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Twenty wickets fell on a dramatic opening day in Siliguri as Sourav Sarkar, the medium-pacer, helped Bengal sneak ahead by eight runs in the first innings. Orissa, who chose to field first, had a near-perfect bowling session, bundling Bengal out for 107 but their batsmen surrendered the advantage, collapsing for 99 in 38.4 overs. Basanth Mohanty, the debutant medium-pacer for Orissa, stole the show with 6 for 28 in just 8.3 overs, but he was overshadowed by Sarkar’s maiden five-wicket haul. Bengal’s openers played out the final 1.2 overs without any further loss.
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A 201-run stand between Karan Goel and Ravi Inder put Punjab in firm control on the first day of their match against Baroda at the Gandhi Sports Complex Ground in Amritsar. Baroda’s decision to field first was followed by an early wicket, when Ravneet Ricky fell in the eighth over, but Goel and Inder ensured it was only a false dawn. Goel notched up his maiden first-class hundred, with the help of 16 fours, while Inder gave him good company by carting 13 hits to the boundary.
ScorecardIt was a bowlers day out in Uppal as Andhra gained the upperhand in their derby against Hyderabad. Choosing to bat first, Andhra managed only 159 but their bowlers, led by medium-pacer P Vijay Kumar, reduced Hyderabad to a perilous 52 for 5 by the end of the day. Hemal Watekar and Gnaneshwara Rao boosted the Andhra innings before Bodapati Sumanth eked out some runs with the tail. Kumar and Kalyankrishna, the new-ball bowlers, then responded splendidly to rattle Hyderabad’s top order, reducing them to 18 for 4. Arjun Yadav, the captain, warded off further trouble and ground out a 78-ball 15 to keep Hyderabad in the hunt.
ScorecardMumbai’s decision to bat first backfired as Pankaj Singh’s five-wicket haul restricted them to 290 for 9 at the end of the first day in Jhalawar. Pankaj, the tall fast bowler who has been a consistent domestic performer over the years, snapped up his fourth five-wicket haul to break the backbone of the Mumbai middle order. He struck with the wicket of Sahil Kukreja early and went on to dismiss Amol Muzumdar, the captain, Ramesh Powar, the centurion in the previous game, Vinayak Samant and Iqbal Abdulla. It was mainly thanks to a fighting 90 from Ajinkya Rahane, the opener, and 62 from Rohit Sharma that Mumbai stayed afloat.
ScorecardS Badrinath’s 111 propped up Tamil Nadu on the opening day in Chennai but it was Ashok Thakur, with 6 for 34, who seized the initiative for Himachal Pradesh. Tamil Nadu seemed to be making the most of winning the toss as Badrinath and K Vasudevadas added 97 for the third wicket but Thakur, the medium-pacer, got stuck into the middle order. Tamil Nadu lost their last eight wickets for 89 runs with Badrinath the last man to fall after reaching his 14th first-class hundred.Delhi 23 for 1 trail Maharashtra 219 (Kanitkar 67, Bhatia 5-) by 196 runs
Scorecard Rajat Bhatia grabbed his maiden first-class five-for to dismiss Maharashtra to 219 on the first day in Nagothane. After Maharashtra had recovered from the loss of their first wicket in the second over of the day, Bhatia exploited the inconsistent bounce on the track and got five middle-order batsmen to edge to the waiting slips. Only a stodgy half-century from Hrishikesh Kanitkar and handy contributions from Vishal Bhilare and Kedar Jadhav got Maharashtra past 200. (Click here to read the full report.)
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Medium-pacer R Vinay Kumar grabbed his fifth five-wicket haul, which included his 100th first-class wicket, as Karnataka kept Saurashtra down to 229 for 8 on the opening day of the fifth-round clash in Mysore. Karnataka’s decision to field first paid off as their bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals. Almost all the Saurashtra batsmen got starts but none went on to score a half-century. Kumar and his opening partner NC Aiyappa accounted for seven of the eight wickets to fall, with left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi claiming the other.

