All posts by n8rngtd.top

The fast bowler Brendan Drew and the batsman Nick Kruger are among eight players who will be axed from Tasmania’s contract list for next summer

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2012The fast bowler Brendan Drew and the batsman Nick Kruger are among eight players who will be axed from Tasmania’s contract list for next summer. A fortnight ago, Drew and Kruger were playing in the Sheffield Shield final but neither man did enough to encourage the selectors to retain them on the contract list.The wicketkeeper Brady Jones, the opening batsman Jon Wells, the seamer Ben Laughlin, the batsman Ashton May, the allrounder Matthew Day and the rookie spinner Marc Simonds will also be delisted.”While we are hopeful that some of these players remain in Hobart to chase their dream of playing cricket at the highest level, Cricket Tasmania wishes those who do not all the best with their cricket futures,” Tasmania’s chairman of selectors, Michael Farrell, said.The axing of state players is expected to be significant across most states this year with Cricket Australia keen to reduce the number of players offered central deals. That will create a knock-on effect with many players who were on national contracts needing to be squeezed into state lists.While 32 players held CA contracts by the end of the summer, including seven who were upgraded due to playing enough matches for Australia, that number could be slashed to as few as 15 when the new list is revealed. Tasmania are expected to have to find room on their state list to accommodate Tim Paine and Jason Krejza, both of whom hold CA contracts that are unlikely to be renewed.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors in Kolkata

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria04-May-2012

Match facts

Saturday, May 5, Kolkata
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Kolkata fans’ dilemma – Sourav Ganguly or home team?•AFP

Big Picture

Although it is just one of the IPL’s innumerable league games, the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors at Eden Gardens has attracted special attention because of one player. Sourav Ganguly is coming home, ironically as captain of the away team. He is capable of rousing the passionate Eden Gardens crowd to feverish levels; his iconic status in Kolkata is comparable to Sachin Tendulkar’s in Mumbai. Ganguly’s return is expected to test the loyalties of the fans: home team or local legend?If the India-South Africa ODI in 2005 is any indicator, Knight Riders could find parts of Eden Gardens cheering the opposition captain. Back then, during the height of the Ganguly-Chappell fracas, India were booed because Ganguly had been dropped from the squad. He was snubbed in the 2011 auction by Knight Riders and a similar scenario this time is not improbable, but passions may have cooled like Ganguly form has waned.Ganguly, and Warriors, need all the inspiration they can get. They are second from bottom in the league, having lost six out of their previous seven games. In their most recent loss, to Mumbai, Warriors failed to chase 121, with Ganguly struggling to 16 off 24 balls. However, any revival against the most economical bowling attack this season will require resolve: Sunil Narine, the Knight Riders spinner, has taken 12 wickets and has an economy of 5.53, the second best after Lasith Malinga. But Warriors’ hopes lie in plotting the fall of Knight Riders’ batting, which has lacked substantial contributions from everyone except Gautam Gambhir. With another Bengal cricketer, Ashok Dinda, back to fitness Warriors’ bowling attack is better equipped to trouble Knight Riders.The home team has been in good form coming into this game – four wins in a row – and they would aim to stay close to Delhi Daredevils at the top of the table. The stage is set for Ganguly’s homecoming but fans will need to hope that the weather stays clear.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Pune Warriors: LLLLW
Kolkata Knight Riders: WWWWL

Players to watch

Gautam Gambhir, the Knight Riders captain, has scored 365 runs with four half-centuries, and he has done it at strike-rate of 143.70, while his other hard-hitting teammates have struggled to force the pace.Michael Clarke is new to the Warriors camp but he is expected to turn things around for a struggling team. He looked comfortable in his first two two games, but he will want to convert those starts. His class against spin could be key to negotiating a tricky Knight Riders attack.

Stats and trivia

• Sourav Ganguly has scored 496 runs in IPL matches in Kolkata at an average of 41.33. In IPL 2010 alone he scored 331 at an average of 55.16.
• Yusuf Pathan has hit 77 sixes in his IPL career. However, only three of them have come this season.
• Knight Riders’ bowling is the most economical this season, giving away only 6.79 runs per over. Warriors are fourth with an economy of 7.61.
  

