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Katherine Brunt played a major role in England’s one-day series triumph over New Zealand, striking the winning boundary in a tense, one-wicket win in the first match at Taunton, and picking up three cheap wickets to help restrict the visitors to a gettable total infront of her home crowd at Barnsley in Saturday’s series-sealing nine-wicket victory.”It’s been a hard summer trying to find my form,” she told ecb.co.uk. “I’m carrying a few niggles but I’ve stayed strong but the conditions and pitches haven’t suited my bowling until today. I’ve really had to work hard at bowling immaculate lines and lengths, which is all you can bowl on pitches like at Taunton.”I’ve worked hard and so has everyone else, and we’re all just hitting our straps now and putting in some really good performances. The batters had to dig really deep and Sarah Taylor and Claire Taylor played really, really well.” Sarah and Claire Taylor shared in an unbeaten 98-run stand on Saturday, Claire reaching a half-century which included six fours and a six, and Sarah anchoring the innings with 49 not out.”We’ve had a lot of rain here so it turned out to be a good seamer’s track,” added Brunt. “It turned quite a lot as well so it was always the bowlers’ day – for the first time in quite a while.”Brunt suggested that New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins’ decision to bat first was a tactical error in bowler-friendly conditions, and highlighted the value of knowledge of conditions at the ground. “That just goes to show that we know the local weather and how the pitch has always played,” she explained. “I guess that helps – me being a Yorkshire girl, a local girl, to help them out with that – so we were fortunate to have that edge.”Brunt lauded Barnsley Cricket Club’s efforts in staging the first international match at the ground, which will hold special memories for her after her dominant performance with the ball helped England bounce back after their disappointment in the Twenty20s, which New Zealand won 2-1, with several members of her family in the crowd.”I managed to reserve 25 tickets for my family – cousins, aunties and uncles – so I’m really glad they could make it and see what I do and how much I enjoy playing cricket for my country. It’s fantastic to be able to have a one-day international here. I never thought that was possible, but Barnsley Cricket Club has come a long way.”They’ve built a a new pavilion and they’ve got a new scorebox, which is brilliant. They’re done a really great job today hosting and hopefully there’ll be some more in the future.”

ScorecardJames Vince showed his talent with a stylist 77•Getty Images

Teenager James Vince’s bruising 77 guided Hampshire to a 28-run victory at the Rose Bowl keeping Gloucestershire rock bottom of the Friends Provident t20 South Group.Vince and South African Neil McKenzie (55) put on 110 for the third wicket but Gloucestershire ran the hosts close only to suffer a lower-order collapse, making just 13 runs for the last six wickets.Gloucestershire will feel the architects of their own downfall as both Vince and McKenzie were also dropped in successive Richard Dawson overs by Steve Snell and Will Porterfield on modest scores.Hampshire had got off to an indifferent start as openers Jimmy Adams (eight) fell in the third over and Michael Lumb (21) soon followed – run out attempting a risky third. Hampshire progressed past the 100 mark in the 12th over without any further drama with Vince celebrating his first half-century in the t20 season, from just 30 balls.McKenzie followed the youngster adding a second half-century in a week, smashing Dawson over mid-off to also take his side past the 150 mark. The following delivery saw the partnership was broken as McKenzie skipped down the track, was deceived by Dawson and Jonathan Batty whipped off the bails.Vince departed shortly after with Sean Ervine and Dominic Cork plundering 20 runs off the final over as the hosts reached 205 for 5.Needing more than 10 an over Gloucestershire nearly began in shambolic fashion as Aaron Redmond was dropped first ball by Dawson, edging Cork. Dawson though atoned the following over as Porterfield clipped Chris Wood to the England Under-19 international who clung on, in what was arguably a tougher chance.Wood claimed a second wicket as Redmond edged to Nic Pothas and Chris Taylor followed, trying to lift Ervine over mid-wicket and was claimed by Dawson. Adams and Simon Jones both dropped successive catches and Gloucestershire by the 11th over were 96 for three, scoring at a similar rate, with James Franklin and Chris Dent in good touch.Dent took his side past 100 with a huge six but Franklin (46) holed out chasing his 50, caught by Wood on the boundary. That appeared the breakthrough but Snell continued with aggression, in tandem with Dent, putting on 50 for the fifth wicket.But four wickets for just three runs swung the game firmly in the host’s favour as Snell’s stumps were uprooted by a rapid Jones delivery, Dent then carelessly ran out Dawson first ball. Dent’s innings came to a close for a credible 63 as he was trapped lbw trying to reverse sweep Danny Briggs and the young Hampshire spinner then bamboozled Jon Lewis with a fine Yorker.Gemaal Hussain was well caught by an athletic Vince and Wood wrapped up the innings running out Anthony Ireland as Gloucestershire were all out for 177.

