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Scorecard

Shoaib Malik continued his solid form with both bat and ball, as he led the Punjab Stallions to their second win in a row over the NWFP Panthers. Far from the fireworks of yesterday’s spectacular last-ball thriller, this was a slow-burner: an NWFP side weakened by the absence of captain Umar Gul and Younis Khan pushed hard, their challenge fell away over the last ten overs as Punjab’s spinners, with Malik to the fore, applied a mid-innings choke.Malik had first played his part with the bat. Having been put in by NWFP, Punjab were off to the worst possible start, losing Azhar Ali early. Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed may have been one of the few bright spots for Pakistan this year, but they were soon gone to, on a sluggish pitch. That left Punjab 36 for 3 and Malik with a headache.But in his typically unruffled way, Malik went about looking to put some respectability to the total. Good running helped as a number of singles and doubles were picked up and some support emerged in the shape of Umar Akmal, the tyro younger brother of Kamran.The pair steadied matters with an 86-run partnership but the dismissal of both in quick succession, and Kamran Akmal to boot, left Punjab pretty much where they had started – in some strife. Thereafter, Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rehman and the tail scraped and scratched their way to ensuring a defendable total. Samiullah Khan Niazi and Shakeel-ur-Rehman, with three wickets apiece, made sure it wouldn’t be easy.The start to the NWFP innings was similar, as Adnan Raees was caught behind off the wiry, impressive and pacy Mohammad Talha. Yasir Hameed took a cue from Malik. Leading NWFP in Gul’s absence, the former Pakistan opener got down to some serious graft.Though not timing the ball fluently, or finding gaps readily – a blip that has lately emerged – Hameed hung around. Rafatullah Mohmand chanced his arm at the other end and kept up the rate and at times in their partnership, the total appeared a doddle.But Malik, helped by Rehman, then made his second vital impact on this match. Junaid Zia had already sent back Mohmand when Malik trapped the impressive Khurram Shehzad and almost immediately after, beat Hameed with a beautifully looped delivery. Thereafter the chase was up, the spirit gone.Rehman bowled a wonderfully restrictive spell of left-arm spin, supporting Malik. Amjad came on late in the show, getting appreciable turn and bounce, and further stifling the rate. During this choke, NWFP crashed from 142 for 3 to 183 for 9, including three panic-struck run-outs. They went down fighting at least, with Mohammad Aslam unbeaten on 24. Talha came back for another quick, yorker-ridden spell at the end, to finish with two wickets and Pakistan’s selection committee would’ve taken note. Malik, it was however, who deservedly received the Man-of-the-Match award.

A new governing structure for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is expected to be finalised at a stakeholders’ meeting in March 2009. The development comes after a meeting of the CARICOM’s prime ministerial sub-committee on cricket under new chairman Baldwin Spencer, Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister.”Out of that [meeting in March] will come hopefully an understanding as to how we are going to proceed with the creation of a new governance structure for the West Indies Cricket Board,” Spencer told the agency. “In the meantime the expectation is that the prime ministerial sub-committee will meet at least once to receive a report from the president of the WICB.”The sub-committee reviewed the recommendations of the governance committee, led by former Jamaican prime minister PJ Patterson, on the management of the game in the region as well as the board’s draft strategic plan, and found some common ground between the two.”What came out of our deliberations are that there are major areas of agreement between the committee’s report and the draft strategic plan that has been put forward by the West Indies Cricket Board,” Spencer said. “The issue of the development of a governing structure that will drive the process of West Indies cricket in the future is a matter that will occupy the attention of the board moving forward.”However, Spencer added that while the governance committee will have future meetings with stakeholders that it won’t take over from the WICB. “As it stands now, the board is the shareholder of the company if you like, and what you need is to get the stakeholders involved at the broadest possible level.”The WICB was represented president Julian Hunte and chief executive officer Donald Peters at the meeting in Antigua.

