Pankaj singed by tough debut

After striving so long to play Test cricket, Pankaj Singh's luck deserted him and then his discipline too

Highlights: Pankaj Singh's frustration grew after a serious of close shaves went against him on Test debut

Pankaj Singh's wicket column was empty. Two days at the new job. No returns. Many times he stood in the field, hands on hips with a helpless expression. He would walk back to his bowling mark shaking his head when luck did not smile on him. You could understand his frustration.

It was a tough initiation for the man who had cried his heart out at the turn of the New Year, asking the selectors to give him one chance at playing Test cricket. On Sunday the dream became reality when Pankaj was handed his Test cap by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

On Monday, Pankaj sprinted in from backward short leg full of energy and renewed hopes. He settled in quickly, with his fourth delivery whistling past the outside edge off Ian Bell's hanging bat. The next ball, Bell once again was lured into playing and missing as once again the ball seamed away, missed the edge and MS Dhoni caught the ball at waist height.

Bell should not even have been there, if you asked Pankaj. In the first over after the second new ball was taken late on Sunday afternoon, Pankaj, bowling from Northern End, had managed to bend a delivery which seemed to be going down leg but swerved into Bell's pads at the very last moment. Not only did it catch Bell by surprise but even the umpire, Rod Tucker, was caught off guard. Pankaj shrieked out a prolonged appeal, nearly squatting, but Tucker remained unimpressed.

While picking up his hat Pankaj checked with Tucker, who might have noted the ball would have gone down the leg side at first sight. According to Hawk-Eye, the ball would have gone on to hit the top of the middle stump. Pankaj had bowled with decent control and intensity on his first day of work, proving he was a capable replacement for the injured Ishant Sharma. He would have had the wicket of Alastair Cook, too, had Ravindra Jadeja not dropped the chance.

First ball of Pankaj's second over today, Bell was forced to play at an outswinger, but the resultant edge zipped past the empty fourth slip pocket. Pankaj grimaced. It was a similar expression he had displayed at the end of the hard day's work at stumps on Sunday. After he had delivered the final ball of the day, Pankaj bent over with his hands on his knees out in the middle of his pitch with an exhausted and helpless look.

You could not help but feel for Pankaj. He had strived hard to reach the international stage. His journey started in a rural village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh before he moved down south where he worked part-time at a sweet shop in Bangalore while pursuing dreams of playing top-level cricket. He moved to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai before heading to play domestic cricket for the west state of Rajasthan, where he has grown into their best bowler, leader and mentor to youngsters.

Pankaj was the central architect of Rajasthan winning the Ranji Trophy title in successive years in 2011 and 2012 seasons. He has been the most consistent, high-performing fast bowler in the last five years in Indian first-class cricket.

Yet Pankaj continued to be ignored by the selectors, who did not even deem him fit to play on India A tours. No selector ever told him what they expected of him or what they needed him to work on. Each time a team was announced, Pankaj would just swallow the pain and get on with the job. With such a compelling back-story, Pankaj, at 29 years old, was bound to be emotional on his debut.

It is also easy to understand his eagerness to make an impact. It is like being in the first week of job. It is natural you want to impress - more yourself than others. You want to feel that you have earned your job.

Credit to him, on the first day Pankaj did not show nerves. He bowled tidily and mostly followed his captain MS Dhoni's instructions. After every over Dhoni would share insights and tips with the debutant. It was important to tell the bowler he had his captain's confidence. Giving Pankaj the second new ball was a cue.

	A decent percentage of Pankaj's 258 first-class wickets for Rajasthan was of batsmen who can easily get distracted. International batsmen are a different breed. Pankaj would have learned that lesson by now

Yet Pankaj was a lost soul on Monday, especially after lunch. It did not help his cause that Dhoni never allowed his bowlers to settle into a rhythm, as Pankaj bowled six one-over spells in the second session. Pankaj, broad-shouldered, 6ft 4in tall, uses a lot of his body in his action. He relies on rhythm to plot his wickets. So Dhoni's out-of-the-box method did not especially aid Pankaj.

