All posts by csb10.top

England 285 and 422 for 5 (Vaughan 140, Trescothick 88) drew with West Indies 751 for 5 dec (Lara 400*) to secure a 3-0 series win
Scorecard

Michael Vaughan produced a captain’s innings of 140, to put his personal seal on an historic 3-0 series victory in the Caribbean. On a soporific final day in Antigua, the game briefly sparked back to life when West Indies’ spinners grabbed three quick wickets with the final hour approaching, but Graham Thorpe and Geraint Jones stemmed the jitters and batted with enough common sense to force Brian Lara to call off the hunt.It was a peaceful end to a high-octane series, but nothing could dampen the spirits of the Barmy Army, who sang lustily to the bitter end, and no wonder. Only one other side in history has ever pulled off a 3-0 away win in the Caribbean – Ian Johnson’s 1954-55 Australians, whose team included such luminaries as Richie Benaud, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Neil Harvey. It remains to be seen whether the likes of Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones will be spoken of in the same breath.After Lara’s phenomenal unbeaten 400, England did remarkably well to avoid being crushed by his sheer weight of runs. Despite following on after a first-innings bout of vertigo, Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick had regained England’s composure by the fourth evening to close on 145 for 0, and that was the hard part done. It was always going to take something out of the ordinary for West Indies to wrest the initiative back from there.Both Trescothick and Vaughan were quickly into their stride as the day resumed, cutting and square-driving a West Indian attack that appeared resigned to its fate. The pair had been England’s missing links throughout the series, but by the time their partnership ended at 182, they had almost exactly doubled their tally from seven previous efforts.It took a bizarre dismissal to separate them. Trescothick had moved to within 12 of his hundred, when he played forward to a full-length slower ball from Edwards, and somehow squeezed a catch to Ramnaresh Sarwan in the covers. It was a puzzling end to a cathartic innings, and Trescothick was as bemused as any onlooker as he trudged off – had he not checked his shot, he would surely have played it straight into the ground.Vaughan, however, was determined to seal the series with a captain’s knock, and he crashed to his hundred with a gorgeous cover-drive off Edwards, and then followed up with another one in the same over, just for good measure. He had one scare on 99, when Tino Best skimmed his bails with an offcutter as he shouldered arms, but Vaughan would no doubt put it down to impeccable judgment. This was the third time in four English follow-ons that he had made a century, and it was his most significant batting contribution since a similarly backs-to-the-wall effort against Sri Lanka at Kandy last December.After lunch, and with Lara off the field, the game began to drift as West Indies’ spinners wheeled away and Vaughan moved effortlessly towards another milestone. But Sarwan, West Indies’ stand-in captain, brought himself into the attack and in his very first over, he rolled a legbreak across Vaughan’s bows for Ridley Jacobs to snaffle a faint deflection off the glove. Vaughan was gone for 140, and England weren’t entirely out of the woods just yet.

After their crucial contributions earlier in the series, Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher were the perfect partnership to carry England to safety. Hussain, who was undoubtedly playing in his final innings in the Caribbean, bristled with attacking intent, with Best’s comeback over with the new ball disappearing for 11 runs. Butcher, meanwhile, sailed past his fourth fifty of the series – a metaphor for England’s serene progress.But it wouldn’t have been fair to let the series drift away without a final plot twist, and it was the innocuous spin of Ryan Hinds who sparked the final session into life. His first victim was Butcher, who had made 61 when he aimed a heave over midwicket and snicked a thin edge through to Chris Gayle at first slip (366 for 3). It was so thin, in fact, that Gayle wasn’t fully aware that he had made the breakthrough.Four overs later, Hinds struck again as Hussain swept ambitiously out of the rough and was bowled round his legs for 56 (387 for 4). At this stage, England still trailed by 79, and while Andrew Flintoff could have knocked that deficit off in a matter of minutes, he was determined to emulate his first innings and play sensibly. He wasn’t able to resist temptation, however, when Sarwan lollipopped up a rank full-toss, and Lara pocketed a simple miscue at midwicket (408 for 5).Lara quickly recalled his pacemen for one final victory push, but there was to be no fairytale ending for West Indies. Instead, as Vaughan held aloft the Wisden Trophy and England embarked on a lap of honour, they had to satisfy themselves with a reclaimed world record, and the belated recovery of their pride.

Flash performer keeps on walking
Adam Gilchrist’s farewell has become a blinding experience. So many people were desperate to capture his last game in Brisbane that the light created by the camera flashes was more like an Olympic athletics event than an ODI. His 14 ended when he walked after a leg-side edge that the umpire Steve Davis didn’t look like giving. The crowd stood to applaud his career and his honesty.Sing for Harbhajan
The banner “Go Bananas Roy” went up as soon as Harbhajan Singh walked out and the crowd bellowed “boo” to welcome and send him off. Between the greetings Harbhajan carved out a neat little cameo of 27. Having survived a tough Gilchrist miss, Harbhajan retaliated with a force that had some of the same crowd clapping. He cut hard, charged at the bowlers, drove and slapped at anything short. In the penultimate over he picked 12 off Nathan Bracken with the best shot being a cover drive on his knees. The crowd chanting continued when he fielded and he encouraged the spectators to make more noise by cupping his hand to his ear.Debutant jitters
Ashley Noffke’s initiation was as difficult as the one Brett Lee saved for Manoj Tiwary. Gautam Gambhir was the target when Noffke sprinted in for the ninth over, releasing a short and wide ball which was pushed through point for four. The second effort was glided to third man for two, the next offering was cut firmly to a fielder and a similar shot greeted the fourth, except it was lofted and raced to the boundary. A single was taken before Noffke got a roar from the slips when the sixth delivery was a dot. Having given up 11 off his first over and 27 from four, he did well to bring it back to 1 for 46 off nine.Back, back … bowled
Tiwary’s entry was more frightening as Lee welcomed him with a series of short balls, including a couple which narrowly missed his helmet. The back-foot diet was continued until Lee surprised the batsman with a superb slower, fuller delivery. Expecting another short one, Tiwary was unable to convince himself to move forward and his feet barely moved before the stumps were upset. The way Lee worked him over was a repeat of Wasim Jaffer’s dismissal in the first innings at the SCG.Hit and run
There’s always a first time, but Sachin Tendulkar wouldn’t have imagined he could get out hit wicket. Lee bowled one into his ribs and Tendulkar, who had already braced himself for the short one, took a step back, tapped the ball to the onside and dashed for a single. However, his right heel brushed the base of the stumps.Slips in slips
Michael Hussey, standing at second, wanted to clasp the catch, but instead he ended up spilling the low-down offering when Gambhir nicked an outswinger from Mitchell Johnson. Two balls later Gambhir played closer to his body and managed another edge, but this one was travelling high towards Ricky Ponting at first slip. He got his hands on it without controlling it above his head and the ball bounced behind him. It was a much harder effort, but not as difficult as the diving one Gilchrist almost reached off Harbhajan.Caught short
While Australia’s catching wasn’t so impressive, Ponting made sure the fielding was memorable with a fine direct hit from midwicket that cut short Irfan Pathan’s innings. After Michael Clarke’s brilliant pick-up-and-throw in the Twenty20, Ponting showed he could match his young team-mate from a similar distance.Listen to this
He had a false start on resumption after another rain break. He turned back and pitched it just short of a length and it climbed quite high to a surprised James Hopes who was caught unawares. But it was a no ball and to rub it in, Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave away four byes. Ishant Sharma’s tail was up. Hopes had no clue to the next three deliveries as Sharma beat him equally with pace and bounce. The following ball pitched on a good length and jagged back in fiercely to flatten the off stump, ending Hopes’ agony. Sharma celebrated his first wicket by cupping his hands around his ears to hear if the crowd had to say anything.

Sourav Ganguly says India will have extra motivation in their four-Test series against Australia because it will be the last trip to the country for several of the squad’s veterans. Ganguly said the tensions between the two sides during their recent ODI series in India were in the past and India would not be intimidated when the Tests begin on Boxing Day.Ganguly, 35, is looking forward to what will almost certainly be his last Test tour of Australia. It might also be the final visit for Sachin Tendulkar, 34, Rahul Dravid, 34, VVS Laxman, 33, and the captain Anil Kumble, 37.”This is motivation. A number of guys will not be back to Australia, so we want to play good cricket,” Ganguly told the . “The challenge for us is handling the Australian conditions.”We have not been so good away from home but we have been a lot more consistent in the past couple of years and that has given us confidence. It’s important we start well. If we can win in Melbourne, that will give us some good momentum.”Ganguly and India are in good form at the moment – India are 1-0 up in their Test series against Pakistan and Ganguly has scored two centuries. But he said succeeding in Australia was a very different prospect from playing well at home.”Winning in Australia is always difficult but we are confident,” he said. “This is probably the most experienced Indian team to come to Australia in quite a while – we know what to expect from them.”Although the most recent contest between the two teams was dominated by confrontations between players – notably Andrew Symonds and Sreesanth, who will miss the tour with a shoulder injury – Ganguly was confident India could handle anything Australia dish out. “That is not a worry for us,” he said.”What happened in India for me is in the past, but for Australia, maybe not. They will try to pressure us and they may say some things but we have many senior players who can handle that.”India begin their visit with a three-day tour match against Victoria starting on December 20. The four-Test series then begins on Boxing Day in Melbourne before Sydney, Perth and Adelaide host their Tests in January.

Scorecard
A comfortable ten-wicket win over the Combined Campuses & Colleges put Jamaica on top ofthe standings in the Carib Beer Series. Chasing just 26 to win, after they dismissed the CCC for 213 in theirsecond innings, Jamaica eased home after tea on the third day at Kensington Park. Jamaica’s spin-bowling trio of Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, and captain Tamar Lambert shared the ten CCC second-wickets to fall, Miller the most successful with 4 for 65 from 31.4 overs. Legspinner Brown, who took ten wickets in the opening match against Leeward Islands, took 3 for 40 and Lambert, bowling offspin, 3 for 59. CCC’s overnight pair of Simone Jackson and Nikoli Parris batted solidly till just before lunch, when Miller had Jackson caught behind for 49 playing defensively forward to leave the home team on 120 for two at lunch. Jackson and Morris added 91 for the second wicket and the innings crashed after the interval, as CCC, as they lost their last eight wickets for 76 runs.
Scorecard
Title-holders Barbados put themselves in a great position to whip Guyana, first totalling 531 – their highest total of in six seasons – and then reducing the opposition to 85 for 3 in their second innings when fading light ended play seven early on the third day of their second round match at Kensington Oval. Resuming on 256 for 3 Ryan Hinds perished in the second over of the day, for 108, but wicketkeeper Carlo Morris’ maiden first-class half-century, on his 28th birthday, and some positive, attacking batting from Sulieman Benn and Alcindo Holder lifted Barbados. Morris slammed a run-a-ball 70, Holder and Benn also helped themselves to scores of 58 apiece and Shamarh Brooks, set to captain West Indies Under-19 in this year’s ICC Youth World Cup in Malaysia next month, made 39. Holder and Brooks added 86 for the fifth wicket, in contrasting styles, before Morris and Benn put on 91 for the seventh. Kemar Roach, the fast bowler, had Guyana in early trouble wen he nipped out openers Travis Dowlin and Royston Crandon in his first two overs. Leon Johnson, the former West Indies yout captain, and fellow left-hander Narsingh Deonarine consolidated with a stand of 75 before Deonarine fell to Benn’s left-arm spin. Johnson, unbeaten on 21 from 101 balls, and Ramnaresh Sarwan have plenty to do on day four.
Scorecard
Leeward Islands swung themselves back into the game with the crucial wicket of Andre Fletcher and left themselves four wickets away from victory at Queen’s Park. Set 289 to win, Windward Islands collapsed to 186 for 6 at stumps on day three. Fletcher played some aggressive shots in his 57 but his dismissal, in the final hour of play, triggered a slide that saw the home team drop from 164 for 3 to 167 for six. Earlier, disciplined bowling from captain Deighton Butler and offspinner Liam Sebastien revived the Windwards’ fortunes as the visitors’ last five wickets tumbled for a mere 42 runs. Leewards resumed on 179 for 5 but Butler’s 4 for 50 and Sebastien’s 3 for 62 cut them to 221. Omari Banks, the captain, made 57, the highest score of the innings.

Andrew Leipus, who was replaced by John Gloster as the Indian team’s physio in February, has yet to be paid for the last five months of his tenure with the Indian team. Since his contract was worth US$50-60,000, the money owed to him is US$21-25,000. This revelation, by the , is the latest in a series of blows to the BCCI’s reputation in matters of finance.SK Nair, the secretary of the board, parried the issue to Jyoti Bajbai, the treasurer. “I distinctly remember that two weeks back I had cleared the payment,” said Nair. “The treasurer’s office usualy transfers the amount from the bank account in Kanpur to Andrew’s bank. We usually pay him in three instalments because of the RBI regulations.”Maybe,” Nair added, “the money is in transit.”Bajpai admitted that there had been a delay and said he was yet unclear about the payment. “I will have to check up. I am not quite sure about the payment. But, yes, there has been a delay.”The same newspaper stated that John Wright, who looks set to end his tenure as coach after Pakistan’s tour, remained unpaid for seven months last year, that the Indian team was yet to receive the Rs50lakh (approx. US$114,000) bonus they were awarded by the board after the series win in Pakistan, and that the first of the graded payments were still to be made to the team.

Middlesex Crusaders secured a six wicket victory over Glamorgan Dragons at Cardiff in the last round of National League matches.With three needed of the final ball young Irishman Joyce took an ambitious swing, and bottom edged the ball to the third man boundary.A nail biting finish never seemed on the cards after seamer Aaron Laraman had taken a career best 6-42 to restrict the Glamorgan Dragons to an under par 191-9. The Welshmen relied heavily on in form Michael Powell and his better than a run a ball contribution of 86 with 8 fours and a six off Ramprakash.Middlesex Crusaders seemed to be cruising, with Langer remaining undefeated on 75, but when Ramprakash top edged a hook, and Laraman was bowled the innings faltered, and the Londoners were grateful for Joyce’s fortuitous last ball heave.It was a sad ending for Maynard who was also dismissed for 0 in his last game as Glamorgan’s captain.

Lancashire 350 for 8 (Law 159, Bichel 3-56) v Worcestershire
Scorecard

Stuart Law cracked a superb 159 on the opening day of the penultimate round of County Championship matches, as Lancashire launched their survival bid with a spirited performance against Worcestershire at New Road. His efforts were backed up by a pair of half-centuries from Iain Sutcliffe and Glen Chapple, although Andy Bichel hit back with three vital wickets for Worcestershire, who themselves are in need of as many points as they can muster, given that they currently occupy the third relegation spot.Until Bichel returned for his final spell of the day, the honours belonged to Lancashire. But then Law and Dominic Cork were prised out in quick succession to leave Lancashire gasping for the last batting point on what is a good pitch. Law’s late dismissal, six overs before the close, was initially announced as caught behind, before being amended to lbw ten minutes later. His unhappiness was plain: head bowed, with feet shuffling turgidly, he was almost unaware of his ovation. For exactly five hours he had looked a class apart. Assertive throughout against Worcestershire’s four-nations bowling attack, he crunched 24 fours and a six, mainly through cover.His innings has already had a strong impact on this first-division basement battle, although aside from the prestige factor, it is unclear quite how damaging relegation will prove to be. Admittedly the prizemoney for winners and runners-up varies, but the ECB handout does not. Nor has Duncan Fletcher shown a marked partiality to top-division players. And this year the second-division teams have attracted some of the world’s leading lights, in the form of Ricky Ponting, Andy Flower and Shane Warne.After winning the toss under clear skies, Lancashire started weakly. Mark Chilton’s off stump was plucked out by Bichel to leave them 5 for 1, and Mal Loye was dropped in the gully on 8 shortly afterwards. Meanwhile Sutcliffe was in scratchy form, and Worcestershire were in command. The heat persuaded their captain, Steve Rhodes, to use his quicker bowlers in short spells, and when Matt Mason returned to the attack, he wangled a fatal waft from Loye. That brought Law to the crease in hot sunshine and, like the ice-cream van to the north side of ground, both were immovable until the dying overs.The dry, slightly mottled wicket, with balding strips of brown grass, warranted the early introduction of Ray Price, who spun through eight tidy overs before lunch. The break gave Sutcliffe a touch of fluency before Rhodes gleefully stumped him in the same over that he reached 50. Worcestershire’s decision to include a second spinner – Shaftab Khalid ahead of Nadeem Malik – may yet prove crucial.Carl Hooper never looked at ease before he fell lbw to Andrew Hall, and the pressure was piled onto Law. He was aided for a time by the debutant, Andrew Crook, who appeared casual and confident after his exploits in the 2nd XI, but he eventually played back to Khalid and was caught behind for 27. Law found a redoubtable ally in Chapple, and together they added 108. Chapple used his feet well to counter the turn and exhibited a useful array of strokes, only to fall in the final hour, trying to hit the ball over extra cover. Then Bichel returned, and Worcestershire inched back into the ascendancy.Deb Biswas is a freelance writer with the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif celebrated his inclusion in the World Cup squad by snapping up four catches as Allied Bank Limited (ABL) dominated the opening day’s play in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Group-II match against Karachi Whites.After being sent bat by Rashid, the ABL skipper, Karachi Whites failed to capitalised on a solid start provided by openers Agha Sabir and Maisam Hasnain on a placid track at the National Stadium.The reigning champions eventually capitulated for 195 in their first innings with former Test pacer Aqib Javed taking four for 51.The bankers then reached 70 for two in 14 overs at stumps with Bilal Asad (39) and night-watchman Arshad Khan (3) at the crease.Play was held up for 36 minutes in the first session by poor light after the match started in overcast conditions. But the time lost was covered up after tea in bright sunshine.Skipper Maisam and Sabir did quite well and almost survived the opening session against the pace trio of Aqib Javed, Tanvir Ahmed and Ata-ur-Rehman.Aqib struck on the stroke of lunch when he induced Sabir (27) to edge a delivery to Rashid with the total on 61. Soon after the break, Aqib trapped Wasim Naeem in front for four.Maisam also perished when he fell to off-spin of Arshad for 31.Asim Kamal, the dusky left-hander, batted doggedly for 147 minutes to top-score with a 108-ball 32.In between, Mohammad Masroor played some spanking strokes to score 27 off 38 balls before he was magnificently held by Rashid, diving low to right in front of first slip. Two balls later in the same over, Tanvir clean bowled Fahadullah for a duck. Thereafter, wickets fell at regular intervals. Aqib was ably assisted by by Tanvir who captured three for 53 and Ata, another ex-Test man, two for 45.ScoreboardKARACHI WHITES (1st Innings):Agha Sabir c Rashid b Aqib 27Maisam Hasnain c Wajahat b Arshad 31Wasim Naeem lbw b Aqib 4Asim Kamal c Rashid b Ata 32M. Masroor c Rashid b Tanvir 27Fahadullah b Tanvir 0Amin-ur-Rehman lbw b Tanvir 15Tahir Khan c Ata b Aqib 15Rizwan Saeed lbw b Ata 13Owais Athar not out 1Nasir Khan c Rashid b Aqib 5EXTRAS (B-4, LB-9, W-1, NB-11) 25TOTAL (all out, 57.3 overs) 195FALL OF WKTS: 1-61, 2-67, 3-81, 4-120, 5-120, 6-152, 7-167,8-181, 9-189.BOWLING: Aqib Javed 17.3-3-51-4 (5nb); Tanvir Ahmed 18-4-53-3;Ata-ur-Rehman 12-3-45-2 (6nb, 1w); Arshad Khan 10-2-33-1.ALLIED BANK (1st Innings):Usman Tariq lbw b Owais 5Bilal Asad not out 39Wajahatullah Wasti b Rizwan 16Arshad Khan not out 3EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-3) 7TOTAL (for two wkts, 14 overs) 70FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-65.TO BAT: Naved Latif, Ijaz Ahmed Jr, Aamir Hanif, Rashid Latif,Tanvir Ahmed, Ata-ur-Rehman, Aqib Javed.BOWLING (to-date): Nasir Khan 6-0-26-0 (2w);Owais Athar 6-0-24-1 (1nb); Rizwan Saeed 2-0-18-1 (2nb).Summarised scores of other Group-II matches:*At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan:PAK PWD 270-6 (Afsar Nawaz 116 not out,Riaz Shaikh 88 not out; Azhar Abbas 4-73) v MULTAN.*Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur:BAHAWALPUR 241 (Bilal Rana 65, Hasnain Raza 43, Maqsood Akbar 32, Ahsan Raza 31; Rizwan Ahmed 6-88, Athar Laeeq 4-58) v DADU.

Close
Scorecard

Ashley Giles emerged as the unlikely hero for England, returning to form with three wickets to give his side the edge on a rain-affected first day at Galle. It was a tale of two halves either side of a two-hour rain delay in the afternoon: the first one belonged to Sri Lanka, but England hit back to take the honours in the second as Sri Lanka closed on 138 for 4.On another brutally hot day, Michael Vaughan was beginning to rue his failure to call correctly at the toss – today was his eighth reverse in his last nine internationals – as Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu fended off the new ball and passed 3000 Test runs together as an opening pair. Atapattu was as watchful as ever, while Jayasuriya started with a bang, but then also knuckled down to solid defence.England’s bowling was economical rather than threatening. Paul Collingwood, making his Test debut in place of Nasser Hussain, who has a viral infection, was brought on for a brief spell and found some useful shape with his outswingers. Gareth Batty, who had to be dragged from the sea after a surfing incident on Monday evening, was brought on ahead of Giles, and bowled with good flight and spin, but with no result.Atapattu and Jayasuriya slowly stepped up the pace. Jayasuriya had a couple of chances to free his arms and gleefully carted the ball past point, even though he also cut a couple of streaky boundaries, especially off Batty. And just as the dark clouds approaching the ground seemed to pose the most threat to the batsmen, Giles eventually made the breakthrough in his second over. Jayasuriya, on 48, lunged forward and clipped the ball off the pad straight to Collingwood at short leg (76 for 1).It was a welcome relief for England and eased the pressure in the horribly humid conditions, but just as they had something to shout about, the customary afternoon storm swept across the ground. The groundstaff, which had been in place for half an hour, knew what was coming and dragged the collection of covers onto the ground as the players scurried for shelter.But a change in weather brought a change in luck for England. After play resumed, Andrew Flintoff made an immediate impact with the wicket of Atapattu. Flintoff hurled a short ball down the leg side and Atapattu gloved it to Chris Read for a watchful 29 (88 for 2).

Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara was in a hurry to make up for lost time, and he took a liking to Matthew Hoggard in particular. He smashed him through midwicket the first ball after the restart, cut him past point to signal the hundred, and then drove him through the covers for another boundary.But Giles seized the initiative as the Sri Lankans gradually went into their shell. Bowling round the wicket, he first snatched the big scalp of Mahela Jayawardene. The ball pitched on middle and leg and then straightened to take the inside edge, and flew to Collingwood at silly point via the pad (132 for 3).Then Hashan Tillakaratne fell for a duck when he attempted to cut Giles through point. Leaning back, he wafted at the ball and edged a sharp catch to Read, and after looking lost in the morning, England were suddenly in control (132 for 4). Unsurprisingly, Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera accepted the offer of bad light at 6.05pm local time, and England could reflect one a good first day’s work.

Scorecard
Gujarat overcame several hiccoughs to scraped to a narrow win against Bengal at Siliguri. Chasing a tricky target of 217, Gujarat were off to a confident start with Akash Christian and Niraj Patel stroking half-centuries and taking them to 154 for 1. But Ranadeb Bose, the medium-pacer, wrecked havoc with the middle order, and Gujarat lost the next seven wickets for just 60 before getting home.
ScorecardNilesh Kulkarni finished with a rich second-innings harvest of 7 for 60 as Mumbai thumped Andhra Pradesh by an innings and 121 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. The innings victory gave Mumbai a bonus point, and helped them leap to the top of the table. The silver lining for AP was the plucky knocks by Amit Pathank (88) and Gnaneswara Rao (96 not out). But their woeful display in the first innings meant that AP were crushed by a massive margin.
Scorecard
After taking just four wickets yesterday, Karnataka were in danger of frittering away the advantage of a massive first-innings lead. But their bowlers managed to break through at Bangalore this morning to gain two crucial points. They carried on the good work in MP’s second innings, but a fighting half-century by Sachin Dholpure, who had made a century the first innings, defied them for nearly three hours as MP clung on for a draw.
Scorecard
Rajat Bhatia made a patient 157 as the game between Delhi and Railways at the Jamia Millia Ground petered into a draw. Shikar Dhawan, India’s hero in the Under-19 World Cup held in Bangladesh earlier in 2004, ground out 87 while the wicketkeeper, Varun Kumar, scored 54. Bhatia cracked 12 fours and two sixes in his knock as the game meandered to a tame draw.
ScorecardAmit Uniyal, the medium pacer, snapped up a four-wicket haul as Punjab sealed a 110-run win over Baroda at Mohali. Chasing 391, Baroda built a solid launching pad and at one stage were 110 for 2. But they lost wickets at regular intervals from then and despite a fighting 69 from Rakesh Patel at No.9, they were bowled out for 280. Earlier in the day, Pankaj Dharmani and Ankur Kakkar added 184 for the fifth wicket and helped Punjab extend their lead to 390.Uttar Pradesh 132 and 163 for 2 (Raina 89*, Yadav 51) beat Assam 184 and 107 by 8 wickets
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh completed an 8-wicket win over Assam at the Kamla Club ground in Kanpur. They began the day on 77 for 1 needing a further 83 runs to secure victory. In the end Suresh Raina ensured that there were no hiccoughs. He scored and undefeated 89 with 15 fours and 1 six off 11 balls in the company of Jyoti P Yadav (61) to steer Uttar Pradesh to a comfortable win.Hyderabad 231 and 170 (Sanclecha 5-46) beat Maharashtra 83 and 233 (Jadhav 124, Singh 6-87) by 85 runs
Scorecard
Hyderabad clinched an 85-run win against Maharashtra inside three days. After they were skittled out for just 83 in the first innings Maharashtra struggled to catch up. A fighting 124 by Dheeraj Jadhav, the left-handed opening batsman, delayed the inevitable, but was not enough to stave off defeat. Narender Pal Singh, the medium-pacer, was the most effective bowler claiming 6 for 87.