India dominate England comprehensively

For a nation that heaps expectations on its cricketers, India’sdominance over England at Colombo was hugely satisfying, tosay the least. Coming after the equally exciting win at Lord’s inthe final of the NatWest Trophy, this game just goes to provethat India are now a daunting one-day outfit, and if anything willinstill fear into the hearts of their opponents, it is the battingthat Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag showed off on Sundayevening.

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Ganguly, in my opinion, has started enjoying his cricket more oflate, but Sunday must have provided more than the usual shareof enjoyment and entertainment as he sat gleefully at the otherend while Sehwag went berserk. A smiling, encouraging captainis always a big asset, especially to the younger players, for hetakes the pressure off by a few opportune words.Once Ganguly and Sehwag had added 192 runs for the firstwicket in double-quick time, the match was virtually in the bag.Sehwag was the first to be dismissed, but not before he hadsealed a knock that is best described as inspirational. Hisdaredevil style of hitting through the line and on the rise -andhis astounding talent at succeeding – is quite, quite remarkable.England’s bowlers, especially Andy Caddick, were perhaps guiltyof trying to bowl too fast at Sehwag, for the increased paceonly made the youngster’s job easier, enabling him to use thepace to his own advantage. On a belter of a track like thePremadasa, there is little point in just trundling up and down,and more variations must be tried to throttle the batsmen.Sehwag in particular has a tendency to play a few loose shotsearly in his innings, and England’s bowlers failed woefully tocapitalise on that. With the line and length they were bowling,they only had a chance to get Sehwag if they obtained somemovement off the track. But as I said, given the pitchconditions, that was not likely to happen.Nasser Hussain could really not have anticipated such anonslaught, and in fact he would have been quite happy once hisbatsmen had put 269 on the board. Given India’s earlybreakthroughs, it was quite a feat by England to reach thatcompetitive total. Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantfirst spells, and the early exit of Marcus Trescothick – always apivotal man for England – must have given the Indians a hugeboost.Hussain got out to a really atrocious stroke, and his battingmade the Indian quicks look twice as fast as they really were.That shot was not at all warranted in the situation, and if this ishow England is going to play in Australia, I am not sure they willbe able to make too many dents on the opposition. But I did likethe attitude and approach of young Ian Blackwell, refreshinglydifferent and positive as compared to his experiencedcolleagues.I must say, though, that India’s main spinners were a hugedisappointment. Both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh areexperienced enough at the international level, and there is littleexcuse for not being on top of their game, especially on subcontinental tracks that always hold promise for spinners. I havealways emphasised the importance of turning and flighting theball, and neither Kumble nor Harbhajan managed to do enough ofthat on the day.On current form, the South Africans will surely find the Indianbatting too hot to handle. With Sehwag and Ganguly striking topform, there isn’t much any bowling attack can do, and the onlything India must guard against is complacency – a quality thatseems to creep in often, especially after a hugely one-sidedgame.

Clare Taylor reaches century of wickets as England beat India

Clare Taylor MBE, England women’s most experienced bowler and World Cupwinner, has today become the first English woman to take 100 wickets in hertest and one-day international career.She joins only one other female cricketers to achieve the feat, theAustralian pace bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick.Clare dismissed the India captain Anjum Chopra for just six runs as Englandbeat India by six wickets at the Grainville Ground, Jersey, havingrestricted India to just 59 runs, their lowest total against England.Clare, who was awarded the MBE in 2000 for her services to women’s sport,made her England debut in 1988 and was a member of the World Cup winningEngland team in 1993. She was made a Sport England Ambassador in 1999 andpromotes sport and a healthy lifestyle to young people in Yorkshire.Clare is a double England international, playing for England in the 1995Women’s Football World Cup, and at domestic level for Liverpool F.C. and hashelped her county Yorkshire win the Frizzell County Championship ten timesin the past eleven years.Speaking from Jersey, where England are currently playing the first leg ofthe Women’s One-Day international series against New Zealand and India,Clare said “I’ve had a fantastic career with England over the past tenyears, and I’m looking forward to taking more wickets this summer”.Debutant Isa Guha took two wickets opening the bowling for England on herdebut, and fellow teenager Laura Harper was Player of the Match taking 4-11.India face World Champions New Zealand in tomorrow’s match, with Englandplaying New Zealand on Friday to complete the first leg of the one-dayinternational series in Jersey. The teams then move on to Durham for thefinal three games and the final on Saturday 20th July at Chester-le-Street.

