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Sui Gas fast bowler Wasim Khan claimed a match haul of 14-97 to guide his unfancied team to an innings and 59 run victory over Habib Bank in the second round of the Inter-Department Qualifying Tournament at Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Sunday.
Wasim, who took 8-41 in HBL’s first innings score of 97, captured 6-56 in the second innings as Habib Bank, resuming at 145-4, were bundled out for 193. Sui Gas, in their only innings, had scored 349-5 from 83 overs.Pakistan pacer Umar Gul was also in devastating form with a match haul of 10-111 to inspire PIA to an innings and 17 run victory over Pak PWD at the Quaid-e-Azam Park in Karachi. Umar, who took 5-51 in the first innings, snapped up 5-60 in the second as Pak PWD, starting the day at 49-5, were dismissed for 166.Naved-ul-Hasan (6-25) and Aqeel Ahmed (4-7) routed Pakistan Army for a modest 68 to earn Wapda victory by an innings and 127 runs at the Pindi Stadium.Azam Hussain picked up 7-38 runs to bowl DHA to a 10-wicket victory over KESC at the UBL Sports Complex.Scores in brief (day 3 of 3):Pool A:
At Quaid-e-Azam Park, Pak PWD 144 in 52 overs (Zeeshan Pervaiz 33, Umar Gul 5-51, Fazle Akbar 3-32, Nadeem Khan 2-31) and 166 (Ahmer Saeed 57, Umar Gul 5-60, Nadeem Khan 3-39) vs PIA 327-5 in 83 overs (Kamran Sajid 124, Yasir Hameed 127, Bazid Khan 31). PIA won by an innings and 17 runs.
At PCB Academy, Pakistan Navy 86 in 37.4 overs (Junaid Zia 6-19, Imran Ali 3-29) and 279 (Mohammad Ali 50, Kamran Ahmed 47, Rashid Ali 82*, Shahid Mahmood 5-49, Imran Ali 4-47) vs Customs 312 (Kashif Siddique 76, Azhar Shafiq 65, Junaid Zia 47, Bilal Khilji 33, Farman Shah 3-88) and 54-0. Customs won by 10 wickets.
At UBL Sports Complex, KESC 156 in 58 overs (Javed Mansoor [3×4, 108b, Kamran B. Mansoor 42 [5×4, 106b], Azam Hussain 7-38) and 127 (Daniyal Ehsan 30, Azam Hussain 6-38) vs DHA 196-9 in 83 overs (Aamir Iqbal 97 [4×6, 78b], Wajid Ali 36, Saeed Khan 3-61) and 88-2 (Asif Zakir 59 not out). DHA won by eight wickets.Pool B:
At KRL Stadium, KRL 213 in 80.5 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 89 [13×4, 181b], Yasir Arafat 41 [6×4, 2×6, 38b], Mohammad Khalil 4-51, Mohammad Hussain 4-85) and 154 (Saeed Anwar Jnr 54, Ali Naqvi 42, Mohammad Hussain 6-35) vs PTCL 112 in 50.5 overs (Yasir Arafat 3-22, Ali Naqvi 3-23, Mohammad Asif 3-25) and 156-6 (Shahzad Malik 59 not out, Mohammad Idrees 36 not out). Match drawn.
At Army Cricket Ground, Pakistan Army 160 (Zubair Watoo 44, Farooq Iqbal 3-7) and 68 (Naved-ul-Hasan 6-25, Aqeel Ahmed 4-7) vs Wapda 355 in 71.5 overs (Mohammad Zaman 76, Tariq Aziz 62, Atiq-ur-Rehman 47, Hasan Adnan 47, Nabeel 3-36, Zubair Watoo 3-74). Wapda won by an innings and 127 runs.
At Shalimar Ground, POF 260-8 in 83 overs (Ahsan Masood 90, Mohammad Usman Tahir 62, Imran Ali 41, Naseer Ahmed 4-83) and 57-0 vs PTV 185 (Khalid Latif 46, Fayyaz Ahmed 35, Suleman Khan 31, Rashid Latif 3-29, Jamil Ahmed 3-40). Match drawn.Pool C:
At Railway Stadium, Railway 295 in 83 overs (Afzal Shah 75 [9×4, 146b], Asif Butt 50 [5×6, 30b], Khalid Bashir 40, Fahad-ul-Haq 40 [4×4, 68b], Mohammad Shoaib 3-33, Atif Ijaz 2-50, Shoaib Maqsood 2-78) and 288 (Javed Iqbal 106*, Shakeel Ahmed 70, Fahad-ul-Haq 37, Shoaib Maqsood 4-88) vs HEC 265 in 83 overs (Amjad Ali 61, Atif Ijaz 43, Khalid Bashir 6-54). Match drawn.
At Country Club Muridke, ZTBL 282 in 77.1 overs (Zeeshan Mohsin 46, Zahoor Elahi 42, Javed Hayat 40, Faisal Naveed 37, Imran Abbas 30, Aleem Moosa 3-85, Mohammad Javed 3-56) and 279-4 (Naved Qureshi 188, Imran Abbas 108*) vs NBP 325-3 in 83 overs (Salman Butt 190, Naumanullah 76, Akhtar Sarfraz 39 not out). Match drawn.
At Gymkhana Ground Okara, PAF 302-9 in 83 overs (Shakeel Sharif 118, Naseer-ud-Din 45, Nadeem Farooqi 33, Rizwan Ahmed 4-67) and 251-4 (Rashid Butt 105, Tufail Ahmed 56) vs Service Industries 300 in 83 overs (Asif Iqbal 137, Kashif Nizami 46, Tahir Masood 33, Mohammad Asif 32, Naseer-ud-din 4-107, Asif Khan 3-89). Match drawn.Pool D:
At Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, HBL 97 in 22.3 overs (Wasim Khan 8-41) and 193 (Saleem Elahi 65, extras 43, Wasim Khan 6-56) vs Sui Gas 349-5 in 83 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 152, Misbah-ul-Haq 79, Ali Hussain 40, Sohail Idrees 32, Abdul Rehman 3-100). Sui Gas won by an innings and 59 runs.
At Saga Ground, PEB 52 in 16.3 overs (Abdul Rauf 5-36, Tanvir Ahmed 4-15) and 128 (Shahid Pervez Abbasi 67, Tahir Mughal 3-20, Abdul Rauf 2-40, Tanvir Ahmed 2-20) vs ABL 252-2 in 42 overs declared (Wajahatullah Wasti 107*, Farhan Adil 65, Ijaz Ahmed Jnr 35 not out). Allied Bank won by an innings and 72 runs.
At Jinnah Stadium Gujranwala, Saga 292 in 74.5 overs (Ashraf Ali 107, Kamran Younis 42, Shaiman Butt 39, Mustafa Bashir 4-83, Usman Nabi 3-69) and 31-1 vs LEO International 111 in 32 overs (Umair Khan 4-19, Tauqeer Hussain 4-44) and 190 (Safdar Niazi 50, Hasnain Abbas 37, Fahad Liaquat 31, Tauqeer Hussain 6-61). Saga won by nine wickets.

