Pattinson helped Aussies to win over NZ

Debutant paceman James Pattinson spearheaded Australia to a crushing nine-wicket victory in the first Test against New Zealand inside four days at the Gabba on Sunday.
Pattinson snared five for 27 including three wickets in four balls to help rout the Black Caps for 150 off 49.4 overs and leave Michael Clarke's Australians needing just 19 runs for victory.

David Warner hit three fours off four balls to get the winning runs for the loss of Phil Hughes' wicket to take a 1-0 series lead to Hobart next Friday.
Pattinson narrowly missed a hat-trick in his debut Test as he ripped through the New Zealand top order to put Australia on the path to victory.
The 21-year-old fast bowler took 5-7 in seven overs as he skittled the Kiwis.
Spinner Nathan Lyon chipped in with three for 19 to finish with seven wickets for the match as the Australians were set just 19 runs to win.
Pattinson, bowling a full length at searing pace, removed Martin Guptill (12), Kane Williamson (0) and skipper Ross Taylor (0) in the space of four balls in his opening over of the day.
Guptill could not keep down a lifter and popped an easy catch to Usman Khawaja at bat-pad to start the rot.
Williamson was out two balls later, edging to Ricky Ponting at second slip and Taylor was out next ball snicking to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to leave Pattinson on a hat-trick in his debut Test match.
Jesse Ryder barely survived Pattinson's hat-trick ball, a 150 km/h yorker to finish his fifth over with figures of 4-1 and leave New Zealand clinging on at 17 for four.
Damien Fleming is the only Australian to have taken a hat-trick on his Test debut, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 1994.
England's Maurice Allom and New Zealander Peter Petherick also captured hat-tricks on Test debut.
Nightwatchman Doug Bracewell became Pattinson's fifth victim, falling to a full delivery on offstump and was caught behind by Haddin for two, leaving the Black Caps at 28 for five in the 13th over.
Pattinson, who was selected for the first Test after just nine first-class matches, surpassed his previous best first-class figures of 4-52 for his state Victoria.
Captain Michael Clarke introduced the offspin of Lyon in the 22nd over and Ryder was lured into a false shot to Mike Hussey at mid-off.
Ryder hit six fours in his 36 in 63 minutes but the Kiwis badly needed someone to occupy the crease.
Warner's first ball in Test cricket almost claimed a wicket when Brownlie on 34 was put down by a diving Pattinson on the deep mid-wicket boundary minutes before lunch.
But Vettori fell when he attempted to cut part-timer Hussey to Clarke at slip for 17 with two balls left to lunch.
After lunch Lyon grabbed the wickets of Tim Southee and Chris Martin while Peter Siddle removed Dean Brownlie for 42.
Hughes was dropped before he was caught next ball at third slip off Chris Martin as Australia took just 14 balls to hit the winning runs.
Warner smashed Bracewell for successive boundaries to seal the win.

Philip Hughes to miss India tour

With the Cricket CA selection panel under pressure to strike the right balance in the batting order, it is being said that opening batsman Phillip Hughes needs a big score in the second Test against New Zealand or must be discarded for the four-match series against India.
Hughes had a wondrous start to his Test career, scoring 415 runs at an average of 69.17 in his maiden series against South Africa, but his numbers since leave him vulnerable to the axe, Fox Sports reports.

Since that series, the 23-year-old has scored 626 runs from his past 13 Tests at an average of 28.45.
Hughes also has only two scores above 36 in his past 16 Test digs.
With scores of 10 and 7, he has also failed in the opening Test against New Zealand in Brisbane. (ANI)

New Zealand should improve themselves: Ross Taylor

Skipper Ross Taylor said Sunday well-beaten New Zealand had to work harder to be competitive against Australia to save the two-Test series in Hobart later this week.
The abject Black Caps were routed for 150 in their second innings and trounced by nine wickets in the first Gabba Test inside four days with debutant James Pattinson giving a man-of-the-match performance with five for 27.
It was a poor showing by the eighth-ranked Kiwis, spilling crucial catches to allow Australia to score 427 in the first innings and then capitulating before the pace onslaught of 21-year-old Pattinson.