(They got scared of you, it’s all grazed). Gagan Khoda pointed out to his Rajasthan team-mate Pankaj Singh about the grass being shaved off the pitch, now a brown and barren patch. The previous day, Pankaj, the Rajasthan spearhead, had announced Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma as his prime targets, thereby setting the tone the for season-opener that starts tomorrow at the Brabourne Stadium.Though Rajasthan have lost to Mumbai in the last two years, both outright defeats, the visitors are not willing to confer the ‘favourites’ tag on their opponents. A team mostly comprising youngsters led by a new captain, Venugopal Rao, Rajasthan are well behind Mumbai in terms of experience and star value. Only Rao and Gagan Khoda have played for India whereas Mumbai have five players in the squad who have a national cap in at least one form of the game. Still, Rajasthan believe they can put up a fight.Rao, who joined the team this season after quitting Maharashtra, felt the onus was on the batsmen to rise to the occasion and support the bowlers. Rao said his team was riding on the confidence of a fighting performance against Australia in the tour game a month ago. In the two-day game, the Australians were restricted to a small total of 218 with left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh picking up a five-for.Though the main batsmen – Khoda, Robin Bist and Rao – got starts, Rajasthan were bundled out for a paltry 122. Rajasthan would say it was just the first game of the new season, the inexperience of many players remains a concern. Mumbai, in contrast, are spoilt for choice.As a mark of confidence, they have already announced their 12, leaving out Ankit Chavan, Hiken Shah and Rohan Raje. More importantly, the return of Sairaj Bahutule has added the much-required balance to the lower middle-order which struggled in his absence after he moved to Maharashtra three years ago.Bahutule said it was “fantastic” to be back to represent his home state and is hungry to prove his worth once again. According to him, a huge advantage Mumbai have this season is the “balance” in the set-up. “Balance remains the strong point with Rohit [Sharma], Sahil [Kukreja] and Abhishek [Nair] who have developed in the last few years into key players,” Bahutule after the training on Sunday.

Praveen Amre, the Mumbai coach, felt Bahutule’s return is definitely a boost for Mumbai who failed to defend the title last year when they found it hard to notch victories convincingly. “Sai (Bahutule) comes as a package who can control situations with both the bat and ball,” Amre said. Mumbai fans will have strong memories of the numerous fightbacks marshalled by the pair of Bahutule and Ramesh Powar after the collapse of the top order during the 2002-03 season. It was only because of their spirited all-round display that Paras Mhambrey went on to lift the Ranji crown that season.The presence of Wasim Jaffer at the top is another big positive for the batting line-up which will miss the services of Rohit Sharma in the middle order as he’s expected to join the Indian team for the ODI series starting on November 14 against England. Jaffer has always had a huge appetite for runs and that will only help the likes of youngsters like Kukreja and Nayar, who are moving ahead on the learning curve. Kukreja was the second-highest run-getter behind Amol Muzumdar, whom Jaffer replaced as captain this season.Mumbai return to the Brabourne Stadium after more than a decade and Ajit Agarkar has good memories of the pitch on which he bagged six wickets in the formidable 311-victory over Maharashtra during the league phase. “The pitch is similar in nature. It was seaming then,” Agarkar said. Agarkar, who had a hernia operation, will share the new ball with Dhaval Kulkarni, who came into prominence during the IPL for the Mumbai Indians.But with the wicket likely to aid spin from the second day, the slow bowlers could play a more prominent role in forcing a result. When asked whether Vivek Yadav, the leg spinner, will be handed a debut, Rao gave a positive wink.Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Rohit Sharma, Amol Muzumdar, Abhishek Nair, Ajit Agarkar, Vinayak Samant (wk), Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Dhaval KulkarniRajasthan: Venugopal Rao (capt), Shubhanshu Vijay, Vineet Saxena, Robin Bist, Nikhil Doru, Gagan Khoda, Shailender Gehlot, Vikrant Yadav (wk), Gajendra Singh, Pankaj Singh, Sumit Mathur, Vivek Yadav.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

An unbeaten 79 by Mehrab Hossain jnr helped square the honours on the first day of the first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Chittagong. With Bangladesh down to 44 for 4 soon after lunch, New Zealand looked set to dismiss the hosts for another low score before a 139-run stand between Mehrab and Mushfiqur Rahim resurrected the innings.Both teams came into the Test with a few jitters; Bangladesh have had just one win in their Test history, while New Zealand had lost four of their last five Tests – all against England. Bangladesh’s batsmen and New Zealand’s fielders showed nerves early on but, just when the visiting bowlers put their team on top, they let their opponents back into the game. Mehrab finished the day unbeaten on 79, while Mushfiqur will resume tomorrow on 59.The day started with the New Zealanders missing opportunities. After dismissing Junaid Siddique without a run on the board, three simple chances were grassed over the next few overs. Rajin Saleh was put down by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, while Aaron Redmond dropped a straightforward chance at second slip to give Tamim Iqbal his first life. Both chances came before the hosts had a run on the board. Soon after, Tamim was dropped again at short leg to deny offspinner Jeetan Patel a deserved wicket. Luckily for the New Zealanders, both men were dismissed early after lunch for 20 and 18 respectively, joining Siddique and captain Mohammad Ashraful back in the pavilion.Before Mehrab and Mushfiqur came to the wicket, the run-rate had barely moved past one run an over – when Ashraful fell, Bangladesh were 44 for 4 after 43 overs, the top-order batsmen more concerned with survival than scoring. The new pair began in similar slow fashion but then began to dominate the bowling, looking to score runs rather than keep their wickets in hand. The ploy worked, with their unbroken 139-run stand a record fifth-wicket partnership for Bangladesh.New Zealand’s bowlers must also get credit for stifling the scoring in the first half of the day. They bowled on the spot most of the day and gave their opposition little chance to dominate. The pick of the bowlers were Iain O’Brien and captain Daniel Vettori. O’Brien finished the day with 2 for 25 off 17 overs, while Vettori also claimed two giving away just 50 runs from his 28 overs. Debutant Jesse Ryder was unlucky not to claim his first Test wicket in his first over; a yorker thundered into Saleh’s back foot, which seemed dead in front of middle stump, but it was not given out.Instead, the fielding let them down, surprising since it’s something the team focuses hard on during training. Today was a reflection of how important it is; the visitors could have easily had Bangladesh at 0 for 3. Bangladesh, though, managed to claw back. Mehrab showed those that went before him that runs could be made on this pitch, if scoring, not survival, was the intention.The game is well set up heading into the second day. New Zealand can wrap up the Bangladesh innings tomorrow but will want to build a substantial innings lead over the next few days. With the pitch likely to break up over the coming sessions, they will not want to be chasing many runs on the fourth or fifth days.