England could host Pakistan Tests

Giles Clarke: “Pakistan might get a better crowd in Leeds than in Karachi” © Getty Images
 

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has floated the idea that England could host Test matches for Asian countries who struggle to fill their grounds, or fail to attract opposition in the first place owing to security fears.Pakistan are one such country. With the growing unease over its political stability, teams are increasingly unwilling to take the risk of touring there. Australia postponed their Test tour of the country earlier this year and the Champions Trophy suffered the same fate after several nations expressed security fears.Clarke has admitted the ECB could take advantage of Britain’s growing ethnic population who “are keen to see their own heroes”.”Indeed it might be said that Pakistan might get a better crowd in Leeds than in Karachi,” Clarke says in a feature on the future of Test cricket in the November issue of magazine. “It’s something we are considering, how we play these types of games and where we can play them.”I like the idea of providing the opportunity with our fabulous grounds and our huge ethnic minority populations who are keen to see their own heroes. And it may be in the interests of cricket; that’s the most important thing for me.”

Relieved Ponting ready for old recruits

Brett Lee picked up two wickets as he worked in partnership with Stuart Clark, who captured 5 for 32 © AFP
 

Ricky Ponting didn’t mean to sound desperate, but at the end of the Test, which was secured by some brilliant bowling from Stuart Clark, he struggled to contain his thoughts on Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden coming back. Apart from Ponting and Andrew Symonds, who collected a double of 70 not out and 79, the top-order batting was a serious concern at Sabina Park, and the prospect of two main men returning excited Ponting.”Clarke will obviously come back in,” Ponting said before correcting himself slightly as the camera showed Clarke standing next to Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors and the man who makes those decisions. Hayden’s achilles has been improving and he planned to have a centre-wicket practice once the post-match presentation had cleared.”Hayden has been getting around a lot better over the last couple of days,” Ponting said. “Hopefully both those guys come up alright and we’ll get them back in the side sooner rather than later.”After two poor openings – Australia were 37 for 2 in the first innings and 18 for 5 on day four – Ponting needs his pillars on duty. West Indies are also hopeful of Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor, two of their major weapons, being available in Antigua from Friday.Brad Hodge made useful contributions in both innings, but Clarke’s arrival in the West Indies from compassionate leave means the Victorian will probably be squeezed off the tour. If Hayden comes back, Simon Katich will also lose his spot in the team following his 12 and 1 at the top of the order.The look of the Australians after the match was more relief after Clark had captured 5 for 32 and West Indies had fallen for 191, giving the tourists a 95-run win. “We had our up-and-down moments right through the course of the game,” Ponting said. “The first couple of days we dominated, then West Indies did well to fight back late on day three, taking those four wickets. It got them back into the game.”Symonds’ innings yesterday was crucial for us, it got us back in front. Then Clark and Brett Lee led the way outstandingly well today. It turned out being a terrific Test.”Clark was superb and he and Lee, operating in partnership, made sure the game was sealed by lunch. “The wicket was good for bowling, a little up and down,” Clark said. “They were nice conditions, and it was my day here.”Ponting was also impressed by the performance of his leading fast men. “The way we went about it today, that was really Test cricket,” he said. “We didn’t give them any easy runs in the first session. The bowlers stuck to their jobs manfully, and that was the turning point in the game.”He saved special praise for Clark’s achievements since joining the Test team in 2006. “How could you not admire what he’s done,” Ponting told reporters after play. “He’s averaged 20 in 16 or so Test matches, and that’s a really great achievement, especially when he hasn’t bowled with the new ball on a lot of those occasions.”And we’re playing on a lot pitches like this, where you just have to go against what you do in Australia and find different ways of working batsmen over and getting them out. Whatever the situation required, you know that he’ll come in and get the job done for you. Whether it be a seaming pitch or something like the one in this match. He’ll give you what is expected and what the team requires.”

