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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
On a slightly surreal night, Rahul Dravid lost his cool and shouted at the umpire, Kieron Pollard mocked Shane Watson so much he made him leave the dugout and go into the dressing room, Pollard was run out for the first time in the IPL, Mumbai Indians scored just 34 in the last five overs, but their bowling might won them the match comfortably and all but sealed a place in the top two. Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings now have one more win than Rajasthan Royals, and also a higher net run rate accumulated over 15 matches, which will take some doing to overcome.Mumbai might not have finished their innings well despite 59 off 37 balls from Aditya Tare, who had replaced the injured Sachin Tendulkar, but it was their start with the ball that eventually sealed the game. Two wickets each from Mitchell Johnson and Dhawal Kulkarni reduced Royals to their worst Powerplay score of all time: 29 for 4. Watson wasn’t one of those wickets, but he top-edged a Pragyan Ojha long hop before he could cause much damage.Royals were 58 for 5 in the 10th over when Watson fell but Brad Hodge, held back to No. 8, and Stuart Binny tried to put the chase on track, and even brought the equation down to 38 off three overs. However, Lasith Malinga bowled two of those overs and he went for five and eight in them.Royals could claim similar success with their bowling towards the end of the first innings, but the start wasn’t that good. Mumbai opened with the new pair of Tare and Glenn Maxwell, who weren’t pretty but were effective. After Maxwell for 23 off 17, Tare took over and went after all Royals bowlers without discrimination. However, he was only 24 off 15 when Dravid dropped a catch at short midwicket. He rubbed it in by pulling Binny over Dravid’s head next ball.When he finally fell, at 108 for 3 in the 13th over, Tare had set Mumbai up for possibly a score of 200. Some superb fielding and canny bowling from Royals, including Pollard’s run-out by Kevon Cooper and James Faulkner’s last two overs for just 11 runs, kept Mumbai down, but not for long.Having recovered from his poor game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Johnson was creating breakthroughs at the top. In the first over, he might have got Dravid caught at the wicket without the edge, but it was a sharp bouncer nonetheless. Royals continued holding Watson back, and Mumbai kept running through the rest.When Watson finally arrived, Pollard started talking to him immediately. While Watson seemed furious, Pollard seemed to be laughing almost mockingly. Watson hadn’t even faced a ball. The umpires had to tell Pollard off, but he eventually had the final mock when Watson – under the pressure of falling wickets and rising asking rate – mis-hit Ojha to Pollard. After celebrating wildly, Pollard went to his boundary post and seemed to have another conversation with Watson, who sat in the dugout behind him.Eventually, Watson left the place in disgust, and finally Hodge got to bat when Royals lost another wicket. Royals needed 79 from 43 when he came in, but he and Binny brought the target down with sensible hitting. Hodge hit Ojha for four fours in the 16th over, which included a drop by Ambati Rayudu, but Malinga ensured Mumbai’s clean sheet at home.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTitans booked a place in the final after Farhaan Behardien completed a thriller of a chase against Warriors with just one ball to spare in East London. They will square off against Lions on April 7 in the final in Johannesburg.Titans won the toss and elected to field. Morne Morkel and Alfonso Thomas took wickets at regular intervals, with Warriors captain and opener Davy Jacobs guiding a floundering innings with a fifty. Thomas took three wickets in the final over to finish with 5 for 24, while Morkel picked up 3 for 32 to restrict Warriors to 127 for 9.Titans looked good to overhaul the total before Lundi Mbane struck twice in the fifth over to remove Heino Kuhn and new acquisition Herschelle Gibbs. AB de Villiers made a slow 31 in a vital 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Behardien, which effectively took the game away from Warriors. Despite late strikes from the Warriors’ bowlers, Behardien was able to take Titans home with a match-winning 41 off 26 balls, which included three sixes and a dropped chance by Jacobs off Simon Harmer early in the 13th over. The Warriors captain went off the field with a dislocated finger following the drop, and some time later, his side went out of the tournament.

