New Zealand win over England by six-wickets(+photos)

WELLINGTON — In a stunning came back of form, New Zealand thrashed England in their opening one-day cricket international by six wickets and with 20 overs to spare at Westpac Stadium here.The win came just days after England outplayed New Zealand in all departments in two Twenty20 matches.Given an extra 30 overs, New Zealand lost the toss but from then on won everything in a morale-boosting performance.England, opting to bat first, were all out for 130 in the 50th over and New Zealand knocked off the target with the loss of four wickets in 30 overs.Bolstered by the return of captain Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram, New Zealand showed no sign of the fragility evident when they spent the two shorter matches firmly on the back foot."We understood that we had to respond today and put in a good performance and whether we won or not was beside the point. But we came out and won, and won well, and it's a very happy dressing room." Vettori said."If we got up towards 200 runs it would have been a defendable total. New Zealand bowled well and fielded exceptionally well."New Zealand started on Saturday by keeping England openers Alastair Cook and Phil Mustard pinned down -- the first boundary from Mustard came only in the seventh over -- and the run rate seldom rose above three.After Chris Martin made the initial breakthrough bowling Cook for 11 in the 10th over, the wickets fell at regular intervals.
Martin bowled Ian bell for five, Oram bowled dangerman Kevin Pietersen for six and Scott Styris bowled Mustard for 31 to have England at four for 67 by the 22nd over.England didn't help their cause with three run-outs before off-spinner Jeetan Patel cleaned up the tail to finish with two for 14 while Martin and Styris both took two for 22.While the England batsmen played as if the slow pitch held demons, Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum played three overs with caution and then launched into the run chase.A six from Ryder and a four from McCullum lifted New Zealand to 18 without loss and they never dropped below four runs an over after that.By the 12th over Ryder and McCullum had taken New Zealand passed 50 and hit seven boundaries, as many as England scored in their entire innings."Whenever you chase a small total if you can get your 50 pretty quickly you take away all the elements of worrying about chasing it down," Vettori said."I think they did a really good job and it sets us up for the rest of the series."Ryder survived a chance on 21 when dropped by Graeme Swann at midwicket and added another 10 runs before being caught by substitute Luke Wright off the bowling of Stuart Broad for 31.McCullum also got a second chance, dropped by a diving Mustard when on 27 and went on to make 42, at a run a ball, before giving Broad his second wicket when Mustard made amends by taking a fine legside catch.New Zealand were then two for 83 in the 19th over and well in control as Jamie How and Ross Taylor stepped up the pace.How was eventually dismissed for 28, with New Zealand nine runs short of victory and it was left to Taylor, not out 24, and Peter Fulton on one to take New Zealand across the line.The second game in the five-match series is in Hamilton on Tuesday.

SHOAIB AKHTAR-Doing well against Australia would be a motivation:

LAHORE,Pakistan`s fast bowler Shoaib akhtar who has played 46 Tests and 138 one-day internationals,had who has taken 178 Test and 219 ODI wickets,said I want to play against Australia. I am making full preparations for the series against Australians as it is not an easy series,” he opined. Akhtar said doing well against Australia would be a motivation. “Australia are world number one team and the way Indians have done well against them, I am sure that we can also do well against them.” Pakistan hosts Australia in March-April this year.pan class="fullpost">Akhtar also showed interest in signing on for an Indian film, raising doubts over his cricket future. Akhtar, however, denied he was leaving the sport to join Bollywood. “I want to play cricket and just showing a little interest in films doesn’t mean I am leaving the game. Regarding acting in movies, Akhtar said that he had five to six offers of acting in films but he would not sign any film. “I would do films after retirement from cricket,” he concluded.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE FINAL TO BE HELD AT MUMBAI

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-promoted Indian Premier League T20 competition will open with a match between the Bangalore and Kolkata regions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on April 18.The semifinal finals (May 30 & 31) and the final (June 1) will be played at Mumbai. In all, 10 matches will be held in Mumbai — seven home league matches apart from the semifinals and final.
IPL sources said that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which won the Mumbai region for $111.9 million for 10 years, had a major say in choosing the venue of the three knock-out matches. The franchise bid document had made it explicit that the highest bidder will have the prerogative to choose the venue for the final weekend matches of the league.“It’s up to the eight franchisees to decide on the team name and they will announce it after receiving the approval from the IPL governing council. They have been given the guidelines document,” said Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, IPL and vice-president, BCCI.“We have finalised the umpires and match referee panel. It will be a mix of ICC and Indian officials. The ICC anti-corruption and security and anti-doping arrangements have all been finalised,” said Modi.

Australia`s Pakistan tour limited to four cities:

KARACHI - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to limit Australia's tour, which is under threat due to security concerns, to four venues, an official said on Wednesday.The proposed March-April tour will take place in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad.A senior PCB official said other venues, including Peshawar, Sheikhupura and Hyderabad, were not proposed due to organisational and financial aspects, while Rawalpindi stadium was being renovated."We want them to play at the big venues where matches can be organised smoothly and there is a bigger financial turnover," Zakir Khan, director of cricket operations said..Australia are scheduled to play three tests, five one-day internationals and twenty20 match on their first tour of Pakistan for 10 years but there have been concerns over the trip due to escalating violence in the country, including the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in December.

shoaib malik marraige controversiy:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan cricket team captain Shoaib Malik on Tuesday threatened to sue an Indian family for alleging he married their daughter in a ceremony conducted over the telephone five years ago.A family in the Indian city of Hyderabad last week claimed the marriage took place in June 2002 after a two-month courtship with witnesses on both sides.The Times of India quoted Mohammed Ahmed Siddiqui, the father of the woman, Ayesha, as saying Malik should acknowledge the marriage took place and divorce his daughter. He also threatened legal action.Speaking at a news conference, the Pakistani captain denied such a ceremony took place."I can claim with authority that no 'nikkah' (Muslim marriage ceremony) has ever been performed (by me) with a girl having a name of Ayesha," Malik said."This is an accusation against me, and I will take legal action, both in India and in Pakistan," he said.Malik's brother-in-law, Imran Zafar, acknowledged that the 26-year-old cricketer had been talking on the telephone and chatting on the Internet with a girl named Ayesha since 2001. They had also exchanged photographs via e-mail."He (Malik) developed a friendship with her, but there was no marriage ceremony ever performed," Zafar said.Zafar said he went to meet with the family in 2004, but never had the chance to meet Ayesha."They told me that the girl had gone to Saudi Arabia," he said.Then in 2005, Zafar said they learned that a teacher in Saudi Arabia was claiming to be Malik's wife.When they investigated and obtained a photo of the teacher, they found she wasn't the woman Malik had been talking with, he said."From then on, Malik had no contact with that girl," Zafar said.Zafar said he plans to travel to India to see how he can file a legal suit against the Siddiquis.
Malik became Pakistan's cricket captain last year after the team's disastrous performance in the World Cup..

Cricket goes to Bollywood

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has become one of the richest sports bodies in the world, its annual income exceeding the turnover of a large number of private companies.IT IS raining money on Indian cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, the governing body of the game, will rake in over 50 billion rupees over the next three years from the domestic Twenty20 cricket league alone.The rights to regional teams for the Indian Premier League (IPL) were recently auctioned to a group of industrialists and film stars.

The country’s richest industrialist, Mukesh Ambani of the Reliance Group of Industries; the reigning Khan of Bollywood, Shah Rukh; and top liquor manufacturer Vijay Mallya were among the successful bidders for regional IPL franchises.Ambani bid the highest amount of 4.41 billion rupees for Mumbai. Mallya got hometown Bangalore for 4.4 billion rupees, and Shah Rukh with former actress Juhi Chawla bagged Calcutta for 2.96 billion rupees.There was another Bollywood winner in actress Preity Zinta who with industrialist boyfriend Ness Wadia won Mohali (Punjab) for three billion rupees . Chennai went to a cement manufacturer, while Hyderabad was bagged by a local newspaper group. A construction company won the right to the Delhi team.

