Cowan keen on just batting long

There are plenty of professional cricketers who live with their heads in the sand. Most followers of the game would argue that the well-rounded Ed Cowan is not one of them. But Cowan has forced such a mindset upon himself since becoming a Test cricketer, trying his best to ignore criticism from past players and journalists, avoiding Twitter and the often mindless condemnation that it facilitates between player and spectator. It is his self-imposed head-in-the-sand approach.

Cowan's critics have been many and varied. Ian Chappell has regularly argued for Shane Watson and David Warner to be reunited as Australia's opening pair, and Shane Warne also left Cowan out of the preferred Ashes XI he published this week. After scoring a gritty 86 from 238 deliveries against India in Mohali, a strong effort considering Australia's batting struggles in this series, Cowan was asked if he could see himself changing the mind of people like Chappell.

"I'm going to have to score a hell of a lot of runs before that happens," Cowan said. "One of the things with Test cricket is you work out pretty quickly that everyone has got an opinion, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Often it's not the same opinion as what you have. I've taken a bit of a head-in-the-sand approach in relation to guys when they pick a team and you're not in it. So be it. I've got the opportunity now and it's important for the team now that I keep playing more innings like today.

"I'm the first to put my hand up and say I haven't been good enough in terms of making sure those 50, 60-ball innings become 180, 200-ball innings. That's one area where I can really kick on and if I can turn a few more of those starts into long innings then I don't really mind what Ian Chappell has to say. But I doubt that I'll ever see myself in his team."

After Cowan scored his first Test century against South Africa at the Gabba, Chappell said he was impressed by the attacking mindset Cowan had shown at times during the innings. In India, Cowan has discovered that his best approach is to occupy time and force India's bowlers to work out other ways to get him out, and by surviving for so long in the first innings in Mohali he ensured the rest of the batsmen had something to work with.

That Australia finished the second day in another shaky position at 273 for 7 was not the fault of Cowan. He and David Warner provided Australia with a very solid platform, a 139-run opening partnership that was their second-highest in Tests. Their partnership average is now 48.07, which by Australian standards is above par for an opening pair. By comparison, David Boon and Geoff Marsh averaged 46.77, Bill Lawry and Keith Stackpole averaged 44.89 and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer aren't that far ahead at 51.88.

Personally, Cowan still wants to see his big innings' getting even bigger. He still has only one century, but his role in Australia's team of stroke-players is that of anchor. There were plenty of jokes about Cowan's so-called homework task for the coach Mickey Arthur during the week - it would win the Nobel Peace Prize, one theory went - but the truth is his personal goals were pretty simple.

"What I said to Mickey was I want to be accountable to bat a long period of time and I put a figure on that which is between me and Mickey," Cowan said. "My personal accountability is to bat a long time. I didn't bat for as long as I would have liked but I felt I did fairly well today.

"For me, today wasn't about runs, it was about time and soaking up balls and soaking up pressure. It felt like that's what the team needed in this particular game considering what has happened the last two. At no stage did I think, I'm getting close to a hundred. I wasn't even looking at the scoreboard, I was looking at the clock on the other side of the ground saying 'c'mon mate, just get to drinks or change of bowler, get through the next break'.

"It didn't bother me that I didn't score a hundred, I was happy that I faced 238 balls. Deep down, I would have loved it to be 350 balls and if I faced that many balls I would have been a hundred. But that wasn't the focus for me. The word contentment is pretty apt in that circumstance. Up against the wall in terms of the way the series has gone, I was happy I could contribute."


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Pune stadium to remain Warriors' host

Pune Warriors' IPL 2013 home matches will be held at the stadium at Gahunje on the outskirts of the city it has been confirmed, despite the ongoing dispute between the Sahara Group - which owns the Warriors franchise - and the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) over the title rights of the stadium. The BCCI working committee was informed at a meeting in Mumbai on Friday that the Warriors' owners and the MCA have agreed to put their legal tussle on hold for the duration of the IPL's sixth edition, to be played from April 3 to May 26.

"Both the parties have agreed to move a joint application to the court saying the blacked out name [of the stadium] be reinstated only from the first till the last day of the IPL. If the dispute isn't resolved in that window, status quo will be reinstated," a BCCI insider said. "So the stadium is set to be recognised as the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium during the IPL".

In January, the MCA had terminated its agreement with the Sahara Group regarding the title rights of the stadium for alleged non-payment. Once the MCA covered the name of the stadium with a black cloth, Sahara moved the Bombay High Court alleging unlawful breach of agreement. Since then, there was uncertainty over where Warriors would play their home games.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla initiated the truce last week, by getting Abhijit Sarkar, director of Sahara Adventure Sports Ltd, and Ajay Shirke, president of the MCA, to discuss the issue. That meeting culminated in both the parties agreeing to commit to a workable arrangement two days ago.

The BCCI working committee was also informed that the dispute between the Hyderabad Cricket Association and Visaka Group over in-stadia advertisements at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium had been "amicably" resolved. "Everyone is glad that all the riddles regarding IPL venues are over. Now we are looking forward to the tournament to get underway with a glittering opening ceremony," the BCCI insider said.

At the meeting, the working committee also discussed how the notice from the income tax department regarding an outstanding bill of Rs 2,300 crore (approx USD433m) should be dealt with. Treasurer Ajay Shirke, who was handed the responsibility of coming up with suggestions during the last working committee meeting, on February 4 in Chennai, presented "three options" to the working committee. "It was left to the president [N Srinivasan] and the secretary [Sanjay Jagdale] to finalise the future course of action," the insider said.


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Steyn available for English T20

Dale Steyn, the South Africa fast bowler who tops the world Test rankings, is available to play Twenty20 cricket this summer after the end of the Champions Trophy.

Warwickshire were offered first refusal for Steyn, who enjoyed a successful stint at Edgbaston in 2007, but they have chosen not to go ahead, leaving the way open for other counties to consider the option.

At a time when England's FLt20 tournament is under pressure to match the appeal of more hyped tournaments elsewhere, and when an ECB committee is considering how a relaunched tournament next season can succeed, the thought of Steyn not being snapped up is hard to imagine.

But Steyn's lofty salary expectations were a factor for Warwickshire and he could be deemed unaffordable by the few other counties who have yet to sign the maximum number of two overseas players for the competition.

Finances are tight at Edgbaston. The club recently negotiated a freeze in their repayment plan with the council and saw a naming-rights deal - also with Birmingham City Council - collapse at the last moment.

Warwickshire also have a policy of fielding just one overseas player in the T20. The club have already committed themselves to New Zealand's offspinner Jeetan Patel for the entire season and contended that signing Steyn for a short period could disrupt the dressing room and reduce the opportunities for homegrown players.


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NZ follow-on after Broad's six

Tea New Zealand 254 (McCullum 69, Watling 60, Broad 6-51) trail England 465 by 211 runs.
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Stuart Broad, looking sharp and contented again, ripped out New Zealand's tail to finish with six wickets and secure a first-innings lead of 211 for England by tea on the third day of the second Test. Alastair Cook faced a tricky decision about whether to enforce the follow-on. He opted to put New Zealand in again and an unsettled weather forecast, particularly on the final day, must have been a decisive factor.

Broad finished with 6 for 51, his third-best figures in his Test career. His pace was around 135kph, but his control was immaculate and there was a zing in everything he did. This was Broad Total, exploring the cavities in New Zealand's batting line-up and freshening the air with optimism. He was a walking advertisement for the benefits of England's rotation policy and they will be desperate that his mood persists throughout back-to-back Ashes series.

Brendon McCullum was the key wicket for England, dismissed for 69 from 94 balls, forcing Steven Finn off the back foot and offering a comfortable catch to Jonathan Trott at second slip. In a Test distinguished by fine counter-attacking cricket by two excellent wicketkeeper-batsmen, McCullum had played just as pugnaciously as Matt Prior had for England on the second day.

New Zealand still needed 77 to avoid the follow-on with four wickets remaining when McCullum fell, and Tim Southee soon followed, unwisely hooking at Steven Finn with two fielders back for the shot.

Watling had been very much the junior partner in a stand of 100 in 31 overs which dragged New Zealand from the depths of 89 for 5. While McCullum had bristled against the quicks, Watling's put up passive resistance against Monty Panesar's accurate but unthreatening left-arm spin. But when McCullum departed, Watling played with more initiative to keep New Zealand's innings alive.

Dropped by Jonathan Trott on 21, a low chance at second slip, he reached 60 before he edged Broad to the wicketkeeper. Neil Wagner became Broad's fifth victim, caught at the wicket for nought, and New Zealand were 12 short when Broad's bouncer befuddled Trent Boult, but confused Panesar at mid-on even more. Broad, unusually when things go wrong, saw fit to smile and defeated Boult's haymaker with his next delivery to end the innings.

Basin Reserve was full for a Test, the first time that had happened in New Zealand for several years. It helps when the capacity is only around 11,000 and there are several thousand England supporters in town to help persuade the locals that there is a game on worth watching.

Packed to the brim, the ground had a more intimate atmosphere than ever. The strong second-day breeze had also lessened, adding to the convivial feel as spectators strolled around the pathway . But New Zealand supporters only had to glance at the scoreboard for this sense of well-being to depart.

