Dominant Pakistan A seal series

Pakistan A 208 for 3 (K Akmal 104*) beat Afghanistan 207 for 9 (Naib 100, Imran 3-35, Riaz 3-40) by seven wickets
Scorecard

A collective bowling effort was backed up by an attacking century from wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal as Pakistan A clinched the second unofficial ODI against Afghanistan by seven wickets, and thereby the series 2-0.

Afghanistan were behind for most of the game, after their top-order batsmen were dismissed cheaply. Seamers Imran Khan and Wahab Riaz, and spinner Adnan Rasool reduced them to 77 for 6, before 21-year old Gulbodin Naib put on a 93-run partnership with Mirwais Ashraf to help push their score beyond 200.

Naib started slowly, but made up for it towards the end of the innings to bring up his hundred in the penultimate over, before falling to Wahab Riaz five balls later. He struck 13 fours and three sixes in his innings.

Pakistan, unlike their opponents, were in control of their innings throughout. An opening stand of 94, dominated by Akmal, in 18.4 overs set the base for a comfortable victory. Akmal retired hurt after scoring 104, and by then he had seen his side through to a secure position at 177 for 3.

Pakistan had won the first match comfortably as well, by eight wickets.

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NCC, SL Army dominant after second round

A comprehensive performance from Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) set up their second big win in two matches and sent them to the top of the Group B table, while Sri Lanka Army topped group A, having won a low-scorer, in the second round of the Premier League Tournament. Ports Authority Cricket Club (PACC) recorded the only innings victory of the round, which yielded two draws and eight outright results. In addition to NCC and Army, Colts Cricket Club, Tamil Union and Sinhalese Sports Club have also won both matches so far.

NCC's victory over Chilaw Marians was set-up by an unbeaten 205 from Upul Tharanga in the first innings, which helped his side to 405 for 6 declared by the third session on day one. Tharanga's innings came off 266 deliveries, and featured a 174-run fourth-wicket partnership with Angelo Perera, who joined Tharanga at the crease at 65 for 3. The Marians' reply began well, with Sachith Pathirana and Angelo Jayasinghe adding 163 for the second wicket, but Tharindu Kaushal's most successful spell in an already brilliant debut domestic season ensured NCC took a 149-run lead into the second innings, with Kaushal finishing with 7 for 69. Dinesh Chandimal and Perera then pushed home NCC's advantage with the bat, with Perera adding a stroke-filled 100 not out from 77 balls to the 87 he made in the first innings, before Kaushal took his third five-wicket haul in four innings, to complete a 289-run victory.

Army succumbed to 174 in the first innings, surrendering eight wickets to Panadura Sports Clubs trio of spinners, but that total turned out to be the highest in the match on a Panadura pitch heavily tilted towards spin bowling. Legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna opened the bowling alongside Ajantha Mendis, and took 6 wickets for 45, skittling Panadura for 121 from 28.1 overs. Army only fielded one fast bowler, but he was unused in the first innings, and only delivered an over in the second. Left-arm orthodox spinner Gayan Sirisoma took 6 for 66 for Panadura to help dismiss army for 135, but the hosts fell 54 runs short of their target of 189 in the final innings, as Mendis collected a five-wicket haul of his own.

Badureliya Sports Club had an opportunity to score a major upset when they dismissed SSC for 102 in the first innings, having made 227 themselves after being sent in, but saw their chance slip away when they could only muster 115 in the second innings, before Dimuth Karunaratne century took the hosts to their target. First-innings fifties to Pabasara Waduge and Mapa Bandara saw Badureliya breach 200 on a green SSC pitch, before right-arm fast-bowling allrounder Saliya Saman took a career-best 8 for 53 in 14 overs, to hand his side a 125-run lead. But a resurgent SSC ensured they would prevail, first by dismissing the visitors cheaply - despite opening with the spin of Sachithra Senanayake - and then making the highest total in the match in the fourth innings. Karunaratne's 109 came in 155 deliveries, as he continued to play himself into form, having also made a 70 and an unbeaten 27 in the last match. Thilan Samaraweera also backed up his hundred from round one, with a second-innings 57 against Badureliya.