The Kiwis have to quickly regroup ahead of Friday's second and final Test of the trans-Tasman series at Hobart's Bellerive Oval, if they are to return home with any positives ahead of their next series against Zimbabwe next month.
"You've got to give credit to James Pattinson, he put the ball in the right areas enough times for us to nick it," Taylor said.
"But we've still got to be harder on ourselves as a batting unit. Not only this morning but on the first day there were some soft dismissals and Australia didn't have to work that hard for their wickets."
Taylor, who had a poor match with scores of 14 and a first-ball duck, said before the start of Sunday's play his team still felt they were in the contest at 10 for one.
"We've just got to be harder on ourselves. We know Australia are going to come at us hard again in Tasmania. We need to play a lot better than we played today," he said.
Of his own form, Taylor said: "It's a lot easier as captain. When you're a player you can probably go a little bit insular, but as a captain you've got to lead from the front.
"This is not going to be the last Test match that I don't score any runs in.
"I've been in this situation before, you still need to back yourself. There's another Test match and we're not out of this series, we can still draw it."
After the loss, the Black Caps said they had added seamer Brent Arnel to their squad.
"We feel it's important to add a bit of bowling depth," coach John Wright said. "Brent has been bowling well at home and offers us another seam option.
"The conditions in Hobart are likely to be slower so he comes into the frame."

Zaheer should play more in Domestic: Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels pace bowler Zaheer Khan needs to play more matches before the first Test against Australia, beginning in Melbourne on Boxing Day.
"Zaheer is a great bowler...we have seen some memorable performances from him over the years," said Sourav on Friday. "But playing just one Ranji Trophy tie would not be enough to judge his fitness."

"I feel Zaheer is still not hundred per cent fit and we can't afford to have a 50 per cent fit Zaheer Khan in Australia. He still needs to play a lot more matches to regain full fitness. One Ranji Trophy game is not enough," Sourav said on the sidelines of the launch of Wisden India in association with Fidelis World.
"There are 24 days still left before the first Test and I believe Zaheer will play another Ranji game as well as two practice matches in Australia. The BCCI has planned the schedule well unlike 10 years back when I had to appear for a fitness test only 10 days prior to an important tour," he said.
Sourav, who was leading Bengal in the Ranji Trophy game against Haryana at Rohtak till Friday evening, drove down to Delhi for the function. Sourav said the tour of Australia would also be a "great challenge" for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
"Things in Australia would be totally different," he said. "Ashwin is a gifted cricketer. But bowling in India with SG balls against an inconsistent West Indies batting line-up is completely different from bowling with the Kookaburra balls. Also, the quality of batsmen will certainly be better in Australia."
Sourav, however, was not ready to comment on who should come in as a replacement for the injured Praveen Kumar. Asked if Irfan Pathan or Ashish Nehra could be considered, Sourav said: "We should have a good young pacer...whoever it is."
"About Irfan, I have heard that he is bowling well but my question would be whether he is good enough to get into the team on the merit of his bowling alone."
"As far as Nehra is concerned, it is nice to see him playing the four-day game. Also, he is getting wickets, which is a good sign. I don't think that not being in the central contracts is an issue. He is only 32 and still can play for India for some time."
Asked what he thought about former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns' comment that former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has become "an elephant in the dressing room", Sourav said it was a "ridiculous and reckless" jibe.
"He (Cairns) said that yesterday and today I guess Ponting is batting close to 70 (67 batting). I have always said this and I maintain, please don't judge batsmen like Ponting, (Sachin) Tendulkar or (Rahul) Dravid by their age. To do so would be a huge mistake."
As the chairman of the technical committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the former captain feels some changes could be brought into the present format of the Ranji Trophy.
"At times, the second innings becomes immaterial. It happened only today in our match against Haryana. We need to look at possibilities whether Ranji matches can be made five-day affairs," he said.

Graham Smith backs SL players

South African cricketers have added their voices to the call to Sri Lanka Cricket(SLC) to settle the outstanding amounts due to the Sri Lankan players.
"We want to show our support for Tillakaratne Dilshan and our fellow professional cricketers from Sri Lanka on this issue," Sport24 quoted South African captain Graeme Smith, as saying.
"It is far from ideal that the Sri Lankan team is about to start a tough Test series and ODI series here in South Africa without having been paid any of their remuneration for the last eight months," he added.

According to reports, SLC has not paid the country's cricketers since March 2011 and a total amount of approximately six million pounds is owed to the players.

