SA triumph in straightforward D/L chase

South Africa Under-19s 157 for 4 (Fortuin 62) beat England Under-19s 205 for 8 (Velani 78, Jackson 62, Sigwili 4-34) by six wickets D/L
Scorecard

South Africa moved a step closer to a series whitewash with a six-wicket victory at Stellenbosch but their run chase was given a generous donation by the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The game's second interruption for rain came as South Africa required 84 to win in 90 balls with seven wickets remaining. They were on course for victory, if needing to raise their run-rate by a significant margin. But the revised target made the task very straightforward as they resumed with 33 to win from 30 balls - a target that proved no issue as they won with eight balls to spare.

Victory may have come anyway as Clyde Fortuin was marshalling the innings well. He and Jason Smith added 56 as the chase made good progress. But had Fortuin been dismissed with plenty of work left to do - as would have been the case without rain - England could have got home.

As it was their middle-order blow out cost them. Having elected to bat they would have wanted to set a more challenging score. Callum Jackson and Kishen Velani put together a stand of 133 but progress was slow and, as new batsman tried to accelerate in the last 10 overs, wickets tumbled six wickets fell in as many overs and only Gavin Griffiths at No. 10 made another double figure score.

Nqazibini Sigwili's left-arm seamers did the damage with 4 for 34 as South Africa went on to knock off the target, aided by the Duckworth-Lewis system.

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Dhaka's different match-winners

Shakib Al Hasan and Mosharraf Hossain, two stars of Dhaka Gladiators' 43-run win against Chittagong Kings in the final of the BPL, faced dissimilar questions after the victory, for both are at different stages of their careers.

Shakib was asked questions about cars he had won, and what makes they were. Mosharraf, the 31-year-old left-arm spinner, faced questions on stage fright, playing with stars and learning about his strengths and weaknesses. He answered them with glee, for his three wickets had triggered a middle-order collapse, and had earned him the Man-of-the-Match award. It was his finest performance in a 12-year career, in which he had played three ODIs for Bangladesh close to five years ago.

"It was the biggest stage for me, but I just wanted to do things as I have done earlier in my career," Mosharraf said. "I wanted to keep things tight and take wickets, basically help my team-mates do less. It was a very good batting wicket where scoring at ten an over wasn't difficult. I just wanted to cut out the runs and get the wickets."

Long years in domestic cricket have made Mosharraf a perfectionist. He would have loved to finish with a four-wicket haul, but a catch fell between two fielders off his last ball. "I could have done a lot better. I bowled one really bad ball towards the end. I also had one catch that wasn't taken, but I am happy with the three wickets. It is a really big day for me."

Mashrafe Mortaza, his captain, was pleased to see one of his unheralded players do well. "I had full confidence in Mosharraf, simply because he was in superb form ahead of the BPL. He had taken five-fors and ten-fors at will almost, so it was just a matter of telling them that what they are doing is great."

Mosharraf banks on steadiness. He has 255 first-class wickets, so he isn't afraid of tossing the ball at a batsman. Against the Kings he did flight a few, but they were few and far between. He depends on a tight line around off stump, mostly forcing the batsman to cut the ball. That is how Ryan ten Doeschate perished, when he attempted to top-edged a cut to Tillakaratne Dilshan at point. It was a big wicket, and Mosharraf was in the centre of the team huddle, something that doesn't usually occur.

In that same huddle was Shakib, whose feisty 41 off 29 balls had given the Gladiators a good start. On the morning of the final, Shakib retained his No. 1 ranking as a Test allrounder by default. He missed a few matches through injury but when he returned, it was with some runs and a lot of control with the ball, though the bowling came off a shortened run-up and wickets weren't too frequent.

He had a quiet BPL by his standards, though 329 runs and 15 wickets are impressive numbers. He had won the Man-of-the-Tournament award last year for a dynamic show for Khulna Royal Bengals. When asked about the difference between his first Man-of-the-Tournament prize and the second, Shakib said: "I think the only difference was the model of the car."

