At the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy final Mumbai were right on top thanks mainly to a penetrative spell from Zaheer Khan, who picked up five wickets and skittled Bengal over for only 143 in response to the hosts’ 320. Bengal’s tail was good enough to avert a follow-on that seemed likely at one stage, but when Mumbai ended the day on 113 for 2, an overall lead of 290, one team held all the aces, with three days to play.When the day began with Mumbai on 281 for 5, there was still hope that they would post a score tall enough to allow them to bat just once in this game. But Abhishek Nair (15) copped an unlucky break, and was given out caught behind off Sourav Sarkar when the bat appeared to miss ball and strike the floor. With just 17 added to the overnight score of 281, the door opened for Bengal.Sarkar was in the action again as Rohit Sharma was sent back by Vinayak Samant after setting off for a single, and run out for 15. At 298 for 7, all that was left to do, with no recognised batsmen left at the crease, was scramble a few runs. But Ranadeb Bose, who bowled well without much luck on the first day, had other plans; he removed Samant (0) and Zaheer in the space of 15 runs. Ramesh Powar, usually good for a few runs, tried to disrupt the bowlers’ rhythm by stepping out or making room, but he failed in his quest, and was bowled by Sarkar, ending the Mumbai innings on 320.If Bengal felt any sense of relief it evaporated soon enough. The superior bowling firepower of Mumbai set to work immediately, and Ajit Agarkar produced a brute of a delivery that got big on Deep Dasgupta, who could only fend awkwardly to Sharma at short-leg. Bengal had lost their captain for a duck in the first over, and worse was to follow. Zaheer angled the ball nicely across Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and when the batsman prodded without much foot movement the result was a nick that Samant snapped up behind the stumps.A partnership of sorts built between Arindam Das and Manoj Tiwary, but Zaheer made his Mumbai debut memorable by hurrying Das for pace and having him caught behind with the score on 28. Then the excitement built to a fever pitch as Sourav Ganguly walked slowly out to the middle and took his time marking his guard as the crowd cheered his name.The hype was deflated instantly as Zaheer punched through Ganguly’s defences with a quick delivery that slanted back in and beat the stroke for pace. The ball took the inside edge and uprooted the middle stump, and Mumbai were over the moon, celebrating in a huddle as Ganguly was sent back for a first-ball duck. At 28 for 4, with their premier batsman gone, Bengal were in dire straits.For Zaheer, though, this was business as usual – he has now dismissed Ganguly for three ducks in the last three times the two have come up against each other. The last occasion was the Duleep Trophy final in the previous season when two screaming yorkers sent Ganguly back without troubling the scorers. Tiwari’s attractive strokeplay saved Bengal from further embarrassment as he who took the score from 28 for 4 till 72 before the next cluster of wickets fell.
Zaheer struck again, having Rohan Gavaskar caught behind. Two more wickets fell on the same score, as Zaheer and Samant combined again to remove Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The real big blow came soon after, though, when Tiwary was slow in moving his feet to a well-pitched up delivery from Wilkin Mota and was trapped lbw for 42.At 72 for 7 the follow-on target of 120 looked miles away. However, Mumbai’s intensity flagged and the tailenders made the most of this, swatting the ball for runs. Saurashish Lahiri (22), Sarkar (25) and later Ashok Dinda (22 not out), took Bengal to relative safety at 143 all out. Zaheer had picked up 5 for 40, and Mumbai had a more-than-handy 177-run first-innings lead.Sahul Kukreja went early once more, and then an hour of attractive strokeplay followed as Wasim Jaffer and Sharma put on 107 for the second wicket, making the most of good batting conditions against Bengal’s tiring bowlers. There was little in the pitch, and the runs flowed easily, till Sharma (57) was slightly late on a ball from Dinda and was bowled. Jaffer was unbeaten on 50 as Mumbai went off at stumps on 113 for 2.