However, it was not Dhoni's fault that Pankaj strayed in his lines and lengths. Too many times today he lost control by either spraying it short and wide or down the leg side, offering easy shots for Bell and Gary Balance in the morning and later Bell and Jos Butler in the afternoon.

For Rajasthan, a decent percentage of Pankaj's 258 first-class wickets was of batsmen who can easily get distracted. International batsmen are a different breed. Pankaj would have learned that lesson by now. His duel with Bell was a fascinating example. Bell had played and missed frequently but any room he got from Pankaj he punished the bowler: like the solid, back-foot square drive in the morning, standing high on his toes, that raced to the boundary and pushed Pankaj back into his corner.

Pankaj was desperate. But he needs to understand being successful is not only about taking wickets. It is also about working for your bowling partners. Whenever he was thrown the ball, he needed to be disciplined, especially on a placid and slow pitch, to not lose the momentum which would only put pressure on the rest of the bowling. It was important to stick to the off-stump line and bowl the channels - a simple, monotonous chore, yet one that has proved effective for every successful fast bowler. What stands in Pankaj's favour is he has employed that same method on unresponsive, flat pitches in India for the last decade.

It is easy to get frustrated. It is easy to feel you are on your own when you finish as the second most-expensive bowler without a wicket in your first outing. But Pankaj is not alone there. Michael Holding recollected his debut Test in Brisbane in 1975 tour of Australia where he finished wicketless.

That is the truth in Test cricket: it can be a lonely place when things are not going your way. As a debutant you want to feel belonged on your first days at work. But you need to clock a lot of mileage before you get to that spot.

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ECB defends Moeen's 'Save Gaza' wristband

The ECB has defended Moeen Ali for wearing wristbands with the slogans "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine" during the third Investec Test between England and India at The Ageas Bowl.

Moeen, a devout Muslim who welcomes the position of role-model and says he wears a long beard as he "wants people to know I am a Muslim", first wore the wrist bands when batting in England's first innings. He had not informed the ECB that he was going to wear them and continued to wear them in the field on the second evening.

He has not been asked to remove them, but he could face sanctions from the ICC if they decide he has contravened their clothing and equipment regulations.

According to section F of the relevant ICC code: "Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment unless approved in advance by the player or team official's Board. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes."

An ICC spokesman confirmed they were investigating the matter. Moeen, playing just his fifth Test, faces a maximum penalty of a fine of up to 50 per cent of his match fee if he is deemed to have committed a Level One offence.

But an ECB spokesman insisted Moeen's stance was "humanitarian not political" and stated that "the ECB do not believe he has committed any offence." It was also pointed out that, on the third day of the current Test, the entire England team, Moeen included, will wear shirts sporting the Help for Heroes logo. Help for Heroes describes itself as "a UK military charity… formed to help those wounded in Britain's current conflicts."

There will also be a minute's silence observed by both teams to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War at 10.56am.

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Weary India facing familiar test

After being pushed on to the defensive in the field, it is up to India's batsmen to try and prevent a return to the bad old days of touring

India's struggles were compounded by a third umpire ruling that went against them followed by missed chances

A five-Test series was always going to be a challenge for India. In the second half of the first back-to-back Tests, at Lord's, they gave it their all: batsmen showed discipline for long hours, bowlers bowled long testing spells, MS Dhoni went against the grain and showed rare aggression and tactical nous as captain. But the question always was, how much did it take out of India?

In Southampton, Ishant Sharma was ruled out with an injury broadly described by India as a "sore leg", Bhuvneshwar Kumar was down on intensity, with the ball not seaming as much as it did at Lord's, and Mohammed Shami's lack of discipline became exposed when others around him didn't bowl that well. Now it's down to the batsmen once again to make sure India do not fall back to the bad old days.

It didn't help India that their slips give no confidence to the bowlers - another catch went down, another catch that the wicketkeeper should have gone for - but the bigger concern would be that they decided too early that the pitch was too flat and that they couldn't win the match. As early as the middle session of the second day, India went to Ravindra Jadeja as their main bowler, who darted balls into the pads with a six-three leg-side field.