Shakib will be off to Australia for a check-up on his injured shin, before deciding whether he will play in Sri Lanka, where Bangladesh are due to tour next month. Mosharraf will go back home after taking the plaudits. And in a few days, he will return to the Shere Bangla Stadium to begin preparation for Central Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League final, which begins on February 22.

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Warner confident of playing first Test

David Warner is preparing to bat with a splint - and through pain - in the first Test in Chennai as he continues his recovery from a fractured thumb. Warner faced pace bowling in the nets on Tuesday and was due to take part in a full fielding drill on Wednesday in what was effectively the final hurdle he needed to clear to prove his fitness after sitting out of cricket since he was struck on the thumb by Mitchell Johnson in the WACA nets late last month.

Warner suffered a crack in the joint and he expects to feel pain and have limited movement in the thumb for some time, but that is unlikely to keep him off the field. Warner said only "a proper injury", one that stopped him from running, fielding or throwing, would keep him out of Test cricket and he said he was prepared to put up with the pain he was enduring in the thumb to play for his country.

"I am very confident of playing," Warner said in Chennai. "I have had four long days of training. I have been hitting for an hour each session to get a feel of hitting the ball and putting myself under fatigue to see if I will get any pain as I go on. I have iced it every time after training. It has been sore, yes, but that's what is going to happen with a break.

"They said to me initially three to four weeks, it's now coming up to the end of the third week and it is still pretty sore. I am having a full training session in the field [on Wednesday] so I will know then 100 percent if I can catch balls. I caught some balls at 50 percent and felt no pain at all. I have a splint that I can use when I'm in the field, which protects the thumb and while I'm batting. At this present time, I am 100 percent ready to go."

Warner is well aware that if he plays in Chennai, it will not be a pain-free experience. Although India are likely to use a spin-heavy attack, Warner will still need to face Ishant Sharma with the new ball and he is relying on his splint to help protect him from any further damage from rising deliveries.

"There is a rubber piece which sits at the end of the thumb, I have a guard that sits halfway underneath and covers the top part so if I get hit, it gets protected," he said. "I got hit yesterday in the nets on it by a spinner. It was a bit painful but I'm all right. I have a nice hard plastic case as well on the outside so touch wood I don't get hit but, if I do, I will be right."

Provided Warner gets through the new ball, much of his work in this Test is likely to be against spin, with India considering including three slow men on a dry pitch expected to take plenty of turn. Despite having missed both the warm-up matches, Warner is confident he has the game to succeed against spin in Indian conditions.

"It's important to either get down the wicket or get real deep in your crease," Warner said. "If you can put them off their game, then you know you're in for a good day. My game is to be decisive - either go forward or go back. If I'm caught in between, that's where my downfall is. I feel my game is better where I'm putting the pressure on the bowler. You've got to show intent, try and look to score, but that doesn't mean scoring off every ball. You have to respect the good balls, and when the ball is there to be hit, use your feet."

One of his foes in the Indian spin department could be Harbhajan Singh, who in past series has riled the Australians with his chat on and off the field, and could be set to play his 100th Test in Chennai. Warner, who is arguably the most verbal of the current batch of Australians on the field, said he hoped he could use his bat to end any trash talk.

"I don't think there will be much chirp," Warner said. "I think that we're all good mates off the field. I think the IPL has set a good balance between all the nations, because everyone has played with each other in different IPL franchises. When we we're on the field we're very competitive. But there is a line there that no one ever crosses.

"I know you're going to get a little bit of banter from certain people but you're going to have to learn to cop that and that's how it is. We dish it out at home, we've got to be prepared to take it. Come game one, you've got your normal culprits as usual ... we all know who they are. They'll come out and start firing but you know what - it will only last probably half an hour if you get on top of them."

