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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Torrential rain limited the first day of India’s warm-up match against Victoria to one session, in which Sourav Ganguly survived some early wobbles to score a half-century and Rahul Dravid settled into the opening role. The rest of India’s top order struggled against Victoria’s fringe fast bowler Allan Wise before the Junction Oval was flooded by a sudden downpour that started as the players left the ground for tea.The rain was so heavy that the ground began to resemble a rice paddy, then as the showers became heavier it was more like a small lake. The groundstaff will face a major battle to have the field ready for play on Friday and, with further thunderstorms predicted for the next two days, India will have limited preparation in their only practice match ahead of the Boxing Day Test.At the close the Indians were 3 for 110 with Dravid grafting a typically determined 33 and Ganguly on 51. The pair added an unbeaten 72 for the fourth wicket in the two-and-a-half hour post-lunch period after the first session had also been lost to rain.Wise, Victoria’s tall left-arm fast bowler, did the damage with all three wickets, continuing his strong record against visiting international teams. Wise collected 5 for 25 in a one-day warm-up game against Sri Lanka in 2005-06, but has been overlooked for all but two of Victoria’s Pura Cup matches this season.He frustrated the vocal contingent of Melbourne-based Indian fans that dominated the crowd by removing Sachin Tendulkar, who hinted at a special innings but delivered only a cameo. A couple of well-timed drives against Peter Siddle failed to reach the boundary due to the slow outfield before Tendulkar gently leaned on a cover drive that went for four off Wise.The highlight was when the 200-centimetre Wise banged in a shortish ball that might have tickled the ribcage of a lesser batsman, but Tendulkar quickly positioned himself to lift it high over midwicket for six. Wise’s revenge came as Tendulkar tried to cut and inside-edged the ball – it should have been called a no-ball for over-stepping – onto his stumps for 19.That was the major reward for Wise in an effective opening spell that netted 3 for 20. In Wise’s first over, Wasim Jaffer miscued an attempted pull and was caught at mid-off for 0 by Victoria’s debutant Aaron Finch. Wise extracted some good seam movement and in his next over had VVS Laxman caught behind down the leg side for 1.India were 3 for 38 and it could have been 4 for 39 when Ganguly got a thick edge off Siddle that flew marginally wide of the gully fielder. Ganguly was tentative early but gradually adjusted to the conditions and struck consecutive fours off Bryce McGain’s legspin, the first lifted over midwicket and the second cut hard forward of square.Ganguly reached his half-century from 86 balls just before tea. Dravid was watchful early as his partners struggled, cutting and cover driving his only two boundaries off Siddle, who bowled a mixed spell.India’s innings did not begin swimmingly but their players nearly ended up swimming, as the rain bucketed down on the Junction Oval with Melbourne enduring a heavy thunderstorm in the morning. The start was delayed by two-and-a-half hours and when Mahendra Singh Dhoni went out for the late toss it became apparent India had sprung a surprise.For all the talk of Australia perhaps using a four-man pace attack in the first Test, it was India who decided to leave out their spinners for the warm-up game. Anil Kumble was rested and Dhoni duly won the toss and chose to bat when the umpires eventually determined play could get under way. The second day is scheduled to begin half an hour early, if the weather turns favourable.

After the Table-Mountain high of the opening day, it was a case of themorning after for most of the Indians. A promising position was squanderedwith the bat, and an erratic bowling performance then allowed Graeme Smithand Hashim Amla to build up some real momentum in the closing stages ofplay.Dinesh Karthik played his part behind the stumps, and will certainly havea bigger role to play once Anil Kumble settles in on a pitch that alreadyhas significant rough patches. For the moment though, he can reflect onhis opening-day display, a doughty four-hour innings that spanned 170balls and realised 63 runs. A poor decision ended it, but by then, Karthikand Wasim Jaffer had already added 153 for the first wicket, the bestopening stand by any team against South Africa in more than two years.”It was very challenging opening the innings and playing great bowlerslike Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini,” said Karthik, speaking after thesecond day’s play at Newlands. “To get off to a good start boosted myconfidence and my self-esteem.”Though the pitch bore more resemblance to the ones that he left behindback home, opening was still a stiff test of Karthik’s technique,especially when it came to choosing which balls to play. “As an opener,it’s important that you trust your technique because if you feel there’s aproblem, you might not be able to handle good balls,” he said. “You’ve gotto trust your technique if you want to bat out a session. It’s not an easything to do but hopefully, I’ll keep getting better.”