  Quotes

  “Any match at Eden Gardens is my home match”

  “If we’re winning without him contributing much, it’s a good sign for the team”

Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine are yet to formally give their consent to represent Trinidad & Tobago, instead of their IPL franchises

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Jul-2012Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine are yet to formally give their consent to represent Trinidad & Tobago, instead of their IPL franchises, in the forthcoming Champions League Twenty20, a T&T board official has told ESPNcricinfo. IPL franchises also say they are unaware of any decision taken by the players to represent T&T.Earlier this week the T&T sports minister, Anil Roberts, had said that the three players agreed to sign the Memorandum of Understanding to play for their country instead of their IPL franchise. In return, the government would compensate them with a suitable match fee.A T&T Cricket Board official, speaking on condition of anonymity, however told ESPNcricinfo that a final decision was yet to be reached. “The players have not yet signed on a contract either way, whether they would like to play for the IPL franchise or Trinidad and Tobago. (But) We should have a decision within the next 48 hours.”The three franchises that the players represent are IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders, defending CLT20 champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings; all three feature in the CLT20 to be held in South Africa this year. All three players have been influential performers for their respective franchises.The CLT20 organisers have asked T&T to play the pre-tournament qualifiers, instead of giving the team a direct entry. T&T, who made the finals of the inaugural CLT20 in 2009, form part of a six-team qualifying pool, divided into two, with the winner from each set joining the top eight teams in the main event. The lack of direct entry has evoked criticism from the T&T board.So far none of the players have commented on the issue in public but their franchises have not taken kindly to Roberts’ comments. A Mumbai Indians spokesperson said that as far as they understand the situation, the T&T sports minister has spoken to the players or their agents but that no decision has yet been made on who the players will play for. Venky Mysore, the chief executive of Knight Riders, said in a text message that the franchise did not wish to comment at the moment but might have an update in a day or two. No one from the Super Kings’ management could be reached for a comment.The franchises’ reaction contradicted Roberts’ statement that he had explained to them the exact reason the players should be representing T&T. “So while they may be upset, I tell them I am very sorry they are upset, but the [T&T] population wants our best players, the government wants our best players,” Roberts had said. “The players want to play for Trinidad & Tobago and they will play for Trinidad & Tobago.”There has been no official reaction yet from the CLT20 governing council, but Rajiv Shukla, chairman IPL governing council, said he was unaware about the development. “It is between the player and the franchises,” Shukla told ESPNcricinfo. “Let the franchise approach us and then we will check.”The IPL Player Contract has a Clause 3.1 (i) containing three varying conditions regarding the players’ CLT20 participation. The clause states that a player will play solely for a franchise in the IPL and in the CLT20 if the team qualifies for it unless the player is not selected for the squad or is released by the franchises “in its absolute discretion” to play for “another team which has qualified” for the CLT20. It is the third condition which leaves the situation open-ended stating that the player can play for another team in the CLT20 if, “the rules of the CLT20 (or any agreement to which the Franchisee has agreed) permit the Player to elect to play for another team (not being a team in the League) which has qualified for such CLT20 and the Player so elects.” The rules of the IPL however state that it is the IPL franchise that has the first choice over a player in the CLT20. Under those conditions, the IPL franchisee has to pay the player’s second club/ first-class team an amount approaching $150,000 per player.Incidentally Pollard, Bravo and Narine were part of the T&T squad in the inaugural edition of the CLT20, when they lost to New South Wales in the final in 2009. But back then Pollard and Narine had no IPL contracts and Bravo had played for Mumbai Indians, who had not qualified for the CLT20.

Suresh Saraiya, the Indian radio commentator, has died aged 76 after a heart attack

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2012Suresh Saraiya, the Indian radio commentator, has died aged 76 after a heart attack. Saraiya covered more than 100 Tests for All India Radio, for whom he worked for more than four decades.The first Test he covered was in 1969 at the Brabourne Stadium, when India faced off against Bill Lawry’s Australian team, and his last match was the Test against West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium last year, which was drawn with the scores level.Commentator Harsha Bhogle was among those who paid tribute to Saraiya. “I worked with so many commentators – few with his desire and preparation. He loved cricket, did our Suresh ,” he tweeted. “All India Radio was Suresh Saraiya’s heart and soul. Was like a child when we broadcast from South Africa. He had tears that morning in Durban [South Africa’s first home Test since 1970].”Sanjay Manjrekar, the former India batsman, remembered Saraiya’s hobby of collecting ties. “Shocking to hear about the passing away of Suresh Saraiya, cricket commentator… It’s a sad day today,” he tweeted. “Great passion for cricket commentary and an even greater passion to collect cricket ties… RIP Suresh .”He wrote cricket columns in several Gujarati newspapers for more than a quarter of a century. Saraiya had also worked as a public relations officer in the Central Bank of India for 37 years.

