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Kevin Pietersen described his innings of 182 in Mumbai as ‘pretty satisfying’ but said it would mean more if England went on to win the Test

David Hopps25-Nov-2012

There must have been days during his exile from England’s dressing room that Kevin Pietersen feared he would never play again a Test innings as magnificent as the one he produced in Mumbai.There must have been days when he feared he would never play another Test innings at all.His response to that suggestion, a strikingly downbeat response for someone who had just produced one of the most memorable innings in Test history, was to shrug that he never looked as far ahead as the next day.”I never know what is going to happen tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t take myself that seriously. I do everything on a day-to-day basis. What will be, will be. I live my life day to day.”It sounded a cop out until one reflected that a lack of forethought had been evident the moment he embarked upon his rebellion against the ECB and ultimately became estranged from much of the England dressing room in the process.Day-to-day living looked the way to go as Pietersen turned 180 degrees on the boundary edge at the Wankhede Stadium to acknowledge the applause of the crowd. India loves his star quality, his individuality and his capacity to entertain.No Englishman, one would wager, comes anywhere near to his popularity. Boris Johnson, in Delhi to drum up trade with India as Mayor of London, could take back billions in trade deals if he was seen out for dinner with Pietersen.Pietersen produces great moments, and revels in them, but he rarely cares to assess them. “It will mean a lot more if we win tomorrow but it was a pretty difficult wicket,” he said. “You knew at some stage a ball had your name on it so to play as well as that was pretty satisfying.””We have come here to learn, we have come here to try to win, and we want to front up to the challenge. The captain asked that of us before the Test.”Along with that captain, Alastair Cook, he reached 22 Test hundreds, equalling the best by any England batsman. The sweep shot – often derided during England’s troubled year – had been well executed by both batsmen during a third-wicket stand of 206 that began to turn the Test in England’s favour.”I think some of the greatest batsmen who have come to India and been successful have been very good sweepers – our coach for one,” he said, recalling Andy Flower’s unbeaten double hundred for Zimbabwe in Nagpur.”It messes around with the lengths that the spinners bowl and it messes around with the fields. It negates that little leg gully that can cause issues if the spinners bowl straight to you. As long as you play it well and pick the right ball it’s fine. If you play it sixth or seventh ball and miss it like I did in Ahmedabad you look like a clown.”I wasn’t playing well at all in Ahmedabad. I didn’t trust my defence as much as I trusted my defence in this Test match and as a batter if you don’t trust your defence you try too many things, you try to force the issue.”So I went and did a lot of hard work as I always do and luckily it had paid off. I like to keep things simple. I just didn’t go into that Test match trusting my defence. I don’t think the warm-up matches going into that Test match tested my defence. It is just about keeping things simple and doing the basics right.”It was not a day for him to celebrate, certainly not in the company of an English media that, in some cases, had been critical of him in a personal way not seen to such an extent since Geoffrey Boycott began his own self-imposed exile from England nearly 40 years earlier. The hurt is not easily forgotten.The much-vaunted reintegration process with the England dressing room has been completed. Perhaps he needs another one with the media.He spoke in more relaxed fashion on ESPN Star Sports to Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain who also had his detractors and who saw him at his lowest moments when they worked alongside each other in a studio in Colombo during World Twenty20 after England refused to pick him.How did it feel to be back? “It feels really good, thanks Sourav,” he said. “I was with you for two weeks through the turmoil but, no, this is great. I’m back playing cricket for England, it’s amazing to get back into the Test scene and to get some runs on a wicket like this and hopefully help us win a Test match, would be magnificent.”Not that he was prepared to claim that the game was already won, with the memory still fresh of England’s collapse to 72 all out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in January.”It’s definitely a cliffhanger, for sure,” he said. “You’ve seen the wicket now, it’s spinning, bouncing, from straight, from off-straight. It’s going to be a tough time to go out there and hopefully we don’t have to face too many. We don’t want to have to chase a 100 or 120 on there; we tried that once this year and failed in Abu Dhabi.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Durante toda a tarde de terça-feira, a direção do Flamengo esteve reunida com Diego Alves e o seu empresário, Eduardo Maluf, tentando contornar a situação criada pela recusa do goleiro em viajar com o grupo ao ser informado que seria reserva. As partes, porém, ficaram distantes de um denominador comum e as conversas seguirão no dias que antecedem a “decisão” contra o Palmeiras. A preocupação é que o episódio tire o foco do time da disputa do título brasileiro.

