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.

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).

Barbados wicketkeeper Patrick Browne and Leeward Islands fast-medium bowler Gavin Tonge have been drafted into the West Indies A 13-man squad for the second unofficial Test against England A, starting on Friday at St Lucia’s Beausejour Stadium.They take the places of Carlton Baugh and Jermaine Lawson in a move designed to expose more players for development.West Indies A Sylvester Joseph (capt), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Lendl Simmons, Dale Richards, Marlon Samuels, Ryan Hinds, Narsingh Deonarine, Patrick Browne, Richard Kelly, Dave Mohammed, Tino Best, Andrew Richardson, Gavin Tonge.

A report in the Zimbabwe Independent claims that the clubs who earlier this week disaffiliated from the Matabeleland Cricket Association are planning to combine with rebel clubs from Mashonaland to form a new national cricket league.The action by the Matabeleland clubs was a direct challenge to the way that Peter Chingoka has run Zimbabwe Cricket and was aimed to coincide with him attending the ICC executive meeting in Dubai.Mashonaland’s dispute dates back to last year when six leading sides were expelled from the provincial association. Five of those clubs – Old Hararians, Harare Sports Club, Alexandra, Old Georgians and Universals – have said they will join the breakaway league, and they are joined by four more from Matabeleland – Queens, Bulawayo Sports Club, Bulawayo Athletics Club and Crescent. The Mashonaland and Matabeleland Country Districts sides and Midlands’ Kwekwe Sports Club have also thrown in their lot with the rebels.The league aim to draw up a new structure in the coming days, and the article reported that the organisers were confident of landing a sponsor.”We are no longer in a position to negotiate with them (ZC),” one club official was quoted as saying. “We’ve made our stand. As for the ICC, they have not made a decision which will improve our situation. They have showed they do not care about Zimbabwe.” A dossier sent to Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, on behalf of the provincial chairman ahead of the meeting has yet to be answered.This development leaves Zimbabwe Cricket without any credible domestic structure. The Faithwear Cup, the one-day tournament which took place in February, was dogged by substandard performances, and the Logan Cup, the first-class competition, has been indefinitely postponed.Alhough the bulk of the country’s rank-and-file players have defected, those will national ambitions will need to switch to one of the clubs still loyal to ZC. But the standard in those will, aside from the top players, be woefully poor – as evidenced by the Mashonaland team in the Faithwear Cup – and it will make official domestic tournaments almost impossible to stage with any degree of credibility.

The ECB are preparing for a ‘blockbuster’ summer in 2009 after being given the green light to host the Twenty20 World Championship that summer, which will coincide with the next Ashes series in the country.David Collier, the ECB chief executive, presented the case for England and Wales staging the events at a meeting of the ICC in Dubai on Monday and he was “delighted” at the news. The decisions are required to be ratified by the ICC annual conference at their July meeting in London.The ECB’s 21-minute submission was backed by DVDs and a comprehensive bid document which included letters of support from the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat spokesman on sport as well as numerous other organisations.Collier told the ICC that he believed the ECB’s submission “provided a brave, exciting and commercially lucrative offering” to the ICC with the United Kingdom being able to deliver live prime-time television broadcasts to audiences in every competing nation.”The UK,” he added, “offers the benefits of world-class transport links, international hotels, excellent logistics, superb venues and a stage already set for Twenty20 cricket. The UK has also become renowned for its multi-ethnic crowds and a passion for Twenty20 cricket.”Collier went onto say: “The summer of 2009 promises to be a true festival of world cricket throughout England and Wales. The Twenty20 World Championship will be the first one in which all full member nations must take part. The decision by ICC is a fulsome demonstration of confidence in the ECB’s ability to stage world-class events at world-class venues and ECB’s role in creating Twenty20 cricket.”