Michael Vaughan is expected to renew his contract with Yorkshire before leaving for India. Vaughan is currently recuperating from a knee injury but expects to be fit for what will be an arduous tour of India.”I hope to sign a new contract with the club in the next couple of weeks,” he told the . “We’re in the middle of trying to sort it out but hopefully I will be here for a while. I can’t see myself playing anywhere else yet.”Vaughan was quick to play down England’s chances ahead of the subcontinent tour, stating that ‘people have to be realistic.'”We’re quite young, we’ve got some really good players but our experience playing abroad is not there at the moment,” he said. “They (India) have got to be favourites on home soil. Only Australia in the last 14 years have won there, which is a hell of a record at home.”They’ve got every area covered – seam bowlers, mystery spinners and phenomenal batsmen – but that’s not to say we can’t have a good tour if we keep our discipline and work hard.”England leave for India in February, and play their first Test on March 1 at Nagpur.
An innings of 77 off 92 balls from Stephen Fleming carried New Zealand to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-dayer at Eden Park in Auckland. Having only 141 to defend, their fourth lowest total in one-day internationals against New Zealand, Sri Lanka found themselves well short of the required bowling firepower. New Zealand surpassed the modest target in only 34 overs.Fleming registered his 38th half-century in ODIs but it was the manner of his innings which suggested that he was coming into his own again. Two sixes, one each off Sanath Jayasuriya and Farveez Maharoof, were superb straight shots of characteristic elegance but contained more power than usual. While he anchored the innings, the winning runs were hit by Hamish Marshall, who swept one to the boundary to finish unbeaten on 14.New Zealand’s recent hard stint in Australia stood them in good stead. In comparision, Sri Lanka appeared short of match readiness. There was solidity in New Zealand’s bowling, enhanced by the return of Daryl Tuffey, while the batting was composed.Conditions were not excessively bad when the Sri Lankans were asked to bat first on the portable pitch. It was a hard surface, with some swing and cut off the pitch. The difficulty for the Sri Lankans was that they batted for much of their innings without the benefit of the warm sun that came out during stages of New Zealand’s innings.After they were dismissed in the 42nd over, Sri Lanka bowled five overs, in which time Chaminda Vaas prised out Nathan Astle. Any hopes that they could get among the New Zealand top order were extinguished in a careful stand of 57 between Stephen Fleming and Mathew Sinclair. Sinclair had made 31 (53 balls) when he tapped back a return catch to Upul Chandana.Fleming, who had been cautious and even looked a little out of sorts, began to find his rhythm in partnership with an aggressive Scott Styris. He greeted the introduction of Sanath Jayasuriya by going down the track to drive him for four, and then repeated the placement, but with more force, to take six runs. That followed a six blasted over long-on by Styris off Chandana. But his innings of 12 was cut short when Fleming turned down a quick single (101 for 3).
Sri Lanka earlier had little chance to unleash their strokeplay. Jayasuriya was forced into a much more restrained role after four batsmen departed. The first of them, Saman Jayantha, was trapped in front by Tuffey in the first over of the day, and Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were also dismissed cheaply.Jayasuriya scored 43, with one four and a six – a glorious straight drive for six off Chris Cairns. But Cairns had the final say when Jayasuriya looked to hook a bouncer and clipped the ball onto his helmet for it to rebound to Marshall at point.Tillakaratne Dilshan performed a useful salvage job in the middle order where he added 44 runs with Chandana, but fell to a fine one-handed catch from Fleming at slip, off the bowling of Cairns, after he had scored 48 off 79 balls.Cairns was able to put his experience to good use to ensure there was no prospect of a Sri Lankan batting revival on the day. His variations complemented the good line he slipped into right from his introduction at the bowling crease. He finished with 4 for 33 from eight overs, while Tuffey marked his return to internationals with 2 for 17 off his eight overs.New Zealand’s facile victory sent out a clear message to an under-par Sri Lankan side, who will have to improve in all departments to make a contest of the five-match series.
