All posts by csb10.top

Match facts

April 20, 2013
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

A joke doing rounds in social media is that Royal Challengers Bangalore fans have no finger nails left. Four of their six games have gone to the final over, including two Super Over finishes. While it’s all fine for the viewers, it’s not the healthiest trend from the team’s point of view. Royal Challengers are a spot behind second-placed Rajasthan Royals, their next opponents, but their journey so far has been a bit too dramatic for their own good. They made heavy weather of their chase of 153 against Delhi Daredevils when they were cruising with 24 needed at a run-a-ball with seven wickets in hand (with no help from Chris Gayle). Though Royal Challengers passed the finish line after the Super Over, captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were humble enough to admit that they needed to learn to close out games better.Royal Challengers are yet to settle on a consistent opening combination. So far, Gayle has opened with Tillakaratne Dilshan, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. With Dilshan back in the mix after recovering from injury, they will have to let go of another overseas player, possibly Andrew McDonald, to get him in. Saurabh Tiwary, the left-handed batsman, is also back from injury, to widen their options.Royals on the other hand are fresh from thumping Mumbai Indians, reducing a fancied batting order to 92 in one of the most one-sided games of the tournament so far. After piling on 179, Royals made Mumbai struggle early by getting the spinners on and taking the pace off the ball. At 10 for 2 in the chase, the game was all but over. Rahul Dravid, the Royals captain, said the team’s positive energy made the difference. In Bangalore, they will be up against a team that’s yet to lose a home game this season.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore WLWWL
Rajasthan Royals WWLWW

Players to watch

Virat Kohli was named the Royal Challengers captain this season and the additional responsibility hasn’t had any negative effects on his batting, as he currently holds the Orange Cap (leading run-scorer) with 321 runs. Just as compelling as his batting is his on-field body language, which has added more spice to the tournament; his verbal face-off with Gautam Gambhir topped it all. Kohli never holds back his emotions, be it swinging his bat at thin air when dismissed, or refusing to take his pads off while sitting at the dugout. Whether it can be deemed as acceptable behaviour from a person of authority is another debate – Kohli gets fans talking, one way or another.Ajinkya Rahane has shown that he can bat in two gears when needed. Against Kings XI Punjab, on a seaming pitch, he took on the responsibility of batting through the innings, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 42 balls in his team’s successful chase of a small target. It was not the most entertaining knock, but given the conditions, it was the best knock of the evening. Against Mumbai, in a relatively pressure-free scenario, he batted through the innings and remained unbeaten on 68 off 54 balls. Two contrasting knocks, both matchwinning ones. Royal Challengers will be reminded of the century he scored against them last year when the teams met at Chinnaswamy.

Stats and trivia

• Shane Watson needs two more sixes to become the leading six-hitter for Royals. He is currently on 60, behind Yusuf Pathan (now with Kolkata Knight Riders).
• Royal Challengers lead the head-to-head record with five wins, while Royals have four.

Quotes

“I specifically told the management that I wanted Ravi in the side because he can be deadly with the bat too.”
“We don’t have big names in our side, we don’t have guys who can demolish teams in T20 cricket, but we are a unit that is very balanced.”

