Nottinghamshire hit their highest-ever score in 40-over cricket to defeat Durham by 43 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Trent Bridge

19-Aug-2012
ScorecardNottinghamshire hit their highest-ever score in 40-over cricket to defeat Durham by 43 runs in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Trent Bridge.Led by a blistering 84 off 51 balls from opener Michael Lumb and an unbeaten 71 from skipper Chris Read, Nottinghamshire raced to 294 for 8 after being put in to bat. Despite the in-form Mark Stoneman hitting his second successive century in the competition, Durham were unable to keep up with the hefty run-rate required and were bowled out for 251.Fast bowler Andy Carter claimed 4 for 45 – his best figures in List A cricket for Nottinghamshire – while medium-pacer Steven Mullaney accounted for Stoneman for 102, Paul Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein to finish with 3 for 44.Both sides were all but out of the semi-final places in Group B before the match started but ICC World Twenty20 winner Lumb looked like he had a point to prove ahead of the announcement of England’s final 15-man squad to defend their title in Sri Lanka.The left-hander hit three fours off the fourth over, delivered by Ben Stokes, and launched Chris Rushworth and Mitch Claydon for six as he raced to 50 off 31 balls. Nottinghamshire had reached 77 without loss at the end of their first eight overs and although they lost Alex Hales for 22, bowled by Claydon, Lumb and Riki Wessels smashed 40 off the bowling powerplay that followed.That Powerplay finished with Lumb hitting Claydon for four consecutive boundaries, before the 32-year-old was then bowled by the Australian-born paceman having struck 14 fours and two sixes in total. Wessels kept up the momentum with 43 from 28 balls, hitting three sixes and four fours, before he holed out to long-on attempting to lift Gareth Breese over the ropes.Scott Elstone, Samit Patel and Mullaney all fell in the teens as the run-rate dropped but a terrific late assault from Read boosted the score once more – with 69 coming off the last six overs, Read hitting six fours and three sixes.Durham had a decent start despite losing Phil Mustard to Carter in the third over, and the muscular power of Stokes briefly threatened to keep the visitors in touch.Stokes reached 34 off 23 balls when he holed out to long-on after Patel and no Durham batsman was then able to give Stoneman – who had hit his first Championship century of the season against the same opposition earlier in the week – the support he needed.Stoneman slog-swept Mullaney to deep midwicket to end his 90-ball innings, having hit 13 fours, and Carter then returned to mop the tail.

Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore01-Sep-2012Barely had the Saturday crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium finished savouring one of their favourite shots in cricket – a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive – when Tendulkar was bowled through the gate by Doug Bracewell and India were down at 80 for 4. As in 2010, the apparent no-hopers from New Zealand had again pushed India to a tight spot. The rescue artist VVS Laxman was no longer around, and it was down to the Test rookies to save them.Despite India still being nearly 300 behind, Suresh Raina didn’t opt for wait-and-watch cricket. Instead, he went on the offensive, with a hat-trick of fours off Bracewell, and a patented extra-cover loft for six off Jeetan Patel. Suddenly, the New Zealand attack was no longer as menacing and the Indian fightback was well and truly on.Raina said he was inspired by Ross Taylor’s hurricane hundred on the first day. “Whenever I got the ball in my area, I made sure to bat positively because Taylor was going really great against us so this is the style I would like to play in Test cricket,” he said. “At the same time I need to control my aggression, need to judge the line and length, so I am getting better. I have done well in one-dayers so hopefully I will be better in Test cricket too.”By the time Raina was dismissed for 55, India had progressed to 179 and Virat Kohli was looking assured. Though Raina was disappointed he couldn’t carry on to a bigger score, it was a vital innings for him, as his place is the most vulnerable in the Indian line-up. After the mauling in England last year where he looked completely out of depth, this is Raina’s comeback series and the challengers for his spot are plenty.Raina knows the importance of this series for him, and it helped that he is fresh off several match-turning knocks in the recent limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. “There was no pressure to score big runs but I always looked to enjoy the game,” he said. “I didn’t do well in England but I went back to the domestic cricket, played couple of matches, scored a double hundred and then played crucial knocks against Sri Lanka and did well in the IPL.”Now that we have a lot of young players, this is the time to score as many runs and book my place in the side because there are a lot of Test matches coming up in India and abroad as well.”With Raina’s exit, New Zealand had a look-in, but like India’s bowlers in the final session on Friday, the visitors also failed to produce breakthroughs late in the day, as Kohli and MS Dhoni helped India even up the match. Tim Southee, who justified his selection ahead of Chris Martin with three wickets, didn’t think his side flagged as the day progressed.”No, we’re still creating chances and getting edges,” Southee said. “I guess we didn’t
build enough pressure through dot balls. The ball got a bit old and it wasn’t carrying. I thought we bowled well. It just gets easier as the ball gets older and unfortunately we couldn’t get it to reverse.
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“I don’t think it was a very abrasive surface so the ball hasn’t scuffed up as much as we would have liked. That’s why we couldn’t get it to reverse.”With the old ball proving ineffective, Southee said the first hour on Sunday will be crucial. “The wicket is a pretty good wicket. So I guess now it’s a pretty important time for us with the second new ball (which is two overs away) to see if we can pick up the rest of the wickets.”

