All posts by csb10.top

Mumbai bowlers Dhawal Kulkarni and Karsh Kothari, and opener Prithvi Shaw sealed their knockout berth in style by crushing Tripura by 10 wickets on the third evening at Wankhede Stadium. After declaring overnight on 421 for 8 with a lead of 226, Mumbai bowled out Tripura in 78 overs with four wickets apiece from Kulkarni and Kothari. Set a target of 63, Mumbai belted out the runs in 6.2 overs with a 26-ball 50 from Shaw.Tripura saw a couple of partnerships flourish once Kulkarni struck in his second over to remove opener Samrat Singha for 7. Bishal Ghosh (38) and Udiyan Bose (34) stitched a stand of 65, but Kulkarni had Bose caught at the score of 76 and Akash Parkar bowled Ghosh eight runs later. Smit Patel (68) and Yashpal Singh (82) struck fifites with a century stand and gave Tripura some hopes by rallying the score past 200. However, Jay Bista’s offspin broke the stand and Kothari struck on consecutive deliveries to leave them reeling on 222 for 6.No. 8 Rajat Dey counter-attacked with a 21-ball 30 even as Kothari had Yashpal stumped and Kulkarni returned to wipe out the tail and bowl them out for 288. Mumbai’s openers Shaw and Bista – whose ages add up to only 39 – came out with a T20 mentality and Shaw struck eight fours in his fifty while Bista was unbeaten on 13 off 12 to score at over 10 runs per over together that earned them seven points.Tamil Nadu’s bowlers fought back to leave them with a chance of picking up an outright win after conceding the first-innings lead to Baroda in Vadodara. Tamil Nadu had ended the second day on 226 for 5 in response to Baroda’s 309. But they lost five wickets for 48 runs on the third day to be bowled out for 274. Both B Indrajith and J Kousik were dismissed for their respective overnight scores of 59 and 37 as Tamil Nadu lost three wickets for 10 runs. Yo Mahesh and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore added 38 for the ninth wicket. Mahesh was dismissed for 26, while Sai Kishore remained not out on 17. Lukman Meriwala led a collective effort from Baroda’s bowlers with 3 for 37.Baroda lost half their side inside 25 overs of their second innings, with just 68 on the board. Swapnil Singh (49) and Atit Sheth (40) lifted them with a 66-run sixth-wicket stand. But despite their efforts, and Kartik Kakade’s 33 at No. 9, Baroda folded for 197. Tamil Nadu’s pace duo of M Mohammed and K Vignesh combined to take six wickets between them. Tamil Nadu’s openers N Jagadeesan and Abhinav Mukund, their captain, saw off the two overs to stumps. Tamil Nadu require 231 runs and Baroda need 10 wickets on the final day for a win. However, an outright win won’t do for either team, as they need other results to go their way to make the quarterfinals.Odisha were still trailing Madhya Pradesh after a laboured third day in Indore, where they scored just 219 runs in 90 overs.Odisha had conceded a huge first-innings lead of 241 runs on the second day and ended it on 18 for no loss. By stumps on the third day, they were 237 for 4, requiring four more runs to wipe out the deficit. Odisha lost Ranjit Singh and their captain Govinda Poddar in the space of 10 overs following a 70-run opening stand. Rajesh Dhuper and Subhranshu Senapati, the promising 20-year old batsman, then buckled down for a third-wicket partnership of 120. Having stoically resisted for most of the day, Odisha lost two wickets in the final hour; first Dhuper fell for 88 to the medium-pacer Puneet Datey before Biplab Samantray followed him after 1 off six balls. Senapati held firm till stumps and was on 78, with Shantanu Mishra on 10 for company. Odisha are out of the race to the knockouts. Mumbai’s win has left MP needing nothing short of an outright win. Currently third, a win will take MP straight to the top of the table.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Shane Watson, leading Islamabad United in Misbah-ul-Haq’s absence, hit a belligerent 47-ball 79•PSL