A major contract dispute between Sri Lanka Cricket and the nation’s top cricketers has threatened to derail Sri Lanka’s home series against Bangladesh, after all 60 players who were offered contracts have refused to sign, with the deadline upon them.The players will meet with Sri Lanka Cricket on Saturday evening to attempt to break the deadlock, but SLC has already threatened that players who do not sign their contracts will not be considered for selection in the upcoming series. The contracts had been issued to the players earlier in the week, with signed contracts due in on Saturday, March 2. The major dispute for players is understood to be SLC’s refusal to pay 25% of their earnings from ICC events, as they have done since 2003.”The stance taken by the executive committee is that players who don’t sign, can’t play for Sri Lanka, so we’ll have to abide by that decision,” SLC president Upali Dharmadasa said. “The selectors will meet tomorrow to name the final team for the Tests, and we will have told them the situation.”Complicating the negotiation procedure for the players has been SLC’s recent decision not to recognise player representatives, including both player agents and cricketers’ associations. Forty-eight players had signed a letter requesting Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association general secretary Ken de Alwis be appointed honorary, unpaid players’ representative during the negotiations, but SLC has ignored this request.”We are hoping that after tonight’s meeting, SLC will agree to let someone independent go through the contract and advise the players,” de Alwis said. “The problem is that the players don’t want to sign something they don’t understand, but I haven’t seen the contract myself, because SLC has not released it to me.”SLC paid players 25% of the earnings from ICC events because the players’ images and likenesses are used by the ICC to promote the tournament, and by the ICC’s official sponsors, for the duration of the event. During that time, players’ private sponsors are unable to use their images for commercial purposes. Most cricket boards compensate their players for selling their image rights on to the ICC either by paying a percentage of their earnings from each ICC event, or a percentage of their annual earnings.Last year SLC had attempted to trim the amount they paid to players from ICC events to 20%, claiming the board bore administrative costs on the gross payment made by the ICC, but the contracts were eventually amended to stipulate only 25% of SLC’s net profit would be paid to players.In addition, SLC’s new contracts have moved to freeze payment to players taking part in the IPL, for as long as each player is with his IPL team. Under the new clause, if a Sri Lanka cricketer joins his IPL team a week before the 2013 tournament begins, and remains with the team until the final on May 26, he will lose 16.4% of his annual salary from SLC. Home boards receive 10% of each players IPL pay, and SLC even agreed to can two Tests in the West Indies, effectively to accommodate the IPL’s full schedule this year.No Sri Lanka players have made themselves unavailable for international cricket due to IPL commitments, though in 2011, Lasith Malinga retired from Tests in the middle of an IPL tournament, which he would have been required to leave early to play Tests in England, while others, including Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, missed a warm-up match prior to that series. SLC has recently defended Malinga’s decision to retire from Tests, however.Among the other sticking points in the contracts are a clause that seeks to tie payment to team performance and ICC rankings, and another to scrap the one business class ticket per year SLC offers to top players’ wives, who may wish to accompany their husbands on tour. These are not expected to be major sources of debate however.

Durham are in talks with South Africa batsman Jacques Rudolph with a view to him joining the club for the 2013 season.Rudolph has lost his national contract with Cricket South Africa and an improvement in Durham’s financial situation has raised the possibility of Rudolph coming to the Riverside for the new season.Geoff Cook, Durham’s head coach, had said earlier this month that Durham’s “financial situation prohibits any signings” but news of a new funding arrangement with the local council appears to have precipitated a rethink.Rudolph would prove an experienced signing having played 48 Tests and enjoyed several seasons in county cricket, chiefly with Yorkshire for whom he has scored 5,429 first-class runs at 52.20. He also played five matches for Surrey at the beginning of last season.Durham have just agreed a funding deal with Durham County Council which will see them lent £2.8 million – an investment the council have been forced to defend after announcing budget cuts of £200m and 1,600 job losses.The council have cited an independent report which revealed internationals at Durham could add £40m to the local economy over three years. The investment will be used to develop the ground with a view to securing regular international cricket.

Blackwell retires

Ian Blackwell, the former England allrounder, has announced his retirement after a third operation on his left shoulder failed to correct his injury. ESPNcricinfo revealed that Blackwell’s career looked over after he was released by Durham a year early.

