Oram takes injured Collingwood's IPL place

Rajasthan Royals have signed New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram as a replacement for the injured Paul Collingwood. Oram has been signed for $250,000, which is what the franchise paid for Collingwood in the player auction in January. IPL rules preclude teams from signing replacement players at a higher value than the player they are replacing.

Oram had an excellent World Cup with the ball, taking 12 wickets at an average of 18.41. His standout performance came in New Zealand's upset victory over South Africa in the quarter-finals. In that game, he took 4 for 39 and pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss Jacques Kallis to earn the Man-of-the-Match award.

"He [Oram] fits in that kind of slot like Collingwood, a middle-order batsman who bowls," a franchise official told ESPNcricinfo. "And he really hits the ball hard. Also his recent performance in the World Cup was fantastic, especially in the quarter-finals against South Africa. It is not the main reason [we picked him], but it helps to have a player in form."

A few days ago Oram told One News that he was looking forward to a stint in the IPL, though he refused to divulge the name of the franchise he was negotiating with at the time. "I'm only a replacement for an injured guy, which is ironic, but I'm going to look forward to going over there and playing well, and who knows, maybe pick up a gig for next year and my career might just keep going on and on."

Collingwood is set to undergo surgery for a damaged cartilage in his right knee next week, and will not recover in time to participate in the tournament that begins on April 8.

Source: http://www.ipl20twentycricket.com/ipl-news/1186-oram-takes-injured-collingwoods-ipl-place

Preview: New Zealand vs Zimbabwe , 18th Match

This may not be the David vs. Goliath encounter that we have come to see many times over the past few days. New Zealand have endured torrid form off late, being walloped by Bangladesh, India and then Pakistan while Zimbabwe troubles too have not been much less. The African side however, need not look farther than the Ireland-England game for inspiration after the minnows' stunning win against the English. Canada too produced a superb performance to trouble Pakistan. Is another upset on the cards? 

New Zealand 

After rather disastrous World Cup preparations, New Zealand got off to a flyer, skittling Kenya out for an embarrassing 69 before romping home in just 48 balls. Hamish Bennett was the undoubted star in that match with some hostile bowling. In their next encounter, an emotionally charged battle against Australia, they lost to the rivals. Nathan McCullum was one of the few players to have a good outing with the bat, top scoring with a fifty while the rest struggled to come to terms with the pace Brett Lee and Shaun Tait produced. 

Their batting was woefully exposed against pace in that match, and Zimbabwe could do well to use that to their advantage. Their batting on recent occasions has depended heavily on the lower order or individual brilliance, but it would be the ideal opportunity for them to work as a team against Zimbabwe. 

Their bowling delivered the goods in emphatic fashion against Kenya but could not repeat the performance against a red hot Australia. They have a good mix of pace and spin to trouble the top teams, but are very inconsistent. Talisman and captain Daniel Vettori has often been the lone fighter for New Zealand with consistent performances and New Zealand will want the others bowlers to contribute too. 

Zimbabwe 

Zimbabwe will come into the game with more confidence than the Black Caps after they thumped the Canadians in the previous match with Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and Ray Price doing the bulk of the damage for the African side. 

From the batting front, Zimbabwe seemed to have a settled line up with Brendon Taylor, Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and captain Elton Chigumbura capable of taking the game away from the opposition. They will, however, have a much tougher task against NZ. 

Ray Price, a bowler who has a run up that matches menacing fast bowlers at times, is Zimbabwe's most attacking option. The left armer bowls with great discipline and is at his threatening best when bowlers try to go after him. Zimbabwe will be reliant on the spinner to give them quick wickets as they aim to get their second win under their belts. 

Head to Head 

New Zealand and Zimbabwe have played each other 28 times before and the Kiwis have come out on top on 19 occasions and have been part of a tie once. Zimbabwe have won 7 times. One match was called off. 

Quotes 

Ross Taylor: As a batting unit we need to step up and score about 300-330 which is the par score in this tournament. We are all very talented. We are getting out there in the middle and just getting ourselves out. It's frustrating but we know we are not far away from that one good performance. 

Ray Price : It is very important for us (the win against Canada). But you try not to think too much of that because in cricket if you think about the results then you forget about what you are supposed to do and control the areas you are supposed to bowl at.

Source:-http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37536/preview:-new-zealand-vs-zimbabwe--18th-match/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CricbuzzFeed+(Cricbuzz:+Cricket+Scores+and+News)

Aus vs NZ: Convincing 7-wicket win for Aussies against Kiwis

Australia beat their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by seven wickets in a one-sided World Cup Group B match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur on Friday. 

Chasing a partly 207, the Australians got off to a fine start with openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin milking away the Kiwi bowlers. The duo batted on at ease even as the Kiwis tried hard to figure out a way to stop their charge.

Their bowling lacked the kill and the Aussies continued to pound away boundaries. Finally Kiwi pacer Hamish Bennett managed to break their partnership when the Aussie score was 133 runs. It was a slower ball that did the trick albeit a bit late. Haddin went for an aerial shot and ended up giving a catch to James Franklin at deep midwicket. Haddin scored 55.

With the partnership broken, the other opener Shane Watson too lost his rhythm and got out in the 20th over when the Aussie score was 136/2. He was cleaned bowled by Bennett on 62.

A few minutes later Aussie skipper Ricky Pointing too fell trying to play Tim Southee down the leg side. The ball was wide off the leg side and Ponting still touched it trying to play it towards the fine-leg boundary. But keeper Brendon McCullum had other plans, he collected the ball and even before Ponting could realise his error his bails were off. He scored 12 as the Australia score read 167/3.

Finally, Michael Clarke and Cameron White batted on to carry the Aussies to victory in the 34th over.

New Zealand innings

New Zealand posted a meagre 206 against Australia in their World Cup Group A match. The total could have been all the more dismal hadn't Nathan McCullum and skipper Daniel Vettori staged a late revival at death.

In the morning, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bowl under overcast conditions - a move aimed helping his pacemen excel. And that's what they did with Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson ripping the Kiwi batting apart.

Shaun Tait started the job rather early removing opener Brendon McCullum in the fourth over of the day.

However, it was more of McCullum's fault in the way he got out. He went for a big hit right away and Jason Krejza took a fine catch in the deep. He fell for 16 as New Zealand slumped to 20/1 in 3.4 overs.

Shortly after McCullum's dismissal, the other opener Martin Guptill too walked back with Shane Watson castling him on 40/2 in the 9th over. He scored 10.

But, that was just the beginning of the Aussie charge as Mitchell Johnson claimed two wickets in the space of two balls to push the Kiwis to the wall. Ryder fell for 25 while James Franklin hadn't even opened his account, when Johnson removed them. The New Zealand score at the stage was 66/4 in 13.5 overs.

Clearly the Aussies pacemen were at a party and Shaun Tait struck back to make sure he had more reason to cheer. After removing McCullum in early, he claimed seasoned batsman Scott Styris in the 15th over when the Kiwi total was 67/5. Poor Styris hadn't even opened his account.

Tait was far from satisfied and in his next over he struck again to get rid of Ross Taylor (7) with a fine yorker. Kiwis were reeling on 73/6.

Six wickets down and the pitch dry by then, the Kiwis finally managed to forge a small 48-run partnership with Nathan McCullum and Jamie How sticking together for 40 minutes.

The two used 12 overs and scored the rate of four runs an over helping their team cross the 100-run mark. But in the 29th over, leg-spinner Steve Smith decided to break their stand. He tossed the ball in the middle and removed How with an LBW decision. The Kiwis went for a decision review, but it proved to be unsuccessful as New Zealand slumped to 121/7.

Finally, Nathan McCullum decided to stage a comeback, but it was too late for the Kiwis as he along with skipper Daniel Vettori were the last recognised batsmen in their camp. Nathan carried on and even scored the team's highest individual total with 52 on board.

However, after staying at the crease for more than an hour a change in bowling foxed Nathan as he became Mitchell Johnson's third victim on 175/8 in the 42nd over. Once again the Kiwis decided to use the review and once again it proved unsuccessful.

Skipper Daniel Vettori too departed with Brett Lee claiming his wicket. He scored a resolute 44 helping the Kiwis cross 200-run mark.

Eventually New Zealand were all out for a partly 206 on the first ball of the 46th over with Shaun Tait (3-35) and Mitchell Johnson (4-33) claiming seven wicket between them.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/130835/sports/aus-vs-nz-match-report.html

Pakistan vs Kenya: Chasing 318, Kenya lose six wickets against Pakistan

Pakistan opened their World Cup campaign with a thumping 205 run win over an unimpressive Kenya in a group A match at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota on Wednesday.

For Kenya it is their second consecutive defeat in the mega-event after being demolished by New Zealand by 10 wickets in their tournament-opener on Sunday. Score

Pakistan will next play Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday.

Against Kenya, Pakistan produced an all-round display as after piling up a mammoth 317 for seven on the board, they dismissed the minnows for a paltry 112 in 33.1 overs.

Even though he failed with the bat, skipper Shahid Afridi (5/16) led from the front while defending the target and returned with a five-wicket haul to notch up the comprehensive victory for the former champions.

For Kenya only four batsmen reached double figures with Collins Obuya top-scoring with a gutsy 47 off 58 balls.

Apart from Afridi, pacer Umar Gul picked up two Kenyan wickets giving away just 12 runs.

Earlier, Pakistan's middle-order came up with a splendid batting display to steer the team to a massive 317 for seven after opting to bat.'

Shrugging off a poor start, Kamran Akmal (55), Younis Khan (50), Misbah-ul-Haq (65) and Umar Akmal (71) chipped in with valuable half-centuries each to post a challenging total.

While it was the experienced duo of Younis and Kamran, who helped the team recover from an early stutter, Misbah and Umar capitalised on it to pile up huge runs.

From 12 for two in 6.5 overs, Younis-Kamran lifted Pakistan to 110 for three, sharing a crucial 98-run third-wicket stand before quickfire knocks from Misbah and Umar turned the tide completely in Pakistan's favour.

Misbah scored 65 off 69 balls with the help of one four and two sixes, while Umar hit 71 off 52 balls, including eight fours and a six as they put up 118 runs for fifth wicket.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/130694/sports/pak-vs-kenya-match-report.html

Major earthquake hits New Zealand, 65 dead

CHRISTCHURCH: At least 65 people died in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Christchurch Tuesday, Prime Minister John Key said, adding "we may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day". 

Key said the death toll was likely to rise after the lunchtime tremor in the city in the South Island's Canterbury region, which is still recovering from a 7.0 quake in September last year. 

"The death toll I have at the moment is 65 and that may rise. So it's an absolute tragedy for this city, for New Zealand, for the people that we care so much about," Key told TVNZ. "It's a terrifying time for the people of Canterbury." 

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said as many as 200 people could still be trapped inside buildings. 

Key travelled to Christchurch hours after the quake and said the city was "a scene of utter devastation". 

"People are just sitting on the side of the road, their heads in their hands. This is a community that is absolutely in agony," he said 

He said the destruction was much worse than last year's September 4 quake, which caused widespread damage but resulted in no deaths. 

"This is the central city at a very, very busy time where you've had a massive earthquake and seen violent shaking on what was already probably weakened infrastructure," he said. 

He said the city would recover from the tragedy. 

Source:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Major-earthquake-hits-New-Zealand-65-dead/articleshow/7544743.cms

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