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NAIROBI, Sept 1 AAP – It’s hard enough for Kenya to compete against Australia and Pakistan in the triangular cricket tournament here but a couple of injuries have made things even worse for the host nation.Kenya lost promising all-rounder Hitesh Modi after the first game against Pakistan when he had a finger broken by Shoaib Akhtar.And ahead of today’s loss to Pakistan, opener Ravindu Shah broke his big toe when batting in the nets.In some pain, he still went out – bravely or foolishly – to face Shoaib and Wasim Akram with the new ball but made just one run off eight balls.It didn’t help Kenya’s cause as it lost by seven wickets, Pakistan making 3-181 in reply to Kenya’s 179.Kenya coach Sandeep Patil said Shah would take no further part in the tournament after having a fracture diagnosed.”It’s very sad for those two players because matches like this come our way only now and then,” Patil said.He hoped both players would be fit for the Champions Trophy in Colombo where Kenya takes on South Africa and the West Indies.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis was happier with a better showing from his side but was still concerned his fast bowlers gave away 18 extra runs (12 wides and six no balls).But Pakistan has bowled first in all three games so far and Waqar said the cool, overcast conditions made it difficult to control the ball.”The ball is really hard to control in the early morning – that’s why it’s a little difficult for Wasim (Akram) in particular to get control of it.”Shoaib, handed the new ball for the first time in the tournament, looked menacing as he bowled at close to his fastest, clocking one ball at 156kph.Pakistan was in a little trouble at 3-54 but a partnership of 127 between Younis Khan (87 not out) and Misbah-Ul-Haq (50 not out) got it home in the 39th over.Australia, meanwhile, named an unchanged team for the match against Kenya, which starts today at 9.30am (4.30pm AEST).

Test players Chris Gayle, and Marlon Black; and up and coming star Donovan Pagon are not with the West Indies A squad recently arrived in Toronto. Black has returned to the Carribean for the funeral of his father, Pagon is injured, and the WICB decided that Gayle needed some respite from the continuous cricket he has been playing recently.The rest of the squad practiced at Ross Lord Park under the direction of coach Gus Logie. Logie was pleased with practice conditions, although the players found the high heat and humidity of Toronto an adjustment after 6 weeks in England

Essex County Cricket Club are delighted to announce the Testing SolutionsGroup Player of the Month for June 2002 as Ashley Cowan.Ashley recorded some impressive bowling figures during the month including4-18 in the win against Northamptonshire at Ilford, scoring 22 in the samegame, 5-68 in the win at Gloucestershire, also making 60 not out.In the Benson and Hedges Semi Final Ashley chipped in with 14 not out andbowled with great economy, recording figures of 1-15 off his 8 overs, totake Essex to the Final at which, despite the defeat, he made 27 not out andreturned figures of 1-37.In the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy Quarter-Final he recorded 4-27 off10 overs.Ashley will be presented with his award at the NUL Floodlit Match atChelmsford on 22nd July 2002.

The Somerset second string suffered their second defeat in two days when they travelled to Bristol to take on Gloucestershire in the Second XI Trophy.Batting first Somerset scored 220 for 8, with Peter Trego top scoring with 53 and triallist Dominic Joyce making 33.In reply Gloucestershire reached 222 for 6 in the 45 th over. For Somerset Pete Trego took 2 for 33.Somerset Seconds are in Second XI Trophy action again tomorrow when they entertain Glamorgan at the County Ground in Taunton.

It’s a woefully regretting fact that most Bangladeshis don’t have the ability to buy cricket kits, despite their maddening eagerness towards the game. Feel sorry for the millions of kids all over the country who are deprived of getting adequate cricket materials they need to flourish their talents; hence, had to content with the tennis ball and hand made ragged bat and with those twigs of trees meant for stump.Many families here can’t put up with their sons’ demands of buying them a cricket ball, pad, a handy bat or guards because they are high priced. As a result many promising kids don’t even come to the ground. So, the pricey cricket kits don’t allow the kids belong to a poor family enter the realm of this game.Most of the materials come from India and Pakistan, saying that the price list is relatively cheap there. The cost of a ball ranges from Taka 90 to Taka 250, the lowest price of a batting pad is 265 Taka, wicket keeping gloves cost 250 Taka and a bat made to play even the tennis ball costs no less than 180 Taka. This is the scenario; let alone there is need to wear helmets or thigh guards, which are much costlier and quite expensive for most of the families here.The important thing is that there are hardly any price tags found on those materials bought from India and Pakistan. The sports shops here, are enterprisingly exploiting the chance, as the materials have no price tags on them. They are tagging the kits with their desired price (Of course a much higher one), thus making those unaffordable for the common people.Buying capabilities or affordability has quite a good link with the development of cricket anywhere. Bangladesh is enjoying the Test status for more than eighteen months, still the government is reluctant to lend a hand to import cricket materials. The government should help the importers in this respect, so that the materials could be reasonably priced, easily purchasable within the reach of all.

