Asian cricket giants set to lock horns

[Neo]

Asian cricket giants set to lock horns

Monday, 14 Jun, 2010

Shahid Afridi leads a talented Pakistani squad which includes three promising batsmen in Umar Amin, 21, Shahzaib Hasan, 20, and Asad Shafiq, 24. —AP/File Photo Cricket

DAMBULLA: Asia’s Test-playing nations begin their preparations for next year’s World Cup when they contest the region’s top one-day prize from Tuesday.

Away from the global spotlight on the football World Cup in South Africa, the four-nation Asia Cup will be played in Sri Lanka over the next 10 days.

India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who co-host the cricket World Cup in February-April, will be joined by Pakistan in a round-robin preliminary league with the top two teams contesting the final on June 24.

“This is a good chance to test our strengths and weaknesses and also see how the others are faring on the way to the World Cup,” Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

India go into the tournament in the central town of Dambulla hoping to make amends for their failure to reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.

A second-string side then lost twice to hosts Zimbabwe in a recent one-day tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka, exposing a weak bench that does not augur well for the World Cup.

India, who face Bangladesh in their first match on Wednesday, are without veteran Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s most prolific Test and one-day batsman, who opted to rest ahead of a busy season.

Also missing is one-day regular Yuvraj Singh, who was dropped due to poor form after scoring just 74 runs in five World Twenty20 matches. In five one-day internationals this year, the left-hander has managed only 96 runs.

Pakistan, preparing to clash with holders Sri Lanka in Tuesday’s opener, have recalled mercurial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar for the first time since May last year when he was sidelined with a knee injury.

Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi leads a talented Pakistani squad which includes three promising batsmen in Umar Amin, 21, Shahzaib Hasan, 20, and Asad Shafiq, 24.

Sri Lanka – who won the last Asia Cup in Pakistan two years ago – have left out ageing batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis for the tournament.

Jayasuriya, who turns 41 later this month, is the most experienced one-day batsman in the world with 444 appearances and second in the leading scorers’ list with 13,428 runs behind Tendulkar’s 17,598.

But a woeful average of 3.75 in six matches at the World Twenty20 forced his exclusion for the Asia Cup and raised doubts over the left-hander’s future ahead of the World Cup.

Bangladesh hope to regroup on the slow Dambulla wickets after being beaten by England in both Tests on seam-friendly tracks at Lord’s and Old Trafford.
With Sri Lanka co-hosting the World Cup with India and Bangladesh, organisers hope fans will not shun the matches like they did when the previous edition was held in Pakistan.

Two years after the players were forced to contest the matches in the energy sapping heat of June and July, they will be hoping for more pleasant conditions as all the games take place under lights in the central Sri Lankan town of Dambulla.

All four teams will play six preliminary, round-robin games ahead of the June 24 final. —Agencies

DAWN.COM | Cricket | Asian cricket giants set to lock horns

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Pakistan keep Sri Lanka down to 242-9

Tuesday, 15 Jun, 2010

Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, left, celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga, center, as Pakistan's wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal looks on. - AP Photo Cricket

DAMBULLA: Shoaib Akhtar made an impressive return to international cricket as Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to 242-9 in the opening match of the Asia Cup on Tuesday.

The mercurial fast bowler, 34, worked up a tidy pace to claim three wickets for 41 runs from 10 overs in his first game for Pakistan since May last year after recovering from a knee injury.



Left-arm seamer Mohammad Aamer chipped in with two for 57 after Sri Lanka's captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat on a slow wicket at the Rangiri stadium in Dambulla.



Sri Lanka slipped to 36-2 by the ninth over, before Sangakkara (42) and Mahela Jayawardene (54) put on 83 for the third wicket.



The hosts, who won the last Asia Cup in Pakistan two years ago, moved to 150-3 before four wickets fell for just 18 runs as soon as Jayawardene was trapped leg-before by Shoaib Malik.



All-rounder Angelo Mathews hit an unbeaten 55 off 61 balls to help the defending champions set a challenging target under lights after they were reduced to 168-7 by the 37th over.



India and Bangladesh are the other teams in the four-nation tournament, the symbol of limited-overs superiority in the region which hosts the World Cup next year. – AFP


Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Shoaib Akhtar.



Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Chamara Kapugedara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Billy Doctrove (WIS)
TV umpire: Sanjay Hazare (IND)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

DAWN.COM | Cricket | Pakistan keep Sri Lanka down to 242-9

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Statistical highlights of Asia Cup match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Jun 16, 2010

DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka): Following are the statistical highlights of the opening match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament between Pakistan and Sri Lanka played on Tuesday.