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NZ steady after early Anderson blows

25 overs New Zealand 89 for 2 (Taylor 37*, Williamson 32*) v England
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ross Taylor, beginning to find form after his self-imposed international exile, and Kane Williamson dragged New Zealand up from an uncertain start on a good batting pitch in Napier, after Alastair Cook had won the toss and chose to bowl. James Anderson and Steven Finn applied a chokehold during the Powerplay, as England sought parity in the three-match series, but Taylor and Williamson had begun to wrestle themselves free by the halfway stage of the innings.

Anderson, fresh from passing Ian Botham as England's leading wicket-taker in international cricket, had talked of bowling until he was 40 before the match. You suspect even as an Oldsmobile he would cruise in smoothly but the current model is a genuine handful and more experienced drivers than BJ Watling have nicked to first slip pushing at Anderson's length ball, which just veered away enough to take the edge in the seventh over.

Anderson and Finn built the early pressure, refusing the batsmen width to attack the short square boundaries. Hamish Rutherford did manage to find the rope, squeezing the ball away off his hips and then flashing, in the air, behind point but his debut one-day innings was ended by a piece of Anderson guile. Rutherford eyeballed the pitch when a length ball sat up rather more pertly than he expected, causing him to punch uppishly to extra-cover where Alastair Cook clung on diving to his left, but the effect of Anderson cutting his fingers over the ball was telling.

At the end of the Powerplay, New Zealand were 21 for 2 and a total in excess of 300 looked a long way off. The last time these two teams met a Napier, they split 680 runs precisely down the middle, with Luke Wright keeping New Zealand to six off the final over to force a tie. Paul Collingwood, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Owais Shah and Wright shared 20 overs that day but, with the shift in their strategy towards specialists, England's attack looked a meaner machine five years to the day on.

When the first change came, Anderson had figures of 6-2-11-2. Finn had also gone at less than two an over and New Zealand had to attempt to force the pace against Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad. The latter experienced some issues with his length and Taylor then took two fours off Woakes' third over to drag the rate up a little. The introduction of Graeme Swann emphasised the quality at Cook's disposal but Williamson showcased his own qualities with a straight punch down the ground for a one-bounce four against the offspinner.

While England were unchanged, New Zealand made three switches to the XI that won by three wickets in Hamilton at the weekend. Injuries to Martin Guptill and Mitchell McClenaghan meant places for Rutherford and Trent Boult, while Tim Southee was fast-tracked back into the side after a thumb problem in place of Andrew Ellis, for his first international appearance since the tour of Sri Lanka.

New Zealand 1 Hamish Rutherford, 2 BJ Watling, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 7 James Franklin, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Tim Southee

England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn

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India lack BCCI support - Connor

Clare Connor, the ICC women's committee chairman and former England Women's captain, has blamed the BCCI for India's poor showing at the Women's World Cup.

India finished in seventh place after failing to qualify for the Super Six stage with just one victory from the group phase. Connor has said the team did not receive the support they deserved from their board.

Connor is now head of women's cricket at the ECB who have made the England Women's team the best-resourced in the world but says standards have slipped in India and the BCCI are at fault.

"Generally India have been strong but other teams, Sri Lanka and West Indies who have accelerated so much in the past four years, are overtaking them," Connor said in an interview. "The Indian players and the support staff will look to the BCCI for more support."

"There is such passion for cricket in this country. It probably asks the question whether the women have had the support they deserve because their standards have slipped. While that is partly the responsibility of the players I don't think they had as much support going into this tournament as they would need. That is a shame because they were the hosts and we wanted to bring the World Cup to India because of the passion for the game. It is a shame they didn't make it further in the tournament.

"If there is more support from the BCCI, then standards will rise. The passion is there for the game, people just need to know more about women's cricket probably, and hopefully that support will grow."

Connor said the world cup was a "huge achievement" for the women's game but it was disappointing that the BCCI didn't put as much weight into the tournament as it has done for men's competitions. The Wankhede Stadium was dropped at a late hour to host the final of the Ranji Trophy.

