Tag Futebol

Tillakaratne Dilshan has confirmed he will play his final ODI in Dambulla on Sunday, and his last T20 international in Colombo on September 9

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Aug-20160:53

Quick Facts: Tillakaratne Dilshan

Tillakaratne Dilshan has confirmed he will play his final ODI in Dambulla on Sunday, the third of the series against Australia, and his last T20 international in Colombo on September 9.His retirement comes in the wake of significant pressure from Sri Lanka’s selectors. Dilshan’s own performance has been outstanding over the past few years – he averages 49.18 in ODIs since the start of 2013, and had his most successful ODI year in 2015, when he scored 1207 runs at an average of 52.47. But with Angelo Mathews and the selectors now seeking to build a team for the 2019 World Cup, Dilshan was persuaded to retire. He had also been Sri Lanka’s top scorer in this year’s World T20 campaign, and remains, at 39, one of the team’s best fielders.Dilshan had missed the England tour earlier this year due to personal reasons, and was seen in discussion with chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya ahead of the ODI series against Australia. He is understood to have expressed a reluctance to retire, but having scored 22 and 10 in the first two matches, has since changed his mind. Sri Lanka already have opening batsmen vying for his place. Both Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka have opened the batting in this series, and Dhananjaya de Silva, who has so far batted down the order in ODIs, has opened the batting for his club through the most recent domestic season.Dilshan was a late bloomer at the top level. Having batted largely in the lower middle order for almost a decade since his debut in 1999, he blossomed as a limited-overs batsman when he became a consistent opener in 2009. Dilshan scored 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year four times since being sent permanently up the order, and never failed to amass fewer than 800 runs between 2009 and 2015. He was the fourth Sri Lanka batsman, after Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, to cross 10,000 ODI runs.He has also been one of the premier T20 players over the past six years. Dilshan top-scored in the 2009 World T20, where Sri Lanka made the final, before going on to become the second-highest run-scorer overall in T20 internationals – playing in two more World T20 finals, one of which his team won. He is one of a handful of batsmen to have hit centuries in all three formats. The sole T20 hundred came in 2011 against Australia in Pallekele – a favourite venue at which he will appear one more time, in the first T20 of the two-match series.Once promoted to the top of the order, Dilshan became reputed for the dynamism he brought to the opening role. In addition to the cover drives and pull shots – all hit with a rapid swing of the bat – Dilshan was also an innovator of the lap scoop, and began to regularly slog-sweep medium-pace bowlers. He alone plays the shot colloquially known as the ‘Dilscoop’, in which a length ball is uniquely deflected over the keeper, rather than over short fine leg.Dilshan captained Sri Lanka across formats between May 2010 and January 2012, and though their first Test win under him came against South Africa at the tail end of that period, the team had endured a lull during his leadership. He has, however, been an effective bowler in the limited-overs format. His offspin has brought him 106 ODI wickets at an average of 44.84.

Surrey have signed Azhar Mahmood for this year Friends Life T20 competition

George Dobell19-Apr-2013Surrey have signed Azhar Mahmood for this year Friends Life T20 competition. Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder who now qualifies as a non-overseas player, represented Surrey between 2002 and 2007 and is currently with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.Aged 38, Azhar sustains Surrey’s recent policy of signing ‘mature’ players: Vikram Solanki (37), Gary Keedy (38) and Ricky Ponting (38) are also among the new additions to the club, joining the likes of Zander de Bruyn (37), Gareth Batty (35) and Jon Lewis (37).Azhar is certainly experienced. Only seven men have played more than his 170 T20 games and only three men have taken more than his 190 wickets. He is also 17th on the run-scorer list. He represented Kent between 2008 and 2012.”From what I gather, Azhar has been sorely missed since he left and should never have been released in the first place,” the Surrey team director, Chris Adams, said. “Come the start of the FLt20, to have such a high-skilled player of his quality to fill a number of roles with bat and ball is a great bonus for us. He comes with a wealth of experience, a great record behind him and we’re really, really pleased.”Mahmood said: “It feels very special to be coming back to Surrey. I enjoyed my time with Kent but, ever since I left Surrey in 2007, I was always getting messages from Surrey fans and supporters asking when I was coming back, so I say thank you especially to Chris Adams and Alec Stewart in bringing me home.”Obviously it’s a very different set up to when I was last at Surrey and Twenty20 cricket has also gone from strength to strength so it’s exciting times ahead. I like the squad Surrey have for Twenty20. It looks strong and a real mix of youth and experience, and I look forward to catching up with the guys when I get back from India.”Surrey, who came bottom of the South Group in last year’s competition, have also announced Octopus Investments as a new FLt20 sponsor.