A display of uninhibited hitting from Shane Watson and Sharjeel Khan helped Islamabad United secure an eight-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars in Sharjah on Wednesday night. A second successive victory meant Islamabad also lifted themselves off the bottom of the points table.Watson, leading Islamabad after Misbah-ul-Haq failed to recover from a calf injury, smashed a 47-ball 79. Sharjeel matched him stroke-for-stroke in a 153-run opening stand before Ehsan Adil had Watson caught down the leg side, with Islamabad needing just 14 more. Andre Russell, promoted to No. 3, holed out for 2, but Sharjeel finished the game off with back-to-back sixes as Islamabad won with 25 balls and eight wickets to spare. Sharjeel stayed unbeaten on 79 off 43 balls.Lahore didn’t make things easy for them as they gave Watson a reprieve on 11 when Cameron Delport put down a chance at square leg off Kevon Cooper. It proved to be a costly miss as Watson used the short side boundaries in Sharjah as his ally by crunching four fours and seven sixes.The chase was kickstarted by Sharjeel, who hit Ehsan Adil for 20 runs off the fourth over. Watson caught on from there, doing a bulk of the scoring over the next few overs. He was the first to raise his half-century off 37 balls, while Sharjeel brought up his own off just 26 deliveries.With the personal landmarks out of the way, both batsmen continued their nonchalant display of six-hitting as Cooper’s second over went for 25 to reduce the target down to 23 off the last eight overs. The lack of sting in the bowling seemed to have had a deflating effect on Lahore, even though they managed two wickets as the batsmen fell to big shots.The ferocity of the hitting was such that Lahore’s effort with that bat, which was fuelled by Mohammad Rizwan almost went unnoticed. Rizwan, who came in to bat with the scorecard reading 89 for 4 in the 13th over, marshalled the lower order and made an unbeaten 27-ball 50, including five fours and three sixes. It helped repair the early damage caused by Mohammad Sami and Saeed Ajmal.The last five overs fetched 58, but any thoughts of 166 being a potentially defendable total were quashed by the belligerence of Watson and Sharjeel as Lahore, who were without the services of Chris Gayle because of flu, slumped to the bottom of the table.

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThree days into this series England hold a 261-run lead over a South Africa side riddled with problems, chief of which was another injury to Dale Steyn after their batting had slumped in the morning session. Moeen Ali, who claimed 4 for 69, continued their difficulties against spin to earn a priceless 89-run advantage before England benefited from crucial fielding lapses to increase the lead steadily with Joe Root unbeaten on 60.Any hopes that a return to home soil would ease the ills of the India tour for South Africa have not come to pass early in this series with England’s impressive attack compounding the pressure on a fragile batting order. They lost 6 for 77 in the opening session as their first innings finished on 214 although Dean Elgar fought outstandingly to become the sixth South Africa batsman to carry his bat for 118.Then Steyn pulled up after the second ball of his fourth over with a right shoulder injury and an attempted return was aborted after three deliveries. After play, though, the South Africa camp said the problem was being treated as “shoulder stiffness” after Steyn had been sent for a scan and there was hope he would be able to bowl on the fourth day although it may come too late to change the course of this match.To further compound South Africa’s woes their fielding also let them down. Dane Piedt had removed both openers – Alastair Cook lbw with one that slid on and Alex Hales defeated by drift to be caught at long-on – but in consecutive Morne Morkel overs shortly before tea they had the stuffing knocked out of them.Nick Compton was shelled on 11 when Elgar missed a sitter at second slip and Root was missed on 6 when he gloved a pull which AB de Villiers, whose future was the subject of much speculation during the day, could not gather one-handed above his head.

