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LOGAN CUP REPORT: MATABELELAND v MASHONALAND, Day 3ByAfter putting up a good fight for the first day and a half of theLogan Cup match at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Matabeleland thensubsided weakly to lose to Mashonaland by the huge margin of 276runs in a most unimpressive performance. The highlight of the daywas a record partnership for any wicket in Zimbabwean crickethistory, as Craig Evans and Dirk Viljoen put on 330 together forthe third wicket. The previous best by a Zimbabwean team was300, also for the fourth wicket, by Robin Brown and Peter Allanfor Rhodesia B against Eastern Province B in 1978/79, and byopponents 317 for the second wicket between Roger Twose and AsifDin for Warwickshire against a Mashonaland XI in 1993/94.Mashonaland began the day 261 runs ahead, with seven wickets inhand, and it was clear from the start that the policy was tobuild on this lead with all possible speed. Dirk Viljoen drovethe first ball he faced on the third day through the covers forfour; Craig Evans pulled his second over the leg boundary forsix. Both batsmen hit at everything against a toothless attack,and added 100 runs to the score in just eight overs. Evans,after passing his century, began to look for his usual massivesixes, one over long-off and the rest pulled over midwicket,while Viljoen slashed and cut his way past 150.Evans took 24 in an over from Dion Ebrahim, including threesixes, then, in Ebrahim’s next over, with a declaration imminent,he tried to swing him over the midwicket boundary again, only forthe ball to keep a little low, trapping him lbw for 153. Viljoenwas not out with 173 off 175 balls, including a six and 18 fours,while Evans’ 153 came off 143 balls and included 5 sixes and 16fours.Matabeleland’s target, for what it was worth, was 363 runs; theyneeded to survive 97 overs to avoid defeat. Charles Coventry(12) played some sweet drives, but was adjudged lbw to GusMackay, following which Mark Vermeulen was caught at the wicketdown the leg side first ball. The normally aggressive DionEbrahim came in and concentrated on strict defence, but in vain;two overs alter and still without addition, he suffered an almostunplayable ball from Mackay – directed at leg stump, swinging inand pitching on middle, then cutting away to uproot off.Matabeleland, at 13 for three, were in serious trouble.Mark Abrams, as so often, flattered only to deceive, playing eachball on its merits for a while, hitting two fine fours, and thenpulling Mackay down the throat of fine leg to be out for 10; thescore 23 for four, with the defiant Siziba still there on 1.Sanyo Nyakutse played some good strokes before lunch, whenMatabeleland were 39 for four (Siziba 3, Nyakutse 14).After lunch, for a while it appeared as if Matabeleland weregoing to make a fight of it. Siziba continued to play safely,while Nyakutse went for his strokes, playing some attractivefront-foot drives and twice pulling Mackay for four in an over.Then, after a partnership of 49, the fight evaporated. Siziba,having looked so solid, drove half-heartedly at Viljoen and hit alow catch to mid-on, after scoring 9 off 82 balls. In thefollowing over, Nyakutse (41) obligingly pulled Evans straightdown the throat of Dan Peacock at deep midwicket; Rennie paddedup to a ball from Evans that broke back sharply and was given outlbw; then Engelbrecht, appearing to lose his nerve, was stumpedby Campbell standing up to Evans. All four wickets fell with thescore on 72, and Evans had bowled three successivewicket-maidens.Warren Gilmour played a couple of defiant strokes, but Jason Hitzcontributed the fifth duck of the innings, turning Evans tomidwicket where substitute fielder Brighton Watambwa took a goodlow catch. Evans’ figures were now 5-5-0-4. He finally concededruns when Gilmour slashed him over backward point for four, butthe sorry end was not long in coming, as Gilmour hit Viljoenuppishly to short extra cover for Mackay to take the catch.Matabeleland had compiled a sorry 86, the same figure as theirfirst-innings lead, and caved in on the final day with scarcely astruggle.

