Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq credited his bowlers, who sparked a dramatic New Zealand collapse in the evening session to seal his team’s crushing win

Andrew Fernando at Seddon Park09-Jan-2011Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq credited his bowlers, who sparked a dramatic New Zealand collapse in the evening session to seal his team’s crushing win. Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz began the demolition, picking up three wickets apiece, while Umar Gul came in to blast out the tail as the hosts were rolled for 110. New Zealand lost all ten wickets for 77 runs in the final session of play, bringing a premature end to a Test match that had promised a closely-fought contest at stumps on the previous day.”We didn’t feel like we were going to win today because the wicket was a bit flat and a bit slow,” Misbah said. “It wasn’t easy to get batsmen out here, but I think the bowlers did a fantastic job and they won the match for us today. They stuck to the job and did very well for the team.”He said the aim for the Pakistan bowlers had been to keep a good line and length and limit scoring opportunities. “The pitch is slow so it’s not easy to score runs. The way I batted, I felt that it was a really tough wicket to score runs on. Batsmen get frustrated when they get stuck there and have to face a lot of deliveries without scoring many runs.”So that was the key, to bowl in the right areas and just keep the batsmen frustrated and they are going to make mistakes.”Misbah also praised his batsmen for sticking to their plans, as they attempted to bat time and accumulate steadily. “We batted well. Our plan was to bat a bit longer and we wanted a bigger lead, because it looked like batting in the fourth innings was going to be trouble on this wicket.”Misbah put New Zealand’s woeful collapse in the second innings down to inexperience and lack of patience, while affirming his side’s efforts in the field. “I think that most batsmen are not used to these kinds of wickets where run-scoring is really difficult. You have to be a bit patient. As a batsman you feel under pressure when there are maiden overs and dot balls and you do make mistakes. We bowled and fielded well, and a 92-run lead would have been another thing on the batsmen’s mind. I think all these things came together and we were able to get through.”

Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald, who was appointed New Zealand’s bowling coach on Monday, has said that he hopes to instill aggression in the side’s bowling ranks

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2011Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald, who was appointed New Zealand’s bowling coach on Monday, has said that he hopes to instill aggression in the side’s bowlers.”This is an opportunity I have been waiting for, and I know I’m coming into a side which has had a few problems in one-day cricket but I feel I can help with the bowlers,” Donald said. “The big thing I always focus on is attitude and intensity and that all started at the training ground.”New Zealand have not won a Test since February 2010 when they defeated Bangladesh, but have suffered from bigger setbacks in the one-day format in which they are on a 11-match losing streak. The lack of incisiveness in the bowling, particularly since the retirement of Shane Bond, has been one of their worries. The 44-year-old Donald insisted that his focus would be to get the bowling unit to punch above its collective weight.”You can’t expect miracles and we need to discuss this as a bowling group, I need to find out from them about what their thoughts are and what they’re lacking, where we can improve,” Donald said. “But I’ve got to try and find a way to inspire. I grew up in a South African set-up where I knew what I was going to get from the guy at the other end, and I knew what I was going to get from the bowling group as a collective unit.”I’ve played against New Zealand a lot. I felt you could pick out the individuals within the bowling unit who were going to make a difference, guys like Dion Nash and Chris Cairns, for instance. But not collectively, and I think that’s what we need to bring to the table as a collective unit, the intensity and the attitude. You can work with someone who’s got a dodgy action or struggling, or injury prevention. If the fitness and strength is good then the mental aspect will fall into it.”Donald was also keen to bring about a difference in the way the bowlers trained. “You’re working with players who know and understand their actions and their roles in the team, so you’re not going to come in and over-coach things, but the big thing I always focus on is attitude and intensity, and that starts at the training ground,” he said. “I learned a lot from Eddie Barlow and he kicked my butt when I was practising wrong. So not only the skills, but that’s the inspiration I think these boys need now.”Donald was confident that he would have a rich line of talent to work with. “I switched the TV on the other day and I saw this kid Adam Milne run in at 150kmh, so there are some bright youngsters coming through the ranks. I like Tim Southee, I watched him the last three days [of the Wellington Test] and the way he operated. I think you need a guy who has got a bit of white-line fever. That aggression is good and that’s the kind of attitude that I’m talking about as a collective unit that we need to instill.”I know it’s not in everybody’s culture and makeup to be that aggressive but I think that the team needs to understand how it lifts people and the buzz it creates.”

