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Gold League
Karachi Urban tamed the Rawalpindi attack and scored 284 for 2 on the opening day of their fifth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League match at the National Stadium on Thursday.By stumps, Saeed Bin Nasir was unbeaten on 100 after Karachi’s captain Hasan Raza chose to bat. It was Saeed’s eight first-class hundred in 70 matches and he batted for three hours 40 minutes, faced 170 balls and hit 14 fours and a six. Asif Zakir was unbeaten on 76 off 181 balls with nine hits fours.The unbroken third-wicket partnership between the pair yielded 184 runs, in 220 minutes off 350 deliveries. Earlier, Agha Sabir and Khurram Manzoor had given Karachi Urban a splendid 96-run opening partnership.Rawalpindi captain Mohammad Wasim employed as many as eight bowlers including himself but fast bowlers Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir were the only two who were successful.After four matches Rawalpindi, who have never won a national cricket title before, had collected 21 points to go top of the Gold League table. Karachi Urban with 15 points are placed third in the seven-team ranking.Defending champions Sialkot did their chances of qualifying for the Gold League final no good, when they scraped together 212 for 6 against Lahore Shalimar at the Jinnah Stadium on Thursday.At one stage, after having been put in first, Sialkot were in dire straits having lost six wickets for 152 runs. It was an unbroken 60-run stand for the seventh wicket that helped them cross the 200 mark. Ayub Dogar and Tahir Mughal were at the crease at stumps. Earlier, opener Atiq-ur-Rehman had dominated the scoring with 70 off 139 balls with the help of 11 fours as Sialkot reached 127 for 2.Fast bowler Junaid Zia, with figures of 3 for 33, bowled with spirit after Mohammad Khalil had made the first strike by removing Haafiz Majid Jahangir. Veteran left-arm spinner Mohammad Hussain later snared two victims.Sialkot were led by former Pakistan batsman Ijaz Ahmed, who made a comeback to first-class cricket after an absence of six years, because Imran Nazir was called up to the ODI squad in South Africa. Sialkot had collected only 12 points from their previous three matches and are currently fifth in the seven-team table. Faisalabad exploited Peshawar’s dwindling form to their advantage, and dismissed them for 215 on the opening day at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday. Faisalabad’s openers added 39 runs by stumps.Peshawar were rattled by fast bowlers Faisal Afridi and Asad Ali as they lost three wickets for 17 runs. Debutant Fawad Khan and Shoaib Khan then added 100 for the fourth wicket. Fawad scored 69 while Shoaib contributed 59. Later, captain Arshad Khan helped raise a score from 137 for 6 to 187.While Faisal, Asad and offspinner Saeed Ajmal took two wickets each, medium-pacer Tauqeer Hussain restricted Peshawar’s batsmen with figures of 4 for 47 from 12.4 overs.Faisalabad are currently at the bottom of the Gold League table with two defeats in three matches and no points to their credit. They desperately need to lift themselves in order to avoid relegation to next season’s Silver League circuit.Peshawar were displaced by Rawalpindi at the top of the points table in the previous round. They are still at second place with 18 points, but lost two successive matches after having started with wins in their first two appearances.Silver League
With nothing at stake for either team, 14 wickets fell on the opening day of the Silver League match between Quetta and Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium on Thursday. Quetta bowled out Hyderabad for 193 after they had opted to bat first. By the close of play, Quetta had slipped to 91 for 4.But for wicketkeeper Hanif Malik’s 90 off 148 balls with 11 fours and a six, Hyderabad might have fallen for less than 100. Hanif, who made his highest score in first-class cricket, arrived with his team at 65 for 5 and lifted them to 193.While Quetta captain Faisal Irfan was hard working as usual with figures of 3 for 36, Zahoor Ahmed, a left-arm medium-pace bowler, captured 4 for 39.Opener Shoaib Khan was still at the crease on 47 in Quetta’s first innings. Hyderabad’s most successful bowler this season, Farhan Ayub picked up three of the wickets to fall.The Abbottabad pace attack bowled out Lahore Ravi for 162 at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground on Thursday.Abbottabad won the toss and invited Lahore to bat first on a placid wicket and exploited it to put pressure on Lahore. At stumps, Abbottabad were in a sound position, having reached 89 for 1 in 35.2 overs. After the departure of Ahmad Said, who made 44 with eight fours off 88 balls, Mohammad Naeem was unbeaten on 30 and Wajid Ali on 5.Abbotabbad’s pace trio of captain Sajid Shah, Nasir Jalil and Junaid Khan captured three wickets each and ripped through Lahore’s innings in 55.3 overs. Lahore Ravi could not find any notable support from their key batsmen