Pakistan's Handsome win over Bangladesh

Ruthless Pakistan drubbed Bangladesh by 76 runs in the second one-day international in Dhaka on Saturday to take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Umar Akmal scored 59 and Shahid Afridi hit 42 off 27 balls as Pakistan piled up 262-7 after they won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
The total proved beyond Bangladesh's reach after they were reduced to 19-4 in the 10th over, and managed only 186-7 despite a maiden international century from Nasir Hossain.

Nasir cracked 100 and Shakib Al Hasan made 34, the pair sharing a fifth-wicket stand of 106 runs, but Bangladesh were never in the hunt against the tight Pakistani bowling. The 20-year-old Nasir, playing only his ninth one-dayer, plundered 11 boundaries and a six before he was dismissed in the final over.
Seamer Umar Gul finished with four for 36, while off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez conceded just 15 runs in his 10 overs with two wickets.
Pakistan's 27th win over the Tigers in 28 one-dayers has left only academic interest in the third and final match to be played in the port city of Chittagong on Tuesday. The one-dayers will be followed by two Test matches.
Pakistan had won the Twenty20 international by 50 runs and the first one-dayer by five wickets at the same venue. Hafeez, who opened Pakistan's attack, removed Imrul Kayes and Shahriar Nafees in successive overs after Gul had dismissed the aggressive Tamim Iqbal in his second over.
Gul also had Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim caught at gully, before Nasir and Shakib delayed the inevitable with their century partnership. Pakistan's innings revolved around a fourth-wicket stand of 83 between Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq (37), before Afridi smashed two sixes and three boundaries towards the end to boost the total.
Hafeez (32) and Younis Khan (37) put on 57 for the second wicket after opener Imran Farhat had fallen in the third over. Akmal lifted the tempo by reaching his 11th one-day half-century off 49 balls, steering seamer Rubel Hossain to the third-man fence.
The 21-year-old fell in the next over, the 39th of the innings, when he holed out in the deep off Shakib to make Pakistan 176-4. It soon became 193-5 as one-day debutant Elias Sunny picked up his first wicket when he had Misbah caught in the deep in the 42nd over.

Rahul Dravid is the next captain for Rajsthan Royals

Indian batting great Rahul Dravid was Saturday named the captain of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals. He replaces Australia's Shane Warne, who led the team for four seasons before announcing his retirement from the cash-rich event earlier this year.
The 38-year-old former India captain has had a great 2011. He has piled on 1067 runs in 11 Tests that includes five centuries. 'The Wall' was bought by the Rajasthan franchise for $500,000 in the IPL auctions held in Bangalore in January. Dravid was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the first three editions.

'I am honoured to lead the Rajasthan Royals. I hope to live up to the confidence shown in me by the franchise and give our fans an exciting season of cricket,' said Dravid in a statement released by Rajasthan Royals.

'I look forward to the valuable inputs from my teammates who are already leading their national sides and clubs. My aim will be to get the best out of a very talented squad and invoke the same team spirit that won the franchise the first IPL and has been a hallmark of the Rajasthan Royals ever since.'

Warne had no hesitation in saying that his successor will take the team to more success.

'He is not only one of the world's best batsmen, but a leader par excellence. The Royals squad is a bunch of extremely energetic and talented players who know their roles perfectly well and I am sure they will thrive under Dravid's inspiring leadership. I will be keenly following the Royals and Dravid and would like to wish them the best,' said Warne, who led the team to victory in the inaugural season.

Pitch report: 2nd ODI India Vs West Indies, Vizag

Having made a mess of the run chase in the opening cricket ODI against West Indies, India will have much ground to cover in the second match here Friday.
The young bowling attack did well to restrict the Caribbean side to 211, but the batsmen did not click. Rohit Sharma saved the blushes for India with a gritty 99-ball 72 and the tail finished the job. He got support from Ravindra Jadeja, who made 62-ball 38. The two guided the innings after India were struggling at 59 for five.

India's stand-in captain Virender Sehwag has asked the batsmen to score runs.

'There is no excuse for anybody not scoring runs. We have to back our batting. We have some exciting youngsters playing for last three four years,' he said.

He would like to believe that the Cuttack match was an aberration as India have dominated in the shorter format at home. With the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, in the team, the batting looks in safe hands.

Sehwag himself would be eager to give the inings a good start. He was bowled by Andre Russell.

West Indies would be hoping to carry on their good form and put the pressure on the hosts after their good showing.