Nathan Astle’s blazing innings dominated Canterbury’s eight-wicket humiliation of Central Districts in their State Shield match at Jade Stadium today.Canterbury were replying to CD’s disappointing 147 and any thought that there must have been something wrong, with a pitch that admittedly was being used for the third time, were allayed with the attacking approach employed by Astle and his partner in arms, Shanan Stewart.It is a long way from the bowling standards of the State Shield to that to be experienced against Australia and South Africa, but for the sheer manner in which he was hitting the ball there had to be great encouragement for the form that he will take to Adelaide at the weekend.Put baldly his statistics were: 50 off 55 balls (five fours and three sixes), 100 off 78 balls (15 fours and four sixes). An opening stand of 130 with Stewart off 135 balls.Stewart was out for 45 in the penultimate over of the innings.With his century, Astle became the scorer of most centuries in domestic one-day cricket. It was his seventh century and took him past Roger Twose on the all-time list.It was the fourth fastest domestic one-day century in New Zealand. Aravinda de Silva hit one off 65 balls for Auckland while others were Llorne Howell (72 balls), Craig McMillan (77) and Astle (78).Astle said the innings was good for his confidence.”The selectors have been consistent in their policy about proving fitness after some problems in the past and that is fair enough.”I haven’t picked up a bat since I broke my hand, apart from 30-40 minutes on a bowling machine at Lincoln on Friday,” he said after his innings today.He scored 35 off 34 balls against Auckland on Sunday.Astle said he had been mainly running and doing gym work to keep fit while recovering from his injury and had not even been able to play golf.”I really tried to watch the ball today and my hand felt fine.”Central Districts were a good test for me, especially [Michael] Mason and [Brent] Hefford, as they do try to bounce the ball. It was a shame that the pitch was not a little quicker before going to Australia.”I’m looking forward to getting over there. The guys are playing outstandingly but there are four tough games to go and we have still got a little work to do,” he said.Astle leaves for Adelaide on Thursday morning.He gave all of the bowlers the sword with trademark cut shots, lofted off drives and one superb six over the midwicket boundary for a six to the longest boundary on the ground.He did give a life at 58 but Mason on the deep square leg boundary made a hash of it, a factor made worse when the ball trickled over the boundary to take Astle to 62.Earlier, the CD innings was a continuation of the batting woes that have afflicted the side this summer, and the only merit in it all was the 71 not out scored by Mathew Sinclair.He started his innings slowly, but coming in at No 5 with the score 17/3, he knew he had plenty of time to build a big innings. Unfortunately, the opportunity to blaze through the last couple of overs to lift his score even higher was denied him when the support ran out during the 48th over.Sinclair’s 50 took 89 balls and included only one four and one six, a measure of the care he took.The top order proved especially susceptible to the bowling of Chris Martin. The Canterbury international had been hammered by the Auckland attack on Sunday, but he came back today and had three wickets all caught in the slips for for 19 runs.Astle set up a good day by taking three wickets for 28 runs off nine overs.