ScorecardPaul Nixon and Australia allrounder Andrew McDonald helped Leicestershire to their first batting bonus points in four games against top-of-the-table Glamorgan in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.Veteran Nixon, opening the batting because of an injury to Will Jefferson, made 90, while McDonald scored his first half-century since joining the Foxes as their overseas player a month ago. McDonald was unbeaten on 86 as Leicestershire closed the first day on 263 for 8. Young seamer James Harris was Glamorgan’s most successful bowler, taking three for 62 in 24 overs.Having won the toss, Leicestershire made steady progress in the morning session, with Matt Boyce and Nixon putting on 81 by lunch. Boyce rode his luck at times, edging just short of slip and then being dropped by James Allenby off Will Owen when he was on 33.Nixon looked the more solid of the opening pair, picking up two boundaries with trademark clips off his legs through midwicket. But the partnership was broken soon after lunch with Boyce (40) caught behind as he tried to force David Harrison away off the back foot.His departure triggered a mini-collapse as the impressive Harris snapped up two wickets in two overs, trapping both Tom New and James Taylor lbw to leave Leicestershire at 104 for 3. Nixon, however, found some much-needed support from McDonald and the fourth-wicket pair steadied the ship with a stand of 57.Then Nixon, who was looking set for a century, was out in the 90s for the second time this season. Pushing forward to left-arm spinner Dean Cosker, Nixon edged to Jamie Dalrymple, who held onto a juggling catch at slip.Nixon, who fell seven runs short of his century against Sussex four weeks ago, this time made 90 off 178 balls, with 13 fours. It was then left to McDonald to take up the battle for the home side. After an uncertain start, he grew in confidence and produced some glorious shots through midwicket as he reached his first 50 for the county off 111 balls, with six boundaries.But Josh Cobb, Jigar Naik, Claude Henderson and Nathan Buck all fell cheaply as Glamorgan’s attack fought back hard. However, McDonald secured a second batting point with two glorious shots through the on-side off Harris and, at the close, had struck eight boundaries in his 163-ball innings.

Scorecard
The persistent rain won the day at Taunton•Getty Images

The County Championship game between Somerset and Essex petered out to a draw as rain restricted play to just 50 overs on the final day at the County Ground in Taunton.After losing the whole of the previous day to the weather, play got under way on time on day four, with Essex resuming on 252 for 5 in response to the hosts’ first innings total of 387. Somerset got an early breakthrough when left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby accounted for Ryan Ten Doeschate leg before with the ninth delivery of the session with a ball that swung late.Six overs later, with the total on 271, Pete Trego trapped James Foster in front of his stumps, but opening bowler David Masters, batting at No. 9, then produced an impressive display of clean hitting. Supported by Tim Phillips, he quickly moved the total on to 321 before the slow left-arm spinner was caught by Nick Compton off Willoughby for 22.Aided by Chris Wright, Masters added a further 23 runs before he was caught at mid on by Zander de Bruyn to give Damien Wright his second wicket of the innings, but not before he had brought up his own half century. Masters’ 50 came off just 38 balls and included 11 fours.Legspinner Michael Munday returned to the attack at the River End and with the first ball of his fifth over he wrapped up the innings when he had Maurice Chambers leg before, by which time the Essex total had moved onto 353. Munday, playing his first Championship match for Somerset since last June, ended with four for 105 from his 30.1 overs, while there were two wickets apiece for Willoughby and Wright.In the five overs before lunch the hosts had moved on to 17 without loss, and after the break 10 overs of play were possible before the rain started to fall steadily and the players left the field at 2.30pm, by which time Somerset had moved onto 69 without further loss.The players took an early tea and eventually returned at 4.15pm by which time a further 24 overs had been lost. In the final session of play Somerset moved onto 100 before declaring with Marcus Trescothick ending unbeaten on 42 and Suppiah 47 not out. Both teams took 10 points from the match.

