

Handed the new ball along with left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, Doherty responded to his captain's call and picked up the crucial wickets of Richard Levi, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy to put Australia in the driver's seat after Bailey won the toss and elected to field.

Doherty was ably supported by in-form Shane Watson, who finished with figures of two for 29, which included the important wickets of Hashim Amla (17) and South Africa skipper A B de Villiers (21).

Robin Peterson top-scored for South Africa with a quick-fire 32 off 19 balls, while Farhaan Behardien (31) and JP Dunimy (30) also made useful contributions for the Proteas.

Opting to bat, South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals to make life difficult for themselves.

South Africa witnessed a terrible start to their innings as Doherty cleaned up Levi in the third ball of the innings.

Australia picked up two more quick wickets in the form of Kallis and Amla as South Africa slumped to 33 for three in 5.5 overs.

While Kallis nicked a Doherty delivery to Mathew Wade behind the stumps, Amla was caught by Wade off the bowling of Watson.

Duminy and de Villiers then added 31 runs for the fourth wicket before the former was stumped by Wade off Doherty in the 11th over.

With pressure building on him to score quickly, De Villiers perished, caught by Bailey off Watson.

But thanks to a vital unbeaten 60-run sixth-wicket stand between Behardien and Peterson which came off just 35 balls, South Africa managed to inch closer to 150.

While Behardien hit two fours and a six during his 27-ball innings, Peterson's 32 came off just 19 balls with the help of six boundaries.

World T20: India stay alive with big win over Pakistan

Colombo: India needed a win to keep their chances of making their first ICC World Twenty20 semi-finals since the inaugural edition in 2007, and after the hammering at the hands of Australia bounced back brilliantly with a nine-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday. After their five-bowler plan flopped miserably on Friday, India reverted to Virender Sehwag and L Balaji and both played parts in victory over Pakistan, who now need to beat Australia on October 2 to progress past the Super Eights. 

Pakistan’s brittle batting has been overshadowed by some brilliant bowling for long, but against their old foes India – who have yet to lose to Pakistan in ICC tournaments dating back to 1992 – they contrived to be bowled out for 128, their lowest total in tournament history. As in the last game against South Africa, Pakistan’s batting was poor but the difference this time was that there was no batsman to stick around, or anyone to inject crucial runs down the order. Their cause was not helped by a slew of dropped catches, three of which were off India’s anchorman Virat Kohli whose unbeaten 78 closed the deal with 18 balls remaining.

A 13-run opening over from Zaheer Khan hinted that Pakistan were going to bolt out of the blocks, but India struck back with five wickets inside the first ten overs. Irfan Pathan removed Imran Nazir for 8 with his second ball and Shahid Afridi, promoted to No. 3, pulled L Balaji out to deep square leg after also getting a rousing start.

It was the lack of pace that really worked for India, however. Yuvraj Singh struck in his first two overs, getting Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal caught behind as Pakistan slumped to 49 for 4 in the ninth over. Their captain, Mohammad Hafeez, appeared ready to play out the innings until a silly shot against Kohli saw him bowled for 15 off 28 balls.

Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik averted a crisis from 59 for 5 with a 47-run stand in 33 balls punctuated by deft cutting and tucking off the pads, but crucially R Ashwin extracted the pair before they could cut loose. With five overs to go, however, Malik spooned a catch to Rohit Sharma for a brisk 28 and in Ashwin’s next over, the 18th of the innings, Umar Akmal heaved out to Suresh Raina in the deep for 21.

A fine throw from Yuvraj at backward point did for Yasir Arafat, and Pakistan’s innings ended with a whimper as Balaji plucked out Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal in consecutive deliveries – Dhoni taking the catches to finish with four dismissals. Pakistan scored just 23 runs from their last 28 ball, losing five wickets in the process.