The Bengal-Assam Cooch Behar Trophy Under 19 encounter ended on thesecond day itself after Bengal thrashed minnows Assam by an inningsand 140 runs. On winning the toss at the world famous Eden Gardenscricket ground at Calcutta, Assam put Bengal into bat. Apart fromlosing the toss, Bengal could do nothing wrong.Opener Arindam Das with a solid 133 (209 balls, 10 fours) gave Bengalexactly the kind of start they needed. Although his partner andskipper AP Chakraborty managed just 29, Arindam Das found an ablepartner in Subhamoy Das. Coming in at the fall of the first wicket,Subhamoy Das helped himself to 103 (141 balls, 10 fours, 1 six) andshared a partnership of 240 runs for the second wicket. Goodcontributions following the demise of the centurions saw Bengal reach336/4 in just 73 overs. Having declared at this stage, Bengal ruinedAssam’s chances by reducing them to 21/5. The first three batsmenfailed to score for Assam.On the second day, the misery continued for Assam as they slipped to42/8. A quick 35 from B Baruah at number nine enabled Assam to reach92 before being all out. Sabir Ali, who opened the bowling for Bengalreturned figures of 5/28 from his 12 overs. Having failed to make thecut, Assam were asked to follow on.In their second stint at the crease, the visiting side did onlymarginally better. They were shot out for 104, with all batsmenfailing once more. On this occasion it was Gourav Sharma who rippedthrough the batsmen, picking up 6/36 off 17 overs. What Sharma failedto do, Tanweer Hyder Khan finished, claiming the remaining wickets andbagging 4/22. In the end, Bengal had immense reason to celebrate,having registered a thumping win by an innings and 140 runs.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMatthew Wade hit nine fours and seven sixes for his 130•K Sivaraman

