The Ranji Trophy North Zone league match between Services and HimachalPradesh ended in a draw at the Palam Ground in Delhi today. Servicesresumed in the morning still requiring another 93 to make theiropponents bat again but as it turned out they quite comfortably battedthrough the day to finish on 339/6 from 121.5 overs.Earlier, Harish Bhaskar and Amit Nadkarni carried off from where theyleft at 80/1 last evening. Nadkarni was bowled by Jaswant Rai for 65(135 balls, 9 fours) but Bhaskar was a more durable customer,remaining to negotiate 256 balls for his 82, which included 8 fours.Late in the day, JP Pandey and Syed Javed put together an entertaining95 run stand in just over 23 overs.Pandey’s 50 (8 fours and a six) took 96 deliveries while Javed’s 52 (6fours, 2 sixes) was the quicker effort, coming off just 75 balls. Bothwere still unconquered when the match was called off. Amit Sharma wasthe most successful bowler with 3/98. Himachal Pradesh collected fivepoints and Services three from the drawn encounter.

The players turned up, the crowd turned up, more than 7000 of them, but someone forgot to order a pitch for the New Zealand-Zimbabwe Boxing Day Test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.Those who made the effort to shake off their post-Christmas Day torpor must have wondered why they bothered when the arrived at the ground for what has now become a New Zealand cricket tradition.For all their efforts what greeted them was a grey-looking, lifeless pitch that was a far cry from the superior pitches that have been prepared in recent years.Predictably, the play was dull with New Zealand crawling to a laborious 190/4 by stumps with Nathan Astle looking for a big score on 56 not out, off 174 balls and in 242 minutes, and Craig McMillan 20 not out.The real test of the effect of such a slow day’s batting will be seen in the number of people who bother to turn up tomorrow.New Zealand coach David Trist, never short of the right word, described the day’s play as being played at a “sonambulistic pace.”It would be a challenging Test match and the game would be played slowly, he said. The pitch would turn and once seeing the covers off the pitch that was why New Zealand decided to play both its slow bowlers, off-spinner Paul Wiseman and leg-spinner Brooke Walker.Zimbabwean coach Carl Rackemann said: “It is drier than what we expected. It is pretty much a dead sort of wicket but it is what both teams have got to deal with.”It is not an easy pitch to bat on, but it is not easy to get people out,” he said.That was reflected in the 60 runs per session during the day at a run rate of 2.11. As a result Rackemann felt the day had been “fantastic” for Zimbabwe.”Another wicket at stumps would have been deluxe for us,” he said.Trist still believes New Zealand has the chance to post a high enough score to allow it to dictate terms.”The game is poised. We have a platform and if we can bat well into the afternoon and have 330-340 that will be competitive. It should be an interesting match for the connoisseurs of cricket,” he said.New Zealand did nothing to help their cause by executing four dismissals of woeful waste.Nathan Astle, enjoying his longest and most productive Test innings since the 86 he scored in Harare earlier this summer, used the occasion well and by the end of play was starting to flow into his shots while his running between the wickets, especially in partnership with Craig McMillan, at last added some urgency to proceedings.”He batted with patience, diligence and made few errors,” Trist said of his performance.Running between the wickets was not always an asset on the day. Captain Stephen Fleming, who looked to be relishing the chance for a good, long innings, was run out just after lunch when called by Richardson, and then sent back. He seemed capable of scoring far more than the 22 achieved.Richardson, who had two lives, on 35 and 73, was sent back to the pavilion a little sooner than he might have wanted when he too was run out, the result of a fine piece of fielding by cover field Henry Olonga.Sensing that Richardson was labouring after being called through by Astle, Olonga changed his mind in mid-stride and threw to the opposite end. It fooled Richardson who was well short of his ground.Despite his 75 runs, Richardson was not happy with his effort.”I came into the match with some goals, to play with more control and composure than in South Africa,” he said.The run out of Fleming had not helped that goal.”There was a bit of head-chatter there for a while. There was a lot of stuff going on up top,” he said of the battle he had to regain his concentration.”I had to get my thoughts back in order. It is not the sort of wicket you can look good on.”My responsibility was to go through and bat the day out. I want to improve on that in the future. As the wicket turns guys will have to have a solid game plan and stick to it,” he said.Matt Horne’s return from injury was short-lived and the method of his dismissal, wafting at a wide ball that was better left alone, was probably just as painful as his original broken hand.Of all the wickets, Mathew Sinclair probably had the least control over his dismissal, sent packing leg before wicket by umpire Steve Dunne with what looked a line call from a ball bowled by Bryan Strang.

