Vettori shrugs off throwing away Test 100 against Australia

BRISBANE, Australia // New Zealand's Daniel Vettori was philosophical about his brain snap which cost him his first Test century against Australia at the Gabba today.

The veteran all-rounder, playing in his 107th Test match, was just four runs away from his seventh Test hundred when he inexplicably set off for a quick run.

Unfortunately for Vettori - playing on the second day of the first Test against Australia - Mike Hussey swooped in from mid-off and run him out with a direct throw at the bowler's end.

"I wasn't [feeling] too bad. When you play for a long time you realise the ups and downs of the game and to have 96 on the board you're pretty proud of that effort," he said.

Vettori lay prone in disappointment as he sprawled to make his ground and ending his three hour knock laced with 10 boundaries.

"Four more runs and you're always disappointed to get out in that manner but it was more about the batting getting easier and to be dismissed in that manner was pretty disappointing," he said.

"Dean [Brownlie] and I could have batted for a long time, that's simply the game, you have to deal with it and get on with it.

"It took a direct hit, if it wasn't been a direct hit I would have been in and he's a very good fielder, I picked the wrong guy."

Vettori put on a Gabba record sixth-wicket stand for New Zealand of 158 runs with Brownlie, eclipsing the previous best of 95 between Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns at the ground in 2001.

The National Blogs

Australian-born Brownlie batted for 249 minutes and faced 175 balls for his unbeaten 77.

Vettori credited his batting resurgence to being more positive and aggressive and trusting his technique.

"I was embarrassed with my [batting] statistics, I thought I was a better player than that," he said.

"I was a little bit loose and a bit nervous when I went out to bat and I tried to turn those things around, tighten up my technique and be a lot more positive when I went out to the middle.

"It's allowed my game to flourish and I have been aggressive and hopefully I now put teams on the back foot.

"All the good players at seven, eight and nine have been aggressive and they try to take the game away from you and I suppose I've tried to model myself on that."

Vettori said he sought some tips from former Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming.

"I think I've still done it my own way because there's not many people with my technique so I've stuck with my technique and haven't changed too much and it's allowed me to walk out to the middle feeling good about myself and it's come from there."

Vettori said the Black Caps were feeling good about themselves with a 141-run lead over the Australians who have seven wickets left heading into tomorrow's third day.

"I don't think anyone really gave us a chance of scoring almost 300 in those conditions and all the talk and all the history of the wicket indicates that's a good score," he said.

"But we do need to back it up with the ball tomorrow and that first session will be the key and not let the game get away from us.

Charmed Clarke century puts Aussies in charge

BRISBANE, Australia // Michael Clarke hit a charmed century while Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin eased the pressure on their Test careers with half-centuries as Australia took charge of the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba today.

Helped by sloppy Kiwi fielding, the Australians put themselves in a strong position with a commanding 427 in their first innings to seize a 132-run lead over the Black Caps.

The Kiwis lost the key wicket of Brendon McCullum, caught in the slips by Ricky Ponting off James Pattinson in the seven overs to stumps to be 10 for one and trail by 122 runs with two days to play.

Martin Guptill was not out seven with nightwatchman Doug Bracewell yet to score.

New Zealand's hopes of a first victory in Australia for 26 years faded after they dropped Clarke twice on his way to 139, while Haddin chipped in with 80 and former skipper Ponting hit 78.

It is the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Australia has amassed 400 runs or more in the first innings at their Gabba fortress, where they remain unbeaten for 23 years.

Clarke rode his luck to claim his 17th Test century after he was dropped at 85 and 105 and bowled off a no-ball on Friday. He made the Black Caps pay dearly as he shared in a 108-run sixth wicket stand with Haddin for Australia to take control of the match.

"Once I got that life on 20-odd, it was important for me to go on and make a big score for the team," Clarke said.

"I don't care how we get to 400. I'm not really bothered who makes them. If we can make 400 every innings we play, we won't lose too many Test matches."

Chris Martin, the Kiwi paceman, said "inept" fielding had cost the Black Caps.

"There were good periods of building up pressure, but when we got that opportunity we didn't take it and they actually changed the momentum through our ineptness with the catching, that was the tough thing today," he said.

It was Clarke's fourth Test hundred against the Kiwis and second in his last five Test innings after scoring 151 against South Africa in the first innings of the Cape Town Test last month.

Ricky Ponting falls but Clarke drives Australia on

Ricky Ponting’s long wait for his 40th test century continues but Michael Clarke was just one run short of his 17th hundred as Australia reached 254-5 at lunch on the third day of the first test against New Zealand on Saturday.

