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

Sri Lanka pulled off a stunning escape on the final day as the tail defied everything England could throw at them. The light closed in during the final session however it wasn’t the weather that saved Sri Lanka, but two courageous innings from Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara plus England’s continued failure to take their chances.The final act was played out between two former team-mates as Andrew Flintoff tried to fire out Muttiah Muralitharan and leave England with a tantalising target. After Matthew Hoggard had ended Kulasekara’s outstanding 64, Flintoff sent a fierce delivery down to Muralitharan which rapped him on the gloves. The umpires offered the light and six vital overs were lost. When play resumed Muralitharan blocked 15 more deliveries with all he could muster and England’s last chance went when, quite aptly, Paul Collingwood spilled Vaas – their ninth miss of the match – in the gully. That would have left them with 24 overs to chase 170.England took two wickets during a shortened morning session and were expected to finally end Sri Lanka’s resistance, which had started on Saturday afternoon after being asked to follow-on. However, Vaas and Kulasekara withstood everything that Flintoff threw at them for the next 45.3 overs and the impossible became possible. Kulasekara also benefited from being missed, on 14, when Alastair Cook fluffed the chance at gully early in the afternoon session. England would have had ample time to claim the final wicket and knock off the target but with each over Kulasekara batted Sri Lanka nudged closer.When England enforced the follow-on nobody expected them to need a third new ball; even this was repelled by the lower-order. Panesar was introduced with a relatively hard ball and Kulasekara twice lofted him over midwicket, the second of which brought up a maiden Test fifty off 92 balls and also carried Sri Lanka past 500. In the first innings Kulasekara’s 29 was nothing more than an annoyance, his second effort turned into one of the more memorable rearguards and the highest score by a Sri Lankan No. 10Vaas used all his experience and was as comfortable in the middle as any of the top order, with a solid defence proving unbreakable by the England attack. He didn’t entirely block for his life, launching into a couple of handsome pulls as he realised the importance of extending the lead. With the penultimate ball of the match he flicked Hoggard to fine leg to bring up the most valuable of his 10 half-centuries.

By this point the England attack was on its knees. They performed manfully for more than 250 overs, but even Hoggard lost his zip, while Flintoff became the first England pace bowler to send down more than 50 overs in an innings since Mark Ilott and Martin Bicknell did it against Australia, at Headingley, in 1993. He felt the need to take the strain with inexperienced bowlers around him but even his super-human stamina wavered.Flintoff, England’s safest catcher, also caught the dropping disease during the morning when he shelled Chamara Kapugedera. He ensured it wasn’t the costliest of mistakes by removing the same batsman shortly afterwards – a dismissal that gave Geriant Jones his 100th dismissal in Tests. Tillakaratne Dilshan proved tough to break before Liam Plunkett finally got some reward, for a bowling performance that has improved throughout the match, when he nibbled at a good length ball and a slip catch was finally taken. With the last frontline batsman out of the way England were expected to complete the job but it was a long while until they managed another wicket.Hoggard finally removed Kulasekara but crucially the batsmen crossed meaning he couldn’t bowl to Muralitharan. Flintoff had one ball at him, but opted to go into the body rather than aim at the stumps. A wide-eyed Muralitharan took a painful blow on the finger and the Sri Lankan dressing room was waving the batsmen off. By then England were realising that the win, which had appeared so certain a little over two days ago, was going to elude them.

How they were out

Chamara Kapugedera c Jones b Flintoff 10 (405 for 7)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Trescothick b Plunkett 69 (421 for 8)
Nuwan Kulasekara c Pietersen b Hoggard 64 (526 for 9)