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, believes Alastair Cook’s wealth of experience at international level gives him a head start to the Test captaincy

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Aug-2012Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, believes Alastair Cook’s wealth of experience at international level gives him a head start after taking over the Test captaincy from Andrew Strauss who retired from professional cricket on Wednesday.Cook, who has been England’s one-day captain since last year, will take charge for the first time on the tour of India which starts in October and already has 83 Tests to his name.”He is unquestionably England’s most experienced leader to have got the job,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo . “He has played 83 Test matches for England. When I got the job I had played 31, Straussy had got the job when he played 50, Nasser Hussain got the job when he had played 47. Even if Cook is still a young boy he is the most experienced guy to ever have taken the role. So he should be in a great position to lead the team.”Strauss’ retirement was the latest instalment of a difficult year for England who are also having to deal with the ongoing Kevin Pietersen stand-off. The Test side has lost six of 11 matches this year to concede the No. 1 ranking to South Africa cumulating in the recent 2-0 series loss to them. However, Vaughan said the basis of English cricket remained solid and there was no need for Cook to press the panic button.According to Vaughan, who was handed the captaincy in 2003, after Nasser Hussain called time on the role after the first Test against South Africa at Edgbaston, most captains assume the captaincy job in equally “tricky” situations. Vaughan led England for five years, starting with the onerous task of phasing out some of his senior team-mates to allow the “new generation” help him reach his goal.”Whenever you get the job you never get in a great circumstance,” he said while promoting the Extreme Sailing Series in Cardiff. “I got the role when there were a lot of senior players around and clearly that transition of bringing in new players has to happen.”So I had to kind of oversee how we were going to rid of the legendary or senior guys who had performed well for England for a number of years and bring a new generation and change the mentality of the team. We had lost to Australia for many, many series. I had to change the mentality of beating the great Australian side. That was my role.”

Who is the right partner for Cook?

The right man to occupy the vacant opening slot left behind by Strauss should be a specialist opener according to Michael Vaughan instead of a middle-order player being moved up.

There has been discussion that one of Jonathan Trott, the current No. 3, or Ian Bell should go alongside Cook. Such a move, Vaughan cautioned, could be counter-productive. “I have heard rumours about Trott or even Bell to move up and open the batting,” he said. “I would advise them to pick an opening batsman, who has done it from an early age. The best openers in the game historically come from people who have done all their lives. Cook and Strauss did that as little boys.”

Another reason Vaughan felt the move could backfire was because an opening batsman generally was more adept at moving down order whereas a middle-order batsman can struggle to settle against the new ball.

“You can go from opening to No.3, but, I am not so sure you can move in time from middle order to open. It is a very specialist position so I would advise them to pick who they feel is the best opening batsman to go with Cook and leave the experience in the middle order. So Trott and Bell, we need those kind of players in the middle of the innings particularly in the parts of the world like India.”

