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Honours were even on the first day of the second-round Patrons Trophy Cricket Championship Quadrangular Stage match between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Saturday.With Hasan Raza, the captain, having to retire hurt early in the innings, Habib Bank were lifted by useful partnerships along the way before their last wicket fell at 261. In nine balls, the National Bank openers had scored two runs at stumps.Abdur Rehman, the left-handed allrounder from Sialkot, hit 96 off 140 balls in just over three hours with 10 fours and a six. Rafatullah Mohmand, the opener, scored 41 while Farhan Adil scored 38. Humayun Farhat chipped in with a quick 34 off 46 deliveries that included six fours.The National Bank bowlers, on the other hand, also did themselves proud. Wasim Khan took 4 for 44 while Mansoor Amjad, the legspinner, picked up 3 for 63. Two wickets were taken by Imran Javed, the allrounder who is playing in his first match of the season.Asif Mujtaba and Faisal Iqbal, the captain, came to the rescue of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on the opening dayof their second-round match against Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), at the Khan Research Laboratories Stadium on Saturday.After being two wickets down with only nine on the board PIA, having been put in to bat, reached a comfortable score of 243 for 4 at stumps. Faisal was still at the crease with an unbeaten 80,made off 145 balls in just over three hours, with 10 boundaries.Kamran Sajid and Bazid Khan, the openers, were dismissed by PTCL’s in-form pace bowler Tahir Mughal. PIA were then lifted by the 82-run third-wicket partnership between Ghulam Ali and Asif Mujtaba, who contributed 44 and 65 respectively. Faisal and Mujtaba then added an invaluable 102 runs for the fourth wicket. After Mujtaba’s dismissal, Faisal found an able partner in Mahmood Hamid, as the unbroken fifth-wicket stand realised 50 runs.

Duncan Fletcher says he has no thoughts of applying for the role of South Africa coach, which will be advertised this week. Fletcher, who has coached England for more than five years, rejected the notion of applying for the role currently held by Ray Jennings.”I’m not applying for it,” Fletcher told a news conference in East London, where he is preparing England for the fifth ODI. “I’m with England and I’m happy to be with them.”Jennings took charge of South Africa on a temporary basis after Eric Simons stepped down in October 2004. Jennings will remain in the post until South Africa have finished touring West Indies in May, when a permanent coach will be appointed.It has been rumoured that Jennings may not apply for the post in the light of reports that the captain Graeme Smith favours the Australian Steve Waugh to take up the role. But Jennings insisted that an application could be on the cards if he won the backing of his players.”I will speak to the players and if they want me as a leader I will re-apply,” Jennings said. “It’s all about the players.” He rejected suggestions that he and Smith had issues. “He’s young and exciting, I challenge him and he challenges me,” he added. “He sent me a text message yesterday saying: ‘Coach, you’re a champion’.”

England 111 for 3 (Solanki 50) beat South Africa 107 (Anderson 3-50, Gough 2-9) by seven wickets