“For a number of years, the club has been investing and investing, building and building,” Clive Leach, the club’s chairman, said. “This has been essential and has allowed us to secure international cricket at Durham, culminating in last year’s announcement that we will be holding an Ashes Test Match here this summer. This really was a massive achievement.”Our work has also played a significant part in us winning two championships and attracting the stadium’s Emirates sponsorship, which was a huge deal for us.”However, we need to demonstrate local stakeholder support to ensure we have the wherewithal to build upon the work we have undertaken already, make international cricket a permanent fixture here in Durham and leverage that status to bring investment into the club.”We believe that, with the financial support we have been afforded, we can do just that and, as a result, develop the club into a profitable, community focused business and realise the benefits of the ‘long game’ we have been playing.”Cook had previously welcomed the club’s decision not to bring in new players. “I don’t think that is a bad thing,” he said. “The last thing we want is for short-term signings to prevent development. There is nothing more de-motivating for young players than new people to be brought in ahead of them in the queue. I’m confident the young payers we have given responsibility will really prosper.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAnamul Haque ended a run of lean scores with an 83•AFP

Anamul Haque got over his lean patch in the BPL with a sparkling 83, helping Dhaka Gladiators to an 88-run win over Rangpur Riders. After a half-century in the opening game, Anamul hadn’t made a major contribution until today; he went after the Riders’ bowlers to help his side to a BPL record team score.With this win the Gladiators lead the points table through a better run-rate, ahead of second-placed Sylhet Royals, who have also won six games. It was the Riders’ fifth loss in as many games.Anamul struck five sixes and six boundaries in his 46-ball effort, and when he fell in the 19th over, Gladiators had closed in on 200. With Shakib Al Hasan, Anamul added 82 for the third wicket before the whirlwind 77-run fourth-wicket stand with Darren Stevens.In both these partnerships, Shakib and Stevens attacked more than Anamul, though the quieter role suited the youngster. Gladiators were boosted by Tillakaratne Dilshan’s arrival, but the Sri Lankan was left stranded in the middle of the pitch after he was deceived by debutant Murad Khan.Mohammad Ashraful gave a catch to the only man behind him on the leg side, but Anamul, Shakib and Stevens made up for those losses. Shakib made 42 off 24 balls with two sixes and four boundaries, while Stevens hammered three fours and two sixes in his 22-ball 42.The Riders promoted Kevin O’Brien to open the innings but the Ireland allrounder was run out after he had started off promisingly with two sixes, one of which reached the second tier of the grandstand after he had pulled Mashrafe Mortaza in the first over.Junaid Siddique and Nasir Hossain tried to force the pace in the Powerplay overs but both fell cheaply, giving no further leverage to the Riders’ chase. Shakib took three wickets while Mashrafe and Ashraful took two.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes it would do MS Dhoni good to take “a break” from the India captaincy. Dhoni, Gavaskar said, could keep his place in the team as a player, and use the time away from the responsibilities and pressures of leading India to “reflect on his game”.”It’s still early days as far as 2015 World Cup is concerned, and I believe that a break in captaincy will do wonders for Dhoni,” Gavaskar told Indian news channel . “I am not saying that it has to happen during the middle of a series but maybe after the Australia series [in February] or later part of 2013.”Gavaskar’s comments came after a difficult 18 months for Indian cricket, during which Dhoni’s team was whitewashed in Test series in England and Australia and lost a home Test series for the first time in eight years. Following the high of the 2011 World Cup triumph, they have also not enjoyed any significant success in limited-overs cricket, failing to make the finals of the CB tri-series in Australia and the Asia Cup, and exiting in the second round of the World Twenty20.While Dhoni’s calm under duress is a positive according to Gavaskar, he said that Dhoni needed to rethink his game: “He needs time to reflect on his game and come back in a better way. I am very impressed with the manner [in which] he remains cool and unlike other captains doesn’t clap and all, but a little break won’t be bad.”Captaining India is a privilege but the demands and pressures that come with it are incredible … He can be part of the team [without being captain] for the next couple of years as he is a match-winner.”Following India’s Test defeat at home against England earlier this month, Gavaskar had said batsman Virat Kohli looked ready to take over the Test captaincy. Now, he reiterated that Kohli had the qualities required to lead India. “I could be wrong but Virat Kohli might bring the flair of Tiger Pataudi in his captaincy. If he knows that he will be appointed for the long term, he has the dynamism, the aggression, panache and class.”I like everything about him apart from his mouthing abuses when he reaches a milestone. I don’t want him to change anything else, as he can bring in a lot of dynamism.”

