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ScorecardSourav Ganguly tore into the top order while Ranadeb Bose took care of the tail as Bengal, opting to bowl first on a green top, bowled out Tamil Nadu for 218 before struggling against the medium pace of Rajamani Jesuraj to reach 32 for 3 by the end of the opening day’s play at the Eden Gardens. “I’ve never seen such a wicket while playing in India”, Dinesh Kartik, TN’s wicketkeeper, had said on the eve of the game and nearly all the batsmen struggled on it. Only Hemang Badani who stepped down from the captaincy, giving way to Subramaniam Badrinath, to concentrate on his batting, offered the lone resistance with a fighting 67 to lift TN to a competitive total. Ganguly, who was ordered by BCCI to play in this tie, trapped all his three victims in front before being suspended from bowling in the rest of the innings for straying on to the danger area too often. Bengal, with nine points from five games, will be hoping to grab as many points as they can and secure a semi-final spot while Tamil Nadu, will try to get at least two points to avoid being relegated to Plate. For Tamil Nadu Yo Mahesh, the India under-19 player, made his debut.
ScorecardA 97-run partnership between Barrington Rowland and Balachandra Akhil lifted Karnataka from dire straits at 134 for 5 to 231 for 6 by the end of opening day’s play against Delhi at Bangalore. Virender Sehwag, ordered by BCCI to play in this game, struck twice to push the hosts on the back foot before Rowland came to the rescue with a patient 81. However, he fell late in the day to bring back Delhi into the frame; Sehwag will be hoping to bowl out the tail quickly on the second day while Karnataka’s hopes of a big first-innings score rested on Akhil. It’s a crucial tie for Delhi as they have only 6 points in five games and need at least 2 points from this tie to avoid the relegation.
ScorecardLed by Ramesh Powar’s four-wicket haul and assisted by twin blows from Aavishkar Salvi and Swapnil Hazare, Mumbai reduced Gujarat to 190 for 9 by close of the opening day at Ahmedabad. Parthiv Patel, who was picked for the India tour of Pakistan, shored up the Gujarat innings with a valiant 47 before Hemal Watekar’s unbeaten 46 lifted Gujarat to a fighting total. Salvi and Hazare picked up the four of the top six in the order before Powar, who had removed Parthiv, came back to rip the tail apart.
ScorecardShalabh Srivastava and Ashish Zaidi rocked the top order while Piyush Chawla blew the tail away as Uttar Pradesh shot out Hyderabad for 142 before riding on Shukla’s unbeaten half-century to reach a position of relative strength at 101 for 1 by stumps on the opening day at Lucknow. A stunning scoreline considering Hyderabad, with 9 points from four games, are placed second in the Group B table while UP are wallowing near the bottom of the table. Shashank Nag, the left-hand opener, took Hyderabad to 70 before becoming the fourth wicket to fall, triggering a collapse.
ScorecardOff the 32 overs that were possible due to a delayed start owing to rain Maharashtra reached 55 for the loss of Abhijit Kale, the opener, in the crucial tie against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Railways, with only 4 points in five games, lie at the bottom of the table along with Maharashtra and face the threat of relegation. Maharashtra have an overseas coach in Darren Holder, the Australian, but the results have been pretty disappointing so far.
Scorecard</aOnly 26.2 overs were possible on a rain-affected day as Pinal Shah steered Baroda to 82 for 1 against Services by close at Palam A Stadium in New Delhi. Baroda are perched on top of the Group B table with 13 points from four games while Services are at the bottom of the pool, yet to earn a point.
ScorecardPunjab, competing for the second semi-final spot, plodded their way to 190 for 4 by the end of the opening day against Andhra at Visakhapatnam. Pankaj Dharmani and Dinesh Mongia, the captain, put up a 91-run stand for the third wicket to lift Punjab from a shaky 99 for 3 to a position of relative strength. “We need to go all out and we are confident of doing it. Our team is well balanced. However, we don’t underestimate Andhra, which is doing well”, Inthikab Alam, the Punjab coach and former Pakistan captain, had said on the eve of the match. If their tedious progress today is any indication, they have a battle on their hands.

