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Match facts

Friday, June 7, The Oval
Start time 9.30am GMTICC Champions Trophy 2004: West Indies seal a famous victory at The Oval•Getty Images

Big Picture

West Indies have fond memories of playing in the Champions Trophy, famously winning the tournament in 2004 at The Oval, the venue where they will be beginning their campaign on Friday. Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and Ramnaresh Sarwan played that game almost nine years ago and are part of a side that can go all the way in this competition. West Indies seemed to gel well under the leadership of Darren Sammy, who led them to the World Twenty20 title, but poor returns in the ODI format meant Bravo was appointed his replacement as captain in 50-over cricket. This Champions Trophy will be his first major assignment, starting against opponents who have consistently been strong contenders in ICC tournaments.Even though Pakistan are missing players who’ve been key members of their side in the past, and just barely managed to beat Ireland ahead of the Champions Trophy warm-ups, they’ve grown accustomed to the conditions and have a strong bowling attack to defend competitive scores. Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan have been dropped; Umar Gul is out due to injury; Mohammad Hafeez has been solid at the top of the order; there’s the experience of Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq in the middle, and Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan have been impressive as seamers.A defeat is a significant setback in a short competition such as this, so expect both sides to be high on intensity, also in part because of the support they are likely to receive at the ground. West Indies, in their pomp, were best supported at The Oval when they played in England, and Pakistan are never short of followers wherever they go.

Form Guide

(most recent first)
Pakistan: WTWLW (last five completed games)
West Indies: WWWLL

Watch out for…

Ramnaresh Sarwan was once the most important member of West Indies’ top and middle orders, but didn’t play ODIs for almost a year-and-a-half until his return against Australia in February this year. Though that series was a disappointment, he struck a century in the three-match series against Zimbabwe, followed by a stint with Leicestershire, which would have helped him get used to the conditions.Wahab Riaz could be a handful in favourable conditions in England. He bowls with pace, can swing it and can be effective in the shorter format with his ability to bowl the yorker on target. He is more than handy with the bat, having played a key role in Pakistan’s close victory over Ireland followed by a three-for in the warm-up win over South Africa.

Team news

West Indies could have some tough choices to make. They have plenty of depth in their batting, and it’ll be interesting to see if they pick Sammy in the playing XI. They opened with Sarwan in the ODI series against Zimbabwe in February, but Johnson Charles is fresh from two straight half-centuries in the warm-ups. Would they prefer going in with an extra specialist batsman?West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach/Tino Best.Pakistan played just one warm-up game (their first was washed out) and gave Umar Amin a go in the middle order, but it remains to be seen if he’s picked tomorrow.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Saeed Ajmal, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Asad Ali/Ehsan Adil.

Pitch and conditions

On a sunny day, The Oval track could cater to a high-scoring game, and take a bit of turn. The conditions may not support much swing. There hasn’t been an ODI played at The Oval in almost 10 months; scores of 238 and 252 were chased down comfortably by West Indies and England there last year.

Stats

• In ICC ODI tournaments, Pakistan have beaten West Indies on four occasions and lost eight times. They won the last two encounters between the teams in ICC tournaments – in the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa and the World Cup quarter-final in Dhaka.
• Chris Gayle has scored 840 runs against Pakistan in ODIs, at 31.11. Sarwan has a good record against Pakistan in the format, scoring 514 runs in 14 games at 46.72.

Quotes

“The plan should be that Imran Farhat plays as an anchor and last for 40 overs or so and the boys around him play freely but sensibly. Pakistani batting always comes under pressure if the openers fall early.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Praveen Kumar almost snatched victory from Mumbai Indians•Getty Images

