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The finger injury that Mahendra Singh Dhoni sustained might hamper him when he walks out to bat on Saturday, but he was confident that India could save the Kingsmead Test and head to Cape Town still 1-0 up in the series. And according to him, even victory wasn’t impossible, given that India needed a further 316 runs from the 97 overs scheduled for the final day.”It’s evenly poised,” he said, speaking after the fourth day’s play. “But we must keep in mind that this is the second Test of the series, and so far, neither side has managed to score 300 runs in a day’s play. The weather will also be a factor.”We have not had 90 overs of play on a single day in this match. As a team, we are looking forward to tomorrow’s play. We will stay positive. We’ll see how the situation is at tea time. What we do after that depends on what position the team is in at that point. The way we bat till tea will be very important.”Mark Boucher’s assertion that South Africa were confident of rolling over the Indians inside two sessions drew a brusque response – “If I was a South African cricketer, I wouldn’t say that we would bowl India out inside 50 overs” – and Dhoni emphasised that India wouldn’t approach the situation defensively. “Can we survive? Why not? It’s a fair enough wicket. If you can keep the good balls out, it should make for a good day’s cricket. We’re not merely looking at saving the Test or defending.”He was less positive about the bruising on the right middle finger, which caused him to grimace on more than one occasion out in the field. “I can’t show it to you,” he said with a big grin. “The good news is that it’s not broken. I’m in a position to bat, and there are still three days to go before the next Test.”He was candid when asked about his shot selection throughout the course of this series. “In this match, the shot I played in the first innings [which gave Mornè Morkel a first Test wicket] could have been avoided,” he said. “If I cut out the cover drive, I will be in a position to score more for the team.”He also refused to be too critical when asked about Virender Sehwag’s fallow run, which continued today with his dismissal for 8. “It’s part and parcel of the game,” he said. “With the new Kookaburra ball, there have been one or two early breakthroughs in every innings. A lean patch happens to everyone. If you get a good ball, you get out. There’s no pressure on the middle order because one batsman fails. It depends on how the toporder shapes up as a group.”If they don’t shape up on Saturday, a series that started with Cinderella-like success at the Wanderers might just end up looking like the ugly sister’s face.

It may have been for all intents and purposes a picnic game to open the Australian tour, but England were probably looking for a more decisive victory than the one they scored yesterday. England defeated the ACB Chairman’s XI by one run on the final ball of a match watched at the Lilac Hill ground in outer Perth by a capacity crowd of about 11000.Simon Katich, captain of the Chairman’s XI, which included retired Test players Dennis Lillee, Bruce Reid and Graeme Wood alongside Victorian batsman Matthew Elliott and eight Western Australian players, won the toss and sent England into bat. Mike Atherton showed that does still have some value as a limited-over batsman, scoring 88 before falling to a brilliant diving catch by an airborne Katich at extra cover. Alec Stewart made 74 on a ground where he played club cricket for Midland-Guildford in the eighties. Another ex-Midland-Guildford batsman, John Crawley scored 64 from 50 balls. England’s innings ended at 296 for 5.Forty-nine year-old Dennis Lillee conceded 0/22 from his six overs. Bruce Reid, carrying more weight than in his playing days, dismissed Mark Butcher to take 1/19 from his seven overs.Ryan Campbell (74) and Mike Hussey (32), both fringe players for Australian selection, got the Chairman’s XI off to a brisk start. Campbell’s runs came from just 60 balls including eight fours and three sixes. While the run rate remained high throughout the Chairman’s XI innings, wickets fell regularly. With one ball of the 50th over remaining, the ACB side needed two runs for victory, tailender Jo Angel facing Darren Gough. Angel was short of his ground attempting a quick single as Gough removed the bails at the bowlers end and England had won the game.Gough was best of England’s bowlers, taking 2/40 from his ten overs. Alex Tudor, playing his first game for a senior England side, took 3/62 from his ten.England have named a Test-strength team for the opening first-class match of the tour, against Western Australia beginning on Saturday.The team is:Alec Stewart (capt), Nasser Hussain, Mark Butcher, Michael Atherton, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, John Crawley, Dominic Cork, Robert Croft, Darren Gough, Angus Fraser, Alan Mullally

