Against a disappointing Western Australian attack, titleholder Queensland has made an excellent opening to the defence of its Pura Cup crown with a fine batting performance on day one of the match between the teams at the WACA ground in Perth. Buoyed by fine innings from Jimmy Maher, Stuart Law and Matthew Hayden, the Bulls have completed the first-class season’s opening day at the imposing scoreline of 2/283.Having shared the last four domestic first-class titles between them, both states entered this season with high hopes of success. But, for much of the day, this was a one-sided contest. The Western Australians encountered problems from early in the piece – fast bowlers Brad Williams and Brendon Julian were late withdrawals due to injury and, in a testament to the sheer quality of the competition, they could not find room in their eleven for returning Zimbabwe Test and One-Day International player Murray Goodwin – and they never recovered.It was Maher (132*) who offered the central contribution to the Warriors’ grisly predicament. The busy left hander was relaxed, authoritative and in command; the end result, perhaps inevitably in such circumstances, was the seventh first-class century of his career. Against some accurate new ball bowling from Jo Angel and Sean Cary, his innings began slowly. He was also a touch fortunate to survive at 39, when a cracking cut stroke was grassed by Justin Langer at gully off Angel’s bowling, and then again at 90, when Simon Katich dropped an incoming throw to the bowler’s end with the scrambling Queenslander still well short of his ground. But the rest of the day offered a showcase to his ability to industriously nudge the ball into gaps on the leg side, to drive with power through the covers, and to play horizontal bat shots with rapidly growing confidence the further that his innings tend to progress.Adopting the no-nonsense strategy of playing straight and resisting the temptation of flinging his bat at the succession of wayward deliveries bowled to him throughout his near-on four hours at the crease, Law (86*) also enjoyed an excellent day. Having come to the crease only twenty minutes after lunch – when the loss of Martin Love (4) to a catch at slip off Angel provided some hope of a Western Australian fightback – his role in the day’s proceedings was crucial. He cajoled and he caressed the ball beautifully through the off side in particular and, in the midst of his unbroken partnership of 189 runs with Maher, looked a completely different batsman from the one who strangely struggled so badly for form through much of the last Australian season.Maher’s opening partner, Matthew Hayden (47), also contributed freely to a first wicket stand of 87 before being trapped lbw by an Angel delivery on the line of leg stump. In fairness, it should be said that all three benefited from the experience of plying their trade on a benign pitch on a warm, sunny day: conditions which made opposition captain Tom Moody’s decision to invite the visitors to bat first all the more surprising.The placid nature of the track and the call at the toss were, though, far from the most significant of Western Australia’s problems. Suspicions about the Warriors’ ability to capture twenty opposition wickets on a consistent basis have been raised more than once in the lead-up to the season and, notwithstanding the gravity of the loss from this attack of players of the quality of Williams and Julian, they did little to dispel those pessimistic assessments today. Gavin Swan (0/38) and Angel (2/57) both acquitted themselves well but received little support. On far too many occasions throughout the day, the ball was pitched on the wrong line and a considerable number of deliveries passed harmlessly wide of the stumps on both sides of the wicket. Other than for four overs of gentle spin from Katich, the attack was purely pace-based and its explicit lack of variation was yet another factor among many which worked in the Queenslanders’ favour.

Griquas won the opening match of the limited overs Standard Bank Cup by six wickets with one ball to spare against KwaZulu-Natal in Kimberley on Wednesday night.The victory was sealed on the back of a record 170-run partnership for the hosts between Grant Elliot and Peter Koortzen. Elliot scored 94 and Koortzen was unbeaten on 99, hitting the winning runs with a four off the penultimate ball of the match.KwaZulu-Natal skipper Dale Benkenstein won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that gave the bowlers little assistance. The visitors posted a very competitive 265 for five in their allotted 45 overs.Opening batsman Doug Watson scored a well-paced 78 while all-rounder John Kent added a quick 62 off just 44 balls down the order.But the hosts set about chasing the target with relish and kept their run rate at about five to the over until Elliot and Bosman accelerated the pace in the final eight overs with an onslaught that gave the KwaZulu-Natal bowling a very ordinary look.Opener Willie Dry scored 35 to set up the match for the two youngsters to do the damage.Elliot was trapped leg before in the 43rd over but by then the game was in reach of the hosts and the in-form Koortzen steered his side to a thrilling victory with the boundary, ironically off the best of the Dolphins bowlers Ross Veenstra.

