Uttar Pradesh vs Delhi: Ranji Trophy, Day 2 – Live Updates

Update 5: 50 for Kaif. He’s playing superbly.Elegant cover drives, one hook for a six backed by solid defence. Hope the selectors are watching!pdate 4: UP: 148/1. Looking all set to take the first innings lead.

Update 3: UP: 93/1 after 27 overs. Kaif is batting on 35* and Dagar on 32*. The partnership is looking good.

Update 2: UP: 77/1 after 24 overs. Kaif 27*,and dagar on 32*

Update 1: UP start on a positive note. But Ishant is bowling with a lot of fire.50 up for UP. Hits kaif`s helmet with a bouncer.

Day 1 summary: A star studded Delhi could only manage 235 runs in their first innings. Imtiaz Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets. At the end of Day 1, UP were 40/1 with Mukul Dagar and Mohammad Kaif at the crease.

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Sachin Tendulkar slams 79th first class century

Sachin Tendulkar slams 79th first class century

Mumbai: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar marked his return to form slamming a century for Mumbai on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match against Railways on Friday.

Tendulkar scored 137 off 136 deliveries before getting caught by Madkaikar off Anureet Singh.

The 39-year-old took 103 balls to reach his 79th first class century.

This is Tendulkar's first Ranji appearance since the final against UP at Hyderabad in 2009.

With this ton, he is now just two short of Sunil Gavaskar's record of 81 first class centuries.

Tendulkar decided to appear for Mumbai to gain some confidence and get back into some groove before the first Test against the visiting England side begins from November 15.

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Pakistan to kick start India tour with a T20 game in Bangalore.

Mumbai: A day after the Home Ministry cleared Pakistan cricket team`s upcoming tour of India, the BCCI today announced the schedule of the limited-over series that begins with a Twenty20 international on December 25 in Bangalore.

The Pakistan team will touch down at Bangalore on December 22 and will kick-off their campaign against the hosts with a T20 international at the city`s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The visitors will then move to Ahmedabad for the second T20 game (December 27) before heading to Chennai for the first of the three-match ODI series on December 30.

The second ODI of the series will be played at Kolkata on January 3, while the third and final one-dayer will be held at Delhi on January 6, a BCCI release stated.

The arch-rivals have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan`s tour of India in 2007. The cricketing ties between the two nations were snapped after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Schedule:

December 25: 1st T20 International at Bengaluru

December 27: 2nd T20 International at Ahmedabad

December 30: 1st ODI at Chennai

January 3: 2nd ODI at Kolkata

January 6: 3rd ODI at Delhi.

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Sehwag scotches reports of T20 retirement

Sehwag scotches reports of T20 retirement.

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag scotched the reports over his retirement from T20 Internationals saying he did not make any request to anyone regarding his T20 International career.

Sehwag wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter: “Another baseless story being run! I have not requested to be rested for any match in any format of the game! Fingers crossed, raring to go! (Sic)”

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior BCCI official had told Mail Today that the destructive Delhi opener had shown reluctance in playing the shortest format of the game. He would rather like to concentrate more on Test cricket and ODIs.

"He has informed the board that he doesn`t want to play T20 Internationals anymore and would like to concentrate on the longer versions. He cited fitness and the rigours of T20 cricket as the reason behind his decision," the paper has quoted the official as saying.

"He is experienced enough to realise the needs of the team and he isn`t someone who would question the decision of the team management. Only a self-centred player would do that," he added.

When T20 came into existence it was thought that Sehwag, a destructive batsman, would excel in this format. But he flattered to deceive in the format.

In 19 T20 International matches for India, Sehwag made just 394 runs at an average of 21.88.

He also failed to fire in the recently concluded World T20, prompting many a critics calling for his ouster from the team.

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India ‘A’ vs England: Yuvraj claims maiden fifer in drawn encounter.

Mumbai: Comeback man Yuvraj Singh excelled with his maiden five-wicket haul in first class cricket as England`s warm-up game against India `A` ended in a tame draw at the Brabourne Stadium on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Yuvraj grabbed five for 94, improving upon his previous best of three for 25, as India A dismissed the visitors for 426 in their first innings but not before conceding a 57-run lead.