New Zealand, 66 for 3 overnight, needed another 200 to avoid the follow-on. They had produced much to admire on the second day, only to find themselves well behind the game by the close. They were even further behind the game at 89 for 5 when Kane Williamson and Dean Brownlie fell in the first half hour.

Broad was given an immediate opportunity after his wickets of Hamish Rutherford and Ross Taylor had allowed England to finish the second day on a high. Williamson looked well drilled, at 22 a decent batsman in the making, but fell to a sharp reaction catch in his follow-through by Broad, who clung on around chest high and looked delighted at the realisation that the ball was nestling in his hand.

Three balls later, Brownlie followed. He is a fine back-foot player, but there is a length to ball to Brownlie, as South Africa can also testify after New Zealand's recent tour, a length when he routinely plays back when he would be better forward. Anderson found it, and found some reverse inswing to defeat his defensive shot.

Asad Rauf's lbw decision was marginal because the ball had struck Brownlie just above the roll, and the batsman opted for a review, only for DRS to conclude that the ball would have clipped the top of middle.

It would have been 95 for 6 if Cook had not been such a conservative captain. Evidence of this match suggest that McCullum, his opposite number, would have posted a third slip to Anderson when Watling edged at inviting height, but Cook did not and the ball scooted away to the third man boundary.

McCullum's solution soon became evident. Beaten on the outside edge by Broad, he crashed his next ball for four and then hooked him for six. The pressure built by Panesar at one end was released by Finn at the other. McCullum took advantage and reverse swept Joe Root to reach his fifty shortly before the interval.

Anderson 's strenuous efforts after lunch went unrewarded. England lost a review for an lbw appeal against in the first over after lunch when McCullum was 56, chose not to review when Anderson came close again the following over and then watched Trott drop Watling. But Broad responded and England walked out to bowl again sensing victory.


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Brendan Taylor rues batting failure

Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, rued his team's performance with the bat in the first Test in Barbados, where West Indies won comfortably by nine wickets. Several Zimbabwe batsmen, including Taylor, squandered starts in the first innings to post just 211 on the first day, and then collapsed in the second innings to be bowled out for 107.

"It was a tough Test, we let ourselves down in the first innings," Taylor said at the post-match presentation. "Getting just 200 was disappointing, had we got 300 it could have been a different game. Not a lot of positives in the game apart from Kyle Jarvis' bowling."

Five of the top six got starts in the first innings, but only three batsmen managed to reach double-figures in the second. Struggling at 41 for 3 at stumps at the end of the second day, Zimbabwe were bowled out in the morning session on the third. "We've got to find a way to combat their spin [Shane Shillingford] and three-pronged pace attack [Tino Best, Shannon Gabriel, and Kemar Roach]."

Jarvis picked up a five-for in the first innings, this after he had just two wickets to his name in the limited-overs matches prior to the Test series. "I am pleased for him," Taylor said. "It's nice to see him swinging the ball again."

Taylor admitted it didn't help that one of his strike bowlers, legspinner Graeme Cremer, proved expensive in the first innings, as Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, and Denesh Ramdin took him for runs. But he backed the bowler to fight back, and hoped for a better performance from the team in the next Test in Dominica. "We hear it spins more in Dominica, it'll be challenging."

Sammy praised his team for winning five Tests in a row, their first such achievement since 1988. His quickfire knock was a game-changing one and he said he'd been working with his batting coach Toby Ratford, who suggested a slight change to his grip. But the Man of the Match was offspinner Shillingford, who picked up nine wickets in the game, including six in the second innings, in what was his Test comeback. He played his previous Test in England in May 2012.

"I played a couple of games here during the first-class season and picked up wickets, I just gave it my all," Shillingford said. He has had an impressive first-class season, collecting 24 wickets for Windward Islands in three games at 15.25. "I tried to bowl a consistent line first up and then tried to spin the ball as much as possible."


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BCCI to meet about massive tax bill

Friday will be a busy day at the Cricket Centre - the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai - with a host of meetings lined up. The most important will be the working committee meeting to discuss the income tax department's recent notice, and there will also be an IPL-centric conference.

The tax authorities had slapped a Rs 2300 crore notice (approx. $433m) on the Indian board following a change in the BCCI's objectives. As a result, the income tax department has not only demanded tax from the income generated through commercial properties, primarily the IPL, but they have also demanded taxes from the affiliated units of the BCCI for the share of IPL profits distributed among them.

Following the notice, the BCCI in its working meeting on February 4 in Chennai, had formed a committee headed by treasurer Ajay Shirke to suggest the plan of action. With the financial year set to end on March 31, the deadline for the income tax notice, Shirke and his committee will present their suggestions to the working committee, which will then decide the course of action.

Meanwhile, Friday is also likely to see the end of suspense over the venue for Pune Warriors' home games. With the Sahara Group, owners of the franchise, and the Maharashtra Cricket Association, the staging association, involved in a legal dispute over the title rights of the stadium on the outskirts of Pune, Sahara have been reluctant to play their home games in Pune. With the sixth edition of the IPL set to get underway in less than three weeks from now, time is running out for the IPL top brass.

The IPL authorities are also likely finalise associate sponsors for the next five years. While Hero MotoCorp Ltd, who were associated with the tournament for the first five years, have announced their decision not to continue their association with the T20 extravaganza in the same manner, the IPL executives are hoping for at least five slots to be finalised.


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Swann surgery 'uncomplicated' - ECB

Graeme Swann is on course to return to action early in the English season after undergoing elbow surgery in the United States.

The ECB described the operation in Rochester, Minnesota, during which bone fragments were removed from the elbow, as "uncomplicated" and said Swann will now begin a six-eight week recovery period, which gives him a timescale of returning to cricket in May.

England's first internationals of the season are two Tests against New Zealand, the first of which begins on May 16, but the realistic aim for Swann would appear to be the Champions Trophy in June, which precedes the Ashes. A decision will need to be made over whether it would benefit him more to play first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire instead of ODIs.

Swann, 33, was ruled out of the current tour of New Zealand on the opening day of the series in Dunedin after it was decided he needed a second operation on his right elbow, which was previously dealt with in 2009. He had felt pain - to a greater degree than he has managed over the last four years - during the warm-up match in Queenstown and was sent for scans.

The ECB statement said: "England and Nottinghamshire offspinner Graeme Swann has undergone an uncomplicated operation on his right elbow to excise excess bone formation that had re-accumulated following his previous operation four years ago.

"Swann will now commence a six-eight week rehabilitation and back to bowling programme before returning to competitive cricket early in the summer."

The surgeon, Dr Shawn O'Driscoll, who earlier this year operated on Tim Bresnan's elbow, told the Guardian. "The operation went exactly as we had planned, and no complications have been experienced. So we're hoping it will be a routine rehabilitation programme and following that we'll be able to say better what his return to fitness will be."

Before heading home from New Zealand, where he spent a couple of days before travelling to the US, Swann was feeling positive about his prognosis and said that the problem did not feel as bad as when he had his first operation in 2009. "It doesn't seem anywhere near as dire as last time around when it was like a bomb had gone off in there."

Swann's recovery will involve being strapped into a machine that keeps his elbow moving constantly. Bresnan used the same process during his recent recovery and it was the part of the rehab Swann was not looking forward to after it "drove him around the bend" in 2009. If the reward is being fit for a potentially career-defining back-to-back Ashes campaign any sacrifice will be worth it.


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Prior takes England to 465

Tea England 465 (Trott 121, Compton 100, Prior 82, Pietersen 73, Martin 4-130) v New Zealand
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Put any score on the board, on any pitch, in any country and Matt Prior will find a reason to counter-attack. New Zealand fought back with bags on endeavour on the second day at Basin Reserve, but it all came to naught as Prior advanced his reputation as one of the most dangerous wicketkeeper batsmen the game has known.

Gilchrist, Dhoni, Prior. Those who have not watched Prior's career develop may scoff at the notion, but increasingly those names run together with ease. His list of selfless, attacking innings is swelling, his influence upon England has been recognised with elevation to the Test vice captaincy and he reeks of positivity

He fell shortly before tea, for 82 from 99 balls, denied a seventh Test century, which would have taken him only one behind England's most productive century-maker among England wicketkeepers, Les Ames, by Neil Wagner's springing catch to intercept a reverse sweep, denied it, too, by the recognition that England had no plans to bat beyond the interval.

Predictably, he peppered the boundary square on the off side for his fifty, but his range expanded after that. Barely a ball had disappeared down the ground throughout the series so when Prior despatched Wagner for straight sixes in successive overs it could not have summed up more resoundingly how he had changed the mood. On 46, he successfully reviewed umpire Asad Rauf's lbw verdict as he swept at Bruce Martin, replays revealing a thin under-edge.

New Zealand's pace bowlers had withstood a heavy workload - they are on their fifth new ball in less than a week with the prospect of a sixth to come - and however much Tim Southee, the senior member of the attack, insisted that their "bodies were recharged," they ultimately drained faster than an old Galaxy Ace.

