Bihar recovered after a poor start to make 258 on the openingday of their East Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Assamat the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. At stumpsAssam reply were five for no loss off three overs.Opting to bat, Bihar lost three wickets for 24. All the wicketswere taken by medium pacer J Zaman who dismissed D Chakravarthy,A Hashmi and Rajiv Kumar in successive overs. The recovery processwas initiated by opener N Ranjan (58) and skipper Sunil Kumar(68) who added 104 runs for the fourth wicket off 32.4 overs.While Ranjan faced 141 balls and hit seven fours, Sunil Kumarfaced 170 balls and also hit seven of them to the ropes.Sunil Kumar and Sandeep Roy (24) continued the recovery processby putting on 55 runs off 19.3 overs for the fifth wicket. Therest of the batsmen, with the exception of wicketkeeper MSDhoni, however came to grief against O Singh who took four ofthe last six wickets to fall and finished with five for 81 off28.3 overs. Dhoni scored a valuable 40 off 62 balls with thehelp of eight fours. Zaman finished with three for 45.

The early exit of the Indian team from the Asia Cup was very much onthe cards even after the display against the host nation, Bangladesh.It is not a case of being wise in hindsight but the lack of firepowerin the bowling attack was very much in evidence in that game. To makematters worse, the batting never looked like compensating the weaknessin the bowling department. The fact that Tendulkar, basically a parttimer, had to bowl the entire quota of overs is a reflection of thestate of affairs.Coming back to the game against Pakistan, it was very obvious that theside that batted better would emerge victorious, as the pitch wasflat. Pakistan, the team very much in touch, won the toss and theearly overs indicated the course the game was bound to take. Anwar,the seasoned campaigner along with the talented Imran Nazir took offto a mini flier of a start and Ganguly’s problems carried on till theend. The Indians were further handicapped as Joshi and Chopra wereunfit. The introduction of Kumble brought back the Indians into thegame as he effected quick dismissals. Agarkar, by dismissing Inzamamprovided a big opening to run through the Pakistani line up.It was at this stage that the indomitable fighter, Moin Khan, joinedYouhana. He is one of those rare cricketers who excel in tightsituations. Khan, who likes to dominate the bowling, was not going tolet go of the clueless Indian attack. Youhana, whose potential wasevident in his first outing in international cricket, kept one endgoing and played an innings with great common sense. The twoconsolidated the innings and the significant aspect was that they didnot allow the run rate to drop. Eventually Agarkar broke thepartnership when he had Moin Khan caught at the wicket.Youhana at the other end displayed the kind of maturity that wouldhave made Javed Miandad proud. He paced his innings with precision andat no stage did he look ruffled. The highlight of his partnership withRazzaq was the running between the wickets. The Indians were made tolook ragged but the placement of Youhana in his strokes into theoutfield was impeccable. His second fifty came in a jiffy and in thelater stages he had decided to be impish enough to toy with the Indianbowlers. His six off the last ball of the innings is what normallydreams are made off. By the time the Pakistani innings concluded, thewriting was on the wall. Another aspect that the Indians continuemessing up is not bowling the overs within the specified time limit.Not many would have fancied the Indians to get anywhere close to thePakistani score and the early loss of Ganguly confirmed theinevitable. The Pakistani bowlers showed that there was some bounce tobe had, as they kept the Indian batsmen on the back foot by diggingthe ball just short of a length. By the time the field restrictionswere off, the Indians had already lost their top order batsmen and theopportunistic pair of Jadeja and Robin Singh was left to make a matchout of it.Jadeja tried his best by striking a few lusty blows but in the end thePakistani total was beyond the reach of the Indians. The Indianscannot give any excuses, as they were totally outplayed in alldepartments of the game. Going by the fitness or lack of it and thedisplay put up by the Indians in the Asia Cup, one wonders as to whatexactly was done in the preparatory camp before their departure.