Adam Gilchrist expects Australia’s new-look team to remain a competitive force, starting with next month’s Test series against India. Since Australia conquered their final frontier by winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2004, their losses have included Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer and Jason Gillespie.Andrew Symonds will also miss the four Tests and Matthew Hayden is under an injury cloud, but Gilchrist remains confident of Australia’s prospects. “There’s no doubt the Australian team is inexperienced in regards to what we have had for the last ten years,” Gilchrist said in Mumbai. “We’ve always had a very experienced team.”But that doesn’t mean that these guys haven’t played in these conditions before. Australia has been sending A teams and youth teams over here for a number of years to educate our players on the conditions and the facilities. The team will definitely draw on that experience and will be very, very competitive.”Australia A played two first-class games against India A over the past two weeks, with Simon Katich, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain and Jason Krejza taking part in the tour. They are in the 15-man squad for the Tests, which start in Bangalore on October 9.Gilchrist said the contest was shaping up as a “fantastic series”. “It seems like every time the two nations have locked horns in the last ten to 12 years, it’s lived up to what I think has become an iconic series,” Gilchrist said. “In Australia, everyone knows the focus historically has been the Ashes, but this has grown its own iconic status.”

Younis Khan has revealed he would have taken up Pakistan’s captaincy had it not been for the sudden death of Bob Woolmer, the former South Africa and Pakistan coach. Woolmer died during the World Cup in the West Indies last year, and Younis said he would have enjoyed the captaincy with Woolmer as coach.Younis was offered the captaincy following Inzamam-ul-Haq’s resignation, but turned it down citing the mental strain brought about by Woolmer’s death, the subsequent trauma and the failed World Cup campaign. Younis, who had been Inzamam’s vice-captain for two years, was widely tipped as his successor.”Woolmer was a great human being and a good coach. I liked working with him. If he had remained coach I would have taken up the captaincy when the board made me the offer after Inzamam’s resignation,” Younis told . “Being captain is a big responsibility and I would have only felt comfortable if a coach like Bob was there.”With Younis not willing, the Pakistan board appointed Shoaib Malik as captain. Malik has been criticised throughout his tenure, but Younis felt he should be given time. “Malik is not a bad captain and he needs to be given more exposure and opportunities,” he said. “The board must be patient with him.”Younis suggested the new PCB chairman should be appointed after considerable thought. “I believe the chairman should be a professional who knows cricket closely and can communicate with the players,” he said. The position was left vacant when Nasim Ashraf stepped down soon after president Pervez Musharraf’s resignation.

A 32-member Stanford Superstars Twenty20 squad has been announced for the US$20 million winner-takes-all match against England on November 1. The squad includes Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, as well as notable performers from the Stanford Twenty20 domestic tournament.”This is a squad of the best performers in the two editions of the Stanford 20/20 tournament we’ve had so far and the best players in the region,” Viv Richards, the chairman of the seven-member selection committee, said. “It was a difficult task to select the top 32 but our selection panel believes that these players will provide us with the firepower and all the other resources to prevail over England in what is the richest prize in team sport history.”Richards said the squad would be whittled down based on how the players fare in training. “The difficult task of further reducing this training group to the playing squad lies ahead, so we will have to pay keen attention to how the players cope in the training camps which will be held in Antigua in the coming months.”Dave Mohammed, the left-arm spinner who won the Player-of-the-Tournament award last season, provides spin-bowling options along with his Trinidad team-mate Samuel Badree, the legspinner, while John Eugene, the only centurion in Stanford 20/20 history, is the oldest player in the mix at 37. The squad includes four wicketkeepers, with Denesh Ramdin the likely contender for selection ahead of Andre Fletcher, Lyndon James and Aldermond Lemond.Eldine Baptiste, the former West Indies and Antigua allrounder, has been appointed the head coach, and he will be assisted by Roger Harper and Anguilla coach Cardigan Connor. The squad will be trimmed down once the dates for the preparatory camp are announced.Stanford Superstars squad: Samuel Badree, Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lennox Cush, Travis Dowlin, Rayad Emrit, John Eugene, Andre Fletcher, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Chad Hampson, Monctin Hodge, Danza Hyatt, Lyndon James, Sylvester Joseph, Aldermond Lesmond, Xavier Marshall, Dave Mohammed, Nelon Pascal, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Kelbert Walters, Tonito Willett.

