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Sri Lanka received a huge boost ahead of their World Cup quarter-final match against England on Saturday when their key spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was declared fit to play. Muralitharan bruised his knee and suffered a hamstring injury while batting during Sri Lanka’s final Group A fixture against New Zealand at Mumbai six days ago.Sri Lanka were left worrying over Muralitharan’s fitness ahead of the England match, but Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara laid to rest all the fears when he said, “Murali is fine to play and 100 percent okay, which is great for us.”Despite his injury Muralitharan, who had to twice leave the field for treatment, took four wickets to bowl his team to victory over New Zealand. “Murali is a guy who rises to the occasion and does really well at big games. So the side feels confident about what he can produce for us in important games,” said Sangakkara.Sangakkara and his team know that to it is left to them to prolong Muralitharan’s one-day career for as long as possible, and at least up to the final on April 2. Muralitharan, who is the leading wicket-taker in Tests (800 wickets) and in ODI cricket (530 wickets), has announced that he is retiring from one-day cricket at the end of the World Cup. “That’s exactly the way we are going to look at it and that’s exactly how we are going to try and play this game,” said Sangakkara.”I think the rest of the guys will support each other and we will do our utmost to make sure that we do everything we want to win. It’s a do-or-die for all the teams playing in the quarterfinals. Our guys are really focused and very well tuned into what’s happening. They’ll look to do everything they can to win,” he said.Muttiah Muralitharan trained the day before Sri Lanka’s quarter-final against England and was confirmed fit to play•Getty Images

Sangakkara said that it didn’t matter to his team whom they met in the quarterfinals, but if they had to win the World Cup they must compete with the best. “Whoever you meet in this format you’ve got to beat to win something like the World Cup. Whether we played India, Australia or England our focus is going to be the same,” said Sangakkara.”We aren’t trying to choose who we meet in the quarters and try and adjust ourselves or that kind of thing. We are just going to enjoy every single game we play and tomorrow’s not going to be any different,” he added.Sangakkara defended his brittle middle order which has not been tested properly in the group stages. “I think the middle order is good. They are the best players we have in Sri Lanka and some of them are equal to the best players in the world. It’s hard to judge the middle order when they get only 10-15 overs in games. In the Sri Lankan side everyone is confident and everyone trusts each other. We are not only confident only in ourselves, but we are also confident in each others’ ability and it’s no different when it comes to the middle order.”Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera are the best players we have to do that job. We have done it against the best opposition in the world and they will keep doing this as before.”Sangakkara said there won’t be any huge changes in the team composition. “We have not 100 percent decided yet. The team has performed well so there won’t be any huge changes, but only where it is necessary,” he said.

ScorecardLuke Butterworth followed up his six-wicket haul on the first day with an unbeaten 91 to put Tasmania in dominating position against Western Australia in Perth. Tasmania ended day two on 8 for 411, a daunting 251-run lead.Openers Nick Kruger and Ed Cowan, who had put on 79 runs before stumps on the first day, completed half-centuries before being dismissed. Western Australia picked up another three quick wickets as Tasmania stumbled from 1 for 177 to 4 for186 – but there was no joy for the hosts thereafter. Butterworth, who came in at No. 7, wrested the initiative for Tasmania with a 129-run partnership with Mark Cosgrove.The pair saw off the second new ball and controlled proceedings until Cosgrove mis-hit a hook to Ryan Duffield in the deep. Wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt did not have an ideal debut innings, unfortunately dismissed hit-wicket after he slipped while taking off for a run. Ben Hilfenhaus (4*) was unbeaten with Butterworth at stumps.