England Lions beat Bangladesh A comfortably by four wickets in Chittagong

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2012
Scorecard
England Lions beat Bangladesh A comfortably by four wickets in Chittagong in the first match of their tour. The Hampshire left-arm spinner Danny Briggs bagged four wickets and seamer Jack Brooks took three in a strong bowling display.Only four Bangladesh batsmen reached double-figures; opener Roy Talukder made a half-century, supported by captain Mahmudullah’s 46. Shuvagato Hom chipped in with 31 but the others never really got going and the hosts were bowled out for 186 in 43.2 overs.A collective batting effort by the England Lions side, which included five players who have already played for the full team, helped them seal victory. There was no stand-out performer with the bat, but there were a series of steady contributions. Openers Jason Roy and Joe Root added 76 in just 11 overs and though wickets fell at regular intervals from there on, the visitors were always in control. Jos Buttler made a quick 28 and England were home in the 37th over.

Abdur Rehman, the left-arm spinner, has been ruled out of Pakistan’s next World Cup match against Canada on Thursday after suffering a leg injury

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2011Abdur Rehman, the left-arm spinner, has been ruled out of Pakistan’s next World Cup match against Canada on Thursday after suffering a leg injury. Misbah-ul-Haq has also picked up a minor hamstring strain but isn’t too much of a concern.Rehman took 1 for 63 in Pakistan’s 11-run victory against Sri Lanka on Saturday but now requires a five-day break. “Rehman sprained his leg while fielding in the match against Sri Lanka and had to put on a strapping in order to bowl. It’s an adductor muscle rupture,” Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan manager, told AFP. “We don’t want to risk Rehman and will wait for him to recover.”Rehman’s absence is likely to mean a chance for offspinner Saeed Ajmal who has yet to play a match in the competition. The other bowlers in the squad who didn’t play against Sri Lanka were the left-arm pace duo of Wabah Riaz and Junaid Khan.Although Misbah’s problem isn’t considered a major worry he may still be rested for the Canada game with the opposition unlikely to cause an in-form Pakistan too many problems. Misbah hit 83 off 91 balls against Sri Lanka to continue his strong start to the tournament after he made 65 against Kenya.If Misbah does miss out and Pakistan retain the same balance to their team Asad Shafiq, the 25-year-old batsman, is the other option in the squad.

Western Australia have clarified that the side strain their overseas star Chris Gayle sustained during the defeat to South Australia in Perth is only a minor one

Cricinfo staff30-Dec-2009Western Australia have clarified that the side strain their overseas star Chris Gayle sustained during the defeat to South Australia in Perth is only a minor one, and that it will not keep him away from international duty. Gayle, who is playing for Western Australia in the ongoing domestic Twenty20 tournament, strained a side muscle and had to retire hurt on 40, but scans revealed no tear.The team’s medical staff have decided not to allow Gayle to feature in Western Australia’s next game against Tasmania on Friday, and are confident the West Indies captain will be fit for the clash with New South Wales on January 5.”We’ll be working in consultation with their [the West Indies] medical team but at the end of the day we’ll be wanting the best for Chris Gayle,” said Western Australia’s coach Tom Moody. “We are certainly not going to wheel him out there if he’s not fit. It’s unfair on him as a professional athlete and it’s unfair on the team to play a guy that’s half fit. At the end of the day we’ll be making sure we do the best thing for him.”This means Gayle will should easily be fit for the five-match one-day series between Australia and West Indies, starting February 7.Gayle suffered the injury in the second over of the team’s chase. He immediately grabbed at his left side after attempting to heave a Mark Cleary delivery over the rope. He batted on for three more overs but left the field after smacking 40 from just 16 balls. Gayle returned in the 16th over but was clearly hampered by the injury.Gayle is one of the finest Twenty20 batsmen in the world and remains the only man to have scored a century in a Twenty20 international.

The visitors sensed victory before rain wiped out 17 overs and they ran out of time

AAP26-Nov-2024Cameron Bancroft produced a breakthrough Sheffield Shield century but rain and a stubborn knock from Liam Scott ended Western Australia’s bid to secure victory against South Australia.Bancroft struck an unbeaten 105 off 255 balls as WA set South Australia a victory target of 364 off 90 overs. They were precariously placed at 170 for 5 after 60.1 overs – with debutant Keaton Critchell taking three wickets – when a rain break wiped out 17 overs.Related

