Edwards to miss first two India ODIs

West Indies have named a 13-man squad without Fidel Edwards for the first two one-day internationals against India this coming Friday and Sunday at Sabina Park in Kingston.
The fast bowler withdrew from last Monday's Super Eight win over England in the Twenty20 World Cup seconds before the toss, after injuring himself in the warm-up.
It was later confirmed that the problem was an irritation of a nerve root in his lower back.
Edwards did not play on Friday in the semi-final at The Oval against Sri Lanka which West Indies lost by 57 runs to exit the competition.
West Indies officials have given no clear indication about how long Edwards is expected to be out of the game with the injury.
The selectors have rewarded Darren Bravo, the younger brother of all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, with his maiden call for West Indies, after a season of consistent scoring for his native Trinidad & Tobago in domestic competition.
The left-hander is the only new member of the squad, and his batting style has drawn more than a passing comparison to that of his fellow Trinidadian and West Indies batting legend Brian Lara.
The younger Bravo scored 605 runs at an average of 43.21 in nine matches of the West Indies domestic first-class competition this year.
The selectors have kept faith with the majority of players that formed the squad for either the previous ODI series against England in May, or the Twenty20 World Cup.
But they have overlooked batsman Lendl Simmons, as well as all-rounders Kieron Pollard, and Darren Sammy.

Squad:

Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor

India aims to put Twenty20 failure behind them

India have arrived in the Caribbean promising to put the bad memory of their failure in the Twenty20 World Cup behind them.
The Indians face West Indies in four One-day Internationals on their brief trip to the Caribbean fresh from their exit from the Twenty20 World Cup at the Super Eight stage.
"When it comes to playing for your country, you don't really need motivation to go out and perform," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on arrival.
"West Indies are playing good cricket at the moment. They (had) a very good Twenty20 World Cup, but in the 50 overs, you have time to settle down. After playing so much Twenty20 games, 50 overs seem like a Test match."
The Indian players have had a surfeit of Twenty20 matches, after going straight into the Twenty20 World Cup, following the second staging of the Indian Premier League in South Africa, and this has led to the visitors missing four key players through injury.
Batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar opted to take time off to fully recover from a finger injury he sustained during the IPL.
Shoulder injuries have sidelined talismanic opener Virender Sehwag and left-arm strike bowler Zaheer Khan, and middle-order batsman Suresh Raina has a hairline fracture in one of his thumbs.
"You're always going to miss them because they are great players, but it's a great opportunity for a tour of this nature for young players to show what they're made of," said India coach Gary Kirsten.
"We're looking to those young players for the future as well. This is a great opportunity for these guys to stake their claim."
Kirsten also noted that India have been in great form in ODIs over the last year, losing only three matches of 18, and his side will be looking forward to extending that form.
The first two ODIs take place at Sabina Park on Friday and Sunday, followed by two more the following Friday and Sunday at St. Lucia's Beausejour Cricket Ground.
Squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wkt), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.