Alongside Prior, the Watford Wall offered shelter. Steven Finn's nightwatchman heroics to save the Test in Dunedin had brought his batting new respect and he contributed 24 to a stand of 83 in 20 overs, unveiling a sturdy slog-sweep against the left-arm spin of Martin, before he drove Wagner into the off side.

New Zealand's four-strong attack shrugged off their onerous workload of the past week and struck back strongly on the second morning . Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Joe Root all succumbed as England, superior overnight at 267 for 2, leant heavily on Kevin Pietersen to reach lunch in reasonable order.

Pietersen has been variously ailing. Judging by the way he stretched gingerly after the loss of Root, the knee trouble which hampered him in Dunedin has now been joined by lower-back problems. He seems in the sort of state where he should not grip an autograph hunter's pen too tightly.

But there was danger in his vulnerable body and he reached 73 before he was goaded into hitting Martin down the ground and, even with a strong wind behind him, picked out Peter Fulton at mid-off, halfway back. Martin finished with 4 for 130 and a good deal of respect.

New Zealand had bowled 170 overs in the second innings in Dunedin in a valiant but failed attempt to force victory and had only two wickets to show for another 90 overs on the first day in Wellington. To respond to such adversity with such a disciplined session was an achievement for the New Zealand attack, especially as a buffeting, swirling wind was more in keeping with Wellington's reputation as the windiest city on earth.

If the first day had belonged to Nick Compton and Trott, century makers both, the Test soon left that stage behind. Compton had departed late on the opening day and Trott followed to his first ball of the morning, and the seventh of the day, when he feathered a catch to the wicketkeeper, BJ Watling, off the left-armer Trent Boult.

Southee began even more impressively, starting with three successive maidens as he found a hint of outswing, and extending that into an impressive nine-over spell. He had little luck as Bell's edge fell short of the slips and Pietersen top-edged a hook through the despairing fingers of the wicketkeeper, Watling. He spent a short time of the field because he was feeling sick and when he finished wicketless he must have been feeling sicker still.

England mustered only 17 in the first 10 overs. Pietersen responded to the arrival Martin by driving his first ball for six, but any ambitions that Martin would provide England with an outlet were also stymied. Only with lunch approaching did Pietersen seem to get Martin's measure.

Bell had an attack of the Ahmedabads. He had fallen first ball to the left-arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha in Ahmedabad, dancing down the pitch to try to loft him over the top in what smacked off a crazily preconceived plan. It was far from the first ball this time - he had batted for more than an hour - but the outcome was just the same as he failed to deposit Martin down the ground and Fulton ran back from mid-off to hold a neat, swirling catch.

Martin, tossing the ball high, found noticeably more turn than on the first day and he also unpicked Root, who tried to carve him through cover off the front foot and edged a turning delivery to slip. It was an ugly, misconceived shot and he stomped off with a farmer's gait. His start to international cricket has been something of a fairy story and disappointments such as this are inevitable.


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South Africa focus on improving yorkers

Barring their superior performance in the second Twenty20 of the tour, Pakistan have not given South Africa many lessons to learn. It is a Pakistani fast bowler, though, that South Africa bowling coach Allan Donald is holding up as an example to his charges, because he wants them to emulate his exemplary ability to endanger toes.

"It's Wasim Akram," Donald said in Centurion, where the team regrouped ahead of the second ODI on Friday. "We watched some footage of him the other day for the bowling group to understand what bowling yorkers is actually about.

"We want to become the best death-bowling unit in the world and we want to close games out while being under enormous pressure. With Wasim Akram you always knew when you faced him at the death that there was no hope. He moved the ball both ways and that's what we want to be: unpredictable, not just one dimensional."

Death bowling was identified as perhaps the only weakness of the South African attack after their series against New Zealand earlier this summer. They set New Zealand only 209 to win the first match, so an examination of their bowling there is probably unfair, but in the next two games South Africa's attack gave away 53 and 46 runs in the last five overs.

To prevent that happening again, Donald introduced a new goal in the Pakistan series. "Nailing yorkers is our No.1 priority," he said. "Not being able to bowl them often enough is what has let us down in the past, particularly when we are defending."

Instead of regular net sessions where bowlers send down a specific number of overs, Donald has set training up to concentrate on fuller lengths. He uses both newer and older balls to get bowlers to bowl deliveries that swing and reserve-swing, and he also recreates match situations. "We want to practice the specifics under pressure and so we are moving more into game scenarios and executing those then. We also video these sessions so the guys can have visual feedback."

Since Rusty Theron's brief appearance and subsequent injury, death bowling has not been assigned to anyone in particular and some have seen that as a fault. Role definition has proven to be essential to South Africa's success - think of the failure of the floating batting line-up as an example - and it would seem prudent to task one or two bowlers with that job.

Donald is not doing that, though, because he wants the whole attack to become competent at death bowling. "We want a collective group of guys who get thrown the ball and who have the confidence to execute yorkers at will at any stage," he said. "We could have a situation where Dale Steyn is the death bowler and his number may come up and he gets hit all around the park, and so we might have to ask someone else to do that. We want a collective improvement in bowling yorkers."

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt and Ryan McLaren have all shown ability to find the base of the stumps but none of them do it consistently. What they are more comfortable with is sending down streams of short balls and McLaren, in particular, used it effectively in the first ODI.

Donald said the move to more yorkers will not stop them from bouncing batsmen. "We've talked about using the short ball in Bloemfontein because of the very big field there and it worked," he said. "We will still use the short ball, it is a massive weapon in one-day cricket."

But an intimidating arsenal needs more than just one dangerous weapon and Donald wants to equip his bowlers with what he believes is the best. "Whether it's wide, swinging into the pads, or winging away from a large angle, we need to bowl the yorker. Anyone can hit back of a length, anyone has a back of a hand bouncer but you need a wicket, the ball that really does it is a gun yorker."


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Scotland slump again to Dawlatzai

Scotland 125 and 144 for 9 (Dawlatzai 5-37) trail Afghanistan 275 by six runs
Scorecard

Scotland ended day two battling to avoid an innings defeat after a second slump with the bat against Izatullah Dawlatzai. He added a second five-wicket haul to take Afghanistan to the verge of victory with Scotland still six runs away from forcing a fourth innings.

Dawlatzai added 5 for 37 to his first-innings 6 for 57 to send Scotland spiralling towards defeat. His wicket of Kyle Coetzer late in the day raised the possibility of a two-day finish. Coetzer was the only batsman in the top order to have any kind of an innings but his half-century was a lone hand in a miserable batting display that saw Scotland 27 for 4 against the new ball.

There was, at least, some response as wicketkeeper David Murphy survived 59 balls for 23 but his dismissal brought four wickets for just 14 runs - one them Coetzer - and it was left to Gordon Drummond and Safyaan Sharif to scrap Scotland into a third day.


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Big wins for Karachi, Abbottabad

Group A

In Ghari Khuda Bakhsh, Karachi Dolphins crushed Bahawalpur Stags by ten wickets in a one-sided contest that lasted just 26.2 overs. The defeat left the Stags at the bottom of the points table.

Batting first, the Stags couldn't find any momentum in their innings. The openers put on 22 runs, which turned out to be the most productive partnership, and they kept losing wickets thereafter. There were only four other double-digit stands. They were bowled out for 91 in 20 overs, with offspinner Atif Maqbool being the chief destroyer, taking three wickets. All other bowlers, except seamer Mohammad Sami, were among the wickets.

The Dolphins openers smashed six sixes and nine fours in reply to chase down the target quickly. They eventually reached it in the seventh over. Shahzaib Hasan was unbeaten on 53 off 22 deliveries.

An unbeaten 98 off 74 deliveries from middle-order batsman Kashif Naved steered Multan Tigers to a six-wicket victory over Hyderabad Hawks in a high-scoring match at the Niaz Stadium. Despite the loss, the Hawks still topped the points table.

Chasing 315 the Tigers lost their first wicket, that of Sohaib Maqsood, on 11. But a series of productive stands helped them stay on course. Besides Kashif, Zeeshan Ashraf, Rameez Alam and Saeed Anwar jnr scored half-centuries.

Kashif had come in to bat at 163 for 3, and anchored the innings from there. He was involved in two partnerships of 89 and 63 runs, the second one unbroken, to guide his side to the target in the 48th over.

The Hawks' innings, after they were put in to bat, was built on a 149-run opening stand between Sharjeel Khan (86) and Azeem Ghumman (64), and a fourth-wicket stand of 88 runs. Rizwan Ahmed and Faisal Athar were the other chief contributors, scoring 77 and 47 respectively at more than a run a ball.

Quetta Bears' last-wicket pair added 26 runs to help them edge Sialkot Stallions by one wicket in a closely fought game in Mirpur Khas.

After having been put in to bat, Sialkot Stallions started losing wickets from the outset. Seamer Faizullah and Shahzad Tareen took six wickets between them and reduced Stallions to 85 for 8. A 58-run stand between No. 8 Ali Khan, who scored 51 off 71 deliveries, and Bilawal Bhatti repaired the damage to an extent. Ali added another 33 runs with No. 11 Bilal Asif to take them 176.

