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Bravo third Test century ensured a healthy total for West Indies but their fighting efforts were overshadowed by a controversial umpiring review that ended Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s push for a hundred. West Indies must win to keep the series alive and Bravo’s 104 gave them hope, although on a good batting surface six opening-day wickets wasn’t a bad result for Australia.

At stumps, West Indies had moved to 6 for 336, which augured well for a better contest than in Brisbane. Darren Sammy provided some late-afternoon highlights with a pair of sixes down the ground off Nathan Hauritz and he was 44 not out at the close, with Brendan Nash also on 44, having earlier retired hurt.

Bravo rode his luck to reach triple figures after being dropped three times but Chanderpaul’s fortune ran out when he was on 62. Chanderpaul was given out caught-behind off Shane Watson and was the victim of a successful review for Australia after Mark Benson initially denied Australia’s appeal.

Hot Spot did not carry the right angle to show an edge but a camera view from the long-on region seemed to show a slight deflection as the ball passed the bat. It was far from conclusive evidence and nor was the decision a blatant shocker – those are the calls the review system is designed to eradicate – but the third umpire Asad Rauf was convinced and sent Chanderpaul on his way.

Chanderpaul had earlier survived a similar review off Doug Bollinger on 38, when again the evidence was inconclusive despite the Australians being utterly convinced that he had edged the ball. The eventual dismissal was a major blow for West Indies and things went from bad to worse when in the same over Denesh Ramdin played on to give Watson his second wicket.

Watson was pleased to redeem himself after his comical mishap gave Bravo a reprieve on 59. Bravo hooked Peter Siddle and Watson tried to snare the catch at deep square leg but stumbled back and lobbed the ball up as he realised he would step over the boundary. He tried to reclaim the catch after jumping back into the field of play but stumbled and parried the ball over for six.

Bravo had already been dropped twice on 46, though both were tough chances – a caught-and-bowled that rocketed back to Siddle and an edge off Hauritz that ricocheted off Brad Haddin and was missed by Michael Clarke at slip. Bravo wasn’t about to be discouraged from playing his shots and brought up both his half-century and his hundred with drives that sailed over the bowler’s head and away to the boundary.

But Bravo was being far from irresponsible in his strokeplay; he was patient and waited for his opportunities, and a crunching, classic cover-driven boundary off Watson was especially attractive. It was his first Test century in four years, since he made 113 in Hobart in 2005-06, and though he eventually missed a straight ball from Hauritz and was bowled, it was just the sort of innings that West Indies needed to lift their spirits after their innings loss at the Gabba.

He had the perfect ally in Chanderpaul, who had looked out of sorts in Brisbane but here compiled his first half-century in his past eight Test innings. As expected, Chanderpaul scored the majority of his 54 runs behind the wicket but also drove well and enjoyed a lovely clip off his toes for four through midwicket off Mitchell Johnson.

The 116-run stand was comfortably West Indies’ best partnership of the series, which made it all the more frustrating for them that it was ended in such debatable style. The pair had come together after Nash retired hurt on 20 during the lunch break, having been struck on the arm by his former flat-mate Johnson in the final over before the interval.

It left West Indies in a spot of bother after they lost three wickets in the opening session, including Ramnaresh Sarwan, whose return from a back injury ended on 28 when he drove Johnson on the up to Clarke at point. The early damage came from Bollinger, who had been waiting 11 months for his second Test and picked up two wickets in his first five overs.

Bollinger’s first two went for 18 as Chris Gayle, who had chosen to bat, launched an early assault. The bowler’s confidence improved when Adrian Barath (3) pushed a catch to gully and the major prize followed when Gayle tried to cut too close to his body and was surprised by extra bounce, which was unusual for an Adelaide pitch, and was caught behind for 26.

There was no doubt about that decision. If only the same could have been said later in the day.

Another Champions Trophy campaign, another string of dope-related developments for Pakistan. While the returning Mohammad Asifs dope test here on Thursday wasnt surprising given the pacers dalliance with stimulants in the past, there was some good news too as Imran Nazir was cleared of using performance-enhancing substances just in time for the opening game.
Nazir was given emergency medical treatment earlier this week, reportedly for a congenital breathing problem , using proscribed drugs which were on the ICCs list of banned substances. Reportedly , the ICC agreed to let Nazir play against West Indies on Wednesday only
after a lot of convincing.
Asifs dope test at the Witwatersrand University grounds here, though, was a no-brainer . During the 2006 Champions Trophy, Asif had tested positive for nandrolone. He again tested positive during the inaugural IPL in June 2008 and on his way home was caught with a small quantity of opium at the Dubai airport. Asif had been serving a back-dated , one-year ban for the IPL offence. The PCB mandarins must be keeping fingers crossed and hoping there are no problems this time around.

Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa opener, will miss the opening game of the Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka on September 22 because of a rib injury but is likely to recover in time for the rest of the games.

Gibbs picked up the injury during the warm-up gameagainst West Indies on Friday after he took evasive action at the non-striker’s end to avoid a straight drive from Graeme Smith. He retired hurt after scoring a 40-ball 38.

“Herschelle suffered a minor rib and intercostal injury in the warm-up match against the West Indies at Potchefstroom on Friday,” Brandon Jackson, the South African physiotherapist said.

“We will reassess his position after Tuesday’s match with the aim of getting him back on the field either for the New Zealand match on Thursday or the one against England next Sunday.”

Pakistan captain Younis Khan has been ruled out of the team’s opening match of the Champions Trophy, against West Indies in Johannesburg on Wednesday, after suffering a hairline fracture on the little finger of his right hand. He picked up the injury while fielding in Pakistan’s first warm-up match against Sri Lanka on Friday in Benoni, when he and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal went for a catch in the slips.

Shahid Afridi will lead the side in his absence and Younis will start batting from tomorrow in the hope of being fit for Pakistan’s next game, against India in Centurion on Saturday.

Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed, who had initially played down the seriousness of the injury, had a different version to give after Younis went for a fresh X-ray on Monday. “Younis will decide himself on Tuesday after having nets whether he can play the first match,” Yawar said. “But even if he does not play against West Indies he will be fit in time for the big game against India on the 26.”

Younis, 31, had earlier suffered a minor fracture on his little finger during a training session on Friday, but had downplayed the injury. “It’s a little fracture. Nothing serious,” he had said. “We will assess it on Monday. Hopefully it should be alright.”

ICC Vice-President and Chairman of the Central Organising Committee Sharad Pawar: “The unveiling of the logo is an exciting and significant landmark as the event now has a formal identity.”

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat: “The ICC Cricket World Cup is the game’s biggest and greatest showcase with nation-versus-nation action and a rich history stretching back to 1975.. We must now write the next page of that history to show our great sport in the best possible light.”

A celebration of cricket – that is the idea behind the event logo for the ICC Cricket World Cup (ICC CWC) 2011, unveiled at a ceremony in Mumbai on Tuesday evening.

Designed by Australian creative firm Witekite, one of 12 companies from all over the world that submitted concepts, the logo, in the shape of a cricket ball, is intended to reflect all that is best about cricket in the sub-continent – colour, movement and action.

And the design is also based on the idea of the supporters and players from the host nations, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, coming together and joining the rest of the world to create a special event.

It will be used on an ongoing basis to stimulate awareness and interest in the tournament over the next two years and will feature on publicity and promotional material both during the build-up and throughout what will be the tenth ICC Cricket World Cup.

The unveiling was attended by the ICC Vice-President and Chairman of the tournament’s Central Organising Committee Sharad Pawar, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and Tournament Director Professor Ratnakar Shetty.

And also present were ICC Cricket World Cup heroes from the past – Clive Lloyd, who led the West Indies to victory in the first two editions in 1975 and 1979, Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva, man of the match for an unbeaten 107 and 3-42 in the 1996 final, Michael Bevan of Australia, regarded as one of the greatest One-Day International players of all time and a key member of the side that won in 1999 and 2003, Dilip Vengsarkar and Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who were integral components of the India side that denied the West Indies a hat-trick of World Cup titles in 1983, and present-day stars Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma.

ICC Vice-President and Chairman of the Central Organising Committee for the ICC CWC 2011 Sharad Pawar said: “The announcement of the event logo is an exciting and significant landmark for all of us involved in preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and the whole cricket world.

“The event now has a formal identity which we can look to build upon and use to stimulate interest and awareness as 2011 draws closer.

“We now need to build on this and press on in our preparations to ensure the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is the success that we all want it to be.”

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “We are delighted with the event logo for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as it sums up the nature of our great sport in the host nations through its vibrancy, colour and action. It is something we want everyone to become familiar with over the next two years.

“We see those characteristics in every match that takes place in the region and we have also seen them in the two previous ICC Cricket World Cups there, in 1987 and 1996. Both were staged successfully and we look forward to the 2011 edition being no different.

“Those previous tournaments and the cricketing greats with us in Mumbai are reminders of the rich history of the ICC Cricket World Cup, stretching back to 1975 when Clive Lloyd led the West Indies to the inaugural title in a thrilling final against Australia at Lord’s.