but number nine batsman Wasim Khan shone with a fighting half-century.Wasim gave some respectability to the total with a solid knock that included one six and eight fours after Ali Azmat made 24 and Adnan Raza contributed 23. Six of Lahore’s batsmen failed to reach double figures.Abbottabad, with 12 points from their previous four matches, still have an outside chance to nose ahead of Multan into the Silver League, in case they gain an outright win against Lahore Ravi.Azhar Mahmood century boosted Islamabad to 314 against Multan on the opening day at the Diamond Club Ground on Thursday.Azhar Mahmood’s 105 off 183 balls with 14 fours, was the seventh hundred of his 142-match first-class career, but the remainder of his team didn’t do too well. Bilal Asad and debutant Asadullah Sumari chipped in with 49.Azhar’s fifth-wicket partnership with Asadullah produced 112 runs. Opener Atif Ashraf was injured early on and had to retire hurt. He resumed later in the innings and remained unbeaten with 20 runs. For Multan, pace bowler Abdul Rauf took 3 for 63 from 18 overs.By the draw of stumps, Multan had lost one wicket in for 26 in eight overs. Opener Usman Tariq has retired hurt without having opening his account.With the full 36 points from their previous four matches, Islamabad have already qualified for the Silver League final, scheduled to be played from February 7. Multan, second in the table with 21 points, appear the team most likely to be in that match alongside Islamabad. The winners of the Silver League competition will be promoted to the Gold League circuit of the next season.

North ZoneAakash Chopra’s 89-ball 101 propelled Delhi to an emphatic nine-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Ian Dev Singh’s gritty 90 lent some respectability to the J&K total, once they chose to bat, but a total of 168 was never going to be too challenging for a strong batting line-up and Delhi cruised to victory with 22.1 overs to spare, gaining the bonus point in the process.Karan Goel’s century set up Punjab’s win over Haryana at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. Punjab made the most of a flat batting pitch, rattling up 297 in their 50 overs, before new-ball bowler Gagandeep Singh triggered a collapse with three wickets. Sumit Sharma’s 54 allowed Haryana to limp to 174 but it couldn’t prevent them from conceding the bonus point.Half-centuries from Manvinder Bisla and Paras Dogra steered Himachal Pradesh to a five-wicket win over Services at the Palam A Stadium in Delhi. Services had been propped up by fifties from Yashpal Singh and P Rao, the debutant, but 243 proved inadequate in the final analysis.East ZoneIn just his second one-day game, Sajan Mohanty grabbed four important wickets to lead Orissa to a thrilling four-run win over Assam at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. Debutant Payas Ranjan Sinha had propped up Orissa with a patient fifty and their bowlers did a fine job to defend 243. Half-centuries from S Suresh and Sarupam Purkayastha, a debutant, went in vain as Orissa held their nerve in the climactic stages.Sharing six wickets between them, Vineet Jain and Jayanta Debnath bowled out Jharkhand for 179 before the Tripura batsmen knocked off the target with 3.3 overs to spare at the Railway Stadium in Guwahati. Jharkhand’s decision to bat backfired, with Tripura’s bowlers not allowing partnerships to flourish. A target of 180 was always going to be a tricky one and it required good allround contributions from all batsmen to seal the victory.Central ZoneMurtaza Ali picked up three wickets as Railways collapsed to a 65-run defeat against Madhya Pradesh at the Kamla Club Sports Ground in Kanpur. MP reached a competitive 217 in their 50 overs as opener Naman Ojha carved out a patient 75 and added 61 with Shadab Khan (42). But after Ojha fell in the 46th over, the lower order couldn’t push towards a big score and the last five wickets fell for just 20 runs. It didn’t matter in the end though with Railways bowled out in 44 overs. Deepak Yadav scored an unbeaten 57, but with virtually no support from the rest of the side – four batsmen being dismissed for ducks – he couldn’t take them the distance.Rohit G Sharma hit an unbeaten 147 and led Rajasthan’s successful chase of 260 against Uttar Pradesh at Green Park in Kanpur. He added 171 with Manish Sharma (73) and took Rajasthan to an eight-wicket win with 33 balls to spare. Anshul Kapoor (69) and Parvinder Singh (69) had revived UP’s innings with a 104-run partnership for the sixth wicket. But it wasn’t going to be enough. Rohit and Manish hammered UP’s bowlers, especially medium-pacer Bhuvnesh Kumar, who went for 53 runs in five overs.South ZoneS Vidyut’s cracking 120 set up Tamil Nadu’s convincing five-wicket win over Goa at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. C Ganapathy, the new-ball bowler, nabbed three wickets to restrict Goa to 198 before Vidyut outshone the rest during the run-chase, allowing Tamil Nadu to collect a bonus point as well.

