Test right-hander Younis Khan hit a fine century to salvage HabibBank’s tarnished image as PIA neared a certain victory on the secondday of the Patron’s Trophy National Cricket Championship Grade-I matchat Gaddafi Stadium Thursday.After PIA had taken a substantial lead of 242, Habib Bank, who made apaltry 27 in their first innings Wednesday, gave a much improvedperformance in their second outing to reach 298 for nine. Younisbatted patiently for 263 minutes in making 117 until he was eighth outat 293 to end a dogged partnership of 78 with skipper Akram Raza. His160-ball innings was spiced with 17 fours.There was only one other significant partnership in the innings.Shahid Afridi, batting down the order, caned 51 off 39 deliveries inhis familiar whirlwind style of batsmanship while adding 82 withYounis. Akram Raza is holding the fort with a defiant unbeaten 47 off54 deliveries. He has so far hit six boundaries.Fazl-e-Akbar, who claimed four wickets in four balls on his way toseven for 13 Wednesday, once proved Habib Bank’s main destroyer withfive wickets. But his 21.5 overs cost 115 runs.Test all-rounder Abdur Razzaq the other main wicket-taker in thesecond innings with a return of three for 102 in 22 overs. Wasim Akramwas yet to turn his arm over in the second innings. Earlier, PIA’slast three wickets added 47 to the overnight score of 269. Moin Khanfell after adding two more to his 19 while Wasim Akram also perishedfor 23 after resuming on 17. Mohammad Zahid and Fazl-e-Akbar shared alast wicket stand worth 38 before the latter was caught off ShahidAfridi for 15. Zahid returned with 18 to his name.

The fun starts at 5.00pm on Sunday 4th November and tickets are available at reception at the County Ground, Nevil Road, Bristol.

An unbeaten century from Sridharan Sharath saw Tamil Nadu declare at396/5 on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai onMonday.Sharath, resuming from his overnight score of 12, lost his partner,skipper Robin Singh, but then found able support in TR Arasu (55*).Batting with his usual elan, Sharath made 141 off 252 balls, with 18fours and a six. The pair put on 190 runs for the sixth wicket.Hoping to force an outright victory, Tamil Nadu declared and then hadGoa reeling at 92/4 by the close of play. L Balaji took four wicketsfor 36 runs, and only first-innings hero Kiran Powar was able to staveoff the bowling onslaught.Needing 66 runs just to avoid an innings defeat, Goa will be hardpressed to ensure a draw, let alone an outright win in their firstRanji tie of the season.

Host Himachal Pradesh bowled out Jammu and Kashmir for 187 in theirfirst innings on the second day of North Zone Ranji tie at Mandi,thereby conceding a lead of 42 runs.Accurate bowling by Vishal Bhatia (4-55) and Shakti Singh (3-71)helped Himachal Pradesh contain the visitors to a moderate score.Jammu and Kashmir failed to capitalise fully on Himachal Pradesh’s lowfirst-innings total, and none of the batsmen could put up a sizeablescore. Abdul Qayoom was the highest scorer, making 32, followed byVikrant Taggar with 31.Resuming play at an overnight total of 21/1, Jammu and Kashmir lostKavaljit Singh at 43, followed by opener Raju Seema at 51.Himachal Pradesh, in reply, were 73 for two in the second innings,with both openers Nischal Gaur (18) and Sandeep Sharma (14) back inthe pavilion. Rajiv Nayyar, however, who was unbeaten on 41 in thefirst innings, was at the crease on 17, while Sangram Singh was notout on 22 at the close of the day.

The Queensland selectors will rely on the same XXXX Queensland Bullsteam that finished 2001 in style to get the New Year off to a winningstart in the ING Cup competition.The side named today is the same twelve that defeated Tasmania by95-runs at the Gabba on Tuesday night to take the Bulls to equal topspot with NSW on the ING Cup ladder.Queensland take on the Western Warriors on Friday January 4 at theWACA ground in a day/night game.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Western Warriors, Jan 4, WACA: Stuart Law (c),Martin Love, Jimmy Maher, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, BrendanNash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel, Nathan Hauritz, AshleyNoffke, Michael Kasprowicz.