Orissa have never made it to a Ranji Trophy final. Almost a decade ago, they played Baroda for a place in the final at the GSFC Ground in Vadodara. Rashmi Parida made 94 and 71, but Orissa conceded a massive first-innings lead, and with it the semi-final. It took ten years and a different team for Parida to gain another shot at domestic glory. The opponent hasn’t changed, but Parida is now a professional player for Rajasthan, and his twin half-centuries have put them on course for their first Ranji crown at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.Parida was understandably elated at the prospect of being able to win the premier domestic tournament for the first time. “That was the biggest match of my life then. And this is the biggest match now. It is very satisfying to play the final for the first time in my career,” Parida said. “Last time, I could not help my team beat Baroda. This is another chance for me. It is a challenge, and I want to do it this time. If I can, it will be memorable for the rest of my life.”Rajasthan’s batting has been bolstered by the presence of the three professionals – Aakash Chopra, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Parida – and they have hardly suffered a collapse this season. But they were stuttering today at 11 for 3, then 61 for 4, and all the hard work over nine matches was under danger of coming unstuck. But despite the early departure of Chopra and Kanitkar, Parida’s calming presence in the middle was reassuring for Rajasthan. “I have to credit the Baroda bowlers for creating pressure. At that stage, our plan was to play out 10-15 overs and try to build a partnership of 30-40 runs, and then we would be back in the game. I did not add many with Robin Bist, but we tried to play ourselves in and tire out the bowlers.”Parida added 50 with Bist, but it was his unbeaten 140-run partnership with former India Under-19 captain Ashok Menaria that took the game away from Baroda. Menaria was the aggressor in the stand, and Parida advised him to play his natural game. “I always like to be aggressive. I was trying to be defensive initially, but that has never been my game, and I was getting a bit bogged down,” Menaria said. “But Paddy told me that if you feel like going for your shots, just go for them.”And Menaria did. His assault on Bhargav Bhatt, whom he hit for three sixes in an over, emphatically swung the momentum in favour of the visitors. Menaria explained that he had planned the charge. “Actually Bhatt was bothering me since long. He was bowling consistently in the right areas, and there were close-in fielders. There was no one on the straight boundary; there was a deep midwicket I think. I thought that if I get it out of the middle of the bat, the ball would clear the ropes anyways. So I decided to hit out. After that the field spread and I was able to take runs easily.”There had been ecstatic celebrations in the Rajasthan camp after they had taken the first-innings lead earlier today, but both Parida and Menaria felt the match was not over yet. “The game is still open, and anything can happen on the last day,” Menaria said. According to Parida, Rajasthan’s plan will be to bat till lunch tomorrow, and take it from there. In their ninth attempt, Rajasthan will hope to finish on the winning side in the final for the first time.

Cricket Scotland has signed a new five-year agreement with Surridge to be its official kit partner.Surridge will supply all casual, training and teamwear to Scotland sides from the Under-15s to the full national side, as well as Cricket Scotland’s development and technical staff throughout the country.Surridge designed and manufactured the teamwear worn in the 2007 World Cup and World Twenty20 events and will now be supplying the team for the next five years.Charles Lord of Surridge commented: “I am delighted to agree a new five-year deal with Cricket Scotland. We previously enjoyed an excellent relationship from 2003-2008 and I am happy to say good relationships last a lifetime. At Surridge, we have a very clear plan to supply quality cricket teamwear and equipment throughout Scotland.”Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, stated: “We are delighted to welcome Surridge back again as our official teamwear partner. They are market leaders in the competitive world of cricket teamwear and I am sure will produce some fantastic kit over the next five years. Our technical staff were hugely impressed by the quality of Surridge’s new performance teamwear, and we look forward to working with them to design the new Saltires kit ahead of the 2011 season.”

Scorecard
Rajasthan’s captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar will have to make the important decision of when to declare tomorrow•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

How much is enough for Rajasthan? They are on 485 for 5 and there are two days left to go in this semi-final. They need time to bowl out Tamil Nadu or else the game will be reduced to one decided on the basis of run-rate. That the pitch has eased up considerably has only muddled the equation Ideally, Rajasthan will press for quick runs on the third morning so that they can increase their run-rate and put further pressure on Tamil Nadu.Today morning was all about consolidation. The pitch was expected to ease up after an hour and though Rajasthan lost their nightwatchman, Aakash Chopra and Robin Bist strove to preserve wickets. Tamil Nadu upped the ante; the bowling, led by L Balaji, was disciplined and the fielding was sharp. With Chopra continuing to be solid outside off, even the right-hand seamers went around the stumps to try a different angle. Chopra square drove the left-arm seamer Suthesh to the point boundary and the singles had started to come more freely when he got out: he tried to work a length delivery from S Sam to the on side, but got a leading edge to gully.Bist then donned the attacking role, off driving and on driving Sam for successive boundaries, and just when he was in stride, he was adjudged lbw when he missed a pull against R Sathish and was hit marginally outside off stump. Rashmi Parida was the set batsman and he tried to break free with a crashing cover drive but S Badrinath intercepted smartly at short extra cover to leave Rajasthan at 388 for 5. It was a crucial moment but Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who limped off the field last evening after edging a drive to his foot, came out with a runner and, in the company of the enterprising Ashok Menaria, propelled Rajasthan towards a large total.While Kanitkar shored up one end, Menaria, the former India Under-19 captain who hit a ton against Mumbai in the quarter-finals, increased the tempo with several attacking shots. He punched off the back foot and square drove when the ball was pitched up and kept the scorecard ticking over. He clouted the spinners for couple of sixes and hit nine fours as 92 runs came in the last session. The second new ball, in particular, leaked runs as the pair stole 26 from the first five overs.”We will bat for a few overs more tomorrow and set up a stiffer target,” Chopra said at the end of the day. “The pitch has eased up and it might come down to run rate but Tamil Nadu will have to contend with the pressure of a large total.”

