Pakistan target first one-day series win since 2008

DUBAI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi says his team are determined to record their first limited-overs series win since 2008 by beating South Africa in the fifth one-day international on Monday.

Pakistan have twice come from behind to level the five-match series at 2-2 and set up an intriguing final match in Dubai, and Afridi said he wants further improvement from his team.

Victory would give Pakistan their first ever one-day series win over South Africa, but Afridi’s men have had a dismal run of late.

Pakistan have lost their last six one-day series since beating the West Indies 3-0 in Abu Dhabi two years ago, with defeats to Sri Lanka twice, Australia twice and New Zealand and England once each.

“I know we have never beaten South Africa in a bilateral one-day series, so that is very much the aim to achieve and the boys are determined to win this

Pakistan opts to bowl first against South Africa

DUBAI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and put South Africa into bat in the third day-night international match here on Tuesday.

Pakistan, who won the second match by one wicket at Abu Dhabi on Sunday to level the five-match series 1-1, brought back opener Imran Farhat in place of struggling Misbah-ul-Haq as the only change to their line-up.

South Africa, who won the first match by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi on Friday, had to miss captain Graeme Smith again as he failed to fully recover from a hand injury sustained in the first match.

But all-rounder Jacques Kallis was back after missing the second match due to cramps in one of two changes South Africa made. Also included in the team was paceman Rusty Theron. Robin Peterson and Charl Langeveldt were left out.

The five-match one-day series will be followed by two Tests.

Pakistan:

England demand Butt draw back fixing accusations

Legal action will be taken against Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt unless he apologises over comments insinuating English cricketers threw the third one-dayer. The revelation came as relations between the two teams sunk to their lowest ebb when players fought in the nets before Monday’s fourth game.
Butt said England’s batting collapse at The Oval, leading to a 23-run loss to Pakistan, had been pre-determined according to illegal Indian bookmakers.
England and Wales Cricket Board chief David Collier said: ”We are looking for an apology. If it does not come we’ll look at other options.” Butt showed no signs of bowing to England’s pressure for an apology, instead inflaming the situation by threatening to also sue them. ”They said they will sue me – I will sue them,” Butt said. ”This is something totally wrong definitely a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket.”
During warm-ups before the fourth ODI, England batsman Jonathan Trott reportedly grabbed Pakistan’s 12th man Wahab Riaz by the throat and asked him: ”How much money are you going to make from the bookies?”
Riaz had to be restrained by England batting coach Graham Gooch before the altercation got out of hand, but other Pakistani players were surrounding Riaz, and captain Shahid Afridi later threatened to boycott the Lord’s match – which was played and won by Pakistan to level the five match-series at 2-2.

Villanova Vs Montana

Villanova Vs Montana Live Stream for Free. What’s up with the Villanova? Villanova coach Andy Talley sometimes wears his national championship ring while on recruiting trips — his basketball national championship ring, that is.

This is another magnificent game that we are waiting for!The ring was a gift from the school’s basketball team when he was hired in 1985 to rebuild the football program. Twenty-five seasons later, Talley and the Wildcats finally have their first shot at winning the school’s first Football Championship Subdivision title when they face Montana on Friday night in Chattanooga. The second-ranked Wildcats (13-1) couldn’t have picked a more dominant opponent.

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Villanova Vs Montana was first posted on December 19, 2009 at 10:25 am.

MS Dhoni Banned For Two ODIs

NEW DELHI : MS Dhoni, the Indian cricket team captain, has been banned for two ODIs because India maintained a slow over-rate during the second match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur.
The ban is likely to be effective immediately, which means Dhoni will be unavailable for the games in Cuttack and Kolkata, returning only for the final ODI in Delhi.

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The second ODI ended about 45 minutes after the scheduled finish time because of frequent discussions between the Indian players during the closing stages of Sri Lanka’s chase. The visitors won the game by three wickets to level the five-match series 1-1. The decision to ban Dhoni was taken by match referee Jeff Crowe.

Sri Lanka were penalised for their slow over-rate during the second Twenty20 international against India in Mohali after falling two overs short of their target. The captain Kumar Sangakkara was fined 40% of his match fee while the rest of the team was docked 20% each. Crowe said Sangakkara just escaped a much bigger penalty.

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MS Dhoni Banned For Two ODIs was first posted on December 19, 2009 at 12:34 pm.