Tamil Union were missing Shaminda Eranga and Rangana Herath for the second round, but still managed an eight-wicket win over Colombo Cricket Club, thanks largely to an unbeaten 206 from Jeevan Mendis in the first innings, that set up a 160-run lead. Mendis' innings at the Colombo Cricket Club ground featured 21 fours and three sixes, and came in 225 deliveries. Allrounders Sachithra Serasinghe and TM Sampath took three wickets each with their offspin in the first innings, before Colombo were asked to follow on. Suranga Lakmal then took 5 wickets for 63, to leave his side with only 128 to win. Gihan Rupasinghe and Hasantha Fernando both made 80s for Colombo.

Elsewhere, Bloomfield Cricket Club's clash with Sri Lanka Air Force ended in a draw, just as the match headed towards a nail-biting finale. Air Force needed 51 more runs to win with four fourth-innings wickets in hand at stumps on the final day, having fought back from a 75-run first-innings deficit. Bloomfield will feel they should have won however, given they had the three best individual performances in the match. Suraj Randiv took 11 for 145 in the match, with seven of those wickets coming in the first innings, after Madawa Warnapura and Nipun Karunanayake made hundreds. But the remaining batsmen only made 74 in the first innings, and could not manage an intimidating second-innings total either. Bloomfield were hamstrung in the field, by an injury to speedster Nuwan Pradeep, who only bowled nine overs in the match.

Ports Authority subjected Kurunegala Youth to their second innings loss in as many matches, after amassing 523 for 8 declared in the first innings. Ports Authority's opening pace bowlers Chaminda Bandara and Sanitha de Mel took three wickets each, as their side dismissed Kurunegala for 171, after sending them in. Opening batsman Manoj Sarathchandra fell two short of a hundred for Kurunegala in the second innings, but although wicketkeeper-batsman Bhatiya Ratnayaka and captain Saman Priyanthaka also made fifties in a much-improved second innings, Kurunegala fell 37 runs short of wiping out their massive deficit.

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Former Somerset captain Brian Langford dies

Brian Langford, a former Somerset captain and one of the most respected players the county has ever produced, has died at the age of 76. No-one has played more than his 504 first-class games for Somerset and only Jack White and Arthur Wellard have taken more than his 1,390 first-class wickets for the club.

Langford was born in Birmingham, but he moved west to Bridgwater when he was just four and made his Somerset debut in 1953 as a 17-year-old off-spinner. Somerset were a weak side in those days and his debut Championship appearance - against Lancashire at Bath - saw his side succumb to an innings defeat in a single day.

He fared far better in his next game, claiming 14 wickets to help Somerset to victory over Kent. Until James Harris, then with Glamorgan, beat the record in 2007, he was the youngest man to take a ten-wicket haul in the Championship. He claimed another 11 wickets in his next game, against Leicestershire, to underline his rich promise.

Langford never quite pressed for England recognition, but over a 22-year career of great reliability, he went on to play a substantial part in improving the fortunes of the club. He captained between 1969 and 1971 and, as well as helping bring the likes of Brian Rose and Peter Denning into the side, saw Somerset develop into a top-ten team. He claimed 100 first-class wickets in a season on five occasions, with his best year coming in 1958 when he took 116 wickets including career-best figures of 9 for 26 against Lancashire at Weston super Mare.

His most famous performance came in the first year of the Sunday League in 1969. Langford delivered his eight overs - the maximum allowed to an individual bowler in the competition at the time - without conceding a run, his figures of 8-8-0-0 setting a record for economical limited-overs bowling that can never be bettered.