Match facts

Friday, May 16, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

If the marquee names play to form this could be an intense contest. The key battle will be between the Kolkata Knight Riders’ new-ball pair of Shoaib Akhtar and Ishant Sharma and the Mumbai Indians’ opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya – sheer pace and movement against mammoth experience.Shoaib remains the key after making a resounding Indian Premier League (IPL) debut. Bowling at optimum pace, he demolished the Delhi Daredevils, though he was helped by a couple of Delhi batsmen who decided to match him with aggression rather than remain patient. But Tendulkar and Jayasuriya have faced him often enough in others forms of the game, and at times tamed him with their repertoire of shots.Mumbai are likely to zero in on Kolkata’s weakness – batting. Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey are the only Kolkata batsmen to come to grips with building and finishing an innings. The absence of a quality opener like Brad Hodge is a further headache for Ganguly, who prefers opening to coming down the order. But he has had to adjust and adopt a safety-first policy.If Mumbai win, it will be their fifth in a row, giving them further confidence in their bid for a semi-final spot. Their streak started at Eden Gardens and Kolkata, on a winning run themselves, will be looking for revenge after being humbled by Shaun Pollock and Jayasuriya with the ball in that match. As both captains agreed, it will be a “close contest”.

Tournament position

Mumbai Indians: P8, W4, L4, NRR -0.056
Kolkata Knight Riders: P9, W5, L4, NRR +0.619

Form (last five matches, most recent first)

Mumbai Indians: WWWWL
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWLL

Watch out for …

ScorecardMichael Hogan saw Glamorgan through the final over [file picture]•Getty Images

Glamorgan kept their slim NatWest T20 Blast qualification hopes alive with a nerve-jangling one run win over South Group leaders Kent Spitfires in Tunbridge Wells.With the hosts needing 15 off the final over to secure their sixth successive short-form win, Michael Hogan held his nerve to dismiss dangerman Darren Stevens to a running catch at long-off. Then, with three required off the final delivery, Calum Haggett was run out risking a second run to deep point that would have tied the game, leaving Glamorgan’s squad to dance a celebratory jig on the square after stealing their seventh win in 13 starts.Toby Radford, the delighted Glamorgan coach, said “We’ve shown that bit of fight in our cricket this season, be it T20 or championship, where we’ve faced adversity but ended up winning. Tonight was a perfect example of that.”It’s a massive game for us next Friday now, at home against Gloucestershire, and we’ll hope we can do well then and that the other results go our way. That would be massive for the club to get to the knockout stages. We’ve played in patches in this generally, but Hogan and Wagg were superb for us tonight.”

Insights

Glamorgan’s victory ensures that with Kent already qualified six teams are battling for four spots heading into the final week. It could hardly be scripted better as Glamorgan will host quarter-final rivals Gloucestershire on the final night of the league stage. Gloucestershire’s chances took a big hit as a result of this win for Glamorgan, they can only sneak in if they win and receive a net run-rate boost and hope other results go their way. A win should be enough for Glamorgan.