WIPA has expressed concern claiming that the West Indies team was not provided a security consultant whilst other participating teams had been by their respective boards

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2011The West Indies Players’ Association, the players’ representative body in the Caribbean, has strongly condemned the stone-pelting of the West Indies team bus by angry fans following Bangladesh’s nine-wicket defeat in Dhaka. It also expressed concern claiming that the West Indies team was not provided a security consultant whilst other participating teams had been by their respective boards.”It is regrettable what transpired in Bangladesh, thankfully none of our players are hurt,” The WIPA chairman Dinanath Ramnarine was quoted in a release. “The potential for terrible incidents like this one today is why we insist that the standards agreed for regional and international matches must be continuously assessed and must be met at all times as it relates to the security of our players and other related matters.”We just cannot wait for something more serious to happen to pay attention to the issue of security, we need to be proactive”.The WIPA has requested the ICC and/or the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a full report of the incident, and called for a revised security assessment to ensure such an incident didn’t happen again.The release added: “Given the serious ambush and assault by gunmen on the bus of the Sri Lankan players almost exactly two years ago to the date, WIPA is concerned that while other teams were provided with their personal security consultant by their respective boards, the West Indies team was not provided with the same level of support.”WIPA is naturally concerned about the attack – more specifically about the ability of individuals to be able to attack the bus, without the protection layer promised in the Event security plans …”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, played down the incident, calling it “minor”. The WICB, meanwhile, said the team had a meeting and left for Mohali for its next game as planned. “The WICB is satisfied with the security arrangements for the Cricket World Cup and the team management will continue to work closely with the event organisers and local officials to ensure that the safety and well being of the players remains paramount at all times.”The Bangladesh bowling coach, Ian Pont, told ESPNcricinfo that the Bangladesh team bus had also been stoned.Fans in Dhaka apologised to both teams the next day.

A day before Bangladesh kicked off their much-anticipated World Cup campaign, they were visited in the nets by two World Cup heroes

Sidharth Monga in Mirpur18-Feb-2011A day before Bangladesh kicked off their much-anticipated World Cup campaign, they were visited in the nets by two World Cup heroes, central characters from their two biggest wins in the global tournament. Aminul Islam was the captain when they shocked the world with a win over Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 1999, and Mashrafe Mortaza Man of the Match when they stunned India eight years later at Port-of-Spain.Aminul, now a development officer with the Asian Cricket Council, looks just the same as he did all those years ago. Mashrafe, although hurting from a World Cup snub on fitness grounds, is the same childishly enthusiastic fellow from four years ago despite all those injuries, six surgeries on one knee, and the heartbreak and frustration that comes with it.Talking to them, in a simplistic sort of way, charters Bangladesh’s growth and history as a cricketing nation. Aminul remembers his side’s win over Pakistan resulted in his first first-class flight. If Aminul’s generation lit a flame in Bangladesh’s heart, Mashrafe and friends had to keep it from dying after lukewarm years in between.”It was the first World Cup for Bangladesh,” Aminul says of 1999. “Our target was beat Scotland, and play better against other teams. In that regard, the start was very good.”I remember a couple of journalists came to interview me before the match day. I said we will try to play better cricket, but never thought we were going to win. On that particular day we played great cricket, and were better in every department compared to Pakistan.”Coming slowly as it did, the win tested Bangladesh’s nerves. After having Pakistan at 42 for 5 and 102 for 7, they have to wait anxiously, and persevere. The height of that examination was when the last wicket, a run-out, was referred to the third umpire. The supporters in the stands couldn’t take it any more, and charged onto the field.”If he [Saqlain Mushtaq, the last man] wouldn’t have been given out, I don’t know what would have happened. It would have taken a few hours to take the crowd out of the ground,” Aminul says.After the game, Aminul went to the Pakistan dressing room, and realised it was a mistake. “They [Pakistan] were never expecting to lose against Bangladesh, since they had won all the matches in the league stages,” he says. “But I remember one thing, after winning I went to their dressing room, and I did not receive a very good welcome because they thought this was a disaster for them. Losing against a team like Bangladesh, they never took it well.”For Bangladesh, though, the win paved the way for their Test status, and also development of cricket in the country. In fact after the match, when the prime minister called to congratulate Aminul, he asked not for rewards but for more cricket grounds. Now they have a truly world-class international venue in Mirpur, plus four other international grounds. Aminul, however, wants more.”It is wonderful that we have five international stadiums,” Aminul says. “But I would have been happier if we had more cricket fields all around the country, for 150 million people and thousands and thousands of schools to play. We need better playing grounds for them, not stadiums.”He might not have had the benefits of the best playgrounds when he was growing up, but Mashrafe turned out to be one fine cricketer for Bangladesh. Man of the Match in both Bangladesh’s wins over India, Mashrafe now has to sit out of the match the whole country is talking about. Still he can’t keep himself from coming to the nets and training with the team. He wears his Abahani shirt to training, always.”I am disappointed that I will not play a part tomorrow,” he says. “The worst part is that I am fully fit now and even then I am out. But at the same time the boys who are playing are all very capable players. But I am practising hard so that I can be available if the team needs me.”I am not hoping that any of our fast bowlers gets injured, but I am just staying ready if I am needed.”The man who used to jump off bridges onto moving vehicles, and was a sort of amateur stuntman with bikes, might have the same restless energy to him, but there is a wise head too. Talking about tomorrow’s games, he says, “The main difference between the two teams is that for India if just two or three players perform, they can win against us. But for us to beat India we would need contributions from all our boys. You have to remember [Syed] Rasel, Shakib [Al Hasan], [Mohammad] Rafique all played very well in that match [that they won in 2007]. Tamim [Iqbal] performed beyond himself. Everybody chipped in and we would need a similar performance on Saturday. We cannot afford to bank on just Tamim and Shakib.”If 1999 earned Bangladesh Test status and recognition, the class of 2007 earned them respect. “All teams used to ignore us earlier. They would think, ‘Bangladesh is coming; we will win easily.’ It used to hurt a lot. Nowadays, they cannot afford to do this.” Not in this World Cup for sure.