As South Africa got off to a flyer at The Oval thoughts in the press boxturned to absent friends. Peter West, who died earlier this week, didsome of his best work in the BBC’s box in the days when it wasprecariously perched on top of the pavilion here. With a seeminglypermanent smile, and a nearly ever-present pipe, West alwaysseemed so at home in front of the camera that it was a surprise tolearn that he was always asking colleagues how he was faring.David Frith, the founder editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly,recalled a slightly peeved West asking why his name had been left offthe caption for a magazine cover in the early ’80s that depicted IanBotham and Clive Lloyd. “All you could see was the back of Peter’shead. I suppose in a small way that backs up the stories about howinsecure he was.”Like many in the media, David Lloyd – the one from the EveningStandard not the ex-England-coach turned Sky pundit – remembersWest fondly. After he retired from the BBC, West fulfilled a long-heldambition by covering the 1986-87 England tour of Australia for theDaily Telegraph. “He was a lovely bloke,” said Lloyd. “That wasmy first tour too, so I remember it well. I’ve got lots of great memoriesfrom it – and Peter features in most of them. He was such a nice,genuine character.”That was a great tour from an England point of view – Mike Gatting’sside won the Ashes, and two one-day competitions to boot – but itwasn’t all fun for West off the field, however. I had a vague recollectionof his tour book, Clean Sweep, containing the odd pop at theTelegraph sports desk – but a quick re-read revealed almost dailyconflict, culminating in a therapeutic two-page letter (never actuallysent, which is often the best way) giving the then sports editor a blast.Edited highlights include: “I have received your latest letter and notedthat as seems to be customary you begin it with a complaint from areader … do you happen to realise that I have now been in Australia forseven weeks, filing every bloody day and never a day off, and, apartfrom sending congratulations on what you term my [Bill] Athey analysis,you have not yet been able to tell me that you have actually liked asingle thing I have written … I would ask you to remember that just anoccasional touch of the carrot can mean a lot.”There’s more – much more – in the same vein, which makes it ratheran unusual tour book. The desk’s daily demands must have clangedseveral bells with other journalists, and serves as a reminder of thosenot-terribly-distant days before e-mails and global-roaming phones,when overseas communication was by peremptory telex or a late-nightphone call (“Towards midnight, Sportsed calls from London. I amdisappointed to hear that he thinks Brisbane is eight hours ahead ofGMT, when in fact it is ten …”).In case you’re wondering, the cricket does get a look-in, with theoccasional shaft of West wisdom – such as this one, from the secondTest at Perth: “[Steve] Waugh finishes with 5 for 69 after bowlingunchanged for almost three hours. He looks an extremely promisingcricketer.” Waugh was still 30 months away from a Test century, butWest had the vertical hold on the old crystal-ball just right.Interestingly, the Telegraph‘s own obituary of West omits thattour book, although it does mention his autobiography and his book on Denis Compton. He also wrote two earlier tour books, but anyone might be forgiven for missing them – West’s 1986-87 tour account was more than 30 years after his previous effort, on Jim Laker’s triumphant Ashes series in 1956. My copy of that one bears the brief inscription “Salutations! Peter West”. And The Oval press box saluted him today.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.Wisden Bulletin: Glorious Gibbs gives South Africa control
A 284-minute epic of determined concentration by David Kelly, the 22-year-old Central Districts batsman, left him one short of his third first-class century as he led his side to an even share of the State Championship match against Auckland which reached the halfway mark on the Eden Park Outer Oval today.After Andre Adams had bludgeoned 55 runs from 32 balls before lunch Auckland had reached 184 and a first innings lead of 58. By stumps Kelly had taken Central Districts to 142 for three wickets and a precious lead of 84 runs.Central Districts will need more runs from Kelly and his team-mates (Jamie How has scored seven of a 39-run stand with Kelly in 80 minutes) if they are to build a winning total.They will also need determined bowling, for Ewen Thompson, the tall left-arm medium-fast bowler, suffered a broken forearm when batting yesterday. He will not bat and if he bowls it will be with difficulty.Adams and Kelly are the only batsmen to score over 50 on this tricky pitch, and they used contrasting styles. Adams, batting at No 9 and coming in at 98 for seven, decided he would use his usual