The glorious uncertainties of T20 cricket are also heavily reliant, sometimes, on mediocrity. Mumbai Indians were the relieved team at the end, having, only just, prevented Kings XI Punjab from pulling off a heist that, had it been achieved, would have left the hosts embarrassed.Mumbai Indians had no business allowing the game to be decided off the last ball, after having dismissed a threatening David Miller which left Kings XI to chase 26 off the final two overs with just one wicket in hand. Kings XI still needed 17 in the last bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni. Six out of eight deliveries bowled in that over were full tosses, one of them was given a no-ball and another should have been – it was clearly above the waist – but wasn’t, neither by Asad Rauf at square leg or AK Chaudhary at the bowling crease.Praveen Kumar dispatched a juicy full toss on the pads for six off the penultimate ball to bring the equation down to five off the last delivery – also a full toss – but spooned a catch to Sachin Tendulkar. It completed a nerve-wracking win for the hosts, but left many wondering what might have been had the umpires, or even Kulkarni, who was fortunate not to have bowled to a more accomplished batsman, got their act right. The end had a touch of the bizarre, and was anti-climactic, as the umpires tried to double-check if the final delivery was a no-ball as Mumbai celebrated; it turned out to be comfortably below the waist with Kulkarni’s foot well behind the line.

Kings XI Punjab raise no-ball issue with IPL

Kings XI Punjab have reported to the IPL their concern with the fourth delivery of the final over of the match bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni. The delivery was a full toss above the waist, but was not adjudged a no-ball by the on-field umpires Asad Rauf and AK Chaudhary. It is understood that the Australian pair of David Hussey and Darren Lehmann have complained about the incident in their captain and coach report. According to the IPL rules, the team management has no further avenues to lodge any protest.

The most relieved of all of Mumbai’s players, presumably, will be their captain Rohit Sharma. At the stroke of the midnight hour, he turned 26, and it would have been a birthday he wished he would have forgotten had Kings XI won. All the more because he had played a critical role in getting Mumbai to 174 after his team’s scratchy start, with just 48 coming off the first nine overs. It is not often that Kieron Pollard plays second fiddle during the death overs of a T20 innings, but rotating the strike was all he needed to do as Rohit took over the role of aggressor.So cleanly did Rohit – who scored his fourth half-century this season – strike the ball, he cleared the boundary by a distance his unusually subdued partner today has acquired a reputation to match, albeit with much lesser effort. During their unbeaten stand of 88, of which 72 were scored in the last five overs, Pollard scored at less than a run a ball and hit just one six and a four. At the other end, Rohit looked a figure of assuredness, though against some insipid Kings XI bowling that included a spate of extras, full tosses and deliveries bowled down leg. In the final over of the innings, which went for 27, David Hussey, captaining in place of a dropped Adam Gilchrist, sinned by bowling length and was smashed by Rohit for three sixes, one ending in the top tier behind midwicket, and two fours. Just as some fortune for Mumbai in the final over of the chase, this too proved decisive.Kings XI appeared to be in the game even after losing two early wickets and then Shaun Marsh to a stunning one-handed catch from Pollard on the long-on boundary. Hussey and David Miller counterattacked, the former helping snatch 32 in the last two overs of the Powerplay. The introduction of spin, Harbhajan Singh’s miserly spell that included three wickets, and Hussey’s dismissal slowed down the innings considerably, but Miller continued to give Mumbai a scare with timely blows over the fence, two of them off Pollard followed by one each off Mitchell Johnson and Kulkarni. His innings of 56 ended when he struck Johnson straight to extra cover in the 18th over, but little did anyone know what was in store.

Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, has lauded the aggression and confidence of new batsman Kusal Perera, who helped the team achieve two rapid starts in the first two ODIs, after being pushed up the order.Perera came into the side as a wicketkeeper batsman who bats in the middle order, but has since been elevated to opener in both ODIs and Twenty20s. He and Tillakaratne Dilshan blitzed 83 runs in the first eight overs of the first match, before launching another early assault in the second ODI, until the rains came.”Kusal reminds me of the legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, because of the shots that he plays,” Mathews said. “He’s very fearless and he hasn’t changed anything about the way he plays since he was in the under-19 teams. He wants to take on any bowler that comes his way, and he takes a lot of pressure off Dilshan as well. That combination works for us.”Perera first impressed during the limited-overs leg of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia, where he played several brief but belligerent innings – the most notable of which was an unbeaten 22 to see the side home in a low-scorer at the Gabba. He has not crossed fifty in internationals, but is coming off first-class scores of 203, 97 and 336, the last of which is a Sri Lankan domestic record.”Every single player has his own way. We don’t want to change that in any player. We want him to go out there and enjoy it. The selectors are very transparent with the players, so I’m sure as the chief selector, Sanath Jayasuriya has had a chat with Kusal about his longer-term plans for the team.”Sri Lanka had made 33 for no loss after five overs, before the rains came in the second ODI, and the washout means Sri Lanka must win their final match to win the series. Mathews suggested, Sri Lanka are likely to name an unchanged XI in the final match, meaning Angelo Perera, Sachith Pathirana and Kithuruwan Vithanage may not debut in ODIs in this series.Vithanage and Angelo Perera have been picked in the Twenty20 squad, and are well in the running to play in that match, given the absence of senior players in that squad.”If we had won the second ODI we would have tried out some new players. We still haven’t decided on our XI but I’m pretty sure that the team might have been changed if we had won the second ODI. The first few overs we got off to a really good start, but it was disappointing that the rain came down quite heavily and we couldn’t play a single over after that. As far as the team is concerned, you have to be relaxed about something like that, but we need to get our focus back and get things in line for the next game.”I feel that it is a good challenge for us. We haven’t won the series yet, so we have to play some really good cricket to win it. From a thinking point of view we have to be as positive as we can, and try and play to our potential.”

Lancashire have announced a fourth consecutive year of heavy losses, £1.5 million for 2012, as the impact of their ground redevelopment problems, which included lengthy legal battles, continues to be felt.However, the club are confident that with the Ashes returning to Old Trafford this year, work on the ground nearing the end of the latest stage, and the recent naming agreement with Emirates, that the financial results will show an improvement from next year.Lee Morgan, the club’s finance director, said: “When we embarked on this journey back in 2007 with the creation of our detailed business plan, we knew we had many obstacles to overcome; however, nobody could have foreseen how high, and how many there were going to be, much of which is well documented.”Rebuilding nearly an entire stadium on an existing site whilst still trading throughout is fraught with risk and stacked with difficulty, but was absolutely necessary to protect the history, the heritage and most importantly the future of this great venue.”Lancashire’s figures for 2012 were hit by one of the wettest summers on record, which impacted many counties, with key Friends Life t20 fixtures at Old Trafford being washed out, while the Twenty20 against South Africa was also struck. In comparison to 2011 when they won the County Championship, there was also a shortfall of more than half a million in prize money.”The loss is again substantial,” chairman Michael Cairns told the Manchester Evening News. “However, as forecasted last year, it is broadly in line with our expectations.”Over the past four years we have suffered more than our fair share of unanticipated hurdles and costly interruptions to our development project. While this is often the case with multi-faceted construction programmes, it’s reasonable to say that some of our challenges have been far from the norm.”In addition, the serious fall off in paid attendances in all forms of domestic cricket, and most recently the T20 international, has all impacted significantly on the club’s finances.”Although Old Trafford will host an Ashes clash this year, Cairns warned that any season when they are not awarded a Test – such as 2015 – will be difficult for the club which has tried to diversify its sources of income with a profitable events business built around The Point development next to the pavilion.”Any year in which we are not allocated one of the major Tests will be a tight financial year, with 2015 being our next challenge in this respect,” Cairns said. “My belief is that an unhealthy number of clubs will be facing extremely difficult financial times, especially if the level of ECB distributions were to be significantly reduced.”