England added the NatWest Series trophy to their cabinet with a crushing seven-wicket win over a demoralised South Africa at Lord’s. England’s bowlers skittled a sorry South Africa for only 107 – their fourth-lowest score in one-day internationals and their lowest against England – as what promised to be a classic turned out to be a cake-walk.Michael Vaughan’s decision to field first proved to be a masterstroke as James Anderson and Darren Gough again led from the front for England, making the best of the early bowling conditions in a display fit for any final. The pitch held no demons, but South Africa never recovered from a disastrous start, showing no fight against controlled and disciplined bowling from England – in which even Ashley Giles took a wicket. It was an unworthy display from South Africa, as the pressure and the big-match nerves got the better of them.The tone of the day was set as early as the third over when Smith, who was dropped second ball of the match, edged a beauty of an awaycutter to Marcus Trescothick at first slip (10 for 1). It’s been a nightmare series for Herschelle Gibbs – 117 runs from seven innings, even allowing for a 93 not out – and he again looked as if he had two left feet as his touch and timing still eluded him. And Gough put him out of his misery in the eighth over when he nicked a full outswinger to Chris Read, the wicketkeeper, for 9 (30 for 2).Morne van Wyk, making his international debut, came in at No. 3 and was understandably a touch nervy. And after he gave Anderson a bit of stick, he was cleaned up with a fullish ball which cut back and beat his expansive drive (39 for 3).England had dug South Africa in to a deep hole, and not even South Africa’s man of the moment, Jacques Kallis, could get them out of it. Kallis is to fly back to South Africa tonight for family reasons and his mind looked to be elsewhere in his short and subdued stay at the crease. Gough continued his controlled line in a remarkable opening spell of 2 for 9 from seven overs, and he got one to leave Kallis, who edged it through for Read to take a good tumbling catch (43 for 4). It was a forgettable 12-ball duck for Kallis, and a forgettable start for South Africa.Jacques Rudolph and Mark Boucher did their best to rebuild the ruins and they put together a partnership of 32 – the highest of the innings – before Rudolph was snaffled by Andrew Flintoff (75 for 5). While England had fought hard for their early wickets with attacking, yet controlled, seam bowling, Boucher then gave his wicket away. He played a lazy drive to a wide Richard Johnson delivery to give Read his fourth victim of the innings and leave South Africa in even deeper trouble (75 for 6).And, believe it or not, it got even worse as the middle and lower-order self-destructed with mindless shots when they should have been looking to eek out runs on a good batting track. Martin van Jaarsveld and Shaun Pollock put on a valuable 27 including a few handsome fours from Pollock, and then something of a rarity happened when Giles took a wicket to dismiss van Jaarsveld. Attempting to turn the ball through the on side, van Jaarsveld was undone by a hint of turn and spooned a leading edge back to a delighted Giles, for whom it was only his first wicket of the series, and second one-day scalp of the summer (102 for 7).Andrew Hall, coming in at No. 9 today, has batted in virtually every position during this series, but he self-destructed with a shot that would have shamed a batsman of any ability. Just when Pollock needed some support, Hall tried to pull a full ball from Anderson and top-edged to Vaughan at mid-on (103 for 8). Nel then didn’t do any better with a horrible heave to a straight ball from Giles and was plumb lbw (107 for 9). And Pollock rounded off a dismal batting display when he edged a swishy drive off Flintoff to Read as South Africa crashed to the lowest ODI score at Lord’s and eradicated any hopes of a repeat of last year’s England-India epic.Vikram Solanki and Vaughan then made quick work of polishing off the runs to get their hands on the pot. Makhaya Ntini did make an early breakthrough when Trescothick flashed a flat-footed drive to Hall at first slip for a duck (1 for 1), meaning Solanki was temporarily forced to curb his natural attacking instincts, and it wasn’t until the eighth over that he hit the first of his eight fours.Vaughan also made a cautious start, but picked up the pace in the ninth over with two boundaries in a row off Pollock. The first was a lofted square drive, and the second that old swivel pull. And that signalled the charge for victory from the captain.Smith gave Ntini and Pollock five overs each, after which he turned to Nel and Kallis as the trophy slipped even further away from him. However, they failed to conjure any miracles and Kallis, as he has been all series, was expensive. Solanki, in particular, took a liking to him, smacking him all over Lord’s, including a nonchalant leg-side flick for six, followed by a spanking straight drive on the up to bring up his fifty from only 52 balls.Kallis, however, didn’t take a liking to Solanki, giving him a few words of advice as Kallis – who had a stinker of a final – went for an embarrassing 33 from three overs. Nel did pick up the consolation wicket of Vaughan, who miscued him to Ntini at mid-on for an accomplished 30 (88 for 2), and Solanki chopped one on to his stumps off Andrew Hall (89 for 3) for a dazzling 50, but by then England were home and dry.Click here for the Wisden Verdict

Unable to capitalise on being inserted by Baroda, Gujarat collapsed to212 all out on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Vadodara.Although the visitors started off well, none of the batsmen were ableto convert starts into big scores. Only skipper Mukund Parmar offeredany resistance, and he too fell, having made 46. Kirat Damani made aquickfire 43 lower down the order, but the runs failed to boostGujarat to a significant total.For Baroda, Tushar Arothe and Shekhar Joshi took three wickets apiece,hastening the end of the first innings. In their batting reply,current Ranji champions Baroda were 8 for no loss at stumps, with bothopeners unbeaten on four.

Group A

Kamran Akmal’s 105 steered Multan Region to 185 for 4, a total they defended by only three runs against Karachi Regional Whites.Kamran’s knock, off 57 deliveries with 12 fours and four sixes, ensured Multan were untroubled by the early loss of Imran Farhat. Kamran added swift partnerships of 64 and 67 for the second and third wickets with Sohaib Maqsood and Naved Yasin, before falling in the final over.A string of solid top-order performances, led by Sheharyar Ghani’s unbeaten 64, had ensured that Karachi Whites managed to keep a chase of 186 in control. They went into the last over needing eight to win, but Aamer Yamin conceded only four runs and took a wicket to ensure Karachi fell agonizingly short of the target.Sialkot Region beat Rawalpindi Region by 19 runs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium to remain in contention for the semi-finals. Sialkot climbed to second place in the standings, while Rawalpindi slipped to third. Both teams have one match to play.Sialkot posted 176 for 4 after choosing to bat. Their captain Shoaib Malik hit four boundaries and two sixes in his 48 off 28 deliveries, while Haris Sohail made 50 off 45. Shoaib’s brother Adeel Malik, who played for English county Essex this season, provided the finishing touches by making 28 off 19 balls. Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Asghar took one wicket each and were the only Rawalpindi bowlers to have any success; the other two wickets were via run-outs.Rawalpindi began their chase cautiously and did not have much momentum. Nasir Jamshed made 28 off 16 balls but was dismissed in the seventh over, and a regular fall of wickets deprived the innings of partnerships. Umar Amin made 39 off 34 balls and Yasim Murtaza (24 off 23), and even Sohail Tanvir’s late fireworks – 37 off 21 balls with three sixes – was not enough as Rawalpindi finished with 157 for 7. Bilal Asif and Hasan Ali bagged two wickets each for Sialkot.