"For me personally the disappointment is that the BCCI has not pulled its way as much as it could have done for the Indian women's team and to support the profile and exposure of this tournament.

"The market for women's cricket in India is massive. It is why we wanted a successful tournament here. We wanted to engage this cricket-mad nation and we wanted people to support the Indian women's team more. We want to grow the game. We want there to be role models and the aspiration to play towards the highest level. Hopefully on television that message would have got across a little bit.

"India is really important for the women's cricket. It has so much passion for the game that has not necessarily flowed into the women's game. Over time I hope that will happen with more high-quality cricket being played. It has huge finance in terms of backing the game. I hope this tournament has gone towards opening up some minds that were closed towards women's cricket in the past."

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Baroda win thriller after Yusuf ton

West Zone

Yusuf Pathan found his touch again with a typically aggressive 116, off only 102 balls to help Baroda overhaul Saurashtra's 299 at the Poona Club Ground, but it was a tense affair with Baroda getting there by one wicket. It was a terrific knock under pressure as Baroda were in trouble at one stage at 29 for 3 and later 127 for 5. Jyot Chhaya joined Pathan at the fall of the fifth wicket and the pair added 135 for the sixth wicket with Chhaya blasting five sixes in his 55-ball 82. The stand took the game away from Saurashtra. Pathan had all but taken Baroda over the line, when he was dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat 19 away from the target. His was the eighth wicket to fall, giving Saurashtra the edge. Bhargav Bhatt made the difference with a 13-ball 21 to help Baroda sneak home. Earlier, half-centuries by Sheldon Jackson and Rahul Dave took Saurashtra to a tall score. Dave missed his century by four runs.

D Subramanian made it a debut to remember as his 61 helped Mumbai beat Maharashtra under lights in Pune. His half-century, plus a couple of 40s by Siddhesh Lad and Aditya Tare helped Mumbai to 255. For Maharashtra, Ankit Bawne was the only player to offer resistance with 63. The middle order failed to contribute as Mumbai took control after the 35th over and restricted Maharashtra to 205.

South Zone

Centuries by the openers Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul helped Karnataka to their fourth straight win, over Hyderabad in Porvorim. Karnataka posted 305 and half-centuries by Hanuma Vihari and Bavanaka Sandeep kept Hyderabad in the hunt, but a four-wicket haul by Stuart Binny sealed the match for Karnataka. Hyderabad won the toss and had to wait 34 overs for their first breakthrough. Uthappa and Rahul added 206 before Uthappa was trapped lbw for 103. It was a continuation of Uthappa's dream run, which includes recent scores of 169, 54 and 49. Rahul was dismissed four overs later for a 107-ball 110, which included nine fours. Manish Pandey made a quick 42 to help Karnataka get close to 300, but the rest of the batting collapsed. Ironically, the Hyderabad bowler who bowled the maximum quota of 12 overs was their most expensive, Ashish Reddy, who leaked 88 but picked up three wickets. Hyderabad responded strongly with a stand of 140 between Vihari and captain Sandeep for the third wicket. SL Akshay's spell changed the course of the game. The seamer got rid of Vihari for 84, and then Sandeep for 72. With both well-set batsmen dismissed, Karnataka made further inroads. Akshay's spell led to Hyderabad losing four wickets for 27, with the bowler finishing with figures of 4 for 50. Binny cleaned up the lower order to help Karnataka win by 47 runs.

Half-centuries by Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby helped Kerala to their third win, beating Tamil Nadu by five wickets in Margao. Tamil Nadu chose to bat first and it was their captain Dinesh Karthik who led the way with a 55-ball 73 that included eight fours and three sixes. Yo Mahesh smashed 40 off 18 balls to lift Tamil Nadu to 257 for 7. Sreesanth was expensive, conceding 83 off his 11 overs. The chase was led by Samson and Baby, who came together at 127 for 4 in the 28th over and added 94 for the fifth wicket. Baby fell for 61, but Samson remained unbeaten on 85 to see his team through.

