Stories of cricket


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Stories of cricket:

Johannesburg: Riding on Ethan O'Reilly's 4/27, Richard Cameron's 42-ball 78 not out and skipper Alviro Petersen 57 not out off 38 balls, the Highveld Lions raced home to a 9-wicket victory over a hopeless Guyana team at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Chasing a decent target of 148, Lions got off to bad start losing their opener, Jonathan Vandiar (8 off 11 balls) in the third over to Esuan Crandon.
But that was the only moment of glory for Guyana as Lions skipper Alviro Petersen and Richard Cameron played a superb innings to give Lions an easy win with 4.5 overs to spare.
The Guyanese bowlers were blown away by the exploits of Petersen and Cameron as they blasted the bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Both of them reached their fifties and their 133 run partnership has ensured that they finished the game early and boosted their net run rate.
Earlier put into bat by Highveld Lions in a bright sunny afternoon, Guyana scored a respectable total of 148/9 runs in their quota of 20 overs.
Lions' bowlers started in a superb fashion by picking Travis Dowlin in the first ball of the second over. Dowlin was judged in lbw for just 7 on the bowling of Ethan O'Reilly.
Ethan O'Reilly was pick of the bowler for Lions as he finished with superb spell of 4/27 in his four overs.
Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan failed to capitalize on his superb start, Sarwan looked in fantastic form as he hit four classy boundaries in his innings of 21 from just 16 ball before he was caught at point by Jean Symes on the bowling of Craig Alexander. Soon Sewnarine Chattergoon followed him back to the pavillion.
Chattergoon was out chipping the length ball straight to the mid on throats on the bowling of O'Reilly, who picked up his second wicket of the match.
Batsman Christopher Barnwell and Steven Jacobs then tried to consolidate the Guyana's innings with 37 run stand before Barnwell was run out to leave Guyana tottering at 79/4 in 12 overs.
Guyana's middle and lower order fell like pack of cards.
Right handed batsman Steven Jacobs was dismissed going for the maximum for fighting 34 off 37 balls. Jacobs was caught in the long off on the bowling of Aaron Phangiso and Guyana were reeling at 88/6 in the 14th over.
Jonathan Foo and Royston Crandon lost their stumps on the bowling of O'Reilly trying to up the ante for the team.
Last minute effort from Derwin Christian and Lennox Cush gave a final push to Guyana effort and helped them to reach a respectable score of
Craig Alexander and Aaron Phangiso picked up one scalp each.



Port Elizabeth: Disappointed after losing to Victoria Bushrangers via the Super Over, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday said that a good opening partnership played crucial role for the Australian side in the Champions League Twenty20 match here.
"For sometime it was raining and so the ball was going to the batsmen well. But later we came back well and spinners did good job. (Suresh) Raina also did well," he added.
Riding on Vijay's 53-ball innings, CSK posted 162 for six in 20 overs but then Victoria also managed the exact score and the encounter had to be stretched into the Super Over.
He also defended his decision to use R Ashwin during the Super Over, from which Victoria took 23 runs.
"Ashwin is a bowler who has a lot of variations. So I though the fast bowlers may not do that well," he said.
Meanwhile, his Victoria counterpart David Hussey said he was happy to get the full points against the Indian Premier League side.
"Today we got the points and I am happy that Ashwin bowled the Super Over. It was good performance by the team," he said.

"The opening in batting went perfect for Victoria. They played well, but at the end of the day it is disappointing to lose such a close match," Dhoni said after the Group A encounter.

New Delhi: The Victorian Bushrangers pulled off an amazing victory in a match that went into the Super Over after both teams, Chennai Super Kings and Bushrangers were tied on 162 runs.
Victory ensured that Bushrangers are still in the race to secure a semi-final berth. This was the first ever tied match in this edition of the tournament. The T20 match was at its best with some brilliant shots all around the park by both the teams.MS Dhoni is better known for his cool and calm behaviour on and off the pitch, this Indian Skipper spends his time studying the pitch before tossing on the match. He tucks away the rivals behind the wicket and off the game. He has the ability to rout the World's best team and most importantly he has luck on his side. But did MS Dhoni missed the trick on Saturday?