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Dan Marsh stood up at a crucial time to collect two first-innings points for Tasmania, who had to fight off a superb performance from Ryan Harris at Adelaide Oval. Harris captured a career-best 7 for 108, but his batting team-mates failed to offer the necessary help and they ended the third day on 6 for 196.The home team has a lead of 157 and the Tigers will be desperate to clean up the last four batsman on the final morning of what could be a tense tussle. Brett Geeves continued Tasmania’s dominance when he picked up the first three wickets, but the Redbacks recovered through useful contributions from Daniel Christian and Callum Ferguson.Christian was nearing his second half-century in consecutive games when he was caught by Marsh for 47 off Chris Duval, the former South Australia bowler. Ferguson reached his fifty but fell soon after when caught-and-bowled by Geeves for 54. The Redbacks’ troubles had already increased with the loss of Shane Deitz for 8, but Graham Manou, the captain, prevented any further damage and was 22 not out at stumps.Tasmania started the day at 5 for 228 and Marsh cautiously navigated them past the home team’s 344 with help from Tim Paine, who picked up 57. Paine fell to Harris 16 runs before the total was overhauled, but Marsh stayed until his off stump was taken by Harris.He was 109 and the century, which contained 11 fours from 192 balls, was the third of a fine season. Harris’ final wicket came when he bowled Geeves for 0 and he continued an excellent day by being 6 not out at the close.

The Eastern Province Jumbos went to the top ofthe Standard Bank Cup log with a thrilling six-run win over the Border Bearsat Buffalo Park on Wednesday night.It was a victory which looked for muchof the game as though it would go the other way, as Border appeared to havejudged their tough run-chase perfectly. Once again, though, their frailtyunder pressure eventually told.Chasing a daunting target of 261, Border appeared to have laid thefoundations for vicotory as they reached 228 for four, with less than arun-a-ball required over the closing overs. But a couple of dubious shots,an unlucky run out and Mornantau Hayward’s slower ball proved decisive forEP, as Border lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs.Three timesHayward picked up wickets with his well-disguised slower ball, although hesaved himself some acute embarrassment after putting down two caught andbowled chances in the same over.It was a waste of some fine batting higher up the order from openersLaden Gamiet and Ian Mitchell who saw off the impressive Mfuneko Ngam andMeyrick Pringle before taking apart the rest of the EP attack in a stand of85.Gamiet’s demise for 57 only cleared the stage for Craig Sugden whose 84looked to have put Border on the brink of victory. But when he was part of amiddle-order collapse which featured a duck for Mark Boucher, the gameturned decisively in EP’s favour.With seven runs needed off eight balls,Makhaya Ntini skied Hayward to bring down the curtain on a compelling game.Earlier, man-of-the-match Carl Bradfield struck a fine 91 as EP builtwhat turned out to be a winning total after being put into bat by theirhosts. That the score was eventually as imposing as it was was also theresponsibility of the veteran Dave Callaghan, who struck an unbeaten 37 offjust 17 balls as the overs ran out.Callaghan and Justin Kemp combined totake 19 off the penultimate over from the otherwise impeccable West Indianpaceman Vasbert Drakes.

VVS Laxman, who has gone through a rocky time in Test cricket and found himself out in the cold as far as the one-day side is concerned, has blamed a lack of tactical flexibility for India’s recent troubles. Speaking to the The Indian Express during an India-Pakistan match for the visually impaired, Laxman insisted that a tweak here and there would once again propel India towards the top rung of international cricket.”In the past few years the opposition has understood us well, but that is the trend of international cricket,” he said. “We have not totally surrendered to teams, and therefore we don’t need to make drastic changes in the team. But we must improve our consistency. You cannot have the same strategy for Australia and Pakistan. They are totally different teams. Every series is different and needs new ideas.”According to Laxman, who was jettisoned from the ODI side before the tour of Bangladesh last winter, the reluctance to experiment was one of the root causes of the 2-4 reverse against Pakistan. “You cannot have a set pattern,” he said. “It is very important that the team has good options. One must look at the situation first – if early wickets are lost then the game-plan has to change. Flexibility is the key.”It was only four years ago that Laxman played the finest innings ever by an Indian batsman, and one of the greatest of all time, as Australia were vanquished in a remarkable Test match at Kolkata. He came in then at No. 3, his chosen slot, but with Rahul Dravid having established himself as one of the all-time greats in the very same position, it has been difficult for Laxman to reproduce similar heroics.”I have won matches for India at No. 3, though I can win games in any position,” he said. “John [Wright] also knows that I have always delivered at No. 3 in Tests and one-dayers, and therefore has always wanted me to bat there.” Laxman added, however, that there was no question of demanding the position for himself. “You cannot ask Rahul Dravid to move from that slot, because he has done wonderfully well there. I have spoken to Sourav and Wright about it, but I am not going to keep asking them for it. I will play where the team requires me to play.”What Laxman does believe, though, is the merit of shuffling your line-up according to the match situation. “Flexibility is important. Dravid, captain in the Mumbai Test against Australia, suggested that I bat at No. 3 with the new ball in play. I scored a crucial 69, put together a partnership with Sachin [Tendulkar], and we won the Test.”The criticism that has come his way in recent times has clearly irked. “I got two fifties against Pakistan in the Tests and everyone said I failed in the series,” says Laxman. “No-one bothered to check that I batted lower down the order with no support from the tail. I got 79 at Bangalore with the tailenders. I could have been selfish and played big shots, but I knew that crease-occupation at that time was important.”After suffering the heartache of missing out on the last World Cup squad, Laxman appeared to have resurrected his ODI career with three scintillating centuries in Australia, and another sublime innings in the decisive Lahore game last March. Subsequently, inconsistency and the perception that he is a liability in the field forced him out of the squad, but Laxman insists that a comeback is far from implausible.”My basic mantra is to rotate the strike, occupying the crease and keeping the scoreboard ticking,” he says. “Just hitting fours and sixes doesn’t work. Rahul and I have to stick around for 40-45 overs and eventually the team gets a big score. Check the records – if I have played around 40-45 overs, we have got 300-plus totals and won.”

