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ScorecardFast bowler Hamid Hassan helped defending champions Afghanistan take control of their Intercontinental Cup match against Canada in King City. Hassan picked up four wickets to leave Canada floundering after Afghanistan were bowled out for 293 in their first innings.Jimmy Hansra’s decision to field seemed to have paid off as Canada started strongly, dismissing the Afghanistan openers within the first eight overs. However, an 82-run stand for the third wicket between Mohammad Shahzad (56) and Nawroz Mangal (28) steadied the innings. Shahzad and Mangal fell with the score on 106 to swing the momentum Canada’s way again. But three steady partnerships for Afghanistan carried them to 293 before they were dismissed. Samiullah Shenwari top scored for Afghanistan with 70 while Zahid Hussain picked up three wickets for the hosts.Canada’s hopes of making a solid first-innings score were damaged when Hamid Hassan’s four-wicket burst left them struggling at 21 for 4. Opener Ruvindu Gunasekara was the first to go for 10, lbw to Hassan in the third over. Hiral Patel, Zubin Surkari and Tyson Gordon soon followed – all three batsmen failing to reach double figures. At stumps, Harvir Baidwan and Hansra were at the crease, yet to open their account, with Canada trailing by 272 runs.

Perth Scorchers might have missed out on Chris Gayle but they have secured another international star after signing the South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs for the Big Bash League. On the second day of the tournament’s initial contract window, Perth had already named half their 18-man squad, with Gibbs and Michael Hussey the major new signings.Hobart Hurricanes also confirmed their first players, with the Pakistan allrounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan set to return to the city after previously playing Twenty20 cricket with Tasmania. Hobart also locked in the Tasmania pair of Tim Paine and Xavier Doherty, both of whom are Cricket Australia-contracted.The SCG-based Sydney Sixers signed the local allrounders Steven Smith and Moises Henriques, while South Australia’s Daniel Harris and Cameron Borgas will line up for Adelaide Strikers. Brisbane Heat added Chris Lynn and Nick Buchanan, two young Queensland players, to their squad, while Mitchell Marsh, Tom Beaton and Nathan Coulter-Nile will join Perth.But the biggest-name recruit on Friday was Gibbs, who will join his former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur, who is Perth’s mentor. Arthur said Gibbs, 37, who no longer plays for the South Africa national team, and Hussey, would be significant assets for Perth as they aimed to win the inaugural BBL title and qualify for the Champions League.”When recruiting international players you need to make sure these players bring outstanding qualities and add value to your set-up, and I firmly believe in Herschelle we have exactly that,” Arthur said. “I have known Herschelle for many years and have seen him destroy some of the best attacks in world cricket. I am looking forward to seeing him take to the KFC Big Bash League in a similar manner and I’m sure the Perth Scorcher’s fans will really warm to him.”Mike [Hussey] is a legend of Western Australia cricket and despite the fact we may not see him line up for Perth very often, we wanted to make sure he was not going anywhere else. If for any reason he has a chance to play more KFC Big Bash League matches than anticipated, we want to ensure he is doing it in the orange colours.”The squads so far
Adelaide Strikers Daniel Harris, Cameron Borgas
Brisbane Heat Nick Buchanan, Ryan Harris, Chris Lynn
Hobart Hurricanes Xavier Doherty, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Tim Paine
Melbourne Renegades No players yet
Melbourne Stars No players yet
Perth Scorchers Tom Beaton, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Herschelle Gibbs, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Luke Pomersbach
Sydney Sixers Moises Henriques, Steven Smith
Sydney Thunder Chris Gayle, David Warner