'Major concerns' with Pakistan security – Smith

The security situation in Pakistan has worsened since South Africa’s tour of Pakistan last October and Graeme Smith has spoken on behalf of his players © Getty Images
 

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, says his players have expressed major reservations about playing the Champions Trophy in Pakistan this September. His comments are the latest voicing player concern over security in Pakistan after the ICC confirmed on Thursday that the tournament would remain in that country.South Africa toured Pakistan last October for a Test and ODI series and Smith said the security situation had worsened considerably since then, when a state of emergency was declared just days after their departure.”From the players’ point of view, we do have major concerns with security in Pakistan,” Smith told . “A lot has happened in Pakistan, from a security point of view, since we were there and those are things that are worrying us. Generally, that’s a full-player view. I don’t know any players who don’t have issues with regards to security in Pakistan.”There were bombings taking place in Karachi and bombings are taking place in Lahore now. Within three days (of us returning home), there was a state of emergency so we have seen how quickly things can develop.”Smith echoed the views of Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association, who said yesterday the players were disappointed with the ICC’s decision and also hoped Cricket South Africa (CSA) would seriously consider whether to send a team to the Champions Trophy or not. Smith said he would leave the players association and Gerald Majola, CSA’s chief executive, to take the final decision.”We have people working on that whom we trust, Tony Irish from the players’ association and Gerald,” Smith said. “We are in constant communication with them on how we feel as players. We trust them to make the right decisions.”David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, said senior players in the England squad will be consulted and shown the security reports ahead of an ECB meeting on August 4.”We will want to have a very robust review of that (security) plan,” Collier said. “We’re in very close touch, not only with the Professional Cricketers Association, but directly with all the players. It’s very important that we are in very, very close contact over this period and clearly other boards around the world are in the same position.”Heath Mills, the chief of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association, did not even approve of sending a second-string team for the tournament and said that the decision should not be left to the players. “”This is an international security issue,” Mills told . “It shouldn’t be something left in the hands of the younger, less experienced and more vulnerable players. Of course they’ll feel under pressure to take the chance. It’s totally irresponsible to put them in that position.”

Moin vows to play on until 2006

LAHORE, Nov 14: Former captain Moin Khan, battling to make a comeback to the national team has said that he was fit to play international cricket for the next four years.Talking to Dawn, Moin pointed out that earlier he had decided, he would call it a day after 2003 World Cup, but now had changed his mind and would continue international cricket.Moin who reached here to take part in the ongoing Super League Ramazan Cup One-day tournament vowed that he would regain his place in the national team after proving his form and fitness to the selectors.Having missed the first round of the tournament, Moin will now lead Whites against Blues Saturday.The former skipper said that he missed the first two matches because he was attending pressing family matters of which he informed the PCB.He expressed his opinion that on the basis of the performance of the national team recently, it’s World Cup chances does not look good. However, he believed that Pakistan being an unpredictable team anything could happen.Moin said that he would be happy to play as a member of Pakistan team. Meanwhile Azhar Mahmood will not lead PCB Blues against Greens in the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup on Friday.Azhar who has to leave for Zimbabwe Saturday to join Pakistan team there for the five One-day international match series.Wicketkeeper Atiquz Zaman will lead Blues and Abdur Rahman from Sialkot will replace Azhar.