India’s reply began with a jolt when Gautam Gambhir chipped a return catch to the 20-year-old left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, and India managed just 11 runs from three overs. Sehwag got the chase purring with two boundaries off Gul, followed by a glance off Hasan. Without any risks, India took 36 for 1 off the Powerplays.

The introduction of Afridi brought the aggression out of Kohli, who hit the former Pakistan captain for a six in his first over but also edged a four past Kamran on 27. In the same over, Sehwag chipped a high return catch to Afridi that was grassed. In the next, Kohli was dropped at backward point by a diving Umar. Pakistan’s ground fielding was poor as well, with overthrows and slides in vain adding to the Kohli-Sehwag partnership of 69.

By the time Pakistan held on to something – Gul catching a lofted Sehwag drive just inside the long-off boundary off Afridi – India were beyond the point of jitters. Kohli and Yuvraj finished the chase with ease, thanks to a 54-run stand in 6.3 overs.

Brief scores: India 129 for 1 in 17 overs (Virat Kohli 78*, Virender Sehwag 29) beat Pakistan 128 in 19.4 overs (Shoaib Malik 28; L Balaji 3/22, R Ashwin 2/16, Yuvraj Singh 2/16) by nine wickets.

IPL 5: Match 3:Pune stun fancied Mumbai by 29 runs

 

Mumbai: An under-strength Pune Warriors India stunned fancied Mumbai Indians by 29 runs to kick-start their second Indian Premier League season with a win after Ashok Dinda's 4 for 17 helped Sourav Ganguly's team defend a total of 129 for 9.

Dinesh Karthik and James Franklin revived Mumbai from 5 for 3 in two overs with a 49-run stand, but once the pair was separated the home team’s run-chase lost steam and Pune ensured the stronger side on paper was brought back to earth after their win over Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday. In what proved a scrappy low-scoring affair, the Australian import Steven Smith's match-high score of 39 which helped Pune recover from 47 for 4 proved pivotal and he was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Few would have fancied Pune's chances at defending a total like 129, but led by Dinda they emerged victorious. Dinda ran through the Mumbai top order, sending back Ambati Rayudu (1) and Rohit Sharma (1) in his first over – the second of the chase - and then returned to remove the innings joint top-scorer Franklin for 32 in the 18th over. Franklin and Karthik (32) had staged a recovery but any thoughts of the pair steering Mumbai to victory were dashed when Murali Kartik, who had removed Richard Levi for a second-ball 0 in the opening over, returned to have Karthik stumped. And when Rahul Sharma bowled Kieron Pollard in the 16th over, the hosts were completely snubbed out. Dinda picked up his fourth in the final over, removing Harbhajan Singh with a full and straight delivery that struck him flush in front of middle stump.

That Mumbai were left to chase a target of 130 was down to another exemplary performance in the field. Having opted to field, Harbhajan had his decision vindicated when Lasith Malinga began the innings with a wicket-maiden over in which Manish Pandey had his stumps rattled. Ganguly was the next to go, stumped when attempting to charge Pragyan Ojha. And when Wayne Parnell – oddly promoted to No. 3 – was bowled in Munaf Patel's opening over, the scoreboard read a flat 27 for 3 in the fifth over.

Having managed just 30 runs in the Powerplay, Pune continued to falter. The fourth wicket to fall was that of Callum Ferguson, run-out for 12. Robin Uthappa (36) and Smith (39) put on a 44-run stand in which the stand-out feature was the manner in which they shuffled across to work the ball into the leg side, and that alliance proved match-winning in the final result. Smith struck four boundaries during his 32-ball effort, but more than those his ability to rotate the strike and deny Mumbai wickets during the middle passage was what stood out. Malinga and Munaf were the most successful bowlers with two wickets apiece, but Dinda and Kartik would end up as the bowlers to remember.

