Kerala pull off massive chase

Group A

Kerala chased down Delhi's formidable total of 195 for 4 with six wickets in hand and two overs to spare in Indore. Rohan Prem, batting at No. 3 for Kerala, set the pace and stayed the course, finishing unbeaten on 92 off 51 balls. The propulsion at the finish was provided by Sachin Baby, who blitzed 48 off 19 balls. Every Delhi bowler conceded nine or more runs per over; four of the six used went at more than ten. Kerala's efforts overshadowed that of Unmukt Chand, who had scored his maiden domestic T20 century to lead Delhi's innings. Opening the batting, he made 105 off 67 balls and was dismissed off the penultimate delivery of the innings.

A collective performance from their batsman helped Gujarat inch past Odisha by three wickets and two balls to spare. Chasing 152, Gujarat kept losing wickets regularly but they ensued the chase did not lose momentum completely. Niraj Patel top-scored with 40, and Rohit Dahiya was unbeaten on 14 when the winning runs were scored. Basant Mohanty took 3 for 27 for Odisha. Gujarat had dismissed the Odisha openers off successive deliveries to hinder their progress after they won the toss. The Odisha middle order made useful contributions, the highest of which was Govind Podder's 40. Subhrajit Sahoo made 37 off 17 balls to prop up Odisha to 151 for 6.

Group B

Sayan Mondal took 3 for 19 to set up Bengal's four-run win against Baroda in Indore. Defending 149, Mondal dismissed three of the top five batsmen, and Baroda then slipped from 81 for 2 to 84 for 5. Sanjib Sanyal struck off successive deliveries to reduce Baroda to 124 for 7, and they eventually finished on 145 for 9. Bengal's score had been set up by contributions of 48 and 50 from Shreevats Goswami and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who hit five sixes in his 23-ball innings.

Karnataka's middle and lower-order batsmen chased 130 in the last over with two wickets to spare against Punjab. After their top three batsmen scored only 16 runs together, Manish Pandey (31) put on 25 with Stuart Binny (17) and 31 with CM Gautam (31). 75 for 5 when Pandey was dismissed, Gautam and Karun Nair (16) took them till 117 when they lost two wickets in two balls. Ultimately, Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun took them home.

When Punjab had batted, Ravi Inder Singh fired at the top with 60 off 44 but he did not get any support. Only three other batsmen reached double figures as they lost their last seven wickets for 24 runs to be dismissed in 18.1 overs and Binny finished with 3 for 26.

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Pujara could succeed in ODIs too - Dravid

A live interaction between Rahul Dravid and nine of his fans

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said Cheteshwar Pujara, who succeeded him at No. 3 in India's Test side, could have what it takes to perform in ODIs as well. He was speaking at 'A Day with Dravid', an ESPNcricinfo event in which nine cricket fans got the chance to interact with him from across the world.

Pujara has an average of 65 after 13 Tests, having scored four hundreds and three half-centuries, and has drawn comparisons with Dravid. He hasn't made his ODI debut yet, but in 61 domestic one-day matches Pujara averages 56.97, with eight hundreds and 17 fifties.

"He's had a great start to his international career, in fact a much better start than I did," Dravid said. "I think he has been brought up in the old school of batsmanship. He is developing more shots and he approaches Test cricket in the same way as I did.

"He's got some good basics in place," Dravid said. "You can see that he is constantly improving and he is someone who will find answers to questions. He is going to have his ups and downs and face a lot of challenges adapting to different forms of the game and conditions. With his attitude and the way he is going about playing his cricket, I think he will find answers to a lot of these questions and one of them will be one-day cricket."

Dravid also said, during the event, that Test cricket needed needed better scheduling, and more matches for all teams, in order to survive. "One thing I'd like to see definitely is scheduling to be a lot better, and the ability for most countries to play a lot more Test cricket," he said. "I'd love to see all the teams get the opportunity to play a lot more cricket against each other. I think it will really see Test cricket come up and improve, and the only way for it to survive is to play it as often as possible."

He spoke in length about his desire to perform well abroad when he had started playing international cricket. He played first-class cricket in India for four years before making his Test debut in England, where he scored 95 at Lord's in 1996.

