T20 Cricket – India to host Champions League

April 14, 2013 - 08:08 | Cricket

India will host this year’s Champions League tournament as the world’s best 20-over teams contest a share of $6million in prize money.

T20 Cricket - India to host Champions League The event, won by Australian franchise Sydney Sixers last autumn, will feature a qualifier and group stage but, unlike the 2012 tournament in South Africa, will not include English counties like Hampshire and Yorkshire.

“The CLT20 will return to India this year,” said N Srinivasan, chairman of the competition’s governing council. “It will be the third time India will host the tournament in five years, following the events in 2009 and 2011.

“The competition, which will again feature leading cricketers from across the world and some of the established legends of world cricket, will be watched and followed by equally passionate fans.”

Matches, totalling 29 in all, will be played between 17th September and 6th October, with the top three teams from the current Indian Premier League joined by Big Bash League duo Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers, a couple of South African franchises in Nashua Titans and Highveld Lions and Caribbean champions Trinidad & Tobago.

A fourth IPL team will feature in the qualifying stage from which the top two teams will join the eight already handed group berths.

New Zealand champions Otago Volts and their counterparts from Pakistan and Sri Lanka will also be vying for a spot in the tournament proper.

Former winners of the competition Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians are amongst the favourites to finish in the top four of the current IPL and therefore secure a place.

South Africa are 4/1 to win the Champions Trophy later this year while England can be backed at 9/2, Australia at 5/1 and India at 5/1.

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England Cricket Team on the brink

December 8, 2012 - 20:54 | Cricket

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India reached 239-9 on the fourth day of the third Test to avoid an innings defeat against England, who are closing in on another victory.

England Cricket Team on the brink

The hosts take a lead of 32 into the last day and England will be frustrated not to have wrapped up the win on a remarkable day of cricket in Kolkata. The method of dismissal for India’s 10th wicket is 9/4 to be bowled and 8/11 to be causght.

India held the initiative early on after taking England’s last four wickets for 14 runs, with the tourists ending their innings on 523 all out, a lead of 207.

The hosts looked comfortable at lunch, racing to 86-0 thanks to Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, and the crowd of 40,000 at Eden Gardens were enjoying an attacking display from their team.

However, it was England who came out fighting after lunch, Graeme Swann taking the wicket of Sehwag with the first ball.

Che Pujara came in but only made eight as he was run out by Ian Bell thanks to rare poor judgement from Gambhir, who then edged behind for 40 from Steven Finn.

England were on fire as Sachin Tendulkar went for five to Swann with the score at 107-4 and still 100 behind.

James Anderson took two quick wickets to see off Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni and India were rocking on 122-6. They reached tea on 145-6, having been 86 without loss at lunch.

Finn took Virat Kohli for 20 and saw off Zaheer Khan lbw for 0 and England seemed well on their way to an innings win with Monty Panesar bowling Ishant Sharma for 10.

The tail had other ideas however, as the obstinate Ravi Ashwin batted on to reach 83 and give the home fans something to cheer as they take a slender lead into the final day.

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2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award

December 4, 2012 - 08:00 | Boxing, Cricket, F1, Football, Games, Golf, TV Shows

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Olympic and Paralympic athletes dominate the shortlist for the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

odds correct as at 3rd Dec 2012

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Cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Sir Chris Hoy, tennis star Andy Murray, and athletes Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah are candidates in a 12-strong list.

Rower Katherine Grainger, golfer Rory McIlroy, boxer Nicola Adams and sailor Ben Ainslie are other hopefuls.

Paralympians Sarah Storey, Ellie Simmonds and David Weir also make the list for the award on 16 December.

Three former Sports Personality nominees were on an expert panel which decided the shortlist, and the winner will be decided by a public vote on the night.

The panel was put together following criticism of an all-male list decided via a different method in 2011.

The 2000 winner Sir Steve Redgrave, Baroness Grey-Thompson and Denise Lewis were joined by Baroness Campbell, chair of UK Sport, and representatives from the BBC and the newspaper industry.

Presented by Sue Barker, Gary Lineker and Clare Balding, Sports Personality of the Year will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC One HD and BBC Radio 5 live from 19:30 GMT.