A disappointed Stevens questioned his side’s tactics, saying: “I thought we should have sent Alex Blake in earlier than we did. He’s won two or three games for us when chasing of late and there was a chance to send him in with six overs to go. For whatever reason, we didn’t.”We know we’re through to the quarter finals and, after five wins on the spin, have to look at this as a wake-up call.”In pursuit of 180, Kent made a stunning start through Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly who raced to 50 within five overs. Playing an array of straight back-foot and front foot drives, Denly cantered to a stylish 27-ball 50.Bell-Drummond chipped a low full-toss to long on and, with his score on a season’s best 70, Denly followed suit to long off and stormed off feeling he had tossed his wicket away. He was the first of many.Sam Northeast skied to the keeper, Sam Billings top edged a sweep and Fabian Cowdrey waltzed across his stumps to go leg before to heap pressure on the home tail.Stevens threatened to reverse the trend with a couple of mighty blows, but ultimately it was Glamorgan who secured their first ever Twenty20 win over Kent.Batting first after winning the toss, Glamorgan lost Colin Ingram in the second over of the night from Mitch Claydon when the left-hander chipped a catch to Northeast diving to his right at extra cover.Jacques Rudolph and Ben Wright went on to add 52 in the powerplay overs before Rudolph departed for 37 off 35 balls. Aiming a heave over midwicket against Matt Hunn – on his T20 debut – the South African dragged the ball onto his stumps.Wright was next to go, for 20, when he slog swept a low full-toss from James Tredwell to Matt Hunn at deep square leg then Craig Meschede miscued when attempting to force across the line to Cowdrey to slice a simple catch to Claydon at short third man.Mark Wallace was bamboozled by a Hunn slow yorker and, after getting off the mark with a huge six out of the ground, Chris Cooke holed out to cow corner of Hunn’s next delivery.Wagg upped the tempo in the 18th over with two consecutive sixes off Calum Haggett, who won hasty revenge by bowling David Lloyd in the final over, only to leak two more maximums in his final four deliveries as Wagg posted a 28-ball 50 as Glamorgan set Kent an asking rate of nine an over.

ScorecardYorkshire became County Champions on a dramatic day at Lord’s, with second-placed Middlesex routed for 106 and Ryan Sidebottom grabbing a triple-wicket maiden in perhaps the most remarkable opening over of a match even the world’s most famous ground has witnessed.It was the 32nd outright Championship title in Yorkshire’s proud history, and the Division One game’s first day also included a cathartic 98 from 110 balls by captain Andrew Gale as his team reached 238 for 9 in reply. Prevented by suspension from receiving the Championship trophy last year, Gale will now get his chance to hold the trophy aloft when the official presentation is made at the end of this game.Gale and Lees had shaken hands in the middle of the pitch, with Gale also raising his gloved fist in triumph as his team celebrated on their dressing room balcony, when news came through from Trent Bridge at 3.06pm that Nottinghamshire had been bowled out without collecting the batting bonus points they required to keep the title race alive.”There’s no better place for us to receive the trophy than Lord’s, if it isn’t Headingley of course, and I believe this season’s title win has been a greater achievement given the circumstances of having so many players going off to play for England right across the summer,” Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, said. “We’ve also done it with two-and-a-half games still to go.”We played brilliantly to win last year, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been a real squad effort this season. It’s been frustrating at times losing so many players to England but we knew, going into the season, that this would probably happen so we have prepared for that. Credit to all our support staff, too, for what they have done.”In truth, there has not been much of a race for the Championship title this summer, because Yorkshire have been seemingly too powerful to be challenged by anyone. Middlesex, indeed, plunged to a barely believable 0 for 3 after just six balls of this game as their hopes of holding up Yorkshire disappeared in a flurry of wickets.By lunch Middlesex had staggered to 92 for 7, and their first innings did not last long afterwards with Tim Bresnan sending back James Franklin and Toby Roland-Jones, leg-before aiming across the line, in the space of four balls during the fourth over after the interval to finish with 4 for 30.Fittingly, however, it was Sidebottom who wrapped up the innings by bowling Tim Murtagh for 3 to earn himself the superb final figures of 12-5-18-5. The other Middlesex wicket to fall was taken by offspinner James Middlebrook, who came on for the last over before lunch and promptly had John Simpson caught at the wicket with the final ball of the morning for 28.Ryan Sidebottom claimed four wickets in an immaculate opening spell to put Yorkshire on their way•Getty Images