Matthew Wade had the weight of four centuries in a year when he was first called up to the Australian team in 2011. The year 2015 has been similarly kind: he scored his third ton in seven months and has made it back to international cricket. His stroke-filled 130 off 106 balls set up a 108-run victory over South Africa A and ensured Australia A maintained a perfect record going into the final of the A-team tri-series in Chennai. The defeat meant that South Africa A were still not on the board after three matches, and they now need to secure a bonus-point win against India A tomorrow to stand any chance of qualifying for the final.Wade had been named captain in place of the rested Usman Khawaja. He called correctly at the toss, chose to bat and had to come out at No. 3 in the very first over. His first scoring shot was a six, helped of course by the fact that it was a free hit. His second and third hits were fours, and he was on his way. Wade’s bottom-handed strength was on show, the sweep shot being utilised frequently and effectively.Wade hit seven sixes and nine fours – 78 of his 130 runs – and that meant South Africa A muting the rest of the top five amounted to very little. He had 50 off 45 balls; his team had 78 on the board. His hundred came off 90 balls; his team had 158 on the board. The numbers give a clear indication of how the rest of the top-five fared: Chris Lynn’s 29 was the next best contribution.So long as Wade was at the crease, South Africa A were never allowed the upper hand. He was gracious enough to pop a catch to square leg on 26, but Beuran Hendricks had overstepped and the cost of that mistake kept growing.The game held little consequence for Australia A. Seven of their numbers will take the field in Chennai on Friday morning for the tri-series final, and then leave for London later at night no matter what had happened today. So giving Wade some batting practice considering he is the only specialist wicketkeeper chosen in the Australian ODI team was sensible: His scores on this tour before today had been 5, 34*, 11 and 2.”We had a chat with selectors, Trevor Hohns is here, and the coaches had a chat before,” Wade said. “They let me know I was going to captain and they wanted me to just go up and have a hit. We’d already qualified for the final so that’ll go back to normal, I’m guessing. Usman will come out and bat at the top and I’ll probably slip down to No. 6.”The impact of having a set batsman at the crease became clear in South Africa A’s chase. Only Dean Elgar with 64 off 85 balls and Khaya Zondo with 47 not out off 49 offered any resistance. The rest of the batsmen struggled for timing, and were outclassed by the Australian bowlers, as five single-digit scores would suggest.Nathan Coulter-Nile, who is among those headed to England, produced a brilliant spell of 7-1-8-2. The only runs scored off him were singles and the wickets he took were off back-to-back deliveries: He bounced Cameron Delport out on a slow pitch and sent Theunis de Bryun’s stumps crashing with an indipper. The hat-trick ball took Elgar’s edge, but it fell short of the slips. Technically, it can be said that he’d created four chances in four balls: the one prior to Delport’s wicket took Reeza Hendricks’ outside edge but was shelled at second slip by a diving Lynn.The new ball left South Africa A at 37 for 3 and as it got older, spinners Ashton Agar and Cameron Boyce took control. They shared six wickets between them as the score slumped from 142 for 4 to 148 for 8. Defeat came not long after.There is an argument that South Africa A have not been able to put their best XI on the park. Quinton de Kock and Wayne Parnell were still recuperating from the stomach bug that had “ravaged” the team a few days ago. Lonwabo Tsotsobe, at the post-match press conference, would not confirm the source of the illness but did mention that de Kock and Parnell had been advised rest by the doctors.”We had food at the Hard Rock and then we had food at the hotel. So you can’t really say which one it was,” Tsotsobe said. “Those were the orders from the doctor and you can’t do anything if the doctor tells you to rest. But like I said earlier, it’s [picking the XI] up to the coaches and we’ll see tomorrow.”

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has now dropped his verdict on the rumours linking Newcastle United with a shock move for PSG superstar Neymar.

The Lowdown: Neymar reports

As per reports from Spain, the St. James’ Park faithful are one of three clubs who want to sign Neymar in the summer, along with both Manchester City and FC Barcelona.

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PSG are reportedly open to letting him go, following their exit from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid, and there are very few clubs who could handle the financial burden of such a move.

The Latest: O’Rourke reveal

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist O’Rourke has revealed that Neymar would consider a move to the North East club, but only once the project ‘gets off the ground’:

“Neymar, it’s a bit of a pipe dream that one.

“I don’t think Newcastle will be looking to do that one, or that Neymar would be considering wanting to join Newcastle.

“He’d wait on the project to get off the ground really [before considering it].”

The Verdict: Exciting

The fact that the Tyneside outfit are even being linked with a player like Neymar is exciting in itself.

Yes, it may take a few years before the long-term project starts to really kick in, but the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still performing well into their 30s, and there is no reason why the Brazilian superstar cannot do the same.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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He has already had such a decorated career, and may now want to test himself in the Premier League, should the Champions League trophy ultimately desert him in France.

Nonetheless, even if not this summer, this is a deal that the ambitious new owners could one day have in the pipeline.