When the series began, the prospect of opening in Cape Town would havebeen far from his mind, given that there were three specialist openers inthe squad. But with Virender Sehwag’s poor form forcing him down theorder, and Gautam Gambhir short of match practice, it was left to Karthikto face the new-ball flak with Jaffer. “The night before the game, RahulDravid told me to be prepared, saying: ‘You might be asked to open’. So,when he told me the next morning that I’d be opening, I was prepared.”According to Karthik, there had been no doubts in his mind when he wasasked to do the job, nor was there a feeling that he was being made asacrificial lamb. “It’s important to be a team man,” he said. “At the endof the day, you have to do what the team wants you to do. That’s how wehave been brought up; not to play selfish cricket.”For a man playing his first Test in over 15 months, he certainly camethrough the ordeal with reputation enhanced. The hard work starts now. Thefirst step can often be fuelled by adrenaline, but an encore needs farmore strength of character.

ScorecardT

he yo-yo effect at the top of the Standard Bank table continued as the Eagles soared back into the lead after a four-wicket win over the Dolphins at Durban.Having won the toss and batted first the Dolphins made heavy weather ofa difficult pitch, getting only 182 in their allotted 45 overs. At 88 for 5 in the 26th over things did notlook too bright for them but Ahmed Amla, scoring 71 not out, andDuncan Brown, scoring an unbeaten 41, put together a 94-run unbroken sixth-wicket partnership, of which 40 runs came off the final five overs, allowing the Dolphins to reach a reasonable score. As it turned out, it proved to be 15 to 20 runs short in the end.The Eagles also struggled at the top of their innings, losing fivewickets in the first 20 overs with only 62 on the board. Ryan McLarenand Ryan Bailey, both scoring 40, then put on 86 runs for the sixthwicket as the Eagles clawed their way back into the match, allowingJohan van der Wath the freedom to hit 23 runs off 24 balls to take theEagles to victory with five balls to spare.The Dolphins gave away 27 extras, 14 of which were no-ballsand wides, and will have to bowl with far more discipline if they are to be a contender for the trophy.

The Indian team has landed in Dhaka under moderately heightened security following the death threat from an Islamic militant group. They arrived without fanfare or scares, but to a throng of curious locals who were waiting in the hundreds outside the Zia International Airport. They emerged first from the aircraft and were taken to a VIP room, where the necessary paperwork and formalities were completed. They then boarded a bus through a private exit, and, with police escort, were driven to their hotel.While the security arrangements were slightly more elaborate than those in India, it was not quite to the dramatic scale of India’s recent tour to Pakistan. There, the streets were cleared each time the team ventured from their hotel. In Pakistan the motorcade was an imposing one, with motorcycle outriders, police jeeps and army rangers with mounted submachine guns flanking the team bus. Here, a couple of simple escort vehicles sufficed, and at no point was the normal flow of traffic interrupted by the local police.Sourav Ganguly spent a quick few minutes on arrival, answering questions. “We have just landed and we have no idea about the security situation. We are here to play the game,” he said, when asked what he thought of the security situation.Ganguly also dismissed suggestions that this series would be merely preparation for India’s home series against Pakistan in the beginning of next year. “We have to play to our potential and take it series by series. [Pakistan’s visit] is still a long way off. We have a lot of time to think about it.” This is India’s first full series in Bangladesh, and he added that his team would have no trouble motivating itself even against a relatively weak team like Bangladesh. “Test cricket itself is a motivation for everybody.”

While India seem to have only the security situation to worry about,Bangladesh under no illusions that the Indians have arrived with plenty to achieve. Anil Kumble, equal with Kapil Dev at 434 Test wickets, is certain to make the record his own. Sachin Tendulkar is one century away from drawing level with Sunil Gavaskar, on 34 Test tons. But, as Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, said recently, Bangladesh have a few kinks to iron out. “[Our] batting is the main worry. The top order have not put up scores when they should have,” he said. “Also, Harbhajan [Singh] and [Anil] Kumble take plenty of wickets in every Test.”This left Bangladesh with a tricky dilemma when it came to the type of pitch they wanted. Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam, the two left-arm spinners, have been the most penetrative of Bangladesh’s bowlers. But, with Kumble and Harbhajan in such fine form in the recent past, the Bangladeshis were wary of preparing a track that would turn. To complicate matters further, their batting has struggled so much against swing and seam movement that it would be disastrous to prepare a strip that assisted the seamers. Hence, as local sources suggest, it seems inevitable that the pitch will be a flat, batting beauty.With the Indian team safely tucked away at its hotel, the Bangabandhu stadium wore a desolate look. Groundstaff pottered about attending to the pitch and outfield, and other officials sorted out advertising hoardings, facilities for players and the media, and similar last-minute details. There was no evidence of the massive security presence recently reported in sections of the media.The first Test is scheduled to start at Dhaka on Friday, a day behind the original date.

