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Singapore inningsIn the match played at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ground Karachi, Singapore batted first and were all out for 115 runs.The opening pair of Zeng Penchun and Sidarth Verma provided the team a solid start of 54 when Sidarth was out after scoring 27 runs with the help of two 4s. The 2nd wicket fell immediately when Anand Sanrthanam was run out for a duck. Except for Zeng Renchun who scored a steady 21 and Nishant (11 not out) no other batsman could hold the crease with confidence.The whole team was thus out for 115 runs in 34 overs. The UAE bowlers being too wayward bowled 18 wides in a total of 30 extras. Aamir Shahzad was however, the most successful bowler for clinching 4 wicket for 24 runs.UAE inningsUAE had a moderate target of 116 runs to win the match. They had a fantastic start with Aamir Husain (28) and Aamir Shahzad (45) mounting the score to 66 when the first wicket fell. Both of them hit 3 boundaries each during their stay at the crease. In 20 overs UAE was at 79 for the loss of 2 wickets.Nidike Kiran who came to bat at no.4 played an excellent innings of 22 not out with 4 hits to the boundary. He received sound support from Mohammad Usman who also remained not out with 10. Both of them raised their team’s total to 119 for the loss of 5 wickets in 30 overs. Anand Santhanam took 3 wickets for 38 runs. UAE defeated Singapore by 5 wickets.

Doug Watson’s highest limited overs score proved in vain as Northerns beat Natal by four wickets with 10 balls to spare.Natal totalled 230 for six, to which Northerns replied with 231 for six in 43.2 overs to end the home side’s winning streak at four matches.Man-of-the-match Watson scored 116 off 144 balls with eight fours and a six, surpassing the 102 not out he made against Free State in Bloemfontein in 1998-99.He was given a life in the 20th over when, on 46 with the total 82 for one, Gerald Dros at extra cover somehow managed to drop the gentlest of catches off the bowling of Pierre Joubert.However, that was the only charity Watson showed the visitors and the rest of his 116-ball innings was without blemish. It wasn’t strewn with big hits but at no stage was Watson bogged down – he always seemed to know where his next run was coming from.Would that some of his partners showed similar composure. Instead, Natal spiralled from 151 for two to 170 for five in the space of three overs to snuff out a genuine chance of posting a total in the region of 250. That undid the good work of the Natal top order, the best of which was a second-wicket stand of 64 between Watson and Wade Wingfield.The home side recovered somewehat by way of a sixth-wicket effort of 55 shared by Watson and Errol Stewart, whose industrious unbeaten 31 came off 23 balls. The partnership was ended with the first ball of the 45th over, when Watson was spectacularly caught by a diving Dros at extra cover.However, Natal promptly relinquished their recovered ground when Gary Gilder and Kent sent down opening spells of nought for 33 off five overs and nought for 35 off seven respectively.Jon Bastow and Eldine Baptiste kept it admirably tight at the other end, but every other over there was no pressure on Northerns’ top order and they were able to score freely as one short and wide delivery – interspersed with the odd friendly full toss or leg-side four-ball – followed another.The pattern was repeated throughout the innings, with Bastow bowling a ragged second spell of four overs in which he took one for 29, as Natal found out the hard way that teams do not win when they bowl muck.Johan Myburgh and Jacques Rudolph got Northerns off to a fine start with an opening stand that grew to 71 before Rudolph slapped his favourite cut shot straight at Jonty Rhodes at backward point in the 14th over.Myburgh and Martin van Jaarsveld then took Northerns 52 runs closer to their target with enterprising batting. But Natal struck back by snapping up five wickets for 69 runs in 12 overs, several of them with considerable help from the batsmen.Wingfield caused much excitement by bowling Van Jaarsveld off the bottom edge with his first ball of the match, and then dismissing Van Wyk and Allahudein Paleker with consecutive deliveries.However, with Dirkie de Vos cool, calm and completely collected at number four for his unbeaten 36 – and Steve Elworthy bashing 27 not out off 15 balls – Northerns were not about to let this one go.

India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar suffered a foot injury duringthe final of the tri-nation series against the West Indies on Saturdaywhen his right foot spiked his left foot while fielding, forcing himto withdraw from the first part of the coming Sri Lankan tour.”Though an X-ray has ruled out any fracture, the injury is extremelypainful and the foot has to be rested for at least two to three weeksas there is an aggravation of muscles”, the Indian Cricket Board(BCCI) sources said in Mumbai today.His right foot, with spikes, landed between toe and heel of the leftfoot, resulting in a sesamoid bruise, sources added.However, the BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele or any of the selectors whomet here yesterday to finalise the team for Sri Lankan tour were notable to describe the nature of injury to Tendulkar’s foot butannounced that the Mumbai star would be joining the team for the lastleague tie against New Zealand on 2 August.