The pursuit, like it was in Durban when they didn't take the second new ball until they were forced to after 146 overs, seemed to just contain and delay England's declaration. It is up for debate if thinking of a draw when your enforcing bowler is injured, you have a long series to go through, and you have the series lead, is such a bad thing, but that attitude can lead to dropping of intensity. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled tirelessly at Lord's for six wickets in the first innings, echoed what was happening out there.

"Wicket is flat, easy for batsman," Bhuvneshwar said. "We tried our best as a bowling unit but we have had two long days."

The two long days led to extreme steps by Dhoni. In the middle session of day two, he had his bowlers bowling one-over spells for a long period. The 16th over after lunch was the first time a bowler had bowled two continuous overs from the same end. When Bhuvneshwar created an opportunity in the second half of the session, he was rewarded with another over. He was testing still, but that's all he got. Debutant Pankaj Singh was brought on for the next over, and the first ball he bowled was a leg-side loosener. That can happen when you don't let the bowlers get into any rhythm.

Bhuvneshwar, though, said the number of overs they have bowled justified that extreme rotation of bowlers. "I found that really easy, being in the field for one-and-a-half days we were really tired," Bhuvneshwar said. "Skipper wanted us to bowl one-over spells. By then we were in rhythm as well and we were not getting tired. Personally we found that easy."

When asked about conceding boundaries on both side of the wicket, Bhuvneshwar brought up fatigue again. "When [Gary] Ballance and [Alastair] Cook were batting, the situation demanded that we bowl on one side," Bhuvneshwar said. "Sometimes we were tired, been a long day in the field, it is natural, we are human beings. We tried our best to bowl in a particular area. We tried different strategies."

The slips' slips can't be put down to tiredness, though. Bhuvneshwar sounded forgiving, although you can't expect him or a lot of other India players to accept in a press conference that there is something wrong with them. "Being a bowler you have to know they are going to take some catches, and they are going to drop a few," Bhuvneshwar said. "Every team drops a few catches, but you have to trust the fielder. You can't ask anyone to come out of the slips. All you want is to give them confidence. It happens in cricket that catches are dropped. So far, in all three matches it has been good for us."

Tired bowlers, one injured bowler, dropped catches, dropped pace, captaincy waiting for declaration, an early wicket before stumps, it all sounds like a perfect recipe for disaster. India will dearly love to go to Old Trafford still ahead in the series but their batsmen have a long way to go to ensure that, going by how well James Anderson bowled in that seven-over burst and how the pitch has responded to his pace as opposed to India's put-it-there bowlers.

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Encouragement for England - but no more

Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Jos Buttler piled on the pain for India but luck played its part and judgement should be reserved for tougher tests

#politeenquiries: Are the cricketing gods turning?

It seems churlish to find fault. It feels like going to a wedding and pointing out that almost a third of marriages end in divorce and that the cake will make you fat. But England would be guilty of wishful thinking if they concluded that all their problems are over after a couple of good days in the office.

Let's be clear: England's batting on the first two days of the third Investec Test at the Ageas Bowl was admirable. They established a strong platform through the top three and they accelerated intelligently and selflessly as the innings progressed. The return to form of Ian Bell was welcome and Jos Buttler provided a reminder that he has an unusual ability to destroy bowling and an exciting future. Gary Ballance, meanwhile, underlined the impression that whatever batting records Alastair Cook sets, he may well break them.

And, just as excuses are largely irrelevant in defeat, so caveats should be in success. If England made use of a flat pitch and a jaded attack, it is because they earned those conditions: by electing to bat and wearing down the bowlers, they partially created the environment in which they flourished. For many months, they have been criticised for failing to score 400 in an innings - they failed to do so between March 2013 and June 2014 - so to do so three times in the last eight innings is a welcome sign of progress. You might even conclude that there were shades of the 2011 series in the day's play.

But… when players go through poor patches, they generally suggest that they are focusing on their "processes" and not allowing themselves to worry too much about the outcomes. In short, they are working hard and hoping for the best.

So it is probably wrong to judge a performance solely on the outcome. Just as a batsman, or even a team, can be undone by unplayable bowling, so they can be gifted runs by dreadful bowling. We are fools to judge them as heroes or villains on such evidence. The best players are sometimes the ones good enough to edge the best deliveries.