Similarly, it was a difficult time when Strauss took over in the midst of the Pietersen-Peter Moores dispute in 2009. Despite such incidents, Vaughan stressed, England have always held the advantage of having a ready back-up in place. “When Straussy got the role there was a fall-out between Pietersen and Peter Moores, but there was a still a good element of players around. There has been a system for a while now, what I describe as a conveyor belt where England would keep producing players.”And now Cook gets the role again in a tricky circumstance: England have lost six in their last eleven Tests, the Pietersen situation, how does he manage that, only he knows best how to manage that. It is actually good because you can start from afresh and move forward.”Paying tribute to Strauss, Vaughan called him a “good captain,” someone who would always fall in the bracket of the best men to lead England this generation. Equally impressive for Vaughan was the timing of Strauss’ retirement.”The respect side was always there,” Vaughan said. “The way he dealt with people was outstanding. The way he dealt with media was outstanding. And he has won games for England and managed to score runs as a captain. He is right up there with the captains of last 20 years. Andrew Strauss would be in that group that got mentioned quite often. He has done a good job and he has gone out at the right time.”It was Vaughan the captain who handed Strauss his Test cap on debut against New Zealand at Lord’s. A decade later Strauss finished an illustrious career standing next to Vaughan among the most successful Test captains for England. Vaughan had 26 wins alongside 11 losses during his 51-match tenure while Strauss had 24 wins and 11 losses in the 50 Tests at the helm. Yet, according to Vaughan, neither man was destined to be a leader.”I certainly did not think on my debut I would captain England, never mind going on to lead England 51 times and win 26 of those Tests,” Vaughan said. ” I never even expected that. And I never expected Andrew Strauss to have 50 Tests as captain when I gave him the Test cap. When I retired in 2008 Kevin Pietersen got the role and I did not see an opportunity for Strauss to get the job. But it came out of circumstance.”Vaughan called Strauss selfless, a modern leader. “He is very self-deprecating, always looked out for others and the team before himself. That is what makes a good leader in this era, someone who really looks at the rest before he looks at himself. That is really good.”On the August 30, Michael Vaughan is making his way down to Cardiff for the Extreme Sailing Series, Extreme 40 Catamaran race weekend. Raced by many of the world’s best sailors, including Ian Williams the skipper of the GAC Pindar team and three tims World Match Racing Tour champion, the race will take place on Cardiff bay over four days with the event open to the public.

Newlands witnessed its second consecutive one-sided game as Sydney Sixers needed just 8.5 overs to breeze past Yorkshire’s 96 and give the county side the rudest of welcomes to the main draw

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran16-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was sort of a day for Yorkshire•Getty Images

Newlands witnessed its second consecutive one-sided game as Sydney Sixers needed just 8.5 overs to breeze past Yorkshire’s 96 and give the county side the rudest of welcomes to the main draw. The Sixers showed why they are among the better bowling units in this competition, keeping Yorkshire to a score below 100 under sunny skies. The seamers shared all nine wickets to fall, striking with such regularity that the innings failed to gather any momentum.It was as if the teams were batting on different pitches. It was a collective struggle for Yorkshire as several across-the-line swipes failed to find the middle of the bat; punches and lofts hit the toe end of the blade and didn’t have enough to clear the fielders. That only two batsmen went past the 20s – the highest score was Joe Root’s 25 – was indicative of how tough it was. When Brad Haddin and Michael Lumb swung and swished, the ball hit the sweet spot more often than not and found the boundary 16 times during their association. Yorkshire managed only 11 boundaries in all.The Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale himself found it hard to get bat on ball after opting to bat first, and had limped to 8 off 18 balls before he walked across his crease opting to improvise against Josh Hazlewood, only to see his leg stump cartwheel. After Phil Jaques fell for a breezy 19, the seamers applied the stranglehold that stayed through the innings. At one stage, Yorkshire managed only eight runs off five overs. Root broke free with a flick to midwicket and a pulled six – the only one of the innings – off Watson. However, the slowness of the pitch consumed him as well as he swung too early against Moises Henriques and lost his off stump.The run-rate took a beating as well – it stayed below five an over for seven consecutive overs, sneaked above five for a couple of overs before slipping again. The pressure piled on with every quiet over as the middle order ended up swishing at thin air as if they were shadow-practising a sword fight. Yorkshire managed only three boundaries of those coming in the last ten overs. Mitchell Starc, who leaked 13 off his first over, came back well, landed his yorkers correctly and finished with 3 for 22.The only consolation in the field for Yorkshire were the wickets of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin. Though Watson lasted just one over, Haddin lasted eight and by the time he was done, the Sixers were eight away from victory. Haddin and Lumb charged the bowlers and bashed the ball to all corners, propelling the score to 62 for 1 after just five overs. It was over so quickly that the few who showed up in the stands had more time to kill before the second game of the evening. With two wins, the Sixers went one step closer to the semi-finals.There was a touch of irony too to the proceedings, that the two players who made the maximum impact in this annihilation, Starc and Lumb, have both represented Yorkshire.