Ricky Ponting has been fined 25% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test against Bangladesh at Chittagong. The offence related to his reaction when Bangladesh batsman Aftab Ahmed was initially given not out following a referral to the third umpire during Sunday’s first day of the Test.Ponting was found guilty of dissent by the match referee, Jeff Crowe, in a hearing after the second day’s play on Monday. He was found to have breached 1.3 of the ICC Code which relates to “Showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by action or verbal abuse.”In explaining his decision, Crowe said: “Although I have sympathy for Ricky I cannot accept his move towards the on-field umpires as they made a move towards resuming play.”He did not ask for the third umpire to be consulted but when he made that move and spoke to the officials I believe his involvement played a part in prompting the referral. That is a breach of the ICC’s Test match playing conditions, which states that players may not appeal to the umpire to use the replay system.”The two umpires – Aleem Dar and Ian Howell – had not raised the issue and it was Bangladesh who took the matter further. Earlier, Crowe had cleared up how the event unfolded: “I think he [Ponting] indicated that the word that came from the Bangladesh dressing-room was that he was out and he was just inquisitive as to what went on,” he was quoted as saying by Fox Sports. “But it was not a direct ask that the umpires should review the decision or go upstairs.”It was a communication problem really,” Crowe added. “In fairness, what we had to say that with the referral upstairs, it should have been highlighted what they really wanted. The number three umpire […] is not the most fluent in English, although he is a very good man and does communicate well, he wasn’t sure really about what they wanted at that point.”That’s why after what was done, when the decision was first given, the umpires down below weren’t sure he got the right information, or understood what was required. Once they found that information out – that the ball had hit the boot – that’s all they needed to confirm what they thought. That’s why it was reversed.”Meanwhile, Crowe also commented on the Australian team’s interactions with Dar, noting that there were a few issues the team needed to sort with the umpire. Lee had an animated conversation with Dar after the umpire apparently asked him to move away in his follow through, while Stuart MacGill too expressed his displeasure after a couple of lbw appeals had been turned down in an over.”The fact that it has been a long tour for everyone and given the fact there is a bit of cabin fever with Aleem Dar having been involved in Australian matches over the last six months, I think they need to sort it out,” Crowe was quoted as saying in . Dar has seen a lot of the Australian side lately, officiating in 13 Tests since July 2004, and in 12 ODIs over the last six months involving the Australians.

Just two days after suffering their worst one-day series defeat in recent times, the Indians will find themselves in a school-like setting, against a team largely composed of freshmen. In a two-day work-out ahead of the first Test, they will take on an inexperienced Antigua & Barbuda side at the nondescript Police Recreation Ground.Rahul Dravid had no qualms in admitting that India were “out fielded” in the one-day series but, considering the arena served up for the practice match, his team would do well to shelve their acrobatic skills for the moment. A day before the match, the Police Recreation Ground resembled a football field. A furrow ran through the centre and there were several large chunks of rough patches on the outfield. The groundsman, a jovial man who bowls legspinners for the Police club, attributed this to the drought that the area is experiencing.The ground is also characterised by a distinct slope, one that might remind a few Indians of Lord’s. The main square, though, is situated on a mound, one that may remind Ramesh Powar of Shivaji Park, his club in Mumbai. The size of the field may get Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacking their lips and at some stage of the game, spare balls may become a priority. Whether either will take the field is another issue, considering that the Indians might want to rest them ahead of the opening Test that is just three days away.With a number of weary legs doing the rounds, the Indians may want give a chance to the five players – Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, VRV Singh and Wasim Jaffer – who have flown down for the Test series. The opponents they face, though, are largely unknown. Only Sylvester Joseph, who is leading the side, Adam Sanford and Kerry Jeremy, the medium-pacers, have played international cricket. Justin Athanaze, the promising Under-19 star, Chad Hampson, the talented medium-pacer, and Gavin Williams, a batsman who’s been playing club cricket in Australia, may be the others to watch out for.Indians
Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, VRV Singh.Antigua & Barbuda
Sylvester Joseph (capt), Justin Athanaze, Adam Sanford, Kerry Jeremy, Anthony Martin, Devon Thomas, Chad Hampson, Gavin Williiams, Kerry Mentor (wk), Daniel Thomas, Michael Challenger, Greg Skepple, Stephen Matthew

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).