Last season 8th, CC Div 2; Group stages, T20; Sixth in Group C, CB402012 in a nutshell: A dire year. No team won fewer games in the Championship, the CB40 or the FLt20 in 2012 and the previous head coach, David Capel, paid for the failure with his job. While the red ball form was a disappointment – Northants had come close to winning promotion in 2011 – the white ball form was far worse as the club rely on limited-overs success to attract spectators. The bowling lacked incision, the batting lacked reliability and, crucially, in key passages of play, Northants seemed fragile. The failure precipitated some introspection at the club and, under the relatively new chief executive, David Smith, the club have reappraised their role in the game. There was a change of captaincy, the departure of some senior players – the club accepted they were unable to hold on to Jack Brooks and also released Chaminda Vaas, Rob White and Niall O’Brien.2013 prospects: It will take time to turn things round at Northants. Without the budget to compete in the transfer market, they must recruit and develop far more of their own players if they are to regain relevance. In the long-term, their on-field success may rely on the improvement in the off-field facilities that is designed to increase the club’s financial turnover significantly. Hosting concerts, conferences and improving community links are essential to the club’s futures. The early signs are positive, though: they have recruited wisely – Matt Spriegel and Steven Crook are reliable, affordable players with points to prove, while Azharullah is an intriguing fast-bowling addition – and they have two of the better players in the England U19 team, Olly Stone and Ben Duckett, who it is hoped will form the spine of the team for years to come. Others, like Rob Newton and Alex Wakely, should be moving into their prime while the likes of Luke Evans looks to have the raw materials to make a strong impression. Expectations need to be tempered but Northants should be able to make noticeable advances in 2013.Key player: Northants require far a greater contribution from Andrew Hall. Astute enough to have signed a long-term contract before the financial squeeze had hit – or before Northants had realised it had hit, anyway – Hall is far and away the most expensive player in the squad. To whom much is given, much is expected.Bright young thing: Ben Duckett may still be at school but, so promising is his keeping, that the club were keen to move Niall O’Brien on in order to provide more opportunity for the 18-year-old. Olly Stone, a 19-year-old seamer who claimed the best-ever bowling figures for England in an U19 Test of 11 for 79, is also one for the future.Captain/coach: With Hall having stepped down, Northants have two new captains this year. Stephen Peters is captain of the Championship side with Alex Wakely in charge of the limited-overs teams. The aim is to inject new energy into the squad and instil greater team unity and fight. Under the enthusiastic head coach, David Ripley, a burgeoning spirit seems to be building.Cricinfo’s verdict: Northants hit rock bottom last year, but it seems the experience has helped the club refocus on its role and responsibilities to the game. A determination to develop home-grown players will take time to come to fruition but, with young players offered opportunity and encouragement, the club should take the first steps on the road of progress in 2013.

Michael Clarke is confident there will be no backlash against him from the four players axed for the third Test in Mohali over their failure to complete a task assessing themselves and the team. One of the four men dumped, Clarke’s vice-captain Shane Watson, flew home to be with his pregnant wife after the suspension was announced but he also said he would use his time at home to reassess his cricket future.The other three players, James Pattinson, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja, remained with the squad ahead of the Test, which starts on Thursday, and will be considered for selection for the fourth Test in Delhi. The decision to make the quartet ineligible for the Mohali Test was taken by Clarke, the coach Mickey Arthur and the team manager Gavin Dovey in consultation, but Clarke insists his role will not hurt his relationship with the men.”The players know 100% that this is not about the individual player,” Clarke said. “I’ve made that very clear. The four players are very disappointed that this has happened. They respect the decision. They understand why. It has been made very clear why we have made the decision, as harsh a punishment as they might see it.”I don’t think it will have any impact on my friendship with the four guys because I know I’ve got the respect of those guys and they know how much I respect them. That’s probably why I feel comfortable fronting players on these issues. I think it would be easy to walk away and let things slide. But they know how much I love playing for Australia like they do.”They know how much I want this team to have success and achieve what I think we can achieve. And you know what? They want the same. There’s only one way you get there. It takes the whole team pushing in the same direction. This is not about the individual player. The whole team sits on this level. These are our standards. If you’re not hitting it, there’s going to be consequences.”The consequences on this occasion are significant not only for the individual players but also for the team, as it leaves Australia with only 12 or 13 men (depending on the fitness of Matthew Wade) available for this week’s Test. Brad Haddin was flying out of Australia on Monday to join the group as cover for Wade but could also find himself in with a chance of being included as a specialist batsman even if Wade is passed fit.It also means that on a pitch that could offer more for the fast bowlers, Australia have only two frontline quicks – Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc – available, alongside the allrounder Moises Henriques. On a surface where they may only have wanted to play one spinner they could now be forced to play at least two of Xavier Doherty, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell.”We didn’t even look at the name of the players,” Clarke said. “That’s what has to happen when you sit everyone on the same level, it doesn’t matter who you are in this team. If you do not hit the standards it’s unacceptable. Now we have a squad of 12 players to select 11 from. We’ll pick the best 11 we have out of 12; 13 because Haddin is coming as well.”It has huge impact on the team for the third Test match. But it’s why you pick a squad. It gives somebody else an opportunity. And that’s the biggest risk in this game. You give somebody else an opportunity and you might never get another chance. That’s what’s happened here. It gives four new blokes a chance at playing a Test match and grabbing hold of this opportunity.”The fact that Australia will now enter a Test without their vice-captain and leading wicket-taker in the series is potentially calamitous after the team lost by an innings in the previous Test in Hyderabad. But Clarke said after the build-up of players not falling into line in recent times, an example had to be made.”There is no right time, there is no right punishment,” Clarke said. “I don’t think it’s about picking and choosing. The fact is that we have a standard that we’re trying to set, we have goals that we’re trying to achieve and at the moment we’re not hitting our standards. It wasn’t a big ask. You let the team down, you let the head coach down. That’s unacceptable.”Our support staff are spending time one on one with players to help them improve their game slowly. I feel partly like a coach as well as a captain. At training we talk about spin bowling, I feel like I’m coaching. But we are a playing group – and there is no exception – we as a playing group have to be helping ourselves as well.”