Imran Javed, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) allrounder, celebrated his 31st birthday in style as he compiled an unbeaten century to take his side to victory against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on the final day of their fourth-round Pentangular Cup Cricket Championship match at the Multan Cricket Stadium.The win over PIA gave NBP only six points instead of the full nine, as they had surrendered the first-innings lead earlier, but it took their points tally after three matches to 24. PIA have now been eliminated from the race to the Pentangular Cup title.Yasir Hameed, the PIA captain, had declared his team’s second innings at 339 for 8, setting NBP a stiff target of 375 for victory. At stumps on the third day, PNB were 58 for 2 but yesterday their batsmen brought them an improbable win as they inched home by two wickets. The overnight pair of Nasir Jamshed and Faisal Athar then took the score to 91 for 2. After Nasir departed for 46, Faisal found an able partner in Shahid Yousuf and the fourth-wicket pair added 79. Faisal’s 61 came off 93 balls and included 12 hits to the ropes. Shahid made 32 off 64 deliveries with the help of five boundaries. But six NBP wickets went down with just 187 on the board and the objective still 188 away.Imran then changed the entire complexion of the match. With fellow all-rounder Yasir Arafat, he helped post 117 for the seventh-wicket partnership, bringing his team to within 71 of the target.Yasir missed his half-century by a solitary run, scoring 49 off 75 balls with five fours and a six. But Imran, who scored his third century after more than four years, remained unbeaten at 102, having batted for 10 minutes short of four hours and making his runs off 170 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. Playing in the 31st first-class match, Imran had earlier completed 50 wickets with the ball. Mohammad Sami, the rejected Pakistan fast bowler, chipped in with a useful 20 off 48 balls with two fours and added 61 for the eighth wicket with Imran.With only the fifth and final round matches remaining, starting from Sunday, NBP have a great opportunity to win the competition. While table leaders Faisalabad have ended their programme of four matches with a total of 27 points, NBP must not be defeated by Karachi Harbour in their last match. to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. In case their match ends as a draw, NBP will take their points tally to 27, the same as Faisalabad if they take the first-innings lead. Even if they emerge triumphant after losing the first-innings advantage, six more points will give them the championship title.PIA, three-time winners of the Pentangular Cup in the past, will now play a rather inconsequential fifth-round match against Sialkot, here at the same venue from Sunday. Victory for neither side will make a difference to the final outcome on April 26, when the tournament comes to an end.

The recently floated Indian Cricket League (ICL) has found that “reactions have been positive” in its hunt to recruit domestic players.”Quite a few people are disillusioned with the way the BCCI functions,” Himanshu Mody, the business head of the ICL, told the . “At the same time we are carefully scanning players’ lists for our needs. We need to be careful and make sure they suit us too. They have to be players who have either played some level of quality cricket or youngsters who have the potential to do so.”The ICL is a Twenty20 tournament scheduled for this October and will have six teams with two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side. After two years the plan is to increase the number of sides in the league to 16.On its part, the BCCI is not taking the ICL’s search for players too seriously. “It will not affect domestic cricket in any way,” said Niranjan Shah, the board secretary. The board also made brave noises on the exodus of Indian domestic coaches to the ICL – at last count Madan Lal, Sandeep Patil, and Balwinder Singh Sandhu. “I don’t think the Ranji would be affected. We have enough quality coaches,” Sanjay Jagdale, the national selector, said.Sandhu, whose contract with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association was not renewed this season, said he had had standing offers or feelers from four BCCI-affiliated associations but still decided to join the ICL. According to him, the ICL was not a competitor to the BCCI since the end goal of the two – that of improving Indian cricket – was the same. “You know why so many talented ones fail to get spotted in the regular camps run by the associations,” Sandhu told Zee News. “They are pushed out by those who are less talented but are being backed by men who matter. This can be set right in ICL talent spotting camps.”Meanwhile, Atul Wassan, Delhi’s chairman of selectors, said that losing some of its top players might be a blessing in disguise for the team. “As it is, we struggle to qualify everywhere. If two-three stars go, we might as well lose with youngsters,” said Wassan. He admitted however that if the team lost youngsters it would hurt it badly.