A capacity crowd of 15,000 at the ExCel in London will make it the biggest show in the event’s 59-year history.

It will be a star-studded climax to 12 months of sport which saw London host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With an array of candidates to choose from, the panel faced some difficult choices finalising the shortlist, which was extended from 10 to 12 to reflect a brilliant year for British sport.

Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France and followed up with Olympic time trial gold. Hoy won the team sprint and men’s keirin at London 2012 – his fifth and sixth gold medals overall – to beat the record for golds won by a British sportsman.

Ennis won the heptathlon and Farah triumphed in both the 5,000m and 10,00m in the Olympic Stadium.

Murray clinched gold at the Games before ending Britain’s wait for a major tennis title with victory in the US Open, and McIlroy also triumphed across the Atlantic as he took theUS PGA title, played in Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team and won the season-ending Tour Championship.

Adams became the first female fighter to win an Olympic boxing title,Grainger claimed rowing gold at the fourth attempt and Ainslie’s victory at the Games made him the most decorated Olympic sailor.

Cricket: Positive spin! – England beat the odds in Mumbai

November 28, 2012 - 18:52 | Cricket

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Bet365 have cut England from 14/1 into 7/2 to win the cricket Test series in India after their victory in Mumbai.

Cricket: Positive spin! - England beat the odds in Mumbai

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: “There were plenty of negatives surrounding this England team pre-Test so we didn’t see much support before a ball was bowled. Then with the prospect of the tourists batting last we also had a fair position In-Play which left us cheering on Cook’s men.”

Monty Panesar is now 11/8 (opened 10/1) to finish the series as the top England bowler after his performance in Mumbai.

India v England Test Series

India                     5/6
Draw                    2/1
England                7/2

Test Series – Top England Bowler

GP Swann             4/7
MS Panesar         11/8
JM Anderson        50/1

India v England – 3rd Test

India                    6/5
Draw                    9/5
England             11/4

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Cricket: England on top at end of day two

November 24, 2012 - 16:02 | Cricket

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Cricket: Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten century stand put England into a strong position at close of play on day two of the second Test against India.

Cricket: England on top at end of day two

The pair came together with England on 68-2 after Pragyan Ojha had taken two quick wickets in the afternoon session, Cook reaching 87 and Pietersen making 62 from 85 balls to steady the innings at 178-2.

The tourists had earlier dismissed India for 327, Monty Panesar completing a five-wicket haul and Graeme Swann finally ending Cheteshwar Pujara’s resistance at 135 after 18 hours of batting.

Openers Cook and Nick Compton seemed to be set fair, sharing a stand of 66, but the latter fell to Ojha after a patient 29 from 90 balls, edging the ball to Virender Sehwag at slip. Jonathan Trott departed in the next over for a six ball duck, trapped lbw.

India were on top but Cook and Pietersen patiently batted their way back into the match in the evening session, gradually becoming more aggressive as the day wore on.

England will be cautiously optimistic of batting on in day three and winning the match to level the series, which can be backed at 11/5. An India victory is at 11/10, while a draw is available at 13/5.

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Twenty20 Final: Windies out to spoil party

October 7, 2012 - 10:40 | Cricket

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West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has said his side are hoping to spoil Sri Lanka’s party by beating the hosts in Sunday’s Twenty20 World Cup final.

Twenty20 Final: Windies out to spoil party West Indies’ Kieron Pollard.

The Caribbean Islanders have been a surprise package at the tournament, going from strength to strength as the competition reaches it finale and are now in their first ever final.

The Caribbean people love a party, so we’ll enjoy partying with them.

Darren Sammy

Thanks to a superb 75 not out from Chris Gayle in the semi-final, the Windies thrashed Australia by 74 runs. Gayle is 13/8 to top score in Sunday’s final.

Captain Sammy said: “We’re peaking at the right time – we wanted to have our own party.

“The Caribbean people love a party, so we’ll enjoy partying with them.”

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene has stated that the game is the “biggest ever match in Sri Lanka.”

The tournament hosts have previously been beaten by Pakistan in the 2009 T20 final to Pakistan, but will be hoping to secure a first T20 World Cup victory in Colombo.