Upon retirement he remained involved with the Somerset committee and was the chairman of the club's cricket committee in the tumultuous 1986 season, when Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards and Joel Garner all left the club in acrimonious circumstances.

"Langy was a very fine off-spin bowler and, for a number of seasons, was the almost the county's lone bowler," former team-mate Peter Robinson, who often travelled with Langford to games, told Somerset CCC's website. "At the time that he was in his prime there were a number of good offspinners on the county scene, but if he had played in another era he could well have played for England."

"Brian's contribution to Somerset County Cricket Club was enormous," the club's chief executive Guy Lavender said. "He was a remarkable player, an outstanding leader and a charming individual. He will be sorely missed by all of Somerset's members and supporters and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to Brian's wife Maureen and all of his family at this immensely sad time."

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Dananjaya in Sri Lanka's emerging squad

Sri Lanka's new selection panel has chosen Angelo Perera, Tharindu Kaushal and Akila Dananjaya along with 21 other young players in an emerging squad from which the team for the warm-up match against Bangladesh in Matara will be chosen.

Perera, a 22-year-old middle order batsman, has been in stunning form in the Premier League tournament, having made two aggressive hundreds and an 87 in his three innings so far.

Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal, 19, has also been picked on form during his first season of domestic cricket, in which he has taken 22 List A wickets at 18.63, and 19 first-class scalps at 8.89. His first two first-class matches have yielded three five-wicket hauls. Kaushal was also picked in the Sri Lanka squad for the home Tests against New Zealand in November last year, but did not get a game.

Dananjaya meanwhile, has been part of Sri Lanka's limited-overs squads since last year's World Twenty20, and has also had a good debut domestic season so far.

Wicketkeeper-batsman and opener Niroshan Dickwella, who was the 2012 schoolboy cricketer of the year, has also had a successful introduction to professional cricket at 19, most notably scoring a match-winning hundred in the inter-provincial limited overs final.

Ashen Silva, a 22-year-old opener in a more conservative mould, has also been chosen. Middle-order batsman Kithruwan Vithanage, who has also scored heavily in the Premier League Tournament so far, also earns a spot.

The team will be coached by former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana, and play a three-day match against Bangladesh from March 3-5 to kick off the tour.

Squad Ashen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Tharindu Kaushal, Akila Dananjaya, Angelo Perera, Udara Jayasundera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Kithruwan Vithanage, Ashan Priyanjana, Rumesh Buddika, Gayan Manishan (wk), Sandun Weerakkody, Lahiru Madushanka, Ishantha Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage, Kasun Madushanka, Lahiru Jayaratne, Chaturanga de Silva, Ramith Rambukwela, Dulanjana Mendis, Maduka Liyanapathirana.

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Robin Peterson looks for his place

Robin Peterson was feeling restless. While most of Test team-mates took a break after their victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers, he and his namesake Alviro, chose to play for their franchises in the final round of the first-class competition.

For Alviro, it may have been important to contribute in what was set up as a championship decider for a team desperate for silverware (which they did not win) but for Robin it was more a case of itchy feet. "I wanted to play for the Cobras," he said. "It's no fun sometimes being the spinner in South Africa and you go through periods of play where you don't even bowl."

In a team where winning has been the theme of the summer and the culture is as strong as it has ever been, it would seem unusual that the enjoyment isn't evenly spread. But Peterson can be forgiven. Although he has leapfrogged Imran Tahir as the first-choice spinner for the Test team, like Tahir, his opportunities to contribute have been minimal.

Since his six wickets against Australia in Perth, Peterson has spent two innings as a spectator - against New Zealand in the New Year's Test and against Pakistan in Johannesburg. Only Jacques Kallis, whose workloads are being managed, bowled fewer overs than Peterson in Cape Town against New Zealand and Peterson bowled the least number of deliveries of all the bowlers in Johannesburg.

On surfaces that have something for the quicks and with a pace attack as potent as the current South African one, Peterson understands that he is "surplus to requirements," and, for the most part, accepts it. "It can be frustrating but you have to realise you are part of a team. The team comes first.