Close MCC 156 for 7 (Murtagh 27*, Lewis 32*, Blackwell 3-39) and 162 (Malan 41, Borthwick 4-27) require 370 runs to beat Durham 228 for 6 dec (Thorp 79*, Coetzer 52*, Kirby 2-10) and 459 for 9 dec (Coetzer 172, Di Venuto 131, Malan 4-20) with three wickets remaining
ScorecardKyle Coetzer followed up his first innings hundred with an unbeaten fifty in the second innings•PA Photos

Durham ripped through MCC’s batting line-up for the second day in a row to move within three wickets of a resounding victory on day three of the county curtain-raiser at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.If MCC’s labours in the field on Monday suggested the pink ball being trialled in this fixture offers little for the bowlers, Durham have gone about proving the opposite ever since, rolling their opponents for 162 yesterday and leaving them 156 for seven at stumps.That left MCC 370 runs adrift of a nominal target of 526, with Scott Borthwick and Ian Blackwell sharing six wickets in the final session.Steve Kirby, who took two late wickets last night to leave Durham seven for two, started with another fiery spell this morning. First he beat Blackwell with a bouncer and then clattered Will Smith on the helmet with another short-pitched delivery.Jon Lewis, who has been struggling with a thigh problem for much of the match, came on first change and proceeded to bowl Smith via the bottom edge with his first ball of the innings. Dean Cosker matched that feat, snaring Blackwell’s outside edge with his loosener. Phil Mustard was in at five in a changed Durham order and quickly opened up with a handful of crisp attacking strokes.But debutant Ben Stokes could only add seven before he was pinned lbw by MCC skipper Alex Gidman as Durham stumbled to 74 for five. Mustard dashed a single just before the break to bring up his 50, which included eight fours, but fell two balls into the second session, carving James Middlebrook into the hands of James Taylor.That brought day one centurion Kyle Coetzer and Callum Thorp together and the pair were offered some fairly easy pickings as the frontline bowlers were withdrawn from the action in favour part-time spin from Taylor and Malan.Thorp took full advantage, helping himself to a rare half-century before moving up the gears to pass his previous first-class best of 75 with two thrashed boundaries off Taylor. Coetzer, meanwhile, followed up his career-best 172 in the first innings with an organised but low-key 52 not out. Despite the awkward twilight period closing in, Smith delayed the inevitable declaration by a handful of overs before calling his men in at 228 for six.Just seven of those had been scored when Steve Harmison struck in his third over, Scott Newman playing on for a second failure of the match. MCC soon set about replicating their implosion on day two, with David Sales (2) trapped lbw by Blackwell and Malan (13) lifting the same bowler to substitute fielder Mark Stoneman. Blackwell’s left-arm spin continued to trouble the batsmen, with Gidman bowled for a breezy 17 after missing a paddle sweep.At 44 for four, MCC were in deep trouble. They struggled to 74 before James Foster went lbw for six, Borthwick striking with his first ball of the day. That was his fifth scalp of the match and a sixth could have followed from the next ball when Middlebrook survived another strong shout.Yet he could not capitalise on his reprieve, making just nine before picking out Smith to give Borthwick a second success. Taylor, the 2009 Young Cricketer of the Year made a composed 39 before he too capitulated to Borthwick, pulling a shorter one to Coetzer, who held a smartcatch. By now the result was a formality but Lewis (32 not out) and Murtagh (27 not out)forged a solid eighth-wicket stand to ensure the match would reach a fourth day.Even Harmison, who had puzzlingly contributed just three overs with the new ball, was tempted into a second spell without joy.