A reaproximação entre Diego Alves e Flamengo terá um capítulo importante nesta quarta: o camisa 1 treinará com o elenco. Esta foi uma das resoluções tomadas nas conversas no Ninho do Urubu e informada por Ricardo Lomba, vice de futebol. A atitude do goleiro não repercutiu bem entre os jogadores, cabendo aos envolvidos, principalmente ao goleiro, muito “jogo de cintura” para não tornar o bom ambiente de trabalho atual em um clima insustentável.

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Na terça, o contato entre Diego Alves e o resto do grupo foi pequeno. O goleiro chegou ao CT pouco antes das 15h – o treino estava marcado para às 15h30 – e logo foi reunir-se com os dirigentes. Depois, enquanto os companheiros foram ao gramado, permaneceu na parte interna do CEP Fla e trabalhou na academia. Depois, novas conversas com a direção do Fla, deixando o Ninho do Urubu por volta das 19h, durante a entrevista coletiva de Ricardo Lomba e Carlos Noval.

A expectativa é de que Diego Alves se retrate com o elenco pela atitude. Porém, na reunião com Lomba, Noval e Bruno Spindel, o goleiro voltou a questionar a decisão de deixá-lo como opção, argumentando que saiu do time por conta de uma lesão, e não por questão técnica, e lembrou de seu histórico pelo time da Gávea. Do outro lado, os diretores lembraram que Dorival Jr é quem decide e tem autonomia para fazer as mudanças que achar necessárias no Flamengo.

Se não respondeu se Diego Alves será punido, multado ou sequer se o goleiro pediu desculpas aos companheiros, Ricardo Lomba deixou claro na entrevista que o momento “escolhido” pelo atleta não poderia ser pior. A equipe evoluiu sob o comando de Dorival, venceu as últimas três rodadas com boas atuações e, no sábado, enfrenta o líder Palmeiras no Maracanã – quatro pontos separam as equipes. Desta forma, todos os movimentos do Flamengo neste momento são visando manter o foco dos jogadores na disputa do título do Brasileirão.

RESCISÃO COM O GOLEIRO É DESCARTADA

Com a concordância do departamento jurídico, o Flamengo aplicará uma multa a Diego Alves pelo ato de indisciplina. A punição não é confirmada pela direção e, tampouco, o valor. Segundo Lomba, “a questão será tratada internamente”. A rescisão do contrato do camisa 1, por sua vez, não entrou em pauta no clube.

A qualidade do goleiro é consenso e abrir mão do jogador não faz sentido para a cúpula de futebol. Apesar da situação difícil, há confiança em que Diego Alves supere a situação e dê a volta por cima. Que não seja nesta fim de ano, mas na próxima temporada. Seu vínculo com o Fla é válido até dezembro de 2020.

Além disso, o Flamengo passará por pleito presidencial em dezembro e perder um ativo do valor de Diego Alves pode pesar contra a chapa de situação, que tem Ricardo Lomba como candidato à presidente e apoio de Bandeira de Mello.

علق البرازيلي ريكاردو المدير الفني لنادي المريخ السوداني على خسارة فريقه أمام الزمالك، اليوم الجمعة، في بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

الزمالك فاز على المريخ بأربعة أهداف لثلاثة، على استاد القاهرة، في ختام دور المجموعات بدوري الأبطال.

طالع | ترتيب مجموعة الزمالك في دوري أبطال إفريقيا بعد الفوز على المريخ

وقال ريكاردو عقب المباراة :”الفريقان لعبا مباراة مفتوحة، والزمالك استطاع أن يسجل هدفين في الدقائق الأولى بسبب عدم تركيز لاعبي المريخ”.

وتابع: “بدأنا نتماسك ونلعب بشكل أفضل وسجلنا ٣ أهداف، وأعتقد أن هناك هدفًا تسلل على الزمالك”.

