Sarfraz Ahmed, the left-arm fast bowler and Sialkot’s hero of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy triumph, took 6 for 49 for Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) on the third day of their four-day, Group B, first-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Monday. Four-time champions ZTBL were bowled out for just 171 runs in their second innings, which meant that after having surrendered a first innings lead of 45 they finished only 126 runs ahead of WAPDA, who had ended as runners-up behind them in the 2003-04 competition. By the close of play, WAPDA had responded strongly by chopping 51 runs off their target, with both openers still in occupation of the crease.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) required another monumental 330 runs to avoid the follow-on. on the third day of their four-day, Group A, first-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Habib Bank, they replied to the latter’s first innings score of 681 for 8 declared with 202 for four, at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 on Monday.In a rather strange move Habib Bank, who had resumed at their overnight 663 for 8, continued batting for just three more overs, added 18 runs and then declared their innings closed. Junaid Zia was thus left unbeaten at 49, one short of a half-century, made off 63 balls with two boundaries. In the day’s remaining 78 overs, PIA made a rather shoddy 202 runs for the loss of four wickets. There was a 72-run third-wicket partnership between Kamran Sajid (46) and Bazid Khan (39), before the fourth wicket fell at 136.Faisal Iqbal, the captain, with an unbeaten 42, and Asif Mujtaba, 39-year-old left-hand batsman, rescued their team with an unbroken 66-run stand for the fifth wicket. Faisal has so far faced 98 balls and hit five boundaries. Habib Bank, record seven-time winners of the Patron’s Trophy title, had to share the title last season with PIA after the final was abandoned due to rain. PIA have never won the competition outright since its introduction in 1972-73.Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) finished 225 runs ahead of Pakistan Customs but had only one second innings wicket standing, as the third day of their four-day, Group A first-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match ended at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex on Monday. Earlier, KRL bowled Customs out for 223 runs that gave them a first-innings advantage of 54 runs. In their second innings, however, they had lost nine wickets with only 171 runs on the board. Mohammad Wasim, the captain and a former Pakistan opening batsman, was still at the crease though with an unbeaten 92 to his name. He has so far faced 161 deliveries and sent nine hits to the ropes.Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) needed a further 127 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand, to win against Service Industries, as the third day of their four-day, Group B first-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match ended at the Iqbal Stadium on Monday. Riaz Afridi (4 for 45) and Tahir Mughal (4 for 53), the fast bowlers, bowled out Service for a poor second innings 153 after they had gained a 50-run first-innings lead over PTCL. By the close of play yesterday, after having been left with 204 runs to win, PTCL had steadily moved to a score of 77 for the loss of one wicket.

For a man who wasn’t even there, Virender Sehwag was surprisingly ubiquitous at Inzamam-ul-Haq’s pre-match press conference. Having added 254 mostly audacious runs to his tally of 982 against them before the Lahore Test, it wasn’t a surprise.Sehwag’s comments after the first Test, about loving Pakistan’s bowling and their defensiveness in preparing such a flat pitch, added a pinch of when it was most needed. If it was meant to stir, then it probably has; Inzamam touched upon it in his column yesterday and some within the team suggested, wryly, if he is dismissed early at any point, celebrations might be exaggerated.Sehwag’s bluster has clearly registered for there was a firm, testy rebuttal from Inzamam of his charge that Pakistan had been defensive in Lahore. “I don’t understand why Pakistan would play defensively. After putting so many runs on the board in Lahore why would we be defensive? I think many people realised soon after the weather changed in Lahore that the match was heading for a draw. We knew after that it would be difficult to get a wicket on this pitch.”But as ever, Inzamam’s recipe to stop Sehwag was plain. “The simple plan is to stop him from scoring. We just want bowlers to bowl in those areas where we feel, according to our strategy and planning, he can be stopped.” Those areas are likely to be short and into his body, cramping his style and curbing his runs.The Sachin clone tag may have been shed but increasingly Sehwag is attracting a similarly obsessive and skewed following. Someone piped in, prematurely, that the series involved Pakistan and Sehwag, rather than India. Inzamam dead-batted, late as ever, “He is a very good player and he is in form. India also has other good players in the team. In every series there is one batsman who gets into a good run of form. His team depends on him for runs and the opposition looks to get him out early.”Sehwag apart, there has also been much pondering about the weather and the scheduling of this series. The Pakistan board’s revelation that Karachi had been penciled in for the first Test, only to have the request turned down by the BCCI, has elicited from India a denial. In which case, nobody is quite sure why the first two Tests are being played in Punjab at the peak of winter, including Inzamam. “It would have been better if the series had started in Karachi because the weather in Punjab is not conducive for play during the early winter.”Bright sunshine, blue skies and brisk temperatures have greeted Faisalabadis two days in a row and the earlier gloom of forecasts has been steadily replaced by a clearer outlook. Predictions, including Inzamam’s own, that the series may be decided by one session in Karachi have quietly been withdrawn. “I said that after the weather in Lahore and the fact that the weather in Faisalabad which is not too far away was expected to be similar. The forecast was similar here so in that sense I said the series could be decided in one session. I wouldn’t want a series to be decided in one session.”Medically, news of Inzamam’s troublesome back and Shoaib Akhtar’s left ankle – the former an ongoing reality and the latter a recurring whisper since England – flitted through Faisalabad in the build-up although they too, like the threat of poor conditions, have since receded. Inzamam and Bob Woolmer were both oblivious to the reports and the former insisted at the press conference that, “everyone is fit.” Nevertheless, changes are expected in the team: “There will be one or two changes in the team but we haven’t decided yet what they will be. It will be in the bowling department as the batsmen didn’t do much wrong in getting nearly 700 runs.”Indeed they didn’t do much wrong. The problem of course is stopping the man who got over 250 and doesn’t ever seem to do any wrong against them.