Brian Langford, a former Somerset captain and one of the most respected players the county has ever produced, has died at the age of 77. No-one has played more than his 504 first-class games for Somerset and only Jack White and Arthur Wellard have taken more than his 1,390 first-class wickets for the club.Langford was born in Birmingham, but he moved west to Bridgwater when he was just four and made his Somerset debut in 1953 as a 17-year-old off-spinner. Somerset were a weak side in those days and his debut Championship appearance – against Lancashire at Bath – saw his side succumb to an innings defeat in a single day.He fared far better in his next game, claiming 14 wickets to help Somerset to victory over Kent. Until James Harris, then with Glamorgan, beat the record in 2007, he was the youngest man to take a ten-wicket haul in the Championship. He claimed another 11 wickets in his next game, against Leicestershire, to underline his rich promise.Langford never quite pressed for England recognition, but over a 22-year career of great reliability, he went on to play a substantial part in improving the fortunes of the club. He captained between 1969 and 1971 and, as well as helping bring the likes of Brian Rose and Peter Denning into the side, saw Somerset develop into a top-ten team. He claimed 100 first-class wickets in a season on five occasions, with his best year coming in 1958 when he took 116 wickets including career-best figures of 9 for 26 against Lancashire at Weston super Mare.His most famous performance came in the first year of the Sunday League in 1969. Langford delivered his eight overs – the maximum allowed to an individual bowler in the competition at the time – without conceding a run, his figures of 8-8-0-0 setting a record for economical limited-overs bowling that can never be bettered.Upon retirement he remained involved with the Somerset committee and was the chairman of the club’s cricket committee in the tumultuous 1986 season, when Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards and Joel Garner all left the club in acrimonious circumstances.”Langy was a very fine off-spin bowler and, for a number of seasons, was the almost the county’s lone bowler,” former team-mate Peter Robinson, who often travelled with Langford to games, told Somerset CCC’s website. “At the time that he was in his prime there were a number of good offspinners on the county scene, but if he had played in another era he could well have played for England.””Brian’s contribution to Somerset County Cricket Club was enormous,” the club’s chief executive Guy Lavender said. “He was a remarkable player, an outstanding leader and a charming individual. He will be sorely missed by all of Somerset’s members and supporters and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to Brian’s wife Maureen and all of his family at this immensely sad time.”