Former Hampshire wicketkeeper Adrian Aymes cracked 128 – but finished on the losing Hursley Park side as Sparsholt chased 276 to win by eight wickets at The Quarters.Aymes, who captains Hursley, shared a century opening partnership with Raman Prendergast (58) and another sizeable stand with Paul Edwards (33) as his side powered to 276-5.But it wasn’t enough !Tim Richings led the Sparsholt response in style, enjoying century stands with Ollie Kelly (28) and Jerry Frith as the visitors sped towards a second consecutive victory.Frith, who earlier took 3-56, hit 80 not out and Nick Boxall an unbeaten 42 as Sparsholt reached 277-2 with eight balls to spare.Easton & Martyr Worthy have moved into a challeging third place after beating Lymington by 56 runs. It all went horribly wrong for the Larks, who put Easton into bat at the Sports Ground – and chased a massive 278-9 around the field !With Glyn Treagus missing, Dan Peacock had to play despite breaking a little finger the previous weekend. But his inability to bowl left Lymington woefully short of options – and Easton cashed in.After two early setbacks, Shaun Green (56), Francis Gill (54), Kevin Neave (56) and Steve Green (30) ran amok for Easton, who closed at 278-9.Ian Young (46) held the Lymington top order together after Mark Stone (4-31) had claimed four scalps.Lymington dipped to 108-5 before Matt Malloy (49), Peacock (42) and Christian Pain (33) took their reply to 222 all out.Leaders Old Tauntonians & Romsey, who visit St Cross Symondians next Saturday, had it all too easy at United Services and won by five wickets.US dipped from a promising 67-0 (Sam Lavery 44) to 166-9 (Raj Naik 3-44) – a total OTR polished off in 36.5 overs, with Charles Forward hammering 84.Purbrook, last season’s Division 3 champions, look set for a prompt return to their former abode after crashing to a fourth successive defeat.They were skittled for 111 (Cleeve 60) by Gosport Borough, who posed 216-8, with Andrew Watkins (52) and Mike Rees (41) prominent at the top of the order.Borough have suspended opening batsman Lee Wateridge for two matches following an incident in the previous week’s defeat by Hursley Park.

Teenager Andover off-spinner Matt Hooper has bowled Hampshire into the semi-finals of the ECB Under-17 County Championship.He took 5-59 as Hampshire completed an emphatic 150-run victory over Wales to set up a two-day semi-final tie against Middlesex at the Shenley Cricket Centre in Hertfordshire, starting on Thursday.Middlesex ran out 162-run winners after scoring 296 in their quarter-final against Kent, who were dismissed for 134.Hampshire put themselves in a virtually unassailable position against Wales by posting a massive 392-8 by the end of the first day.They progressed to 82-2 (Paul Cass 28) before Kevin Latouf (90) and Chris Wright (79) established near total supremacy with a third-wicket stand of 164.Wales sent down 50 wides – they conceded 79 extras in all – helping Michael Barnes (44) and Mark Mitchell (32 not out) take Hampshire on to 392-8 off 100 overs.Wales progressed to 151-3 (Richard Grant 46) before Hooper got to work – the off-spinner’s five-wicket spell sending the Welshmen tumbling to 242 all out.Andover team-mate James Manning bowled himself into the squad for Thursday’s semi-final with a telling new-ball spell which set Hampshire Under-16s up for a pleasing 75-run first innings victory over neighbours Sussex at East Grinstead.Manning (3-15) had Sussex rocking at 23-4, and subsequently 79-6, after Hampshire had posted a useful 239 all out.Kevin Latouf (54), who later took 2-14, Nick Priddle (38), Graham Noble (31) and Peter Hammond (26) top scored for Hampshire, who eventually pegged Sussex to 164-8.Hampshire made 71-4 in their second innings, with Noble (24) and Manning (21) making a mark.It was Hampshire’s first win in the Six Counties Under-16 Championship.

