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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRangana Herath was England’s latest spin tormentor with 6 for 74•AFP

Rangana Herath exposed England’s failings against spin bowling once more as Sri Lanka took a firm grip on the first Test in Galle. Seventeen wickets fell in the day as batsmen on both sides struggled to play the turning ball and set up the prospect of a three-day finish.The match is not over. England’s bowlers – excellent as ever – fought back with five wickets in the evening session, but a first innings deficit of 125 should prove decisive on a surface that is expected to deteriorate. Sri Lanka had stretched that lead to 209 by the close despite a four-wicket haul from Graeme Swann. Bear in mind that England were dismissed for under 200 four times in the UAE and that they have never made more than 253 at Galle, and it becomes apparent that Sri Lanka have established a dominant position.England’s bowlers could be forgiving for wondering what more they have to do to help their side win a Test. They have performed consistently well over the last couple of years – not just with the ball, but with the bat – yet, in the last three months, England’s batsmen have failed equally consistently.Those batsmen are running out of excuses. While in the UAE England could claim a lack of familiarity with the conditions and a certain rustiness after a relatively long break from the game, those issues are not relevant here. Nor have they come up against a foe as supremely gifted as the Pakistan spinner, Saeed Ajmal.On this occasion the destroyer was Herath, a 34-year-old left-arm spinner who, not so long ago, was plying his trade in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League with only modest success. He is a clever, disciplined bowler, but he is no Ajmal or Murali or Warne. And, on a blameless, second-day pitch, he should not have been allowed to take six wickets.Herath gained a little turn, bowled at a gentle pace with traditional variations and received only grudging assistance from the surface. Yet it still proved too much for England. Perhaps mentally disturbed by their experiences in the UAE, several batsmen missed straight balls or played back when they should have been forward.There were exceptions. Ian Bell, the one specialist batsman to offer any meaningful resistance, was bowled by a beauty that drew him forward, turned and clipped the top of off stump. Bell, who contributed more runs in this innings than he managed in the entire series in the UAE, timed the ball beautifully whether driving or cutting and, when the opportunity arose, showed a willingness to hit over the top. Generally, however, England will reflect that they sold their top-order wickets a little too cheaply.The sight of Jonathan Trott lying flat on his back with his wicket broken summed up England’s performance with the bat. Trott had just been stumped after advancing down the pitch and missing a cross-batted swish at a full toss. In trying to regain his ground he came off second best as his head struck the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene in the chest and he was momentarily left stunned and legless as the hosts celebrated all around him.Andrew Strauss missed a sweep, Samit Patel and Matt Prior both paid the penalty for playing back when they should have been forward – Patel the victim of an arm ball and Prior one that spun past his outside edge – and while England avoided the ignominy of following-on – a distinct possibly when they were 92 for 6 – they still faced the prospect of a fourth successive Test defeat.That England were not obliged to follow-on was largely due to the performance of their tailenders. They put the pitch – and the bowling – in perspective as the bottom four contributed 88 runs. Broad thumped 28 out of a seventh-wicket stand of 30, launching into a series of pulls, cuts and drives off Lakmal, while James Anderson, Graeme Swann and even Monty Panesar also put the efforts of the top four – who contributed 41 runs between them – to shame. The ease with which Anderson drove, swept and even reverse-swept boundaries spoke volumes not just for his improvement as a batsmen but the failure of his top-order colleagues to take advantage of a blameless pitch and a worthy but hardly fearsome attack.Herath was well supported by Sri Lanka’s seamers and the off-spinner Suraj Randiv. Alastair Cook was trapped on the crease by a fine delivery that nipped back from Suranga Lakmal, while Kevin Pietersen played-on off the inside edge as he tried to drive a good-length ball from Chanaka Welegedara. Randiv, in mopping up the tail, claimed two for 26 to leave Sri Lanka’s spinners with an accumulative analysis of eight for 100.Sri Lanka failed to exploit their advantage to the full in the evening session. After Tillakaratne Dilshan, his head falling to the off side, was defeated by a full delivery, Swann bowled with flight and turn to suggest he remains as potent a force as ever. The left-handers, Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara, were both beaten by balls that drew them into shots then turned away sharply, while the right-handers Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera were defeated by deliveries that slid on with the arm. Swann had four for 28 by the close.Earlier Anderson took the final two wickets to claim his first five-wicket haul in a Test in Asian conditions. It took only 6.3 overs for England to finish off the Sri Lanka innings, with Anderson finishing with five for 72; the 12th five-wicket haul of his Test career and his third outside England. Mahela Jayawardene was the last to go for a magical 180. It says much for his performance that the next highest contribution in the match so far is just 52. It may well surely prove the difference.