Hyderabad opening batsman T Suman scored his second successive century in the competition as his side did well in scoring 262 for five off 101 overs at stumps on the first day of their South Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match against Andhra at the Ukku stadium, Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.Opting to bat first, Hyderabad met with an early setback when Avinash Pai was out to the second ball of the match, sent down by Appala Raju. Suman and Shashank Nag however initiated the recovery process by adding 76 runs for the second wicket off 29.4 overs before the latter was bowled by G Shankara Rao for 27. Suman found another valuable partner in AT Rayudu and the two shared a third wicket stand of 150 runs off 52.2 overs. Suman who had scored a century against Goa last week was finally third out at 228 in the 83rd over. For his 121, the opener batted 291 minutes, faced 251 balls and hit seven fours and three sixes. Rayudu was out in the following over, caught behind by wicketkeeper Manoj Sai off Md Faiq for 74. He batted a shade under three hours, faced 169 balls and hit eleven fours and a six. In the same over Md Faiq also had Raghuram Janak caught behind without any addition to the score. But Arjun Yadav (11) and Ibrahim Khaleel (22) weathered the storm by adding 33 runs off 17 overs for the unbroken sixth wicket when stumps were drawn.

Michael Slater has roared back to life on another day of unusual twists and turns in the Pura Cup clash between Tasmania and New South Wales at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The aggressive opener’s attainment of a thirty-third first-class century provided the main highlight of the second day’s play, at the end of which the Blues find themselves at a score of 4/193 in reply to the Tigers’ 362.Until the left arm orthodox prowess of Daniel Marsh (3/35) sent the Blues into a tailspin in late afternoon, this had largely been New South Wales’ day. Despite continuing to battle in vain to beat the bat of Ricky Ponting (187*), it began with the visitors managing to exert something of a hold over the right hander’s scoring rate by setting deep and defensive fields throughout the morning. This had the twin effect of drying up the Tigers’ progress and of reducing the star batsman’s chances of recording double centuries in successive Pura Cup matches. Once young wicketkeeper Sean Clingeleffer (21) lost his wicket as he drove a Shane Lee (2/47) delivery uppishly to point, the end for the locals indeed came quickly.Despite a rushed visit to hospital last week after the onset of difficulties with his breathing, Slater (100) gave the appearance of a man very much at the top of his powers as the reply began. Against an attack which battled for line and length, the Test opener thrashed twelve punishing boundaries in an innings which provided a heady mixture of aggression and defence. Together with Corey Richards (69), the energetic right hander guided the Blues to a score of 0/146 an hour before the close. By that stage, the upper hand in the contest had clearly been assumed by the visitors.Not for the first time in this match, though, fortunes turned in almost the twinkling of an eye. Courtesy of a brilliant tumbling catch full length to his right, Marsh initiated the demise of Richards. Sixteen minutes later, Steve Waugh (7) lobbed back a second catch, affording the spinner his hundredth first-class wicket, after being beaten by Marsh’s flight. Then, Slater himself became the third player in succession to be deceived, incredibly enough, by a full toss, driving back another regulation catch off a leading edge after the ball had dropped on him quickly in the tricky cross-breeze ripping across the ground. By the time that David Saker (1/58) trapped Brad Haddin (1) in front of his stumps with a yorker, New South Wales was suddenly 4/188 and matters were evenly poised again.Alongside the sight of two centuries and five ducks in the Tasmanian innings, the spectre of three return catches off full tosses provided another very peculiar touch to the game. Not as novel nor as intriguing, though, is the forecast that rain will sweep into an until now sunny Hobart during the two closing days of what has developed into a fascinating contest.

Helped by a four wicket haul by leftarm spinner M Majithia Madhya Pradeshcrushed Uttar Pradesh by 119 runs in their first match of the Central ZoneRanji Trophy One-day Tournament match at the The Jamia Islamiya SportsComplex at New Delhi on Wednesday.Set to score 275 for a win, UP started on the wrong foot losing openerJyoti P Yadav (4) and S Nazir Ali (3) in the space of eight balls. But MohdKaif (32) and stumper M Mudgal (27) then took the score on to 52 whenMudgal was caught behind by Srivastava off Sanjay Pandey. Hirwani thenstruck twice dismissing Rizwan Shamshed (13) and Gynendra pandey (13) toleave UP struggling at 100 for 5.Kaif who was still holding on at the other was stumped off Majithia givingthe bowler his first wicket of the match. Then Majithia ran through thelower order to leave UP at 155.Earlier, Put into bat, MP openers Jai P Yadav (80) and Chandrakanth Pandit(49) belted the UP seamers Aashish Winston Zaidi and Mritunjay Tripathi toput on 78 runs in 10.4 overs. Amay Khurasiya (27) who replaced Pandit, thentook the score on to 144 along with Yadav.After the fall of both and Yadav. MP were helped by a fine 60 byDevendra Bundela. Khurasiya was the ninth batsman to be dismissed with thescoreboard reading 271. The innings ended with the fall of Narendra irwani atthe score of 274.

