Afridi stars as Pak beat lanka
Dubai: Allrounder Shahid Afridi starred in Pakistan’s exciting three-wicket win over Sri lanka in the first Twenty20 international at Dubai stadium. Afridi scored an unbeaten 20-ball 39 on Wednesday, hitting the winning six off the last ball of the final over by paceman Nuwan Kulasekara to give Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. In all Afridi hit three sixes and two boundaries to help Pakistan overcome a tough challenge from world number one Sri lanka who had taken the match to the final over with Pakistan needing six runs. Set a challenging 146 to get, Pakistan lost Ahmed Shehzad (four) in the third over but Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Sharjeel Khan (34) steadied the innings through their 57-run second wicket stand before they lost three wickets in the space of seven runs. Brief Scores: Sri lanka: 145/5 (Mathews 50) lost to Pakistan 146/7 (Afridi 39*, Malinga 3/26) by three wickets.
De Villiers dethrones Kohli
Dubai: Star batsman Virat Kohli lost his top position to AB de Villiers while most of his teammates, barring skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, also slipped in the latest ICC one-day rankings issued on Thursday after the 0-2 series loss to South Africa. India, in fact, dropped two ratings points but held on to the top spot with 120 ratings points despite the 0-2 loss in the three-match series, while South Africa continued to be in fifth place with 110 ratings points, with a gain of three points. Dhoni remained static at sixth but Shikhar Dhawan was down a rung to 10th, while Rohit Sharma found himself 18th after losing three spots. Suresh Raina, who was 19th in the previous list, is now out of top 20 and is currenly placed at 23rd. In the bowling charts, Ravindra Jadeja was pushed to the 7th spot, a loss of four positions, while Ravichandran Ashwin ended up 17th after slipping three rungs. For South Africa, leading the way is de Villiers, who had started the series in second spot behind India’s Virat Kohli, trailing by 17 ratings points on the rankings for ODI batsmen.
No cheerleaders in IPl 7
Nashik: There will be no cheerleaders in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier league (IPl) in the wake of spot-fixing scandal, which rocked the sixth edition of the cash-rich tournament, BCCI Vice-President Ravi Savant said. The seventh edition of the IPl is scheduled in April-May next year. “There will be no cheer girls in the IPl matches,” said Savant here last evening. Savant was here to attend the prize distribution ceremony of an inter-university Twenty20 tournament organised by the city-based Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. According to Savant, who is also vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, a total of ten changes were recommended by a committee formed by the BCCI after the spot fixing scandal in IPl-6. The panel, headed by veteran cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya, was asked to suggest steps to prevent incidents like spot fixing in the BCCI-run league. “All the recommendations of the committee have been accepted and will be implemented from IPl-7 onwards,” Savant said.
NZ take command vs WIndies
Wellington: New Zealand claimed the upper hand in the second Test today with the West Indies on 158-4 and key batsmen Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul back in the pavilion. At the end of the rain-abbreviated second day, in which only 63.1 of the scheduled 90 overs were bowled, the West Indies trailed New Zealand’s first innings of 441 by 283. Only Kirk Edwards and Marlon Samuels provided any stern resistance with well compiled half centuries. Samuels was not out 50 and Narsingh Deonarine was on 11. New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, in only his fourth Test, made the crucial breakthroughs for his team, removing first Test double centurion Darren Bravo for four and Edwards for 55. Brief Scores: New Zealand: 441 (Taylor 129, Watling 65, Best 4/110) lead West Indies: 158/4 (Edwards 55, Samuels 50*) by 283 runs.