Playing on uncovered pitches, incentivising wins by tweaking the Ranji Trophy points system, scheduling Ranji knockouts at neutral venues, increasing the number of rest days between games, increasing the number of bouncers allowed per over in first-class cricket; these were all ideas proposed at a BCCI conclave for domestic captains and coaches, in Mumbai.With team officials from nearly 27 states in attendance, the meeting was chaired by BCCI president N Srinivasan along with Sanjay Jagdale and Ratnakar Shetty, the board secretary and chief-administrative officer respectively. The conclave, a concept that had been discontinued a few years ago, made a resounding comeback according to some participants, who said there had been fruitful discussions.One of most important discussions in this year’s conclave concerned the revamping of the points system in the Ranji Trophy. WV Raman, the former India opener and current Bengal coach, suggested there was a need to encourage teams to win games outright. Under the current points system, once a team takes the first-innings lead they sit back, he said. “My suggestion was if a team gets a first-innings lead then give them the impetus to go for an outright win by allowing them to retain the three points even if they lose the game. The team that wins will get four points.”According to the existing rules, a team that takes a first-innings lead gets three points if the match ends in a draw, with the opponent getting one point. An outright win is worth five points with an additional bonus point available for an innings victory or ten-wicket win. According to Raman’s formula, a team would secure three points once they took a first-innings lead, regardless of the result, and would then chase a further four points for a win.”It will give the teams the drive to challenge the opponents and make sporting declarations,” Raman said.The other topic which saw animated discussion was that of uncovered pitches. Bishan Singh Bedi, the former India captain and current Jammu & Kashmir coach, said playing on uncovered pitches would toughen up domestic batsmen and simultaneously negate home advantage in matches. The idea met some opposition, particularly, according to Hyderabad coach Sunil Joshi, from the batsmen and coaches at the conclave.”In domestic cricket the quality of bowling is bad while the batsmen continue to bat on for days,” Bedi said. “The uncovered pitches will give the bowlers some encouragement.”According to Joshi, a better idea would be to use uncovered pitches at the Under-19 and Under-22 levels. “That would allow the youngsters to negotiate variable bounce, moisture, dew and a variety of other factors. It could be a good learning experience not only for the youngsters but also for the coaches,” Joshi said.During the BCCI’s technical committee meeting last month, Sourav Ganguly and his nine-member panel had struck down the suggestion of playing Ranji matches at neutral venues, an idea that had come out of the BCCI working committee meeting. The technical committee had recommended carrying on with the existing home-and-away format during the league phase.One advantage of neutral venues would be that sides like Tamil Nadu could avoid playing in Chennai, where several matches are affected by rain•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

During the conclave, many coaches and captains supported the idea of knockout matches being played at neutral grounds, saying it would guard against any bias a home-team curator might have while preparing a pitch. However, Raman pointed out that the home team lost in both semi-finals and the final this Ranji season. “So you can’t take it for granted that the home side will tweak things in their favour,” Raman said. Also, Raman said, the fact that BCCI grounds and pitches committee officials were present to overlook pitch preparations during the knockout phase was a good enough assurance that tracks would be fair to both sides.Raman also suggested at the conclave that fast bowlers be allowed to bowl three bouncers in an over in first-class cricket. “It would give the fast bowlers an added weapon and also help batsman counter short-pitch bowling,” Raman said. It was an extension, Raman said, of the technical committee’s decision to allow two bouncers in an over during domestic one-day tournaments.There was also a unanimous opinion among the captains and coaches that a four-day break between matches during the Ranji season was needed as opposed to the prevailing three-day breaks.Ganguly’s committee had suggested that Kookaburra balls continue being used during the Duleep Trophy. That idea did not find favour at the conclave, as members suggested playing with SG Test balls would be better. “What is the point of playing with a Kookaburra ball when the domestic players play the Ranji season with SG balls,” Joshi said. “Also, in the next 18 months India will be playing only at home so it would be much better to use SG during the Duleep Trophy too.”Kookaburra balls are used for the domestic 50-over and 20-over competitions, and it was recommended that teams be given more balls to practise with, well in advance of the tournaments. “Normally we are given a few Kookaburra balls two days before the tournament. How do you expect the bowlers to get used to it?” one of the coaches said. Another idea discussed was the introduction of a league phase in the Duleep and Deodhar Trophy.Joshi and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the captain of Rajasthan, winners of the last two Ranji Trophies, proposed the idea of having just one group in both Elite and Plate divisions, increasing the number of games each team would play in the league phase, and thus giving them more chances to qualify for the knockouts. “So you play about 14 matches in the Elite division, and 11 in Plate. Then you could have the top four or the top two from each group progress to the quarterfinals or the semi-finals,” Joshi said.That idea, though, was in contradiction to the agreed-upon notion that players needed more rest. “On the one hand people wanted the rest period increased, but at the same time they were requesting more cricket in an already packed calendar,” one of the captains who attended the meeting said.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