Tamil Nadu batsmen Hemanth Kumar and JR Madanagopal were in fine formon the third day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match againstKerala at Kochi on Friday. The added 168 runs for the third wicket tohelp their team to score 204 for four in reply to Kerala’s firstinnings total of 206 by close of play.The second day’s play had been washed out but when play resumed thismorning medium pacer Tinu Yohannan dismissed both the openers RajatBhatia and Badrinath in successive overs. Coming together at 25 fortwo, Madanagopal and Hemanth Kumar initiated the recovery process bysome confident batting. Their association lasted 80.2 overs beforeMadanagopal was caught by Kamaruddin off CP Menon for 84. Madanagopalbatted 5-1/2 hours, faced 222 balls and hit a four and two sixes. Offthe final ball of the day, Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan (5) was caught byKamaruddin off CP Menon, giving the Kerala wicketkeeper his thirdcatch of the day. But Hemant Kumar, showing deep concentration, camethrough unbeaten at the end of the day. For his 84, he has so farfaced 283 balls and hit three fours. Yohannan (2 for 37) and Menon (2for 17) shared the wickets.

England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, has admitted that Headingley hero Mark Butcher would probably not have played in the npower Ashes series if England’s first choice players had been fit.”If there had not been so many injuries, he wouldn’t have played,” conceded Graveney. “But we had a good idea of his form because there are so many Surrey lads in the squad and overall he has been our most consistent player this summer.”The pressure in the last innings of a Test match is awesome and you can assess the magnitude of the achievement by the fact that we have only reached a target like that twice.”But Graveney, talking to the BBC, supported the comments of Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who said yesterday that a lot of work remains to be done before England are able to realistically expect to beat Australia.”You can say that we have been unlucky in one or two respects but we are playing against the finest side in the world and we have been found wanting,” MacLaurin told BBC Radio 5 Live.”One or two players have been injured but that does not disguise the fact that we have to look at our game in this country right from grassroots through to the county level and make it much more professional.””It just shows how quickly things can change in sport, in this case in a matter of hours,” said Graveney. But he reiterated the view that no-one should get carried away with the Leeds win, or let it disguise the disappointing result for England from the series as a whole.”If we are being honest, our performances have not been good enough and even on the first day of this Test, our bowling was probably the worst it has been all season.”

Fast bowler Tim Southee will lead New Zealand against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Friday. Captain Brendon McCullum’s preparation for the three-Test tour was interrupted by his having to travel to England last week to give testimony in the Chris Cairns trial, and while he has rejoined his team he will be rested from the first match of the tour.New Zealand coach Mike Hesson on Wednesday confirmed that BJ Watling would also sit out of the match and Kane Williamson would likely be rested as well, leaving Southee to step up as captain. The 50-over pink-ball match against the Prime Minister’s XI on Friday will be followed by a two-day match with a red ball against a Cricket Australia XI on Saturday and Sunday.”It will be a good opportunity for him, part of his role in the leadership group is to take a little bit more responsibility,” Hesson said of Southee. “I think he’s looking forward to it.”McCullum is likely to take some part in the match against the CA XI, and Hesson said he was confident the captain would be well prepared for the first Test starting at the Gabba on November 5.”He’ll play a part, but Brendon has been away from training for a little while,” Hesson said. “He’s looking forward to getting back into that. We’ll ease him back in, make sure he’s ready to go by Brisbane … We’ve known the timelines for a long time, so we’ve put plans in place and Brendon will be ready by Brisbane. He’s very much on track.”The matches in Canberra will also provide New Zealand with a look at potential Test opponents including Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja. The changing nature of Australia’s Test team after the retirements of Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin give New Zealand hope of their first series win in Australia for 30 years.”There’s been some good New Zealand sides come over here in the past and I think it’s shown how formidable Australia are in their own backyard,” Hesson said. “1985 is a long time ago. A lot of us still remember that quite fondly. We’ve had the odd Test win, in 2011, but to win a series over here you know you have to play very well. We won’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”It cannot have escaped the attention of the New Zealanders that Australia struggled against the swinging ball on this year’s Ashes tour, as they had against Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell in Hobart in 2011. Since then, Boult and Southee especially have continued to trouble batsmen with their ability to move the ball.”Anyone in the world struggles against the swinging ball,” Hesson said. “That’s shown over the last few years, and Tim and Trent are pretty good exponents. I think if those two get it right and it does swing, they can put any side under pressure. Australia is no exception to that.”However, Australia’s own swing weapon could be Mitchell Starc, who was Player of the Tournament in their successful World Cup campaign earlier in the year and has dominated the Matador Cup one-day series so far, with a remarkable 23 wickets at 7.47 from five games. Although the white ball has been his specialty in recent times, Starc has got the New Zealanders thinking ahead of the Tests.”We’ve asked for some big, tall left-arm bowlers to bowl to us in the nets,” Hesson said. “He’s a high quality bowler, especially in white ball. In Test cricket he’s obviously very good as well, but probably doesn’t have quite the record that he has got with the white ball. The key thing with any bowler is to take them a bit deeper, and if the ball stops swinging it’s a little bit easier. Plenty of hard work to go into that beforehand.”However, the third Test of the series will be played with neither the red ball nor the white ball, with the inaugural day-night Test to be contested in Adelaide with a pink ball. New Zealand will have a hit-out against the pink ball in the PM’s XI game, having already worked with pink balls at a two-day training camp in Hamilton earlier this month.”That removed an element of the unknown,” Hesson said. “I think the guys enjoyed that. A one-day game with white clothing and pink ball will be a little bit of a novelty in itself, a nice way to start the tour.”

