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ScorecardLewis Gregory’s innings helped stave off defeat•Getty Images

The Somerset tail saved their side from defeat in a last-session thriller at the Ageas Bowl as Hampshire ran out of time two wickets shy of victory in their Specsavers County Championship match.The Division One strugglers had collapsed to 79 for 6, despite Steven Davies’ scoring 47 of those runs in a valiant attempt at a chase, but were bailed out by Tim Groenewald, Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton as they held on over the course of the final hour.Hampshire had declared on 95 for 5 during a rain break to set up the thrilling, topsy-turvy finale, as they set Somerset 131 to win in 31 overs. And captain George Bailey’s decision appeared to be impeccably judged as Gareth Berg took two wickets in an over.The fast bowler was helped by a stunning diving catch by James Vince in the covers to get rid of Marcus Trescothick. Three balls later, he kissed the edge of Adam Hose’s bat to offer a caught behind for Lewis McManus.The new pink ball appeared difficult to play as it swung and seamed, with play-and-misses a regular sight. James Hildreth was the next to depart as Kyle Abbott finally got his first wicket of the match with a well-directed full delivery.Steven Davies had been elevated up the order to open in the hope of quick runs and he provided with 47 from 40 balls. But wickets continued to fall around him as Eddie Byrom stuck around for a 28-ball 15 before Ian Holland bowled him for his fifth wicket of the match.Tom Abell followed in the next over as he attempted to play a reverse sweep, but only looped up a catch to Rilee Rossouw at first slip. Davies then played one shot too many to drive Holland on the up to Bailey in the covers.Groenewald and Gregory blocked out 7.5 overs before the latter was lbw to Berg leaving an in-ducker. Then Groenewald edged Abbott behind with seven balls to go but Overton and Josh Davey survived with the nerves jangling.The draw leaves Hampshire level on points with Yorkshire, but above them in third due to their win at Headingley earlier in the season, while Somerset remain second from bottom and in deep relegation trouble.Earlier, the afternoon session had progressed the game nicely with the remaining Somerset wickets of Davey and Jack Leach falling in 37 balls.Hampshire, who boasted a 64-run first innings lead, then proceeded to lose two quick wickets of their own, openers Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson falling before the tea interval – the former run out from point, with the England international clean bowled by Groenewald.Vince and Rossouw put on 33 in quick time, with the pair finding the boundary more comfortably than anyone else in the match. But Gregory had the South African edging to first slip Hildreth, who spectacularly caught low to his right. Then Vince, caught behind cutting, and Bailey, foolishly run out in a mix up with Sean Ervine, fell in consecutive balls.As the rain fell, Hampshire elected to declare for the second time in the match but they could not force a positive result with the game eventually ending at 9.35pm.

ScorecardAneurin Donald made a half-century to keep Glamorgan afloat•Getty Images

Glamorgan ended the second day of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two match at St. Helen’s in Swansea on 225 for 6, a first innings deficit of 117.Due to a combination of rain and bad light – in stark contrast to the first day – no play was possible before lunch. However, when play got underway just before 2.30pm, Glamorgan’s openers Jacques Rudolph and Nick Selman came out showing a real attacking intent, reaching 23 without loss inside the third over.Things quickly changed, however, when Selman played a loose shot to Cameron Steel at point off Chris Rushworth. The Australian-born youngster was unable to rediscover the form which led to his first first-class century at St. Helen’s last year, when he carried his bat on his way to 122 against Northamptonshire, the first Glamorgan batsman to do so since Matthew Elliott at Cardiff in 2004.A second wicket soon followed, Rudolph finding Paul Collingwood in the slips, Glamorgan finding themselves 39 for 2. Colin Ingram joined Will Bragg at the crease needing just 39 to reach 1,000 runs across all formats this season. The South African fell 21 runs short of the milestone, giving Collingwood a second catch at slip off Coughlin for 18.More composure was evident with Aneurin Donald and Bragg at the crease, before the latter needlessly skied one to Rushworth at mid-on off James Weighell’s bowling and Glamorgan were once again struggling at 92 for 4. New batsman David Lloyd could have gone third ball, but a simple chance went begging for Ryan Pringle at slip.Having restricted Glamorgan to 112 for 4 at tea, it took just 10 balls into the final session for Durham to pick up their fifth wicket, as David Lloyd was removed by ul Collingwood at slip off Paul Coughlin for 16.Donald had reached his half-century off 74 balls before a one-handed mid-wicket catch by Keaton Jennings off James Weighell brought an end to a 42-run partnership.Andrew Salter joined Chris Cooke at the crease and an unbeaten partnership of 58 saw Glamorgan through to the close of play after the latter had reached his half-century off 83 balls, having hit eight fours along the way.