India Women ODI squad

Anjum Chopra (capt), Mithali Raj (vc), Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Raut, Archana Das, S Subhalaxmi, Reema Malhotra, Rumeli Dhar, Ekta Bist, Gauhar Sultana, Sunitha Anand, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mamta Kanojia, Sulakshana Naik, Nooshin Al Khadeer

India have made four changes to the Women’s squad for the one-day series at home against Australia, starting later this month. The selection committee has included Poonam Raut, Reema Malhotra, Rumeli Dhar and Nooshin Al Khadeer for the three-match ODI series starting March 12.Those omitted from the squad that just finished touring the West Indies include Diana David, Veda Krishnamurthy, Madhuri Mehta and Amita Sharma.Both Malhotra and Dhar – allrounders – last played in the home series against West Indies in early 2011, while Al Khadeer, the offspinner, made a return to the team after two years. Raut, the right-hand batsman, toured England in 2011.Ahmedabad will host the first ODI, before the teams head to Mumbai for the next two. All five Twenty20 matches will be played at Visakhapatnam.

Lalit Modi might have cleared the way for Andrew Flintoff to be bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2009 IPL auction by convincing Rajasthan Royals to retain the contract of former Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir, correspondence from that period has indicated. By retaining Tanvir, Royals were left with a reduced purse at the auction and were unable to match Super Kings’ bids for Flintoff.Modi, the former IPL commissioner, told CNN IBN, an Indian news channel, that the sale of Flintoff to Super Kings had been manipulated. “That onus was on me and as chairman I should have not allowed that to happen then,” Modi said. “I was arm-twisted to allow Andrew Flintoff to go to Chennai Super Kings. I’m to blame for that. It’s a fact.”However, Modi did not reveal how he arranged for Super Kings to buy Flintoff but emails between him and N Srinivasan – the managing director of India Cements, who own Chennai Super Kings, the BCCI secretary at the time and now its president – appear to show that Modi had cleared the way. The emails – which ESPNcricinfo has seen – were written on February 4, 2009, two days before the auction.”What a nightmare to convince them not to terminate tanveer and also not to take flintoff,” Modi wrote. “Warne went of [sic] the handle. But have managed it by using stick and carrot strategy. Thus they have [$]1.875 [million] only. Much love Lalit.” Srinivasan’s reply later the same day reads: “Thanks. You are most sweet. Srini.” The existence of the emails was first reported by CNN-IBN in September, 2010.Super Kings had been favourites to sign Flintoff at the 2009 auction because they were the only franchise to have the whole $2 million to spend. They had originally retained Chamara Kapugedera, the Sri Lanka batsman, for $150,000, but were later given permission to cancel his contract, restoring their full purse.Flintoff was sold for $1.55 million at the auction in Goa, making him the most expensive player at the time alongside Kevin Pietersen. Mumbai Indians had, by buying JP Duminy for $950,000, effectively ruled themselves out of the bidding for Flintoff, and Royal Challengers Bangalore did not enter the bidding for him at all. Royals tried to keep pace, but after buying Shaun Tait for $375,000, they had only $1.5 million left, and Super Kings eventually got him.The participation of Pakistan players in the 2009 IPL was in doubt because of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 and, a day after the above email exchange, six Pakistan players had their contracts terminated. But four other contracts, including Tanvir’s, were only “suspended”, with the affected teams allowed to sign replacements outside of the auction. If Royals had terminated Tanvir’s contract instead, the team would have had an extra slot for a player in the auction and their full purse.The BCCI has always maintained that the auction was free of collusion. Board and IPL officials told ESPNcricinfo that they did not wish to comment on Modi’s interview, but Srinivasan told that while he had not watched the interview, he could state that “there is absolutely no substance or truth in what he is saying. He [Modi] is talking about 2009 auctions and this is 2012. If what he is saying is true, then why didn’t he speak out earlier?”

With Rajasthan losing just two wickets in as many days, and a pitch loaded with runs, the Ranji final has all the makings of a high-scoring draw. In the scenario where Tamil Nadu fail to finish their first innings within the stipulated five days, then the winner would be determined by comparing the run rates. But for that, Tamil Nadu will need to bat at least 30 overs.Also, in case Rajasthan carry on to bat the entire five days or Tamil Nadu fail to bat 30 overs, then as per the prevailing rules, both teams will be declared as joint winners.Incidentally, the 1981-82 final between Delhi and Karnataka, played in Delhi, was extended to the sixth day, to enable the hosts to gain a first-innings lead.GR Viswanath, the Karnataka captain, elected to bat, a decision that proved appropriate as the visitors went on to amass 705. In reply Delhi could not gain the lead even at the end of the final day’s play. But in an unprecedented move, play was extended to the sixth day, and a little before tea, Delhi, under Mohinder Amarnath, scored 707 for 8. By virtue of their first-innings lead, Delhi emerged winners on March 29, 1982, the extra day.In another peculiar incident, 1989-90 final between Bengal and Delhi was played on March 23-28, 1990 (26th was a rest day). Delhi won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 278. Bengal replied with 216 for 4 and the match ended in a draw, without either side gaining a first-innings lead. Under the rules prevailing then, Bengal with a quotient of 54.00 (runs scored divided by number of wickets lost) were declared winners over Delhi who had the quotient of 27.80 in the incomplete final.

Scorecard
Seeing the scorecard at tea on the second day, you’d be forgiven for thinking the surface at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had transformed overnight from the featherbed it was on the first. Punjab had sauntered to 278 for 4 on Tuesday, but ten wickets went down in the first two sessions today for 154. It took a free-swinging unbroken 83-run stand between Stuart Binny and CM Gautam in the evening to show that there were no gremlins in the track.The collapses in the first two sessions came about more due to poor strokes than the bowling, which was tight without being overly threatening. Despite folding well before lunch, Punjab ended the day ahead as Karnataka’s top order put in a feeble performance. One of Karnataka’s strengths this season has been that they haven’t been overly dependent on any single batsman – five of their players have already made 300 or more runs this Ranji season. From a seemingly hopeless 100 for 5 in reply to Punjab’s 357, Binny kickstarted a revival that at least gives them an outside chance of taking the first-innings lead.Both sides are fielding virtually second-string bowling line-ups – Punjab are missing the injured Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony and Love Ablish while Karnataka are without Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and fast bowler SL Akshay. To add to that lengthy list, Karnataka’s spearhead S Aravind was also sidelined on the first afternoon with a knee injury.A day for piling on the runs, then? It seemed as much when Punjab began with a couple of boundaries in the first three overs, but when the new ball was taken, it asked more questions of the batsmen. Binny got it to swing around, while NC Aiyappa made Amitoze Singh nervously survive a bottom-edge towards slip, an lbw shout and a caught-behind appeal in the same over.It was the left-arm spinner KP Appanna who made the big breakthrough, removing Mayank Sidhana caught-behind down the leg side for 92. The batsman couldn’t believe the decision, and his disappointment was more than just at missing out on a century. Amitoze soon became the second run-out victim of the innings, and two balls later Bipul Sharma nicked to slip. Punjab’s lower order was rolled over quickly, and Karnataka were batting earlier than they would have expected.It didn’t begin well though as the biggest name in the line-up, Robin Uthappa, flicked the first delivery of the innings to give square leg a catch. Debutant fast bowler Baltej Singh bowled with pace and troubled the batsmen, getting the ball to jag past the outside edge on several occasions. KB Pawan and Ganesh Satish responded with an overly cautious approach, and though the bowling became less troublesome once the shine went off the ball, they plodded to 50 in 28 overs.Satish perished as he attempted to release the pressure with a lofted drive, only to chip it to point. Bharat Chipli also fell to a botched drive that ended as a caught & bowled. Pawan survived two dropped chances, on the second of which the bowler Rahul Sharma set off on an extravagant celebration before realising it had been put down at slip. Rahul did get a chance to reprise it later as he had Pawan top-edging to the keeper for a nearly three-hour 32.Binny came out biffing sixes, and seemingly wondering what the top order had been worried about. He muscled boundaries through cover and point, and a swipe over midwicket brought up his half-century in 49 deliveries. Gautam was no slouch either, though most of his runs came through fours behind the wickets, either controlled sweeps or glides to third man. They took Karnataka halfway to the Punjab total, but the visitors will still be the happier side halfway through the match.

Faisalabad will have to chase down 273 for a win against Rawalpindi at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. Fourteen wickets fell on the second day, as Faisalabad went from 69 for 6 to 104 all out, and Rawalpindi were then bowled out for 198 in their second innings. Rawalpindi’s left-arm fast bowler Nasir Malik was the wrecker in chief, taking 5 for 30 as Faisalabad were bundled out in their first innings, conceding a lead of 75. Faisalabad’s new-ball bowler Abdur Rauf replied in kind, taking 5 for 78 in Rawalpindi’s second knock, but his team will still have to produce the highest total of the match if they are to complete a win.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) managed the first-innings lead against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, going to stumps on day two on 259 for 6 – NBP totalled 243 in their first innings. HBL’s total was built on contributions through the order – Taufeeq Umar, Aftab Alam and Bilal Shafayat all made 50-something, Shafayat ending the day on 54 not out. Wahab Riaz was the pick for NBP, with 3 for 79.Sialkot took charge of their match against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. The hosts had resumed the day on 19 for 3 and folded for 140 in reply to Sialkot’s first-innings total of 255. Only opener Afaq Raheem and Zeeshan Mushtaq managed to get into double figures, and both players went on to make fifties. The collapse was orchestrated by Mohammad Abbas, who took 7 for 58. Sialkot then scored 95 for the loss of two wickets before stumps, to push their lead to 210.The Abbottabad v Karachi Blues match at the National Stadium in Karachi took a similar course, with the hosts bowled out for 142 after Abbottabad made 216. None of the Karachi Blues batsmen could make more than Wajihuddin’s 35, as Ikramullah Khan ripped through them for a career-best 8 for 51. The visiting batsmen then took the lead to 184 at stumps, with seven wickets in hand. Mohammad Naeem, the opening batsman, was at the crease at stumps, unbeaten on 42.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on the back of an unbeaten ton from captain Kamran Sajid, got to 250 for 2 against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The PIA batsmen built patient innings, giving their team control of the match after ZTBL were bowled out for 178 on the first day. Sajid was given fine support by Faisal Iqbal, who went to stumps unbeaten on 95.Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) took a 160-run first-innings lead against State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. SBP were routed for 94 in their first innings and WAPDA made 254 in response, as Aamer Sajjad, Asif Khan and Naved-ul-Hasan made half-centuries. Sajjad was the top-scorer with 75. The SBP bowlers shared the wickets around, but opening bowler Saad Altaf was the pick with four scalps. SBP’s openers then played out five overs for five runs prior to stumps.

Yuvraj Singh has been rewarded for his stellar World Cup with a Grade A contract from the BCCI for 2011-12, a year after being demoted to Grade B. Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma have both been given Grade A contracts for the first time.Rohit Sharma moved up from Grade C to B, as did R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but Ashish Nehra, who had a Grade B contract, did not make the list of contracted players at all. Harbhajan Singh, who was not picked for the one-day series against England or for the upcoming first Test against West Indies, remained in Grade A.Yuvraj had a forgettable 2010, with indifferent form and fitness dogging him through one of the toughest phases of his career. He bounced back superbly to be Man of the Tournament in the World Cup, before injury cut short his tour of England.The total number of contracted players ballooned from 24 to 37, with Umesh Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Sharma and Varun Aaron receiving contracts for the first time. Aaron and Yadav impressed with their pace in the recent home one-day series against England. The pair, along with legspinner Rahul Sharma, were included in the squad for the first Test against West Indies starting on November 6. All three players were given Grade C contracts.Munaf Patel, who missed out last year, was also in Grade C as was Ajinkya Rahane, who made his ODI debut in England this year. Cheteshwar Pujara, who recently recovered from injury and has not played since the IPL, retained his Grade C contract. Meanwhile M Vijay was moved from B to C after struggling on the tour of West Indies earlier this year.The annual retainers are worth Rs 1 crore (approximately $205,760) for Grade A, Rs 50 lakh (approximately $102,880) for Grade B and Rs 25 lakhs (approximately $51,440) for Grade C.The BCCI’s working committee also voted to classify the IPL as List A cricket at its meeting today in Kolkata and stated their opposition to the new sports bill being promulgated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.The ministry had drafted a sports bill ostensibly to bring accountability and transparency to India’s sporting bodies, but the idea met with stiff opposition. A first draft was sent back to the ministry for redrafting, and the BCCI said it would oppose the latest version as well.”While the BCCI is all for good governance and transparency in sports bodies, certain aspects of the bill seek to destroy the autonomy of the board and dilute the rights of its members,” the BCCI said in a statement. “Therefore the Board is totally opposed to this bill and will be communicating its objections to the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports shortly … The bill tends to encroach upon fundamental rights of sports bodies.”Among the committee’s other decisions was to appoint Evan Speechly as the Indian team physiotherapist on a two-year contract, replacing Ashish Kaushik. Speechly, a South African who was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team, will join the India squad for the third Test between India and West Indies.In addition the committee approved in principle a proposal to allot a certain portion of the gate receipts from the IPL playoffs for the benefit of retired cricketers. They also created an award for the best allrounder in the Ranji Trophy and India’s domestic limited-overs tournaments, named after the late former India captain Lala Amarnath. The award will comprise a trophy and a cash prize of Rs. 2.5 lakhs ($5000) in each category.Grade A: Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma.Grade B: Praveen Kumar, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja.Grade C: Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar , Ajinkya Rahane, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Manoj Tiwary, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma, Varun Aaron.

Abbottabad Falcons opened their Faysal Bank T20 Cup campaign with a dominant 72-run win over perpetual also-rans Quetta Bears. The victory was set up by opener Yasir Hameed’s maiden Twenty20 century, which propelled Abbottabad to the tall total of 190. Quetta bowled reasonably well in the first half of the innings, keeping Abbottabad to 74 for 2, but a 116-run unbroken stand for the third wicket between Hameed and Adnan Raees turned the game. Raees slammed 51 off 30 balls while Hameed’s 101 took him 65 deliveries. The Quetta chase lost steam early with the loss of opener Fareed-u-din in the second over. The other opener Bismillah Khan and the No. 3 Abid Ali both scored at below a run-a-ball when the asking rate was in excess of 10. When they were separated, Quetta were 72 in the 12th over, with the required rate above 14, which proved too tough a task for the remaining batsmen.The second game of the day followed a similar pattern to the first, with Lahore Lions piling on a big score that Hyderabad Hawks didn’t even look close to chasing. The Lahore openers laid the platform for the thumping 82-run win: Kamran Akmal was the initial aggressor, before Ahmed Shehzad joined in the rampage. The pair pummelled 116 in 12 overs, before an Umar Akmal cameo lifted the total to 194. Hyderabad’s openers began briskly but couldn’t maintain the tempo. By the 10th over, they were hopelessly behind, needing more than 12 an over, a rate which proved too much for the rest. Their lower order crumbled under the pressure to get quick runs and Hyderabad were bowled out for 112.Lahore Eagles kept their nerve in a frenetic final two overs to pip Karachi Zebras by two runs at the National Stadium in Karachi. The home side had the edge with seven balls to go, needing 11 runs with five wickets in hand. But Akbar-ur-Rehman was stumped off the bowling of Saad Nasim off the last ball of the 19th over to set up a tense final over. Anwar Ali managed seven runs from the first three balls and seemed to have taken the game away from Lahore, but he was run-out of the fourth ball of the over. With four needed from two balls, No.8 Farhan Iqbal took a single to leave Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria the task of getting the three runs needed for the win. Unfortunately for Karachi, Kaneria holed out to Hamza Paracha off the bowling of Emmad Ali to end the game and hand Lahore the victory.Lahore had made a quick start, with their openers adding 43 in 4.3 overs, but regular wickets stalled the innings before a flurry at the end – Junaid Zia made 22 from 12 balls and Ali Azmat an unbeaten 36 from 37 – took them to 143. That Karachi got so close was down to Hasan Raza and Faisal Iqbal, who added 95 for the third wicket before Rasa was run-out for 49. Faisal followed four runs later, caught of the bowling off Nasim for 47, to set up the thrilling finish.

Ever the optimist, Australia’s new captain Michael Clarke has refused to concede his team may be facing some painful days ahead as he departed for a tour of Sri Lanka, which will be followed by series against South Africa and India.Australia’s Test squad featured a handful of names that were a surprise even to Clarke – he is still to meet the offspin bowler Nathan Lyon – but he reasoned this newness would help foster an attitude of enthusiasm and keenness to work hard in Sri Lanka and beyond.”I’d like to say no, to be honest. I really hope we can turn things around straight away,” Clarke said at Sydney airport when asked if short-term pain should be expected.”I think it is going to take time for us to work our way back up the rankings, but I’m confident with the talent we have, not only in our squads but around domestic cricket, if we keep the same attitude we’ve had over the last couple of months with our training and our dedication, if we continue on this road I can see us having some success.”We’re certainly not blinded [to] the fact we’ve got two of the best teams in the world in their own conditions coming up with Sri Lanka and South Africa, so it’s going to be a tough start for us, but it’s a good test to see where we’re at. If we can have some success against both these teams, playing away from home, I think that’ll give us some real confidence for the summer against India.”Lyon was not part of the Australian team training camps in Brisbane that Clarke enthused over, and will meet many of his new team-mates for the first time when he arrives in Colombo later in August. Clarke, however, did not hesitate to suggest that he and the left-arm spinner Michael Beer would be used in tandem on pitches likely to take plenty of turn.”I think we have a good combination, a left-arm orthodox and a right arm finger spinner, which is good to have two different spinners, as a bowling partnership in tandem I think that can really work well together,” Clarke said. “I haven’t seen much of Nathan Lyon, he’s had a great tour to Zimbabwe with the Australia A team and I’ve heard some great reports of his bowling over there, so he gets an opportunity to come to Sri Lanka and bowl in what are generally pretty good spinning conditions.”It’s an opportunity, and that’s generally how it works, if you don’t perform how you’d like as a team, new guys come in and get a chance, and this is what’s happened in Nathan’s case. He’s got an opportunity to grab it with both hands and from all reports I’m pretty confident he’ll do that. He’s certainly got a lot of talent, now it’s about giving him a go and seeing how he handles playing cricket for Australia.”I’m really confident with the squad we have. I love the fact we’ve got some new fresh faces that are going to be excited and itching for their opportunity, that’s a great thing to have around the group, but the facts are we have to have some success. We have to play good cricket and we have to improve from our recent results in the last Australian summer.”We need to get better, we know that as players and I can guarantee we’re working as hard as ever, as hard as I’ve ever worked in my career, so hopefully we can turn that around sooner rather than later.”The Don Argus-led review into the performance of the national team is expected to table its findings at Cricket Australia’s next board meeting on August 18-19. This is towards the end of the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka and before the Tests, but Clarke was not perturbed by the prospect of recommendations being made public in the middle of a tour.”It doesn’t really bother me to be honest, we knew the review was going to take place,” he said. “Whenever the results come from that, that’s an opportunity for the players, CA and the ACA [Australian Cricketers Association] to have a look at it and listen to what the experts or the guys have to say and try to implement them. We know what’s in front of us and what we have to focus on as players, the rest will take care of itself.”Clarke also dispelled any concerns about his sometimes tender back, which made him retire hurt during a practice match in Brisbane last month. It had previously flared at the outset of the Ashes series.”It’s going really well, it’s been again the same as the last 15 years, plenty of physio, plenty of maintenance,” said Clarke. “I feel pretty fit and strong at the moment, so I’m actually looking forward to getting out onto the park, I’m sick of training and I’m keen to start playing again.”