A handy unbroken 67 run seventh wicket stand between Rahul Sanghvi andAmit Bhandari helped Delhi reach 270/7 on the first day of their NorthZone Ranji Trophy tie against Haryana at the Tata Energy ResearchInstitute (TERI) ground in Gurgaon on Sunday.After hosts Haryana won the toss and fielded, Delhi openers AkashChopra and Ashu Dani ran up 95 for the first wicket in under 28 overs.Dani was first to leave, bowled by off spinner Pankaj Thakur for 40(87 balls, 5 fours). Thakur struck again in his next over, removingChopra for 51 (86 balls, 7 fours).Skipper Vijay Dahiya and Mithun Minhas flattered to deceive in themiddle order and Nikhil Chopra, fresh from his exoneration in the CBIreport, was taken out cheaply by seamer Feroz Ghyas. The big hittingVirender Shewag showed only glimpses of his striking prowess, blasting4 sixes and 3 fours in his 44. It was his dismissal at 203 thatbrought Sanghvi (25) and Bhandari (36) together and they took Delhisafely through to 270/7 from 90 overs, Thakur returning figures of4/81.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to stick to the best possible team for the ODI series against Zimbabwe that is scheduled to get underway next month. It was widely anticipated, and planned by the national selection committee, that new faces will be tried in the relatively low-key series in order to assess Pakistan’s backup resources.”We cannot take Zimbabwe on any other team lightly,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, told the . “That is why we will ensure that our best possible team plays against Zimbabwe and wins the series five-nil.”Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector, had earlier planned on introducing young blood into the team during the series.”We will definitely try out some new faces in whichever department we need them in,” Salahuddin had told Cricinfo. “That’s not to say that we are taking Zimbabwe lightly, but we need to assess players on the fringes of the national side and this is a good opportunity.”However, after Ashraf attended a couple of domestic matches on Thursday, he had a meeting with Salahuddin where a decision to hold a three-day exercise to test several upcoming cricketers was taken. The camp is scheduled to take place in Karachi from January 9 and will include 22 to 24 promising youngsters in action.”We will call around 20 to 24 youngsters for a few trial matches ahead of the series against Zimbabwe,” Ashraf said. “The players will be selected on the basis of their performance in domestic events as well as during Under-19 assignments.”We will spot players who can be a part of the national team in the future but will bring them in step by step. This is because we have to make it sure that the team’s performance is not affected by too many rapid changes.”We have a four-day and a three-day game against Zimbabwe and they would provide us with excellent opportunities to check out the youngsters who are knocking at the doors of international cricket.”We need solid players who can be groomed into world class Test cricketers.”The tour is scheduled to start on January 14 with a four-day match in Karachi. However, yesterday’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister, has thrown the immediate fate of the series in doubt.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