Scorecard
File photo: Karnataka will look towards Robin Uthappa to provide them with a strong platform•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two batsmen who are still finding their feet at the first-class level have tormented Karnataka’s bowlers so far in the quarter-final in Rajkot. On the first day, it was Sheldon Jackson who steadied Saurashtra after they lost their biggest gun Cheteshwar Pujara early. Today, it was the turn of Aarpit Vasavada, who made his second first-class century – not the most spectacular effort but a grinding one – that stretched Saurashtra’s total to a healthy 469.Saurashtra began the day on 272 for 5, and if Karnataka were looking for an early end to the innings, the bespectacled Vasavada denied them with a patient effort. On Sunday, one of the most common sights with Vasavada in the middle was him plunging a long way forward, keeping bat and pad close together as he studiously defended the bowling, holding the bat in position well after blocking the ball. He kept out plenty of deliveries today as well, scoring only 28 in the two-and-a-half hour morning session.”The pitch is a bit slow so it’s not easy to play strokes,” Vasavada said after the day’s play. “You have to wait for the balls in the zone to score runs. There are a few bowlers’ marks and the rough made it hard.”*Vasavada has spent several years with the Saurashtra squad but only this year he has got an extended run. He has repaid the faith with three half-centuries and two hundreds in his last eight innings. He got to triple-figures with a punch past extra cover and savoured the moment by holding his hands aloft, before acknowledging the cheers of his team-mates in the dressing room.The pitch had plenty of green on it, barely distinguishable from the rest of the turf but except for the odd ball that bounced extra from the spinners, had little to encourage the bowlers. Both No. 6 Chirag Jani and No. 7 Kamlesh Makvana made 30s to put on significant partnerships with Vasavada. Jani had a let-off on 34 when he was put down by Amit Verma at long-off, but the very next ball he holed out to deep backward square leg. Slow progress continued after tea as well, and it wasn’t till more than halfway through the final session that Karnataka managed to wrap up the innings.Still Vasavada felt Saurashtra should have got more. “500+ score ideal but I hope this is enough,” he said. “It’s turning but it’s not unplayable. You can score runs if you have some patience but if the bowler can bowl at all the right spots, it will do a bit. It’s a sporting wicket.”Karnataka’s batting has been inconsistent all season, and what had been a settled line-up for several years has had plenty of changes over the past two months. Opener KB Pawan Kumar has been dropped, Ganesh Satish, who was captain in some games last season, has had to sit out several matches, and left-hand batsman Amit Verma has also been left out for two games. The only specialist batsman to have played all matches this season is their most well-known name, Robin Uthappa.He and KL Rahul played out the final hour before stumps, taking Karnataka to 45 for 0 without needing to take too many risks. That partnership would have lasted only one ball if Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who hit the headlines in his debut match last week against Maharashtra, had held on to a catch from Rahul at square leg off the first delivery of the innings.One of the problems for Karnataka’s batsmen for much of the league phase was the lack of big hundreds from their specialist batsmen. It was only in the previous couple of rounds that the centuries have arrived in number; before that both Uthappa and Pandey had scored four fifties each without going on to centuries. They will need more than that if Karnataka are to match Saurashtra in the first innings.*7 Jan 2012, 17.00 GMT This story has been updated to include Aarpit Vasavada’s quotes

India’s bowling coach Joe Dawes believes the group is on the right track, despite its ineffectiveness in the ongoing Kolkata Test against England, and is hopeful of building a “big pool to choose from” in the future. Dawes also said Zaheer Khan has the “best wrist in cricket” and was among the top six bowlers in international cricket.The BCCI appointed Dawes, who is from Queensland, as bowling coach in February, during India’s 0-4 Test defeat in Australia. India began their home season by beating New Zealand 2-0, but they have struggled against England. Alastair Cook’s team scored 406 in the second innings in Ahmedabad, 413 in the first innings of their ten-wicket win in Mumbai, and are currently amassing a huge first-innings score in Kolkata.”I’ve been in this job nine months and it’s been challenging. I believe that we’re making progress, although the results in this series say otherwise,” Dawes told . “I’ve spoken to the new selection committee about identifying a number of bowlers who we can invest on. This morning we sat down and made a rough list of bowlers for the T20s and ODIs to get things in place for them so that when they get into the team they’re ready. We have a close eye on the Ranji Trophy to look out for the guys who put their hands up so we can have a few more bowlers.”We’ve spoken a lot about patience as a group. The two spinners [R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha] are quite young – they’ve only played a dozen Tests or so – and they’re still learning their craft at the moment. That’s why they have struggled with their consistency and we have talked about that. They’re gaining good education of the game at the moment and they’re working hard at their game. We’re improving and getting to where we want to be.”While India’s spinners have not been effective against England after the first Test, their fast bowlers also struggled. India lost Umesh Yadav to a back injury after Ahmedabad and Varun Aaron, Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan are among the reserves injured. Zaheer, the leader of India’s attack, has taken only three wickets at an average of more than 60. Dawes, however, remained confident of Zaheer’s form and fitness.”We’ve had this joke going around in the change room that Zak’s back. I thought he wasn’t at his best against New Zealand and he’ll be the first to admit that. But he’s gone back and worked hard. He’s run himself into a bit of nick with his fitness and has started to get the ball through with some pace and get it to nip back. I truly believe that the time is not far away when he starts getting the wickets that he deserves.”You watch the ball come out of his hand from purely technical point of view and it’s just beautiful. He keeps the seam up and hits the seam all the time, every time. He’s not as young as he once was and so he’s probably not as quick as well. Considering the conditions he has to bowl in most of the times, in the subcontinent, he’s got to be among the top six bowlers in the world today.”Having played three specialist spinners in the Mumbai Test, India reverted to the two-seamer strategy for Kolkata and picked Ishant Sharma, who hadn’t played international cricket since January. “He [Ishant] bowled in a Test match today after a long time and I thought he did pretty well. He was unlucky not to get a wicket,” Dawes said after the first day in Kolkata. “He has worked hard to come back from his injury and you can see the changes in his action. He’s much taller now and doesn’t fall over while angling the ball in. The next step is to give him a consistent outswinger and that’s coming well.”The plus with him is that he’s still a very young man and he’s already played 45 Test matches; he’s an experienced cricketer. He’s now only 24 and his body will learn to endure the rigours of fast bowling with time and he’ll only get better from here.”Umesh was the best fast bowler on show in Ahmedabad, bowling quick and getting the old ball to swing, and Dawes was pleased with the progress Umesh had made since the New Zealand series. “I’m happy with where he’s going; disappointing for him to be injured but we have things in mind to put in place for him when he comes back; just tweak his action a little bit more and continue to help the young bloke get stronger and fitter.”