Rajasthan Royals executed a well-calibrated chase against an off-colour Delhi Daredevils attack to register their second win in two games and move atop the IPL leaderboard

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar12-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRahul Dravid put the chase on track with characteristic elegance•AFP

Rajasthan Royals executed a well-calibrated chase against an off-colour Delhi Daredevils attack to register their second win in two games and move atop the IPL leaderboard. The senior players soaked up the pressure – Rahul Dravid set up the chase and Johan Botha anchored it – while the youngsters, Ashok Menaria and Ajinkya Rahane, batted with freedom to keep the required-rate under control. Ross Taylor added the finishing touches with his trademark leg-side lashes.While Rajasthan’s batting flowed seamlessly, their bowling was a tale of two halves. Their fortunes were typified by Shaun Tait’s four one-over spells. He got rid of Virender Sehwag and Aaron Finch – two parts of Delhi’s powerful top-order trinity – in his first two overs. David Warner, the third part, survived Tait and saw off a sublime spell from Shane Warne before counter-punching along with Venugopal Rao. Tait was either too short or too full in his last couple of overs, and allowed Delhi to haul themselves from 43 for 4 after 10 overs, to 151. Their bowlers, however, let them down.”I am used to facing all these fast bowlers.” – Sehwag’s emphatic declaration before the game set up his confrontation with Tait. The encounter was, however, was short. Sehwag cracked his first ball through point but Tait hit back immediately with sheer pace. Taking guard after Sehwag’s sizzle and fizzle, Finch barely saw the three thunderbolts – one of them touching 157 kph – that burst through his defences. One over of high impact – one spell out of the way.Botha and Siddharth Trivedi were not so menacing with the ball, and Tait returned for the fifth over. Finch promptly succumbed to another pacy bouncer, and Tait was off the attack again. Warne struck twice in his first over, nailing Unmukt Chand with a quick dipping legbreak, and Naman Ojha with a slower, looping delivery. Thereafter, Rajasthan let the pressure ease, allowing Warner and Rao to find an escape route. Rao checked in with a couple of controlled boundaries against spin before Warner preyed upon Trivedi’s poor lines.Warner plundered Tait’s indiscretions in length for three boundaries in his third over. He reached his 50 by cutting Warne in front of square before handing over the baton to his partner. Rao launched two successive slower balls from Trivedi for sixes over the off side, before Irfan Pathan slugged boundaries off Tait’s closing over to hustle Delhi to challenging total.Dravid ignited the chase with a series of boundaries off Ashok Dinda, but Amit Paunikar missed a wild slog to gift him a wicket. Pathan had shown signs of regaining his famous inswinger in Delhi’s first game. Today, however, he resorted to listless offcutters that Dravid pounced upon. With his seamers disappointing, Sehwag resorted to Roelof van der Merwe’s spin in the sixth over, and Dravid greeted him with two elegant boundaries. Fifty-seven had come off the Powerplay, and the game was heading Rajasthan’s way.van der Merwe gave Delhi an opening by getting Dravid to edge behind, but Botha and Menaria carried on without a fuss. With a stance and swagger reminiscent of Yuvraj Singh, Menaria camped on the back foot and looked to muscle anything too short or too full over midwicket. He thumped sixes off three consecutive overs before carving Pathan straight to cover. Botha was relentless though, in his new No. 3 avatar, executing paddle sweeps at will and keeping things under control. Rahane kept the flag flying, and though Morne Morkel uprooted his stumps in the 16th over it was too little too late.