The Biggest question that would be asked in Chennai's defeat to Bushrangers would be, did Chennai's skipper bundle it away in the super over? It was a real surprise when the skipper handed the ball to the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin despite having Doug Bollinger and Suresh Raina who picked four wickets in his four overs in the match.
Ashwin started the proceedings well with just a single of the first ball but after that it was a nightmare for the offie.
Bushrangers skipper David Hussey got his front leg out of the way, and dispatched the the ball over long-on for a huge six that cleared the field comfortably.
The next two deliveries of the over went for 2 runs each, the third ball was a simple full toss which David Hussey failed to connect properly and the fourth ball was mistimed and was fielded at deep mid wicket.
The fifth and sixth ball went for the maximum again. David Hussey showed brilliant fire works. Hussey came down the track on both the deliveries and clobbered the ball to clear the park with ease.
Giving the ball to Ashwin will raise a few eyebrows and Bollinger would have been a better option in the super over as his yorkers and short pitch bowling could have held the Bushrangers back.
Chennai's batsmen never looked at ease in the super over and managed only 13 runs in six balls.

Johannesburg: South African club Highveld Lions will eye an easy win against bottom-ranked Guyana to get themselves within striking distance of a semi-final berth in the first game of the Group B double-header here on Sunday.
The Lions haven't played a game since they lost to the Redbacks last Sunday and will look to recover from that loss. They did open the tournament with a bang though winning the lung opener against favourites Mumbai Indians, who will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second game of the day.
With one loss and one win and with two to play, including Sunday's game, the Lions will surely be backing themselves to edge ahead in the three-team race for the second semi-final place from the group after the Redbacks did them a favour by beating Bangalore on Friday.
The Lion's loss to the Redbacks, which was more of their own doing, is sure to have raised some debate about the selection of the bowlers, especially in the absence of opening match hero Shane Burger. Their bowlers have, in fact, conceded 355 runs in its two outings and they will have to plug this leak against Guyana.
The local press reported that skipper Alviro Petersen earlier this week mooted the inclusion of the experienced left-armer Cliffie Deacon or nippy Craig Alexander, who are both proven wicket-takers. Coach Dave Nosworthy also said that Burger could be back if he passes a fitness test. Petersen will sure be keeping his fingers crossed. There aren't too many bowlers who can go through Sachin Tendulkar's defence and Burger had managed to do just that.
Spinners Werner Coetsee and Aaron Phangiso are expected to play an important role against the Guyanese batting lineup, who are heavily dependent on skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Lions' opener Jonathan Vandiar has been in good form and so has been middle order batsman Neil McKenzie. If they can get their bowling in order the Lions will surely canter to a win.

Durban: Bangalore's loss on Friday against the South Australia Redbacks has given the Mumbai Indians a ray of hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 and turned their game against fellow IPL side on Sunday into a virtual quarter-final clash.
With one win from three games and the last league outing on Sunday, Mumbai know that they must win this game to keep their hopes alive of making it to the last four. It definitely helps that they have a positive net run rate and a big win will only help them as the photo-finish in the race to the second semi-final spot hots up in this group and will in all probability be decided by decimals.
The Lions, who are placed fourth in the group, will eye a win against Guyana in the first game of the day. A win will put them on four points and also put them within striking distance of a semi-final berth with one game left to play. Bangalore too have two games left, but the team management will surely like to register two straight wins to wrap up a semi-final spot without any more hiccups.
Only Mumbai have Sunday's game to play and therefore, cannot afford to lose the plot now. They have paid for the price of batting and bowling inconsistently and have been stunned by less-fancied sides in two games.
The Sachin Tendulkar-led side had promised a lot with their impressive IPL season but have just failed to click as a unit here.
Except for Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who has bagged six wickets by conceding 83 runs in the three matches, none of the Mumbai Indians bowlers have made a mark and that has been the main reason for their tough times in this tournament.
Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have been disappointing so far. Zaheer has taken just one wicket having conceded 105 runs in the three matches, while Harbhajan has scalped two at the expense of 86 runs.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore began the tournament with an easy nine-wicket win over Guyana with South African Jacques Kallis starring with the bat and ball. They, however, were brought down to earth with a humiliating eight-wicket loss to South Australia Redbacks on Friday.
Without Kallis, the Anil Kumble-led side failed in both batting and bowling as they were shot out for 154 and then none of their bowlers, including the captain himself and South African Dale Steyn, making much impact against the Australian side.
The two teams shape up equally on paper. It's Tendulkar's genius vs Kumble's determination, but one still feels that Bangalore will have an edge in this battle of the giants.

