Anderson burst swings it England's way

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both lost their middle stumps to James Anderson•BCCI

After the first day in Nagpur it was tricky to know which side was on top. Twenty-four hours later there was a clear answer, after another world-class display from James Anderson removed India’s brittle top order to leave them tottering on 87 for 4 at the close – a scoreline that included failures for Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar – in reply to England’s 330.Debutant Joe Root, the youngest player in the England side who compiled a outstanding 73, and Graeme Swann, the oldest with a lively half-century, had done the bulk of the scoring for the first part of the day but throughout England’s long occupation of the crease – 145 overs – the one cry going up was ‘wait for Sehwag’, a player rarely dictated to by conditions. In Anderson, though, England have a bowler who is also able to transcend a pitch.With his second delivery to Sehwag he produced a wicked inswinger which, unusually for a Test opener, beat the outside edge to take out middle stump. It was high-class pace bowling; it is an obvious thing to say that batsmen are most vulnerable when they start, but it takes great skill from a bowler to take advantage in such style. While it was not an immediate end to India’s hopes, Sehwag’s early departure ensured that England, even when they weren’t taking wickets, would have been confident of controlling the game.The pitch was again the focus of much attention and there was just a hint during the final session that it was starting to play a few more tricks – albeit slow ones. England’s spinners, Swann and Monty Panesar, found a little more purchase than their India counterparts but that may just have been because they bowled better.Swann got one to turn and bounce at Cheteshwar Pujara although replays showed it had come off elbow rather than glove towards short leg. That, though, should take nothing away from the brilliance of Ian Bell’s catch, low to his right. Root had started the innings as bat-pad but, after he failed to stay down for a half-chance offered by Pujara, the role was given back to Bell. The position needs to be filled by the best fielder for the role.Pujara’s departure led to a raucous welcome for Tendulkar but he was never comfortable at the crease. Panesar ripped consecutive deliveries past his outside edge before his other nemesis in the England side, Anderson, removed him for the ninth time in Tests in his first over back in the attack. Another tick for Alastair Cook.Tendulkar, caught on the crease, got an inside edge into the stumps having been caught playing off the back foot when everything to date in the match has told batsmen to get forward. Anderson had become the most successful bowler against Tendulkar in Test cricket. There is one more innings in this series for Tendulkar, then who knows.

Smart stats

  • The number of deliveries faced by Joe Root (229) is the third-highest by an England batsman on debut against India and the ninth-highest overall for an England batsman on debut.

  • Sachin Tendulkar has been dismissed by James Anderson the most times in Tests (nine). Three of those dismissals have been bowled. Anderson has had the most success against Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis (seven times).

  • Tendulkar has been dismissed bowled 53 times in Tests. Only Rahul Dravid (55 times) has been bowled more often. In 2012, however, Tendulkar has been out bowled most often (six times).

  • Virender Sehwag’s duck is his 16th in Tests and his seventh against England. Among top-order Indian batsmen, only Pankaj Roy (8 times) has been dismissed for a duck more often against England.

  • Graeme Swann’s half-century is his fifth in Tests. It is also the sixth-highest score by an England No. 9 batsman in Tests against India.

  • The 103-run stand between Root and Matt Prior is the fourth-best sixth-wicket stand for England in Tests in India. The record is 171 between Ian Botham and Bob Taylor in Mumbai in 1980.

  • Prior’s half-century is his 30th fifty-plus score in Tests. Among England wicketkeepers, only Alan Knott has more fifty-plus scores (35).

