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Scorecard

A double strike by Aavishkar Salvi reduced Uttar Pradesh to a shaky 13 for 3 before half centuries from Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif propelled Uttar Pradesh to a first-innings lead but Mumbai fought back through a three wicket haul from Ramesh Powar to restrict UP to 250 in their first innings. The Mumbai openers steered the side to 21, 30 runs still in arrears, by the close of play. It was a day of buzzing activity – a flurry of wickets at the start, a big partnership in the middle and then wickets went down in a heap again- as advantage swung both ways.The young Raina, the left-hand bat averaging 72.40 this season, impressed with his temperament in a semi-crisis situation. On a wicket which aided a bit of seam-movement with the new ball Salvi removed Jyoti Yadav, the opener, and Praveen Kumar, the first-day hero with the ball, before Usman Malvi got rid of the 21 year-old Shiva Shukla to leave UP struggling at 13 for 3. It was then that Raina, who learnt his game under the tutelage of Deepak Sharma in the sports college in Lucknow in the late 90’s, displayed his skill under duress and put up a solid consolidation job, along with Kaif, to rescue UP. Raina reached his half-century at the stroke of lunch and with Kaif just two-runs short of his, UP had reached 111 for 3 at the end of the first session.Kaif, who missed out on the national duty in Pakistan, once again led from the front. He does not boast a great first-class record, averaging just 37.13 in 70 matches, but this season he has been in good nick, averaging 74.50 though he played in only two games. He has led from the front not only with the bat but has infused a fighting spirit in a beleaguered UP side that had a rough start to the season. UP lost the first two matches to Haryana and Baroda and drew their next two games, against Services and Punjab, before Kaif joined the camp to charge them to a place in the semi-final. Kaif guided his younger colleague and the duo kept the scorers busy – 100 runs of the partnership came in 138 minutes off 174 balls – before Raina was removed by Ramesh Powar at the score on 136.The 36-times champions sensed blood and moved in for the kill. The tall Nilesh Kulkarni, the Mumbai captain and left-arm spinner, castled Kaif’s stumps and 20 runs later, caught the veteran Gyanendra Pandey off Swapnil Hazare’s bowling to push UP on the back foot at 180 for 6. But Rizwan Shamshad, no stranger to bail-out jobs, stuck in and put up a dogged innings (40 off 80 balls) to guide UP – with a little bit of help from Piyush Chawla, the 19-year old legspinner – to a valuable first-innings lead.Powar, the man of the season for Mumbai with 37 wickets at 20.89, hastened the end, removing Chawla and Ashish Zaidi to finish with figures of 3 for 98 before Kulkarni got rid of Amir Khan, the wicketkeeper, to terminate UP’s innings. Kharsan Ghavri, Mumbai’s coach who felt his batsmen “threw their wickets away” in the first innings would be expecting a more determined performance tomorrow. The match is intriguingly poised and day three at Wankhede could well make or break both team’s chances.

Ravi Bopara has turned down a lucrative offer to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in a bid to regain and cement a place in the England team. Bopara, who isn’t centrally contracted to the ECB and thus free to sign on with the IPL if Essex agree, said he was tempted by the money on offer but put his county first.”Of course when figures like these are put in front of you it is tempting, but my goal is to play regularly for England so I am confident that if I continue to score runs and take wickets for Essex then I will hopefully play for England this summer and for many years to come,” he told .”If I do this, and with the current talk of new competitions and one off matches to sit alongside the IPL, then I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy the financial benefits in years to come.”Bopara, 23, has reportedly declined a six-figure contract from an unnamed IPL franchise. Dimitri Mascarenhas, the Hampshire captain, is the only England player participating in the IPL but others, namely Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom, have expressed interest in signing on in the future.”Ravi is a highly-talented cricketer with bat and ball so it was inevitable he would be wanted for a competition like the IPL,” said Paul Grayson, the Essex coach. “We appreciate the loyalty Ravi has shown as he wants us to continue the progress we have made here at Essex after a good start to the season. I believe he has made a wise decision because if he keeps producing the goods for us he will have a long and successful career with England ahead of him.”Bopara has enjoyed a superb start to the county season, with 150 and 137 in the Championship and 99 in the Friends Provident Trophy. Six wickets at 18.00 are a boost to his hopes of an England comeback after he was dumped on return from a woeful tour of Sri Lanka last year.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Twenty20 victory over Australia would give his team momentum as they prepare to take on Pakistan in a one-day and Test series starting next month.”This victory, as well as the last ODI victory, will give us a lot of confidence. International cricket is more about confidence than technique,” Dhoni said after India beat Australia in the one-off Twenty20 International at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.”Gautam (Gambhir) and Robin (Uthappa) have matured and played aggressively,” he said while praising his side for coming out with a fearless outlook. “They are aggressive but at times they may fail trying for shots and they may be criticised for playing rash shots but that’s how it is.”The virgin pitch used for the game helped the spinners; Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik did not disappoint despite having to bowl in tough situations. “Kartik was preferred over Joginder because of conditions,” Dhoni said. “In India, we have to generally sacrifice the fourth seamer for second spinner. Today we batted well and bowled well but fielding was not good because of the bumpy ground. Everyone responded well to responsibilities given to them and that is why we won.”Dhoni’s counterpart, Ricky Ponting, felt his team did not get enough runs on the board. “We fell short by 15 runs. We gave away too many extras – 23 extras means four extra overs. We did it the other night also and we need to buck up,” he said. “Harabhan and Kartik bowled well. Gambhir batted well. We would like to play more matches against the new generation Indian players.”

