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Shanan Stewart, who represented New Zealand in four ODIs, has called time on his career in top-flight cricket with the record of making the second-most appearances for Canterbury

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2014Shanan Stewart, who represented New Zealand in four ODIs in 2010, has called time on his career in top-flight cricket. The 31-year old hard-hitting batsman made his first-class debut in 2001 for Canterbury and had since played 244 matches for the side in all formats, second to former Test cricketer Chris Harris.”It was still a very tough call,” Stewart told . “I’ve made some really good mates in this sport and it was a pretty tough decision to retire. But I’ve got a young family now and other things on my plate and, really, at the end of the day I probably wasn’t having as much success as I wanted.”Stewart made 5693 runs in four-day cricket at 36.72, with seven centuries and 35 fifties. His farewell innings was a blistering and unbeaten 96 off 65 balls to sink Auckland in February. He struck 3521 List A runs including four centuries and 17 fifties and in the shortest format he had 679 runs, with five fifties and a strike rate of 124.35.Peter Fulton, the Canterbury captain, praised Stewart’s method that sustained a domestic career spanning over a decade. “He’s a bit of an old-school cricketer,” Fulton said. “He played the game hard, always gave 100 per cent and he had fun.”Stewart’s greatest highlight remains his 485 runs in seven matches during Canterbury’s successful Plunket Shield campaign in 2010-11, an achievement made all the more significant having come under difficult times.”Winning the four-day championship after the earthquake [2010-11 season] when we were all down and out a bit, that was special,” he said. “The way Fults (Fulton) and Bobby [assistant coach Bob Carter] pulled us through, that was brilliant and winning that title really was the highlight for me. I owe a lot to Bobby, he was the coach who really seemed to get the most out of me.”A first-class highest of 227 proved the stepping stone into the national side but the promotion did not last too long after he could muster only 26 runs in four ODIs in 2010. He had skirted around the edges of a T20I debut having made the 30-man preliminary squad for that year’s World T20, but missed out.”Obviously I would have loved more success with New Zealand but I have no regrets,” he said.

The England midfielder helped Spurs get the better of Chelsea while Alexis orchestrated a victory over Swansea, earning their places in the latest XI

Dele Alli and Alexis Sanchez are the highlight names in this week's Premier League team of the week after helping their respective sides to important wins.

Alli was the star for Tottenham with two goals as they came from behind to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. His first, aided by his wonderful first touch to control a Eric Dier pass before beating Willy Caballero, stunned the onlooking crowd before he put the game beyond doubt to all but secure his side's place in the top four at the Blues' expense.

Alexis, meanwhile, shook off his early struggles at Manchester United to fire them to a win over Swansea City. With a goal and an assist, he gave Jose Mourinho's men a two-goal lead within 20 minutes to keep them in second place.

Check out the full team below…

GettyKasper Schmeichel | Leicester CityThe Leicester City goalkeeper has saved three of the 14 Premier League penalties he’s faced – the same number his father Peter saved during his time in the competition (21 faced).AdvertisementGettyDeAndre Yedlin | Newcastle United

As well as helping his side keep a clean sheet, Yedlin also made six crosses from open play down the right-hand side, creating two chances in the process.

GettyVictor Lindelof | Manchester United

The centre-back had the best pass accuracy of any Red Devils player in Saturday's 2-0 win, with no team-mate making more clearances or interceptions than his three of each.

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GettyJamaal Lascelles | Newcastle United

Lascelles was solid in defence in Newcastle's 1-0 win over Huddersfield – no Magpies player made more clearances than his eight or gained possession on more occasions than the 13 he did.