Kartik was the find of the series

It is not often that India loses a one-day international seriesat home. Their record in the limited overs game is as impressiveas their record in Test cricket. In 2000, India even got thebetter of the redoubtable South Africans and last year they ranAustralia, the reigning world champions, close before losing bythree matches to two. On the evidence of this, the loss in thejust-concluded series against the West Indies might be difficultto digest for some.On the contrary, while there is still some cause for concern asfar as the team composition for the World Cup is concerned oneneed not take the final result at its face value. In the firstplace it must not be forgotten that India were without SachinTendulkar and Zaheer Khan for the entire series of seven matches.Then at various times during the contests and for differentreasons India lost the services of Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumbleand Harbhajan Singh.

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Secondly, the selectors and the team management decided to makesome experiments in a bid to try and zero in on the rightcombination for the World Cup. The move may be debated butrightly or wrongly the decision was taken and in the short term,it was bound to have an impact on the overall performance. In thelong-term analysis, if this helps in finding the ideal squad forthe World Cup, the decision to experiment could be hailed as amasterstroke.Indeed, continuing to look at developments from the positiveangle, the non-availability of the stars and the decision toexperiment gave the fringe players a chance to bid for apermanent place in the squad. The selectors also took theopportunity to give talented young players the big break. It isanother matter that cricketers like Dinesh Mongia, Jai PrakashYadav, Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Lakshmipathy Balaji did not makethe most of the chances that came their way.On the other hand, players like Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kartikcame up with eye-catching performances and took a firm steptowards cementing their places in a full-strength squad. Theformer showed distinct signs of emerging as the all-rounder theWorld Cup side will undoubtedly require while Kartik’s left armspinners frequently had the Caribbean batsmen in trouble.Kartik’s strong temperament allied to his undoubted skill makeshim an ideal bowler for Test cricket too.There was a clamour for long that both Yuvraj Singh and MohammadKaif batted too low down the order. The absence of some of thestars gave them the opening to bat a notch or two up the orderand the result was at best a mixed bag. Once Tendulkar andGanguly return, it is apparent that the two will again have tobat in the lower half of the order. With Dravid, Sehwag andLaxman in the line-up, there does not seem to be any otheroption.With the attacks of both sides coming in for a lot of stick, itwas inevitable that the Indian bowling too would pose problems.The emergence of Kartik was a big plus and one must assume thatJavagal Srinath will go to South Africa again, at least on thebasis of his vast experience, if not exactly as the spearhead. Itmust be admitted that even at 33 there were times in the sevenmatches that he looked quite menacing.The return of Zaheer will no doubt strengthen the seam attackwhile Ajit Agarkar did just about enough to guarantee his placein the World Cup squad. In any – as relief seambowler, a pinch-hitter or utility man – his claims cannot beoverlooked. There must be a question mark over Ashish Nehra whileBalaji was a sore disappointment. With the seam bowling resourcesrather limited, it is obvious that spin will continue to play anotable part in shaping India’s fortunes in the World Cup. Kartikremains the most promising prospect.

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Yes, in the absence of Kumble and Harbhajan, Sehwag was given alot of bowling. But one suspects that in South Africa, Gangulywill send down more overs than Sehwag.One is not sure whether the team management will continue withthe experiments in the seven one-day internationals in NewZealand next month, the final engagement for the Indian sidebefore the World Cup. But one thing is clear. The experimentationprocess against the West Indies did not help much in zeroing inon the ideal combination for the World Cup. Question marks stillremain over the bowling and the all-rounder’s slot ­ despiteBangar showing some promise. After all, it must not be forgottenthat conditions in South Africa are very different. The pitchesthere are less likely to favour the batsmen and it is battingafter all that is our trump card. The bowlers will no doubt dobetter in the more helpful conditions but is it a match-winningline-up? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Melvyn Betts reprimanded under ECB Discipline Code

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today confirmed that Warwickshirecricketer, Melvyn Betts, has received three penalty points under the ECB’s new discipline code following an incident during Warwickshire’s Second Xl Championship match against Essex last week.Betts was reported by Umpire Ken Shuttleworth for a Level Two breach of the new code (showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision by word or action).The penalty points remain on Betts’s record for a period of 12 months. Theaccumulation of nine or more penalty points in any 12-month period will result in an automatic suspension.The ECB’s new discipline code came into force at the start of this season.