The truth is that, one of the key differences in this innings to some of the others this summer, was that England enjoyed better fortune. Had Cook not been dropped on 15, had Bell and Buttler been given out on 0 (replays suggested Bell was lbw on the first day but were inconclusive in regard to a low slip catch offered by Buttler), then the scenario would have been very different. England would have played no differently, but the result would have been radically altered.

This was a performance that taught us almost nothing about the main protagonists. Just as we already knew that Cook was a determined character, we also knew that Bell timed the ball sweetly and that Buttler could be destructive.

But it did not answer more pressing questions. It did not, for example, answer whether Buttler, who was also reprieved on 23 and 59, when MS Dhoni missed a stumping, had the defensive game to prosper at this level. Aged 23 and drafted into the team early due to the decline of Matt Prior, Buttler needs a prolonged run in the side to allow him a chance to acclimatise at this level. But his early nervousness outside off stump did suggest there will be times when he will require patience if he is to achieve his undoubted potential.

It did not answer whether Cook has answered his technical problems outside off stump. And it did not answer whether Bell, now the senior man in the middle-order, can rise to the challenge presented to him by the absence of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott and become the man England rely upon in crisis.

If that sounds churlish, it should be remembered this was Bell's first century in 20 Test innings and a couple of weeks short of a year. And, while it was a beautiful, skilful and important innings, it came when a platform had already been established; he came to the crease with the score 213-2. While Bell was magnificent during the Ashes of 2013, his struggles since have only provoked reminders of his earlier struggles to perform when the pressure was at its greatest.

Even Ballance will experience far more testing conditions. He has responded superbly to the challenge of being asked to bat No. 3 and could hardly have been asked to achieve more. But he has enjoyed a succession of benign pitches this summer and will surely face more exacting scrutiny of his ability in the subcontinent or in Australia.

None of this means that these players will not meet those challenges. But it does mean that we should reserve judgement on the new-look England side until they have faced

To be fair to England, they capitalised handsomely on their luck. Bell provided a masterclass in playing spin bowling, disrupting India's plans by attacking Ravindra Jadeja and, after a nervous start, punishing the impressive Pankaj Singh and the slightly off-colour Mohammed Shami.

Bell both skipped down the wicket and went deep into his crease to disrupt Jadeja's lengths and, in between some handsome lofted drives, also swept cleverly. And if Buttler is, at this stage, a blunter weapon, the manner in which he pulled short balls and reverse swept full ones suggested a talent that could, in time, win many games for England. A less selfless batsman would have played for a century on debut rather than attempted to set-up the declaration.

So this was, without doubt, an encouraging day for England. But far tougher challenges lie ahead and it might prove optimistic to conclude a corner has been turned just yet.

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India's slipshod slips

Ravindra Jadeja's drop of Alastair Cook was indicative of the challenge India face in establishing a reliable cordon

Jadeja's dropped chance at third slip with Cook on 15 proved very costly

It is early in the morning, the pitch is fresh, the ball is seaming around a little, Alastair Cook is uncertain, he pushes at a wide delivery from debutant Pankaj Singh, and the edge is taken. Yet another failure for Cook, yet another early entry for No. 3 Gary Ballance, yet another early breakthrough for India.

Hold on, though. The ball has gone knee high, to Ravindra Jadeja's left at third slip, and has spilled out of his hands. Cook, who was only 15, goes on to score 95, India take only two wickets in the day, and you are left to wonder how the day would have panned out had India taken that catch.

This is not the first time a catch has been dropped in the slips, nor is this the first time the reprieved batsman has made a team pay, but India have now dropped eight in the slip in their last seven matches. And that's only off the fast bowlers. Spinners have suffered too. Losing four big batsmen around two years ago, almost all in one go, was a big challenge for India. This new breed of batsmen has been impressive with the bat, but that slip cordon still looks bare.

It has been 19 Tests since Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired. India have tried five different first slips over that period, which means the cordon has been rejigged at least five times in 19 Tests. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, M Vijay and now Shikhar Dhawan have spent time at first slip. That they are being changed so often is clear indication there is something wrong.