Centuries from Steven Smith and Joe Burns underlined a dominant day for Australia on the second day of the Christchurch Test

The Report by Daniel Brettig20-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJoe Burns was patient in scoring his first overseas century•Getty ImagesIf day one in Christchurch was unforgettable for its exhilaration, day two was unmistakably about Australian resolve. Steven Smith’s team dearly want to return home with the No. 1 Test ranking in their possession, and a day’s relentless batting at Hagley Oval was a long stride towards doing so.Brendon McCullum’s world record had been that of the breathtaking daredevil, but the 289-run partnership between Smith and Joe Burns that stretched across the vast majority of play was something far sturdier, less explosion than construction. Even if the surface had flattened out considerably, both batsmen had to fight throughout against doughty bowling and McCullum’s ever-changing plans.One of his last brainstorms resulted in a pair of belated wickets, accounting for Burns and Smith on the pull shot. Those wickets detracted somewhat from Australia’s day, and left New Zealand with a glimmer of hope should they be able to cut through the middle order in the morning.Smith’s innings was marked by physical courage as well as mental application. Midway through the day he was struck painfully in the stomach and in Neil Wagner’s last over before tea Smith reeled after ducking into a bouncer. Shaken but unmoved, he faced up to the next ball and played a game pull shot.For Burns it was a first overseas century and a key marker of his progress as a member of the Australian top order – the sort of innings his predecessor Chris Rogers would have been proud to call his own. Smith meanwhile built another innings redolent of a leader, following up from his scene-setting 71 in Wellington. New Zealand started this tour seeming to have good idea of how to bowl at Smith, but he has ground them down admirably.New Zealand had entered the day knowing they needed to take advantage of a still newish ball and any remaining moisture in the pitch with quick wickets, and the early loss of Usman Khawaja gave them hope. But Burns and Smith combined in a steely stand that absorbed much of what McCullum’s men hurled at them.In the day’s early overs, the finest hint of movement was evident, and after getting underway with a neat square cut, Khawaja was defeated by a Trent Boult delivery that straightened down the line, caught the edge and was well held by McCullum in the slips cordon.That wicket put a spring in New Zealand steps, and both Burns and Smith had to endure plenty of testing deliveries in the next hour. Burns came within a centimetre or so of being out when he tried to leave a prancing delivery from Matt Henry.New Zealand went up in a unanimous and convincing appeal, the umpire’s finger was raised, and Burns immediately reviewed, walking down the wicket with a shake of the head. Replays showed the ball had grazed his shirt rather than glove, and the third umpire Richard Illingworth relayed an overturned verdict.That moment seemed to ease some of the tension, and from there Burns and Smith freed up with a handful of attractive strokes. There were still uncomfortable moments, epitomised by Smith receiving a painful blow to the midriff when trying to pull Boult, but by lunch Australia had done much of the hard work.Smith moved swiftly to his fifty when the afternoon began, but the majority of the session was taken up by hard graft. Over and around the wicket, straight fields and square, short balls and full, New Zealand probed every possible avenue on what had become a pleasant batting surface, but Burns and Smith were unmoved.Eventually, Burns reached 96 and went to three figures with an edge guided safely along the ground to the third-man boundary. His hearty celebrations were replaced by obvious concern when Smith was felled by Wagner, before the captain dusted himself off and resumed his calm occupation in the evening session.Surely enough, Smith went to his century with a slice behind point, clenching his fist with considerable passion at the milestone. So safe did he and Burns look that an unbroken stand at stumps seemed a likely possibility until Wagner and McCullum plotted another short-ball attack.Drained by their innings, Burns and then Smith both fell to this somewhat obvious trap, rolling their wrists to swivel balls straight to Martin Guptill at backward square leg. Adam Voges and the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon fought through to stumps, and will have more to do tomorrow.

The Blues' top scorer has been tearing Women's Super League teams apart this season – and now her country needs her to produce too

Just before the hour mark at Kingsmeadow on Sunday, Lauren James darted onto a perfectly-weighted Fran Kirby through ball. Bearing down on goal, Leicester City goalkeeper Janina Leitzig rushed out to meet her, while Foxes centre-back Julie Thibaud tried halting her progress with a crunching tackle.

But James was unmoved, channeling Hernan Crespo in the 2005 Champions League final by nonchalantly lifting the ball over Leitzig and into the back of the net. The goal was the 22-year-old's second of the 5-2 win, a performance which followed up a stunning hat-trick at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool and a sumptuous assist in the Champions League victory over Paris FC.

