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Scorecard

Before this match Venkatesh Prasad, the Indian coach, told his team to beruthless. They obviously listened. Their performance at the PremadasaStadium, in the first Super League semi-final, was as close to perfectionas is possible. The batsmen, led by Cheteshwar Pujara’s unbeaten 129, putthe England attack to the sword, then the new-ball attack of VijaykumarYomahesh and Abu Nechim Ahmed tore the batting to shreds as they crashedto a humiliating 58 – comfortably their lowest score at this level.England’s bowlers have kept them in the tournament with a series ofimpressive performances, but tonight they came up against a high-class line-upwho showed no mercy. Pujara and Gaurav Dhiman made an effort to attack thespinners when they were thrown into action early and, apart from a briefperiod when they claimed two quick wickets, the onslaught was relentless.But the pasting handed out to the bowlers was nothing to the demolitionjob performed to seal the win. Yomahesh and Ahmed bowled with genuine venomand extracted disconcerting bounce from a good length. They made the mostof a horrid 20-minute period that the England openers had to face beforethe interval – a rule that clearly penalises a side that bowls their oversquickly – and knocked the top off the order in five fiery overs.Varun Chopra and Mark Stoneman were both cleaned-up by beauties fromAhmed, who nipped the ball off the seam at pace, although the batsmen werecaught on the crease, while Mark Nelson fenced limply to gully offYomahesh. And tea did nothing to slow them down; when Moeen Ali flashed toslip, he cut a forlorn figure trudging back to the pavilion. A mauling likethis will take some time to get over, especially as it has come in asemi-final.Venkatesh Prasad, India’s coach, was thrilled with the stunning display:”It was an unbelievable result, we never thought the game was going to beso one-sided as we had great respect for England. We didn’t want to falterin any aspect of the game, whether it was batting in partnerships, bowlingor the fielding, which I thought was outstanding. We didn’t want to leavethe job for others and the boys stuck to their word today.”Ali was blunt in his assessment of the team’s collapse: “We lacked pridetoday. We weren’t focused enough. It didn’t look as though we wanted to beout there. I think after the Bangladesh result I think we almost expectedto do well. We didn’t expect India to be so good.”The day started to go wrong for Ali as soon as he lost the toss which meant that, whenDhiman laid into the new ball, he was forced to bring in Nick James, hisSupersub, into action as early as the ninth over. But the control that hadbeen evident throughout the tournament disserted most of the attack – withthe exception of Graeme White.Pujara made the most of being dropped at slip by Chopra when he had madejust a single and this knock continued his fine World Cup form: beforetoday he was averaging 110 from four matches. His century arrived in 135balls, then he found a second wind and tore into the final over of theinnings from Huw Waters which cost a mammoth 25 runs.Rohit Sharma was the aggressor in a second-wicket stand of 112, which putIndia on course for their imposing total and a late flurry form MaynakTehlan and Ravindra Jadeja punished England in the closing overs.Dhiman had launched the innings with 18 off the fourth over, and althoughhis aggression eventually got the better of him, India had a solidplatform. England