All posts by csb10.top

The reactions to Pakistan’s shock first-round elimination from the World Cup has, understandably, enraged passionate fans back home and drawn plenty of criticism. In a nation stunned by Pakistan’s three-wicket defeat to Ireland in Jamaica, there have been angry protests, calls for arrest and even Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, hasn’t been spared.”We will ask for his [Ashraf’s] resignation in the meeting which is due to take place before March 28,” Senator Mohammad Enver Baig, a member of the senate standing committee on culture, sports, youth affairs and tourism told AFP. “You lost miserably to a country like Ireland. There is nothing to compensate and the chairman must resign and go back to the United States.”The way the team has lost is the most disgraceful performance since the World Cup started. The entire nation is shocked.”Baig said Ashraf had no experience to head the PCB and that his “one-man show” management had resulted in the “shameful defeat.” “He is a crony of [President] Pervez Musharraf and the way he [Musharraf] is running the country, the cricket board is also being run in same manner. It is a one-man rule everywhere.”In Multan, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s home town, incensed youth held a protest rally, chanted slogans against Pakistan and demanded that police arrest the World Cup squad. The mob was heard chanting, “Death to Bob Woolmer , death to Inzamam, death to Nasim Ashraf – police should arrest them”.Sarfraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, said the shock was “unbearable”. “I am speaking with deep pain and this shock is becoming unbearable for me,” he said, demanding that those responsible be fired. “The captain, coach and the entire team should be held accountable. It seemed that the umpires also wanted that Pakistan should win, but the body language of the team reflected that they wanted to lose.”The defeat was Pakistan’s second after the 54-run loss to West Indies in the tournament opener. Ireland are provisionally at the top of Group D, with three points – one more than West Indies and two ahead of Zimbabwe – leaving Pakistan at the bottom of the table with no points.

Bangladesh will once again employ three spinners as they head to Mirpur for the second ODI against South Africa. Conditions in Mirpur, the venue for both the second and third ODIs, are expected to be similar to those of the first match in Chittagong, which South Africa won comfortably by nine wickets.For the hosts, Mashrafe Mortaza makes a return to the playing XI and will spearhead the attack in place of Shahadat Hossain. Mortaza, the vice-captain, was overlooked for the first ODI, in which Bangladesh opted for three left-arm spinners in Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mosharraf Hossain.The other change for Bangladesh has Junaid Siddique making way for Nazimuddin, who will become the sixth ODI debutant in the series. “We rested Mortaza in Chittagong and hopefully he will be fresh and energized for tomorrow’s match. We need him to be in his best form with the ball. His big-hitting in the closing overs will also an added bonus,” Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, said. “Junaid we feel is a little low on confidence after not getting the runs in ODIs. He has featured in partnerships but has not made the scores he is capable of. He has been given a break.”Bangladesh’s persistence with spin means the pitch is again likely to be low and slow, also acknowledged by Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach. “We will have our work cut out once again for the second and third matches as the conditions will be virtually the same,” Arthur told the . “There’s nothing in the pitch that indicates that the quick bowlers will have any juice in it for them. They will need to put their backs into it and stick rigidly with their disciplines.”South Africa restricted Bangladesh to 178 in Chittagong on Sunday, and all their frontline bowlers were among the wickets. Andre Nel was the most impressive of the lot – with 3 for 24 off his ten overs. The visitors played two spinners in Johan Botha and Paul Harris, and Arthur indicated the two would feature in Wednesday’s match.”It certainly looks that way,” Arthur said. “But a final decision will be made after a practice session later today. We don’t know what the curator is going to be up to this morning as he was still working on the track late yesterday [Monday]. These issues change by the hour in this part of the world and until their job is complete you cannot cast anything in stone.”Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs led the chase in Chittagong, but an inexperienced middle-order – with Jacques Kallis rested for the series – is a vulnerability Bangladesh could exploit if they can make early inroads.Wins in both matches will see South Africa jump to the top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI teams, and would be the ideal way to head to the tougher test that awaits them in India.Team:
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Dhiman Ghosh (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Mosharraf Hossain, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Syed RaselSouth Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 JP Duminy, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Alviro Peterson, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Charl Langeveldt

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlex Ross crunched seven fours and three sixes•Getty Images