The Twenty20 revolution apparently knows no boundaries. Now cricket’s hottest craze is poised to make inroads into one of the sport’s most elusive frontiers, the United States.Mohammad Azharuddin, Javed Miandad and Richie Richardson are the former Test captains who have agreed to take part in a privately-run, All-Star weekend in southern Florida in late May. The MAQ T20 International Cricket Tournament will combine three days of matches with ethnic musical concerts during the Memorial Day long weekend, May 23rd to 25th. It aims to attract 30,000 fans over three days to Central Broward Regional Park, a new cricket stadium, near Fort Lauderdale.The event will be funded by Cricket Council USA (CCUSA), a non-sanctioned organisation with no affiliation to the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which was reinstated as an Associate Member of the ICC on April 1st after a one-year suspension.CCUSA, with a couple of former USACA officials among a full-time staff of 12, is backed by Florida-based, Pakistani-born businessman, Mahammad “MAQ” Qureshi. With an office in Boca Raton, it says its aim is trying to spread the gospel of Twenty20 across America.Tickets will range between just US$10 and $20, with free general admission for children on two of the three days. “Our ultimate goal is to get the local youngsters at high school level to try cricket as an alternative to baseball, basketball or American football,” said Nino DiLoreto, Director of Media for CCUSA. “We’re looking beyond the expatriate element to take Twenty20 to mainstream Americans.”With four teams competing for $75,000 in prize money, the Memorial Day tournament has attracted an impressive list of names from cricket’s past and present.The West Indies All-Star Team is managed by Lawrence Rowe – who, like one of his former international team-mates, Lance Gibbs – now lives in southern Florida. Richardson will have ex-Windies internationals Ricardo Powell, Stuart Williams, Franklyn Rose and Courtney Browne amongst his team-mates. Joining Miandad, 51, in the Pakistani All-Star side will be 20-somethings Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir and Imran Farhat.The timing of the IPL rules out a significant Indian contingent, so Mohammad Azharuddin will captain an International All-Star team that includes former Australian spinner Nathan Hauritz, Ireland’s 2007 World Cup captain Trent Johnston and Brighton Watambwa, who played six Test matches for Zimbabwe in 2001-2002.Canada will provide players for the fourth side and intends using the tournament as a warm-up for an upcoming qualifying round in Ireland for the 2011 Twenty20 World Cup.”A Cricket Night to Remember” is the name of the concerts that will follow the first two days, featuring Caribbean and south Asian artists. The event is the first of four Twenty20 tournaments planned by CCUSA for 2008. On August 16th, the Azadi Cup will mark Indo-Pak Independence Day and will aim to attract some high profile subcontinental players to Central Broward Regional Park, recently completed and funded by public money at a cost of $71 million.”It’s the first purpose-built cricket stadium in the United States or Canada,” declared Nino DiLoreto of CCUSA.The diverse Broward County, a 30 minute drive north of Miami, is a unique, diverse pocket of the United States where cricket actually registers on the radar. Almost 4% of an estimated population of almost 2 million was born in Jamaica while there are also sizeable south Asian and British communities, many of whom subscribe to pay-per-view television to regularly watch international cricket. Broward County is the home to about 50 of the United States’ 750 registered cricket clubs, who play in two leagues. It’s estimated that the US has around 50,000 active players, making it the ninth largest cricket-playing country.CCUSA is still recruiting for the tournament and hasn’t given up hope of bringing another recent former Test captain to the impressive Central Broward Regional Park. “If he agrees to come, he’d be by far the tournament’s biggest name,” said Syed ‘Bobby’ Refaie, its president.Refaie, a former USACA secretary, added that CCUSA wasn’t trying to compete with the sport’s official body. “But we’re not waiting for USACA to bring the beautiful game of Twenty20 cricket to the American audience,” he said. “We’re hoping that we perhaps can join hands with USACA and work together in the future.”