Port Elizabeth: Ashwell Prince and Davey Jacobs put on 147 runs for the first wicket as the Warriors beat Central Stags by six wickets in match 12 of the 2010 Champions League T20 competition at Port Elizabeth.
Chasing 176 for victory, the Warriors won in 19.1 overs and joined South Australia in the semi finals of the CL T20 tournament.
Openers Jacobs and Prince were in sublime form as they took control of the proceedings from the word go and put their team in a match winning position.
Warriors lost their way somewhat towards the end.
Jacobs who scored a swashbuckling innings of 74 from just 47 balls was out trying for another maximum of the bowling of Noema-Barnett. He was brilliantly caught in the deep by Michael Mason.
Prince followed Jacobs soon after by giving an easy catch to Peter Ingram of the bowling of Doug Bracewell.
Colin Ingram lost his stumps after scoring just one run. Warriors had given Central Districts an opening, but no one seemed to have the intent to push through. Instead, they served up a platter of length balls which Craig Thyssen and Mark Boucher tucked into greedily to finish the game.

CL T20: Warriors beat Stags to enter semis


Port Elizabeth: Ashwell Prince and Davey Jacobs put on 147 runs for the first wicket as the Warriors beat Central Stags by six wickets in match 12 of the 2010 Champions League T20 competition at Port Elizabeth.
Chasing 176 for victory, the Warriors won in 19.1 overs and joined South Australia in the semi finals of the CL T20 tournament.

Earlier Jamie How's second successive half century helped Central Stags survive an early loss, and a quiet period of play against the spinners, to finish with 175 in their must-win game against the Warriors.
How was supported by an inventive burst from Kieran Noema-Barnett in the end overs, setting Warriors a challenging target in front of their home crowd.
Stags elected to bat first after winning the toss and lost Peter Ingram in the very first over the match for nought.
However, How was in an aggressive mode from the word go as he thrashed the bowlers all around the park in his innings of 88 from just 57 balls. How hit 12 boundaries and three huge sixes in his blinder of an innings.
Brad Patton joined in the fun at the other end, using Tsotsobe's pace and Ntini's angles to pick boundaries and scored a handy 24 in 18 balls before he was judged lbw to Nicky Boje. The Powerplay went for 63 runs.
But introduction of two spinners Nicky Boje and Johan Botha slowed the run rate and in the process Botha got rid rid of the out-of-form Mathew Sinclair.
The double-strike forced How to downshift a gear but How soon sensed the need of runs and resumed his normal services hitting Nicky Boje and Ntini all around the park.
Kieran Noema-Barnett who joined How took centre stage in the late overs as his cameo of 53 from 34 balls was a treat for the spectators in the stadium.

New Delhi: When most Indian captains needed a breakthrough in a match, they used to turn to Anil Kumble and more often than not the man obliged. Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar now needs a favour from old friend and the Bangalore skipper if his side is to be in even with a chance of making it to the semi-finals of the Champions League T20.
Mumbai finally won their first game in the tournament on Thursday as they beat Guyana by 31 runs. The problem though is that they squandered away their first two games and are now left with playing Bangalore on Sunday. It's a do-or-die game and everyone knows it will be a gritty affair and neither Kumble nor Tendulkar will give an inch to each other. For Mumbai the equation is pretty clear, they have to win on Sunday and hope that Bangalore win all their remaining games. And it will only get better if the law of averages catches up with Guyana and they manage to upset the Redbacks on Tuesday.

The Redbacks sit pretty at the top of the table with two out of two wins and four points. They are followed by Bangalore with one win but with a net run rate of +3.445. The good thing is that Bangalore has played only one game. Mumbai and the Lions are on two points each, while Guyana is yet to open its account.
A strong and in-form Bangalore may well be able to beat the Redbacks on Friday and the Lions on Tuesday. But what does look difficult is that Guyana will have to pull a rabbit out of its hat, not once but twice. Mumbai will be kicking themselves for having lost their first two games. Now it's all upto the math and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be adding up for them this time.