Half-centuries from Jimmy Maher and Steve James helped Glamorgan securean impressive six-wicket win over Sussex in the National League DivisionTwo clash at Swansea.Chasing 225 for victory, Glamorgan passed the winning post with a fullthree overs remaining to lift them to fourth in the second division.Maher’s 81-ball contribution that included eight fours helped to getGlamorgan off to a flier in response to Sussex’s challenging 224-4 afterChris Adams had won the toss.The Australian was given fine support by opener Keith Newell and RobertCroft, who was promoted up the order to No 3 to give the Glamorganinnings some early impetus.Although there was a slight wobble when Glamorgan lost Maher and MatthewMaynard in quick succession, James took 15 off an over from Umer Rashidto steady Welsh nerves.James went on to hit the winning runs which also brought up his own half-century in 57 balls.Sussex probably thought they had done enough to bat Glamorgan out of thegame after three of their top order all celebrated half centuries.Richard Montgomerie (68) and Murray Goodwin (51) had given Sussex agreat platform, putting on 92 for the first wicket in 22 overs before theZimbabwean holed out at deep backward square to give Robert Croft thefirst of his two victims.Croft, who had been released by England from the Second Test at OldTrafford, was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers. He also claimed thewicket of Montgomerie who was well caught at square leg by Dean Cosker.Adams completed a 46-ball half-century to ensure that Glamorgan neededto chase five an over to win.

A disappointing pitch, a disappointing Zimbabwe team and consequentlya disappointing match. India were highly impressive, though, and afterbowling Zimbabwe out for 133 at Harare Sports Club, they cantered homeby nine wickets in the second match of the Coca Cola Cup on Sunday.The good news for Zimbabwe was that Heath Streak was back at the helm,the basic matters that had prompted him to resign having beenresolved. He and coach Carl Rackemann have now been added to theselection panel and certain other matters are to be attended to. ZCUpresident Peter Chingoka has pledged his support and asked him to stayon as captain. One would have hoped that Zimbabwe would be encouragedby these developments to play better than they had done against WestIndies. Not at all.In the Zimbabwe team, Dirk Viljoen and Bryan Strang replaced BrianMurphy and Mluleki Nkala. Unfortunately the same pitch was used forthis match as the previous day, and it had been watered overnight,leaving some moisture and promising help for the bowlers. Lady Luckhas an inflexible decree that under such circumstances Zimbabwe shouldalways lose the toss, and Sourav Ganguly naturally put Zimbabwe in tobat. The gate takings from this match are to be allocated to EddoBrandes’ benefit fund, and despite the poor Zimbabwean performance thecrowd seemed to enjoy themselves.With the second ball of the match, without a run on the board, AshishNehra bowled a beautiful delivery that moved away and had AlistairCampbell snicking a catch to the keeper. Dion Ebrahim and StuartCarlisle appeared to be handling excellent bowling with skill when thelatter (6) snicked Zaheer Khan to second slip.Grant Flower immediately lashed a four through the covers and seemedintent on hitting the team out of trouble, but then unluckily choppedKhan on to his stumps. Zimbabwe were deep in trouble at 20 for threeand once again the pitch was playing a significant part in decidingthe match. India used the conditions superbly, but Zimbabwe shouldhave batted better than they did.Guy Whittall had a lucky escape when on one, with Laxman failing tohold a low slip chance. Nehra, in a magnificent spell and moving theball predominantly into the batsman, was the unlucky bowler. AjitAgarkar profited, as Whittall when on 7 lashed a catch to third manoff a wide delivery, while Nehra soon picked up Viljoen (1), flashingoutside off stump to be caught in the slips. Zimbabwe were 39 for fivein the 13th over, but Ebrahim was still hanging in there, showing truefighting spirit.Nehra completed his ten overs without a break for 33 runs and twowickets, but aggravated a hamstring strain in his final over whichcost nine runs. A recovery was in progress, with Streak standing firm,but Ebrahim again failed to reap the benefits of his efforts, caughtat slip off another fine delivery from Agarkar for 32. Laxman, thecatcher, damaged a finger in the process.Further disaster struck as an over-enthusiastic attempt at a single,not the first, led to the crucial run-out of Streak for 16, courtesyof a fine throw by substitute Reetinder Singh Sodhi. At 82 for seven,this virtually ended Zimbabwe’s hopes of a competitive total.Blignaut and Travis Friend played quietly, trying to restore thebalance, but as soon as Blignaut tried to take the initiative he skieda catch off Ganguly to be caught at deepish mid-off for 13. In thesame over Friend (7) edged to slip; 104 for nine.Tatenda Taibu, who deserves to bat higher than number ten, twice hitGanguly through the covers for cracking fours and showed considerablematurity for 19 not out before Strang was bowled by Agarkar for 4,giving Zimbabwe the depressing total of 133. Agarkar finished withthree for 24, while Nehra, the best of the bowlers, and Khan took twowickets each.Ganguly’s poor international form continued, as he edged a finedelivery from Streak to wicket-keeper Taibu in the first over for two.Zimbabwe, knowing their minimal chance of victory required them totake all ten wickets, brought all their fielders inside the circle,even to Sachin Tendulkar, to start with. It was not effective whenFriend pitched short to Tendulkar, who hooked him for two boundariesand glanced a third.Zimbabwe had no answer to Tendulkar, as on this sluggish pitch hedrove boundaries on the up with perfect timing, despite Zimbabwe’sattempts to seal his leg-side shots. Several straight drives wereeffortless and magnificent. On the debit side, he twice came close togiving catches through his eagerness to hit to leg. He was partneredby Hemang Badani, promoted in place of the injured Laxman. The smalltarget put them under no pressure and the enthusiastic crowd was ableto enjoy a classic exhibition by the Indian master.Badani, although overshadowed by sheer genius, also contributed somestylish drives and a pull for six off Strang. When the end came, withalmost half the overs in hand, Tendulkar had 70 and Badani 52,reaching his fifty with a pull for four off Strang to win the match.