Williamson’s 90 leads NZ to series win

New Zealand’s total of 273 appeared to be inadequate on a few occasions, particularly when Hamilton Masakadza was raining powerful blows, but the visitors eventually whipped up sufficient bowling ammo to snuff out Zimbabwe’s challenge and win their first ODI series after the World Cup. Sean Williams, with 63 off 62, took the game deep but once he holed out to deep midwicket in the 46th over, Zimbabwe were effectively down for the count.After captain Kane Williamson had made 90 off 109 balls – his sixth consecutive fifty-plus score – to guide New Zealand’s innings, Zimbabwe’s fairly placid chase was scuppered by wickets at inopportune moments. It was Mitchell McClenaghan, who finished with three wickets, who triggered the first slide by dismissing Chamu Chibhabha after the batsman put on 97 runs for the opening wicket along with Masakadza.Masakadza’s dismissal in the next over set Zimbabwe back further. The nature of his exit would particularly rankle the opener: he deposited a long hop from Williamson straight into deep midwicket’s palms. Zimbabwe continued to lose their wickets softly, as captain Elton Chigumbura drove legspinner Ish Sodhi straight to covers.The home side’s hopes lifted again when Williams and Craig Ervine put on 45 runs for the fourth wicket. But, Ervine’s dismissal in the 33rd over when he backed up too far only for bowler Ben Wheeler to effect a direct hit sent Zimbabwe towards a freefall. Apart from some persistent hustling from McClenaghan and Wheeler, the spinners, Nathan McCullum and Sodhi, played a part in suffocating Zimbabwe.After being inserted in the morning, New Zealand betrayed caution in the beginning – the tempo not dissimilar to that in the first ODI which was played on the same surface – rather than any attempt at smash-mouth stuff. Their first fifty runs, in fact, came off 76 balls – their second slowest in ODIs against Zimbabwe since 2001.Guptill, who played out a maiden in the first over, ensured he accounted for Tinashe Panyangara’s difficult angles. Panyangara, like he has often done this series, bowled from wide of the crease, and was either getting the ball to stay the course or shape away. The breakthrough for Zimbabwe, however, came through offspinner John Nyumbu, playing his first game of the series, in the 10th over.Williamson, though, came in and weaved substantial partnerships with Martin Guptill and Grant Elliott. Williamson had spoken at the toss about the difficulty of identifying a “good total”, and he ensured nothing was left to chance. Between the 11th and 41st overs, Williamson’s presence was the only constant even as the way he batted kept changing over the course of the innings.During the early part of his 56-run association with Guptill, Williamson played a risk-averse game, not giving in to twitchy urges to score. But even then, he did not miss out on bashing loose deliveries, like in the 17th over when he carted Chibhabha over wide long on for six, and then, after three dot balls, slapped a back-foot punch uppishly between long off and sweeper cover.Williamson was equally efficient against the spinners, using his feet to drill Nyumbu on the on side whenever the ball was tossed up. On other occasions, he shuffled across off stump to get inside the line of Nyumbu’s deliveries, most of which turned appreciably from outside off to middle or leg. Williamson, on 53, also enjoyed a reprieve in the 26th over when Regis Chakabva missed a stumping off Sikandar Raza’s bowling. It was at this point that Williamson was cranking up his scoring rate.Legspinner Graeme Cremer, though, kept Williamson and Guptill guessing by melding slow flight with sharp turn. Guptill was excised by one such delivery that took his edge and was pouched at slip. Soon after, Colin Munro played across the line only for the leg-break to fizz through a big bat-pad gap.Williamson, along with Grant Elliott, then added 70 runs in 13.1 overs to set New Zealand up for a strong finish, but their dismissals in successive overs nearly derailed the visitors. While Elliott was out sweeping to Cremer, his leading edge going only as far as short fine leg, Williamson was subdued in the 90s for the fourth time in his last six innings at long on where Ervine showed incredible presence of mind. Cremer and Nyumbu finished with 5 for 96 between them and stunted the visitors’ progress in the middle stages.New Zealand’s scoring, however, received a leg-up through some late hitting from James Neesham, replacing an injured Ross Taylor in the XI, and Nathan McCullum, who raised 50 runs in 4.1 overs for an unbroken seventh-wicket stand. They pushed the visitors’ score beyond 260, as New Zealand muscled 54 runs in the last five overs. Those strikes proved decisive in the end.

A brittle Indian top order collapsed to some good seam bowling fromKiwi opening bowlers T Robin and I Butler. Ravneet Ricky (15), ManishSharma (9), Mohammad Kaif (0) and Reetinder Sodhi (5) were out beforeIndia had 40 runs on the board. After that, a swashbuckling innings of68 off from Yuvraj Singh saved the day for India.The South paw played some solid shots in his innings that included 12boundaries. He took the New Zealand bowling apart, hammering the ballto all parts of the ground. His sense of timing was not impeccable,but he hit the ball with such raw power that anything off the middleof the bat raced to boundaries. When he was dismissed by Irwin, theIndians once again began to falter. A useful 25 from Patel saw Indiathrough to 199.Robin was the pick of the bowlers with 4/26 off his 10 overs.The Kiwis began their response well, though they lost Bredon McCullumfor just 6. Probably the two best batsmen in the New Zealand team,James Franklin and JP McNamee came together to give New Zealand aserious chance of victory. The two hit the ball crisply and scoredfreely gainst the Indian mediumpacers. After the spinners wereintroduced, the scoring rate dropped. Yuvraj Singh got into the attackagain and removed McNamee after he had made exactly 50 runs.At this point the Indian spinners tightened the screws on the Kiwisand closed the match out. The Kiwis lost wickets at regular intervalsand were finally dismissed for 171 off 49.3 overs.