England have named Graham Thorpe as batting coach for the one-day international and Twenty20 series in New Zealand in a decision which moves closer towards separate coaching set-ups for the Test and one-day sides.Thorpe replaces Graham Gooch, whose role as Test batting coach for next summer’s Ashes series remains assured.The reshuffle follows the appointment of Ashley Giles as England’s new coach in the shorter formats of the game to reduce the touring workload on England’s director of cricket, Andy Flower, whose day-to-day coaching involvement is now restricted to the Test arena.England’s managing director Hugh Morris has stressed the appointment of Thorpe, who has cut his teeth as batting coach for England Lions, will be reviewed at the end of the New Zealand tour, although his fulltime appointment seems inevitable.Morris said: “Graham Gooch’s work in India made a real step change to the way we played spin bowling and was a factor in us winning that Test series. We’ve got an enormous amount of very high-profile Test cricket and we want Graham to focus his attention on working one-on-one with our Test players.”Graham Thorpe, who has been working alongside the Lions as one of our coaches for the last 12 months or so, will be going to New Zealand as one-day batting coach. He’s made a good impression as a batting coach and he is looking forward to the opportunity to go there.”England entered the final one-day international against India in Dharamsala on Sunday 3-1 down with one to play, and with the series already lost, but suggestions that Gooch has been removed from the one-day set-up at Giles’ behest because of another failure in an Indian ODI series are an overstatement of the case.England are committed to developing distinct coaching set-ups in Test and one-day cricket and Thorpe’s introduction, which has been built towards for some time, is a natural consequence of that .Nevertheless, Giles might welcome a more energising figure in the dressing room in the limited-overs formats. Gooch’s lugubrious commonsense has had a positive effect on England’s Test side, exemplified by the last Test they played as they had the mental strength to bat for for nearly 10 hours to draw the Test in Nagpur and win the series. Thorpe, though, might quicken the progress of young plyers such as Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have built a strong rel;ationship with him in Lions cricket and who are instrumental to England’s one-day future.Gooch, like Flower, has always had mixed feelings about the lengthy amount of time spent away from home in England’s crowded international schedule. David Saker, England’s bowling coach, was also briefly tempted by the Warwickshire director of cricket role for identical reasons before the lure of back-to-back Ashes series persuaded him that he had “unfinished business” with the England side. It would be no surprise if he was next.Challenges will come thick and fast for Thorpe if, as everybody expects, he passes his probationary period. Following the ICC Champions Trophy in England this summer England face a World T20 in Bangladesh in March 2014 and a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following year.

There was déjà vu at Newlands for Vernon Philander when he took a five-for in New Zealand’s first innings. Just 14 months earlier he did the same on debut against Australia. Michael Clarke’s men were dismissed for 47 while Brendon McCullum’s went two worse and were skittled for 45. The synergy was stark.Now, there will be more flashbacks for the opening bowler in the lead up to the Port Elizabeth Test. The hamstring injury which kept him in doubt until the day before the Newlands match has recurred and similar uncertainty exists around his fitness for the second contest in the series.Philander left the field after bowling his final spell of five overs (he bowled 24 in total in New Zealand’s second innings) after he felt stiffness in his left hamstring. “He said he slipped in the footholes and because his left leg is his landing foot in his delivery stride when he stretches too far forward with it, it could affect the area again” Mohammed Moosajee, the South Africa team manager, told ESPNcricinfo.After play, Philander said he felt the irritation slightly lower down in his left leg than where it was previously and “hoped” it was only stiffness. Moosjaee, though, is concerned that the strain has been aggravated so soon after it had healed. As a result, Philander is back on fitness watch and will be monitored and assessed in the lead up to the second fixture.A grade one strain of the hamstring usually requires seven to ten days rest. The second Test starts next week Friday, which will give Philander a full week but because the latest niggle has occurred directly off the back of a previous one, the recovery time may be lengthened as a precaution.”With Tests so close together, management may not want to risk playing Vernon but we also don’t want to take a call too early,” Moosajee said. “What we don’t want it is for it become three strains in three weeks then he is out for a month.”Philander suffers from a chronic hamstring condition which would mean that if it is injured again, he could need even more time out of the game. With the Pakistan series to come, South Africa want him available so leaving him out of the Port Elizabeth match may prove the sensible option.Rory Kleinveldt, Philander’s new-ball partner at Cape Cobras and the reserve bowler in the national squad, is likely to play if Philander is ruled. Kleinveldt had a forgettable debut in Brisbane on the recent tour to Australia but came back well in his second Test in Adelaide, where he stood in for Philander whose back had seized up. He has yet to play a Test at home.

The former Test fast bowler Stuart Clark will quit as general manager of the Sydney Sixers after the upcoming Big Bash League. Clark joined the Sixers in May last year and steered them through a successful opening season in which they won the inaugural BBL, followed by their Champions League Twenty20 triumph in South Africa last month.”The last two years have been a great experience for me and I thank everyone at Cricket New South Wales for the opportunity,” Clark said. “I never started out believing I would ever be a cricket administrator forever and now look forward to the exciting opportunity of moving into the corporate world. I have no immediate plans once I have finished with Sydney Sixers and will look at every possible avenue that is put in front of me.”David Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales, said Clark had been an important figure in the development of the Sixers.”The remarkable success of the Sydney Sixers in its short history is testament to Stuart’s ability to build a winning team,” Gilbert said. “He has made a smooth transition from player to administrator and is well placed for the next phase of his career. Whilst it is disappointing to lose a person of Stuart’s calibre, I understand and respect his decision and wish him the very best for the future.”Clark will continue as general manager until May next year, when his current contract expires.