James has always been eminently watchable; no Women's Super League player justifies the punters' entrance fee more regularly than her. But now she's becoming truly terrifying: an absolute killer in front of goal.

Getty ImagesA generational talent – but a bit wasteful?

Of course, James has always threatened to become this effective. This is someone who was training with Arsenal's senior side at the age of 14, was featuring for Manchester United's relaunched women's team just over two years later and signing a unprecedented four-year contract at Chelsea before her 20th birthday.

After a string of niggling injuries kept her sidelined for extended spells during her maiden 2021-22 campaign with the Blues, James finally got to show her new club what she was all about last season. The anticipation was palpable and she did not disappoint, delighting the Kingsmeadow faithful with her unique ball-carrying abilities and creativity.

The hype was real, with the only criticism being James' lack of goals and assists. It took until Chelsea's sixth game of the season for her to break that duck, but she did it in some style, netting a brace and laying a goal on for Sam Kerr in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.

However, although there were plenty more magic moments that followed in a blue shirt, the questions over James' ability to consistently find the back of the net and register assists continued as the campaign progressed.

At times, she was holding onto the ball for too long to the visible frustration of her team-mates, while her finishing was far from elite. During the 2022-23 campaign she averaged 0.12 goals per shot, with over 50 players managing better figures, while less than 30 percent of her efforts ended up on target.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes provided an honest assessment of James' development early in the season: "Her talent is clear, but most importantly we must keep doing the right things. If we all want her growth to continue in the direction it’s going – trust me, I’ve coached footballers for such a long time – you have to keep nailing the things around them, the habits. She’s still a young player and we’re still nailing those habits. I urge everybody to be calm with her. It’s important for us to nurture her in the way we do, but also without massive pressures and expectations, which I know is hard to avoid."

AdvertisementGettyCareer-defining tournament Down Under

In the end, James would finish the season with five goals from 18 WSL games, more than enough to earn her a place in Sarina Wiegman's England squad. And after the Lionesses underwhelmed going forward in their group-stage opener against Haiti, Wiegman played her trump card, introducing James to the starting XI on matchday two.

Denmark were England's opponents and the Chelsea star didn't take long to make an impact, netting a superb opener just six minutes into her World Cup debut. That goal turned out to be the winner too.

Things got even better when England faced China, with James dropping an all-time great Women's World Cup display. By the time the dust had settled on an astounding 6-1 victory, she had two goals and three assists to her name, and Wiegman was understandably delighted with her "special" talent.

By this point, LJ-mania was very much running wild back home. But things got hairy in the round of 16 when James was sent off for stamping on Nigeria's Michelle Alozie. The Lionesses did eventually triumph on penalties, but the naive moment derailed the hype train. "Obviously what we she did was wrong and she knows it was wrong and apologised for it publicly and now she faces the consequences," goalkeeper Mary Earps said at the time.

James' resulting two-game suspension kept her out until the final, and she could not atone for her error after coming on as a half-time substitute, with Spain triumphing 1-0 thanks to Olga Carmona's goal. It was a damp squib of an ending for James when it had seemed like being World Cup. But red card aside, her match-winning ruthlessness in front of goal in the first two games hinted at her growing maturity.

Getty ImagesDominating the WSL

And this trend has accelerated at Chelsea during the current season. After waiting so long to find the net in the WSL in 2022-23, James rose to the occasion in the Blues' curtain raiser against Tottenham, latching onto Niamh Charles' cross to double her side's advantage at a time when Spurs were threatening to rally.

It wasn't just her goal that was notable, though. With Kerr injured and Fran Kirby still not fully fit despite a cameo from the bench, James completely ran the game for the Blues, drifting all over the pitch to carve out her side's best opportunities.

There was a slight drop off in the two WSL games that followed against Manchester City and West Ham, with the caveat that hardly any Blues players impressed during those matches, which resulted in James being rotated out of the side for her side's trips to Everton and Real Madrid.