Roach was at his best and troubled the Indian batsmen with the extra bounce that he got from the wicket. He took three wickets, dismissing Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli which triggered the collapse.

The hosts will be bolstered by the fact that they have all the three matches at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. Though the stadium is hosting a match after more than two years.

Teams
India: Virender Sehwag (captain), Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R.Ashwin, R.Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Abhimanyu Mithun and Rahul Sharma.

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wicket-keeper), Andre Russell, Kemar Roach, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieran Powell and Ravi Rampaul.

Shahid Afridi's fiver took Bangladeshis backfoot

Shahid Afridi grabbed five wickets for 23 runs and then kept his cool in a batting crisis as Pakistan overcame Bangladesh by five wickets in the first one-day international in Dhaka on Thursday.
The leg-spinner ripped through the Bangladesh line-up as the hosts were bowled out for 91 after electing to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium -- with seven batsmen failing to reach double figures.
Pakistan lost five wickets chasing the modest target which was eventually overhauled in the 26th over to give the tourists the lead in the three-match series.

Seamer Rubel Hossain and spinner Shakib Al Hasan claimed two wickets apiece to leave Pakistan struggling at 63-5, before Afridi took his team home with an unbeaten 24 off 23 balls.
As the runs dried up on the turning wicket, Afridi broke free with three successive fours off Shakib and then cut the same bowler for another boundary to win the game.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq made 16 not out, sharing a match-winning stand of 30 with Afridi.
It was Pakistan's 26th win in 27 one-dayers against Bangladesh, the lone defeat having come during the 1999 World Cup in England.
Bangladesh, who lost half the side for 31 runs on the slow wicket, were dismissed in 30.3 overs and barely managed to surpass their lowest one-day total against Pakistan of 87.
Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed picked up four catches as the four Pakistani spinners shared eight of the 10 wickets.
Bangladesh's batting never recovered after losing opener Tamim Iqbal with the fourth ball of the innings, trapped leg-before by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez.
Seamer Umar Gul, who shared the new ball with the spinner, struck in his third over when he forced Naeem Islam to edge a catch to Misbah in the slips.
Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was caught behind off Shoaib Malik for 11, before Afridi grabbed two wickets in one over to reduce the Tigers to 31-5.
Afridi had opener Shahriar Nafees caught at backward point by Malik and then saw Mohammad Mahmudullah edge a catch to Sarfraz three balls later.
Nasir Hossain and Shakib put on 36 for the sixth wicket to ensure Bangladesh surpassed their lowest ever one-day total of 58 -- against the West Indies at the same venue during the World Cup in March.
Nasir made 21 with two boundaries when he top-edged a catch off Aizaz Cheema, while Shakib became Afridi's third victim after scoring 15.
Last man Rubel Hossain hit an unbeaten 15 before Afridi claimed the final two wickets to terminate the innings.
The second one-dayer will be played at the same venue on Saturday.

Ganguly scored century

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly scored a gritty hundred for Bengal against Haryana while Delhi wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht hit an unbeaten double ton against Baroda on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite division Thursday.
Ganguly made 135 with Bengal scoring 339. Haryana, who made 358 in the first innings, were 42 for one in the second at Rohtak.

Delhi, in reply to Baroda's 318, were bowled out for 415. Irfan Pathan, who is going through good form, took seven wickets. But Baroda is staring at defeat having lost four wickets for 81 runs in the second innings.

In Cuttack, Mumbai after declaring their first innings at 529 fro eight are in the driving seat. The home team were skittled out for a paltry 93 in the first innings and were 163/7 when stumps were drawn Thursday.

Aakash Chopra led the comeback for the defending champions Rajasthan who were in a spot of bother after they were bowled out for 274 in the first innings and had to follow on. Chopra hit an unbeaten half century to put the hosts in a comfortable 91 for no loss at the end of the day's play.

Karnataka are piling on the pressure against Saurashtra. They closed their first innings at 503 with Bharat Chipli scoring a brilliant unbeaten 159. Saurashtra have a long way to go having already lost half of the side for 179 runs.

Meanwhile Manpreet Gony took five wickets which helped Punjab bowl out Railways for 273. But Railways fought back and took four Punjab wickets with only 51 on board.