After an early scare, Faisalabad picked up their first points of the season, beating Multan by five wickets at the Bahawal Stadium in Bahawalpur. Set 126 to win, Faisalabad found themselves at 10 for 3 after fast bowler Abdur Rauf dismissed Shahid Siddiq caught behind for nought, and his new-ball partner Mohammad Mudassar got both Farrukh Shehzad and Asif Hussain in similar fashion for one run each. Faisalabad captain Ijaz Ahmed jnr calmed the situation as he put together 73 for the fourth wicket with wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman. Ijaz reached his half-century and then finished the match in style, with a six. Faisalabad moved up to eighth in the table, while Multan are stuck at the bottom with no points from eight games.Habib Bank Limited were on the verge of a win against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium despite the Pakistan opener Yasir Hameed’s 171. While Hameed held up one end for ZTBL, legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has been left out of Pakistan’s Test squad for their tour of New Zealand, kept picking up wickets at the other, finishing with figures of 8 for 99, and ZTBL were bowled out for 361. Hameed, who started the day on 88 carried his bat but received inadequate support from the other end, with captain Imran Nazir’s 51 the second-highest score for ZTBL. Ahmed Shehzad’s 45 helped HBL reach 80 for 1 by the end of the day, leaving them 100 to win on the last day.Seamer Sadaf Hussain’s four wickets helped Rawalpindi come to within striking distance of a win against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground. The visitors reduced Islamabad to 230 for 9 by the end of the third day and are just 43 runs behind after their first-innings effort of 405. Sadaf and his new-ball partner Rizwan Akbar took a wicket each early for Rawalpindi before Nauman Masood and Zeeshan Mushtaq put on 102 for the third wicket. Seamer Rashid Latif got rid of both of them and the rest of Islamabad’s batting line-up crumbled. Sadaf came back to rattle the tail as the hosts crashed from 210 for 5 to 228 for 9. Sadaf’s four scalps puts him in second position in the list of top wicket-takers this season. Rawalpindi’s tail had earlier added some useful runs to their overnight total of 353 for 7 with Latif getting 25 off 30 balls.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited fought back against National Bank of Pakistan on a rain-hit day at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Only 17 overs were bowled on the third day, but it was enough for SNGPL to strike four times and halt the progress of NBP’s second innings, which had begun with a 97-run opening partnership. NBP, who led by 20 runs after the first innings, started the day in control of the match with openers Nasir Jamshed and Rashid Riaz taking guard at 73 for 0. They added another 24 before seamer Zulqarnain had Jamshed caught behind for 44, and Asad Ali dismissed Riaz in similar fashion for 38. Umar Amin and Fawad Alam both fell for ducks as they ended the day on 110 for 4. NBP still have the edge but will need some useful contributions from their middle-order to reach a winning total.An unbeaten century by Fahad Iqbal gave Pakistan International Airlines the advantage in their match against table-toppers Water and Power Development Authority at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. Iqbal came in with PIA in trouble at 108 for 5, but he and Sheharyar Ghani, who made 89, rebuilt the innings and got them to 312 for 8. That left WAPDA with 326 to win. WAPDA openers Rafatullah Mohmand and Jahangir Mirza saw out 4.2 overs at the end of the third day and will start the fourth at 6 for 0.Rameez Raja (2) struck an aggressive second first-class century as Karachi Blues made a better effort in their second innings after Sialkot enforced the follow-on at the National Stadium in Karachi. Resuming their first innings at 136 for 8, Karachi Blues were rolled out for 160, conceding a lead of 219, with seamer Imran Malik finishing with 6 for 38 – his first five-wicket haul in his sixth first-class match. Rameez then took centre-stage, counterattacking with 105 off 96 balls, while Murtaza Majeed provided support. The pair added 119 for the second wicket, setting up the platform for the home side’s defiance, but Nabeel Malik made some late inroads to give Sialkot the ascendancy. Majeed was unbeaten on 71 and, with his side just 31 ahead with six wickets remaining, he will look to bat for long on the final day.

