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Andrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph both scored unbeaten centuries as Yorkshire thrashed Essex by 10 wickets to kick off the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition at Chelmsford. Responding to a total of 232 for 9, the visitors romped home with 4.1 overs to spare to inflict the heaviest defeat suffered by Essex in a limited overs match.The previous record was also against Yorkshire, by nine wickets at Headingley in 1982. Gale, in recording his first century in limited overs, finished with 125 that came off 115 balls and included 12 fours and three sixes. Rudolph contributed 101 from 102 balls with the help of 13 boundaries. Their partnership represented their highest for any wicket in one-day league cricket.Surrey skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown hit 92 to lead his side to a thrillingtwo-wicket victory over Lancashire with one ball to spare at Whitgift School. Lancashire had set Surrey a formidable target when Stephen Moore, playing in his first one-day game since joining them from Worcestershire, led them to atotal of 290 for 6 with 118 off 96 balls.Hamilton-Brown, who had never reached fifty in his 37 previous one-day games,responded by sharing a rousing opening partnership of 133 in only 15 overs withSteven Davies. Davies had made 59 off 43 balls with three sixes and seven fours when he played on heaving at Tom Smith but Hamilton-Brown, in his first one-day game as captain, kept Surrey on course in a second-wicket stand of 49 with Usman Afzaal.A blistering innings of 141 by Jacques Du Toit and a sensational spell of bowling from seamer Wayne White helped Leicestershire to a 47-run victory over Nottinghamshire at Grace Road. South Africa-born Du Toit smashed three sixes and 14 fours as the Foxes totalled 282 for 6, with Will Jefferson also hitting a quick-fire half-century against his former county. The Outlaws made a whirlwind start to the run-chase with Hashim Amla and Alex Hales putting on 96 in 13 overs, but then White claimed career-best figures of 6 for 29 – including three wickets in four balls – as the visitors crashed to 235 all out in 37 oversHampshire produced a pitiful batting display against a second-string Durham attack to lose their opening Clydesdale Bank 40 match by 149 runs at the Riverside. Replying to 264 for 6, which looked little better than par for the pitch, the visitors were all out for 115.Half-centuries from Nick Compton and James Hildreth were enough to help Somerset to a 38-run win over Glamorgan in Cardiff. When Somerset defended their 224 for 5 from their 39 overs they were indebted to Alfonso Thomas, who took three for 27 in 7.1 overs and was also responsible for a key run out and a catch as Glamorgan were dismissed for 186 with 11 balls remainingJames Franklin’s first one-day century inspired Gloucestershire to a 51-run win over Derbyshire in the opening Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture at Bristol. The New Zealand all-rounder responded to his new position as opener by hitting 133 off 121 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes, as his side ran up 230 for 5 after losing the toss. Alex Gidman (35) and Chris Taylor (32) offered good support. Steve Kirby (3 for 44) then took two early wickets to reduce Derbyshire to 31 for 2 and, despite 37 from Chris Rogers and 41 from John Sadler, the visitors were restricted to 179 all out. It was an important win for Gloucestershire, beaten at home in their first two County Championship games of the season. Batting frailty in those matches led to the experiment of promoting Franklin up the order and he responded with a superbly-paced innings.Warwickshire’s England batting stars Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Jim Troughton all hit half-centuries to steer the Bears to a six-wicket win over injury-hit Kent in their Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Canterbury. Chasing Kent’s moderate total of 246 for 6 at a shade more than six an over, Warwickshire romped to their target with 13 balls to spare courtesy of Bell’s excellent 88, a workmanlike 54 by Trott and an unbeaten 56 from Troughton off only 51 deliveries.Former New Zealand international Iain O’Brien ensured Middlesex got their campaign off to a winning start by ripping through Northamptonshire in a low-scoring game at Trent Bridge. The 33-year-old seamer claimed figures of 4 for 41 inside seven overs at Wantage Road to help skittle out the Steelbacks for a mediocre total of 146. Only David Sales offered any resistance hitting a 75-ball 56 as Middlesex set about making up for Saturday’s thrilling County Championship loss between the two sides. Panthers pair Gareth Berg and Dawid Malan made light work of the chase with unbeaten scores of 43 and 31 respectively to seal a seven-wicket victory inside 33 overs.Sussex launched their one-day season with a five-wicket victory over Worcestershire in a successful return to New Road where they won the old Pro40 League at the end of last season. James Kirtley removed three top-order batsmen in an over as the home side struggled to make 144 for 9 and Sussex edged home by five wickets despite a similar burst by Chris Whelan.