Pakistan`s great victory against Zimbabwe:

SHEIKHUPURA, Pakistan —Fifth one-day International, 187-3 beat Zimbabwe 181 by seven wicketsYounis Khan's half century upstaged Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the fifth and final limited overs international to blank the tourists 5-0 in the one-day series.Younis smashed a 51-ball 63 and added 97 runs with debutant Khurram Manzoor (50) for the second wicket to help the home team overhaul a modest target of 182 with 19 overs to spare at Sheikhupura Stadium.Two young debutants -- pacemen Abdur Rauf (3-45) and Wahab Riaz (2-19) -- earlier bowled with fire to knock Zimbabwe out for 181 in 45.4 overs.Pakistan's convincing win enthralled a crowd of 20,000 who braved the chilly weather in open stands to witness the first match at the venue for 10 years.The home team were never in trouble in their run-chase, even after losing opener Nasir Jamshed (19) in the seventh over as Younis and Manzoor made it child's play against Zimbabwe's bowling.Younis hit eight boundaries and a six before being caught at mid-on by stand-in captain Hamilton Masakadza off left-arm spinner Ray Price.
Manzoor, who hit six boundaries off 74 balls, was bowled by Price an over later but Misbah-ul Haq (31 not out) and Fawad Alam (14 not out) saw off the runs without facing any problems.Earlier, Pakistan once again bowled with discipline to put the tourists in trouble right from the start.Rauf had opener Masakadza (five) in the fifth over before returning for his second spell to dismiss Gary Brent (seven) and Chris Mpofu (nought) to lead Pakistan's new-look bowling attack.Pakistan, leading 4-0 in the five-match series, made five changes from the line-up of their previous match -- bringing back experienced batsman Younis and awarding one-day debuts to Riaz, Rauf, Rizwan Ahmed and Manzoor.Zimbabwe, still without captain Prosper Utseya and frontline paceman Tawanda Mupariwa, remained unchanged.Opener Vusi Sibanda (18) was run out before left-arm fast bowler Riaz took over, dismissing Tatenda Taibu (six) and Sean Williams (19), while Shoaib Malik trapped Chamu Chibhabha (one) leg-before as the tourists struggled to 67-5.A sixth wicket stand of 85 between Brendon Taylor (49) and Elton Chigumbura (34) gave some respectability to their total.Taylor hit five boundaries during his 79-ball knock before he was bowled by Malik.Chigumbura hit two boundaries off 57 balls before being stumped by Sarfraz Ahmed off left-arm spinner Fawad Alam.Pakistan then wrapped up the tail in quick time to set up the whitewash.
The home team won the first match in Karachi by 104 runs, followed by victories at Hyderabad (five wickets), Multan (37 runs) and Faisalabad (seven wickets).

Australia Beats India in Twenty20 Cricket

Australia's cricket team has beaten India by nine wickets in a Twenty20 International match in Melbourne, Australia.After bowling India out for only 74 runs -- the second lowest total ever in a Twenty20 match -- Australia scored 75-1 in 11.2 overs. Irfan Pathan was India's top scorer with only 26 runs before being caught out.Michael Clarke was unbeaten on 37, and Brad Hodge was on 10. Adam Gilchrist scored 25 from 22 balls for the home side, in a match played in front of more than 84,000 fans.The victory was Australia's first in three Twenty20 matches against India. The two teams start a limited-overs triangular series that includes Sri Lanka Sunday when Australia faces India in Brisbane.

Nothing more important than playing for Pakistan:SHOaiB AKHTAR

Karachi :Pakistan`s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's sudden appearance in the national team's practice session at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.Shoaib has remained out of public view since returning home from India and even the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials said the pacer had not tried to contact them even after being dropped from the central contracts list and the home series against Zimbabwe.Despite being ignored for the home one-day series against Zimbabwe on fitness grounds and dropped from the central contracts list, express bowler Shoaib Akhtar declared nothing was more important to him than playing for his country."I have no problems if they don't give me a contract. I don't need one to play for Pakistan. Playing for my country is a far bigger honour than anything else and I don't just play for money," he told reporters. Shoaib has finally came out of his self-imposed hibernation and showed up for a training session at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Shoaib categorically denied signing a contract to act in any Indian film and insisted playing for Pakistan was his biggest goal and honour."When I have not signed anything why are they making a big issue of it. Someone spoke to me and that is all. As an individual I can consider many things but cricket remains my top priority," he said.