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Surrey have completed an emphatic win inside three days in their Championship match against Kent at The Oval. They bowled Kent out for 268, with Ed Giddins taking three for 80, and knocked off the required 61 runs for victory, losing just one wicket in the process.Warwickshire have reached a strong position against Leicestershire at Edgbaston, leading by 210 runs with six second innings wickets remaining. Grant Flower extended his first innings for Leicestershire to 75 and Neil Burns weighed in with a useful 64 as the visitors were bowled out for 370. Warwickshire then reached 118 for four in their second innings, but not with an urgency that suggests they are on course for anything other than a draw.There was drama at the end of a rain-interrupted day in Bath after Somerset declared their first innings on 161 for nine, 91 runs behind Hampshire. Richard Johnson and Matt Bulbeck then cut a swathe through Hampshire’s top order, reducing them to a stunning three for four at stumps.Just short of 24 overs play were possible at Headingley, but that was enough for Sussex to force the beleaguered champions to follow on. James Kirtley polished off the Yorkshire tail to finish with five for 49, and Yorkshire closed on eight for no wicket, 210 behind.In Division Two, Northamptonshire are in a precarious position against Essex at Ilford. Having been forced to follow on, they are still 25 runs behind with only four second innings wickets remaining, despite 71 from Mike Hussey and 46 from Jeff Cook. Their batsmen offered little resistance to the Essex bowlers first time around to be bowled out for 204 with four wickets falling to Ashley Cowan. Those bowlers had to work harder in the second innings with all the batsmen dismissed so far at least getting into the twenties, but it would appear that only the weather can deprive Essex now.At Trent Bridge Derbyshire were dismissed just one run short of Notts’ total of 393. Mohammad Ali contributed a useful 43, while Nadeem Malik and Richard Logan each finished with three wickets. Notts reached 75 for three in their second innings by stumps, 76 runs ahead.At Lord’s, Mike Powell made 122 as Glamorgan were bowled out for 369 by Middlesex, who had reached 131 for one at the end of another rain-blighted day.Durham and Worcestershire managed just nine overs and three balls at Chester-le-Street. Allan Donald took the wicket of Andrew Pratt for 67 as Durham closed on 206 for five.

Two centuries in CricInfo Championship games already this season have helped persuade Hampshire captain Robin Smith to withdraw his threat to retire at the end of this summer.The former England batsman is 38 in September but now says he intends to carry on playing until his 40th birthday.Smith had a poor season last year and averaged just 20, prompting his retirement announcement. But his change of fortune this year has led to a change of mind.He said: “I feel pretty good this year and I could not be happier with theway things have gone.”Throughout my career I’ve been lucky in that I’ve always scored runs butlast year I suffered and I lost my confidence.”I was considering quitting if it went on but with a further two years lefton my contract I would love to fulfil that and play until I’m 40.”It has always been my ambition to finish at 40 and leave on a high and withthe last scheduled game being on my 40th birthday I would love to bow outthen.”

The third Mohammad Nissar Trophy, the annual fixture between the champions of the premier first-class tournaments in India and Pakistan, kicks off at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Monday, with Ranji Trophy champions Delhi taking on the Quaid-e-Azam winners Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). No team from Pakistan has won the tournament, with Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai winning the earlier editions.On paper, the Delhi side appears much stronger, with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma available for selection. SNGPL in comparison lacks in star value, with Misbah-ul-Haq the only prominent player who holds a regular position in the Pakistan side. Mohammad Hafeez, the captain, and Samiullah Niazi are the three Pakistan players who have international experience.Vijay Dahiya, the Delhi coach, cautioned against taking this fixture lightly and hoped a good performance here will serve them well for a hectic season up ahead. Delhi play the Rest of India for the Irani Trophy starting in Vadodara on September 24, before the Ranji Trophy which commences on November 3.”Matches like these are very important and we have to take them seriously. Our season is starting ahead of other teams so it will be good for us,” Dahiya said after a practice session. “It will also help the team gain confidence at the start of the season. But we have to play aggressively.”Dahiya expected the pitch to behave like a typical Kotla track, which normally assists seamers on the first day. He didn’t name the final XI, but stated that Delhi will field three seamers, a spinner and an allrounder in Rajat Bhatia. He was also pleased with the return of the left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who’s back in the reckoning for Delhi after missing the entire 2007-08 season with an ankle injury. He was picked up by the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise and performed reasonably in the Twenty20 tournament, taking 12 wickets in 14 appearances at an average of 29.”Ashish is also fully fit and is raring to go,” Dahiya said. “He has been out of the team because of injuries and not because of performance. Ishant is looking well and he is very eager to play as well.”Hafeez hoped the results of the previous editions of the series would motivate his team-mates to chase their first title. He admitted his team didn’t feel weighed down by the pressure of facing a side with as many as seven internationals. “We are the champions of Pakistan and I hope my boys will give their best,” Hafeez said. “I am happy with the team’s combination. The boys have huge potential and I hope we will continue with our good showing.”His team-mate, Misbah, felt the team was shaping up well. “We have been training hard, so I don’t think lack of match practice will be a problem for us,” Misbah said. “I personally feel that everything is going well and lets hope that we’re going to perform well there.”The yearly clash, which commenced in 2006, is held on a home and away basis. Uttar Pradesh defeated Sialkot in Dharamsala to claim the inaugural title, while Mumbai took on Karachi Urban in Karachi the following season and regained the trophy based on a first-innings lead.Teams
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Adil Raza, Adnan Akmal (wk), Asad Ali, Azhar Shafiq, Imran Ali, Imran Khalid, Khurram Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Saleem Mughal, Samiullah Niazi, Tauqeer Hussain, Umar Akmal and Yasir ArafatDelhi: Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Mayank Tehlan, Mithun Manhas, Virat Kohli, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht (wk), Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashish Nehra, Chetanya Nanda, Amit Bhandari, Narender Singh, Gaurav Chhabra