Pakistan are considering Zimbabwe as a potential ‘host’ for the home series against Sri Lanka later this year.The two sides are due to play a full Test and limited-overs series in October, scheduled in the FTP officially as a ‘home’ series for Pakistan. The PCB intensified efforts to find a venue for the series over the last few months and Sri Lanka itself is an option that has been considered, one Sri Lanka is probably happiest with. In 2009-10, Pakistan played a ‘home’ series against New Zealand in New Zealand, though financially the trip wasn’t a success.The PCB also asked Sri Lanka Cricket in May, “for their views” on the prospect of playing the series in Pakistan – at the insistence of the Pakistan government. However, that offer was swiftly rebuffed. Soon after the PCB had made their request, a major terrorist attack occurred in Karachi at a naval base, which was eventually held under siege overnight, near the National Stadium.The UAE is another option, having hosted a succession of Pakistan’s limited-overs commitments over the last three years and last October, a full series, including Tests, against South Africa. Authorities in the UAE are keen for Pakistan to sign a long-term agreement with them to host their ‘home’ matches, something the PCB is unwilling to do currently because they believe it pushes the prospect of a return of international cricket to Pakistan further back.The financial aspects of a ‘host’ venue have increasingly become a concern for the board; sponsorship opportunities may be greater in the UAE but the costs of hosting the series itself are likely to be much higher than Sri Lanka, for example, where marketing potential is relatively limited.”We are looking at the costs right now of hosting a series in Zimbabwe,” a senior board official told ESPNcricinfo. Peter Chingoka, ZC chairman, is also a member of the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT), a role which is likely to facilitate any such proposal. Sri Lanka have not yet been formally contacted about this possibility.Sri Lanka’s previous tour of Pakistan in March 2009 was cut short after terrorists attacked their team bus as it was on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test. That attack, on the back of growing security concerns over the previous two years, brought an end to international cricket in the country, taking away the 2011 World Cup in the process. Since then, Pakistan have played home series in England, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan were the first international team to tour Pakistan since the March 2009 attack, when they played Pakistan ‘A’ in three 50-over games in May 2011.

Essex have dropped South Africa fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe from their squad to face Surrey at Whitgift School this week. Tsotsobe has taken just five wickets at 77.60 runs in three Championship games and Essex, who have one win from their five opening matches, have decided he must pay the price for his poor form.”Quite simply, he’s just not bowling well enough,” said Essex first team coach Paul Grayson. “We haven’t seen enough from him in Championship cricket and the decision comes down purely to form. Whether or not you are an overseas player, it doesn’t really matter. If you are not performing then we have to make some changes.”With Tsotsobe sitting out, Graham Napier is set to play his first senior four-day match since sustaining a back injury in the match against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl last June. Michael Comber has also been named but Ravi Bopara is missing due to his involvement with the England Lions against Sri Lanka.”Maurice Chambers has done pretty well in the second team in the last couple of games and is ready to play and Graham Napier is also back from injury. I thought Chris Wright bowled well last week along with David Masters at Derby, while we also have Michael Comber waiting for his opportunity so we have options.”We are not scared of making decisions. Tsotsobe’s done alright in the one-dayers so far but he’s had three Championship games and has not performed to the standard we require in four-day cricket. He has not been good enough.”Surrey have also had to tweak their squad after Jade Dernbach’s Lions call-up, but will be able to call upon both Kevin Pietersen and Chris Tremlett, while Mark Ramprakash will also return to a strong 12-man squad after missing the weekend’s Clydesdale Bank 40 victory against Scotland.”With Kevin Pietersen being made available by the ECB for this game, once again we have had to shuffle our batting order,” said Surrey Professional Cricket Manager Chris Adams. “This means Jason Roy misses out and Tom Maynard will get the opportunity to open the innings. Whilst it is always preferable to have a settled batting order, in this instance it is a nice problem to have.”