Pakistan have offered an insurance policy of $2 million and tax-free income for foreign cricketers who are thinking of participating in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).Pakistan have not hosted international cricket since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Since then they have had to play their “home” matches at offshore venues such as England and the UAE. The idea of having a PSL in the country is a strategic move by the PCB to win back the confidence of cricketing nations.But the world professional cricketers’ union FICA has raised its concerns over the security situation in Pakistan and warned players against taking part in the PSL, citing it an unmanageable risk. “We understand their concerns and we can’t blame them,” Zaka Ashraf, PCB chairman, told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s the negative perception about Pakistan that has to be changed and people should understand that things are not so bad.”But for their sense of security we are offering an optional insurance policy worth $2 million for the satisfaction of their families. They will be our special guests and we are ensuring every possible step to give them security at a higher level and if they think this isn’t enough they can take the insurance option as well.”Cricket operations in Pakistan aren’t tax exempted but the PCB is offering residential and non-residential players tax-free income from the PSL. Apart from the “emerging” players, they stand to earn between $25,000 and $100,000 for taking part in a 10-day tournament. The base price for the top category diamond player starts at $100,000.”Government is ready to grant us the exemption on income of the PSL and it’s an added advantage of our product for the players to earn tax free income,” Ashraf said. “We are offering the most money compared to the other leagues in the world. In ten days you can get the most out of it before going to the IPL starting in April.”

Jonny Bairstow has returned home early from England’s tour of India for family reasons, joining a growing exodus of England players who have departed early.Bairstow was left out England’s first Twenty20 International in Pune, where Jos Buttler was preferred as wicket-keeper. He discovered during the match that he was needed at home and left immediately. He was due to arrive in the UK on Friday morning.England will need to recover from their five wicket defeat in Pune, where they failed to build on Alex Hales’s impressive 26-ball 50.It completed an unrewarding pre-Christmas spell in India for Bairstow, who batted only once in the Test series, making 9 in the second Test in Mumbai before losing his place because of perceived limitations on turning pitches.Buttler’s inclusion was one of England’s few bright spots as he made an international-best 33 in England’s five-wicket defeat.A brief statement from the ECB read: “Jonny Bairstow has gone home today from India tour for family reasons.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarlon Samuels scored his third Test century in 2012•AFP

On day one, No. 10 Abul Hasan had scored a debut hundred in a session in a partnership of 172 in 30 overs with Mahmudullah. On day two, Marlon Samuels scored his third Test century in 2012 in a partnership of 198 in 69.2 overs with Darren Bravo, who was 15 shy of his fourth. The difference, apart from the pace of scoring, was that West Indies still had eight wickets remaining.Samuels and Bravo refused to give their wickets away, and Bangladesh could not produce enough bite out of the placid Khulna pitch to dislodge them. The slow surface continued to provide neither seam nor troublesome spin, though there was some reverse-swing. All that was required of Samuels and Bravo was to not get themselves out like Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell had in the morning. They did just that, batting cautiously but solidly for more than two sessions. The post-lunch session brought 84 runs in 30 overs and 95 came in 31 overs after tea.Shakib Al Hasan, who once again bowled the most overs for Bangladesh, did manage to bother Samuels to some extent. Shakib kept Samuels largely defensive with deliveries angled into the batsman. Samuels was struck on the pads a few times but with Shakib bowling from wide of the crease and there being hardly any turn, Bangladesh’s appeals were turned down.While they had no success against Samuels and Bravo, Bangladesh did not falter much in their lines. There were two periods when West Indies went without a boundary for more than ten overs. Bravo broke the first drought with a thick-edged drive past gully off Abul Hasan, and Samuels ended the next one with successive boundaries off Rubel Hossain.With the ball getting older, Rubel and the debutant centurion Abul Hasan found movement which had been absent earlier. The batsmen, especially Samuels, were beaten a few times, but regained their focus soon. With sweeper cover and wide long-off in place, Samuels scythed Shakib to the deep-extra cover rope to get to his century off the last delivery with the old ball.Bangladesh took the new ball immediately, but they got just two overs with it, and both were bowled by the spinners. Samuels hit a four in each over to make end the visitors’ day on a high, which had not seemed probable when the West Indies openers had fallen cheaply.It was Rubel who had conjured a wicket out of nothing in the morning. Gayle and Powell had only themselves to blame for failing to score big on a featherbed. The West Indies openers had been almost casually hitting boundaries till the first delivery of the tenth over, when Rubel hit Powell in the back of the head with a bouncer. The batsman received treatment, and promptly swung at and missed the next delivery, also short. The fifth was short again, and Powell pulled it straight to the deep square leg fielder.At the other end, the offspinner Sohag Gazi, who had opened the bowling again, was trying to tempt Gayle with innocuous flighted deliveries with long-off waiting. Gayle, clearly wanting to avoid missing out on big runs, was defending sedately. When Gazi sent one towards the pads, Gayle immediately went for the sweep, and under-edged it to the wicketkeeper.West Indies had needed just 31 deliveries in the morning to remove Abul and Mahmudullah. Mahmudullah was the first to go, having added just four runs to his overnight 72, as he checked his drive for the bowler, Darren Sammy, to take the catch. The stand between Mahmudullah and Abul ended on 184, making it the third-highest ever for the ninth wicket, and also the fifth-highest for Bangladesh.Abul went past Reggie Duff for the highest individual innings by a debutant No. 10 batsman. There was a loud cheer from the Khulna crowd when he defended his first delivery of the day quite solidly. He had time to charge and smash Sammy down the ground for four before Fidel Edwards had him fending a catch to the slip cordon off his glove. It was Edwards’ sixth wicket, the third time he has done so in 55 Tests. Bangladesh tried hard, but they did not come remotely close to getting what Edwards had squeezed out of the pitch.

