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Ravi Shah celebrates his maiden ODI hundred © Eddie Norfolk

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.

ScorecardAn unbeaten third-wicket partnership of 193 between Subramaniam Badrinath and Hemang Badani took Tamil Nadu to an imposing 261 for 2 at stumps on the first day’s play against Delhi at Chennai. Badrinath, the TN captain, brought up his seventh first-class hundred late into the day, while Badani, who only recently relinquished the captaincy, followed up a big hundred in his last game with a composed 91 today. Coming together with TN’s score on 68 for 2 following the dismissal of Sridharan Sriram – bowled by Chaitanya Nanda for 43 – Badrinath and Badani defied the Delhi attack for the rest of the day to put TN in the driving seat.
ScorecardSiddharth Trivedi and Hitesh Majmudar, the Gujarat fast bowlers, shared the spoils of a poor Karnataka innings at Ahmedabad before Gujarat’s openers took their side to six without loss at stumps. Both Trivedi and Majmudar were in good form on the opening day, striking key blows to reign in Karnataka’s in-form batting order. Only Bharat Chipli, with a commanding 76 off 93 deliveries, and Stuart Binny (45), son of Roger Binny the former Indian allrounder, stood out for Karnataka. Subtract Chipli’s counterattack, and this substandard total would have been a lot worse.
ScorecardAlfred Absolem’s maiden four-wicket haul reduced the strong Baroda batting order to 229 on the opening day at Vadodara before Hyderabad negotiated the remaining overs of the day to remain on 28 for 1. With names like Satyajit Parab, Jacob Martin and Kiran Powar all coming a cropper, it was left to Connor Williams, Baroda’s veteran opener, and Yusuf Pathan, with only 13 matches under his belt, to provide the damage control. Williams was aided well by Pinal Shah (41), Baroda’s young wicketkeeper, in a 99-run stand following Parab’s dismissal for 5, but following the loss of four quick wickets, Baroda were left in tatters. It was then that Pathan, 23, stepped up and produced a fine innings that took his side past 200. Once he departed, bowled by the hard-working Kaushik Reddy (3 for 58), Baroda’s tail folded and Hyderabad could look back at a fine day at the office.
ScorecardRajesh Verma achieved his first bowling performance of note for Mumbai as Maharashtra were bowled out for 213 on the opening day of the final-round Ranji Elite Group matches at the Wankhede Stadium. Maharashtra struck back, however, picking up Mumbai’s openers to leave them stuttering on 20 for 2, still 193 runs in arrears. Verma, 24, picked up three quick wickets in the morning session before snapping a 64-run eight-wicket stand by having Suyash Burkul leg before for 29. Sairaj Bahutule, forced to retire hurt when on 44, returned to the wicket towards the end of Maharashtra’s innings but could only add a further one run to his name as Nilesh Kulkarni, Mumbai’s veteran left-arm spinner, cleaned up the tail.
ScorecardS Upadhaya fell eight runs short of a deserved maiden hundred, but his 173-run partnership with Sarabjit Singh was enough to overcome an early collapse and take Services to 226 for 5 at stumps against Haryana. Precariously placed at 43 for 4 following a fine opening spell from Joginder Sharma and Sachin Rana, Services were given a splendid recovery from Upadhaya and Sarabjit as the Haryana bowling lost much of its first-session bite. Upadhaya, whose previous best effort was 37, ground out 206 deliveries in compiling an invaluable 92, while Sarabjit was still at the crease having faced 219 balls. Rana, with 3 for 44 off 25 overs, was the most successful bowler for Haryana.
ScorecardGyanendra Pandey and Suresh Raina contributed fighting innings to take Uttar Pradesh to 207 for 5 against Andhra at Anantapur. While Raina overcame two early jolts to add 78 with Mohammad Kaif, his captain, Pandey overcame the loss of both batsmen at the hands of D Kalyankrishna and I Raju in hitting an unbeaten half-century before stumps. With less than seven overs remaining in the day, Pandey departed from his calm manner to loft Raju over the ropes off successive deliveries and bring up his fifty in the process. He has so far added 89 runs with Amir Khan, UP’s wicketkeeper-batsman.
ScorecardVineet Saxena’s dogged half-century took Railways to 191 for 5 at stumps on the first day of their Elite Group A match at Kolkata. Saxena faced 251 deliveries and hit seven boundaries in a 286-minute stay at the wicket before he became Ranadeb Bose’s only wicket of the day. Choosing to bat, Railways meandered along at just over 2 runs an over and will need to step it up as the game progresses. For Bengal, Shib Paul was the most successful bowler with 2 for 39 from 23 overs.