The Bears started positively in reply with a 53-run opening stand. Although they suffered a slight collapse, losing four wickets for 33 runs, they were still in control of their chase at 152 for 5. But then they lost four wickets for a single run and the advantage was lost. Their last pair of Nazar Hussain and Faizullah, however, took them to victory.

Group B

Six wickets between seamer Ikramullah Khan and legspinner Yasir Shah helped Abbottabad Falcons bowl Faisalabad Wolves out for 104, and set up an eight-wicket win in Mirpur.

The pair destroyed the top half of the Wolves' line-up, after the Falcons had put their opponents in to bat. Five of the batsmen scored in single digits, and no one scored more than 17. In reply, the Falcons raced to victory in the 15th over, led by a 46-ball 54 from opener Mir Azam. Seamer Samiullah Khan took both the wickets to fall.

The other matches, between Lahore Lions and Islamabad Leopards in Islamabad, and Rawalpindi Rams and Karachi Zebras in Rawalpindi, were washed out.


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Compton and Trott lay strong platform

Tea England162 for 1 (Compton 73*, Trott 68*) v New Zealand
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brendon McCullum must be ruing his luck - ruing his good luck, that is. He won the toss in Cape Town in January, chose to bat and saw New Zealand demolished for 45. He won it again in Wellington against England today, had a bowl instead and by tea could not avoid the realisation that he had blundered once more. Far better to lose the toss and make the best of it.

Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott did not give McCullum much hope of reprieve. They might not be the most extravagant pairing in the world, in fact they might wear down a crowd as much as they wear down an opposing attack, but they progressed in an orderly fashion that must have filled McCullum with foreboding. By tea, both were well beyond respective half-centuries and England looked bent upon batting for two days.

By batting first against South Africa in Cape Town, McCullum had wanted to make a statement in his first Test in charge, only for New Zealand to be destroyed by Vernon Philander. In Wellington, it felt more as if he wanted a concession, an acceptance that New Zealand's batting dared not be risked on the first morning against England's pace attack.

But the skies were becoming bluer by the minute, the breeze of the Cook Strait was light and northerly and a drought in Wellington has left the city with only 20 days' rain. (Don't panic, it is going to pour down later in the match, apparently). The pitch looked firm and true and not a ball deviated for the pace bowlers. At one point a Paradise Duck waddled onto the square to take a look, and all the signs were that paradise was more likely to belong to England.

Compton, in particular, looked in confident mood after his breakthrough hundred in Dunedin. There he had again displayed masses of resolution, a batsman of character trying to prove his mettle. Here he revealed a more expansive side of his batting character until England became becalmed in mid-afternoon. New Zealand want sedate batting surfaces to protect their batting and they could suffer the consequences.

The world was engrossed by white smoke rising over Rome, and the election of a new Pope, so much so that the crowd at the Basin Reserve broke into applause when a spectator appeared in Pope fancy dress. As England's score built steadily, it seemed that McCullum, too, like those in Rome, would be expected to contemplate cardinal sins.

Alastair Cook was the one England batsman to fall on an otherwise satisfying morning for England. McCullum had hailed Cook as second only to Don Bradman ahead of the Wellington Test, and his record, in statistical terms, does bear comparison with all but Bradman, but even The Don made an error or two.

Both New Zealand new-ball bowlers, Tim Southee and Trent Boult skimmed deliveries past Cook's outside edge before he was dismissed on 17. There was a suggestion that a fullish delivery from Neil Wagner stopped in the pitch a little, but Cook's balance was awry, a failing of old, as he pushed a simple catch to short midwicket. He looked askance at the pitch and later could also be expected to look askance at the laptop replay.

New Zealand's quicks, thwarted by England in Dunedin after leading by 293 on first innings, would have been forgiven for a secret sigh of anguish that they were back in the field so quickly after bowling 114 overs between them in the second innings in Dunedin in a forlorn attempt to force victory. Wagner, who could be expected to bowl into the wind, must have kept a wary eye on the flags, fearing that the breeze would stiffen at any moment.

England's statistics in Dunedin did not look pretty. Their first-innings 167 was their lowest first innings score since 2009, but the likelihood is that such failings will be well behind them by the time this innings is over.

Compton pulled Boult and Wagner with aplomb and also relaxed into some pleasing drives - not previously a feature of his Test career. He was also to the fore as England rattled up 40 from six overs immediately after lunch against the left-armers Wagner and Boult. Wagner resorted to bowling wide of off stump, as they had in Dunedin, but this time Compton chased the width with relish. Boult dropped one short and a top-edged hook flew safely to long leg.

Then, one suspects, Trott had a word and any over-excitability disappeared. Trott was unruffled, just getting on with the job. As England slowed in mid-afternoon, most activity came from Trott's facial expressions, furious chewing and rictus grins. Bruce Martin turned one past Trott's outside edge, just once, and that was enough to win deep respect for the rest of the session, 16 overs for 23 by tea. The nearest New Zealand came to a wicket was when Compton, on 65, inside-edged onto his pad and Martin's appeal was transformed into a cry of frustration.


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'I'd love to add to my one Test cap' - McLaren

Ryan McLaren's Test debut was memorable but not for anything he did. He was included in South Africa's all-pace attack that was tasked with squaring the series against England in early 2010.

They did the job emphatically and bowled England out for under 200 twice to ensure South Africa won by an innings and 74 runs. The nature of the victory may suggest McLaren played some sort of role but his was a bit-part.

In the shadows of Dale Steyn taking a first innings five-for and seven overall, Morne Morkel finishing with the same match tally and Wayne Parnell debuting, McLaren bowled 13 overs all told and took one wicket. It was an important one because it was that of the top scorer, Paul Collingwood and it was brief glimpse into McLaren's ability.

For four years, there would be only those short, somewhat stolen moments because McLaren never nailed down a proper spot. Now, that could change. After receiving his second CSA contract McLaren knows he is being primed for a Test recall - something that's been in the back of his mind for a long time.

"I'd love to add to my one Test cap," he told ESPNcricinfo. "It's something I've been thinking about and working towards very hard." McLaren averaged 50.50 with the bat and 30.67 with the ball last season and has been included in South African recent A sides and limited-overs teams.

He would bring to the Test XI a Shaun Pollock-like discipline and consistency as well as the ability to score runs in the lower middle-order. While it would seem only Kallis' retirement would open a door for McLaren, he may not have to wait for that to make an appearance in whites. South Africa's revolving door position - the No. 7 spot - is the only unsettled one and he could fill it. It has been used for an extra batsman so far but it could call for an extra bowler or an allrounder in future.

Until then, McLaren has to bide his time in the other formats where he is finally being given a sustained run of matches. Prior to August 2012, McLaren had played 10 ODIs and five Twenty20s for South Africa but not much faith was invested in him. Albie Morkel was the preferred candidate and assembly line allrounders were fading out of fashion.

McLaren became a substitute and was included in squads when there was a mild injury concern. Almost everyone knew that he was unlikely to play and he never did. Only recently, has team management seen real value in him.

In recent months, McLaren has been seen in long consultation with Allan Donald as he worked on extensively on his bowling. The fruits of that have been obvious and he has taken 11 wickets in his last four ODIs. His use of the short ball has been exemplary, something he puts down to Donald's influence. "Allan always encourages us to be more aggressive and that's what I've been trying to do as well," he said.

As good performances mounted up, confidence in him swelled. McLaren now feels more secure as well. "I've been given a few more opportunities and I feel a bit more comfortable in the environment," he said. "I'm just really enjoying it now under Gary Kirsten. He treats us all like adults and make us take responsibility for our own performances."

McLaren has always come across as mature and grounded, so much so that he would be happy to make way for Kallis at an event like the Champions Trophy because "it's good for South Africa if Kallis plays as long as he can," so it's no surprise he is thriving in a grown-up environment. At 30, he is exactly that and hopes to have a few good years to offer South African cricket.

McLaren has built up experience around the world, including a stint at Kent and at the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab. This off-season, he will return to the IPL to represent the Kolkata Knight Riders and hopes to pick up new skills to take into his re-born international career. "It's always helpful to play in different conditions and to share dressing rooms with players from around the world. I just want to learn as much as possible."


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Joyce and Porterfield punish UAE

Ireland 272 for 2 (Ed Joyce 99*, Porterfield 82, Stirling 61) v United Arab Emirates
Scorecard

Ireland dominated the opening day of their Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah thanks to an unbeaten 99 from Ed Joyce and half-centuries from the openers, William Porterfield and Paul Stirling.

The openers were cautious against a spin-heavy attack after they were put in to bat by the home side. It was a return to form for the captain Porterfield who had three ducks in his previous five innings across formats. He and Stirling put on a patient 126 in 46.5 overs before Stirling fell lbw for 61. Porterfield missed out on a century as he edged quick bowler Mohammad Naveed onto the stumps when on 82.

Joyce then took charge of the innings. His previous century for Ireland came against the same opponents back in 2005, and he could have completed his hundred on the first day if he had managed a single off the final delivery.

