After the drama and pantomime of the Northern Districts v Wellington game on Friday, Blake Park in Mount Maunganui witnessed an altogether more sedate affair today.Northern Districts defeated Otago by four wickets with more than three overs to spare. Northern go above their opponents to the top of the Shell Cup table after six rounds. Barring disasters, they should finish in the top three to qualify for the knockout stage. The team that wins the league goes straight through to the best of three final.A number of squalls passed close to the ground, but it was a tornado named Doull that swept through at the start of the Northern innings that was the decisive difference. He scored 45 of the 51 runs made while he was in. His innings included six fours, a five and a six.Doull has entered into the spirit of pinch hitting with abandon and can target an edge with the precision of a guided missile.Otago should have known that it was not their day when a perfectly good over from Kerry Walmsley – the fifth of the innings – went for 13, including two edged fours and four overthrows.Doull enabled the remaining batsmen to have the space to build their innings, though not all of them took it. James Marshall looked fluent before holing out to a Forde long hop and it was left to Neal Parlane and Grant Bradburn to guide the home team to victory with a sixth wicket partnership of 69. Without this, things might have been very tight.Parlane finished the game with a huge six over cover.Off-spinner Simon Forde had the best figures for Otago (10-0-27-3).Otago fell at least twenty short of setting Northern a decent target. They got off to a good enough start, with Hore and Gaffeney putting on 44 for the second wicket. Gaffeney top scored for Otago with 47Wickets fell regularly thereafter, with later batsmen unable to produce acceleration in the closing stages. The last boundary of the innings was hit as early as the forty-third over. Craig Pryor scored 39 from 64 balls without ever looking in touch.It was a good all round bowling performance from Northern, only Alex Tait being wayward early on. Slow left-armer Bruce Martin was outstanding, with figures of 10-0-28-3. Tuffey was almost as good, with 8-0-27-2.Northern’s fielding was a factor too. James Marshall was outstanding, both in the circle and in the deep. There was as much as 20 runs difference in the runs saved by the two sides in the field. Otago suffered from too many misfields and loose returns.Transport problems prevented Otago’s three Black Caps, Horne, Wiseman and O’Connor, from being here. They were much missed.The Shell Trophy returns on Tuesday, with Northern travelling to Auckland, while Otago entertain Canterbury.

The ECB’s pitch inspectors will be heading to Horsham tomorrow after a dramatic first day saw 18 wickets fall.Sussex were bowled out for 137 but fought back to reduce Worcestershire to 133-8 by the close.There was some indifferent bounce on a bone-dry pitch and lateral movement to encourage the bowlers, but some indifferent batting was also a factor.Only teenage wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who made a composed, career-best 40, and Mark Davis (23) impressed as they ensured Sussex avoided total ignominy after they had been reduced to 54-6 after winning the toss.Alamgir Sheriyar returned to mop up the tail and finished with 4-53 while Stuart Lampitt (3-22) and Andy Bichel (2-37) provided good support.Things were no different when Worcestershire replied and were quickly reduced to 26-2. But opener Phil Weston and Vikram Solanki repaired the early damage, taking the score to 69 before the recalled Mark Robinson took three wickets in seven balls to sweep away Worcestershire’s middle order.He had Solanki caught at backward square leg and then had David Leatherdale and Kadeer Ali leg before in his next over to leave the visitors reeling on 75-7.Kirtley returned to the attack to have Bichel and the obdurate Weston, who top-scored with 42, caught behind while Stuart Lampitt cut to backward point.Steve Rhodes remained unbeaten on 23 and Worcestershire’s hopes of a precious first innings lead largely rest with him.