Successful New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming put the 2-0 National Bank series victory over Bangladesh behind him immediately today and started to concentrate on the Australian tri-series and, most importantly, the forthcoming England series.Fleming was pleased with the way all areas of the game were handled by the home team but it wasn’t as polished as he would have liked and that gives the side something to work on before their next campaign.The Bangladeshis were not capable of giving New Zealand a thorough indication of how they were placed but the most positive thing to come out of the series for him was the way the side is continuing to try and play a good brand of cricket.He signalled that would be how New Zealand attempted to play against England.”The England tour for me is massive,” the former Middlesex professional said in looking ahead.The side now had some good options. Twelve months ago there were gaping holes in the side’s make-up but now there were genuine options to be considered and he was excited by that.That was being reflected in the way the players were looking to compete for places in the one-day side.”I’m looking forward to the tri-series with excitement. A lot of guys want to perform for places. We are wanting to mix it with two very good sides.”Shane Bond has definitely put his hand up and he adds a dimension we’ve been lacking,” he said.New Zealand had adopted something of a ‘one-dayish’ approach to its batting yesterday by working on running between the wickets with effect, he said.The two State Shield games that all players will take part in before the side is named were really important to getting into the right frame of mind and all were looking forward to playing in the games.”The series will give us an indication of where our one-day side is and an indication of what we have to do for the World Cup.”It is a great time for it to happen,” Fleming said.The prospective absence of Nathan Astle from the side was a blow because the loss of any senior player was significant and in a way it was a positive thing that it happened now rather than before the England series.

After the week that has just been I am not sure where to begin!Firstly losing a game we should have won in Hobart was pretty disappointing and we didn’t have much time to think about that as we had to play in Sydney two days later.When we turned up for the match we were all so looking forward to it as we hardly ever get to play at the SCG and it is one of the best cricket grounds in the world.The nets were available for us prior to the start of play so a few of us utilised this and this was where Flem [captain Stephen Fleming] was struck on the arm by a ball from Dion Nash. He immediately retired to the dressing room and we didn’t really think too much about it but when Dayle Shackel our team physio came running back out to talk to Denis Aberhart we all knew something was up.I was asked to accompany them in straight away where Flem told me he might not be right and did I want to take the captaincy?I had to think about that for a quarter of a second before saying, ‘Of course!’I have captained at junior levels but obviously that was a few years ago!Flem said that there may be a chance he could still play if the X-ray showed no break and he would phone us from the hospital before the toss.He phoned me five minutes before the toss and said that he couldn’t make it back in time and that the arm was too sore. He wished me luck and said to go with my gut feel on the field.I won the toss and it was Flem’s decision that we were going to bat anyway so I was off to a good start, mind you after watching the Aussie bowlers for the first hour and how Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson struggled I was beginning to wonder if I had done the right thing.We managed to post a competitive 235 and I thought early on in our innings that 200 would be competitive. Again early wickets got us under way in the field and as the night drew in and the lights began to take effect the atmosphere was just electric.As we kept taking wickets we knew that we could keep the pressure on but at about the 35-over mark a message came out to me that we were five overs behind the over rate and we had to speed up. I had completely forgotten that we had three and a half hours to bowl our overs so we needed to push it along.When I had Michael Bevan caught at slip I felt the game was ours.I brought back Jimmy Franklin to bowl and so many people have said to me at the time they were wondering if that was a good thing. As it turned out it was but the reason for it was Jimmy for someone so young has a brilliant temperament and remains unflustered about things in general and at that specific time that was what was required.The ball was also swinging and I thought he would be a real chance to swing it back in and maybe get a couple of wickets. He responded brilliantly and for that experience in that environment will be a better player for it.Sydney was a great win but again we were on the road playing in two days time in Brisbane.South Africa have been our nemesis over the past year or so and we were so determined to get a win. After their powerful start our bowlers pulled the scoring back by taking wickets.This is where Shane Bond has been a revelation for the CLEAR Black Caps. His pace brings a wicket-taking option to Flem and that is the best way to stop the run rate.After dismissing them for 241 we were very happy but in return when we were 90/5 it was looking like the same old story against SA. With my good mate Harry [Chris Harris], who had made a quick dash home then back to be with us, we both said it was a case of trying to get some momentum going and to be patient and wait until the 40th over to see what we needed.Even though he got out Adam Parore and I stuck to the same plan and with 75 needed it was now game on. I was trying to pick a boundary up early then take singles to keep to the run rate required and not look to exceed that by doing something stupid.We kept picking boundaries up and when I lofted Jacques Kallis for six in the 49th over I knew it was ours.It was very special to get a hundred in the last over but even more special to score a hundred and win the game and break our drought over SA.There were jubilant scenes in the dressing room after with everyone ecstatic about the win.The first half of the competition sees us nicely placed to make the finals, we now have a week off and I am really looking forward to that, a chance to freshen up and get ready for the double-header in Adelaide next weekend.