It may be termed The Friendship Cup and it may be organised by a group ofcharities while celebrating two nations’ 60 years of independence but,when the likes of Tendulkar, Akhtar, Dravid and Afridi emerge from theirrespective dressing rooms on Tuesday, the word “friendship” will surely be forgotten.The teams last met in the scorching heat of Abu Dhabi, where honours wereshared. Fourteen months on, however, the teams assemble in unknownterritory (neither side have played an international matchin Glasgow), in conditions very different to Abu Dhabi (damp and below 20C)and with contrasting run-ups to the showdown.The Pakistan team is severely lacking in match practice. Their lastcompetitive outing was in May against Sri Lanka. Since then, they’ve had atwo-week conditioning camp in order to work on the players’ fitness levelsas well as a few practice matches. Their one-off ODI against Scotland waswashed out on Sunday, depriving them of yet another opportunity togear up for Tuesday’s game.Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, is nervous about facing India for thefirst time at the helm and is also worried about his team’s lack ofcompetitive opportunities. “India obviously have an advantage over us asthey have had the opportunity to play in the last month or so. However, wehave experienced players like Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar and theirreturn is a good sign for our young team.”While refusing to comment on the drugs ban issue, Malik welcomed theprospect of seeing Akhtar partner Mohammed Asif with the new ball onceagain. “Both Akhtar and Asif are our best bowlers and the conditions willbe ideal for fast bowling. Hopefully, these two will deliver what isrequired of them.”India, on the other hand, will have their confidence level rocketing aftercoming from behind to hand South Africa a series defeat in Belfast. WhileDravid shrugged off claims of a friendly encounter, the prospect ofplaying in front of a small crowd, as opposed to the cricket-mad ferventfollowing that both teams are used to in the subcontinent, could affect theperformance levels.”Games in Pakistan and India are tense,” said Dravid. “You have huge crowds in Kolkata or Karachi behind you and because there won’t be that big a gathering inGlasgow, things will be slightly different in that aspect.”He also pointed out that the series against Ireland and the matchagainst Pakistan was all about providing young cricketers achance to perform and stake their claim for the series against England.He also confirmed that the team had recovered from the illness thatseverely hampered them in Belfast. “Yuvraj [Singh] had a groin niggleafter our final game against South Africa but he has come through fine sowe have no injury concerns.”Both captains restrained from giving away final line-ups but going by theconditions witnessed in Glasgow over the last few days, swing bowling willbe the order of the day. There has been overnight rain in the city, whichmight cause a delayed start to the proceedings. However, according to theweather reports available, the teams, fans and even Prince Charles will belucky to see a start of any sort.India (from) Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb BosePakistan (from) Shoaib Malik (captain), Imran Nazir, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami.

