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Mumbai 15 for 0 trail Delhi 199 (Gambhir 96, Bahutule 5-45, Kulkarni 4-62) by 184 runs
With the return of Ashish Nehra and Akash Chopra, Delhi began their match against Mumbai in an upbeat mood. But they frittered away the advantage of batting first by crumbling to a modest 199 all out. Gautam Gambhir’s sparkling 96 off just 115 balls was the lone star on a day when Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni snared nine wickets between them. Gambhir’s knock included 11 fours and one six, but Ajay Jadeja and Akash Chopra were disappointments. Mumbai’s other hero of the day was Vinayak Samant, the wicketkeeper, who collected five dismissals on a turning track. On a wearing pitch the spinners may dictate terms for the rest of the match and Sarandeep Singh will be called upon to restrict the much vaunted Mumbai batting lineup.
Scorecard Uttar Pradesh 233 for 3 (Prakash 134*, Yadav 72) v Punjab
The Uttar Pradesh openers sent Punjab on a leather hunt with R.Prakash stroking an unbeaten century and Jyoti Yadav, the captain, supporting him with a fine 72. Prakash smashed 13 fours and one six and the 197 runs opening stand ensured a solid base which UP could build on. The Punjab bowlers were given some rough treatment and if not for the spinners’ economical spells, UP would have rattled up a bigger total. Three wickets fell towards the close of play and the Punjab spinners ensured that the game did not run away.
ScorecardTamil Nadu 115 for 5 lead Rajasthan 97 (Ramkumar 4-41) by 18 runs
For Somasetty Suresh – captain of Tamil Nadu – it was a day of extremes. He won the toss and gave his bowlers first use of a hard pitch that had a smattering of green and was later out for a first-ball duck. But his bowlers put Tamil Nadu in a commanding position when Rajasthan were skittled out for a meagre 97. L. Balaji had a splendid day (3 for 26) and Ramkumar (4 for 41) continued where he had left off against Karnataka – 10 for 104 in the match. The runs were completely dried up by some accurate bowling and Rajasthan may have to play catch-up cricket from now on. The Tamil Nadu batsmen also found the going tough with only S.Badrinath leading the way with a gritty 43. On a bowler-friendly pitch where a fifty will be priceless, Tamil Nadu finished the first day with the loss of only five wickets.
Scorecard Railways 243 for 8 (Ananthapadmanabhan 4-34) v Kerala
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the top three Railways batsmen failed to capitalise on good starts. All three gave it away in the forties and Ananthapadmanabhan’s wiles were too hot for the middle order to handle. Sanjay Bangar spent nearly four hours in the middle for his 45 while Tejindar Pal Singh lightened up the proceedings with a quickfire 40. Shreyas Khandolkar remained unbeaten with a patient 42 and Railways will hope the tail wags as long as it can tomorrow. After the flogging they received against the Punjab batsmen, the Kerala bowlers had a very good day and will hope their batsmen take the advantage.
ScorecardKarnataka 126 for 0 (Rowland 57*, Arunkumar 50*) v Bengal
Heavy overnight rain delayed the start of play and only 46 overs were bowled on the first day of the second round match at Mandya. Both the Karnataka openers, J. Arunkumar and Barrington Rowland, notched up half-centuries and set the platform for a big first-innings total. Bengal, who had lost their previous match against Rajasthan, found the going very tough and none of the six bowlers that were used tasted any success. Karnataka too suffered a loss in their first match, but the bright start augurs well for a fruitful campaign.
ScorecardGujarat 32 for 2 trail Assam 180 (Saravanan 58, Majumdar 5-47) by 148 runs
Bowling his right-arm medium-pace with great control, Hitesh Majumdar ripped through Assam’s middle and lower order to help bowl them out for just 180 in 65.5 overs on the first day at Guwahati. Assam’s batsmen just could not get a partnership going, and the only two batsmen to cross 50 – Subhrajit Saikia with 56 and Vasant Saravanan with 58 – stayed together for just 39 runs. After Saikia’s dismissal – the fourth wicket with the score on 103 – batsmen proceeded regularly to and from the pavilion. Their bowlers, however, succeeded to some extent to getting their side back into the game. As many as six of them turned their arm over before stumps, and Gautam Dutta snapped up two of them. What Assam really needed on the day, however, was the type of batting resilience that Gujarat’s Akash Christian, who made an unbeaten 15 off 83 balls, displayed.
ScorecardAndhra 13 for 1 trail Baroda 216 (Gaekwad 68, Verma 3-38) by 203 runs
The Baroda batsmen enacted a script similar to the first day against Mumbai last week. They were dismissed for 216 with only S.Gaekwad sticking around for a patient 68. Nayan Mongia too contributed but gave it away once he had made 31. Andhra were rewarded for some disciplined bowling with Kalyan Krishna and Vikram Verma picking up three wickets each. Baroda can ill afford losing two matches on the trot, but their batsmen surendered the initiative on the very first day.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Wisden Cricinfo.