• Wickets, injury, wicket: Jhye Richardson's dramatic Shield return

• 'Risk losing to try and win' – Ward's second fifty sets up Tasmania

• Kellaway's maiden hundred and Short's stunner leaves Victoria favourites

The loss of Harry Nielsen in the first over after the rain break meant WA needed just four more wickets with 12.2 overs remaining. But Scott (33 not out off 106 balls) and Ben Manenti survived before the game was deemed a draw with three balls remaining.There was unexpected drama late in the match when Hilton Cartwright was forced off the field after being accidentally struck in the head by the ball. Cartwright wasn’t looking when Bancroft tossed the ball to him from five metres away, but luckily the impact was only minor.Bancroft started the season as a genuine chance to win the vacant opener’s spot in the Test side following two mammoth years with the bat. But his form turned to mush so quickly over the past two months that critics even started questioning whether he deserved to keep his spot in the WA side.Bancroft opened the Shield campaign with scores of 0, 0, 8 and 2. In his two matches for Australia A, which effectively doubled as a bat-off for the vacant top-order spot in the Test team, Bancroft scored 0, 16, 3 and 0.Nathan McSweeney ended up winning the Test call-up, and Bancroft went on to make 12 and 11 in his next Shield match against Victoria, before opening the current Shield clash with a first-ball duck, despite not appearing to have edged the ball.It continued a rotten run of luck for Bancroft, with a number of his dismissals this season appearing to be umpiring errors. But his luck finally changed.Bancroft made it to stumps on Monday unbeaten on 71, and he had one edge fall short and another edge fly too high for the fielder on Tuesday on the way to reaching his 30th first-class century.The 32-year-old raised his bat and helmet to the sky upon reaching triple figures, with the knock an important step in his bid to get back in the conversation for a Test call-up.WA young gun Jayden Goodwin was named player of the match for his scores of 139 and 69.

Tourists make two changes for second Multan Test with spin expected to play bigger role

Matt Roller14-Oct-2024Ben Stokes will return to captain England in Multan this week after two months sidelined with a torn hamstring. Stokes has stepped up his recovery in the past week and will replace Chris Woakes in one of two England changes from the first Test, with Matthew Potts also coming in for the rested Gus Atkinson.”I feel good. I’m looking forward to getting back on the field,” Stokes said ahead of his return. “I’ve worked really hard at the back end of my rehab period at home and throughout the last Test match as well. I’ve put myself through a fitness test, pretty much, over the last couple of days, and come through that pretty well.”England are braced for a lower-scoring second Test, with the match set to be played on the same strip as the one used for their innings win last week. The pitch has been heavily watered but has dried out in the sun during two practice days, and the used surface could bring both teams’ spinners into the game.Stokes has been bowling in training and will be England’s third seam option behind Potts and Brydon Carse, his Durham team-mates. It is a rare example of England picking three seamers from the same county. “It’s going to be a proud moment for the club,” he said. “Durham have a great record of producing England cricketers, and in particular fast bowlers.”On his own fitness to bowl, Stokes said: “I’ve obviously got to be sensible. Playing on a used wicket made the decision a little bit easier… We’ve got two workhorses in the team in Carsey and Potts who just keep going and going and going. But I’m available to bowl, and when I sense the time is right for me to come on and make an impact, there won’t be any doubts in my mind.”Related

• Pakistan to re-use same pitch in Multan for second Test against England

• James Anderson buoyed by breadth and depth of evolving fast bowling stocks

• Pakistan drop Shaheen, Naseem alongside Babar for next two Tests

England’s seamers all had a heavy workload in the first Test, despite their innings win: Atkinson bowled 39 overs, Carse 38 and Woakes 35. Atkinson and Woakes both played all six Tests of England’s home summer and have been rested, with a short turnaround between matches, while Carse should be much fresher after spending June, July and August serving a ban.”You’re looking at the last seven Test matches being pretty gruelling – in particular, the last one,” Stokes said. “Looking at the seamers we’ve got out here, this is a good time for them to have a rest and refresh the body. They’ve had a really big summer and put in really good performances, bowled a lot of overs. It’s a good time for them to get their feet up and have a break.”Ben Duckett retains his place at the top of the order after recovering from a dislocated thumb sustained on the second evening of the first Test, while Jamie Smith will shuffle back down to No. 7 to allow Stokes to return in his favoured role at No. 6.England have stuck with the same spinners – Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir – despite Bashir’s quiet first Test, in which he returned match figures of 1 for 156. Rehan Ahmed is the other spin option in their squad, while the Warwickshire and England Under-19s legspinner Tazeem Ali is on holiday in Pakistan and has been bowling in the nets this week.England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir

In the absence of Rashid and Farooqi, Afghanistan’s attack lacked some intensity but they did not have much to work with after the batting blunders