BAT Sports have narrowed Havant’s lead in the Southern Electric ECB Premier League to 11 points after crushing Division 1 basement boys Andover by nine wickets at London Road.They dismissed Andover for 152 before romping to a comfortable victory.Title holders Havant looked as they might lose after sagging to 96-7, in reply to South Wilts’ tidy 233-9.But Phil Loat and Simon Greenfield spared the champions’ blushes with a face-saving eighth-wicket stand, which enabled Havant to salvage a draw.Any prospect Andover had of making BAT sweat vanished in the opening overs at London Road, when Hampshire’s Iain Brunnschweiler and the Miller brothers, Mark and Roger, were dismissed with only six runs on the board.Don Goldstraw (3-31) did the initial damage before the off-spin of Richard Dibden (5-51) ended the Andover fightback led by Ian Langdown (30), Neil Staddon (29) and latterly No 10 batsman, Steve Simpson, who top scored with 32.BAT greedily polished off Andover’s modest 152, with Damien Shirazi hitting an unbeaten 84 and Dave Carson 46 not out.Havant found themselves on the back-foot directly in-form Russell Rowe (62) and Rob Wade (28) shared an 80-run opening stand for South Wilts.Seamers got little or no joy as Jamie Glasson (32), Tim Lamb (40) and Tom Caines (34 not out) pushed the score along.Indeed, wickets only fell as Loat (5-67) and Richard Hindley (4-73) wheeled away during an unbroken 48-over stint.But South Wilts had batted themselves out of reach – Havant’s normally powerful batting faltering after a long fielding session in the sun.James Tomlinson (4-38), the young left-armer who has been bowling well for Hampshire 2nd XI this season, carved significant inroads as only Hindley (42) shone as Havant slipped deep into trouble at 96-7.For the second time in the match, however, Loat (50 not out), together with wicket-keeper Greenfield (44 not out), got Havant out of a pickle – the pair adding an unbroken 99 as the champions glaned a draw at 195-7.A second-wicket stand of 134 between James Hibberd and Jez Goode swept Calmore Sports to success against Bashley (Rydal) at Loperwood Park.Neil Taylor backfired with his ploy of pressurising Calmore by putting a substantial total on the board and then taking wickets.”We bowled both sides of the wicket and fielded shoddily,” reflected Dave Lewis, Bashley’s Australian coach.”But credit to Calmore. They batted well and deserved to win.”Neil Thurgood (76) did much of the spadework as Bashley progressed steadily to 245-6 without exceeding four runs per over.Initially, Andy Loader (30) and later Andy Neal (57 not out) played supporting roles, while Mark Boston and Ollie Green kept their heads as Bashley made a late dash for runs.Tom Pegler (39) and Paul Draper (24) got Calmore’s challenge away on a positive note.But it was third-wicket pair Hibberd, with a season’s best 82, and the left-handed Goode (79) who carried Calmore to only their second win of the season – by a six wicket margin.Frustration may start to get the better of Bournemouth as they bid to improve their mid-table standing.Seven days after being foiled by rain with South Wilts on their knees at 82-8, they were again denied at Chapel Gate as a lower-order rally enabled Burridge to salvage a draw.Burridge held out at 161-9 after Bournemouth had batted themselves into a strong position at 247-8.Bournemouth batted consistently down the order, with Matt Swarbrick (63) guiding his side to 90-1 and setting the platform for Martin Miller (39), Mike Wilkinson (41), Julian Cassell (32) and Geoff Warrington (22) to all make useful contributions.Burridge made a positive enough start through Joe Dixon (32) and Dave Jackson (28), who took the reply to 95-2.But the visitors were undone by pace – Australian Peter Waite (4-48) and Dave Kidner (3-24) prompting the fall of five wickets for 29 runs before Matt Godwin put up the shutters to salvage a draw at 161-9.Kiwi Ben Jansen hit 80 and took 3-32 as Liphook & Ripsley rattled up 289-5 before securing a 124-run victory over Hungerford at Ripsley Park.The Wellington all-rounder shared significant partnerships with Steve Riley (69), Jeremy Bulled (32) and Michael Smyth (65 notout) as Liphook eased themselves into an unassailable position.Hampshire’s Jason Laney (57) kept Hungerford afloat, but the Berkshire club tumbled to 165 all out, with spin pair Jansen (3-32) and Alan Crawford (2-11) finishing them off.Read Mike Vimpany’s regular cricket round-ups in the Southern Daily Echo