A round-up of matches on August 13 during the Under-19 World Cup 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2012Pakistan picked up their second straight win of the tournament, beating Scotland by nine wickets at the Kev Hackey Oval in Buderim. After being asked to field, they bowled out Scotland for 200 and chased the target comfortably.Mohammad Nawaz picked up 4 for 20 with his left-arm spin, but Scotland would have hoped for a bigger score after starting their innings well. Opener Ross McLean made 59 and was part of a quick opening stand worth 36 with Mathew Cross. McLean and Freddie Coleman added 66 for the third wicket and Scotland were looking good at 146 for 2 in the 33rd over. But a collapse ensued. Nawaz struck and was supported by Ehsan Adil who dislodged two batsmen. The last eight wickets fell for just 54 in 17 overs.Babar Azam led the way for Pakistan in the chase, smashing an unbeaten ton and was part of an opening stand worth 163 with Sami Aslam, who made 78 off 79 balls. That stand all but sealed Scotland’s fate and Pakistan won with almost 14 overs to spare. Azam finished with 106 not out off 121 balls, hitting 10 fours and two sixes.West Indies continued to impress in this Under-19 World Cup, thrashing Papua New Guinea by nine wickets at Endeavour Park. PNG were bowled out for 116 in 41 overs after choosing to bat. Only three batsmen managed to reach double-figures and that included their captain Christopher Kent, who top-scored with 39. PNG had been reduced to 62 for 6 at one stage but Nigel Boge and Chad Soper added 38 together down the order to take the score towards 100. Seamer Jerome Jones was among the wickets, picking up three for 15 in a 10-over spell. His victims included the PNG openers. Kyle Mayers also grabbed three wickets in his four overs.Sunil Ambris made a mockery of PNG’s score, going on a rampage in the chase. He smashed nine fours and seven sixes in his 91, off just 43 balls. He made all his runs in an opening stand of 111 – his opening partner, captain Kraigg Brathwaite, remained unbeaten on 17 – and West Indies’ victory was sealed in the 12th over.Sri Lanka picked up their first win of the competition, inflicting a 195-run defeat on Namibia at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. They cashed in after opting to bat, helped by half-centuries from opener Sebastian Perera and Sandun Weerakkody in the middle order. Sri Lanka’s was a collective batting display, with handy contributions from the rest of their top five as well. They were in a dominant position at 210 for 2 in the 38th over and looked set to go past 300 but ended up losing their next seven wickets for 88 runs. Zhivago Groenewald picked up 3 for 49. However, Sri Lanka, having scored 298 for 9, had done more than enough.Barring Wian van Vuuren at the top of the order and wicketkeeper Gerhard Erasmus, Sri Lanka’s bowlers faced no resistance with the bat. Van Vuuren made 38, Erasmus was unbeaten on 36 but the rest of the line-up crumbled. Lahiru Madushanka gave the batsmen a tough time, picking up four wickets for 15 runs with his medium-pace. Namibia were bowled out for 103 in 35 overs.

England left themselves too much to do after losing two wickets in the first three balls of their innings as even Eoin Morgan’s 71 off 36 balls was not enough to haul them over the line against West Indies

The Report by George Dobell27-Sep-2012West Indies 179 for 5 (Charles 84, Gayle 58) beat England 164 for 4 (Morgan 71*, Hales 68) by 15 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJohnson Charles exploded after a slow start to register his first international fifty•AFP