Scorecard

Led by their spinners, India A recorded their second win of the Top End Series, easing past Australia A in a low-scoring match at Darwin. Tejinder Pal Singh, Piyush Chawla and Ravi Jadeja combined superbly to restrict the Australians to just 213, and though the Indians stuttered in pursuit, Venugopal Rao, the captain, steadied the nerves scoring 55 off 81 balls as India eased home with four wickets and eight balls to spare.Australia A got off to a reasonable start after winning the toss, putting on 45 for the first wicket, but they were soon on the back foot as the Indian spinners got to work. Tejinder Pal, a part-time left-arm spinner with only 23 wickets in domestic one-day matches, got rid of Brad Haddin and Brad Hodge, the top-scorers for Australia A with 56 apiece. Shane Watson tried to inject some momentum into the innings with a 50-ball 40, but the rest of the middle and lower order fell away as Chawla, the 17-year-old legspinner, and Jadeja, another left-arm spinner, took two wickets each and kept the runs in check.Gautam Gambhir got the run-chase off to a fine start with a quick 41, but the Australians struck at regular intervals to stay in the game. With the game in the balance, Rao played a fine hand, hitting six fours in his knock. When he left, India A still required 63 off 14.2 overs, but the rest of the batsmen all chipped in with useful knocks – Tejinder Pal and Reetinder Singh Sodhi both made 20s, while Parthiv Patel, the former Indian wicketkeeper, hastened the end with an unbeaten 19 off just 20 balls.

Scorecard

Two crisp fifties from Ed Joyce and Owais Shah, and a belligerent unbeaten 54 from Scott Styris in the dying overs of the day led a confident Middlesex reply to Sussex’s 507 on the second day at picturesque Southgate.In perfect batting conditions, Middlesex were made to work hard for the last five Sussex wickets, confronted by an impish Yasir Arafat who hung around for nearly two hours in his 67. He struck eight crunching fours, and twice cleared the boundary, in a superb 10th wicket partnership with Jason Lewry of 88. After swinging and missing countless times at the tall, languid Chris Peploe, he was finally dismissed in the 128th over when David Nash pulled off a neat stumping to finally give Peploe a deserved wicket.Nick Compton, who had watched Arafat and Lewry ride their luck with daredevil frequency down at fine leg, failed to take advantage of a batting strip (and conditions) more akin to St Lucia than Southgate. Just before lunch, Arafat trapped him in front for 1. After the interval, in which a dozen or so children and their parents played cricket on the outfield with varying degrees of success, Ed Smith and Shah caressed the bowling with consummate ease. Smith, in particular, looked good for a century, driving with the authority he showed for Kent in 2003 that earned him an England call-up that summer against South Africa.Shah too batted with his customary wristiness and was particularly impressive against the rather luckless Mushtaq Ahmed, who toiled away in ferocious heat all afternoon. He wasn’t quite himself, Mushy, bowling slightly below his usual zippy pace and dropping it short enough to allow the batsman to cut. Joyce, too, played with typical attractiveness, lofting Mushtaq over his head and twice pulling Jason Lewry, in front of square, with reasonable power, perfect timing and unerring placement.As the church bell at fine-leg rang six o’clock, an end was called to Styris’ late-afternoon frolics which had taken him to 54 from just 46 balls, as Middlesex went to stumps on 344 for 4

ScorecardClaire Taylor struck an authoritative century as England enjoyed a commanding day with the bat to play themselves right back into this match. Laura Newton, the vice captain, just missed out on a ton of her own – she made 85 as England whipped their way to 229 for 2 by the close, a lead of 154.India added 60 to their overnight score before losing their final three wickets, leaving them with a first-innings lead of 75. The final wicket went to Laura Marsh, who had a victim on debut at last.Jhulan Goswami had England in early trouble, removing Charlotte Edwards for just 4 before the home side had much chance to chip away at the deficit. But if India’s bowlers thought that this was the beginning of a successful day for them, they were wrong.Enter Taylor who joined Newton in a second-wicket stand of 155 which took England into the lead and beyond. The innings gave Newton a timely boost; it was her first half-century in seven innings and only her third fifty in Tests. It was also Taylor’s first century since 2003.Taylor and Caroline Atkins had put on an unbeaten stand of 70 by the close, to leave England in good shape ahead of tomorrow’s final day.