Gautam Gambhir, meanwhile, played what is becoming his template innings: a couple of run-out scares, a few well-timed off-side boundaries and then a wasteful end. Anderson did not even need to work him over, instead Gambhir played a half-hearted drive to edge to Matt Prior. One over later Anderson was given a break after a spell of 4-1-3-2. A case when figures don’t lie.Although not as dramatic a session as when India collapsed on the third evening in Mumbai or fourth afternoon in Kolkata it could prove just as telling. It was the situation that England managed to avoid during their innings, fully justifying the grafting approach which continued on the second morning.Root’s highly accomplished stay, which began shortly before tea on the first day and included a 103-run partnership with Prior, had spanned 229 deliveries when he finally gave a return catch to Piyush Chawla in the afternoon session. His half-century had come from 154 balls and even the loss of two quick wickets did not shake his concentration. If anything, it prompted a few more attempts at innovation, with some deft paddles and sweeps that would have made Graham Thorpe proud.Swann, meanwhile, played a priceless innings to ensure that England did not fritter away their position, which looked possible at 242 for 7, and he dominated as much as anyone else had managed. He twice lofted boundaries over deep midwicket against the spinners before lunch and after the interval he became ever-more aggressive, but selectively so rather than wild hacking.He deposited Jadeja over long-on for the first six of the match and after Root fell, closing the face as he tried to aim through the leg side, Swann targeted the straight boundaries to reach his first half-century since his career-best 85 against South Africa, at Centurion, in 2009.England had resumed on 199 for 5 and the familiar pattern of dead-batted blocks was the order of the day. After an early burst from Ishant Sharma it was all spin, which prompted both batsmen to remove their helmets in favour of England caps, Prior’s slightly more worn and sweat-stained than the crisp, fresh-out-of-packet version Root was wearing. This really could have been Test cricket out of the 1980s in the subcontinent.Steadily, though, England did begin to make useful progress. Any width was latched on to by both players as Root cut Chawla through point and Prior repeated the effort against Jadeja and another took him to his fifty. Curiously, both Jadeja and, more so, Chawla, were given a bowl before Pragyan Ojha, but in the end the breakthrough came from the man who now appears the fourth-choice spinner having begun the series tipped to be the major threat.R Ashwin switched his line to around the wicket and floated a straight delivery past Prior’s outside edge. Prior was aghast that he had managed to miss the delivery while Ashwin’s celebrations were those of relief as much as joy. India manufactured back-to-back wickets as Dhoni, in one of his more alert and innovative pieces of captaincy in what has been a passive series for him, immediately withdrew Ashwin from the attack in favour of Sharma, who promptly trapped Tim Bresnan lbw with reverse swing.Sharma, though, could not bowl long spells and the movement he found reinforced the feeling Dhoni would have been better served with another seamer. How he must be wishing he had someone as good as Anderson.

Steyn signs on for Brisbane Heat

Dale Steyn will play a one-off match for the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League after South Africa’s Test tour of Australia finishes in early December. Steyn has signed on to play the Heat’s first match of the tournament, against the Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba, to cover for the Heat’s other international fast-bowling recruit, Kemar Roach, who will join the squad after the first game.South Africa’s last Test finishes at the WACA on December 5, which will make it easy for Steyn to stay on for a few days for the game. The Heat coach Darren Lehmann, who coached Steyn with the Deccan Chargers during the IPL last season, said he was thrilled Steyn had agreed to fill the one-match vacancy.”I was pleasantly surprised when he said he was [interested],” Lehmann said. “In fact I was over the moon. It’s one game, and it is a massive bonus to have him available, but it is the first game and that gives us a great opportunity to hit the ground running from the outset.””We struggled to get momentum early last season and that’s an area we’ve had a good look at. But throwing someone like Dale into the mix on the Gabba for our first game is a handy way to help address that. This has all happened pretty quickly for us but it’s certainly something for us and the fans to get excited about ahead of the opening game.”Steyn said: “Even though it’s only for one match, I’m looking forward to experiencing the Australian domestic T20 setup and the passionate cricket fans that I’ve heard lots about. The Heat squad has some talented cricketers on board, who I have no doubt can make a telling impact this coming season.”The addition of Steyn comes after the Heat also signed Mitchell Johnson to their squad this week. The Heat have now signed 16 players and must add two more to their roster by the end of the contracting period on November 30.

Darren Bravo returns for World T20

Batsman Darren Bravo and allrounder Andre Russell have returned to the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 to be played in Sri Lanka. Bravo had to return to the West Indies from the tour of England after suffering a groin injury and missed the home series against New Zealand as a result. Russell had missed the T20 leg of the series against New Zealand in Florida due to an injury he had picked up in England, but played the ODI series in the Caribbean thereafter.The remainder of the squad, led by Darren Sammy with Dwayne Bravo as his deputy, is the same as the one picked against New Zealand in Florida. West Indies won that series 2-0. In addition to Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, two power-players in the batting line-up, the squad also features opener Lendl Simmons and top-order batsman Johnson Charles, who’s played six T20s for West Indies, averaging 29.66.Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Russell comprise the pace attack with Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Sammy and Dwayne Smith also available to bowl medium-pace. Sunil Narine, who played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders winning the fifth season of the IPL and picked up seven wickets in the two T20 wins against New Zealand, has legspinner Samuel Badree for company in the spin department. Badree made his international debut in the New Zealand series.West Indies play their first warm-up, against hosts Sri Lanka, on September 13. Their first game of the tournament is against Australia on September 22.West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Dwayne Bravo (vice-capt), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.