SA frustrated by ball change

South Africa have said they were unimpressed when the umpires changed the ball in the 26th over of England’s second innings after it had been damaged by one of the advertising screens around the boundary.
The damage, which was classed as “unnatural wear and tear” occurred when Alex Hales hit Dane Piedt for six in the 16th over but the umpires allowed play to continue before deciding the impact had enabled the ball to reverse swing. The change of ball came when Hales was dismissed, caught at long-on against Piedt, while Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott had been operating from the other end.
“The ball was changed because when it hit the LED screen…a chunk of it came out and because there was unnatural wear and tear, they had a right to change the ball,” Mohammed Moosajee, the South Africa team manager, said. “We were not very impressed but the match officials made the final call.
“When the ball goes to the boundary and it comes back, the umpire has a look. Initially he allowed the match continue and then felt that with the reverse swing, there was unnatural wear and tear.”
Law 5.5 states: “If, during play, the ball cannot be found or recovered or the umpires agree that it has become unfit for play through normal use, the umpires shall replace it with a ball which has had wear comparable with that which the previous ball had received before the need for its replacement. When the ball is replaced the umpire shall inform the batsmen and the fielding captain.”

Morkel put in sterling service in the absence of Steyn but, astonishingly, a third chance was to be missed off his bowling when Compton, on 45, edged a pearler only for de Villiers to grass another. That opportunity, at least, did not prove costly as two balls later Compton glanced Morkel down the leg side and de Villiers made amends. De Villiers puffed out his cheeks; Morkel just about managed a celebration.By then, however, England’s lead was over 200 on a surface offering considerable assistance for the spinners and a hint of uneven bounce. England’s progress was never electric but time was on their side. Root made the most of his life with a 96-ball fifty which kept the scoreboard ticking over. He collected a six with a slog-sweep off Piedt and some of his off-side driving was a delight on a surface where few batsmen have found that sort of strokeplay easy.At the start of the day there was not a consensus as to whether England had their noses in front or it was honours even. By the close there was no doubt after the match had been seized in the morning session.As when Stuart Broad started the innings, it took him just two deliveries to locate the stumps, Temba Bavuma this time defeated by some low bounce outside off and dragging on an inside edge. There was certainly some variation in bounce, but it was also the shot of a batsman who had yet to get his feet moving early in the day.In another shrewd piece of captaincy, Cook did not wait long to introduce Moeen with two left-handers now at the crease, one of whom, JP Duminy, who has had his travails against offspin. And it took Moeen just two balls to find Duminy’s outside edge with a beautiful delivery which turned from middle and off, safely held by Ben Stokes at slip.Kyle Abbott did not stay long, prodding forward at Moeen and getting a thick inside edge into his pad which was well held by James Taylor diving forward at short leg, although it needed the intervention of the third umpire after Rod Tucker had failed to spot the sizeable deflection.The support provided by Steyn to Elgar suggested that he should be at No. 8 ahead of Abbott. Their stand took South Africa to the brink of the second new ball only for Steyn to try and send Moeen down the ground and instead find mid-off where Chris Woakes held the chance with a juggle. His spell ended on 12-3-24-3 and overall it was the first time Moeen had taken more than three wickets in an innings since facing India, at Old Trafford, in August 2014.Steven Finn cleaned up the last two wickets in his first over with the second new ball to leave Elgar undefeated with his fourth Test hundred having brought up three figures from 211 deliveries. In an innings marked by his defensive technique, he continued to prosper on the leg side where two thirds of his runs came.It was his second hundred in a Boxing Day Test, following the 121 he made against West Indies last year, and this was his first 50-plus score in ten innings. When the innings ended he became the first South Africa opener to carry his bat since Gary Kirsten against Pakistan in 1997. He may have to perform a repeat to save his team.

Sceptical players felt the buzz of Adelaide’s biggest Test crowd since the Bodyline series but will reserve judgment on the pink ball and the day-night format until the end of a match that has already shown what is possible for cricket’s future.The gathering of 47,441 swelled notably as day bled into night, with the provision of $20 “twilight” tickets a major plus for spectators arriving after work. Both Peter Siddle and Trent Boult noted the momentous feeling of the day, but equally maintained the view that this is not Test cricket as they have known it, largely due to the behaviour of the pink ball.There was a marked contest in good conditions for batting across the day. The ball barely moved in the air in the afternoon but bent around corners in the hands of Boult and Tim Southee in the final session under lights. Boult said the game had panned out more or less as expected, with the ball closer in characteristic to the white variety than the red. He also said that with New Zealand already planning their own pink-ball Test for next summer, he wanted to see more of this match before finalising his judgment.”We need to see a bit more of it, to be honest,” Boult said. “It was a great buzz out there, everyone could see that and it’s amazing to be playing Test cricket in front of 50,000-odd people. We’ve got to see how this one goes and pans out, but it definitely is exciting for Test match cricket.”I’ve had a couple of hit-outs with it during the day and at night, and the findings are it does tend to change a lot under lights and in the last session, it definitely swung around a little bit with the new ball and there was still a shade of it with it 22 overs old now. It is a different game under lights and we’ve got to come back tomorrow and hope to put a bit more pressure on them.”For Siddle, the fact he took his 200th Test wicket with a pink ball rather than a red ball seemed insignificant next to the fact he had done it in front of such a large and enthusiastic crowd. “That was the exciting thing for the boys, the atmosphere was amazing,” he said. “I think from early on until the end of play there, the crowd was upbeat, especially when we were on a roll and getting a few wickets [and] especially walking down after the 200 down to the crowd on the boundary and the cheer.”It was exciting for everyone. The Adelaide Test match has always been one of my favourites and to play it with a crowd like that definitely surprised a few boys, I think. We haven’t spoken too much about it yet, in time through this Test match there may be a bit more spoken about it, maybe tomorrow morning and all that. But it was a great day, wasn’t it? I think everyone here that came and witnessed what went on will be very impressed just with the whole experience.”It [the pink ball] was slightly different to the red ball, you didn’t get much swing early on but there was a bit of seam movement throughout the day, so a lot of comparisons with how it is with the white ball, but cricket in general, it was supported well here, and I’m sure it would have been on TV and all over the world. I think for cricket it’s definitely been a great day.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHe may have eased off on plans to wear a black armband to protest the ‘death of Associate cricket’, but John Mooney followed through with an impressive spell of seam bowling to launch Ireland’s 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier campaign in a seven-wicket win over Namibia at Stormont, Belfast. The allrounder’s man-of-the-match winning spell of 3-23 restricted Namibia to 124 for 8 before Ireland, riding on captain William Porterfield’s unbeaten half-century, knocked off the runs with 16 balls to spare.After Namibia’s Stephen Baard pulled a six and four off the opening over bowled by Tyrone Kane, Mooney replaced Kane for the third and peeled off an impressive four-over spell to quell Namibia’s top order. Baard fell slashing to Niall O’Brien at third man off Mooney’s third ball before Gerrie Snyman edged an attempted drive to Gary Wilson in the fifth over. Mooney capped off his burst with a brilliant yorker to remove Raymond van Schoor as Namibia slipped from 20 for 0 to 45 for 3.The spin tandem of George Dockrell and Paul Stirling kept the clamps on Namibia’s middle order from the 10th through the 16th overs. After Stirling started off with a maiden in the 10th, Dockrell struck in the first ball of the 11th when JP Kotze’s tame cut floated to Alex Cusack at backward point where he dived forward for the catch.Dockrell started the the 13th over with a wicket after Sarel Burger skipped down the track but failed to clear Kevin O’Brien at long off. Craig Williams then lofted Stirling to Andrew Balbirnie at sweeper cover in the 14th to make it 73 for 6.Namibia’s biggest partnership of the day – 32 for the seventh wicket between JJ Smit and Nicolas Scholtz – came to an end when Smit edged an attempted cut behind to Wilson off Cusack. Scholtz failed to fend off a short ball two balls later to give Wilson his third catch of the day.Ireland’s chase got off to a sloppy start with Stirling spooning his second ball to short extra cover off Jason Davidson where Baard claimed a low diving catch. Three balls later, Porterfield nearly ran himself out on nought when he set off from the non-striker’s end for a single behind point. He was sent back by Niall O’Brien but the throw to the bowler’s end bounced over the stumps.Porterfield and Niall O’Brien survived another pair of chances, on 5 and 18 respectively, before settling down to notch up a 71-run stand. Niall eventually holed out to long off against Burger on the first ball of the 11th for 45 before his brother Kevin was dismissed in identical fashion in the next over off Bernard Scholtz’s left-arm spin for 3.Porterfield and Balbirnie shared an unbroken stand of 48 runs to ensure Ireland had no further alarms. Porterfield hit his sixth four through extra cover to bring up his half-century off 43 balls, and level the scores. He ended the match the very next ball with another four .