Sussex opener Ed Joyce scored his second century in consecutive weeks as his team made full use of a superb batting wicket at the Rose Bowl

04-May-2011Sussex 321 for 3 v Hampshire
ScorecardSussex opener Ed Joyce scored his second century in consecutive weeks as his team made full use of a superb batting wicket at the Rose Bowl. The Ireland player recorded his 26th first-class century as Sussex finished the first day on 321 for 3 from 97 overs.Joyce also scored a century last week at Hove against Lancashire and continued his fine form at the expense of a toiling Hampshire attack, making 103.Sussex captain Murray Goodwin had no hesitation in choosing to bat first after winning the toss and was justified as Somerset raced to 100 without loss in the 30th over. Chris Nash also profited from the conditions in helping lay the foundations for a big first-innings total. Nash and Joyce put on 191 before Hampshire made their first breakthrough in the 55th over.Nash was the first to go, leg before wicket to Sean Ervine after making 78 in an innings which included 12 fours and came off 167 balls. Nash had one piece of luck, surviving a strong appeal for a catch at the wicket when he had made only 28.Joyce went on to complete his century before Hampshire removed him soon afterwards. He faced 221 balls and hit 18 fours before Friedel de Wet got a leg before wicket verdict at the end of the 70th over.The only other Sussex wicket to fall came at 263 at the start of the 75th over when Luke Wells failed to get to the pitch of the ball from spinner Danny Briggs and gave Johann Myburgh a simple catch at slip. Left-hander Wells made 37 and helped establish Sussex in a commanding position.Goodwin was then joined by Ben Brown and they added a further 58 runs in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand to see Sussex through to the close. Hampshire did themselves no favours, conceding 16 runs in no-balls but promising Briggs was not responsible for any of those.Briggs got through 28 overs and had the wicket of Wells to show in conceding 83 runs but there was little in the surface to help the Hampshire attack.Goodwin, leading the side in the absence of Michael Yardy, has so far hit boundaries while for Hampshire, their captain Dominic Cork, was economic, conceding only 55 from 22 overs.

The ronin, Kieron Pollard, makes the difference for the West Indies.