Shah guides Essex home

ScorecardEssex eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire in their bottom of the table Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A clash at Chelmsford. In a match reduced to 25 overs each because of rain, the hosts surpassed Leicestershire’s 151 for 7 with nine deliveries to spare.Owais Shah led the way for Essex with an unbeaten 45 from 46 deliveries, which included three fours and a six.The foundation had been laid by openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley who shared in a stand of 62 in nine overs before both fell to medium-pacer Wayne White. Westley fell lbw to the last ball of his first over for 27, while with the first delivery of White’s next over, Pettini put up a simple catch to Robbie Joseph at short extra cover.Greg Smith made 20 while helping Shah carry the total to 102 in the 19th over, at which point he was superbly taken low down by Rob Taylor at deep square leg.Essex arrived at the final five overs still requiring 42 but Shah then stepped up a couple of gears to help see them home. He took successive fours off medium-pacer Michael Thornely before despatching Nathan Buck for an on-driven six. Then Ryan ten Doeschate maintained the tempo, sealing victory with three successive boundaries at the expense of Buck.Although White emerged as the visitors most successful bowler with two wickets for 17 runs from four overs, it was left-arm spinner James Sykes who impressed the most – the 20-year-old’s five overs cost only 15.Leicestershire’s innings owed much to Thornely. Fresh from his century in the County Championship battle between the two counties, he again batted with a confident assurance that brought him 55 from 53 balls. The pick of his shots was a towering six over long-on off the bowling of left-arm spinner Tim Phillips.Thornely had also laced his innings with four fours until he was brilliantly caught on the long-on boundary – Graham Napier racing 20 yards and diving to cling on to the ball inches off the ground.Of the other batsmen, only Matthew Boyce topped 20, before he drove Napier into the hands of extra cover in the final over when on 24.Essex, who put their opponents into bat, used seven bowlers, the most successful of whom was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who took 3 for 29 from five overs and among his victims was opener Ramnaresh Sarwan, who needed 22 deliveries to gather 14 runs until he holed out to Phillips on the midwicket boundary.Greg Smith was another top-order batsman who failed to out his foot on the accelerator, requiring 28 balls to make 18. Smith was also caught on the midwicket boundary, this time by Harbhajan, when he decided to open his shoulders against ten Doeschate.

Ashraful, Sunny shine in victory

ScorecardMohammad Ashraful hit an unbeaten half-century and Elias Sunny tied down the NCU President’s XI top order before rain brought an early end to Bangladesh’s second Twenty20 warm-up match of the day. The players were forced off with 13.2 overs bowled, with the Bangladeshis awarded a 48-run win under the Duckworth-Lewis method.NCU lost opener Rory McCann to the third ball of the reply and the batsmen struggled to deal with Sunny’s left-arm spin, as he took two wickets in consecutive overs, as well as bowling a maiden. Andrew White was 19 not out when the rain came, with Andrew Poynter having just departed. With 104 required from less than seven overs, NCU’s task already looked beyond them.Bangladesh had already beaten an Ireland XI earlier in the day, chasing down 104, and they proved equally adept at setting a target. Ashraful only hit four boundaries in his 52 but Mahmudullah scored 43 off 27 balls and Ziaur Rahman cleared the ropes twice in his 22, as the tourists completed their preparations for the T20 series against Ireland.