Sri Lanka’s promising young fast bowler Akalanka Ganegama was in devastating form as he guided defending champs Hatton National Bank to a comfortable 44-run win over Access Group in a key Mercantile `A’ division cricket match played at the Moors SC grounds on Saturday.Ganegama (20) knocked the fight out of the Access batting when he creamed off their top four batsmen for five runs, chasing an HNB total of 221 for eight off 50 overs. Ganegama’s victims included national players Aravinda de Silva (2) and Indika de Saram (0) as he finished with final figures of four for 29 off seven overs as Access were dismissed for 177 in the 38th over.Jeevantha Kulatunga in a late flourish slammed 41 off 42 balls inclusive of a four and three sixes to see Access to a respectable total.HNB sent into bat by Access, built their total around another national cricketer Tillekeratne Dilshan’s knock of 56 off 70 balls (6 fours).Sri Lanka players played prominent roles in guiding the fortunes of their respective companies to victory.At the Bloomfield grounds, Chaminda Vaas came up with a cameo all-round performance to see Seylan Bank to a convincing ten-wicket win over Singer.Vaas ran through the batting taking three for 13 as Singer were bundled out for 101 and then opening the batting, hit a sparkling unbeaten 72 off just 46 balls to see them home in the 15th over. Left-hander Vaas smashed two sixes and 11 fours in a fine display of power hitting.Sri Lanka vice-captain Marvan Atapattu and middle-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara hit fifties and shared a century partnership for Sampath Bank in their crushing 162-run win over East West at the NCC grounds.Sampath Bank rattled up the highest total of the day scoring 254 for 8 in 50 overs. Sangakkara made 51 off 79 balls (2 fours) and Atapattu, a stroke-filled 88 off 98 balls with one six and six fours as they shared a fourth wicket partnership of 112 off 22 overs.East West offered hardly any opposition being shot out for 92 in 31 overs with fast-medium bowler Aruna Bandaranayake capturing four wickets for 33.In the other match of the day, Janashakthi pulled off an 83-run win over John Keells at the Colts grounds. In reply to Janashakthi’s total of 182, John Keells could reply with only 99 with H.G.D. Nanayakkara taking 4 for 29.