And if Hayes was looking for a reaction, James provided one against Liverpool in front of the Stamford Bridge crowd. Her hat-trick was the most compelling evidence yet of her growing composure in front of goal. All three were expertly-taken strikes, showcasing her world-class ability to beat defenders and newfound poacher instincts, and she further bloated her goal tally against Leicester with two more calm finishes.

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Getty Images'Everything I do I am thankful to Emma'

This recent glut of goals is an expression of James' development in the final third. This season, she's been far more clinical than in 2022-23, averaging a WSL goal for around every five shots she takes, while just under half of her strikes are going on target. This form has seen her rise to the top of the Golden Boot rankings, level on six goals with Manchester City's Bunny Shaw.

This emerging ruthless streak is bad news for Chelsea's WSL rivals and also a credit to the transformative effect Blues boss Hayes has had on James' career. Throughout her meteoric rise, the soon-to-be United States women's national team manager has been there to temper expectations, constantly reminding English football's most talked about starlet of the need to remain grounded and improve her game.

This tough love has not damaged the pair's relationship, though. Ahead of the World Cup in the summer, James paid tribute to Hayes for her role in getting her back back to her best following her injury struggles.

"Emma is always helpful, she’s played a massive role in just getting me back to being myself again. She just says ‘enjoy it’, like ‘start enjoying the moments’," she said. "I had two years of just like constant injuries. She managed me well and it’s allowed me to find my feet again. In the moment, everyone is like ‘why is Lauren not playing?’ and I want to be playing on the pitch, but in the long run it’s obviously paid out and it’s kept me on the pitch this season."

And when James scored that iconic Liverpool hat-trick, she immediately gave Hayes some of the credit. "Amazing, I think even better to do it at the Bridge. Obviously with the news of Emma [Hayes] leaving, everything I do I am thankful to her."

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong has been savaged by former Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart, who compared him to a "postman".

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De Jong criticised by countrymanBarcelona drew 1-1 with Napoli in Champions LeagueVan der Vaart insists De Jong was at faultWHAT HAPPENED?

Barcelona drew 1-1 with Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, and Van der Vaart was left unimpressed by De Jong's performance. The former Tottenham and Real Madrid star claimed that his compatriot plays "like a postman" and simply does not keep up with the required pace.

AdvertisementWHAT VAN DER VAART SAID

Van der Vaart said on in the Netherlands while working as a pundit (via ): "Frenkie de Jong plays football like a postman. He takes too long to pass the ball forward, instead he keeps running and carrying it to his teammate. Once you move away from your opponent, you must keep the ball moving and pass the ball."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

De Jong has seen his season disrupted by injury, with an ankle strain ruling him out for seven La Liga matches earlier this term. He has only managed to score one goal this season, regardless, and has failed to provide an assist.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR DE JONG?

De Jong has been linked with a move away from the Catalan club as he is yet to sign a new contract and has subsequently been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. Barcelona have handed him an ultimatum to either sign a new deal or leave permanently.

Brian Langford, a former Somerset captain and one of the most respected players the county has ever produced, has died at the age of 76