Scorecard
Wellington and Auckland played out a draw at Eden Park No.2, with the hosts taking eight points from the game after having gained a major first-innings lead. It didn’t seem likely when they were 174 for 5 in response to Wellington’s 380, but Colin Munro and Craig Cachopa put them in the ascendancy with a 377-run stand for the sixth wicket. And it came in quick time, with Munro unleashing 27 fours and 14 sixes in a better-than-a-run-a-ball, unbeaten 269. Cachopa was more subdued in comparison, making 166 off 273, and their contribution enabled Auckland to declare on 658 for 9. Both players registered their career-best batting performances. The declaration came on the third day, and Wellington moved to 145 for 2 in their second innings. There was no play on the final day.

South Africa celebrated their first win at The Oval in 14 attempts without their captain Graeme Smith, who dashed back to South Africa on a 7pm flight from London to be with his wife, Morgan Deane, for the expected birth of the couple’s first child on Wednesday.Smith arrived on the final day of the first Test with his bags already packed and a special shuttle organised to get him to Heathrow. With no knowledge of when the match would end, Smith was due to travel to the airport in a motorcycle sidecar, to weave through the traffic faster. The earlier finish meant he could get there in more regular vehicular fashion, by car. He will spend the first week in South Africa with his newborn, believed to be a girl, before returning to England next Monday to lead the team at Headingley.While Smith has gone home, the rest of the team are thinking of home. Jacques Kallis, in particular, has his mind in Cape Town, where his friend Mark Boucher is recovering from a career-ending eye injury. Kallis dedicated his century on the fourth day to Boucher, with a gesture to his eye.”It’s sad what happened to Mark and it was unfair to have his career end like that,” Kallis said. “He played a big role in this side. In his special way, he is [still] playing a role in this side. The guys feel for him and wish that he was here. He’s still got an impact. It was just my way of letting of him know that he is still very much in our thoughts. It was sad to see a mate go out like that but it was to show we are thinking of him and hope that things go well.”Boucher’s enforced absence handed AB de Villiers the gloves for the first Test, with the specialist, Thami Tsolekile brought to the squad. De Villiers took five catches in the first innings and eight in the match in total but did make some clear errors. He dropped Ian Bell on 20, off Imran Tahir’s bowling, missed a run-out chance against Bell later on in the day and let through 11 byes in the second innings.Despite that, South Africa coach Gary Kirsten said de Villiers is likely to hold on to his position for the next match, with Tsolekile set to carry drinks again. “AB was the reserve keeper for this tour, so there would be no reason to suggest why he wouldn’t keep in the next one,” he said. “I thought he kept really well. It was not easy out there, especially with the spinner. He hasn’t had a lot of Test match keeping so for a first outing in Test match cricket for a long time, I thought he did exceptionally well.”De Villiers was not required to bat, so his back, which is prone to spasms, was not tested in this match – but he cannot expect the same to happen in the second Test. Kirsten said South Africa considered it “very special” to have won the match having only lost two wickets but saw it as an illustration of their batting stamina.”We’ve got some real class in out batting line up,” he said. “We’ve got guys with a lot experience and guys who enjoy batting a lot. They don’t give their wickets away; they take pride in spending a lot of time at the crease. It was particularly satisfying as a coach to see that.”More pleasing, perhaps, because the build-up to the series was dominated by talk of South Africa being underprepared, having last played Test cricket in March. Instead of getting in more net practice, Kirsten took his team to Switzerland for a bonding camp that was joked about in certain circles. Kirsten, said he fully expected his unorthodox methods to work, however. “The only way you can really effectively prepare for Test match cricket is by playing Test match cricket,” he said. “It’s very tough to get yourself into a Test match intensity mode playing first-class cricket. We tried a few different things. The guys came into this Test match mentally fresh.”Those clear heads came together to take the lead in a three-match series, which both captains said could prove decisive. Kirsten was cautious not to say the same and regarded this win as just another rung on the long ladder he wants to climb with South Africa. “We know we want to become the best cricket team in the world and we know what we need to do to achieve that,” he said. “This is the next hurdle. There’s a lot of work to be done and there’s a lot of focus needed. We are focusing everything on preparation at the moment.”