A knock of 125 from opener Srikar Bharat, his highest List A score, and a combined bowling effort led Andhra to a 170-run victory over Goa in Vasco da Gama. Chasing 261, Goa, with eight batsmen scoring in single digits, folded for 91. The 119-run opening stand between Bharat and Prasanth Kumar, who scored 37, and a 74-run stand between Bharat and B Sumanth, who scored 45, were the bedrock of Andhra's innings. In reply, Goa were jolted early by seamer Syed Sahabuddin, who reduced them to 19 for 3. Andhra bowlers kept chipping away at Goa, and the game was wrapped up by the 26th over.

East Zone

It was a low-scorer at Eden Gardens as Bengal beat Jharkhand by three wickets chasing a modest 162. Bengal justified their decision to field when they had the opposition at 84 for 6. Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Iresh Saxena made inroads in the top and middle order, before Shami Ahmed took three lower-order wickets to bowl out Jharkhand in the 38th over. Kumar Deobrat was the top scorer with 45. Bengal got off to a poor start, losing their top three to single-figure scores. A couple of 30s by Subhomoy Das and Wriddhiman Saha put Bengal on the recovery path. Things got tight at 136 for 7, but Shami's three sixes in his unbeaten 23 ensured the hosts got through.

Another low-scorer was played out at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata, as Odisha beat Tripura by four wickets. Odisha chose to field, and all seven bowlers contributed in bowling out Tripura for 165 within 46 overs. Manisankar Murasingh was the top scorer with 32. Odisha got of to a poor start when they lost two wickets by the fifth over. Tripura sensed they were in with a chance when they had the opposition at 87 for 5. A stand of 51 between Lagnajit Samal and Rakesh Mohanty put Odisha back on track. Mohanty remained unbeaten on 42.

Central Zone

An unbeaten 101 off 94 balls by Jatin Saxena helped Madhya Pradesh beat Rajasthan by six wickets at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. The Madhya Pradesh bowlers did well to restrict Rajasthan to 211 after winning the toss. Wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik was the top scorer with 63 and the only batsman to pass fifty. Anurag Singh finished with 3 or 41. Saxena came in at the fall of the first wicket, in the third over, and stayed till the end. He hit 15 fours in his knock and shared stands of 83 and 87 with Anand Singh and Rameez Khan respectively.

It was a one-sided affair at the Emerald High School ground in Indore as Uttar Pradesh piled on 286 and thrashed Vidarbha by 96 runs. Uttar Pradesh were put in to bat and there were half-centuries by Tanmay Srivastava, Prashant Gupta and Akshdeep Nath. An opening stand of 94 between Srivastava and Gupta set the platform and towards the end, Nath smashed an unbeaten 70 off just 47 balls to push Uttar Pradesh to 286. Akshay Kolhar was the only batsman to offer resistance for Vidarbha with 76. Imtiaz Ahmed was the most effective bowler for UP with 3 for 38.

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Dhaka Gladiators vie for second title

Match Facts

February 19, 2013
Start time 1800 (1200 GMT)

Big Picture

Dhaka Gladiators will play with a Chris Gayle-sized hole in their line-up for the final. But credit to the make-up of their team. They take on Chittagong Kings, against whom they first lost a match before winning one. It is shaping up to be a close contest as the Kings have picked up momentum at the right time, but the Gladiators are a side heavy on Twenty20 specialists.

The Gladiators have had a solid campaign so far, much of it due to their squad that was the best on paper before the tournament started and remains so, through the 13 matches. Mohammad Ashraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Anamul Haque and Darren Stevens have led with the bat while Alfonso Thomas' Twenty20 experience has been vital with the ball, picking up 17 wickets. Shakib and fellow left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain have taken the bulk of the wickets together and their combined eight overs will again be important.