ADELAIDE, Oct 25 AAP – Highly rated New South Wales youngster Michael Clarke was unbeaten on 79 at tea, helping the Blues to 4-203 in their first innings on day one of their Pura Cup cricket match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval today.Former Australian Test opener Michael Slater, batting at No.6, was also at the crease on 40 after sharing an entertaining, unbroken partnership of 91 with Clarke.The pair helped NSW get on top after starting the session at 3-85.Clarke’s dashing innings included several edges through slips, and a difficult dropped catch at second slip by Mark Higgs from Greg Blewett’s bowling when he was on 74.But it also included many fine shots, particularly several beautifully-timed drives to the cover boundary.Blues skipper Simon Katich was the only batsman to fall between lunch and tea, out for 27 in disappointing style when he top-edged a cut shot to provide Paul Rofe with an easy catch at backward point from off-spinner John Davison’s bowling.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has accepted the request of paceman Wasim Akram, to release him from the two-Test series against South Africa starting at Durban from Dec 26.Wasim, who had confined himself for One-day cricket but suddenly made himself available for Test cricket after reaching Zimbabwe for the five One-day series last month, reverted to his earlier decision with the approval of the PCB.” The chairman of the PCB Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, spoke to Wasim over telephone yesterday (Tuesday), and after hearing him out, has agreed to accede to his request” acting director PCB Zakir Khan said. However, Zakir avoided to reveal any details of the conversation held between the chairman and the bowler.After Wasim’s omission a 15-member team will play the Test series as no replacement was being made, Zakir said.Wasim along with wicketkeeper Rashid Latif and Misbahul Haq will return home on Dec 20 while middle-order batsman Hasan Raza will join the team for the Tests on Dec 17. Rashid has also limited himself to One-day cricket.Former batsman, Hanif Mohammad, who is the batting consultant of the team will leave for South Africa Saturday.