The ECB has made contingency plans to play against an International XI should Pakistan pull out of Monday’s Twenty20 International at Bristol. It is also in discussions with a major nation, believed to be South Africa, with a view to replacing Pakistan for the NatWest Series if the need arises.Pakistan threatened to boycott the remainder of their tour if Inzamam-ul-Haq was banned as a result of charges of ball-tampering and bringing cricket into disrepute following their forfeiture of the fourth and final Test against England at The Oval on Sunday. A date for Inzamam’s hearing will be announced on Friday – the original day it was going to be held – and Pakistan have expressed concerns about playing again before the hearing is complete.An ECB statement said: “Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, has in meetings held with David Morgan, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, reconfirmed his board’s strong desire for Pakistan to continue with the International Twenty20 fixture at Bristol on Monday, August 28 and the subsequent NatWest Series and believes this will be the case.”However the PCB chairman communicated to David Morgan that until a new date can be set for the ICC’s Code of Conduct commission hearing, concerns of the Pakistan touring party have not been fully allayed.”The ICC has already indicated that no date can be set until the its chief match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, is again available to preside over the hearing. Madugalle is unavailable because of family illness and at the moment he is unable to commit to any set date. An ICC source made it clear that no other referee would be acceptable to all parties.Facing a huge financial loss if the Twenty20 and one-day internationals were cancelled, the ECB put into motion plans to fill the gap with an International XI for the Twenty20. The move has been approved by the ICC and the ECB have approached leading world players to form a team that would play England in the event of Pakistan pulling out.Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan have agreed to bring their Pro40 match forward by one day to Sunday, therefore releasing more players – including Stephen Fleming – for the International XI.The ECB chief executive David Collier said: “We are pleased that discussions strongly indicate the England v Pakistan Twenty20 international and the subsequent NatWest Series will proceed as planned. However given the current uncertainty concerning the scheduling of the Code of Conduct hearing and imminence of the Twenty20 it is prudent to examine all options to provide spectators with guaranteed play on Monday.”This has been achieved and while ECB and PCB hope that this contingency plan will not be required, the International XI remains on standby.”ECB can also confirm that it has been in discussion with ICC and other full member boards to provide a further contingency plan for the NatWest Series. These discussions are well advanced, but it is hoped that the Pakistan team will be able to fulfil its commitments.”South Africa would be the favourites to step into Pakistan’s shoes for the NatWest Series. Their coach, Mickey Arthur, has already said his team would be delighted to fill the gap after they abandoned their recent tour of Sri Lanka following the bombings in Colombo.

Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman turned commentator, will return to the microphone after being sacked last month for an offensive remark he made while commentating on the second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa in August.When South Africa’s Hashim Amla, a devout Muslim, took the catch to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara, Jones was heard to say “the terrorist has got another wicket” although he maintained that it was an off-air jest to his fellow commentators.He was subsequently dismissed by Ten Sports, but has found employment with Australia’s Southern Cross radio, with whom he has signed a two-year contract, and he will also work for an Indian network for the 2007 World Cup.”I’ve been asked to come back already for next year,” Jones told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ve been asked to come back for the Champions Trophy and work in India but fortunately I’ve been booked to do many other things – coaching, appearances and all that through October – and I didn’t want to cancel them. So it’s sort of done and dusted a little bit now.”Two other networks have been after me but I don’t want to say who. [Commentating] is where I make most of my dough, so I’ll definitely be going back. We’ve got the World Cup coming up.”He added that he had spoken to Amla “three times and everything’s fine”. He added: “In the long run, I wasn’t even really referring to him. What was my comment? And who got the wicket? Amla got the catch, Nicky Boje was the bowler. Just listen to the comment. The terrorist got a wicket. Who got the wicket? I’ll leave it up to you to work out who I was referring to.”It wasn’t a planned remark. It’s not like journalists who have time to write things up, to look at it and contemplate which way to go. I’m just living on the edge all the time and that’s the way I commentate. Whether I was tired or whatever, that’s no excuse. The person I’m most disappointed in is myself. I was taught the first time I ever worked with Richie Benaud to be careful because the microphones were always on.”The issue caused outrage in South Africa with viewers jamming the switchboards of Cricket South Africa and Supersport, whose feed broadcast the gaffe to South African audiences.