by 10 wickets
Scorecard
Ajay Ratra, Manisankar Murasingh and Timir Chanda frustrated Assam with lower-order partnerships, but Assam came out with full seven points from the match in Guwahati. Tripura began the day needing 137 runs to make Assam bat again, with just four wickets in hand. However, Ratra delayed Assam’s victory charge for long enough to take the match into the final session.Centurion Ratra added 107 with Murasingh for the seventh wicket, 80 with Chanda for the eighth and 74 with Rana Dutta for the ninth. J Syed Mohammad, though, on first-class debut took four wickets to make sure Tripura didn’t get away with the draw.Chasing 62, Assam raced to the target through Pallavkumar Das’ scored 52 off 60 as the openers ensured Assam got the bonus point too.
Scorecard
At 92 for 5, still needing 215 to make Himachal Pradesh bat again, Kerala were all set to lose comprehensively, but their stubborn lower order helped them salvage one point in Nadaun. Their No. 6 Rohan Prem scored his fifth first-class hundred, and frustrated the hosts in the company of Robert Fernandez and Raiphi Gomez.Prem and Fernandez saw off 42 overs. Fernandez scored 31 in a little over two hours. Part-timer Prashant Chopra dismissed Fernandez, but Himachal ran into more resistance. Prem and Gomez stayed together for 28 overs, to deny Himachal a victory. Gomez scored 15 off 86 deliveries. Himachal got three first-innings points. “Tried our best to enforce an outright win,” Himachal batsman Aakash Chopra tweeted. “But not to be. Kerala’s batsmen batted really well. Not a bad start to the season though.”
Scorecard
In a rain-affected game in Anantapur, Services broke through hosts Andhra’s resistance to take three first-innings points. In response to Services’ 297, Andhra began the day at 87 for 6 but fought hard to give Services a scare. Syed Sahabuddin was the base around which Andhra’s fight revolved, but he was left stranded on 78.The last four partnerships were worth 54, 65, 17 and 31. Suraj Yadav and Shadab Nazar, though, did enough for Services with three wickets each. Services walked away with three points.

Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHashim Amla continued his form through the summer into the second T20•Getty Images

The wettest of English summers has struck again. The second Twenty20 international at Old Trafford was an exercise in futility as rain, which had reduced the contest to nine overs per side, returned five balls before a result would have been achieved.South Africa were favourites at that stage, however difficult that is to call in such a small game, with England needing 13 off five balls to win on Duckworth/Lewis after Luke Wright had been caught at deep square-leg the ball before the heavens opened again. It had been a faltering chase of 78 with the top three struggling to score off Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn.Kieswetter had tried to swing at Morkel from the first ball, a difficult task at the best of times, and only found fresh air with his first four attempts. His innings was ended by a wonderful catch by Robin Peterson running backwards from mid-on and diving full length. It was almost the equal of Dan Christian’s stunner in Dubai a few days ago.South Africa’s innings had also included a screaming catch when Graeme Swann back-peddled off his own bowling and stuck out his right hand to remove JP Duminy. However, England dropped another and it was inevitably Hashim Amla who, once again, finished as top-scorer with 47 off 30 balls meaning he has achieved career-bests in all three formats on this tour. Amla had been recalled in place of Faf du Plessis for this match and adapted to the shorter-than-short format.Apart from Amla, it was a helter-skelter innings from South Africa, which began with Richard Levi gloving the first ball down the leg side against Steven Finn about two-and-a-half hours after he had been ready to start the game before the rain fell.AB de Villiers also fell to Finn, top-edging a pull to mid-on where Jade Dernbach juggled the catch before holding on falling backwards, but after the three overs of Powerplay South Africa had made good use of them to have 32 on the board. Interestingly, though, with an eye on future cricket at this ground, notably the Ashes Test next year, the pitch had regained some of its old pace and bounce with Finn and Stuart Broad – whose speeds have increased after his break – zipping the ball through.Out of the Powerplay, Swann produced a tight over which only conceded five singles, spearing his deliveries full at the batsmen to ensure they could only work them down the ground. This was followed by Wright’s first over which only went for four and included the wicket of Albie Morkel who skewed a catch to cover.On the whole England’s bowlers did well with only Broad proving really expensive as his second over – the penultimate of the innings -cost 18 and included a no-ball. Such lapses cannot be afforded in the World Twenty20.Also with thoughts moving towards the World T20, England made a significant decision when Ravi Bopara’s awful form finally cost him place and led to Wright’s inclusion. It was about the only call England could make after his horror run of 34 runs from the eight innings he has played since returning from personal problems after the first Test.Whether he now has a chance recapture any semblance of touch before the World T20 is a major doubt and England look like entering the tournament carrying one of their 15-man squad. England have one more match against South Africa, at Edgbaston on Wednesday, and a couple of warm-up matches, against Australia and Pakistan, in Sri Lanka before the tournament proper but Andy Flower and Broad may already have made up their minds. The only way a player can be replaced in a squad is through injury or illness.Wright, for his part, deserved his chance after a productive season for Sussex in both limited-overs formats. This was officially his first England match since June 2011 when he faced Sri Lanka in a T20 match at Bristol. Since then he has travelled the world playing franchise T20, making a name for himself in the Big Bash League especially where he scored a 44-ball hundred, and returned to Sussex a more rounded cricketer.Wright’s recall was the only change for England, who resisted tinkering further despite the heavy defeat at Chester-le-Street, with Danny Briggs, Michael Lumb and Tim Bresnan still waiting for their turn. Bresnan’s elbow, which he had surgery on at the end of the last year, has been causing further concern in recent weeks and he had scans before the T20 series started but took a full part in the warm-ups.The match was played at an Old Trafford where the redevelopments are seriously taking shape. The new players and media building was used for the first time today and initial impressions were excellent. Further work will have been done by the time the Ashes Test arrives next year, including finishing the famous pavilion, and everyone will have their fingers crossed for better weather.