# With seven sixes, Shahid Afridi has taken his sixes' tally to 55 against Sri Lanka - the most by any batsman against Sri Lanka or for that matter any country.

# Afridi has been adjudged the Man of the Match for the 21st time in ODIs - his fifth against Sri Lanka.

# Umar Akmal, with three catches, has registered his best performance as a fielder in Limited-Overs Internationals.

# Akmal became the second Pakistani fielder to take three catches in an innings in the Asia Cup. Imran Khan was the first to register the feat against Sri Lanka at Colombo PSS on March 30, 1986.

# Angelo Matthews (55 not out off 61 balls) has posted his maiden fifty against Pakistan in ODIs, surpassing the 43 at Dambulla on July 30, 2009.

# Matthews' first half-century against Pakistan is his fifth in ODIs.

# For the first time, Matthews has posted back to back fifties - 75 against India at Bulawayo on May 30, 2010 and 55 not out off 61 balls against Pakistan at Dambulla on June 15, 2010.

# Shoaib Akhtar (3/41) has recorded his best bowling performance against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup.

# Mahela Jayawardene (54 off 64 balls) has posted his fourth fifty in the Asia Cup.

# Jayawardene's aforesaid innings is his highest against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, obliterating his 29 at Karachi on June 29, 2008.

# Jayawardene's sixth fifty against Pakistan is his 53rd ODI fifty.

# Lasith Malinga and Matthews were involved in a stand of 28 for the ninth wicket - Sri Lanka's highest against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

# Afridi is the seventh batsman for Pakistan to amass 6,000 runs in ODIs - 6,066 at an average of 23.51 in 294 matches.

# Afridi's splendid 109 off 76 balls is his highest innings in Sri Lanka, outstripping the 55 not out against Netherlands at Colombo SSC on September 21, 2002.

# Afridi has emulated his highest innings in ODIs. Against India at Toronto on September 19, 1998, he had posted 109 off 94 balls.

# Malinga (5/34) has recorded his best bowling performance in the Asia Cup.

# Malinga became the third Sri Lankan bowler to claim five wickets in an innings in the Asia Cup, joining Ajantha Mendis (twice) and Muttiah Muralitharan.

# Malinga's aforesaid excellent bowling performance is his career-best in ODIs, bettering the four for 28 against New Zealand at Colombo RPS on September 8, 2009.

# Matthews (2/38) has produced his best bowling performance against Pakistan.

# Afridi (109 off 76 balls) has posted his highest innings as captain in ODIs - his maiden hundred. His second hundred against Sri Lanka is his fifth in ODIs.

# Afridi's magnificent 109 is his first century for more than five years. He had last registered a century against India - 102 off 46 balls at Kanpur on April 15, 2005.

# Matthews and Kulasekara were associated in a eighth wicket stand of 42 - Sri Lanka's highest against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

# Malinga (16) has recorded his career-best innings in ODIs. # Salman Butt has registered his third duck in succession in ODIs - two against Australia at Perth and one against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on June 15.

# Sri Lanka's 16-run win is their third consecutive against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

# Sri Lanka's aforesaid triumph is their eighth out of 11 contested against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

# Pakistan's aforesaid defeat is their eighth in a row - two against New Zealand, followed by five against Australia and one against Sri Lanka.

Statistical highlights of Asia Cup match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan - Top Stories - Asia Cup 2010 - Series & Tournaments - Cricket - Sports - The Times of India

[Neo]

Afridi ton fires Pakistan to record 385-7

Monday, June 21, 2010

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka: Shahid Afridi smashed a brilliant 124 off 60 balls as Pakistan piled up their highest one-day total, with 385-7 against Bangladesh in their Asia Cup match Monday.

Afridi plundered 17 boundaries and four sixes after he won the toss in a match that held only academic interest after India and Sri Lanka qualified for Thursday's final.

Pakistan's total surpassed their previous best of 371-9 against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in 1996, a match in which Afridi cracked 102 off 40 balls.

Pakistan, who lost narrowly to both India and Sri Lanka, used the game to display their batting power after openers Imran Farhat (66) and Shahzaib Hasan (50) put on 81 by the 13th over.

There was another half-century from Umar Akmal, who made 50 during a fifth-wicket stand of 136 with Afridi.

The talking point of the innings was the bizarre dismissal of Umar Amin, who was run out by Mohammad Mahmudullah while moving from the off to the leg-side at the non-striker's end after completing a single.

Amin's bat was in the air as he walked across the popping crease and was clearly not trying to steal a single when Mahmudullah broke the stumps.

Umpires Billy Doctrove and Bruce Oxenford referred the decision to the TV umpire, who declared Amin run out.

Afridi ton fires Pakistan to record 385-7