The concern surrounding the pitches in this season’s BPL is getting louder as the tournament heads towards the more important stages. There has been regular help for the bowlers, who have benefited from the two-paced nature of surfaces, and increasingly the toss has gained importance.In the first 24 games, 13 teams won after winning the toss and out of those, nine had decided to bowl first. Comilla Victorians have been the biggest beneficiary, winning four games after opting to chase. Among those who batted first overall, teams have been shot out for sub-100 totals four times including scores of 58, 59, 82 and 89. The first two scores came in the last two days.At the start of the tournament, the problem was for teams playing in the evening game on the same pitch that the afternoon match was played. Rangpur Riders captain Shakib Al Hasan said that the pitches were getting weary too quickly and the teams batting second were having to deal with lower bounce and more turn.The pitches in Chittagong were much better, offering everyone a chance. When Evin Lewis made the tournament’s only century, he was playing through the line consistently and connecting too. There was a feeling that perhaps the pitches there were also two-paced but it ultimately evened out in the day’s second match.The return to Dhaka has again been tough, particularly in foggy weather, and the lack of sun has meant moisture has not evaporated as quickly as it usually does in the afternoon. It has made the pitches softer, making it harder for those batting first.The improved run-making in Chittagong saw teams scoring 140 on average batting first, at 7.02 per over, after the first 12 games in Dhaka yielded an average score of 136 batting first, at 6.91 per over. However, in the four games since the tournament moved back to Dhaka on December 6, the first-innings average score has dipped to 89 at a rate of just 5.29 per over.Comilla Victorians beat Barisal Bulls by seven wickets by restricting them to 105 for 6 after deciding to bowl and their captain Mashrafe Mortaza admitted that teams would be more inclined to field first on these “unpredictable” pitches despite short boundaries.”It is hard to score runs when you try to force it,” Mashrafe said. “These wickets are very unpredictable. Every team is looking to field first. Maybe they pulled in the boundary ropes because we were playing on the wicket on the other corner but it might also be to increase the run-making. But it is still very hard for the batsmen.”Barisal paceman Rayad Emrit said that the pitch was not ideal. “It is not the best of wickets for T20. It is very difficult to start for a batter and to bat first, especially,” he said. “We batted first in both games and you see the results.”They are probably trying to compensate for the wicket. It is not a wicket where you can go out and play shots. Maybe they are trying to get the fans involved, T20 is about runs. It is always a batter’s game and obviously the bowlers have to adjust quickly. If we had got 120-130, it would have been a different game.”Barisal have been guilty of playing poorly in the last two games despite the arrival of Chris Gayle to pair up with Lewis, who hasn’t made a significant contribution since his unbeaten 101 against Dhaka Dynamites. “We’ve lost two games back to back,” Emrit said. “It is a bit of a concern now. We have a strong top-order but we are very inconsistent in our batting. Our bowlers have done a terrific job. We know how dangerous the guys at the top are, as long as they get off.”While Barisal can take solace from knowing that Gayle coming good could solve their batting troubles, Sylhet Superstars exited the tournament by getting bowled out in the least number of overs in the BPL’s short history. On the previous day they had won the toss and bowled out Barisal for 58. On Monday they were bowled out for 59, after Rangpur decided to bowl first. The BPL isn’t for batsmen, at least from what we have seen on the 12 matchdays so far.

The Madras High Court dismissed a petition from Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd challenging the Lodha Committee order to suspend IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings for two years.The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice PS Sivagnanam, who had reserved their order on the plea on December 14, dismissed it as not maintainable. The bench also dismissed a PIL filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy challenging the suspension of Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals on the same grounds.Both teams were barred from playing the next two editions of the IPL after a three-member panel appointed by the Supreme Court and headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha found top officials from both teams having engaged in illegal betting. Super Kings’ Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were banned for life from any match conducted by the board.Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd had sought a stay on the committee’s order issued in September last year, contending the order was against fundamental principles of natural justice and a fair hearing.Opposing the petition, the BCCI had argued that Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd was not a legal entity and hence could not file the case. Senior counsel AL Somayaji submitted that CSK Cricket Limited was only a brand name of the franchise owned by India Cements Limited. He submitted that the franchise agreement was between BCCI and India Cements and that the latter had no right to assign or delegate ownership and even if it did should be done so with prior permission from the BCCI.He had argued that CSK Cricket Limited was not the aggrieved party and hence the liberty given by the Supreme Court that the aggrieved could approach the appropriate forum for remedy would not entitle it to file the present petition.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) has found further support, from the head of New Zealand’s players’ body, who is concerned that New Zealand will suffer most unless the ICC accommodates the ICL. The ICC is due to meet early September to determine whether the ICL will be officially endorsed.The players’ associations will convene at the same time in Johannesburg. Heath Mills, the manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, told the their message would be for the ICC to get behind the league, rather than ostracise it.”The ideal scenario from my point of view would be for the ICC to support it as long as it didn’t impinge upon international cricket,” he said. “I can’t see many negatives of third-party funding coming into cricket and another professional league would give players an opportunity to earn more income, just like those who go to county cricket. What would concern me greatly was if the league was not sanctioned and it became a ‘rebel’ league.”Mills said the comparatively low incomes of New Zealand’s players made them a prime target for the ICL, arguing that cricket’s big fish – the subcontinent, Australia, England and South Africa – have the resources to pay their players the sort of money that would ensure they don’t jump ship.”Our guys would be hugely at risk,” Mills said. “They’re paying their players close to a million a year so it’s a no-brainer. But a guy who is near the top of the [New Zealand] retainer list and plays most games a year is looking at $250,000 maximum. That makes us vulnerable.” Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming have all been linked with the ICL.Mills’s comments provide further momentum for the ICL bandwagon. In recent weeks, the league has received some support from at least two senior Indian politicians; Digvijay Singh, a general secretary of the ruling Congress party, asked the BCCI to help promote the ICL instead of confronting it. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the federal railway minister, has also indicated his support, saying he would allow organisers to host matches in stadiums under his ministry’s control.On Friday, half the Hyderabad first-class team announced it had signed on. Imran Farhat, who is out of favour with Pakistan’s selectors in the shorter version of the game, has been released from his central contract with the PCB and has all but sealed a deal with the ICL.There have been continued reports of big-name but disgruntled Pakistan players signing on as well. Brian Lara remains the only star to have officially committed to the league.