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2013Brian Langford, a former Somerset captain and one of the most respected players the county has ever produced, has died at the age of 77. No-one has played more than his 504 first-class games for Somerset and only Jack White and Arthur Wellard have taken more than his 1,390 first-class wickets for the club.Langford was born in Birmingham, but he moved west to Bridgwater when he was just four and made his Somerset debut in 1953 as a 17-year-old off-spinner. Somerset were a weak side in those days and his debut Championship appearance – against Lancashire at Bath – saw his side succumb to an innings defeat in a single day.He fared far better in his next game, claiming 14 wickets to help Somerset to victory over Kent. Until James Harris, then with Glamorgan, beat the record in 2007, he was the youngest man to take a ten-wicket haul in the Championship. He claimed another 11 wickets in his next game, against Leicestershire, to underline his rich promise.Langford never quite pressed for England recognition, but over a 22-year career of great reliability, he went on to play a substantial part in improving the fortunes of the club. He captained between 1969 and 1971 and, as well as helping bring the likes of Brian Rose and Peter Denning into the side, saw Somerset develop into a top-ten team. He claimed 100 first-class wickets in a season on five occasions, with his best year coming in 1958 when he took 116 wickets including career-best figures of 9 for 26 against Lancashire at Weston super Mare.His most famous performance came in the first year of the Sunday League in 1969. Langford delivered his eight overs – the maximum allowed to an individual bowler in the competition at the time – without conceding a run, his figures of 8-8-0-0 setting a record for economical limited-overs bowling that can never be bettered.Upon retirement he remained involved with the Somerset committee and was the chairman of the club’s cricket committee in the tumultuous 1986 season, when Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards and Joel Garner all left the club in acrimonious circumstances.”Langy was a very fine off-spin bowler and, for a number of seasons, was the almost the county’s lone bowler,” former team-mate Peter Robinson, who often travelled with Langford to games, told Somerset CCC’s website. “At the time that he was in his prime there were a number of good offspinners on the county scene, but if he had played in another era he could well have played for England.””Brian’s contribution to Somerset County Cricket Club was enormous,” the club’s chief executive Guy Lavender said. “He was a remarkable player, an outstanding leader and a charming individual. He will be sorely missed by all of Somerset’s members and supporters and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to Brian’s wife Maureen and all of his family at this immensely sad time.”

Stuart Law, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, believes that England’s Test cricketers currently pose the “toughest deal on the planet”, but insists that his players have the expertise and character to put up a strong fight when the first Test in Cardiff gets und

Andrew Miller in Cardiff24-May-2011Stuart Law, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, believes that England’s Test cricketers currently pose the “toughest deal on the planet”, but insists that his players have the expertise and character to put up a strong fight when the first Test in Cardiff gets underway on Thursday.Despite being considered outsiders in English early-season conditions, Sri Lanka enter the series full of confidence after a pair of impressive victories in their warm-up matches against Middlesex at Uxbridge and England Lions at Derby, where they overcame the follow-on to win a thrilling contest by 38 runs on the final day.They have since suffered a major setback with the news that Nuwan Pradeep, their matchwinner at Derby with 4 for 29 on the final day, is set to fly home with a knee ligament injury. However, Law was confident that his squad was sufficiently well rounded, even in the absence of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan, to pose a challenge to England’s strong batting line-up.”It seems everyone else isn’t confident in our bowling, but we’ve played four different seamers [in the warm-ups] and won both games,” he said. “Our seamers run in and hit the seam, and in England conditions that’s always a bonus. Our spinners do a lot of work for Sri Lanka, and yes we haven’t got Murali, but we’ve got good spin. Given the right conditions and the right attitude, and if they are consistent enough, yes they can take 20 wickets.”Sri Lanka will be further buoyed by the memory of their last meeting with England, in the World Cup quarter-final in Colombo two months ago, when they romped to a ten-wicket victory with more than 10 overs to spare, thanks to centuries for Upul Tharanga and the new captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan. However, Law believed that in five-day cricket, England would pose an entirely different challenge.”I’ve said it openly, in the last 18 months, I believe England are the best team in Test cricket,” said Law. “They’ve beaten teams in their own backyard and away from home as well, they are well drilled, they leave nothing to chance, they prepare well. You can’t complain with the way they are going, and as an Englishman you’d be very happy after the Ashes, which is one of the biggest contests on the planet. We know we’ve got our work cut out, but we’ve not come here to roll over and die. We’ve come here to fight.”Injuries aside, Sri Lanka have had a difficult build-up to the Test series. There was a change-over in leadership following the resignation of Kumar Sangakkara in the aftermath of their World Cup final defeat against India, and a clash of priorities which led to several of the squad, including Sangakkara and his fellow veteran Mahela Jayawardene, missing the early part of the tour to concentrate on the IPL in India.In the circumstances, Sri Lanka have done remarkably well to make light of such difficulties, although Law – who himself is coaching in an interim capacity following the resignation of Trevor Bayliss – said that off-field problems were part and parcel of the country’s cricket.”If you understand what goes on in Sri Lanka cricket behind the scenes you’d be amazed how well these guys play,” he said. “They do have to put up with extra pressures, but this tour is a magnificent opportunity for [some] young guns to come in, stick their hands up, and say ‘I want to be here for 10 or 15 years and have a great career for Sri Lanka’.”Although Law admitted that his IPL latecomers, Sangakkara and Jayawardene, had looked a bit rusty during the match in Derby, he said he could sense a sharpening of focus during the squad’s practice in Cardiff on Tuesday morning. “Looking at them today their mindset has completely changed,” he said. “They are preparing for the first day of battle on Thursday. They are two quality individuals, two quality players, I’d expect they’d leave no stone unturned.”Although Sri Lanka’s Derby victory showed that they are not afraid of grassy wickets, the Cardiff wicket is one that could well play into the hands of a team of strokemakers who know how to make the most of flat surfaces. Two years ago, Australia posted a mammoth 674 for 6 at the same venue, and on first inspection, the 2011 pitch looks to be similarly full of runs.”The pitch looks a belter, completely different to the nets,” said Law. “It’s a true batting surface as they have been down here for a long time. In Test cricket you expect to see those sorts of pitches, and with all the weather around it might not change too much. And that’s what I’ve been trying to tell our boys. In all conditions, never give in, because you never know what’s round the corner.”We’re just preparing for them to be the toughest deal on the planet at this stage,” he added. “We are not underestimating one facet of their game. People are saying that certain areas of their batting line-up can be exposed, we are not seeing it that way, we are just coming up with good plans for each batsman, rather than say we are targeting this guy or that guy. If we can sniff a result, we’ll try to put our foot on their throat.”