"It's magnificent to watch Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Jacques perform the way they do with the ball. I know my time will come so I just have to hang in there and be patient and keep working hard. It's the best bowling attack I've ever played with and it's something special to be part of. I have a front row seat to awesome performances."

To the average cricket fan, that would sound ideal. But Peterson is not a fan, he is a paid professional and he is starting to realise how trying that can be when the chosen vocation in South Africa is spin. Having flirted with the idea of a wicket-taking spinner in Tahir, South Africa's Test strategy has resorted back to a holding tweaker in the Paul Harris mould.

	"It's no fun sometimes being the spinner in South Africa and you go through periods of play where you don't even bowl"

Peterson is learning how to adjust to that. "In South Africa, you need to realise that there is a certain role you've got to perform, whether it's to keep it tight and give the seamers a bit of a break if there's no spin or if there is a bit on offer, to try make a breakthrough when the seamers can't. I'd love to play on turning wickets every weekend, but that's not the case in South Africa and you've got to adapt."

Newlands is the most spinner-friendly surface Peterson will come across but it is not the subcontinent. In the last 14 months, it has been the scene of two of the three first innings scores of under 50 in the country. The last spinner to prosper there was Harbhajan Singh who took 7 for 120 in January 2011 but in recent times, it has had more for Philander than Peterson.

He is not expecting that to change too much. "It would seem to be that the seamers do a lot of the damage but in saying that it's probably the only surface that we are going to play against Pakistan on where a spinner could come into his own so hopefully I get an opportunity. I think there will be a little bit on offer if the weather stays good."

South Africa also want to be careful not to prepare a pitch that will deteriorate too much because of the threat of Saeed Ajmal. "It would be foolish to do that," Peterson said. "He was their No. 1 Test bowler last year and you don't want to give him something that assists him."

That probably means that Peterson won't get any help from the pitch either so he may have to look for other ways to get in the game. His batting is thought to be another reason he trumps Tahir in selection terms but, like his bowling, that too has waned since Perth. There he scored 31 runs but since then has only managed 5, 8 and a duck.

"I was disappointed with the way I got out in Johannesburg," he said, remembering leaving a straight one from Mohammed Hafeez. "If the opportunity comes I'm going to go out there and show I'm a lot better than that."

He hopes to do the same with ball in hand which is why he opted for an extra match instead of a week off. However, Peterson bowled only 15 overs against the Knights. He took 2 for 33 in a first-innings workout of 13 overs and bowled just two in the second innings while the seamers did the bulk of the work. Business as usual then for Peterson.

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Shamsur keeps Rangpur in semi-final race

Rangpur Riders 179 for 8 (Shamsur 51, Mukhtar 3-25) beat Duronto Rajshahi 160 (Ziaur 36, O'Brien 3-17) by 19 runs
Scorecard

Rangpur Riders returned to contention, riding on Shamsur Rahman's sixth half-century in this season of the BPL. They beat a weakened Duronto Rajshahi by 19 runs, and replaced them in fourth place on net run-rate.

Without Tamim Iqbal (rested after being advised by BCB) and Chamara Kapugedera (also rested according to team owner Mushfiqur Rahman Mohon), chasing nine runs an over was always going to be difficult. Though the decision to give Tamim a break can be justified considering the BCB request, it was bizarre to drop Kapugedera, who had been captain of the side, at such a crucial stage of the tournament.

As a result they hardly had a go at the 180-run target, losing their top-half in the sixth over before Mukhtar Ali and Ziaur Rahman hit some big ones to keep some interest towards the end. They added 71 runs for the sixth wicket, but both fell in the 14th over to Abdur Razzak. Ziaur was unlucky to be run-out at the non-striker's end when Mukhtar's drive struck Razzak's boot and hit the stumps. Next ball, Mukhtar edged on to the stumps to end all Rajshahi hopes.