Hampshire have signed South African allrounder Ryan McLaren as their overseas player for the 2016 season.McLaren, 32, who will be available all season and in all formats, played an integral role during his four-match spell at the Ageas Bowl last season as he helped Hampshire complete the ‘great escape’ to avoid relegation from Division One of the County Championship. He has also had spells with Middlesex (2011), Kent (2007, 2008 and 2009) and Warwickshire 2nd XI (2005).”Ryan came into the team at the back end of last season, impressed everyone and proved to be a great fit for us,” Giles White, Hampshire’s director of cricket, said. “He gives the team balance, is an excellent professional and performs in both red and white ball cricket.”Having an overseas player around for the whole season is a big bonus and we look forward to meeting up with him in pre-season.”The signing of McLaren is not a surprise. Hampshire confirmed to ESPNcricinfo they were talking to him about a return last September though there was a possibility he could have joined as a Kolpak registration.His status as an overseas player should render his registration and work permit application a more straightforward process and leaves him free to continue his international career, though he has not been selected by South Africa in any format for a year. It is possible he could be re-registered as a Kolpak at a latter date.”I am delighted to have agreed to return to Hampshire for 2016,” McLaren said. “My first experience with the county at the end of the 2015 season was hugely enjoyable and I was delighted to play a part in helping the county retain First Division status. I look forward to returning in April and helping the county challenge across the board for silverware.”

West Indies have no need to start praying for an outstanding victory over Australia because they have been doing it three times a day already. Dwayne Bravo revealed the method was part of galvanising the team, which needs 241 runs to overcome the world champions in the opening Test.Bravo took 4 for 47 to finish off Australia’s second innings at 167 and West Indies reached 46 for 1 at stumps, giving the hosts confidence of recording an upset success. “We are in a very good position at this time and it is up to us as a team to continue the good work,” Bravo said. “Once we ensure that we don’t lose early wickets to let the Australians back in the game, and once we have a good first session, I have no doubt that we are going to go on and win the game.”Bravo will have an important role to play with the bat on an up-and-down surface while the team will also look to Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul for major contributions. Sarwan was not out 8 while Devon Smith had reached 19.”Once you apply yourself and be selective in your strokeplay you can get runs,” he said. “We have to go out there, be positive and believe we are going to get the runs.”Bravo scored a brisk 46 in the first innings and knows he has been guilty of not going on to make big scores. “That is something I’ve got to work on,” he said. “I’ve been working on it and I know I will get over it. I’m 24 years old, I started at a young age and I am learning my cricket at the international level, which is a difficult thing.”Over the past year there have been many off-field changes to the West Indies squad and Bravo said the assistant coach David Williams, the former West Indies wicketkeeper, has helped bring more “togetherness”. “That wasn’t there before,” Bravo said. “One thing that stands out is that the team has been praying three times a day and I think that is the most important thing.”The bowlers formed a unified front after Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell started Australia’s collapse. After one over of the fourth morning the tourists were 18 for 5 and Edwards and Powell finished with three wickets each.Australia were thankful for Andrew Symonds’ 79 and his partnerships of 52 with Brad Hodge and 74 with Brad Haddin. “He played brilliantly,” Hodge, who made 27, told the ABC. “He’s such a powerful man, such a dangerous striker, that he really opened the game up straight after lunch when they brought the spinner on. It got the ball rolling again for us.”

New Zealand all-rounder Andre Adams was a relieved man tonight having come through a significant test in his recovery from a stress fracture in his back last summer.Adams said after taking a five-wicket bag for the paltry cost of 33 runs, by Super Max standards, that he had felt no pain in his back.He said it was the first time since his injury that he had bowled at the sort of intensity he had been at for the match and there had been a period tonight where he was bowling at 90-100 per cent.While he was operating off a short run-up that was usual for him in Super Max cricket, and he admitted that his greatest problem was when bowling off his normal run-up and then the landing phase.There was no way he could attempt to play Test cricket at the moment because he couldn’t bowl 20 overs a day.He is targeting the One-Day Internationals starting on Boxing Day.He said the Indian batting had been something of an unknown quantity, especially with the quality of the players to come during the match.At one stage he even admitted to sitting back a little and just enjoying some of the shots that they were playing, and especially those unleashed by Sachin Tendulkar.When the pressure went on the bowlers at the end as New Zealand had only 109 runs to defend, Adams said he especially enjoyed bowling with Paul Hitchcock.While he now plays for Wellington, when he lived in Auckland before transferring south, Hitchcock had been Adams’ captain for Takapuna and even then he had been as good a death bowler as there was.Adams was also impressed with the effort put in by Brendon McCullum during the New Zealand second innings. McCullum had only the one bat in the game, sharing the wicket-keeping for one innings each with Chris Nevin.”He’s cleaned up his game and has a huge amount of talent,” he said.