Hursley Park put their Southern Electric Premier League promotion hopes firmly on the line against runaway Division 3 leaders Purbrook at the Quarters tomorrow (SAT), 1pm.But they go into the 50-over contest against the near promotion certainties full of optimism after winning five of their last six matches.It’s a run that has cemented Hursley in third place, significantly only four points behind Winchester neighbours St Cross Cross Symondians, who visit Hook & Newnham Basics.With only two matches remaining, Hursley know it’s effectively win or bust against Purbrook, who – 14 points clear of St Cross – can probably afford to lose to Hursley Park and Ventnor next week and still be promoted."But that’s not the aim at all," says Purbrook captain Alan Mengham, whose takes a full strength side to The Quarters, "We’ve established a fair sized lead at the top and our aim is to be promoted as Premier 3 champions."Purbrook have gorged 232 points from 13 completed games and will be virtually certain of being crowned champions if they beat Hursley.Steve Shaw will be assured of a warm welcome at the King George V ground when he makes a sentimental return to play against his former Hook & Newnham Basics teammates.It promises to be a stern test for full-strength St Cross as Hook have rediscovered their form and have cruised into a mid-table slot in recent weeks after looking potential relegation candidates for the first half of the season.Any slip by St Cross could be crucial with ever-improving Gosport Borough and Havant II moving up fast on the rails.Gosport, now in a best-yet fourth slot after a useful winning sequence, will fancy their chances at struggling Hambledon, while Havant 2nd XI captain Mat Gover is confident of success against his old club, Flamingo.The situation at the bottom of the table could change if Redlynch & Hale follow last week’s long overdue win over Paultons and win at Hartley Wintney, who lie second from bottom.Relegation is virtually certain for the losers.The Hampshire Academy could be breaking open the celebratory champagne if they beat United Services on the Rose Bowl Nursery ground.One win from the last two games – their season finishes at Trojans – will take the county youngsters out of reach of second-placed Easton & Martyr Worthy, who visit relegation fighters Rowledge.US gave the Young Hawks a real fright earlier in the season, losing by one wicket at Burnaby Road, but they are badly weakened by unavailabilitiues. Top wicket taker Damien Carson does, however, return.Easton know they have a real scrap on their hands against Rowledge, who are scrapping for every point in a bid to claw away from second from bottom place.Rowledge, who pulled off a fine win at Lymington last week, were agonisingly beaten by two runs in last Sunday’s National Village Championship semi-final."The way we played last weekend has given everyone great belief we can pulled this one off," says Rowledge skipper Dave Booton.The Farnham club will be at full strength, but Easton could be without their influential skipper Steve Green.Winchester KS can do Rowledge a massive favour if they beat Hungerford at River Park.Lymington fly back from a tiring tour of Dublin for a home match with Trojans, who need to take 44 points from their final two matches – their last is against the Hampshire Academy – to stand any chance of avoiding the drop.Opener Ollie Kelly, who has spent the past week icing a badly bruised ankle, is confident he will be fit for Sparsholt, who host Old Tauntonians & Romsey at the Norman Edwards Memorial Ground.Skipper Rob Savage is expected back, but the absence of Charles Forward will seriously weaken OTs, for whom Ian Tulk returns.

A third consecutive day of complete West Indian domination put India firmly on the backfoot at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. From an overnight 189/3, West Indies reached a commanding 446/5. The visitors have a handy lead of 88 with two days to play and are in a position to put pressure on the Indians on the penultimate day. The hero, unsurprisingly, was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with 136 not out, while Marlon Samuels played second fiddle perfectly, reaching an unbeaten 89. The best thing that happened to the Indians, then, was bad light putting an end to their misery nine overs short of the scheduled close.As it so often turns out, India had the best of the first session but nothing seemed to go their way after that. Leg-spinner Anil Kumble struck early in the day, removing Chris Gayle after he had added just eight runs to his overnight score of 80. Poking forward at a delivery that Kumble floated through a bit slower, Gayle gloved the ball to Virender Sehwag at forward short leg off his pad.Replacing Gayle, skipper Carl Hooper batted with composure. The Guyana middle-order bat used his wrists well to keep the opposition spinners at bay. It was, however, a brilliant bit of wicket-keeping that proved Hooper’s undoing. After the second new ball was taken, Ashish Nehra got a ball to straighten. Hooper edged and Parthiv Patel dived full length to his right to snatch the ball inches above the ground. The ball was dying on Patel and the catch proved the young keeper’s pedigree. Hooper made just 19.After pegging the West Indies back to 255/5, India could not make even adent in the proceedings. Chanderpaul hammered out his sixth Test centuryand took West Indies past the Indian first innings score of 358. Samuels, unbeaten on 36, gave Chanderpaul exactly the kind of support heneeded.Chanderpaul’s century was his fifth against India in Tests. The Guyanasouthpaw seems to love the Indian bowling attack. Before the start ofthis innings, Chanderpaul has scored an amazing 1140 runs against theIndians at an average of over 80. This innings, however, has been a touchout of the ordinary. By his own standards, Chanderpaul was aggressive, cracking twelve boundaries and a six in getting to three figures in 179 balls. Also, in the course of his innings, Chanderpaul aggregated one thousand runs in this calendar year. Phew.For his part, Samuels was able to keep the Indian spinners at bay. Batting carefully, Samuels ensured that a mammoth unbeaten 191 runs has been added for the sixth wicket.There’s a century for the taking for Samuels. The twenty-one year old has never reached the three-figure mark in Tests and will certainly be keen as anything when play starts on the fourth day. With that keenness will come the swirling swarm of butterflies in the tummy. What Samuels needs to do, though, is take a leaf out of Chanderpaul’s book.When he reached fifty, Chanderpaul showed little emotion, merely raisinghis bat in understated fashion to several sections of the ground. He then re-marked his guard, focussed and battled on. When he reached three figures, though, there was a release of emotion that would have warmed the hearts of even the keenest Indian supporters at Kolkata. After sprinting two runs, Chanderpaul whipped his helmet off, held both hands aloft, acknowledged the cheers of the crowd, knelt down and kissed the wicket. That’s the sort of gesture that will go down well with the emotional crowds -­ reportedly 66, 548 on the day at India’s biggest stadium.And yes, what would have made it easier for fans to appreciate the Windies was the performance of the Indian bowlers. Anil Kumble was ravaged -­ giving away 150 runs off his 47 overs. His partner, Harbhajan Singh, went for 101 runs off 52 overs, without adding to his overnight tally of three wickets. Tomorrow, two others will aim to reach the 150 and 100 marks, only that will be in the positive sense. Both Chanderpaul and Samuels certainly deserve to reach those milestones.