It will obviously take some time for those who are not natural slip catchers to get used to fielding there, but there haven't been clear signs of improvement. There have been some really good catches taken: Ashwin almost turned 90 degrees to adjust to a late swerving catch at the Wanderers, Dhawan dived to his right to send back James Anderson in Nottingham, but there have been some glaring errors.

Kohli failed to stay down for long enough when at leg slip to spin at Trent Bridge. When MS Dhoni chose to not go for one between him and first slip at Lord's, Dhawan made no effort either. It was the keeper's catch all right, but good slip fielders are always diving behind the keeper on these occasions to be there, just in case. Pujara once stood there with shin pads on, and couldn't get to a low offering from Cook in Kolkata. Cook then scored 190. Jadeja, who got up too early today, will be thankful he got Cook out for half that score.

There is no fixed right way to go about slip catching, it is mostly about what you are comfortable with, but there are wrong ways. One of the wrong ways is to have legs too far apart in your stance. Mark Taylor says shoulders' width is ideal with the knees pointing in, almost like a skier. Jadeja's stance is at least twice as wide, which makes moving difficult. Another wrong way is to get your hands too far between your legs because than they can get stuck in your knees when you are going for a catch to your side. Jadeja does that. And, obviously, the India slip fielders are getting up too early.

India's slip cordon are mostly excellent athletes and thus very good outfielders. Slip catching, though, is completely different, and much more crucial. You want your bowler to feel confident when running in that all he has to do is just produce the edge. Right now the India quicks can't be confident of that.

The challenge for Trevor Penney, the fielding coach, is huge. The Dhoni-Dhawan no-go is a clear sign of a raw cordon, which is still feeling its way in. They practise really hard during training sessions and take a lot of catches almost every day. They take some sensational catches too. However, it is different when someone is throwing full tosses at Duncan Fletcher from 10 yards and he is opening the face towards the fielders.

We don't know whether India have locked in on a combination now or if there will be a change soon. We don't know if India think they are headed the right way. We don't know if the fielding coach is happy with the cordon's technique and their positioning vis-à-vis each other or if he is struggling to get it right. India don't like to, or are not allowed to, discuss these things. Bullishly Joe Dawes, the bowling coach, said he is happy with the progress, and that Taylor and Mark Waugh used to drop catches occasionally.

What India wouldn't give for a couple of slips men who are half as good as Taylor and Waugh, even at their current age.

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Loyal crowd wills Cook forward

Alastair Cook was under the greatest pressure of his career, but the Southampton crowd was determined to will him forward

#politeenquiries: Do runs solve Cook captaincy issue?

In the late 1960s, with flower-power and hippiedom at their peak, a large group gathered in central London determined to prove the power of positive thinking. If they all concentrated on the same thought at the same time, they believed they could move a building an inch to its left.

It was a similar story at The Ageas Bowl on the first day of the third Investec Test. You could feel the goodwill for England's captain around the ground. You feel the desperation among the spectators, among his teammates, among the coaching staff and even among the majority of the UK media, that Alastair Cook would end his run drought and register his first Test century since May 2013.

Yet, just as the hippies were unable to move that building, so Cook was unable to complete his century. All the goodwill, all the desperation, all the positive thinking was unable to take him the extra inch.

But this innings was no failure. There is too much emphasis on personal milestones in this team game and, just as an innings of 100 would have been celebrated as much as an innings of 105, so this innings of 95 still demonstrated many of Cook's admirable qualities, not least his well-organised batting, his determination and his leadership skills.

It was a brave decision to bat first. A weaker captain, a weaker man, might have seen the green-tinged wicket and used it as an excuse to delay his examination. Cook could easily have chosen to bowl first - as the captain had in the last 10 first-class games at the ground - and hidden behind the explanation that he wanted to give his seamers first use of the wicket. But he knew, deep down, that was the wrong decision for the team and, as ever, he put the team first.

Then, despite a tangible lack of confidence and, as he put it, "under the greatest pressure he had ever been under" he produced the innings his side so desperately required. It was not pretty, it was not smooth and it was not without mistakes.