In the last couple of years, the Indian team has registered limitedovers series victories over New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe athome, and had only lost to world champions Australia, that too by aslim 3-2 margin.

Given this admirable record, it came as no surprise when they werelisted as hot favourites to wrap up the six-match series againstEngland in double-quick time. With these expectations in mind, whenthe final margin reads three-all, then it is clear that there issomething wrong with the Indian side ­ and that there are lessons tobe learnt.The first lesson to be driven home is the fact that the Indians justdo not learn from past mistakes; notice how they threw away winningchances in successive games at New Delhi and Mumbai. When the askingrate, with wickets to spare, is under six an over, where is the needto go for shots that have an element of risk?The second lesson is that they cannot move in for the kill. The bestexample of this came about during the last-wicket partnership betweenAndrew Flintoff and Darren Gough at Mumbai. When the ninth wicket fellat 218, there were still eight overs left in the innings. JavagalSrinath, Ajit Agarkar and Sourav Ganguly, between them, had 10 oversyet to be bowled. And yet, the bowling was entrusted to SachinTendulkar and Hemang Badani. Flintoff and Gough, scarcely believingtheir good fortune, alternated between singles and the occasionalboundary, and before one was aware of it, the score had leapt by 37runs from seven overs. When the final margin of victory is five runs,the folly in allowing the last-wicket pair to put on so many isunderlined. Incidentally, Srinath later needed just one delivery toterminate the partnership.The third lesson concerns India’s bench strength. With Rahul Dravidunavailable and VVS Laxman dropped midway following a series of lowscores, the responsibility in the middle order rested on the young andinexperienced shoulders of Dinesh Mongia, Mohammad Kaif and Badani.The trio generally failed to give the scoring rate an impetus afterthe electrifying starts from Tendulkar, Sehwag and Ganguly. This wastrue even in the matches that India won.Yet another lesson is that the lack of an all-rounder continues tohave considerable impact on the middle overs. Agarkar, in thiscontext, continues to be an enigma. Despite a couple of goodperformances with bat and ball, he still has not cemented his place inthe side, which for a lad of his undoubted talent can only be termeddisappointing. Under the circumstances, India had no option but toplay six batsmen and four bowlers. It must be said that overall thebowling was better than the batting, even though the gamble of playingSarandeep Singh instead of Harbhajan Singh at New Delhi proved costly.In Ajay Ratra, it must be said that Indian cricket has unearthed atrue find. With encouragement, he could be the solution to the vexingwicket-keeping problem. But there were a few other gains from theseries. The recognised batsmen scored the runs, while the frontlinebowlers took the wickets. It was also good to see Ganguly return toform with the bat, even though his leadership qualities took a bit ofa dent. The tendency to let things drift at times was apparent. It maybe tempting to say that England, admittedly a team with certainlimitations, did not deserve to share the series. But their showingwas a supreme example of what fired-up team spirit and inspiringcaptaincy can achieve. Certainly, history and form were against them,and yes, man for man, the Indian team looked stronger.But matches can also be won in dressing-rooms and hotel corridors, andnot necessarily on the field. England proved this cricketing adage inspades by delivering a performance that could not fail to win thehearts of even the most diehard Indian cricket supporter. They werethe underdogs, and for a team dismissed as no-hopers, their levelingthe series in the manner they did should rank as one of the mostoutstanding feats by any visiting team in India.England clearly had no intention of throwing in the towel even afterthey were down 1-3, or even when India looked to be in a winningposition in the last two games. If the batting lacked consistency,they could always depend on one or two batsmen making a sizeablescore. Marcus Trescothick was a revelation, and there is no doubt thatthe tour will do him a world of good. Hussain himself came up with anumber of useful contributions. Nick Knight took some time to find hisbearings, but his century at the Kotla was a classy effort. The middleorder remained a problem, but Flintoff made up for this with a fewbreezy knocks.The bowling covered up for any loopholes in the batting. The seamerswere quite outstanding, and Gough, Andrew Caddick, Flintoff andMatthew Hoggard served the side admirably. By the end of the tour,Flintoff had emerged as a genuine match-winner, and Hussain got anunexpected bonus with spinners Jeremy Snape and Ashley Giles strikingwhen it was most needed. Giles’ second spell at the Kotla was one ofthe highlights of the series. It takes guts for a bowler to even thinkof bowling again after he has conceded 32 runs in his first four oversand when confronted by an inform Ganguly treating spinners withdisdain. But Giles ripped the Indian innings apart with some incisivebowling, and his five wickets in five overs proved decisive.England were also well served by young James Foster who, withencouragement, could have a long and fruitful career behind thestumps. The fielding, not generally known to be England’s strongpoint, was a revelation. Led by their skipper, the players threwthemselves at the ball, dived and leapt to take catches, and displayedan efficiency that almost matched the South Africans at their best.Hussain, as he had done in the Test series, again led by both personalexample and with tactical acumen. A lot of thought had been given toplotting a particular batsman’s downfall, and in matters of strategy,Hussain certainly stole a march over Ganguly.

A cavalier 151 by Corey Richards helped NSW scrape into Sunday week’s ING Cup final after a nailbiting win over Western Australia at the WACA ground tonight.The Blues held off the Warriors late batting charge to win by three runs with quick Shawn Bradstreet (2-39) the hero having tail-ender Michael Clark (7) caught behind with just three balls left.It continues the Blues’ recent dominance over the Warriors, winning their last three matches by the slimmest of margins, including last year’s ING Cup final at the WACA ground.But a nervous NSW brigade appeared to be cracking under pressure with some sloppy bowling and fielding in the final overs as the run chase climaxed.And despite an excellent knock from allrounder Brad Hogg (39no) for the home side, he ran out of partners in the end.It was the Warriors who eventually folded under the pressure with their last four wickets going for 29 runs.Richards earlier rode his luck being put down three times as he registered the fifth highest innings in domestic one-day cricket off 147 balls.He guided the Blues to 9-267 off their 50 overs but the Warriors made 264 in reply.NSW will play the winner of the match between South Australia and Queensland in Adelaide this Sunday.Richards’ glorious innings overshadowed big Jo Angel’s (3-53) record-breaking feats as the West Australian quick became the leading wicket-taker in domesticone-day cricket.But it was a bittersweet evening for the veteran as he watched his state’s outside chances of making the final slip away.Angel moved past former teammate Tom Moody’s mark of 70 wickets when he had a scratchy Michael Bevan (40) caught at mid-on by Clark.But it was the dropped catch by Kade Harvey from a full-blooded cover drive when Richards was on 68 that came back to haunt the Warriors.Richards seemed to edge his way towards his ton before accelerating the innings after key batsman Michael Clarke (18) and Shane Lee (2) fell in one Brad Williams over.In reply, wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell lived dangerously before Mark Higgs had him caught by Bevan for a quickfire (42) to leave the Warriors at 1-71 inthe 14th over.Chris Rogers (28) followed just three runs later when quick Stuart Clark (1-35) had him caught behind by Brad Haddin.But it was when skipper Simon Katich (18) was caught behind off Bradstreet that the home team looked in deep trouble at 3-109 in the 22nd over.Michael Hussey revived the innings with a dashing 45 which included a $200,000 sweep shot which hit the sponsor’s sign at square leg.The 26-year-old, who is expected to keep $80,000 of the bounty and share the rest with teammates, could only manage another 14 runs after the money shot.But a fifty-run partnership between Hogg and Harvey (29) for the seventh wicket put the heat back on the Blues.

Somerset all rounder Ian Blackwell has spent the last few days at Melbourne Cricket Ground where he saw England eventually lose the fourth Ashes Test.However the Aussies didn’t have it all their way. Before they scored the winning runs `Blackwell’s west country county colleague Andy Caddick reminded his critics just what a class act he is by taking three wickets, including two in one over to raise everyone’s spirits.The former Derbyshire player who has made a considerable impact for England in the triangular one day series told me: "There was a fantastic atmosphere at Melbourne with over 72000 people inside the ground on Boxing Day. I was there to help to swell the Barmy Army and chant for England!"With Craig White joining England’s walking wounded `Blackie’ has been suggested by many informed observers as the likely replacement so I asked him how he read the situation.He told me: " As for Sydney, I’m in the frame but I had a precautionary scan on my left knee where it turns out I have aggravated a sheath which runs alongside the knee tendon, a form of tendonitis. Hopefully a few days rest should help but I’m not sure what the hierarchy will say. Your guess is as good as mine at the moment, so it’s fingers crossed!".He continued: "They may want me to rest for the one dayers that start again on January 13th and then the World Cup coming up with the squad announced on the 31st which I hope to be included in."`Blackie’ concluded: "I would like to wish everybody back at home in the west country a very Happy New Year."