Next aim is World CUp berth: Rasool
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir’s star cricketer Parvez Rasool says he his immediate target is to earn a berth in the Indian team for next year’s ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. “The next target now is that the selection for World Cup is ahead. There are multi-day matches coming up and the aim is to do well in those. I have to do well as team and individually as well. The target is to get back to the Indian team,” Rasool said. He has just won the lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy for 2013-14 season.
Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe in 2nd ODI
Chittagong: left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny claimed his career best 4-29 to spin Bangladesh to a 68-run win over Zimbabwe in the second one-day international on Sunday. Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza chipped in with 3-34 as Zimbabwe was bowled out for 183 in pursuit of Bangladesh’s 251-7. Solomon Mire, playing only his second ODI, was the top scorer with 50. Skipper Elton Chigumbura made 38 and Regis Chakabva contributed 32. Brief Scores — Bangladesh: 251/7 (Anamul Haque 80, Tamim Iqbal 76; Tafadzwa Kamungozi 2/38, Tinashe Panyangara 2/51) lost to Zimbabwe: 183 (Solomon Mire 50, Elton Chigumbura 38; Arafat Sunny 4/29, Maashrafe Bin Mortaza 3/34) by 68 runs.
Burnt out Haddin thought of quitting
Melbourne: He could be leading Australia against India in the upcoming Test series if Michael Clarke fails to recover in time from injury but Brad Haddin himself felt so drained physically and mentally not too long back that he contemplated quitting cricket. In a 'Daily Telegraph' report quoting rugby player Tom Carter, who mentored Haddin and helped him get over the tough phase, it has been revealed that the wicketkeeper-batsman was on the verge of bidding adieu to the game after battling injuries and weight issues. "He approached me after the T20 World Cup (in March) where he obviously had an incredible comeback through the Ashes and he just said, 'look, I feel really tired and I'm just unsure about where to go,'" said Carter, Haddin's friend for the last 10 years. "He spoke to me about the difficulty of after the Ashes and the emotional and physical let-down of how hard it's to want to keep climbing the mountain. "I said to him, 'you have nothing to prove to anyone ... why don't we just train for a month and then you make a decisionIJ Don't make a decision when you feel like you do now'," he recalled.
Karnataka pip bengal, enters final
Ahmedabad: Abhimanyu Mithun’s brilliant bowling at death enabled defending champions Karnataka to edge out Bengal by six runs in a thrilling semi-final of the National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Sunday. Batting first, Karnataka scored a respectable 268 for nine in 50 overs after being down at 222 for nine. It was skipper Ranganath Vinay Kumar’s long handle that took the score past 265 with the India discard contributing 39 off 30 balls with six fours. In reply, Bengal were cruising along at 256 for six needing 13 off the last two covers. Bengal were all out for 262 in 49.5 overs as Mithun (3/40) gave away only two runs removing the last two batsmen as Bengal required nine from the final over. Brief Scores — Karnataka: 268/9 (Stuart Binny 50, R Vinay Kumar 39*, Iresh Saxena 2/27) beat Bengal: 262 all out in 49.5 overs (Sudeep Chatterjee 67, Manoj Tiwary 56, Abhimanyu Mithun 3/40) by 6 runs.
Punjab in Vijay Hazare final
Ahemdabad: Delightful fifties from Amitoze Singh and Mandeep Singh helped Punjab canter to a seven-wicket win over Odisha and enter the Vijay Hazare one-day tournament final, here on Sunday. Punjab will take on Karnataka, who won a six-run cliffhanger against Bengal in the other semi-final, in the title clash on Tuesday at the same venue. Yuvraj Singh (26 not out) and Taruwar Kohli (35 not out) also provided useful contributions in their 64-run unbeaten partnership for the fourth wicket to speed up Punjab chase. Arabind Singh, who top-scored with 89 runs, was looking dangerous when Kohli ran him out to stop the Odisha surge. Brief Scores — Odisha: 238/7 (Arabind Singh 89, Natraj Behera 61; Baltej Singh 2/55) lost to Punjab: 244/3 in 48.3 overs (Amitoze Singh 91, Mandeep Singh 81; Suryakant Pradhan 1/22) by 7 wickets.