Division One

The abject weather forecast for the south is all that can prevent Nottinghamshire thrashing Kent at Canterbury after they were left to make 22 in their second innings. A sixth-wicket stand of 138 between Azhar Mahmood and Martin van Jaarsveld (79) was all that spared Kent from an innings loss after they slipped to 85 for 5, and although Mahmood completed a battling 116 the damage had already been done by Nottinghamshire’s seamers.Only 11 overs were possible at The Rose Bowl, with Hampshire losing Michael Lumb during 40 minutes bitterly cold play against Sussex. Lumb added five to his overnight 77 before he was trapped in front by Robin Martin-Jenkins when trying to whip one through midwicket, ending a stand of 80 with Greg Lamb. The drizzle finally halted mid-afternoon but at 5pm play was abandoned for the day and Hampshire will resume on Saturday – weather permitting – on 319 for 7.For a full report from The Oval, where Surrey continued to boss proceedings against Lancashire before bad light came along, click here.

Division Two

The Warwickshire era under Ashley Giles isn’t starting too well as they had to watch centuries from Vikram Solanki (140) and Graeme Hick (101) ease Worcestershire to a lead of 481 at Edgbaston. Warwickshire then collapsed to 26 for 3 by the close with Gareth Batty taking two wickets in a four-over spell. Their day had started poorly was they were unable to shift the nightwatchman Kabir Ali who added 100 with Solanki, whose first hundred since June came off 162 balls. Hick, showing no signs of an elbow injury, then followed with a 135-ball ton to put the match out of Warwickshire’s reach. Worcestershire were still without Simon Jones but it is expected his sore neck will have eased enough for him to bowl on the final day.Northamptonshire are facing a huge defeat after being reduced to 42 for 4 in their second innings by Essex at Chelmsford, where bad light brought an early end. David Masters knocked the top off the order with a fine new-ball burst that brought three wickets while Ravi Bopara chipped out the other. Bopara had carried his innings on to 150 as Essex built a lead of 223, aided by some distinctly average fielding, with Jason Gallian eventually removed for 171. Mark Pettini, the captain, made a brisk 80 before calling an end to the innings and was able to watch his attack make rapid inroads.Gloucestershire are well placed to open their season with a victory despite a battling performance from Derbyshire at Bristol. They require another 145 to win after Jon Lewis, Marcus North and Anthony Ireland shared nine wickets to bowl out Derbyshire for 362, a considerable improvement on their first-innings 124. Derbyshire’s hopes of setting a tougher target were dealt an early blow when Rikki Clarke top edged a hook off Ireland to deep square leg for 27, but David Pipe made a fighting 62 with nine boundaries. Graham Wagg (25) and Tom Lungley (24) chipped in, but they needed another century to match Chris Rogers’ effort yesterday. Stephen Adshead took his tally of catches to nine, putting him second in Gloucestershire’s list behind Andy Wilson. Needing 172 to win, Gloucestershire were 27 for 1 when drizzle ended play early.Middlesex were left staring down the barrel as they slid to 112 for 5 in their second innings against Leicestershire at a bitterly cold and windy Grace Road, a lead of only 19. Andrew Strauss failed for the second time and it took a dogged, unbeaten 49 from Owais Shah to give the innings any rigidity, and with David Nash he ground out the last hour. HD Ackerman’s tenth hundred for Leicestershire had guided them to 405, a lead of 93, after Tom New had managed to add only five to his overnight 104. Steven Finn, with 4 for 80, was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers.

