Did an error by the third umpire cost Pakistan the one-day international at Karachi? The News, a Pakistan daily, reports that Moin Khan, and not Naved-ul-Hasan, should have taken strike to the last ball of the penultimate over of the match. The confusion arose after Mohammad Kaif took a magnificent catch in the deep to dismiss Shoaib Malik, at which stage Pakistan required ten runs in seven balls.Quoting a source, the daily says that Simon Taufel, one of the on-field umpires, went by the instruction of Asad Rauf, the third umpire, and allowed Hasan to take strike. “Taufel went by what the third umpire had to say, thinking Moin had not crossed over when Kaif took the catch. But the problem was that Asad Rauf miscalculated the number of balls in that over and thought that the over was complete. But since Moin had crossed over he told Taufel that not Moin but Rana Naveed [ul-Hasan] should take strike,” the paper quoted the source as saying. “Rauf only realised his mistake when he saw Zaheer Khan continuing with his over, but made no attempt to convey to Taufel that he had made a mistake.” Hasan took a single off that ball which meant that he kept strike for the final over.The daily also states that though the Pakistan management had made no formal complaint, Rauf had been pulled up by Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee, for the error.* * *Andy Atkinson, the curator in charge of the pitches for the series, has hit out at the charge that the track for the first ODI was loaded in favour of the batsman. In a report in The Indian Express, Atkinson called the wicket “very fair” and said it was a typical one-day pitch. “For the past decade the wickets in one-day cricket are tailormade to suit batsmen. This is because people come to watch fours and sixes, and nothing else. Pitches are supposed to be like this.”However, Atkinson did promise that the wickets for the Tests would be far more bowler-friendly. “You want a contest, wait till the Tests. It is more of a connoisseur’s delight and the bowlers will have a good time then.”* * *Wasim Bari, Pakistan’s chief selector, has denied that there were any differences between the selectors and Inzamam-ul-Haq over the composition of Pakistan’s team for the first ODI at Karachi. According to The News, Bari made it clear that the selectors had given Inzamam full powers to select the team he wanted.”What we wanted to do was give Inzamam a boost before the first match of the series,” Bari told the daily. “We left it to him to pick the playing eleven. He was confident in going along with five bowlers and we said okay, it is your call. And this move to give him confidence worked and it showed in the way he batted in the match.”Earlier reports in the media had suggested the selectors were disappointed that only five bowlers were picked in the side, and that Shahid Afridi had been omitted. Bari did make it clear, though, that Pakistan would go in with six bowlers for the second match, at Rawalpindi.* * *After the exemplary behaviour of the spectators in Karachi, all eyes are now on the Rawalpindi fans. Press Trust of India reports that the district government of Rawalpindi has brought out an eight-point appeal to the crowd, urging them to “exercise maximum restraint and show the highest norms of hospitality and discipline” during the second ODI. The appeal also requests the fans not to bring in “glass bottles, mobile phones and other metallic substances into the enclosure for your own safety and for that of the players”.

Ricky Ponting has admitted that Australia have little interest in playing against a below-strength Zimbabwe. Unlikely to be competitive against Australia even with everyone available, the Zimbabweans have 15 white players currently boycotting the side in a potentially disastrous dispute with authorities.Australia’s tour next month is shaping up as a complete farce unless a resolution is found. “It would be disappointing for the player group to go there and play a second or third string side,” Ponting said while promoting his charity dinners for the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia. “We’ll keep a close eye on it.”Asked if sub-standard opposition would be grounds for Australia to withdraw, Ponting replied: “That would be a decision that would be made by Cricket Australia. I think that will be left out of our hands. When you look ahead and think about it, there probably are some tough decisions that need to be made there.”Australia will definitely tour because the International Cricket Council decrees that security concerns are the only legitimate reason for the abandonment of any tour.Ponting said Australia would show no mercy if it ended up playing a Zimbabwean team full of unproven youngsters. “All we can do is play the side that’s put out on the park and the Australian team is not really noted for going easy on any opposition. As we saw with the Bangladesh Test matches here last year, we try to win the games and win them as well as we can. That’s every Test match we play in. That will be exactly the same when we go to Zimbabwe.”The troubles in Zimbabwean cricket began when captain Heath Streak stood down because members of the selection panel had no first-class experience.He also believed the side was being selected to satisfy a racial quota system rather than form.The rebel players are demanding selection on merit, Streak’s reinstatement as captain, changes to the selection panel and apologies for the Zimbabwean board’s “transgressions”. They have been given until May 8 to withdraw their requests and make themselves available for future tours. If they fail to comply they will be either suspended or dismissed, with the Australians scheduled to play their first match against Zimbabwe A on May 17.”We’ve still got nearly a month before we leave to tour there,” Ponting added.”I’d like to think they can get things sorted out over there, get things resolved before we tour. It is a little bit of a worry at the moment, but hopefully things will be resolved and we can go to Zimbabwe and play a full-strength team.”Streak has said Zimbabwe are heading for some of the biggest hidings in Test history if authorities refuse to back down and his country’s best players are not on the field against Sri Lanka and Australia.