Joyce has 28 first-class tons, and said he wasn't too concerned over being 99* overnight. "I'm not nervous at all. I've never been 99 not out overnight before, but I'm just happy to have scored 99 - if I was to get that score every time I would take it," he said. "It's a slow and low wicket so if you stay in your crease it can be difficult to score. The lads had given us a great start so I made the conscious decision to try and score about a strike rate of 70, use my feet a bit and maybe take a few more risks than the others. I was a bit more attacking and that helped on that wicket."


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Afghanistan take lead after bowlers dominate

Afghanistan 150 for 4 lead Scotland 125 (Taylor 48*, Dawlatzai 6-57) by 25 runs
Scorecard

Izatullah Dawlatzai took career-best figures of 6 for 57 to dismiss Scotland for a paltry 125 in the Intercontinental Cup in Abu Dhabi. After Afghanistan chose to field, Mirwais Ashraf dismissed both the openers in his first five overs and Dawlatzai ran through the Scotland batsmen after that, starting with a double-strike in the 15th over. Ashraf struck again after that when he trapped Calum McLeaod lbw for a duck in the very next over.

Dawlatzai took two wickets in his next two overs, with wickets of David Murphy for a duck and Matt Machan for eight, leaving Scotland at 44 for 7. However, No. 8 Robert Taylor struck an unbeaten 54-ball 48 to take them past 100. He forged a 57-run stand for the last wicket with Safyaan Sharif to post 125.

Afghanistan got off to a cautious start with a 39-run opening stand but lost Nawroz Mangal in the 18th over. Shabir Noori (33) and Asghar Stanikzai (41) put on 48 for the second wicket but Noori fell to Majid Haq. They lost two quick wickets just after the 100-run mark, including that of Stanikzai, and finished the day 25 ahead of Scotland.


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New Zealand facing a test of their stamina

Match facts

March 14, 2013
Start time 10.30am (2130 GMT)

Big Picture

Had the first Test been decided on a points decision, there is little doubt that most judges would have awarded it to New Zealand. After bowling out England for 167 - their lowest first innings score since 2009 - the hosts replied with 460 to take a first innings lead of 293; their third highest against England in completed innings. While a flat pitch and some determined England batting prevented a repeat in the second innings, it was England who benefited most from the first day having been lost to rain.

But the fact is that the match was drawn and, bearing in mind the history of England improving after a faltering start, New Zealand may come to reflect that they have missed their best opportunity to strike a telling blow. Worryingly for New Zealand, this pitch is expected to provide more assistance to the England seamers.

It certainly proved that way in 2008. After New Zealand won the opening Test in Hamilton, England struck back at Wellington with Tim Ambrose recording his only Test century and claiming the man of the match award as England leveled the series. They subsequently went on to win it by prevailing in the final Test in Napier.

It remains to be seen how much the effort in Dunedin took out of the New Zealand side. While they should have taken confidence from some aspects of their performance, the concern is that their three seamers bowled 114 overs between them in the second innings in their pursuit of victory. With so little time to recover between the games, Wellington will offer a stern test of their stamina. The ability of Steven Finn, who went into the Dunedin Test with few pretensions as a batsman, to resist the New Zealand bowlers for nearly five hours in the second innings might also prove sobering for the hosts.

Still, any fears New Zealand had over the potency of England's seam attack should have been eased by the Dunedin performance. Indeed, in three first-class innings on the tour to date, England have yet to bowl out their opposition with the New Zealand XI in Queenstown declaring in their first innings and completing a testing fourth-innings target with three wickets in hand in their second innings.

Form guide

New Zealand DLLWL (Completed matches, most recent first)
England DDWWL

In the spotlight

Had Martin Guptill been fit, it is highly likely that Hamish Rutherford would not have played in the first Test in Dunedin. Rutherford seized his chance with some style, though, and in scoring 171 set a new high for an opener on debut against England. Only Mathew Sinclair, who made 214 on debut against West Indies in 1999, has made a higher score on New Zealand Test debut. Rutherford's excellent start has buoyed home hopes that a line-up containing Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum and, one day, perhaps, Jesse Ryder, might have the potential to develop into the strongest batting unit in New Zealand's Test history.

Stuart Broad's form has been the subject of much debate. But while the focus has tended to fall on his bowling - he claimed his first Test wickets since August in Dunedin - his batting has - arguably - fallen away more sharply. Since he last made a half-century - in January 2012 against Pakistan in the UAE - he has had 16 Test innings, passed 20 only four times with a highest score of 37 and averaged only 13.60. Perhaps more remarkably, in that time the average balls he has faced in a completed innings is just under 20. Such statistics do little to support the claim that he can be viewed as an allrounder and suggests that he may be batting too high at No.8.

Team news

New Zealand will be unchanged and England are likely to follow the same route. For New Zealand, Doug Bracewell has not recovered from the foot injury sustained while cleaning up glass after a party while for England Kevin Pietersen is expected to play despite what Andy Flower described as "a little bit of pain in his right knee." Flower went on to say: "Most of the players play with something sore most of the time. I don't anticipate it being a huge problem for us at all."

New Zealand 1 Peter Fulton, 2 Hamish Rutherford, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Dean Brownlie, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Tim Southee, 9 Bruce Martin/Ian Butler, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult.

England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Nick Compton, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Joe Root, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is expected to have more pace and bounce than Dunedin, with some claiming it is the quickest in New Zealand. The last time England played here, Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson both gained swing movement and claimed five-wicket hauls and it is worth noting that Chris Martin, with 60 wickets in 14 Tests, is the highest Test wicket-taker on the ground. Bowlers capable of generating bounce should enjoy it.

New Zealand have not won any of the last six Tests on the ground. The last two - against South Africa in 2012 and Pakistan in 2011 - have been drawn, though the weather played a role on both occasions.

Wind may also play a role. Wellington is a notoriously windy city and some bowlers struggle to adapt to the challenge of running into it. Shane Bond, the New Zealand bowling coach, has admitted it is an experience that all three of his side's leading seamers are unaccustomed to having developed as strike bowlers running in with the wind behind them.

Stats and trivia

  • New Zealand and England have played each other in 10 Tests at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. England have won four times and New Zealand only once, in 1978, when an England side captained by Geoff Boycott were bowled out for a paltry 64 chasing 137 for victory.
  • Nick Compton and Alastair Cook are currently averaging 81 per opening partnership. The sample size is small - they have now played five Tests together - but only Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe - who averaged 87.81 in 38 innings - of regular England openers have a better record.
  • New Zealand have won four of their last 33 Tests against England dating back to 1986. The last one of those game seven Test ago, at Hamilton in 2008,
  • James Anderson needs eight wickets to become the fourth England bowler after Fred Trueman, Bob Willis and Ian Botham to take 300 in Tests. He needs five to draw level with Derek Underwood, currently the fourth highest wicket-taker in Tests for England.

Quotes

"We always knew the guys are fit, and can bowl a lot of volume, we just need to make sure they are fresh and ready to go."
Shane Bond, the New Zealand bowling coach reflecting on the fitness of his side's three seamers, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, who delivered 114 of the 170 overs in England's second innings in Dunedin.

"I'd rather have been batting for 170 overs than fielding, let's put it that way."
Matt Prior.


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Clarke sure friendships will endure

Michael Clarke is confident there will be no backlash against him from the four players axed for the third Test in Mohali over their failure to complete a task assessing themselves and the team. One of the four men dumped, Clarke's vice-captain Shane Watson, flew home to be with his pregnant wife after the suspension was announced but he also said he would use his time at home to reassess his cricket future.

The other three players, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja, remained with the squad ahead of the Test, which starts on Thursday, and will be considered for selection for the fourth Test in Delhi. The decision to make the quartet ineligible for the Mohali Test was taken by Clarke, the coach Mickey Arthur and the team manager Gavin Dovey in consultation, but Clarke insists his role will not hurt his relationship with the men.

"The players know 100% that this is not about the individual player," Clarke said. "I've made that very clear. The four players are very disappointed that this has happened. They respect the decision. They understand why. It has been made very clear why we have made the decision, as harsh a punishment as they might see it.

"I don't think it will have any impact on my friendship with the four guys because I know I've got the respect of those guys and they know how much I respect them. That's probably why I feel comfortable fronting players on these issues. I think it would be easy to walk away and let things slide. But they know how much I love playing for Australia like they do.

"They know how much I want this team to have success and achieve what I think we can achieve. And you know what? They want the same. There's only one way you get there. It takes the whole team pushing in the same direction. This is not about the individual player. The whole team sits on this level. These are our standards. If you're not hitting it, there's going to be consequences."

The consequences on this occasion are significant not only for the individual players but also for the team, as it leaves Australia with only 12 or 13 men (depending on the fitness of Matthew Wade) available for this week's Test. Brad Haddin was flying out of Australia on Monday to join the group as cover for Wade but could also find himself in with a chance of being included as a specialist batsman even if Wade is passed fit.

 
 
"It wasn't a big ask. You let the team down, you let the head coach down. That's unacceptable" Michael Clarke
 

It also means that on a pitch that could offer more for the fast bowlers, Australia have only two frontline quicks - Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc - available, alongside the allrounder Moises Henriques. On a surface where they may only have wanted to play one spinner they could now be forced to play at least two of Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell.