big-hitting style. It worked, for he hit no fewer than 10 fours in his 35-ball innings of 55 – some from magnificent strokes, others with the good fortune that favours the brave.He was last out at 184, and in typically flamboyant style – caught on the boundary trying for a six.Compared with Central’s feeble first innings batting on the frisky pitch yesterday, Richard Scragg and Kelly gave them a much more fluent start to the second innings today.The pitch had lost much of its mischief and both Kelly and Scragg mixed flowing strokes with sensible defence in an opening stand of 62 – the first partnership over 50 in the game thus far.Then Auckland played another trump card, the leg-spin bowling of their captain Brooke Walker. The pitch only gave him slow turn, but very accurate. Kelly and Scragg had to dig in on defence again, and Walker pinned them down.He had Scragg out at 62, and persuaded Ben Smith into a simple caught-and-bowled at the same score – which ran the Central Districts alarm bells again.This time Kelly and Richard King rallied to the Central cause with painstaking defence. Walker kept teasing the batsmen with his accurate and varied spin, so Kelly and King solemnly pushed back maiden after maiden – Walker’s final figures were 24-16-23-2.Eventually King, who had just hit his first four, made a serious misjudgment, shouldered arms and had Kyle Mills hit the top of his off stump.King had laboured 85 minutes for his seven, but at least he stayed while Kelly built the partnership to 41.There was even more diligent defence from How – he has scored four in 80 minutes of the 39 runs he and Kelly have scraped together for the fourth wicket.But if the stubborn spirit that Kelly has already shown – and it will be a crime if he misses his third first-class century – infects the rest of the Central batsmen Auckland may have an uncomfortable time chasing anything above 200 on this bowler-friendly pitch.
George Worker’s all-round performance powered Central Districts to a four-wicket victory in a low-scoring game against Otago in New Plymouth. Worker’s 5 for 10 in four overs triggered Otago’s middle-order collapse, and his 26-ball 42 in the chase helped Central Districts achieve a target of 142 with nine balls to spare.Put in to bat first, Otago got off to a strong start with a 58-run partnership between openers Anaru Kitchen and Neil Broom. However, Worker’s left-arm spin cut through Otago’s top and middle-order, reducing them from 58 for 0 in the ninth over to 90 for 5 by the 15th over. Worker struck in each of his four overs and took two wickets in the space of four balls in the 13th over. Broom, however, held steady and it was his unbeaten knock of 70 off 49 deliveries that eventually lifted Otago to a score of 141 for 8.Worker shared a vital 47-run partnership with Will Young for the second wicket. By the time Worker was dismissed by Nathan McCullum in the seventh over, he had scored 42 of the side’s total of 50 runs and Central Districts stuttered again when McCullum dismissed Young in the same over. A 50-run partnership between captain Kruger Van Wyk and Dane Cleaver then revived the chase. Otago struck once again with quick wickets but an unbeaten 32-run partnership between Josh Clarkson and Marty Kain for the seventh wicket eased Central Districts to their first win in the tournament.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has delivered disappointing injury news in his latest press conference as Spurs prepare for their clash against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
The Lowdown: Spurs’ current injuries
The Lilywhites boss has not had the luxury of picking a starting XI from a fully fit squad in recent weeks, with a number of injuries limiting his options.
Defensive midfielder Oliver Skipp has been absent for the previous six games due to a groin strain, while Japhet Tanganga has suffered a knee injury which has kept him out for the same period of time.
January arrival Rodrigo Bentacur has also been out injured, having missed Spurs’ emphatic 4-0 victory over Leeds United. This was also the case for Lucas Moura, who was absent due to an unknown injury.
In his latest press conference, Conte provided an injury update ahead of Tottenham’s FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough, ruling all four aforementioned players out of contention.
As quoted by football.london when asked about team news for the trip to Teesside, he stated: “Same squad as we have to face Leeds. No Skipp, Tanganga, Moura or Bentancur.”
The Verdict: Time for rotation?
Given the number of injuries with which he has to contend, Conte may be forced into starting a similar XI as to what he did at the weekend against Leeds. If he is eager to give a breather to some key players, he could seek to utilise some of Tottenham’s under-23 squad, including the highly-rated Harvey White and Dane Scarlett.