The Coca-Cola Cup tournament in Zimbabwe has managed quite comfortablyto make a fair number of people reconsider their opinions. Before thetri-series began, the hosts were seen to be, if not the outrightfavourites, at least the safest bet of the three sides. India’sconfidence had taken a beating in the recently concluded Test seriesagainst Zimbabwe and West Indies minus Brian Lara were a less thanformidable side. Or so it seemed. With just one match to go before theIndia-West Indies final, the tournament is already over for the hometeam, who had the mortification of losing all four games they played.Then again, this tournament has hardly gone according to script, withthe scenario itself constantly changing and reinventing itself. A lookat the schedule is the best place to start. Zimbabwe and India playedeach other twice, before the latter had a single game against the WestIndies. With India winning both their clashes against Zimbabwe, andWest Indies beating Zimbabwe in their first encounter, the men fromthe subcontinent were virtually through to the final without playingagainst the West Indies!The second aspect that put a dampener on the tournament was thewithdrawal of Messrs Lara and Andy Flower. A recurring hamstringinjury meant that Lara would fly back to the West Indies withoutplaying a match in the tournament. Flower, on whom all Zimbabwe’shopes rested, pulled out before the first limited overs game, citingan injury to his thumb. The Zimbabwean top order bat and stumper wasto undergo a surgery around the same time when the tournament gotunder way. With two of the biggest guns in India’s opposition ruledout, the balance shifted a bit. But surely no one expected India toenter the final with such ease.The Indians for their part have reached the final in effective, butsomewhat unspectacular fashion. Batting second after consistentlywinning the toss, India have had smallish totals to chase: 134 againstZimbabwe at Harare, 235 against Zimbabwe again, at Bulawayo and 170against West Indies at Bulawayo. Perhaps that contributed to the factthere was no centurion, or for that matter a bowler who took fivewickets in an innings. Zaheer Khan with 4-42 got closest to the mark,while fans had to make do with Sourav Ganguly’s 85 against Zimbabwe atBulawayo for the highest score by an Indian. The saving grace however,was that the innings spoken about signaled the return to form of theIndian captain.If India had anything to be a bit worried about in their undefeatedmarch to the final, it was the form of a couple of youngstersseemingly earmarked for higher honours, Dinesh Mongia and VirenderSehwag. Mongia, selected ahead of statemate Yuvraj Singh on the basisof his consistent performances in the domestic circuit eked out just45 runs from two innings, including one innings of 37. Coming in tobat in situations ideally suited to his form of batting chasing lowtotals against opposition attacks without any big guns, Mongiadisappointed. Enigmatic Delhi all-rounder Sehwag too flattered todeceive. Coming in to bat with the score on 187/4 chasing 238, Sehwaghad an ideal opportunity to knock up an unbeaten 20-30 odd runs andforce the pace. Presented with the opportunity, Sehwag failed to grabit with both hands.Then again this is not the time to be overly critical. The only reasonone is nudged to think along these lines is the refreshingly differentapproach of another youngster trying to make a name for himself -Hemang Badani. Helping himself to an unbeaten half century in India’sopening game of the series, the southpaw took every opportunity tostay at the wicket and make a few runs. Never impetuous or rushinginto his innings, Badani failed only in the second encounter againstZimbabwe where he was dismissed first ball by Grant Flower.The other aspect the Indian selectors can take heart in is theperformance of the quicker bowlers. In the absence of the experiencedJavagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, HarvinderSingh and Debashish Mohanty all discharged their responsibilitiesextremely well. Taking full advantage of the moisture in the wicketearly on the seamers accounted for 19 wickets between them. Mohanty,not seen as much more than a tourist on this trip, snapped up 3/18 off10 overs in the first game he got. Will the Indian captain be temptedto give him another go in this tournament? If he does, it will have tobe at the expense of either Ajit Agarkar or Harbhajan Singh, as thetwo left-armers have done enough to hold their places.With just a rehearsal of the final to go before the big event, JohnWright should be quite content with the way the Indian machine ismotoring along. Some fine tuning might happen, but a major change inapproach is unlikely.