“The ICC Cricket World Cup is the game’s biggest and greatest showcase, bringing together as it does teams from all over the world in nation-versus-nation action. And it is also the event that generates the majority of the revenue used by our Members to grow our global game.

“What we must now seek to do through hard work is to write the next page of the event’s history by ensuring the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is something that shows our great sport with its great spirit in the best possible light.”

Witekite’s design of the event logo was the unanimous choice of a selection panel made up of representatives of the host nations, ICC management and stakeholders.

The event logo story – a celebration of cricket

The crowd is part of the action, hands up and cheering and shouting for their heroes. The circular shape makes a cricket ball hurtling down the pitch, seam up. Different player silhouettes and the crowd form a pattern around the seam.

The green seam indicates the one day ball and the green of the pitch and ground. The players and crowd surround this with motion and activity. The colours and figures on each side of the ball represent the event host nations coming together along with the world of cricket.

The colour and movement creates a festival, players and fans coming together from around the world to celebrate cricket in the sub-continent.

Finally, West Indies won a game. Bangladesh imploded spectacularly at the top but they kept playing like millionaires to be restricted to a below-par 118, which West Indies overhauled without breaking a sweat.

 The only concern in the chase was whether West Indies would collapse against spin and Bangladesh didn’t wait long to find out. They started with a double-spin attack and Shakib Al Hasan claimed the wicket of Dale Richards first ball, but Devon Smith thwarted them with his aggressive batting.

 Smith started with a slog-swept six off the offspinner Naeem Islam and followed it next ball with a skillful inside-out lofted drive over covers, before taking on Mahmudullah in the third over. Three pulls, one of them a six, helped him take 15 in that over and eased the pressure of the early wicket. Though Smith fell 50 short of the target, and West Indies lost a couple more cheaply towards the end, Travis Dowlin took over to lead the hosts past the line. Dowlin knew the required rate wasn’t steep enough to warrant any risks and he played accordingly. He did hit four boundaries, with a lofted hit over extra cover off Mehrab Hossain jnr being the highlight, but took care not to play many flashy shots. The same couldn’t be said about Bangladesh, though.

 Bangladesh charged ahead with a sense of fatal adventure, which was caught perfectly in the run-out of Naeem, their highest scorer today. He missed a sweep against David Bernard and the ball went straight to the keeper but he nevertheless tried to steal a single, only to be found miles short of his ground. Till then, Naeem had been dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground. He walked down the track to smack Darren Sammy over deep midwicket, moved outside leg to thump Gavin Tonge over long-off before collecting more boundaries with sweeps and pulls.

 Before Naeem, there was more frenetic drama. Bangladesh came out oozing so much intent that something had to give. And it did. Three wickets fell in the first 14 deliveries: Junaid Siddique spooned a slower one to cover, Mohammad Ashraful played a weak lap shot for a first-ball duck, and Tamim Iqbal flicked to short midwicket. The score read 12 for 3 but Naeem was in no mood to buckle down. Shakib Al Hasan started a touch slowly but soon caught the Naeem spirit and unfurled slog-sweeps before he was cleaned up by Nikita Miller, bowled round his legs.

 After Naeem, there was more chaos. Mushfiqur Rahim, who had moved cautiously to 3 in nine deliveries, ran himself out with some poor running. Responding to a push to point for a single, he jogged across and would have still made it had he not tried to plonk his bat lethargically inside the crease. Raqibul Hasan missed a straight ball and was trapped in front.

 It was left to Mahmudullah, who had performed well with bat and ball through this tour, and Mehrab, to an extent, to show some caution and push the score past 100, which eventually proved inadequate.

Bangladesh held their nerve despite wobbles at significant junctures to complete a whitewash in St Kitts. Set a target of 249, they were given a fiery start by Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique before Mahmudullah steered the side through nervy moments to clinch a historic victory.

 Things were looking a touch dicey for Bangladesh at 133 for 5 in the 28th over but they recovered through a serene partnership between Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper. It was almost risk-free cricket as the duo picked singles quietly and stole the odd boundary here and there to get closer to the target. Importantly, they knew the batting Powerplay could be taken later when acceleration was the need of the hour; till then it was time to play safe cricket. Mushfiqur picked up a couple of boundaries in the 38th over but he was unlucky to be given out out caught behind in the 40 th over, when replays showed he did not get bat on a flick down the pads.

 Bangladesh opted for the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and immediately Naeem Islam smoked three boundaries off Gavin Donge. Two shuffled flicks followed a biff down the ground and the required rate dipped. Mahmudullah picked a six over long-off against Nikita Miller and Naeem hit another six, off Kemar Roach, before falling to the same bowler but by then the pair had ensured that they made full use of the Powerplay to clinch the win. West Indies were left to rue the first-ball reprieve that they offered to Mahmudullah when Darren Sammy spilled a catch at first slip.