"I wanted to do well abroad in conditions that I wasn't used to," he said. "When I was growing up, one of my coaches stressed that you have to do well outside India to be judged a very good player. One of the things I found difficult adjusting to was bounce early on in my international career.

"When I went to Australia, South Africa or England for the first time, I would see some of the foreign top-order batsmen leave balls on length. As soon as the ball pitched on a particular area, they would leave it. Indian batsmen's instinct was to play at those balls because if you left those balls in India, they would probably hit the top of off or middle stump. That ability to adjust to that bounce and know which ball to leave instinctively on length, especially early on in your innings, was one of the most difficult adjustments to play."

Answering fans' questions on the contemporary game and the changes it has seen over the years, Dravid expressed his admiration for the players who can play the switch hit, but also said he wanted the rule to be fair for the bowlers.

"I can't imagine the way some guys pull that off," he said. "When I see someone like a [Kevin] Pietersen or [David] Warner pull it off, you can see the value of the shot like that. If you were to play the switch hit, then the wide rule should change as well. You should allow the bowler to bowl outside the off stump. I think it's an incredibly skilful and difficult shot to play and I'm all for it as long as you give the bowler protection as well."

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Denly leads MCC fightback

MCC 130 (Wright 5-35, Hannon-Dalby 3-30) and 308 for 4 (Denly 119*, Northeast 89, Trego 57*) trail Warwickshire 561 for 6 dec by 123 runs
Scorecard

Joe Denly struck an unbeaten century to bring an element of competition to the Champion County match against Warwickshire in Abu Dhabi. After being made to follow on, Sam Northeast and Peter Trego also added half-centuries as MCC closed 123 runs behind with six second-innings wickets standing.

Having resumed in a parlous state on 73 for 7, MCC were dismissed for 130. Denly returned after retiring with illness earlier in the innings and top-scored with 47, putting on 52 with James Middlesbrook, before Oliver Hannon-Dalby took the last two wickets to fall in consecutive deliveries. Denly was quickly back out in the middle, as Jimmy Adams departed for 4, but a 156-run partnership for the second wicket with Northeast helped ease MCC away from total embarrassment.

"It's been a good day," Denly said. "I was disappointed to get out in the first innings the way I did, but I was very happy to spend some time out there second time around and get some runs. I didn't really notice any change in the conditions during the day. Under the lights it skidded on a bit quicker, but this actually helped it to come on the bat quite nicely. In terms of the ball moving sideways or swinging, it was pretty consistent all day."

Chris Wright, who claimed 5 for 35 in the first innings, removed Northeast on the brink of tea and Dale Benkenstein fell to the first ball after the resumption but Denly batted gamely on and was involved in an unbroken stand of 79 with Trego during the evening session. The MCC batsmen were not unduly troubled second time around, although they still have some work to do to avoid defeat after conceding a first-innings deficit of 431.

"If we can get another couple of big partnerships tomorrow to keep them out in the field for a bit longer, hopefully we can come away with a positive result," Denly said.

Warwickshire were forced to bring on Peter McKay as a substitute wicketkeeper after Tim Ambrose sustained a strain early in MCC's second innings, while left-arm spinner Paul Best also left the field with a back injury after bowling just eight overs and taking the wicket of Adams.

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Maqsood leads Multan with all-round performance

Multan Tigers 143 for 5 (Ashraf 58*, Maqsood 45, Shah 3-29) beat Abbottabad Falcons 141 for 8 (Raees 34, Babar 3-20, Maqsood 3-23) by 5 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details

An all-round performance from Sohaib Maqsood in the form of 45 off 28 balls and three crucial wickets led Multan Tigers to a five-wicket win against Abbottabad Falcons in Lahore.

Falcons were given a steady start with a 51-run opening stand between Haroon (29) and Sajjad Ali (25). But with the dismissal of both of them, wickets started to totter and Falcons were reeling at 117 for 8, losing eight wickets for 66 runs. Adnan Raees (34 off 21) in the middle order and captain Junaid Khan (17 off 7) at No. 11 showed some resistance to take the Falcons to a fighting total of 141 after they scored 22 runs in their last over.