Group B

Fakhar Zaman’s maiden Twenty20 hundred helped Abbottabad Region chase down 196 against Peshawar Region, securing a six-wicket win for the side at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.Abbottabad, opting to bowl, reduced Peshawar to 6 for 1, but Iftikhar Ahmed stroked four fours and six sixes during a 55-ball 90 to revive the innings. Iftikhar’s blitz, combined with handy knocks from Mohammad Rizwan (30 off 25 balls) and Adil Amin (33 off 18 balls) boosted the total to 195 for 4. Junaid Khan was Abbottabad’s best bowler, taking 2 for 23, while Yasir Shah conceded 38 runs without a wicket in four overs.Abbottabad, though, began the chase well with an opening stand of 46 between Zaman and Yasir Hameed. Zaman launched a total of 11 fours and three sixes, and remained unbeaten on 100 to take his side home with three deliveries to spare. Zaman was assisted by a 10-ball 18 from Younis Khan, and a 15-ball 30 from Sohail Akhtar. Fast bowlers Imran Khan and Taj Wali, and left-arm spinner Zohaib Khan all went at more than 10 an over.Karachi Region Blues knocked Lahore Region Whites out of the tournament with a seven-wicket win in a one-sided match in Islamabad. Karachi’s fourth straight win helped strengthen their chances of a semi-final spot, while Lahore Whites, filled with star players including Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali, are languishing in second-last place in Group B with one win in four matches.Asked to bat first, Lahore began solidly as openers Ahmed Shehzad and Azhar Ali shared a 52-run stand. The side, however, lost three quick wickets and were struggling at 63 for 3 before Umar Akmal’s blistering knock lifted them. Umar Akmal hit four sixes and two fours in a 36-ball 52 and with the help of Saad Nasim, who scored 35 off 24, helped the side post a challenging total of 179 for 7.Karachi wrapped up the 180-run chase with more than two overs to spare, riding on Khurram Manzoor’s 44-ball 81, against an attack that included Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz. Manzoor, who struck 16 fours in the innings, shared an opening stand of 94 with Shahzaib Hasan, and the strong start ensured a comfortable chase despite the loss of three quick wickets.Opener Afaq Raheem’s unbeaten 49-ball 70 guided Islamabad Region to an eight-wicket win over Faisalabad Region. Raheem had good support from Shan Masood (30 off 22 balls) and Babar Azam (38 off 37 balls) as he ensured the side chased down a target of 159 with two overs to spare. Raheem’s 98-run second-wicket partnership with Babar Azam helped the side control the chase well after an opening partnership of 51 runs.Earlier, Faisalabad’s innings suffered from a lack of momentum as wickets fell in clusters near the halfway stage and towards the end of the innings. Opener Raheel Ameer (41 off 30 balls) and Khurram Shahzad (47 off 38) provided some solidity after an early wicket before Faisalabad lurched from 68 for 1 to 88 for 4. Misbah-ul-Haq tried to give the side a strong finish but three wickets in the last over by Shehzad Azam restricted them to 158 for 8. Munir-ur-Rahman and Shehzad Azam picked up two wickets apiece.