threatened to hold then to around 270 at one stage butit wouldn’t have matter a jot. However, they will have felt chasing 293was not impossible; almost before they could blink it was 22 for 6 andreaching 50 was a milestone.India deserve immense credit for their performance. After starting poorly in thewarm-up matches they have found their feet and form when it matters. Theyhave star quality in the batting and bowling. Whether it is Australia orPakistan in the final they will give either a tough test – and thatis what a World Cup final is all about.How they were outEnglandVarun Chopra b Ahmed 2 (3 for 1)
Mark Stoneman b Ahmed 2 (12 for 2)
Mark Nelson c Das b Yomahesh 6 (12 for 3)
Rory Hamilton-Brown c Shah b Ahmed 1 (13 for 4)
Moeen Ali c Ravikant Shukla b Ahmed 4 (17 for 5)
Ben Wright c Das b Yomahesh 2 (22 for 6)
Nick James c Ravikant Shukla b Chawla 5 (35 for 7)
Steve Mullaney c Tehlan b Dhiman 7 (38 for 8)
John Simpson lbw Bipinbhai 1 (49 for 9)
Graeme White st Shah b Bipinbhai 17 (58 all out)
IndiaGaurav Dhiman c Hamilton-Brown b White 48 (72 for 1)
Rohit Sharma run out (Waters) 59 (184 for 2)
Ravikant Shukla c Nelson b James 3 (189 for 3)
Maynak Tehlan b James 43 (243 for 4)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The advantage swung back and forth on a fascinating second day at Auckland, at the end of which the game was balanced on a knife edge with neither New Zealand nor West Indies being able to capitalise when they held the upper hand. West Indies stemmed an early-morning collapse and looked set to surge ahead but frittered away the chance to consolidate, conceding an 18-run first-innings lead. New Zealand rebuilt after an early loss in the second innings but gave it away with some indiscrete strokeplay, ending the day 116 ahead with six wickets in hand.West Indies however might feel that they ended the day on a high. They had one bowler, Jerome Taylor, struggling with a hamstring, and another, Ian Bradshaw, warned for running on to the danger area on the pitch. After the loss of an early wicket, New Zealand had strung together a 56-run partnership. But just when the tide seemed to be turning other way, Bradshaw and Fidel Edwards produced a three-wicket burst, with generous assistance from the New Zealand batsmen of course.Jamie How, who had played aggressively for his 37, latching on to anything loose on his pads and once flat-batting Edwards down the ground, top-edged a hook, which Denesh Ramdin caught, sprinting behind, ten yards from the fine-leg boundary. Edwards then struck twice, inducing Peter Fulton to inside-edge on to his stumps and Scott Styris, the first-innings centurion, to pull straight to Bradshaw at deep fine-leg. New Zealand could have been in deeper trouble hadn’t Ramdin dropped a straightforward leg-side chance off Stephen Fleming on zero. Fleming edged and prodded his way to 19.Earlier, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwyane Bravo had bailed West Indies out with contrasting fifties after New Zealand had dismissed Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, cheaply. The much-touted battle between Shane Bond and Lara lasted just one ball. Lara was early on the pull shot and toe-ended it to Carl Cachopa, the substitute fielder, at square leg. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with his square-on stance, was troubled as the bowlers kept the ball full to him. He steered three fours through gully and point but was out to a needless shot – nicking one down leg side from Franklin.