ووأضاف: “سجلنا ٣ أهداف في الزمالك بالقاهرة لأننا كنا الأفضل، و ليس بسبب سوء مستوى الأبيض خلال الفترة الأخيرة”.

واختتم: “الزمالك فريق كبير ويلعب على أرضه”.

MatériaMais Notícias

A troca no comando técnico da equipe foi a cartada final da direção do Flamengo em busca de um fim de temporada positivo. Com contrato até o fim do ano, Dorival Júnior substituiu Maurício Barbieri já na partida de sábado – empate sem gols com o Bahia -, mas, de fato, começou a dar sua cara ao time ontem, em seu primeiro treino no Ninho do Urubu. São esperadas mudanças na equipe, mas não quanto ao estilo de jogo, o qual agrada Dorival Júnior.

– Me agrada muito a maneira como o Barbieri prepara suas equipes. Se assemelha muito com o que sempre pensei e gostei do futebol. Nossos conceitos se aproximam muito e eu acredito nesse tipo de jogo, nesse tipo de conceito – afirmou Dorival em sua apresentação.

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O atual Flamengo tem como característica a posse de bola. No Brasileirão, o Rubro-Negro é quem tem, em média, a bola nos pés por mais tempo: 56% das partidas. O Grêmio, com 55%, vem logo atrás. O time, comandado por Barbieri em 26 das 27 rodadas, também está entre as equipes que mais trocam passes e tem um aproveitamento de 92,3% no quesito. Os números são do Footstats.

O desafio de Dorival é tornar a posse de bola produtiva. Nas últimas cinco partidas do Campeonato Brasileiro, por exemplo, a equipe da Gávea ficou mais tempo com a bola do que todos adversários e marcou seis gols – foram dois empates, duas vitórias e uma derrota.

A queda na produção está relacionada ao momento dos centroavantes – Henrique Dourado, Uribe e Lincoln -, que não marcam há mais de 45 dias. Uma das mudanças que o treinador deseja é que o time tenha mais profundidade, com chegada à linha de fundo dos pontas e laterais. Serão três treinos para Dorival Júnior aperfeiçoar a equipe visando o duelo contra o Corinthians, na sexta, em São Paulo.

حقق فريق ميلان فوزًا مثيرًا أمام نابولي متصدر الدوري الإيطالي، بأربعة أهداف دون مقابل، مساء الأحد.

وحل ميلان ضيفًا ثقيلاً على نابولي بملعب “دييجو أرماندو مارادونا”، بمباراة في الجولة الثامنة والعشرين للدوري الإيطالي “سيريا آ”. أهداف مباراة نابولي وميلان

وافتتح رفائيل لياو التسجيل للضيوف بهدف في الدقيقة 17 من عمر المباراة، ليضيف إبراهيم دياز الهدف الثاني لميلان في الدقيقة 25.

وبحلول الدقيقة 59، سجل لياو الهدف الثاني له والثالث لصالح ميلان بعد تمريرة من ساندرو تونالي.

ثم أحرز أليكسيس ساليمايكيرس الهدف الرابع في شباك نابولي، وذلك بالدقيقة 67.

اقرأ أيضًا | يوفنتوس يعبر هيلاس فيرونا بهدف نظيف في الدوري الإيطالي

حسمت المباراة بفوز ميلان بأربعة أهداف دون مقابل، ليصبح رصيده 51 نقطة في المركز الثالث، بفارق 4 نقاط خلف لاتسيو صاحب المركز الثاني.

وتوقف رصيد نابولي في الصدارة عند 71 نقطة، وهذه هي الهزيمة الثالثة له في الدوري الإيطالي هذا الموسم.

James Taylor was relieved to finally be rewarded after a month battling in bowler-friendly conditions with a hundred for England Lions