India’s batting stylist Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman (V.V.S.)Laxman admits he is in a rich vein of form but after three charminghalf-centuries in the 2002 Cable & Wireless Test series against theWest Indies, he is still without a century in the Caribbean.The tall, elegant Laxman, who made international headlines last yearwhen he made a superlative 281 against Australia to steer India to amiraculous come-from-behind victory in the second Test at Calcutta,has merely teased his fans with two knocks of 69 and 74.This he says is simply not good enough and he has chided himself forgetting out at a crucial stage on the penultimate day of the secondTest at Queen’s Park Oval which signalled the start of a dramaticcollapse by India with the next five wickets tumbling for a mere 13runs.Right from the start of the tour, I’ve been timing the ball well fromthe first tour game [against Guyana’s President XI] I played when Igot 43 runs, said the 27-year-old who hails from Hyderabad.The form is okay but I want to translate it into big scores. I thoughtin the first Test, as well as today, I had an opportunity to get a bigscore. Hopefully I’ll do that in the remaining three Test matches.About his second innings dismissal, Laxman said: I was a bit unluckybecause it took the inside edge and came back on the stumps.But it would have been great if I had got a big score because Sourav(Ganguly) was batting so well and we would have got a lead, maybearound 400 runs. A little disappointed, definitely, added Laxman.About the outcome of the second Test, Laxman said the first session onthe last day was going to be very important.I think the bowlers are doing a great job and the wicket is not soeasy to play strokes so if you keep the ball in the right place, Ithink it is difficult to get runs, noted Laxman.

From being the first team to be eliminated last season, Chennai Super Kings have turned around their fortunes in IPL 2021 by becoming the first to qualify for the playoffs. But according to head coach Stephen Fleming, the seeds of their success were sown last year itself.”I think I mentioned at the time, we were really proud of the way we finished [in 2020],” Fleming said after Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday. “We won the last four [three] games in a row and started to get a little bit of rhythm together. In the first half of the tournament, a number of things went wrong, and our form and confidence were really low. But the way we finished was really encouraging, and that actually gave us the first look at what we could be.”When we were sitting down analysing it, we thought we were probably a couple of spots away from being quite competitive. In fact, even if that was a bad year, we were only possibly one good win away from making the semi-finals [playoffs]. So we took more confidence out of it than maybe what others did.”We knew it was just a couple of positions that would make us a balanced side. And then it was just about creating a style of play that was going to suit us and then just absorbing it and playing it. Once we got the players – Moeen Ali was one in particular – and had our boys fit and ready to go, and Suresh [Raina] back, it was just creating an environment that was positive and making sure there was no doubt.”Super Kings picked Moeen for INR 7 crore (USD 959,000) at the auction in February. The main reason behind signing him was they wanted someone to inject impetus during the middle overs. Moeen has done that job with aplomb, scoring 217 runs at a strike rate of 149.65 in that phase. In fact, only Faf du Plessis (435) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (407) have scored more runs for Super Kings this season than Moeen’s overall aggregate of 278.Another thing that has fallen into place for Super Kings is Dwayne Bravo’s death-bowling form. Last year, Bravo had gone for 9.12 runs an over at the death; this time he has given away only 7.22. Fleming said the competition with Sam Curran for the allrounder’s spot in the playing XI helped Bravo rediscover his mojo.”Sam was excellent for us in the first part,” Fleming said. “And Dwayne Bravo has come back now, the champion that he is, so there’s some really good competition around that allrounder’s spot. That’s ideally what you want, two very good players competing for a spot and getting the best out of each other. Maybe [there could be] even an opportunity where they both play together.Suresh Raina has crossed 20 once in his last nine innings•BCCI/IPL

“We’re really impressed with the way Bravo has responded to the challenge. He’s back to his best; his bowling at the death has been outstanding, and it just means that the role definition of the bowling group is very clear.”If there’s one concern for Super Kings, it’s Raina’s form. He had started the season with a 36-ball 54 against Delhi Capitals in Mumbai but since then has crossed 20 only once in nine innings. Fleming, though, backed him to come good in the upcoming games.”We’ve got a pretty clear role for him,” he said of Raina. “He has got an optimal time that we want him to bat, and we’re afforded the luxury of having a player that can come in and be aggressive. So it’s just getting the timing right with that and managing the batters around him.”We value his experience and we think he’s got a part to play through the middle, which is an area that we’ve identified we can make a strength. Suresh is an experienced player, who has earned a bit of leeway. I expect as the tournament goes on, his performances will improve.”So far, Super Kings have won their all four games in the UAE but are still not assured of a top-two finish, which will give them two shots at the final. Fleming hinted that while they may look to manage the workloads of certain players in the next couple of games, there won’t be too many changes in the side.”I’m not big on momentum, momentum can go just as quick as you have it,” he said. “So we’re not really talking about that. But what we probably have been afforded is the opportunity to just manage workloads a bit better. We’ve got a day and then we travel to Abu Dhabi, and then another day, another game.”So we’ll certainly talk about how we can manage our players, making sure that we manage the team that played today and also the opportunities for guys who are on the fringe. So we’ve afforded that luxury now, but we won’t be too experimental.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDifferent crowd, different context, similar result. Australia returned to the scene of their 2015 World Cup final hiding of New Zealand and duly inflicted another enormous defeat on the visitors, completing the first clean sweep of a Chappell-Hadlee series in a decade, in front of a far smaller gathering than last time.Only 20,591 spectators were on hand to see the heavy lifting done by the vice-captain David Warner, who soared to his second ODI hundred in as many innings and seventh of the year, in conditions far more challenging than those prepared for either of the first two matches of the series.Warner’s innings was all the more laudable for the fact that most batsmen found scoring difficult on a slow and capricious pitch. After his 156, the next best score on either side was a doughty supporting hand of 37 by Travis Head, part of the only century stand of the match.On a chilly December day in Melbourne, the visitors had bowled with accuracy to some nifty plans devised by the captain Kane Williamson, notably catching out Aaron Finch and Steven Smith with a fielder placed at a shortish square leg. However Warner endured through the difficult passages and accelerated during a rearguard stand with Head, reaching his century, then going on to guide the Australians to a total that proved well beyond New Zealand.Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both proved fiendishly difficult to counter in the evening, while Head made a further contribution to the match with the wickets of Martin Guptill and BJ Watling. James Faulkner chimed in with the vital dismissal of Williamson. The failure of New Zealand’s batsmen to make any impression on the scoreboard undermined some decent work earlier in the day by their bowlers, Warner’s excellence excepted.Trent Boult performed nicely for New Zealand, while the recalled Lockie Ferguson again demonstrated the high pace he is able to generate from a fast-arm action. It was Ferguson who came closest to dismissing Warner early on, but Henry Nicholls was unable to cling onto a difficult, diving outfield chance when the opener was on 18.The hosts had gone in with an unchanged team for the third match, retaining their fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins while also continuing to ignore the all-round skills of Glenn Maxwell. New Zealand had to leave out Jimmy Neesham due to continued pain in the arm that was struck by Starc in Canberra, while also recalling Ferguson at the expense of Matt Henry.Mitchell Starc blasted out Henry Nicholls and Colin Munro with lethal reverse-swinging yorkers•AFP

While the new ball did not swing a great deal, Boult bowled the ideal lines to coax Finch and Smith into false strokes towards the leg side that were snapped up by Nicholls. Smith’s wicket was a particular source of satisfaction after his tall scores in the first two matches of the series.George Bailey, again showcasing his backside-to-the-bowler stance, hung around to add 62 with Warner, but when his dismissal by Colin de Grandhomme was swiftly followed by Mitchell Marsh being bowled off bat and body, the Australians were in difficult straits.Warner was able to find a useful ally in Head, who struggled with timing but was at least able to rotate the strike and form a partnership, ultimately worth 105. That stand gave the hosts something to work with, and Warner was able to push on further once he passed three figures, surging beyond 150 and only being dismissed via a run out on the final ball of the innings.Matthew Wade and James Faulkner had provided some support at the back end of the innings, ensuring Australia were able to set New Zealand a total of good value on a sluggish pitch and expansive outfield. Guptill and Tom Latham made a fair start to the chase, reaching 44 in good time before Pat Cummins coaxed Latham into granting another catch to square leg, this time patrolled by Faulkner.Williamson was pinned in front of the stumps by Faulkner from around the wicket, and two overs later Guptill cracked Head’s very first ball into the outstretched hands of Bailey at cover. Nicholls was comprehensively yorked by Starc, and when Watling was found to be lbw to Head on a DRS review the game was all but up.Smith ended the match with another ripping catch, this time diving to his right at slip. While a vast match and series victory over a New Zealand side lacking both confidence and sharpness, this was no World Cup final. By their restrained celebrations it was clear that both Australian players and spectators alike were well aware of this fact.