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Fazl-e-Akbar’s four wicket burst helped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) take control of their second-round Patrons Trophy Cricket Championship Quadrangular Stage match against Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), on its second day at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium on Sunday.After having extended their overnight score of 243 for 4 to a healthy looking 369, PIA had table leaders PTCL tottering at a poor 147 for 6 in reply by the day’s close. Akbar has now taken his season’s tally in first-class matches to 49 wickets with his haul of 4 for 32 yesterday. PTCL are now 222 behind PIA’s score and still need another 73 to avert the follow-on.At stumps, Shahzad Malik was at the crease with an unbeaten 62 to his name, having faced only 99 balls hitting eight boundaries. He was involved in a fifth-wicket stand of 57 with the left-handed Usman Tariq, who made 21.Earlier, Faisal Iqbal narrowly missed reaching his 13th century in first-class cricket. But the later order batsmen continued to prosper. Faisal’s fifth-wicket partnership with Mahmood Hamid (35 off 61 balls with three fours) was worth 72. Faisal’s 91 runs came off 178 balls in just short of four hours with 11 fours. Ahmed Zeeshan (35), the wicketkeeper, and Tahir Khan (44) the offspinner then added 68 for the seventh wicket.Naved Latif from Faisalabad scored a scintillating 123as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) raced to an 89-run first-innings lead over Habib Bank, on the second day of their second-round Patrons Trophy Cricket Championship Quadrangular Stage match at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday.In reply to Habib Bank’s rather modest score of 261 on Saturday, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have now reached 350 for 8 and should be at least looking towards gaining the three points for the first-innings lead.Naved hammered his ninth century in first-class cricket, facing a mere 167 balls in just short of four hours with 13 fours and five sixes. He came in with his team’s score at 119 for 3 and then saw three more wickets fall as the total reached 174. Naved found Yasir Arafat an able partner in a big 164-run stand for the seventh wicket. Yasir scored 62, hitting nine boundaries.Earlier, there was a 78-run third-wicket stand between Imran Nazir (62 off only 58 balls with nine fours) and the young Shahid Yousuf (40).

ScorecardSarfaraz Khan and Ricky Bhui during their match-winning partnership•PTI

A tight bowling performance followed by Sarfaraz Khan’s unbeaten 59 steered India Under-19s to a comfortable seven-wicket win in the tri-series final against Bangladesh Under-19s in Kolkata. Bangladesh collapsed to 116 in 36.5 overs, after which India reached the target in just 13.3 overs.Opting to bat, Bangladesh were rescued briefly by a third-wicket stand of 54 runs between Joyraz Sheikh and Nazmul Hossain Shanto after the openers fell early. The Indian attack, led by left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar, then rocked the Bangladesh middle order, reducing them to 96 for 6 from 67 for 2. As many as four Bangladesh batsmen were dismissed for ducks as they lost their last eight wickets for 49 runs.Jaker Ali’s 24 was the only resistance India faced after the third-wicket partnership, as no batsman apart from Joyraz, Shanto and Jaker crossed double-figures.India chased down the target with rather ease despite losing three early wickets in the space of 12 balls. Ricky Bhui then combined with Sarfaraz to post an undefeated 75-run partnership that saw India through.

Herschelle Gibbs, the South African batsman, has been declared fit and will be part of the one-day squad for the second and third matches against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town on Friday and Sunday.Gibbs had hurt his knee during the second Test in Centurion, which South Africa won by an innings and 59 runs to wrap the series 2-0. He missed the Twenty20 international and the first one-dayer in Durban, which South Africa won off the last ball to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.”Shane Jabaar [the team physiotherapist] told me that Herschelle came through his fitness test very well and could have played as early as today [Wednesday],” Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, said.Morne van Wyk, who was called up as cover for Gibbs, was released from the squad and would play for the Eagles in their Supersport Series match against the Warriors in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