ESPN-Star Sports has won the telecast rights for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka next month. The rights, which were awarded by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), included radio-broadcast and on-ground sponsorship.The Hindu quoted Manu Sawhney, the senior vice president of the programming and event management of ESPN-Star, who said: “Securing the rights for the Asia Cup is an affirmation of our commitment to Asian cricket. There are already several Asian cricket powerhouses and the others are coming into their own.”The tournament will be held between July 16 and August 2, and will include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and Hong Kong.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has invited Zee Telefilms and ESPNStar for a final round of discussions regarding the telecast rights on September 4 in Chennai. Zee, was the highest bidder with approximately US$260million for the four-year cricket telecast rights, while ESPNStar was close to US$30million less than that. A final decision on the matter is expected on September 5.RC Venkatesh, managing director of ESPNStar Sports, told : “We have been invited by BCCI to present a clarification on our bid. We are open to any kind of negotiations that will enable us bag the deal.”ESPNStar had said that they were willing to increase the bid to around US$300million if the BCCI extended it to a five-year contract and not four. Thay had also alleged that Zee did not qualify for the bidding process they did not meet the board’s criterion of having two years’ experience in telecasting international cricket events.Zee, however, refuted the charge and said that they had telecast international cricket matches in other countries, like the UK, since 1995.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The Sri Lankan batsmen made amends for their first-innings collapse and gained complete control of the game at the end of the third day at Faisalabad. Sanath Jayasuriya led the way with an uncharacteristically subdued hundred and strung together useful partnerships as Sri Lanka finished on 285 for 3, an overall lead of 264.Jayasuriya’s workmanlike hundred had some typically manic moments, and his wild slash at wide balls nearly got him out on a couple of occasions. He was out to a no-ball when he had made just 9, but Shoaib Akhtar had marginally overstepped the mark, while a number of flashes landed just wide of the fielders. But he was completely assured against the spinners – he swept Danish Kaneria forcefully and found the gap with precision – and capitalised on the defensive fields that were set. He brought up his hundred, his 13th, by smashing Kaneria for a massive six over long-on and tore the bowling apart immediately after. His last 29 came in just 23 balls and a few cover-drives bisected the fielders perfectly.Jayasuriya’s innings strengthened Sri Lanka’s grip on the game, but the momentum was seized with Kumar Sangakkara’s breezy 59. The start had been shaky, with Marvan Atapattu bagging his fourth pair in Tests when he was trapped in front by Shoaib. Sangakkara had to contend with a fired-up Shoaib, tearing in at full pelt and swinging it either way. But he counterattacked with a flurry of superbly struck fours, creaming five of them in a span of six balls as Sri Lanka raced to 60 in the first ten. Sangakkara brought up his sixth half-century in his last eight innings before falling to the first ball after lunch, as he wafted at one from Shoaib (98 for 2). By then, though, the innings was firmly back on track.

Mahela Jayawardene picked up the baton, adding another 118 with Jayasuriya, as he blunted the pace attack and tormented the spinners. He was nearly bowled early in his innings, when he shouldered arms to an incutter from Abdul Razzaq, but cruised to his fifty from that point. He knocked the spinners off their length as he danced down the pitch beautifully, and cut them fine when they dropped short. He fell to a perfectly pitched legbreak from Kaneria, as his defensive prod resulted in the ball taking the edge on its way to Moin Khan (216 for 3).Jayasuriya survived some tense moments in the eighties as he twice edged Shoaib wide of the slips. He was also involved in a mix-up which nearly resulted in Thilan Samaraweera being run out – fortunately for him, Yousuf Youhana missed the stumps from short midwicket. But Jayasuriya settled the nerves with some confident pushes against the spinners and shifted a gear once he passed his hundred. After being behind in the first four sessions of the Test, Sri Lanka were now in a position from where they could dictate terms.Their bowlers had begun the fightback on Thursday afternoon and they didn’t have any problems in mopping up the Pakistan tailenders this morning. Shoaib was given out lbw when he missed a straighter one from Rangana Herath, while Kaneria was run out two overs later. After an excellent start to their innings, Pakistan’s lead was just 21. Shoaib’s early dismissal of Atapattu pointed to a low-scoring thriller, but the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen had other ideas.