Rahkeem Cornwall’s career-best match figures of 12 for 205 along with Jahmar Hamilton’s 130* in the second innings took Leeward Islands to a 85-run victory over Jamaica in Antigua.Cornwall picked up 5 for 74 to help bundle Jamaica out for 158 in the first innings, after which he claimed 7 for 131 in Leewards’ final innings defence of 365 to bowl Jamaica out for 280. Hamilton built on Cornwall’s five-wicket haul in the first innings with a steady century that comprised of eight fours and three sixes. He was assisted by opener Montcin Hodge (72) and Orlando Peters (41) to help Leewards set Jamaica a target of 366.In the chase, Kirk Edwards top scored with 93 but it wasn’t enough to drive Jamaica home as none of the other batsmen managed to cross a score of 40.Both teams suffered batting collapses in the first innings. Hodge (41) and Daron Cruickshank (51) did majority of the scoring in Leewards’ 155 after they were inserted, while, in response, Jamaica were bundled out for 158 with No. 11 Sheldon Cottrell top scoring with 37.For Jamaica, Nikita Miller and Damion Jacobs starred with the ball, picking eight wickets each in the match.Barbados smashed Windward Islands by an innings and 56 runs in Bridgetown. The win was built around centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope, and a match haul of eight from pace Miguel Cummins.Windwards chose to bat and were in trouble straightaway as Cummins cut through their top order to reduce them to 46 for 4 – one of the four to fall was Keddy Lesporis, who was sent on his way after handling the ball. Fifties from Andre Fletcher and Kavem Hodge made sure they did not collapse altogether, and they managed to put 250 on the board before being all out, Miguel ending with five scalps.If they had any hope of that being enough to challenge Barbados, it was crushed by opener Brathwaite and No. 3 Hope, with scores of 117 and 162 respectively. Brisk cameos from the middle order followed, giving Barbados a cushion of 200 runs going into the second innings. Windwards could not force them to bat again, with Cummins again making the initial breakthrough before the spin of Sulieman Benn and Roston Chase took over. Windwards were duly bowled out for 144 in 53.3 overs.Guyana registered a big win in Providence, beating Trinidad & Tobago by 105 runs. Batsmen Vishaul Singh and Leon Johnson, and the spin pairing of Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo were the stars of the game for Guyana.Vishaul held Guyana together after they chose to bat, making an unbeaten 104 from No. 5 to get his team to 237. The two spinners then ensured that was enough, Permaul taking a five-for and Bishoo three to bowl T&T out for 179. Captain Johnson made sure that 58-run lead did not go to waste, stringing together 111 in Guyana’s second innings, before declaring to set T&T 303 for the win. They got nowhere close as Guyana’s spin twins delivered once more, Permaul grabbing four this time and Bishoo two.

South/West Division

Chris Benham blasted Hampshire to their first win of the season as they chased down a mammoth total with three balls to spare against Gloucestershire at the Rose Bowl. Alex Gidman’s career-best 105 helped guide the visitors to a towering 350 for 5 and Hampshire’s hopes of opening their account were looking slim. Marcus North belted 85 from 73 balls, while Hamish Marshall (64) and Christopher Taylor (53 off 23) contributed to the carnage. The tall target was reduced to 240 from 30 overs after rain affected Hampshire’s innings, and Michael Carberry got them away to a strong start with 60. A 98-run stand between Benham and Nic Pothas pushed them closer but when Pothas fell for 43 from 32 balls the victory was far from secured. Jon Lewis chose to bowl the final over himself, a decision he might regret as he finished with an unflattering 0 for 49 from 4.3 overs as Benham ended up unbeaten on 54 from 27 balls and Greg Lamb clubbed 8 from three deliveries.Glamorgan survived a late scare from Steffan Jones, who clattered 42 from 36 to nearly take Somerset to an unlikely win at Taunton, but the visitors crept home by 19 runs with more than three overs to spare. Glamorgan’s 221 was set up by a fine 95 from David Hemp, including 11 fours, but there was little else from his team-mates apart from Mike Powell’s 32. Somerset struggled in reply, with Marcus Trescothick (15), Craig Kieswetter (18) and, crucially, Justin Langer (7) all falling cheaply. Ian Blackwell muscled 42 from 36, but when Somerset slipped to 163 for 9, there appeared little hope for the home side. Jones, though, gave them genuine belief with a blistering 42 – lifting three sixes – before he was last man out to David Harrison.