India captain MS Dhoni has said that a decision on Virender Sehwag’s participation in Thursday’s quarter-final game against Australia will be taken later this evening or tomorrow morning

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2011India captain MS Dhoni has said that a decision on Virender Sehwag’s participation in Thursday’s quarter-final game against Australia will be taken later this evening or on Thursday morning. Sehwag had missed India’s final league game against West Indies because of a knee problem but batted in the nets on Tuesday.”We are taking a call [on Sehwag] in the evening or maybe tomorrow morning before the start of the game,” Dhoni said in Ahmedabad today. “Apart from that, all the others are fit.”Sehwag participated in the warm-up round of football during Wednesday’s practice session, though he did not move much. Obviously he did not want to take chances with the knee. Later, he batted in the nets, albeit only against spinners for about 15 minutes. Once again he did not exert himself, refraining from bending his knee too much or stepping out as much as he would have liked. On Tuesday too he had batted for a regulated time in the nets, and if that is to be taken as an indicator, Sehwag is likely to return for the quarter-final.Sehwag’s knee has been bothering him since the start of the World Cup, but his current worry is the result of swelling caused by an allergic reaction to a pain-killing injection he took after the league game against South Africa in Nagpur. Gautam Gambhir opened the innings with Sachin Tendulkar against West Indies.Sehwag’s one-day average against Australia is 22.65 and it has been ten innings since he has made a limited-overs fifty against them. Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who has dismissed Sehwag the most number of times across all format, said on Tuesday that he would look to bowl at Sehwag’s rib-cage. However, Dhoni did not seem too concerned with the strategy.”It’s really good to have Sehwag opening the innings for you, because deliveries will be short and to the body. He’s the kind of batsmen, if you go slightly wrong, he can make the most of that kind of a bowling.”He can play an aggressive game, change the course of a game in the first five overs and give your team the kind of momentum that is needed.”