ScorecardRohit G Sharma and Pankaj Singh steered Rajasthan to the finals of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament with a seven-wicket win over Punjab at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing 262, Sharma laid the foundation with 62 while Singh polished off the target with a breezy 36 off 22 balls.Punjab won the toss and elected to bat first and the innings was anchored by opener Karan Goel, who scored 72. Ravneet Ricky chipped in with 48 and added 112 with Goel. Pankaj Dharmani and Reetinder Sodhi added the finishing touches to push the score to 261. Rajasthan began their reply in a steady manner with Sharma and Anshu Jain adding 89 for the second wicket. However a steady fall of wickets followed and Punjab clawed back, reducing the home side to 203 for 7. Rajesh Bishnoi and Singh ensured no further fall of wickets and took their side home with an over to spare.Rajasthan will meet Mumbai in the finals at the same venue on Wednesday.

The PCB is unlikely to accede to Gill Woolmer’s request to play a Twenty20 match against India, to raise funds for a cricket academy Bob Woolmer had planned to set up in South Africa, due to a congested fixture list.”We got a letter asking us to play a Twenty20 match with India for the academy. But this seems unlikely in the near future,” Ehsan Malik, PCB spokesman, told Reuters.Malik said a packed international schedule for both teams was the reason behind the decision and that the PCB was looking at other means of helping establish the academy. The PCB has dedicated the practice area of its National Cricket Academy in Lahore to Woolmer and named it after him.A proposal to play a Twenty20 match against England in August was earlier rejected as the England team had prior commitments.Woolmer died in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan suffered a shock defeat against Ireland and were knocked out in the first round of the World Cup. His death was investigated as murder until after the tournament when Jamaican authorities u-turned and announced he had died of natural causes.

West Indies cricket is currently in finer fettle than it has been for some time but Brian Lara believes that next year’s World Cup will make things even better, both on and off the field. “The World Cup is a watershed moment in our cricket,” Lara told reporters in Karachi. “Not only for the practical side of it on the field, but financially and administratively we think the World Cup is going to kick start something new, something very much needed.”The West Indies will host the ninth World Cup for 16 teams from March 13 to April 28 next year. The countdown begins next week with 100 days to go for the first-ever World Cup in the region. The event is expected to attract 2.2 billion television viewers around the world and about 100,000 visitors are expected to travel to the Caribbean for the tournament.”We are looking forward to the World Cup and we are looking to the end result of it and it is going to be very very promising for us on the field as well as off it,” said Lara. “The corporate world in the Caribbean is not as great as in India or the subcontinent but we have been depending a lot on the revenues coming out of the World Cup to move us forward.”The West Indies won the inaugural World Cup held in England in 1975, went on to win the next one too in 1979, again in England, and finished runners-up to India in the third edition held in the same country four years later. They have failed to reach the semi-finals of the last two World Cups – in England in 1999 and in the South Africa four years later.But under Lara, and in home conditions, they are one of the favourites for the tournament. Their recent form is solid, having beaten India 4-1 at home before finishing runners-up twice to Australia, first in a tri-series in Malaysia in October and then the Champions Trophy final in India earlier this month. They have also won a big tournament in recent years – the 2004 Champions Trophy in England.Lara said he was happy with the team’s progress. “We have played very good one-day cricket over the last couple of years. We have a lot of one-day cricket planned actually with five one-dayers in Pakistan and we come back to India in January. Of course there are periods when we have collapsed, especially our batting. Host countries haven’t done too well in World Cups but I am quite happy with our preparations.”