In other news, find out which ‘explosive’ 6 ft 4 ‘phenomenon’ NUFC now ‘would like’ to sign here!

Yuvraj Singh: “I am delighted that Sourav [Ganguly] and I hauled the team out of a tough situation, from 61 for 4” © AFP

When Yuvraj Singh cracked a sensational 358 in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy – an under-19 tournament – in 1999-2000, his father is supposed to have admonished him for not going on to make a quadruple century. He expected another call today, talking about a double-hundred, but one which came with heartfelt congratulations as well.”One hundred and sixty-nine is a lot of runs,” said Yuvraj, talking about his third Test hundred, all of which have come against Pakistan. “I should have got 200, and I am disappointed from a personal point of view that I did not. But I am delighted that Sourav and I hauled the team out of a tough situation, from 61 for 4. What is most important for me is that the team is in a good position.”It’s been nearly 18 months since Yuvraj last played in a Test and he admitted to the frustrations during the intervening period. He was also aware that he could miss out when India walk out to the park in Melbourne to take on Australia on Boxing Day. “It feels bad to sit out, but you must see how many great players we have in the middle order,” he said. “Rahul, Sachin, Laxman and Sourav all have very good Test records. Going out to bat today, I wasn’t worried about the Australia tour and whether I can secure my place in the XI. I wanted to play for the team, to help the team win the Test.”Was he hurt at being left out for so long, despite staking his claim so emphatically in the one-day arena? “I had a very bad Test series in the West Indies, and after that, the rest of the batsmen all played well,” he said. “I have myself to blame. I stayed motivated, worked hard on my game, and was determined to take my chance when it came my way again. I always knew that I could do well in Test cricket. You have time to settle down and play yourself in. To me, Test cricket is the main thing.”

Yuvraj might have hogged the headlines today but [Yasir] Arafat’s chance will come. With a name like that, headline writers will struggle to control the urge

Yuvraj walked in with India in a pickle. Yasir Arafat, the debutant medium-pacer, had made a mess of the top order by surprising a few with zip off the pitch. The pitch assisted him, as Arafat himself admitted, but it still required a good spell to remove three prized scalps. Hailing from Rawalpindi, he doesn’t possess the furious pace of his city-mate Shoaib Akhtar but makes up with accuracy. In fact one Pakistan newspaper recently referred to him as the [in contrast with the more speedy ].Arafat had to first come to terms with making his debut. By the first session, he was enjoying a fairytale start. “I was playing domestic cricket in Pakistan and I didn’t think I will be called up,” he said. “People consider me as an allrounder suited to one-dayers. I was surprised I got a call up. I didn’t think much about Tests. But I got a chance because of injuries. And now I’ve made a debut. The pitch was supporting the fast bowlers early on. I wanted to bowl on and outside off and got wickets because of that. But I didn’t think I’ll get such important wickets so early.”The rest of the day wasn’t as rosy. “After lunch it became a good wicket. It was playing very easy, like a good batting track. It was very frustrating for me and the team. But again, they played well. But credit to the batsmen. Yuvraj is a very talented cricketer and his innings was tremendous today.” Yuvraj might have hogged the headlines today but Arafat’s chance will come. With a name like that, headline writers will struggle to control the urge.

Nasim Ashraf remains committed to reorganising and running cricket along modern lines © AFP