Former England batsman and coach David Lloyd has described Devon Smithas a star of the future after the little lefthander guided the WestIndies Under-19 to a seven-wicket win over England Under-19 yesterday.It was third time lucky for Smith as the Windies cruised to victoryand a 2-1 win in the One-Day International series. The Grenadianshowed his class at Hove on Friday and at Chelmsford with scores of 75and 66, respectively. Yesterday he confirmed his class with a superb102 not out, an innings described by Lloyd as sheer class and quality.The entertaining innings saw the visitors reach their target of 183with 12 overs to spare. He required just 113 balls to hammer thehosts, and hit 12 fours and two huge sixes on another warm, sunkissedday.The young Windies looked like a team reborn after the disappointmentof their 13-run defeat the previous day. They were all over Englandlike a rash from the word go and should take heart for the forthcomingTests.Smith and partner Brenton Parchment started off like runaway trains,with Smith scoring 12 off the first over and by the sixth the pair hadtotalled an amazing 62. Once Parchment had gone, caught at slip for14, Smith and Barbadian Patrick Browne who along with Rayon Thomaswere the two new faces put on 77. Browne’s 21 was the perfect foilfor Smith’s awesome power.West Indies returned to their best form as they hustled England out in47.5 overs. Kenroy Peters and Rayon Thomas, who was playing his firstmatch in the One-Day trilogy, shared bowling honours.Peters, from St Vincent, caught the eye for the third match in a row,his 8.5 overs saw him concede a miserly 22 runs while taking threewickets.Thomas was quick and accurate throughout England’s knock. He wasrewarded with three wickets in his nine overs. He was more expensivethan Peters, conceding 41 runs, but he did the job the team required.It was only Kadeer Ali who offered any resistance as the visitorsturned the screws. At one stage England were 71 for six and a threefigure total looked in doubt. Ali made a bright 54, which included sixboundaries to give England hope.He found someone to stay with him in the shape of Chris Tremlett whoat 6 ft 7inches cuts an imposing figure at the crease. The pair put on81 for the seventh wicket, with Tremlett’s contribution 37.The Windies can now look forward to the three-match Test series, whichbegins at Grace Road, Leicester, next Monday.

Kent’s bid to claim the CricInfo Championship runners-up slot moved a step closer as they dominated the opening day of their match with reigning champions Surrey in sunny Canterbury.Surrey, hampered by the loss of five first-choice stars through injury and Test calls, were dismissed for 255 having been reduced to 95 for six after electing to bat first in seemingly ideal conditions.Kent replied late in the day through in-form openers David Fulton and Rob Key, who scored 18 apiece without due alarm to see the hosts through to the close on 43 without loss after 16 overs.The first session had undoubtedly belonged to Kent’s seamers and their leading wicket-taker Martin Saggers in particular, who claimed his 50th Championship wicket of the campaign in breaking a stubborn, if unspectacular opening stand of 31 between Michael Carberry and Ian Ward.Saggers sent back Carberry and Nadeem Shahid in the space of four balls in the 11th over of the day, then struck again in his next over to have Adam Hollioake caught at slip by Fulton, for the second of his three catches.Alistair Brown failed to trouble the scorers to make it 42 for four, but Ward teamed up with Ben Hollioake to all but double the score before Hollioake became Martin McCague’s first Championship wicket of the summer.Ward also went before lunch, chipping a catch to square leg, leaving the hosts in a good mood at the interval.To their credit, Surrey re-grouped in the second session as top-scorer Martin Bicknell (78) featured in stands of 64 and 74 with Jonathan Batty and Ian Salisbury.But the tail fell away once Andrew Symonds trapped Bicknell leg before, to give the Australian three for 35 while Saggers polished off the job with the scalp of Saqlain Mushtaq to record figures of four for 58.