Andrew McGlashan at Northampton11-May-2012

James Taylor was relieved to finally be rewarded after a month battling in bowler-friendly conditions as his hundred put England Lions in a commanding position against the West Indians. The home side built a lead of 194 before nipping out three wickets to set themselves up for a three-day victory push on Saturday.Taylor has not scored a fifty in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire, his new county, so far this season although feels he has played well against the moving ball and this time managed to convert his start into a substantial contribution.”I’m really pleased; it’s about time to be fair, it’s been a tough season so far,” he said. “I’ve scored some gritty runs and it was ideal to score some runs at the right time. I dug in and I think we put on a hundred for the last two wickets which has put us in a really strong position for the rest of the game.”He could not have wished for a better audience, either, with all the England selectors, Andy Flower and a host of ECB officials in attendance in Northampton, although few remained when Taylor reached his hundred during the final session. Having slipped a little off the radar over the last six months he will not have done his future chances any harm. The injury scare surrounding Ravi Bopara, even though it could turn out to be minor, showed how quickly an opportunity can arise.”We saw them all around at certain points of the day but you don’t really think about the selectors when you are batting; it’s just about the next ball and trying to play it. But it’s always nice to score a hundred in front of them.”It was far from all plain sailing for the Lions during the day as they fell to 98 for 5 during the morning session, with the West Indian bowlers showing why they will pose a threat to England during the Test series. Then, during the afternoon, it appeared the Lions lead would be kept under three figures but Taylor combined with the lower order – including a last-wicket stand of 64 with Jade Dernbach – to give the visitors the runaround.”It’s the worst time in cricket, when the tailenders are scoring runs and it was perfect for us to get those runs,” he said. “It was so annoying for them.”However, having had first-hand experience of a lengthy stay against the visiting bowling attack he was well aware that they will be a handful during the Test series. “They have some quick balls in them, those boys, and they showed it,” he said. “Luckily today was my day and I came out OK. They have some quality bowlers who get pace and bounce. It was nice to come up against them and to get runs.”

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White has said that the board aims to find a replacement for head coach John Wright by the end of July

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2012

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White has said that the board aims to find a replacement for head coach John Wright by the end of July. The board met in Auckland on Friday to discuss the process and timeline for recruiting Wright’s successor.”We want the best person for the job and will not limit our search for the right candidate,” White said. “We are aiming to have the new head coach in place by the end of July but will not be drawn into making self-imposed deadlines.”White said the position will be publicly advertised in the coming weeks and that the best candidate will be appointed, regardless of his nationality. “The key responsibilities for the head coach will be to manage the support staff, prepare the team for international cricket and, along with the captain, be responsible for performance of the team,” White told .Earlier this month, John Wright, confirmed that he would step down after the tour of the West Indies in August. He cited differences with New Zealand’s director of cricket, John Buchanan, as a factor that influenced his decision not to extend his contract.Wright’s decision prompted the board to announce that the demanding nature of the Future Tours Programme would mean that the workload of the support staff would be considered before making a decision on a new coach. New Zealand will tour the West Indies in June, India in August and then head to Sri Lanka for the ICC World T20 in September.Edited by Carlyle Laurie

After 16 wickets fell on the second day, Netherlands ended firmly in the driver’s seat and will look to wrap up the match early on the third day

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2012
Scorecard The second day followed the same trend as the first, as 15 wickets fell in the day. However, Netherlands are now firmly in the driver’s seat and will look to wrap up the match early on the third day. They are four wickets away from their first victory in the competition.At the start of the day, the game was in the balance with Netherlands struggling at 138 for 8, a lead of 142. But a late charge by their lower order took the game away from Afghanistan. In what has turned out to be a low-scoring game, a half-century by Tom Heggelman carried Netherlands past 100. A spirited fightback by Afghanistan bowlers then brought them back in the game as five wickets fell for 28 runs. Netherlands were left tottering at 138 for 8. It was then that Peter Borren and Pieter Seelaar, both of them scoring 43, surprised Afghanistan to take the score to 228. Izatullah Dawlatzai took five wickets in his spell after picking up four in the first innings.Afghanistan came in to bat needing solid performances from their top order in their chase of 233. However, they continued in the same vein as in the first innings as they lost three wickets by the 12th over. Asghar Stanikzai provided some resistance as he shared a 53-run partnership with Nawroz Mangal, the highest in the game, and an intriguing third day looked a possibility. However, the last eight overs of the day saw three wickets go down, including that of Mangal. Seelaar took all the three wickets.

كشف فيلم وثائقي لـ ريال مدريد، عن رد فعل لوكا مودريتش الموسم الماضي، في مباراة باريس سان جيرمان ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، والذي أثار جدلًا واسعًا خلال الساعات الماضية.