May 8, 1992 was the fateful day when Gul Mohammad a great cricketer of his times, a highly capable coach and a proficient cricket administrator, departed for his heavenly abode. In his death Pakistan lost a legend, a man of only good qualities, high values and golden traits.Gul was a wizard as far as his knowledge of cricket and its administration was concerned and no one could possibly match his dedication to duty and honesty of purpose – his greatness as an all round cricketer notwithstanding. He was perhaps the closest cricket friend that I had. As such the intensity of my feelings about the loss of an illustrious companion from whom I learnt a lot about the game, is bound to be greater than others.During my days of cricket, Gul Mohammad was still in India. He migrated to Pakistan after I had joined the Services. Our friendship thus took its root when in 1978 I took over as Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP) now (PCB) for the first time. Gul Mohammad happened to be the Director of Gaddafi Stadium. Having known his marvelous character traits like honesty, integrity, devotion, untiring capacity of work and efficiency as an administrator, I offered him all the boost up that his job required. Being too great a man to be confined to the control and maintenance of the stadium only, I decided to utilize his immense knowledge and experience of the game in solving other cricket matters as well.Gul Mohammad was born in Lahore on October 15, 1921. Nazar Mohammad the stylish opening batsman of the early 50`s was his childhood cricket pal. They played cricket in the street and in school together, later joining Islamia College, Lahore where in the company of giants like Fazal Mahmood and Imtiaz Ahmed formed a team that thrashed their adversaries all over India.That was the era when outstanding players used to be picked up by the Rajas and Nawab’s of Indian states. On a special call from Maharaja of Baroda, Gul Mohammad joined his team, which already had a galaxy of stars like Vijay Hazare, HR Adhikari, CS Nayadu, Raja Amir Elahi, BB Nimbalkar and others. Gul Mohammad remained a super star of the Ranji Trophy Championship, the top cricket tournament of India till he returned to Pakistan.The one who excelled as a top batsman, an effective pace bowler and a superb fielder, Gul was also known for often pulling his side out of trouble through his good all round performance. His historical achievement in the Ranji Trophy final between Baroda and Holkar in 1946-47 where he touched the apex by slamming a personal score of 319 runs in partnership with Vijay Hazare (288) became the hallmark of his cricket career. Between them the two stalwarts piled up 577 runs, which became a world record for the 4th wicket partnership. Hazare was Baroda’s hero with a tally of 561 runs for the season. The only player who surpassed him with a total of 596 runs was an adventurer with the bat called Gul Mohammad.He remained a top player in Indian domestic cricket and it was for his outstanding performance that in 1946, Gul a stylish left handed batsman and a brilliant cover point fielder was selected to tour England with the Indian team, where he made his Test debut at Lords. He also toured Australia in 1947-48 and played in all the five tests. During this tour an Australian critic described him as `a daring batsman who often made one’s heart leap into the mouth’. Similarly many observers of the game declared him as a marvelous fielder. During the Pakistan Cricket Team’s tour of India in 1952, Gul Mohammad represented India in two test matches against Pakistan.He returned to his homeland in the mid 50s and played his only Test for Pakistan against the visiting Australian team at Karachi in 1956 and was termed as a symbol of concentration and responsibility. After playing nine tests, eight for India and one for Pakistan, Gul Mohammad said goodbye to test cricket. He happened to be one of the three test players who had the distinction of representing both India and Pakistan, the other two being AH Kardar and Raja Amir Elahi. Fazal Mahmood would have been the fourth one had he not declined to tour Australia with the Indian team in 1947.Other unique features of Gul Mohammad’s career were that he also played against Pakistan, his country of origin and that he was the only Pakistani cricketer to have played against the late Sir Don Bradman and could talk about the Don for hours.After retirement from cricket, Gul Mohammad turned to cricket administration, joined the Board as Director Gaddafi Stadium and worked as such till 1987 when he joined the Punjab Sports Board as a cricket coach. During his stay with the Cricket Board he changed the shape of things. He made the dry and drab cricket field look green, painted and renovated the building to give the stadium a dignified look, introduced modern ground equipment, overhauled the sewerage system, the water system and every thing else that had been neglected for many years.Gul Mohammad possessed such overwhelming love for the game and was so keen about its progress that after joining the Board he developed himself into a specialist in grounds and pitches. He acquired such a deep knowledge of the subject that he could discuss for hours the properties of ground, soil, grass, water and the type of rolling required for different kinds of pitches. As a first step he prepared all the pitches afresh with proper earth-clay formulation so as to bring them at par with international standards.Apart from his other attributes Gul Mohammad was an excellent coach. He acted as the Camp Commandant-cum-coach during many national camps, a number of our test cricketers having learnt the finer points of the game from him. He was a symbol of loyalty, devotion, deep insight, honesty and administrative ability. He was an untiring man who stood on the ground for hours in the scorching sun to ensure that things moved properly.In his heyday Gul Mohammad was an all-round sportsman. Apart from being a born cricketer, he was an athlete, a swimmer and a recognized kabaddi player. A staunch believer in physical fitness, he used to skip up to 3000 times in one go as a part of his extensive physical regimen. He moved the skipping rope with such lightening speed that it was well nigh impossible to keep a count of his skips.The man was so dedicated that he would accept any cricket assignment cheerfully, even at the peril of his health and life. One never knew what was brewing inside the man who was so physically fit and stressed its importance to others. His cancer of the liver was diagnosed only six months before his death, which he fought with tremendous courage.Gul was a bold man, not one who would surrender, accept defeat without fighting or take things lying down. Cricket being his life and soul; we used to discuss various aspects of the subject for hours. Even a day before the eternal call, he sat calmly and discussed cricket for many hours with former captain Imtiaz Ahmed who visited him in the hospital. He defied his last journey till the end and would have continued fighting, was it not the will of God. For his devotion to the game and popularity among the cricketers, Gul Mohammad will live in the hearts of cricket fraternity for all times to come. On the day of his 9th death anniversary, we again pray to Almighty God to grant his noble soul a place in the heavens.