Sri Lanka can be backed at 4/6 to win the clash, while Sammy’s men are 6/5 to claim a memorable victory.

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Sri Lanka reach World Twenty20 final

October 4, 2012 - 19:52 | Cricket

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Sri Lanka reached the final of the World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory over Pakistan, who could only make 123-7 in reply to the hosts’ 139-4.

The hosts, who are now 4/5 to win the tournament, brought in left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya while Pakistan left out Abdul Razzaq in favour of left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir.

Mahela Jayawardene (42) led his side to the final.

Sri Lanka, in their first appearance at Colombo this tournament, won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene was the first to lose his wicket in the 11th over for a battling 42 to Shahid Afridi, Kumar Sangakkara falling to Mohammad Hafeez in the 13th over having recorded 18 runs from 11 balls.

The hosts were building steadily but not spectacularly as Dilshan’s innings came to an end in the 18th over after a scratchy 35. Ajantha Mendis was stumped by Kamran Akmal for 15 with the hosts at 118-4 with just two overs to go and the Sri Lankans were struggling, but managed to reach what proved to be a winning score of 139-4.

Pakistan got off to a solid start but when Mendis was brought on they started to wobble, Imran Nazir bowled for 20. In such a tight game the crowd were desperate to play their part for the home side, creating a terrific atmosphere.

Angelo Mathews made the breakthrough in the 10th over as Nasir Jamshed (4) was hit on the pad. The Pakistan batsmen weren’t happy but with no right to appeal had to move on. However, Kamran Akmal was out for just one run moments later, caught by Jayawardene.

Tension was building and Pakistan were succumbing to the atmosphere. Shoaib Malik (9) was next to go to Herath and Hafeez was dropped by Malinga with Pakistan reeling.

Hafeez battled to 42 but was finally stumped by Sangakkar in the 15th over off the bowling of Herath, who struck again with his next ball to dismiss Shahid Afridi with Pakistan on 91-6. Tanvir fell in the 18th over and it was soon all over for Pakistan, leaving the home crowd ecstatic.

Sri Lanka will face either Australia or West Indies in the final. Australia are 4/6 to win their semi-final on Friday, with the Windies at 6/5.

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India rout sorry England in Twenty20 Match

September 23, 2012 - 19:36 | Cricket

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England were routed in their final ICC World Twenty20 Group A match, as they were dismissed for just 80 chasing India’s imposing total of 170-4.

India rout sorry England in Twenty20 Match

Harbhajan Singh recorded figures of 4-12 as India won with ease.

In a dismal display with the bat, only Craig Kieswetter (35) offered any resistance with the bat, as Harbhajan Singh (4-12) and Piyush Chawla (2-13) tore through the England batting line-up.

Earlier, Gautam Gambhir (45) and Rohit Sharma (55no) had enjoyed themselves to post a challenging total for Andy Flower’s men. Steve Finn (2-33) and Graeme Swann (1-17) were the stand-out performers with the ball for England.

England are rated as 7/1 to win the tournament, with India 5/1.

With both teams already having qualified from Group A and sealed Super Eight spots, this was in essence a dead rubber game, but England-India matches are always fiery affairs and both sides would have wanted to send out a signal of intent to one of their rivals.

On a pitch which looked like it may offer something for the quicker bowlers, Stuart Broad elected to field after winning the toss and Steve Finn accounted for Irfan Pathan with the score on 24 when he bowled the left-hander with an excellent delivery.

Virat Kohli joined Gambhir at the crease and they set about building a healthy partnership. Kohli especially was batting beautifully and England would have been concerned by their progress.

As always it was England talisman Graeme Swann who found the answer, when with the score on 81 Kohli was stumped by Jonny Bairstow who was deputising for Kieswetter, with the latter playing as just a batsman.

Gambhir was the next to go, when he was caught by Kieswetter off Finn for a well-made 45. The dangerous Dhoni was next into the middle, but it was his partner Sharma who was catching the eye with some excellent hitting.

After Dhoni departed for just eight, caught by Alex Hales from the bowling of Jade Dernbach, Sharma reached his fifty as India closed on 170-4.

England would have known at the interval they would need to be at the top of their game to claim the win, but they had the worst possible start as Hales was bowled by Pathan for 0.