England Under-19 189 for 4 (Harmison 40*) trail India Under-19 472 for 4 dec (Pujara 211, Tewari 109) by 283 runs
ScorecardAt the close of the second day’s play at Jamshedpur, England Under-19’s hopes of avoiding a 3-0 series whitewash against India were resting on the shoulders of Ben Harmison, the younger brother of the Test paceman, Steve. Harmison Jr was unbeaten at stumps on 40 not out, as England reached 189 for 4 in reply to India’s hefty first innings of 472 for 4 declared.It was another arduous day for England’s young cricketers, who watched and learned during the first session as Cheteshwar Pujara converted his overnight 162 into a brilliant double-century, and M Tewari recorded a century of his own in a 217-run stand for the third wicket. Both men eventually fell in quick succession to give England’s spirits a timely lift, and when the declaration eventually came, their own openers responded in kind.Michael O’Shea and Joe Denly added 81 for the first wicket, but the needless run out of the captain, Steven Davies, for 4 put England back under pressure at 99 for 2. Denly and Harmison then added 74 for the third wicket to carry England towards their initial goal of avoiding the follow-on, only for two late wickets to dent their prospects. But with Harmison unbeaten at the close, England still harbour hopes of a face-saving draw.

Frizzell County Championship Division One
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Lancashire 450 for 6 dec v Sussex 251 and 21 for 2 at Old Trafford
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Sussex will have to endure a nervy final day at Old Trafford, after they were forced to follow-on by a tigerish Lancashire side whose hopes of snatching the title at the death have improved dramatically. Murray Goodwin gritted his teeth and survived a nasty blow from Peter Martin to make 118, but Gary Keedy and John Wood shared nine wickets between them as Sussex folded for 251. Only Mushtaq Ahmed, with a brisk 54, halted the slide. Sussex were then reduced to 21 for 2, and have managed a mere four bonus points in the match. That is enough to end Surrey’s hopes, but should Lancashire wrap up victory tomorrow, everything will hinge on the final round of matches – when Sussex are at home to Leicestershire and Lancashire face Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Leicestershire 295 and 5 for 0 beat Kent 130 and 169 by ten wickets at Leicester
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After a shambolic season, Leicestershire finally recorded their first championship victory in 15 attempts – and emphatically as well, as a disinterested Kent side crumbled to a ten-wicket defeat at Grace Road. Kent contrived to lose 19 wickets in the day, and it was a measure of their surrender that there were no outstanding performances from the Leicester bowlers. Charlie Dagnall grabbed three wickets in the first innings, and David Masters three in the second, and although the pitch was beginning to show unpredictable bounce, there were several carefree end-of-term shots on display. Leicestershire were denied an innings victory – just – but had no hassles in rattling off the five runs required in their second knock.Nottinghamshire 361 and 48 for 0 v Middlesex 326 at Lord’s
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Owais Shah top-scored with 87 to all but ensure Middlesex top-flight cricket next season, as their match against Nottinghamshire dwindled towards a draw. Chris Cairns gave Notts the perfect start when he removed Andrew Strauss early in the day, and a below-par Stuart MacGill grabbed 4 for 98 in a curate’s egg of a performance. Ten of Middlesex’s batsmen reached double-figures, with David Nash slashing his way to an unbeaten 53. They were aided by an unfortunate injury to Charlie Shreck, who broke a finger in the outfield while diving in vain to cut off one of Shah’s classical off-drives.Essex 256 v Warwickshire 456 for 7 at Chelmsford (Day 2)
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Mark Wagh led the way in a powerful Warwickshire performance, scoring a fine 118 to push Essex towards the brink of relegation. Essex had resumed on 249 for 9, and were soon cleaned up to leave John Stephenson unbeaten on 75, before Warwickshire demonstrated what should have been possible had Essex’s top-order applied themselves. Wagh and Nick Knight added 107 for the second wicket, and only James Middlebrook – with four top-order wickets in 42 disciplined overs – was able to make an impression. Dougie Brown, fresh from his century against Lancashire last week, compounded Essex’s problems with an unbeaten 67.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
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Somerset 409 and 214 v Derbyshire 400 at Taunton