Roll the tape.A familiar rhythm, drumstick on cowbell, and then the organ riff thatinsinuated its way into many lives: Booker T and the MGs’ “Soul Limbo”.Ian Botham, Headingley 1981, driving imperiously and slashing deliveries over the slips. Cut to Bob Willis, staring, intent, focused,his right arm trailing behind him on that familiar curving run up tothe wicket, and watch as the hapless Ray Bright’s middle stumpcartwheels out of the ground, and the crowd boil over on to the pitchin jubilation.Edgbaston, two weeks later. Botham again, charging in to take thefinal wicket in an incredible spell, roaring his joy, brandishing a stump.On again to Old Trafford: a Saturday afternoon of total mayhem, as thescoreboard scurries to keep up with an onslaught from Botham asprecise, as technically perfect as the Headingley one was anything but.Then cut to Mike Brearley’s softly spoken acknowledgement of victory.Time passes.Hazier images: Kensington Oval, the West Indies visiting. The picturesare unclear, but the description is Brian Johnston’s, on a cracklingcar radio, as Phil Tufnell spins the West Indies out in the time ittakes to drive home, Richards’ stumping the catalyst for a processionback to the pavilion that had seemed unlikely not so long before.On to the Ashes, 1993. Atherton takes over for his first two Tests andthe final two of the series: again the radio tells the story as thereturning Fraser brings England victory, relayed, too, to distant,unknown names on CricInfo’s first home, the #cricket chat channel.Change the music: Sky have the coverage now, England’s story unfoldinglate at night, early in the morning, as time zones permit. The WestIndies – memories of 46 all out all too present: Tufnell wheeling awayto Chanderpaul for what seems like forever, that trademark step, skipand run, hair flopping into eyes, teasing him, coaxing him into afatal indiscretion; Alec Stewart’s centuries in a Bridgetown groundwith a crowd that sounds more like it’s The Oval; and then Caddick andTufnell bowling England to the unlikeliest of wins.Radio once more: nine wickets for Devon Malcolm in an inspiredspell to rout South Africa at the home of so many England victories,The Oval. Maybe someone should have hit him on the helmet more often.Back to the Ashes, and back to late nights in front of the TV: away inAustralia. Darren Gough warns Mark Nicholas ‘there’ll be fireworks’,and proceeds to blaze away at the Australian attack for a totallyunexpected (except maybe by Dazzler himself) half-century. Cut to BigDev, willow like a matchstick in his hands, depositing Shane Warne wayback over his head. And later in the series, Tuffers’ running catch,sheer joy, as England, Fraser, Malcolm, Caddick claim a victory,Charles Colville shouting himself hoarse for Sky TV.Sky takes us to Johannesburg. Atherton. Chanceless, resolute, thequintessential immoveable object, for a day and a half, to earn a drawthat must have tasted like defeat to the South Africans. Boycott, smugand certain on the radio, a Yorkshireman praising a Lancastrian afterhis own heart: “Tha’ll not get him out.”Dissolve now to 1997: the Ashes again. Edgbaston again, Gough andMalcolm charging in, Mark Taylor fishing and caught in the gully,Hussain and Thorpe batting on and on, and Stewart and Athertondeciding four days is plenty, and they’ll finish it tonight, thank youvery much, with overs to spare. To The Oval, where Caddick and Tufnellwipe away some of the pain of losing the Ashes on an amazing Saturday,as Graham Thorpe dives forward at mid off to cling on to the finalcatch. Cut to the Cat, fag in one hand, champagne bottle in the other,up on the balcony, absolutely drained.The memories are less hazy now, recent, bright. Stewart and Thorpetough it out on a Sabina Park wicket that keeps Wayne Morton on asemi-permanent shuttle run from dressing room to pitch, before,incredibly, Atherton is out in the middle and the game is calledoff. Butcher and Headley inch us to victory in Trinidad, nervesjangling.South Africa at home. Old Trafford. A follow-on we have to save: GusFraser, unlikely hero with the bat in an excruciatingly tense finalsession, described in words by CricInfo’s commentator. Another drawthat seems almost like a win. Onward, cutting again to TV images:Donald steaming in, an assault that