If not for some stern words from the leadership pair of Brendon McCullum and Kane Willamson during the final drinks break on Saturday, New Zealand might have found it hard to stop England from marching away with a massive lead. That was the moment Tim Southee pinpointed when asked to reveal exactly what had helped New Zealand bounce back late on the third evening of an exciting first Test.

“The first half of the session we just ambled,” said Southee, who bagged three wickets in 17 deliveries to swell his match tally to six. “Brendon pulled the guys up during the drinks session and Kane gave us a few stern words. That did mean something because we were meandering along in the field.”

Until that final hour of the day, England had imposed themselves completely. Their bowlers made amends for the errors of Friday, by bowling fuller lengths to earn a first-innings lead. And even when Alastair Cook and Nick Compton had departed in quick succession having made good starts, England recovered through the diligence of the impressive Joe Root and the rock solid Jonathan Trott, who was enjoying playing on one of his favourite grounds, where he has now eight successive 50-plus scores. Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com

Match facts
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Start time 2000 (1630 GMT)

Big Picture
At the start of the IPL season, few would have tipped Sunrisers Hyderabad to be one of the four teams that qualify for the playoffs. Now, however, their prospects in their first season have boiled down to one simple task in the very last league game, against Kolkata Knight Riders: a win. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who beat Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, have drawn level with Sunrisers on 18 points, making this a must win-match for Sunrisers. Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com

Match facts
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Start time 2000 (1630 GMT)

Big Picture
At the start of the IPL season, few would have tipped Sunrisers Hyderabad to be one of the four teams that qualify for the playoffs. Now, however, their prospects in their first season have boiled down to one simple task in the very last league game, against Kolkata Knight Riders: a win. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who beat Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, have drawn level with Sunrisers on 18 points, making this a must win-match for Sunrisers.

Sunrisers stand out when compared to the other teams that have already entered the playoffs or are competing to get there. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and even Royal Challengers Bangalore have strong batting units while Rajasthan Royals are a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Sunrisers, however, find themselves on the brink of qualification simply on the strength of their bowling. That strength was on display again when they defended 136 against Rajasthan Royals; Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra and Thisara Perera kept a vice-like grip on the run-rate. More importantly, for most of the season when the bowlers have not been defending small totals, they’ve restricted the opposition to scores that their batting has managed to chase down. Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after its emergency meeting in Chennai on Sunday, has said it will not hesitate to take swift and strong action against any player found guilty of malpractice or illegal activities in the IPL or otherwise. While maintaining that the BCCI was “handicapped” when it comes to control over bookies, the board president N Srinivasan said the BCCI has decided to initiate a probe into the three of the four arrested players – Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan – and that it will act accordingly once its disciplinary committee receives a report from its chief anti-corruption officer, Ravi Sawani.

Speaking to the press after an hour-and-a-half long meeting, Srinivasan also said that the Rajasthan Royals franchise will file an FIR against the arrested players.

“The actions taken in future will be based on recommendations we are provided, to ensure stricter monitoring of players. We won’t hesitate to take ruthless action against the player found guilty,” said Srinivasan. “The BCCI will not cover up anybody; our actions must be fair. We will act after the disciplinary committee’s report proves the players guilty. Read more
Courtesy : ibnlive.in.com

Impressed with a fit-again Zaheer Khan’s magnificent bowling show against Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Ray Jennings is hopeful that the veteran pacer will play a key role in the play-offs if the team sneaks into the next round.

“The tough thing for me was to try get Zak match fit. Hopefully he hasn’t started off too late and he is going to help us in semi-finals and finals,” said Jennings after a 24-run win over Chennai Super Kings in which Zaheer took four wickets in two overs last night. We all know that when he is match fit he has amazing ability to handle the heat and the pressure in key moments. He even surprised me of his catch at the end. He was fired up,” he told reporters here. Read more
Courtesy : ibnlive.in.com

The race for the fourth spot still hangs in the balance, and Sunrisers Hyderabad face the last obstacle in their path. After handing Rajasthan Royals one of their more comprehensive defeats this season, Hyderabad have taken out quite a few positives. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders are already out of the tournament after their “mathematical equation” was laid to rest by party poopers Pune Warriors but Gautam Gambhir and his team would aim play for pride and make things tedious for Hyderabad.

Kolkata’s campaign was an overall disappointment. After winning the fifth edition in 2012, a lot was expected out of them but sadly the side looked nothing like last year. Uncertainties in the batting line up and the overall composition of the team was questioned throughout. In their last encounter, KKR suffered a shock defeat to Pune who have been the weakest team in this tournament. Chasing 170, KKR fell short by seven runs which acted as a final nail in the coffin. Read more
Courtesy : ibnlive.in.com

Pakistan eased to a 96-run win over Scotland in the first of two one-day internationals in Edinburgh.

Pakistan finished their 50-over innings on 231-7 despite a decent bowling performance from the hosts at The Grange.

Three wickets from Majid Haq meant he became Scotland’s leading wicket-taker in one-day international matches.

However, Scotland only managed 135 as Pakistan bowled out their opponents in the 40th over. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh’s opening stand of 143 helped Essex chase down a target of 275 with just seven balls to spare against Glamorgan.

Westley (88) and Mickleburgh (66) gave Essex the ideal start and Mark Pettini (47no) saw them home on 275-5.

Earlier, an excellent 101 by Glamorgan captain Mark Wallace and 55 from Graham Wagg helped the Welsh county to 388.

But in a sun-bathed Swalec stadium, Essex edged to their second win of the season by five wickets. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

Opener Niall O’Brien hit a half century against his old club as Leicestershire played out a draw on the final day against leaders Northants.

The home side delayed their declaration until they reached 215-8, with debutant Ben Duckett (53) sharing an unbroken stand of 82 with Steven Crook (33)

A target of 337 was well out of reach for the visitors in the time left.

But O’Brien made 59 before falling to Trent Copeland and a halt was called with Leicestershire on 168-3.

Northants appeared to have a fourth victory of the summer in mind when Copeland’s 7-63 earned them a 121-run first-innings lead, but they were caught between two stools after losing wickets themselves. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

If not for some stern words from the leadership pair of Brendon McCullum and Kane Willamson during the final drinks break on Saturday, New Zealand might have found it hard to stop England from marching away with a massive lead. That was the moment Tim Southee pinpointed when asked to reveal exactly what had helped New Zealand bounce back late on the third evening of an exciting first Test.

“The first half of the session we just ambled,” said Southee, who bagged three wickets in 17 deliveries to swell his match tally to six. “Brendon pulled the guys up during the drinks session and Kane gave us a few stern words. That did mean something because we were meandering along in the field.”

Until that final hour of the day, England had imposed themselves completely. Their bowlers made amends for the errors of Friday, by bowling fuller lengths to earn a first-innings lead. And even when Alastair Cook and Nick Compton had departed in quick succession having made good starts, England recovered through the diligence of the impressive Joe Root and the rock solid Jonathan Trott, who was enjoying playing on one of his favourite grounds, where he has now eight successive 50-plus scores. Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com