There were times, with Cook thrusting his hands towards the ball as if trying to remember how he used to bat, when he timed the ball so horribly that you could almost feel the jarring sensation in his arms. And there were times, with the ball making a dead sound after a stroke, when it appeared he might be playing with a piece of driftwood rather than a finely-crafted bat. It was, for the most part, a desperate struggle.

But Cook was never a batsman that you would fall in love with; he was a batsman you could rely upon. And it is reliance, not romance, that England need now.

It would be wrong, though, to suggest this innings answers all the criticism of Cook. It has done little to prove him a good tactician; it has done little to prove him an inspirational leader; it has done little to suggest he is at the start of a golden run of form.

Many county batsmen, if granted 28 consecutive opportunities, would contribute a sizeable innings every so often. The worth of a good Test batsman is contributing consistently. Cook still has to build upon this innings. It if takes another 20 innings for him to contribute, he will have failed. Only Mike Brearley has played more consecutive innings as an England captain and failed to score a century.

There was enduring evidence of some of his technical frailties, too. On a quicker pitch, he might have been caught in the slips from his first ball; instead the edge dropped short. On another day, he would have been caught in the slips on 15; instead Ravi Jadeja put down a relatively simple chance. And on another day, on 29, he might have been caught off the thick edge that flew through gully to the boundary. Luck will always play a large part in this game and Cook also benefited from a slow-paced wicket, a slight off-day from India's seamers and some modest fare from the support bowlers.

But he earned the short balls and wide deliveries. By leaving better outside off stump, by playing straighter, by retaining his patience and composure despite the pressure, he forced the bowlers into attempting different methods of attack and, gradually, they began to feed his strengths. Not one ball was driven to the boundary in the V between mid-off and mid-on, but he cut and pulled often. He will always be a limited player, but when he plays within those limitations he is a mightily effective one.

And, if the runs alone were not enough to remind onlookers of his worth, Cook also passed Kevin Pietersen and David Gower in the list of England's highest run-scorers in Test cricket. He is just 29, remember, and only Alec Stewart and Graham Gooch have scored more than him now.

This was not the end of Cook's journey, but it was a step in the right direction.

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India hopeful on Ishant fitness for Old Trafford

India's bowling coach, Joe Dawes, is confident Ishant Sharma will be fit by the time the fourth Test begins, in Manchester on August 7. Ishant, Man of the Match at Lord's for his seven-wicket haul in the second innings, had to be withdrawn from the Southampton Test in what seemed to be a last-minute move. MS Dhoni said he would have played Ishant had this been a one-day match, but he didn't want to risk him over five days.

Pankaj Singh, Ishant's replacement, was put on standby Saturday night, according to Dawes, which suggests India were not confident of Ishant's availability. Dawes said Ishant has "a bit of a sore leg", further tests on which are yet to be done. "There are eleven days or so to the next Test, and I am confident that he can pull through," Dawes said.

Pankaj might have been given the message to stay prepared for a debut, but the final call wasn't made until the teams got to the ground an hour before toss. Ishant tried bowling, but pulled up a little sore. However, Dawes saying that they hadn't made the decision right until toss time is a bit of an exaggeration. Ishant had been in a warm jacket and doing nothing for about 20 minutes leading up to the toss, which was a clear indication.

Pankaj had a mixed day in the field. He was desperately unlucky in having Alastair Cook dropped off his bowling, and then missing out on what looked like a pretty straightforward lbw decision against Ian Bell. Towards the end of the day, though, he took a bit of tap, getting pulled, cut and driven off the toes.

"After ten years, it was a dream come true," Pankaj told Star Sports. "Really happy to make my debut, but I would have liked to get a wicket for my team. Hopefully I get some tomorrow. It's an unbelievable feeling. Can't put it in words. Tried my best, but things haven't happened. Hopefully tomorrow that changes."