Port Elizabeth: South African club Warriors are the outright favourites to win the first game of the Saturday double-header when they take on Central Stags, who with two straight losses in their two games are searching for their first win in the tournament.
The Stags were thrashed by the Chennai Super Kings in the opening game, but then staged a strong comeback in their second match against the Australian T20 champions Victoria Bushrangers as they managed to stretch their trans-Tasman rivals.
The team has been plagued with a poor batting display and have been over-reliant on skipper Jamie How, who starred with a briliant 77 in the previous game. The knock, however, did not seem to inspire the rest of the batsmen, who will have to come good if they are to give themselves a chance of a win on Saturday.
The Stags' bowling too has been nothing to write home about. Doug Bracewell and company have seemed to be on track in the first few overs, but have buckled under pressure and have been expensive at the death. They surely are the underdogs but if they can draw on their never-say-die Kiwi spirit, they may actually be able to spring a surprise at the St George's Park.
The home side Warriors on the other hand have emerged as a contender for the title after having comprehensively beaten Wayamba Elevens in their opening game and having upset the Bushrangers in their next game. The win against the Aussie club must have given the Warriors a fillip and they will look to carry on this momentum and seal a semi-final spot with a third straight win on Saturday.
Pacer Rusty Theron has been the pick of the bowlers for the Warriors and has been superbly supported at the other end by Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tstosobe and Nicky Boke.
Their batting, though, has been a bit of concern as they have looked to be over-reliant on Davey Jacobs and Mark Boucher. And Saturday's match is the perfect game to get the batting in order, especially before their final league game against the Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.
Durban: Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday lauded big-hitting Keiron Pollard for ensuring his side's first win in the Champions League Twenty20, but admitted that bowling still remains a concern for the IPL team in the tournament.
Riding on Pollard's destructive 30-ball 72, which was studded with nine sixes and a four, Mumbai defeated Guyana by 31 runs in Group B to register their first win in the tournament.
And Tendulkar was quick to admit that brilliant Pollard was the difference between victory and defeat on Thursday.
"Our batting was terrific, especially Pollard was terrific. It was a tremendous effort by him and towards the end JP (Duminy) came up with some smart batting," he said.
"He (Pollard) has terrific bat swing and tremendous power, so he can clear any ground in the world. He played smartly. It's just not about going bang bang from ball one. He paced his innings beautifully," Tendulkar added.
The Mumbai captain, however, said that there was room for improvement in his bowling department.
"I am sort of ok with the performance. I wouldn't say that I am satisfied because we could have finished better. The bowling can get better. In batting we have been able to get close to 180 in all the matches. It is probably our bowling in which we need to work upon," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar said his side would come out with the same intensity in their do-or-die match against IPL rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
"Our focus is to play good cricket and that is what we would be looking against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They are a very very good side and it is going to be a great contest," he said.

Tendulkar said his side would come out with the same intensity in their do-or-die match against IPL rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
"Our focus is to play good cricket and that is what we would be looking against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They are a very very good side and it is going to be a great contest," he said.
His Guyana counterpart Ramnaresh Sarwan too was of the view that until Pollard arrived at the crease, his side was very much in the match.
"He (Pollard) played brilliantly. He took the game away from us. Sachin (Tendulkar) and Shikhar (Dhawan) were going pretty well but we pulled it back," Sarwan said.
"While chasing we wanted to get off to a good start, wanted to keep wickets in hand for the last five overs but it was too late. 180 is always a difficult chase, 160 would have been a chaseable target," he added.
Man-of-the-match Pollard, who was pushed up to the number three position today, said for him it does not matter where he bats as long as the team ends up on the winning side.
"I don't have any preferences in batting order. That's for the team to decide. At the end of the day I am ready to bat at any position for the team. If the team comes out victorious, I am happy," the imposing West Indian said.
"I had a couple of overs. So I thought to get settled down first with couple of single before going for the big hits. The pitch was nice. The ball was coming on to the bat and you just needed to connect properly," Pollard said.