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Dominic Cork completed the superb match figures of 10 for 127, to give bottom-placed Derbyshire every chance of their third victory of the season, against Somerset at Taunton. Derbyshire had conceded a first innings deficit of nine runs after being bowled out for exactly 400, and Somerset built on that by pushing on to 124 for 1. But Mohammad Ali removed both of Somerset’s top scorers, Matthew Wood and Neil Burns, and with Nathan Dumelow wheeling through the middle-order, Cork swung out the tail – including the final two wickets from consecutive deliveries in the last over of the day. Derbyshire will need an eminently gettable 224 tomorrow.Northants 319 and 265 v Glamorgan 203 and 167 for 4 at Cardiff
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Robert Croft denied Mike Hussey a record-equalling sixth consecutive century, but Northants nonetheless remained on course for victory thanks to a solid batting performance on a spinners’ wicket at Cardiff. Hussey made 50 before falling to Robert Croft, who finished with 5 for 54 and ten wickets in the match. But David Sales kept him at bay with a half-century, before Andre Nel topped up the total with a hard-hitting 42 from No. 10. Glamorgan were left needing 368 for victory, and Jason Brown and Graeme Swann continued the spin-domination with three wickets between them. Mark Wallace was run out for 38 as they closed on 167 for 4.Gloucestershire 374 and 288 for 7 dec v Durham 218 and 171 for 4 at Bristol
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Jonty Rhodes produced the perfect send-off for his adoptive home crowd at Bristol, by scoring his second century of the match to put Gloucestershire in sight of a hugely important victory against Durham. Rhodes added 102 to his first-innings 103, to leave Durham needing an unlikely 445 for victory. He was aided and abetted by Ian Harvey, who clubbed five fours and two sixes in his 36-ball 41, and Jack Russell, who was left unbeaten on 34 at the declaration. Shoaib Akhtar was the pick of Durham’s bowling with 4 for 48. In reply, Durham reached 171 for 4, with much resting on Martin Love, who finished unbeaten on 49.Worcestershire 309 for 5 v Yorkshire at New Road (Day 1)
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Ben Smith and Kadeer Ali dominated Yorkshire’s bowling with a third-wicket stand of 182, to put Worcestershire in control of the match – and the second division championship – at New Road. Kadeer, who was this week called into England’s academy squad, fell one short of a celebratory hundred, but Smith made no mistake with 110, his second century of the season. He eventually fell lbw to Steve Kirby, who picked up two wickets but was dispatched for 100 runs in his 23 overs.

West Indies were left fuming on Sunday night following the controversialdismissal of batting superstar Brian Lara which paved the way for Sri Lanka’s series winning victory in Kandy.Lara, who played expertly for his 45 and looked set to save the game forWest Indies, was wrongly adjudged to have been caught at short leg offleft-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake two balls after tea.The ball had come off the full face of the bat into the hands of HashanTillakaratne, who completed a brilliant reflex catch. But televisionreplays clearly indicated that the ball had been hit straight into theground.Coach Roger Harper, speaking straight after his sides 131 defeat, said:”Naturally we are very, very disappointed. Not only in losing but also inthe manner in which we though the game was taken away from us.”He added: “The dismissal of Brian Lara was clearly the pivotal moment. Theoutcome could have been totally different.”I have no explanation for it,” he said. “All I can say is that all the SriLankans in the match contributed to it.”According present ICC regulations the match referee are unable to recallplayers when a clear mistake has been made.Likewise the on-field umpires are only allowed to call for the third umpireto verify whether the catch itself was taken cleanly, not whether it was abump ball.The dismissal opened up the tail Muttiah Muralitharan, who despite a valiant59 run stand for the seventh wicket between Marlon Samuels and MervynDillon, took four wickets in the final hour to win the game.Captain Carl Hooper, whose honeymoon period as captain is officially over,pointed the finger of blame at the batting but admitted that Muralitharanwas a tough adversary.”We didn’t bat properly,” he said. “It’s not new that we are prone tocollapses. It has been difficult here in Sri Lanka. Conditions have not beenexactly good for batting and we are up against a world-class bowler.”Muralitharan is the difference between the two sides and is undoubtedly thebest spinner in the world. He has been putting us under a lot of pressure.With have to come up with a solution in Colombo.”The defeat leaves West Indies two-nil down in the series, facing thehumiliation of a series whitewash.”We can’t be thinking about the whitewash,” warned Hooper. “The importantthing is that we play better in Colombo. There is no overnight fix. We haveto keep working hard and keep the faith. We can’t afford to give up or we’lljust keep going down further.”