A record partnership between Brad Hodge and Alex Ross ensured Adelaide Strikers’ coach Jason Gillespie enjoyed a fairy-tale homecoming. The pair complemented each other perfectly during a record BBL fifth-wicket stand of 115 to punctuate Striker’s 19-run win over the fancied Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval.Defending 187, Strikers overcame a nervous start in the field to restrict the power-packed Stars batting line-up to 7 for 168. Assisted by a pitch offering turn, English import Adil Rashid menaced with figures of 2 for 27, including the prized scalp of Glenn Maxwell who threatened to seal the deal for the Stars.Strikers fluffed as many as five chances early in the chase, most notably Craig Simmons’ dropped sitter at first slip when Marcus Stoinis was on 2, but they recovered to grasp the initiative. The bowling attack stepped up to curb Stars’ batting line-up with discipline highlighted by the visitor’s inability to hit a six until the 14th over.Stars seemed on track to overhaul the target when they reached 1 for 90 after 11 overs, but Ben Laughlin changed the complexion of the match, taking the key wickets of Stoinis and Kevin Pietersen in the next over. Apart from a brief whirlwind partnership between Maxwell and captain David Hussey, the total appeared beyond Stars.Amid sweltering conditions where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees when the match started, Hodge and Ross starred and rescued Strikers from early trouble, after being sent in by Hussey.When Travis Head (16) fell to a questionable caught-behind decision, despite replays showing the ball appearing to land in front of wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb, Strikers slumped to 4 for 64 in the 10th over, and were in serious peril of posting a competitive total on a flat pitch.Hodge, the Strikers’ new captain, showcased his experience and composure during a stabilising period of batting where he was content in rotating the strike with clever singles. Juxtaposing this was Ross’ audacious batting complete with a plethora of bold sweep shots, which accounted for two of his three sixes in the innings.Fittingly, Ross notched his maiden BBL half century, off just 25 balls, when he swept pacer Scott Boland for a massive six. Boland then got his revenge by trapping Ross lbw in the last over of the innings, but the damage had been done.Showcasing his class, Hodge timed his innings to perfection scoring 29 off as many balls before accelerating towards the end to finish unbeaten on 56 from 41 deliveries. The Strikers plundered 67 runs in the final four overs.The Hodge and Ross brilliance came after Strikers’ top order had failed to fire, despite a tease from openers Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman, who hit two sixes each. However, they were unable to produce scores of substance. Mahela Jayawardene, a replacement into the Strikers’ squad for the injured Kieron Pollard, seemed likely to try to bat throughout the innings but looked out of touch. Jayawardene was dropped by Handscomb before he had scored, but soon perished attempting a rash slash off James Faulkner, who was the pick of the Stars’ bowlers finishing with 1 for 21.It eventually turned out to be a satisfying start for the Strikers’ new leadership combination of Gillespie and Hodge.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:00

