Murali puts Strikers in tailspin

Updated January 02, 2013 23:59:26

A supreme bowling effort from Renegades' star man Muttiah Muralidaran sealed a 48-run win over the Strikers which sends the Melbourne outfit to the top of the ladder.

While his long-time rival has struggled to show his best form in this year's tournament, Muralidaran (3 for 18) looks as good as ever and three wickets in the space of four deliveries all but ended the Strikers' chance of chasing down 156 to win at Docklands.

The Strikers won the toss and sent the Renegades into bat and the game was going their way with the home team's dangermen Aaron Finch (13) and Marlon Samuels (16) back in the sheds for relatively little damage.

Ben Roehrer again showed his worth with a fine 35 before Tom Cooper's 59 lifted the score to 6 for 155.

Nathan Rimmington dismissed both Strikers' openers and Samuels (3 for 16) took the wicket of Callum Ferguson to have the visitors in trouble at 3 for 40 after 7.3 overs.

This situation was made parlous when Muralidaran dismissed Nathan Reardon with the last ball of his second over and then Kieron Pollard and Theo Doropoulos with the first two balls of his third.

Johan Botha (31) and Michael Neser (29 not out) then put on 44 runs for the seventh wicket before Samuels returned to the attack to dismiss the Strikers skipper.

Kane Richardson was then dismissed by the next delivery and the last two wickets fell quickly as the Strikers slipped to a meagre 108 all out.

Tags: sport, cricket, twenty20, melbourne-3000, adelaide-5000

First posted January 02, 2013 22:51:07

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Herath puts positive spin on Murali exit

Updated December 10, 2012 18:10:50

Life after Murali has been rosy for at least one Sri Lankan cricketer, prolific wicket-taking spinner Rangana Herath.

The late bloomer is in a do-or-die battle with England's Graeme Swann to finish the calendar year with Test cricket's most scalps.

At last count Swann had 56 at an average of 30.17, one more than Herath whose average is a much more impressive 20.94.

The left-arm orthodox spinner took an extraordinary 20 wickets in his last series, the two home Tests against New Zealand in November.

He says his bowling has grown after stepping out of the shadow of Test cricket's greatest wicket-taker Muttiah Muralidaran, who retired in 2010.

"It's something different," he said on Monday.

"If you're playing as the main spinner you're getting more bowling and more confidence as well.

"What I do is stick to the basics so that's how I've taken those wickets.

"It's been a good year for me compared to the last two or three years."

Herath will be favoured to top the list with the Hobart and Melbourne Tests against Australia to come before the new year.

Swann has one more match, against India in Nagpur.

For 34-year-old Herath, success has been a while coming after he debuted against Australia in 1999.

But he proved a thorn in the side of Michael Clarke's tourists in 2011, taking 16 wickets at 23 and removing the Australian skipper in three of his four innings.

With the myth that Bellerive is a seamer's paradise shattered by statistics showing spinners have better averages in the last 10 Tests at the venue, Herath is eyeing a big contribution on days four and five.

"We have done our homework. We have another three days to come so we'll do some work in the coming three days," he said.

"We have a plan for every batsman so we'll stick with our plans."

AAP

Tags: sport, cricket, hobart-7000, tas, australia, sri-lanka

First posted December 10, 2012 18:10:50

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Murali takes on Warne in Big Bash clash

Updated December 06, 2012 21:13:26

Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralidaran says he is not seeking revenge against Melbourne Stars' recruit Brad Hodge despite Hodge helping to lure Murali to Melbourne Renegades.

Test wicket world-record holder Murali, 40, has signed to play for the Renegades in the Big Bash League Twenty20 which opens on Friday at Docklands as the Renegades host cross-town rivals and tournament favourites the Stars.

Twenty20 batting great Hodge has crossed to the Stars this summer while another ex-Renegade Andrew McDonald has joined the Adelaide Strikers.

"Hodge and McDonald convinced me to come and play Renegades," Murali told a media conference on Thursday.

"At the time they were in the Renegades. Unfortunately they're not there but still we have a good side."

Murali said he phoned Hodge recently to ask what happened to their plans to play together for the Renegades.

"Yeah he convinced me to come and play and after that he was gone to the Stars. So then I asked him, just a friendly call," Murali said, grinning amid laughter from the media pack.

"No revenge as such because we want to play a good game. We want to compete with them and see how it goes."

Murali and his long-time rival Shane Warne, who boast over 1500 Test wickets between them, will clash on Friday with the 43-year-old Warne captaining the Stars.

Warne appeared genuinely moved at their joint press conference when Murali praised his Australian rival.

"Once in a hundred years you can get a bowler like him. I have a lot of respect for him," Murali said, adding reports of a rift between the pair over the years had been media hype.

Warne said: "Having Murali there weaving his magic, the wirly-twirly man, it should be a bit of fun. He'll be smiling as well."

Proud Melbourne product Warne said the city remained the sporting capital of the world, with officials hoping for a record crowd of 43,000 for the clash between the two great spinners.

"I feel ready to go. There's a good vibe amongst our side," Warne said.

"They've got a very good side and so have we."

Renegades' skipper Aaron Finch was happy to play along with the "Hollywood" tag that has been applied to the star-studded Stars, whose lineup includes last summer's player of the tournament David Hussey.

"There's been a lot of media hype around the Stars.... but we're confident that we can probably contend with the World XI over there," Finch said.

In Brisbane, the Heat have added some bowling backup after internationals Daniel Vettori and Dale Steyn were ruled out of the Big Bash series.

The Heat have signed attacking all-rounder Thisara Perera, who was part of the Sri Lankan team that made it to the final of the T20 World Cup early this year.

Brisbane had suffered a double blow ahead of the tournament, with New Zealand's Dettori ruled out through injury, while Cricket South Africa withdrew permission for Steyn to play a one-off game in the Heat's opening match.

AAP

Tags: sport, cricket, twenty20, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted December 06, 2012 21:10:51

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