Durban: Dazzling batting display by Daniel Harris and skipper Michael Klinger ensured the third consecutive victory for the South Australia Redbacks as the Adelaide-based team outplayed the Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets at the Kingsmead on Friday.
Both the Redbacks' openers left no stone unturned in punishing the Challengers' bowlers, who looked clueless facing the onslaught by Aussie openers. Klinger was especially ruthless as he hit 69 in just 57 deliveries.
Harris, too, matched his partner shot-by-shot and scored 57 off 38 balls. Not bowlers but a misunderstanding in running between the wickets sent Harris back to the pavilion.
Anil Kumble foxed Graham Manou but it was already too late for Bangalore to make anything out of the remaining game.
Earlier, the Royal Challengers got a big jolt before the start of the match as sore back made the first-match hero Jacques Kallis miss out Friday's game after Anil Kumble won the toss and decided to give his batters an opportunity to use the fresh Kigsmead wicket.
The team from Bangalore got off to a terrible start as Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa got out as soon as Challengers' innings got underway. But blitzkriegs from Dillon du Preez and Ross Taylor helped Royal Challengers Bangalore finish with 154.
Daniel Christian did bulk of the damage for the Redbacks as the all-rounder took four crucial wickets. Shaun Tait and Gary Putland also finished with two wickets each.
Ross Taylor's big hitting (46 off 28) lit up the Kingsmead stadium after early blows - Pandey and Uthappa - rocked the RCB. Rahul Dravid, too, fell after scoring just 4 off 11 balls.
The decision to bring back Shaun Tait for a one-over spell proved to be a masterstroke by Michael Kllinger as the speedster got Ross Taylor caught behind and put brakes on Bangalore's scoring.
After Taylor's dismissal, Preez (46 off 25), together with Cameron White, gave Challengers the much-needed spark. White also contributed with 25 off 29.

Kallis' injury disturbed Bangalore's team composition, forcing Kumble to bring in Manish Pandey to replace the world's best all-rounder at the top of the order, while Vinay Kumar also got a game in place of Nayan Doshi.
Redbacks, riding on back-to-back victories, fielded the same side.

Port Elizabeth: First edition semi-finalists Victoria Bushrangers are in danger of facing an early exit from the Champions League T20 as they take on Group A table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in the second game of the double-header at the St. George's Park here on Saturday.
While Chennai have won both their games so far with aplomb, the Bushrangers have one win and one loss. And with the Warriors also having won both their games, the pressure will all be on the Bushrangers to keep their chances alive in the race to the last-four stage.
Chennai, led by the charismatic MS Dhoni, have been in superlative form in the first two games with both batsmen and bowlers coming to the party. Opener Mathew Hayden hasn't hit a purple patch yet and the Bushrangers will hope that the Aussie won't want to make up for the lost chances in this game.
The Super Kings, however, have been well served by the others. Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Anirudha Srikkanth and Albie Morkel have all found the sweet spot of the bat. Even after struggling in the initial stages of the opening game, the Chennai batsmen were able to dig themselves out of the hole and post a decent total.
In the second game, Vijay and Raina put on an exhibition as they hammered the hapless Wayamba bowlers to all parts of the park to bring up this edition's first 200-run score. And the duo will surely want to carry on from where they left off in that game.
Chennai's bowlers too have been in terrific form. Doug Bollinger's opening spells have been exacting and incisive, while R Ashwin and Muttiah Muralitharan have spun quite a web in the two games. MS Dhoni is expected to use these two bowlers from the word go as the track is expected to help the spinners.
On the other hand, the Bushrangers, who started the tournament as one of the favourites, were in for a rude shock when they went down by 28 runs in their opening game against the Warriors. They bounced back to win their next game against the Central Stags, but not before they were stretched until the last over. Opener Rob Quiney and skipper David Hussey haven't played to their potential and will have to take up more responsiblity in the game against Chennai.


Chennai could just manage 13 runs in reply.
Three wickets fell in the last over of the Victorian innings bowled by Suresh Raina as both teams ended with identical scores.
Earlier, the Victorian openers Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge got their team off to a blazing start in their pursuit of 163 for victory.
Finch made his intentions clear right from the start by smashing Doug Bollinger for back to back boundaries in the very first over.
He then followed it up with a couple of sixes in the next over bowled by Ashwin.
The Bushrangers lost their first wicket for 43 when Ashwin got his revenge by catching Finch of his own bowling.
Finch made 41 of just 17 balls with four boundaries and three sixes which swung the momentum in favour of the Bushrangers.
Bollinger provided Chennai with their second breakthrough when Brad Hodge was bowled as he tried to make room to play a cut shot.
With the score on 104, Muttiah Muralitharan struck twice in two balls for Chennai by getting rid of Mathew Wade and Andrew McDonald.

Wade was caught behind by Dhoni for 31 while McDonald was adjudged lbw for a first ball duck.
Just when it seemed like Victoria were in control of the match, part time spinner Suresh Raina got the wickets of Rob Quiney and John Hastings in the 18th over which brought CSK back into the contest.
Earlier, Murali Vijay followed up his impressive half century against Wayamba Elevens with another fine knock of 73 runs that enabled Chennai Super Kings to reach 162/6.


