Test cricket lived up to his expectations as the best form of cricket in two exciting Test matches played between New Zealand vs West Indies and Sri Lanka vs England on the course of 2nd Week of June while second string Indian team won their 1st and 2nd ODI matches against Bangladesh.
Terrorist attacks on Karachi Airport halted discussions on Ireland tour of Pakistan meanwhile India’s Murali Karthik retired from all forms of cricket.
Sri Lanka survive as England were held to a dramatic draw
Interesting start to England’s new Test cricket summer ended in a dramatic fashion as Nuwan Pradeep bailed Sri Lanka out of defeat to draw the 1st Test which concluded at Lord’s. Batsmen from both teams enjoyed the flat surface at the Home of Cricket. Four centuries were scored during the whole match with Joe Root scoring a double ton for England. Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews got their names on the Lord’s honours board with fighting centuries while Gary Ballance scored his maiden ton in only his second Test outing.
England made 575 for 9 declared in their 1st inning while the visitors replied with 453. England set Sri Lanka a massive 390 for victory, after posting 267 for 8 in their 2nd inning. The Sri Lankans held on to salvage a draw as they were restricted to 201 for 9 in 90 overs in the final day. James Anderson was the pick of the bowlers for England scalping 7 wickets in the match while Shaminda Eranga took 3 wickets apiece for Sri Lanka in either innings.
New Zealand crush West Indies by 186 runs
Off-spinner Mark Craig captured the best figures by a New Zealand bowler on debut as the visitors beat West Indies by 186 runs late on the fourth day of the first test at Sabina Park on 11th June.
Craig finished with 4-97 and match figures of 8-188, the best from a New Zealand bowler on debut, as the hosts were dismissed for 216 runs in the final over of the day, chasing an improbable 403 runs for victory in Kingston. Earlier in the Test match, New Zealand posted a mammoth 508 runs declared on 7 wickets in their 1st inning with James Neesham and Kane Williamson stroking brilliant centuries.
West Indies were bowled out for 256 runs in their 1st inning with valiant Shiv Chanderpaul not out on 84 runs. Mark Craig and Tim Southee shared 8 wickets amongst them. Jerome Taylor captured 3 wickets in the Kiwi 2nd inning as the tourists were rattled on 156/8 before declaring their inning.
India win rain hampered first ODI
India secured a 7 wicket win according to the D/L method in their 1st ODI match against Bangladesh at Mirpur. India have rested most of their top players for this series and their second string team led by Suresh Raina restricted hosts for 272/9 in 50 overs. Mushfiqur Rahim (59) and Shakib Al Hasan (52) top scored with half centuries. Umesh Yadav captured 3 wickets for India.
Chasing a revised target of 150 runs in 26 overs, India cruised to the target with 7 balls to spare. Opening combination of Robin Uthappa and Ajinkaya Rahane stroked a 99 run partnership with Uthappa scoring 50 and Rahane scoring 64 runs.
Binny hand Bangladesh a shocking defeat
Stuart Binny produced India’s best ODI figures of 6 wickets for 4 runs as India defended 105 runs by bundling out Bangladesh for 58 in their 2nd ODI match played at Mirpur.
India displayed a disastrous batting show as their skipper Suresh Raina top scored with 27 runs in their total of 105 runs. Young seam bowler Taskin Ahmed ripped through the Indian batting lineup with a five wicket haul for 28 runs in his debut match. Chasing an easy target of 106, Bangladeshi’s struggled to counter Stuart Binny’s medium paced swing deliveries as they were bowled out for a mere 58 runs. Only two batsmen crossed the double digits mark with Mithun Ali scoring 26 runs for the disappointing hosts.
Murali Karthik retires from cricket
Murali Kartik, the former India left-arm spinner, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. 37 year old Kartik played 8 Tests matches, 37 ODIs and one T20 international for India. His first-class career, which began in 1996, spanned more than 17 years. Kartik’s career was obstructed with the dominance of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the India side during his playing time.
Ireland talks over Pakistan tour on hold
Terrorist attacks on Karachi Airport stalled discussions between Pakistan Cricket Board and Ireland Cricket officials regarding a proposed tour to Pakistan later this year. Ireland had been eager to tour Pakistan in September on the condition of security reassurances, but the terrorist attacks in and around Karachi airport which has killed more than 30 people, have now ruled out the proposition.
MS Dhoni enters Forbes’ high-earners’ list
Indian captain, MS Dhoni is the only cricketer on the list of 100 highest-paid athletes in the world. Forbes magazine has ranked him as the highest-paid cricketer, as well as the highest-paid athlete in India for the period from June 2011 to June 2012. According to the magazine, Dhoni made a total of US$ 26.5 million, of which $23 million was earned from endorsements and $3.5 million from salary and prize money.
Prasanna out of second Test
Prasanna Jayawardene will not be available for 2nd Test selection after he sustained a finger injury to his right hand during the 1st Test. He will be replaced in the squad by promising, young left hand batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, with Dinesh Chandimal likely to take over the gloves at Headingley.
No central contracts for Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal have been axed from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s central contracts list for 2014-15 season, while senior batsman Younis Khan has been demoted from category A to category B. Fast bowler Junaid Khan has been promoted from B to A, in the list of 31 contracted players after an impressive during the last couple of year.
Category A: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Junaid Khan
Category B: Younis Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul
Category C: Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Adnan Akmal, Khurram Manzoor, Nasir Jamshed, Abdul Rehman
Category D: Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bilawal Bhatti, Sharjeel Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Fawad Alam, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Raza Hasan, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Rahat Ali, Shaan Masood, Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali
