The PCB and ICC could be on a collision course again in a high-stakes case that potentially involves Pakistan’s suspension from cricket’s governing body

Osman Samiuddin07-Jun-2011The PCB and ICC could be on a collision course again in a high-stakes case that potentially involves Pakistan’s suspension from cricket’s governing body. The Pakistan board has sent a legal notice to the ICC raising questions – and threatening legal action – about a proposed amendment to the ICC’s constitution, which would allow the governing body to suspend a member in case of government interference in the running of a national cricket board.Ironically the amendment – which also requires that a member board’s executive body include elected officials – is said by some accounts to have been proposed at an ICC executive board meeting in February by the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt himself. What is clear is that he didn’t object to the matter at the time.The PCB is one of the boards directly affected by the amendment. Its constitution states that the President of the country – invariably but not always a political figure – is the Patron of the board and the sole authority in hiring or firing the chairman. Nor are elections of any kind held. A number of members of the governing board – the executive body – are appointed by the chairman and all must be approved by the President. This, the PCB argues in its legal notice, could result in its suspension, even permanent expulsion, for the changes are tantamount to asking the board to throw the Patron out of the constitution.It’s not the PCB alone that could be affected by the amendment. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is an interim body whose major decisions go through the ministry, which also has the power to disband the board entirely. In Bangladesh, interference isn’t as clear and distinct, though all board presidents are government-appointed. Thus any given BCB administration reflects the prevailing political winds of the day. The current president Mustafa Kamal, for example, is a sitting member of parliament. The BCCI would also come on the radar. Though its officials are elected, there is a clear and strong presence of senior Indian politicians at its highest levels.The proposed changes have been on the ICC’s agenda since the February meeting. At its subsequent board meeting in Mumbai, immediately after the World Cup final, the ICC board decided the changes would be officially proposed at the annual conference in July in Hong Kong, and be made applicable by July 2012.The press release of that meeting stated the changes will be “designed to prevent undue interference by governments in the administration of cricket in Member countries, including but not limited to interference in operational matters, the selection and management of teams, the appointment of coaches or support personnel or the activities of a Member.”Despite the quite vast implications for governance of the game around the world from such a proposal, the release drew little comment. But in a series of articles for the Pakistan daily at the start of May, eminent columnist Zakir Hussain Syed – also a former administrator – first revealed the PCB’s reaction and contents of the legal notice, sent after the April 4 meeting, and confirmed by ESPNcricinfo to be accurate.The legal notice was prepared by Mark Gay, a sports law specialist with DLA Piper who has worked with the PCB on several matters in the past, and refers to the legal framework of the country where the ICC is registered: the British Virgin Islands (B VI).”The insertion of these provisions at this time, into the ICC constitution, in the circumstances, in which the PCB operates,” the notice reads, “would constitute unfair prejudice for the purpose of section 184(1) of the B VI of the Business Companies Act 2004 (the B VI Act). As such unless the ICC agree to drop its proposal to pass such amendments to the Articles of Associations at its Annual General Meeting in July, our client will have no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against it to restrain this conduct, which we consider unfairly prejudicial to our client in its capacity as shareholder of the ICC.”The relevant law refers to members of a company being able to apply to the court for an order if they consider certain actions of the company have been, or are likely to be, discriminatory or prejudicial. The PCB argues the amendment is prejudicial because it affects only some members, “i.e. those member boards that are currently elected will not be affected,” the notice says. Also, the PCB says it has “nothing whatsoever to do with the objects of the company, which are promotion of…cricket. It is a nakedly political measure.”In the April 4 meeting, PCB officials also pointed out that upon giving membership to Pakistan, the ICC was aware of the nature of the board and the relationship with the government of the day. A far more complex and awkward line of argument was also raised when officials asked how ‘government interference’ was to be defined. Would it include, an official asked as an example, a government deciding whether or not a team tours a country, as has happened recently with Zimbabwe and Pakistan? It has also been pointed out that holding even domestic tournaments in Pakistan often requires assistance from the provincial or federal government to provide security. The ICC says that there will be strict definitions of interference, to do with appointments in the board and its administration only.The situation is further complicated by Butt’s role in placing the issue on the agenda. It is believed that the topic was not officially on the agenda in February and was only included at the last minute, the night before the meeting when notes were passed into the hotel rooms of board members.The matter has been informally on the cards for nearly a year as the ICC is keen to bring cricket in line with other prominent sports bodies such as FIFA and the IOC, though it was first broached officially only in that February meeting. The next day, as is protocol, a board director had to volunteer to put the amendment on the table and it was alleged later that Butt proposed it, obviously raising no objection at the time.However, in between that and the next meeting, Pakistan belatedly realised the implications of the amendments and lobbied Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to rustle up support. They even sent them a copy of the legal notice and were, according to observers familiar with the developments, assured of support. Yet at the April 4 meeting, both boards withdrew support and voted for the amendments, leaving the PCB as the sole objector from among the Full Members.It was at the April meeting that other board members are said to have told PCB representatives that they were objecting to a proposal officially put forth by their own (PCB) chairman. Pakistan have asked ICC officials to check the minutes of the meeting to see if this is indeed the case, but have not yet been given a response. Pakistan had taken along their legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi to the meeting to explain to the board the difficulties involved in making the proposed changes in Pakistan. He was not allowed to speak, however, by the ICC board.Since then, there has been what one involved official said were “fruitful discussions” between the PCB and ICC on the matter. The ICC is said to be aware of the difficulties involved in the PCB asking the President to end his own involvement in cricket, and there have been discussions about extending the window of time during which they expect the changes, as the ICC understands it to be a long-term process. The ICC is said even to be willing to come to Pakistan to discuss the matter with the relevant authorities. Contrary to the ICC’s optimism that it won’t come to it, ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB’s reluctance will compel it still to pursue legal action if needed, even if that will be what the official said would be “contrary to the spirit of discussions.”The developments are likely to raise questions once again not only about how equipped Butt is to handle such matters at board meetings, but also the growing isolation of Pakistan. The board believes they are being victimised, alluding to as much in the legal notice, believing the amendments to be “provoked by a desire to damage the PCB or out of a desire for revenge.”This is the fall-out, the PCB says, from John Howard’s non-appointment in June 2010. At the time Pakistan was one of the members supporting Howard’s nomination but eventually they reversed. “We are instructed that the Australian Cricket Board put forward as their nominee of the ICC … John Howard. It is the view of many in Pakistan that he has promoted racial policies,” the legal notice says. “As such, the PCB among others, expressed its concern about his status as presidential candidate. When his candidature was withdrawn, in the view of PCB, this measure was born. If this is true, and full disclosure should reveal this, it is the product not of a desire to advance the objects of ICC, or to promote cricket, but out of the desire to disadvantage the PCB.”Over the course of this administration, since October 2008, the PCB has steadily lost allies in the ICC. Relations with the BCCI remain enmeshed in political developments. The rest of the Asian bloc is not the guarantee of support it once was, as the withdrawal of support from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on this issue also made clear. The ECB, at best, remains cool after the fracas last summer when Butt clumsily accused the England team of match-fixing, only to apologise subsequently. Cricket Australia were not happy after the Howard rebuff and now, after the thinly veiled accusations of the legal notice, their attitude is not likely to soften.

South Group leaders Sussex Sharks slumped to a last-ball Friends Life t20 defeat against Glamorgan Dragons at Cardiff

23-Jun-2011
ScorecardSouth Group leaders Sussex Sharks slumped to a last-ball Friends Life t20 defeat against Glamorgan Dragons at Cardiff.The Sharks were set 138 to win and at 78 without loss off 11 overs looked well set to seal their sixth win in eight games. But Glamorgan, who surprisingly gave part-time spinner Gareth Rees the second over from which 16 runs came, fought back to take four key wickets, including Ben Brown (42 off 38 balls) bowled by Simon Jones and Sussex captain Murray Goodwin bowled by Dean Cosker, attempting a reverse sweep.With six overs remaining Sussex, who were without Luke Wright and Matt Prior, were left with 45 to get, but gradually Glamorgan, especially through Jim Allenby and Graham Wagg, started turning the screw on a slow Cardiff wicket.Luke Wells went bowled by a Wagg yorker leaving Sussex needing 19 from the final 12 balls. Opener Chris Nash, who made an unbeaten 64, and Rana Naved were left with 13 from the last six balls, which turned out to be five from the final ball.Nash looked as if he might have hit a boundary from Wagg’s final ball of the match, which would have tied the match, but a good piece of fielding from skipper Alviro Petersen on the boundary restricted the Sharks to just two.The narrow two-run victory has re-ignited Glamorgan’s hopes of reaching the last eight. After winning the toss the Dragons were restricted to 137 for 3 in their 20 overs on a sluggish pitch, and in a bid to negate the big-hitting Mark Cosgrove the Sharks opened with both spinners with mixed results.The first over from Ollie Rayner produced just the one run but the next from Monty Panesar disappeared for 16, including a six over long-on from Cosgrove. But that was a rare expensive over from the Sussex attack which included Pakistan paceman Umar Gul for the first time.Panesar had some revenge when he bowled Cosgrove in the eighth over, but in his next Rees struck the former England slow left-armer for two fours. Glamorgan’s innings was given some real impetus with two sixes from Petersen off an over from Rayner before Gul trapped Rees leg before.Sussex were boosted that they had Gul and Naved to bowl the last five overs between them with Glamorgan struggling to deal with yorker deliveries and reverse swing. Only 33 runs came in those five overs including the wicket of Petersen who holed out at long on but in the end Glamorgan’s total proved just enough.

Leicestershire surged to a clear advantage over Sri Lanka A on the second day at Grace Road, Wayne White picking up four wickets and Greg Smith reach an unbeaten fifty to secure a 258-run lead

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Leicestershire surged to a clear advantage over Sri Lanka A on the second day at Grace Road, Wayne White picking up four wickets and Greg Smith reach an unbeaten fifty to secure a 258-run lead.The Sri Lankans took the final two Leicestershire wickets early leaving James Taylor, whose century lit up the first day, unbeaten but were soon in deep trouble and were eventually bowled out for 176 in the 50th over.White found most reward from the Sri Lankan batsmen, and Leicestershire continued their dominance in their second innings. Matthew Boyce was out for a nine-ball duck but Smith rushed to a fluent fifty and Taylor added a further unbeaten 32 to his tally before stumps.Taylor had shared in several significant partnerships in the first innings but he and Nadeem Malik could extend their overnight partnership by only four runs before Malik was bowled to give Kosala Kulasekara his fifth wicket at the start of the morning session. Alex Wyatt lasted all of four deliveries before he was dismissed by Shaminda Eranga, leaving Taylor unbeaten on 168.Lahiru Thirimanne, who made his Test debut against England at the Rose Bowl a month ago, then edged his second ball through to wicketkeeper Tom New as Sri Lanka A made a disastrous start. Neither all-out defence nor attack seemed to work for them, and when captain Kaushal Silva was caught behind off White they were 84 for 6 and sinking fast.Kulasekara was the only batsman to turn time at the crease into significant runs, and he shared in a fighting 35-run stand for the ninth wicket with his new-ball partner, Eranga. After Eranga had been removed by Jigar Naik, White ended the innings by trapping Tharanga Lakshitha in front of his stumps for his fourth wicket.Leicestershire weathered the early loss of Boyce and were soon adding to their hefty lead. Smith, who cracked nine fours and a six, brought up his fifty from just 52 deliveries and after playing himself in Taylor also began to pick up the tempo. They had put their team 258 ahead at the close, and Sri Lanka A could well be batted out of the match on the third day.

Jonathan Trott will not make it back in time for the fourth Test, so Ravi Bopara will have another opportunity in the England side at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2011Jonathan Trott will not make it back in time for the fourth Test against India, so Ravi Bopara will have another opportunity in the England side at The Oval. England have named the same 13-man squad as they did for the Edgbaston Test, and Chris Tremlett is available for selection, leaving England with the dilemma of whether to replace the impressive Tim Bresnan.”Jonathan Trott is making steady progress in his rehabilitation from his ongoing shoulder injury but he requires further treatment and won’t be fit for the fourth and final Test match,” Geoff Miller, the England national selector, said. “As such Ravi Bopara retains his place in the squad.”Chris Tremlett is available for selection following continued treatment for his back injury and he and Steven Finn are included in a broader 13-man squad for the last Test match of the summer.”Trott sustained a shoulder injury while fielding on the second day of the Trent Bridge Test, and, though he batted at No. 7 in England’s second innings there, missed the third Test. Bopara was hopeful of securing the No. 6 spot for England this summer after choosing county cricket over the IPL, but the selectors favoured Eoin Morgan for the series against Sri Lanka and India. Bopara was handed a chance through Trott’s injury but did not make the most of it at Edgbaston, where Morgan scored a century.There is little at stake for England in the final Test as they have already sewn up both the series and the No. 1 ranking.England squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett

Chris Taylor and Will Gidman, plus a big helping hand from the weather, enabled
Gloucestershire to earn a draw against Essex in their County Championship
clash at Colchester

20-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Chris Taylor and Will Gidman, plus a big helping hand from the weather, enabled
Gloucestershire to earn a draw against Essex in their County Championship
clash at Colchester.After being set a huge victory target of 388 in 88 overs, the visitors finished
on 231 for 5, with Taylor striking an unbeaten 103 and Gidman making 57 in an
unbroken stand of 133 spanning 106 minutes.They had come together with their side on 98 for five and went on to defy a
succession of bowling changes to guide their team to safety, although rain
deprived Essex of 28 overs in which to force a victory that would have kept
alive their slender promotion aspirations. The visitors’ hopes of launching their victory bid on a sound footing were soon dashed.Richard Coughtrie departed without a run on the board, caught in the slips by
Ryan ten Doeschate off the bowling of Maurice Chambers, and David Masters snared
two more wickets before the 50 was raised.Kane Williamson was caught behind by James Foster for 19 and then Tom Westley’s
safe pair of hands at second slip accounted for opener Chris Dent (16). Gloucestershire avoided further mishap before lunch, taken at 71 for three, but were plunged into further trouble immediately afterwards by Graham Napier.First he had skipper Alex Gidman (18) easily caught by wicketkeeper Foster from
a thin edge and then breached the defences of Hamish Marshall (seven) to leave
the stumps in disarray. By this stage, with half of their side back in the pavilion cheaply, the best
the visitors could hope for was a draw. A total of 62 overs still remained, with
their last recognised pair together.Taylor, having come in at the fall of the second wicket, was now well
entrenched and completed a fighting half-century that contained half a dozen
fours. At the other end, Will Gidman was offering obdurate support as they carried the
total to 131 before rain forced a suspension in play.When play did resume, Essex were left with 22 overs to try to force victory but
Taylor and Gidman denied them with considerable ease whilst putting together an
unbroken partnership of 133.Earlier in the day, Essex added a further 45 runs from six overs before
declaring on 288 for five immediately after Jaik Mickleburgh was run out for 84
– a knock that included eight boundaries. Skipper Foster finished unbeaten on 46
from 40 balls, but not before he was involved in the final of several heated
incidents in this match.It featured Jon Lewis, who appeared to obstruct Foster as he completed a
single. Angry words were exchanged before umpire Steve Gale stepped between the
two players and the game continued.On the second day, Alex Gidman had angrily remonstrated with the same official
after being given out lbw whilst on the opening day, Gale had reversed his
decision against Ten Doeschate – much to the annoyance of the Gloucestershire
players. Essex finished with 10 points and Gloucestershire eight points.

Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast bowler, will miss next month’s tour of Zimbabwe due to a sore back

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2011Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast bowler, will miss next month’s tour of Zimbabwe due to a sore back.A lower back soreness has put Bennett out of contention. “It seems like the trouble is muscular, the scans show nothing. I’ve just got to stop bowling for a few weeks and become pain-free, then I can resume gradually again,” Bennett was quoted as saying in the . “It’s really frustrating obviously but could be a lot worse, I guess. Things should settle down fairly quickly, I’m told.””Unfortunately injuries are just part and parcel of being a fast bowler. I’m just due for a better run and hope I can get that over the remainder of the season.”Bennett, 24, has had a string of injuries since his surprise elevation to the national side last year. He suffered a groin strain on the opening day of his Test debut in India, ruling him out of the series. Earlier this year, an ankle injury put him out of the second half of New Zealand’s run to the semi-finals in the World Cup.

Steven Finn will play domestic cricket for Otago in New Zealand following England’s one-day tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2011Steven Finn will play domestic cricket for Otago in New Zealand following England’s one-day tour of India. He will be available for a month from early November to early December in a period that includes four Plunket Shield matches.England don’t have any international commitments in the final two months of the year before their tour to UAE to play Pakistan in January. The period overseas will allow Finn to push his case for selection having been on the fringes of the Test side during the home season where he only played once against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.”I felt it was crucial to get some four day cricket under my belt prior to hopefully getting selected for England’s series against Pakistan,” Finn said. “Therefore when the opportunity to play in New Zealand came up, I jumped at the chance to join the Volts. I look forward to arriving in Dunedin and linking up with [coach] Vaughn Johnson and his squad.”Finn has played 12 Tests and is the youngest Englishmen to fifty Test wickets overtaking the record set by Ian Botham. He has a best of 6 for 125 against Australia, in Brisbane, during last year’s Ashes series but was left out two matches later and has since been overtaken in the pecking order by Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett.

Canterbury have signed Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan fast-bowling allrounder, for their domestic Twenty20 cricket campaign this summer

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2011Canterbury have signed Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan fast-bowling allrounder, for their domestic Twenty20 cricket campaign this summer. Arafat played both the Twenty20s and one-day games for Otago two seasons ago, and took 16 wickets in 14 games and scored a century. This year he will represent Canterbury only in the HRV Cup.Arafat has played 11 ODIs and three Tests for Pakistan but has not been in the national side since February 2010. He will join Canterbury after a summer with Surrey in which he took 49 wickets at an average of 34.53 across formats in the English domestic season.”We’re delighted to get Yasir and I think he’ll be great for us,” Canterbury coach Bob Carter said. “He will bring a real balance to the side with his all-round game I think, something that will be very useful in Twenty20 cricket.”‘We were after a bowling allrounder to complement our batting strength and his all-round skills will be very valuable for us. He’s an explosive player capable of doing some special things with the ball and bat, and we’re hoping that he can add to the environment we’ve already created.”

Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim frustrated Pakistan in a truncated morning session, but the visitors levelled the game over the next two sessions

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran18-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTaufeeq Umar confidently handled the bowling on his way to 44 not out•AFP

Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim frustrated Pakistan in a truncated morning session, but the visitors levelled the game over the next two sessions. Bangladesh’s fragility was once again on display after lunch, as the final five wickets went down for 33 runs after which Pakistan’s top order responded strongly.Until the Bangladesh lower-order collapse in the afternoon, the only impediment to the home side’s progress had been the fog in Mirpur, which wiped out an hour’s play. Shakib and Mushfiqur crafted a slow-and-steady stand once it cleared, to give the small but vocal crowd something to cheer about on a chilly morning.Shakib made his highest first-class score and was headed for Bangladesh’s record individual Test effort when he was run-out. Mushfiqur took a few quick steps before stopping and sending Shakib back, but a direct hit from Taufeeq Umar, running in from mid-on, was enough to snap the partnership at 82. Shakib walked off, after several glares at his captain over the poor calling.Whether that had an effect on Mushfiqur is hard to tell, but the very next delivery, he gloved a catch down the leg side to the wicketkeeper which left two new lower-order batsmen at the crease, and Pakistan sniffing a quick end to the innings. Elias Sunny and Shahadat Hossain rode their luck in a brief, entertaining stand – Sunny survived as an Umar Gul delivery kissed off stump without disturbing the bails, and Shahadat was put down by Abdur Rehman at deep midwicket.The innings ended in a hurry, though, as Saeed Ajmal’s doosra proved too much for the tailenders, and a run-out curtailed Nazmul Hossain’s first Test knock in seven years to a single delivery.In contrast, Pakistan had little to celebrate in the morning. There was little movement on offer for the quick bowlers and even with the second new ball Gul and Aizaz Cheema couldn’t get any major deviation. With the old ball, Pakistan’s dangerous spin pair of Ajmal and Rehman got some turn, but were blunted by Shakib and Mushfiqur.Shakib hit only one boundary in the first session, and survived several lbw calls and an outside edge that landed short of slip. While he was circumspect, Mushfiqur was more enterprising. There was a powerful swipe over midwicket for six off Ajmal, and he picked up several boundaries with his favoured cut shot. They took Bangladesh past 300 in Tests for only the second time since May 2010, but their back-to-back dismissals restricted the innings to a far lower score than expected.There was something to buoy the home side as they went in for tea. They removed Mohammad Hafeez, who has had a great run in 2011, including a big century in the previous Test. He had begun ominously, swatting consecutive boundaries in the third over, but nicked Nazmul’s first ball in Tests in seven years, to be dismissed for 14.Bangladesh’s bowlers gifted easy runs till late in the final session, when the spinners Shakib and Mahmudullah kept the batsmen in check. There was an early close call for Azhar Ali, who unwisely shouldered arms to a delivery that nipped in from Robiul, narrowly avoiding a supremely confident shout for lbw. He wasn’t at his most assured against the spinners either, beaten several times by the big turn Shakib was extracting, and once edging just wide of the slips.Taufeeq Umar was more confident, initially capitalising on the loose deliveries on offer. There were plenty of cuts and drives as he picked up eight boundaries on his way to 44, before bad light expectedly ended play an hour early. There’s still plenty of work to do for the Pakistan batting but with their increasingly reliable middle order, they will fancy their chances of overhauling Bangladesh’s total.

A round-up of the action from the fourth day of the fourth round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2011

Group B

Sanjay Bangar hit an unbeaten 77•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ashok Dinda’s aggressive fast bowling fetched him his maiden ten-wicket haul in a first-class match and set up a thrilling final day on which fourteen wickets fell at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Haryana succumbed to the accuracy and pace of Dinda to be bowled out for 169 in their second innings, setting Bengal a target of 189 from 37 overs. The visitors made a good first of the chase, but bad light stopped play 30 minutes before the scheduled end of play, at which point Bengal were 128 for 5, needing 61 runs from 54 balls. Haryana had begun the day on 42 for 1, 61 ahead of Bengal, with a draw looming. But Dinda ran through the line-up to finish with career-best figures of 7 for 44, giving him 12 for 142 for the match, also a career best. Though Bengal lost opener Arindam Das early on, the second-wicket pair of Rohan Banerjee and Abhishk Jhunjunwalla injected the required urgency into the chase with a 55-run stand before Sourav Ganguly cracked a brisk 22-ball 21 that included the only six of the innings to set up what looked like exciting finish until the light decided to play spoilsport.Bengal have five points from three games, while Haryana are slightly better off, in fifth place with eight points from four. Bengal had missed a golden opportunity to overtake Haryana’s first-innings score on Thursday by the small margin of 19 runs when their lower order folded in feeble fashion. Dinda summed up the hurt in the dressing room: “I am happy with my effort but I can’t forget that we fell short,”In Delhi, the fast bowling pair of Parvinder Awana and Ashish Nehra rattled Baroda with speed and movement at the Feroz Shah Kotla, sharing the final six wickets, to help the hosts to a ten-wicket victory. Baroda resumed on 81 for 4, still trailing Delhi’s first-innings score by 16. On the final day, Nehra picked up three quick wickets: the engine room of Baroda’s batting in Rakesh Solanki, Pinal Shah and Ambati Rayudu, who played with a swollen thumb. Awana, who had taken two wickets on Thursday , then polished off the lower order and the tail to pick his fourth five-for of his career. Baroda had been shot out inside 20 overs on the final morning and a target of 48 runs was knocked by the Delhi openers easily. The six points (including the bonus) helped Delhi register their first outright win of the season and jump atop Group B.Awana later told the that during the IPL, Shaun Pollock, the Mumbai Indians’ consultant, had told him not to give up on bowling fast and to “develop” his fast bowling muscles. He also thanked Nehra, who finished with nine wickets, for inspiring hims. “Ashish bowling with so much of effort spurred me a lot. He told me to keep bowling my heart out and the wickets will flow.”Udit Birla’s maiden first-class fifty, in his third match, helped Madhya Pradesh register a five-wicket win over Gujarat on a final day devoid of drama at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. MP began the day needing 91 to win, with six wickets in hand on a pitch that had offered the seamers good purchase on the previous three days. The overnight pair of Abbas Ali and Harpreet Singh started confidently before Ishwar Chaudhary induced an edge from Ali. The 22-year-old Birla then took charge of the chase – MP were 70 runs away from victory when he came in, and he scored 52 of them.”It was my third match and it’s a special feeling to score [my] maiden Ranji fifty in a winning cause,” Birla told .Niraj Patel, Gujarat’s captain, did not hide his disappointment, though he praised his fast bowlers. “Our top-order did not stand up and be counted on both the occasions. However, I am really pleased with our bowling and fielding efforts.”Madhya Pradesh are tied on eight points with Baroda, Tamil Nadu and Haryana, but they have played three games to Baroda and Haryana’s four.