Overnight rain delayed the start and bad light brought an early end to the first day as Barbados reached 79 for 2against Windward Islands at the Tanteen Recreation Ground in Grenada.Rawl Lewis, the Windwards captain, asked Barbados to bat in the hope that his bowlers would take advantage of the moisture in the pitch and overcast conditions. Dale Richards made 11 in an opening stand of 24 with Wayne Blackman (33 not out) before he was dismissed by Deighton Butler. Darren Sammy struck the second blow by taking a return catch off Devon Smith (13).Blackman and Ryan Hinds (18 not out) consolidated and took the score to 79 before bad light halted play with 10.4 overs remaining in the day’s play. As many as six bowlers were employed by Lewis to bowl 34.2 overs. Sammy finished with the best figures, 1 for 5 off six overs.

Scorecard

Australia’s future generation matched their senior side by inflicting acrushing defeat on South Africa, launching their World Cup campaign instunning style and with ruthless efficiency at the SSC ground. In what hasbeen dubbed “the group of death” – also including West Indies and the USA- this was a vital match for both teams and it was Australia who burst outof the blocks.It was a dynamic performance, started by the batsmen and Tom Cooper’s 104- the first century of the tournament – before being capped off by adominant show from the pace attack. Following their failure to reach theSuper League stage in 2004, Australia have a point to prove this timearound and come across as a highly focused and motivated unit.The chirp in the middle also showed this was a typical Australia-SouthAfrica clash. A few words were exchanged during both innings, the results of which were similar to those that have been witnessed down under in recent weeks.Simon Keen tore through the South African middle with three wickets in thefirst three overs, producing a series of deliveries that nipped off theseam. The ball to remove Romano Ramoo was a gem, drawing the approval ofthe Australia coaching staff who watched proceedings from the pressgallery.Chasing 316, South Africa were always going to be up against it, especially with theAustralian attack finding extra bounce and carry provided from the SSCpitch. Moises Henriques, the captain, made the early incisions, strikingtwice in his opening spell; Ben Cutting chopped out two for himself, andKeen made his dramatic intervention.Henriques was thrilled Australia had managed to launch their bid for athird World Cup in such empathic style. “It was the perfect start for us,”he told Cricinfo. “We struggled a bit in the practice games trying to findour feet but Coops [Tom Cooper] led from the front today and played agreat knock.”Australia suffered their own early wobble with the bat after South Africahad chosen to field, with the surface looking nearly as green as the squareand reminding Matthew Mott, the Australian assistant coach, of the Gabbain Brisbane. Chris Alexander struck twice in his third over as Australiaslipped to 4 for 2 – but that was as good as it got.Whereas Australia had the attack to keep on striking, South Africa’s wason the lightweight side once Alexander had been seen off. Cooper andHenriques settled the innings with a sensible stand, ensuring no furtherwickets were lost while the ball was hard.Henriques added that at no stage did Australia panic: “I’ve playedon worse looking pitches out here but they all end up playing fairlywell,” he said. “It helped that they had no real tall fast bowlers who could have gota bit more out of it. Our first four bowlers are all over 6’2” and hitthe deck pretty hard and there were good conditions for us today.”When the sun had got to work on the pitch it quickly became morecomfortable for the batsmen and Australia cut loose as the plethora ofspinners were introduced. Henriques launched two consecutive maximums offdas Neves to get the ball rolling, before Aaron Finch made the most ofof the solid foundations.He joined Cooper in the match-turning stand of 120, with the two batsmenoffering contrasting styles. Cooper generally preferred to keep the ballalong the ground while Finch frequented the aerial route; his fifth sixbrought up a belligerent half-century off 65 balls. Cooper, who hadwatchfully negotiated the new ball, reached his century from 138 balls – aknock that was the perfect example of how to pace and anchor a one-dayinnings.Though Cooper and Finch departed in quick succession, that left the stagefree for David Warner to launch a 50-ball 54, powering Australia past 300.South Africa ought to have learned from Cooper’s method, but the weight ofthe huge total was too much for them. Australia have laid down animpressive marker for the tournament.