The Riders' bowlers gave little away but during the Mukhtar-Ziaur partnership, newcomer Saju Dutta and Danza Hyatt looked helpless. Kevin O'Brien took three wickets while Razzak and Dutta took two.

Shamsur's 51 helped him take over as the highest run-getter with 418 runs. He continued to give the Riders a brisk start at the top, hitting seven boundaries in his 36-ball knock, and forging important partnerships.

He shared a fast 88-run stand for the first wicket with Junaid Siddique before falling in the 13th over to a catch at long-on off Mukhtar. The pace of the Riders' innings stuttered in the second half as they couldn't force the pace and lost wickets.

Mukhtar chipped in with three wickets, perhaps inspired by being made the captain for the game. But in a side increasingly mired in off-field trouble, he failed to inspire the rest. Abul Hasan, brought back into the side in place of Ben Edmondson, gave away 20 runs in his only over while Isuru Udana, Monir Hossain and Taijul Islam all leaked runs as Riders put up a total which proved too tall for Rajshahi.

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'Mature' Dhawan looks to grab Test chance

Shikhar Dhawan, the left-hand opener, was told he had been picked in the India Test squad for the series against Australia shortly after the tea break during the just-concluded Irani Cup. He welcomed the news, he said, with a big smile, but knowing he was a slightly changed cricketer than he was when picked to represent India for the first time, more than two years ago in an ODI against Australia. "I've become more mature, my cricket sense has improved and that's helped my consistency level go up," he told ESPNcricinfo.

Dhawan last played for India in June 2011 - he averages 13.8 in five ODIs - and had a mixed domestic season in 2011-12, smashing a hundred at better than a run a ball in each innings of the Irani Cup before having a low-key Ranji Trophy during which he averaged 32.88 in 10 innings.

However, his performances this season have caught the selectors' eye. He scored a century in each of North Zone's two games in the Duleep Trophy, hit two hundreds and a fifty for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy at 51.22, scored a century against England XI in a warm-up limited-overs game and made a solid 63 in the first innings of the Irani Cup.

Though his skills haven't changed much in his time outside the Indian team, Dhawan said he has grown more determined to rectify any mistakes during batting or while at the nets. "I write down how I played, little details about the way I batted, the way I was feeling," he said. "As I practice for the longer forms, I make sure I leave a lot more in the nets, stay on the wicket, play close to my body, and try to hit shots to balls that are within reach. My mental strength has increased a lot."

While out of the Indian side, Dhawan, now 27, has seen cricketers younger than him - Virat Kohli, a Delhi team-mate, and Cheteshwar Pujara - establish themselves in the national team. He says he was never discouraged, and now could get an opportunity to become a regular himself. "I was sad for myself that I didn't make it because I always knew I had the potential."

Dhawan was bowled off an inside-edge in the first innings of the Irani Cup when he looked set for a three-figure score, and fell in the first over in the second innings, caught at mid-on while trying to pull. "I felt sad as a batsman, I had got in touch [in the first innings] and wanted to make it big [in the second]," but there was elation not long after. That duck was a rare lapse in a successful domestic first-class season, one that has ended for Dhawan receiving a call-up that every aspiring Indian cricketer longs for.

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Toughest test of my captaincy - Clarke

Haywire scheduling, key retirements and a stubbornly stiff right hamstring. Even before the vagaries of the subcontinent could be considered, Michael Clarke departed for India with the palpable sense that he is embarking upon the most difficult task of his captaincy so far.

Clarke was at pains to keep his selection options as open as possible before setting off to join the squad assembling in Chennai. The loss of Michael Hussey so soon after Ricky Ponting and the redefinition of Shane Watson have left the batting in particular with a whiff of the uncertain.

Add to this Clarke's hamstring trouble, which may yet rule him out of the full squad's only warm-up match, and there was every reason to believe the captain's pronouncement that he has not stared down a greater challenge than those to come over the four Tests.