SPCL star Ronchi blasts England tourists in Perth

Bashley-Rydal cricketer Luke Ronchi snapped up four catches behind the stumps before hitting an unbeaten 34 in Western Australia’s drawn match with England in Perth.Playing only his second First Class match, Ronchi, 21, snared England captain Nasser Hussein, Hampshire’s John Crawley, Alec Stewart and Ashley Giles as the injury-ravaged tourists tumbled to a disappointing 221 all out.Two of Ronchi’s victims – Hussein and Giles – came off the bowling of Callum Thorp, a window cleaner from Wanneroo, who finished with 4-58.Batting at seven, Ronchi emerged from the pavilion at 267-5 to hit 34 not out as Western Australia reached 313-6 at the end of the two-day match.Recently appointed captain of his Perth Grade club, Ronchi will have pressed his claims for a regular slot in the Western Australia State team through his performance against England.”Luke’s heart is set on making it big time in Australia,” confirmed Bashley skipper Neil Taylor.”The problem is that Adam Gilchrist and Ryan Campbell, Australia’s number one and two ‘keepers, are ahead of him in the WA pecking order.”Ronchi, who attends Australia’s prestigious Academy, won this season’s Southern Electric ECB Premier League batting award, scoring 725 runs for the New Forest club.He has played for Bashley for three of the past four seasons, but Taylor is uncertain whether he will return next year.