New Zealand were recently crushed 4-0 by Bangladesh in their one-day series and captain Daniel Vettori is hoping that the change in format to Test cricket, and the addition of new personnel for this Indian tour, will help his side erase those bad memories. New Zealand arrived in Ahmedabad today for a three-Test and five-ODI tour that begins on November 4 at Motera. It is their first bilateral visit since 2003.”The Bangladesh tour was extremely disappointing,” Vettori said. “We will try to rectify that in India. It’s a fresh start for us: It’s Test cricket and we have new players here and they have not been affected by what happened in Bangladesh.”New Zealand weren’t allowed to shirk off Bangladesh from their psyche, or the comments from Mark Greatbatch, the selector and coach, who lashed out at his players recently, in what was otherwise a dull opening press conference. After failing to win a game against Bangladesh, Greatbatch said, “When you play badly like that you’ve got to front up. It’s very devastating. We played like d****, really.”In an another moment of candour, Greatbatch had also said that, “India have only lost one of their last 13 Tests in India, so if you’re gonna ask me what a good result is I would take two draws.”He was reminded of both in the press conference today. He brushed off the comments by saying that it was in the past and that the players are eager to do well in this series. He responded to his own “two draws” comment (does that mean he was looking to lose 0-1?) by saying that, “We are here to win. As Dan said, we have some new players in and this is a great opportunity for all of them. We didn’t play to our standards against Bangladesh but we have to move on from there. And do well against India.”He then added, “It won’t be easy.” Indeed.

Neil Carter, the Warwickshire allrounder, was named Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Year at the annual awards dinner on Thursday while Adam Lyth, the Yorkshire batsman, took the young player title.Carter, 35, enjoyed a prolific season for Warwickshire as he helped them retain Division One status in the County Championship and win the Clydesdale Bank 40 title with victory against Somerset at Lord’s. In the Championship Carter scored 617 runs and took 51 wickets and in the CB40 hit a hundred and two fifties alongside claiming 16 Friends Provident t20 wickets.Cater also won the FTI Most Valuable Player award. “I won the first monthly award in April and felt that was a great achievement but I never imagined that I would stay top for the rest of the season,” Carter said. “It’s a real honour to come out on top and be named the 2010 MVP. It’s a massive incentive for the players, I think they all realise that it is a true reflection of your performances throughout the season.”Lyth, 22, was the first batsman to pass 1000 first-class runs for the season and scored more than 2000 runs across all competitions which earned him a place in the England performance squad to tour Australia alongside the Ashes series.

ScorecardWarwickshire stayed on top of their Clydesdale Bank 40 group after trumping an 82-ball century by Scotland’s overseas player, George Bailey, at Edgbaston. Bailey and Richie Berrington shared in a record-breaking partnership as the Scots made 267 for 4 but an explosive 81 from 69 balls by Neil Carter put the Bears on the way to a four-wicket win with three overs to spare.The county side had to overcome a teasing spell of three for 39 by left-arm spinner Ross Lyons before setting up a winner-takes-all clash with Nottinghamshire for a semi-final place on Saturday. Lyons broke a stand of 101 by Carter and Keith Barker (40), but despite slipping back to 156 for five, Warwickshire still had the resources to avoid an upset.Darren Maddy (74) and Rikki Clarke (49 not out) – both England players in the past – imposed their strength and experience by putting on 111 in 13 overs. Maddy was just annoyed with himself at getting out after bringing the scores level with his ninth boundary.It was tough on Scotland to be in the losing corner. Bailey and Berrington, already the only batsmen in this team to have made fifties in this season’s competition, passed numerous milestones in hammering 109 runs from the last eight overs.Their partnership of 198 in 25.2 overs is Scotland’s highest in competitive meetings with English counties, surpassing 167 by Rahul Dravid and the South African, Jon Kent, against Sussex at Hove in 2003.Making the most of a run-out chance on 73, Barker cracked nine fours and five sixes as he put the seal on a hectic year by making 123 from 90 balls, a new career-best score in List A cricket.The Tasmania captain flew home in the middle of the season to score a century when leading Australia A in a mini-series against Sri Lanka. For Berrington this has been a breakthrough season. The 23-year-old Greenock batsman has attracted interest from a number of counties since starting the with successive half-centuries against Leicestershire, Kent and Nottinghamshire.In the middle of the summer he reached his first international hundred against India A in Glasgow and now he has made his highest score against a county side. When he was out for 82, hoisting the last ball of the innings to Clarke at long-off, he had hit seven fours and two sixes from 72 deliveries.The wicket was scant consolation for Warwickshire as a team, but for Barker, the bowler, it was a personal landmark as he finished with four for 33, his best figures in List A competitions.In his first spell, the left-arm seamer ended a promising start by Fraser Watts (26) and Ollie Hairs, a 19-year-old left hander who confidently made 24 in his first CB 40 appearance.