Kings' strength is in their bowling, especially left-arm spin. Enamul Haque jnr has taken 18 wickets and his four overs will most likely be played out quietly by the rampant Gladiators. The batting will be propped up by Ryan ten Doeschate who has played several vital knocks, but the lack of runs from Ravi Bopara is a problem that needs to be solved on the big day.

Form guide

(Most recent first, completed matches)
Dhaka Gladiators WWLWW
Chittagong Kings WWLWL

In the spotlight

After Gayle's departure, Shakib Al Hasan will again be the most important player in the Gladiators' line-up. Shakib has had a quiet tournament so far, though there have been the odd contributions. He will bat at No. 3 and the four overs of left-arm spin will hold the key for the defending champions in the final.

Enamul Haque jnr has been the vital performer for Chittagong Kings even on bad days. Apart from the wickets, he offers control in a bowling attack that is slowly shaping up at the right time of the tournament.

Team news

Since Luke Wright is in New Zealand and Chris Gayle returned after one match, Ashraful is likely to open and Josh Cobb could make it to the playing eleven of the Gladiators.

Dhaka Gladiators (probable): 1 Tillekaratne Dilshan, 2 Mohammad Ashraful, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Anamul Haque (wk), 5 Darren Stevens, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Josh Cobb, 8 Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (capt), 9 Alfonso Thomas, 10 Mosharraf Hossain, 11 Saqlain Sajib

The same line-up is likely for the Kings as they have won two games on the trot with this eleven.

Chittagong Kings (probable): 1 Naeem Islam, 2 Jason Roy, 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Nurul Hasan (wk), 5 Ryan ten Doeschate, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Kevon Cooper, 8 Jacob Oram, 9 Ariful Haque, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Enamul Haque jnr

Stats and trivia

The war of the wicket-takers will be a sideshow in the final. Thomas has 19 wickets while Enamul is on 18 wickets.

Quotes

"We have to play our best cricket because there's no second chance. I am confident of the team, because we have done very well throughout the competition."
Dhaka Gladiators captain Mashrafe Mortaza is upbeat about defending the title.

"There are no favourites in a Twenty20 match, but Dhaka Gladiators are a good side."
Chittagong Kings captain Mahmudullah is not underestimating the opposition.

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Ajantha Mendis takes 11 in innings win for Army

Army Sports Club strengthened their position atop the Group A ladder, while Tamil Union and Sinhalese Sports Club moved to the top of the Group B table, after the third round of the Premier League Tournament. Army recorded their second innings victory on-the-trot ,against the Lankan Cricket Club, while SSC took first innings points in their clash with NCC. Tamil Union won by eight wickets for the third time, defeating Galle Cricket Club at the Galle International Stadium. Most of Sri Lanka's Test cricketers had returned to their club teams for this round. Six of the ten matches yielded outright results.

Army's spin duo have been in outstanding form during the tournament, and they were once again the architects of victory, sharing all but one of the 20 wickets between them in Panagoda. Ajantha Mendis was named in Sri Lanka's preliminary Test squad for the Bangladesh series this week, and he celebrated by taking seven first innings wickets for 67, to dismiss Lankan Cricket Club for 200, after they chose to bat first. Only Lakshan Edirisinghe passed fifty for Army, but enough batsmen got starts to hand them a 131-run lead, before they unleashed the spinners on the opposition again. It was legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna's turn to get a big haul in the second innings, as he took 6 for 36 while Mendis got 4 for 38. Mendis is now the top wicket-taker in the league, and Prasanna is third. LCC fell for 107, and lost by an innings and 24 runs.