Durham 72 for 7 (Plunkett 30*, Bichel 4-22) beat Essex 71 (Bichel 25, Plunkett 4-15, Killeen 3-9, Gibson 3-21) by seven wickets
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Low-scoring matches are often not short of drama, and that was certainly the case at Riverside where Durham scrambled into the Friends Provident Trophy final, their first big day at Lord’s. They beat Essex by three wickets with more than half their overs to spare, but that hardly scratches the surface.After a delayed start, Neil Killeen and Ottis Gibson ripped through Essex, exploiting a damp pitch and some indifferent batting. From the moment Gibson had Alastair Cook caught behind for 0 off a thin edge in the second over, the innings fell apart.By the time Steve Harmison was called into action Essex were 36 for 6, and in his second over he conceded the first boundary of the innings. But Plunkett came on as second change and blew away the tail with a career-best 4 for 15, Andy Bichel offering the only significant fight.If Durham thought that chasing 72 was a doddle, then two early strikes from Bichel and one from the on-loan Martin Saggers had the home supporters on the edge of their seats. A mini revival hit the rocks when Graham Napier grabbed two quick wickets to reduce Durham to 38 for 7.Plunkett then took charge and dominated a vital eighth-wicket stand of 34 – the biggest of the match – with Gibson. But Essex should have taken another wicket within one run of Plunkett’s arrival when Danish Kaneria dropped a chance at mid-on from a chipped drive by Gibson. Their frustration multiplied when later in the same over Napier bowled a no-ball and Plunkett smashed the free hit for a massive straight six.From then on Plunkett ground Essex down and it was fitting that he cracked Saggers for four through the covers to seal a remarkable win.

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The minnow-bashing was not as brutal as South Africa’s, but Australia motored along like a well-oiled machine and exploded during the final overs to bat The Netherlands out of the match with 358 for 5. After being stranded in the nineties twice this year, Brad Hodge reached his maiden one-day hundred during what was a perfectly paced innings. Defending 359 was always going to be a cake walk and Australia’s battery of fast bowlers was too hot for The Netherlands to handle and they were skittled for 129.The pitch was a belter and Ricky Ponting jumped at the chance of more batting practice. Adam Gilchrist provided the propulsion at the start, but once Australia lost him and Ponting with the score on 116, Michael Clarke and Hodge were impossible to contain during their partnership of 204.Hodge will be fighting for a spot in the XI once Andrew Symonds returns and he was impeccable today. Although both batsmen’s strike-rates were nearly identical when they reached their fifties off successive balls, Hodge soon left Clarke behind.Hodge finished with 123 off 89 balls with seven sixes, one short of equalling Ponting’s World Cup record. He had taken 61 deliveries to get to 50, but in his next 28 hammered 73. His favoured region was the arc between square-leg and long-on, though he sent several over the cover boundary as well. Only after Hodge was bowled by Peter Borren did Clarke step out of his shadow. He biffed three sixes off consecutive deliveries right at the death to make a sprint for his hundred, but with two balls left and eight to get, he took a single and had to settle for 93.

The Netherlands did themselves no favours by dropping both Gilchrist, on 34, and Ponting, who continued where he had left off against Scotland. Fortunately for them Gilchrist holed out on 57 and Ponting (23) was caught and bowled splendidly by Ryan ten Doeschate. If The Netherlands had hopes of an Ireland-esque performance after those quick wickets, Hodge and Clarke gave them a bitter reality check.The Netherlands openers showed stomach for a fight when Bas Zuiderent and Darron Reekers managed 36 for the first wicket at nearly six an over. But when Nathan Bracken deceived Reekers with a slower ball and trapped Alexei Kervezee leg before two balls later, The Netherlands began sliding swiftly towards defeat.They were struggling at 36 for 3 when Glenn McGrath was brought on at first change. Two balls later he nailed Luuk van Troost before making Daan van Bunge his 50th World Cup wicket.All the Australian bowlers used got wickets and Shane Watson didn’t even get an over. There were encouraging signs for Brad Hogg, who used his googlies and quicker balls to bamboozle the clueless Dutch tailenders. He picked up 4 for 27 as The Netherlands folded with 23.1 overs to spare.