Desmond Haynes, the former West Indies opening batsman, is no longer a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director. And Ricky Craig, whose services as chief executive officer of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) ended in controversial circumstances less than a year ago, is now a member of the local board.Haynes’ place on the WICB is taken by long-standing BCA board member Conde Riley. In a six-man poll to elect two WICB directors at the BCA’s fourth special meeting of members at Sherbourne Conference Centre last night, Riley received 73 votes to join president Tony Marshall, who polled 89 votes, on the WICB.Haynes, elected last year as the BCA first vice-president and a WICB director, got 51 votes. The other candidates were Joel Garner (47), Orson Simpson (34) and Hartley Reid (13). Craig’s election to the BCA board in place of Calvin Hope follows his departure as chief executive officer after his contract was not renewed last October.”I believe we all have to be adults. Adults can put professional and personal differences aside and focus on what is important, which is making sure that Barbados cricket is strong again,” Craig told . “I don’t see disparity between having been CEO of the BCA and now taking up a position on the board. As a matter of fact, it gives some advantages because I know the inner workings of the operation.”In a six-man battle to elect four BCA board members, Riley polled 89 votes, while Craig received 88. Riley, a BCA board member since 1996, surprised some observers with his election as a WICB director. “After the vote for the BCA board, I felt pretty confident. It said to me that the members recoginsed the work I had done before, especially with the lottery when I was the first chairman,” Riley said. “I’ve really worked hard for Barbados’ cricket and the members believe I can contribute to West Indies cricket. In terms of being a director, one of the first things I’d like to see happen is for the contracts dispute sorted out. There is a lot of revenue coming from the World Cup next year and I hope that some of that money could be used to sort this problem out.”The others elected to the board were Wendell Kellman (79) and Anthea Ishmael (67). The unsuccessful candidates were Clyde Griffith (65) and Calvin Hope (58). Vernon Williams and Donna Symmonds were elected to represent the BCA at the annual general meeting of the WICB for the second successive year. Just over 150 BCA members attended the meeting.

Division Two

Shane Warne led from the front for Hampshire, picking up 4 for 14 to edge past Kent by 18 runs at Canterbury. Chasing 201 for a win, Kent lost the openers in quick succession before Martin van Jaarsveld threatened to take the initiative with a quick 42. But Warne and Sean Ervine tore through the middle order to dismiss the hosts for 182.Despite a brilliant 152 from Darren Maddy Leicestershire fell to a 33-run defeat to Surrey at The Oval. Maddy received scant support from any of his team-mates; the next highest score after Maddy’s valiant effort was Darren Robinson with 32 as Leicestershire were bowled out for 242. Nayan Doshi (4 for 63) was the pick of the bowlers after Surrey’s innings had been given a powerful injection at the top of the order from James Benning, who smashed 70 from 43 balls.An excellent 72 from Chris Taylor led Gloucestershire to an easy four-wicket win over Somerset at Cheltenham. Set the tricky target of 245, the hosts lost Phil Weston for a duck and were struggling on 76 for 3. Taylor smashed nine fours in his 59-ball knock and, thanks to an equally brisk 41 from Steve Adshead, guided them home with 41 balls to spare.

Division One</p?Sussex got the better of their C&G final opponents, Lancashire, thanks to a brilliant 132 not out from Chris Adams as they squeezed home by two wickets, with two balls to spare, at Hove. After the frustration of having Lancashire nine wickets down at the end of yesterday’s Championship, Adams played a stunning hand as his team chased down a testing 278, based on four Lancashire half-centuries. He added 124 with Ollie Rayer after Sussex had slipped to 5 for 2. Steven Croft grabbed four wickets to take the match down to the wire but Adams had just enough in the tank.Essex cantered to a nine-wicket win against Middlesex at Garon’s Park as a second-wicket stand of 117 between Mark Pettini and Darren Gough made mincemeat of a target of 145. Gough hit a 49-ball 53 with ten fours and Pettini faced 48 balls for his 60. Gough had earlier taken 3 for 16 as Middlesex fell to 29 for 5 and Scott Styris’s 50 didn’t give Middlesex anywhere near enough.A fourth-wicket stand of 133 between Dale Benkenstein and Gary Scott put Durham on course for a four-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Chester-le-Street. The pair hit six sixes between them as Usman Afzaal’s earlier 108 proved in vain. Afzaal had added 100 with Lance Klusener to pull Northants around from 112 for 4.Glamorgan‘s match with Warwickshire at Colwyn Bay was rained off after just 29 overs with the visitors having reached 120 for 6. Navdeep Poonia was the top scorer at that point, with 47