Jonathan Trott has insisted England don’t hold any ‘grudges’ against Pakistan despite the home side’s impressive form being overshadowed by the spot-fixing allegations which have dominated the last two weeks and will linger until long after the tour has finished.Since the controversy erupted England have completed a 3-1 Test series victory, won the two Twenty20 internationals and taken a 1-0 lead in the one-day series, but still the talk is dominated by the fall-out after the investigation which led to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir being questioned by police and suspended by the ICC.The three players arrived back in Pakistan last night – slipping quickly out of the back door of Lahore airport – but that doesn’t mean the issue has left the current series with Wahab Riaz, the left-arm quick, set to be interviewed next week by police in London and Kamran Akmal under the scanner for previous series.As England defended their total at Chester-le-Street, Trott was involved in an ugly exchange with Kamran which required intervention from umpire Billy Doctrove, but Trott said it had nothing to do with the off-field issues and that England never use the controversy as a subject for sledging.”It was just a few things that go on on the field. That’s it really,” he said. “I said a few words, and he was saying a few – and the umpires got in the middle of it, and made a mountain out of a molehill really.”Whatever is going on in the background is none of our business. We don’t talk about it really, on the field. We don’t have any grudges, or anything. We just play cricket. The last thing you want is to be dragged down on the field. It’s important we project a good image and play within the rules, hard but fair.””As far as the England team are concerned, we go about our job – in another four very important games,” he added. “I myself feel as though, whatever happened in the Test series, I’ve moved on and am looking forward to this one-day series.”Whatever has happened is a closed case for us. All our jobs are just to play against 11 guys on the field against us. I don’t think we can take off-the-field stuff on to it.”Shahid Afridi was in the dark over what words were exchanged, but said that he enjoyed playing an aggressive brand of cricket so long as certain lines weren’t crossed by the players. “I’m afraid I don’t know what went on. But I think it’s part of the game playing good, aggressive cricket. I always enjoy cricket like this, it’s good. But in a positive way, not using bad words.”Trott really doesn’t have to resort to verbals on the field because his run-scoring is speaking for itself at the moment, but he could be forgiven for feeling a little bitter as his prolific form remains something of an afterthought. He has had a memorable summer which, in normal circumstances, with an Ashes tour looming, would be the major topic of conversation.His outstanding 184 at Lord’s was completed just a few hours before the initial spot-fixing story erupted and was quickly consigned to footnotes rather than backpage leads and he continued his form with 69 in the opening ODI at Chester-le-Street. Trott began the season with226 against Bangladesh at Lord’s then, having been recalled for the one-day series against the same team, hit 94 at Bristol and 110 at Edgbaston before his Man-of-the-Series display against Pakistan where he notched 404 runs in a bowler-dominated contest.His one-day chance has come largely through Kevin Pietersen’s absence both from the Bangladesh series and the current one against Pakistan. The No. 3 spot is Pietersen’s home in the one-day game, but Trott is making a strong case to fill that crucial berth. Pietersen’s one-day form had been poor long before he was dropped and although it’s impossible to believe England could have a successful World Cup without him, Trott’s success means he won’t just waltz straight back in without pressure.”There are quality players out of the side,” Trott said, who is also up against Warwickshire team-mate Ian Bell for a long-term place in the one-day unit. “I have the opportunity to bat at three at the moment, and it’s up to me to do the best I can. The last few knocks haven’t been the worst. I’m pretty happy personally with how things have gone in the last few games. But I’m always looking to improve on areas I can work on.”The guys know competition for places is really good, and in a good way. It’s not people looking over their shoulders, but they know to play for this England team you have to be at the top of your game.”