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A change of venue brought a change of luck for Bangladesh as they picked up their first win of the tour, at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It was their fifth win in seven completed matches at the ground, but their captain Shakib Al Hasan played down the role of the conditions, saying it was a good performance that brought the change in fortune.”I think this suits us more than the Harare ground,” Shakib said. “The wicket had some spin, enough for our bowlers to do something. I don’t think we always win here because it suits us; we played good cricket today. The spinners were steady and Rubel [Hossain] bowled brilliantly. Today all the three parts clicked, though we can still improve our game and be more consistent.”Bangladesh came into the ODI series as favourites, having dominated Zimbabwe in recent years – they had won the last six bilateral ODI series between the two countries before this one. Shakib admitted that now that they had lost the series there was less pressure, which helped, but pointed to the team’s lack of cricket in recent months as one of the main reasons for the 3-1 scoreline in favour of Zimbabwe.Before this tour Bangladesh had not played since April, and apart from Shakib, who played in the IPL and then for Worcestershire, and Tamim Iqbal, who played for Nottinghamshire in the Friends life T20, the rest of the Bangladesh players have not had much cricket since then.”There was individual pressure on players; plus we haven’t played competitive cricket for three months, except for me and Tamim,” Shakib said. “It was difficult to adjust for the others. I and Tamim had the mindset, but the rest felt some pressure. If we could have adjusted a bit earlier, it would have helped.”Though the win will not affect the series result, Shakib said there were positives to take from it, and was particularly happy with the new players in the Bangladesh team. Nasir Hossain and Shuvagoto Hom have both made impressive starts to their careers, and Shuvagoto helped steer Bangladesh to victory today in the company of Shakib. “I am very satisfied with them. The way Shuvagoto batted, I really liked it. It didn’t seem as if he was someone new to international cricket.”I still think we should have finished today’s game better. We needed 70-odd and we had lost four wickets. If I had got out suddenly, there would have been a lot of pressure on the new batsmen. Senior players should take the responsibility of finishing the game. But I liked the way our top-order batsmen showed a positive mindset, something that we wanted from the beginning. We still have one more game to go and if we can finish that on a high note, there’ll be some positives we can take back home.”Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe’s coach, said his side had not become complacent and were determined to stop Bangladesh from winning the last game, on August 21 in Bulawayo.”We spoke a lot about not getting complacent because we have already won the series,” Butcher said. “We wanted to win the series 5-0. But on the day we’ve played poorly and Bangladesh deserve to win. We had a good wicket to bat on and ended up 60-80 runs short of a competitive target. There were soft dismissals, a silly run-out and a collapse at the end. Apart from [Brendan] Taylor, who was excellent, the rest of the batting was ordinary.”Zimbabwe were without their star bowler of this tour, Brian Vitori, in Bulawayo because of an injury, but Butcher said he could be back for the last game.”Vitori was having problems with his calf muscle during the last game in Harare so we decided it was better to rest him before it got worse. Hopefully he’ll be ready for Sunday. But we won’t play him if he’s not 100% fit.”Butcher said he was aware Bangladesh were improving as the series went on but said the defeat was more due to their own mistakes. “We saw in the last game in Harare that Bangladesh were improving, but we expected more of ourselves than what we produced today. We need to turn that around on Sunday.”

ScorecardSussex’s Monty Panesar claimed his first five-wicket haul of the season but Gary Ballance led a determined rearguard action to earn Yorkshire a draw in their Division One clash at Hove. Panesar claimed 5 for 89 – the second five-wicket haul of his Sussex career – but Zimbabwean Ballance batted for more than four hours for his unbeaten 73 to steer Yorkshire to safety on 314 for 8, a lead of 39 when the players shook hands.Yorkshire began the day still 246 behind and their hopes of survival looked slim, but Andrew Gale and Anthony McGrath survived for 70 minutes although skipper Gale was badly dropped at third slip by Kirk Wernars off fellow South African Wayne Parnell.McGrath looked to be settling in for a long vigil but having hit eight fours and helped add 53 in 15 overs with his captain, he played fatally back to Panesar’s arm ball in the 29th over for 44. McGrath has yet to lodge a Championship half-century this season.Panesar, exploiting some rough on a wearing pitch, struck again 15 balls before lunch when Gale, who never looked comfortable against the left-arm spin, was bowled around his legs. Jonny Bairstow refused to be tied down, though, and either side of lunch he took the attack back to Panesar with some impressive drives on both sides of the wicket.He struck Panesar for successive fours to move to his half-century and then Panesar conceded 18 runs in one over including two wides as his control briefly deserted him. Yorkshire scored 58 in nine overs after lunch as left-hander Ballance joined Bairstow in a fifth-wicket stand of 78 in 18 overs.But Bairstow played one aggressive shot too many and was caught off a top-edged sweep by Wernars, running in from the square-leg boundary, to give Panesar his third wicket. His 76 contained 14 fours and a six. Ballance settled for long periods of watchful defence, both against the spin of Panesar and Chris Nash’s off breaks, and then stood firm when Sussex took the second new ball.Panesar returned to remove Adil Rashid with the first ball after tea after he helped Ballance add 68 in 20 overs for the sixth wicket, the otherwise inconsistent Amjad Khan trapped Ajmal Shahzad lbw and when Panesar bowled Ryan Sidebottom through the gate there were still 15 overs remaining for Sussex to take the remaining two wickets and force victory.But No. 10 Steve Patterson survived 41 balls with Ballance as Yorkshire stopped the rot after successive away defeats in the Championship. Ballance’s 73 came from 207 balls, with eight fours and two sixes.

Scorecard
A maiden first-class century from Keith Barker couldn’t prevent Durham from completing an innings and 103-run victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The win takes Durham up to second place in the table, just three points behind Lancashire, who have played one fewer game. The teams meet at Chester-le-Street in a match that starts on Sunday.In the end, Durham were made to work for this win. When Rikki Clarke became the seventh Warwickshire man to fall in their second innings, there was a possibility the match might not even make it to lunch. As it transpired, however, the game was deep inside the final hour by the time Ruel Brathwaite plucked out the final two wickets.That Warwickshire came so close to saving the game was almost entirely due to the efforts of their final four batsmen. It took Durham 69 overs to prise out the final three wickets as Barker and Naqaash Tahir, in particular, showed a level of resolve that put their top-order colleagues to shame.The absence of Steve Harmison also delayed Durham. Harmison managed just five overs on the final day as he nursed a sprained joint in his spine. He’s also a doubt for the Lancashire game.In many ways, Warwickshire didn’t deserve a draw. The majority of their batting and all of their bowling was pretty awful and Durham outplayed them in all departments. But the resistance of Barker and Naqaash was excellent. Neither man had previously made a first-class half-century, but they put the affable nature of this pitch into perspective with a stand if 117 in 41.2 overs.Unlike many left-handers, Barker is not a particularly elegant batsman. The 24-year-old former pro footballer strikes the ball with tremendous power, however, and played in an admirably straight and compact manner. Before this innings, his previous first-class score was just 31 but, such was the quality of his driving and pulling, in particular, that there appears no obvious reason why he should not develop into a genuine allrounder capable of batting in the top six and bowling as part of a four-man seam attack.Naqaash also impressed. When he made his Championship debut, in 2004, he often acted as nightwatchman and produced several valuable contributions. His batting had regressed since then, however, and this was only his sixth score in excess of 30 in 56 first-class games.For the most part, he was utterly strokeless. He defended stoutly, however and, unlike his top-order colleagues he refused to be drawn into strokes outside the off stump. His 195-ball vigil lasted 69 overs – just 10 minutes short of four hours – and left him suffering from cramp in both arms.In the end, however, it was all in vain. In truth, their resistance only highlighted the fragility of Warwickshire’s top-order batting. On a pitch that has remained docile throughout, Warwickshire’s specialist batsmen continued to attach far too little value to their wickets with Jim Troughton, Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke all perishing to ill-disciplined prods outside the off stump, while Tim Ambrose played around a straight ball.But, as the ball softened and the bowlers tired, Durham’s attack struggled to finish off the game. There was little help for the spinners and, though Callum Thorp looked dangerous throughout, Ben Stokes struggled to maintain a tight enough line. In the end it was Blackwell who made the breakthrough. The over after Barker reached his chanceless century, he edged one that was pushed on to him to slip.Still Durham’s wait went on, however. Chris Metters lasted for 77 minutes, helping Naqaash add another 55 runs in 25 overs and resist everything Durham could throw at them with the second new ball.Finally, however, just as it appeared that Warwickshire might pull-off a highly unlikely escape, Brathwaite struck the decisive blow. First he produced a quick yorker to end Chris Metters’ 80-minute battle, before he managed to persuade Naqaash to follow one that may have bounced more than the batsman expected and edge the ball to third slip. Just 54 balls remained.It meant Warwickshire ended with just one point from the game – their worst return in a championship since Leicestershire inflicted a similar result in 2002 – while it was the third time in four games that Durham had taken a maximum 24 points.”We’ve got to be better than that,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles admitted afterwards. “In the first innings, too many of our batsmen played a part in their own dismissals and we’ve had too many people getting 20s, 30s and 40s without going on to get 100s.”At least our lower-order batsmen showed good courage. But we should never have been in the position where they had to bat for two sessions to save the game. We have to learn from this and do better.”

Match Facts

April 28, Bridgetown, Barbados
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)
Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have added 68 and 66 for the first wicket•AFP

The Big Picture

April 28 is Heroes Day in Barbados. A national holiday to celebrate people the country is proud of. Like Grantley Adams and Garry Sobers. The West Indies cricket team is in desperate need of a hero – Bajan or otherwise – as they bid to keep the series alive at the Kensington Oval. Unfortunately the cricketers likeliest to produce heroic feats are injured, dropped or plying their trade in India. Darren Sammy’s team trails 0-2, and unless they improve dramatically on two inept performances, Pakistan will secure the series with two games to spare.West Indies have bowling problems. They took only five Pakistan wickets in 89.3 overs in the first two ODIs. Devendra Bishoo accounted for four, while the other was a run-out. Kemar Roach is a threat with the new ball but Pakistan’s batsmen have simply played out his testing deliveries, while scoring off the gentle medium-pace at the other end. Jerome Taylor, who would have been an able new-ball partner for Roach, is playing in the IPL instead.Pakistan have also had the luxury of being able to chase at their own pace, because West Indies’ batsmen have been clueless against spin. It was this that decided the first two one-dayers extremely early in the contest. No one has been able to read the variations of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. At one extreme, Darren Bravo played a shot too many in the second ODI, and at the other Marlon Samuels couldn’t play one if he wanted to.The formula for Pakistan, on a turning St Lucia pitch, was simple. Let West Indies bat first, use spinners to stifle the scoring and pick up wickets without needing to produce anything spectacular, after which their batsmen chase at leisure. The outcome has been rather unattractive to watch – two dreary, uncompetitive matches – but that is no fault of Pakistan’s. They too arrived in the Caribbean with several young players, and they’ve managed to cope far better than the hosts have.

Form guide

(most recent first)West Indies LLLLL
Pakistan WWLWW

Watch out for…

Marlon Samuels’ international comeback, after serving a two-year ban, has not been successful. He made 2 off 19 balls in the first one-dayer and then stagnated spectacularly in the second, pottering around for 3 off 36 balls before finishing up with 29 off 74. His innings played a significant role in West Indies losing direction after a positive start. Given the turbulence in West Indies cricket at the moment, Samuels can hope for a few more opportunities to stake a claim to a permanent spot in the team.Mohammad Hafeez is fast becoming an integral component in the Pakistan squad, his all-round skills maintaining the balance of the team. He does a Shane Watson, opening the innings, often scoring quickly, and then bowling ten reliable overs, sometimes taking the new ball. He took 1 for 36 and made 54 in the first ODI, and contributed 2 for 38 and 32 in the second.

Team news

Despite two drubbings, the West Indian selectors persevered with the same 13-man squad for the third ODI. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Taylor are in India, while Fidel Edwards is not yet match fit. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Sulieman Benn remain unpicked. The fact that the squad was retained for only the third ODI is perhaps an indication that another failure will result in changes. Anthony Martin, the Antiguan legspinner, had a satisfactory debut – taking 0 for 36 off ten overs – so he could keep his place ahead of Andre Russell.West Indies (possible): 1 Devon Smith, 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kirk Edwards, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Carlton Baugh (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Anthony Martin
Pakistan played the same XI in both games, and with the results they’ve had, there is no need to change it as they push for a series win.Pakistan (possible): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Hammad Azam, 7 Mohammad Salman (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Saeed Ajmal

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at the Beausejour Stadium had surprised Sammy, who did not think it would aid spin as much as it did. The Kensington Oval surface should be better for batting, but thundery showers are forecast for Thursday.

Stats and trivia

• Samuels scored 16 runs off 67 balls against Pakistan’s spinners in the first two one-day internationals
• West Indies have won two and lost two of the four ODIs they’ve played at Kensington Oval, over the last five years
• Pakistan have played only one ODI in Bridgetown, in 2000. They won that game by 17 runs.

Quotes

“I would like to thank my team management for the way they have supported me. Shahid is the man to follow. He is giving confidence to every single individual – I think it is amazing.”
“We weren’t rolled over. We kept ourselves in the matches right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn’t make it happen.”
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ScorecardBoyd Rankin took five wickets against Lancashire but it was Rikki Clarke who impressed the most•Getty Images

Read any article about Rikki Clarke and the word ‘potential’ will occur as frequently as a half-volley used to appear in one of his overs. And that’s pretty often. Indeed, ‘potential’ might just be the most over-used word in cricket. Some players are described as full of potential well into their 30s.Now, however, a decade into a career that has so far promised far more than it has delivered, Clarke finally seems to be fulfilling some of the immense talent that first earned him an England call-up at the age of just 21.The 29-year-old Clarke is now, against all expectations, emerging as the most reliable member of an impressive Warwickshire attack. After several years where his bowling had become almost irrelevant, Clarke has finally found the consistency to add to the pace and skill he has always possessed.Warwickshire were certainly grateful for his bowling on the first day of their Championship match against Lancashire. Clarke, bowling with pace, hostility and, more pertinently, consistency, claimed three top-order wickets, three catches and played a key role in bowling Lancashire out for just 227. So, might he now be fulfilling all that expectation?”That word ‘potential’ has been there ever since I was 18 or 19,” Clarke said afterwards. “And I’ll admit that there were probably times when I played for England and I didn’t warrant a place. I got there on potential.”Why have I not fully fulfilled that potential? Well, it’s not for lack of trying, I can tell you. But maybe I did take that potential for granted a little bit. I’m definitely working harder than ever before and I’ve taken playing for England out of the equation. I’m just not thinking about it.”There’s still time. You just look at other guys like Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett and Ryan Sidebottom. They showed you can come back into the side. If they can do it, so can I. And I know this is a cliche, but the best thing I can do now, is just concentrate on taking each day as it comes and doing my best for Warwickshire.”I know my game far better now. I know my bowling action and I feel really comfortable and confident. I’m at a club where I’m backed and I feel I can relax a bit more and enjoy my cricket.”There are many who doubt Clarke and he knows he’ll have to do perform over a much longer period to win them over. There are few men in county cricket who can bowl at pace and command a place in the top six of their batting line-up, however, so if Clarke continues his current form, he may yet have more of a role to play in international cricket.The first day of this game was not all about Clarke, however. Boyd Rankin bowled equally as well and, thanks to some tailend wickets, ended up with the more impressive figures. The lofty Irishman, extracting nasty lift from the sluggish surface, claimed his second five-wicket haul in three Championship games and wrapped up the Lancashire innings by taking the final three wickets at the cost of one run in just five balls.Rankin, encouraged to bowl short by his captain, Ian Bell, proved too hostile for the lower-order and troubled all the batsmen with his probing line and steep bounce. He, too, may yet have a role to play for England. While there are a couple of similar bowlers ahead of him in the queue at present – Tremlett and Finn spring to mind – Rankin is only 26 and still seems to be improving.”I want to play cricket at the highest level I can,” Rankin said afterwards. “In an ideal world that would be for Ireland but, to be honest, I can’t see Ireland getting Test status in the near future. I can’t see it happening in my playing lifetime.”And if the ICC decide to exclude us from the World Cup, there will be very little incentive for us. The World Cup gives us something to aim for. If they don’t let us play, you’ll see loads more young Irish lads come over to play in England and cricket in Ireland will just fade away.”This was not a particularly impressive batting display from Lancashire, however. Karl Brown and Steven Croft both fell when they left straight deliveries, while Mark Chilton edged a horribly loose drive and Gareth Cross rather spoiled his fine innings when he played on as he attempted to force without foot movement.Their entire innings was built around two noteworthy stands. First Stephen Moore and Chilton added 63 for the third wicket, before Cross and Luke Procter added 90 for the sixth. None of them managed to convert their good starts into the substantial innings their team needed, however. Moore, dropped by Clarke at slip off Rankin when he had 45, was unable to capitalise and was adjudged lbw after he propped half forward to the same bowler. It was the sixth time in nine innings this season that Moore has been dismissed with his score between 45 and 73.When Procter fell, prodding at one outside off stump, it precipitated a dramatic collapse, with. Lancashire losing their last five wickets for the addition of just eight runs in 40 balls. It’s the first time Lancashire have been dismissed for under 450 in their first innings this season. On a pitch of variable bounce, however, it may not prove to be quite such an inadequate total as it seems at first glance.James Anderson, bowling with good pace, soon dismissed William Porterfield with one that nipped back when Warwickshire began their reply. But Bell and Varun Chopra survived a torrid evening session to see their side to the close without further loss. Bell is captaining Warwickshire in place of the injured Jim Troughton, who hurt his shoulder in the field on Monday, while last season’s captain, Ian Westwood, was dropped to make way for Jonathan Trott.Lancashire, meanwhile, are without Sajid Mahmood and Farveez Maharoof, both of whom are suffering from minor injuries. Instead, they are fielding two left-arm spinners, with Simon Kerrigan playing his first Championship game of the season. On a pitch which has so far favoured the seamers, it’s a decision that may come to rue.

Darren Sammy is ready for Ireland. In fact, eager could be the right word. Barely a minute had passed after William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, finished with his pre-match press briefing. The ICC spokesperson was in the middle of his announcement that Sammy was scheduled to speak half hour later. Unknown to him Sammy was already there. Unprompted, he apologised to everyone about arriving early and without any notice. A gleaming smile and a few chuckles lit up the atmosphere.In the last month the West Indies have been through some rough times right from the build-up phase. Adrian Barath and Carlton Baugh picked up injuries during the warm-up stage and had to go back home. Then came a bigger shock, one that Sammy calls the turning point, when Dwayne Bravo buckled his knee against South Africa in their first match and was out of the World Cup. The agony was exacerbated by the seven-wicket loss in the same match. But in the next two matches, it seemed West Indies had bounced back with consecutive wins, against the Netherlands followed by the decimation of Bangladesh. The victory in Dhaka was the fastest result in the tournament but even before the players could plan any celebrations, angry local fans transformed themselves into party poopers and hurled stones at the West Indies team bus. It was Chris Gayle who had made the news public through at tweet and summed up the nerves best, “kiss teeth”. Next morning the drama intensified when the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat suggested the incident was cursory. Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, reacted furiously once he landed in Mohali.Suddenly cricket took a backseat. But today Sammy cleverly slid the attention back to the game. “Something happened there….” Sammy started with a smile, and left the sentence hanging briefly, asked if the furore following the stone-pelting in Bangladesh distracted his team. “It is behind us,” he finished to sum up his thoughts on the matter.Darren Sammy says West Indies are fully focussed on the task at hand•Getty Images

If anything the mood in the West Indies camp was buoyant. Batsmen and bowlers teased each other while going through the drills while the wise pair of Gibson and Richie Richardson kept a close watch, making sure there was a purpose and the players did not lose focus on the eve of an important clash, against one the most spirited contestants in the tournament – Ireland. The Irish have progressed fast since the last time both teams clashed in an international competition – the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean last year – in a group match which West Indies won.Sammy is wary of the team that shocked England in the most thrilling clash of the World Cup so far and gave a fright to India few days later. They now are in fray for a knockout berth, similar to the West Indies. “It is a team we never take for granted,” the West Indies captain said. “We have a lot of respect for them. They are a team that is improving constantly which shows their cricket is moving forward. We are definitely not taking them lightly. We have seen what they are capable of doing.”If he had praise for the opponent, he also showed faith in his own men. “Last two games have shown that if we execute our plans anything is possible,” Sammy said. According to him the West Indies remained confident about making the quarter-finals stage because all players were thinking as one. And that bonding would keep them positive and hungry. “The one thing is we have always had a good camaraderie. The past few weeks have been kind of up and down but we have stuck together as a team. We know what we are here for. All the guys have been managing the distractions quite well. The guys are really focussed and we know we have a job at hand,” Sammy said.Yet, West Indies are prone to be inconsistent. In the past their batsmen have failed to bring the required intensity to the contest, making it difficult for an already thin bowling attack. It was evident in the South Africa match, where after a good start the West Indies batting went into meltdown. A match that they should’ve won was lost. But against the Netherlands and then Bangladesh the West Indies flourished as they played joyously and won. “Against South Africa we knew where we went wrong. We were in a good position, we created opportunities where we could’ve taken a grip over the game but we did not. It is important that when we play against higher-ranked teams and we are in a position where we could affect a result in our favour. It is about maximising the chances presented in the game,” Sammy pointed out.After Ireland, the West Indies are slotted to face England and India. Hence tomorrow’s match has assumed a bigger significance. “Consistency is very important going forward. So far we have managed two wins, convincing wins and we will be riding on them. We will remember all the things we did in those games, take the positives and carry them forward to the next game,” Sammy said. Already Sammy is itching to have a go.

ScorecardShafiul Islam showed signs that he is ready to be Bangladesh’s spearhead•AFP

Bangladesh barely broke a sweat as they walked all over Canada at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Even though left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who was the leading wicket-taker in their last ODI series, did not get a wicket, Bangladesh managed to bowl Canada out for 112.Shafiul Islam and captain Shakib Al Hasan both returned remarkable figures, bowling only four and 3.3 overs respectively. Shafiul struck two early blows, getting rid off Hiral Patel for a duck in the first over, and then dismissing Canada’s senior-most player John Davison. In the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul has to shoulder the responsibility of spearheading the Bangladesh attack, and he would be happy to have picked up a couple of wickets.With Shafiul rested after his opening spell, Rubel Hossain toiled for eight overs and finished with figures of 2 for 42. Shakib held himself back, using as many as six other bowlers, as he tried to give everyone a chance to prove their worth. When he finally came into the attack, he wrapped up the Canada innings quickly. A couple of strikes in the 27th over compounded the problems Canada already had after they lost early wickets, and they slid to 81 for 8. Shakib then took the last wicket to finish with figures of 3 for 5.Offspinner Mahmudullah also had a good outing, picking up two wickets, including that of Canada’s captain Ashish Bagai for 30. Left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo was the only bowler in the squad who wasn’t given a go at Canada’s batsmen.Tamim Iqbal had said before the tournament he intended to be the top scorer in every match he played during the World Cup and from the evidence of Saturday’s match he has already started his efforts to attain that goal. Tamim smashed three sixes and seven fours in his 69 off 50 balls, and Bangladesh raced to the target in 19.2 overs. The hosts’ only grouse would have been that Tamim’s belligerence did not allow anyone else to have a knock.The ruthless performance will serve further notice of the threat Bangladesh pose during the World Cup.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTim Southee took 5 for 33 to rip through Pakistan•AFP

Shahid Afridi won the toss and batted. Daniel Vettori wanted to do the same. Both captains expected the drop-in pitch at the Westpac Stadium to have runs in it. Instead, Pakistan’s batsmen faced a torrid examination of their techniques during an extravagant display of swing and seam bowling from Tim Southee. They were beaten innumerable times on both edges and five eventually succumbed to him. And the rest of the New Zealand attack, Hamish Bennett in particular, supported Southee by building pressure, giving away nothing. The outcome was a spectacular collapse that ended in the 38th over, leaving New Zealand with a modest target, which they overhauled with aggression.The same sequence of events, with different characters, played on loop. A bowler pitched on a good length, the ball angled in before seaming away, the batsman fished, and if he was lucky, he missed. Pakistan’s run-rate dipped below 3.50 after the second over and it did not reach that height again. Of the six boundaries that were hit in the first 30 overs, only two were the product of fluent strokes. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, who secured victory in the Test series, struggled but appeared to be guiding Pakistan out of the mire. Then Bennett, a fast bowler built like an All Black, ripped through the resistance with a double-strike in two balls. Amid the uncertainty over the identity of Pakistan’s World Cup captain, Afridi failed while his deputy Misbah, defiant at one end, watched his team-mates come and go. Allan Donald, New Zealand’s brand new bowling coach, looked on with satisfaction.When New Zealand came out to chase, though, the Pakistan bowlers were unable to recreate the trouble their batsmen had suffered. Their lines and lengths were not bad initially, but the lateral movement was negligible, and Jesse Ryder, hurting after one duck too many in the Tests, went after them. He drove, hooked and slashed his way to a rapid half-century, and in the company of Martin Guptill, set up a nine-wicket victory with 32.4 overs to spare. The result continued the trend of New Zealand skittling teams cheaply at the Westpac Stadium, and chasing with relative ease.The afternoon had begun with Kamran Akmal threading a square drive through the narrow gap between two fielders in the point region – a false dawn. Southee’s first ball was a wide outswinger that Kamran chased and missed. He then strayed on to the pads twice but wasn’t punished by the openers. Southee was fine-tuning his line and length, and once he found it, he was swinging the ball into off and seaming it away. The one that cut back amid the outswingers only added to the confusion.Mohammad Hafeez had struggled for eight scoreless deliveries before he poked at one that seamed away, edging Southee to Brendon McCullum. Kamran, who had shown patience and adequate technique for 22 balls, eventually chased another seaming delivery and watched Ryder leap to his left at point to take a sharp catch. Asad Shafiq was unlucky to be given lbw because the one that nipped back into him, after he had been beaten by several outswingers, hit him high on the back thigh. Southee’s first spell was 6-0-16-3.Southee was not without support, though, for Franklin, Jacob Oram and Bennett were tight. There was pressure at both ends and wickets from one. Younis and Misbah nudged around for singles, unable to do much else. Younis, beaten several times, smiled in the knowledge that today, unlike most other ODI days, would not be a batsman’s day. And then he was late in pushing off the back foot against a quick one from Bennett and edged behind. Umar Akmal came and went in a jiffy, edging a rising delivery to first slip. Pakistan were 57 for 5.They could have been worse off but Afridi’s attempt to attack Vettori, a mis-timed loft to long-on, was dropped by Oram. Afridi was on 3. They were worse off soon, though, when Southee returned for his second spell and got Afridi to edge to McCullum, who leapt acrobatically across first slip to take his 200th catch. In the 30th over Abdul Razzaq, the last of the recognised batsmen, square drove Oram for four. It was only the second shot of authority of the innings. A ball later he hung his bat out to edge behind. Abdur Rehman did likewise next ball.Misbah, rapidly running out of partners, took the batting Powerplay in the 35th over and carted Oram over the midwicket boundary for the innings’ only six. He attacked Southee too, lofting over cover and driving down the ground, desperate to add whatever he could to Pakistan’s meagre total. He got to a well-earned half-century, but then walked too far across his stumps to play to leg and was bowled. Fittingly, Southee was the bowler and the final wicket was his fifth.Any hopes of Pakistan’s bowlers triggering a collapse ended in the fifth over of the chase. Ryder took on Shoaib Akhtar, lofting over the off side for four, hooking for six and powering past mid-off in an over that cost 17. In the next over, Ryder carted Sohail Tanvir over mid-off and then swung a full ball over the square-leg boundary. New Zealand had raced to 50 after six overs, when the tea break was taken. Ryder fell after the resumption but New Zealand, steered by Guptill, stormed to an emphatic victory that ended a streak of 11 consecutive defeats.

Canterbury won a close game against Central Districts at Saxton Oval in Nelson, to earn eight points and join Wellington, Auckland and Northern Districts at the top of the points table.Canterbury won the toss and chose to bat and got off to a solid start with Peter Fulton and Rob Nicol adding 68 for the first wicket in the first nine overs before Fulton was dismissed. George Worker and Seth Rance struck in quick succession, and at 99 for 3, Canterbury looked like they had frittered away a good start. Shannan Stewart and Ryan ten Doeschate then put on 37 for the fourth wicket to stabilise the innings. However, once Stewart was dismissed with the score on 136, Canterbury suffered a collapse as they lost four wickets – that included two run-outs and two wickets to medium-pacer Adam Milne – for just 11 runs, to reach 147 for 8 in their 20 overs.Central Districts’ chase started disastrously as Peter Ingram was dismissed off the very first ball by Richard Sherlock. However, Worker and Mathew Sinclair played solidly as they added 111 for the second wicket, and at 111 for 1, Central Districts looked well on their way to registering their second win of the tournament, needing 36 in four overs. Allrounder ten Doeschate got Canterbury right back in the game as he picked up Worker and Sinclair in the 17th over. Sherlock struck to pick up Michael Yardy in the 18th over. This was followed by two run-outs and Central Districts’ chase was effectively derailed, as they fell six runs short of their target to hand Canterbury their second successive win.Auckland beat Otago by 8 runs, via the D/L method, in a rain-affected game at Queen’s Park in Invercargill.Otago won the toss and chose to field under overcast conditions but it was Auckland who got off to a blistering start as Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Adams blasted 19 runs off the first five balls of the innings. Seamer Darren Stevens had his revenge as he dismissed de Grandhomme off the final ball of the over. Stevens and Ian Butler, though, combined to pick up three wickets between them, as Auckland stumbled to 81 for 6 and looked in danger of being bowled out for a below-par total. However, Colin Munro (66*) combined with the lower order to haul Auckland out of trouble. Munro added 41 for the seventh wicket with Bradley Cachopa (25) and 48 for the eight wicket with Roneel Hira (15), to power Auckland to 175 for 8 in their 20 overs.Otago started their chase positively with Aaron Redmond and Hamish Rutherford adding 43 runs in the first six overs. However, 43 for no loss soon became 43 for 2 as Rutherford and Redmond were dismissed off successive deliveries. Otago captain Craig Cumming and Stevens set about getting the chase on track. They added 72 for the third wicket in just under nine overs, and at 116 for 3, with Cumming still unbeaten on a fluent 44, a close finish looked in store; Otago needed 60 runs off the last five overs with seven wickets in hand. However, heavy rain intervened and no further play was possible. Based on the D/L method, Otago were 9 runs short of the target (125) at that point. Auckland picked up four points while Otago continued their winless run.

The Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS) could undergo further changes, but will never be perfect, the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said. The system has had its fair share of supporters and detractors since the time it was first implemented in the India-Sri Lanka Tests in 2008. It is currently being used in the Ashes but will not be in operation for the India-South Africa series, due to India’s objection.”From the start we’ve always had a very open mind about the referral system and we are always open to changes that can make the system better,” Lorgat told . “I can’t say what those changes might be, but we are open-minded.”The UDRS received the ICC’s approval to be used in the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent, and the governing body has allowed the boards to implement the system in bilateral ODI series for teams to get used to the technology ahead of the tournament. Lorgat said support for UDRS was increasing. “More and more people are being won over to the system after having seen it or used it,” Lorgat said. “There are still a few people who are not supportive of it.”Lorgat stressed that the system’s purpose was to rectify any glaring umpiring errors, and cited Alastair Cook’s calling for a referral in the Adelaide Test against being given out caught-behind. “It is not there to get a wicket when you are struggling to find one, it is there to fix the obvious errors,” he said. “Alastair Cook’s referral on the fourth day when he was given out caught behind off his arm was a classic example.”That’s exactly what it is for, and I’m quite confident we are near to the ideal. We will never have it 100% right.”