Agarkar: India’s top three the best in T20 cricket

India’s first series victory of any kind in Australia since the summer of Monkeygate is proving an unmitigated disaster for the hosts, who now face real uncertainty over their captaincy. Aaron Finch twanged a hamstring as his side fell apart under the pressure of a chase for the second time in as many matches.The game evolved in a near action replay of the opening match in Adelaide, as Australia were unable to capitalise on a strong start by Finch and Shaun Marsh in pursuit of a strong Indian total built upon the batting of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.Steven Smith and David Warner are set to fly to New Zealand on Saturday, leaving a considerable leadership vacuum should Finch be unfit for the third T20 in Sydney on Sunday. His likely absence may at least mean an opportunity for Usman Khawaja, the outstanding batsman of the summer so far.India’s serenity made for a marked contrast, as an unchanged team from Adelaide built steadily into a firm tally batting first before defending it grandly with the help of some tremendous fielding. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were aided by Yuvraj Singh, while the medically-enforced absence of Darren Lehmann appears to have been felt in the way the Australians have shown little composure under pressure.As had been the case in Adelaide, Australia’s openers began with fluency and power, this time zooming to 94 inside 10 overs. However, the introduction of spin had again drawn chances, as Marsh and Finch (thrice) were both reprieved by MS Dhoni and his outfielders.Oddly, Marsh responded to the surfeit of good fortune by trying his luck yet again against R Ashwin and being caught at long on. Chris Lynn did not last long, skying Hardik Pandya to be taken safely by Dhoni, before Glenn Maxwell was lured down by Yuvraj and stumped in the blink of an eye by India’s captain.Momentum was now flowing to India just as surely as it had done in the opening match, and Jadeja turned it into a torrent by holding a return catch from Shane Watson that may have struck him in the head without a brilliant interception. At the other end Finch’s frustration was mounting despite his own strong effort.This all compounded in the very next over when Matthew Wade called his captain through for a single so rapid that Jadeja’s wide throw was good enough to have Dhoni breaking the stumps in time. On his way down the pitch, Finch appeared to ping a hamstring, and cursed the world as he hobbled off the field, his place in future plans now under a cloud to rank with any that hovered over Melbourne this afternoon.The rest was academic – Wade hit out by way of contrition, James Faulkner was unluckily out when Dhoni fumbled onto the wicket for an accidental stumping, and the run rate blew out to dimensions that quietened a healthy crowd of 58,787. They went home aware that Australia’s problems are mounting, while Indian plans fall usefully into place.In addition to Warner and Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Boyce, Shaun Tait and Kane Richardson were dropped in the biggest upheaval to an Australian side since another T20 series, against West Indies in early 2013.In their places were Tye, Maxwell, John Hastings, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon. Hastings, Lyon and Tye made their T20 debuts as the selectors experimented ahead of the World T20 in India.In the absence of Tait, it was a lower velocity pairing of Watson and John Hastings who shared the new ball, but the change of pace did not serve to diminish India’s Powerplay strength. Forty-four from the first five overs was a fine start from Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan,A greasy night following considerable rain in Melbourne throughout the day was always going to make Lyon’s night challenging, and his first T20 over was to be his only one for the night. It was hurt badly by one ball that slipped, a high full toss being called no-ball and the free hit being deposited well over long on by Rohit.Maxwell was also sent into the stands by Rohit, but he was to claim the wicket of Shikhar when the opener essayed a reverse sweep. That wicket left India 1 for 97 after 11 overs, and they were unable to accelerate full from there.This had little to do with Kohli, who careered to 59 from 33 balls with some shots of matchless mastery, and more to do with an improved collective effort from the hots at the back end. Rohit lost some of his earlier momentum before being run out looking for a second, and Dhoni was not quite able to free his arms before Tye had him taken at long off as part of a generally impressive last over.If anything, Tye’s quietly assured display is the greatest discovery for Australia in the series so far. Bolstered by Big Bash League exposure, he looks capable of landing his yorkers under international pressure. By the end of the night, Tye was the selectors’ only solace – the match and series plaudits were all India’s, a feeling they last enjoyed in Australia after the triangular ODI series of early 2008.

Harbhajan Singh’s exoneration for his alleged “monkey” comment towards Andrew Symonds has been hailed as a victory for justice in India, but the decision has incensed Australia’s cricketers, who believe their board has caved in to overwhelming pressure from the game’s financial superpower.In a front-page article in Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald, an unnamed Australian cricketer has hit out at the decision, which was only reached after Cricket Australia persuaded their five players at the hearing to downgrade their charge against Harbhajan from racism to abusive language. Instead of being banned for three Tests as per the original verdict, he was fined 50% of his match fee.”The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has,” the anonymous contracted player told the paper. “The Aussie guys aren’t going to make it [the accusation] up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has, because of the wealth they generate. Money talks.”In what the paper described as a “brazen act of provocation”, the Indian board chartered a plane to whisk their one-day squad from Melbourne – the venue for Friday’s Twenty20 fixture – to Adelaide, so that they could fly home to India if the charges against Harbhajan were not dropped. The move was described by MV Sridhar, the team’s assistant manager, as a “show of solidarity”.Friday’s match alone – the curtain-raiser for the lucrative CB Series – is expected to attract a crowd in excess of 90,000, and Cricket Australia, fearing the loss of millions of dollars in TV rights, sponsorship and gate takings, opted not to call India’s bluff. It was also believed to be under pressure from broadcasters who could have sued had the series been abandoned. The reported the players had an often fiery meeting with Cricket Australia officials during the fourth Test and it was agreed the charge would be lowered if Harbhajan apologised.An Indian pull-out would have threatened Sri Lanka’s participation in the CB Series as well. Arjuna Ranatunga, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, and other senior board officials told the earlier that the board was keeping an eye on the developments in the hearing before deciding whether to commit to the tour or not.The issue was resolved late on Tuesday night, when Cricket Australia and the BCCI issued a joint statement, saying Symonds and Harbhajan had “resolved” the issue and that both captains were also “satisfied with the outcome”.Australia’s unofficial opinion, however, is less placatory. The team maintain that Harbhajan abused Symonds both in Sydney and three months earlier during an ill-tempered one-day series in India. In audio evidence supplied by Channel 9 – and played before the appeals commissioner, Justice John Hansen – Matthew Hayden is heard remonstrating with Harbhajan. “You’ve got a witness now, champ,” says Hayden. “It’s racial vilification, mate. It’s a shit word and you know it.”Harbhajan can be heard protesting that Symonds started the verbals, but the actual word is inaudible on the tapes. “Ultimately, truth has prevailed,” said the BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla. “India has always stood against racism. Cricket is the victor in all this.”Ranatunga, a former Sri Lankan captain, called for a ban on sledging and hoped the Australians would learn their lessons from this controversy.”Australia have had these issues with some touring sides,” Ranatunga told . “History shows whenever they get it back, they struggle. Sometimes they also need to learn a lesson. I’m a great believer they should stop all shouting in the grounds.”

Santosh Kumar’s six wicket haul on the final day propelled theKarnataka Under-19 team to enter the knock out stage of the CoochBehar Trophy with a 173-run victory on the third and final day overKerala in the South Zone league match at the KRL Ground in Ambalamugalon Monday. The other team to enter the knock out stage from the zoneis Andhra who scored an innings and 67 run win over Goa on Sunday.Resuming their second innings at 217 for 8, Karnataka were all out for246, leaving Kerala a stiff victory target of 300.Kerala folded up for 126 off 35.3 overs. The openers R Kapil (9) andMM Nathani (18) made a sedate start adding 24 runs in 9.4 overs. Offspinner Santosh Kumar who was introduced early into the attack thenbowled Kapil. Rejas joined Nathani and the two took the score to 38when Rejas was bowled by Santosh Kumar. The last ball of Santosh’snext over saw the exit of Nathani in similar fashion. Skipper VipinLal (19) and RP Sujith (39) took the score to 58. But at this junctureVipin was caught by Krishna off Kumar. Three balls later NJ John (0)returned to the pavilion after being bowled by Kumar.In the next over Dharmichand had AC Antony caught by KV Bhatt beforethe batsman had opened his account. At 59 for 6 in the 21st over,Kerala were staring at certain defeat. But Sujith found some goodcompany in the later order batsmen to take Kerala past the 100 runmark. Sujith after a 46-run seventh wicket stand with Aneesh (10) in7.5 overs, was caught by HTS Rao off Dharmichand. For his brightknock, Sujith faced 23 balls while hitting 6 boundaries and 2 sixes.Kumar now came back to claim the wicket of Aneesh by shattering hisdefences. Dharmichand then dismissed S Santh (12) and S Sooraj (7) offsuccessive deliveries. Santosh Kumar finished with six for 35 whileDharmichand had four for 64.