Peter Fulton believes New Zealand’s final Super Eights match against Australia on Friday will be anything but a meaningless game even though both teams have already qualified for the last four. New Zealand have yet to reach a World Cup final, although they are now in their fifth semi-final.Ricky Ponting said New Zealand were playing “as well as anyone” in the Caribbean and represented a major danger to his side’s hopes of winning an unprecedented third straight World Cup title. “They set the benchmark, they’ve got a fantastic record in World Cups and they’ve been playing very well in this tournament,” Fulton said.”That’s going to be a big game for us. In some ways it will give us a pretty good indication of where we are.” Fulton said he didn’t care who New Zealand played in the semi-finals. “To be honest if you’re going to win the World Cup you’ll have to beat Australia at some stage,” he said. “I don’t think it really matters.”Fulton, who made his name as a middle-order batsman, was left on the sidelines at the start of the tournament but found himself drafted in to open alongside Stephen Fleming after a broken wrist ended Lou Vincent’s campaign. “Every time I go out there I’m feeling a little better adjusted to it,” said Fulton, who is averaging 31.50 in the World Cup.”I think if Stephen and I can get a big partnership going it’s going to increase our chances with our strong middle order. I haven’t done too much batting with him in the past but he’s a good guy to bat with, he’s pretty relaxed and keeps it pretty simple.”New Zealand bounced back from their six wicket-defeat by Sri Lanka on Thursday when they returned to Grenada’s National Stadium 48 hours later and beat South Africa by five wickets. That match saw New Zealand exploit early moisture in the pitch and helpful overcast conditions as they held South Africa to 193 for 7.”The first five to ten overs here are pretty crucial sometimes because the wickets are a little bit damp,” Fulton said. “So the onus is on the opening batsmen to get through that period to assess what’s going to be a good score and also maintain a strike rate.”As we saw South Africa got themselves in a little bit of trouble. The wicket was doing a bit but the fact they were so slow [after 10 overs they were 12 for 2] early on probably cost them in the end.”

Pakistan announced a 15-man squad for the World Cup shred of major surprises but seeped in uncertainty with the selection of three fast bowlers none of whom, for varying reasons, may make it to the Caribbean.After extensive deliberations, the PCB announced a squad that includes Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul. The announcement was delayed through the day as medical reports of the three players were examined, before finally the squad was unveiled in the afternoon.Of the trio, Shoaib and Asif are still under a cloud over the doping issue. Both players, like the rest of the squad, are due to undergo internal PCB drugs testing on February 17 and if, as experts fear, they still retain traces of Nandrolone, they are likely to face immediate bans.Salim Altaf, director operations, PCB, said that Shoaib and Asif are selected subject to clearance in the dope tests of which results are expected during the first week of March. “We will cross that bridge once the results come in,” said Altaf of what happens if they do test positive again.Additionally, all three are carrying injuries. Shoaib has just flown to London to consult specialists about what could be a recurrence of the serious knee injury which kept him out of cricket for most of last year.Concerns about Asif’s physical wellbeing are also enhanced, following a grueling workload during the current tour to South Africa. The niggle is a flare-up of the elbow troubles that forced him to miss three Tests in England last year.Gul missed the entire South Africa series with an ankle injury and though he maintains he is fit now, it has emerged that he was carrying a stress fracture which may or may not heal in time.Altaf added, “Shoaib and Gul are subject to clearance of injuries. We are having a second opinion on Shoaib in London because he has shown signs of wear and tear. As for Gul, enough time has elapsed now since he got the injury. He is bowling six overs with a full run-up and the panel feels he will be fit for the World Cup so he has been included in the team. If anyone is unfit he will be replaced.”The Pakistan board has been assured by the ICC that injured players named in the squad can be replaced before the World Cup begins.

