There won’t be time to relax in CT: Misbah
Birmingham: Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq on Tuesday said there won’t be time to relax for any team in the upcoming Champions Trophy and none of the side can be labelled as favourite. Pakistan along with India, South Africa and the West Indies will feature in group B in the eight-team competition “This is a tournament the top eight teams are playing, so no team is an easy team here. You have to take every game as a tough game. Top eight teams, you never know who’s going to beat who. So you need to be 100 percent all the time. You can’t relax in this sort of tournament,” Misbah said at the press conference. Misbah faced the inevitable question of the India-Pakistan clash on June 15 and the Pakistan skipper said it was important for them to do well in the two games before the high-voltage contest. “Every game is important. Coming into this tournament, I think the first two games are more so important for us because the last game, you may know if you are in or out of the tournament.
Mathews upbeat despite struggling lankans
Birmingham: Sri lanka captain Angelo Mathews is confident his side can impress during the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament in the United Kingdom. Sri lankan players taking part in the latest edition of the 20-overs per side Indian Premier league tournament have largely struggled for form, with Mathews himself even giving up the captaincy of Pune Warriors. Now they must adjust quickly to the very different conditions that will greet them in England and Wales when the Champions Trophy. “It’s not even a concern when it comes to a tournament like this because they’ve been here, they’ve done it, and I have the confidence in them,” Mathews said on Tuesday in Birmingham, where Sri lanka will play three practice matches against Pakistan, India and the West Indies at Edgbaston. “I’m really proud to have these guys in my team because I can get a lot of information and help. I’m really happy to have them in the team. “There has been a little bit of doubt — people keep saying that the boys in India haven’t had good preparation. But I want to write it off because we are professionals and we need to get prepared for this kind of tournament because it’s a huge event for everyone, personally and as a team. So I think we’ve done our preparation as a team and individually.”
Eng win 2nd Test against nz, take series 2-0
leeds: England beat New Zealand and the rain at Headingley on Tuesday, winning the second test by 247 runs on the last day and the series 2-0. After a second break for rain, the English picked up the last two wickets to dismiss the Kiwis for 220 in mid afternoon.
Spinner Graeme Swann took two of the last four wickets on the final day to take 6-90 and achieve a match haul of 10-132, the third 10-for of his career and first in England. He came to Headingley without having taken a test wicket at the ground. England had New Zealand on their knees throughout a match which was shortened to four days of play after the first day was washed out. Even so, the hosts could have delivered the coup de grace on Sunday but didn’t enforce the follow on. Instead, they batted past lunch on Monday and posted an untouchable chase score of 468, 19 more than New Zealand had scored in its first three innings of the series combined.
Rauf to give his version to prove innocence
Karachi: Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, who is under a cloud of suspicion after the emergence of the spot fixing scandal in the IPl, will address a press conference in lahore on Tuesday to give his version of the story. “Since returning from India he has remained out of sight and avoided the media but now he will finally give his side of the story to prove his innocence,” Rauf’s manager, Shahzad said. PNS/Agencies