Brief scores:
Elite Division
Group A:
At Cuttack: Mumbai 529/8 decl vs Orissa 93 all out in 41.2 overs (Niranjan Behera 26, Basant Mohanty 23; Dhawal Kulkarni 4/37, Zaheer Khan 3/31, Aavishkar Salvi 2/5) and 163/7 in 75 overs (Niranjan Behera 30, Basant Mohanty batting 41; Ramesh Powar 4/41, Abhishek Nayar 2/22)

At Mohali: Punjab 366 all out and 51/4 in 31 overs (Uday Kaul batting 21; Anureet Singh 2/20) vs Railways 273 all out in 84.3 overs (Sanjay Bangar 82, Ashish Yadav 86; Manpreet Gony 5/91, Harmeet Singh 4/54)

At Jaipur: Uttar Pradesh 492 all out vs Rajasthan 274 all out in 103 overs (Robin Bist 76, Ashok Menaria 57; Piyush Chawla 4/59, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/75, Rudra Pratap Singh 2/97) and 91/0 in 30 overs (Aakash Chopra batting 57, Vineet Saxena batting 32)

At Bangalore: Karnataka 503/7 decl in 128.3 overs (KB Pawan 118, Bharat Chipli not out 159; Sandip Maniar 4/125, Siddharth Trivedi 2/86) vs Saurashtra 179/5 in 61 overs (Chirag Pathak 95, Sagar Jogiyani 30; Sunil Raju 3/33)

Group B:
At Delhi: Baroda 318 all out and 81/4 in 28 overs (Shatrunjay Gaekwad 32; Parwana Awana 2/25, Rajat Bhatia 2/12) vs Delhi 415 all out in 107 overs (Puneet Bisht not out 223, Mithun Manhas 49; Irfan Pathan 7/114, Bhargav Bhatt 2/62)

At Rohtak: Haryana 358 all out and 42/1 in 15 overs (Sunny Singh batting 18; Ashok Dinda 1/9) vs Bengal 339 all out in 119.2 overs (Sourav Ganguly 135, Arindam Das 74; Amit Mishra 4/58, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/29)

At Indore: Gujarat 130 all out and 272 all out in 72.4 overs (Pratharesh Parmar 65, Niraj patel 39; TP Sudhindra 6/60, Anand Ranjan 2/78) vs Madhya Pradesh 205 all out and 107/4 in 51 overs (Devendra Bundela 37, Naman Ojha 25; Mehul Patel 2/22)

Plate Division
Group A:
At Dharmasala: Himachal Pradesh 364 all out vs Services 202 all out in 78.5 overs (Soomik Chatarjee 33, Irfan Khan 32; Rishi Dhawan 5/74, Vikramjeet Singh 3/45, Jitender Mehta 2/63) and 134/5 in 44 overs (Pratik Desai batting 56, Jasvir Singh 37; Rishi Dhawan 3/49)

At Kochi: Kerala 130 all out and 131 all out in 57 overs (Akshay Kodoth 30, Sony Cheruvathur 23; Syed Sahabuddin 3/37, Shankara Rao 4/22) vs Andhra 74 all out and 185/9 in 66 overs (Bodapati Sumanth 55, Hemal Watekar 33; Padmanabhan Prasanth 3/33, Raiphi Gomez 3/22, Sony Cheruvathur 2/43)

At Agartala: Tripura 281 all out and 99/4 in 35 overs (Vinayak Samant batting 33; Sandeep Singh 2/26) vs Vidarbha 368 all out in 118.2 overs (Shiv Sunder Das 45, Sairaj Bahutule not out 134; Rana Dutta 4/73, Manisankar Murasingh 3/120).

Group B:
At Porvorim: Goa 147 all out and 104 all out in 34.1 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 24, Robin D'Souza 21; Anwar Ahmed 4/74, Pagadala Naidu 4/16, Mohammed Khader 2/19) vs Hyderabad 408 all out in 165 overs (Akshath Reddy 118, Ibrahim Khaleel 94; Saurabh Bandekar 4/98)

At Dhanbad: Assam 502 all out vs Jharkhand 301/4 in 106 overs (Ishank Jaggi batting 163, Shiv Gautam 82; Abu Nechim 4/76)

At Ratnagiri: Jammu and Kashmir 388 all out vs Maharashtra 479/5 in 149 overs (Ankit Bawne batting 104, Rohit Motwani 98; Ram Dayal 2/97, Parvez Rassol 2/109).