Don’t remember Damien Martyn’s past two weeks when thinking of his wonderful career. Forget his ugly stepping-away-slice to gully at Adelaide, an act which unfortunately became his last in the Test arena. Disregard the crunching, lofted boundary the ball before, a wildly impressive stroke that wasn’t from the Martyn catalogue.Treat the two swipes as those of a man wrestling with himself and the last deep breaths of his career. They are not the parts of Martyn’s game that will glisten forever. Australia has been fortunate to have so many batting artists and Martyn has carried a brush held by Victor Trumper, Greg Chappell and Mark Waugh.They were players who made succeeding against high-quality bowling seem as easy as using cutlery. What people didn’t realise was it was bloody hard work. Beneath the seemingly carefree flicks and flourishes were red cedar-tough approaches. In the past couple of months Martyn’s motivation has faltered and after the problems of Adelaide he has downed tools. It is sad, but it was time for him to go.At 35 he had been unable to recapture the easy collecting of the first half of the decade. The Test recall for South Africa in March came as a surprise and despite a century in the final game he was never able to keep pace.Hitting catches behind the wicket had been tolerated throughout his career as the cut and square drive were his strengths, but in the first two Tests it became a terminal weakness. Three times he fell and was unable to alter his tactics. Like many retirees trying to learn about the internet, he decided it was better to stick to old ways and suffer the consequences. Strangely, he stayed at the top in the one-day game and after his performances in India last month seemed a certainty to defend the World Cup.From the outside, Martyn has always been his own man. He has shunned the big talk of his team-mates and operated away from the action. Despite being one of the game’s most attractive players his off-field time in the public eye was short and his decision to be unavailable for comment on the day of his retirement was not surprising or disappointing. His best statements have come on the field through 13 centuries and most of his 4406 runs.A new life beckons for Martyn, who married Annika McNamara in the off-season. McNamara rides horses competitively and life on the farm has slowed Martyn down. He wasn’t into the animals at the beginning of the relationship, but it would not be a shock if he is soon riding them effortlessly. It is how his sweet batting deserves to be remembered.