ScorecardOn the eve of the 20th anniversary of Darren Stevens’ first-class debut, the Kent allrounder put the finishing touches on a performance to confirm that age is just a number. With scores of 68 and 71 not out under his belt, he picked up his 14th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to helped Kent to an emphatic 226-run win.Sam Northeast, unable to fathom just how a 40-year-old, who had to battle to secure a new contract at the end of last season, could carry on this way likened him to Benjamin Button. And as long as Stevens is enjoying his cricket – how could he not after days like this? – he will continue to stick two fingers up at Father Time.Northeast, who had a strong match himself with an unbeaten 173 and some sharp captaincy, left Hove on Sunday hoping for a bit of cloud in the morning. Someone upstairs was listening.At 9am the skies were blue but, by the time the players had walked down the stairs from the dressing rooms to the middle, clouds had taken over. Then, moments after Ajmal Shahzad guided Wayne Parnell to Joe Denly at point for the final wicket, the sun returned to illuminate Kent’s celebrations. Kent’s second victory in as many matches saw the visitors move to second, a point behind Nottinghamshire in the early Division Two standings.The damage was done by Stevens in the morning session, Sussex limping to lunch on 93 for 6. The hosts actually started pretty well in their pursuit of 427, following Kent’s overnight declaration: Harry Finch and Chris Nash put on 59 between them, hitting boundaries at will. Nash, in particular, looked in good touch, putting Mitchell Claydon into the Pavilion at square leg for six. Then Stevens happened.Replacing Matt Coles from the Sea End, Stevens, who turns 41 at the end of the month, took four wickets for seven runs in 25 balls to blow Sussex’s top order to bits. Claydon then interrupted the procession before Delray Rawlins gave Stevens his fifth wicket, edging behind when trying to leave. Not for the first time, Ben Brown was the only Sussex batsman to emerge unscathed from a humbling defeat. He registered his second fifty of the match – from 51 balls – and finished undefeated on 69.Kent got their tactics spot on. Northeast reckoned the pitch had only got better to bat on – a point he made after his unbeaten 173 – and knew he would have to box smart. It paid off.With Sean Dickson unable to field with a shoulder and hamstring complaint, Adam Ball, an excellent close catcher, was pulled out of a 2nd XI match and stationed at first slip. While he dropped the first chance that came his way, diving to his left after an edge from Stiaan van Zyl, he made amends soon after to remove the same batsman for a four-ball duck. He then caught Jofra Archer to give Coles his second wicket of the innings.Pressure was applied with close fielders: Will Gidman, often at third slip, donned a helmet so that he could step up a few paces into a position Joe Root has fielded in for England, termed “Suicide Gully”. When David Wiese was playing his shots, Daniel Bell-Drummond was stationed out on the hook and, soon enough, took the first chance that came his way. Marginal gains contributing to a major win.Northeast was bullish afterwards: “We’re an ambitious group of players who want to be playing Division One cricket – there’s absolutely no doubt about that. If we keep playing like this, we’ll be very close.”Meanwhile, Sussex have confirmed they are “in the process of registering” Angus Robson. The batsman, who was released by Leicestershire earlier this season, could come into the first-team squad for Sussex’s next match against Nottinghamshire, which starts on Friday. While there is no doubt Sussex possess game-changing batsmen, particularly in white-ball cricket, the introduction of a top-order player like Robson will add much-needed stability to their four-day line-up.

Following the drawn Test in Ranchi, Virat Kohli has hailed Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha for overcoming a difficult situation and taking India to a position from where they could have won the match. When Saha joined Pujara in the post-tea session on day three, India were 328 for 6 in reply to Australia’s 451. They went on to add 199, and India eventually declared with a 152-run first-innings lead.Australia were four down and still trailing by 89 runs at one stage on the fifth day, with more than two sessions of play still left, but India couldn’t quite push on and win, with Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh batting out 62 overs while adding 124 for the fifth wicket. Kohli said he wasn’t surprised Australia, the world’s second-ranked Test side, fought the way they did.”Everyone has to take responsibility equally on the field and our players want to do that,” Kohli said in his post-match press conference. “Conditions were such in the first innings that it wasn’t easy for the bowlers, the pitch was very good. It played very well in the first two innings. In the second innings, [Australia] batted well so it ended in a draw.”But where we were in the first innings, 450 [451] was the [Australian] score and we were 320-odd for 6. From there to make 600 was a very difficult task. We put ourselves in a position to win, so we feel it was a very good effort from us to get into a winning situation.”But then again, if you are playing against the No. 2 side, you will expect that they will come out and fight, not just roll over. Everyone has his point of view. We will look at our positives and we are happy with where we brought the game to after just one innings. We didn’t need to bat in the second innings. But they had to play for a draw. Like I said, they will look at their positives, we will look at our positives and move forward. There is still one match to go, both [teams] will give it their best.”Kohli said the bowlers had struggled to extract help from the pitch when the ball grew older and softer, but did not want to stress the point and take credit away from Handscomb and Marsh.”They batted very well,” Kohli said. “Four down by lunch, and after that they didn’t lose a wicket in the entire session. So credit to them, when someone plays well, you have to give them credit, we understand that.”But we are also very happy with our efforts. [Ravindra] Jadeja’s bowling was outstanding in this match. All the bowlers bowled very well but Jadeja in my opinion was standout. If you look at his economy, on this pitch it was high-class bowling and showed why he is the joint No. 1 bowler [in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers] alongside Ashwin.”Kohli: ‘Saha is one guy who is always willing to do anything for the team’•Associated Press

Pujara won the Player-of-the-Match award for his innings of 202 off 525 balls, which was the longest ever by an Indian batsman (in Tests with ball data available). That knock took Pujara’s tally for 2016-17 to 1259 runs at an average of 66.26.”You know, sometimes I really feel bad for him,” Kohli said, when asked about Pujara’s contributions through the season. “People don’t understand his importance so much in this team and what a valuable player he is for us. He is the most composed player we have in the team, he is willing to grind for his runs, he doesn’t mind batting under pressure, he likes to take a challenge of batting.”So someone like that is priceless to have in the team. When the pressure situation comes up, he is someone who will put his hand up and play long for the team and hold up one end, which I think is a great quality in him. This season he has been outstanding. I don’t know the number of runs he has scored but he has contributed throughout. He has not been spoken about much or has been in the focus too much but he deserves much more than that. People need to stand up and take notice of what he has done this season, he has been outstanding with the bat and hopefully he will continue that in the last Test.”Saha, Kohli said, was similarly underappreciated. “See, Saha’s knock again was brilliant for us. He’s always stood up when the team needs him and this game was no different. His partnership with Pujara was the reason we had a go at winning this Test. A lot of credit goes to him also.”Again, [he has] not been mentioned too much but he deserves a lot of credit. He’s one guy who is always willing to do anything for the team. Wherever we ask him to bat, he bats. He has no problems in batting after [R] Ashwin, before Ashwin, whenever we want him to do it. He plays any kind of role – positive, defensive, you know, whatever we ask him to do, he never says no.”So you really really feel glad for a guy like that. He’s willing to do anything for the team and put his best foot forward. As I said, I’m really happy he performed in a big pressure match, in a difficult situation and put us in a position to have a shot at winning the game.”Mohammed Shami, who has not played for India since suffering a leg injury during the Test series against England, is making a phased return to action. He bowled in the nets in the lead-up to both the Bengaluru and Ranchi Tests, but has not been named in India’s Test squad yet. He has also played 50-over games for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and on Monday took four wickets in the tournament final against Tamil Nadu. Kohli said he hadn’t spoken to the selectors yet about Shami’s availability for the fourth Test in Dharamsala, but hinted that it could happen.”Yeah, Shami also we sent him to play [the Vijay Hazare Trophy] because we saw him bowling 10-12 overs in a go, and we wanted to give him some match practice.” Kohli said. “I don’t know [about his selection], I haven’t spoken to the selectors still. All kinds of possibilities approaching the next Test.”