That Michael Clarke will return against New Zealand in Auckland – belatedly, after the wash-out against Bangladesh – is not news. Clarke would have played in place of George Bailey at the Gabba. But there is at least one other selection question that Australia need to answer before Saturday’s match: the extra pace of Pat Cummins or the control of Josh Hazlewood?It is an important decision, for the dimensions of the Eden Park ground allow little margin for error from the fast bowlers, which you’d think might go in Hazlewood’s favour. But then, Sydney’s ANZ Stadium is a similar size, and as a member of the Sydney Thunder squad, Cummins has had more exposure there than Hazlewood.Hazlewood played the World Cup opener against England in Melbourne and the persistent rain in Brisbane last Saturday meant that Australia did not reveal their hand regarding selection, as an XI was not named. But in Auckland on Thursday, bowling coach Craig McDermott hinted that perhaps Hazlwood would have missed out against Bangladesh.”I think they’ve done a magnificent job, they’ve trained the house down and they’ve both been disappointed when they’ve both missed out in either game,” McDermott said. “And so they should be, we’re in a World Cup.”Patty’s probably a bit quicker and he’s probably got a few more change ups from a variation point of view than Josh. But it’s horses for courses and the selectors will sort that out over the next 48 hours who will get a guernsey or not, or maybe they both play. I’m not going to comment, I’m not a selector.”Cummins picked up five wickets in Australia’s two warm-up games but was left out against England after leaking a few too many runs during the tri-series last month. However, Hazlewood struggled to find the right line in Australia’s heavy win over England, where he finished with 0 for 45 from 6.5 overs, and comfortably the worst economy rate of the five seamers.”He probably didn’t start the best he probably could have started,” McDermott said of Hazlewood. “Certainly that day he warmed up beautifully but he probably just fell off the ball and pushed the ball into middle and leg, which is not his go. He knows that and we’ve been working on that and he’s going really well.”Both Australia and New Zealand will enter this game with strong pace attacks, with Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson headlining the Australian group and New Zealand’s frontline attack made up of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Adam Milne. Milne can breach 150kph, while Boult and Southee were this week rated by Richard Hadlee as the country’s best-ever new-ball pair.Southee is coming off a remarkable 7 for 33 in Wellington, where he destroyed England’s batting line-up and set up a huge win for New Zealand, who are undefeated so far in the tournament. However, McDermott said that while Southee had been impressive, he was helped by the mistakes made by England’s batsmen.”Yeah, I think he bowled really well,” McDermott said. “The Poms didn’t move their feet very well but that’s another story.”Facing our blokes at practice is difficult enough so I think our blokes are going to be pretty well prepared. We’ve got Mitchell and Josh who have been swinging the ball consistently and they’re 10kph faster. So our blokes are well prepared for that sort of stuff, and our blokes move their feet pretty well.”McDermott also could not resist a sly dig at New Zealand when asked how his fast bowling unit would handle the challenge of containing the in-form Brendon McCullum on the small Eden Park.”I can think of four players that play for us who are equally as good,” McDermott said, “so maybe they’ve got four times the headaches.”