The biggest audience-puller this week was the Pune v Kochi match, with 15.9 million viewers•AFP

Television ratings for the 2011 IPL have failed to build on the strong start provided by the opening game, falling 16.77% on average across six key markets from the corresponding period in 2010.The average Television Viewer Rating (TVR, a time-weighted figure which accounts for time spent watching by viewers in addition to the number of viewers) for the first 15 games this season was 4.58 across the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, down from 5.50 in 2010, according to TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media Research, the leading television ratings agency in India. The opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders had drawn a rating of 7.77, the highest since the 2008 opener.Rohit Gupta, president of MSM Screen Media, told ESPNcricinfo that he wasn’t worried by the lower ratings, saying that most of the evening games had ratings over five and that he expects the overall averages to improve as the tournament progresses. He suggested that the lower ratings were due to a larger proportion of afternoon games this year, but both years have actually seen the same number of afternoon games to this point – six.In any case, it was a similar story looking at just the nine prime time games, which typically draw a higher rating than the 4 pm games. In 2010, they posted an average rating of 6.11. So far in 2011, that is down to 5.27, a drop of 13.81%.

Ratings jargon

• Universe: The total number of people in a defined target audience (in this particular case, the universe includes all cable and satellite viewers in the six metros).

• Reach: The number of individuals in the universe who watched at least one minute of a particular game or a particular show. It is typically expressed in percentage terms. For example, if 1000 out of a universe of 10,000 watched at least one minute of a game, the reach would be (1000/10,000) x 100 or 10%.

• TVR: It is a time-weighted figure which accounts for time spent by viewers in addition to the total number of viewers. So you could have a higher TVR because more people watched a particular game or you could have a higher TVR because the same number of people watched the game, but each person watched more of the game than before.

The Mumbai Indians were the franchise that attracted the largest audience, with 14.8 million, watching them take on Royal Challengers Bangalore, giving it a reach of 21%, and 16.1 million tuning in for the game against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, a reach of 23%, making it the second-most watched game this season. That game, in which Sachin Tendulkar made his maiden IPL hundred but still ended up on the losing side after Kochi chased down 183, had a TVR of 6.74.Even Mumbai’s 4 pm game against Delhi Daredevil had 11.6 million fans tune in. No other afternoon game cracked the 10 million mark, though Kolkata Knight Rider’s serene chase of 160 against Rajasthan Royals, which had Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis adding 152 unbeaten runs, came close at 9.7 million.The big surprise was the April 13 game between the two debutants – Pune Warriors and Kochi – that drew 15.9 million viewers, making it the third most-watched game so far. Pune was unbeaten at that stage and beat Kochi by four wickets to go to the top of the table.

ScorecardDerbyshire’s late-order batsmen staged a magnificent rearguard action to deny Leicestershire victory and claim an unlikely draw on a tense final day in the Championship clash at Grace Road.Leicestershire looked to be cruising to a victory when they had Derbyshire seven wickets down midway through the afternoon with the visitors still needing 39 runs to avoid an innings defeat. But with Greg Smith hitting a half-century Derbyshire dug in and lost only two more wickets in the next 42 overs.Finally they reached 236 for 9 at which point the teams shook hands on a draw with only 15 minutes of play remaining. t was a brave effort from the Derbyshire tailenders with Azeem Rafiq scoring just 18 runs off 122 balls as he shared a ninth-wicket partnership of just 15 in 22 overs with Tim Groenewald who finished unbeaten on nine runs have produced 87 balls.It all added up to a frustrating day for Leicestershire who had looked set to gain quick revenge for the innings defeat they suffered at Derby only two weeks ago. Nobody worked harder in a bid to secure that than veteran left-arm spinner Claude Henderson who, in a marathon 50-overs spell, bowled unchanged from the Bennett end and finished with three for 84. In all Henderson bowled 96 overs in the match taking seven wickets.With offspinner Jigar Naik also bowling 31 overs the figures of three for 68 the last day saw 108 overs bowled. For much of it Leicestershire were well on top after Derbyshire had started out on 17 without loss still 185 behind.An early wicket for Matthew Hoggard who trapped Wesley Durston lbw gave Leicestershire the start they wanted and when Henderson was brought on to bowl with half an hour gone the home side really did being to turn the screw. Henderson and Naik found plenty of turn and bounce from the pitch and wickets began to fall on a regular basis.At lunch Derbyshire were 84 for 3 and then lost four more wickets during the afternoon session. Daniel Redfearn was caught at slip off Naik, Chesney Hughes was clean bowled by the offspinner, Luke Sutton taken at slip off Henderson and finally Jonathan Clare caught by substitute wicketkeeper Paul Dixey, who was covering from Tom New who suffered two broken toes yesterday, off Naik.That left Derbyshire at 163 for 7 with still 40 minutes to go before the tea interval. But Smith proved defiant reaching his half century off 88 balls before providing another catch to Dixey off the bowling of Nathan Buck soon after tea.But Leicestershire were then denied by Rafiq and Groenewald and by the time Hoggard dismissed on-loan Yorkshireman it was too little too late and the visitors hung on in for a battling draw.

