Winning captain Stephen Fleming attacked the pitch quality that allows bowlers to dominate Test matches to the extent that occurred in the National Bank Series with India today which ended with a 2-0 margin to New Zealand.The home team held on to win by four wickets in Hamilton on a pitch that took until the fourth day of the scheduled five to reach anything like Test standard.It had been caused by the weather, he acknowledged that point, and said New Zealand were close to getting the formula right, but in the meantime it was frustrating for a variety of reasons.”I guess we’re caught in the middle where the groundsmen are preparing bouncy wickets which is great, and I’ve been an advocate for that for a long time, unfortunately we are having to put up with the sideways movement as well because of the weather these guys are getting to prepare wickets,” he said.Fleming said he wanted his bowlers to work hard for wickets, and if there was bounce in pitches there would be reward for good bowling, but the pronounced seam movement was a bugbear.It meant that New Zealand would not see the scores in excess of 400 that were so common in other countries.”Good true wickets with bounce do provide entertainment, I’ll 100% guarantee that,” he said.Fleming said the message for the batsmen going out to attempt to secure the win today was defence and looking out for the opportunity to score.”We believed we were the better side in these conditions,” Fleming said.Man of the match Daryl Tuffey said he felt he bowled best in the second innings of the game, he had to work harder and wasn’t as fresh.”The partnership between [Sachin] Tendulkar and [Rahul] Dravid was the key one for us to break and once we got Tendulkar out, they let us right off again and a procession of wickets fell again and it really got us back in the match. They could easily have taken it away from us,” he said.The performance in the Test series, in which he took 13 wickets at 8.69 had been a stepping stone for him getting back into the side for the National Bank One-Day International Series starting in Auckland on Boxing Day.

In one of two opening matches of the 2003 edition of the Deodhar Trophy, East Zone comprehensively dominated West Zone to win their tie at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, by nine wickets.Winning the toss, West Zone opted to take first strike, but they could not maximise the advantage. Apart from Vinayak Mane, who came in at number three, no batsman could really get going, and Mane’s 43 (67b, 3×4) was consequently the highest score of the innings.For East Zone, veteran spinner Utpal Chatterjee took three wickets from nine tight overs that conceded only 25 runs. He was well backed up by Rohan Gavaskar and Pravanjan Mullick, who took two wickets apiece.Bowled out for 173, West Zone did not have the runs to defend, but even if they did, Debang Gandhi may well have chased those down too. Gandhi was in good form, hitting a sparkling 109 off just 112 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes. He was given good support by opener MS Dhoni (55, 97b, 1×4, 1×6), and the pair took East Zone to a nine-wicket win in 35 overs.

• Jacques Kallis (RSA) needs 98 runs to complete 6,000 ODI runs
• Jonty Rhodes (RSA) needs 67 runs to complete 6,000 ODI runs
• Mervyn Dillon (WI) needs one wicket to join the 100 ODI-wicket club
• Carl Hooper (WI) needs 10 wickets to join the 200 ODI-wickets club
• Jacques Kallis (RSA) needs 125 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Jonty Rhodes (RSA) needs 148 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Herschelle Gibbs (RSA) needs 159 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) needs 155 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Carl Hooper (WI) needs 10 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-club
• Lance Klusener (RSA) needs 8 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-club
• Shane Pollock (RSA) needs 10 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-club
• Allan Donald (37) is six wickets behind leading World Cup wicket-taker Wasim Akram (43)

The match against India brought out every possible emotion from a Pakistani cricket fan – absolute jubilation during Pakistan’s batting to utter despair at the end of the game. Their performance, similar to the emotions experienced by the fans, was a mixed bag. The bowling, which has been our source of pride for so long, let us down at the crunch time.However, I shall put my hand up and acknowledge the brilliance of Sachin Tendulkar’s knock. The world has rarely seen such an innings played under immense pressure, and the beauty of it lay in the fact that it was an array of classical strokes, not mindless slogging. The Indian team looked a side with a mission, playing like a unit and their huddles at the fall of each Pakistani wicket, proved how committed they were.The Pakistani team did not lack commitment either, but there was a lack of common sense. The fans in Pakistan should not be over critical of the team’s performance it was almost as if they were too passionately involved to think logically. As far as I am concerned the team gave it their best shot and fought in a manner they have not in the recent past. We simply have to acknowledge the fact that the better side won at the end of the day.Pakistan’s batting was far above anyone’s expectations. Pakistan won the toss, made the right move to bat first, and piled up a total that on other days would have been easily safe. Saeed Anwar returned to form in brilliant fashion answering all his critics in grand style. He showed tremendous composure during his innings, and kept his concentration despite being highly fatigued during the latter half of his knock. Inzamam’s body language when he walked out to the center was outstanding, and the “slumbering giant” looked more pumped up than I have ever seen him since the World Cup in 1992. His run-out was a tragedy, but such things are part and parcel of the game. Younis Khan looked very good, thoroughly warranting his inclusion, while Youhana looked in terrific touch as well. At the end of the day 273 was a tremendous score keeping our recent form in mind, and only a very harsh critic would find faults with the batting performance.The performance on the field, commenced awkwardly when Rashid Latif could not make it onto the field after he had been hit a blow on his helmet while batting, leaving Taufeeq Umar with the huge task under immense pressure. Taufeeq Umar deserves tremendous praise for his effort, with the bat and the gloves, as he pulled of some saves that professional keepers would have been proud of. Keeping wicket to an erratic pace attack is no easy task, and I really feel that Taufeeq Umar should be groomed for this task after the World Cup. If he can put in a bit of effort and practice, he can be a useful wicket keeper in ODI’s and would lend tremendous balance to the team.The Pakistani bowlers, touted as the best pace attack in the world were smashed to all corners of the park by Tendulkar, who played like a man possessed. While the bowling at him may have been a bit of a mixed bag, he played some unbelievable strokes. Fortune favoured him when Razzaq got his fingertips to a catch offered early on, but failed to latch on. The Pakistan plan of blasting out the opposition backfired badly, as they tried to knock over the stumps on each ball, rather than looking to peg away on a line and length and frustrate the opposition. The bowling was governed more by the heart than mind, and although Waqar got early wickets, he was one of the culprits too.Shoaib Akhtar’s performance is hard to describe, where he bowled a couple of beauties along with a majority of highly wayward deliveries. The idea of giving him the new ball has brought little for Pakistan, and its time to get him back to first change, even after the World Cup. The new ball deserves to be taken by bowlers who can genuinely swing it, and Waqar, Akram and Sami fit that bill.The game was always going to drift away after the swashbuckling start by India, and Pakistan managed to make a good fist of it anyway. Full marks to the fielders for putting in great effort though the overthrows were disappointing. To summarise the fielding effort, it was good to see the Pakistanis throw themselves around for a change, and produce some direct hits, which were unfortunately of no use in the end.At the end of the day, it leaves a nation in misery and a cricket team that has slim chances of progressing to the next round. England will have to lose to the Aussies, and Pakistan win by a huge margin against Zimbabwe, but even if they do manage to progress to the Super Six (which will be nothing short of a miracle), the Pakistan cricket fans will not be satisfied at heart. I would strongly urge Pakistani fans to refrain from over-reacting to this loss and not resort to ugly demonstration of their disappointment. The team fought bravely and that was the maximum they could offer. Someone had to lose, and fate had Pakistan on the losing end.This may be the last occasion we get to see the greats like Akram, Waqar and Anwar clash against India, and it is sad that it had to end this way.Ed: If readers wish to correspond with the author, please email Taha Noor

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Saturday 30th August…‘POP CONCERT’Artist’s appearing…BLUE (2003 Brit Award Winners as ‘Best British Group’)DARIUSSINEAD QUINND’SIDE3SL’ROSE BOWL SHOWCASE’ New talent section of the show.Other artist’s TBASunday 31st August…CLASSICAL CONCERTArtist’s appearing…ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRAALED JONES to host the eveningOther ‘Guest Artist’s’ TBA’ROSE BOWL SHOWCASE’ New talent section…Fireworks, BIG bangs…Theme of the event ‘Last Night at the Proms’Saturday 30th…Gates open @ 3.00pm, Show starts @ 5.00pmSunday 31st…Gates open @ 5.00pm. Show starts 7.30pmPARKING: Limited ‘on site’ parking available @ £10.00 per car. Tickets purchased in advance via the Rose Bowl Ticket Hotline…0870.2430291. Park & Ride tickets also available via the Rose Bowl Ticket Hotline

Bilal Shafayat, England’s Under-19 captain, has taken an early lead in the2003 Walter Lawrence Trophy stakes.The 18-year-old all-rounder has made an early bid for the £5000 prize byscoring a 73-ball hundred for Nottinghamshire against Durham UCCE at TrentBridge on Sunday April 13 – just two days into the start of the first-classseason! Dismissed for 105, his 78-minute ton included four sixes and 15fours.The giant Will Jefferson (he’s almost 6ft 10in tall), led the field forbarely a day with his historic hundred off 101 balls on Saturday when hebecame only the third batsman to score a century before lunch on the openingday of the first-class season. His 101-ball hundred for Essex againstCambridge UCCE at Fenner’s followed those by Glamorgan’s Arnold Dysonagainst Kent in 1937 and by Chris Broad for Gloucestershire against OxfordUniversity in 1980. It was the earliest this feat had been achieved but notthe earliest a first-class hundred had been scored. That record belongs toSomerset’s Michael Burns who narrowly beat Michael Atherton to the mark on 7April 2000.The Walter Lawrence Trophy was first awarded in 1934. Last year’s winnerwas Matthew Fleming with a century off 66 balls against the Sri Lankans atCanterbury. Matthew received a cheque for the sum of £5000 from Aon,supporters of the Trophy, at a ceremonial dinner in the Long Room at Lord’slast year.The Walter Lawrence Trophy is awarded to the batsman who scores the fastestcentury off the fewest balls received in all first-class cricket eachseason.

Mumbai took control of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group final, pegging Tamil Nadu back to 102 for 3 after setting them an improbable victory target of 377. Mumbai now need seven more wickets to win, while Tamil Nadu need a further 274 runs. Of all probable results, a draw looks the least likely.Tamil Nadu took an overly cautious approach at the beginning of their chase and suffered in the process. Sadagoppan Ramesh (6) drove Ajit Agarkar on the up to Wasim Jaffer in the fifth over of the innings. Sridharan Sriram, at his dour best, played out 48 balls for 5 before being trapped plumb in frontby Sairaj Bahutule.With Ramesh and Sriram gone, Tamil Nadu were down in the dumps. Their postion deteriorated further when S Suresh, after playing some authoritative drives in an innings of 44, lost his off stump to a careless shot. At 62 for 3 in the 24th over, Tamil Nadu had a long way to go.Hemang Badani (23 not out) and S Badrinath (12 not out) realised this and took their team to stumps without further damage. The final day will be a long, hard one for Tamil Nadu, as Mumbai hold all the aces.Mumbai had begun the fourth day reasonably placed, although they had lost three quick wickets yesterday evening to slip from 210 for 3 to 228 for 4. Amol Mazumdar (7) was snapped up by Suresh early on and this meant that Bhavin Thakkar had to bolster the batting in the company of Bahutule. Thakkar began nervously, playing and missing, but settled into a solid groove.Bahutule (27) helped add 48 runs for the sixth wicket before he was unluckily run out. Thakkar’s straight drive was defelected into the stumps by MR Shrinivas, the bowler, with Bahutule stranded short of his crease.Thakkar more than made up for the part he played in Bahutule’s run out, batting stoically for 66 before retiring hurt with cramps. In their search for quick runs, Mumbai lost Agarkar early. Ramesh Powar then used the long-handle to good effect, clouting 53 off just 64 balls to take Mumbai to a healthy 387 for seven declared.

Hungerford’s bid to make the early pace in Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 has received a double setback, with skipper Owen Dawkins injured and opening bowler Jason Williams banned.The Berkshire club could be without captain Dawkins, a former MCC Young Professional, for the remainder of the season after the all-rounder broke his wrist playing for Wales MC against Wiltshire last weekend.Bowling his off-spin, Dawkins was hit on the wrist by a blistering drive and currently has his arm in plaster.Jason Williams has been banned for three matches by the Premier League following abusive remarks made to an umpire in a Division 3 match at New Milton earlier in the season.The Berkshire club, who visit Ventnor tomorrow, have imposed internal disciplinary measures against the bowler.Hungerford lie joint second in SPL3 after winning both of their completed matches, although they were saved by the rain in the subsequently abandoned match at Fernhill.Trojans, also on 42 points, visit Paultons, while Winchester KS, near enough back to full strength, will be confident of ruining Havant II’s unbeaten start, even though they have lost their last two games.Havant first team captain Paul Gover plays against WKS as he is unable to play all day.The return of students Chris Yates, who captains Cardiff University, and Nick Morant at bottom club South Wilts II should boost Rowledge’s prospects of a third successive win.But a hamstring injury has sidelined former Reigate Priory seamer Simon Bonser, who will be a spectator at Bemerton, alongside injured teenage wicketkeeper Ian Metcalfe.Hambledon, who successfully chased amassive 280-5 to beat Hook & Newnham Basics last week, face a testing visit to unbeaten Alton, who are among the prime promotion contenders.Ryan Beck returns to the New Milton fold as the Fernhill club bid to break their duck against Portsmouth II.Struggling Flamingo plan a top-order batting shake up in a bid to put more runs on the board in a vital match at Hook & Newnham Basics, who have also suffered three defeats.One-time Hook left-hander Mike Foster makes a nostalgic return to his old club.

Requests for information about the current standings in the Open League, as well as what chances various clubs have of getting into the semi-final stage of the Open League this season have recently been made. Disregarding possible points lost due to a failure to supply umpires, as the table stands only Concordia CC are definitely in the semi-finals, whilst the clubs Vienna CC, Lords CC, Five Continents CC, United Nations CC, Ljubljana CC, Pakistan CC and Pakistan Falken CC all have a mathematical chance of qualifying for the Open League semi-finals, with only Zagreb CC definitely not being able to qualify. Realistically though, the semi-finals are likely to be composed of Concordia CC, Vienna CC, Lords CC, and one of Five Continents CC or United Nations CC. The fixtures between Vienna CC and Lords CC (27th July) and Concordia CC and Lords CC (2nd August) will play an important role in deciding the top three places.Pakistan CC and Pakistan Falken would probably require close to full points from their remaining fixtures to qualify, with Pakistan Falken CC needing comprehensive victories against leaders Concordia CC and second-placed Vienna CC to have any chance of qualifying. The fixture between Five Continents CC and United Nations CC (17th August) may also have a decisive role in deciding which teams qualify for the semi-finals.

A spell of 3-3 in 14 balls from Robert Croft put Glamorgan in a promising position onthe opening day of their match against India A at Swansea, as the tourists slumped to 149-6in the 53rd over. However, Glamorgan`s hopes of making further inroads were thwarted bypersistant rain which swept in from the Mumbles and prevented any further play after 2.35pm.The Welsh county had earlier reduced the tourists to 26-2 after a disciplined openingspell by David Harrison, with the young seamer dismissing both openers, Shiv Sunder Dasand Satyajit Parab, at a cost of just 4 runs in 28 balls.The tourists then recovered from being 26-2 in the 12th over, thanks to a watchful partnership of116 in 35 overs by Sridharan Sriram and Rohan Gavaskar before both were dismissed by Robert Croftafter scoring 62 and 61 apiece. Gavaskar was well caught by a diving Owen Parkin at shortthird man as the Indian miscued an attempted drive after striking 8 fours and a pull for6 off a short ball from Darren Thomas.Sriram quickly lost his new partners Vijay Bharadwaj, who was leg before to Parkin for1 and then Hemang Badani was adjudged leg before for 0 as he padded up to Robert Croft.Then Sriram was caught at first slip by Mike Powell off Croft, after striking 6 foursin his patient innings.Sriram`s departure meant that the Indians had lost four wickets for just 7 runs in thespace of 5.2 overs, but heavy drizzle, followed by more persistant and heavy rain meant thatno further play was possible.