Martin Guptill’s first century for Derbyshire set up a 31-run victory over Kentin the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Derby

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Martin Guptill’s first century for Derbyshire set up a 31-run victory over Kentin the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Derby.Guptill made 102 off 109 balls and shared a century stand for the fourth wicketwith Greg Smith (68) as the Falcons made 249 for 9 despite Azhar Mahmoodtaking three for three from his last 11 balls.The Spitfires then slipped to 121 for 6 in reply, and although Darren Stevensput them back in the contest with 65 off 52 balls, Derbyshire held their nerveto dismiss Kent for 218 in the 35th over and keep their challenge in Group Aalive.Guptill had shared an opening stand of 59 in 10 overs with Chesney Hughes butDerbyshire’s momentum was checked by the fall of three wickets in six overs. After Hughes (33) mistimed a pull, Wes Durston and Wayne Madsen made only one run between them as the Falcons slipped to 79 for 3.However, Smith played with controlled aggression from the moment he joinedGuptill as the pair put on 129 in 19 overs.Stevens was pulled for six as Smith moved to a half-century off only 43 ballsand with Guptill placing his shots with authority, the home side had theplatform to launch an assault in the closing overs.But Pakistan duo Mahmood and Wahab Riaz responded with some intelligent seambowling that saw the Falcons score only 23 runs for the loss of five wickets inthe last four overs.The pair were rewarded for bowling full and straight and hit the stumps fourtimes with Riaz capturing the big wicket of New Zealander Guptill, who missed abig drive aiming to add to his 12 fours and one six in the penultimate over.Mahmood finished with figures of 4 for 57 while Riaz took 3 for 45. Mahmood then helped Sam Billings launch Kent`s chase with some flourishing strokes before he cut Steffan Jones to point in the third over to depart for 10 and Billings (19) missed a drive after cutting Tim Groenewald for six, leaving the visitors on 55 for 2.Martin van Jaarsveld pulled Jon Clare for six and was threatening to dominatewhen he was lbw pushing forward at Groenewald for 29 in the 12th over.When Sam Northeast failed to beat Clare’s accurate return and was run out for12, Kent were stumbling and they were dealt another big blow when Clare (threefor 61) returned to the attack in the 21st over.Geraint Jones was caught behind for six and then Alex Blake went the same waythree balls later to leave the Spitfires in trouble on 121 for 6.Stevens gave them hope with some defiant blows in a 44-ball fifty and wasthreatening to turn the game when he was lbw to Jones in the 29th over.andalthough James Tredwell hit 37 off 39 balls, Kent came up short.

England’s preparation for their second five-match ODI series against India in under a month will open with two practice matches against a Hyderbad squad, the BCCI has confirmed

Sharda Ugra05-Oct-2011England’s preparation for their second five-match ODI series against India in under a month will open with two practice matches against a Hyderbad squad, the BCCI has confirmed. England arrived in the city, which is the venue for the first ODI on October 14, on Tuesday and two day-night practice games will form part of their ten-day acclimatisation.The two practice matches will be held on October 8 and 11, with Hyderabad trying to rebuild after a poor 2010-11 Ranji Trophy season in the lower-division of the Indian domestic championship. The team to face England is expected to be selected on Thursday.A BCCI official said England could not face a Board President’s XI or an India A team consisting of the highest rung of domestic cricketers because of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, a domestic 50-overs tournament featuring India’s elite players.The tournament, featuring India’s top 36 ODI players, will be held in Nagpur from October 10 to 13, with the players divided into three teams – India Blue, India Green and India Red. Gautam Gambhir, who is part of the Indian squad for the first two ODIs, will captain India Red.England underwent their first day of training in Hyderabad on Wednesday,a few players struggling in the 30-degree heat. England captian Alastair Cook was pleased with England’s long warm-up period before the one-dayers. “It is quite unheard of as a one-day preparation period, to have 10 days,” he said. “Normally, you come straight from a Test series. So to have that time is fantastic.”England coach Andy Flower joins the England team on Thursday, after having undergone minor shoulder surgery and receiving his OBE during an Investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is part of the Somerset squad taking part in the Champions League T20 and by Wednesday night will know whether his team will be part of the semi-finals or whether he will be making his way from Bangalore to Hyderabad.