The big clash of round three was between Sinhalese Sports Club and Nondescripts Cricket Club at the SSC ground, and first innings tons from Dimuth Karunaratne and Thilan Samaraweera helped SSC to 511, after being sent in, before Sachithra Senanayake secured first innings points with the ball. Karunaratne and Samaraweera both made their second first-class centuries in the season, but while Karunaratne is tuning up for the Bangladesh series, in which he is almost guaranteed to open for Sri Lanka, Samaraweera's 136-ball 111 came in a week when he was dropped from Sri Lanka's Test side. Senanayake then took four wickets, and Dhammika Prasad took three, as the hosts dismissed NCC for 232, with Dinesh Chandimal being the only batsman to put up significant resistance, making 89. SSC opted not to enforce the follow on and made 232 in the third innings, which effectively made an outright victory impossible. Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal was also picked for Sri Lanka last week, and had arrived at SSC with an average under 9. But his incredible first-class figures were dented slightly in his third match, as he collected 5 for 154.

Sri Lanka's selectors will be pleased at the nature of Tamil Union's victory over Galle Cricket Club in Galle, as the players they have chosen for the Bangladesh series were largely responsible for the result, at the venue at which they will play their first Test, in three weeks. Suranga Lakmal nabbed five wickets in the first innings and Shaminda Eranga took three, as Tamil Union skittled Galle for 137, before Ashen Silva and Jeevan Mendis - who have both been picked in the Test squad for the first time - made the only first innings fifties in seemingly difficult batting conditions. If it's Galle, it usually means a Rangana Herath five-wicket haul, and he obliged with 5 for 20 in the second innings, while Eranga took four more. Galle were dismissed for 131 in the second dig, and Tamil Union waltzed to victory, having been in the lead by 89 after the first innings.

Panadura Sports Club defeated Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club by 101 runs in a big group A clash in Panadura, thanks largely to the efforts of Prasanna Jayawardene, Dilruwan Perera and Chamara Silva. Jayawardene is still recovering from the broken thumb he suffered during the Boxing Day Test, and has not resumed keeping wickets, but held Panadura's first innings together, with a 94-ball 77. In response to the hosts' 214, Bloomfield could only score 131 as Perera and Chathura Peiris took seven wickets between them. An unbeaten 104 from 105 balls from Chamara Silva then made the match safe for Panadura, who declared at 285 for 5 in the second dig, then dismissed the opposition 102 runs from their target. Suraj Randiv took three wickets in each innings for Bloomfield, and made a fifty as well, but he travelled at over five an over.

Elsewhere, a 333-run opening stand between Udara Jayasundera and Ian Daniel helped Ragama Cricket Club take first innings points in their match against Burgher Recreation Club in Colombo. Jayasundera made 222 and Daniel 172, after BRC had made 367 in their first innings. Malinga Bandara took 6 for 90 for Ragama in the first innings.

Another exceptional partnership helped Moors defeat the Colts Cricket Club by six wickets, after the Colts seemed to be heading towards victory. Isham Ghouse and Janaka Gunaratne put on an unconquered 260 together in the fourth innings, after their side had slipped to 53 for 4 in pursuit of 308. Neither team had managed 150 in the first innings, though Colts took a handy 46-run lead, but the pitch settled down as the match wore on, making the steep fourth-innings chase possible. Akila Dananjaya bowled 16 overs in the match for Colts and took 2 for 61. Dilhara Lokuhettige, Sajeewa Weerakoon and Chaturanga de Silva all took five wicket hauls.

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Semi-final postponed after washout

Chittagong Kings v Sylhet Royals - Match abandoned without a ball bowled
Scorecard

Heavy rain in Mirpur from Sunday afternoon forced the semi-final of the BPL between Chittagong Kings and Sylhet Royals to be shifted to Monday. The match will now be contested from 6:00pm, according to the BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick.

The unseasonal rain began on Saturday evening, and even on Sunday morning, it was merely cloudy with some parts of Dhaka getting rain. But by the afternoon, there was heavy rain in Mirpur, which continued till early evening. The groundstaff worked all day to keep the covers on, but stopped using the super-sopper or draining out the water after 7:00pm on Sunday.