West Indies go into the decisive third ODI against New Zealand at Jade Stadium on Saturday 2-0 down and with some unintentional, yet judicious tactical hints from their opponents.Whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul or Bennett King was calling the shots, their approach during the second successive loss in the National Bank Series in Queenstown on Wednesday was openly questioned by New Zealanders. The message was simple – be more assertive. “It was massively close but we should have lost that game,” Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, admitted afterwards, with some relief.And so they should have, recovering from the loss of the top four in the order for 15 in the fourth over and 49 for 5 to overhaul the West Indies’ total of 200 for 9 with as many as eight overs to spare.”The West Indies were reactive in the field,” recently retired allrounder Chris Cairns commented in his new role as television analyst. “They were on the backfoot and seemed to be just waiting for something to happen. I’d say the West Indies ended up losing that game rather than New Zealand winning it.”New Zealand were ultimately carried to their victory by left-handed No.8 Daniel Vettori’s unbeaten 53 off 56 balls with three fours, the last the match-winning hit over mid-on from Chris Gayle. Vettori shared the decisive partnerships of 71 with wicketkeeper Brendon McCallum, who scored 45 from 44 balls, and 63 unbeaten with fellow left-hander James Franklin.He entered at 120 for 6 after Peter Fulton and McCallum had repaired the early damage and acknowledged that he was lucky he didn’t have to contend with Fidel Edwards until the West Indies’ spearhead was brought back when he was well set on 40.Until then, he was confronted mainly by the spin of Chris Gayle and Rawl Lewis. “Against spin, I thought the wicket was reasonably easy to bat on and probably the fields they set made it easy to pick up singles,” he noted. “It wasn’t that difficult. Once you got in there, it was just (a matter) of maintaining the partnership.” With inviting gaps and some slack work in the field, Vettori collected 22 singles and eight twos.Since succeeding Brian Lara at the helm, Chanderpaul has shown himself to be a conservative tactician who favours caution over risk. He has deflected responsibility onto coach King with comments that “there are a lot of things coming from inside” and that “there is not a lot I can do”.But, whatever the circumstances that lead to the strategy on the field, he is not the only international captain who follows a predictable approach to the shortened form of the game, the one that now cries out for more creativity and boldness.That was surely the case on Wednesday when the West Indies’ most obvious, if not only, chance of victory was to bowl New Zealand out for less than their modest 200 for nine. They had the platform but could not close the deal.When Chanderpaul brought back Edwards at 84 for 5 in the 19th over in an effort to break the threatening stand between Fulton and McCullum, he began with a solitary slip and a gully.McCullum, troubled by the extra pace, edged Edwards’ first ball through the open second slip position to the third man boundary. Immediately, Chanderpaul moved the gully into the vacant spot but the moment had already passed.It was a repeat of Edwards’ opening over in the first match in Wellington when Jamie How parried him through absent third slip for four, only for Chanderpaul to plug the position next ball.No tactical lapse can be blamed for the wayward bowling of the promising Jerome Taylor, who has fought for consistency in all three matches on his first international appearance in three years, or for the shoddy fielding. But the captain needs to be bolder in his method, especially when his team have the initiative. It has been shown time and again that nothing slows the scoring rate more effectively than the fall of wickets.As Geoff Longley noted in his report in the Christchurch Press, the West Indies’ problems go beyond the field and beyond tactics.