Atherton responds to with thatfamilar, blank, almost insolent look back down the wicket; Donald’sfury at a dropped catch; Athers missing out on a century to make surewe win. Fast forward to Headingley: South Africa 27-5 on a sunnyafternoon, and then the roar that greets Gough and Fraser thefollowing morning: two wickets, and a home series win.Australia again: Dazzler’s joy at his hat-trick. Later in the tour,coming downstairs to breakfast in England to find, amazingly, anextended evening session in Australia that’s still going. Ramprakashpulling off a blinding catch at point, fists clenched in triumph,screaming “come ON!” at his tiring teammates. Stewart wanting to leavethe field, but Australia claiming the extra half-hour. Gough andHeadley almost out on their feet as the Aussies tumble.New music: Lou Bega, “Mambo Number 5”. And a new hero: Alex Tudor,nightwatchman, and almost-centurion, as Thorpe does his best to givehim the strike against New Zealand.Now it’s last summer, the memories and images still fresh. The huddle,after the West Indies are skittled out for next to nothing at Lord’s,Stewart emphasising every word with clenched fist. Gough playingAtherton to Cork’s Stewart on a sunny afternoon, the crowd chewingtheir nails as they inch closer and closer to victory. Up to Leeds,Caddick ripping the heart out of the West Indies with an incrediblespell, and then cut to the balcony at The Oval, champagne sprayfilling the air as Caddick, Hussain and Thorpe celelebrate with therest of the team.Change the music. The Barmy Army. “Jerusalem”.Winter, Pakistan. A run chase in the dark. Hicky and Thorpe can see itwell enough to nudge and nurdle ones and twos, and when Hick finallysuccumbs, it’s Nasser who charges down the wicket waving his bat likea madman as the winning run is scored. Jubilation in the pavilion,all except for Thorpe, alone with his thoughts.Cut again, to Sri Lanka: one down, two to play. Athers and Sangakarrahave words, fingers are pointed, and Nasser finally finds some form aswe bring the series level. On to Colombo, where Thorpe stays unbeatenin the match and shepherds England home for the third time in fourTests.Home. Lord’s. Pakistan are here for a two-Test series. Dazz has nevertaken five in an innings here, so badly wants his name on the board,cheered every time he takes his cap and makes his way down to longleg: his joy when he gets it is unconfined, greater even than thecelebrations when he gets his 200th Test wicket not so long later.These are my memories. There are others, darker. But these chase awaythose shadows.We can beat anyone. If we remember how.

Pakistan equalled the world record of five centuries in an innings asthe home batsmen continued to enjoy the run feast in the Asian TestChampionship opener against minnows Bangladesh at the Multan CricketStadium Thursday.Centuries by Saeed Anwar (101), debutant Taufiq Umer (104), Inzamamul-Haq (105), Yousuf Youhana (102) and Abdur Razzaq (110) carriedPakistan from an overnight 219 for two to 546 for three declared inreply to Bangladesh’s modest 134.Bangladesh, left to play for pride after trailing the home team by 412runs on first innings, had limped to 55 for three when curtains weredrawn for the second day’s play.Pakistan secured maximum batting (four) and bowling (four) pointsawarded on the first 100 overs of the first innings while Bangladeshfailed to get any. An expected victory by an innings would earnPakistan 16 more points.Pakistan equalled Australia’s 46-year-old record when five of theirbatsmen scored centuries in the 1954-55 Test against the West Indiesat Kingston, Jamaica. Had Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis not declaredimmediately after the 27-year-old Youhana guided Mohammad Shariftowards third man boundary to bring up his seventh century in 34thTest, Pakistan might have gone on to establish a new record.Around 15,000 festive and appreciative spectators had their moneyworth when they were thoroughly entertained by high quality andruthless batting display by the elegant Pakistanis against apedestrian, inexperienced and mediocre Bangladesh bowling resources.However, local hero Inzamam was not that fortunate when he had toretire hurt because of dehydration a ball after completing his 15thTest century in 75th Test.But Inzamam’s