Sidebottom, the 37-year-old former England left-arm fast bowler, removed Stirling, Nick Compton and Dawid Malan with the second, fifth and sixth balls of the game’s first over after Gale had won the toss under overcast skies. Stirling was leg-before to a perfectly-pitched inswinger, giving Sidebottom his 700th first-class wicket, Compton caught behind off one angled across him and Malan bowled first ball by a beauty which spreadeagled his stumps.Gale’s decision to bowl first bore even more fruit when Sidebottom had Stevie Ezkinazi, a 21-year-old on debut, caught for 4 by Adam Lyth at second slip to leave Middlesex on 14 for 4.Moxon added: “What Ryan did today was remarkable, and that first over epitomised what he is all about. He’s contracted to the end of next season, and he still works so hard on his cricket. But, as a team, we have bowled really well this season.”Sidebottom’s new ball spell was a magnificent 6-2-11-4 and Yorkshire, who began the match knowing five bonus points by them would ensure successive Championship titles for the first time since 1968, actually only required their three bowling points because both Middlesex and Notts had bad days with the bat.Following Sidebottom’s initial burst, there was a 30-run partnership for the fifth wicket between opener Sam Robson and Leicestershire-bound allrounder Neil Dexter before Bresnan removed both players in his first and fourth overs. Dexter, on 18, edged Bresnan’s fifth ball to wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd, diving to his right to hold a good catch, and Robson’s 45-ball 26 ended eleven runs later when he edged to Lees at first slip to leave Middlesex 55 for 6.Franklin also played and missed several times at Steven Patterson in an unhappy 12, which ended when he swished to third slip, but at least Simpson offered six fours in a punchy 22-ball cameo before Middlebrook struck at the end of an action-packed first session.When Yorkshire batted, Roland-Jones won lbw appeals to claim the wickets of Lyth, for 25, and Gary Ballance for a duck, in a new ball spell of 2 for 34 and he later returned to have Middlebrook caught behind for 4 as Yorkshire’s innings fell away following Gale’s exit. Murtagh also picked up the scalps of Hodd for 20 and Patterson for 0 before bad light ended play four overs early.Lees had been leg-before for 39 to Stirling’s offspin on the stroke of tea, while Dexter chipped away at Yorkshire’s middle order after tea to remove both Jack Leaning and Bresnan lbw, before ending Gale’s fine knock, which included 18 fours, to earn figures of 3 for 24.With a lead already of 132, however, Yorkshire are scenting a 10th win from 14 Championship games this season. “We want victory here, for a start,” replied Moxon, when asked about Yorkshire’s future ambitions. “But if we are to surpass the great Yorkshire sides of the past we have to win a few more Championships yet, although it’s great we now have a chance to leave that sort of legacy.”