In reply, Tigers responded strongly with a 77-run opening stand between Zeeshan Ashraf and Maqsood. Three quick wickets and a run-out by Yasir Shah slowed the proceedings for a while as the Tigers were now 120 for 5. While Gulraiz Sadaf was out for a golden duck, Kashif Naved was snapped by Rameez Ahmed diving to his left at gully.

It was Ashraf who held his nerves to take his side home with Rizwan Haider who hit the winning runs in style with a boundary over midwicket to finish the chase with 14 balls to spare.

Lahore Lions 162 for 6 (Jamshed 71, Kamran 33, Bhatti 2-32) beat Sialkot Stallions 118 for 8 (Bhatti 24, Rasool 3-17) by 44 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Lahore Lions beat the Sialkot Stallions by restricting them to 118 for 8, and winning the match by 44 runs in Lahore. Opting to bat first, Lions were led by opener Nasir Jamshed who carried his bat with 71 off 56, which included seven fours and a six. He did not get much support from the top order as three wickets fell in the first ten overs. But Karman Akmal and Jamshed put on 69 runs for the fourth wicket to take their run-rate to over seven, and their score beyond 100. Once Akmal departed, Ali Azmat's cameo of 21 off 11 added impetus to their innings, with Jamshed's fifty helping them to a respectable score.

Sialkot captain Shoaib Malik picked up two wickets, but gave away 35 runs, lacking practice because he he had not bowled during the one-dayers in South Africa. Raza Hasan, playing a match after over three months, gave only 18 runs in his four overs.

Stallions were never in the race, losing wickets at regular intervals, as only one player passed 20. The opening partnership was broken in the third over by Aizaz Cheema, with Zia-ul-Haq striking in the next over. No. 4 Shahid Yousuf counter-attacked with a 11-ball 17 before he was caught behind off Wahab Riaz. The opener Shakeel Ansar was run out on the very next ball. Malik couldn't survive for more than five balls, and offspinner Adnan Rasool took over from there, picking up three wickets in his four overs for 17 runs, which almost sealed the win for Lions. No. 9 batsman Bilawal Bhatti scored an unbeaten 24 to take them past 100, but the target proved too steep as Stallions eventually fell short by 44 runs.

Faisalabad Wolves 154 for 4 (Waqas 39, Asif 34, Masood 2-14) beat Bahawalpur Stags 91 for 8 (Tariq 28, Shahzad 4-20) by 63 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details

Faisalabad Wolves off to a winning start, routing Bahawalpur Stags by 63 runs in the opening match of the tournament.

Wolves, after opting to bat first, made a brisk start as opener Farrukh Shehzad began with an aggressive pull over midwicket for a first-ball boundary. A blow on his helmet while attempting a dilscoop didn't slow him down, and he went on to hit six boundaries including a six before edging Fahad Masood behind the stumps for 30 off 20 balls. Left-hand batsman Ali Waqas was stuck on 6 after five overs but he improved during a partnership of 39 off 41 balls with Asif Ali. With the help of five boundaries including two sixes, Asif struck 34 off 25 balls to propel Wolves.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who joined his team minutes before play began with wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Salman as the makeshift captain until Misbah arrived. Wolves had closed in on 100 by the 14th over before Misbah (22 off 20 balls not out) took guard. He anchored a 40-run stand for the fifth wicket with Khurram Shehzad (19 off 12 balls) to take Wolves to competitive total of 154.

Stags' chase got off to a disastrous start, with two wickets off the first two balls. A faint edge down leg handed opener Imranullah Aslam a golden duck while Kashif Saddiq slashed a wide and uppish delivery only to be caught at point.

Hammad Tariq (28) and Moinuddin (15), the top scorers for Stags, tried to stage a recovery but Wolves proved too strong. Stags kept losing wickets regularly and were never able to bring down the asking rate, crumbling to 91 for 8 in 20 overs. Shehzad, the Man of the Match, was the main destroyer, conceding only 20 runs for his four wickets.

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Kent declare substantial loss

Kent have become the latest county to record a substantial fianncial loss from last season, declaring a deficit of £628,054 for the year ending October 2012.