Despite the precarious position, Sarwan rode his luck on any width outside off stump and was severe on Chris Martin. New Zealand had an opportunity to set West Indies back further but Martin fluffed a return catch off Sarwan when he was on 42. Sarwan had chanced his arm against Franklin and Bond and collected risky fours overs gully and slips, but he was more assured against Martin, who offered him free hits. While Sarwan was playing his shots, Bravo nudged, pushed and rotated strike. Once settled, he cashed in with consecutive fours off Martin and two lucky ones through slip off Bond.Bravo started the second session with two boundaries but thereafter New Zealand slowed down the pace. Franklin bowled a testing spell during which he had Bravo repeatedly wafting outside off stump. When Sarwan fell to a top-edged hook to fine leg while trying to force the pace, West Indies were still 94 runs short of New Zealand’s score. Dwayne Smith came in with a reputation to live up to and started in belligerent fashion. He flayed and missed outside the off stump and biffed fours down the ground before Martin ended his joy ride with one that took the edge after rising steeply.Daniel Vettori had inexplicably bowled just two overs in the first 60 and he wrapped up the tail in his second spell to end with figures of 2 of 7 from 7.2 overs. Vettori’s frugality forced Bravo to seek runs at the other end and he perished while doing so as West Indies folded for 257.

Brian Lara c (sub) Cachopa b Bond 5 (60 for 3)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c McCullum b Franklin 13 (90 for 5)
Ramnaresh Sarwan c Franklin b Bond 62 (179 for 6)
Dwayne Smith c McCullum b Martin 38 (238 for 7)
Dwayne Bravo c Bond b Martin 58 (247 for 8)
Denesh Ramdin c & b Vettori (252 for 9)
Fidel Edwards c McCullum b Vettori 4 (257 for 10)
New ZealandHamish Marshall c Ganga b Bradshaw 1 (11 for 1)
Jamie How c Ramdin b Bradshaw 37 (66 for 2)
Peter Fulton d Edwards 28 (73 for 3)

Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, admitted that at the moment his side were more concerned with playing international cricket than the results.Speaking at a press conference after arriving in Dhaka for a four-match series against Bangladesh, Tikolo was clear that a lack of matches had seriously harmed his side. “We have had very little opportunities to play international games since our commendable performance in the last World Cup. We are hoping that our lack of exposure would be taken under consideration by the world cricket governing body.”Once we were close rivals of Bangladesh in any competition. But this time Bangladesh are favourites. We’re going to start as the underdogs but we are fully prepared to give good fight.”Tikolo has played club cricket in Dhaka for several seasons and is familiar to the conditions and the climate, but he warned that “domestic and international cricket are not the same thing.” He was the leading run-scorer in the Premier Cricket League in 2005-06.While his experience and pedigree are well known, Tikolo was keen to talk up some of the Kenyan youngsters. “The young guys are very much focusing on the series and are hungry to show their best. There are some new players who have the talent to put pressure on the opponents. We should have won 3-1 in Zimbabwe but cricket is such a game where one ball can change the whole scenario of the match,”Tikolo’s views were endorsed by Roger Harper, who took over as Kenya’s coach less than two months ago. “Kenya do not get enough opportunity to play international cricket, so we are happy that we’ve got the chance to play a few games after four matches against Zimbabwe. But we need more international exposure.”Our captain knows the condition and the players and I believe it will help us. You will recognise some young faces. What impressed me most is the enthusiasm among the cricketers about the tour. We came here to play good and competitive cricket.”The series starts with an ODI at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium on Friday (March 17).

West Indies have announced a 13-man squad for the seven-ODI series against Zimbabwe which gets underway in Antigua this Saturday.The side will be led by Brian Lara, who was earlier appointed as the new captain, and the squad also contains his predecessor, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The West Indies selectors said that no vice-captain would be named.West Indies Brian Lara (capt), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.

Division One

Yorkshire declared on 301 for 8 against Hampshire at Headingley, to set the visitors an unlikely 404 for victory. Anthony McGrath helped stabilise Yorkshire with a fine 127 and combined well with Michael Vaughan who made up for his first-innings failure to hit 56 in his second innings back from injury. Hampshire moved to 46 without loss at stumps.An intriguing final day is on the cards at Tunbridge Wells between Kent and Warwickshire after the home side could only add a further 56 runs to their first innings total. However, Warwickshire slipped in reply to 158 for 7 with Andrew Hall grabbing 2 for 16 and James Tredwell impressing with 3 for 48. Warwickshire, though they have Dougie Brown at the crease, lead by only 161 runs with three wickets remaining.Middlesex are staring down the barrel after being reduced to 131 for 5 on the third day against Sussex at Horsham. Sussex romped to 370 in their second innings, with Richard Montgomerie playing the anchor role in his 98 to leave Matt Prior licence to thrill: his 77 came from just 57 balls to leave Middlesex chasing the unlikely target of 418. And after losing their top three in quick succession, only Ed Joyce (63*) can save them from defeat tomorrow.