South Africa 248 for 8 (Kallis 119*) beat India 91 (Tendulkar 35, Nel 4-13, Kallis 3-3, Pollock 2-17) by 157 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

South Africa rode on a controlled unbeaten 119 by Jacques Kallis and somefiery bowling from their seamers to crush India by 157 runs in the secondone-day international of the five-match series at Durban. Kallis’s century- his 14th in ODIs, but his first against India – lifted South Africa to acompetitive 248 for 8, before their fast bowlers exposed the frailties ofthe Indian line-up once again, bundling them out for an embarrassing 91,their lowest ODI total in South Africa.A target of 249 wasn’t a huge one, but at the innings break Kallis wasconfident his team would win, and justified his curiously slow approach inthe second half of his innings by saying South Africa had enough runs onthe board. The events later in the evening completely justified hisconfidence.The pitch was a lively one, offering bounce and some seam movement, andexcept for Sachin Tendulkar, who made a fluent 35, none of the otherbatsmen were equipped to deal with either. Shaun Pollock homed in aroundoff like he always does, Makhaya Ntini got it to bounce significantly fromjust short of a length, while Andre Nel enjoyed himself the most, nailingTendulkar, and finally finishing with 4 for 13, while Kallis completed agreat day at office with incredible figures of 3 for 3 from 4.1 overs.The slide started early, when Wasim Jaffer, making his ODI debut, lastedjust three ball, chopping one back on to his stumps. Mohammad Kaif madejust 8, but while he was around India added 39, with Tendulkar – who became the most capped ODI player with 371 games – showing hisclass. Getting into line and crisply timing his punches through the offside, Tendulkar got the huge Indian contingent at Kingsmead going withsome vintage strokeplay as India progressed to 55 for 2 after 15, withRahul Dravid offering him good support.Two overs after the drinks break changed the complexion completely, asDravid and Tendulkar fell in the space of three balls. Dravid fell first,beaten comprehensively by a sharp indipper from Charl Langeveldt, whileTendulkar followed soon after, inside-edging one off Nel, who has made ahabit of nailing the biggest opposition batsman – he has dismissed BrianLara 11 times in international cricket.From there, it was one quick procession back to the pavilion, as none ofthe batsmen had any clue as to how to handle the bounce and pace. SureshRaina and Dinesh Mongia edged to the slip cordon, Mahendra Singh Dhonicouldn’t get his gloves out of the way, while the tail was simply no matchfor the fiery bowling.

The batsmen might have done well to pick a few tips on batting fromKallis, who batted quite magnificently in the early stages of his inningswhen the Indian attack was on top. He came to the crease in the secondover, after Graeme Smith was trapped plumb by comeback-man Zaheer Khan,and immediately got into his stride, showing impeccable technique indefence and attack. Quick to capitalize on even marginal errors in length,he stroked sumptuous drives through cover and point off either foot. Thedismissals of Loots Bosman and Herschelle Gibbs gave the Indians hope,but that was quickly shut out by Kallis’s 87-run stand with AB deVilliers, who contributed a spunky 41.The highlight of de Villiers’s innings was the manner in which hedismantled Harbhajan Singh, employing the sweep shot quite superbly. Hewas particularly destructive in Harbhajan’s fifth over, sweeping him finefor four, then tonking him over midwicket for six and rattling Harbhajanso much that he fired his next ball down the leg and conceded five wides.That onslaught meant the runs kept coming at a fast clip even thoughKallis slowed down significantly – after getting 54 off his first 71balls, he only added 51 in his next 80. Kallis’s sluggish approach forcedthe other batsmen to take more risks and prompted a rush of wickets asIndia fought back in the middle overs, with Tendulkar – none for 33 fromnine overs – doing a sterling job and making up for the lack of aspecialist fifth bowler.Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp and Pollock all failed as South Africa slumpedto 209 for 7, but they had their man for their moment in Nel, who hada blast with the bat as well, crashing 22 from 12 balls. Kallis uppedthe tempo too, allowing South Africa to get up to nearly 250. As it turnedout later in the evening, they could have done with much lesser than that.