However, Middlesbrough are renowned to be a physical side. Currently sitting eighth in the Championship, Conte may have himself a dilemma thrust upon him. Does he play the kids and rotate the regulars, or does he field his strongest team possible to maximise Spurs’ chances of advancing to the quarter-finals?
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His options could be limited by the continued absences of Skipp, Tanganga, Moura and Bentancur, while he may also be reluctant to throw untested youngsters into what could be a physical contest.
In other news: Pundit casts doubt over one man’s future at Tottenham
Ricky Ponting still believes his team does not need to alter its behaviour, but has admitted he would do some things “a little differently” if he could return to the Test in Sydney. Ponting’s parents received abusive phone calls in the fallout from the match and his wife Rhianna was concerned about her husband’s job after a newspaper column demanded his sacking.Australia will analyse footage of the Test, in which they equalled the world record of 16 consecutive wins, to see which areas can be improved. “It’s perception and the way people see things when they’re off the field,” Ponting said in the Daily Telegraph. “I might be talking to opposition players on the field but it might be construed by people watching on television that you’re in a slanging or sledging match when that’s not the case.”Ponting has been backed by Cricket Australia and his team-mates, but there has been severe criticism from former cricketing and sporting greats about the team’s attitude. In Sydney there were issues over race, umpiring, sportsmanship, catching, walking and the celebrations when the match was sealed with Michael Clarke’s three wickets in an over.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, has concerns over the players’ behaviour despite them being in “a great cricket team”. “I would hate to see them remembered for any reason other than that,” he said in the Age. “The team is being criticised, members of the team are being criticised, and they need to be aware of that – they need to respond to that.”Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach and former Australia bowler, said he was disappointed with the way the side played in Sydney. “There’s certainly been a lot of feeling from ex-players who think the baggy green has been disrespected,” Lawson told Sydney radio . “Some of these [current] players need to be spoken to.”Perception is everything and the outside world thinks that this Australian team is arrogant and not well behaved. Whether the team themselves think that is another issue, but I can guarantee you the rest of the cricket world certainly feel that about this cricket team.”Ponting does not believe the team is arrogant. “I don’t think anyone wants the way Australia plays cricket to change,” he said. “Everyone likes to see a tough, uncompromising brand of cricket … If we were big headed and arrogant we wouldn’t have been celebrating like that. Big headedness doesn’t go hand in hand with the sort of euphoria we showed at the end of the game.”Ponting, who was lbw after hitting the ball in the first innings, told the paper there were things “that in hindsight you might do a little differently”. “There’s no doubt I stood there for a second or two too long and I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “It probably didn’t help that I was shown throwing my bat when I got back to the rooms.”Some of the guys mightn’t have shaken Anil Kumble’s hand after the game but we were so wrapped up with the end of the game that they were already off the field. We all walked along when it was over and shook their hands.”He has also set himself a big task to get inside the hearts of all Australians. “What I want is for the Australian cricket team to be the most loved and the most respected sporting side in this country,” he said. “That’s always been one of my aims and it will continue to be.”Stuart Clark, who believes the arrogance claims come from media sensationalism, said a lot of the reaction had been “over the top”. “It seems like it is getting to the point where games will be played in silence,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “Most of the talk in the Sydney Test was all pretty light-hearted, anyway, and that has been one of the reasons we have all been taken by a bit of surprise with what’s gone on after.”