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Red Steel romp to nine-wicket win over Zouks

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 137 for 1 (Lewis 77, O'Brien 55*) beat St Lucia Zouks 136 for 9 (Sammy 46*, Badree 2-13) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Evin Lewis and Kevin O'Brien flayed a hapless St Lucia Zouks bowling unit as the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel recorded a nine-wicket win at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. The pair erased the CPL first-wicket partnership record set 24 hours earlier by Martin Guptill and Lendl Simmons of the Guyana Amazon Warriors by adding 129 at the start of the Red Steel chase.

The Red Steel reached the target of 137 with 32 balls to spare, just one ball short of equaling the fastest chase of CPL 2014 made by the Jamaica Tallawahs who were set 97 to win against the Antigua Hawksbills on July 17. Lewis and O'Brien came within eight runs of notching the first 10-wicket win in CPL history before Lewis fell for 77 in the 14th over to a catch in the deep off Shane Shillingford.

O'Brien brought up his own half-century two balls later and should have been dismissed with three needed to win when he was stumped giving Garey Mathurin the charge only to be called back to the crease when replays revealed the left-arm spinner had overstepped and a no ball was called. O'Brien sealed the match with a two off the free hit that followed and finished unbeaten on 55 off 44 balls.

The brief chase was set up by a disciplined bowling and fielding display in response to the Zouks decision to bat first upon winning the toss. Legspinner Samuel Badree set the tone by removing both openers, Johnson Charles stumped for 15 after being beaten in flight coming down the track and Andre Fletcher for 4 swinging across the line to a full delivery to mark Badree's 100th wicket in Twenty20 matches. He finished with a typically tidy 2 for 13 in four overs including a maiden.

The Zouks struggled to piece together a decent partnership with their best stand of the day coming courtesy of Tonito Willett and Darren Sammy, who added 27 runs for the fifth wicket. Sammy's efforts to provide a late surge were stunted by three runouts in the final overs. He still motored ahead to finish with an innings-high 46 not out off 35 balls including four sixes but the final total of 136 for 9 was never going to be enough against a stacked Red Steel batting lineup on a pitch that held few demons.

The Red Steel reclaimed sole possession of first place with the win, moving two points clear of the Amazon Warriors with 10 points on five wins. Meanwhile, the Zouks remain entrenched in the winless column and will be aiming to turn their fortunes around on July 31 when the CPL caravan arrives at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia. The Zouks play their first home game of the season that evening against the Barbados Tridents.

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Beaton's final over leaves Tridents stunned

Guyana Amazon Warriors 173 for 5 (Simmons 64, Guptill 55*) beat BarbadosTridents 166 for 4 (Smith 104*) by seven runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A CPL record 148-run second-wicket partnership between Dwayne Smith and Shoaib Malik was trumped by Ronsford Beaton's spectacular final over to give the Guyana Amazon Warriors a seven-run win over the Barbados Tridents at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The Tridents seemed certain to overhaul a target of 174 thanks to Smith's second century in three matches and entered the final over needing 11 to win with Smith on strike on 101 having already hit eight fours and six sixes. Beaton was the same man who conceded a last ball six to Darren Bravo two nights earlier in a heartbreaking loss to the Red Steel, but Guyana captain Denesh Ramdin kept faith in the 21-year-old Beaton to defend those 11 runs and he did it with room to spare.

Fortune appeared to be shining on Smith and the Tridents after Smith tried to slog a yorker only for the ball to deflect off his pads and knock into leg stump without dislodging the bails. Beaton speared in three more yorkers to Smith that resulted in a two, a dot and a single to put Jonathan Carter on strike needing eight off the final two to win. Beaton fired in a wide yorker to combat Carter's premeditated scoop shot resulting in another dot ball to effectively seal the match with one ball remaining. Another dot off the final ball served as the icing on the cake.

Despite plenty of wickets in hand for the Tridents, the foundation for the tight finish was laid in the 17th when the 148-run second-wicket partnership was broken after Malik was caught short trying to steal a single for Smith. Lendl Simmons circled around and connected with a direct hit from backward point to send Malik on his way for 50.

Five balls later, Beaton struck with a full inswinger to bowl Kieron Pollard for a duck and then finished the 18th by running out Jeevan Mendis off his own bowling. Smith dug out a yorker and tried to scamper a single but Beaton charged down the pitch in his follow through and underhanded into the striker's end stumps to leave 16 needed off 12 with six wickets in hand. Krishmar Santokie conceded five singles in the 19th before Beaton's final over sealed it for the Amazon Warriors as the Tridents ended on 166 for 4.

Earlier in the day, Simmons and Martin Guptill provided contrasting half-centuries from the top of the order for the Amazon Warriors after being sent in to bat. The pair produced a record stand of their own by adding 103, the best first-wicket partnership in the CPL and sixth best for any wicket. Simmons fell on the final ball of the 12th over for 64, caught on the boundary attempting to slog Mendis' legspin for his fifth six. Guptill dropped anchor afterward and let his fresh partners slog away around him.

Mohammad Hafeez was particularly effective, smacking two fours and three sixes to make 30 off 10 balls before he was dismissed by Pollard two balls into the 20th. Guptill wound up carrying his bat as Guyana finished on 173 for 5 with Guptill unbeaten on 55 off 51 balls and his patience was vindicated by the end of the day. The Amazon Warriors now sit on eight points alongside the Red Steel at the top of the CPL table while the Tridents fall back in a tie for third with the Tallawahs on six points.

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Red Steel hand Tallawahs first loss

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 183 for 5 (Lewis 72, Russell 2-23) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 170 for 6 (Gayle 60, O'Brien 4-22) by 13 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Opening batsman Evin Lewis' belligerent assault paved the way for a 13-run win for the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel over the Jamaica Tallawahs at a vibrant Queen's Park Oval on Saturday. Lewis' 72 off 43 balls left the Tallawahs stunned in the field and resulted in their first loss on the season while the Red Steel moved past the Tallawahs on the CPL points table with their fourth win of CPL 2014.

After Chris Gayle won the toss and elected to field first, Kevin O'Brien got the Red Steel innings off to a brisk start with three fours and two sixes to bring the Red Steel to 40 for 0 after four overs. Andre Russell pulled things back in the field for the Tallawahs with a double-strike in the sixth over, cleaning up O'Brien for 32 with a yorker before dismissing Ross Taylor first ball courtesy of a well-timed leaping effort by Rusty Theron at mid-off that resulted in a one-handed catch to make it 45 for 2.

After eight overs, Lewis had yet to hit a boundary and sat on 8 off 20 balls but erupted in the ninth, targeting Gayle's offspin for two fours and a six. Gayle remained in the crosshairs to start the 11th when Lewis launched him for back-to-back sixes over long-off. The captain replaced himself with Vettori to start the 13th for some left-arm spin but the result wasn't much different with Lewis tonking three sixes in the over, two playing with the turn over midwicket followed by another back over Vettori's head.

Theron eventually claimed Lewis in the 15th but not before he had hit eight of the Red Steel's 15 sixes. Three more came in the final over from Dwayne Bravo and Jason Scantlebury-Searles to boost Red Steel's total to 183 for 5.

The Tallawahs got off to a methodical start in the chase with Gayle's half-century anchoring the innings. They comfortably reached the halfway mark at 82 for 1 but a few overs later O'Brien's spell turned the match back in the Red Steel's favor. He struck four balls after his arrival in the 12th over, inducing a skied chance to cover to remove Jermaine Blackwood for 28.

After Gayle smashed O'Brien over extra cover for six two balls into the 15th, he tried repeating the shot but a miscued drive was claimed by Taylor a yard inside the boundary. Adam Voges crossed to get on strike for the following delivery but quickly joined Gayle in the pavilion when he produced a leading edge back to O'Brien to leave the score 121 for 4 after 15. O'Brien pushed Lewis out of the way for the Man-of-the-Match award by trapping Owais Shah on the back foot with an offcutter at the start of the 17th and finished with figures of 4 for 22 in three overs.

The Tallawahs entered the final over needing 33 to win and Carlton Baugh was run out trying to steal a bye off the first ball to mathematically clinch the win for the Red Steel. Russell smacked sixes off the final three balls of the match to make the result appear more flattering for the Tallawahs but the day was dominated by the Red Steel behind Lewis and O'Brien's impressive performances.

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