Matthew Hayden says the injury that has ended his tour of the West Indies will not finish his career. Hayden was sent home from the Caribbean after Australia discovered the tendinosis in his right achilles, which kept him out of the first Test, would stop him from playing the remaining two matches.It will be the biggest lay-off for Hayden in years, after he played 86 consecutive Tests until missing the WACA game against India in January with a hamstring problem. But Hayden, 36, brushed off reports that the niggling injury might prompt him to start thinking of retirement.”I’ll be back bigger and better than ever,” Hayden told the . “This isn’t the kind of thing that is going to end my career. With the way the calendar is at the moment, there is a good opportunity now to get it right before a pretty busy schedule starts up.”So we decided that, rather than push it, it would be better to just get it right once and for all and go from there. I am completely confident that I will get this right and be back soon.”The team’s medical staff thought Hayden could probably have played in the one-day internationals that will follow the Tests in the West Indies. However, their cautious approach means he will target the three home ODIs against Bangladesh starting in late August, ahead of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and a Test tour of India.While Simon Katich is the top-order beneficiary for the remaining Tests in the Caribbean, Hayden’s absence from the one-day team means Australia will have an unfamiliar pairing regardless of who is chosen. They have not played an ODI since Adam Gilchrist retired at the end of the CB Series.Hayden’s replacement is yet to be named but of the men already in the one-day squad the most likely candidates to open are James Hopes, who filled in at the top twice in the CB Series, and the uncapped Shaun Marsh. Both have been in excellent form in the Indian Premier League, where they have opened together for Kings XI Punjab, and Marsh is the tournament’s leading run scorer.”That’s big news [Hayden’s departure], and big too for Shaun knowing that because now he’ll be playing over there,” Hopes told . “We’ve spoken about how good it would be to be able to bat together for Australia, a lot of the times in this tournament he’s been kicking on.”

North Zone

Three wickets apiece from Sandeep Sharma and Yuvraj Singh ensured Punjab crushed Himachal Pradesh by 97 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Both Punjab and Himachal, however, have qualified for the Super League, beginning on April 1, by virtue of finishing first and second respectively in the group.Chasing 174, Himachal lost wickets right from the off, with only two batsmen reaching double digits, and their highest score coming from Pankaj Jaiswal (20) at No.11. Sandeep picked up 3 for 21 and also effected a run-out to dismantle Himachal’s top order, while Yuvraj snared 3 for 26 to run through the tail.Earlier, Punjab, opting to bat, had made 173 for 7. While no one was able to raise a half-century, most of their top and middle-order batsmen chipped in with handy knocks. Mandeep Singh was the team’s top-scorer, blasting 37 off 25 balls, while Himanshu Chawla hit 30 off 16. Bipul Sharma shone for Himachal by ending with figures of 3 for 20, and he was one of only two bowlers to go at under seven an over.A half-century from Sachin Rana, followed by incisive bowling steered Haryana to a 24-run win against Jammu & Kashmir in Delhi.Having been inserted, Haryana’s top order all made starts, but it was a 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Sachin and Rahul Dalal which propelled the team to 160 for 6. Sachin did the bulk of the scoring, his 23-ball 50 featuring five fours and three sixes.J&K began the chase strongly through a 50-run opening stand between Adil Reshi and Ian Dev Singh, but Reshi’s wicket in the seventh over punctured the team’s momentum, as the likes of Sachin (2 for 24), Jayant Yadav (2 for 23) and Harshal Patel (1 for 25) kept them in check with wickets at regular intervals.Ian Dev remained unbeaten on 75, but received little by way of support from his team-mates, as J&K could only muster 136 for 6 from their 20 overs.Delhi came out eventual winners via aSuper Over after they tied their game with Services. Opting to bat, Services made 148 for 6 riding on fifties from Vikas Hathwala and Yashpal Singh.Delhi’s chase got their first jolt when captain Unmukt Chand was trapped lbw by Shadab Nazar for 5. Aditya Kaushik and Nitish Rana then compiled 77 for the second wicket before Rajat Paliwal struck in the 13th over to remove Kaushik leaving Delhi at 91 for 2.The match then took an unexpected turn as Lakhan Singh picked up three wickets and inflicted a run-out as Delhi lost four wickets for 4 runs in the 20th over. The game was tied and a super over ensued.Delhi scored 19 for 1 in the Super Over while Services could muster just five for the loss of one wicket.