New Zealand’s batsmen were unable to follow up on Shane Bond’s hat-trick and fell 105 runs short of Australia’s 289 despite Ross Taylor’s fighting 84. The visitors lost their final seven wickets for 23 in a disappointing finish after Bond made a memorable impact to close the first innings.Andrew Symonds and Cameron White launched a late onslaught of 90 in nine overs before Bond ended the partnership in the 50th over when White was caught in the deep and Symonds edged behind next ball attempting a huge drive. Bond, who became the second New Zealander to take a one-day international hat-trick and collected 4 for 61, finished the job with a ripper that took the top of Nathan Bracken’s off stump, but his team-mates failed to carry the momentum into their batting.Taylor, who came in at 2 for 7 in the fourth over, showed the 128 he made in his third ODI last month was no fluke and he was the only batsman to threaten Australia. His 82-ball innings featured three slog-sweeps that cleared the boundary – two off Symonds and one off White – and he repeatedly worked the ball from outside off stump to behind square leg.His pulling and square driving was also effective as he took on the Australians with ten fours and pushed New Zealand to 3 for 161 in the 32nd over. However, when Taylor flashed at a Mitchell Johnson delivery angling across him and was caught behind the resistance fell away against a relatively inexperienced bowling attack.Australia’s two newest fast bowlers, Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus, each contributed but nobody dominated the wicket tally. Hilfenhaus, playing his first one-day international in the comfort of his home-ground conditions, took only 12 balls to make his mark. After a maiden first over, Hilfenhaus had Brendon McCullum lbw playing across the line for 5.Nathan Bracken also captured an early breakthrough when Nathan Astle edged a very low catch to Adam Gilchrist and was out without scoring. Stephen Fleming and Peter Fulton both partnered Taylor in the chase but Fleming (29) tried to lift his contribution, having struck just one four and a six, and lofted a Johnson delivery to Michael Hussey at mid-off.
Fulton reached 37 before he fell to an athletic two-grab catch by Symonds at cover, but no other batsman reached double figures. The speed at which the innings ended was a concern for the visitors, who crashed to 73 all-out against Sri Lanka a week ago.Ricky Ponting’s decision to bat first looked like a good one when Gilchrist smashed eight fours in his 58-ball 61, but after he fell attempting to replicate a slog-sweep he had put out of the ground from Jeetan Patel, the bowlers but the brakes on. The New Zealanders found a good line and drew Ponting, Michael Clarke and Hussey into picking out fieldsmen while trying to improve the run-rate.Symonds and White pushed Australia to an impressive total and helped them to take 74 from the last six overs. Symonds started slowly but finished with 69 off 70 balls while White smashed three sixes in his 45 off 32 deliveries, including helping take 22 from Bond’s second-last over before the sensational hat-trick.Until then Bond, who has 28 wickets against Australia in eight games, appeared unable to rein in the late runs and White launched him for a massive six over midwicket that landed on a stadium roof. Symonds’ controlled display was reminiscent of his century in the Boxing Day Test and he took until his 46th delivery to strike his second four.White put two consecutive Daniel Vettori deliveries over the midwicket boundary in the 45th over before Symonds also began finding the rope. However, White could not prove as effective with the ball and gave up 18 in his first two overs, although he returned to earn the wicket of James Franklin. Johnson, Stuart Clark and Symonds collected two victims each as the spoils were spread around. The opponent might have been different but the result was the same as throughout the summer as Australia boosted their competition tally with a bonus point by sealing the win 11.3 overs early.
Makhaya Ntini, ruled out of the third Test against Australia at Sydney with a knee injury, has found some consolation in being named South Africa’s most popular sportsperson, the first time the honour has been bestowed upon a cricketer.Ntini, 28, edged out footballer Jabu Pule in a research poll conducted by the South Africa Press Association. The research also showed that cricket, with 11.3 million spectators, was the second-most popular sport in South Africa behind football (14.7 million). The number of black spectators shows a continued upward growth, and they now make up the majority of the country’s cricket watchers.”This independent research shows that we are well on our way to achieving our aim of making South African cricket a truly national sport,” said Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive. “Makhaya’s popularity is a result of his hard work, winning ways and warm personality. He is a credit to cricket and to the nation.”Currently ranked fourth in the ICC Test bowling rankings, Ntini has taken 230 Test wickets from 61 matches. In 124 one-day matches he has 195 wickets. He also had a good 2005, taking 44 wickets from 9 Tests and 36 from 21 one-day internationals.Ntini has been consistently been troubled with torn tendons in his left knee since making his international debut against Sri Lanka at Cape Town in 1998, and will play no part in the final Test of South Africa’s tour to Australia.