ScorecardLions increased the gap between them and the rest with a third consecutive win in the Momentum One Day Cup, beating Cape Cobras by 19 runs at Newlands. It was their hardest-fought win yet.After choosing to bat on a slightly difficult pitch, Lions made a positive start, reaching 65 for 0 and then 101 for 2 in the 23rd over. It was then that Gulam Bodi, whose 45 was eventually the innings’ top score, was run out by Justin Ontong. Lions lost two more wickets for 22 runs and their momentum was shot. Temba Bavuma and Zander de Bruyn made 30s but were dismissed before converting their starts into substantial scores. Johann Louw and Justin Kemp took two wickets each for Cobras as Lions were restricted to 248 for 9.The Cobras chase got off to a swift start, with Richard Levi leading the way. Andrew Puttick’s struggle – 13 off 32 balls – ended in the 10th over, and then Levi was dismissed in the next, leaving Cobras on 55 for 2. From 99 for 2 they slipped further to 158 for 6 in the 36th over, with none of the top and middle-order batsmen making significant contributions. However, the equation boiled down to 47 runs to get off 40 balls with four wickets in hand, and Cobras were in the game. Ethan O’Reilly then struck the telling blow, Kemp caught behind for 24, and Cobras were eventually dismissed for 229. O’Reilly finished with 3 for 61, but the Lions spinner Aaron Phangsio proved most economical, taking 1 for 31 in ten overs.Despite maintaining their 100% win record, Lions captain Stephen Cook asked for improvement from his side. “We probably didn’t play as well as we have the last few games,” he said. “Perhaps we were a tad lucky to get over the line at the end, but that keeps everyone honest and working hard at their game.”The Cobras captain Ontong was disappointed with his team’s batting. “I thought we didn’t get a partnership going and, although a couple of the guys got starts, we just couldn’t really kick on,” he said. “We’ve got to do some hard work now and get some wins under our belts.”Cobras are third in the points table with one win in three games.Match abandoned
ScorecardOnly 17 overs were possible at Kingsmead before rain washed out the game between Dolphins and Warriors. After getting sent in to bat, Dolphins had reached 67 for 2, with Makhaya Ntini and Wayne Parnell striking for Warriors.Neither team has won a match in the tournament so far and they are at the bottom of the points table.

Darren Bravo, the West Indies batsman, has said that he has fully recovered from the groin injury which had forced him to return home half-way through the ODI series in England in June, but a bit of work remains to be done on his general fitness.”I am 100% fit, but there is still work to be done on my endurance and fitness,” Bravo told the . “But I am pain-free at this point in time. I am happy I went through the tough period and now I am looking forward to getting back on the field and performing.”Bravo was picked in West Indies’ squad for September’s World Twenty20 and, he said, he has been training hard and is keen to return to the action. “It has been tough missing the New Zealand series, but nevertheless it is all part of the game. Now I am really looking forward to the World T20.”I have been working extremely hard, waking up at 5.30 in the morning and doing my physical fitness and stuff like that, so things are looking up for me. I am working here at the Queen’s Park Oval [in Trinidad] with the likes of my brother [Dwayne Bravo], [first-class player] Justin Guillen and [Kieron] Pollard every evening, so I am going to bounce back and perform to the best of ability.”West Indies’ dominant home performance against New Zealand, during which they won eight matches out of nine – including 2-0 clean sweeps of the Tests and T20s – was encouraging, Bravo said. “It was difficult lying on my bed and looking at the series, but I am really happy for the guys. They really went out there and played to their true potential.”It was a good feeling to see Chris Gayle back and performing and Marlon Samuels having a wonderful season. It is good to see the experienced guys doing well and helping the younger players on the team. It was good to see Sunil Narine breaking into the Test team and doing extremely well. It is a great feeling to see the team playing good cricket at this point in time.”Bravo had returned to competitive cricket over the weekend, playing T20 cricket at the 50 Cricket Festival in Trinidad. “It was good getting back on the playing field and getting a knock out in the middle,” he said of the festival. “I am actually excited about that.”