Last week in Belfast, the Steven Smith era quietly began. Of course, it felt like it had started late last year, when Smith led Australia to victory in their Test series against India. But he was only a stand-in skipper then, steering the team while Michael Clarke recovered from surgery and prepared for one last push at World Cup and Ashes glory. Now the team belongs to Smith, in both formats.On Thursday, he begins his first full series in charge of Australia, a five-match one-day battle with England. Smith’s men are the World Cup holders, and the No.1 ODI side in the world. But now begins a whole new World Cup cycle. In four years, Australia will defend their title in England. By then, Smith will be 30. Will he still be captain? Probably, but who knows. It is a way off.So for now – indeed, for the next couple of years – Australia’s one-day cricket is about living in the moment, winning each series as and when it comes. New players will be introduced gradually. Shane Watson might be gone by the next World Cup. So might George Bailey. But for now, they remain part of the ODI squad, men who can help Smith in his goal to keep Australia at No.1.There are some new faces in the group for this series against England. Aaron Finch’s foot injury has provided an opportunity for Joe Burns at the top of the order. His 69 on debut against Ireland last week was a reminder of his class. Burns was unlucky to have missed out on a place in the Ashes squad after his promising Test start against India, and deserves a decent run in the national set-up.Ashton Agar is in line for his first international matches since his debut Test series against England two years ago. For Agar, this could be a golden opportunity. Australia won the World Cup with Glenn Maxwell the lead spinner, with almost no input from Xavier Doherty. That worked in Australian conditions, but the role of frontline ODI spinner is one that is very much up for grabs.Batting allrounder Marcus Stoinis also has a chance to debut in the 50-over format, though quite how Australia will use him remains to be seen, with Watson and Mitchell Marsh seemingly the front-runners in that role. Matthew Wade returns to replace World Cup winner Brad Haddin, though it is anyone’s guess who will be Australia’s gloveman by the time of the next World Cup.Not surprisingly given their Ashes workloads, Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood have been sent home to prepare for their next Test encounters, which will provide chances for Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson. Mitchell Starc has been kept on for the ODIs, again not surprisingly, given that he is the world’s No.1-ranked ODI bowler and was the Player of the Tournament in the World Cup.All in all, this series for Australia will contain nods to the future, but mostly through injury and workload management. Clarke and Haddin are the only members of the World Cup-winning squad who are definitely finished in the format. Other veterans like Watson and Bailey will be keen to use this series to prove they have much more ODI cricket left in them.For Smith, this series really marks the start of an era. Michael Clarke won his first one-day series as full-time captain, against Bangladesh following the 2011 World Cup. Ricky Ponting did too, against South Africa. Steve Waugh began with victory in a tri-series also featuring South Africa and New Zealand.When the history of Smith’s captaincy tenure is written – and it could be a long one, given he is only 26 – this series won’t be much more than a footnote. But after the disappointment of an Ashes defeat as vice-captain, he’d like it to be a winning footnote.

Scorecard
Shishir Bhavane held Karnataka’s innings together with a patient 65•PTI

J Syed Mohammad is a proper journeyman domestic cricketer. During one of his many voyage, he has called Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium his home ground while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. On the first day of the Ranji Trophy of 2015-16, Syed ran through the real home team of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, double defending champions Karnataka, with his best first-class figures of 7 for 44. Karnataka, who chose to bat, were bowled out for 187, thanks largely to lower-order runs scored in the company of young left-hand batsman Shishir Bhavane.Karnataka were missing the injured Manish Pandey, but they had enough batting strength in the in-form Mayank Agarwal, veteran Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair, who has recently been a part of India’s Test squad. They all fell to Syed as he took six wickets in his first spell to reduce Karnataka to 104 for 7. Bhavane, though, scored 65 runs in partnerships with J Suchith and Abhimanyu Mithun. In the 12 overs remaining after the end of Karnataka’s innings, Vinay Kumar took a wicket, but it was Assam’s day overall.
Scorecard
Deepak Chahar shot to fame with his showing on the first day of the 2010-11 season as he took eight wickets to bowl Hyderabad out for 21. What happened on day one at the same ground five years later wasn’t as dramatic, but his five-for helped Rajasthan shoot Delhi out for 138 in what might be a more important spell for him. He is part of a controversial team, other sides know his bowling well now and are better equipped against his swing. The home team were without the injured Pankaj Singh as an ad-hoc-committee-controlled Rajasthan took to the field against Delhi, the only team whose administrators can beat theirs when it comes to controversy.Gautam Gambhir, Delhi’s captain who has stayed back despite offers from Bengal, resisted for a while, scoring 24 out of Delhi’s 53 for 4, but once he fell a procession followed. Chahar, making use of the conditions after Rajasthan inserted Delhi, took the wickets of Unmukt Chand, Gambhir, Milind Kumar, Yogesh Nagar and Parvinder Awana. A counterattack from Sumit Narwal took Delhi to 138, but Pranay Sharma’s 42 in reply meant they didn’t carry any momentum when they bowled. Narwal took two wickets to keep Delhi interested, and Pradeep Sangwan’s wicket of Pranay just before stumps will give them further hope, but Rajasthan would have been the happier team at the end of the day.
ScorecardVidarbha opener Aditya Shanware struck a ton on his first-class debut, helping his team to 256 for 6 against Odisha in Nagpur. Vidarbha, batting first, began promisingly, as Shanware strung together fifty-plus stands for the first two wickets, with Jitesh Sharma (49) and Ganesh Satish (53). The hosts were well set at 173 for 1, but Odisha’s medium-pacers Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan dealt key blows at regular intervals, and Vidarbha soon found themselves at 197 for 5. Shanware and Ravi Jangid stopped the slide with a 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but Vidarbha suffered a big setback towards the end of the day, as Shanware was dismissed for 119 in the 88th over. Maharashtra v Haryana – Sehwag shines on Haryana debut