One-day cricket in India appears to have been given a makeover according to MS Dhoni. A total less than 300 could still be match-winning, and the back end of an innings might actually end up as one of the lowest phases of run-scoring.Dhoni’s reasons: the ball goes soft, so it does not come onto the bat, and therefore stroke-play becomes hard. Also, dry pitches and outfields ensure the ball gets scuffed up and offers reverse swing. And finally, the option of having an additional fielder on the boundary – five instead of the earlier four – means big shots will not necessarily fetch big runs.”Now as we are seeing in the 40th to 50th [overs], it’s not easy just to go in and slam the big shots and get 80-90 runs. You’ll see most of the sides saying, ‘Last 10, if you are chasing, you shouldn’t have more than 65 runs or 70 runs’. That also you have to have a good day,” Dhoni explained.For context, in the last 10 overs in Chennai, India made 69 and lost five wickets. South Africa hit 64 and lost three. A similar break-up happened in Rajkot as well: India 67 for 4, and South Africa 60 for 3. Only once has a team scored over 100 runs in this period, with AB de Villiers at the helm in Kanpur.”But it may change, depending on the wicket, the amount of reverse swing that the bowlers are getting [here] if it’s not there then maybe they will score a bit more. Or if the bowlers don’t execute well. But on a good day, when they are bowling well, it will be very difficult to get something like 80 or 90 in 10 overs. That used to be the case with the previous rules.”Dhoni believes slow pitches will allow bowlers a lot more margin for error in the slog overs. He feels more teams will stop drilling their bowlers to deliver inch-specific yorkers and will follow a “new strategy” of bowling length and back-of-a-length deliveries to curb the batsmen. Having extra protection in the deep has also helped in that regard.”And more than the short deliveries, it’s the length deliveries that’s more difficult to hit because with the reverse swing, the bowlers they can actually cramp you. Even the ones that are short, they are short enough but they don’t get to the same height [as the batsman is expecting] which means you have to take that risk of playing the big shot. So it’s like the new strategy that has been put by a lot of sides.”On a slower wicket, it’s not easy to play the big shots and these are the bigger outfields. And that scuffed up ball, it doesn’t come off the wicket so when you dig in short you have to play the big shot and it’s not easy to always clear the boundary. So with the new rule changes, with that extra fielder outside, the batters who come after especially the 40th over, straight away if they are supposed to go in and play the big shot they’ll find it difficult.”Bowl just back of a length, slip in the odd yorkers, but as of now on these conditions and these wickets, it’s something that’s really working. But it’s important to be ready with a plan B because it will work but you don’t know how long it will work because batsmen will also look to try and get new ways of scoring runs and you may not get the same kind of reverse swing in every game. The ball won’t get scuffed up in every game so all of a sudden, when you play on a wicket with a bit more pace, you can use the pace of the fast bowler. In smaller outfields, maybe the fast bowler will find it slightly difficult to have the same strategy.”

Mahela Jayawardene said Muttiah Muralitharan was enjoying the challenge of bowling against Australia but the team haven’t helped him get to the Shane Warne’s world record.”Murali has been trying a lot, but we haven’t helped him out. Credit should go to the way Australia batted,” Jayawardene said. “Without taking too many risks they put a lot of pressure on him. Murali is a freakish guy and he could pick up five-six wickets in the second innings. I think he’s enjoyed the challenge.” Muralitharan ended up taking just a solitary wicket for 140 runs in this Test and is still six short of the record.Jaywardene felt the key to fight Australia on equal terms would be to not lose too many wickets when the second Test resumes on day three tomorrow at Hobart. Sri Lanka ended the second day at 30 for 0 in reply to Australia’s 542 for 5 declared and face another long hard struggle to avoid losing the series 2-0.”It’s a pretty good score from Australia .It’s a flat wicket and we need to make sure that we bat through tomorrow,” Jayawardene said. “It was a bit dark and doing a bit and swinging and Australia would have thought of picking up a few quick wickets. I thought Marvan and Vandi (Vandort) did a pretty good job for us. It’s up to us to take the advantage.”Jayawardene was one bowler short when he lost Farveez Maharoof, who did not take the field on the second day, through injury. “Maharoof started complaining yesterday and it got strapped up and I thought he bowled pretty well,” he said. “He’s a guy who’ll hit the seam and keep it up. It was pretty difficult for us. He’s suffering from a crush fracture in his ankle. It looks like he’ll be out of the England series. Since he’s a fast bowler he needs to put in a lot of effort in his delivery stride. The guy has been working very hard at his game over the last six months. He has improved quite a lot.”Jayawardene said that Maharoof should be able to bat without putting in lot of effort. “We’ll see how it goes depending on the situation we are in.”