West Indies entered the World Cup ranked No. 9, below Bangladesh for the first time, and without a win against a Test nation in 20 months. Not surprisingly, they didn’t feature too high in most lists of favourites, a fact which hasn’t pleased their allrounder Kieron Pollard.”We have a lot of things that are driving us at the moment,” Pollard told reporters in Chennai on Tuesday. “One of the things is that we were actually written off when we came here from the start, something that’s at the back of our minds, we are just using that as a motivating factor to go forward.”West Indies and Pollard have bounced back strongly after the opening defeat to South Africa in which the allrounder was shot out for a golden duck by Dale Steyn. West Indies have reeled off three comfortable victories, while Pollard has showed off his brand of power-hitting with two match-transforming half-centuries.There was further good news for West Indies with their experienced and explosive opener Chris Gayle recovering from the abdominal strain that kept him out of the game against Ireland on Friday. “Chris is coming along pretty good,” Pollard said. “He should be fit for the game against England, so we should have a full squad of 15 guys the team management will have to choose from.”Kieron Pollard has been explosive in his recent World Cup innings, and another big performance could send England home early•Getty Images

England need a victory on Thursday against West Indies to remain in the race for the quarter-finals, but will have the added disadvantage of coming up against Ottis Gibson, who now mentors West Indies after relinquishing his job as England bowling coach just over a year ago. “It will be useful for us [having Gibson on board], the information he can pass on to us, because he was the bowling coach for them,” Pollard said. “But doesn’t matter how much information he passes, it’s a matter of going out there and executing whatever he says.”Pollard has shot to prominence as one of the world’s premier Twenty20 players, and is much sought after in the domestic T20 leagues, but his performances for West Indies haven’t been similarly spectacular so far. His batting average touched 20 for the first time following his murderous 55-ball 94 against Ireland, but he doesn’t accept the criticism of his one-day form.”If you watch the opportunities I have got before, it was lower down the order,” he said. “Even in Twenty20 cricket I had the same 5-6 overs to bat, if I had got 30-35 overs to bat and haven’t been performing at the best, then you can say I haven’t been doing well or whatever it is.”Both of his brutal innings in the World Cup have come against the Associate nations in the group, so the question whether he has adjusted to the different demands of the one-day game remains unanswered. If he does settle the lingering doubts on Thursday, however, England will be catching an early flight home.