Hit me baby just one time
Free hits were made for Twenty20, but none of the offerings from Sreesanth were accepted by Rajasthan’s batsmen. Wayward in his bowling, Sreesanth sent down a no-ball on his very first delivery of the match but Naman Ojha was beaten on the free hit, which was a clever bouncer. Sreesanth’s second free-hit delivery was another short ball that cramped Faiz Fazal and yielded just a single. Two free hits for just one run. Talk about getting out of jail.Nothing like a decent start
It wasn’t massive, but Rajasthan’s top order at least got a start. Their opening stands in four previous matches were 0, 14, 27, and a 0. But Michael Lumb – after a first-ball duck in the previous match – was quickly into his stride and helped add 35 with Naman Ojha in 3.4 overs. Lumb went on to score the best contribution by a Rajasthan opener this season, a 30-ball 41, after which the No. 3 Fazal collected 45 cool runs. Not outstanding, but some of the cobwebs had been brushed away.Oh, brother
A few Indian newspapers had hyped up the rivalry between the Pathan brothers ahead of the clash of the basement teams. Round one went to Yusuf Pathan, and he had his sibling to thank. Off the fifth ball of the ninth over, Yusuf heaved at a slower ball from Shalabh Srivastava and top-edged it high into the sky. Irfan ran around from long-off, settled under the steepler, but dropped the catch.En Voges
For the second match running Adam Voges provided vital ballast to Rajasthan’s middle order. After 14 balls he had 29, a superb strike rate in Twenty20, and then allowed Fazal to take strike. Fazal reciprocated with a few lovely boundaries off the back foot, and after he departed for 45 Voges gave further evidence of how crucial a player he is. He steered the third-last ball expertly behind point for four, stole two off the next ball, scampered back to strike even as the non-striker was run out, and smashed the final ball over midwicket for four. The last over cost 13, Voges’ 45 came off 24 balls, and his efforts gave Rajasthan a good total to defend.Eyeball to eyeball
The IPL isn’t all fun and music and big hits. Two instances during the game showed that Twenty20 is serious business. Sreesanth started out erratically, but when he dismissed Ojha for 13 he gave the batsmen a proper send-off, walking down the track and glaring at the batsmen ever after he’d left the middle. Then, during Punjab’s chase, Munaf Patel began a glaring contest with Ravi Bopara, who is never one to back away. Bopara had collected a pair of triples during Munaf’s second over, which cost 15, and the bowler didn’t like it one bit. What began as a customary mumble in frustration, with Munaf continuing the eyeball confrontation to Bopara, ended with Munaf being told to go play in traffic – well, you know what I mean – as he loped off into the outfield.Munaf dismantled
Munaf’s third over confirmed the direction his career has taken. After trying to dismiss Bopara with his chatter after an expensive second over, Munaf was taken to the cleaners in his third by Manvinder Bisla. His definition of a sighter was a slogged four which sent the ball flying over midwicket for four, the next ball was clubbed for six, and that was followed by two more fours as Munaf’s figures took a beating.Actions speak louder than words
When Munaf came back to bowl his final over, the 13th of Punjab’s innings, his captain had put a lot of faith in him. This time he silenced himself and delivered. A clever slower ball got Bopara chipping to mid-on and the second produced a loose shot from Mahela Jayawardene. It was lobbed back over Munaf toward Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, who charged in and hit the stumps with a direct hit to run out Irfan. Thankfully for Rajasthan, Munaf had let the ball do the talking.Value for money
Can you ever keep Yusuf Pathan out of the game? It was another disappointing outing with the bat, but when Shane Warne tossed Yusuf the ball for the 15th over he struck and added another in his second over. Yusuf has been able to spin the ball and restrict the batsmen with disciplined control, ultimately curbing the scoring by picking wickets. What he may be failing to deliver with the bat, he’s making up for with the ball.

Australia 256 for 4 (Nitschke 113*, Elliott 59) beat New Zealand 255 for 8 (Satterthwaite 81, Bates 61, Hunter 3-40) by six wickets
ScorecardShelley Nitschke’s first century came at a crucial time•Getty Images

Shelley Nitschke’s maiden one-day century stormed Australia to a six-wicket win that levelled the Rose Bowl Series in New Zealand. Nitschke took charge during the pursuit in Invercargill as she carried her bat for 113, guiding the side to 256 for 4 with 15 balls to spare.It continued Australia’s successful run in the 50-over games, with them currently leading 7-0 in the format during home-and-away contests over the past month. The result leaves the teams at 2-2 – New Zealand won both Twenty20s – and the trophy will be decided in another ODI in Invercargill on Sunday.Nitschke has been a consistent performer during both Rose Bowl series with bat and ball, but she produced an outstanding display that included seven fours and four sixes. She gained help from the opener Leah Poulton, who eased to 47 off 54, while Sarah Elliott was also a key figure with 59 off 62.New Zealand quickly moved on from their last-ball loss in Wednesday’s 1st ODI after winning the toss and racing to 255 for 8. Amy Satterthwaite controlled the innings with 81 off 96 and her stand of 114 at five an over with Suzie Bates ensured Australia would face a big chase.When Bates went for 61 the hosts lost 3 for 8 to be 179 for 5, but Satterthwaite kept going until she was dismissed by Julie Hunter in the 44th over. Hunter was the most successful bowler with 3 for 40 off eight overs while Erin Osborne’s two strikes were responsible for the mid-innings stumble.