A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.This was England’s second successive defeat following the 90-run thrashing India inflicted in their final group game and leaves their hopes of retaining the World T20 trophy hanging by a thread. England will probably need to win both their remaining Super Eights matches, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.England were always behind in their run chase. Set a demading 180 to win – they have never chased more than 173 to win a T20I – they knew they required a good start. But, while they were expecting a challenge from the spinners, it was the seam of Ravi Rampaul that provided the killer punch.After three balls of England’s reply, Rampaul was on a hat-trick after Craig Kieswetter, attempting to pull a delivery too full for the shot, top-edged to point and Luke Wright, attempting to withdraw his bat from a short delivery, guided the ball off the bat face to slip. A double-wicket maiden never represents a good start for a batting side; when they are chasing nine an over it is likely to prove fatal.Hales took legspinner Samuel Badree, in the side instead of the pace of Fidel Edwards, for consecutive boundaries – skipping down the pitch to drill a drive through mid-off before cutting the next ball for four when the bowler compensated – and cut Sunil Narine for another. But, at the end of their six Powerplay overs, England had scored just 29 for 2. West Indies, by comparison, had been 47 without loss. It was a gap that England could never completely close.Hales pulled Darren Sammy for one six and then drove and pulled Samuels for a four followed by a six. But though Jonny Bairstow helped Hales add 55 in 9.3 overs for the third-wicket, Bairstow’s struggles against the spin bowling – he made just 18 in 29 balls – put England even further behind the rate and left Morgan a vast amount of ground to make up.West Indies’ selection policy was certainly vindicated. Not only did Charles, the 23-year-old from St Lucia who has little obvious pedigree as an opening batsman, fully justify his position, but the control offered by the quartet of spin bowlers – Badree, Gayle and Narine, in particular – ensured that England were always behind the run-rate and, despite Morgan slogging a Gayle full toss for six over square leg, driving Narine for another and then top-edging another off Rampaul, West Indies always had breathing space.

Smart stats

• West Indies’ 15-run win means they have a 3-0 record over England in World Twenty20 matches, having also beaten them in 2010 and 2009.

• Johnson Charles’ 84 is his highest score in any first-class, List A, or Twenty20 game. His previous-highest was 72 in a List A game against Combined Campuses and Colleges. It’s also his first half-century in any international game.

• The 103-run stand between Chris Gayle and Charles is the maiden century stand for West Indies against England in a Twenty20 international. The previous highest was 84.

• For England, the 107-run partnership between Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan was their third century stand against West Indies in Twenty20 internationals. Hales has been involved in all three of them.

• The 107-run stand is also the joint second-highest in a defeat in a Twenty20 international, next only to the 145-run stand between Chris Gayle and Devon Smith against South Africa in the inaugural match of the 2007 World Twenty20.

They produced some outstanding fielding, too. Andre Russell, catching the ball in the air over the midwicket boundary and throwing it back into play before he landed, limited Morgan to two when he must have thought he had a six and Sammy, having picked himself up having dived to parry a clip from Hales, raced after the ball and dived full length to turn a four into a three.With three overs remaining, England required 46; with two remaining they required 39. Even though Morgan drove two sixes off Rampaul from the first four balls of the penultimate over, the last over, entrusted to Marlon Samuels, began with England still requiring 23 to win. Morgan drove the first delivery for four, but could manage only a single from the next two deliveries and, when Hales was stumped from the fourth ball, dragged wide as Hales advanced down the pitch, England’s hopes were extinguished.Earlier a career-best performance from Charles hastened West Indies towards their total. Charles, overcoming an uncertain start, scored 84 from 56 deliveries and shared in an opening stand of 103 in 11 overs with Gayle to allow West Indies to seize the initiative they never really relinquished.While Steven Finn, bowling with sharp pace, produced a tight first over with Charles’ first boundary coming when he top-edged an attempted pull over slip, Gayle was soon into his stride. Having patted back his first two deliverires from Jade Dernbach, he then crashed three fours from the rest of the over: two pulls and a fierce drive.Gayle dealt with the pace of Finn comfortably, giving himself room to cut a short ball over point, and greeted the introduction of Stuart Broad, also bowling at a sharp pace and with good control, with a thick-edged over third man and then a flick over mid-wicket.But it was Samit Patel’s introduction for the eighth over that marked a sharp acceleration from West Indies. Patel’s third delivery, something of a long-hop, was pulled over mid-on, the fifth was slog-swept over square leg and the final delivery, a quicker ball, was driven over mid-on as Gayle thrashed three sixes from the over.Johnson followed suit in the following over from Graeme Swann. Having seized on to a poor ball down the leg side with a sweep for four, he followed it with two sixes over the long-on boundary to complete a period of five sixes in 10 balls for West Indies.Gayle reached his 50 in just 29 deliveries and brought up the 100 stand from 63 balls with another six driven over extra cover. So when Finn, running in from long-off, put down a simple chance offered by Charles on 39 off Swann, it seemed there would be no respite for England. But it turned out to be a moment of fortune for England. The next delivery, Gayle mistimed a thump over long-on and, this time, Finn made no mistake with the catch.Broad clawed back a little control with a wicket maiden in the 14th over when he had Samuels taken at point as he attempted to slash over the off side, but Charles, who reached his half-century from 36 balls, was back on strike for the next over and skipped down the wicket to drive Patel for another six then latched onto both Finn and DernbachClearly showing the effects of weariness he then drove a full toss to mid-on to depart 16 short of a century. His work was done, though, and despite Morgan’s heroics, West Indies were always just one step ahead.