South Zone

Tirumalasetti Suman’s hundred, his first in Twenty20 cricket, and a four-for from Ashish Reddy set up Hyderabad‘s 31-run victory over Karnataka in Kochi.Having been put in, Hyderabad racked up 162 for 5 in their 20 overs, opener Suman setting the tempo with a 60-ball 100 even as other batsmen found it difficult to score as freely. Suman smashed seven sixes and nine fours before being dismissed by Ronit More, who was the only Karnataka bowler with an economy-rate of less than seven.Karnataka got off to a rocky start in their reply, as Ashish Reddy reduced them to 3 for 2 at the end of the first over. Karnataka were then reduced to 16 for 3 when Ashish struck again in the third over to remove Gneshwar Naveen before taking the catch to dismiss Karun Nair.Karnakata’s middle-order attempted to stabilise the innings through Manish Pandey and David Mathias, but their 36 run stand ended when Mathias was cleaned up by Akash Bhandari in the 11th over.With half the Karnataka side dismissed and 111 still required from 55 balls, Shreyas Gopal tried to revive the chase by smashing 39 off 22, but fell to Pragyan Ojha in the 17th over. Chama Milind picked up Pandey’s wicket seven balls later to put the match all but out of Karnataka’s reach.Tamil Nadu produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Goa to 116, and chased it down with six wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare in Kochi.After Tamil Nadu’s openers, H Gopinath and L Suryaprakash, departed inside the first eight overs, the twins – B Indrajith (42 off 32 balls) and Aparajith (41) – put on 47 runs to ensure there were no hiccups in the chase.Goa’s innings went exactly the opposite way, as they lost wickets at frequent intervals after electing to bat.Tamil Nadu captain R Sathish, after dismissing opener Swapnil Asnodkar (27 off 20 balls), removed Sagun Kamat and Rajashekhar Harikant to reduce Goa to 65 for 4.Things went downhill after Goa lost two more batsmen for the addition of 14 runs. Darshan Misal’s 27-ball 32 gave a semblance of respectability to the scorecard.Andhra held their nerve to clinch a four-wicket victory off the last ball against Kerala in Kochi.Set 149 for the win, Andhra lost their openers Srikar Bharat and Prasanth Kumar early, but Mohammad Kaif and Ricky Bhui steadied the innings, adding 54 for the third wicket. However, Andhra suffered another setback when both players departed in the space of two overs.It left AG Pradeep and Naren Reddy with the bulk of the responsibility to steer the team home, and the pair obliged, adding 40 crucial runs in four overs. Naren fell after slamming 25 off 12 balls, and with 12 needed off the last nine deliveries, Pradeep (22*) and Ashwin Hebbar (11*) eventually sealed the win.Kerala’s innings of 148 for 7 had been built around handy knocks from Sanju Samson (26), Rohan Prem (26) and Sachin Baby (22), and a late burst from Jafar Jamal who smashed a 23-ball 38. For Andhra, Cheepurapalli Stephen and Bandaru Ayyapu claimed two scalps apiece.

East Zone

Opener Anurag Sarangi’s unbeaten 47 and Arabind Singh’s 42-ball 58 helped Odisha extricate themselves from a difficult position and defeat Jharkhand by 47 runs in Cuttack.Jharkhand’s decision to insert the home side appeared to be a masterstroke, as Odisha were 3 for 4 after three overs, and then 14 for 5, Rituraj Singh and Vikash Kumar picking up two wickets apiece.But then Sarangi and Arabind counterattacked with a 97-run stand in 12 overs. Even after Arabind’s dismissal in the 18th over, Sarangi stayed firm at one end to take the score to 140.While Jharkhand lost wickets at regular intervals, they seemed reasonably placed at 56 for 4 in 10.1 overs. However, Biplab Samantray (3 for 9) and Jayanta Behera (2 for 11) instigated a collapse, as the visitors lost three wickets for eight runs in three overs. Jharkhand’s chase went southwards from thereon, and they folded up for 93 in 18.1 overs.Fifties from Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee sent Bengal on their way to a 49-run win against Tripura in Cuttack.Opting to bat, Bengal lost Abhishek Das early, but counterattacked through an 86-run, second-wicket stand between Saha and Chatterjee. Though Saha fell for a 30-ball 62 in the ninth over, Chatterjee carried on and batted Tripura out of the game, combining with Shreevats Goswami (45*) for a fourth-wicket association which yielded 109 runs. Chatterjee eventually made 89 off 52 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes, as Bengal compiled a mammoth 210 for 4.Tripura never really looked like hunting down such a large total, and three wickets from Amit Kuila, including two in the 16th over, ensured Bengal skittled them out for 161. Tripura’s opener Udiyan Bose top-scored with 45, and Manisankar Murasingh and Swapan Das contributed twenties, but it was never going to be enough.