During a season of horrendous weather and Olympic distractions, Kent struggled like most counties to balance their books and received their lowest gate receipts since 2004. The festival at Tunbridge Wells was almost entirely lost to the weather and Canterbury cricket week clashed with the second week of the London Olympics.

Gross earnings were actually an improvement on the 2011 season and the club insisted that their long-term plans remain in place. This includes the continued development at Canterbury, which began with new club offices and the sale of land for housing at the pavilion end.

They have signed a deal to develop the Old Dover Road side of the ground with a development company specialising in retirement properties. Similar property developments have funded ground improvements at Bristol and Taunton.

"We had expected to close the operating loss quicker than was possible last year, but it has to be remembered that it was an exceptionally bad year weather wise," chief executive Jamie Clifford said. "We put together a long-term financial plan for the Club in early 2011 and we remain on course. With activities over the winter months and our plans for this summer, we expect further improvements during 2013."

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Clarke an unlikely starter in IPL

Australia's captain Michael Clarke will be encouraged to take much-needed rest at home, rather than taking up his likely appointment as captain of the Pune Warriors in the IPL, as the best remedy for the back and hamstring problems that bedevilled his India tour.

Clarke underwent scans soon after his arrival in Sydney and ESPNcricinfo understands these showed that his back trouble was caused not by any new source but the same degenerative disc that has afflicted him since his teenage years.

Complaints of hamstring discomfort were also assessed, with no evidence found of a new injury, rather the accumulated wear of carrying a tender muscle through the tour after he strained it during the home Test series against Sri Lanka.

As a result of these dual problems, Clarke is expected to be advised to rest and then train to strengthen his body rather than linking up with the Warriors. It has been reported that Clarke may be offered as much as A$2 million to lead the IPL franchise after Yuvraj Singh expressed reluctance to be captain, but the risk of fouling up an Ashes campaign that may define his captaincy is acute.

On his early return to Sydney following his inability to regain fitness in time for the fourth Test of an ignominious series on the subcontinent, Clarke said he would "listen to the experts" regarding his battered and fatigued body and his IPL participation.

"I'll have scans this week and spend plenty of time with the physio, fingers crossed it turns out okay," Clarke said. "Sitting down for 12 hours has made it a little bit stiff, but I'm really confident that I'm in good hands with my physio here in Sydney.

"I'd be silly to make that decision [on the IPL] right now, I think I need to wait on the results, listen to the experts and then make a plan from there. I've had my back issues since I was 17 years of age so this is no different. In regards to my hamstring I hurt it throughout the Australian summer and it has just lingered on. I haven't had the opportunity to get that 100% fit due to how much cricket we've had."

Clarke's manager, James Erskine, has said his client's appearance in the IPL was now looking less likely. "Too early yet, but seems to look a bit doubtful," he told The Australian. "Obviously, his priority is the Ashes."

The national team's coach Mickey Arthur, the national selector John Inverarity and the team performance manager Pat Howard have no formal right to bar a player from participating in the IPL, as the tournament's span has been defined by Cricket Australia as a leave period. However they are likely to privately advise various players of their preferences, as was done last year when Shane Watson was counselled to stay out of the event.

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Sumathipala's SLC presidency nomination rejected

Sri Lanka's sports ministry has rejected MP Thilanga Sumathipala's nomination for the position of board president, after an inquiry found that Sumathipala fell afoul of Sri Lanka's sports law on three counts, the ministry said.

Sumathipala's candidacy had raised objections from three clubs, and was consequently investigated by a committee appointed by the sports minister. A release from the ministry said the decision to reject Sumathipala's nomination had been made in line with the findings of that committee and upon consultation with Sri Lanka's attorney general.

"MP Thilanga Sumathipala's nomination for the Sri Lanka Cricket presidency, 2013 -2015, has been rejected as it has violated the National Associations of Sports Regulations No. 01 of 2013, section 15-1 of the Sports Law No. 25 of 1973," the release said.

Section 15-1 of the sports law states that, among several other caveats, no person with business interests in the sports betting or sports equipment industry, or involvement in the media, can stand for election for president of any sports association.

"Mr Sumathipala's nomination was rejected because he was found to be contravening the sports law on all three of those grounds," the media secretary for the sports ministry said.

At the time of application, Sumathipala denied that any law, either in Sri Lanka or of the ICC, made his nomination illegal. He was, until 2009, the joint managing director of a business conglomerate named the Sumathi Group, which owns local newspapers and has links to a betting business named Sporting Star. He has said that the specific businesses, which could be potentially problematic to his application, are among several that are managed entirely by other family members, without his involvement.

The SLC president is expected to take a seat on the ICC's board of directors, but the ICC code of ethics also states that "no director shall have any business association, or enter into any business arrangement (whether formal or informal) with any person or company who has interests in gambling".

SLC's elections were originally scheduled for March 30, but the board was granted a 17-day extension by the sports ministry, as the legitimacy of Sumathipala's candidacy was unknown, and members were constitutionally granted two weeks to consider the field of candidates before casting their vote. The board has not yet announced a new date for the elections, but can hold two sets of elections if it feels its members need more time to decide on their vote for the presidency.

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New Zealand dismiss battling Bell on stroke of tea

Tea England 204 and 237 for 5 (Prior 45*) need another 244 runs v New Zealand 443 and 241 for 6 dec
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The wicket of Ian Bell, on the brink of the tea interval, revived New Zealand's hopes of winning the Test series against England.

Bell had resisted for 271 deliveries but, just as he was raising England's hopes of a draw, he was drawn into pushing at one outside off stump from the excellent Neil Wagner and edged to Tim Southee at third slip.

The wicket means that England go into the final session of the game needing to negotiate another 32.3 overs with three wickets in hand. New Zealand have previously only beaten England at home in one Test series, in 1983-84. They have not beaten any of the top eight Test nations, home or away, since defeating West Indies in 2006.

England had enjoyed some outrageous fortune over the final day. With New Zealand's seamers bowling with pace, skill and persistence, England were the fortunate to survive three dropped chances and one delivery that hit the stumps but did not remove the bails. They have also had an on-field lbw decision overturned and had one batsman survive when the fielders failed to appeal.

Batting appeared relatively straightforward for the first 100 minutes or so of the day. With no hope of scoring the further 391 runs they required to win the game when play resumed in the morning, Bell and Joe Root instead concentrated on occupation of the crease. The pair batted without much trouble for 28 overs, settling in as New Zealand used the seamers sparingly ahead of the second new ball.

But everything changed once it was taken. New Zealand claimed the second new ball the moment it was available and, with its first delivery, Trent Boult produced a beauty that swung back and struck a half forward Root on the pad in front of the stumps. Root and Bell discussed the worth of utilising a review under the Decision Review System, but decided, quite rightly, that the on-field umpire had made no mistake.

Boult could only squeeze one more over in before lunch but, in it, he saw both Bell and Jonny Bairstow dropped. Bell, feeling for one angled across him that he could have left, was grateful to see Dean Brownlie, at fourth slip, put down a relatively straightforward chance, before, two balls later, Bairstow pushed hard at one some way from him and was fortunate to see Kane Williamson, in the gully, put down a sharp chance. With both batsmen reluctant to leave the ball for fear of being trapped by Boult's inswing, the delivery that does not swing had become even more dangerous.

Bairstow, with only two first-class innings behind him since August, had also been close to being dismissed by his second delivery. Boult, with an inswinging yorker, appeared to strike Bairstow on the boot before it hit the bat in front of the stumps, but New Zealand did not appeal. Replays suggested that, if they had, Bairstow would have been in some trouble.

He did not last long after lunch. Tim Southee, bowling from wide of the crease, managed to make one bounce and straighten from just back of a good length to take Bairstow's edge on its way to slip. Bairstow, who had only one first-class innings since August before this Test, never looked confident.

While Bell blocked with impressive solidity, Matt Prior chose to play his more positive natural game. On 16 he surived Rod Tucker's lbw decision off the bowling of Southee - replays showed a thick inside edge onto the pads - and on 20 he survived a top-edged pull off Southee, Neil Wagner unable to cling on to a desperately tough chance as he ran back from midwicket.