Sriram Veera14-Jun-2011In some ways Kieron Pollard represents this West Indies team. He is the ronin of world cricket – the samurai with no master. Pollard plays Twenty20 cricket around the globe. He also plays for West Indies. And on days like today, when he does well, you see hope filtering through the cracks.Some say that West Indies has been economically, politically and socially dislocated. That those bricks of anti-colonialism that once held the wall of solidarity among cricketing fraternity have fallen. In this age of rootless culture, the way forward for this team might be individual salvation. Fire in Babylon is passé. It’s fire in the individual belly that counts. Pollard is flag bearer of this new generation. As Tony Cozier wrote once on a West Indies tour of Australia, “it could be individual self-interest that strengthens the team ethic on this tour and beyond.”Pollard says he doesn’t find much of a difference playing in an IPL team or West Indies team. “It’s not much different. When you go out to bat it’s got nothing to do with the team. It’s you alone with the bat against the opposition. I don’t think it has got anything to with the atmosphere of the team. You have to find a right way to train and fit into the team.”Things rolled out very well today. For someone who plays so imperiously straight down the ground, he has perplexed with his heaves across the line, when playing quality spin. When the ball dips rapidly on him and he is not quite up to the pitch of the ball, he just heaves across. In a previous game, he was trapped lbw by one such attempt against Amit Mishra. Today, though, he changed that approach. When the ball wasn’t in his arc, he defended. The bat came ahead of the pad, the bat-face was straight, and he rarely played across anything in desperation.It didn’t come without some early nerves though. Off his eighth delivery, he went hard at a leg break from Manoj Tiwary but it flew off the edge to safety. A ball later, he again went for a big swing but it spun away from the edge. There is a thin line between imperiousness and foolhardiness. He was living on that edge. He had described what runs through his mind in those states. “If it’s the first ball or the last ball, it doesn’t matter if the ball is in my arc.”Another Tiwary over saw him really settle. The first ball crash landed on the sightscreen, the second flew past a startled Tiwary, and Pollard was on his way. This was the moment of danger. Will the adrenalin surge through too much? It was also the moment that the captain Suresh Raina got into the act. He placed himself at mid-off with a long-off behind him. It was almost the field setting that MS Dhoni had set once to entrap Pollard in an IPL game. Tiwary floated the ball across and Pollard leaned forward to push it quietly to the off side. And he stayed quiet for the rest of the over, tapping it gently to the off. It was the moment you realised that it’s a very determined Pollard who is out there today.The next four came 25 deliveries after that four against Tiwary. Yet again, it was straight down the ground. The next four boundaries too came from careful shot selection. Each of those deliveries were either on the legs or so short that he could flick or swing them to the on side boundary. There were no hoicks or heaves. It wasn’t a slugfest out there. By the time he fell, Pollard had pushed West Indies towards a competitive total. With little bit of help from the Indian batsmen, who displayed poor shot selection, and a strong hand from Anthony Martin, the home side would win the day.Rewind to the day before the third ODI. Pollard is asked a direct question. How hungry are you to play for West Indies? “I am very very very very hungry to do well for West Indies. I try my very best to do well for West Indies or any side that I play for.” The ronin did it for West Indies today.

Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2011Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011.He will become the first Sri Lankan and the first current international cricketer to be invited to speak at the annual event which comes a day after Sri Lanka meet England at Lord’s for the third ODI of the series.Sangakkara will also take over from 2009 speaker, Adam Gilchrist, as the youngest man to deliver the lecture, which has been given by people such as Geoffrey Boycott, Desmond Tutu and, most recently, Imran Khan.The lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Colin Cowdrey, a past president of MCC, who – together with another former club president, Ted Dexter – was instrumental in the Spirit of Cricket being included as the Preamble to the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket.Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the commentator and current MCC President, said: “Sri Lanka have been so consistently successful in world cricket that it is very appropriate that a distinguished cricketer from this beautiful country should be giving the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture.”Kumar Sangakkara is widely respected in cricket not only as a brilliant player but as a highly intelligent one. His views on topical matters will be truly illuminating and many people will be looking forward to hearing what he has to say.”

Intikhab Alam , the manager of the Pakistan team, has said a small clique of players within the national side had contributed to a divisive culture that has dogged Pakistan cricket in the last few years

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2011Intikhab Alam, the manager of the Pakistan team, has said a small clique of players within the national side have interfered in the team’s management, leaked confidential information and contributed to the divisive culture and controversies that have dogged Pakistan cricket in the last few years.”There were times when, 15 minutes after a team meeting, television channels were running tickers about things that happened or were discussed in the meeting,” Intikhab told , a local television channel.”There are many things that are not for public and media consumption, and when they are leaked to the media it creates problems within the team,” he said. “There is a need for these players to sit down and discuss everything, including reservations with the management.”Pakistani cricket was rocked by the spot-fixing scandal last summer, but apart from that, there has been an increasing divide between the board and its players. In March 2010, the PCB banned and fined seven of its top players after the side’s disastrous, winless tour of Australia. Eventually the punishments were reduced or rescinded altogether.More recently, Shahid Afridi was hauled up by the Pakistan board for publicly revealing his disagreements with coach Waqar Younis after the tour of the West Indies. Afridi had announced his retirement from international cricket after being replaced by Misbah-ul-Haq as one-day captain, while simultaneously attacking unnamed members of the board. The PCB responded by suspending his central contract and withdrawing his no-objection certificate to play county cricket for Hampshire, as well as putting together a showcause notice detailing several breaches of the code of conduct.Afridi filed a petition with the Sindh High Court against the PCB, but the matter was resolved when Afridi and the board came to a compromise: his NOC was reinstated after he withdrew the petition. On July 2 legspinner Danish Kaneria filed a petition against the board in the Sindh High Court in the wake of his continued non-clearance by the board’s integrity committee.Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq admitted earlier this week that playing through the controversies had been akin to “mental torture” and Intikhab said the recent incidents had “damaged Pakistan cricket and are not good for our image”, but attempts were now being made to change the culture. “We are trying to set things right now and developing a more positive culture,” he said.”We have also tried reforming and reasoning with the players, and they are now responding well, which is good for Pakistan cricket.”Intikhab, who was critical of Afridi, in his West Indies tour report said his reports were based on “facts”. “Whatever I have written in my reports is fact and what I honestly believe is true, and it is my own personal assessment of the players.”If I try to hide these things I am not helping Pakistan cricket or these players. [The] truth must come out,” he said.