Group A

It took Mumbai an hour to bundle out Orissa at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack and secure an easy innings-and-210 runs win. Orissa began the final day on 163 for 7, and lost Basant Mohanty off the second ball of the day for 41. The dismissal gave Ramesh Powar his 23rd first-class five-for. The last two wickets put up brief resistance, with partnerships of 41 and 22, but Mumbai eventually bowled out Orissa for 226 with plenty of time to spare. Zaheer Khan, who bowled 22 overs in the entire match, picking four wickets, did not bowl at all on the final morning. The six points Mumbai take from the match put them at the top of Group A, while Orissa are still at rock bottom.Coach Sulakshan Kulkarni praised his team for not getting distracted following Ajit Agarkar’s decision to head back to Mumbai on the first day of the match because he was not included in the playing eleven. “We did not expect it to be so easy, for Orissa have been in the Elite division for some years now, and have scored well in excess of 400 in their last two matches,” Kulkarni said. “So their collapse came as a bit of a surprise. But then, a victory is a victory. Our bowlers bowled beautifully. Our batsmen, particularly Kaustubh Pawar and Suryakumar Yadav, set the tone of the match by posting a big total. It was total team effort.”Aakash Chopra celebrated going past 10,000 first-class runs on the third day by converting his start into a century on the fourth, to help Rajasthan earn a draw against Uttar Pradesh at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan were made to follow on and started the fourth day still 127 runs behind. Chopra and Vineet Saxena took their opening stand from 91 to 166, with Chopra registering his 28th first-class century of his career. Uttar Pradesh bowlers were finding it hard to create any sort of impact on a lifeless pitch. Robin Bist, who had got a century in Mumbai, took advantage of the bowlers’ predicament, scoring exactly 100 not out as Rajasthan reached 349 for 2, enough to earn a point. Rajasthan have managed just one point from each of their four games now, while UP have taken three from each of their games.Karnataka secured three points for the first-innings lead against Saurashtra at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Saurashtra started the day on 179 for 5, facing Karnataka’s 503. It was a question of how long they could bat; they lasted 49 overs – not enough to deny Karnataka three points but just about enough to avoid an outright loss. S Aravind dismissed Pratik Mehta in the second over, but veteran Shitanshu Kotak and Sandip Maniar batted time to prevent a collapse. Kotak, one of the more determined dead-bat batsman in domestic cricket, was let off in the very first over of the day by Stuart Binny in the slips and then again by KB Pavan in the eighth over. He stuck on for the next two hours, virtually snatching Karnataka’s hopes of an outright victory. Aravind eventually dismissed Maniar and offspinner Sunil Raju took a wicket to finish with four in the innings.Though the hosts picked three quick wickets in Saurashtra second innings, Cheteshwar Pujara made a patient, unbeaten 52 to ensure there was no collapse.Punjab‘s lower order made handy contributions to prevent Railways from making a comeback at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The hosts had started the day 144 runs ahead but were four wickets down in their second innings. They slipped to 83 for 6 on the fourth day and needed the lower order to step up to avoid giving Railways a gettable target. Amitoze Singh scored 68, Mayank Sidhana got 49, and Manpreet Gony smashed 45 off 39 balls including two sixes. That took Punjab to 242 for 9. They declared and left Railways with 35.3 overs to bat, which they negotiated thanks to Sanjay Bangar’s unbeaten 77. Punjab took three points from the game to go to fourth in the table.