Shoaib's pace reigns supreme

It was billed as the biggest individual show-down in world cricket today, cricket’s answer to a heavy weight title fight to decide once and for all who is the fastest bowler on the planet.But the three-match confrontation which was planned, effectively turned into a single day of competition between the world’s two fastest bowlers.Shoaib Akhtar came to Australia as the fastest bowler alive and left with his reputation intact. In fact, Shoaib left Australia with a new found respect from the Australian public and batsmen alike and, perhaps, fear as the deadliest one-day bowler in world cricket.Brett Lee was effectively dropped for the first clash due to his poor economy rate since his return from elbow surgery some 12 months ago. Coming into the second game on notice to tighten things up, Lee understandably looked tense and never really got into gear. Lee’s pace comes from rhythm and playing competitive cricket but the seven week lay-off had also let a little rust set in and this showed in all the Australian bowlers.Glenn McGrath has not bowled as slowly since the beginning of the Test series against the West Indies in 2000. In this series his bowling was around 10kph slower than in the one-dayers in Australia earlier this year. Just four months ago, he was bowling whole overs above 140kph and as high as 143.7kph, yet from the start of this series, McGrath settled into the 128kph to 134kph range and barely got above 136kph.Jason Gillespie’s pace also suffered a little from his lack of cricket, as he was about 5kph below what he would usually be producing during an Australian summer. Gillespie, however, did manage to match Mohammed Sami for pace as the two men were constantly over 140kph and as high as 145kph in their only encounter.The amazing thing about Gillespie and McGrath is that although their pace may have been down due to a lack of cricket, their all important line and length was spot on target virtually from the first ball they bowled.Andy Bichel has been playing a lot of cricket, and it showed as he was around top pace and bettered the 140kph mark in each of his two matches.A surprise as far as pace goes was the tameness of the bowling of Shane Watson. Touted as being as fast as anyone on Australia’s domestic circuit and a genuine opening bowler, he looked anything but a fast-man. His fastest ball coming in game two at 136.0kph.Veterans Wasim Akram (136.9kph) and Waqar Younis (137.4kph) managed to pip young Watson in the third match but it shouldn’t be too long until we see just what the talented all-rounder is capable of. Once he begins to believe that he belongs at this level, he should loosen up somewhat and justify the faith which has being shown in his bowling. A couple of years back, Dennis Lillee showed some faith in him and took the then 18-year-old Watson to the MRF Pace Academy in India. Dennis Lillee has an eye for spotting a fine young ‘quick’.Shahid Afridi never fails to amaze me with the speed of his fast-ball. Off just a few steps he is able to make the jump from his standard 100kph to over 130kph almost at will. This is surely a rare sight in world cricket today.What the whole world really wanted to see was the match up between Shoaib and Lee. But the ‘main event’ nearly turned into a non-event as injury and poor form threatened to quash the battle before it had even begun.The television station responsible for showing the series in Australia had run their advertising campaign around the pace battle between the pair and a no-show would mean both poor ratings and a few television gurus with more than a little egg on their face.A special commemorative piece of memorabilia was even being promoted with signed pictures of the pair. The framed pictures entitled “Pace Fury” and selling for $395.00 (Aus) highlights the pair and also credits the men with speeds of 157.4kph for Lee and 157.2kph for Shoaib. One can only assume that the window of opportunity between the March 8, 2002 when Lee bowled 157.4kph (EDH guns) and April 12, 2002 when Shoaib hit 159.5kph (EDH guns) was utilised to both design and produce what is a marvellous testament to these two wonderful athletes.The bowling speeds recorded during this series proved Shoaib as completely dominant in both pace and skill. This dynamic duo had only the second of the three matches pitted against each other and each of the men were carrying baggage of some sort.Shoaib was clearly limping and labouring in his run to the bowling crease during his first match, yet as we have come to expect from Shoaib, he was able to exceed 145kph almost at will. His sharpest delivery was 151.9kph and he walked away with the top 10 speeds of the match.An interesting bit of byplay between the speed freaks came when Shoaib had just taken the wicket of Bichel and Lee strode to the crease. Shoaib eyeballed his fellow paceman and gestured towards his own head suggesting that a fast bouncer was imminent. The crowd loved it and saw the humour of the situation when the first ball to Lee was found closing in on his big toe at 148.4kph. Lee did exceptionally well to dig the ball out.Shoaib’s 150kph in-swinging yorker is fast becoming the most feared weapon in world cricket and has proved as deadly as a side-winder missile, honing in on the stumps. The New Zealanders were the first to bear the brunt of Shoaib’s new found combination of speed, accuracy and lateral movement in April and now it was Australia’s turn.The Australian batsmen have shown their dislike for genuine pacemen with Makhaya Ntini and Shane Bond dominating during the one-dayers earlier in the year, but now Shoaib was in another league altogether. Ricky Ponting (151.1kph), Darren Lehmann (150.3kph) and Michael Bevan (152.3kph) were dismissed in successive overs from Shoaib with balls exceeding 150kph. In his 96 balls bowled in the series, he exceeded the 150kph mark 19 times, 16 of those balls came in Shoaib’s second match when his injured leg seemed less of a concern.In that match, he bowled at a top speed of 153.9kph, just 0.9kph short of the fastest ball recorded by IDS on Australian soil and 0.8kph shy of Shoaib’s fastest ball in Australia. He has pushed the consistently accurate IDS guns even higher still, in Sharjah when he recorded 155.7kph.Shoaib looked perhaps one match away from recording that sort of pace again but more importantly ended the day as man of the match and also player of the series. In Shoaib’s last three series he has taken 23 wickets at 13.5 with a s/r of 21.4. Combine that with an economy rate of under four runs per over and you can see why Shoaib is being hailed as the best one-day bowler on the world’s stage.Lee’s poor economy rate of late was the focus of much media attention in the lead up to this series. Lee would no doubt realise that continued inaccuracy may ultimately mean the difference between being a hero or a spectator in the forthcoming World Cup. Over his last five series, Lee has conceded 5.3 runs per over and although he has the ability to break a game wide open with a few wickets in quick succession, it was deemed the Lee is not in Australia’s best 11 players. His only opportunity to impress came in the second game of the three-match series.The fastest ball which Lee produced against Pakistan was a relatively slow 147.3kph and he only exceed 145kph with four of his 60 legal deliveries. A worrying sign came early for Lee when he conceded three wides in his first over, two of those balls above 145kph. But although it was never going to be Lee’s day for setting any speed records, he performed admirably and was far from disgraced. Lee ended the day with two for 44, both wickets coming in an inspired burst during his fourth over.If Lee was to get into the 150kph plus range during this series, then realistically he needed to play in all three matches. Lee’s pace is different to Shoaib’s in that Lee needs a few consecutive matches under his belt before he really hits top gear. For instance, in the three Test series against New Zealand last year, it took him until the third match before he moved into the ‘express lane’ recording 154.5kph and he continued in the vein throughout the following four months of cricket. Lee’s speed culminated in producing the 157.4kph and 157.3kph deliveries in March 2002 which temporarily knocked Shoaib off top spot in the pace race. Lee has never bowled at 99.4mph (159.97kph) as more than a few recent reports have suggested.Lee usually builds up speed as a match progresses and in individual overs he customarily bowls his fastest balls in ball numbers 4 to 6. Shoaib on the other hand exceeds 150kph regardless of whether he has had an extended break from the game and often his fastest speeds come during his first twelve balls of a match.Shoaib came into this series as the ‘world champion of speed’, the unofficial world record holder and in the best form of his life. He left with his reputation enhanced and their is no disputing that Shoaib is the fastest bowler in the world.Super Challenge speeds per ball (kph):Shoaib Akhtar:Game 2:First spell
1st over – 136.2, 139.3, 144.8, 144.5, 144.6, 151.0
2nd over – 148.3, 146.1, 144.0, 141.7, 148.9, 145.0
3rd over – 145.3, 145.1, 147.8, 150.2, 151.9, 147.2
4th over – 140.6, 145.1, 144.0, 149.6, 120.0, 145.0
5th over – 144.5, 141.4, 146.7, 121.8, 139.0, 151.6
6th over – 145.1, 142.5, 138.9, 145.3*, 136.8, 132.2, 114.0Second spell
7th over – 135.7, 115.0, 138.9, 147.0*, 145.9, 140.3, 112.6
8th over – 133.5, 138.4, 148.4, 145.9, 148.4, 146.1Game 3:First spell
1st over – 131.4, 139.3, 144.4, 148.7, 152.0, 151.1
2nd over – 149.8, 151.5*, 151.1, 148.5, 150.6, 150.3, 152.8
3rd over – 147.4, 151.1, 152.3, 152.0, 151.1, 152.0
4th over – 153.6, 149.1, 148.2, 148.7, 152.0, 153.9
5th over – 147.1, 146.1, 123.6, 145.9*, 149.8, 144.1, 149.1*, 148.2
6th over – DNR, 143.8, DNR, 142.7, 144.6, 145.2Second spell
7th over – 141.9, 148.4, 147.9, 149.5, 146.5, 114.6
8th over – 140.2, 144.3, 121.5, 143.8*, 150.6, 151.1, 149.1Brett Lee:Game 2:First spell
1st over – 135.6*, 138.9, 140.9, 141.4, 145.0*, 146.1*, 141.4, 137.9, 142.8
2nd over – 139.5, 140.3, 140.7, 140.0, 143.1, 143.3
3rd over – 137.7*, 142.5, 143.7*, 146.1, 143.7, 141.4, 139.3, 142.6
4th over – 143.4, 142.5, 142.0, 145.9, 144.0, 142.0
5th over – 147.3, 141.0, 144.5, 139.3, 138.9, 142.0
6th over – 140.6, 142.5, 140.9, 140.9, 142.2, 140.9Second spell
7th over – 140.0, 142.5, 140.9, 140.9, 142.2, 140.9
8th over – 138.9, 138.5, 141.8, 142.2, 136.8, 134.3
9th over – 136.0, 139.7, 142.2, 139.3, 142.3, 145.3
10th over – 142.2, 138.4, 139.5, 138.9, 137.3*, 140.7, 140.9* – Wides and no-balls
DNR – did not register on the monitors

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