Kenya 135 for 5 (Tikolo 50*) trail Netherlands 474 (ten Doeschate 158, van Troost 86, Schiferli 69) by 339 runs
Scorecard

Netherlands ended the second day of their Intercontinental Cup tie against Kenya at Nairobi Gymkhana in a commanding position after scoring 474 and reducing the home side to 135 for 5 at stumps. Only Steve Tikolo, unbeaten on 50 at the close, stands between Netherlands and a large, probably match-winning, first-innings lead.Kenya had fought back well on the first evening, but they failed to make any inroads after showers had delayed the start today. Their only success of the morning came when Jeroen Smits was bowled by the impressive Thomas Odoyo for 8, but runs flowed as Luuk van Troost was cutting loose at the other end.He found a valuable partner in Edgar Schiferli, the pair adding a competition-record 95 for the ninth wicket. Schiferli was far from daunted by a wilting attack, dominating the partnership with a 95-ball 69, while van Trrost, who was dropped by wicketkeeper Maurice Ouma immediately after lunch, began to open up in the afternoon as clouds gathered, eventually holing-out to Odoyo at long-on off Collins Obuya.As he departed for a well-made 86, the rain returned causing another 45-minute delay. Schiferli swatted the first ball after the restart from Tikolo for six over long-on, before finally perishing to a good catch in the deep by Obuya off the persevering Peter Ongondo. Netherlands’ total was the highest in the competition’s history and Kenya were left needing something special to stay in the game.

They were already without Hitesh Modi, who broke a finger yesterday, and so their batting line-up looked even more dependant than usual on Tikolo. They needed a good start, but they lost Ouma to the last ball before tea, well caught low down by Jeroen Smits, and never regained the initiative. Brijal Patel, whose recall had raised an eyebrow or two, fell for 22 and in the next over Tony Suji was bowled by Schiferli for 11 to leave them wobbling on 50 for 3.Although Tikolo looked assured, the worry was who would stay with him. The precocious Tanmay Mishra again looked more than capable before he perished for 16, and when the in-form Obuya was cleaned up by Mohammad Kashif shortly before the close, it was hard to see any way back into the match for the Kenyans.

Michael Vaughan has suffered another setback in his bid to shake off a long-standing knee injury and is now likely to miss the entire Test series against Sri Lanka.Earlier this week Vaughan had said that he intended to turn out for Yorkshire at the weekend to test his right knee, but those plans have been put on hold. A piece of bone in the joint has created a hole, and until that smoothes over a comeback is unlikely.”This Sunday against Northants in the C&G Trophy was potentially a chance of me playing. But there was a little bit of a setback. When you have rehab and you’re working hard then you get the odd setback. If I miss another two weeks of the season because of the that and it makes me stronger for it, it will be a good decision.”As everyone knows, it is slow progress. But it looks like progress in the right direction,” said Vaughan. “I have batted in the nets, but it is frustrating that I can bat in the nets but not out in the middle. I have worked pretty hard and I hope I will get the rewards eventually.”I have got to be patient. Everyone has to be patient with the knee because when I do come back I want it to be with confidence and for a long time, not just for a short period. It’s very difficult to put a time span on it. I have to tick all the right boxes to make sure I can withstand a real tough game of cricket. Until I have ticked all the boxes, I will not put myself forward for a game.”At the minute I have not been able to twist and turn at pace,” Vaughan continued. “I can do it at 50 or 60% but I cannot get in and out at pace without feeling a little bit of aggravation. The last thing I need and everyone else needs is to see a limping Michael Vaughan, like in Pakistan.”There are a couple of shots, more so on the back foot, when you are cutting the ball for example and putting a little bit more weight on the right knee which is still causing me a little bit of pain.”If it was just pain I would have a tablet and get on and play; it is the actual aggravation, the locking sensation which is the hard thing to get over. There is damage in there now, but the specialists I have been speaking to have told me that will get better over time.”All the training I am doing is towards making sure I can withstand that. I have actually got muscles in my legs for the first time for a long time. You might have to get a microscope to see them – but they are there!”