 Just as they finished strongly, Bangladesh had started their chase brightly. Tamim, in particular, was in some hurry, rattling three fours in the first over before repeating the dose in the third. The kind of shots also pointed to the poor bowling. Three were flicked fours and the other three were carved over point as Roach sprayed it around. Tamim later swung Sammy over long-off before smashing one straight to mid-on.

 His opening partner, Siddique, kept the momentum going with a measured innings. He started with a series of on-side boundaries against Tonge before he settled down to drop anchor as a couple of wickets fell. Mohammad Ashraful edged one behind, Raqibul Hasan was caught brilliantly by a diving Floyd Reifer in the covers and Shakib Al Hasan, who started with a flurry of shots, edged an attempted pull but Siddique batted on serenely. Though he got out after reaching fifty, Bangladesh had enough firepower to get past the line.

 West Indies lacked similar firepower in the middle as they wasted a good start provided by Andre Fletcher. As they have done in the Tests and the ODIs, West Indies continued to struggle against the spinners. They lost two quick wickets, proceeded to recover smartly through a breezy fifty from Fletcher, only to lose their way against spin and be bowled out for 248 inside 50 overs.

 A poor finish was in contrast to the great start provided by Fletcher. What stood out in Fletcher’s innings was a delightful tendency to drive straight. Mahbubul Alam was getting some outswing and was looking pretty good but Fletcher countered him with his drives in the v. He started off with an off drive in the third over and upped the tempo in the fifth with two sixes: the first one was dispatched over long-off before he swung the other some 20 rows over the long-on boundary. Neither shot had any touch of violence as he covered for the outswing and drove cleanly and fluently through the line. Mahbubul lost his composure and in the seventh over, he pushed three deliveries on the legs of Fletcher, who put them away for boundaries.

 With the seamers bleeding runs, the action swung to Fletcher versus the spinners. Again, Fletcher won the first round, reeling off several meaty blows. There was a back-foot punch through the covers, a customary swing over long-on and a heave to the midwicket boundary, which brought up his fifty, against Abdur Razzak but he fell soon, launching one straight to long-on. Almost immediately, the run-rate dropped as Bangladesh applied the squeeze. More agony lay in store for the hosts as Travis Dowlin, who gave admirable support to Fletcher, was run out on the last ball of the 25th over.

 It didn’t help West Indies’ cause that their captain Reifer’s travails against spin continued. He couldn’t rotate the strike and it perhaps, led to Dowlin’s dismissal. He was allowed some breathing space by Sammy, who oozed intent from the start and kept unfurling the big hits. He swung Mahmudullah for two consecutive sixes and belted Naeem for a couple of fours but he fell rather tamely, scooping a caught-and-bowled chance to Razzak. That was the final nail on the coffin as West Indies fell short of achieving a defendable target. .

Its ironic that the BCCI, the richest cricket board in the world, has not hired a fitness trainer for the Indian team for more than a year now, since February 2008. Its only now that, keeping in mind the hectic international schedule ahead, the Indian team management has requested the board for a fitness trainer. A reply, though, is still eagerly awaited, sources told 22yards.
Although the team currently has a physio in Nitin Patel and a mental conditioning coach in Paddy Upton , it needs a fitness trainer to oversee personalised fitness routines for the players, particularly the fast bowlers. The management is keen to see that players stay fit and are adequately trained to enable them to go through the grind of a gruelling season ahead, which starts with the Champions Trophy in September and goes on till the Twenty 20 World Cup in the West Indies.
They have to be fit and fresh for the challenges in the coming season. And in order to ensure that, the team definitely needs a trainer to make things better, a team management source told 22yards on Friday.
The team wants to make sure that key bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma are fit and raring to go before crucial tournaments. So, it is important to have the right drills in order to stay fit. Even guys like Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra and RP Singh need to keep their fitness levels high, he said.
In other words, the team needs a trainer-cum-strengthening coach. Even the batsmen need to work around someone who can help them to increase stamina levels, he added.
Though the board is yet to respond to the request, sources suggested a hunt for a new trainer was on. The past two Indian team trainers were both from South Africa and a third could be in the offing, it is learnt. Gregory King was the teams trainer till February 2008 and there has been no replacement ever since he quit on personal grounds. King had replaced countrymate Adrian le Roux. These days, the teams fitness drills are taken care of by Upton.
Apart from Nitin Patel and Upton , the coaching staff comprises coach Gary Kirsten, Venkatesh Prasad (bowling coach) and Robin Singh (fielding coach).