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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.

Scorecard
Scotland suffered an inauspicious start to their tour of Bangladesh, going down by 33 runs to a Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy XI in a warm-up match at Chittagong. Scotland’s lack of firepower with the ball cost them dear, with young opener Tamim Iqbal striking a century in the hosts’ formidable total of 252 for 6.Navdeep Poonia of Warwickshire scored 63 in Scotland’s reply, with Dougie Brown and Neil McCallum also contributing, but it was not enough and they fell well short of their target. Mosharraf Hossain took 4 for 32, and although McCallum’s late hitting had given Scotland hope, with his dismissal went their chances of victory.Iqbal had earlier reached his century off 133 balls before being dismissed for 105. He received valuable support from the captain Nadhif Chowdhury, who scored a rapid 76-ball 68 to help rebuild the innings after Scotland captain Craig Wright had struck twice in quick succession early on.Scotland used eight bowlers in a match where they used 13 players and the hosts 12, and while things did not go to plan they will see it as valuable acclimatisation to the conditions ahead of the first one-day international against Bangladesh tomorrow. However, the comments made by Chowdhury after the game are bound to be of some concern: “They [Scotland] lacked real strike bowlers and as a result failed to pose any threat for us”.

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African middle-order batsman who developed into one of the greatest fielders of all time, feels that Sachin Tendulkar deserves a place in the Indian team purely on the strength of his batting ability, even if he is unable to give his best as a fielder. Rhodes had suggested that Tendulkar field in the inner circle, which would help protect his shoulder from the risk of injury.”Even if he can’t field from the deep, you have to have him at mid-off or mid-on and protect him. Because I don’t think it is going to take a whole year till the World Cup for him to be 100% fit”, Rhodes told PTI. “It is a confidence thing for him. If he is happy that his shoulder is fine, and if you have a guy like Sachin Tendulkar who is back in form, then you have to have him in the team.”Tendulkar returned to the Indian side for the tri-series in Sri Lanka after a four-month layoff, during which he underwent surgery in his right shoulder. He gained valuable match practice in England for a brief period, representing club-side Lashings, and was included in the Indian squad after being given the green signal by John Gloster, the team physiotherapist.Rhodes, who observed Tendulkar at the nets in Colombo, remarked that he was impressed with his disclipline. Javagal Srinath, the former Indian fast bowler, also recently concurred with Rhodes’s view that Tendulkar is good enough to walk into the team. “I have seen how he works as a batsman at the nets, he is very disciplined. And I expect him to do the same sort of rehab on his shoulders,” Rhodes said. “I would be inclined to have him in the team, just based on his past performance.”Rhodes, also the fielding coach of the South African team, had cited the throwing techniques of players nowadays as the main reason for the recurrence of shoulder injuries. “The problem with current players is that a lot of them are quiet for 5-6 overs and then suddenly they throw”, he said. “What happens is your shoulders are not warm, resulting in injuries. Today’s throwing technique is also not correct, which is what I am trying to work with the South African team.”Rhodes also acknowledged the rise in fielding standards in all countries and denied that South Africa had slipped in that department. “I don’t think we have lost it. It is just that every team has realised the importance of fielding. I would rather say that we have back-toed a bit while other teams have also caught up with us. It is also that we set really high standards for ourselves to maintain.”

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, said his team felt “added pressure” to beat Ireland on Tuesday as they tried to set themselves up to progress past the Super Eights stage. Arthur also said South Africa wanted to avoid a rematch with Australia in the semi-finals.South Africa face Ireland and Bangladesh this week and need a more convincing performance than in their warm-up game when Ireland nearly pinched a shock victory. South Africa were in trouble at 91 for 8 before Andrew Hall led a recovery that inched them to 192. Ireland were on track to overhaul the total until they lost 18 for 6 in a late collapse.Arthur said beating Ireland and Bangladesh, which would give South Africa six points from three matches, was crucial. “They are huge games because when you sit down and make plans for the rest of the tournament, they are both ‘banker’ games and, with games like that, there comes an added pressure,” Arthur told .”If things go well, we would also hope to work a little bit on our net run-rate because, in the event of two teams finishing with the same number of points after the Super Eights, they will be divided by their overall run rate. But first prize is to leave Guyana with six points – if we can do that I’ll be a very happy man.”South Africa almost choked in their opening Super Eights match against Sri Lanka after Lasith Malinga’s four wickets from four balls. Arthur said the tense win had “taken quite a few years off my life”.”At five wickets down with four runs needed to win, I started packing away the kit bags, but then it suddenly became very hectic,” he said. “It was always going to take something extremely special to derail us from there and Malinga certainly nearly delivered it.”Arthur said South Africa’s best chance to make the World Cup final would be to avoid the defending champions. “Based on current form I wouldn’t mind staying away from Australia in the semi-finals,” he said. “Right now I firmly believe the last four teams will be Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa based on what I have seen but we still have an awful lot of work to do to be sure of our place.”

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.