Scorecard
The County Championship Division Two match between Surrey and Middlesex atthe Brit Oval petered out into a draw, but not before both Mark Ramprakash andAndrew Strauss added more significant runs to their match aggregates.Surrey, bottom of the table, set Middlesex a victory target of 374 in 85 oversafter Ramprakash had reached his 111th first-class hundred at the start of thefinal day. But a century opening stand between Scott Newman and England Test captainStrauss, who went on to score 61, blunted Surrey’s efforts to secure themselvesa much-needed first win of the season. At stumps, Middlesex were 189 for 3.Although Newman was caught behind off the persevering Gareth Batty for 43 inthe 33rd over of the Middlesex second innings, Strauss and Owais Shah preventedany further immediate alarms and Surrey knew that victory was beyond them longbefore Strauss hit straight to short extra cover for the second time in thematch.Middlesex reached tea at 142 for 2, and in the final session the only wicketto fall was that of Dawid Malan, who was caught at deep mid-wicket sweeping atUsman Afzaal’s left-arm spin. Shah simply decided to bat out time and was 40 notout when hands were shaken on the draw at 5pm.For Strauss, who also made 92 in the first innings, this match has given himvital time at the crease in his last championship appearance before the start ofEngland’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which begins next Thursday.Although he batted generally with assurance during a three-hour and 156-ballstay, Strauss also needed some good fortune as he led Middlesex to safety. Earlyon he was beaten by a beauty from Jade Dernbach and, on 18, he edged the samebowler through a strangely-vacant third slip.There was an inside-edged four off Chris Tremlett and Batty also got the ballpast Strauss’s outside edge as he strained for the wickets that would have givenSurrey a chance of bowling Middlesex out.Earlier, Ramprakash converted his overnight 86 into an unbeaten 103, beforeSurrey declared at 207 for 3, becoming in the process the first player toscore two hundreds in a championship match on seven occasions – three times forSurrey and four times for Middlesex, his previous club.It was the first time, having hit 223 in Surrey’s first innings, that he hadscored a century and a double-century in the same match and only Ricky Pontingand Zaheer Abbas, who have hit two hundreds in a first-class match on eightoccasions, now better Wally Hammond and Ramprakash’s seven. Ramprakash’s first-class record against Middlesex, the county he left in controversial fashion in 2000, now stands at 1384 runs from 15 innings, at an average of 125.

ScorecardRoss Taylor blasted 80 not out from 33 balls to set record-breaking Durham on their way to a 71-run victory over Leicestershire in the Friends Provident t20. Taylor hit nine sixes in his innings and shared in an unbroken stand of 117 in 45 balls with Dale Benkenstein as they plundered 81 off the last four overs of the hosts’ innings at Chester-le-Street.Both the batting records Durham broke at Edgbaston on Friday were beaten again. The total of 225 for 2 was 10 more than they scored against Warwickshire, and Taylor beat Ian Blackwell’s Durham record score of 79. Durham’s total was also the highest in the competition this season, and although Leicestershire kept up with the required run rate for much of their innings they lost wickets regularly and were all out for 154.Four of the last five wickets went to Paul Collingwood, with Taylor completing the win by holding his third catch at deep midwicket. England star Collingwood completed his two-game stint without having a bat, although he did bring along the World Twenty20 trophy for photo opportunities.Nadeem Malik conceded only two runs off the first over of the Durham innings and Claude Henderson only one off the 10th. But young seamers Harry Gurney and Wayne White between them conceded 102 from seven overs.Phil Mustard, who won the toss, and Blackwell put on 102 for the first wicket. Mustard fell for 65, made from 41 balls, when he lifted Henderson to long on, bringing in Taylor in the 12th over. Five overs later and three successive sixes off the bowling of left-armer Gurney took him to 50 from 23 balls.When Blackwell departed for 37, skying a heave at Matthew Hoggard, Benkenstein went in ahead of Collingwood and hit three sixes in his unbeaten 35, which came off 17 balls.Leicestershire needed a big innings from Brad Hodge, but after making 12 he took a wild hit at Mitch Claydon and was caught by Taylor at backward point. Ben Harmison, recalled in place of brother Steve, took the next two wickets, then Blackwell struck with his first ball, having James Benning caught behind. It was a sign of the visitors’ desperation when Paul Nixon was stumped swinging wildly at Blackwell.James Taylor scored most of the 21 runs which came in the 13th over, bowled by Liam Plunkett, and at that point Leicestershire were 15 ahead of Durham’s score at the same stage. But Taylor departed for 38 and wickets continued to fall as Collingwood left his mark.