النجم الكرواتي كان أحد رجال بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا الرابعة عشر لفريق ريال مدريد الموسم الماضي، بعد ملاحم قدمها الملكي في مواجهة باريس سان جيرمان ثم تشيلسي، ومانشستر سيتي، قبل الفوز في النهائي على ليفربول.

طالع أيضًا.. تقارير توضح موقف بنزيما وميندي وآلابا من مباراة ريال مدريد وليفربول

شركة “Apple TV”، أنتجت فيلمًا وثائقيًا لريال مدريد عن البطولة العاشرة، يوم الجمعة الماضي، سُلط من خلاله الضوء على لحظات استثنائية حُفرت بأحرف من ذهب في تاريخ ريال مدريد.

صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية، نشرت جزء عبر موقعها الرسمي، خلال ما حدث في مباراة دور الـ16 أمام باريس سان جيرمان، والتي وضعت حجر الأساس للبطولة بشكل عام.

بعد الهزيمة في ملعب بارك دي برانس 1/0، تأخر في الإياب بهدف مبابي أيضًا، قبل أن يسجل النادي الملكي ثلاثية يتأهل بها على حساب بطل فرنسا.

مودريتش خلال الوثائقي، قال: “كان هناك الكثير من الانتقادات، كان علينا تغيير ما يحدث، خرجت ودخل بدلًا مني فالفيردي، لكنني على الرغم من أننا لم نلعب بشكل جيد وكانوا أفضل، أخبرت كارفاخال عندما غادرت بأننا سنتأهل على حسابهم”.

وخلال الوثائقي، ظهر مودريتش بالفعل على مقاعد البدلاء بعد الخروج، وقال لـ كارفاخال: “سوف نسحقهم في مباراة العودة”، وبالفعل فاز ريال مدريد بثلاثية كان لـ مودريتش وبنزيما وفينيسيوس، نصيب الأسد منها.

بعد التأهل، احتفل مودريتش كالمجنون في الممر المؤدي إلى غرف خلع الملابس، لأنه حقق ما كان يعد به كارفاخال في مباراة الذهاب.