Walking towards the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati is like gradually entering a sea of . You notice pockets of security officers patrolling street corners, large chunks manning the gates, and an entire ocean flooding the premises of the Assam Cricket Association.More than 1500 security men – picked from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Para-military forces and State Battalions – swarmed the outer part of the ground, receiving instructions on their duties for the next two days. In April last year, Guwahati was witness to an ugly riot, when the India-England game was abandoned due to a wet outfield. The incident – when a section of the crowd broke down stands, burnt paper and pelted missiles – jeopardised Guwahati’s standing as an international venue.An India-Pakistan match is usually accompanied by heavy security but the local administration, with backing from both the central and state governments, is trying to cover all bases. “In view of past incidents, as well as the fact that this is an India-Pakistan match, we have taken additional steps,” said GP Singh, deputy inspector general of the western range police.”We have been informed that a number of Pakistan fans and media will be accompanying the team and we are ensuring appropriate security measures across the city.” Around 250 fans and close to 50 mediapersons are expected to make the trip from Pakistan. “There is no separate enclosure for the Pakistan fans. They have been allotted tickets in various parts of the ground. We are keen to have an incident-free match.”Amid this throng of security men is a giant poster announcing the match, with Sunny Deol, the Bollywood star, welcoming both teams with folded arms. There are also big hoardings announcing the National sub-junior Kabaddi Championships in January 2008 and the upcoming Bordoloi Trophy football tournament (involving club teams from India and abroad).The Nehru Stadium, a multi-sport arena, has staged 11 ODIs and the pitch has generally tended to favour bowlers who can move it around. Only twice have teams crossed 250 and locals mention a score of around 230 being a realistic target. Matches in Guwahati start earlier than other centres in India, what with the sun setting as early as 5 pm, and the initial dew is conducive for the faster bowlers upfront. However, Sunil Barua, the local curator, felt it was a “300 pitch”, with the batsmen free to drive through the line. “There will be a lot of dew early but the pitch is a very good one.”Both teams are scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon and there will be no practice session, with the series trophy set to be unveiled.

Jimmy Ormond, the Surrey fast bowler, has extended his contract with the club for a further year. Ormond, who joined Surrey in 2002 having made his debut for Leicestershire in 1995, was plagued by injuries last season and managed just three Championship matches.”I am pleased to have secured Jimmy’s services for a further season with the club as his ability with the ball is unquestioned,” Alan Butcher, Surrey’s cricket manager, said. “Jimmy is excited about the prospect of being a part of our 1st division campaign next season.”He wants to reclaim his position as leader of our attack and I have no doubt that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2007.”Ormond, who played two Tests for England in 2001, has taken 196 wickets at 32.38 since joining Surrey.

Phil Jaques, the New South Wales opener, hopes he can continue knocking on the door of national selection. Jaques hit his third straight ING Cup century on Sunday with an unbeaten 158 off 141 balls and is a contender to fill Justin Langer’s spot for the second Test against South Africa on Boxing Day after Langer was ruled out with a hamstring injury.Jaques possesses a phenomenal average of 160.33 in five domestic one-day games this season and an equally impressive strike-rate of 99.38. “It’s been a really good start and to get three hundreds in a row has been fantastic,” Jaques told . “Hopefully I can just keep going and just be consistent in the way that I bat.” His form in the Pura Cup has also been solid with 400 runs at 50.00, including a top score of 137 against Victoria at Junction Oval earlier this month.After touring Pakistan with Australia A in September, Jaques, a Wollongong junior, has been earmarked as a possible national player and he may get a call-up sooner than expected with the second-Test team named on Tuesday. Darren Lehmann, a former team-mate of Jaques at Yorkshire, said Jaques was in-form and ready for international cricket. “His game is in good order and there are no glaring weaknesses,” he said. “He plays well and he’s making runs consistently now, so he’s got the next step not too far away.”While Jaques is also confident he can rise a level, he said he would like Langer to make a swift recovery. “I hope for his sake he overcomes it very quickly and can get back in the side for Australia’s sake as well,” he said. “If I do get an opportunity, that would be fantastic and I’d grab it with both hands and enjoy every minute of it.” Langer has been rated a 50-50 chance by Errol Alcott, the team physiotherapist, for the third Test in Sydney starting on January 2.

ScorecardAn 81-run partnership between Tamar Lambert and David Bernard helped Jamaica tighten their grip on the third day of their opening game of the Carib Beer Cup at the Kaiser Sports Club. After managing a slender 38-run lead in the first innings, Jamaica were reduced to 39 for 4 due to a burst from Wilden Cornwall, the medium pacer. But a steady 55 from Donovan Pagon began the revival before Lambert and Bernard consolidated Jamaica’s position. Jamaica ended their second innings on 270 and left Leeward Islands with an uphill task of getting 309 for victory. Jerome Taylor’s double strike put Leeward Islands in further trouble as they ended the day on 16 for 2.
ScorecardAfter two days of inclement weather, play finally got underway in Trinidad as Guyana trudged along to 87 for 3 in 63 overs. Trinidad & Tobago got off to a fine start, after choosing to bowl, as Guyana were struggling at 17 for 3. But Narsingh Deonaire steadied the ship with 48 as the game meandered towards a draw.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has invited Waqar Younis to join Wasim Akram in making their international farewells during the forthcoming one-day series against either South Africa or Bangladesh.Wasim announced his retirement from international cricket last month but accepted an invitation from the PCB to make a final one-off appearance. But Waqar, who was sacked as Pakistan’s captain after the World Cup, has not indicated that he is considering retiring and so the PCB’s offer might come as a surprise to him.A spokesman for the PCB told Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper that the intention was for the pair to play together “in the final match of their illustrious careers”. Waqar might have something to say about that.