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Ravi Shah’s fighting century proved the difference as Kenya held their nerve to beat Scotland for the second time this competition. Shah rescued Kenya from the mire at 90 for 5, after they lost five wickets for 23, to lift them to 259. Steve Tikolo then needed all of his experience to produce a vital three wicket-burst which staved off a determined Scotland assault with the bat, as Kenya won by seven runs.After Kenya chose to bat, Shah had his work cut out when all about him were losing their heads, but he kept his and put on a crucial 117 with Thomas Odoyo for the sixth wicket. Inspired by Shah, the tail gave him full support and Kenya managed to bat all of their overs as Shah smashed his way to 113 from 121 balls. His knock included eight fours and three sixes, Odoyo added 36, and each of those runs was vital.Kenya’s innings started brightly enough, with Maurice Ouma and David Obuya sharing an opening stand of 67. But Ouma’s run out on 14 triggered a collapse as five wickets fell in quick succession.At this stage Scotland would have fancied their chances of killing off the innings early and hunting down a revenge win against Kenya, who beat them in the first round of this competition. But Shah wasn’t going to give up – and he turned the innings on its head.Scotland then had a mountain to climb and they were doing well in scaling the heights, their openers, Fraser Watts and Majid Haq, putting on 99. Both made 59. They continued to rack up the runs and were well set at 217 for 3 when Tikolo turned things around for Kenya. He grabbed the next three wickets for no runs, puncturing Scotland’s momentum so thoroughly that they were unable to recover.

Kyle Mills, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram, the injured New Zealand bowlers, have not been included in the squad 14-man squad to tour Australia for the Commonwealth Bank series beginning on January 12.The squad was not very different from the one currently involved in a five-match series against Sri Lanka. James Marshall, who averaged 18.33 in the first three one-day games against Sri Lanka, wasn’t included in the squad for the month-long series.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, said that the management did not want the injured players to enter a fitness race and get back into international cricket too early. “They will return when ready, even if it is part way through the tour,” he said.”Because of the looming World Cup, we are managing the selection process for this tour differently to other tours,” Bracewell explained. “The selectors have reserved the right to interchange the squad at any time during the tour.”The Commonwealth Bank series, in which Australia, England and New Zealand meet each other four times before the top two teams play out a best-of-three finals, begins with Australia playing England at Melbourne.New Zealand squad:Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, James Franklin, Dan Vettori, Jeetan Patel, Andre Adams, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Shane Bond

The annual general meeting and elections of the Sri Lanka board which were scheduled for July 15 have been cancelled. This means that the Interim Committee will continue to be in charge of cricket in Sri Lanka.Announcing the decision, Jeewan Kumaratunga, the minister of sports, indicated that it was the wrong time for elections. “We have the South African team coming here for a Test series next week and it will be followed by a triangular series which also features India. Then, we have to work with a vision with next year’s World Cup in mind. Hence this is not the time to have elections,” Kumaratunga was quoted as saying in .Kumaratunga also feared that elections in the current environment could further vitiate the already bitter atmosphere which exists between the parties contesting for the top posts in Sri Lankan cricket. “Then the ICC could even question and we may have problems in hosting international matches and even playing in the World Cup.”The Interim Committee is currently headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa, and he was expected to contest the elections against Mohan de Silva, former SLC president. Media reports in recent days said the rivals had promised huge payments to member clubs to secure their votes for control of the nation’s richest sports body. Kumaratunga said the composition of the committee could change later, but insisted that the interim administration of SLC would continue.Dharmadasam, meanwhile, accepted the decision but insisted that he would have won had the elections taken place. “I am sure the Minister has taken this decision in the best interest of the game,” he said. Talking about the progress made in the 15 months he was in charge, Dharmadasa said he was happy with the progress both on the field and off it. “When I took over I had a time to put the house in order. Now we have established financial discipline corporate government, set target to each director, and performance are measured periodically. The achievement in England in the one day series [Sri Lanka won 5-0] was great.”I strongly believe that we could win the World Cup again, in 2007. I have done all basic work focused on the World cup. I have already earmarked people with professional competency to drive this program.”de Silva, meanwhile, expressed his shock at the cancellation of the elections. “Had the elections been held our team would have won comfortably,” he said in a media release.SLC Interim Committee
Jayantha Dharmadasa (Chairman), Adel Hashim (secretary), Sujeewa Rajapaksa (treasurer), Damien Fernando (member), K. Mathivanan (member) and Prakash Schaffter (member).