Otherwise, the only eyebrow-raising selection is that of Danish Kaneria. The Karachi leggie, an integral component of Pakistan’s Test team, has rarely been part of Inzamam-ul-Haq’s ODI plans. He has only played 16 ODIs in a six-year career and since Inzamam and Bob Woolmer came together in June 2004, has appeared in only seven matches.Imran Nazir has also made a late burst into the squad, edging out the likes of Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat for the opening slot. Nazir was recalled to the Pakistan side during the current ODI series in South Africa, having been out of favour for over two years. He returned in some style, scoring a blazing 39-ball 57 in Pakistan’s win at Durban.And despite speculation, and mounting pressure on selectors to act, no wicketkeeping back-up is being taken for Kamran Akmal. Through the last year, Akmal has suffered a horrendous blip in form behind the stumps leading to suggestions, from Pakistan’s chief selector no less, to rest him and groom an understudy. It hasn’t happened and though Akmal has struggled as opener, his glovework in the ODIs against South Africa has shown some improvement.Azhar Mahmood, who made a surprise comeback to an injury-ravaged squad in South Africa, will not be given the chance to extend his fairytale return any further. With the nature of the injuries suffered by the fast bowlers, and those that Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed, as potential replacements, are suffering, a return cannot be entirely ruled out.Squad: 1 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 2 Younis Khan (vice-captain), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Imran Nazir, 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Kamran Akmal, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Mohammad Asif, 12 Umar Gul, 13 Danish Kaneria 14 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 15 Rao Iftikhar Anjum

Sussex closed in on their third Championship in five years after enforcing the follow on against Worcestershire at Hove and reducing the visitors to 190 for 5 at close, still 129 runs short of making Sussex bat again. It had appeared that the match would be done and dusted inside three days when Mushtaq Ahmed grabbed three wickets in as many overs to reduce Worcestershire to 117 for 5, but Moeen Ali (72*) and Gareth Batty (32*) put on an unbeaten 73 for the sixth wicket to take the game into a fourth day. Earlier, Mushtaq took 6 for 93 and Jason Lewry 3 for 44 as Worcestershire lost their last seven first-innings wickets for 61. With the weather forecast good for tomorrow, Sussex will fancy polishing off proceedings in the morning.Durham put themselves top of the Championship – if only for a day – with an eight-wicket win over Kent at Canterbury. Kent, who resumed on 99 for 3, offered little resistance, losing their last seven wickets in the morning session. Paul Wiseman, who finished with 4 for 45, and Ottis Gibson, who took his season tally to 80 wickets, polished off the tail. Durham took 10.1 overs to knock off the 52 runs they needed, although Kent, who bowled Robert Key and Geraint Jones – Martin Saggers kept wicket – hardly pressed them.

Lancashire entered this match with hopes of their first outright Championship victory since 1934, but to achieve that they will first need to complete the highest run-chase in their 150-year history, after Mark Ramprakash batted them to a virtual stand-still with his second century of the match at The Oval.Ramprakash, who had put the skids under Lancashire’s title challenge with his first-innings 196, was once again unstoppable as Surrey appointed themselves king-makers at the end of an unproductive season. After bowling Lancashire out for 234, a deficit of 193, Mark Butcher opted not to enforce the follow-on, and Ramprakash capitalised on a demoralised attack with 130 not out, his second century of the match, his tenth of the summer, and his 97th in first-class matches.It was the sixth occasion in his 401-match career that Ramprakash had made two centuries in the same game, and with his 104th run he reached 2000 runs for the second season in a row. By the time Butcher had declared with a massive lead of 488, Ramprakash’s average for the summer was sitting pretty on 101.30 from 25 innings. In reply, Paul Horton and Mark Chilton reached the close untroubled on 27 for 0, but with Durham already home and dry against Kent, and Sussex well placed in their home match against Worcestershire, Lancashire have no option but to go for glory and take on the 462 runs still required.Ramprakash did not have to wait long to get back into the action, as Scott Newman fell to Dominic Cork with just two runs added to Surrey’s overnight score. Thereafter he and Jonathan Batty rumbled towards an indomitable position, and Batty had designs on his own landmark of 1000 runs in the season before he mistimed a pull to midwicket off Oliver Newby for 45. Butcher and Ramprakash then added 77 in even time for the third wicket to push the lead up past 350.Butcher was caught behind for 47 off Glen Chapple, who also induced a miscued pull when Ramprakash was on 79. It was the closest he came to being dismissed all innings. He went to tea unbeaten on 99, and reached his hundred soon afterwards with a tucked single through midwicket. James Benning got off the mark with a six over long-on as Surrey pressed towards a declaration total, leaving Lancashire with ten overs to negotiate before the close.There was no play between Hampshire and Yorkshire at Headingley.