Jacques Kallis, the South African captain, has said that they are expecting to field their strongest team for the series decider against India on Sunday. The three-ODI series is currently level at 1-1.South Africa were without Dale Steyn, who had the flu, and Justin Kemp, who was sidelined by a leg injury, during their six-wicket defeat against India in the second ODI on Saturday. “Dale’s come a long way, Justin Kemp has been having treatment and hopefully by Sunday we’ll have a full squad to choose from,” said KallisHe praised Morne van Wyk, the opener who replaced Graeme Smith for the series and scored a career-best of 82 in the second ODI. “He’s done well. Graeme’s been the one in the spot but when you’ve got guys putting pressure on other guys there’s no spot in any team that should be taken for granted.”van Wyk, who waited four years to return to the ODI squad after making his debut against England at Lords in 2003, said, “The cricket back home is quite competitive and, like Jacques said, I’m still fairly young. You don’t know if it [international cricket] is going to come around but you keep on hoping with performances you can get a look in.”Kallis was also impressed with Thandi Tshabalala, the offspinner who took the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, and finished with 1 for 42 . “We wanted to have a good look at Thandi. With the next World Cup being in the subcontinent [in 2011], we realise we have to find a spinner and that is what we are trying to do. It was between me and him to be the fifth bowler and he did well.”Kallis’s opposite number, Rahul Dravid has been heartened by the resilience his side have shown in the run-up to the deciding encounter. On the eve of Tuesday’s opening match more than half the India squad were ill with flu and they went down to defeat before bouncing back on Friday.”The victory is a big boost to the side – the boys have fought really hard. Our preparation for this tournament wasn’t exactly ideal. We’ve had a tough few days, and the boys have responded really well. They have not complained – we have gone on and done what we needed to do and played good cricket – and we fully deserve to be level in the series.”Dravid added his side were the underdogs even though South Africa have also been hit by the same flu virus. “The rankings do definitely say we are the second-best team here. But one-day cricket is how you play on the day. It’s not really about rankings or numbers. We knew we could give them a good run for their money – and we believe if we play some good cricket we can end up with the right result.”Pace bowlers Ajit Agarkar and Sreesanth have both yet to feature in the series because of flu but this has allowed India to play their two slow bowlers in Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar. Chawla has been particularly impressive in cold, overcast conditions more conducive to seam rather than slow bowling.”One of the really gladdening things for me is to have seen how these young spinners have bowled, especially in these tough conditions,” said Dravid. “They are used to playing in India, where it is warm and sunny and the ball grips and turns. But they have come here and immediately adjusted.”South Africa (probable) 1 AB de Villiers, 2 Morne van Wyk, 3 Jacques Kallis (capt), 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Justin Kemp, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Andre Nel, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Dale SteynIndia (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 RP Singh, 11 Zaheer Khan

With the India-Pakistan ODI series over, a lot of exciting players will come back to represent their Ranji sides in the matches starting tomorrow: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for Delhi, Rohit Sharma for Mumbai, Irfan Pathan for Baroda, Robin Uthappa for Karnataka, and Praveen Kumar for Uttar Pradesh. The flip side: Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble (Karnataka), Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu), VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai), and Munaf Patel (Maharashtra) have joined the Test squad. Here’s how the Super League matches stack up:Mumbai v Delhi at MumbaiThe joint leaders in Group A meet at the Wankhede Stadium. Delhi will be bolstered by the return of Sehwag and Gambhir, Mumbai by Rohit Sharma. Read Nagraj Gollapudi’s preview here.Hyderabad v Baroda in Hyderabad Baroda are on a high after having beaten Bengal by an innings, while a depleted Hyderabad side have held their own in their first two games too. Read Sriram Veera’s preview here.Himachal Pradesh v Maharashtra at Dharamsala Maharashtra have had a good start to the season, with an outright win against Rajasthan in the second match. Himachal, though, are looking to find their feet in the Super League, coming off an innings defeat to Karnataka.Rajasthan v Saurashtra at Jaipur Rajasthan are at the bottom of Group A without any points while Saurashtra have fought out two draws to get themselves four points. Rajasthan will want to open their account here, otherwise they will be prime candidates for relegation.Tamil Nadu v Karnataka in Chennai They are both traditional powerhouses in Indian cricket, but Tamil Nadu field a young, depleted side this year. Accordingly, they have had a fairly ordinary start to the season with only one point after two matches. Karnataka, riding high on the innings win against Himachal, have seven points from two matches and will look for the maximum points here.Orissa v Andhra at Cuttack Orissa are coming off a break after they were walloped by Uttar Pradesh in the first match, while Andhra have played out two draws to reach four points. Orissa will want to do better than Himachal, the other team to have been promoted to the Super League.Punjab v Uttar Pradesh at MohaliPunjab have been struggling with injuries to their strike bowlers – Gagandeep Singh and VRV Singh. Yet had they avoided a lower-order collapse against Hyderabad, they would have had six points from two games. UP, after a blazing start against Orissa, played a tame draw with Andhra. They currently leading the Group B, but they have played one game more than the second-place Baroda.