Trott dead-bats Pietersen issue

Jonathan Trott did not earn his reputation as a cricketer through playing an array of dashing shots, so it should be of little surprise that he took a similarly cautious approach to a tricky off-pitch episode at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Placed in a potentially awkward position – charged with talking to the media a few days after the retirement from limited-overs cricket of Kevin Pietersen and the enforced resting of James Anderson – Trott adopted a characteristically dead bat to all questions in a safety-first display which a generation of bowlers would recognise in an instant. Indeed, had Trott paused the press conference to mark his guard, it would have hardly have seemed incongruous.”You can understand it in a way, but it’s a huge disappointment as well,” Trott said of Pietersen’s decision, thereby ensuring he neither offended Pietersen nor the England team management. “It wasn’t a huge surprise. Kev is his own guy and has to make his own decisions. The team fully support his decision. Whatever he decides to do with his cricketing career is fine.”Trott’s diplomatic response – as admirable as it was sensible – did inadvertently highlight the uneasy truce that pervades within the England camp at present. It will take careful management over the coming months to ensure that the constructive working environment that helped England to No. 1 in the Test and T20I rankings is maintained.A recurring theme of the next 18-months or so will be the schedule. Those members of the squad who play all three formats of the game can expect to spend less than two weeks in the UK between mid-October and April. Those involved in the World Twenty20 will be absent for several weeks before that. Irrespective of the actual amount of cricket the squad play or of the comparison with teams of the past, the fact of the matter is that men with young families – be they players or coaches – are uneasy with those demands.Trott’s situation is somewhat different from Pietersen’s. Trott is not currently in the England T20 side and he did not even enter the draw for the 2012 IPL season. His T20 record is better than might be presumed, too: only five men (Marcus Trescothick, Darren Stevens, Darren Maddy, Murray Goodwin and Owais Shah) have scored more runs in English domestic T20 cricket and none of their averages comes anywhere near Trott’s 39.20. Indeed, no England-qualified player with more than a dozen games behind them has a higher T20 average than Trott, while the 525 runs he scored in the 2009 T20 Cup was a then-record.”Not being involved in T20, you get that little break,” Trott said. “You have to speak to the guys who play all three about how they feel, but I’m really happy with the scheduling for me. It’s really busy but that’s part of being an England cricketer. We’re the only country who play constantly from April through until September and there are always places to go in the winter. It has got a little bit busier, but it’s part and parcel. You have to accept and get on with it.”I didn’t put my name forward for this IPL because I knew the workload. I’d been in international cricket for a year at the point when I did, but you now realise it is a lot of cricket. You make a decision and you’ve got to live with your own decision. Kevin’s made his mind up about what he wants to do and that’s fine. The guys support and understand the decision he’s made. There’s plenty of talent to come in and take his place. It’s a bit of a blow, but you have to pick yourself up and get on with it.”Kev was playing all three formats and he’s been doing it since 2004, a lot longer than myself. He’ll have his reasons. It is quite strenuous but you accept that when you get selected, you go there knowing what’s ahead of you. From my side, I’ve no complaints about how the schedule has been.”Trott did admit, however, that he could see the logic in rotating players. “It’s happened in the past, and probably will in the future with the schedule getting busier and busier,” he said. “It’s only right that these things happen.”Jimmy Anderson would have liked to have played and quite rightly. He’s the spearhead of our bowling attack, and you can understand that he will probably be a little bit disappointed. But with the bowlers and their heavy workload, it’s going to happen from time to time. But it’s not as if you’re giving away international caps. We have guys who are vying to play and whoever takes his place should do a great job.”

Jehan Mubarak released on bail after fatal accident

Sri Lanka player Jehan Mubarak was taken in custody by police and later released on bail after the car he was driving was involved in a fatal accident that killed one person and injured another at Maikkulan on the Chilaw-Colombo main road on Sunday.Mubarak was driving back to Colombo at around 1.00 pm when his car hit two youths who were heading to Chilaw on a motorbike.The victim, identified as a 31-year-old resident of Dumbaladeniya, was admitted to the Chilaw Base Hospital and transferred to the National Hospital in Colombo where he succumbed to his injuries. The injured person was receiving treatment at the Chilaw hospital, police said.Mubarak, who was produced before the Chilaw district judge on Monday, was released on personal bail of two sureties of Sri Lankan rupees two million each after being remanded immediately after the accident.The court also ordered Mubarak to pay SLR 600,000 to the family members of the deceased and SLR 400,000 to the injured person. Of this amount SLR 200,000 and SLR 100,000 have already been paid to the victims’ families, it was revealed in court.The case will be taken up again on May 3.Mubarak, a 31-year-old left-hand batsman from Royal College, Colombo, has represented Sri Lanka between 2002 and 2009, appearing in 10 Tests, 38 ODIs and 16 T20Is.

Allround Daley helps West Indies to series win

ScorecardWest Indies Women clinched the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka 2-1 after the last match in Barbados went in favour of the hosts by 45 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Allrounder Shanel Daley starred for West Indies by scoring 63 with the bat and picking up three wickets.Sri Lanka struck early with the ball, dismissing opener Juliana Nero. Daley and World No.1 batsman Stafanie Taylor put on a 74-run stand for the third wicket. West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira also chipped in with 20 to help the team post 168 in a rain reduced 40-over match. Shashikala Siriwardene was the most effective bowler for the tourists, picking up 4 for 40.West Indies fast bowler Subrina Munroe made life difficult for Sri Lanka’s top order with the ball by picking up two wickets. The Sri Lankan middle order showed some resistance but Daley and Taylor struck regularly to wrap up the match and the series.

Lancashire announce record loss

Lancashire, the reigning county champions, lost almost £4 million in 2011, reflecting the ongoing costs of redeveloping Old Trafford. The club’s annual report included a loss of £1.8m in “accelerated depreciation” to account for assets demolished as part of the rebuilding, and more than half a million in legal fees in challenging a judicial review.The figure of £3.96m sets a new record deficit by a first-class English county, beating by some distance the £2.1m losses recorded by Lancashire and Warwickshire last year. However, Lancashire said the The Point, the eye-catching but controversial conference centre opened in 2010, had started to drive revenue, with operating profit increasing by more than £700,000 on the forecast, after the “exceptional costs” were accounted for.The development work, which will see £40m spent on upgrades, also encompasses new grandstands, player and media facilities being grafted on to Old Trafford, as well as work on a new pavilion, scheduled to open ahead of the 2013 season, when Lancashire are due to host Test cricket again for the first time since 2009.Lee Morgan, Lancashire’s finance and operations director, said: “The nature of this result is a continuing reflection of the difficulties faced with building a new stadium on an existing site. However, despite the difficulties faced we are still very much on course to achieve our goals and ultimately return to a vibrant and profitable cricket club and start to fulfil the potential that all at the club believe we are capable of.”

Majola believed to have violated Companies Act

The committee investigating the payment of unauthorised bonuses to Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola believes the Companies Act was violated and has recommended that the case be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority.”There is a prima facie case that Mr Majola contravened sections 234, 235 and 236 of the Companies Act,” retired Judge Chris Nicholson, who headed the committee, said in court, according to . “We believe there is a prima facie case of non-disclosure concerning the bonuses and irregularities with regard to travel and other costs.”Such investigations should also include whether any provisions of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 (Act No 12 of 2004) … have been contravened.”Majola and the other staff members received a collective R4.7 million (US$ 671.428) in bonuses after the hosting of the 2009 IPL and Champions Trophy but those payments were not disclosed to CSA’s remunerations committee (REMCO) and were picked up as irregularities. KPMG were eventually tasked with looking into CSA”s financial affairs and found that Majola may have breached the Companies’ Act on four counts. When CSA did not make KPMG’s findings public, South Africa’s Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, chose to intervene and set up the inquiry in October, 2011.According to Nicholson, Majola was the dominant force in the allocation of bonuses, not former chief financial Don McIntosh, who resigned from CSA in 2010.The committee handed in its report to CSA on Thursday. The board said the report will be circulated to the Board of Directors, who will consider the recommendations of the committee and report back to Mbalula by April 9. The board also said Majola would make a public response once he had finished studying the report.Majola’s contract includes the provision of suspending him with pay for up to 180 days and the committee has recommended that the board consider such a step. “It would be in Mr Majola’s own interests to give him time to prepare his defence, unfettered by his normal duties,” Nicholson said.The committee was also asked to investigate the legality of certain expenses incurred by Majola, whose contract allows for him to be reimbursed for travel expenses provided they were first approved by the board. Majola had claimed that he was reimbursed for his family’s personal travel expenses because of a mistake made by a travel agent or his professional assistant.”The committee was sceptical that it was an error of his professional assistant or a travel agent,” Nicholson said. “They would have been acting on Mr Majola’s instructions and it is improbable that they would charge CSA for his children’s flights without his instructions, either in general or on specific occasions [when] the said flights were undertaken.”Edited by Tariq Engineer

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