It’s been ten years since Brian Lara played in Jaipur and things havecertainly changed at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. Observing the face-liftat the ground, one of the journalists remembered the horror years – in the ’90s,when pressmen were locked inside the media area, to prevent fans fromforcing themselves into the zone. The door used to be opened only during thebreaks and, just in case you had the bad luck of ending up with anupset tummy, you were doomed.Going by the indications from the Rajasthan Cricket Association, nobody isgoing to be jailed tomorrow. Worryingly, there aren’t expected to be toomany people dying to get into the stadium when West Indies and Bangladeshclash to qualify for the main draw of the Champions Trophy. Bangladeshshowed a lot of promising signs in their opening game against Sri Lankabut tomorrow they’d need that and much more.Going by Dav Whatmore’s assessment, the pitch here is likely to behave like a SriLankan sandpit. “It certainly looks different than the one at Mohali. I’mnot sure of the history here – there hasn’t been a lot of history in thisoval – and I’m not sure if it will have the same amount of bounce. I’malso not sure about amount of turn in the pitch.” Of the nine ODIs here,five have been won by the team chasing, including the lastgame when Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s unbeaten 183 helped India hunt down299. A factor that would play a role tomorrow is the dew but, consideringthat it’s the first game under lights, one can only wait and watch.The toss may not matter too much for West Indies – considering the mightof their batting line-up – but it’s the fitness of their players thatremained a worry. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Runako Morton – who had suffered aviral fever in Mohali – hadn’t yet recovered while Dwayne Smith, whoincurred the same problem here, missed the net session on match eve. ImranKhan, the media manager, stressed that none of them had been ruled out,adding that missing the nets is no indication of availability for thematch. Bangladesh used three left-arm spinners in the previous game andthey could serve them well if the track starts to take some turn tomorrow.

Not only do West Indies need to win but also need to do so emphatically.Well, finishing the game even before the lights came on – as they didwhile whipping Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad – might have been stretching it toofar but Lara reiterated the need to win with handicaps. “If you playagainst a team lower ranked than yourselves, you must be able to giveyourself a handicap,” he added. “Bangladesh can play very good cricket butit’s important that we win emphatically, it’s important that we put thedistance between them and us. It’s not about chasing down a target in acertain number of overs or anything, just that you would know when you’reforcing yourself on the opposition. That’s what we’re looking to dotomorrow.”But is anyone going to watch? The Rajasthan Cricket Association decided toprovide an incentive for viewers. They sold three tickets in combination,for the two qualifying games along with the India-England game, and pricedit at the same rate as one (almost equivalent to buy one, get two free).Unfortunately it didn’t work and they finally began selling India-Englandsingle tickets today, which ended up being lapped up like hot cakes. Thereseems to be only one solution to eliminate the risk of empty stands. Turnback the clock, replace pressmen with public and lock them inside thestadium for a day. And just to cover all bases, don’t even provide thebreak for lunch.Teams (probable)1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Runako Morton, 4 Brian Lara(capt), 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-cap) 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Marlon Samuels, 8Wavell Hinds, 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10 IDR Bradshaw, 11 Jerome Taylor.1 Shahriar Nafees, 2 Mohammad Ashraful, 3Aftab Ahmed, 4 Saqibul Hasan, 5Habibul Bashar (capt), 6 Farhad Reza, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 MohammadRafique, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Syed Rasel.