Central Zone

A three-wicket haul from medium-pacer Krishnakant Upadhyay, and a 37-ball 60 from Asad Pathan powered Railways to a six-wicket win over Rajasthan in Indore.Rajasthan, opting to bat, were rattled early, as Upadhyay wrecked their top and middle order on his way to collecting 3 for 25. It left Rajasthan precariously placed at 78 for 5, but Ankit Lamba’s counterattacking 66 followed by an unbeaten 21 from Dishant Yagnik down the order lifted the team to 145 for 7.However, that total hardly proved to be a challenge for Railways, who got off to a flying start as their openers Pathan and Vivek Singh compiled 63 in 6.1 overs. Vivek fell for 31, but Pathan added a further 47 runs with Arindam Ghosh. Pathan couldn’t quite see off the chase, falling in the 13th over, but Mahesh Rawat slammed five fours during a 17-ball 28, ensuring that Railways were home with 16 deliveries remaining.Madhya Pradesh completed a 10-wicket win with seven overs remaining over Vidarbha in a match that was settled by the VJD method in Indore.Requiring 73 to win in 16 overs after the target was revised, openers Mohnish Mishra (32* off 20 balls) and Jalaj Saxena (37*) wrapped up the game in nine overs.Opting to bat, Vidarbha’s innings was a struggle throughout, as they found themselves on 23 for 5 and 44 for 7 at different stages, before being bowled out for 89 in 19.5 overs.The home side’s bowling on the other hand was stifling; save for Ankit Sharma, not one bowler conceded more than five runs an over. Yogesh Singh Rawat was the pick of them, claiming three wickets for 12 runs.

West Zone

A brace of brisk 40s – from Manpreet Juneja (44 off 32 balls) and Priyank Panchal (41 off 31) – powered Gujarat to a 33-run win over Saurashtra in Pune.Asked to bat, Gujarat lost Parthiv Patel early in the piece, but a 49-run stand between Juneja and Panchal set the tone for the team’s aggressive approach.After Juneja was the fourth batsman out with the score on 126, Gujarat scored 56 runs in the remaining 29 deliveries – Chirag Gandhi (38 off 23) and Jesal Karia (27 off 14) the chief contributors – to finish with 182.Gujarat replied in right earnest, with the top-three batsmen – Sheldon Jackson (38 off 29), Cheteshwar Pujara (23 off 19) and Jaydev Shah (32 off 21) – providing a strong base. But Shah’s dismissal off the last ball of the 14th over meant Saurashtra needed a further 73 runs, an ask that proved too steep.The match between Baroda and Maharashtra in Pune was called off owing to bad weather.

