Tsotsobe's best restricts Pakistan to 203

ABU DHABI: Lanky South African paceman Lonwabo Tsotsobe carried his Twenty20 form into the 50-over game with a career-best feat to derail Pakistan to 203 in the first day-night international here on Friday.

The 26-year-old from Eastern Province took 4-27 off his ten tight overs as Pakistan lost their last eight wickets for a mere 46 runs after winning the toss and deciding to bat on a flat Abu Dhabi Stadium pitch.

Tsotsobe, who took five wickets in South Africa's 2-0 win in the Twenty20 series which finished here on Wednesday, rocked the Pakistan middle-order with a burst of three wickets off just nine balls during his second four-over spell.

Tsotsobe's effort backed by disciplined spin bowling by Johan Botha (2-40) put brakes on Pakistan's innings after Mohammad Hafeez (68) and returning Younis Khan (54) put on 114 for the second wicket.

Tsotsobe removed opener Asad Shafiq (19) in the eighth over before Younis -- returning to the side after being cleared by Pakistan Cricket Board last month following a ban on discipline violation, joined Hafeez in a damage repair act.

Hafeez hit seven boundaries during his 84-ball sixth one-day fifty before cutting Botha straight into the hands of Charl Langeveldt. Four overs later, Younis was trapped leg-before by Botha.

Younis hit two boundaries during his 75-ball knock.

Tsotsobe's triple strike followed as he removed Misbah-ul-Haq (14), Shahid Afridi (one) and Abdul Razzaq (two) to complete Pakistan's slide on a similar pattern of Twenty20 matches in which they were restricted to 119 and 120-9.

Tsotsobe's previous best bowling figures were 4-50 against Australia on his one-day debut at Perth last year. AGENCIES 

Butt, Amir leave for ICC hearing

LAHORE: Suspended Pakistani cricketers, Muhammad Amir and Salman Butt, have left for Dubai where they are due to appear before an ICC tribunal in connection with spot-fixing allegations. The duo were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in September for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing and violating ICC's anti-corruption code. Pacer Muhammad Asif, who was also provisionally suspended by the ICC, has withdrawn his appeal against the suspension and will not be attending the hearing. Speaking to newsmen at Lahore airport today (Friday), Butt maintained he is innocent. “My lawyers have prepared well for the case. I will be cleared of spot-fixing charges very soon,” he said. Butt’s counsels, Aftab Gul and Khalid Ranjha, hoped that the decision would come in favour of the suspended cricketer. Muhammad Amir also expressed hope that he would soon make a comeback to the national

S Africa not distracted by fixing controversy: Smith

DUBAI: Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has said his team is focussed on performing its best in the tour of the UAE where it takes on Pakistan in a full series and is not distracted by the spot-fixing controversy that has troubled Pakistan cricket since the tour of England earlier in the year. Smith said he expected Pakistan to be competitive in favourable conditions and called out fans in the UAE to provide the fullest support to the teams. South African team reached Abu Dhabi on Monday morning and will play the tour opener on Tuesday (tomorrow). "I think generally there are always one or two things going on in Pakistan cricket, so they're pretty used to dealing with stuff like that at least from a playing perspective," Smith told Radio 2, a station based in the UAE. "We still expect them to be very competitive on this tour and conditions to suit them. "You can't hide away from what's going on but as a unit we've dealt with this in our society over the years. We're used to adversity and for us it's just about being honest." Smith reposed faith in the ICC in tackling the latest crisis and said he viewed the series as the stage to begin a successful preparation for the World Cup in the subcontinent next year. "The ICC has to control the integrity of the game and it's our responsibility to make the game as competitive as possible. We have to put our faith in the ICC to handle things properly," Smith said. "We've got a lot of exciting guys coming through and it's a great platform for our team to kickstart our summer. This month we take on Pakistan in the UAE and then an exciting series at home against India. It's a very important phase for us in our preparation for the World Cup and we want to go there and be competitive. "It'll be great if the people in the UAE came out and gave us some support. It'll be fantastic." The tour kicks off on October 26 (tomorrow) with the first of two Twenty20 internationals. The teams then play five ODIs and two Tests.

Suresh Raina’s links with bookies disclosed

 MUMBAI: A British newspaper has revealed Indian cricketer Suresh Raina’s links with a bookmaker but the Indiana cricket board on Sunday described the report baseless while the International Cricket Council (ICC) refused to give any comment.

The ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit is probing why the Indian Board kept quiet about a report of its player Suresh Raina being seen in the company of a woman linked to an associate of an illegal bookmaker, a media report said in London.

Making it clear that Raina was not suspected of any wrongdoing, 'The Sunday Times', quoting a senior ICC source, said the incident related to India's tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year.

With the heightened security concerns following the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan, the Sri Lankans deputed a former general to look after the Indian team.

CCTV Cameras installed at the Indian team hotel showed that on more than one night Raina was in the company of a woman known to be an associate of a man allegedly linked to a bookmaker.

A report, including the CCTV footage, was submitted by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to their Indian counterparts.

BCCI keeping quiet on Suresh Raina accompanying a woman allegedly linked to bookies during the Sri Lankan tour as "baseless", saying that she was the agent of the Indian batsman.

Bookies contacted me to select a player: Zia

 KARACHI: During his time at the helm of Pakistan cricket Tauqir Zia was approached by a front man of bookies to select a player who allegedly rigged games, Geo News reported Sunday.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia made these claims in an interview with an Australian radio channel.

"I was a serving army officer and there's a gentleman who rings me up and said "so and so should be included in the team because he fixes matches and we get money.

"So I said you are threatening a man in uniform...you go to hell and that man is not going to be put in the team. And he never was included in the side."

Zia said the PCB was told before the team played against Australia and England in England in July and August that the International Cricket Council had noticed irregularities in the SMS accounts of six or seven players.