Kenya’s allrounder Thomas Odoyo was named as the winner of the inaugural Associate ODI Player of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.In 19 ODIs during the voting period, including two for Africa XI against Asia XI at the Afro-Asia Cup in India, Odoyo took 27 wickets with his right-arm medium pace at an average of 24.25, including three four-wicket hauls. In that time he also scored 488 runs at an average of 48.80 and with a brisk strike-rate of 85.61 runs per hundred balls.His efforts were instrumental in securing victory for Kenya at the inaugural ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi last February and he also represented his country at the World Cup in the West Indies in March.Competition for this award was stiff and Odoyo narrowly beat off the challenge of other short-listed candidates, fellow Kenyan Steve Tikolo, Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate and Canada wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai.Accepting his award, Odoyo said: “It is a great honour for me. It’s the first time for an Associate player to win an ICC Award so I am truly delighted. When we [Kenya] played in the first ICC World Cricket League I really played well and helped my team to win the competition. Hopefully this will encourage more guys in Kenya to play the game and that can only be a good thing. It is a great day for me.”The Associate ODI Player of the Year Award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in ODIs of an outstanding cricketer from the six countries outside the ICC Full Members – Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland. Each of the six countries was invited to nominate players and an initial 18-strong list of nominees for this award was the result.

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Punjab rode on centuries from Ravneet Ricky and Gaurav Gupta to reach 392 for 4, gaining a 192-run lead, to put Punjab on top by the end of the second day’s play against Hyderabad at Mohali. Both came together with Punjab rattled at 31 for 3, but their 213-run association ensured that Punjab assume complete control. Once Gupta fell at the score on 244, Ricky – who smashed 23 fours in his knock – put on an unbroken 148-run stand with Muneesh Sharma to further stretch the lead.
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Half-centuries from Kiran Powar and Rakesh Solanki, buttressed with handy contributions from the rest of the batsmen, propelled Baroda to 306 for 9 at the end of the second day, gaining a crucial 46-run lead. Haryana fought hard through a four-wicket haul from Joginder Sharma but could not prevent Baroda – powered by three fifty partnerships – from taking the first-innings lead.
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Amol Muzumdar’s superb century and his123-run partnership with Nishit Shetty for the fourth wicket steered Mumbai to 83-run first-innings lead before Bengal reached 37 for no loss to reduce the deficit at Wankhade Stadium. Mumbai, having resumed at 50 for 2, had reached 71 for 3 for the loss of Vinit Indulkar before Muzumdar and Shetty came together. Shetty, who has often rescued Mumbai from precarious situations, carted five fours and two sixes to seize the initiative before Muzumdar consolidated their position with his 19th first-class century. At a certain stage Mumbai were cruising along at 193 for 3, but Ashok Dinda, the medium pacer, grabbed five of the eight wickets that fell today and brought Bengal right back into the contest.
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Rain continued to play spoilsport at Chennai and only 16.3 overs were possible on the second day’s play. The Tamil Nadu openers, S Vidyut and Hemant Kumar, motored along at over three-and-a-half runs an over but it is highly unlikely that their efforts will alter the course of the game.
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Powered by a five wicket haul from Kulamani Parida, the offspinner, Railways shot out Gujarat for a paltry 79, gaining a vital 109-run lead, before reaching 35 for 1 at stumps to gain complete command of the game in Delhi. Parida ripped into the middle order after Sanjay Bangar and Madan Yadav, the left-arm spinner, had removed the top four, to put Railways, the defending champions, on course for their first victory of the season.
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An unbeaten 74 by Mayank Tehlan, the 19-year old batsman who is Virender Sehwag’s cousin, steered Delhi to a strong position by the end of the second days’ play. Earlier, Kunal Lal, the left-arm medium pacer, removed Sairaj Bahutule and Kaushik Aphale, the overnight batsmen, and along with M Deewan, who also finished with a four-wicket haul, bowled Maharashtra out for a modest 208.
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A watchful half-century from Sarabjit Singh, the Services wicketkeeper batsmen, stretched their total but Uttar Pradesh rode on Suresh Raina’s unbeaten fifty kept Uttar Pradesh in the game at the end of the second day at Lucknow. Sarabjit guided the tail – with plucky contributions from AK Mohanty (30) and Amrinder Singh (33) – to lift Services, overnight on 207 for 5, to 321 in their first innings. But Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, was rewarded for his persistence and he ended with a five-wicket haul in a marathon effort that contained 42 overs.