"We didn't even look at the name of the players," Clarke said. "That's what has to happen when you sit everyone on the same level, it doesn't matter who you are in this team. If you do not hit the standards it's unacceptable. Now we have a squad of 12 players to select 11 from. We'll pick the best 11 we have out of 12; 13 because Haddin is coming as well.

"It has huge impact on the team for the third Test match. But it's why you pick a squad. It gives somebody else an opportunity. And that's the biggest risk in this game. You give somebody else an opportunity and you might never get another chance. That's what's happened here. It gives four new blokes a chance at playing a Test match and grabbing hold of this opportunity."

The fact that Australia will now enter a Test without their vice-captain and leading wicket-taker in the series is potentially calamitous after the team lost by an innings in the previous Test in Hyderabad. But Clarke said after the build-up of players not falling into line in recent times, an example had to be made.

"There is no right time, there is no right punishment," Clarke said. "I don't think it's about picking and choosing. The fact is that we have a standard that we're trying to set, we have goals that we're trying to achieve and at the moment we're not hitting our standards. It wasn't a big ask. You let the team down, you let the head coach down. That's unacceptable.

"Our support staff are spending time one on one with players to help them improve their game slowly. I feel partly like a coach as well as a captain. At training we talk about spin bowling, I feel like I'm coaching. But we are a playing group - and there is no exception - we as a playing group have to be helping ourselves as well."


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More work to be done before draw - Mushfiqur

Mushfiqur Rahim was wary of the work still ahead for Bangladesh to achieve an encouraging draw in the first Test in Galle, after the visitors amassed their highest-ever total of 638 in the first innings. Mushfiqur and Mohammad Ashraful provided the backbone of the mammoth innings with a 267-run fifth wicket partnership, in which both men eclipsed the previous highest score by a Bangladesh batsman.

Mushfiqur also made history by becoming the first Bangladesh batsman to make a double-century in internationals, while Ashraful perished early in the day for 190, having been unbeaten on 189 overnight. Nasir Hossain was the third batsman to score a century, while Mominul Haque had made 55 earlier in the innings.
Sri Lanka went to stumps 48 runs ahead and with nine wickets in hand in the second innings, but despite a draw being the likeliest outcome, Mushfiqur insisted Bangladesh had plenty to do to achieve it. In their last series in November, Bangladesh had been in a similar position late in the Test, but collapsed for 167 all out against West Indies on the final day, in pursuit of 245 for victory.

"Still a long way to go before we can say it was a good draw," Mushfiqur said. "Tomorrow it's day five and anything can happen. If we can manage to draw that, probably it will be a huge boost for us. It's our main target to play consistent cricket over the five days in a Test, and we can take a lot of positives. We didn't do well with the ball in the first innings, but on the second day we came back with the ball - although we didn't get many wickets."

Mushfiqur said he was ecstatic with his double-hundred, but reiterated praise for Ashraful, for also shouldering the responsibility of replying to Sri Lanka's 570 for 4. The pair had come together with their side in danger of failing to pass the follow-on target, at 177 for 4.

"I thought that if I got the chance to bat long and if I got a partner at the other end, I would like to score a big hundred. Fortunately Ash really batted well, and also Nasir, so I had partners. I really played well. We really needed it badly, because they scored huge and we needed to avoid the follow-on. That was our first target. Our second target was to make sure we cross their total, so we did that.

"When you have a good partner at the other end who can rotate the strike and score the odd four, it's really helpful. Ash was telling me, "If you play well and if you don't play a silly shot, you will get a lot of runs on this track. If we play session by session, and bat well, don't look at the scoreboard." That's what we did."

Ashraful was playing his first Test since December 2011, and only found a place in the XI after injury had ruled out both Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. Sri Lanka is his favourite opponent, having made five of his six hundreds against them, including three in Sri Lanka.

"When Shakib is not here and Tamim is not playing, Ash came into the team and we had a lot of pressure and expectations on him, because he has always played well against Sri Lanka. He's probably a bit unfortunate that he didn't score a double hundred. Hopefully next time he can make it. We're really happy to see him make big runs."


The Galle pitch showed few signs of wear, even at the end of the fourth day. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara put on 99 runs for the second wicket and were unbeaten at stumps.

"On the fourth day, in the last session it spun a bit, but still it's a good wicket to bat on. Hopefully if we bowl really well tomorrow in the first session and take a couple of wickets, probably we can put pressure on them."


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Otieno, Karim set up Kenya stroll

Kenya 228 for 4 (Karim 65) beat Canada 227 for 8 (Gunasekera 72, Raza-ur-Rehman 70, Otieno 4-33) by six wickets
Scorecard

Kenya beat bottom-side Canada after completing a comfortable run chase with 14 balls to spare. There were solid contributions from all of the top order, opener Irfan Karim top-scoring with 65 for his maiden ODI half-century, after Elijah Otieno's four wickets helped restrict Canada to 227 for 8.

The foundations for Kenya's victory were laid by Karim and Morris Ouma, who put on a 95-run partnership for the second wicket. Karim became Henry Osinde's second wicket shortly after Ouma fell lbw to Hiral Patel and when the fourth wicket went down, 43 were required from 9.5 overs. Tanmay Mishra and Rakep Patel knocked off the runs at almost a run a ball to give Kenya their fourth win of the competition.

Canada had earlier rebuilt from 26 for 2, with Ruvindu Gunasekera making 72, his highest ODI score. He fell to Ragheb Aga to leave Canada 132 for 4 but a 91-run partnership in 12.1 overs between debutant Raza-ur-Rehman and Usman Limbada pushed Canada towards a respectable score. Otieno and Nelson Odhiambo returned to put the breaks on, however, taking four wickets for four runs from the last ten balls of the innings.

The result pushed Kenya to within two points of fourth-placed Netherlands and fifth-placed UAE in the WCL Championship table, with another fixture scheduled against Canada on Wednesday.


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Scotland, Netherlands get ICC funding

Scotland and Netherlands have each been awarded a grant of $1.5m over the next three years as part of the ICC's Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP). They are the second and third Associate Members, after Ireland, to benefit from the initiative, which is aimed at increasing the level of competition in international cricket.

Both Cricket Scotland and the Netherlands board will receive the extra funding until 2015. Scotland's plan involves continuing development work to increase the profile of the game. Netherlands hope to use the money to enable them to play more international fixtures, as well as increase domestic cricket; it will also help provide more support for current and future players.

"We are thrilled to be signing a TAPP agreement with the ICC, and are extremely grateful for this enhanced support to improve our internal domestic structures and to have more international fixtures, all geared to making us competitive on the world stage," Cricket Scotland's chief executive officer, Roddy Smith, said.

The Netherlands board chief executive officer, Richard Cox, said: "KNCB is extremely grateful to the ICC for this award, which will help us achieve our medium- and long-term objectives and help the Netherlands become even more competitive - from the domestic level with the new regional domestic playing structure through to the international arena. It is a real boost for everyone involved."

ICC chief executive, David Richardson, added: "I am very pleased to have witnessed the signing of these TAPP agreements. Both Cricket Scotland and KNCB provided excellent submissions to the ICC Board, and I have no doubt that both Boards will do their very best to deliver those plans to continue the enhancement of competitiveness at the higher levels of cricket."

New Zealand, West Indies and Zimbabwe are also expected to agree TAPP funding with the ICC in the near future.


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Misbah ponders all-round failure

A batsman to see off more than half the overs, bowlers who could continually apply pressure, and committed fielding on the biggest ground in South Africa, is what Misbah-ul-Haq felt he needed in Bloemfontein. In other words, "everything went wrong," and he admitted as much.

Everything from selection - Pakistan were a seamer short - to the toss, where AB de Villiers was happy Misbah sent him in, to the efforts with bat and ball.

On a flat pitch, Misbah conceded that although he would have preferred a target of around 280, "even nine an over was chaseable," to fall so far short was not a good reflection on Pakistan. The bowling was challenging - there was some swing from Lonwabo Tsotsobe and some bounce from Ryan McLaren - but it was not impossible to score.

What Pakistan lacked was someone with the temperament to stay at the crease. Mohammad Hafeez was unlucky - "what can you do?" Misbah said in response to questions about the run-out - but Nasir Jamshed and Younis Khan chased wide deliveries, Asad Shafiq misdirected a hook, Misbah was found wanting against the short ball and Shoaib Malik did not pick a slower one.

"We needed someone to bat through," Misbah said "It's difficult when you are losing wickets to chase a total like that. Wickets in hand is key. You want your main batsmen to go in and keep scoring."

Having conceded a large total, it was important that Pakistan's batsmen showed more discipline than their bowlers. The attack did not escape Misbah's criticism. "We did not manage to take wickets, we could not manage to create pressure and the fielding was mediocre," he said.

It is not the time for crisis talks yet, though. Misbah chose to take a measured view of the defeat. "Everybody knows what we did wrong. We need to improve the areas we are bowling, build more partnerships and every batsmen who is set needs to carry on."

Not so for South Africa. Even though the next match is five days away, AB de Villiers said the boost this has given the team will serve them well for the rest of the series. "We've got confidence now," he said. "We had a really good performance with a lot of pressure on us."