But Prior's biggest slice of fortune came when he was on 28. Struggling to deal with a brute of a bouncer from the wholehearted Wagner, Prior saw the ball bounce, via the bat handle and his neck, onto the stumps but fail to dislodge a bail.

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Fragile batting lets Pakistan down again

Even in the final match of the tour, Pakistan's concern was the same as in their first match: the batting was not up to standard. This time it was not the fault of the pitch or the bowlers. Despite the inconsistent bounce, the return of Morne Morkel, the fire of Dale Steyn, the discipline of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and the committed fielding of their opposition, Pakistan's line-up still conspired to entangle themselves.

Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat fell to a plan but everyone else from Kamran Akmal to the tail caused their own downfall. Either they picked out fielders, like Shahid Afridi did, or they chanced an arm like Akmal and Shoaib Malik.

"That's the one area which really let us down," Misbah-ul-Haq said. "When you look at the scorecard, everybody got starts like 20s or 30s but no-one converted and made that into 70s or 80s. If the six main batsmen keep doing that, the team can't do well. The way we started, we felt 250 would have been a good total but the shot selection was not good and there were a lot of irresponsible shots. We can only blame ourselves. The way we batted was unacceptable."

For a while, especially during the Test series, Misbah explained the batting collapses by making reference to the conditions. He said Pakistan's line-up had not been exposed to pace and bounce in a while and that they needed a longer period of adjustment. He was not simply making excuses.

Pakistan had not faced a challenge as tough as South African pitches since they played in England in 2010 so he made a valid point. They had only one tour match before starting the Test series, which obviously was not enough, and they made noticeable improvements as that went on.

	"The shot selection was not good and there were a lot of irresponsible shots. We can only blame ourselves. The way we batted was unacceptable" Misbah-ul-Haq

The same strips are not as tough a prospect as the Test matches but with two new balls and late-season surfaces which can go up and down, they still require some analysing before a batsman settled in. That's why in the final throes of the tour, Misbah still harked back to the difficulties of "adjusting to conditions, especially for the batsmen."

It was a rare occurrence when someone gave themselves time to assess and play themselves in. Misbah himself did it twice, Kamran showed glimpses, Younis Khan tried and mostly failed and Hafeez could not even try because the bowlers had his number.

Younis, and Hafeez in the opening role are two points of debate that came up throughout the series. Indications are that Younis, despite his 7,000 one-day runs, will be forced to make way for a younger batsman like Asad Shafiq and may have played his last match in coloured clothing for Pakistan.

Similarly talk is rife that Hafeez will be asked to bat at No. 3 and more will be invested in Nasir Jamshed to partner Imran Farhat or Kamran Akmal at the top. Misbah would not be drawn on whether those are two of the changes Pakistan would consider ahead of the Champions Trophy but he hinted something would have to give before then. "We will have to go and look at conditions, which teams we are going to play, all of those things and then see what we need for the future."

One thing that does not need tampering with, according to Misbah, is the team's culture. Despite their return of just three wins from nine matches across all formats on the tour, Misbah could draw some positives from the outing. "We started poorly in the Tests but we tried to come back. We made mistakes like we did today, especially in batting but the team showed some character.

"They showed that even when they are down they can fight back so overall there were some positives. In South African conditions, with such a tough opposition, the team did well especially in T20s and ODIs."

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Sunrisers name Helmot as assistant coach

Sunrisers Hyderabad have made four additions to their support staff by naming Simon Helmot their assistant coach, Jade Roberts their trainer, Theo Kapakoulakis their physio and Sankapani their team manager.

Helmot, 41, is the coach of Victoria Bushrangers in the Ryobi One-Day Cup, Australia's domestic one-day competition, and of Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. He began his coaching career at the age of 25 and also coached the Australia A side which toured India in 2008. Roberts, also from Australia, is Sri Lanka's trainer since 2007 and has worked at the Queensland Academy of Sport.

The appointments come a couple of weeks after former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis was signed as the bowling consultant by Sunrisers who also have Tom Moody as their head coach, and Kris Srikkanth and VVS Laxman as their team mentors. Some of the star players in the franchise include Dale Steyn and Kumar Sangakkara.

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