North Division

A career-best 75 from Navdeep Poonia was not enough for Scotland who fell to Derbyshire by six wickets in a rain-affected match at Derby. Charl Langeveldt collected 4 for 28 and troubled Poonia’s team-mates, none of whom passed 16 as Scotland battled to 169. Chris Rogers, who recently lost his Cricket Australia contract as he was not considered a one-day player, guided Derbyshire’s chase with 57 from 73 balls while his opening partner Steve Stubbings laboured for 53 deliveries for his 24. And although both fell, Dominic Telo (15*) and James Pipe (4*) took Derbyshire home with 14 balls to spare.Click here for John Ward’s report from Old Trafford where Lancashire pulled off a stunning win over Durham.

Midlands Division

HD Ackerman’s 103 and a fine all-round performance Jim Allenby took Leicestershire through to a comfortable 39-run win over Ireland at Grace Road. Ravi Rampaul, Ireland’s recently-signed overseas player, couldn’t inspire his new team-mates – conceding 49 from his 10 overs – but he bowled Dillon du Preez late in the innings for 3. Ackerman dominated his opening stand of 103 with Tom New (31) before he and Allenby put on a further 87 for the second wicket. Chasing a sizeable 252 Ireland slipped to 68 for 5, with Garnett Kruger picking up two early wickets, but Andrew White (52) and Gary Wilson (58) staved off Leicestershire’s march to victory with a fine sixth-wicket stand of 109. However, once Allenby removed Wilson, the rest folded quickly and Allenby ended with 4 for 44.Nottinghamshire had the better of a rain-affected day at Trent Bridge, where Darren Pattinson helped them account for Northamptonshire in a Duckworth/Lewis result. Pattinson, the Victorian fast bowler, picked up 3 for 39 from ten overs in his first one-day match for Nottinghamshire as the visitors struggled to support Stephen Peters, who made 90. They wobbled to 64 for 5 before Peters finally found some support from Lance Klusener, who made 60 from a very un-Klusener-like 109 deliveries. Northamptonshire ground out their 50 overs to reach 189 for 7, but later rain meant the home side’s target was reduced to 143 from 30 overs. Nottinghamshire’s other Australian player, Adam Voges, completed the six-wicket win with 42 from 40 balls after Will Jefferson set the platform with 36.

South East Division

Click here for Brydon Coverdale’s report on Surrey’s win over Middlesex at Lord’s.Kent won a nailbiting match against Sussex at Hove, with Justin Kemp (68*) and Ryan McLaren (17) squeezing them home to a four-wicket win with one ball to spare. Sussex’s 246 was set-up by four thirties from Matt Prior, Chris Adams, Luke Wright and Carl Hopkinson, with Michael Yardy making 50 from 78 balls. Kent began solidly, with Joe Denly making 43 and Martin van Jaarsveld cracking 58 from 55, but Wright hit back with three quick wickets to check Kent’s run-chase. Geraint Jones and Azhar Mahmood both fell in the dying overs, but McLaren held his nerve and smacked 17 from 14 balls to help Kemp and Kent through to victory.

Match facts

Tuesday April 15 2008 Start time 14.30 (18.30 GMT)

Big picture

West Indies have secured the series after their back-to-back wins in Trinidad, one a last-ball thriller and the other a more comfortable success completed by the man-of-the-moment, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Marlon Samuels. It has been an uplifting couple of weeks for West Indies, following their series-levelling Test victory, and a whitewash of the one-dayers would set them up nicely for the ultimate challenge of facing Australia. For Sri Lanka it’s about salvaging pride from a tour that started so promisingly before fading away. They have clearly missed some of their experienced players, but no one ever said rebuilding a side would be easy.

Form guide – West Indies

Last five matches: LLLWWPlayer to watch: It hadn’t been a happy home season for Marlon Samuels until Saturday’s match-winning 54 off 49 balls. He seems to have been weighed down by the controversy over his bowling action, but showed a timely return to form in Trinidad. He has always been a batsman of immense talent and maybe forgetting about bowling completely is the way for him to go.