India had reached a World Cup final for the first time since 1983. Quirky statisticians were quick to point out that India had never lost after making it this far. From the quirky to the ridiculous, there were others who put forth more compelling reasons for India to win the World Cup. For every tournament since 1979, the Cup has been held aloft alternatively by leftand right-handed captains, they proposed. In 1979, it was Clive Lloyd, a left-hander; in 1983 – Kapil Dev, the right-hander; in 1987 – Allan Border; in 1992 – Imran Khan; in 1996 – Arjuna Ranatunga; in 1999 – Steve Waugh. Hence it only followed that this was the year of Ganguly, they insisted.There were others, even more scientific, who believed that India would win because Australia came into the final with a 16-match winning streak in one-dayers. When the all-conquering Aussies achieved the same landmark in Tests, India stopped them dead in their tracks in Kolkata and went on to win the series. On that occasion – and I was lucky enough to watch every ball amidst the booing and baying of Kolkata fans at Eden Gardens – VVS Laxman played a flawless 281, an innings of a lifetime, stealing the match and soon after the series away from the Australians.When Indian fans congregated at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, they were about to witness yet another once-in-a-lifetime innings. Amidst the flag-waving, emotion-swelling, partisan Indian crowd, Ricky Ponting played his very own version of the ‘innings-of-a-lifetime’ theme song. The man who once threatened to throw all his talent away being the lovable rogue; the drunkard who got into a brawl at the Bourbon and Beefsteak in Sydney’s King’s Cross, now reformed and re-invented, showed why Australia can afford to let go of Stephen Waugh.An innings that will serve as a perfect illustration of one of cricket’s favourite terms – ‘a captain’s innings’ – saw Ponting bludgeon an unbeaten 140 off 121 balls, taking Australia to a mammoth 359/2 in 50 overs.Out walked Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.Just 5′ 3″ in his socks, the little man would have been further weighed down by the burden of expectation that a country of more than a billion placed on its heroes.There’s simply no way you can be expected to chase 360 against Australia in a World Cup final. Even with over 12,000 one-day runs and 34 centuries behind you, you’ll be hard pressed to live up to expectations.All India clung on to hope.If only more of India had read that evocative poem that Ernest Lawrence Thayer wrote as far back as 1888. While baseball might be a far cry from cricket, it’s worth visiting ‘Casey at the Bat.’

Forget McGrath, write off Lee, there’s always Tendulkar, thought the Indian fans.India just need Sehwag to fire, Kaif to run, Dravid to steady and Ganguly to persevere. But first and foremost, Tendulkar, for he will deliver the knock out punch.

So goes the poem that will tell you that there was as much expected of men before as there is of Tendulkar now.With mean McGrath standing at the top of his run, Tendulkar took watchful guard, establishing exactly where his off stump was and where the gaps in the field were.

Just as Sachin was forced to wait for the loose ball, the legendary Casey bided his time. Tendulkar managed an awkward pull off the fourth ball of the game. Not quite like Casey, though, who had haughtily watched two strikes go by, waiting for the right pitch to strike glory with.Soon the time for Tendulkar to stamp his authority on the game arrived.

At the same time that Mumbai mourned, Kolkata cussed and Delhi despaired, you could be sure that the celebrations went over the top from the Darling Harbour in Sydney’s harbour foreshore and Southbank in Melbourne, from little Byron Bay in New South Wales to King’s Park in Perth.A mere miscued pull was all it took, for Tendulkar’s World Cup final to land in McGrath’s waiting hands. While other batsmen may have tried hard, India’s dream ended then and there.Spare a thought for the man himself. After scoring 673 runs in the tournament and fuelling India’s efforts, he might still be remembered for failing in the final. And cruelly enough, If India don’t reach a World Cup final for the rest of Tendulkar’s career, he will have to live with four runs in a major loss as his best effort in a World Cup final.Spare a thought for Casey, spare two for Sachin.

