Afridi ready to be recalled to Pak Test side

All-rounder Afridi, who bowled South Australia to victory in their Twenty20 opener in Perth on Tuesday, is willing to front for Pakistan in the second Test starting in Sydney on Sunday or the third Test in Hobart.

"If they need me, I can''t say no to them," Fox Sports quoted Afridi, as saying.

"Definitely I do not want to say no if they need me so definitely I will be able to play for them," he added.

Afridi''s vicious leg spin, super-charged faster balls and genuine off-break variation still confounds limited-overs rivals and would prove a handful for Australia at the spin-friendly SCG.

Afridi''s vastly improved leg spin is now his priority and would prove invaluable in a deadly tandem with off-spinner Saeed Ajmal or champion leggie Danish Kaneria.

Pakistan manager Abdul Raqeeb did not rule out Afridi making a stunning return.

"It is up to the selection committee who take all the decisions. They must decide what to do," Raqeeb said.

'Fit again' Kaneria eager to shine for Pak in Sydney

Pakistan leg spinner Danish Kaneria is eager to play the second Test match against Australia at Syndey after missing the first match due to a finger injury.

Declaring himself fully fit, Kaneria said he will give his best to help Pakistan level the three match series 1-1.

“I injured my right ring finger 18 months ago in England, I fractured it, and playing a domestic game in Pakistan once more I got hit on it. And then in the practice I got badly hit taking a catch. But now its okay and I'm ready to play in the Test and hopefully I’ll give my best and will help my team win it,” The News quoted Kaneria, as saying.

The wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is generally helps spinners, which is probably why Kaneria is fancying his chances.

Gayle flies early in West Indies' reply against Australia in 1st Test

Chris Gayle showed some serious intent as West Indies raced to 0 for 41 at tea following Ricky Ponting's declaration at 8 for 480. The captain Gayle arrived in Brisbane the day before the game and quickly shook off any batting rust with four boundaries in his 27 during a six-over surge.
Ponting surprised with his closure 35 minutes before tea after Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz added to the clump of local half-centuries. But it was West Indies who sparked a sleepy day into action.

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Pakistani Pace Bowler threaten to run through New Zealand

Rousing spells from Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif evoked New Zealand's famous second-innings collapses against Pakistan, and the visitors held the momentum going into the final four sessions of the Test. Aamer bowled two superb spells of swing bowling, the conventional variety leaving New Zealand at 0 for 2, and the reverse leaving the middle order befuddled even if it didn't get him a wicket. Asif took 2 for 2 in his spell before tea, which very nearly could have been three. When rain forced an early break New Zealand led by 212 with four wickets in hand.

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Sri Lanka struggling against India

Sri Lanka were struggling at 57 for four in the second innings, after being asked to follow on, against India at the end of the third day's play in the second cricket Test at the Green Park stadium here Thursday.
At stumps, Thilan Samaraweera was batting on one and Angelo Matthews on two. Sri Lanka were asked to follow on after they were bowled out for 229 in the first innings in reply to India's 642.
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth celebrated his international comeback with a sensational five-wicket burst and India were on track to victory over Sri Lanka in the second cricket Test at Green Park Stadium here Thursday.

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India set target 642/10 after Tea in 2nd test Kanpur

India 642 (Gambhir 167, Dravid 144, Sehwag 137) v Sri Lanka 2nd Day after tea in 2nd Test.Rahul Dravid laid the platform with a serene, yet commanding, 144 before Yuvraj Singh and VVS Laxman hit fluent fifties to lead India to a position of immense strength in Kanpur. Rangana Herath bagged a five-for and brought some joy to the Sri Lankan camp by hastening the end of the Indian innings just after tea but the hosts were firmly in control of the Test and, with over three days to go, the result of the game will now depend on how the pitch behaves.

Till Herath introduced some drama into the game, it was a classic yawn-inducing Test afternoon: The pitch was benign, the sun was out, Sri Lanka were flattened and India were almost on auto-pilot with VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh cruising to half-centuries without breaking a sweat.

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New Zealand Vettori, McCullum to 404 for 8

Daniel Vettori displayed immense character and courage in his innings of 99, as he took New Zealand to a competitive 404 for 8 at the end of a rain-marred day-two of the Dunedin Test.

The resolute Kiwi captain walked in to bat when the scorecard read 211 for 6 and along with Brendon McCullum, forged a resolute fight despite struggling with niggles in his left shoulder and right elbow. The pair added a determined 164 for the seventh wicket before the stumper was cleaned up by an Umer Gul yorker for 78 at the stroke of lunch.

But Vettori carried on his resolve and took the Black Caps to 402, before getting caught behind and presenting Gul with his second success of the innings.

The skipper was unfortunate to fall just one short of an extremely deserved fifth Test century. He lost his wicket in what turned out to be the last over of the day owing to the fading lights. Vettori’s fluent 133-ball knock was punctuated with 14 sparkling hits to the fence.

The post-lunch period was hit by rain which resulted in the loss of three hours of play. The match did resume after the rain-interval but only to be stopped prematurely again by bad lights after six overs.

Pakistan bowling was a mixed-bag, as after the Vettori-McCullum duo survived the early string of bouncers thrown in by Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, there was no bite in the attack to hurt the Kiwis. Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf missed a trick or two by resorting to a defensive field when the skipper-stumper pair was forging a calm fight-back.

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Pakistan Won the Toss Elect to Filed 1st Test Against New Zea Land

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf won the toss and elected to bowl in the opening Test of the three-match series against New Zealand here Tuesday.

The University Oval wicket has a reputation for favouring the quick bowlers and Yousuf had no hesitation in confirming he would bowl first.

Teams:

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond, Iain O'Brien, Chris Martin.

Pakistan: Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Saeed Ajmal.

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India Won the Toss Elect to Bat First in 2nd Test Kanpur

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the Green Park stadium here on Tuesday.

India made two changes from the side that drew the first Test in Ahmedabad, bringing in paceman S Sreesanth in place of Ishant Sharma and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha replaced Amit Mishra.

For Sri Lanka, unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis joined Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan in a three-man spin attack.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chanaka Welegedara, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.

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India sucess for ist test Draw

The first Test between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw on the final day at the Sardar Patel stadium on Friday.

Resuming the final day on 190 for two wickets, still 144 runs behind Sri Lanka''s first-innings total of 760 for seven wickets, opener Gautam Gambhir (114) and Sachin Tendulkar (100 not out) helped India up to 412-4 before both teams called it a day with no result possible.

The Test also saw master blaster Sachin Tendulkar achieve another milestone by becoming the first batsman to complete 30,000 international runs.

The 36-year-old reached the milestone when he scored his 35th run in the second innings, where he went onto score his 43rd Test century.

Tendulkar now has 17,178 runs in ODI cricket, 12,877 runs in Test cricket and 10 runs in the lone T20 International he has played.

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