Yuvraj, who had scalped Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell yesterday, added the wickets of Samit Patel (104), Matt Prior (51) and James Anderson (19) in the morning session today after England resumed at 286 for four.

India A scored 124 for four in 40 overs before the play was called off ahead of the scheduled close by mutual consent on the third and final day of the game.

Openers Abhinav Mukund (3) and Murali Vijay (32), Yuvraj (14) and Ajinkya Rahane (54) were the batsmen out in the home side`s second innings.
The openers were claimed by Anderson while Tim Bresnan sent back Yuvraj, who has come back to top level cricket after undergoing treatment for cancer that put him out of the game for close to a year.

Rahane hit six shots to the fence before Samit Patel had him caught at slip. Captain Suresh Raina (19) and Manoj Tiwary (2) were the unbeaten batsmen at close.

Raina was lucky to be dropped on nought by Anderson at second slip off Bresnan and his stay at the crease later too was unconvincing against Bresnan`s pace.

England now take on Mumbai A in their second warm-up game at Navi Mumbai`s D Y Patil Stadium from November 3-5 before proceeding to Ahmedabad for the third game, a four-day tie, against Haryana from November 8-11.

The opening Test of the four-match series versus India is set to commence at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad from November 15-19.

England were dismissed half-an-hour after lunch with Yuvraj, who has taken just nine wickets in 37 Test matches, finishing with his first five-wicket haul in first class.

His previous best was three for 25 in a Ranji Trophy game against Jammu and Kashmir in the 2001-02 season.

Captain and lanky left-handed opener Alastair Cook and stocky middle-order batsman Samit Patel notched centuries while Jonathan Trott and Matt prior hit half tons for England.

Resuming at the overnight 286 for 4, Cook and his overnight fifth wicket partner Patel were then kept in check by the home side pacers.

Cook departed when Dinda angled a ball away to which he poked his bat at and edged to keeper Wridhiman Saha. His partnership with Patel yielded 169 runs and came off 321 balls, pulling the side from 133 for 4 to beyond 300.

The England skipper must have been satisfied with the long vigil he had, battling at the crease for six hours and 19 but he added just seven runs in 18 balls today.

The arrival of Prior quickened the pace of scoring as the Sussex player looked for runs from the beginning even as his partner Patel preferred to inch his way to the three-figure mark from 82 overnight.

Prior was also lucky to be dropped by Rahane when on 4 as he slashed Dinda to the gully fielder. Patel reached his first 100 on the tour with a single to square leg in the 11th over, having taken almost 50 minutes to add the 18 runs needed to attain the landmark.

Dinda was unlucky not to have added the wicket of Prior to those of openers Nick Compton and Cook in his bag.

Prior raced to his 50 in as many balls and with the help of nine hits to the fence before his forward prod resulted in an edge to slip fielder Raina off Yuvraj. The left-arm spinner struck again off the last ball in the over by dismissing Patel for his fourth wicket of the innings.

Patel was caught by Vijay at covers off a leading edge when trying to flick the left arm slow bowler. He had stayed for more than four and a half hours and struck 14 boundaries in 173 balls. The partnership between Patel and Prior was worth 65 runs in 12.1 overs.

Swann was bowled when a ball from Vinay Kumar kept a bit low as England reached 396 for 8 at lunch.

In the seventh over after the break, and after the addition of 30 runs, Yuvraj completed his five wicket haul by having Anderson caught at short leg for 19.

Tim Bresnan remained unbeaten with 33 off 61 balls with four fours and a six. The innings ended with last man, the injured Steven Finn unable to bat.

By tea, India A wiped off the deficit by reaching 68 for the loss of one wicket in 20 overs. Abhinav Mukund, who made 73 in the first innings, fell for three in the second over off James Anderson with 4 on the board.

At the end of the second session, Vijay (32 in 58 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (33 in 49 balls) were the not out batsmen.

Vijay departed soon after resumption by slashing Anderson to slip fielder Swann after batting for 87 minutes and striking 4 fours and a six. He also added 65 runs for the second wicket with Rahane in 76 minutes.

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