ScorecardPowered by four-wicket hauls from Chandra Shekar Ragavendra and Udit Patel, Karnataka registered an overwhelming victory as Maharashtra, overnight on 78 for 0, were shot out for 144 in their second innings on the third day at Bangalore. Ragavendra, the left-arm spinner, and Patel, the offspinner, tormented the batsmen on the third-day track after Vinay Kumar had removed Satyajjit Satbhai, overnight on 53, early in the day.
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Set to chase 105, Baroda were at the brink of victory on 74 for 4 at stumps after Reetinder Singh Sodhi, ably assisted by 30s from Uday Kaul and Amit Unyal, lifted Punjab from their overnight 69 for 5 to a fighting 236. Sodhi put up an 86-run stand with Kaul and then Unyal added 38 runs with Gagandeep Singh for the eighth wicket before the tail eked out a contribution to give Punjab an outside chance. But Baroda, owing to their 132-run first-innings lead, should sew up the game tomorrow barring a minor miracle.
ScorecardAfter enforcing a follow on Mumbai knocked down five Tamil Nadu second-innings wickets by close on the third day to take a firm grip on the match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Despite Dinesh Kartik’s brilliant first-innings century, Tamil Nadu fell short of avoiding the follow-on by five runs and then reached 202 for 5, 47 runs ahead, at stumps. Kartik fell cheaply in the second essay, trapped in front by Ramesh Powar, who picked up two wickets to tighten the screws, but Subramaniam Badrinath rescued them with a half century. TN’s hopes of saving the game rested on the two not-out batsmen – Hemang Badani, unbeaten on 40, and Sridharan Sharath on 5 but Mumbai should leave this game with at least 2 points, courtesy their first-innings lead.
ScorecardLed by Nilesh Modi’s patient unbeaten 62, Gujarat plodded their way to 127 for 2 in 70 overs after Bengal declared their first innings at 462 for 9 on the third day at Surat. Siddharth Trivedi picked up two wickets, including that of the overnight centurion Deep Dasgupta, to end with figures of 6 for 101.
ScorecardAn allround performance from Syeb Sahabuddin propelled Andhra to a commanding position against Haryana by the end of the third day at Anantapur. Sahabuddin(61) first put up a 106-run stand for the sixth wicket with Gnaneswara Rao (73) to lift Andhra from their overnight 192 for 4 to 409 before rocking Haryana with a five-for to leave them tottering at 125 for 8 in their second innings, 78 runs in arrears, at close.
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Kaushik Reddy ripped apart Services with a six-wicket haul, 11 in the game, as Hyderabad won by an innings and 138 runs on the third day at Hyderabad. Earlier, Vinay Kumar extended his overnight 49 to 90 before NP Singh (41 not out) guided the tail to steer Hyderabad to a mammoth 415.
Scorecard</aDelhi clinched a low-scoring match by seven wickets to register their first win of the Ranji Trophy season. In a game which lasted just two days, they recovered from a poor first-innings effort to bowl Railways out for just 180 in their second dig, and then knocked off the 127 required for victory losing just three wickets. Despite losing Virender Sehwag for a duck in their run-chase, Delhi won comfortably thanks to a 76-run stand for the second wicket between Gautam Gambhir, the Indian opener, and Shikhar Dhawan. Both thwarted the Railways bowlers, including Murali Kartik, who had taken 8 for 40 to destroy Delhi's first innings; in the second, he could only manage 1 for 53 from 15 overs. Railways' star in their second innings was Jai P Yadav, who struck a fine 90, the only half-century of the match, but the rest of the batsmen had no answers to Abhishek Sharma, who picked 5 for 39 with his legspinners to restrict Railways to a manageable total.