Expectation on South Africa was low before this series because they appeared an unsettled unit. It is only one performance but already they look ready to shelve that notion as the former bit-part players had starring roles. Colin Ingram, Farhaan Behardien and Ryan McLaren were under the most scrutiny coming into the match and all three put in impressive performances.

Ingram had to build an innings and a partnership, and faith in him appeared low when de Villiers came in at No.3 instead of him. "It's taken us a while to come up with some sort of plan for batting. When we have a solid foundation, like we did today, it's a good time for me to come in," de Villiers explained. "I enjoy playing against the spinners and I can work it around a little."

Ingram followed soon after and helped de Villiers create the "game changer," with a 120-run stand. "We hussled between deliveries, we showed intent and we showed two good cricket brains," de Villiers said. "We played the spinners well so it was easy for me to bat with Colin."

Behardien showed his ability to finish, something that he has not managed to do so far. The end result was that the bowlers went into the second half with an advantage and McLaren exploited it fully.

On his home turf, he used the short ball well and formed an important part of the seam quartet that tied Pakistan down. McLaren has not had his standout performance in ODI cricket yet, and with Dale Steyn returning and Morne Morkel close to recovery, he needed to do something to prove his worth.

"It's probably the most pleasing thing of all to watch Ryan develop," de Villiers said. "Every game I have ever played against, he has been a real fighter and even though he struggled in the past, to see him perform like this is great. He looks comfortable at this level now."

With an all-round effort from his charges, de Villiers found the captaincy less of a burden and "felt more in control." He was also able to gauge the level of commitment from the men he commands, and on the evidence of this effort, he was satisfied. "I can see guys wanting to be in this team and perform in this team," he said. Even those who didn't do that emphatically in previous games.


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Australia's batsmen must 'go against instincts'

Australia's batsmen must find a way to ignore their instincts if they are to have success in India, the team's batting coach Michael Di Venuto has said. Australia's captain Michael Clarke said after the Hyderabad Test he had been disappointed by the number of players who were out to cross-bat shots or hitting against the spin early in their innings, and the coach Mickey Arthur was angry at the sweeps that proved costly for Phillip Hughes and David Warner.

Matthew Hayden, who is in India commentating, said the secret to batting success in the country was to play straight, but the batsmen have struggled to adapt over the first two Tests. In his first Test tour since being appointed as batting coach in February, Di Venuto has the challenge of turning those woes around for the third Test in Mohali, and he said the major thing the batsmen needed to get their heads around was that what comes naturally is not always a good plan in India.

"I think a lot of batting is done on instinct," Di Venuto told ESPNcricinfo. "The guys have been brought up in Australia and playing in Australian conditions where if you see a ball on a certain length, it normally bounces a certain height. Then you come to a foreign country and all of a sudden it doesn't bounce like it does at home. You've got to go against your instincts.

"You've got to play with your mind and train with your mind. That's something that we haven't adapted quick enough here. The nature of cricket is that you learn from your mistakes but you just don't make that mistake once and that's the last time you do it, you make it over and over and over again. Eventually, through experience it sinks in. But the best seem to learn quicker than most. We've got a talented young group of batters and hopefully they can learn quickly."

However, not all the batsmen are inexperienced in these conditions. Michael Clarke has had great success in India in the past and is again thriving against their slow bowlers, but the other batsman who has played Test cricket in the country, Shane Watson, is yet to have an impact. Last time Watson played a Test in Mohali he scored 126, which remains his last Test hundred.

Watson made 84 and 60 in the tour match in Chennai but in the Tests has failed to build on his starts, scoring 28, 17, 23 and 9. He had looked good during the first innings in Hyderabad until he tried to pull a ball that did not bounce as high as he expected and was trapped lbw by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Di Venuto said it was a classic example of instinct batting.

"He looked unbelievable in the tour game and has looked terrific in his Test innings to date for starts," Di Venuto said. "That's the disappointing thing. The captain needs a bit of help and people to stand up. He looks in terrific touch but the runs just haven't happened.

"His first-innings dismissal [in Hyderabad] was an instinct shot. He pulls so well off length in Australia. The ball stayed down. But if he plays that with a straight bat then he's still in and you don't know where his innings could have gone. He's just got to keep working hard and has got to get better, it's as simple as that. The talent is there, the skills are there and he looks in good touch."


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Bracewell ruled out of second Test

Doug Bracewell has been ruled out of the second Test against England after failing to recover from the foot injury that kept him out of the Dunedin match. Ian Butler, the Otago seamer, has been retained in an unchanged 13-man squad for the Wellington Test which starts on Thursday.

Mike Hesson, the coach, said a decision on Bracewell's fitness will be taken closer to the third Test in Auckland, which begins March 22. He cut his foot while cleaning up after a party the day before joining up with the New Zealand squad last week.

"Unfortunately he just hasn't recovered as we would have hoped," Hesson said. "There's nothing sinister going on with his foot it's just taking longer than we would have hoped.

"He's not running. We hoped he would bowl yesterday to come into consideration but he couldn't get to that point. So he's at home, trying to get back as quick as he can. Hopefully two or three days there and he might get a game for Central Districts and then maybe the third Test."

The key issue for Hesson over the next two days, in the build-up to the Wellington match, is ensuring his three incumbent pace bowlers - Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner - recover from their second-innings exertions at University Oval. New Zealand were in the field for 170 overs and the three quicks sent down 114 of those.

"The next two days will be very much about a rest and recovery period," he said. "They bowled their heart out for a couple of days so we certainly won't be asking too much of them between Tests. We saw with playing four bowlers they have to sustain pace over a long period, so we are after guys who have the ability to keep running in."

After the match Brendon McCullum suggested that an unchanged team is likely for Wellington. "Once the dust settles on this Test match we will turn our attentions to the balance of the next one, but I wouldn't expect too much difference for the next one," he said.

Hesson added that the same balance of bowling attack - three quicks and one spinner - is likely to be retained and he expects more life in the surface for the second Test.

Squad: Brendon McCullum, Trent Boult, Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Walting, Kane Williamson.


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Haddin called in as cover for injured Wade

Brad Haddin could be in line to play his first Test in more than a year after Cricket Australia confirmed he would fly to India to be on standby for the injured Matthew Wade.

Haddin was due to leave Australia on Monday to join the squad after scans revealed Wade had suffered a sprained right ankle while playing basketball with team-mates and support staff in Chandigarh on Saturday. Although Wade has not yet been ruled out of the third Test, which starts in Mohali on Thursday, he must now be considered in serious doubt.

"Matt has a complex ankle injury which has been confirmed by the scans and, at this stage, is in doubt for the third Test starting on Thursday," the team physio, Alex Kountouris, said. "A final decision on whether he will be available for the third Test will be made closer to the match."

Wade has been Australia's preferred Test wicketkeeper since the tour of the West Indies last April. On that tour, he and a struggling Haddin would have been vying for the job for the first Test in Barbados, but Haddin was a late withdrawal from the trip as he flew home to be with his seriously ill daughter.

Despite his age - Haddin turned 35 in October last year - the selectors remained keen on having him around Australian cricket and he played limited-overs matches during the summer when Wade was rested. The intention has always been for both Wade and Haddin to be taken on the long Ashes tour later this year.

Haddin's Sheffield Shield form this summer has been strong and he has scored 468 runs at an average of 52.00 with two centuries. His most recent Test was the Adelaide Test against India in January last year, in a series which Australia won 4-0.


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Anamul regrets throwing away disciplined start

Anamul Haque regrets the timing of his dismissal in his debut Test innings, but is hopeful that Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque could take Bangladesh ably forward in the Galle Test. At the end of the second day, the visitors were two down and needed another 236 to avoid the follow-on.

The third-wicket pair had added 70 runs by the close, Ashraful moving swiftly to 65. The team would hope for a measured approach from him on the third morning. Mominul, also on debut, didn't show any signs of nerves in getting to 35 by stumps, and both batsmen would be required to replicate their Matara tour-match partnership if Bangladesh are to prosper.

"I think the momentum will shift if we are able to bat out the third day," Anamul said. "We still have eight wickets in hand and both batsmen at the crease are set."

Ashraful and Mominul came together after Anamul tried an inside-out shot against Ajantha Mendis that went horribly wrong. "This is the first time I got out playing this particular shot," Anamul said. "I had played it in the West Indies series, where I removed my feet from the line of the ball and played the shot. I picked the doosra here, but the ball turned and I couldn't hit it."

Until he fell in the 24th over, Anamul hardly looked in trouble although he took a very cautious approach. He batted exactly an hour and a half as he moved to 13 off 68 balls, leaving as many as possible and merely placing the ball. With Jahurul Islam, who fell in the eighth over for 20, Anamul forms Bangladesh's first all right-handed opening partnership in seven years - the first since Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal in the Bogra Test against Sri Lanka in March 2006.

Anamul's stand with Ashraful gave Bangladesh the assurance they needed at the start of the innings, but Anamul was not happy that he could not build on his disciplined start. "I got out just when I was supposed to make the runs. I had struggled my way through the innings, playing out the pace bowlers and settling against the spinners.

"Ashraful bhai started to score the runs as soon as he was set. I felt that I should have stayed at the wicket longer to make the runs."