Only two days of play were possible in the solitary Sunfoil Series fixture of the week

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2012Only two days of play were possible in the solitary Sunfoil Series fixture of the week. The Dolphins and Cobras had to see out a wet draw in Pietermaritzburg, with both Saturday and Sunday washed out.Dolphins earned 0.82 more than Cobras, after batting for 90 overs more than them. It had looked as though the Durban-based side would spend far less time at the crease. After choosing to bat, Dolphins were 25 for 4 in the 11th over as two national fast bowlers ripped through them. New call-up Rory Kleinveldt took the first three wickets, one lbw, one caught behind and one bowled to start with figures of 3 for 8, and Vernon Philander claimed the fourth.Divan van Wyk survived the early assault and combined with Cody Chetty for a 102-run stand for the fifth wicket. Chetty was bowled by Johann Louw after making 59, but van Wyk went on to star in another big partnership, of 83 runs with his captain, Daryn Smit.Both looked set to score centuries but van Wyk was bowled by Philander on 95 and three overs later Smit was stumped on 94. Dolphins tailed wagged a touch and they were bowled out for a respectable 310. Kleinveldt was the pick of bowlers with his 5 for 54.In reply, Cobras were fairly untroubled by Dolphins. Alistair Gray and Andrew Puttick eased their way to 66 before bad light stopped play on day two and the teams were not able to take the field again in the match.Cobras remain at the top of the table. They have 43.78 points from their four matches so far and are 13.86 ahead of Warriors, whose match against Knights is also in danger of being rained out. Dolphins have also played four matches, three of which have been weather affected. They are third with 24 points. Neither team will play anymore first-class cricket until the schedule resumes in December.

A wrap of the fourth day of the first round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group A

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2012
ScorecardBrothers in arms: Siddarth Kaul took five wickets and Uday took five catches to take Punjab to an innings win over Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Harbhajan Singh celebrated his return to Test squad with three wickets in an innings win over Hyderabad to secure full seven points for Punjab. Siddarth Kaul, who took three wickets on the third evening, added two more to end up with his second five-for in his fourth first-class match.Punjab began the day needing seven wickets for an innings win, and it was always going to come down to VVS Laxman. In opener Akshath Reddy’s company, Laxman thwarted Punjab for close to two hours, but once Reddy got out to Harbhajan, the floodgates opened.Siddarth Kaul accounted for Laxman, and the rest folded easily. It was another good day for the Kauls: Siddarth’s brother, Uday, took five catches.
ScorecardJalaj Saxena, who has been the offspinner on two India A tours now, might not have been picked for the Tests but pulled out an excellent rearguard with the bat to give Madhya Pradesh one point in what looked like a certain defeat. When Saxena came in to bat, MP were 179 for 6 despite Naman Ojha’s 64, and needed to bat 33.2 overs to save the match.Saxena drew support from Amit Sharma and Anand Rajan. The latter had also taken seven wickets in Gujarat’s first innings. With Amit, Saxena saw through close to 10 overs, but the partnership of the day came with Rajan. The two played out 24.3 overs to frustrate Gujarat, who couldn’t find a wicket-taker other than Rakesh Dhurv and Mehul Patel, who bowled 51 overs between them for seven wickets.While Saxena got a much-deserved half-century, Rajan stayed unbeaten on nine off 64 balls.
ScorecardWriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Shukla roughed it out through the testing period in the morning session to see Bengal through to safety and three points. Bengal made a declaration before lunch, but in a match punctuated by bad light there was never going to be enough time to force a result.Bengal began the day at 109 for 5, still needing a solid partnership to consolidate their 97-run first-innings lead, and they found it through Shukla and Saha. They added 55 for the sixth wicket, and Saha went on to score his second fifty of the match before Manoj Tiwary set Rajasthan a target of 330.Ashok Dinda provided Bengal with a good start with Ankit Lamba’s wicket, but the experience of Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Rashmi Parida was enough to see defending champions Rajasthan through to one point.
Scorecard
Railways began the day needing 41 runs to avoid the follow-on with two wickets in hand, and only an enforced follow-on could have kept the rest of the day interesting. As it turned out, Zaheer Khan, who had cramped up on day three according to captain Ajit Agarkar, didn’t even take the field, and Railways’ ninth-wicket stand of Krishnakant Upadhyay and Anureet Singh made sure they wouldn’t have to bat again.After that Kaustubh Pawar and Ajinkya Rahane scored 80s in glorified batting practice.