Division Two

Northamptonshire built a strong lead over Leicestershire with a series of useful innings from the top order. Stephen Peters, Bilal Shafayat and Usman Afzaal struck half-centuries with Peters’ 63 taking just 80 balls. Lance Klusener continued his fine all-round match – he already has 122 and 6 for 69 – as the lead grew over 300 despite the best efforts of Mohammad Asif and Claude Henderson. Leicestershire had earlier edged closer to first-innings parity as the last two wickets added 40 more runs although they still conceded a 37-run advantage.Surrey have a great chance of wrapping up victory against Essex despite the best efforts Andy Flower who struck a fine century. Trailing by 68, it took Essex three wickets to wipe out the deficit and at 148 for 7 and three day finish was a possibility. However, the last three wickets add 96 and Flower was ninth out before Andre Adams cracked a rapid 38. Nayan Doshi and Ian Salisbury shared five wickets between them and earlier Ryan ten Doeschate had claimed his first career five-for as Surrey’s last four fell for 42.1st dayVikram Solanki, with the first double century of his career, and Steven Davies flayed an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 286 as Worcestershire made Gloucestershire chase leather at Bristol. The pair came together with the innings at a crucial moment; 173 for 4 with Graeme Hick just removed. Solanki and Davies proceeded to blitz the attack to all corners. Solanki reached his double ton just before the close while Davies notched his second first-class century off 178 balls. Mark Hardinges took the first three wickets to fall but there was plenty of punishment on offer for the others. Phil Jaques had started the innings in a merry style but was cut off in his prime after a 67-ball 58.

Virender Sehwag and Greg King, the trainer, expressed satisfaction at the end of the first camp in Bangalore, with both men reckoning that the team was in good shape as it geared up for its first assignment of the season in Sri Lanka in a fortnight’s time.Having spent three days at the Pegasus Institute last week, the players then spent Monday at an army paratroop centre, trying out different drills while wearing combat fatigues. “The boys enjoyed the shooting drills,” said Sehwag. “We were able to understand what forces on the border do to stay alert, to save both themselves and their partner. There are similarities to cricket, and running between the wickets, where making the right call is so important.”He was also of the opinion that the days spent at the Pegasus Institute had provided the team with a different sort of challenge. “We were divided into groups, each with a different leader. And even the leader kept changing. With different people in charge, you were exposed to a new type of thinking. And since it was a new experience for everyone, anyone could lead, it didn’t always have to be a Dravid or a Tendulkar. More than physical, we found it mentally very tough.”The team also tried out tai-chi and Sehwag said that it had been an eye-opener. “We only had one session. It was interesting because body balance is very necessary in cricket as well. But it would take at least six months to be able to do all the exercises.”King was also pleased with the overall experience. “I thought the camp was really worthwhile,” he said. “We had a lot of fun, and also managed to get quite a bit of physical work done. The most important thing was to get the guys interacting together and see how they bounce ideas off each other.”King added that such camps might be a feature in the future as well. “We’ll give the guys new experiences to avoid monotony. The players expressed their happiness with various drills, and weren’t as happy with others. We’ll reassess as we go along.”He wasn’t too fussed about the lack of an off-season after the tour of the West Indies – “The guys are used to long seasons now” – and insisted that India’s relatively better fortune with injuries was more a matter of luck than anything else. “Sometimes you just get lucky. Many of the injuries are acute injuries, the result of freak accidents. No matter what kind of conditioning you do, they can happen.”After all the new experiences of the past few days, it was back to more prosaic routines on Tuesday morning, before the players dispersed at lunchtime. Sachin Tendulkar had already departed by then, after a bereavement in the family.Long after everyone else had left, Irfan Pathan remained in the nets, working on both his batting and bowling with Ian Frazer, the biomechanist. There were a few huge lofts that excited those that had climbed on trees to peer over the Chinnaswamy Stadium fence, and then he spent some time experimenting with different run-ups and bowling lengths while aiming at one stump. His recent form may be a cause for concern, but if everyone picked to play for India had the same kind of work ethic, they’d be champions every time.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan scalped four wickets each as Sri Lanka shot out South Africa for a meagre 169 and then drove home the advantage, reaching 128 for 2 when bad light brought the first day to an early close at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. There was little joy for South Africa – only a bustling 65 from AB de Villiers – as Sri Lanka were right on top.South Africa did all they could to claw their way back into the game, after lasting just 50.2 overs in their innings. Dale Steyn hurried the batsmen, and prised out two early wickets, sending back Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga.Jayasuriya was the first to go, nailed in front of the stumps by a fullish delivery. On 14 Tharanga joined him in the dressing-room, when he tried to work a leg-side delivery away and ended up gloving the ball to the keeper. Just for a brief moment South Africa entertained hopes of staying in the game, but Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene ensured that their joy was short lived.One probing over where Sangakkara was first dropped and then bowled off a no-ball gave Sri Lanka the jolt they needed. Sangakkara and Jayawardene then buckled down and batted beautifully, each motoring to half-centuries as the partnership for the third wicket burgeoned to an unbeaten 114. Sri Lanka were just 41 behind in the first innings when play was called off early, with 13 overs lost in the day. Sangakkara and Jayawardene had done well, but it was the Sri Lankan bowlers who did the damage in the first half of the day.With a longish batting line-up at his disposal Ashwell Prince chose to bat first on a good-looking pitch but it all began to go wrong shortly after the opening spell from Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof. Fernando, coming on to bowl first change, struck two crucial blows, sending back both openers before 50 runs were on the board.Andrew Hall, the makeshift opener, looked to come forward to a fullish delivery from Fernando, and the ball nipped in just enough off the pitch to take the inside edge and ricochet onto the stumps. Hall had contributed 17 in the 32-run first wicket partnership.Gibbs, not quite his usual aggressive self, misread the length of a Fernando delivery and drove with a sizeable gap between bat and pad and that allowed the ball to sneak through and disturb the stumps. South Africa were 45 for 2 and just for a moment Prince would have wondered if he did the right thing in choosing to bat.