Sundar Raman denies rift with Manohar

“I have great regard and respect for Mr [Shashank] Manohar,” Sundar Raman said in Mumbai on Tuesday. “Certainly I have enjoyed the time I spent with him over the course of last few weeks.
“I don’t want to give credence to any such report. It’s a decision that I have made and have communicated with the [BCCI] office bearers. They respect the position that I come from and I respect their views. It’s something that we decided that I wanted to do and move on. I am grateful for the opportunity they have given me all these years.”

Sundar Raman, the IPL’s chief operating officer, has resigned from his position. Raman had been associated with the IPL since its inception; he had been the right-hand man of Lalit Modi and, after his removal in 2010, worked closely with N Srinivasan.Raman – whose resignation was confirmed by IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla – put in his papers during a meeting with BCCI president Shashank Manohar in Nagpur on Monday. He is under investigation for his alleged role in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and is scheduled to appear before the Lodha Committee on November 15.It is understood that Manohar had told Raman that he would need to resign on his own, or face the possibility of being asked to resign at the BCCI’s annual general meeting on November 9.”I have been serving my notice period for some time now. I will be available to them [BCCI and IPL whenever they require, but I will demit office this week,” Raman told . They [BCCI] wanted to stabilise things, and this has been going on for four to five weeks. The BCCI president [Shashank Manohar] is not well and so I went to Nagpur yesterday to get his signature on tenders and other documents.”Raman’s future in the IPL was always in question once Manohar was elected as the BCCI president on October 4. Manohar had been one of the very few BCCI administrators, past or present, to publicly protest against Raman continuing as a BCCI employee once the Mudgal Committee, investigating the 2013 IPL scandal, had named him in its report in connection with “misdemeanours”.”Raman should have gone immediately after the Mudgal Committee report found him prima facie guilty of wrongdoings,” Manohar had said in July. “He ought to have stepped down immediately at that time. Now, to restore the faith of people in IPL and the game, Raman needs to go.”But the previous BCCI administration, run remotely by Srinivasan, supported Raman when a release said: “Mr. Sundar Raman gave his explanation relating to his role with reference to the conclusions relating to him in the report of the Mudgal committee. The members heard his explanation and decided that the Board should support Mr Sundar Raman to represent himself before the Supreme Court.”Raman was named as Individual 12 in the Mudgal report, which said he “knew a contact of a bookie and had contacted him eight times in one season”. When questioned by the Mudgal panel, Raman “admitted” that he “knew” a contact of the bookie, but claimed to be “unaware of his connection with betting activities”. The report stated Raman “also accepted” that he had received information about “individual 1 and individual 11 [that is, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra] taking part in betting.” He said he was “informed” by the ICC-ACSU chief that this was not actionable information. Raman accepted that this information that he received about two team officials being reportedly involved in betting “was not conveyed to any other individual” by him.While passing its order last July, the Lodha Commitee said that it “shall also examine the role of Mr. Sundar Raman with or without further investigation, into his activities, and if found guilty, impose a suitable punishment upon him on behalf of BCCI.” The Lodha Panel was granted an extension to complete its investigations in addition to making recommendations to overhaul the structure of the BCCI. The final report is likely to be submitted to the Supreme Court by the end of December.Raman had countered the Mudgal report by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court in November 2014, stating one of his duties as the IPL’s chief operating officer was to interact with various individuals, including celebrities and officials, and that the interactions could not be the basis for a misdemeanour.