In a thoroughly engrossing game, first seeds Scotland survived a strong challenge from hosts Canada at Maple Leaf Cricket Club. On a glorious summer’s day, in front of a crowd that reached close to three hundred, the two teams battled hard for 99 overs of excellent cricket. The Canadians fell just twelve runs short, as the tailenders could not cope with the first-class pace bowling of John Blain and James Brinkley.The Scots opened with Lockhart and Patterson, a well contrasted pair, with Lockhart playing cautiously and Patterson going for his shots. Patterson’s 40 was made under extraordinarily difficult circumstances given that he had received news just before the match that his father was gravely ill; he, in fact, left the ground between innings to catch a flight home to Scotland. He applied himself remarkably and, by the time he was bowled by John Davison (2/43), had made an excellent contribution to an opening partnership of 66. Asim Butt was sent in to lift the run rate but his first attempt at a big hit resulted in a spiralling catch that was well taken by Joe Harris.The Canadian spinners restricted the Scots’ bats well. Barry Seeberan (1/32), in particular, bowled superbly, combining clever flight with changes of pace to keep the batsmen off balance on a wicket that offered little assistance.It was Davison, however, who removed the patient Lockhart for 46, with the assistance of wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai who executed a neat leg side stumping from a faster delivery.Drew Parsons (42) and Colin Smith (29) then proceeded to build a useful partnership, although Parsons was struggling to find his touch and Smith was unluckily run out when Seeberan deflected a hard hit drive on to the non-striker’s stumps.The Scots were ultimately unable to significantly accelerate the scoring rate in the final overs, their hopes having been dealt an especially cruel blow when Seeberan claimed the wicket of captain George Salmond (2) with a nice piece of bowling, holding back a flighted delivery to induce a catch at short cover.Bagai then ran out Parsons with a neat piece of fielding, hitting from square on as the batsmen thought about scampering a leg bye. Medium pacer Sanjay Thuraisingham (2/34) also took two late wickets as the Scots pressed earnestly for a total in excess of 200.Seeberan was perhaps the pick of the bowlers but it was a fine all-round effort from the Canadian attack, backed up by keen fielding.Canadian openers Nicholas Degroot (23) and Ishwar Maraj (19) found Blain (1/29) in feisty mood, with the ball dug in very short several times in the first over. Short bowling, even at Blain’s pace, was unlikely to succeed on this batsman-friendly wicket, though, and the Canadians got off to a good start.Maraj, in particular, went for his shots well until he was trapped lbw by Blain. Degroot also looked very comfortable initially, driving well, and hooking anything short with time to spare. But Craig Wright (2/22) beat him with a change of pace for the second lbw of the innings.Muneeb Diwan (36) played carefully, picking up many of his runs through the third man region. Captain Harris (17) also looked comfortable until he played a poor shot, keeper Smith taking a good catch. Harris slapped his bat on his pads in frustration as he walked away, the third Canadian to play himself in but not build a significant innings.Ian Billcliff (26) also looked solid until he was yorked by Greig Williamson (3/22) and Davison (0) edged the next ball to where slip might have been only to see Smith take a brilliant one-handed catch.By this point, the match seemed to be swinging Scotland’s way. Nonetheless, Melvin Croning (21) and Bagai (17*) took the score to 164 with intent. There were seven overs to go when a mix-up resulted in a run out. Thuraisingham (0), often a useful pinch hitter, was then yorked first ball and Canadian hopes slumped again. Bagai kept his head, and Canada was still in the game as the final over approached. Ultimately, however, another run out and a good catch from Smith left them twelve runs short.

Sri Lanka A batted out an anti-climatic final day of the unofficial Test Match at NCC grounds in Colombo to secure a draw and set-up a series decider in the final game in Galle on Monday.Pakistan doused hopes of an entertaining finale when they elected to bat on for an hour in the morning. Having added 43 runs they finally declared, setting Sri Lanka an unrealistic target of 290 in 72 overs.Having lost Avishka Gunawardene early on, it soon became clear that Sri Lanka had no intention of chasing victory. They grimly occupied the crease for 71 overs, scoring at less than two runs per over, whilst the Pakistan captain used ten bowlers in all, including Humayun Farhat, the wicket keeper. When, to widespread relief, the umpires finally called it a day Sri Lanka were 129 for three.In their defense, Pakistan were handicapped by a back injury to, Irfan Fazil, their fastest bowler. Nevertheless, their undue conservatism was disappointing and somewhat perplexing – surely their best chance of victory was to encourage the Sri Lankans to chase?Mudasser Nazar, the Pakistan coach, admitted afterwards that his team had missed an opportunity: “I am disappointed; I thought that we could have pushed the issue a bit more, but we lost our way after tea yesterday when we lost those quick wickets. Originally we wanted to score 290-300 and give ourselves a whole day to bowl them out. Maybe the target was a little bit too stiff.A feature of this series has been the low scoring rate. In Dambulla that was understandable because of the slowness of the pitch, but this was a fine batting wicket, perhaps too good for four-day cricket.According to Mudasser: “The scoring rate has been very disappointing. I think the players are cautious because they are playing for the A team and that they are so desperate to break into the national team. This can have a negative impact on the team, but I am addressing this.”The Sri Lankan coach, Hemantha Devpriya, agreed, adding: “The Sri Lankan selectors are looking for batsmen who can occupy the crease for long periods of time and the players themselves are well aware of that.”Pakistan’s only realistic chance of victory today was a beguiling spell of leg spin by Danish Kaneria. He did trouble the Sri Lankans, though perhaps less than the incessant appealing suggested, but Michael Vandort (55) and Dammika Sudharshana (29) eventually settled down to compile a 53 partnership in two hours – this was not pretty cricket.When Sudharshana was finally dismissed, trapped leg-before wicket by Nafjaf Shah, Tillakaratne Dilshan wasted an opportunity to impress the selectors when he was bowled by the part-time spin of Taufiq Umar. Indika de Saram batted out the innings with Vandort, a natural accumulator, who played solidly for his three-hour 55.The teams now depart for Galle where they play again in just two days time. Nazar was confident that Irfan Faisal would have recovered from his back strain: “He has suffered from bowling a little too many overs for a man who is very. There is, after all, a lot of cricket on this tour crammed into a very short period.” Shabir Ahmed’s groin injury is apparently 30 per cent better, but he will not be ready for the next game.