West Indies captain Gayle ready to sting India

West Indian captain Chris Gayle is not losing heart after the semi-final loss in the World Twenty20 and has vowed to bounce back in the upcoming one-day series against India.
The West Indies exited from the tournament on Friday after a stinging 57-run defeat by Sri Lanka at the Oval, but Gayle said he was proud that his team had reached the semi-finals.
"Of course we are disappointed because we too wanted to be in the final, but that does not take anything away from the way the team has played through this tournament.
"I am proud of the boys, they put everything into it. We backed ourselves and came this far. It is a great learning experience for the younger players in the team.
"If they learn the lessons quickly we should be able to capitalise in home conditions when the World Twenty20 is held in the Caribbean next year."
Gayle hoped West Indian fans were happy at the team's performance in the tournament after it was routed 2-0 in the preceding bilateral Test series against England.
"Fans are very hard to please," said Gayle. "They only want victory everytime. I just want to say tough luck to the fans. But I hope they will keep supporting us and stop cursing.
"I say to my fans that we will fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee, we'll be back. What can I do about it? Ask Muhammad Ali!"
The West Indies were outplayed on Friday after Tillakaratne Dilshan's unbeaten 96 in Sri Lanka's 158-5 was followed by an astonishing first over from rising fast bowler Angelo Mathews.
Mathews claimed three wickets in five balls as the Windies slipped to 1-3 and were shot out for 101 despite Gayle carrying his bat for an unbeaten 63.
"The three wickets in the first over set us back and we could not overcome that as we kept losing wickets regularly," said Gayle.
"You need partnerships in any form of the game, but this is especially true of Twenty20 cricket.
"All credit to Dilshan for the way he batted. I thought we had a good start to keep them down in the first six overs and Dilshan was their only batsman among the runs.
"He just did not give us a chance and helped set a decent total for Sri Lanka."
Gayle said he looked forward to the four one-day matches against India in the Caribbean starting later this month.
"We will get back home for a few days and start another series soon," the West Indian captain said.
"India may not have made the semi-finals here and we did, but we start from scratch and have to do all the hard work again.
"India is always a good one-day team, so it is bound to be a tough series."
Asked whether he will put his money on Sri Lanka or Pakistan in Sunday's final, Gayle quipped: "I am broke, maan!"
"But we can't ask for a better final. We have two quality teams and so it should be a quality final."

Sangakkara hails 'pioneer' Dilshan

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara hailed Tillekaratne Dilshan as a "pioneer" on Friday after the opener hit an unbeaten 96 to lead his side past West Indies and into the World Twenty20 final.
Sri Lanka cruised to a comfortable 57-run win at the Oval and will now take on Pakistan in the final at Lord's on Sunday.
"I have run out of superlatives for Dilshan. He is a pioneer stroke-maker in Twenty20," said Sangakkara.
"The best thing is that he understands his role and has become very responsible and mature. He has finally understood how good he is."
Dilshan's knock was the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's 158 for five with his 57-ball innings, which featured two sixes and 12 fours, the equal third-best in Twenty20 international history.
Fellow opener Sanath Jayasuriya (24) and Angelo Mathews (12 not out) were the only other Sri Lankan batsmen to reach double figures.
Mathews then took three wickets in the first over of the West Indies reply and the Caribbean side never recovered as they finished on 101 all out with captain Chris Gayle carrying his bat for 63 not out.
"It's Mathews's first major international tour and you can't ask for much more than three wickets in the first over," added Sangakkara.
"To get three top order batsmen out is a great start. We have a great bowling attack, they are all thinking cricketers.
"Now we will take this confidence into the final against Pakistan. We'll concentrate on getting our basics right, we'll be responsible and execute our game plan."
Dilshan said he was learning all the time in the international arena.
"I got the start I wanted. I've been in good form in the last six months in the IPL and in international cricket," said the opener, who was named man of the match.
Gayle said the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow after his bowlers had limited the flamboyant Sri Lankans to 158-5.
"I'm very disappointed. I thought batting was our strength," said Gayle.
"Dilshan took the game away from us. But we have struggled to get a start and get runs on the board.
"We'll come back as a better unit and learn things from this."

Spin doctor Ramdin ready for Sri Lanka test

West Indies wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin believes it is imperative they dominate Sri Lanka's unusual spin attack if they are to win Friday's World Twenty20 semi-final at the Oval.
Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis have posed numerous problems for batsmen during Sri Lanka's unbeaten run to the last four while round arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga has also been in the wickets.
"It's very rare you get two world-class spinners like this in the same side," said Ramdin.
"We want to get on top of them early so their captain has to take them off and bring them on later, so our plan is to get on top of them as they come on to bowl."
Ramdin added the key to playing Mendis, who flicks the ball off his fingers, was to treat him as a seamer.
"He's a mystery spinner, but as a batsman you just go out there and try and play each ball on merit," said West Indies' vice-captain.
"He's not spinning the ball as much as everyone expected so what we're trying to do is play him as medium pacer, hit him down the ground for ones and twos and wait for the bad ball.
"Their bowling line-up is quite tricky with Murali, Mendis and Malinga but we have to try and back ourselves."
Whoever comes out on top at the Oval will face the winners of Thursday's Trent Bridge clash between Pakistan and South Africa in Sunday's Lord's final.