The following are the occurrance when Hampshire have been involved for an against in a Victory after following on.VICTORY AFTER FOLLOWING ONHampshire (94 & 314) bt Somerset (221 & 176) by 11 runs at Taunton 1895Hampshire (15 & 521) bt Warwicks (223 & 158) by 155 runs at Birmingham 1922Hampshire (185 & 449) bt Glamorgan (437 & 104) by 95 runs at Rose Bowl 2003DEFEAT AFTER OPPONENTS FOLLOWING ONHampshire (208 & 140) lost to Surrey (110 & 297) by 59 runs at The Oval 1866
nb – A margin of 80 was the criteria at that periodHampshire (300-8d & 80) lost to Essex (149 & 310) by 79 runs at Bournemouth 1992Statistics – Vic Isaacs

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Yasir Hameed’s elegant hundred, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s brutal half-century and a strangulating spell from the bowlers sent Bangladesh hurtling to 76-run loss against Pakistan in the third match of the Asia Cup, played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. And, Pakistan picked up a bonus point to boot. The 109-run partnership between Hameed and Inzamam was the highlight of the morning session and their handling of the middle-overs proved to be the difference between the two sides.Chasing 258 for victory on a pitch that got slower and lower as the match progressed, Bangladesh were stifled by the spin duo of Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria in the middle overs. Shoaib Akhtar, who was off colour in his first spell, reverse swung it towards the end and Bangladesh didn’t have too many answers.Bangladesh are no strangers to Hameed-heroics. They were at the receiving end of his huge scores in last year’s series in Pakistan. His three hundreds, in Tests and one-dayers, kick-started his career in glorious fashion. In fact, he scored 82 when the two sides last met in a one-dayer.This innings had most of his trademark shots – the cover-drive of the front and back foot, the flick from outside off to square leg and the chancy wild swish. On three or four occasions, the ball flew off the edge through the vacant slip region, but amid all that there were some delightful fours. He took charge of the opening partnership, with Imran Farhat showing signs of rustiness, and maintained the rate at five-an-over.Hameed also played the supporting act when Inzamam was thrashing it around and both didn’t let the initiative slip in the middle overs. He got a large dose of fortune on 64, when Mohammad Ashraful dropped a sitter at long-off. On a day when other batsmen showed rusty form, his slap-dash effort went a long way in helping Pakistan reach their final score.Inzamam came in after the fall of two quick wickets as the bowlers were applying the brakes on the scoring-rate. He carted Mohammad Rafique, the left-arm spinner, for two towering sixes and got back the momentum that Hameed had given in the first 10 overs and was subsequently lost. Though both fell in successive balls, with 10 overs left, and despite the lack of lower-order pyrotechnics, only 57 in the last 10, Pakistan had reached a respectable score.Javed Omar began the reply in positive fashion and Bangladesh were 48 for 0after 10 overs. That was partly due to the lacklustre first spell by Shoaib Akhtar, with a shortened run-up that Bob Woolmer had suggested, as he sprayed it wide of the stumps. The result was four overs, no wickets, 12 balls left alone, two wides and a lukewarm Shoaib.Sami was wayward too but there were a few unplayable jaffas in between. He got his reward in the 11th over when Ashraful nicked a wide one to Moin Khan (48 for 1). Habibul Bashar, the captain, had no clue to one of the Sami specials that cut him in half, but he was caught in front two balls later as an inswinger rapped him on the pads (52 for 2).And there began the downhill journey for Bangladesh. Kaneria and Malik made good use of the slowness of the pitch and gave nothing away in the middle overs. Shoaib returned in the 31st and troubled all the batsmen with his reverse swing. He finished with three wickets – one lbw, one bowled and one catch of a bouncer – had a few very close leg-before shouts turned down, but continued grinning all through.Bangladesh folded for 181, with Malik ending with two wickets, and Pakistan earned the bonus point too. A new tournament, a new coach, and lots of reverse swing – all looked fine with Pakistan.