Leicestershire took full advantage of the ideal conditions with Iain Sutcliffe and Aftab Habib capitalising to maximum effect as both reached unbeaten centuries on a benign pitch in ideal conditions after the visitors won the toss.Opener Sutcliffe batted throughout the day and his serene and patient approach brought him due reward as he reached his hundred having batted for five hours. The left-hander did survive an impassioned appeal for a catch at the wicket off the bowling of Ashley Cowan when he had scored 53. Cowan stared disbelievingly at umpire Jeff Evans who overruled the appeal and then stood in the middle of the wicket for some time before proceeding with his over.Six balls later, Evans was apparently overcome by sunstroke and slumped to the floor before being assisted to his feet by the Essex fielders and receiving medical aid. He was persuaded to leave the field but returned nine deliveries later to resume his duties whilst Sutcliffe continued with his unflustered innings. By the end of the day he had faced 314 deliveries and struck 24 boundaries in reaching 149 not out.In contrast, Habib was altogether more enterprising and equally effective as he adopted a more punishing attitude towards the Essex attack. He reached his century just before the close having faced 157 balls that included 14 boundaries with one six.Essex spent the day toiling in the hot conditions and received sparse reward with only two wickets.Trevor Ward was the first to go, having seen his side off to a steady start before he got a leading edge to an intended pull and was caught at mid on for 25 off the bowling of Graham Napier.Ben Smith was the wicket to fall during the afternoon session when he was trapped leg before as he pushed forward to an inswinger from Justin Bishop before Habib joined Sutcliffe to condemn his opponents to an unenviable task of toil under the hot sun as the pair combined for an unbroken partnership worth 207 by the close of play.

New Zealand teams in the domestic one-day cricket competition still do not know if they will have the incentive of a trip to Australia for the Champions Cup tournament as their prize this summer.The first tournament was held in Perth at the end of the last season, involving Central Districts from New Zealand, Western Australia, KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa and Mumbai from India.However, no tournament has been allocated for this year.Western Australia Cricket Association chief executive Rod Lillis told CricInfo today: “We have not been able to commit to the event at this stage. The primary reason for this is that the ACB allocated us the tournament on a one-year basis as we were the reigning champions of one-day domestic cricket in Australia.”While the ACB own the rights to the event, Western Australia feel they have some ownership of it, given that it was their idea. However, WACA hold no legal rights and any future event would need ACB approval and sanction because of the involvement of international teams.New South Wales won the Australian one-day series last summer and they have first rights to it this year.However, Lillis said Western Australia understood that NSW don’t see the tournament as a priority.If they decided not to stage the event, but were interested in playing in it, it would then be offered to Perth to stage.”Without the Warriors playing it makes it difficult for us. Nonetheless, we are committed to the concept and are currently investigating ways that it can still happen in the future,” Lillis said.”Even if it isn’t held next year, we would certainly like to run it again.”The major issue for whoever runs it will be television. Obtaining a host broadcaster and international TV deals are integral to making the tournament work financially. If you can’t get a commitment for TV, the event needs another revenue source which is not realistic for domestic cricket,” he said.The inaugural tournament had received a good reaction from players and the cricket community overall. Spectator numbers were not expected to be high, and they weren’t.”I thought the tournament went very well – the teams played good competitive cricket and I believe the standard was high,” he said.But, in hindsight, he said the time of year had been wrong as in Perth the tournament was competing with the start of AFL football which reduced the chance to raise profile of the event.”Time was also against us. We only had six weeks to prepare after getting the TV deals finalised, and this is far, far too short a time frame,” he said.Financially, the tournament hurt WACA a little but that was offset against the investment in the event.Lillis said it would be fair to say that while money was lost, it wasn’t enough to put the WACA off running it again.And television feedback, despite the fact that it was a pay-tv product, had been good and the host broadcaster, Channel Seven, had been positive and very supportive of the event, he said.