For a reminder of the difficulty, Clarke needed only to look back at the 2010 visit, a tour hurriedly upgraded from ODIs to Tests by the BCCI and finishing in a 2-0 defeat fro the team then captained by Ponting. Clarke cobbled 35 runs in four innings, his torpor summed up by a Bangalore stumping in which he did not realise his foot had dragged beyond the crease line.

"Touring India is as tough a challenge as I've had in my career," Clarke said in Sydney. "Every time I've been there on a Test tour it's been extremely difficult, hence the Australian team hasn't won that much over there. So it's a huge challenge, the players know that.

"That's partly why we're trying to prepare as well as we can by sending players early to get them used to conditions, to give ourselves the best chance. We know it's going to be tough, we know how good India is, but we look forward to it."

The Australian team's calendar for 2013 is so congested that this tour is the first to start before the home international program had finished. While Clarke is somewhere in the air between Sydney and Chennai, 11 members of his squad will be commencing a two-day warm-up match.

After Clarke has arrived, the coach Mickey Arthur will still be minding a severely weakened Twenty20 team in a match against the West Indies in Brisbane. Given the jarring adjustment from Australian climes and surfaces to those that may be found in India, it is hardly the ideal way to prepare. And preparation has always been one of Clarke's favourite buzzwords.

"What I've learned in the past is how important preparation is for my personal performance," Clarke said when asked about his dire 2010 tour. "I need to make sure I've done all my training to give myself the best chance of scoring runs.

"That's what I'm looking forward to over the next few days. Getting into the Indian conditions, batting on those wickets, facing a lot of reverse swing, a lot of spin bowling, and making sure when that first ball's bowled in that first Test that I'll be as well prepared as I was for this summer.

"I'd really like to play that three-dayer. I'll be advised by Alex [Kountouris] the physio once I land in India but at this stage my plan is to play that three-dayer. There is so much time I don't think there is any doubt I'll be fit for the first Test.

"In my mind cricket-wise I feel like I need that game to spend some time in the middle in Indian conditions both batting and bowling, but also with my captaincy as well because India is such a different place to Australia. But I'll listen to the expert and see what he has to say."

Among the players who have a headstart on Clarke by way of acclimatisation time are the allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques, plus the young batsman and sometime legspinner Steve Smith. One of the trio is likely to be chosen in the Tests as No. 6 or 7 batsman and fifth bowling option, now Watson can no longer provide it.

"It's very open, hence we've sent 17 players in three different stages to get over there as soon as possible to prepare and get used to conditions," Clarke said. "Runs and wickets will certainly play a big part in these practice games leading up to the first Test but for a lot of guys it's more about preparation and seeing conditions."

Those conditions will vary, as will the range of questions posed by an Indian side stung by recent defeats and intent on demonstrating, in the words of Harbhajan Singh, "how we play cricket here". Clarke's leadership, as both batsman and captain, is about to face its sternest examination yet.

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'Rohit and I should have scored' - Nayar

Abhishek Nayar rued his and Rohit Sharma's failure with the bat in the first innings while looking back at Mumbai conceding a lead that ultimately sealed the title for Rest of India. Mumbai, who haven't won the Irani Cup since 1997-98, were bowled out for 409 while chasing Rest of India's 526 despite an unbeaten century from Sachin Tendulkar; Nayar was caught at slip for 1, and Rohit was dismissed to a poor shot for a duck.

"It was important for one of Rohit or me to stay and get those runs, but we couldn't," Nayar told reporters at the end of the match. "You can blame the shot, you can blame whatever you want to, but I feel personally we should have been there and got the team through. It was our responsibility, but unfortunately we didn't deliver."