Shakib Al Hasan, along with Nasir Hossain, all but ensured West Indies would bat again, but his survival had promised so much more

The Report by Abhishek Purohit24-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTino Best, nursing an injured hamstring, was at it again•Associated Press

Shakib Al Hasan had been Bangladesh’s superman again. He’d bowled 52 overs in the West Indies first innings and become the second Bangladesh bowler to take 100 Test wickets. He had watched the first five Bangladesh batsmen disintegrate and proceeded to cut the 261-run deficit with thrilling, defiant strokes. But in the end, Shakib fell to the same lack of patience that plagues the Bangladesh Test line-up. He did not have the patience to sleep tonight three short of a Test hundred. First ball of the last over of the day, he charged Veerasammy Permaul, and holed out to mid-off. Shakib, along with Nasir Hossain, all but ensured West Indies would bat again, but his survival had promised so much more.Shakib and Nasir got together after a three-wicket burst from Tino Best, nursing an injured hamstring, had reduced Bangladesh to 82 for 5. This was just before tea, and with a session left, it seemed Bangladesh would struggle to take the game to day five. As it turned out, Shakib and Nasir dominated after tea, with 141 runs coming in 35 overs.It is a fine line between aggression and suicide, especially when you are looking to first avoid an innings defeat, but Shakib and Nasir got it just right. Shakib was in imperious touch through his favoured backward point region. Deliveries with next to no width were steered and cut for boundaries, at times against the angle. Sunil Narine, who has made no impact this series with figures of 3 for 343, was hit for three successive boundaries.Nasir, only 20, again played a mature knock that belied his age and his batting position – his series returns have been 96, 21, 52 and 64 not out. He was the defensive foil to Shakib but did not let any width escape both sides of the wicket as he drove, swept and flicked confidently.

Smart stats

• West Indies’ total of 648 is their highest in the subcontinent, surpassing their 644 in Delhi in 1959. Their last 600-plus score in the subcontinent was in Mumbai in 1975.

• The total of 648 is the highest against Bangladesh. The previous best was India’s 610 for 3 in Dhaka in 2007.

• Shivnarine Chanderpaul registered his fifth score of 150 or more in Tests. He was unbeaten in four of those five innings.

• Shakib Al Hasan, who became the second Bangladesh bowler to take 100 wickets, went past Mohammad Rafique to become the highest wicket-taker for his country.

• Shakib’s dismissal was the ninth instance of a Bangladesh batsman falling in the nineties. Shakib has been dismissed in the nineties on three occasions.

• The 144-run stand between Shakib and Nasir Hossain is the third best sixth-wicket stand for Bangladesh. It is also the fourth-highest stand for Bangladesh against West Indies.