Pakistan A fast bowler, Irfan Fazil, who destroyed the Sri Lankan A batting line up today with a six wicket haul to put his side in a winning position, claimed that this was his most memorable bowling performance ever at the end of first day’s play of the final unofficial ‘Test’ against Sri Lanka in Galle.The slightly built pace bowler from Lahore destroyed Sri Lanka’s batting line up in three spells, the last two of which were quite devastating, from the Old Dutch Fort End, enabling his side to restrict Sri Lanka to a paltry 141 in their first innings.The 19-year-old, who participated in the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka last year, reflected afterwards on his bowling performance, in which he claimed six wickets for 38 runs in just 12 overs.”This is very important day for me,” he said. “It is my most memorable feat because this will help me get back into the senior side, which is my dream.”However, Irfan, who is a great fan of the Pakistani pace duo of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, is also aware of the fact that it’s going to be an extremely hard slog with so much competition amongst the fast bowlers.Irfan, who has played in a Test against Sri Lanka last year in Karachi and in a One-Day International in the Caribbean, spoke about the chances his side has got to win the game: “We’ve got a good chance now to win this game, but our batsmen still have to bat well. If they put up a good score we can put them under pressure.”The Sri Lankan batsmen will have to watch out again in the second innings, even if they bowl out the Pakistanis cheaply tomorrow and restrict their lead; Irfan could easily create havoc again.Irfan believes that though he got six wickets, the wicket suited the batsmen: “It was a good one to bat on, as the ball was coming onto the bat.”Four of his six victims were clean bowled, two of which were perfect reverse swinging yorkers. His last three wickets came after tea, all bowled to wrap up the Sri Lankan innings. “After tea, I bowled with a certain plan and luckily for me it worked,” he said. “I also got ample support from the other end and my team mates.”