The Christchurch Junior Cricket Association draw for Saturday, November 22 is:(All matches to start at 9am)Senior Traditional Two-day2-day Match:Section 1:Bwu1 v Nb1 Raw2,Hals1 v Oc1 Elm4,Stac1 v Es1 Stac3,Es2 v Med1 Med1.Section 2:Hare1 v Hh1 Red1,Es3 v Oc2 Ilam4,Stac2 v Cagr1 Cagr1,Syd1 v Hals2 Halsd1.Senior Traditional One-daySection 1:Bwu2 v Es5 Cla1,Pk4 v Sum1 Bar1,Med2 v Hsob1 Hgsc,Syd5 v Oc3 Cash1,Oc4 v Bwu3 Burn7,Horn1 v Es4 Cla2.Section 2:Bwu4 v Syd6 Burn5,Syd7 v Stac3 Stac4a,Med3 v Nb2 Ilam2,Hals3 v Horn2 Halsd2,Stc1 v Cagr2 Cagr2,Sum2 v Lpw2 Bar2,Syd2 v Sum3 Syd4.Section 3:Bwu5 v Oc8 Burn10,Lpw4 v Oc5 Ens2,Upr1 v Mp1 Emc1,Bwu7 v Med4 Burn9,Oc6 v Bwu6 Ilam1,Syd8 v Med6 Syd2,Es6 v Med5 Stal1,Stc2 v Oc7 Ilam6.Junior Traditional One-daySection 1:Oc15 v Pk5 Fns1a,Oc10 v Es10 Stal2,Syd14 v Med7 Cash2a,Hals4 v Es11 Halsd3,Oc11 v Oc12 Elm3.Section 2:Bwu9 v Syd15 Ilam3,Syd17 v Sum4 Lind1,Nb3 v Hare2 Stal3,Lpw5 v Horn3 Han1a,Oc13 v Hals5 Halsd4,Es12 v Cagr3 Cagr3.Section 3:Heath1 v Oc16 Hd1,Oc14 v Upr2 Rd1,Upr3 v Lpw6 Ens3,Syd18 v Hals6 Beck2,Stac4 v Pk6 Stac5,Bwu8 v Nb4 Burn8.Junior ModifiedZone 1:Bwu11 v Hals8 West1a,Hsob3 v Bwu10 Kirk1a,Oc21 v Sum5 Polo3a,Oc24 v Oc22 Polo1a,Oc20 v Med8 Polo4a,Hals7 v Oc23 Halss1a.Zone 2:Es14 v Syd20 Sis1a,Es16 v Mp2 Polo2a,Mp3 v Es15 Bow1a,Syd21 v Syd22 Thor1a.Junior AverageZone 1:Sum7 v Heath2 Brgn1,Lpw9 v Lpw8 Brgn2,Hals9 v Sum6 Brgn3,Hals11 v Syd34 Brgn4,Syd30 v Syd32 Brgn5,Syd33 v Hals12 Brgn6,Syd35 v Hals10 Brgn7,Hh2 v Syd31 Brgn8.Zone2:Nb5 v Cagr4 Walt5,Stac6 v Nb6 Walt7,Cagr5 v Stac5 Walt8,Es23 v Oc34 BurwN1,Es25 v Syd36 Brgn9,Syd37 v Es24 Brgn10,Oc35 v Pk7 BurwN2,Oc36 v Hare3 Walt9.Zone 3:Med10 v Horn4 Jel2,Ricc1 v Med9 Jel3,Mp5 v Oc37 Jel4,Oc31 v Oc32 Jel5,Oc33 v Oc30 Jel6,Hare4 v Mp4 Jel7,Hsob4 Bye.KiwiZone 1:Lpw10 v Heath3 Brad1,Syd41 v Hals14 Brad2,Syd43 v Sum9 Brad3,Hals13 v Syd42 Brad4,Syd40 v Hh3 Brad5,Sum8 v Syd44 Brad6.Zone 2:Cagr7 v Nb7 Walt1,Nb8 v Cagr6 Walt2,Med11 v Stac7 Walt3.Zone3:Pk9 v Horn6 Walt11,Oc40 v Pk8 Walt4,Ricc2 v Oc45 Jel1,Oc41 v Mp6 Elm7,Oc42 v Mp7 Elm8,Oc46 v Oc43 Elm5,Oc44 v Upr4 Elm6,Horn5 v Tait1 Jel8.