Includes all points up to the close of play

Ricky Ponting says that Australia have addressed the problems that led to their Ashes loss last summer and are now headed in the right direction towards reclaiming the urn.Speaking to the , Ponting said that he would prepare for this winter’s series against England knowing that he had a settled unit. “Our Test cricket can’t be faulted, really, since the last Ashes Test match. Everything we have done has been very, very good quality,” he said. ” The areas that we needed to address, I think … after England we have addressed. We have certainly turned a number of things around and we are heading in the right direction.”Australia have fielded 21 players since the final Ashes Test last September, including five debutants, but Ponting remained confident of his side’s abilities. “Matty Hayden is in as good a form as he has ever been. I feel like my game is going really well at the moment, Michael Hussey has barely put a foot wrong, so there are lots of great signs for us come Ashes time,” he said. “It is great to see Jason [Gillespie] back and bowling well and it is great to see Michael Kasprowicz back and bowling well and Brett [Lee] in career-best form. I will be very confident going in knowing we have a very good settled line-up and a bunch of guys who are going to do everything they can to try to win the Ashes back.”Compared to a struggling England, who lost in Pakistan and drew in India and have had their share of injury woes, Australia have not lost a Test since the Ashes. “We know England probably haven’t got everything in order right at the moment,” Ponting said. “They have had lots of injuries and they have a really tough program heading into the Ashes series as well. So it is the one thing we are all really looking forward to now.”While confident that the apparent instability in a bowling attack missing Glenn McGrath had been sorted out, Ponting was hopeful that his champion bowler, missing because of family reasons, would be back soon. “We have to see where Glenn is at, hopefully he is going to be available for the Ashes, which would be good for us if he is because over the past 12-18 months he has been really good for us,” Ponting said. “[Shane Warne] has bowled particularly well, Stuey MacGill bowled very well out here, so things are heading in the right direction.”Now the guys have the chance to freshen up and get really fit for what is a really big six or seven months of international cricket for us with the Champions Trophy, the Ashes and the World Cup,” he added. “So the opportunity is in our hands now for us to go away and work really hard and to make sure we are up to whatever confronts us. Come the first Test there should be no excuses for us; we should be primed and ready to go.”Ponting said that he would urge his team-mates to have as much time off as possible before they begin their summer preparations with a fitness test on June 19. The Australians will have two Pura Cup matches before the start of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on November 23.

Scorecard

Haidee Tiffen was responsible for guiding New Zealand to a relatively comfortable consolation win to end the Rose Bowl Series in Darwin. After handing over the trophy to Australia on Saturday, the captain Tiffen made sure of a 3-2 final result with an unbeaten 66 that pushed her side past the hosts’ 9 for 180.Karen Rolton won the toss and Australia started strongly, but once the openers Shelley Nitschke and Melissa Bulow were dismissed the innings fell away. Nitschke was stumped off Sarah Tsukigawa for 47 and Bulow departed with 51 when the team was in good health at 2 for 115.However, New Zealand struck regularly over the final 20 overs to restrict their opponents to a total they reached with 5.1 overs to spare. Australia had a chance when the visitors were 4 for 75 after Sara McGlashan had retired hurt with an injured knee, but Tiffen received valuable assistance from Nicola Browne, the Player of the Series, and Rachel Priest (39) on the way to a four-wicket win.Rolton was delighted with Australia’s showing throughout the series. “I think all the games were tough and well-contested but I guess our good record against New Zealand helped us come through in close finishes. I think New Zealand played good cricket and it has some exciting young players who should make their names in years to come.”Tiffen, meanwhile, called for more consistency from her team. “It was disappointing to lose the series. We need to be more consistent in all facets of the game. We have come out of our winter and both the Rose Bowl and the England tour will provide us with an opportunity to expose players to international cricket before the World Cup.”