In what is another positive development for Zimbabwe as a host of sporting events, New Zealand Cricket has said that it would like to resume cricketing ties with the country, following a fruitful meeting between the sports ministers of the two countries in Wellington earlier this week.David Coltart, the Zimbabwe sports minister, met his New Zealand counterpart, Murray McCully and the positive result of the meeting was the change of stance by the New Zealand government regarding cricketing tours to the southern African nation. NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan confirmed that he later met Coltart at Christchurch and was convinced the climate was conducive to resuming ties.”I am aware that the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Murray McCully, had a positive meeting with Mr Coltart in Wellington earlier this week,” Vaughan said. “It is clear from that meeting that our government’s position is that they would not oppose the Black Caps touring Zimbabwe next year.”The tour by the Black Caps in May 2011 was the principal topic of my discussion with Mr Coltart, however we are also considering the possibility of other cricketing exchanges, such as the potential for a New Zealand A team to tour Zimbabwe at some stage in the near future.”New Zealand had been reluctant to send any of its teams to the country over the last few years, citing the unstable political and security situation. The side was due to tour last year but rescheduled the trip for June 2010. However, New Zealand wanted it to be postponed again to 2011 or play the series in a neutral venue after the New Zealand government assessed the security situation and gave a negative report.Though New Zealand have indicated a change of heart with regard to touring Zimbabwe, Vaughan said the standard protocol of security checks will be followed before confirming any tour.”It is important to stress that any tour by New Zealand cricket teams to Zimbabwe would need to be prefaced by full safety and security checks, which are standard practice for New Zealand Cricket,” Vaughan said.Cricket in Zimbabwe has undergone a facelift in recent months, with an improvement in the basic facilities and domestic structure. That has translated itself into better performances in the field, with recent victories against India and West Indies.Zimbabwe also successfully hosted the tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka and the sport got a big boost when the team made it to the final of the tournament. Zimbabwe Cricket is also optimistic of returning to Test cricket in 2011.

Teams from Nepal, USA, Italy, Cayman Islands, Argentina and Tanzania will participate in the World Cricket League Division Four, to be held in three venues in Italy in August. USA and Nepal secured a promotion to Division Four after finishing in the top two in the WCL Division Five last year, while Cayman Islands and Argentina were relegated after finishing poorly in Division Three in 2008-09.The teams will gear up in the hope of qualifying for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in 2013, the tournament that will determine which four teams make it to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. The top two sides in Division Four will win promotion to WCL Division Three, to be staged in Hong Kong in 2011.The teams arrive on August 12 and the tournament ends on August 21.Itinerary
August 12 – Arrival
August 14 – USA v Nepal (Pianora); Italy v Cayman Islands (Medicina); Tanzania v Argentina (Bologna)
August 15 – Italy v Nepal (Pianora); Argentina v Cayman Islands (Medicina); USA v Tanzania (Bologna)
August 17 – Italy v Argentina (Pianora); Nepal v Tanzania (Medicina); USA v Cayman Islands (Bologna)
August 18 – Cayman Islands v Tanzania (Pianora); Italy v USA (Medicina); Nepal v Argentina (Bologna)
August 20 – USA v Argentina (Pianora); Cayman Islands v Nepal (Medicina); Tanzania v Italy (Bologna)
August 21 – Final (Pianora); third/fourth place play-off (Medicina); fifth/sixth place play-off (Bologna).