The PCB has responded to charges in a local newspaper of nepotism and cronyism among journalists while asserting that Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board, remains committed to the reorganization of the administration of cricket on modern lines.A column in , a Karachi-based daily, by Saad Shafqat, a local writer, claimed that the current chairman had appointed relatives to key positions in the organization, as well as allegedly currying favour among journalists by sending them, at the board’s expense, to the tour in South Africa.But in a response published in today, Ahsan Malik, PCB director communications and media, categorically denied the charges. “Recently there were some untrue assertions reported in an article in dated January 10. For the record, let me categorically state that there is no relative of the chairman employed in the Board, as erroneously reported in that article.”Second, it is totally false that any journalist was sent to South Africa by the PCB at its expense. As a matter of fact, we are developing an open and transparent policy where sport journalists would be asked to cover international tours on rotation basis with cost sharing by their respective Newspapers/organizations.”Malik also expanded on Ashraf’s tenure as chairman so far, detailing a number of achievements since he took over in October last year. “The long-standing issue of ad-hocism is now finally set to get resolved as the board constitution is expected to be implemented this month. Also, a complete audit of the organization has also been carried out by reputable firms like Fergusson Associates and KPMG.”Ashraf has had to face a number of controversies in this period and Malik insisted they had been handled as openly and efficiently as possible. The doping scandal, which saw Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif banned and then reinstated within a month, was one such. “Pakistan is one of the four countries carrying out internal voluntary drug screening since 2003.”We recalled Shoaib and Asif rather than sweeping the issue under the carpet. The management then followed the laid down procedure and appointed an independent commission to deal with the doping case which was overturned by an Appellant Tribunal on technical/legal grounds. But whatever the final outcome, the PCB handled the issue in a transparent and an open manner.”There has been progress on the domestic front as well, says Malik. New corporate sponsor partnerships have been created, a benefit not lost on this year’s Quaid-e-Azam trophy and the Twenty20 tournament. “Prize money for the Quaid-e-Azam and Patron’s Trophy has been increased significantly, junior level tours are being increased to provide experience to the youngsters while women’s cricket has also been given special attention. Pakistan has now earned the right to host women world cup qualifying rounds this year.”New coaches have been hired at the academy and an Under-15 talent hunt was launched. The organisation of a national school championship will eventually see 25 youngsters undergoing a month’s training at the academy with subsequent tours to South Africa or Sri Lanka.”The board has also set up a pension scheme for former Test players, while regional associations have been given a degree of financial autonomy, a policy in direct contrast to the last administration. “A decision has been taken to plough all revenue from gate-money back to the local associations.”

Rahul Dravid gives the green signal as India prepare to leave for Pakistan © Getty Images

Ahead of his first foreign series as a Test captain, Rahul Dravid admitted that leading India against Pakistan was something he hadn’t imagined he would do, when he began his career in 1996, and hoped the team could repeat the success that they had achieved on their last tour. Sporting the understated confidence that has been his hallmark all these years, Dravid, along with Greg Chappell, the coach, spoke about the exciting challenge and was upbeat about his side carrying on their superb run.A few hours before boarding their flight from Delhi to Lahore, for a 45-day tour involving three Tests and five one-dayers, Dravid, Chappell and Sharad Pawar, the president of the Indian board, addressed the media and stressed the importance of cricket helping in fostering better relations between the two countries. “There will be tremendous interest in this series,” said Dravid, “and a number of Indians and Pakistanis staying abroad will also be following us closely. A tour to Pakistan is special and we have fond memories of the last trip in 2004.”He confessed that he didn’t envisage captaining India in such a big series and said he had taken things step by step. “I didn’t think I would captain India when I made it to the Indian team in 1996. All I thought of was to establish myself as a batsman. After some years I got the vice-captaincy, then the captaincy. So it’s been a gradual progression. It’s not going to be a major difference this time. I have always thought it was important to play well abroad, in different conditions and I think I will aim for the same here. I think we have a good side with everyone contributing. It’s important we continue to do the same.”Chappell echoed his views and was looking forward to the “marquee series of the subcontinent”. He spoke about his visit to Pakistan as a player and termed it as a huge honour to be able to watch the events of the current series from the sidelines. “It promises to be an exciting series as both teams are in good form. The Pakistan team is playing with confidence and on the way up. We’ve had a few good results off late and hope to continue in the same vein.”He revealed that India would continue their policy of “strategising”, with different players being called upon to perform different roles. “We’ve tried to build some flexibility into our side,” he continued, “to cover certain eventualities and hope to implement some of those strategies in the next few weeks.” While talking about the importance of preparing for the World Cup in 2007 – “we hope to settle into a groove as soon as possible and mould ourselves into a unit” – he insisted that every series was vitally important in itself.Though he admitted he wasn’t completely satisfied with the performance of the top order, Chappell was buoyant about things falling into place. “We have three openers and all are really good players. Whichever two we choose for the first Test, we will be confident of them doing well.” He was looking forward to Zaheer Khan’s return, after a four-month lay-off, and felt he had “done whatever we needed him to do”.Neither were willing to be drawn into the topic of individual battles and stated that one player, like Shoaib Akhtar, was not going to make too much of a difference to the team effort. “Any bowler who is doing well is an asset to the team,” continued Dravid, “and one can’t target one or two players. Anyone in form is going to add value to your side and we need to look at them as a team rather than as individuals.” On a lighter note, he pooh-poohed suggestions of this being his biggest challenge to date and cheekily added,” My biggest challenge at the moment is to try and get my son to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night.”Pawar, who revealed that he will be traveling to Lahore for the first Test, talked about the professionalism and transparency that the new administration were trying to put in place. He also wished the team well and, like the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vayjpee had done last time urged the team to not only win matches but also hearts.

Zimbabweans 206 and 138 for 6 (Matsikenyeri 45, Maregwede 44, Morkel 4-26) lead Combined Easterns/Northerns XI 275 (Seymore 82, Harris 46) by 69 runs
Scorecard

Stuart Matiskenyeri made 45 before a familiar collapse© Getty Images

A collapse late in the day left the Zimbabweans in danger of losing their tour match against the Easterns/Northerns XI at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. By the close of the second day the Zimbabweans, who trailed by 69 on first innings, had turned that round into a lead of 69 – but only had four wickets remaining.There was an early wobble when Barney Rogers and Hamilton Masakadza both fell to Morne Morkel for ducks, but then Stuart Matiskenyeri and Alester Maregwede combined in a stand of 76 that took Zimbabwe into the lead. However, then disaster struck: first Matsikenyeri fell to the slow left-armer Paul Harris for 45 after hitting eight fours, and then next ball Brendan Taylor was also bowled (86 for 4).Maregwede ploughed on to 44, but then Morkel returned to have him caught behind by Heino Kuhn for 44. Elton Chigumbura also fell to Morkel for 3, and although Tatenda Taibu and Sean Williams survived until the close they will have a lot to do if what is scheduled to be a four-day match is not to end early on the third day.Earlier the combined XI took their score from 132 for 2 to 275. Andre Seymore, the captain, added only five to his overnight 77, and was the first to go as his team slipped to 209 for 8. But a handy 46 from Harris, who hit five fours and a six and put on 63 for the ninth wicket with Reeze Telling (28) gave their side what could be a crucial advantage.

Since 1998, Steve Waugh has made a personal commitment to help the children at Udayan in Calcutta, India. Udayan is a home for 250 boys and 50 girls aged 5 to 19 from all religious backgrounds, that come from the leper colonies of the Calcutta slums.Once at Udayan, the children receive medical treatment, an education, food, clothing, access to recreational facilities and vocational training.Udayan gives the children the opportunity to grow up in an environment free of the crippling stigma associated with leprosy. They leave Udayan’s doors with the education and self confidence necessary to be happy and productive members of Indian society.Steve Waugh has recently established the Steve Waugh Foundation – Australia to raise much needed funds for Udayan so they can continue to look after and care for the children.The first fund raising effort of the Foundation is an online Art Union which will be a lottery directed to Indian and Australian cricket supporters.A ticket in the lottery offers a chance for:

An Aussie Supporter to Win
A 7 day holiday for 2 people to India, following the Australian One Day Team, for the final of the Triangular Tournament between Australia, India and New Zealand on November 18th in Calcutta.After watching the game from VIP seats, the winner will get a chance to meet with Michael Bevan and be presented with a cricket bat signed by Steve Waugh.The winner will then fly to New Dehli to stay at the luxurious 14th Century Heritage Neemrana Hill Fort Hotel at Kesroli for 4 nights and a tour of the magnificent Taj Mahal, in Agra.Or if the Winner is Indian
They’ll win a 7 day holiday for 2 people to Australia, to watch the 1st Test in Brisbane between Australia and India from 4th – 8th December 2003.After watching the game from their VIP seats, they’ll get a chance to meet with Steve Waugh and be presented with a signed cricket bat.They’ll spend 6 nights at the luxurious four and half star Rydges Hotel, Brisbane located riverside on the South Bank Parklands.

Ticket price is AUD$10 and all funds raised will go to the kids at Udayan.The Steve Waugh Udayan Art Union will run from September 29th to October 31st and will be promoted to cricket supporters via a dedicated web sitewww.mdsa.com.au/stevewaughudayan