Gul Hameed Bhatti, a leading sports journalist, editor and cricket statistician, passed away late on February 4 after a prolonged illness at the age of 63.Bhatti was widely respected and acknowledged in Pakistan and outside as the leading cricket statistician in the country, though his writings and research extended into a number of other sports and fields. Alongside Abid Ali Kazi and the late Nauman Badar, Bhatti launched an association for cricket statisticians in Pakistan, which was responsible for a number of publications. He had built and was maintaining what is thought to be the most comprehensive database on domestic cricket and cricketers within Pakistan.Bhatti had a long, accomplished and fruitful career in sports journalism. It began with (Pakistan) in the early 70s, when the magazine had just come out. Bhatti was in charge initially of sending in reports from the Lahore club scene, but soon took over to oversee a number of editorial areas and eventually was the man responsible for bringing out the magazine every month.He became Sports Editor of the in 1990 and was one of the key founding members of the newspaper, the English voice of the influential Jang media group. At one point, in the mid-90s, he even became editor of the paper, but returned soon after to his first love of sports, and was Group sports editor, until his illness.

Karnataka and Mumbai have announced their 15-man squads for the Ranji Trophy final to be held in Mysore from January 11; the only change from the squads for the semi-finals is that the hosts will not have Rahul Dravid. He will be away on international duty in the two-Test series against Bangladesh starting January 17, just two days after the final. Robin Uthappa will take over as captain, and allrounder Balachandra Akhil will step in as replacement.Dravid scored a double-century in the semi-final against Uttar Pradesh, helping his team gain a decisive first-innings lead which ensured their qualification for the final. Mumbai, too, progressed on the same basis after their contest against Delhi, with Abhishek Nayar starring with 156 and Ramesh Powar taking five wickets.It will be the first Ranji final since 1996-97 to be held away from the primary venue of the hosting association – the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in this case.Karnataka squad: Robin Uthappa (capt), KB Pawan, Ganesh Satish, Manish Pandey, R Vinay Kumar, Amit Verma, Muralidharen Gautam (wk), Sunil Joshi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Sreenath Aravind, Stuart Binny, Udit Patel, KP Appanna, Aditya Sagar, B Akhil.Mumbai squad: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Ajit Agarkar (vice-capt), Ramesh Powar, Praful Waghela, Sahil Kukreja, Ajinkya Rahane, Prashant Naik, Usman Malvi, Vinayak Samant (wk), Dhawal Kulkarni, Sushant Marathe, OJ Khanvilkar, Avishkar Salvi, Iqbal Abdulla, Abhishek Nayar.

Pakistan are seriously pondering the prospect of playing two spinners against Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Much of the pre-series focus has centred on Pakistan’s impressive pace trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul, but swayed by what they feel may be a responsive surface, Mohammad Yousuf and the team management may drop one of the three, in favour of Saeed Ajmal.Ajmal has had success against Australia in limited-overs matches in the UAE and South Africa, with his doosra proving particularly troublesome, but Test conditions provide a different framework. Since making his Test debut earlier this year, Ajmal has contributed well with 16 wickets in four Tests, though he was dropped after a quiet first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin.The issue is not yet settled, however, because of an injury to Danish Kaneria’s fourth finger on his spinning hand. The legspinner picked it up initially in New Zealand, attempting a return catch from Daniel Vettori during the third Test in Napier. He hurt it again in fielding practice on Thursday and bowled in the nets on Friday with the finger bandaged, albeit in a little discomfort, though Yousuf said it wasn’t serious enough to prevent him from playing.Kaneria has taken 20 wickets in his last three Tests, in response to being dropped for the first time in four years – to be replaced by Ajmal – earlier this year in Sri Lanka. He was also Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker on their last tour to Australia in 2004-05.An injury to Gul has also necessitated the surprise call-up of Mohammad Sami for the Tests. Pakistan has worried about the burden on their effective but fragile pace trio, who bowled well over 400 overs between them in New Zealand recently, for 34 wickets.Yousuf, however, said Gul was “fully fit” though he didn’t reveal much about the playing XI. “We haven’t yet decided on our XI. We’ll only do that after having a look at the surface.”Pakistan though, will take note of their distinct lack of success when playing two spinners in a Test. They couldn’t force a win in Colombo earlier this year, despite a strong last day position when Kaneria and Ajmal first bowled in tandem for nearly 80 overs between them. And in 2007-08, they lost a series at home to South Africa in which they relied heavily on a two-spinner attack – left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and Kaneria – in both Tests.Traditionally Pakistan have been served best by one spinner operating alongside three pacemen; Abdul Qadir in the age of Imran Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq alongside bowlers such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Shoaib Akhtar.