Months after walking out on the team and indicating he would not play international cricket again, Steve Tikolo has announced his availability for the 2011 World Cup.Tikolo, who was one of the former players who led the strike on the eve of Kenya’s abandoned England tour, met with board officials at the weekend after which he signalled his willingness to resume playing for his country.Although he has previously said he would consider playing for Kenya again, he has always insisted he would only do so if certain conditions he laid out were met. It is unclear whether the board, in the light of a series of dismal results in recent months, has backed down and agreed to his terms.”‘We have met with Steve and he is fully committed to representing his country,” Cricket Kenya’s new chief executive Tom Sears said: “Steve is one of a number of players we are talking to about their availability for the World Cup and beyond.”Obviously results have been extremely poor in recent months and we have to address that. Ensuring we are selecting from the widest possible pool of eligible players is just one of the steps we are taking. All players will be selected on form, fitness and other criteria and Steve is fully aware that he, or anyone else, is not an automatic selection and he will have to play his way into the squad. What is really pleasing is that he has declared he is willing to fight his way into the team and has rediscovered his desire to play international cricket.”Tikolo said he was “glad [to have] the opportunity to add value to the national team if called upon”. He continued: “It’s been frustrating and disappointing to see the poor results recently but I don’t expect to walk back into the team based on what I have done previously, I will be working hard to put in the performances that earn me a place on merit.”Eldine Baptiste, Kenya’s coach, added: “He is a high-quality player and if he can reach the standards he has set previously he will be an asset to the squad. We are in the process of putting together a comprehensive preparation plan between now and the World Cup to address our problems and make sure we can achieve our potential as a side and as individuals.”There is still time for us to put things right and go to the World Cup and perform at our best, we are not doing ourselves justice at the moment, we know that more than anyone, and we need to work together to make sure results improve.”

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s one-day captain, says his team is looking forward to getting back to cricket after four days of being in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Pakistan play Somerset in Taunton on Thursday in their first game since the spot-fixing controversy broke.”We had a very good practice session yesterday [Tuesday],” he said at Somerset’s County Ground. “What has happened has gone. We are here to play good cricket. It’s a big challenge for me personally, playing in English conditions is always difficult.”Myself and the coach [Waqar Younis] are trying to keep morale high. It’s always very difficult in these conditions against a good team but they are all really focused.”Three members of the squad – Test captain Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – have left for London, where they are due to meet top administrative and diplomatic officials on Thursday.Afridi, who resigned the Test captaincy after Pakistan’s 150-run loss against Australia in July, joined the squad after the Lord’s Test, which ended in controversy a day after the broke its spot-fixing story.. The rest of the tour – a mix of Twenty20s and ODIs – is in some doubt but Afridi insisted his players would be able to put the furore to one side and concentrate on the task at hand when they faced Somerset. “We are all looking forward to it. It has been really difficult but we can forget everything, get out, play the cricket and entertain the people.”There were protests outside Pakistan’s hotel in London but there were none at their Taunton hotel and the Somerset chief executive Richard Gould was confident Thursday’s match would pass off without spectator unrest.”We are not anticipating anything of that order,” Gould told reporters. “We’ve got a really good family atmosphere generally in the ground and I think that’s going to be all-pervading tomorrow (Thursday).”I suspect there might be a little bit of humour thrown in, with a few comments, but we won’t let anything go beyond light-hearted banter.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chennai Super Kings’ openers, Michael Hussey and M Vijay, were involved in the biggest stand of the match•AFP