Sussex slumped into trouble on a frustrating rain-interrupted day in theCheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tie against Lancashire at Old Trafford.They struggled to 119 for seven in 38 overs after being put in by JohnCrawley in cold, wet and miserable conditions.Play did not start until 3.30, and even after that there were two more raininterruptions before bad light ended play for the day at 7pm.John Wood returned to Lancashire’s one-day team in place of Glen Chapple,who was again ruled out by injury. And the former Durham seamer soon had Sussex in trouble, taking a wicket in each of his first two overs.First Richard Montgomerie edged to first slip, where Mike Atherton took agood low catch, then the left-handed Michael Yardy was bowled off an insideedge.Chris Adams joined Murray Goodwin to steer Sussex to 41 for two at thefirst rain break, but shortly afterwards the Sussex skipper edged PeterMartin to slip, with Atherton again taking the catch.Goodwin moved on impressively to 39 from 55 balls with two fours and aflicked leg-side six off Wood.But the Zimbabwean became the third man caught by Atherton, this time off Andy Flintoff. And Flintoff then had Bas Zuiderent lbw first ball to put himself on a hat-trick.Jamie Carpenter denied him that but Lancashire then turned to MuttiahMuralitharan on his last appearance before going home to Sri Lanka and he had Matthew Prior lbw.And when Mike Smethurst had Carpenter superbly caught by Chris Schofieldlow down at backward point, Sussex were facing an uphill struggle to setLancashire much of a target – with a home quarter-final against Durham onoffer for the winners.

Rain at Kidderminster denied Durham an opportunity to wrap up a three-day win after skittling Worcestershire for 147 in their second innings.All-rounder Danny Law took 5 for 52 and claimed match figures of 8 for 130 to set his side a short-haul target of 115 for their second success of the season in the CricInfo Championship.They would have had 48 overs to complete the job on Saturday but an untimely break in the weather probably allowed Worcestershire a stay of execution.Law has been the major difference between the teams, not only with his bowling but with an explosive 64 in 81 balls which earned Durham a first innings lead of 33.This was close to being decisive when Law took 3 for 18 in 6.3 overs before Worcestershire could wipe out the deficit. Philip Weston was lbw in his second over and Graeme Hick and Vikram Solanki later gave catches to wicketkeeper Andrew Pratt within three balls.Anurag Singh, as he did in the first innings, survived an early collapse and reached a well-deserved 57 – his second half-century in the Championship since moving from Warwickshire last winter.Nicky Hatch terminated a fifth-wicket stand of 60 by bowling Paul Pollard and Singh was caught at second slip by Martin Love in the following over from Law.Steve Rhodes became Law’s last victim in the match and only Stuart Lampitt resisted with an unbeaten 23 before the last two wickets went to James Brinkley.It was a happy reunion for Brinkley with former teammates. The Scotland international took 3 for 19 in the innings and 6 for 77 in the match.

England enjoyed probably their best day so far in the Under-19 Test series against the West Indies at Trent Bridge, finishing the day only 103 runs behind the tourists with seven wickets left.Hero of the day was undoubtedly Durham left-hander Gary Pratt. He hit a composed 188 in almost five and a half hours on the second day of the Second Test.It was his second under-19 Test hundred, following on from his 114 against India in Hyderabad last January.Pratt, who hit 29 fours in his 258-ball innings, was out caught behind as he played under a wide, full-length ball from Jamaican fast bowler Jermaine Lawson.That was six overs from the close, which arrived with England on 313 for threeand Kadeer Ali on 56 in reply to West Indies’ 416 for nine declared.Pratt and his opening partner Joe Sayers, of Yorkshire, defied some vehement West Indies appealing that brought one rebuke from Test umpire Peter Willey during their opening stand of 116.The partnership ended when Sayers lobbed Lawson for a simple catch to mid-wicket and was out for 45.In the morning session, Lancashire seamer Kyle Hogg put aside his heritage to take three West Indian wickets in four balls as they tumbled from 400 for six to 416 for nine.For Hogg’s grandfather is the great West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin, whobowled 81.2 overs to take five for 135 in the second innings against England onthis same ground 51 years ago.Ramadhin’s daughter married Lancashire bowler Willie Hogg and the result wasyoung Kyle.He failed as nightwatchman when he played on to Lawson, but he is on ahat-trick when West Indies bat again.