West Indies head coach Stuart Law has said Carlos Brathwaite was left out of the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan to allow him to work on his fitness and bowling. Law also confirmed that the selectors had allowed Brathwaite to play in the IPL, which he personally believed was “a good thing”.”From [those who played] the series against England, Carlos Brathwaite has been left out. I thought the opportunity was there for Carlos to go away and work on a few aspects of his game, namely his fitness and bowling, and getting back to bowling how he wants to bowl. That’s why he’s been left out, and it’s just coincided that the IPL is there and we have no cricket after this IPL series and he hasn’t been part of the last Test series. So the selectors gave him the option of going to the IPL as well, which I think is a good thing. [He’ll] get to talk to guys like [Delhi Daredevils coach] Rahul Dravid, learn how to play spin, get plenty of practice, and work on his fitness and bowling.”Despite Brathwaite’s reputation as a devastating power hitter in T20 cricket, his numbers in ODI cricket have been disappointing throughout his career, both with bat and ball. In 23 ODIs, he has scored 270 runs at an average of 13.50, only once crossing 25 in an innings. In the same period, he has taken 21 wickets, averaging 47.47. In the recently concluded ODI series against England, which the West Indies lost 3-0, Brathwaite scored 12, 23 and 7 while failing to take any wickets, conceding 148 runs in the 24 overs he bowled.Law put down the omission of the other Brathwaite in the West Indies set-up – Kraigg – to a desire to see a more positive approach in the first Powerplay during an ODI. He has been replaced by Chadwick Walton, who scored three hundreds in his last five domestic games before being called up for the four-match T20 series against Pakistan, where he accumulated 80 runs in four innings.”We spoke to Kraigg after the last series and we’ve spoken to him since. We’re just looking for a bit more impetus at the top of the order in the first ten-over Powerplay. We need to make a bit more use of those overs, and Kraigg’s aware of that. It’s not like he’s never going to play for the West Indies in ODI cricket again. He’s got the opportunity to return to first-class cricket and score runs which he has done, and also a good opportunity for him to get in good nick and feel comfortable about his game before the Test series starts.”Chadwick Walton, I saw him for the first time in the flesh in the ODI series, he had an outstanding 50-over [regional] tournament. He also scored a hundred in the warm-up against England in St Kitts. So he comes in with form under his belt so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can offer in the first ten overs.”Law also lamented what he considered a failure on his side’s part to play to their potential in the T20I series, stressing that they had to become more consistent.”We underachieved during the T20 series. The second game was the one that we threw away. We got in the driver’s seat, got the total down to under a run a ball and unfortunately messed that one up. The fightback began in the third game where Evin Lewis basically took the game on single-handedly. In the last one we made poor decisions in the middle order. Players have got to start performing consistently.”The three-match ODI series between West Indies and Pakistan begins on April 7, with all three games to be held in Guyana.

South African players are likely to leave IPL 2017 after May 7 while the England players are scheduled to depart the tournament in two batches – a few after May 1 and the rest after May 14. Making players available and ready for the bilateral series – South Africa’s tour of England begins in mid-May – and the Champions Trophy, which starts from June 1 in England, is the chief reason why both boards want to pull out their players early.ESPNcricinfo understands that the IPL had informed the franchises about this in an email this week along with the final updated player roster for the auction on February 20.The franchises were also told that the BCCI is trying to discuss the issue with the Cricket South Africa to see if the South African players’ stay can be extended. It is not known whether either board will release players in the event their franchise makes it to the final on May 21.AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Faf du Plessis (Rising Pune Supergiants), JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris (Delhi Daredevils), David Miller and Hashim Amla (Kings XI Punjab) have been retained by their respective franchises, along with England’s Jos Buttler (Mumbai Indians) and Sam Billings (Daredevils).A total of 351 players, including 122 capped internationals, will feature in the auction, which will be held in Bangalore on February 20. Although franchise officials had earlier indicated that this season’s auction could be a short event, with teams trying to plug a few gaps, the likely early departure of South Africa and England players could impact the teams’ auction strategies.Of the 13 South African players who have entered the auction, CSA is interested specifically in the release of Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius. Except for Ngidi, who is recovering from a hip injury, the other six players are part of the limited-overs squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand.An official privy to the discussions between the BCCI and CSA said that it was a one-off situation which could not be avoided. South Africa’s tour of England will begin with two practice matches followed by the three-ODI series scheduled between May 24 and 29. The three T20Is and the four Tests will be played after the Champions Trophy. The official said that CSA is keen on getting the best possible preparation for the Champions Trophy, given the team’s record in ICC tournaments, and had thus sought an early release of its main players from the IPL.As for the England players, a few may leave for the two ODIs against Ireland on May 5 and 7. An official with one of the franchises said that prominent players like Buttler and some of the players who have entered the auction, like Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, could leave after May 14 to prepare for the ODIs against South Africa.Morgan, Stokes and fast bowler Chris Woakes are part of the list of marquee players who have listed the maximum base price of INR 2 crore (approx US $298,000) for the auction. The other England players in the auction are wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow (INR 1.5 crore), opening batsmen Alex Hales and Jason Roy (INR 1 crore), and fast bowlers Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills (INR 50 lakh).

South Africa lost a seventh recent Test cap in Dane Vilas to a Kolpak deal on Friday, to further deplete their bench strength, but have been given a reassurance that allrounder Chris Morris is not considering joining the list. Morris played two Tests in early 2016, which would make him eligible for a deal, but as he makes his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for three months he is focused on trying to play international cricket for the foreseeable future.”There’s been a lot of noise about Kolpak from everywhere. There haven’t been any offers or anything for me but there was just a lot of noise around it. I said to Errol Stewart the selector, I have committed myself to Cricket South Africa. I want to play cricket for my country. I am going to give it a full go,” Morris said at a sponsor event in Cape Town on Tuesday, where he was part of a batting master-class that involved hitting targets in order to earn money for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.Morris was the only one of the three internationals – David Miller and Temba Bavuma were also in attendance – who managed to find the 20-run target that required a clean strike straight down the ground and it looked as though his time away had not cost him his eye or his aim. He admitted a round or two of golf helped in that regard. “That was my first question to our physiotherapist – can I play golf? He said, ‘If an 80-year-old can play golf, you can play golf.’ That was my saving grace because it kept my hand-eye co-ordination there.”The injury, which was a tear in the knee tendon that resulted in Morris losing a lot of muscle in the leg took three months to heal. Since then, Morris has only played one match, a first-class fixture for Titans against Lions in Benoni two weeks ago, but it proved a good workout. Morris bowled 39.1 overs and took five wickets in what was “a good test for my fitness level” to prove his readiness for an international comeback.But it’s not in the long-form that Morris returns and it is quite difficult to see how he may find his way back there. His two Tests came at a time when South African cricket was struggling with major injuries to two of their premier pacemen – Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander – and even though Steyn remains sidelined, and Morne Morkel has joined him on the bench, they have unearthed depth that has pushed Morris further down the queue and perhaps into a career as a limited-overs specialist, although he does not want to see it like that just yet.”I will always look to be playing Test cricket. It’s what I want to do and what I want to play because for me, that’s the best form of cricket,” Morris said. “I will always be trying to play Test cricket but if I don’t play again, so be it. I will never stop trying to get there.”Morris applies that approach to everything. After a significant amount of time out of the one-day side, he knows his place there is not guaranteed, although with South Africa in the advanced stages of planning for the Champions Trophy, his presence in the current squad suggests he will be taken to the tournament he made his debut in four years ago.”It will be quite nice to be in that Champions Trophy squad but if not, there are guys that have put their hands up and deserve to be there. If it’s not my time, it’s not my time,” he said. “If I am not selected in the Proteas squad, so be it. I will just play for the Titans and try and fight for my place back.”That’s exactly what Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus Viljoen, Simon Harmer, David Wiese and Vilas decided against doing. Abbott cited limited international opportunities and a constant fear of being dropped as being one of the major reasons for him signing with Hampshire.Like Abbott, Morris is not always an automatic pick for South Africa. Unlike Abbott, Morris has certainty elsewhere because he has been retained by his IPL franchise – following a US$1 million deal in 2016 – which may have something to do with Morris being happy enough with his lot for now.”It’s up to the person. It’s not for me to judge what decision they make in their career. That’s the decision they make and they go with it and stick with it. For me, it’s a personal thing,” he said. “I like to look at what you want to achieve from a career. I’m sure those guys would most probably want to achieve more, but opportunities come and you have to look at your future.”

ScorecardRichard Levi’s 95 boosted Northants’ second innings•Getty Images

Richard Levi’s 95 helped put Northamptonshire on course for a fourth win of the season as they set Gloucestershire 442 to win at Wantage Road. The hosts were bowled out for 376 in their second-innings before Gloucestershire closed day three at 35 for 2.Gloucestershire were sent in for 16 overs to the close and they lost Gareth Roderick for 19, who edged a good length delivery from Ben Sanderson that just held its line, and Will Tavare, who tried to play a back-foot push and was caught at second slip for a nine-ball duck.Northants’ position was set up by Levi, whose only other innings of note in the County Championship came in the third match of his injury-hit season with a century against Derbyshire. He steered his side into control of the game with a confident 114-ball innings with 15 fours.At 155 for 4 shortly after lunch, Gloucestershire sensed a way back into the game but Levi shared a stand of 71 with Adam Rossington for the fifth wicket and 76 with Steven Crook for the sixth.Rossington missed a sweep at Jack Taylor and was lbw for 34 before Levi, five short of a pleasing century, pushed into the off side and called for a single that Crook disagreed with as Will Tavare dived to his left to make a sharp save. Levi was three-quarters of the way down the wicket and gave up any chance to recover his ground. Tavare had time for a cup of tea before returning a throw to Phil Mustard.Earlier in the day, Northants resumed 44 for 0 and Ben Duckett made his way to 70 in the final innings of a wondrous 2016 season.Having struck five fours to reach 31 not out by the close on day two, he began the third day in typically aggressive touch. An extra-cover drive against Liam Norwell was the stroke of the morning as he passed fifty in 59 balls with eight fours.But when a fifth hundred of the season looked possible, Matt Taylor made a ball jump and take the splice of the bat, providing a catch to George Hankins at point.Duckett walked off to a great ovation having scored 1,338 County Championship runs at 60.81 with four centuries – and two doubles – this season.Rob Newton was also out on the third morning, edging Matt Taylor to slip after an opening stand of 116 with Duckett and in the over before lunch Alex Wakely edged David Payne to second slip to keep Gloucestershire in the game. Levi’s afternoon ensured it was the hosts who took control.