Hashim Amla played a couple of pleasing cover-drives, and in the company of Jacques Rudolph, looked to consolidate after a shaky start. But where Fernando left off Maharoof took over. Rudolph played an airy drive immediately after lunch and feathered an edge to Prasanna Jayawardene behind the stumps.Prince then provided an action replay for those who might have lingered at the lunch and missed the Rudolph dismissal. He chased a ball that was angling away from him and could only manage an edge, having scored one run.Muralitharan, who had tied the South African batsmen up in knots and did not concede a run in his first four overs, then came to the party, as Amla came down the pitch and was beaten all ends up. Jayawardene fumbled the ball slightly but still had enough time to whip the bails off. Mark Boucher attempted a sweep and only top-edged to Jayasuriya at short fine leg. Nicky Boje, who can bat a bit, failed to pick a doosra and was adjudged lbw although the ball struck the pad quite high up. At 128 for 6 South Africa were heading for a disastrously low total.de Villiers was the one batsman to resist, and his method was efficient. He played without hesitation, committing himself to the front or back foot. He also ensured that he played late, batting with supple hands to place the ball into gaps. But there was no-one to keep him company.Fernando came back for a second telling spell, with the ball reversing just a touch, and trapped Andre Nel in front of the stumps with a full delivery. Off the very next ball Steyn shouldered arms and lost his off stump.de Villiers managed 65 before an attempted heave off Murali ended in the hands of Chamara Kapugedera in the deep. At the stroke of tea South Africa folded, for just 169, in two balls more than 50 overs, and left Sri Lanka in total control. Luckily for Sri Lanka, their batsmen did not make the same mistakes as the South Africans.How they were outSri LankaAndrew Hall b Fernando 17 (32 for 1)
Herschelle Gibbs b Fernando 19 (45 for 2)
Jacques Rudolph c Jayawardene b Maharoof 29 (78 for 3)
Ashwell Prince c Jayawardene b Maharoof 1 (80 for 4)
Hashim Amla st Jayawardene b Muralitharan 19 (112 for 5)
Mark Boucher c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 4 (128 for 6)
Nicky Boje lbw b Muralitharan 5 (148 for 7)
Andre Nel lbw b Fernando 0 (151 for 8)
Dale Steyn b Fernando 0 (151 for 9)
AB de Villiers c Kapugedera b Muralitharan 65 (169 for 10)
Sri LankaSanath Jayasuriya lbw b Steyn 4 (6 for 1)
Upul Tharanga c Boucher b Steyn 7 (14 for 2)