Kepler Wessels, Northamptonshire’s director of cricket, has left the county by mutual consent after a poor season which has left the side propping up the foot of the second division of the Championship.Wessels joined Northants in 2003 and within a year they had gained promotion to the top flight, but he always struggled against a backdrop of budget restrictions, although their one-day performances were not as poor.”Understandably, a poor run of results had led to frustrations for the director of cricket, the dressing room and the club and inevitably tensions run high in these situations,” said a statement issued by the county. “Kepler feels that he has now taken the club as far as he thinks possible and has had conversation with the club recently. It is with this background that we have amicably parted company at this time.”It seems unlikely that Northamptonshire will be rushed into appointing a replacement with only a couple of months of the season remaining.

Scorecard

Dwayne Smith and Corey Collymore were the heroes for Barbados as they beat Leeward Islands by 17 runs to register their third win in four matches in the KFC Cup.Smith, who has been included in the West Indian squad for the tour to Australia, made 75, easily the highest score for their side, to help Barbados to 229 at the Police Sports Cub Ground. Collymore then stole the show with a superb bowling performance, taking 5 for 27 from ten over to endure that Leeward Islands fell short despite two fine batting performances from Sylvester Joseph, who made 73, and Omari Banks, who remained undefeated on 55.Smith spanked eight fours and four sixes in his knock, which came off just 65 balls, an was involved in an excellent 99-run stand for the third wicket with Floyd Reifer, who made 25. However, Barbados lost their way momentarily after the pair was separated and slid to 143 to 6, before Alcindo Holder (31), Courtney Browne (25) and Ian Bradshaw (19 not out) chipped in with handy contributions towards the end of the innings.Leewards struggled at the start of their run-chase, collapsing to 27 for 4 before Joseph and Tonito Willett put the innings back on track with an 88-run stand for the fifth wicket. Once that partnership was broken, the innings crumbled again, and at 139 for 8, Leewards were staring at a huge defeat. However, Banks revived their hopes, adding 47 for the ninth wicket with Gavin Tonge, but it wasn’t enough to stave off defeat.The loss was the first one for Leewards in the competition, but at 11 points, they are third in the table, and are almost certain to make it to the semi-finals.

The West Indies board has announced a list of 25 players, from which a squad will be picked for the tri-series in Australia in January. After a triumphant Champions Trophy campaign, West Indies face another stiff challenge against Pakistan and Australia in the VB Series, beginning on January 14.Many players, like Runako Morton and Xavier Marshall, were rewarded for their good performances in the ongoing Regional Tournament. Strangely there was no specialist spinner in the whole list.The squad also included other newcomers like Deighton Butler, Sherwin Ganga and Denesh Ramdin. Carlton Baugh, the wicketkeeper, and Sylvester Joseph were the surprise exclusions. All the 13 players who were part of the Champions Trophy win were included.List of 25 probables
Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Brown, Deighton Butler, Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Narsingh Deonarine, Sherwin Ganga, Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Reon King, Brian Lara, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton , Ricardo Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwight Washington.

The ECB National Academy won the second match of their winter tour programme in Australia earlier today – beating South Australia 2nd XI by 70 runs in a One-Day game.Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell took 5-22 with his medium pacers as the home side were bowled out for 170 after the National Academy XI had made 240 in their first innings.Middlesex batsman Andrew Strauss top scored for the National Academy side with 56 backed up by a quick-fire 39 from Durham’s Nicky Peng made in only 37 minutes and including two sixes.A ninth wicket partnership of 60 between Lancashire’s Chris Schofield (30 not out) and Glamorgan wicket-keeper Mark Wallace (36) then bolstered the Academy after they had slumped to 177-8.The National Academy XI, who won their first match against Tasmania 2nd XI last week, will play a 4-Day match against their Australian equivalents, the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, starting next Monday, December 3.