Wasim Bari, the chairman of Pakistan’s selection committee, has launched a scathing attack on the 63-year-old David Shepherd, according to the BBC. The fierce criticism followed Pakistan’s narrow defeat in the Videocon Cup final, with Bari claiming that the umpire’s mistakes had cost Pakistan the game and suggested that age had caught up with him.”Shepherd’s umpiring decisions were like target killing and cost Pakistan the final. It’s time for the inaccurate Shepherd to retire,” Bari was reported by AFP as saying. “His decisions were not only doubtful but disgraceful. The Pakistan team management must mention with protest in their match reports.”The decisions that rankled Bari were given against Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. While Inzamam scored only seven runs, Youhana was adjudged caught-behind on 43, with Pakistan 32 runs away from victory.Incidentally, a few days ago, most international captains agreed with the ICC’s plan to implement more technology to ease umpires’ burden. Inzamam was one of them, and he was quoted, “Yes, I’m very much in favour, because the game of cricket has become very professional, small errors have been affecting results. So much cricket is being played and umpires have been under tremendous pressure due to the heavy workload on them.”But Shepherd didn’t just come under fire from the Pakistan Cricket Board. Omer Kureishi, a cricket columnist, was scathing about the umpire’s performance: “Shepherd has crossed his retiring age and I have always advocated that all umpires standing at international level must go through medical tests. He is an old man and his judgment in the final was very poor.”

Roland Holder has decided to resign from the post of secretary of the West Indies Players’ Association. Holder, the former West Indian batsman, felt that the association had become too confrontational, and quit the post that he had held since 1996.”WIPA has gone in a direction I’m not totally comfortable with,” said Holder, 36, in a conversation with . “I’ve become less and less involved and times change, people change and views change. We [WIPA] have become very confrontational. When I started, the view was that we should work with the West Indies Cricket Board and other stakeholders. These confrontations have led to some challenges and I prefer not to be involved.”Though he didn’t spell it out, Holder was clearly referring to the recent disagreements between the players’ association and the West Indian board, the latest of which was the row that was triggered when Digicel were signed up as the sponsor of the national team. Several players protested, through the players’ association, about their image rights being compromised as they had existing agreements with rival companies.Holder, who played 11 Tests between 1996 and 1999, was appointed as the manager of the Barbados team earlier this week. He will take over from Tony Howard for the upcoming Carib Beer Series, which begins on January 7, as Barbados look to defend their title.

Division Two

Points TableA fifty by Jonathan Beukes was the only crumb of comfort Scotland could take from their match against Sussex, who totally outplayed them at Hove. Put in to bat by Sussex, Scotland got off to a poor start losing Fraser Watts for a duck with just two on the board. His wicket was one of five for the Pakistani Naved-ul-Hasan, who has enjoyed an excellent season with Sussex. Beukes arrived at the crease with the score on 32 for 3, and wickets continued to tumbled all around him; in fact, six of Scotland’s wickets were bowled. Sussex lost three wickets in pursuit of 133, losing two to medium-pacer Sean Weeraratna, but reached their target with more than 21 overs left to spare. Matt Prior top-scored with 69 from 50 balls, including 13 fours and a six, to see Sussex home by seven wickets.Kent brushed aside Yorkshire with a convincing performance at Canterbury. Yorkshire’s innings never got going, and they were thankful for an innings of 34 from Simon Guy. The South African, Andrew Hall, was particularly economical, picking up two wickets and conceding just 19 runs in 7 completed overs. Kent’s target of 165 was never likely to trouble their batsmen, and they eased home by six wickets thanks to a fifty from Darren Stevens, and a pair of forties from Andrew Hall and Justin Kemp.

Surrey’s season is in freefall on the field, and now they will have to review their security arrangements after vandals broke into The Oval on Thursday night and dug up a section of the outfield. Their actions, compounded by heavy overnight rain and a broken super-sopper, meant that little play was possible on the second day of the Championship match against Middlesex.The vandals, who are believed to have climbed the perimeter wall to gain access, used a spade to dig a hole about ten feet long by one foot wide just behind the popping creases at the Vauxhall End of the ground. Bill Gordon, the groundsman, discovered the damage early on Friday and used turf from outside the boundary to effect repairs.The Oval stages several one-day internationals this summer on top of the Test against West Indies, and as a result of the incident, security is being stepped up. Until now, the only guards have been by the main entrance at the Hobbs Gate, but dogs will now be brought in to protect the playing area.

Allan Donald, the former South African fast bowler, is part of the star-packed Jacques Kallis Invitational XI who will take on the South African side in two benefit games to be held in Cape Town and Centurion this month. These games are part of the Jacques Kallis Benefit Year and, apart from superstar Brian Lara, gracing the occasion will be famous names like Mohammad Sami and Gary Kirsten.Donald, 38, retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup and from all cricket a year later following the rapid ebbing of his formerly formidable physical powers. Two of his former team-mates – Lance Klusener and Jonty Rhodes – will also be part of the team. The team is to be coached by Duncan Fletcher, the former Zimbabwe batsman who is currently coaching England.The matches are scheduled to be held on September 16 at Sahara Park Newlands and September 18 at Super Sport Park in Centurion.Jacques Kallis Invitational XI
1 Brian Lara, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Mohammed Sami, 4 Salman Butt, 5 Jonty Rhodes, 6 Gary Kirsten, 7 AB de Villiers, 8 Mfuneko Ngam, 9 Lance Klusener, 10 Alan Dawson, 11 Neil Johnson, 12 Allan Donald.

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