Since the BPL is a domestic tournament, the playing conditions is in the hands of the home board, and the BCB decided to take the game to the next day, as it was already a rest day in the earlier provided schedule.

Mallick, however, added that if the rain continues on Monday and the same situation crops up, they would either have to run the 5-over game, or one-over eliminator or even the toss of a coin could be used to decide the winner.

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'Australia's technique found wanting' - Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary sounded the first unofficial salvo of an otherwise far 'kinder, gentler' run-up to an India-Australia series in a long time when he said that a good number of Australian batsmen had been "wanting" in their technique against the India A spinners on day two of their three-day practice match at the ICL Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai.

Tiwary, a free-spirited batsman, became the second centurion in the India A innings, scoring 129 as his team was all out for 451 just before tea on a rain-affected day. After the day's play, with Australia scoring 131 for 4 and losing all four batsmen to the spinners Rakesh Dhurv and Jalaj Saxena, Tiwary didn't hold back, either on opinion or prediction.

"They haven't played the spinners as well as they could have - because I think the technique was [found] wanting," he said. Australia were tootling along at a good clip against the four India A medium pacers before spin was introduced in the 21st over. Left-arm spinner Dhurv had Ed Cowan leg before in the 23rd over and Australia lost three more wickets before stumps. Off-spinner Saxena had Phil Hughes stumped and Usman Khawaja bowled, both scoring 1. Of all the batsmen, it was only Shane Watson who looked completely in control.

Tiwary said of the bulk of the Australian top order, "They were not sure of their defence to be honest. That's why they were not stretching enough to play the spin and not going back enough to play their shots." Australia are without captain Michael Clarke and opener David Warner and Tiwary was not without his assessment. "If this is the way they are going to bat, it's going to be difficult for them to be honest… to face quality spinners like Bhajjupa (Harbhajan Singh) and Ashwin and Ojha. The way they are bowling, it will be very difficult for them."

Should the wicket in Chepauk, where the first Test begins on February 22, be like what it was at the Guru Nanak College ground - slow, low, with very little pace and minor turn - Tiwary predicted more worries for "all their bowlers."

Watson though said there was, "absolutely no doubt about what India is going to hit us with." The start of the tour, he said, was proving to be a "big learning curve for a lot of the guys" and that the best approach to playing spin in India had to be "proactive." Spinners he said must "certainly" be attacked. "You can't just allow them to settle in a certain line and length and allow them to be able to bowl that ball over and over again. At some stage that ball is going to turn and bounce and do something. As individual batsmen, we have to find a game plan to have as much success as we can."

Australia's lesser-experienced batsmen, he said, were however, "very talented guys."

"They have scored a lot of first-class runs in different conditions and it won't take a very long time to find a game plan and a technique that will work here."

Lost in the assessment of Australia's response to the two rather unheralded Indian spinners was Tiwary's own performance; every time he has been given an opportunity against touring sides, he has scored runs this season, getting 93 against England A before his century in Chennai. "I came out to play this match, not to impress anyone but just to make myself happy after scoring runs. I was very conscious about getting big runs here to prove myself that I can score runs against quality opposition as well," he said.

One of the shadow men for spots in the Indian Test middle order, Tiwary more talked about for his one-day game said, "My dream has always been to play Test cricket. It depends on the selectors what they think about me and whether they can show some faith in me. My job was to score runs and I will do that as long as I play first-class cricket and four-day cricket."

The push for an India spot, he said, demanded a high degree of determination because of the competition. "You know the competition is so high you can't miss out in an innings because you will go back few months of selection." When asked whether he considered his game good enough to handle fast bowling adequately, he said that he was concerned what his game "looked" like. "What I can do is I can score runs and if you can only look ugly and score runs, I will still go for runs. It doesn't matter if I look odd or ugly in facing quick bowlers. I know my game and I know how to score runs. That's how I have been able to score more than 5000 runs in seven or eight years of first-class cricket."

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