return to the dressing room piled up more agony on thetourists as Abdur Razzaq virtually blew them away with a whirlwindunbeaten century. The batting all-rounder scored 110 off 100 ballswith 16 boundaries and three sixes during his 124-minute vigil at thecrease.Razzaq, who came when Youhana was batting on 60, raced to 70 againstYouhana’s 77 at tea in Pakistan’s 478 for three before registering hissecond career century off 92 balls with 14 boundaries and three sixes.It was the second quickest century by a Pakistani after Majid Khanwhipped a 74-ball century before lunch against New Zealand at Karachiin 1976-77. Sir Vivian Richards holds the record for quickest centurywhen he reached three figures off just 56 balls against England at StJohn’s in 1985-86.Youhana was as elegant as ever and remained cool and composed despitewatching Razzaq murder the Bangladesh bowlers from the other end. Hisinnings contained 13 exquisitely timed boundaries from 154 balls facedduring 220 minutes of batting.Youhana and Razzaq added 165 runs in 124 minutes after the former andInzamam had put on 123 in 116 minutes. Inzamam and Taufiq Umer put on80 in 88 minutes for the third wicket.Inzamam, the 31-year-old burly right-hander, fulfilled his promise ofenthralling his home crowd when he laced his 105-ball innings with 15boundaries and a six. Inzamam now has century against every countryexcept South Africa and India.Interestingly, it was Inzamam’s fourth century only on home turf. Theother notable point is that 11 of his centuries have come in thecrucial first innings while eight centuries have helped Pakistan winTests.On a record-breaking day, Taufiq Umer became the eighth Pakistanbatsman after Khalid Ibadullah, Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, MohammadWasim, Ali Naqvi, Azhar Mahmood and Younis Khan to score century ondebut. He had started the day at 77 and was the only Pakistan wicketto fall when he was caught at the wicket after an attractive 104.Taufiq, the 20-year-old from Lahore, now has five first-classcenturies in 33 matches. He batted for 231 minutes and punctuated 15boundaries in his 163-ball innings.Taufiq showed excellent temperament, concentration and showed no signsof nervousness when he stayed in the 90s for 19 balls, including 13balls on 96. Unfortunately, his brilliant effort fell in thebackground after Pakistan stroke-makers went on a run-scoring spree.

A timid batting display and another early spray-gun bowling performancecondemned Zimbabwe to another defeat at the hands of South Africa, giving the tourists a clean sweep of the three-match one-day series. This timeit was by six wickets, although it might have been much worse were it notfor two controversial umpiring decisions.Same weather, same type of pitch, same Zimbabwean team, but the Zimbabweans wentinto this match hoping it would not be the same cricket. They have playedwell below their best throughout this tour, especially in the bowlingdepartment, and only in the Bulawayo Test were able as a team to cause theSouth Africans any trouble.Two-nil down and in this ‘dead match’ of theone-day series, they had a last chance to give the tourists something toremember them by.Remarkably, Zimbabwe made no changes to their losing team when they couldwell have given some youngsters experience or gambled on the pace of HenryOlonga, bowling well in the nets, or brought in a specialist spinner on awearing pitch.South Africa did take that opportunity, bringing in BoetaDippenaar, Justin Ontong and Justin Kemp in place of Gary Kirsten, Andre Neland Makhaya Ntini.Zimbabwe won the toss for the first time and decided to bat, which couldv haveproven to be an advantage on a slow pitch that was wearing the day before.Whether they would be able to take advantage of it was another matter.Alistair Campbell went in with his third opening partner in as many matches,Hamilton Masakadza, who is still struggling in one-day cricket. He made 5before being trapped lbw by Justin Kemp, who opened the bowling with ShaunPollock.Campbell and Stuart Carlisle then became bogged down against good bowlingand superb fielding, and after 13 overs the score was only 25, with Pollockconceding just nine runs off six overs.Then the arrival of thesecond-string bowlers enabled the batsmen to score a little more