IPL 5: Delhi, Kolkata aim for winning start

After mediocre performances in the first three editions of the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders finally gave their fans something to cheer about a fourth-place finish. The Gautam Gambhir-led franchise will now aim to kick-start their season on a high when they take on last year's wooden-spoon holders Delhi Daredevils in the second match of IPL 5 at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

Delhi can be termed underachievers, considering their performance in the last four seasons, but after having added to their squad considerably in this year's IPL auctions, there is reason to believe that they won't fare as poorly. With the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Mahela Jayawardene, Andre Russell, Doug Bracewell and Ross Taylor in their ranks Delhi look a balanced outfit. If these players play to potential, Delhi can consider themselves title contenders

Batting is the team's biggest strength, but Delhi will be without Pietersen, Jayawardene and David Warner until the end of April as they are busy with international commitments. Taylor, who fractured his arm during the South Africa series, is a non-starter. In their absence, the likes of Venugopal Rao, Naman Ojha, Aaron Finch, Robin Bist - who had an outstanding Ranji Trophy season this year – and Gulam Bodi will need to do the job for Delhi under the captaincy of Virender Sehwag.

Irfan Pathan could be the game-changer for Delhi as his hard-hitting in the death overs and gentle medium pace can play a crucial part. On the bowling front, Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, who had a good tour of Australia, will be the key to Delhi's fortunes. Varun Aaron, who missed the entire Australian tour and the Asia Cup due to a stress fracture on the back, will be keen to make a good impression. There is also the South African allrounder Roelof van der Merwe, a matchwinner with bat and ball.

Delhi's opponents, KKR, played it safe and were content with a couple of acquisitions at the auction. Unlike Delhi in IPL 4, Kolkata had a string of good performances and followed it up with decent showing in their Champions League Twenty20 debut. Besides Gambhir, KKR's batting will rely on Jacques Kallis, who was the team's highest run-scorer last season, new signee Brendon McCullum, Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Yusuf Pathan and Ryan ten Doeschate.

Kolkata's bowling looks similar for to the last edition barring the addition of South African fast bowler Marchant de Lange, who was ahead of the season. Brett Lee will lead the attack once again and could share the new ball with Laxmipathy Balaji, while Kallis' experience as an allrounder is certain to perk up Kolkata. Where KKR will have to take a call is deciding which four overseas players to accommodate. McCullum and Kallis are sure to slot in as top-order batsman, with Lee the third player as strike bowler. That means one of Shakib Al Hasan, Eoin Morgan and Ryan ten Doeschate will vie for one place. Morgan – out of favour with England’s selectors – proves a reliable batsman in the middle overs; Shakib, the No. 1 allrounders in ODIs, is a match-winner with bat and ball; and ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, is also a utility player.

Both teams are strong on paper. It remains to be seen how they perform on the field.

Probable XIs:

Delhi Daredevils: 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Venugopal Rao, 4 Naman Ojha (wk), 5 Robin Bist, 6 Gulam Bodi, 7 Roelof van der Merwe, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Aaron

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 4 Eoin Morgan/Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Rajat Bhatia, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Iqbal Abdulla, 11 L Balaji

Tendulkar gets injured in IPL 5 opener

Chennai: Sachin Tendulkar sustained a finger injury in his left hand and retired hurt when he tried to fend off a rising delivery from Chennai Super Kings' bowler Doug Bollinger in the opener of the Indian Premier League's fifth season here on Wednesday. However, it is still not clear whether it is a fracture or a simple bruise.

It was the fifth ball of the ninth over and Tendulkar, who was batting on 15, got a short ball from Bollinger. The ball climbed onto him as the delivery hit one of the green patches and reared up uncomfortably. Tendulkar could just fend it off as it hit him on the glove.

Tendulkar, however, faced the next delivery and got a single to go onto 16. But at the end of the over, he sought medical attention and was advised to retire, following which he was seen returning to the dug-out looking in considerable pain. He had scored 16 off 15 balls with a four and a six off Albie Morkel.

Mumbai play their next match against Pune Warriors India on Friday.