A century by Tonito Willett put West Indies Under-19s into a position where they are almost certain to clinch the three-Test series against their English counterparts.Already holding a 29-run first innings lead, they had resumed the third day on a promising 193 for three, with Narsingh Deonarine and Willett linking up impressively.Bad weather at the Riverside held up the visitors’ progress but once play resumed Willett went on to make 103 before he was caught by Nicky Peng after being lured into a rash stroke by James Tredwell. The Kent youngster finished with two for 48 and was the pick of the English bowlers.Together with Deonarine, 89 not out at the close, Willet added 170 for the fourth wicket to put West Indies firmly in the driving seat.Omari Banks joined Deonarine at the crease and added three before stumps, withWest Indies on 322 for four.

If this proves to be Steve Waugh’s swansong in England then those who werelucky enough to get tickets for the fifth and final npower Ashes Test at theAMP Oval will have witnessed something very special and ratherextraordinary.The Australian captain made an unbeaten 157 to take his side to declarationand feasibly their fourth win in five contests. From early on in hisinnings, the calf injury that forced him to leave the field by stretcher atTrent Bridge, stiffened up, restricting both his batting and his running,which made the completion of his 27th Test century all the more remarkable.It was not attractive to watch though it was his obvious pain anddiscomfort, rather than any untidiness in his strokeplay, that made many ofthe 18 000 crowd squirm in sympathy. There were a few balls that left thesquare two feet above the ground, which was unusual, but that apart it was agritty and truly inspiring performance from a man who has steel coursingthrough his veins.Waugh joined his brother Mark and Justin Langer in the centurions gang, twofinishing unbeaten – Langer retired hurt on Thursday for 102 and Steveundefeated – and Mark losing his wicket for 120 during the afternoonsession. The Waugh twins put on 197 for the third wicket, the second higheststand in their long career and it was ‘Junior’ who reached his centuryfirst, having faced 161 balls and hitting 13 of them for four and one forsix.Like his previous hundred at Lord’s, this exhibition was a lesson in naturalskill and timing and is bound to feature heavily in the Ashes serieshighlights, when they are compiled. It was attractive and entertaining andwas matched in importance only by his brother’s innings for its courage anddetermination.Six of the seven batsmen who featured in Australia’s first innings effort of641 for four declared, made 60 or more and only Adam Gilchrist recorded acomparative failure making 25 from 32 balls before he became a landmarkwicket for slow left armer Usman Afzaal, bowling for the first time in Testcricket and snaffling Gilchrist with a wide full toss which was despatchedto extra cover.Australia resumed in the morning on 324 for two and after giving England asimple chance with the fourth delivery of the day, forced them to wait until45 minutes after lunch before handing them another opportunity, which wasseized on rather more successfully.Had Mark Butcher taken the catch at first slip, with Waugh on 50, the storyfor the day may well have been different but what should have been an easytake ended up as an exercise in juggling which ended in failure. The scenewas thus set for the day and rarely, throughout the 70 overs of Australia’sinnings, did the smiles return to England’s faces.The pitch was flat enough to convince a delusional batsman he could bat likeBradman but for the bowlers, the figures were distressing. Andrew Caddicktook none for 146 while Phil Tufnell finished with one for 174.Australia’s spinner Shane Warne did not have to wait so long before hisboots started to fill. When the declaration finally came at 4.38pm, it lefta weary England with a tricky 18 overs to face in the muggy London heat.After fielding for the best part of two days in boiling hot temperatures,they could have done with an ice bath and a lie down.Instead Mike Atherton and Marcus Trescothick were required to put on theirpads and square up to Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, who had beenrelaxing around the cooler box for five whole sessions.Neither batsman showed signs of fatigue until the 13th over when Atherton,who had already faced two overs from Warne, was surprised by the spin andbowled for 13. England were 58 for one, needing 442 to avoid the follow on.Trescothick raced to his half century in 49 balls, with all but ten of theruns coming in boundaries and by the close, he was unbetaen on 55 with MarkButcher, the Headingley hero, not out 10.