ESPNcricinfo previews Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2012

Sharda Ugra03-Apr-2012

Big PictureConstant revival is the historical motif of the Daredevils’ home city, but a more contemporary representation of Delhi would include high speed and road rage. Season five of IPL for the Daredevils will then naturally require not only brazen overtaking over hairpin bends, but navigational acumen to arrive at their destination.To finish at the bottom in 2011 after topping the table two years ago is evidence that what was previously fixed, had been broken. The Daredevils ended up with only four wins from 14 matches, trailing even the season’s two new teams. Maybe rejigging of the team after the auction caused the imbalance or maybe it was a brittle top order.Regardless of the explosive pair of Virender Sehwag and David Warner, the Daredevils’ opening partnership crossed 50 only three times in 14 innings, and it lacked an energetic middle order to carry on after repeated early setbacks. Their season opened with a home game in which the Daredevils were all out for 95 and of their four victories, only one was to come at home. By the end of the season, the Daredevils were left in shambles.The repair work for the new season has come in the form of the arrival of two quality middle-order men, Kevin Pietersen, who was brought in from Deccan Chargers, and Mahela Jayawardene, to follow the openers.Had Morne Morkel not broken Ross Taylor’s arm in Wellington, the Daredevils’ middle order would have had the perfect mix: batsmen of calibre combining with the game’s leading entertainers. Morkel himself leads a quick bowling attack with several options, and the presence of Indians among them gives the Daredevils room for flexibility. Along with New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell, who will get his first taste of Indian conditions, and West Indian allrounder Andre Russell, the Daredevils will also field a genuinely quick and now toughened Umesh Yadav. The experience of Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar is valuable and Varun Aaron is said to be recovering from the injury that he picked up last year.Team mentor T A Sekhar who has been signed on again, after a couple of years with the Mumbai Indians, believes that the general gloom about the Daredevils’ lack of slow-bowling options is largely baseless. Twenty20 specialist spinning allrounder Roelof van der Merwe comes with more than useful promise.Along with its eye-catching star cast, a surprise performance from the Daredevils’ second line will be a bonus: whether through Australian allrounder Glen Maxwell, who scored a fifty off 17 balls, a record in Australia’s List-A or teenager Unmukt Chand, who is leading the India under-19 team in Australia during a two-week tour. The formula of a successful team, says Sekhar, comes from a high-profile core of performers and a handy supporting cast arranged around them.Key playersVirender Sehwag: He was the only player the Daredevils wanted to retain in 2010, he is the captain from the 2008 ‘icon’ bunch still standing and he remains the team’s centrifugal force. He will be energised not only by the presence of many shot-makers around him, but by the quality all the way down to No. 6. Still, it will be Sehwag who will need to set the tone for how the Daredevils’ campaign turns out, especially, if he can get them to better starts than last year.Mahela Jayawardene: After Pietersen, the highest signing by the Daredevils from the 2012 auction, Jayawardene finds himself in his third IPL team in five years after being an asset for any franchise and a tough man to let go of. He found himself in the auction only because Kochi Tuskers Kerala got booted out of the IPL and will arrive into a set up that can do with his reassuring presence in the midst of extravagant talents. If he’s not worn out by Sri Lanka’s unending travels, Jayawardene can be the improvisational middle-order man who keeps his head when the big hitters go into turbo mode. His calmness at the crease belies his strike rate. His nous on the field will be of assistance to Sehwag’s leadership and he was quickly named as the vice-captain.Big names inKevin Pietersen: Who else? The Daredevils were willing to spend up to half of their auction purse – $2.3m in fact – on signing Pietersen from Deccan Chargers in the January transfer window. The signing comes with the hope that Pietersen will become the Daredevils’ talisman like Chris Gayle for Bangalore. In theory, Pietersen and the IPL are made for each other – the attention-grabbing performer and the big-ticket stage. His record in the tournament though, is most unlike the man: modest. There’s far too few runs – 329 with two half-centuries – in 13 matches, despite having belonged to the bling-filled environment of Royal Challengers Bangalore. But Pietersen will arrive into the IPL after three weeks of acclimatising in Sri Lanka. What awaits him is a team looking for performers in cricket’s biggest showboat. It’s a match made in heaven.Andre Russell: Russell has pace, aggression, athleticism and star quality. Yet to prove himself internationally in the shortest form of the game, he has fitted well into the West Indies ODI squad and caught the eye when playing India in eight ODIs last year just after the World Cup. At the domestic level though, he has come to terms with the curious demands of Twenty20, churning out runs at a strike rate of 148. He has played in the Bangladesh Premier League for the Khulna Royal Bengals*, but now comes the big stuff. Over the next six weeks, Russell will have a chance to prove that he is cut out for cricket’s most lucrative event, the IPL, and therefore, worthy of a $450,000 pay cheque.Big names outJames Hopes brought optimism when he was inducted into the Daredevils side. He was every inch an allrounder needed by a Twenty20 franchise – a bustling batsman anywhere in the order with handy medium-pace. Last season for the Daredevils though, Hopes played in ten games without producing the high-impact returns expected from him. In exchange for Hopes and Ashok Dinda, both players traded in with the Pune Warriors, the Daredevils had enough cash in hand to sign Pietersen onto their rolls.Below the radarIrfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan will always have his days, like his bigger hitting elder brother Yusuf. Now that injuries are behind him and he has had a satisfactory domestic season for Baroda, the Daredevils will hope for bigger performances from him. If things are going for Irfan with the bat, he can unleash a late charge or a recovery. When the ball is swinging, he has what is needed to disturb batsmen and check the flood of runs. If a player is only as good as his last game, then Irfan’s produced quite a signal: an allround performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against Punjab that helped Baroda win the title.AvailabilityDavid Warner will turn up in May after the end of Australia’s tour of the West Indies and Ross Taylor, when he has recuperated from his injury. Varun Aaron is building up towards recovery and should be ready by the third week. Unmukt Chand will be back from Australia in the second week but if he gets a game, he will have to make it count.2011 in a tweetTwo semi-finals and a fifth-place finish followed by a crash landing. Law of averages be damned.* April 3, 2012, 16:05 GMT: The article earlier said that Andre Russell played for the Chittagong Kings. This has been corrected