The New Zealand board has said that there was no question of not going ahead with the tour to Zimbabwe and added that they will try and avoid any contact with Robert Mugabe’s government.Martin Snedden, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, said an independent security report from Zimbabwe earlier this week had given the all-clear for the tour and that player safety wouldn’t be an issue. In response, the players unanimously agreed to the five-week tour, involving two Tests followed by a one-day tri-series with India as the third team.The detailed report regarding the security arrangements were given to the board by a Zimbabwe-based security expert, who also advised England and Australia during their tours last year. “The advice we’re getting is that as things stand at present he doesn’t think it will interfere with the tour proceeding,” Snedden told New Zealand Press Association. He added that player safety was the only grounds for not touring, as they would be liable for a minimum fine of US$2 million for unjustified cancellation under ICC regulations. Snedden said the US$2 million fine for unjustified cancellation was the bare minimum and that the touring country was also liable for all financial losses suffered by the hosts.The team have come under pressure from political parties and have been urged not to tour. Rod Donald, the co-leader of the Greens, petitioned all contracted New Zealand players in March this year and requested they boycott the tour on moral grounds. Helen Clark, the prime minister, had also said that she “wouldn’t be seen dead in Zimbabwe” under the present regime, and that she preferred the tour did not proceed. However, she didn’t take the final step of government intervention, which would also be grounds for cancelling the tour without financial penalty.Snedden outlined the advice that the board had received from the government. “Phil Goff [Foreign Affairs Minister] has suggested that it’s a good thing if we can avoid putting our players in situations where they have any contact with Zimbabwean Government officials, and we’ll be working to achieve that. The government’s taken a pragmatic approach, they’ve expressed a view that they would prefer us not to go, but they understand the contractual situation.”He felt that the cancellation of the tour would lead to embarrassment and added that the players were given all the information they needed about Zimbabwe’s political situation and had the past two months to decide whether to tour or not. “If you’ve entered into a contractual arrangement with nine other countries and you try and pick and choose later, then you expose yourself to ridicule,” he said. “The players have been through this situation a number of times in recent years. It’s an issue we’ve met head on and done pretty well. My understanding is the players are reasonably confident in the way we handle it and are prepared to trust us to do it right.”The board, headed by Snedden, have been weary of security issues in the recent past: New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan in 2002 was aborted midway after a bomb exploded outside the team hotel in Karachi; the team refused to travel to Kenya for a World Cup match in 2003 due to terrorist threats; and later that year they delayed a tour of Pakistan after receiving threats about touring during the holy month of Ramadan.

The RETRAVISION Warriors will be bolstered by the return of Ryan Campbell and Michael Hussey for their crucial ING Cup clash against Queensland.Campbell missed the Warriors rained-effected match against Tasmania with a groin strain. Hussey missed the match due to commitments with the Australian one-day team.The Warriors can guarantee a home final if they can overcome the Bulls. WA is on top of the ladder with 29 points from eight games. Queensland is third with 22 points.WA will be without Michael Clark due a recurrence of stress fractures in his spine. Clark had a screw inserted into his back this morning.Fast-bowler Ben Edmondson had been included in the ING Cup squad for the first time this season.The day-night match will be played at the Gabba.The Retravision Warriors 13-man squad.
Justin Langer ©, Ryan Campbell, Ben Edmondson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Aaron Heal, Michael Hussey, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, John Taylor, Darren Wates and Paul Wilson.Two players will be omitted before the match.Radio Fremantle 107.9FM will broadcast ball-by-ball coverage of the match.