As England faced up to the prospect of their first series defeat in two years, Ian Bell vowed that the pride in the team’s dressing-room would be enough to prevent a capitulation on the final day of the third Test at Lahore. By the close on the penultimate evening, England had fought their way to 121 for 2 in the second innings, with Bell himself leading the resistance with his third half-century of the tour.”We can’t win the series, but we don’t want to lose, and I’m very confident we can save the game,” Bell told reporters at the close. “It’s a good pitch and I’ll take every ball as it comes, break it down, play very straight, and do what Pakistan did in their first innings. The secret is not to give your wicket away or sell it cheaply.”England still need the small matter of 227 runs to make Pakistan bat again, and so the ideal scenario would be for Bell himself to do what he does best, and occupy the crease from dawn till dusk.”I’m not going to get carried away [by such thoughts],” he emphasised. “The key for me tomorrow is to break it down as much as I can. I’m not looking to bat until a certain time at night, I’ll be taking it ball by ball. But it’s been a very good wicket all through the Test match. Our target is to bat all day, so if we stick to our gameplans and play straight, then there’s no reason why we can’t.””Play it straight” is something of a mantra for Bell, which made his first-innings aberration all the more unfortunate. He was one of four batsmen to fall to the sweep shot, but he was adamant that the shot would remain in his armoury.”I know my game,” he insisted. “I know I can’t do certain things that Kevin Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff can do, so I’ve got to play in my way, and knock it round. The shot I got out to, I was purely trying to get off the strike and not trying to hit it out of the ground. It was well within my gameplan to get a single. I’ve played reasonably well all series and made one mistake, so I’ve got to capitalise when set.””I think it depends on who’s bowling and what the field placings are,” he added. “A lot of the time when we play the shot, it is to move a fielder. That’s in our gameplan so we’re not going to change that.” But Bell did concede that the match situation would have some impact on their approach. “We’re just looking to bat all day tomorrow, and the pitch has dried out a bit and become a bit skiddier. There’s not as much turn for the offspinner, so there’s an opportunity to play straight down the ground.”For the second time in the series, Bell’s major alarm of the innings came courtesy of Shoaib Akhtar’s slower ball. But whereas the one at Multan dipped out of the press-box windows and bowled him between his legs (only to be called no-ball), this time was rather more dangerous, as it hurtled head-high towards his helmet and struck his forearm as he flinched defensively.Shoaib apologised instantly and the moment was soon forgotten after some brief treatment from the physio, but Bell admitted to a moment of alarm. “For a split second I thought it was a quicker one, and I didn’t see it at all. But credit to him, he’s bowled it really well, and manages to get a real dip on it so that when it goes above that sightscreen it’s tricky to pick up. As soon as it goes up, you lose it and start to worry.”For Bell, the final day provides an opportunity to put his personal seal on an important learning experience. He had not been expected to play in the first Test, but instead has chipped in with valuable scores in all three matches, and could yet finish as England’s leading run-scorer. “My goal was not only to get into the side, but to find consistency as well,” he explained. “If you want to be a top player that’s got to be in your game.”India awaits for England after Christmas, and Bell is hopeful that the lessons learned here will stand the squad in good stead. “A few of the guys are in the same boat,” he said. “This is our first senior trip to this part of the world, and it’s been a big experience for me. We’ve been playing some good quality spinners, and people who know how to bowl in these conditions. It’s not only about going to India but our overall cricket development. We will be better players after this.”

Glenn McGrath has been officially reprimanded for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his country’s third Test match against South Africa at Sydney.In a hearing after play on the fourth day, McGrath was found to have breached Level 1.4 of the ICC Code which relates to “using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting and/or the making of an obscene gesture” by Chris Broad, the ICC Match Referee.The charge was brought by on-field umpires Aleem Dar, Billy Bowden and the third umpire Bob Parry. The hearing was attended by Steve Bernard, Australian team manager, Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, Glenn McGrath and the on-field umpires.McGrath had Herschelle Gibbs dropped by Shane Warne from the first ball of the over, and Gibbs finished it with consecutive boundaries to frustrate the bowler, for which McGrath showed dissent.McGrath is the second Australian to be reprimanded in this Test match after Brett Lee was pulled up for showing dissent on Day 1.

It has emerged that Zimbabwe’s cricket players have signed new contracts, ending speculation over their feud with the government-appointed Zimbabwe Cricket interim board.Media reports had said that the players had gone back on strike again, but Cricinfo has been told that about 16 players sealed the deals after a meeting with representatives of the interim committee, adding to the six who had already signed late last year.It had become clear that the players would be compelled to sign after most of them were said to be broke and were too weary of the row to have the energy to go into a prolonged legal battle with the interim board.The decision to end the strike now leaves the remaining cricketers in a tricky situation. Either they have to comply with the board or they walk away in an event of another dispute. ZC’s decision to refuse to recognise Clive Field, their representative, means they have no-one to fight their collective corner in the instance of another conflict.It is not clear what was proposed with regards to the outstanding sums totalling over $200,000 owed to players