Pakistan picked up their second straight win of the tournament, beating Scotland by nine wickets at the Kev Hackey Oval in Buderim. After being asked to field, they bowled out Scotland for 200 and chased the target comfortably.Mohammad Nawaz picked up 4 for 20 with his left-arm spin, but Scotland would have hoped for a bigger score after starting their innings well. Opener Ross McLean made 59 and was part of a quick opening stand worth 36 with Mathew Cross. McLean and Freddie Coleman added 66 for the third wicket and Scotland were looking good at 146 for 2 in the 33rd over. But a collapse ensued. Nawaz struck and was supported by Ehsan Adil who dislodged two batsmen. The last eight wickets fell for just 54 in 17 overs.Babar Azam led the way for Pakistan in the chase, smashing an unbeaten ton and was part of an opening stand worth 163 with Sami Aslam, who made 78 off 79 balls. That stand all but sealed Scotland’s fate and Pakistan won with almost 14 overs to spare. Azam finished with 106 not out off 121 balls, hitting 10 fours and two sixes.West Indies continued to impress in this Under-19 World Cup, thrashing Papua New Guinea by nine wickets at Endeavour Park. PNG were bowled out for 116 in 41 overs after choosing to bat. Only three batsmen managed to reach double-figures and that included their captain Christopher Kent, who top-scored with 39. PNG had been reduced to 62 for 6 at one stage but Nigel Boge and Chad Soper added 38 together down the order to take the score towards 100. Seamer Jerome Jones was among the wickets, picking up three for 15 in a 10-over spell. His victims included the PNG openers. Kyle Mayers also grabbed three wickets in his four overs.Sunil Ambris made a mockery of PNG’s score, going on a rampage in the chase. He smashed nine fours and seven sixes in his 91, off just 43 balls. He made all his runs in an opening stand of 111 – his opening partner, captain Kraigg Brathwaite, remained unbeaten on 17 – and West Indies’ victory was sealed in the 12th over.Sri Lanka picked up their first win of the competition, inflicting a 195-run defeat on Namibia at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. They cashed in after opting to bat, helped by half-centuries from opener Sebastian Perera and Sandun Weerakkody in the middle order. Sri Lanka’s was a collective batting display, with handy contributions from the rest of their top five as well. They were in a dominant position at 210 for 2 in the 38th over and looked set to go past 300 but ended up losing their next seven wickets for 88 runs. Zhivago Groenewald picked up 3 for 49. However, Sri Lanka, having scored 298 for 9, had done more than enough.Barring Wian van Vuuren at the top of the order and wicketkeeper Gerhard Erasmus, Sri Lanka’s bowlers faced no resistance with the bat. Van Vuuren made 38, Erasmus was unbeaten on 36 but the rest of the line-up crumbled. Lahiru Madushanka gave the batsmen a tough time, picking up four wickets for 15 runs with his medium-pace. Namibia were bowled out for 103 in 35 overs.