Younis Khan, Pakistan’s vice-captain, has lashed out at the country’s former cricketers for criticising Shoaib Malik’s captaincy. Malik’s tenure has been on a slide after a promising start and drawn a string of criticism but Younis believes it is too early to take such a stand.”I am really upset at the criticism of some of our former players. Malik is a young captain and he will only learn from his mistakes,” Younis, the stand-in skipper in the Kolkata Test following Malik’s injury, told . “This has always been a tradition in Pakistan and India … Former players always tend to run down someone who is in trouble or facing a crisis.”The same people criticising Malik today didn’t say anything when he was named captain. At that time they supported his appointment. Malik needs to be encouraged and backed by everyone, including former players.”Malik’s tenure began with an ODI series win against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and a place in the ICC World Twenty20 final but it went on a downward spiral thereafter, losing the ODI and Test series at home to South Africa before losing the ODI series and the first Test against India.Shrugging aside the recent losses, Younis said: “Malik is learning every day. His first experience has come against top teams like South Africa and India. He needs at least two or three years to mature into a good captain. I am sure he will learn a lot from playing and leading the side in India. He will learn because no one is born a leader.”Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s former captain who retired after the Test series against South Africa, urged Malik to improve his individual performance in order to be a successful captain.”Unless Malik performs it will be very difficult for Pakistan to make a comeback in the Test series,” Inzamam told the daily . “Unless he [Malik] can withstand this pressure and come out of it, his problems will increase.”Pakistan’s third and final Test of the series begins in Bangalore on December 8.

After having embarrassed the West Zone batsmen, who were coming off a prolific run in the Ranji one-dayers, in the Deodhar Trophy opener, the Central Zone attack will come up against their toughest test of the tournament tomorrow at the Chinnaswamy Stadium when they take on an even stronger North Zone batting line-up.If a domestic team can leave out Mithun Manhas, it has to be spoilt for choices, and when you have Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Aakash Chopra, and Virat Kohli as your top five you really are spoilt. If Sehwag, Gambhir and Kohli make it on the back of being India and India Under-19 players, Dhawan and Chopra have slayed domestic attacks in the Ranji one-dayers. Chopra has scored three unbeaten centuries in scoring 332 runs in four innings, and Dhawan two centuries in scoring 342 from five innings. Even more impressive was the fact that both scored at more than a run a ball. To add to that, North have the best allrounder of the season in Rajat Bhatia, who would like to carry the form from the longer version into the one-dayers.This batting line-up, though, will be up against perhaps their toughest test of the domestic season. Praveen Kumar and RP Singh sound more like an India opening combination, and the pressure they create makes the job easier for the bowlers to follow. It showed in the way Sandeep Singh bowled in the previous game, bowling seven tight overs for 21 runs and getting Rohit Sharma’s wicket. And if things do go wrong, they have two quality spinners to fall back upon: Piyush Chawla and Murali Kartik.That is where the positives ends for Central Zone. They look far too much like an Uttar Pradesh team, and the batting line-up suggests an over-reliance on Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina for their runs. They lost four wickets chasing 99 against West; Raina scored 18 and Kaif 8. While chasing a bigger target or while setting one, the two might not be allowed the luxury of failure. To add to their troubles, Tanmay Srivastava has been ruled out of the tournament with a hand injury he picked up at the U-19 World Cup.Their coach Abhay Sharma, though, wasn’t very worried by the unconvincing batting display in the first match, choosing to look at it as complacency that accompanies a low target. The consolation for them is that they are not up against the best attack North Zone could have had: Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, and VRV Singh won’t be playing as they are yet to prove their fitness. Ishant and VRV took the fitness tests today at the National Cricket Academy, but the results are not yet known.VRV was North’s striking force in their Duleep Trophy success earlier this year, with back-to-back ten-wicket match hauls. In his absence, Pradeep Sangwan will be an essential reinforcement. He will be supported by the steady medium-pace of Vikramjeet Malik and the legspin of Amit Mishra. If the wicket is like it was in the previous match here, when the seamers got plenty of assistance, North will want to go with a third fast bowler in Punjab’s Manpreet Gony.A seaming pitch could make this game an enticing contest between the Central bowlers and the North batsmen. Those who thought domestic cricket was boring could be in for a shock.Teams (from)