Stuart Clark is ready to provide Australia’s stuttering bowling line-up with another option as he sets his sights on returning from a bruised rib in Friday’s second one-day match at Cape Town. The problem was at its worst after last week’s Twenty20 loss at Centurion, but Clark was confident he could solve one dilemma in an Australian camp already struggling with the absence of Ricky Ponting [stomach] and Andrew Symonds [hip].Clark’s comments came as Jason Gillespie pushed his South Australia team-mate Shaun Tait for a place in the Test squad for the three-match series. Glenn McGrath’s withdrawal to be with his family has created a huge hole and the list of candidates is building after the one-day team’s early-tour troubles. The bowlers were conquered by Graeme Smith’s unbeaten 119 on Sunday – Mitchell Johnson and Mick Lewis delivered only three overs each – and Clark could play a containing role if passed fit.”I had some bruising on one of my lower ribs and it’s coming along pretty well,” Clark told . “I won’t bowl until Thursday and hopefully everything will be fine then.”Clark, who received an injection into his chest after the Twenty20 match, said the players were not feeling under pressure after their opening ODI defeat. “It’s disappointing to lose,” he said, “but we know we’re a good team. We proved that in Australia. And we want to come out and show the South African public we can do the same.”He has also encouraged Smith to target him over the rest of the series. “Look, if he wants to have a go at me that’s his problem,” he said. “It’s not going to bother me. If he’s trying to hit me out of the park it’s probably giving me more chance of getting him out. Hopefully I can do a Glenn McGrath-like job.”The Test squad is named next week and the tour members will be looking to stay ahead of the state players performing in the Pura Cup from Thursday. Tait impressed with six wickets in the ING Cup final loss to New South Wales and Gillespie said his team-mate should be considered despite not being able to throw after shoulder surgery.”They say Shaun’s similar to Brett but, at the end of the day, they’re wicket-takers,” Gillespie said in the . “I’d love to go, don’t get me wrong, but with Shaun there’s a bloke who bowls 150kmh while swinging the ball, and gets audacious reverse-swing. Shaun bowled some of the fastest deliveries I’ve seen last Sunday.”Gillespie said he had not thought about being picked for the tour, which would mark his return to the international scene after his poor Ashes campaign. “I’m happy with my form and I’ve still got that desire to play for Australia,” he said, “but if it doesn’t happen I’m not going to slit my wrists.” Queensland’s Michael Kasprowicz is another contender and he will play in Melbourne against Victoria from Thursday while Gillespie and Tait have a chance to exploit the WACA pitch in their match on Friday.Tait told the paper he was “not really confident” of a recall because of his throwing limitations. “Trevor Hohns [the chairman of selectors] has said in the media if I can’t throw and dive I can’t get picked,” Tait said. “But bowlers get picked to bowl, so I hope selectors can see past that. I’ve spoken with Trevor and he says they’re well impressed with the pace I’ve got at this stage.”

Tony Dodemaide, the WACA chief executive, has rejected claims the Perth Ashes Test could be staged at Subiaco Oval instead of the state’s traditional home. Wayne Bradshaw, the WA Football Commission’s chief executive, said in the today a switch to the football oval, which holds about 41,000 supporters compared to the WACA’s 23,000, was possible before the third Test scheduled for December 14.However, Dodemaide replied quickly by saying the WACA board had no plans to move the match and the WACA ground remained the most suitable venue for international cricket. “Subiaco is a purpose-built football oval with a majority of the 40,000 capacity seated square of the wicket, which is undesirable for cricket,” he said. “There is no comparison.”Like the spiritual home of cricket in London, the WACA is a world-class and world-famous cricket ground. Why wouldn’t you play the Ashes here? This decision has been made by the WACA board taking into account a number of factors and with four former Australian Test players on the board we are more than confident that we have chosen the best venue.”The board, which includes Dennis Lillee, Graeme Wood, Wally Edwards and Sam Gannon, is overseeing plans to increase the WACA’s capacity temporarily for the Test to cater for the increased demand. The first Test played at the ground was against England in 1970-71 and the ground has since hosted a further 32 Tests.

Tejinder Pal Singh’s unbeaten 90 helped Railways advance to the finals of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament beating Bengal by 101 runs at Lucknow. Tejinder, the Railways left-hander, anchored the innings, after Sanjay Bangar (44) and Amit Pagnis (31) laid the foundation with another solid opening stand. Shib Shankar Paul was most effective bowler for Bengal with figures of 3 for 44 as Railways finished on 266 for 8.Bengal had a reasonably good start, with the openers putting on 62. Sourav Ganguly was unable to carry on his good form from the last game, falling to Harvinder Singh for 22. From then on, the Railways slow bowlers led by Kulamani Parida (3 for 15) struck at regular intervals and combined to bundle out Bengal for 165. Madan Yadav and Bangar shared four wickets between them as Railways set up a title clash with Uttar Pradesh.Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh gave themselves a chance to bag another title this season, as they comprehensively beat Baroda by 102 runs in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy one-day tournament at Lucknow. Jyoti Prasad Yadav, the UP middle-order batsman, was unlucky to be stranded on 99, but played a major role in overcoming a shaky start and lifting the total to 217 for 9. Sankalp Vohra, the Baroda medium pacer, struck early blows, picking up the first three wickets, including that of Suresh Raina, the captain. Yadav held the innings together till the end, facing 113 balls and cracking seven fours.Baroda failed to get going from the start and were staring at defeat at 44 for 7. The UP seamers, Shalabh Srivastava, Ali Murtaza and Praveen Kumar shared seven wickets between them and bundled out Baroda for a paltry 115. UP, who were joint winners in last year’s edition of the tournament, will have the home advantage when they meet Railways in the finals at Lucknow on March 21.

Sean Williams has ended speculation over his future by signing up with Clara Vale Cricket Club in Newcastle, England, as their overseas professional.Williams signed his contract on Monday and is now waiting for his work permit to enable him to apply for a visa to enter the United Kingdom, and he expects to leave in two weeks time. Williams, 19, got offers from a number of English clubs, but Clara Vale put forward the best deal.The latest developments mean that Williams will not be able to go to the South African National Academy where he had been offered place, because the Academy runs at the same time as the English domestic season.”My goal is to play county cricket next season and I am going to work hard to achieve that,” he said. “I have not made up my mind on whether I still want to play for Zimbabwe … it’s not an easy decision to make.”In March, Williams, a left handed batsman who is also effective with his left-arm spin, rejected a contract offer from Zimbabwe Cricket as he set his sights on a career outside the country.He represented Zimbabwe in two Under-19 World Cups, the first in 2004 held in Bangladesh and captained the team to a Super League finish at this year’s event in Sri Lanka. Williams has played four ODIs for Zimbabwe.

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Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAIndian cricket has changed fundamentally in the last five years, and there is no one who can place these changes in a historical perspective better than Ramachandra Guha, the cricket historian and author of A Corner of a Foreign Field. In this interview with Cricinfo Audio, Guha tells Amit Varma about how “the absence of parochialism” was the seminal shift that set Sourav Ganguly’s side apart. Among the many reasons for this shift: the appointment of a foreign coach, and crowded international cricket itineraries.Guha also speaks of the decentralisation of cricket in these years – the rise of the small towns – and the role that television played in this process. He also talks about the last few months, and why Indian cricket needs Rahul Dravid now just as it needed Ganguly once. He holds that the gains to Indian cricket are irreversible, but there is, nevertheless, something that worries him.Listen in!Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
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Andrew Flintoff was delighted with his “best workout yet” after a thorough net session at Lord’s on Friday to test out his ankle. Flintoff spent an hour in the nets at the Nursery End while his team-mates piled on the runs against Pakistan during the first Test.Flintoff, whose recovery from an ankle problem has so far seen him play two Twenty20 matches for Lancashire, was monitored by the county physio Dave Roberts and Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB’s chief medical officer. He produced a lively spell pf pace then batted against members of the Lord’s groundstaff for half an hour.”I bowled six overs so it was my best workout yet and I’m not creaking or anything,” said Flintoff, who is now due to feature for Lancashire in their County Championship match against Kent at Canterbury starting on Tuesday. “I’ve played two Twenty20 matches with Lancashire, bowled three overs and two overs so far, but I wasn’t bowling at full pelt today – I’ve still got something else remaining to give.”I’ve had two tough days last week running up and down hills and it’s all been building up towards bowling and geared towards playing at Canterbury.”But Flintoff, who England hope will be their captain in the second Test at his Old Trafford home ground on July 27, warned: “I’m not going to get ahead of myself about my fitness for the second Test because I can’t be sure until I’ve bowled in a four-day match.”This is all part of the recovery and the fitness work. I’m going to have another net and practice with the England lads again tomorrow.”