Scorecard
D Kalyankrishna’s six-wicket haul destroyed Karnataka as Andhra motored to a strong position at the end of the second day at Anantpur. Responding to Andhra’s 238, Karnataka were cruising along at 45 for 1 when Kalyankrishna triggered a collapse. Six Karnataka batsmen fell to single-digit scores as seven wickets fell for the addition of just 22. Sunil Joshi’s rapid 24 helped them avoid the follow-on but Andhra – who cleaned up the innings with the help of only their three seamers – had assumed a firm grip on the contest. They strengthened their position, ending on 64 for 1 at the end of the day.
Scorecard
Amit Mishra’s five-wicket haul helped Haryana grab a slender two-run lead against Baroda in a tense battle at Vadodara. Having been shot out for 171 on the opening day, Haryana came back strongly on the second with Mishra, the legspinner, ending with 5 for 33 from 13 overs. He was supported by his captain, Joginder Sharma, who ended with 3 for 56. Connor Williams offered some resistance with a battling 58 but the rest struggled in a low-scoring contest. Haryana consolidated their position, largely thanks to opener Sumit Sharma’s 45, ending on 89 for 2 at the end of the day.
Scorecard
Bengal’s confident reply to Maharashtra’s 215 turned a bit pear-shaped as they ended the day on a edgy 199 for 5 at Kolkata. Arindam Das and Amitava Chakraborty, their openers, got them off to a good start with a 78-run stand but Bengal lost their way with wickets falling at regular intervals. Maharashtra’s opening bowler Anupam Sanclecha chipped away with three wickets and helped them claw back into the contest.
Scorecard
Rohit Sharma’s maiden double-hundred, which included a 213-run stand with No.9 Abhishek Nair, boosted Mumbai to an imposing 503 after which their bowlers strengthened their position at the Wankhede Stadium. Resuming on 102 overnight, Sharma continued to impress, cracking 20 fours and three sixes on his way to his highest score. Nair spanked 13 fours in his 173-ball 97, extending Gujarat’s misery. Gujarat were 105 for 1 at one stage in their reply, with Niraj Patel steering them with 62, but two wickets apiece for Nilesh Kulkarni and Ramesh Powar had them struggling at 118 for 5 at stumps.
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Afroz Khan’s maiden half-century propelled Rajasthan to 332 at Jaipur before their bowlers snapped up four Punjab wickets for 106. On 217 for 5 overnight, Rajasthan rode on Afroz’s battling 52, one where he shared a 50-run last-wicket stand with No.11 Shamsher Singh. Rajesh Sharma, Punjab’s offspinner, continued his fine season with 5 for 99. Punjab ended on a shaky 106 for 4, with Pankaj Singh, Rajasthan’s new-ball bowler, nailing the dangerous Ravneet Ricky and Dinesh Mongia.
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A 99-run last-wicket stand between Kamlesh Makvana and Sandip Maniar lifted Saurashtra to a daunting 492 against Delhi at Saurashtra. Cheteshwar Pujara completed his second century in as many games but a middle-order wobble, led by Delhi’s fast bowlers, left Saurashtra at 393 for 9. Makvana and Maniar, though, cracked half-centuries in a dogged partnership and thwarted Delhi for close to two hours. Delhi were in trouble at the start of their innings, losing three wickets for the addition of just 61 before the day was out.
Scorecard
Mohammad Kaif led Uttar Pradesh’s spirited reply to Tamil Nadu’s 325, ending the day on a confident 204 for 4 at Chennai. Tamil Nadu moved from 267 for 8 overnight to a more respectable 325, thanks mainly to a stroke-filled 42 from Ravichandran Ashwin, but RP Singh and Praveen Kumar soon polished off the tail. UP lost an early wicket but Kaif shared a 127-run stand with Shivkant Shukla to lead the revival. Suresh Raina was unbeaten on 33 at the end of the day as UP finished on a strong position.