Kenya began their World Cup preparation with a convincing win in a warm-up match against Afghanistan at the ICC Global Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai. Steve Tikolo scored an unbeaten century and Kenya posted 289, a total that proved too much for Afghanistan.Tikolo is Kenya’s most experienced player, having played in every single one of their World Cup matches since they made their debut in 1996, and the team will be glad to see him show some form. Tikolo scored 126 not out off 126 balls, with 12 boundaries and two sixes, batting through from the fourteenth over till the end.After Seren Waters was bowled by Hamid Hassan off the second ball of the match, Collins Obuya scored a quick 49, and then Tikolo and Tanmay Mishra put together 103 for the fourth wicket. Wicketkeeper Maurice Ouma added 33 off 35 balls as Kenya reached a strong total.Afghanistan’s chase got off to a brisk start, but was derailed by the loss of three wickets within the first ten overs. Seamer Peter Ongondo took two of the early wickets, and Afghanistan found themselves 48 for 3. Nawroz Mangal steadied the innings with his 42 off 64 balls, and then Mohammad Nabi upped the scoring rate with his 46 off 35.Afghanistan were able to stay abreast of the asking rate, but lost too many wickets. Kenya’s spinners did the damage for them. Captain Jimmy Kamande took 3 for 34 with his offspin, while left-arm spinner Shem Ngoche also took three wickets, though he was expensive, giving away 76 runs in his nine overs.Kenya managed to bowl Afghanistan out in 43 overs, and notched up a 49-run victory.

Jimmy Hansra’s nerveless unbeaten half-century helped Canada complete an impressive four-wicket victory over Associate rivals Netherlands at the ICC Global Cricket Academy Ground in Dubai.His unbeaten 54, from 85 deliveries, ensured Canada’s chase recovered after a faltering start. In pursuit of a modest 152 for victory, Hiral Patel fell to the first ball of the innings from Mudassar Bukhari. The same bowler struck twice more, removing World Cup veteran John Davison and Ruvindu Gunasekera cheaply before captain Ashish Bagai stopped the rot together with Zubin Surkari. They laid the platform for Hansra to finish the job.At the start of the day, Netherlands were the stronger team on paper, but Canada made full use of winning a good toss by reducing them to 43 for 4 after opting to field first. The evergreen Khurram Chohan did the early damage, removing both openers – including the touted Worcestershire star Alexei Kervezee – cheaply, before more top-order wickets fell.The lower order – in the shape of wicketkeeper Atse Buurman, Bradley Kruger and Bukhari – backed up a bright 41 from 49 balls from Tom de Grooth to drag Netherlands up to 151, which looked competitive, until Hansra’s heroics.<br
An unbeaten half-century by Brendan Taylor helped Zimbabwe make light work of chasing Ireland’s total of 204 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Taylor played the anchor role, scoring 84 off 121 balls, as Zimbabwe needed just 43.5 overs to pick up a six-wicket win.They had managed to restrict Ireland to a low total thanks to their spinners. Offspinner Greg Lamb took 3 for 30 in his 10 overs, while Ray Price and Graeme Cremer took three wickets between them and were both economical. Ireland had got off to a solid start, with opener William Porterfield scoring 66 and Ed Joyce getting 45. They were 111 for 1 at one stage, but lost wickets quickly once the spinners came on and were bowled out in 48.1 overs.Craig Ervine was the other positive to come out of Zimbabwe’s batting performance, scoring 47. Taylor has been Zimbabwe’s most prolific batsman over the past two years, but ran into a poor patch of form during their ODI series in Bangladesh, and will be glad to have got some runs under his belt ahead of the World Cup.

Match Facts

February 6, SSC
Start time 09.30 (04:00 GMT)
Chris Gayle is yet to fire in the ODI series•AFP

Big Picture

It took three Tests and two ODIs for the rain-hit tour(s) to yield an outright result. The comprehensive win in the second ODI was a boost to Sri Lanka, affirming their superiority in home conditions, and a blemish for the visitors who had appeared to punch above their weight in the contests thus far.But the outcome of the three-match series is unlikely to leave either team too demoralised or too elated ahead of the World Cup. The series, which was rescheduled from December due to inclement weather, is much shorter than some of the series played by other teams in the World Cup build-up, and the first match was washed out after West Indies’ innings. Three matches, with the lurking rain, is not adequate preparation, but both teams can take positives from the little cricket that has been played. Upul Tharanga’s century, and disciplined bowling performances in each of the two games have been the positives for Sri Lanka, while West Indies will be relieved with Adrian Barath and Ramnaresh Sarwan striking form. Barath scored his first ODI century in the first match, while Sarwan got his first half-century since April last year in that game.With just a game left, the visitors would be aiming for more consistency in their batting. Chris Gayle and the Bravo brothers got starts in the second ODI but didn’t push on, while for Sri Lanka, their middle order still hasn’t been tested this series. The hosts remain favourites, but West Indies have shown spirit on this tour. To end it even, against a team formidable in home conditions, and under a new captain, would mark a significant first step ahead of the World Cup.

Form guide

(Last five completed games)
Sri Lanka: WLWWW
West Indies: LLLLL

Players to watch out for …

Chris Gayle: He sizzled in the Test series, scoring 333 in Galle, but has yet to take off in the ODIs. He warmed up with a fluent but brief innings in the second ODI, smacking four fours and a six, but he hasn’t got an ODI century since January 2009, and will want to prove he’s capable of playing a match-winning knock.Sri Lanka’s middle order: Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews and Chamara Silva haven’t had a go this series, with the bat. It would be worth tweaking the batting line-up with Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene perhaps dropping down to give the others a shot in the middle.

Team news

Shivnarine Chanderpaul had missed the second game due to illness. If he’s back to strengthen the batting, West Indies could be forced to leave out a bowler.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Adrian Barath, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Kemar Roach.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Chamara Kapugedera, 4 Thilan Samaraweera, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Mahela Jayawardene, 7 Kumar Sangakkara (capt and wk), 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Quotes

“Kumar [Sangakkara] and Mahela [Jayawardene] should not be batting at No. 3 and 4. One of them has to come down to No. 5 to bolster the middle order. Maybe they should send [Chamara] Kapugedera up the order to No. 4.”

New Zealand are on one of their longest losing streaks, with 11 one-day defeats in a row, but the country’s board has said that Daniel Vettori’s position as captain is safe. NZC had called for improved performances after a 4-0 defeat to Bangladesh in October, and despite the continuing downslide in the team’s performance, it has refrained from changing the captain.”We need to go through a proper review and talk about what options there are to help the side improve,” Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive, said, “but I’d be hard pressed to believe the captaincy would be one of those issues.”What was billed as the perfect World Cup build-up, with matches in each of the host countries, has turned into a disaster for New Zealand. The team failed to make the final in the tri-series in Sri Lanka in August and lost all matches in bilateral series against Bangladesh and India.”I look back on this one-day tour [of India] as one of the worst tours for me as a New Zealand cricketer,” Vettori said in Auckland. “That hurts a lot and it’s embarrassing.” He insisted, however, that there was no need for a new leader. “I enjoy doing the job, but if the team needs to move forward without me, then so be it. I don’t think it’s the right answer but there’s a committee set up and I’m sure they’ll make some decisions.”Former cricketers Martin Crowe and Shane Bond are among those on that committee, set up after the humiliating defeats to Bangladesh, to advise the board on promoting cricket at all levels – grassroots to elite – in New Zealand.Mark Greatbatch’s position as coach will be under scrutiny, and there have been calls for replacing him with former captain John Wright, who was successful during a four-year stint with India. “I understand people’s desire to see him attached to the Black Caps because the New Zealand public loves John,” Vaughan said. “He’s had a proven international record and the Black Caps aren’t travelling very well at the moment. But we are comfortable with the process we went with around the appointment of Mark and the way the team is operating with Roger [Mortimer, the NZC high-performance director] and the others.”Greatbatch, who took over in January, said he wanted to stay in charge at least until the World Cup. “If New Zealand Cricket decide that (sacking him) is the best way going forward I’d be happy with that,” he said. “I’m still very keen. I came into this job with the World Cup in mind.”Later this month, New Zealand start a home series against Pakistan, which includes two Twenty20s, two Tests and six one-dayers, the final series for both teams before the World Cup.