The Pakistani legspinner Fawad Ahmed, who was recently granted asylum in Australia, has joined the Melbourne Renegades for the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2012The Pakistani legspinner Fawad Ahmed, who was recently granted asylum in Australia, has joined the Melbourne Renegades for the Big Bash League.Ahmed, whose application to remain in Australia was initially rejected, played ten first-class games in Pakistan from 2005 to 2009 and has been bowling to Australia’s Test players in the nets over the past couple of weeks to help them prepare for their series against South Africa.”Fawad has faced and overcome so many hurdles to arrive at this point of his life,” Stuart Coventry, the Renegades chief executive, said. “He’s now ready to explore the depths of his talent without the stress of hanging on for a decision to be made regarding his refugee status. We’re pleased to provide him an avenue to play high-level cricket in Australia and believe he is a genuine talent.”Ahmed will be joined at the Renegades by the Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan, who has also signed with the side. The eight BBL sides have until November 30 to finalise their full squads.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group B matches on December 4, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2012
ScorecardLahli, near Rohtak, produced a thriller again as Haryana beat neighbours Delhi for the first time in the Ranji Trophy in the closing moments of the final day. It was also Haryana’s first win of the season after three successive losses on the same ground. Their captain Amit Mishra made a crucial fifty and took four wickets in the second innings but it was offspinner Jayant Yadav who ended the Delhi innings just as Haryana were about to run out of time. Haryana resumed on 167 for 6 and Mishra’s 74 helped extend the innings to 209, and set Delhi a target of 293.Delhi began at a reasonable pace of scoring but lost too many batsmen to get close. Mohit Sharma started it all, bowling Unmukt Chand second ball. Shikhar Dhawan and the other Mohit Sharma got starts but could not carry on. Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia tried to steady the innings in a 68-run stand but Mishra removed Bhatia and Puneet Bisht in three deliveries. It was now a question of how long the tail would last. Mishra dealt the decisive blow when he had Manhas caught for 73, and four overs later, Yadav trapped last man Vikas Mishra in front to end the innings on 209.
ScorecardTamil Nadu declared their first innings and ended up conceding the lead for the second time this season. It had happened against Karnataka, and it happened against Vidarbha in Nagpur today. Resuming on 214 for 2 in pursuit of Tamil Nadu’s 443 for 8, Vidarbha were jolted by a double-strike from L Balaji, who bowled Hemang Badani for a duck and Faiz Fazal for 143. Vidarbha were 282 for 5 at that stage, but their captain Ranjit Paradkar and Shrikant Wagh hit fifties to earn three points. Vidarbha did not declare once the lead had been gained, and batted for 181 overs to make 566 for 8 before the game ended.
ScorecardMaharashtra put in a solid batting performance in the second innings to take a point in Sambalpur against hosts Odisha. Harshad Khadiwale, Sangram Atitkar, Ankit Bawne and Chirag Khurana hit half-centuries while Lagnajit Samal picked up all four wickets to fall today. Odisha had already assured themselves of three points with their 126-run first-innings lead and the match was called off shortly after tea. Odisha are now just one point behind group leaders Uttar Pradesh.