Former foes, including Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly, have become Indian Premier League team-mates and publicly patched up their differences. Ponting and Ganguly played small parts in Kolkata’s 140-run thrashing of Bangalore and set out to work together on the field.”We’ve always got on really well right throughout our careers,” Ponting said in the Daily Telegraph. “Ganguly mentioned that he wanted to work pretty closely with me to make sure we get everything right on tactics on the field.”Ganguly said any tension between the players was in the past and he was excited about joining forces with Ponting. “Things happen when you compete in series,” he said, “and that’s over and done and we need to look forward.”Matthew Hayden, one of the key figures in the hearings after the SCG Test, now believes the events surrounding Harbhajan Singh’s race charge were “blown out of all proportion”. “Bhaji is a true fighter and we enjoy the on-field rivalry,” Hayden said. The pair is likely to face off again when Hayden’s Chennai take on Harbhajan’s Mumbai on Wednesday.”Whatever happened in Australia was blown out of proportion and has been talked to death,” Hayden said. “In fact, playing Bhaji helped me understand how to get into the mind of a spinner.”Shane Warne and Graeme Smith, who had a prickly on-field relationship before the legspinner’s international retirement, are in the same team at the Rajasthan Royals, but Warne doesn’t expect any problems. “We have had a fair go at each other as opponents but I believe we will jell quickly,” he said in the Herald Sun. “He is a competitor and is always up for a scrap, which I like, and I’m sure playing in the same side will be fun.” Smith’s entry has been delayed while he completes domestic duties in South Africa.

Scorecard

A persistent afternoon spell from Tim Murtagh earned him career-best figures of 7 for 95 to help Middlesex to a scrawny eight-run lead over Glamorgan on the third day at Lord’s. At stumps, Andrew Strauss and Billy Godleman had extended Middlesex’s lead to 64, and any hopes Glamorgan have of breaking their 54-year duck at Lord’s diminished by the ball.Murtagh was again well supported by Steven Finn who bowled rather more than his captain would have liked, owing to Chris Silverwood hobbling off midway through his 10th over. He was later spotted on cautionary crutches behind the pavilion, cheerfully announcing “I’ll be back”, and for all Murtagh and Finn’s persistence, Middlesex missed his explosiveness.Mike Powell reached a 75-ball fifty early in the day, but Finn produced a beauty from the Nursery End, climbing and slanting down the slope away from Powell who poked at it tentatively, without the conviction which had earned him 45 of his 50 runs yesterday evening. Dalrymple, however, was far more secure outside his off stump – though he survived a confident appeal from Finn – twice cracking Gareth Berg for four square of the wicket to reach 50 from 105 balls.At the other end, Mark Wallace rode his luck but took advantage of Murtagh’s occasional waywardness, gliding him through extra cover with ease to take Glamorgan to 173 for 4 at lunch. After he interval, the pair reached their hundred stand and thoughts turned to the prospect of Dalrymple reaching three figures against his former club, on his former ground. Not since Matthew Maynard in 1985 has a British-born Glamorgan batsman made a hundred on debut, but the record remained intact when Dalrymple mis-hooked Finn to Murtagh who took an excellent, tumbling catch at fine-leg.The gates were open. Wallace departed to a re-energised Murtagh, feeling for one outside his off stump, before Robert Croft was beaten for pace by Gareth Berg, becoming his maiden first-class victim. Glamorgan weren’t quite finished, however, with Ryan Watkins and David Harrison adding a quickfire 48 for the last wicket. Harrison’s six fours weren’t all as agricultural as his position at No.11 should imply, carting Murtagh for successive fours and timing the ball sweetly.Murtagh had the last laugh, Strauss holding a simple catch head-high at slip to dismiss Harrison, and Strauss was immediately into his stride with the bat. Jason Gillespie conceded just six runs from a four-over burst from the pavilion end, but Strauss laid into Wharf in the dying light, unleashing a cover-drive before cutting him with immense power square of the wicket.He played beautifully, regardless of the Glamorgan bowlers’ persistence in dropping it short, and more easy runs beckon tomorrow morning with the first Test against New Zealand looming so soon.