A round-up of the first day’s action from the European Under-19 Championship Division Two

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2011Denmark got off to an impressive start in the European Under-19 Championship Division Two, thumping Belgium by 168 runs in Castletown. Having been put in to bat, Denmark’s openers put together a stubborn 61-run opening stand, but Belgium hit back with two wickets for the addition of no runs. Hamid Shah, however, changed the complexion of the game with a busy 110-run stand with Anders Bulow. Shah stroked 70 off 72 balls, while opener Bulow was more cautious in making 78 off 110 balls. Basit Raja and Siddique Raja ensured Denmark got a flying finish, contributing 40 and 33 respectively in quick time. Chasing 303, Belgium fell behind the eight-ball steadily following a 27-run opening stand. Hameed helped himself to a five-wicket haul, while Aqeel Amjad finished with 3 for 19 off ten stifling overs. With no batsman managing to pass 30, Belgium folded without a fight in 33 overs.After France were bowled out for 183 in the 47th over, they would not have expected to win the match by a margin of over 100 runs. However, Israel crumbled in a shocking display that lasted less than 20 overs, handing France a 128-run win in Mullen-e-Cloie. Batting first, France stumbled to their sub-par total due to the inability of their batsmen to build on starts. Six batsmen were dismissed for scores between 14 and 29, as they kept losing steam through an underwhelming batting effort. Nir Dokarker, Itamar Kehimkar and Josh Evans finished with two wickets apiece, leaving Israel with what seemed like a manageable chase. Their openers pushed the score to 18 for 0 before things went pear-shaped in a hurry. Shifron Waskar (10) was the only batsmen to get into double-figures, as the French bowlers skittled Israel out for 55, with Zika Ali the most impressive with figures of 4 for 5 in 3.1 overs.Italy cruised to a 171-run win against Germany in another one-sided affair in Tromode. The win was built around captain and opener Roshendra Abeywickrama’s sparkling 156 at just under a run-a-ball. He shared a 95-run opening stand with Abdur Bhuiyan to set up the innings and though none of the other Italy batsmen managed to contribute substantially, they ensured the innings never lost momentum. Abeywickrama hit 15 fours in his innings before becoming the Italian ninth wicket to fall. Mansor Mubarik’s four-wicket haul did not really stall Italy’s progress since it came at an uneconomical 7.66 runs per over. Germany’s chase of 288 fizzled away in the face of some incisive new-ball bowling, and they stumbled to 116 all-out in the 34th over.The other encounters of the day were so one-sided that they made Spain‘s 85-run humbling of Gibraltar in Castletown the closest finish of the day. Gibraltar began brilliantly thanks to opening bowler Matthew Hunter, whose efforts helped reduce Spain to 2 for 0 and later 27 for 5. Spain then launched a stirring recovery through their captain Joel Brook and No. 7 Charlie Cook. Brook was cautious in his approach, making 82 off 134 balls, but Cook was adventurous in his 51 that came at better than run-a-ball. The pair added 95 to haul their side out of the woods, before Guy Dumas skittled out the tail, leaving Brook undefeated. Hunter, who finished with a five-for opened the batting as well, but he proved to be no Rock of Gibraltar. Opening bowlers Jack Sunderland and Ben Girling rocked the chase early with a flurry of wickets that left Gibraltar gasping at 43 for 6. Philip DJ Dumas provided some late resistance, but it was only a matter of time before Gibraltar succumbed for 97 in under 25 overs, with extras contributing 26.