West Indies women squared their five-match ODI series against South Africa 2-2, winning the final game by 22 runs in Roseau

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2013
Scorecard
West Indies women squared their five-match ODI series against South Africa 2-2, winning the final game by 22 runs in Roseau. Stafanie Taylor led the way for the hosts with 76 at the top of the order and putting together a 117-run stand for the second wicket with Shemaine Campbelle, which gave West Indies the foundation for a big score. However, they slipped from 129 for 1 to 177 for 8, Dane van Niekirk troubling them with some leg-spin that fetched her three wickets.The target, though, proved too much for South Africa in the end. West Indies made steady inroads into the batting in a collective bowling effort. South Africa had hope when top-scorer Marizanne Kapp and Cri-Zelda Brits forged a 31-run stand for the third wicket, taking the score to 98 for 3. But after Kapp fell, the rest of the batting crumbled. Brits was the last woman out, for 35, as South Africa were bowled out for 155. Three West Indies bowlers – Shaquana Quintyne, Campbelle and Shakera Selman – picked up two wickets each. West Indies were beaten in the first two games; they won the third and the fifth, while the fourth was abandoned due to rain.

Perth Scorchers beat Melbourne Stars off the final ball to secure a place in the Big Bash final and the Champions League

The Report by Alex Malcolm16-Jan-2013
ScorecardMichael Hussey celebrates after hitting the winning runs•Getty Images

You need more than the Duckworth/Lewis method to work out how the Perth Scorchers won this extraordinary semi-final against Melbourne Stars, and qualified for the Champions League again. Rain reduced the contest from a 20-over affair to an 18-over match at the end of the Stars’ magnificent batting display. Then more rain initially reduced it to a 17-over chase, before a 13-over pursuit of 139 was finally begun.You could talk about the ten runs needed from James Faulkner’s final over, and Jackson Bird’s drop of Michael Hussey from the first ball of the over. But the match, the BBL final, and the Champions League berth all hinged on what appeared to be the last ball of the match.Adam Voges took strike, needing three runs to win, and two to force a one-over eliminator. Faulkner, who was controversially made the stand-in captain for the Stars with both Shane Warne and Cameron White on sanctions for slow over-rates earlier in the tournament, stood at the top of his mark with his actual captain, Warne, and the former acting captain, White, trying to set a field to keep the scoring to two or less.The trio parted ways, all pointing every which way. Faulkner delivered a brilliant wide yorker that Voges missed and despite Hussey running through for a bye the Stars thought they had won the match, until they saw standing umpire Mick Martell’s right arm outstretched to signal a no-ball.The Stars’ three captains had failed to notice they only had three men inside the circle. To rub salt into the wound Faulkner also over-stepped the frontline. Either way the Stars looked at it, the ball needed to be re-bowled and the Scorchers needed just one to win.Hussey, of course, struck the winning runs over mid-on, and the Scorchers booked a home final for Saturday night at the WACA.The Scorchers can thank Shaun Marsh for getting them there. Chasing 139 to win, Marsh produced another astonishing hand. His innings of 68 from 40 balls was the difference in the end. The Scorchers were 1 for 38 after five overs, having lost Herschelle Gibbs to a hamstring strain and Nathan Coulter-Nile to a superb running catch from Brad Hodge.Marsh then targeted debutant Alex Keath, who was called upon for his first over by one of his captains. The left-hander assaulted the youngster, taking 27 from the over. Both a full toss and a half volley landed in the long-on bleachers. Then two elegant cover drives found the cover rope in different ways, one on the bounce, the next along the carpet. The fifth ball went for six again, the sixth Marsh took a single to retain the strike in a commanding display of batting.Off the first ball of the seventh over, Marsh slashed Bird to third man to bring up his fifth half-century of the tournament, and the third in a row. He and Voges continued to find the rope with ease before Marsh holed out with 38 runs still needed.But it only brought Hussey to the crease to hook his second ball for six. His 18 not out from 12 balls was vintage Hussey, but credit must really go to Voges who finished with an unbeaten 36 from 21 deliveries to help the Scorchers to the most remarkable of victories. Given the wet conditions and the shortened match, Warne did not bowl for the first time in the BBL.It was a result that never seemed likely after the Stars’ phenomenal batting display. Simon Katich asked the Stars to bat with one eye on the looming rain clouds. Cameron White was promoted to open and nearly doubled his tournament run tally in 53 balls of brutal hitting. White had managed just 90 runs in seven innings this tournament. His 88 here looked a match-winning effort. After a cautious start the Stars were 1 for 69 through the first ten overs. But then White and Hodge cut loose. They hit 10 sixes between them, each as large as the next. No bowler was spared with the exception of Coulter-Nile who conceded only a run a ball while his colleagues were clubbed to all corners of a packed WACA ground.A rain delay brought about White’s downfall as he picked out long-off first ball after the resumption. It did not stop Hodge though. His unbeaten 70 from 43 deliveries helped the Stars to an imposing total of 2 for 183, which would have certainly been in excess of 200 had they been allowed to bat the 20 overs.Hodge received a life on 40 when the makeshift wicketkeeper Hussey missed a stumping chance. But the gamble of gloving Hussey would pay dividends in the end for the Scorchers. Perth will host the BBL final for the second successive year, and despite the disgrace and disappointment of the 2012 Champions League, they will be there again in 2013.