Bangladesh’s early collapse, though, had left too big a hole to fill. The first five Bangladesh wickets lasted a collective 88 deliveries, which wasn’t exactly surprising for a side that had spent nearly seven successive sessions on the field, and had lost 64 of its previous 74 Tests. What was surprising was the source of their woes. Best, who hadn’t batted and had been doubtful to bowl, needed 16 deliveries to take out three batsmen, including Tamim Iqbal.West Indies had closed their innings on 648 for 9, the highest total made against Bangladesh, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul remaining unbeaten on 150, having also made an unbeaten 203 in the Mirpur Test. Bangladesh had the task of batting at least four sessions to avoid losing the series 2-0 on a slightly deteriorating pitch. The surface, though, had nothing to contribute to the fall of the home batsmen. For once, it was not even their usual tendency to self-destruct. They were just not good enough against the pace of Best and Fidel Edwards.Nazimuddin played his first delivery, the third of the innings, from within the pads and Edwards swung it in just enough to trap him in front of middle and leg. Tamim and Shahriar Nafees, once again, batted as if hitting aggressive boundaries was the only way to bat in Test cricket.As it had in Mirpur, the exhibition delighted the Khulna crowd for a few overs before the inadequacies took over. Shahriar had no clue how to deal with the short ball. He tried to back away and upper-cut one aimed at his head, and was caught at gully, but Edwards had overstepped.Best, who came on in the ninth over, was to make no such mistake. He was in no position to go flat out as he had in Mirpur. But his first delivery had enough bite to jag in from short of a good length and bowl Tamim. Naeem Islam shouldered arms to his third delivery, which swung in late and hit off stump. Shahriar’s misery ended four overs later when he hopped and fended a bouncer to the slip cordon. At that stage, Best’s figures were 2.4-0-6-3.All that was needed now was a batsman throwing it away. Mushfiqur Rahim did just that as he charged at a Permaul delivery, missed and was bowled.Shakib was left, yet again, to push the match to day five, after having taking four wickets in the morning. The Khulna pitch, after three days of slumber, had started producing deliveries that reared and spun sharply, though Narine and Permaul did not get as much out of it later.Since Chris Gayle fell before lunch on day three, Bangladesh had toiled more than 180 overs for two wickets. Shakib produced two in an over, twice, close to lunch today. Chanderpaul, though, chugged untroubled to 150 and even his rate of scoring was constant over the three sessions he batted.Though Shakib and Nasir fought for a while, one constant through Bangladesh’s innings was the nervy, fidgety feeling that it could come apart any moment.

A wrap of the fourth day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group B

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2012
ScorecardUttar Pradesh consolidated their position at the top of the table with a comfortable 195-run win over Tamil Nadu in Chennai after bowling them out for 225 on the final day. Chasing 421, Tamil Nadu made a solid start, with the openers adding 67 runs, before Ali Murtaza claimed M Vijay’s wicket. Two quick wickets followed, and from then on Tamil Nadu slid out of control.Wickets kept falling regularly and only Arun Karthik provided some resistance with a doughty 70. He was the final batsmen to be dismissed, in the 65th over. Ali Murtaza, who claimed his second ten-wicket match haul in first-class cricket, and Praveen Gupta did most of the damage, taking seven of the ten wickets. Tamil Nadu are now effectively out of the race for the knockout stages.
ScorecardMaharashtra and Baroda played out a boring draw on the final day, after Maharashtra had already gained the valuable first-innings lead on the third day. Baroda, despite gaining only one point out of the fixture, sit second in the points table and remain likely to qualify through to the knockout stages. Maharashtra built on the lead by scoring a further 73 runs before declaring, and Baroda replied confidently by scoring 225 for 1, thanks to two centuries, before the game was called off.Resuming at 376 for 7, Shrikant Mundhe added a couple of productive partnerships, with Akshay Darekar, and later No. 10 Nikit Dhumal, who scored 27. After declaring the innings at 449 for 8, they picked up an early wicket, that of opener Anupam Gupta. But a 217-run stand between Saurabh Wakaskar, who scored 100, and Abhimanyu Chauhan (109), steadied Baroda and forced a draw.
ScorecardIt is not often in sport that a team completely dominates the final quarter of a match but still ends up distinctly second best. In Hubli, Karnataka’s batsmen looked in terrific touch as they piled up 330 for 2 on the final day against Haryana, but the massive first-innings lead they conceded left their side with only one point from the match.Read more of the report here.