Jimmy Anderson made a brief, but encouraging, return to action on Thursday night during Andrew Flintoff’s Twenty20 benefit match at Old Trafford. Anderson bowled his four overs for 29 runs as an England XI narrowly beat a Lancashire XI by two runs.It was Anderson’s first bowl in match conditions since the end of England’s tour of India where he picked up a stress fracture of the back during the one-day series.Andrew Strauss helped his side to an impressive 185 for 7, blasting 54 off just 33 balls including nine fours and a six. Lancashire responded promisingly in reply but fell short of their target despite valiant efforts by Darren Lehmann, hitting a well-made 49, and Chris Cairns who blasted 46 from 21 balls.Anderson will continue his recovery when he plays for his club side in Burnley this weekend, but is unlikely to feature for Lancashire this season. “It could be difficult to squeeze Jimmy into our side in the remain games,” said Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket manager, “especially as we are up there in the Championship. We can’t take any risks with players.”Although he has been named in England’s 30-man Champions Trophy squad his lack of cricket means that there is very little chance of him earning a spot in the final squad.

The pressure on coach Kevin Curran is increasing after Zimbabwe’s dismal display in their opening match in the Champions Trophy. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 85 in 30.1 overs by West Indies, losing the match by nine wickets.Curran had already been under fire at home. Last week it emerged that a senior board official and the head of selectors had resigned after attempts to have him dismissed were rejected by the main board.One source close to the Zimbabwe squad said that a number of players did not have faith in Curran and they accused him of having several favourites. It was a showdown over the inclusion of Terry Duffin in the squad during the series against Bangladesh which triggered events leading to last week’s resignations.And yet, in a manner which seems to be the norm in many walks of life in Zimbabwe itself, Curran refused to even acknowledge what was clear to everyone – that his side might be immensely keen, but they are woefully short of being good enough. “These boys are all very talented,” he said after the rout. “If you look at our stats, we have won eight of our last 20 ODIs. That makes for a 40% success record.”In fact, since Curran was appointed following the controversial dismissal of Phil Simmons, Zimbabwe have played 21completed ODIs, winning eight. Of those successes, five have been at home, three against Bangladesh and two against Kenya. The other three wins were abroad … against Bermuda (twice) and Canada. Their record against the bigger fish is poor, but the real stat that should be worrying Curran is the margin of defeat in those games.Not that Curran was about to let minor details like that get in the way of the party line. “Previous Zimbabwean teams with a lot more experience and a lot more fanfare had a success percentage of 27,” he concluded, manipulating statistics to the extreme. “We are looking forward to doing well.”The result will also add to pressure on the ICC to reconsider Zimbabwe’s status unless they turn things around dramatically in their remaining games. The match yesterday did not even run half its course, and Cricinfo learned from the ground authorities that only 32 tickets had been sold shortly before the scheduled start. The stats might say one thing, but it’s clear that the public are not so easily fooled.

Darryn Lifson, Pakistan physiotherapist, has said Mohammad Asif was naive in taking dietary supplements without realising their possible consequences. “I would say Asif was a victim of innocence. When he injured his elbow he took an injection for that, otherwise he was taking a powder which I was not aware of. When I came to know about it, I stopped him,” Lifson said.Asif had told a doping tribunal last month that while in England with the Pakistan team in June 2006, he was given an injection for his elbow injury which did not work. He had received two more injections during his stay. After his return, he had been using a nutritional supplement called Promax-50, he told the tribunal.Asif was banned for one year and Shoaib Akhtar for two years after internally-conducted tests revealed both had excessive limits of banned steroid Nandrolone in their urine samples.The tribunal in its verdict had justified the lesser ban on Asif as he had little knowledge of doping and was never tested before, unlike Akhtar who had been tested twice previously.Lifson described Asif as serious and honest player. “Asif takes training very seriously and is a fantastic guy to work with, honest, hard-working and a very good man,” Lifson said.Lifson was shocked when he got the news of Asif testing positive. “I was shocked and my first opinion was that there must be something wrong with the testing program. It was my opinion that there was something going on that Asif wasn’t aware of, that he was given some supplement that I was not aware and may have given possible positive test.”