Central Zone: Mohammad Kaif (capt.), Praveen Kumar, Suresh Raina, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Murali Kartik, Praveen Gupta, Naman Ojha, Sandeep Singh, Faiz Fazal, Rajesh Kanojia, Himalaya Sagar, Rohit Sharma, Deepak YadavNorth Zone: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Uday Kaul, Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Vikramjit Malik, Yashpal Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Paras Dogra, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Manpreet Gony, Vishal Bhatia

Pentasoft ousted Canara Bank by two wickets to enter the semifinals of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Cup in Hyderabad on Friday. With ONGC having withdrawn from the tournament, this Group D encounter was a cut throat game at the ECIL ground, both protagonists having beaten Hyderabad Districts, the only other team in the group. Brothers S Ramesh and S Mahesh were the leading participants in the Pentasoft run-chase as the Chennai based software company reached their target of 200 with seven balls to spare.In the morning session, the bankmen after being put in to bat, made 199/9. This was a palpable recovery for they had been lost four wickets for 30 at one stage, including the important scalp of Vijay Bharadwaj for 11. But the lower order applied themselves to the task of batting out the full 50 overs. Sunil Joshi (29) and Somasekhar Shiraguppi (31) commenced the rearguard action. And it was completed with gusto by Srinivas Murthy who remained undefeated on 46 (53 balls, 4 fours) and skipper Venkatesh Prasad who revealed some hitherto unrevealed flair with the bat with a run-a-ball 24. S Mahesh and S Satish both had identical figures of 2/30.In reply, Openers M Arvind and S Ramesh added 62 for the first wicket and skipper Ramesh in the company of SS Das compiled another 58 for the second. At 134/2 Pentasoft were sitting pretty but the loss of three wickets (Ramesh, Kanitkar and Jaffer Ashiq) in the space of four overs left them slightly perturbed at 139/5. Ramesh’s 59 was a quickfire effort, coming off 71 balls and inclusive of eight boundaries. Although C Raghu (4/30) kept Pentasoft on their toes, Mahesh (43 not out, 60 balls, 4 fours) retained his composure to see Pentasoft home from the last ball of the penultimate over and round off a good match for him.

I’ll have a maximum for breakfast: Herschelle Gibbs did it at 33 whereas James Wilby did it at less than half that age; pillorying a hapless youngster for six sixes in an over. The schoolboy Wilby, 16 and playing for Diss U-17s in the Carter Cup, utilised short leg-side boundaries and some half-trackers to make his way into the record books before apologising to the unfortunate U-13 star he had professionally ridiculed. “I’ve never hit two consecutive sixes, never mind six. I felt a little bit of pressure because there were people I know standing at the boundary saying to go for it. When it happened I was over the moon.” Lucky for the bowler, it wasn’t a World Cup match being shown live on TV.And a maximum for lunch please: Staying with perfection, Paul Grennan became only the fourth bowler in the history of the Sussex Invitation League to take every wicket in an innings. With a return of 10 for 64 at Scaynes Hill, the 25-year-old swept the club-record of 9 for 12 set seven years ago. Tired from his remarkable achievement in the hot conditions, Grennan was first carried off the field by his team-mates and then had to swap ball for the bat in order to save the game for Southwick by blocking out the last 12 overs.Bollywood invasion: Imagine Saif Ali Khan with Jay Sean, Mohammad Azharuddin and Devon Malcolm on a Bollywood set. Disaster, right? It probably will be. But when the combo appears on a cricket pitch accompanied by other actors, cricketers and even MPs, and that too in Leeds, it could provide humour, fun and vital cash for a charity. There were national flags, screaming fans, Mexican waves being formed to Asian tunes and a certain individual called Dickie Bird over-looking the ‘set’ as Bolly XI defeated a star-studded Yorkshire XI in the recreational Twenty20. Oh and birthday girl Shilpa Shetty availed another opportunity to be in the news.A young warrior: Speaking of Indian presence on foreign soil, a 20-year-old from Chandigarh made his debut for Leicestershire second XI after coming through the ranks, albeit on a talent show in India. Sukhvir Singh saw off 25,000 competitors for that winning prize in Cricket Star, a TV program created by Simon Hughes to give players from underprivileged backgrounds a chance to show their skills. Capturing three wickets on debut, Singh was deeply grateful to the people who voted for him in India.