Nayar got an edge while playing across the line to Abhimanyu Mithun, Rohit was caught after top-edging an attempted slog-sweep and the last three wickets were unable to support Tendulkar after he had revived Mumbai's hopes by putting together a century stand for the seventh wicket with Ankeet Chavan. "Our batting has been our forte, with Rohit and me not getting runs that put added pressure on us. If one of us had put our hands up and done something with Sachin, we could have been on the winning side. It's just that key players in the game haven't really delivered and the responsibility has to be taken by us."

Mumbai were without Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar for this match - both ruled out due to injuries - and Dhawal Kulkarni led an inexperienced attack. "Shardul [Thakur] and Javed [Khan] have played three or four games this season, even Vishal's [Dabholkar] played his fourth so we have a bit of inexperience. We are up against guys who are the best in their teams. So it's been a learning experience for the guys."

Mumbai did have a chance to fight back in the second innings after picking up three wickets relatively early on the fourth day and Abhishek Nayar troubling Manoj Tiwary, who he has dismissed several times, before lunch. However, Nayar took himself out of the attack after the break and had his spinners - Dabholkar and Chavan - bowl 52 out of the day's remaining 60 overs, and Rest of India dealt with them comfortably. "At that point, I had already bowled eight overs into the spell and sometimes it takes a toll on your body," Nayar said. "The bulk of the bowling was done by the fast bowlers [in the first innings], so at some point the spinners had to put their hand up and bowl for us. At that point, the ball was swinging a lot and I thought I should have come on to bowl but I felt, at the time, the spinners should have done the job for us."

Nayar said he was disappointed that Wasim Jaffer, who had a prolific season, was not picked for the Tests against Australia. "He's by far one of the best batsmen in India. It is disappointing that he's not in the team, but like I said, he just has to do what is in his hands, and keep getting runs. Hopefully the time will come when he gets his opportunity."

Harbhajan Singh, the Rest of India captain, said he was proud of his team for having won the title, though he felt winning the game outright would have been difficult even if he had declared overnight - Rest of India batted on the fifth morning and gave Mumbai 63 overs to chase 507. "We saw the wicket, it wasn't the kind where it was easy for bowlers to take those ten wickets. This is the kind of a match, where you know that if you take the first-innings lead, you will win the game.

"Our fast bowlers had bowled quite a lot in the first innings, and by looking at the game, we saw their fast bowlers also struggled to take wickets. I just wanted to make sure we'll declare whenever we feel we'd like to bowl and that's what we did."

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Praveen suspended from Vijay Hazare Trophy

Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, has been suspended for the one-day zonal league, the preliminary stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The decision comes days after he was fined 100% of his match fees for a serious breach of the players' code of conduct during a Corporate Trophy match last week.

"Praveen Kumar has been issued a show cause notice by the Board," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement on Sunday. "He has been suspended from participating in the forthcoming inter-state Vijay Hazare Trophy matches."

Though the BCCI, in its trademark style, didn't explain the reason for issuing the notice to Praveen, a BCCI insider confirmed that the suspension is following "the Corporate Trophy incident".

Praveen had verbally abused Income Tax batsman Ajitesh Argal while playing for Oil and Natural Gas Limited in Raipur on February 4. Since it was Praveen's second serious offence, including a Level Four offence, match referee Dhananjay Singh had not only fined Praveen his entire match fee but had also referred the matter to the BCCI.

"Since Praveen is a centrally contracted player, such behaviour, if ignored, will send out wrong signals to the aspiring cricketers," a BCCI official, who did not want to be named, told ESPNcricinfo. "Depending on his reply, it will be decided whether the matter will be pursued further." It was understood that Praveen has been asked to submit his reply within seven days.

Praveen had been expected to continue his comeback bid during the zonal one-dayers after missing most of UP's Ranji Trophy campaign due to a recurrence of a tennis elbow injury. However, his suspension from the Central Zone league, to be played in Indore from February 14 to 20, will not only delay an assessment of his recovery from the injury but will also be a blow to UP's hopes for making it to the knockouts. The top two teams from each zone qualify for the national knockouts.

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