Shaun Udal captured his first Test wicket to fulfil an ambition he has been harbouring for 19 long years, as England fought back manfully on the first day at Multan to reduce Pakistan to a wobbly 244 for 6 at stumps.Since poking his head into the international arena more than a decade ago, Udal has had ample opportunity to romanticise about that big moment, and it finally came in the 55th over of the innings, as Salman Butt cannoned an edge off the top of Marcus Trescothick’s head at slip, and into the gloves of Geraint Jones as he dived back to gather the rebound.”I’d have liked it to have come in a more conventional way,” Udal joked, “but the whole day has gone fantastically well. I’ve waited for this for a long time, so to play a part and to have some say in what happened as well is fantastic. I’m still pinching myself.”I was a bit confused as to where the ball had gone,” he admitted. “Obviously it hit Marcus but when it looped in the air and he was still looking for it, I thought the moment had gone. But then Jonesy dived, and I lost control of my senses for a few seconds. It was a special moment – Freddie, Harmy and the boys came and gave me a big hug – and when you’ve waited 19 years to play, it’s even better.”Udal’s long experience as a county pro meant that he was better equipped than most for coping with the new-boy nerves, although he did admit to feeling a “bit panicky” when his first ball whistled over the covers for four. But the team spirit that carried England through the Ashes was on full show to help him out. “It’s been relatively easy because the guys have made me so welcome,” he said. “They are very special and it’s a pleasure to be involved with this team.”There was no doubt that he was straight in at the deep end of Test cricket, however. “The first two or three hours were tough,” he said. “I may be a new boy here, but watching from the sidelines, I’ve seen the tough times, we get through them. The discipline and strength of character of the side showed what you can do when you put your mind to it. We stuck to our guns, stuck to our plans, made run-scoring a little more difficult and it went our way.”And Udal wasn’t afraid to change his natural spinner’s rhythm to suit the conditions. “I probably bowled a bit quicker because of the docility of the pitch and the quality of the players. You need to make them rush their shots a little more. There’ll be more turn and bounce for the wristspinner, for a fingerspinner you’ve got to work hard and eliminate the bad balls.”As to the match situation, Udal felt England weren’t far from the ascendancy. “You never know in cricket, but another 60-70 runs and a total around the 300 mark, and we’ve had a good first innings. But it’s only a quarter of the job done. Today’s been a very special moment, but I’m not going to get too carried away.”

Former England fast bowler Simon Jones isn’t ruling out a return to international cricket, spurred on by the thought of playing an Ashes Test in front of a Welsh crowd. Continual injury setbacks have hampered him for two years and he has not played international cricket since 2005, but he is clinging to the hope of participating in Cardiff’s first Ashes next year.”I would do anything to be involved in that game,” Jones told the Mirror. “Playing against Australia in front of a Welsh crowd would be something special.”Reprising the 2005 Ashes-winning bowling quartet of himself, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard is a further dream, however distant. “I would hate to think the four of us will never bowl together again,” said Jones. “That would be a real shame, and we’re all young enough to make our comebacks for England, so you never know.”Flintoff hasn’t played a Test since the last Ashes in Sydney early last year, while Hoggard and Harmison were dropped after the first Test in new Zealand because of poor form in the opening Test.Jones has county cricket and staying injury-free to focus upon long before he can think of playing for England again.

The season ended with frustration and a few tantrums at The Rose Bowl after Shane Warne made clear his anger at Lancashire’s refusal to declare and set Hampshire a target to chase.Lancashire had already lost out on the title to Sussex, but they had made their runners-up position safe earlier in this game when Hampshire failed to secure maximum bonus points. Warne clearly hoped that there would be a declaration and a run chase, but Mark Chilton opted to bat on as Lancashire ended the day on 339 for 6, a lead of 562.Warne, however, did not appreciate the thinking behind the decision. “Coming into the day and after losing a day through rain, we thought we were going to get a game. It got to the stage where they were 430 ahead with 60 overs left and still didn’t declare. It was ridiculous. I started throwing some lob-ups to see if they wanted any more runs but that didn’t work.”Shortly after lunch there was a surreal five-over period where Warne and others deliberately offered up a series of ridiculous deliveries in an apparent protest. Warne himself sent down a succession of bouncers and was no-balled for throwing the ball from a standing start.Chilton admitted that he perhaps should have done more to make a game of it. “We definitely didn’t want to lose the game so we were going to bat ourselves into a very strong position,” he said. “After lunch there was a window of opportunity in which we could, and should have perhaps, declared. But after Hampshire started throwing the bowl 20 feet into the air we decided it would be inappropriate.”I’m not proud of what happened but I feel sorry for all the spectators that made the journey and I hope this doesn’t cloud what has been a great season for us. If I could have the time again, I would have done it differently and I will learn from things like this.”Warne, meanwhile, said that the umpires had congratulated his side on their conduct. “We did everything we could to get a game but I was disappointed for the crowd who had come to see what happened.”