England foundered from the start under the lights at Seddon Park, enabling New Zealand to inflict a 55-run trouncing

The Report by David Hopps12-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHamish Rutherford hauled one into the sponsors’ area and almost felled a couple of stilt walkers•Getty Images

England have never successfully chased a target of such magnitude to win a Twenty20 international and they certainly did not chase this one. They foundered from the start under the lights at Seddon Park, enabling New Zealand to inflict a 55-run trouncing. After all the talk of small boundaries, for England they seemed to be expanding by the moment.The ICC rankings system certainly knows how to lose faith with a side after a bad night’s cricket. England, third at the start of the night, were sixth by the end of it. T20 is a volatile business. The series will be settled in Wellington on Friday.Brendon McCullum had carried the fight for New Zealand, striking 74 from 38 balls and manfully thrusting a daunting total into English faces after they had gained control in mid-innings. England conceded 38 off the last two overs, Stuart Broad and Jade Dernbach the bowlers to suffer, and even though Dernbach silenced McCullum’s belligerence at deep cover on the penultimate ball of the innings, England had nothing to show for some tigerish fielding.Just as striking was the degree to which New Zealand’s fast bowlers outdid their England counterparts. They found movement under the lights never imagined by England earlier in the innings as they preferred the back-of-a-length approach that had served them so well in the opening T20I in Auckland.England, victors in the opening T20I in Auckland when they batted first and made their highest total in this format, opted to chase when Stuart Broad won the toss on a dry, lightly cloudy evening in Hamilton. “Probably should have batted first,” Broad accepted.Ian Butler stood out with an impeccable spell of 2 for 9 in four overs as England’s innings never found any impetus. Butler has had some discouraging times in a career and almost abandoned New Zealand cricket to play county cricket in England but he has had a good season with Otago Volts and this was a night that told of a bowler with appetite restored. James Franklin bowled well, but his four-for largely fell upon him.England never recovered from losing three wickets for 24 by the fifth over. Alex Hales was bowled by Mitchell McClenaghan as he tried to work to leg, Luke Wright edged his sighter to gully, and Jonny Bairstow, cramped as he pulled Butler, got it no further than short-fine leg. When Michael Lumb was bowled off his pads, charging Nathan McCullum’s off spin, England limped to the mid-point at 47 for 4.It all left Morgan facing circumstances that he did not naturally relish, a batsman with too much time on his hands. Morgan likes games to be set up for him, but this one felt more like a set up favoured in American gangster movies.It is not often that Morgan seems overpowered by a situation, but it was the case here. He reached 13 from 22 before he fell to Butler. He needed good fortune to get that far, surviving a stumping chance – a McCullum brotherly combination that went amiss – and was badly dropped off Butler at deep midwicket when Hamish Rutherford battered one to the floor off his chest.By the time Samit Patel was run out by yards, failing to negotiate a single to Trent Boult who hit direct from mid off, England’s innings had entered the realms of black comedy. The only consolation came from Jos Buttler’s maiden T20I fifty. Buttler has been favoured with the gloves ahead of Bairstow as a statement that England wish to keep him in the side. His reputation is built on short, explosive innings, and his 54 from 30 balls in a hopeless task did him no harm.After the somewhat unnatural six-hitting extravaganza in Eden Park, Seddon Park had a more satisfying cricketing feel. It is another compact ground, with straight boundaries around 65m, but a few extra metres and a more logical shape provided a more gratifying setting for another packed house. Even so, after England gave the first over to the offspinner, James Tredwell, it took all of four balls before Martin Guptill smashed him for six into the sightscreen. There were ten sixes in all for New Zealand, five of them to McCullum, their jaw-jutting captain. England, so supreme in Auckland, managed two in reply.Finn had placed a marker a few paces from the stumps in an effort to control his occasional habit of colliding with them. Stay left of that, and you will be okay, seemed to be the message. His thoughts soon strayed elsewhere as Rutherford hauled him into the sponsors’ area and almost felled a couple of stilt walkers.New Zealand rattled along at around ten an over from the outset. Jade Dernbach was wearing a strapping on his heavily-tattooed left arm after being accidentally spiked in practice, presumably denying onlookers the chance to read several ancient Tibetan dictums.Wright, who looks too perky to sit down in a tattoo parlour, came up trumps for the second successive match, his medium pace bringing 2 for 24 to follow his 2 for 29 in Auckland. He arrested an opening stand of 75 in 8.2 overs when Rutherford tried to fiddle one to third man and was caught at the wicket. There was the wicket of Ross Taylor, too, who hauled him to Bairstow at deep midwicket. Acclaimed as the returning hero since ending his self-imposed exile, Taylor has so far amassed more ovations than runs.When Dernbach’s slower balls began to make an impact – Colin Munro hauling to Bairstow at deep midwicket and Grant Elliott having his bails trimmed by a back-of-the-hand delivery, the judder in New Zealand’s innings had become pronounced. But it was nothing like the judder England were about to experience.

Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India’s Test side for the first time since he made an emphatic comeback to the long format with a century in Adelaide in 2008-09

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2013Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India’s Test side for the first time since he made an emphatic comeback to the long format with a century in Adelaide in 2007-08. That, incidentally, remains his last century outside Asia. No replacement has been named for Sehwag for the remaining two Tests of the series against Australia, which makes Shikhar Dhawan a favourite to open in the Mohali Test starting on March 14.The two remaining Tests of the current series, which India lead 2-0, are the last ones they are scheduled to play before they go on four continuous overseas tours beginning with South Africa later this year.In his first reaction, Sehwag – who had been dropped from the ODI side for the series against England in January – tweeted: “Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that, ‘I’ll be back.’ Best wishes to the team.”Since his comeback, Sehwag’s performance outside Asia might have been questionable, but he kept his place in the side with typically dazzling match-winning knocks on the lower and slower tracks. Outside Asia, since Adelaide, Sehwag has scored just 523 runs in 12 Tests, at an average of 22.73 with a highest of 67. In Asia, though, over the same period he has amassed 3622 runs at 57.49, at a game-changing strike rate of 94.1.However, over the last two years, the big innings began to dry up even in Asia. After his 173 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in November 2010, he had to wait more than two years for another Test century. In November 2012, Sehwag earned another lease of life with a typical century against England again in Ahmedabad but, between then and being dropped, he has had scores of 25, 30, 9, 23, 49, 0, 2, 19 and 6.This is a big fall for India’s most prolific opening combination in Tests: Gautam Gambhir was dropped before the start of the Australia after three years without a Test century. Now India are possibly looking at a raw opening combination going into South Africa.Not even naming a replacement opener is a big statement made by selectors who don’t seem to have other options available but have still gone ahead and omitted him. Dhawan, his Delhi team-mate, is now a front-runner for Mohali, but Ajinkya Rahane can’t be ruled out either. Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, did say before the start of the England series that Rahane was picked as a middle-order batsman, but the Indian team management has been flexible and doesn’t always stick to statements made in the press.India squad: MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Cheteshwar Pujara.