Australia, who resumed on 154-3, inched steadily towards New Zealand’s first innings tally of 295 with Clarke nervously poised on 99 and Brad Haddin alongside him on two when the break arrived to end an extended morning session.

Ponting, who Clarke replaced as captain earlier this year, had been hoping to notch up his first century since January 2010 but was able only to add 11 to his overnight total before being trapped lbw by Chris Martin for 78.

Clarke and Mike Hussey added another 60 runs before the experienced Western Australian nicked an inside edge onto his pads and was caught by Jesse Ryder off the bowling of Daniel Vettori for 15.

That came a ball after Clarke had been dropped on 85 by wicketkeeper Reece Young, the 30-year-old surviving a big scare as he had when he was bowled on 23 on Friday but called back when television replays showed he had been dismissed off a no ball.

Ponting’s dismissal was a reward for some good tight bowling from the New Zealanders, even if Clarke decided to challenge Aleem Dar’s decision with a TV referral that upheld the umpire’s call.

Clarke, who resumed on 28, had earlier brought up his 22nd test half century in some style with a towering six back over the head of bowler Vettori.

Kohli, Sharma take India to comfortable win

Virat Kohli compiled his eighth hundred in one-dayers and with able support from Rohit Sharma took India to a comfortable five-wicket victory against West Indies in the second one-day international on Friday.

Chasing 270 for victory, Kohli (117) and Sharma (90 not out) batted with a lot of maturity and added 163 for the fourth wicket to give India a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series against the tourists.

Man-of-the-match Kohli hit 14 boundaries before edging a catch behind with India still 23 away from the win.

But Sharma, who brought up his second consecutive half-century in the series, kept his calm to take India home with 11 balls to spare.

India lost Parthiv Patel and Gautam Gambhir early but Kohli and captain Virender Sehwag (26) added 55 for the third wicket to steady the ship.

The visitors were still in the hunt after Sehwag departed trying to clear off-spinner Marlon Samuels over the long-off boundary and India were reduced to 84-3.

But the stand between Kohli and Sharma put paid to their hopes of levelling the series.

Earlier, tailender Ravi Rampaul blasted his way to an unbeaten 86 from the number 10 position to deny India's hopes of restricting West Indies to a far lower total.

The left-hander hit six fours and six sixes in his 66-ball innings to lift West Indies to 269 for nine.

Rampaul, whose highest score in ODIs before this match was an unbeaten 26, added 99 in 14 overs for the unbroken final wicket with Kemar Roach (24 not out).

Pace duo Umesh Yadav (3-38) and R. Vinay Kumar (2-43) picked up the first five wickets to fall, reducing the visitors to 63-5, before opener Lendl Simmons (78) and Kieron Pollard (35) stemmed the rot with a 56-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Simmons anchored the innings with his patient 102-ball knock but was run out with West Indies on 170 and with just the last pair left to bat.

The third ODI will be played in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Bangladesh Vs Pakistan Watch Live Cricket

Mirpur, Dhaka : Watch Pakistan vs Bangladesh Live Streaming 2nd ODI cricket on internet for free. Pakistan in Bangladesh. There are problems aplenty for Bangladesh before they take on Pakistan in the 2nd ODI at the ShereBangla National Stadium here on Saturday.

Bangladesh's batsmen looked completely clueless against the Pakistan bowling - both pace and spin - in the first match which they lost by five wickets.Bangladesh Vs Pakistan Watch Live Cricket

NasirHossain top-scored for the home side with 21, with only RubelHossain (15 not out), Shakib Al Hasan (15) and Rahim (11) reaching double figures as their innings ended at 91 in just 30.3 overs.

Though Bangladesh bowlers tried hard to restrict Pakistan by reducing them to 5 for 63 at one stage, unbeaten innings from skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and ShahidAfridi ensured that Pakistan crossed the finish line without much drama.

Afridi once again displayed his all-round ablities by taking a five-for and staying at the wicket till the end.

Pakistan took an early initiative from Bangladesh by starting the bowling with offspinner Mohammad Hafeez. The visitors may come out with few more surprises on Saturday.

The home side, on the other hand, will expect their batsmen to score runs, especially their top-order.

The toss can play a big factor as rain is expected to affect the match proceedings.


Saturday Dec. 03, 2011, 2nd ODI Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Pakistan has lost their 2nd wicket of Mohammad Hafeez at 69 runs. Hafeez scored 32 runs. Pakistan Captain Misbah is on crease with Younis Khan. Pakistan total score is now 75/2 after 19.4 overs.

Earlier Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat firt.