Firdose Moonda22-Sep-2024South Africa earned a consolation win to end their three-match series against Afghanistan 2-1 as they completed their ninth successful chase in 22 matches since 2021. After being outplayed in the first two games, South Africa finally arrived in the contest via their bowlers and fielders who dismissed Afghanistan in 34 overs and left their batters a small total to chase.Aiden Markram scored his first ODI fifty in 10 innings and shared a 90-run fourth-wicket stand with Tristan Stubbs. Stubbs’ ODI career is only four matches old and importantly for him, he was able to bat time and finish the match.In the absence of Rashid Khan, who tweaked his hamstring in the second match, and Fazalhaq Faooqi, who was rested, Afghanistan’s attack lacked some intensity but they did not have as much to work with as they would have liked after the batting blunders. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the only member of Afghanistan’s top eight who scored more than 10, once again holding their innings together. He fell 11 short of a second successive ODI century and extended his lead at the top of the series run-scorers charts. AM Ghazanfar, batting at No.9, contributed 31 off 15 balls to give South Africa a target of 170. They got there in 33 overs.South Africa’s energy came from a good new-ball combination of Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin, and in the field. Run-outs accounted for three of the first five Afghanistan wickets and gave South Africa an edge they lacked in the previous two matches.Ngidi was excellent upfront, with his range of cutters and slower balls and got an early breakthrough when debutant opener Abdul Malik played all around a straight delivery and was pinned on the pad. Arguably, Ngidi made a more important breakthrough in his next over, when Gurbaz drove him aerially, he stuck out his right hand and the ball clipped his finger and ricocheted off Rahmat Shah and onto the stumps. Rahmat, at the non-striker’s end, was short of his ground.While Rahmat was sloppy in getting back in time, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s lack of urgency was worse. He hit Markam behind square and called for two but ran the second too slowly and veered off a straight line to give Stubbs enough time at sweeper cover to throw to Kyle Verreynne and run the Afghanistan captain out. Things got worse in the next over when legspinner Nqaba Peter bowled Azmatullah Omarzai.Rahmanullah Gurbaz waged a lone battle at the top•ACB

By then, Gurbaz had already brought up a 47-ball 50, laced with his characteristic clean hitting down the ground and on the leg side. He dealt with the wickets by batting as normally as possible, even as he grew frustrated with his partner’s mistakes. Ikram Alikhil was next to misjudge when Gurbaz bottom-edged a pull off Markram to midwicket, leaving no time for a single. Alikhil was halfway down the wicket when Gurbaz sent him back but Temba Bavuma was onto the ball and ran Alikhil out.Mohammad Nabi was Afghanistan’s last recognised batter and South Africa kept him quiet and should have him out for 5 when he missed a Bjorn Fortuin arm ball. South Africa didn’t review but replayed showed he would have been out lbw. In Fortuin’s next over, he got his own back when Nabi edged him to Verreynne and Bavuma reviewed successfully.Gurbaz’s push for a century ended when he tried to hit Andile Phehlukwayo over extra cover and was well caught by Reeza Hendricks diving forward to leave Afghanistan 133 for 7. Phehlukwayo took a second wicket in three balls before Ngidi and Peter got rid of the tail. Afghanistan left 16 overs out there and will be disappointed with their capitulation after two dominant performances earlier in the week.South Africa’s batting has been their downfall throughout the series and although improved, did not always look convincing. Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi were tentative against left-armer Naveed Zadran at first and Bavuma almost chopped on in the third over. But when they got hold of the 19-year-old, they capitalised. De Zorzi smashed him past mid-off for the innings’ first boundary and Bavuma pulled him through mid-wicket later in the same over. He also took on Ghazanfar to suggest South Africa had done some work on their approach to spin, but de Zorzi underlined the old problems. He hit a sweep off Nabi straight to Hashmatullah at square leg and the captain put it down and then sent the next ball to cover, where Omarzai could not hold on.In the next over, Bavuma played Ghazanfar down the wrong line and was bowled and the over after that, de Zorzi gave Ghazanfar a return chance but the ball bounced just in front of him. Just when it seemed de Zorzi’s charmed life knew no end, he stayed back in his crease against Nabi and was trapped lbw.Reeza Hendricks’ lean run continued when he top-edged Fareed Ahmad to depart for a third score under 20 this series. In his last 15 white-ball internationals, Hendricks has only gone past 20 three times.Markram took it on himself to anchor the rest of the chase and also provided experienced counsel for Stubbs. The pair built slowly at first and minimised risk but also picked their moments to attack. Markam scored the first boundary in 10 overs when he slog-swept Nangeyalia Kharote and then drove him through the covers. Then it was back to singles until Stubbs pulled Fareed behind square. Markram’s aggression against spin came out when he hit Nabi for two sixes in an over. He brought up 50 off 54 balls and ended unbeaten on 69 off 67 balls. Stubbs reviewed successfully when he was given out lbw to Fareed on 18 and saw South Africa through to the end.