Division One

It was a battle of England wicketkeepers at Chester-le-Street with Matt Prior edging the honours against Phil Mustard, because his 79 was a key part in a successful Sussex chase, after Mustard’s 82 boosted Durham to a challenging 221. But it was a close-run thing as Sussex squeezed home off the last ball after Ollie Rayner struggled to get one off the final three deliveries. In the end it required a scrambled single to mid-off to reach their revised 224 off 38 overs. Prior got into gear ahead of the one-day series against South Africa with his 83-ball innings, which put Sussex on track until he was stumped by Mustard. They needed 40 off five overs and Robin Martin-Jenkins helped seal the success.Mark Hardinges, who has been told he can leave Gloucestershire at the end of the season, held his nerve to guide them to a two-wicket win off the penultimate ball against Hampshire at Cheltenham. He struck 27 off 20 balls after the middle order had wasted the good work of the top three. Marcus North hit 56 off 52 balls after an opening stand of 78, but when he fell it left Gloucestershire on 189 for 6. However, the lower order had enough in the tank as Hardinges hit the winning boundary off Billy Taylor. Hampshire’s 236 for 5 was built around 88 off 91 balls from Michael Lumb and a second-wicket stand of 116 with Michael Carberry who made 56. Chris Benham’s powerful 49 boosted the final tally, but it wasn’t quite enough.Somerset secured their second Pro40 win of the season but, they too, left it late before edging home with one ball to spare against Nottinghamshire at Taunton. Regular brisk contributions from the middle order, along with Craig Kieswetter’s 57 off 85 balls, kept the target in sight. Graeme Swann made life tricky with an impressive spell which brought four wickets and it came down to four needed off the final over. Somerset were made to sweat as Mark Ealham went for just two off four balls before Omari Banks hit the winning runs. Nottinghamshire were given a solid platform by Will Jefferson’s 53 before Adam Voges controlled the innings. But a steady stream of wickets meant it needed Paul Franks’ 34 off 16 balls – including 28 off the final over – to reach 240.For a full report on Lancashire against Worcestershire at Old Trafford, and Steven Davies’ century, click here.

Division Two

A thunderous late assault from Mark Wallace carried Glamorgan to a four-wicket victory with one ball remaining against Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay on an afternoon of thrilling high scoring. The final over started with 17 needed and Wallace swung a four followed by two sixes from the first three balls. It isn’t often that an effort of 114 off 119 balls will go unrewarded, but that’s the position Jacques du Toit found himself in after the home side chased down a huge 292. Batsmen took advantage of some inviting short boundaries throughout and Wallace hit 48 off 17 balls, after coming in with 64 needed off five overs, to haul Glamorgan across the line following Ben Wright’s 45 off 29 deliveries. Michael Powell held the chase together with 81, but when he went it seemed so had Glamorgan’s hopes. Wallace had other ideas. du Toit’s efforts, though, were impressive as he smashed 14 fours and five sixes in his maiden one-day century. The innings was sealed by a stand of 97 with Dillon du Preez, who clubbed five sixes in a 23-ball 49 to follow his century against Yorkshire last week, but it would prove in vain.

After weeks or will-they, won’t-they, a weakened New Zealand team finally arrived in Lahore for the start of their short tour of Pakistan.The trip, scheduled as compensation following the abandonment of New Zealand’s 2001 tour after a bomb blast in Karachi, gets underway with back-to-back day-night matches at Lahore on Sunday and Monday, with five games in all. Faisalabad hosts the third match on December 3 before the series ends at Rawaplindi on December 5 and 7.There were several high-profile absences in the squad, with four players – Ian Butler, Craig McMillan, Scot Styris and Lou Vincent – withdrawing after receiving anonymous email threats a fortnight ago. Stephen Fleming pulled out after failing to recover from an abdominal injury.The arrival was low-key with the tour party quickly ushered through the airport and onto their hotel, all the time accompanied by a large number of police and army commandos.”We will provide the New Zealand team with full-fledged security,” insisted Adnan Bokhari, the sub-inspector of the Lahore police. “They are our distinguished guests and the security is just like that we usually give to any head of state.” Bokhari added that 2000 police and 150 commandos had been allocated to provide security for the New Zealanders.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary