Day 2
ScorecardThe left-arm spin duo of Ravi Jadeja and KP Appanna shared nine wickets between them to dismiss Sri Lanka Under-19 for 247 and help India Under-19 gain a first-innings lead of 54 on the second day in Colombo.Jadeja finished with figures of 5 for 28 in 17 miserly overs, while Appanna sent down 25 overs and finished with 4 for 74. The resistance from the home side came from Mathurage Perera and Tissara Perera who both scored half centuries when the chips were down. Mathurage walked in with his side wobbling at 8 for 3, and added 78 for the fifth wicket with Roshen Silva. His knock of 74 included seven boundaries. Tissara, who walked in after Mathurage was dismissed, did the bulk of the scoring from thereon and pushed the score close to the 250 mark. His 64 included five fours and three sixes.In reply, Abhinav Mukund and captain Tanmay Srivastava built on the lead of 54 and added a quick 82 in 16 overs to strengthen their position in the first Test.

Lancashire‘s hopes of their first outright Championship title since 1934 are fading with every passing day at The Oval. Surrey declined to enforce the follow-on after dismissing them for 234 before extending their lead to 214.Surrey bowled tidily as a collective, with Matt Nicholson and Chris Jordan particularly impressing. Nicholson exploited the early swinging conditions, and a lifting pitch, to remove Steven Croft for a duck and to trap Mark Chilton for 4. Stuart Law and Paul Horton rallied with 45 and 48 respectively, and it was left to VVS Laxman (53) and latterly Dominic Cork (46 not out) to limit the first-innings deficit.Laxman batted with his customary authority until he fell, pulling hard to long leg off the rapidly emerging talent Jordan, who has slotted right into first-team cricket. Those in the know are already tipping him as Young Cricketer of the Year for 2008.Like Nicholson, Jordan used the conditions to bowl with pace and hostility; his last two victims – Oliver Newby (0) and Gary Keedy (2) – were both beaten for pace and fended through to the keeper, although replays showed the ball had brushed Newby’s arm. Cork was the lone battler and he enjoyed the challenge, even smacking an audacious six for good measure. But not for fun: Lancashire badly want this title.It’s not of their reach yet, however, although if they do prosper it will be in spite of Mark Ramprakash’s gleaming best efforts. He fell short of his double-hundred, making 196. Still, it could prove ultimately costly, given he could have been run out on nought, and was also dropped on 4.Sussex had another excellent day against Worcestershire at Hove as they continued to press their own title claims. They gained maximum batting points thanks to Robin Martin-Jenkins, who will at once rue, and be delighted with, his 99 and Chris Liddle, who demonstrated an eye for the big occasion with his maiden first-class half-century.Following Mushtaq Ahmed’s dismissal (382 for 8), Sussex needed a further 118 for five points; Martin-Jenkins and Liddle duly delivered, with a ninth-wicket partnership of 120. Worcestershire showed heart with an opening stand of 79 and they had reached 93 for 2 by stumps; Moeen Ali (1) soon following Stephen Moore (48) to the hutch.Michael Carberry’s unbeaten century for Hampshire was the highlight against Yorkshire on day two at Headingley. After finishing off Yorkshire’s first innings for 195, Hampshire drew level with four wickets down. John Crawley also contributed a fifty.Dale Benkenstein struck a century to hand Durham the lead following another tidy day against Kent at Canterbury. By the close, Kent had come close to erasing the deficit in their second innings; they now trail by ten with seven wickets left.

Matt Berriman, a former Australia Under-17s player, has won the right to pursue a personal injuries claim against Cricket Australia. AAP reported that a Victorian Supreme Court judge ruled the statute of limitations be extended to allow Berriman to take action over a shoulder injury.The court heard that Berriman, 23, suffered a dislocated right shoulder during a water polo game at the Academy in Adelaide in April 2001, when he was 17. Berriman claims Cricket Australia should not have allowed him to take part in the game because he had already had a shoulder problem in 1999 as a result of playing soccer.Berriman claims as a result of the injury he quit his job and had a limited ability to perform everyday activities such as showering and working on a computer. The application was granted by Justice Jack Forrest, who ruled that the statute of limitations should be extended because Berriman only became aware through a doctor’s report this year that the 2001 injury had caused his current disability.Cricket Australia argued that their defence had been prejudiced by the delay in initiating proceedings, but Justice Forrest said he did not believe it would cause significant prejudice.

The Australians clearly haven’t been enamoured by the Twenty20 format but Tim Nielsen, their coach, believes they are getting their act together after a dismal start to the tournament. Australia were shocked by Zimbabwe in the opener, and then lost to Pakistan as well, but have still made it to the semi-final after a thumping ten-wicket win against Sri Lanka on Thursday.”I think coming off the break we were a little unsure about how the tournament was going to work,” Nielsen said on the eve of their semi-final clash against India in Durban. “Guys in our international team hadn’t had a lot of exposure to the Twenty20, and every time they played it was a lot of fun; it was a break between the Tests and ODIs. So probably losing to Zimbabwe was as good a tonic as we can hope for. We’re lucky in a way it happened. It is made us focus, and realise that if we did not get it right, we would be under real pressure. Most importantly, after that loss, we had time to practice and train, and to get the confidence back among the boys.”We now feel that we can meet the challenges a lot better. The more work we’ve done, the more comfortable the boys are with where they’re at. It’s been great that we’ve been able to find our way through to this stage of the tournament and ideally we’re getting better every time; we’ll hit the semi-final in as good a shape as we can be.”The Australians will be up against an in-form Indian team which is riding the momentum of two excellent wins against England and South Africa, and Nielsen admitted that his team would have to be focused from the start.”I think we’re getting to the stage in the tournament where we’ll have to play at our best to be competitive. If you’re not quite ready you can get caught out so quickly. That was shown over the last couple of days when teams got on a roll and it was for the opposition to stop the momentum. So we have to make sure tomorrow that we’re switched on right from ball one.”Was he surprised that India, one of the less fancied teams in the competition, had progressed to the semi-finals?”Certainly not. They’ve got a lot of young players who are relishing the opportunity to play for the country. We’ve seen two or three players in our cricket academy – RP Singh and Dinesh Karthik were there, while some of our guys played against Rohit Sharma a couple of years ago. We know these guys a little and we know they’re fine players so we’re not surprised at all.”When someone reminded him about Graeme Smith’s comment about South Africa being unlucky to go out of the tournament after just one defeat, Nielsen was quick with his retort: “That’s what this tournament is all about. It’s not about how many games you win, it’s about winning at the right times. If you’re in a crunch game, you’ve got to make sure you perform. That’s what this team [Australia] has done for so long. And they showed it again yesterday.”And as another crunch match comes up on Saturday, Nielsen will expect another similar performance from his team.

Rawalpindi ran up a mammoth first-innings 601 on the final day of their second-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against hosts Abbottabad, as the game tapered out into a draw.In response to Abbottabad’s 376 Rawalpindi replied with 352 for 4 by the close of play on the third day. Getting the lead was just a matter of time. The partnership that boosted Rawalpindi’s total was a 256-run stand for the fifth wicket after the team had slipped to 106 for 4. 21-year-old Usman Saeed top-scored with a magnificent 243, that came off 471 balls in two minutes above ten hours, with the help of 30 fours and two sixes.Usman played for the champion Pakistan team in the 2004 Under-19s World Cup held in Bangladesh. The double-hundred was, however, only his third three-figure score in a 34-match first-class career. He was given able support from Yasir Ali, who scored 129 from 285 balls in five minutes short of six hours with 14 fours and three sixes. Yasir, still only 22, played in a Test match for Pakistan four years ago even before he had made his first-class debut. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, this was his first century, his previous highest of 63 being his only fifty-plus score.Usman’s sixth-wicket stand with skipper Naved Ashraf (23) was worth 54 while wicket-keeper Zahid Mansoor (47) joined him to add another 132 for the seventh wicket. The match in Abbottabad started a day late on Saturday as the original venue – the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium – was not available due to repairs.Rawalpindi gained three first-innings-lead points that took their tally to 12. They are placed at No. 2 behind Islamabad, who have 18 points from two appearances in Group B. Rawalpindi now meet top-of-the-table Islamabad in a third-round Group B match, starting at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground in Islamabad from Thursday. Abbottabad have a rest until the fourth round.

The coroner’s inquest into the death of former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has been extended by another week, with coroner Patrick Murphy to continue his summation of the evidence on Monday.The inquest in Kingston, Jamaica, heard evidence from 57 witnesses and statements from seven other persons. The 11-member jury is expected to deliver its verdict within a week.Woolmer died hours after he was found unconscious in his Jamaica hotel room on March 18, a day after Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat to Ireland at the World Cup. Dr Ere Seshaiah, the government pathologist who conducted the post mortem, declared that Woolmer was murdered but three independent pathologists all concluded later that Woolmer died due to natural causes.

SuperSport Series

Dale Steyn might have a bad game one of these days, but don’t count on it. Having eviscerated the New Zealanders by taking 20 wickets in two Tests, Steyn’s next trick was to grab 14 scalps for the Titans against the Eagles at Bloemfontein. Granted, the pitch must have made the bowlers think the summer solstice celebrations had come early when 20 wickets fell on the first day. But Steyn’s haul of 14 for 110 – the sixth-best analysis in a senior South African domestic first-class match – remains a remarkable achievement and one that will have added a furrow to the brows of the approaching West Indians. The Titans were dismissed for 118 in their first innings, but Steyn’s career-best return of eight for 41 snuffed out the Eagles for a measly 89. Conditions eased on day two, and the Titans’ second innings endured into the third day before they were dismissed with a lead of 385. Re-enter Steyn to take six for 69, including the first hat-trick of his career, as the Titans surged to victory by 231 runs.Play was significantly more stoic at Paarl, where the Cobras and the Warriors circled each other like tranquilised sharks before settling for the draw. Johan Botha, who scored 91 not out and 69, and Robin Peterson, who made 55 and 48, twice steered the Warriors out of trouble. In the first innings the visitors were 187 for six before Botha and Peterson put on 103, and they had dwindled to 180 for six when the same pair added 62. Doughty efforts though those were, they also helped dull the contest. Andrew Puttick’s 104, JP Duminy’s 71 and half-centuries by Ashwell Prince and Vernon Philander, who also took seven wickets in the match, bolstered the Cobras’ first innings.Rain allowed just 29 overs on the first day at Durban, where the Lions were put in to bat by the Dolphins and reached 77 for three. Not a ball was bowled for the next two days while the rain lashed down, rendering Kingsmead sodden and the match irrelevant. The sun came out on Sunday and the Lions declared at lunch on 210 for nine. The Dolphins’ hearts weren’t in their reply, and they were dismissed for 147. Scorecard watchers might be interested to know that Doug Watson batted at No. 11 because of a stiff neck.Player of the week – Dale Steyn
We try to shine the spotlight on lesser known players, but in this case that would be as silly as John Cleese trying not to be funny. So, take a bow Dale Steyn. It’s good to know that he doesn’t reserve his nastiness for foreigners. Then again, everyone’s a foreigner if you’re born to Zimbabwean parents in the mining dust of Phalaborwa.

Scorecard

Rain was the ultimate winner in the Inter-Provincial Limited-Overs Tournament final between Kandurata and Wayamba which ended in a no result with only 35.3 overs being bowled in the entire match. The teams were declared joint champions and picked up prize money worth Rs 1.7 million (US$15,700) each.The weather has not been at its best for the past fortnight and Sri Lanka Cricket, who organised the tournament, were keeping their fingers crossed that it would clear away on Sunday and allow a full day’s play at the SSC. However it was not to be. Heavy rain on the previous night left the pitch and the outfield with a great deal of moisture which pushed back the start by one-and-a-half hours.The match was reduced to a 43 overs-a-side and Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in inviting Kandurata to bat. It proved a good move as Wayamba captured two wickets including the prize one of Kandurata captain Kumar Sangakkara in the opening ten overs.Sajith Fernando and tailender Suraj Mohamed, surprisingly promoted in the order, mended the innings with a partnership of 67 off 62 balls. Fernando scored 44 off 58 deliveries and Mohamed 42 off 69. Fernando’s dismissal at 98 sparked off another mini-collapse as Kandurata lost a further two wickets for the addition of seven runs before the rain arrived with Kandurata 131 for 5 off 29.3 overs. The innings ended on that total and when play recommenced at 4pm Wayamba were set the task of chasing 143 runs from 25 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.Michael Vandort and Mahela Udawatte gave them a flying start posting 37 runs off six overs before the rains returned to bring an end to the game.Sangakkara with 264 runs at 66 and the scorer of the only century in the tournament (109 v Basnahira South) won the Man-of-the-Tournament award of Rs 100,000 (US$923).

West Indies were backed up against the ropes but still standing and still scrapping after another round of intense struggle in the second Test at Newlands yesterday. Once again, every punch was followed by a counterpunch but South Africa’s blows on opponents handicapped by significant injuries, were more frequent and more telling.Trailing by 25 at the start of a day of glorious, cloudless sunshine with half their wickets still in tact, the home team battled their way to an eventual lead of 78 and proceeded to further reinforce their position by removing four West Indies wickets for 96 by close.The equation entering the fourth day is a distinct advantage for the highly-ranked home team. The unexpectedly plucky contenders are ahead by just 18 with hopes of extending the 1-0 lead in the series – gained by their shock, deserving win in the first Test in Port Elizabeth – dependent mainly on sizeable contributions by their two best and most experienced batsmen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and captain Chris Gayle, who resume their partnership this morning.On a thickly-grassed outfield that devalues shots, even though cut before the start, and a pitch that has yielded 14 wickets to catches off the outside edge between wicketkeeper and gully, apart from more playing and missing than is usual in an entire series, a winning target even as modest of 180 or thereabouts would not be as straightforward as it appears.But this would require an exceptional effort for West Indies, especially in light of the hamstring injuries that have incapacitated two key players.Gayle’s, sustained in Zimbabwe back on December 2 and aggravated while batting in the first innings, forced him to abandon the opening position he has filled in all but six of his 124 Test innings, and appear quarter-hour to the end at No. 6 in the company of a runner. The last time he dropped down the list was in South Africa four years ago, in the Johannesburg Test, once more because of a leg muscle injury.Fidel Edwards, the main strike bowler, was not available for the rest of the match and probably series by a grade-two strain that struck him down after 4.5 overs in the first innings. His absence placed heavy responsibility on the rest that may have taken its toll on their fitness.The contest had swung towards South Africa over the last two hours, 10 minutes of the second day when Ashwell Prince and the feisty wicketkeeper Mark Boucher lifted their team from the instability of 131 for 5 with an unbroken stand of 87.They defied steady bowling through the first hour, 10 minutes yesterday to stretch their partnership to 129 and the lead to 17. The closest they came to being separated was by Marlon Samuels’ throw from midwicket that missed its target with Boucher, at 51, well short of his ground.It took the introduction of Dwayne Bravo to make the break. The bowling hero of the previous day with his 24 consecutive overs and three wickets, lost a close lbw appeal against Boucher one ball and induced a misjudged pull the next that was diverted into the stumps in a replay of his second-innings dismissal in the first Test.Daren Powell, so short of control the previous day he conceded 69 from 19 wicketless overs, took up the slack left by Edwards’ absence with 16 consecutive overs. Reward for his tireless effort was the wickets of Paul Harris and Andre Nel, caught off tentative outside edges by second slip and keeper.South Africa were a manageable 41 to the good when No. 10 Dale Steyn joined Prince on Nel’s dismissal, carrying AB de Villiers with him as a runner in deference to a reported hamstring strain. It was a strange course since the injury didn’t prevent him from taking his place when West Indies batted again or from delivering nine overs for the return of Runako Morton’s wicket.A couple of missed catches in the deep, the first signs in the series of fallibility in the series, aided the addition of 37 valuable runs for the last two wickets. The first was by Morton off Prince’s top-edged hook off Bravo, when the left-hander was 91, the second by substitute Darren Sammy at deep midwicket off Steyn’s slog off Marlon Samuels.

Prince, excited by the prospects of his seventh Test hundred, did not make use of his opportunity – and had only himself, and Jerome Taylor, to blame. He was three short of his goal when he chose to chance a second run on a shot to third man. He lost. Taylor swooped on the ball and his return to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, fast and accurate if a little high, beat Prince’s dive for home by a yard to so. His statistics of just over five hours and 225 balls in changing such a delicate balance represented an innings of real character.Steyn and Makhaya Ntini put on a further 20 for the last wicket, vital runs in a low scoring match, until Rawl Lewis’ second Test wicket, in his fifth match, ended the innings to a catch at deep midwicket.Gayle returned to the team room between innings in such distress from his tender hamstring after 118.2 overs in the field that he reluctantly acknowledged it would be foolhardy to try to head back out to open the innings.A volunteer was sought and, according the media manager Philip Spooner, Ramdin immediately raised his hand. The wicketkeeper is a novice to the position and, for the 17 overs to tea in which three sets of leg-byes boundaries helped put West Indies at 30 without loss, he confirmed it.He seemed to be batting blindfolded, so repeatedly did Nel especially, Ntini and Steyn pass his bat. But he kept his composure under Nel’s usual verbal barrage and gradually found the middle of the bat with five aggressive boundaries in 32.He and his Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga lasted into the 27th over, putting on 59, before Ramdin finally touched a catch to the keeper, off Jacques Kallis.Morton followed in the next over to an inappropriate drive at Steyn that presented Boucher with another catch.The dismissals of Ganga and Marlon Samuels, both assured but always under threat from the occasional unplayable delivery from the tricky surface, tightened South Africa’s grip. Ganga’s vigil of two-and-three-quarter hours for 22 was ended by Ntini’s first ball of a new spell, bowled off the pad by one that cut back.Samuels fought hard for an hour and 25 minutes for 18 but was quarter-hour short of batting through to the end when Nel won an lbw decision against him. It scuppered Gayle’s hope of not to having to bat for the remainder of the day. He saw through the end comfortably but he carried his real job into the fourth day.

Day 3
Scorecard

A superb bowling performance helped South Zone crawl their way back into their match against East Zone in Mumbai. After an eventful third day, the game was evenly poised with South needing another 160 runs to win with seven wickets in hand.East were in command when the day started, having secured a handy 114-run lead with all their wickets intact. However, they let their advantage slip with an inept batting performance. Only one of their top six batsmen got a start – Anustup Majumdar – as they crashed to 79 for 6.No. 7 Halhadar Das, who made 93 in the first innings, top scored again with an unbeaten 52, including eight boundaries, to add some respectability to the East total. Tushar Saha also chipped in with a 28 to help set a target of 273. South’s bowlers kept the runs under check; Ashwin Raghu finished with impressive figures of 3 for 33.South’s pursuit got off to a bad start with Murali Vijay falling in the first over to former India international Debasis Mohanty. S Badrinath, the South Zone captain, and Ravi Teja stitched together an 81-run stand for the second wicket. Teja was aggressive – making 54 in 59 balls and lashing eight fours and a six – before left-arm spinner Saha trapped him in front. Arjun Yadav made 12 before falling in a similar manner. Badrinath remained unbeaten on a sedate 42 with wicketkeeper Prasad Reddy keeping him company.
ScorecardA spirited performance from England Lions’ gave them the edge going into the final day of their match against Central Zone. Chasing a stiff 296 for victory, they reached a confident 146 for 1 by stumps in Vadodara.Joe Denly was the only Lions’ wicket to fall, trapped in front by left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta for 15. Michael Carberry and captain Michael Yardy then forged an unbroken 116-run stand for the second wicket to lead the Lions’ pursuit. Needing to score the highest total of the match to win, Carberry and Yardy both played patient knocks to ensure there was no repeat of the second day’s batting collapse. Carberry, who made 35 in the first innings, didn’t throw away his start this time, finishing on an unbeaten 71, including 12 fours and a six. The experienced Yardy had reached 57 by stumps.Central had started the day in control after gaining a 115-run first-innings lead but were kept down to a moderate 180 in their second. With a top-order collapse seeing them at a parlous 39 for 4, Mohammad Kaif, the captain, tried to salvage the situation, top scoring with 42. The tail also resisted with a 60-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Jalaj Saxena (27) and Sanjib Sanyal (37).All the Lions’ bowlers chipped in, with Graham Onions being the most successful, taking three wickets. Monty Panesar was expensive but got the big wicket of the in-form Kaif while legspinner Adil Rashid made short work of the last two wickets.