Dan Cullen, the South Australian offfpinner, will make his limited-over debut in the ING Cup game against New South Wales at the Manuka Oval on December 11. Cullen, 20, plays for the Adelaide Buffalos and has already played three first-class games for South Australia this season.Also returning to the one-day side is Paul Rofe, 23-year-old fast bowler, from grade club University. Rofe has not played in the one-day competition this season. John Davison and Chris Duval have been omitted from the side which played Tasmania last month.South Australia are currently at the bottom of the table with no points from their four games.South Australia squad
Graham Manou (capt), Dan Cullen, Nathan Adcock, Callum Ferguson, Greg Blewett, Ryan Harris, Ben Cameron, Paul Rofe, Mark Cleary, Jack Smith, Mark Cosgrove, Shaun Tait.

Sourav Ganguly, on the road to recovery from the fever that kept him off the field for the whole of the third day of the first Test, spoke to the media after India’s emphatic win at Dhaka.

On how Bangladesh played
They played well in patches. I thought they bowled well in the first session of the second day. They picked up three wickets, and there were a few dropped chances. It’s early days in international cricket for them, so you have to give them time.On this Bangladesh team in comparison to the one he played against in their inaugural Test in 2000-01
This is a pretty young side. When I played them four years ago, they had a few experienced guys. Most of these boys need to be persisted with because there is talent and they will get better with the experience. Experience does matter in Test cricket.On how easy or difficult it was to motivate the team against weak opposition
We were pretty motivated. As I said, it is Test cricket after all, and we were in a tough situation at 60 for 3. I don’t think motivation is a factor. Every Test series is important. We’ve done very well in Test cricket in the past couple of years and we need to keep on winning. It’s no different here.On whether the reserves would get a chance in the next Test
We have a thought in mind about that. We have some young guys in this team and we will probably look to give them an opportunity in the next Test and also in the one-day series to come. We’ve not spoken about it because the Test just got over. But that’s definitely an option. Because you need to give everybody a go to find out how good they are.On missing out on a hundred
It’s pretty disappointing. It’s happened right throughout the year. I’ve got runs but I’ve not converted them into hundreds. It’s pretty disappointing when you are playing well [and not getting a century].On Irfan Pathan
He’s getting better with every game. He’s young, he’s just 20 and he’s got loads of cricket ahead of him. He has to shoulder the responsibility of Indian fast bowling for quite some time.On Zaheer Khan’s batting
I thought he batted pretty well. We were to declare at lunch but he wanted to get a Test hundred. I thought he played pretty well for a No. 11.

South Africa 70 for 3 trail England 139 (Pollock 4-32) by 69 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball

After being bruised by defeat in the first Test, a battling South Africa came out fighting on Boxing Day at Durban. After winning the toss and fielding, they never let up, blowing England away for 139 and reducing the deficit to 69 for the loss of three wickets by the close.England’s lowest in Tests this year – their previous worst was 226 against West Indies – vindicated Graeme Smith’s bold decision to put them in. His fast bowlers performed well, banging in short balls to exploit the pace of the pitch: Ashley Giles, in particular, was a handy punchbag for a battery of body blows before he became a third victim of injudicious hooking.But none of England’s batsmen played with much conviction and the killer blow came ten minutes before lunch when Nicky Boje dismissed Andrew Strauss – England’s hero at Port Elizabeth – for 25 with his fourth delivery (53 for 3). And after the break, South Africa carried on where they had left off – picking up the three quick wickets of Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan as they kept England on the ropes.Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard put up some late resistance – their ninth-wicket partnership of 26 was England’s highest – but the bowlers applied blow after brutal, bloody blow until they finished England off.And while Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Rudolph had all been sent back to the pavilion before the close, South Africa will be more than happy with an honest day’s work which was kick-started by Makhaya Ntini’s dismissal of Marcus Trescothick for 18. Ntini had initially struggled to find a probing line and it was only when he switched over the wicket to the left-hander Trescothick that he struck, finding the inside edge and AB de Villiers, in his first session as a Test keeper after replacing Thami Tsolekile, changed direction to hold a diving, one-handed catch to his right.