Zaheer, Tendulkar rested for West Indies tour

India's cricket selectors on Wednesday rested key players Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan for the limited-overs tour of West Indies starting later this month.
Tendulkar, the world's most prolific Test and one-day batsman, is recovering from a finger injury that he aggravated during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa last month.
Bowling spearhead Zaheer was rested as he was suffering from a shoulder injury, the selectors said in a media release.
Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina was also not considered for selection after he sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb.
"Raina been advised two weeks' rest," the release said.
Left-arm quick Ashish Nehra returned to the squad after four years on the sidelines, thanks to his impressive show in the IPL where he picked up 19 wickets for the Delhi Daredevils.
All-rounder Abhishek Nayar earned his maiden call-up to the Indian squad while opener Murali Vijay also made a comeback in the absence of the injured Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag missed the World Twenty20 in England with a shoulder injury.
India, who won the inaugural T20 Worlds in South Africa two years ago, lost both their Super Eight matches to the West Indies and hosts England to be knocked out before the semi-finals.
The Indians have been on the road since February, sparking fears of player burnout and a growing list of injured players.

India's squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Abhishek Nayar, Dinesh Karthik, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha, Ashish Nehra.

Coach: Gary Kirsten (RSA)

India' schedule in West Indies:

June 26: First one-dayer, Jamaica

June 28: Second one-dayer, Jamaica

July 3: Third one-dayer, St. Lucia

July 5: Fourth one-dayer, St. Lucia

West Indies beat England, reach Twenty20 semis

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul steered the West Indies into the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 at England's expense as they beat the hosts by five wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis method here Monday.
West Indies, set a revised target of 80 in nine overs after rain delayed the start of the second innings, finished on 82 for five at the Oval with four balls to spare to triumph in a Super Eights match where the winners knew they were going through to the last four.
Sarwan was 19 not out and Chanderpaul 17 not out, their unbroken stand worth 37 after West Indies had been wobbling at 45 for five in the sixth over.
But the experienced duo got the target down to 16 off two overs.
And that became four off seven balls when left-hander Chanderpaul clipped Stuart Broad off his pads for a boundary.
They were left needing three off the last over from Ryan Sidebottom and Sarwan's second ball four saw them home.
Earlier, West Indies captain Chris Gayle square cut James Anderson for four but later in the first over opening partner Andre Fletcher fell for his third straight duck when he skied the bowler to wicket-keeper James Foster.
That left the West Indies six for one but in the next over, from left-arm quick Sidebottom, Gayle drove and square cut two superb boundaries.
However, with his fifth ball, Sidebottom bowled the left-hander for 15 and the West Indies were 16 for two.
And the very next ball that became 16 for three when Lendl Simmons was out for a golden duck after a cut off Stuart Broad flew straight to Sidebottom at third man.
But Kieron Pollard rallied West Indies by driving off-spinner Graeme Swann for six.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was then launched for six first ball over extra-cover by Dwayne Bravo but hit back fourth ball to bowl Pollard.
West Indies were 43 for four at the end of five overs but two balls later Foster, who'd stumped India star Yuvraj Singh during England's nailbiting three-run win which saw the defending champions go out at Lord's on Sunday, whipped off the bails to get rid of Bravo.
Sarwan though counter-attacked with a cover-driven four off Anderson and next ball whipped him down to the fine leg boundary.
England made 161 for six in their full 20 overs.
Ravi Bopara top-scored with 55 but no other batsman made more than Kevin Pietersen's 31.
Pietersen, who made 46 against India, pulled his first ball, from Pollard, for four and next ball flicked him behind square for another boundary.
Opener Bopara too showed plenty of class in on-driving Darren Sammy, a late replacement for the injured Fidel Edwards (back) and fellow quick Jerome Taylor for high quality boundaries.
But a stand worth 56 was ended when Pietersen was caught by Andre Fletcher at deep square leg off medium-pacer Simmons for 31.
Bopara, having made a fine fifty, could not press on and was lbw to occasional off-spinner Gayle.