Leeds United correspondent Graham Smyth is expecting Jesse Marsch to bring in more staff members alongside Cameron Toshack, with the club revealing two more appointments this morning.

The Lowdown: Toshack and co join Marsch

It has been a busy week at Elland Road, with the Whites parting ways with Marcelo Bielsa and his four assistant managers after the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.

Marsch was swiftly appointed as the club’s new head coach, penning a deal through to 2025.

Reports had already suggested that Toshack has joined Marsch as his assistant, and there could be more to come, with the American set to address the media this afternoon ahead of his first game in charge against Leicester City.

The club have now officially confirmed two other additions, with former RB Salzburg man Franz Schiemer and current Under-23s Head Coach Mark Jackson joining Toshack.

The Latest: Smyth’s post

Smyth was asked on Twitter on Wednesday about who exactly will be doing the club’s analysis ahead of the trip to the King Power Stadium on Saturday, while also being quizzed on how many coaches are left at Thorp Arch.

This is what he had to say in reply, revealing he is ‘expecting a small number’ of additions alongside Toshack.

“Expecting a small number of incoming staff members with Marsch. Cameron Toshack one that’s confirmed. We’ll hear more from Marsch himself tomorrow I’m sure. Not everyone left with Bielsa.”

Whether the arrival of Schiemer and promotion of Jackson is the end of the changes in the dugout is not yet clear.

The Verdict: Interesting…

Bielsa had a big team around him in Yorkshire, however, it is interesting to know that there are some staff members left at Thorp Arch.

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Goalkeeper coach Marcos Abad and head of analysis Guillermo Alonso have reportedly remained at the club, a call possibly made by Victor Orta, with the pair working under the director of football at Middlesbrough.

It seems as if Marsch is keen to bring in more staff members as well as Toshack, though, with Schiemer and Jackson now added, so we may learn more this afternoon.

In other news: ‘Sadly for Leeds fans’ – Journalist reveals more bad news after what he’s heard from Elland Road. 

Herschelle Gibbs has recovered from a knee injury sustained during the second Test © AFP

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.

If Kyle Mills recovers from his ankle injury in time, he will be able to join the New Zealand squad mid-way through their tour of Australia for the Commonwealth Bank series © Getty Images

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

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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.

Andrew Flintoff bowls in the nets at the Wanderers on Wednesday morning© Getty Images

Andrew Flintoff has been declared fit to bowl in the fourth Test match against South Africa which starts at Johannesburg tomorrow.Flintoff tore a muscle in his left side during England’s defeat at Cape Town last week, and while initial fears that he would be ruled out of the tour proved unfounded, there were serious concerns that he wouldn’t be able to bowl.But after bowling 20 deliveries at three-quarter-pace in the nets this morning, he was passed fit. “He’s had a bowl out in the middle and came out fine so he goes in as he did in the first three Tests – fully fit to play as an allrounder,” said Michael Vaughan. “In Cape Town I thought he was our best bowler, and in Durban probably our second-best. It is good to have him fit to bowl, and we will just have to judge who is bowling well on any given day and on the given surface to see how much we use him. But as far as we’re concerned he is available to play any role required.”The news is a boost to England, but given that less than a week ago the injury was considered quite serious, there have to be concerns that Flintoff could break down during the game.