Day 2
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

An outstanding spell of new-ball bowling and a resolute opening partnership changed the complexion of the Multan Test, putting West Indies in a comfortable position at the end of the second day. Jerome Taylor’s fiery five-for – his second in Tests – loosened Pakistan’s grip on the game before Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga, with a methodical 151-run partnership, consolidated the advantage.Pakistan didn’t look like the side that dominated the proceedings yesterday. A combination of Taylor’s fizz and Corey Collymore’s metronomic accuracy felled them from a commanding 263 for 4 to 357 all out. They didn’t have much joy on the field either with Gayle and Ganga blunting the new-ball pairing before frustrating the rest. Combining for their fifth century partnership, they cashed in on a belter of a pitch to become the first pair of West Indies openers to go past hundred in Pakistan.Both began uncertainly – three of Gayle’s four fours flew off the edge – but settled upon a sturdy foundation once they saw off the new ball. Umar Gul and Shahid Nazir, the matchwinners in the first Test at Lahore, had their moments but with the pitch easing out and both batsmen resolutely biding time, West Indies were in control.Danish Kaneria gained appreciable spin, nearly bowling Ganga behind the legs on one occasion, but the slow nature of the turn allowed the batsmen enough time to adjust their strokes. The faster men lost their bite once the ball got older and the introduction of Mohammad Hafeez, bowling his generous long-hops, didn’t help matters. Having plodded to his half-century in 101 deliveries, Gayle opened out emphatically towards the end of the day. Ganga maintained a steady rate but his ability to put away the loose balls allowed him to tick along just fine.It was a partnership in keeping with the methodical theme of the day after the bowlers had executed their plans splendidly this morning. Brimming with energy, Taylor exploited the life on the pitch. He ensured the line was outside, and sometimes wide, of off stump; he varied his length sensibly; and, most importantly, steamed in hard and hit the deck regularly.At the other end was the untiring Collymore, pounding in 15 overs on the trot, and finally, after what seemed an age, being rewarded for his efforts. He found the nick several times and endured a couple of grassed chances – by Runako Morton at gully and Dwayne Bravo at third slip – but hardly wavered in accuracy.Both bowlers realised that Pakistan would try and attack – which any team would’ve done when perched so comfortably – and used the conditions to their advantage. The tenth ball of the day, when Shoaib Malik edged a legcutter from Collymore, should have produced a wicket but Morton put down a sharp low catch. It didn’t take too long for the breakthrough to arrive: Taylor struck in the next over, squaring up Inzamam-ul-Haq with a good-length delivery outside off and inducing a healthy edge to the wicketkeeper.Having received the reprieve on 20, Malik decided to make the most of his luck and smashed four more fours. His luck finally ran out on 42 when Bravo, at third slip, dived right in front of Brian Lara at second and pulled off a sensational one-handed catch. Kamran Akmal chose the breezy route, falling after a 12-ball 17, but Abdul Razzaq chose to stagnate. His adhesive methods yielded just 16 in 89 balls and he didn’t show any intent to step up the rate, even when he was partnered by tailenders. He made no attempt to farm the strike and preferred to stonewall rather than shift gear. That he scored two fours at a time when Pakistan would have given anything to accelerate didn’t help matters.

Andrew Symonds, the Queensland allrounder, has been included in the Australian squad for the second Test against West Indies, while Simon Katich has been omitted. The only other change in the 12-man line-up is the inclusion of Brad Hodge, the middle-order batsman from Victoria.Symonds made his Test debut in March last year against Sri Lanka, but didn’t enjoy much success in the two matches he played, scoring just 53 runs in four innings and taking a solitary wicket. But his inclusion in the squad was necessitated by the shoulder injury to Shane Watson in the first Test at Brisbane. Watson had been marked out as the one to fill the allrounder’s slot, but his injury – which will keep him out for at least two months – offers an opportunity to Symonds, who has an excellent one-day record but has never got an extended run at the Test level. Symonds has also been in superb form this season, scoring 163 off 183 balls in Queensland’s Pura Cup match against South Australia last week.Commenting on his selection, Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said: “Symonds has been in red-hot form with the bat, and his medium pace and offspin adds a lot of options to the bowling attack. He thoroughly deserves his opportunity at Test level again.”Katich missed the cut after scoring two runs in his last three innings and Hohns indicated that a return to first-class cricket would be the best way for him to regain touch. “Simon’s form has not been what he expects of himself and we felt it was time to give someone else an opportunity,” he said. “Brad Hodge has been a very high-scoring player for Victoria for many years and we believe he can do that at Test level. We hope Simon scores plenty of runs at domestic level to give himself every opportunity to get back into the team.”Hodge gets his reward for his consistent performances at the first-class level for Victoria – in 166 matches, he averages 46 with 37 centuries. He has toured India, New Zealand and England but has not played a Test or ODI. The second Tests starts at Hobart on November 17.Australian squad
Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath, Stuart MacGill.