The West Indies made up with their bowling and fielding on the 2nd day what they lost by their batting on the 1st. After dismissing New Zealand “A” for 193, giving them a nice lead of 39, after making 232 in their 1st innings, the West Indies are 50-0, after 24 overs, in their 2nd innings, an overall lead of 89. Adrian Griffith is 23 not out, including four fours, while Chris Gayle is 26 not out, also including four boundaries.The rains came with about half an hour and six more overs to be completed for the 2nd day.Earlier, New Zealand “A” started the 2nd day on 90-2, with Mark Richardson on 38 not out and Bruce Martin, the night-watchman, yet to score. The partnership did not last, but, surprisingly, it was the better batsman, Richardson, who went first.He had added only 01 run to his overnight score when he played, half-cocked, to a good Reon King delivery, the 5th of the morning, the resulting edge speeding to Brian Lara, who took a very sharp catch at 1st slip. Richardson out for 39, including five 4’s; New Zealand “A” 92-3.Bruce Martin too was soon out. Similarly, he too had only added 01 when he drove full-bloodedly at Nixon McLean, the resulting scorcher ending up at cover point for the substitute fieldsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, on for Franklyn Rose, to take a straightforward catch. Rose was off with a strained hamstring muscle. Bruce Martin out for 01; New Zealand “A” 92-4.Glen Sulzberger, in at No. 5, was promptly dropped, twice, from the first two deliveries he faced. He tried to pull leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo through the leg side, the resulting under edge just eluding wicket-keeper Wayne Phillip’s gloves. The very next delivery, Nagamootoo again found the edge, but this time Chris Gayle, at slip, spilled the catch to get the batsman off the mark.Soon, though, Sulzberger was very responsible for the run out of Jacob Oram, who batted at No. 6. Sulzberger played a delivery to short cover and started immediately for a single, putting great pressure on Oram at the non-striker’s end to react. Adrian Griffith at cover reacted quicker than Oram, and his return to Ramnaresh Sarwan at the striker’s end beat Oram by a long way. Oram run out for 00; New Zealand “A” 95-5.Sulzberger and Jerrod Englefield then put on the best partnership of New Zealand “A”s innings with some encouraging strokes. They carried the score from 95-5 to 158-6, a partnership of 63, before Sulzberger became the 1st wicket after lunch. He pushed tentatively at a Jimmy Adams leg-break, the resulting edge lodging in wicket-keeper Wayne Phillip’s glove this time. Sulzberger out for 37, made in 123 deliveries, and including six fours; New Zealand “A” 158-6.The last four wickets then added only 35 runs as the West Indian bowlers, especially fast bowler Nixon McLean, thwarted the very blustery conditions to bring the innings to a quick end. 158-6 became 176-7 when Englefield tried to back-cut to Mahendra Nagamootoo’s top-spinner, the resulting under-edge cannoning onto the stumps. Englefield bowled for 30 made from 143 deliveries and containing four boundaries.At 192, Scott Styris was comprehensively beaten and bowled by a very fast Nixon McLean leg-cutter. Styris out for 22 which included four fours and lasted 42 deliveries. Darryl Tuffey was promptly out, caught at the wicket from McLean’s bowling for 00; New Zealand “A” 192-9 and then Chris Martin was run out going for an impossible run, Nagamootoo at cover point hitting the stumps directly.New Zealand “A” were all out for 193 from 92.2 overs, leaving the West Indies with a lead of 39. Nixon McLean was the West Indies best bowler with 3-37 from 21.2 overs, while Mahendra Nagamootoo had 2-68 from 34 overs and Reon King had 2-28 from 19 overs. Overall, 33 minutes were lost in the New Zealand “A” innings due to rain.So, the West Indies will start the 3rd day at 50-0, an overall lead of 89. They could well use the 3rd day to get some good batting practice in.