An unexpected prize: Another successful international tour came to an end as Ugandan players held their heads up high after beating Argentina in the World Cricket League division three final. However, the heads were sunk in shame as two of their players “decided to miss the flight back home” from Australia. Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello were nowhere to be seen as the team boarded the plane and are still missing. “They have valid visas until August 24 so they are still legally here,” said an immigration spokesman. Tired from their run of success and wanting and extended break, perhaps? It seems the Ugandan authorities don’t sound too bothered as there is speculation that the pair may have opted for the lucrative shore rather than heading home.I’m out of cash, mate: Spending US$ 317 million for a losing cause and coming home with no pride intact – that’s the story of the dauntless Barmy Army after the Ashes whitewash. According to a study commissioned by Cricket Australia, the series attracted 37,000 international tourists while creating 793 jobs and contributing a staggering US$ 54 million to the country’s gross domestic product. It confirms that it wasn’t only the cricketers who came back with heavy losses. The Barmy Army, however, did get some back by taunting their Australian counterparts about the relative strength of the pound to the Australian dollar and thus over-taking their professional men-in-whites by a distance in the list of achievements on the tour. “Cricket is simply marvellous for jobs and tourism.” Aptly worded by Fran Baily, Tourism Minister.A pleasant ray of light: Afghanistan finally had something to cheer about since the eviction of Russian forces and the removal of Taliban as Hamid Hassan stepped onto Lords’ outfield to represent MCC XI. The first Afghan to do so, Hassan starred alongside Chris Cairns with Mike Gatting branding him a “huge potential”, it was a fairy-tale for the 20-year-old. “To walk out at such a prestigious ground alongside such fantastic cricketers is an honour.” With Pakistan taking a penchant for early World Cup exits, maybe it’s time Afghanistan carries the Asian pride next time round, especially with the tournament being held next door.

Worcestershire have offered to sign up Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, as their overseas professional for the first part of the 2008 season.”We have talked to Umar’s representative in the United Kingdom and have made an offer. We will continue to talk to see what is possible,” Mark Newton, the club’s chief executive told the , a London-based newspaper. “We would like Umar to be our overseas player for the early part of next season and his likely availability would be from early May to early August.”We are just hoping it [the signing] will all come to fruition and it will be an exciting time if Umar, Simon Jones, Kabir Ali and Matt Mason are all fit and available for next season. Umar is one of the most exciting prospects around and in addition to Test cricket, he has also proved to be economical in Twenty20 cricket.”Gul, 23, was the highest wicket-taker in the ICC World Twenty20 with 13 wickets at a miserly 5.60 runs per over. He has also taken 67 wickets at 31.55 from 16 Tests and 44 wickets at 28.27 from 34 ODIs.But Gul needs clearance from the Pakistan board before joining Worcestershire. If the board gives him permission, it will be his maiden appearance on the county circuit. Gloucestershire had signed him on for the 2007 season but the Pakistan board had refused to release him owing to concerns about his fitness.Worcestershire’s bowling department has been bolstered by the signing of Simon Jones, the England fast bowler, who will be on a two-year contract. Kabir Ali, who has played 14 ODIs and a Test, and Matt Mason would provide support. Mason is undergoing rehabilitation work after missing most of the previous season due to a shoulder injury.