Nasser Hussain has hit out at England’s weak selection policy during the early days of his captaincy, and has accused the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, of being “too interested in protecting his own job”.Hussain resigned as England captain in 2003 before retiring a year later after a matchwinning century at Lord’s, and subsequently entered the media as a commentator for Sky Sports. His autobiography, , is released next month and promises to be a typically forthright account of his four-year tenure. Some early extracts have been serialised in the Daily Mail, for which Hussain also writes a regular column.These days, the England team is a tightly run unit, with central contracts offering an essential measure of security for all the first-team players. But when Hussain was first appointed captain in 1999, he says that the selection policy was a much more hit-and-miss affair.”I like David Graveney,” Hussain writes. “He cares. He wants English cricket to do well. But he’s too interested in protecting his own job. He tries to keep everybody happy and is too quick to worry about what the press are saying.”Hussain goes on: “There’s no doubt the selection panel wasn’t strong enough then and a lot of it was down to Graveney. He would listen to anyone, be influenced by too many people. I’m all for democracy, but you really have to draw a line and have the courage of your own convictions if you are chairman of selectors.”But it wasn’t just Graveney who was at fault, in a summer when England slumped to the bottom of the pile in Test cricket. Ian Botham and Mike Gatting were also consulted on selection matters, and both receive short shrift from Hussain – especially Botham, who is now his colleague and sparring partner at Sky.”There was never any consistency in [Botham’s] arguments,” says Hussain. “He’d say one thing one day and then suddenly he’d be saying that the same bloke he had been pushing for a year was now complete rubbish. By the end of his time advising the panel, I was listening to what he thought I should do and then doing exactly the opposite.”

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Jamie Dalrymple enhanced his prospects of a maiden Test call-up as England A overcame a freak injury to Matthew Hoggard on the third day of their warm-up match against the Pakistanis at Canterbury.Hoggard was trodden on by his team-mate, Tim Bresnan, during a knockabout game of rugby, and was forced to sit out the day’s play after having six stitches inserted in his bowling hand. He was not missed, however, as Dalrymple combined with his spin partner, Alex Loudon, to bowl Pakistan out for just 242. By the close, England had opted not to enforce the follow-on, with Rob Key the only casualty as they closed on 35 for 1.It was an impressive day’s work from Dalrymple, who demonstrated his aptitude for international cricket during the one-day series against Sri Lanka. Once again, he bowled with guile and skill to claim 4 for 61 in 24 overs. Loudon mopped up the tail with three of the last four wickets to fall, although the last man, Mohammad Asif, did not bat after suffering an elbow injury on the second morning of the match.The mainstays of Pakistan’s innings were Salman Butt and Faisal Iqbal, who each contributed a timely half-century, but their middle-order stalwarts, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, both missed the opportunity for some useful middle practice. They were dismissed for ducks, as Yousuf hooked loosely at Stuart Broad to be caught in the deep, and Inzamam top-edged a pull off Dalrymple and was caught by Loudon, running round from slip.It might have been even worse for Pakistan, had Faisal not been dropped by Ian Bell at slip when he had made just 2. Of the last seven batsmen, only Abdul Razzaq (37) and Mohammad Sami (28 not out) reached double figures. The rest managed just one run between them, as Dalrymple and Loudon spun their web.England’s successful day began in the first hour, as Chris Read and Broad resumed their overnight stand, eventually adding 127 unbeaten runs for the tenth wicket. Read swept Danish Kaneria for six to reach 150 not out, while Broad registered his maiden first-class fifty. England declared on 595 for 9, whereupon Bresnan atoned for his nobbling of Hoggard by taking the first wicket to fall, that of Imran Farhat for 16.Farhat had his vengeance late in the day when he came on for a three-over spell and picked up the wicket of Key, but with just one day remaining, this match seems sure to end as a draw. It has not been without incident, however, with Key, Read and Dalrymple all advancing their Test claims for England, and injuries to Hoggard, Asif and Kamran Akmal providing moments of concern for the respective team managements.