Sharjah, March 27: India came here with the reputation of being thefavourites. But they did nothing special to justify all the hype. Theynow face the prospects of returning home early. Only an extraordinarytwist to the Sharjah Cup script can delay their flight.On Monday, India were bowled out for 164 – exactly the same score theyhad made in the opening match against the Proteas – but the onlydifference being they didn’t lose by 10 wickets. This time the marginwas a bit better – six wickets with 7.2 overs to spare.South Africa with three clean victories from as many matches have madeit to the final with ease and they take on Pakistan in the last matchof the double-league preliminaries on Tuesday. Even if Pakistan lose,they might still qualify for the triangular series final since theyhave a much better run-rate.The only way India can date South Africa in the final if Pakistan losethe match by more than 100 runs if they bat second. If South Africabat second than they have to achieve the target before 35 overs torelegate Pakistan to the third place.”Only a miracle can save India,” as skipper Saurav Ganguly said afterthe match.On Monday, defending such a small score and that too against a teamwho are on a roll here, India did sparkle for a while when VenkateshPrasad removed Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener off successiveballs in the eighth over.And when dangerman Gary Kirsten (31 off 44 balls) holed out to skipperSaurav Ganguly at slips off Anil Kumble and Neil McKenzie fell toNikhil Chopra, India looked like fighting back into the game. ButSouth Africa, four down for 50 in the 26th over, applied themselves tothe task at hand with maturity to frustrate the Indian camp.Leading the charge was Kallis and skipper Hansie Cronje himself. Thetwo prospered in a match-winning stand of 71 runs to steer their teamhome in 42.4 overs. Kallis remained not out on 53 off 93 balls withtwo fours and two sixes while Cronje, who smashed the winning four offRobin Singh, was unbeaten on 42 off 69 balls.Earlier, the Indian batsmen simply struggled to put across the naggingSouth African bowlers, who didn’t do anything extraordinary, butbowled wicket to wicket, cramming the batsmen for space to executetheir shots. At times even scoring singles was a luxury.Bowling under overcast conditions, South Africa struck the first blowin the fifth over when Hayward got rid of Saurav Ganguly for six.Coach Kapil Dev changed the batting order, sending Mohammed Azharuddinahead of Rahul Dravid. The move seemed to pay off when he andTendulkar built up a stand of 70 runs for the second wicket to takethe score to 80 by the 23rd over when Azharuddin, trying to steal asingle of a misfield, failed to beat a direct throw from Neil McKenziewas caught short of the crease.The most experienced batsman in the world with 331 one-day matchesunder his belt wasn’t at ease during his knock of 36 which came off 65balls with five fours.Tendulkar met a similar fate as that of Azhar, attempting to score asingle which wasn’t there and a direct throw from Gibbs found him wellshort of the crease.Ajay Jadeja, who came two down, looked pretty mystified when he wasruled lbw after a Steve Elworthy delivery hit his pad just above theknee roll.Dravid and Robin Singh batted painstakingly against the disciplinedSouth African bowlers who bowled according to the field which furthermade lift difficult for the two. Dravid managed to score 26 off 60balls with two fours while Robin Singh chipped in with 28 off 45 ballsto add some useful contribution to the crawling scoreboard.Blond Hayward returned with the best spell, taking four wickets for 31runs while Lance Klusener took two for 35.”In the end it was batting that let us down,” concluded Kapil Dev.