CARIBBEAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Mumbai ready for one more shot says Smith

 E-mail

Written by CBC NEWS Thursday, 23 May 2013 12:26

West Indies batting star Dwayne Smith says the Mumbai Indians are charged for one more shot for a spot in the finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.  

Smith said Mumbai Indians are eager to perform and will regroup from their thrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.

Mumbai, which also features West Indies player Kieron Pollard, meet Rajasthan Royals in the final playoff match on Friday in Kolkata for a place in Sunday’s final against Dwayne Bravo’s Chennai Super Kings.

 “We still have another chance. We have to regroup and comeback strong in the next game to get a chance to play in the final,” said Smith.

“We are still in the competition and our confidence will not drop”.

Smith said he was gutted after Mumbai Indians succumbed to Chennai by 48 runs.

Smith scored 68 off 28 balls with five sixes and six fours to put Mumbai Indians in a position of control as they chased a daunting 191.

However when he was out caught by Suresh Raina off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in the ninth over things start to go downhill for Mumbai.

“It is unfortunate to end up on the losing side. I love to win,” Smith told IPLT20.com.

The Barbadian batsman was scoring at a strike rate of over two hundred when CSK decided to take the strategic time-out before the seventh over.

 Smith was dismissed an over after the time-out.

 “I do not think that the time-out broke the momentum of the game. At some point of time it always had to happen and I was ready to regroup my innings after the short break,” he said.

“If I had been there for a little more time, we could have probably gone on to win the game.”

Smith’s West Indian team mate Kieron Pollard was the second highest scorer with 24 from 16 balls which included a six and two fours.

“There was a ray of hope when Kieron Pollard was going well, but wickets falling at regular intervals did not help our cause,” he added.

Best aiming for peak form in Champions Trophy

 E-mail

Written by CBC NEWS Thursday, 23 May 2013 12:24

West Indies fast bowler Tino Best says he is eagerly looking forward to playing in the United Kingdom, venue for next month’s Champions League.  

The 31-year-old was speaking on Wednesday after players held a full training session at the Sagicor High Performance Centre at the 3Ws Oval, under the guidance of Head Coach Ottis Gibson.

The camp started on Monday and will end on Friday.

 “I’m about 80 percent and loading...I don’t want to go too hard in the camp and then when the tournament comes I’m tired,” said Best.

“I want to hit the tournament at 100 percent and bowling rapid (pace).”

During the Test series against England last year Best made a world-record 95 batting at Number 11.

He said will arrive full of confidence based on the brilliant showing in Sri Lanka last October when West Indies won the ICC World T20 Championship.

“Last summer was amazing. To come back into the Test team and do so well felt really good and gave me the confidence to kick on and do even better,” said Best who made a successful return to international cricket last year after several seasons in the wilderness and is looking to continue his resurgence.

“I’m looking forward to playing in England once again. Once we play as unit as we did in Sri Lanka, I think we will do very well again. It is not a one-man show”.

The team will depart from Barbados on Saturday and have another camp in Cardiff, Wales from May 25 to June 2.

The ICC Champions Trophy will feature eight teams: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The tournament will be played across three venues – Cardiff Wales Stadium, Edgbaston and The Oval – from June 6-23.

Sammy cameos fail to save Sunrisers from elimination

 E-mail

Written by CBC NEWS Thursday, 23 May 2013 12:17

Two brief cameos from West Indies captain Darren Sammy were not enough to save Sunrisers Hyderabad from elimination, as they went down by four wickets to Trinidadian Kevon Cooper’s Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League playoffs Wednesday.  

Playing at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Sunrisers could only muster 132 for seven from their 20 overs, after opting to bat first.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan top scored with 33, Australia’s Craig White got 31 while Sammy weighed in with 29 from 21 balls with three sixes.

Batting at number five, Sammy helped to bolster the Sunrisers innings with two successive 28-run stands, first with Dhawan for the fourth wicket and then with Thisara Perera (14) for the fifth.

He was eventually run out in the 18^th over.

Royals were then cruising at 50 for one in the seventh over before Sammy nearly turned the contest on its head, finishing with two for 27 from 3.2 overs.

He triggered a slide when he jumped high on the ropes at mid-wicket to sensationally pull down Shane Watson’s pull that seemed destined for six off leg-spinner Karan Sharman.

The right-arm medium pacer then knocked over Dishant Yagnik (0) and Stuart Binny (2) in successive overs, as Royals lost four wickets for seven runs in the space of 20 balls to slump to 57 for five in the tenth.

However, Australian Brad Hodge came to Royals’ rescue with an unbeaten 54 off 29 balls with two fours and five sixes, which took his side to victory in the final over.

Royals and Mumbai Indians, which feature West Indies players Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard, meet in the final playoff match on Friday in Kolkata for a place in Sunday’s final against Dwayne Bravo’s Chennai Super Kings.

Lewis century puts PowerGen in semi-finals

 E-mail

Written by CBC NEWS Thursday, 23 May 2013 11:28

Former Young West Indies batsman Evin Lewis slammed an authoritative unbeaten century on Tuesday night to propel PowerGen to a crushing 95-run victory over Bamboo Sports and a place in the final four of the National Twenty20 Championship.

The left-hander, who also got three figures against Canada in a T20 game here last February, scored exactly a hundred as PowerGen tallied 196 for three from their 20 overs.

In reply, Bamboo Sports were held to 101 all out off 19.4 overs, despite former Guyana batsman Krishna Arjune’s 62.

Sustaining his good form this season in the T20 format, the 21-year-old Lewis raised his half-century off just 35 balls with five fours and three sixes, and needed only a further 28 balls to reach his century.

Overall, he struck 15 fours and four sixes.

Jason Mohammed struck a hasty 47 off 22 balls with three sixes and two fours.

Bamboo Sports were never really in the hunt and only Arjune showed any resistance with seven fours and a six in his 49-ball knock.

Off-spinner Vaaroon Samaroo claimed three for nine.