The complexion of this edition of the Champions Trophy changeddramatically when West Indies pulled off a sensational 10-run win overAustralia at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. That game was played on athird pitch but no-one gave it a chance. Fair enough; how different canone 22-yard patch be from another on the same square? But when Sri Lankatake on New Zealand, there will still be a bit of wariness as no one isclear how the pitch will play when the first ball is bowled.When West Indies began their game against Australia they were playing thepitch more than they were the bowlers. Brian Lara’s master stroke – and itseemed like a terrible mistake at the time – of coming in at No. 6 ensuredthat West Indies could still go on to post a competitive total despitetheir early losses. But it may not be a blueprint for games of the future.Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s expert on pitches, arrived in Mumbai and did what he could to help the pitches at the Brabourne Stadium along. Word is that they’re using industrial adhesives – the stuff builders use – to help bind the pitch, giving it a chance tolast the full hundred overs with minimum wear and tear.But the two teams really didn’t have the pitch on mind when they preparedthemselves for the latest mini battle of the tournament. Sri Lanka havebeen the team in form coming into this event, and their early performancesindicated that they were hot favourites. But a loss against Pakistan, whohave been in utter disarray after losing most of their bowling, hasensured that nothing can be taken for granted in this tournament.For Stephen Fleming and his crew the opposite has been true. They beganthe tournament as unfancied contenders. New Zealand have never been athome on dry, crumbling pitches, and there was no reason to believe theywould be any different this time around. Fleming spoke of how his team wasnot rated outside New Zealand – and unfairly so – and backed that up witha solid performance in the first game, against South Africa. He battedwith such care and streetwiseness on a tough pitch that he virtually wonthe game for his side.

The only real concern for New Zealand was with injuries, and Shane Bondwas top on the list. With Scott Styris still not at his best, with ahamstring twinge bothering him, New Zealand have to make the most of theresources they have at hand. Understandably they’re taking a long-termview with Bond and believe they can still push the best in the world withthe squad they have. The contest promises to be a tough one, and if someof Sri Lanka’s flair comes to the fore, things could get reallyinteresting.New Zealand, who have won the tournament before, come to the party withthat confidence. “In 2000 we hoped we could win it,” said Fleming at apre-match press conference. “Now we have come here with a genuineexpectation as a contender. That’s the major difference. In the lastcouple of years we’ve been blooding new players and developing experience. Now we play in tournaments to win, that’s a big change from what it wasin 2000 in the ICC Knock Out.”Mahela Jayawardene, meanwhile, was quite relaxed about the position histeam was in. “For Sri Lanka basically it’s two semi-finals. We have beenpushed to the wall and we have to win,” he said. “It’s a very healthysituation though to be in. If destiny is in our hand we should be able tosteer it, rather than hoping for somebody else to do it for us. It’simportant not to think too far ahead, but think about tomorrow’s game.”Two teams that are more than competent at one-day cricket promise to putup a show worthy of the occasion.

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.

ScorecardSteven Welsh completed outstanding match figures of 12 for 93 as Canada powered to an-innings-and-228-run victory against UAE in Toronto. The visitors showed precious little resistance on the final day as they fell from 59 for 1 to 110 all out.The second-wicket stand of 59 between Arshad Ali and Shadeep Silva was UAE’s best of the match. Arshad fell in unfortunate style when he gloved Henry Osinde down the leg side and was well taken by Asif Mulla. From then on it was one-way traffic.Welsh was again the dominant force following his seven wickets in the first innings with another impressive performance. He removed top-scorer Shadeep Silva for 43 as UAE’s last eight wickets went down for 25 runs. Durand Soraine, a medium-pacer, chipped in with three cheap wickets and he collected the final scalp when Naeemuddin Aslam was caught at long on.Canada’s interim coach Pubudu Dassanayake, said: “The guys were so determined to win here – they were not going to settle for anything less than an outright victory. Against the Netherlands we lost just when we thought we had it in the bag, which was really disappointing. But the way they bounced back from that was very encouraging for me.”Welsh bowled beautifully on what was a good track for batting,” he said. “At times I would say he was unplayable as he has a great action and can swing it both ways. He and Henry [Osinde] did very well for us.”Canada take maximum points from the match and sit top of the table, a fine way to end their short home international season, while UAE leave after a chastening experience.

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

Uttar Pradesh will meet Delhi in the Vijay Merchant Trophy (under 16)Tournament final. The three day match commences in Calcutta on January13. Uttar Pradesh confirmed their place in the title clash thanks to the206-run first innings lead over Punjab in the semifinal match at the EdenGardens on Thursday.Resuming at 248/4, UP lost three quick wickets in the morning to findthemselves at 267/3. Alok Singh made 20 as Mohd Amir and Vishal Francisfailed to open their account. Praveen Gupta made 12 and was caught andbowled by Vipul Sharma at 288. UP lost their overnight batsman Aris Alam,who was shaping well with 78, when he was stumped by Bupinder Singh offAnkur Jand at 300. Alam struck nine boundaries off 238 balls in his fiveand a half hour stay at the crease. Devendra Singh and last man AvinashYadav put on 66 runs for the tenth wicket. Yadav was the last man to bedismissed after making a patient 43 off 131 balls which included six fours.The UP innings lasted 144.4 overs to be bowled out for 366. Vipul Sharmawas the best of the bowlers with figures of 47-15-81-3In their second innings which would have made no difference to the resultof the match, Punjab were 69/4 in the 29th over when play was called off atthe fall of the fourth wicket. Viswas Bhalla was unbeaten on 29. DevendraSingh picked up 2/28 in nine overs.