The unconvincing Mark Butcher, nearly run out early on, then aimed to smack Dale Steyn through the covers off the back foot but only succeeded in dragging the ball into the ground and on to his off stump for 5. But if that gave South Africa the slight advantage, Strauss’s dismissal really put them in the driving seat. Strauss had been subdued yet patient, but, just after stroking two good fours, he failed to get over a straight ball from the left-arm spinner Boje, and Ntini took a good low catch at widish mid-off. That really started the rot.Shaun Pollock then struck twice in his first two overs after the break: an inswinger trapped Thorpe in front for 1, then Flintoff departed without scoring, as he mis-hooked a straight bouncer which lobbed to Hashim Amla at short leg (64 for 5). Ntini then waded in with the sucker punch – a straight, well-pitched one which trapped Vaughan leg-before for 18. At 80 for 6, England were reeling.Geraint Jones showed signs of fighting spirit, opening his account with a hooked six off Pollock, and he added several streaky edged boundaries before he perished attempting a hook too many off Ntini. A defiant Simon Jones thumped Pollock for two fours and a glorious straight six in five balls before he fell, dragging one on to his stumps. Pollock then bowled his fourth victim, Steve Harmison, to complete England’s batting misery.But England’s bowlers gained the immediate breakthrough they desperately required: Smith fell for 9 as South Africa stumbled to 17 for 1. Harmison and Matthew Hoggard responded to the working-over England had received with some fiery pace of their own. Harmison clattered Smith on the upper arm before he offered an outside edge to Flintoff at second slip.Harmison then set about tucking up Rudolph, while at the other end Hoggard was busy keeping the usually aggressive Gibbs quiet – he managed one four, a crashing cover-drive, but was mainly in defensive mode. Hoggard eventually got his man. On 15, Gibbs misjudged one which nipped back to hit off stump (48 for 2).Harmison made history with the last ball of the day: in removing Rudolph he brought up his 64th Test wicket of this calendar year, a record for an English bowler – Ian Botham had held the honour for 25 years. Rudolph fell steering a bouncer to Thorpe at short leg after a breezy 32, but there was no doubt as to which team had the upper hand on the first day. England will need to muster all their bowling acumen and strength on the second day against South Africa’s reinforced batting line-up.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has said that he will target Rahul Dravid in the upcoming India tour. Kaneria, who will be the frontline spinner, reckoned Dravid to be the greatest threat and disclosed his plans to unleash a secret delivery during the series.”I respect Dravid a lot. He is a great player and my favourite too,” Kaneria told the BBC Hindi website. “I don’t think any other Indian batsman will be difficult to bowl at. He has got the class and he would be the main wicket for me. He is truly the Wall and if I get him it will be an achievement for me”Kaneria also said that the Indian tour would be a huge challenge and disclosed his plans to unveil a secret weapon to counter the Indian batsmen who are reputed to be masters of countering spin bowling. “I have developed a secret delivery that I intend to use during the series against India,” Kaneria told , a Pakistan based daily. “I have been successful in honing that delivery and will use in the matches against India. I have set a target of 20 to 25 wickets in the series because the tracks in India have always been spin friendly.”Kaneria along with the Arshad Khan, the offspinner who was recalled to the Test side after five years, will boost the thin bowling line-up. He was confident of performing better in India than in the recent Australian tour, where he manfully led the attack with 15 wickets in three Tests. “We have a good spin attack now,” he added. “I was the only spinner on the Australian tour and there was no-one to support me. Now my workload will come down as I will have support from Arshad. As a legspinner I will attack and as an offspinner Arshad can help contain the batsmen.”

The dust may barely have settled on the ECB’s new TV rights contract with Sky Sports, but already it seems they are trying to encourage the BBC to bid for the next cricket deal, which would begin in 2010. The news came to light through a leak to , which said that David Collier, the new ECB chief executive, held talks with Peter Salmon, the BBC director of sport on Tuesday.The leak came from the Save Cricket group, which has been set up by Norton Cricket Club from Teesside to campaign against the new deal. The group are planning to wear black armbands during Test matches this summer to protest at the ECB’s deal to give live coverage of all home Tests to Sky from 2006.Rhys Jenkins, the organiser of Save Cricket told : “The ECB are starting to realise just how annoyed people are and they’re feeling guilty about their deal with Sky. It’s obvious that they’re worried about their exclusive deal with satellite television. They’re already looking at the next deal and trying to get the BBC interested.” However, the ECB said that the meeting between Collier and Salmon was “routine” while the BBC failed to comment, but it is believed that it is too early for them to be making decisions for as far ahead as 2010.This summer’s Ashes series will be Channel 4’s last cricket – they have held the rights to home Test matches, although one has been shown live on Sky each summer, and later rounds of the C&G Trophy since 1999, when they beat off the BBC. The only cricket on terrestrial TV will be Channel 5’s 45-minute highlights package. Four’s coverage, which introduced the viewers to gadgetry like Hawkeye and the Snickometer, has won a number of awards but began to attract some criticism when it started to shunt around the timing of their highlights programme – often not shown until the early hours of the following morning. Frequent breaks for horse racing, especially over weekends, was another issue and they brought the start time of Tests forward to 10.30 so that coverage did not extend too far into the early-evening peak viewing hours.But the fear is, now that the ECB have put all their eggs in one basket (admittedly a very lucrative one) there will be very little competition from other broadcasters when the contracts are next up for renewal. The new deal is worth £220million, with money promised for grassroots funding, but next time around, without rival broadcasters bidding, Sky could get a cut price deal that would leave the game dangerously short of funding.The ECB told Cricinfo that it has regular meetings with all its broadcasting partners and would soon be talking with Channel 4 and Sky but maybe the ECB are already starting to sweat?