Ishant Sharma is set to undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Sunday in order to determine his availability for the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, which starts on April 11. The team for the final match is expected to be selected at the end of the Ahmedabad Test.Ishant, who starred in the Tests and the ODIs on the Australia tour, was advised complete rest for three weeks by the then physio, John Gloster. He had a problem in the big toe of his landing foot as well as an inflammation in the right forefinger.He underwent some tests at the NCA before the start of the South Africa series but had not attained full fitness. He was with the team at both Chennai and Ahmedabad, and has been monitored by Paul Close, the physio. Anil Kumble hoped Ishant would be fully fit for the Ahmedabad Test but the team decided to give him a bit more time.Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner, is also expected to be tested in Bangalore on Sunday. Kartik was included in the squad for the first two Tests but an ankle sprain sustained on the day of the selection ruled him out for three weeks.Joginder Sharma, VRV Singh and Sudeep Tyagi are the others currently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA.

While the entire Indian team may look back at the first session of this Test – during which they were bowled out for 76 – and cough up excuses, one man isn’t surprised by their capitulation. Dale Steyn, whose 5 for 23 played a pivotal role in an astonishing 109 minutes of mayhem in Ahmedabad, felt they had no game plan whatsoever.”That’s the vibe they’ve given off to us. Once one or two wickets fall and things kind of go wrong, they are pretty weak and the batsmen to follow didn’t look they knew what they wanted to do,” he said. “They didn’t have a strategy. They were bowled out for 76 and I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have a game-plan.”It’s tough for any team to settle when Steyn is in a certain groove, hostile and mixing up deliveries, but this was something else. It took him just 48 deliveries to help send the home side packing and he credited the surface for some assistance.”There was a little bit of movement which probably scared the Indians a bit once one or two wickets fell … it just looked like it sent a couple of shivers down the Indian line-up,” he said. “It looked like the guy that came in next didn’t really know how to approach it and how to play the game. We’re used to playing on wickets like this back in South Africa and knew what we had to do.”When you get a wicket like this, if you don’t bowl full you’re not going to find the edge of the bat so you’ve got to make a decision as to exactly where you’re going to bowl.”Bowling short is one thing, taking the batsmen’s feet away, but it’s that follow-up ball that always gets you a wicket. I think from reading in the papers they [India] weren’t going to come forward before the ball was bowled so maybe that helped us. Then we were able to bowl good-length balls. The ball hit the stumps a lot and there were a lot of inside-edges because nobody was really committed on the front foot.”Planned or not, it worked against a trigger-happy line-up, especially the follow-up balls. And it was Steyn’s first wicket that vindicated much of South Africa’s pre-game talk. Having just nearly dragged one onto his off stump via a cramped cut, Virender Sehwag attempted the same two deliveries later and succeeded – in dislodging the bails. “Sehwag tends to play skywards towards the slips or leave hit bat hanging out towards the slips so there’s always the possibility of an inside-edge,” he said. “His wicket was pretty decent as was that of [Rahul] Dravid. They are two good batsmen and that’s two wickets you definitely want to be getting before the game.”The ball to dismiss Dravid was excellent, breaching a master technician’s defence after he misread the movement. “That was probably the best ball of the day. Hopefully I can deliver a few more of those in the second innings.”Steyn, who now has three five-wicket hauls in the subcontinent, rated this the best and was quick to point out that had his second-last over not gone for 11 the figures would’ve been better. His tally, in his 22nd Test, reads 114 wickets with eight five-wicket hauls.India hit back with four wickets after South Africa’s openers took the lead but thanks to a fluent 106-run stand between Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, the visitors lead by 147. Steyn termed each run after wiping out the deficit as “gold” and was confident Kallis and de Villiers would come out on day two further South Africa’s advantage. “We saw the ball moving around so we thought if we get through the day without losing any more. We needed two nice partnerships,” he said. “On a pitch like this, especially against a team that just got bowled out for 76, you aim to get ahead of them and it hurts a lot.”Maybe we can play with a bit of freedom tomorrow and up that lead toquite a big total. Then the pressure’s all on them. They have to dosomething. You can’t go into the last Test match losing this game. I don’t think drawing the series at home it what India wants to do.”