Scorecard

Netherlands earned themselves a place in the tournament final, but more importantly a spot in the World Twenty20 in England, with a fine five-wicket victory over Scotland, with two full overs to spare. After a good start by their opponents, they fought back to restrict them severely, and then overcame a couple of sticky moments with the bat to reach the target in good time.Netherlands won the toss and decided to bowl first, a trend that is taking over at this low-scoring tournament. Scotland’s openers, however, made a mockery of the dismal starts achieved by most sides in recent matches, as Ryan Watson took Kyle Coetzer in first with him, and the pair quickly launched themselves into the type of opening partnership that is more to be expected in this type of cricket. It was mostly good clean hitting, with Coetzer lofting a six over long-on off Mudassar Bakhari in the third over.After 10 overs, the score was 50 without loss, but five runs later Watson swung across the line and was bowled by Peter Borren for 22, off 27 balls. Coetzer and Navdeep Poonia then concentrated mainly on singles, which came off most balls, but the search for yet another led to the run-out of Coetzer for 40 (44 balls, 2 sixes and 4 fours).Colin Smith quickly followed, holing out at long-on, but Pooniah and Gavin Hamilton settled for a sober partnership of accumulation with few extravagant strokes, aiming perhaps for a total of about 120, considering how difficult teams have found chasing smaller targets this tournament.With two overs left, the total was 98 for 3, but then Hamilton, aiming at extravagance virtually for the first time, holed out on the leg side.It takes so little to send a team on the slippery slope of disaster, and in quick succession Neil McCallum was caught at extra cover, also off Ryan ten Doeschate, and Poonia run out for 25. In moments the score had become 99 for 6. The final over saw Richie Berrington and Gordon Drummond run out and John Blain almost caught on the boundary off the final ball. The total was 107 for 8.It is easy to say Scotland lost their way after such a good start, but by the weird standards of this particular tournament, even to reach 100 is quite an achievement. ten Doeschate, with 3 for 23, was the most successful bowler, but the most economical was the opener Edgar Schiferli, who conceded only 18 runs, bowling mostly during the dominant opening partnership.Netherlands quickly lost Darron Reekers, caught at mid-on off a miscued pull. Twenty-nine runs came up in the first four overs without much more fuss from either side, the batsmen concentrating on frequent singles with only occasional slogs. At 50, in the ninth over, Tim de Grooth was caught at the wicket off Berrington for 24, and at the ten-over mark the score was 56 for 2.Bokari, having scored most of his 9 runs off the edge, was caught at slip, but Eric Szwarczynski and ten Doeschate batted steadily, largely in singles, to take the score to 81, when the former had a rush of blood, trying a big hit to leg, only to have the resulting skyer caught by the keeper, having made 30. He was soon followed by Daan van Bunge, caught at slip without scoring. At 83 for 5, was another serious collapse taking place?Borren, with two successive fours off Drummond, soon put paid to such nonsense. The end came quickly now, as ten Doeschate swung Majid Haq for six over square leg, and next ball followed it with a reverse-swept four to take Netherlands into the final. Eighteen runs came off that over – the sort of over that is more commonly expected in this type of cricket but so rarely seen at this tournament.ten Doeschate was unbeaten with 24 off 18 balls, while Borren had 16 off 12. Blain and Berrington had two wickets each.

The Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA) has launched a plan to install lights at Bellerive Oval after being told it risked losing future one-day international fixtures unless it became a viable day-night venue. The TCA hopes the light towers could be built as early as next year, although it is likely to face opposition from local residents.In his first day as the TCA chairman, Tony Harrison said he was hoping to lodge a development application with the Clarence City Council within a matter of weeks. The urgency from the TCA has been sparked after Cricket Australia and Channel Nine expressed strong reservations about scheduling further day games at Bellerive.”Cricket’s broadcast partners have told us that lighting is required if they are to continue to telecast matches from Bellerive,” Harrison said. “As a result, Cricket Australia has advised that it will be difficult to program one-day international and Twenty20 matches here if they are not telecast.”The TCA has for years been keen to install lights at the ground but the local council and residents have provided consistent stumbling-blocks. However, Harrison believes lighting technology has advanced enough to mean that there would be no wash of lighting beyond the playing area, and retractable telescopic towers might be the way to go.But Richard James, alderman with the Clarence Council, said there would still be strong opposition to the development. “I just think it’s a ridiculous decision,” James told the , “and it’s one I think that the TCA may learn to regret.”Harrison said the TCA appreciated the position of its neighbours and intended to work with them to deal with their concerns. Bellerive Oval has hosted two one-day internationals per season for the past two summers, but often receives only one per year.