Spicy news:Explosive Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh has said that his body language while playing for the country is such that no bookie would dare approach him for match-fixing.
New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to bowl Ravichandran Ashwin in the super over backfired as Victoria ended up winning unarguably the match of the Champions League T20 tournament so far at Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
David Hussey smashed three sixes to end a miserable day in the park for Ashwin as the Bushrangers notched up 23 runs in their super over.


 

World cricket has been rocked by some serious fixing allegations against Pakistani players and both the Scotland Yard and the International Cricket Council are investigating the matter.
There are allegations that three Pakistani cricketers took bribe from a bookie to bowl no-balls during the Lord's Test against England.
But Yuvraj said no bookie can approach him for fixing.
"Nobody can ever approach me for match-fixing. My body language is so strong for my country that nobody can lay a hand on me. For me, playing for India is a matter of pride. I will never want to stain my nation's honour," the dashing left-hander said.
Speaking on the match-fixing controversy Yuvraj said, "It is shameful both for the country as well as the individual. People get into wrong doings when they are young, but one must be honest. A good night sleep is more important than money.
"The youngsters must look up to their seniors for advice like we used to take help from Sachin (Tendulkar), (Rahul) Dravid and (Sourav) Ganguly," he told news channel India TV in a programme.
Yuvraj, whose lack of form over the past one year saw him lose his place in the one-day squad, said, "I suffered too many injuries in last one year. First, it was the knee injury and then I had a wrist injury. I also suffered three fractures.
"In fact, I have been facing ups and downs in my career for the past 10 years just like in my life. But there has never been any dearth of effort on my part. Though I'm not in form at the moment, I will be back very soon," Yuvraj said, though the Chandigarh lad is not in a mood to change his style of play.
Asked about the former cricketers who often advice him to change his style, Yuvraj said, "I listen to everybody but I do what I feel like. I was told to leave my attacking frame of mind and my aggressive tone. But If I leave my aggressive tone and attacking form, I don't think I would be successful."
"In cricket, the success rate for a batsman or a bowler is less than 50 per cent. I don't think there is any batsman at the moment who can score runs in every match, except for some exceptional players like Sachin and (Ricky) Ponting."
Asked about his world-record feat of hitting six sixes in an over in the T20 World Cup in 2007, Yuvraj said the verbal dual with Andrew Flintoff had spurred him to go after the English attack.
"Verbal battles always bring out the best in me, particularly when I'm playing for my country. During the England-India match, I got into a verbal dual with Flintoff and wanted to take revenge. And when I hit Stuart Broad for six sixes I thought 'hisaab barabar ho gaya bilkul' (account has been settled)."
Admitting that he is emotional, Yuvraj said, "I'm emotional but I never show. I have learned many lessons in my life. I now keep my emotions in check."
Asked why the Indian cricketers were not invited to M S Dhoni's wedding, Yuvraj said, "Ask him. Whenever we ask him, he tries to avoid it by saying that he has to go to a press conference or to the nets. I'm also not going to invite him to my wedding."
Karachi: Pakistan's ODI captain Shahid Afridi has rubbished allegations of spot fixing following his side's 23-run victory in the third one-dayer against England at the Oval.


The match had come under the scanner following claims by British tabloid The Sun that bookies knew details of Pakistan's innings even before Friday's third one-dayer began. The ICC in a statement said that investigation is warranted as information about a certain scoring pattern appeared to be "correct".
The allegations, however, have left Afridi shocked. "I thought we played hard cricket and tried our level best to win the match. I just see these new allegations as an attempt to put pressure on the team," Afridi was quoted as saying on Geo TV.
"It is very unfortunate because the players have been under pressure since the Lords Test and the one-day series is still wide open," the flamboyant skipper said.
The Pakistan skipper has, however, called for exemplary punishment if anyone is found guilty, but only on the basis of concrete proofs and the evidence should be made public.

The latest allegations come on the heels of Scotland Yard's investigations into the three Pakistani players' -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif -- alleged involvement in spot fixing during the Lord's Test last month.
The three accused players are presently in Pakistan, serving ICC's suspension.
The win at the Oval has given Pakistan a chance to win the one-day series, provided they win the next two games.
"Our job right now is to focus on the remaining two matches and that is what I have told the players. The board will handle the rest," Afridi said.
The skipper had some good news for Pakistani fans as wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has recovered from the finger injury he suffered during the third one-dayer and will be available for the next match on Sunday.








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