Dhoni relaxed about Gayle storm

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted there would be little he could do if rival skipper Chris Gayle was at his best during their opening World Twenty20 Super Eights clash against the West Indies.
Gayle hammered Australia for a blistering 88 in West Indies' seven-wicket win over Ricky Ponting's men and the left-handed opener has a well deserved reputation for an ability to make rapid scores against even the best attacks.
Having missed the 'dead' game against Sri Lanka with a knee injury, Gayle is expected to return for Friday's clash with defending champions India at Lord's.
"A player like Chris Gayle, you can't plan too much because you can't have players outside the field," Dhoni told reporters at Lord's on Thursday.
"He's a big six-hitter, he will take risks and he can get out. But, in this format, if he has good day you can be on the losing side," Dhoni admitted.
"But we have one or two players like that."
However, India will be without Virender Sehwag after the dynamic opening batsman was ruled out of the tournament with a right shoulder injury that sidelined him from the group stage.
"Sehwag is a very talented player, he can put pressure on when the ball is moving around," Dhoni said before stressing how well the talented Rohit Sharma had performed after stepping up into an opening slot alongside Gautam Gambhir.
"Rohit Sharma is filling his shoes. He's a part-time opener but he's doing really well. He was the best option and he grabbed the opportunity he got."
There is a belief that if a top side gets Gayle out cheaply then the game is all but won.
But Dhoni said the West Indies were much more than a one-man team.
"They've got quite a few big blokes who can hit sixes and push bowlers on to the backfoot.
"Dwayne Bravo is good, then there's Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. They've alo got bowlers who bowl at 140kph plus and use the slower ball and bouncer effectively."
India were given official clearance Thursday by the ICC to replace Sehwag with Dinesh Karthik and Dhoni said: "Dinesh Karthik has opened in Test matches and done well lower down the order in the IPL.
"He can do well in two slots and he can also replace me as a wicket-keeper."
India, initially suspicious of this format, won the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago after beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final.
"We got loads of confidence from having won the last World Twenty20 but we can't rely on that," said Dhoni.

Gayle storm blows away Australia

Leading from the front, the West Indies captain Chris Gayle did what he is best known for – taking away the match on his own – in the ICC World Twenty20 match against Australia at the Oval here on Saturday. The West Indies overhauled the target of 169 runs with seven wickets in hand in just 15.5 overs.
Gayle smashed 88 off 50 balls against Australia and along with Andre Fletcher shared the third highest partnership in the T20 internationals. The West Indies skipper hit six sixes and as many fours in his knock which dismantled the Australian bowlers both mentally and physically.
Before the tournament, the West Indies had been ridiculed for their captain's comments about the primacy of Twenty20 so there was a sense of anticipation over how they would fare in their preferred format but the West Indies skipper matched his words with his actions.
Earlier, Australia had to work hard for the runs as they posted 169 runs thanks largely to a good knock by David Warner. The West Indies bowlers gave the team a great start by pushing Australia on the backfoot from the word go. The pitch was a flat but Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards relished the challenge.
Taylor claimed two wickets in his opening over and if there had not conceded wides, Australia would have been 0 for 2. While the other batsmen were copping fiery treatment from the bowlers, Warner experienced the fielders' generosity. He played with a mix of aggression and caution. Along with Brad Haddin, he handled the repair work with a 66-run stand.
Warner scored 63 runs off 53 balls to keep Australia in the game. The Hussey brothers – David and Mike – also played their role scoring 27 and 28 runs respectively. But the Australian bowlers’ inability to stop Gayle will leave the team with the challenge of having to beat Sri Lanka in their next game in the group of death.