Sri Lanka’s coach, Tom Moody, has added his voice to the growing debate about player burn-out, and believes that international teams will soon have to head down the route adopted by the football Premiership, with larger squads and more rotation of players.After a whirlwind campaign that has encompassed trips to Australia, Bangladesh and a home series in Pakistan, Sri Lanka have arrived in England for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match, just two weeks after their last international fixture, against Pakistan at Kandy.”It’s a difficult thing to avoid,” conceded Moody, as he spoke to the press at Sri Lanka’s team hotel in North-West London, “You want your key players all the time, but the players are under enormous pressure, and it’s one of those things you face. You have to accept that the best players may not play in every game of a series.”It’s a thing being addressed by the ICC and it’s out of our control,” he added. “But there are two approaches that can be taken. [Firstly], key players can be rested for periods of the year if the calendar stays the same, but squads have got to get bigger, [just] like is happening in soccer in this country. The more soccer they play, the bigger the squads.”England experienced the problems of fixture overload this winter, when their players started dropping like flies in India, but Moody believed their experience would have been largely beneficial.”Put it this way, England are selecting from a bigger pool of players this summer than last summer, and that is an advantage. Even so, when you’ve got a settled side, you know each other’s game inside out, but when people are coming and going, it’s harder to get momentum.”We’ve seen in the past in England, they’d use 20-plus players in a series. Those days are gone now. But it’s a long time until the first Test, and I’m sure those key players will find themselves back on deck before then.”

India dropped two places in the ICC ODI rankings, following a 4-1 loss to the West Indies, a defeat that has also seen Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan suffer in the player rankings following below-par individual performances.Before the series began, in third place, India had a chance to cut South Africa’s lead above them to a single point if they won all five matches. That wasn’t out of the question against a team ranked eighth and given India’s own excellent form (18 wins from 24 matches) before the series. Four consecutive defeats, though, have seen India drop to fifth, allowing Pakistan and New Zealand to benefit without having played recently.Dhoni began the series in second place for ODI batsmen, but 95 runs from five innings has seen him drop to fourth and his second place taken over by Ramnaresh Sarwan. Pathan also started the tour in second place in the bowling list, but six wickets in four matches has seen him slide to seventh, although there are relatively few rating points between many of the players in that top group.Rahul Dravid has dropped out of the top 10, to 12th, but Virender Sehwag has moved into the top 20, up six places to 18th, Yuvraj Singh remains in 10th place and Mohammad Kaif is up eight spots to 46th position.Ajit Agarkar, left out of the Test squad, has jumped back into the top 20 bowlers, rising eight places to 13th while Harbhajan Singh is also in that top 20, down one spot in joint 11th, with Makhaya Ntini.Sarwan’s 273 runs, including a hundred and two fifties, means he is closing the gap on Adam Gilchrist at the top and the jump follows his entry into the top 10 only last month, after a productive series against Zimbabwe. Chris Gayle is up three places to 11th position.Ian Bradshaw has broken into the bowling top 10 for the first time, up nine places to eighth spot, and he is the first West Indies bowler to reach the top 10 since Reon King five years ago. Bradshaw is not the only West Indian bowler moving up: Gayle is up eight spots to 30th, Fidel Edwards climbs 17 places to 42nd, Marlon Samuels is up 24 places to 64th and Jerome Taylor has climbed 10 spots to 81st position.The West Indies has not been able to improve, though, on its eighth position but have gained seven rating points because of the series win. They are now five points behind seventh-placed England in the table.

The squad to participate in the European 2nd Division Championships in Glasgow next month was anounced yesterday evening. The team has been grouped together with Jersey, Norway and France in Group 1, whilst Group 2 includes teams from Guernsey, Germany, Gibraltar and Greece.Hillel Awaskar (captain) – Ashdod A
Isaac Massil (vice captain) – Lions Lod
Raymond Aston – Young Ashdod
Shai Bangerra – Lions Lod
Sanjay Gupta – Tel Aviv
Shai Hayun – Ra’anana
Danny Hotz – Ra’anana
Perreira Lushenko – Tel Aviv
David Massil – Lions Lod
Dovi Myers – Tel Aviv
Yaniv Razpurker – Neve Yonatan
Eshkol Solomon – Lions Lod
Isaac Talkar – Ramle
Adrian Vard – Ra’ananaManager: George Sheader
Coach: Chris EllisonThe team was unanimously selected by the ICA selectors:Stanley Perlman
Ezra Ben Yehuda
Avner Wasker