Form guide – Sri Lanka

Last five matches: LLWLLPlayer to watch Chamara Kapugedera rescued Sri Lanka in the first ODI with a career-best 95 but didn’t get a bat in the following game. Kaushalya Weeraratne was promoted to No. 4 as a pinch-hitter – and laboured to 15 off 20 balls – while Kapugedera kicked around the changing rooms. If Sri Lanka want to change their order he may as well be given a chance higher up to make the most of his form.

Team news

West Indies had a stronger bowling attack for the second match in Trinidad after drafting in Daren Powell who should keep his place. Darren Sammy could come under pressure if they decide to recall Sulieman Benn, the left-arm spinner, on what is usually a batsman-friendly surface.Sri Lanka could decide to give some of their other squad players an outing. In the other matches two bowlers have been off the pace so Thilan Thushara, who impressed in the Test series, would provide a striking option. Chaminda Vaas may have earned a rest at the end of the tour.West Indies (probable) Chris Gayle, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Fidel EdwardsSri Lanka (probable) Upul Tharanga, Mahela Udawatte, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara

Pitch and conditions

The St Lucia pitch is usually good for batting and 250 is the minimum a team needs to defend. With this being a day/night game the teams will have to adjust their tactics accordingly, although there is limited evidence as to the effect of the lights. The only other floodlit match finished with more than 22 overs to spare as a 10-wicket win for West Indies. There is a chance of showers during the game, so once again Duckworth-Lewis could play a role.

Stats and trivia

New Zealand may be no nearer to configuring their frontline attack for the Test series against South Africa after the three-day game against Boland ended in a draw on Thursday, but, as coach David Trist acknowledged, at least two of the backup bowlers did their causes no harm in Paarl.The match wandered along to its inevitable conclusion in the early evening as Boland, set to make 357 in the last session, pottered to 53 for two before the game was called off 30 minutes early.Summing up, though, Trist said: “There were encouraging signs from one or two of the bowlers. That’s something we can take out of this game.”In particular, all-rounder Scott Styris and legspinner Brooke Walker, who might not have been in the frame a few weeks ago, have both wandered into it.Styris scored an unbeaten 73 in the New Zealand first innings and backed it up with three wickets as Boland replied while Walker bowled tidily in the Boland first innings for two for 38 and took the last wicket of the game on Thursday evening.”Nobody’s a certainty,” said Trist, “but certainly he (Styris) advanced his claims. He offers a batting/bowling option that’s worth looking at. I don’t think he’s there yet as a batter or a bowler at Test level, but it’s demanding times. He had a very good game and threw down the gauntlet and the challenge and may well sneak in. But he would have to back up the performances here to show that he really is deserving of a place.”Trist allowed that strengthening the New Zealand batting down the order “is a key to our success or survival” in the Test series.The coach had encouraging words, too, for Walker, who now seems to be New Zealand’s only spin option with Paul Wiseman’s sprained ankle likely to keep him out of the first Test.””I thought Walker had a good game,” said Trist. “He bowled well, got nice drift and basically used conditions that did not suit him quite well. But this was a warmup game. It’s not South Africa.”Of the three seamers given a run in Paarl, Chris Martin emerged as the man most likely to share the Test new ball with Shayne O’Connor, with three wickets in the Boland first innings and another on Thursday evening. But New Zealand will look again at their pace options in the three-day game against North West in Potchefstroom that starts on Saturday.As an exercise, Trist seemed happy with the Boland game, despite the tedium of the final day, played out in sweltering heat. He feels that Potchefstroom will provide conditions similar to Bloemfontein, where the first Test starts on November 17, and says the last warmup match will be “critical” to New Zealand’s preparations.And even though in one sense New Zealand’s cruel run of injuries may have made selection for the Test match more straightforward, Trist said that the business of choosing the side would still be “harrowing”.”It may be a bit simpler,” he said. “But it doesn’t take the stress out of the whole thing, does it?”