The in-form Luke Wright entered the fray, but he was unable to build on his heroics against Afghanistan as he was LBW to Pathan for six with the score on 18.

Despite not been in the best form of late, England’s man for a crisis Eoin Morgan was next in and with Kieswetter playing some destructive strokes, hopes would have been high the pair could inspire a win.

It was however not to be as Morgan with just two his name was bowled by Harbajan to leave England 39-3 and Bairstow followed three runs later as he also bowled by Chawla.

When Kieswetter holed out with the score on 51 caught by Kohli off Chawla, England’s slim hopes of what would have been a remarkable comeback all but ended, and worse was to come as Jos Buttler was dismissed for 11.

Tim Bresnan and Swann also fell to Harbhajan, while Broad was dismissed by Ashok Dinda all with the score on 60.

Dernbach was the last man to go as he was run out by Pathan, and England will know they have a lot of hard work to do if they are to have any chance of reclaiming their T20 crown.

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Kevin Pietersen omitted from Indian Tour

September 18, 2012 - 20:01 | Cricket

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Kevin Pietersen has been omitted from England ‘s cricket squad for the upcoming Test series in India, with both Nick Compton and Joe Root handed call-ups.

England Cricket: Compton and Root heading to India

Alastair Cook will be without Kevin Pietersen as he leads England in India.

Kevin Pietersen, a veteran of 88 Tests, was left out of the side for the third and final Test against South Africa this summer due to off-field issues and has again been overlooked in favour of Compton and Root, neither of whom have yet to play for England.

Somerset’s Compton was the leading first-class run-scorer in domestic cricket this summer, while Root played a key role in helping Yorkshire gain promotion back to the first division of the County Championship.

Compton and Root have won the nod ahead of Ravi Bopara and James Taylor, who both miss out despite having featured during the summer action.

England, who will be captained by Alastair Cook for the first time in the Test arena, have also included three spinners in their 16-man party, with Graeme Swann supported by Monty Panesar and Samit Patel.

Nick Compton…has the temperament and the technique to play at a higher level.

Geoff Miller

National Selector Geoff Miller commented: “Nick Compton has performed consistently for Somerset in county cricket this season, made big hundreds and shown that he has the temperament and the technique to play at a higher level.

“Joe Root is a player who has been successful at every level from county cricket through to EPP and England Lions, and he deserves this opportunity to step up to the next level and press his case for a place in the Test side.”

England play four Tests in India later this year, the first of which starts in Ahmedabad on Thursday 15th November, before two Twenty20 internationals and a five-match ODI series in the New Year.

England Test squad: Alastair Cook (Essex, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Nick Compton (Somerset), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Monty Panesar (Sussex), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Matt Prior (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire).

Having taken on India and then New Zealand, England welcome Australia for an Ashes series next summer, which they are 8/13 to win. The Baggy Greens are 11/4 to win back the little urn, while a drawn series is 9/2.

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Cook: England Cricket Team need to improve

August 29, 2012 - 14:00 | Cricket

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Captain Alastair Cook has urged the England Cricket Team to improve with bat, ball and in the field after a heavy defeat in the second one-day international against South Africa.

Cook: England Cricket Team need to improve

Alastair Cook had little to celebrate after a heavy loss to South Africa.

We have three more games to play and we are still a good side.

Alastair Cook

Cook’s side were beaten by 80 runs at the Ageas Bowl to go 1-0 down in the five-match series, with the Proteas also taking over at the top of the ODI world rankings.

“We have three more games to play and we are still a good side – one bad performance does not change that,” Cook said after a comprehensive defeat.

“We are still in this series and we have to come back and play better than we did today.”

The England Cricket Team are now 7/1 to win the series and 7/1 to triumph by a 3-1 scoreline, while South Africa are 11/4 to sweep the series 4-0, with the first match having been abandoned due to rain.

Meanwhile, Cook could be heading for further promotion, with the ECB having called a midday press conference which could see Andrew Strauss step down as England’s Test captain after 50 matches in charge.

However, the press conference could also be the platform to spell out Kevin Pietersen’s future as an England player, with the right-hander currently out of the picture due to off-pitch issues.

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