Ireland fast bowler Boyd Rankin has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the year as he bids to play Test cricket with England. He is the third leading Irish player to do so, following Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan.Rankin, 28, from Co Derry, has played 79 times for Ireland and was a star of the 2007 and 2011 World Cups. “There’s been lots of sleepless nights recently,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a very difficult decision, but I will be retiring from playing cricket for Ireland after the World Twenty20, as I feel I can’t continue to play the amount of cricket I have been playing with Warwickshire, England Lions and Ireland over the last few years.”I have genuine ambitions of playing Test cricket and I have to give myself the best chance to do that by reducing my workloads as a fast bowler and concentrating on playing cricket for Warwickshire.”Rankin’s contract with Cricket Ireland expires at the end of December, so he is available for selection for the World Twenty20, which starts in Sri Lanka in September. The Cricket Ireland selectors meet this weekend to finalise the squad, which will be announced next week.Rankin has signed a new three-year deal with English county Warwickshire – whose director of cricket is England selector Ashley Giles – and it is understood that the county put pressure on the 6’8” bowler to retire from international cricket with Ireland. He had returned from Ireland’s World Twenty20 qualifier in March with a stress injury to his foot which has ruled him out of his county’s season until mid-July.Giles complained in March: “It’s extremely frustrating that we’ve lost Boyd to this kind of injury. But he has had an extremely large workload over recent months. We will need to manage this to ensure that it doesn’t become a regular occurrence.”Previously, Rankin had played for England A in 2011, and was in the touring party to Bangladesh this January before, again, having to return home with injury.”I’ve decided to retire for several reasons, and among them is a need to reduce my workload,” Rankin said. “Something had to give and unfortunately it had to be Ireland.”It has become increasingly difficult to play for three different sides throughout the year as it leaves me with little time for rest and recovery.”Rankin has taken 110 wickets for Ireland. First capped as a teenager in 2003, he came into prominence during the 2007 World Cup where he was Ireland’s leading wicket-taker. His height meant he could achieve steepling bounce and among his 12 victims were Younis Khan, Michael Vaughan, Ed Joyce, Stephen Fleming, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers.Previously with Middlesex and Derbyshire, Rankin joined Warwickshire in 2008 and has taken 128 wickets for the county in 41 first-class matches. In 2011 he claimed 55 scalps, leading to his promotion to the England Performance Programme.