ScorecardTom Fell kept Worcestershire in the game•Getty Images

Tom Fell and Joe Clarke breathed life back into promotion-chasing Worcestershire’s victory hopes with an unbroken third wicket stand of 95 against Glamorgan on day two of the Specsavers County Championship clash at New Road.The pair joined forces at 55 for 2 with the home side still 62 runs in arrears after Glamorgan had extended their first innings from an overnight 118 for 5 to 280 all out. Glamorgan may be left to rue dropping Fell on two – a low chance spilled by keeper Mark Wallace off Graham Wagg.Fell went on to complete his second Championship 50 – from 101 deliveries with nine fours – since returning to the side after being given the all clear in his battle against cancer. By the close the 22-year-old was unbeaten on 65 and Clarke 32 with Worcestershire leading by 33.Glamorgan had resumed on 118 for 5 after 15 wickets had gone down on the opening day and a combination of Will Bragg and the lower order earned them a sizeable first innings advantage.Leach made an early breakthrough when Owen Morgan shouldered arms and had his stumps shattered.Bragg, who resumed on 75, moved to within two runs of his third Championship hundred of the season but then pushed forward to Ed Barnard and was bowled via the inside edge. He struck 16 fours in his 133 ball innings.Glamorgan were then still two runs in arrears but Wallace, who had opened in the previous seven Championship matches, effectively shepherded the last three wickets in adding 119 runs.Skipper Jacques Rudolph’s decision to return to the top of the order led to Wallace moving down to No 9 and he responded by making an unbeaten 67. He struck 10 fours and a six in his 78 ball knock and added 75 for the eighth wicket with Wagg.Leach struck twice in an over to remove Wagg and Michael Hogan before Barnard accounted for Lukas Carey. It completed a fourth five-wicket haul of the season for Leach who returned 5-106 from 22 overs to take his Championship tally to 45 for the campaign.Worcestershire needed a solid start to their reply but Brett D’Oliveira drove loosely at Wagg and was caught behind.Skipper Daryl Mitchell looked in good touch but after making 33 he pulled a short ball from Carey into the hands of Craig Meschede at mid wicket but then came the Fell-Clarke rescue act.

Abahani Limited captain Tamim Iqbal has lauded his team-mates for producing a comeback midway through the Dhaka Premier League’s first phase, which ended up giving them their 18th title. Four hours after they beat Prime Bank Cricket Club by 115 runs in Mirpur on Wednesday, the BCB’s decision to give Abahani and Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club one point each confirmed Abahani’s title. It meant they would get 23 points, two more than Doleshwar.Abahani started their campaign with three wins in their first four games, but then lost three matches in a row against Legends of Rupganj, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Kalabagan Cricket Academy in the space of a week in mid-May.At that stage, Abahani were in genuine danger of missing out on a Super League place but they won their next four games to confirm a place in the last six and launch a title charge in one of the most tightly-contested Dhaka Premier League seasons of the past decade.Tamim said the key to Abahani’s success was the turnaround, as well as Shakib Al Hasan’s arrival after his IPL campaign with Kolkata Knight Riders. Shakib made 210 runs and took 16 wickets in eight matches, including a blazing half-century and a five-for against Mohammedan in Abahani’s record-breaking 260-run win. He also took a four-wicket haul against Prime Bank in the first phase and made fifties against Rupganj and Doleshwar.”It has been a massive turnaround for us,” Tamim said. “We had some wins at the start of the season but as the tournament progressed, continuous defeats put pressure on the team. At one point it was even tough for us to qualify for the Super League. All the players put in a big contribution behind this success, especially Shakib who joined us midway into the tournament. He had a great involvement in the team, especially with the bowling unit. He encouraged our struggling bowlers.”Tamim had special praise for Mosaddek Hossain, the young batsman who bailed out Abahani time and again from tight spots. His six and four off the last two balls won them the game against Doleshwar. Against Rupganj, he struck 73 and took five wickets and in Abahani’s last game against Prime Bank, Mosaddek struck a quickfire 78 in support of Tamim, who scored a century. He ended the tournament with the highest batting average, 77.75, among batsmen with more than 600 runs. He also took 15 wickets, and won three player-of-the-match awards.Tamim said he was disappointed that Mosaddek’s brilliant performance was overshadowed by the talk about alleged favouritism surrounding Abahani.”Mosaddek had an incredible tournament,” Tamim said. “He has very bright future. But the negative discussion about Abahani shadowed Mosaddek’s performance. I think he has a brain of a 45-year old person, and I hope he will meet his ambition of playing in the national team one day.”Mosaddek had to work hard for scoring those runs. Our bowlers had to work hard for picking wickets but people and the media were only talking of the negative things, which disappointed me.”Tamim accepted the Tk 1 lakh ($1,276) fine for his outburst against the umpires in the Super League match against Doleshwar.”I accept the punishment which the board decided for me. As I have said earlier, it was not right for me to react in such a way with the umpires. I will take lesson from this. I have to be a good human first both on and off the field. What I did that day was wrong.”