The issue of a bowling coach for the Indian team, a cause championed by Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, will be discussed by the Indian board at its working committee meeting on December 23, after consulting the coach and the captain. This means if a coach is to be appointed, it will not happen during the current series in South Africa.Vengsarkar has been pushing the case and recently took it upon himself to speak about it with Sharad Pawar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). While it is not unusual for a selector to make suggestions of this kind, it is uncommon that they be made public at a press conference, as Vengsarkar did.”The bowling attack is a bit inexperienced and may require guidance,” Vengsarkar told Cricinfo, when asked about the rationale behind his thinking. When asked if this was perhaps too close to the World Cup to bring in a bowling coach, his response was: “So? All the more reason why it is important, isn’t it?”However, it will be hard for him to push his case elsewhere. Neither coach Greg Chappell nor captain Rahul Dravid have come out in favour of a full-time bowling coach for the team; the duties are currently performed by Chappell’s deputy Ian Frazer.The BCCI, too, is unlikely to jump at Vengsarkar’s suggestion and make an appointment immediately, it was learned. “It is a suggestion that has come forward from the chairman of selectors, but it is not something we can take a decision on unilaterally,” a top BCCI official told Cricinfo. “We will have to consult the coach and the captain and see what their views are on the subject. Then we will discuss the matter at the working committee meeting.”Vengsarkar has a supporter, though, in Kiran More, his predecessor as chairman of selectors. “It’s a good idea to have a bowling coach,” he told Cricinfo. “The board should have had appointed one earlier though, maybe a year ago. Now it may be too close to the World Cup to appoint someone new.”When asked if it was the role of the chairman of selectors to put forth suggestions of this kind, More said, “Suggestions are always given from former cricketers, whether they are selectors or not. It’s then up to the board to do what it feels is correct.”What Vengsarkar’s statements have done is to set off a chain reaction among potential candidates with several former cricketers putting their hands up. One of the first to do so was Venkatesh Prasad, the former India fast bowler. “You cannot mess around with technique at the highest level”, Prasad had told Cricinfo on the sidelines of Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy match at Mysore soon after Vengsarkar’s statements were made public. Prasad has completed the Level III coaching program and is currently working with the Karnataka team.TA Sekar, the former Tamil Nadu and India fast bowler – who has been heading the MRF Pace Foundation’s program in Chennai since 1987, working closely with Dennis Lillee, the former Australian fast-bowling great – was also in contention for the job, according to information received by Cricinfo.From time to time India has had former fast bowlers sharing their expertise with the team, as Andy Roberts did in West Indies, and later Jeff Thompson in Kuala Lumpur. The only time India used a bowling coach over any length of time was when they toured Australia in 2003-04, when Bruce Reid, the former Australian left-arm fast bowler, was appointed to work with the team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it will do all it can to ensure that Shabbir Ahmed, the lanky fast bowler, has his bowling action cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC).Billy Bowden and Simon Taufel, the two umpires who officiated in the first Test between England and Pakistan at Multan, cited problems with Shabbir’s action in a detailed report submitted to the match referee after the match. It was the second time this year, and fourth overall, that Shabbir has been called for a suspect action.Abbas Zaidi, the PCB director, maintained that Shabbir had the full support of the Pakistan board. “There is no question that because his action has been reported again he will be left to fend for himself,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters. “We are considering several proposals to help him out. One of them is sending him to Australia to work with experts to remove any defects in his action on a permanent basis.”After already being reported in the West Indies in May of 2005, Shabbir was sent to England and then to Australia to work with biomechanics experts to have his action cleared by the ICC. Though permitted to resume bowling last month, Shabbir’s latest controversy may prove detrimental to the PCB. “He is an asset for the Pakistan team and we are keen to resolve this problem with his action once for all,” Zaidi commented. He added that a decision would be taken in the next few days on when and where to send Shabbir for tests and rehabilitation.Shabbir, who has played just 10 Tests and 32 one-day internationals since 1999, was dropped for the ongoing second Test against England at Faisalabad. The PCB stated that it did not wish to take any more risks with Shabbir’s career by putting him under further scrutiny by the umpires.