He remained positive though, gaining inspiration from his maiden ODI century which came in only his second game. "My international [ODI series] debut went off well. When it comes to Test cricket, a player feels everything is new in his first Test match. It took me some time to adjust against the different types of bowlers. I tried to spend time at the crease, and overall I didn't feel too bad today."


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Sailkot go top after Amjad ton

Group A

A maiden century by Mansoor Amjad took Sialkot Stallions to a five-wicket win - and thereby top of the points table - over Multan Tigers in Ghari Khuda Baksh.

Multan's innings of 234 revolved around Sohaib Maqsood's 91. The rest of the batting, though, couldn't last long enough to provide him much-needed support. Wickets fell regularly after a second-wicket stand of 96. From 122 for 2, they would be reduced to being bowled out in the last over. All six of the oppositions' bowlers were among the wickets.

In reply, Sialkot struggled at 27 for 3, with offspinner Aamer Yamin taking two of those wickets. But Amjad and opener Yasir Aziz staged a recover with 102 for the fourth wicket, before the later was dismissed for 66. Amjad found able support through Adeel Malik (44), which helped them get home in the 46th over.

An all-round show from Bahawalpur Stags took them to a convincing six-wicket win over Quetta Bears in Karachi. The foundation for the win was laid by seamer Mohammad Mudassar and spinner Faisal Elahi, who shared seven wickets between them to bowl the Bears out for 144, and an aggressive career-best knock of 93 by opener Imranullah Aslam.

Quetta were behind in the game from the outset, as they were 6 for 3. Although a recovery stand of 49 between Taimur Ali and Abid Ali followed, the lower order couldn't follow it up with any resistance.

They picked up an early wicket in Bahawalpur's chase, but that proved to be a false dawn, as Imranullah punished the bowlers in his 88-ball knock with ten fours and four sixes, effectively taking the game away.

A responsible 71 by Sami Aslam was backed up by a decent middle-order batting performance asLahore Eagles defeated Hyderabad Hawks by four wickets in Hyderabad. This was the Hawks' first loss in the tournament, and the Eagles' first win.

They had a shaky start to their chase of 238, with two wickets falling early, but Jahangir Mirza, who scored 54, stuck with Aslam to put on a 111-run stand. Later, the captain and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal also chipped in with a half-century, to help his side get home with two overs to spare.

Hyderabad, with a 132-run stand for the third wicket between Taj Wasan and Rizwan Ahmed, got to a commanding 173 for 2 at one stage in their innings. But the next eight wickets fell for 64 runs, as the middle and lower order crumbled. Wasan finished on 69, while Rizwan finished on 73. Adnan Rasool was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 28.

Group B

Karachi Zebras won their rain-affected encounter with Faisalabad Wolves in Rawalpinidi by 1 run through D/L method, and moved to top spot in Group B.

Karachi were put into bat, and started solidly to get to 105 for 2. The innings lost momentum thereafter, as Faisalabad struck regularly. Contributions from Tariq Haroon (37) and Anwar Ali (37) helped push the total to 215, as they were dismissed in 46 overs.

Faisalabad, in reply, were in trouble at 18 for 3. They lost two more in quick succession to be reduced to 60 for 5. Zeeshan Butt's unbeaten 67, along with Imran Khalid's 42, did their best to steer the ship, as they put on a 97-run stand for the seventh wicket. However, once rain intervened, Faisalabad were 1 run short of the D/L comparative score.

Islamabad Leopards won their rain-affected game against Abbottabad Falcons by 20 runs through D/L method, in Islamabad.

Islamabad chose to bat, with opener Raheel Majeed scoring 47. A brace of wickets left Umair Khan batting with the rest of the tail as Islamabad struggled to string substantial partnerships. Khan's unbeaten 91, supported by small contributions from other batsmen, and 31 extras, pushed their score to 275 for 9. Kamran Ghulam was the pick of the bowlers with a career-best 3 for 29.

Abbottabad started strongly with a 102-run stand between Ghulam and Sajjad Ali. However, with the fall of regular wickets, they fell behind in the chase, which was revived by a 51-run stand for the seventh wicket. A late rally from Yasir Shah, with an unbeaten 66, tried to keep them abreast of the required run-rate. But once rain intervened they were found short by 20 runs on D/L.

Peshawar Panthers comprehensively beat Lahore Lions by 80 runs at Gaddafi Stadium, to move up to second spot on the points table.

Peshawar, after electing to bat, lost Israrullah for 4. Nawaz Ahmed and wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan combined for 118 runs for the second wicket to stage a recovery. Nawaz finished with 93, with further contributions from Rizwan (55), Iftikhar Ahmed (81) and Gauhar Ali (26). Aizaz Cheema took wickets both up front and towards the end of the innings, as Panthers finished with 294 for 7 in their fifty overs. Cheema had best figures of 5 for 61.

Lahore Lions didn't start assuredly well, as they lost opener Imran Butt for 10. They could not string together meaningful partnerships, as the top and middle-order struggled to keep pace with the soaring required run-rate. The innings was kept in check through the bowling of spinner Mohammad Adnan, who picked up 5 for 46, and Zohaib Khan, who picked up 3 for 33. Despite a late order hit-out from Asif Raza (30) and Agha Salman (42), Lahore folded for 214 in the 48th over.


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Finn shines as England close in on draw

Tea England 382 for 4 (Finn 56*, Trott 10) and 167 lead New Zealand 460 for 9 dec by 89 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Steven Finn excelled in a new role as nightwatchman by striking a maiden Test fifty as England made steady progress towards saving the first Test in Dunedin. By tea on the final day, England had a lead of 89 with six wickets remaining, the job as good as done. As Finn walked back to the dressing room full of smiles, with 56 to his name, he was in danger of getting the job on a full-time basis.

England lost Nick Compton on a slow final morning, with Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen following in the afternoon, Pietersen's out-of-sorts innings even bringing conjecture that he might have been carrying an injury. All three batsmen fell to the persistent left-arm seam of Neil Wagner, but if the wickets kept a flicker of interest in the match, they never suggested that New Zealand might be on a roll.

Finn could take much credit for that. His wagon wheel when he reached fifty showed five boundaries scooting off in the general direction of third man, but he made good use of his long reach on a pitch that remained as docile as ever. James Anderson, his predecessor, has taken a battering in some of the most threatening situations Test cricket can offer, but Finn got a cushier job and relaxed into it with aplomb. Wagner did test him against the short ball eventually, but only at around 130kph and only when his eye was in.

He reached his 50 from 152 balls, angling Wagner through gully, but then decided to take stock, scratched a new guard and did not score for the next hour and a quarter, his next single, bringing ironic applause from the Barmy Army and a blast from Billy Cooper's trumpet. It was just as well that he did dig in because Trott fell for 52 in the same over, Wagner taking a good leaping catch in his follow-through from a leading edge, and Pietersen soon followed to a weak edge from a nondescript shot.

Perhaps it will emerge that Pietersen is injured, perhaps he was just having one of those days. Just as he is intoxicated by the big occasion, he can run on empty if a game feels flat. If he guested in a club knockabout, there is every chance that somebody would get him out for nought, just as there would be every chance that Finn would get a hundred.

Finn escaped a couple of tough chances; in the first over of the day edging very low towards Dean Brownlie at third slip and later, on 37, sending an edge between the slips off Kane Williamson. The middle of the bat often proved elusive, especially when compared to the timing shown by Trott, but his stay was testament to the work England's bowlers put in on their batting.

England began the day still 59 runs behind and a couple of early wickets, with the ball still new, would have opened the door for New Zealand. However, it took them more than an hour to make the breakthrough which came when Wagner swung one back into Compton's pads who, for a moment, considered the review before deciding, wisely as replays showed, that it would have been a waste.

Compton's seven-hour innings - 117 from 310 balls - was a study in concentration and determination. He was given a warm ovation as he walked off, his father Richard leading the applause from the crowd, and was safe in knowledge that his Test berth is now secure.

Trott played effortlessly, a punchy straight drive off Bruce Martin emphasising that there would be no last-day encouragement for New Zealand's left-arm spinner, who instead continued toil on a dead surface. England made only 53 from 28 overs between lunch and tea and Finn was responsible for 14 of them. But the overs were ticking down and, for England, that was all that mattered.


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Ankle injury puts Wade in doubt for third Test

Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is in doubt for the third Test after hurting his ankle while playing basketball in Chandigarh on Saturday. Brad Haddin has been placed on standby for Wade, pending the result of scans on Sunday morning, four days before the start of the Test.

"Matt Wade sprained his right ankle playing basketball yesterday afternoon," Australia physio Alex Kountouris said. "His ankle is subsequently swollen and painful so will have a scan this morning to help determine the extent of the injury and how we manage it. He will not take part in today's training session."

This is the second consecutive Test in which there has been doubt surrounding Wade's fitness, after he suffered a minor fracture to his cheek while facing throwdowns in the nets on the eve of the second Test in Hyderabad. Wade played that match and scored 62 in the first innings batting at No.6, which has been his position since the final Test of the home summer.

The Australians arrived in Chandigarh on Thursday but the players have had two days off since following their innings defeat in Hyderabad. The squad will train at the Mohali ground for the first time on Sunday.


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