freely.The fifty came up in the 20th over, and Campbell was finally beginning toopen up when Claude Henderson bowled him through the gate for 40 off 77balls in the 24th over; Zimbabwe 92 for three.Andy Flower, under pressure to score quickly, scored only 4 before he triedto hit Henderson over the top and was well caught overhead by the leapingHerschelle Gibbs at midwicket.Carlisle finally reached his fifty off 96balls, but then holed out to long-off off Ontong for 51. Zimbabwewere now a mere 118 for four in the 38th over.Dion Ebrahim and Grant Flower tried to make up for lost time, but with mixedresults and many swings and misses. Ebrahim was eventually run out for 41attempting a desperate second, with the score 172 for five in the 48th over.The fielder was Dippenaar, who had a fine day on the boundary andfinished it by catching Grant Flower off the final ball of the innings for27. The total was only 184 for six wickets.Zimbabwe’s bowling opened in a way sadly appropriate to the way they hadperformed throughout the tour: two leg-side wides by Travis Friend, followedby five more runs in the opening over, and 17 runs in his second over asDippenaar and Gibbs enjoyed themselves.By way of contrast, Gary Brent at the other end found line and length fromthe start, but Mluleki Nkala was little better than Friend at first,conceding 15 runs in his first over as the batsmen happily plunderedeverything astray. The fifty came up in the sixth over, but then Nkalasettled down and the batsmen had to work harder.Then came two controversial lbw decisions by umpire Mumtiaz Esat. Gibbsfell controversially for 39, well down the pitch, while the tall Kemp(1) was given his marching orders when struck by a rising ball above theroll of the pad, both to Nkala. Then Dippenaar (22) was also given out lbw,this time to Brent and adjudged by Graeme Evans, but the television appearedto confirm this decision as probably correct.Neil McKenzie and Justin Ontong dug in grimly, while Brent finished anexcellent ten overs on the trot with one for 22. Ontong found his fluencyfirst and hit Whittall for a huge six over the sightscreen, but on 32 hit areturn catch to Grant Flower. McKenzie passed 50 and hit 13 in the 41stover, bowled by Strang, to win the match and complete a clean sweep forSouth Africa in the series. He finished with 69 and Mark Boucher with 15.

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly will at last be able to draw on the services of left-arm pacemen Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. The two young men who find a special place in skipper Sourav Ganguly’s heart have been passed fit after Tests at the Brabourne Stadium. All that remains now is for chairman of selectors Chandu Borde to announce their inclusion in the Test squad later in the day.It was the Board of Control of Cricket in India’s new sports-medicine expert, Dr Anant Joshi, who certified both Nehra and Khan to be fit after drills lasting one-and-a-half hours.”Now it’s up to the selectors,” Sharad Diwadkar, executive secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India told . “They will meet around noon,” he added.Ganguly has been rather keen on Nehra’s inclusion from the start and threw his weight behind Nehra when the latter demanded a chance to prove his fitness for the one-day series. It was another matter that physio Andrew Leipus decided that Nehra would have to undergo a further two-weeks rehabilitation programme before joining the squad.The Delhi left-arm quick and Zaheer Khan are probably the two most promising fast bowlers in the country and are expected to lead the Indian attack in the coming years. At least one of the two is expected to play in the first Testbetween India and South Africa from November 3-7 at Bloemfontein. This is especially likely considering the fact that Ganguly apparently isn’t happy with the quicks currently playing the one-dayers. When asked about the performance of the fast bowlers after the one-dayer at East London last Friday, the Indian skipper said, “Look at it this way. In this game against South Africa, I needed to employ four spinners in the middle overs. You can make your own judgement from that.”Hopefully then, the arival of Nehra and Zaheer Khan would provide succour to the beleagured Indian skipper and team.