It’s not often that both contestants of a sporting encounter celebrate at the end of a match. That strange sight was on offer in Port Elizabeth after Chennai Super Kings prevailed over Warriors in a tense league match, paving the way for both teams to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League Twenty20 at the expense of Victoria.Chennai’s chances seemed to have evaporated when they stumbled to 136 after choosing to bat in a must-win match, but on a spin-friendly track their strategy of packing the team with slow bowlers paid off as they tenaciously defended that total to set up an all-IPL semi-final against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Durban.Briefly, midway through the chase, it looked as though an IPL team would break the hearts of the home crowd for the second day in a row but it was the Chennai fans who faced some panicky moments when Justin Kreusch and Mark Boucher revived the Warriors with a 44-run fourth-wicket stand.Two Boucher sixes off Shadab Jakati left Warriors needing a gettable 32 off three overs with seven wickets remaining and two set batsmen at the crease. Chennai’s edginess was shown by Muttiah Muralitharan’s tirade at S Badrinath after a run-out chance was muffled following some kamikaze running between the wickets in the 16th over.R Ashwin, battered in the Super Over against Victoria, then returned to virtually ensure David Hussey’s side will be returning home early. His carrom ball worked to perfection in the 18th over, foxing both Kreusch and Boucher, to swing the game Chennai’s way, though a four in between raised the biggest cheer of the day as it confirmed Warriors’ qualification – they needed 109 to seal a place in the final four. Chennai’s key bowlers, Doug Bollinger and Murali, then held their nerve against Warriors’ non-specialist batsmen to preserve their team’s 100% record of progressing from the league phase of every tournament they have played in so far.Victoria would never have felt more confident of making the semi-finals than when Warriors captain Davy Jacobs was batting in his usual thrill-a-minute style to power the chase of a seemingly inadequate target early on. Jacobs survived in the second over when the ball rolled off his bat onto the stumps and Warriors confidently progressed to 38 for 1 in the Powerplays, but Chennai clawed back after that.Shadab Jakati and Murali choked the runs, before Jacobs fell to a well-judged overhead catch from Michael Hussey at deep midwicket. Three overs later, Suresh Raina’s magic arm earned a wicket with his third delivery to further slow down the home team. In seven overs after the Powerplays, Warriors made only 28 and lost two major wickets, pushing the asking rate to double digits. The game then tilted the Warriors’ way before Ashwin’s intervention proved decisive.Chennai’s bowlers saved the blushes of a highly rated batting unit, which struggled against a disciplined home side. Warriors have five bowlers with international experience in their line-up but it was the sixth, medium-pacer Kreusch, who made the biggest impact. His no-frills wicket-to-wicket bowling fetched him three wickets and ruined the platform Chennai’s openers, Hussey and M Vijay, had constructed.The other impressive Warriors bowler was Johan Botha, one of the tournament’s most economical, who again handcuffed the opposition and dismissed Hussey in the 14th over, one ball after he reached his half-century, to change the course of the innings. From what was a potentially threatening 94 for 2, Chennai could only scrape 20 runs in the next five overs, when they should have been launching an all-out attack.Chennai’s openers had made a rock-solid start, setting up their side for what should have been a far more challenging target. Vijay was the dominant partner in a 63-run stand. Hussey was more circumspect early on, knocking the singles around – his first stroke of aggression as in the fifth over, charging down and lofting Lonwabo Tsotsobe towards long-on. A powerful reverse-sweep for four followed off Nicky Boje, before he started peppering his favourite midwicket region. There were only two dot balls in his final 21 deliveries.His dismissal, however, sandwiching those of Raina and S Badrinath to Kreusch, derailed Chennai. They got going again only in the 19th over, when MS Dhoni clubbed 17 runs off Tsotsobe, including a giant six over midwicket. In a low-scoring encounter, 136 proved enough.The result was a hard pill to swallow for Victoria, who are eliminated despite losing only one match in the tournament.

Ambati Rayudu, the Hyderabad batsman, has decided to play for Baroda in the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy. DS Chalapati, secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), confirmed that Rayadu had asked for an NOC from the association to allow him to play for Baroda.Hyderabad were relegated to the Plate League after a poor performance in the Super League during the Ranji season last year. Venkatapathy Raju, the Hyderabad coach, was unhappy with Rayudu’s decision to play for Baroda, who are part of the Super League.”It was done in bad taste,” Raju told . “As a senior member of the team, he should have taken the responsibility to guide Hyderabad this season. He should have been loyal to Hyderabad. This move reflects his commitment to the Hyderabad team.”Rayudu, who played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, made his first-class debut for Hyderabad in 2001-02 but, after a disappointing 2004-05 season, transferred to Andhra for the following season. He returned to play for Hyderabad in 2006 and then played for the Indian Cricket League in 2007. After serving a two-year ban Rayudu made a comeback to the Hyderabad Ranji team last season.

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has said the current spot-fixing investigation has diverted resources away from organising tours to Pakistan, and that there is now no space left in the calendar to accommodate a visiting team.”The ICC Task Force was well on its way to bringing a MCC XI team to Pakistan in which two players of each cricket board were to be included,” Butt said. “Moreover, Zimbabwe were also interested in sending their national team to Pakistan. The current spot-fixing scam, however, has diverted attention to other issues as work of inviting some teams to Pakistan could not be materialised, and there is no appropriate time left for such activities due to hectic schedule of Pakistan till the World Cup.”Giles Clarke, chairman of the ICC’s Pakistan Task Force, had called for Pakistan to resume hosting international matches back in August and suggested that an ICC World XI would tour the country “in due course”. Following the floods that devastated the country earlier this year, Zimbabwe offered to tour Pakistan to help raise money for the relief effort, and their visit was tentatively scheduled for November and early December. No international cricket has been played in Pakistan since the March 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team.Last month the ICC decided to closely monitor the running of the game in Pakistan. After a two-day board meeting in Dubai, the message of the world governing body to one of its leading members was clear: sort out the game’s administration or face the consequences, potentially in the form of sanctions. The PCB was told “it must act and be seen to be acting to uphold the zero-tolerance attitude to corruption in sport.”