New Zealand’s women’s cricket team kicked off their European tour with a comfortable 169-run win over the Netherlands in Utrecht today.The Netherlands side asked the TelstraClear White Ferns to bat first in the 50-overs match.Rebecca Rolls and Nicola Payne put on 65 for the opening partnership with Rolls scoring 33 runs off 34 balls before she was the first dismissed in the innings.Payne scored 37 from 66 balls before departing at 87. Emily Drumm and Kate Pulford scored 66 for the third wicket, and each scored 36 before Drumm was dismissed while Pulford was run out 18 runs later.Haidee Tiffen and Kathryn Ramel were out for nine and seven respectively before Aimee Mason (17), Rachel Pullar (21 not out) and Anna Corbin (10 not out) took the score through to 245/7.The New Zealanders were helped by an excess of extras which topped the scoreboard at 39, including 29 wides.The home team were soon in trouble and while Pauline te Beest, who showed the benefits of her summers spent playing in New Zealand in recent years, scored 23, she was the only Netherlands player to achieve double figures.They were dismissed for 76, scored off 41 overs, with the last three wickets falling to Pullar without any addition to the score. Pullar, who was named player of the match, took three wickets for 10 runs from her eight overs.New Zealand gave all its bowlers a workout in the innings with eight bowlers used, all of them bowling cheaply. Other wicket-takers included Corbin, with two for four off four overs, Ramel with two for seven off five overs, Nicola Browne with one for eight off four, Mason one for 22 off six and Pulford one for seven off five.

Former Calmore Sports team-mates Paul Draper and James Hibberd are having a personal duel to see which of the two all-rounders can score the most runs and capture the most wickets."There’s nothing on it, except personal pride," says Hibberd, who lies a single run behind Draper in the batting stakes but one wicket ahead of his South Wilts rival.Both players have done well this summer, with Draper scoring 416 runs and taking 20 wickets for his new club South Wilts, and Hibberd making 415 runs for Calmore, in addition to snapping up 21 wickets with his medium-pace.But Draper has already scored two important successes over his old Calmore team-mate."We’ve beaten Calmore twice this season and I got scores of 88 and 42 without being out. I’m happy to dine out on that," chuckled Draper, who will have Hibberd’s full support in nextFriday’s SEC Cup final at the Rose Bowl.Leading individual performances:Premier 1
Batting: Damian Shirazi (BAT Sports) 501, Luke Ronchi (Bashley Rydal) 491, Russell Rowe (South Wilts) 473, Matt Swarbrick (Bournemouth) 459, Paul Draper (South Wilts) 416, James Hibberd (Calmore Sports) 415, Neil Thurgood (Bashley Rydal) 411, Roger Miller (Andover) 368, Alistair Gray (Liphook) 360, Dave Banks (BAT Sports) 300.Bowling: Dan Golstraw (BAT Sports) 32, Malcolm Hobson (Havant) 28, Richard Dibden (BAT Sports) 25, James Hibberd (Calmore Sports) 21, Kirk Stewart (BAT Sports) 20, Richard Hindley (Havant) 20, Kevin Nash (Bashley Rydal) 20, Paul Draper (South Wilts) 20, Christof Bothma (Calmore Sports) 20.Premier 2
Batting: Charles Forward (OT & Romsey) 582, Danny Peacock (Lymington) 441, Aaron Heal (Lymington) 430, Iain Brunnschweiler (Hampshire Academy) 411, Jason Laney (Hungerford) 405, Owen Dawkins (Hungerford) 397, Jeff Anning (Rowledge) 355, Max Smith (OT & Romsey) 333, Gary Hounsome (US) 329.Bowling: Damien Carson (United Services) 27, Nick Wood (OT & Romsey) 26, Steve Green (Easton & Martyr Worthy) 23, Aaron Heal (Lymington) 23, Danny Peacock (Lymington) 21, Jeff Anning (Rowledge) 20.Premier 3
Batting: Will Prozesky (Purbrook) 610, Mark Parker (St Cross Symondians) 524, Matt Digweed (Hartley Wintney) 501, Chris Baumann (Waterlooville) 482, Michael Howard (Leckford) 429, Colin James (Paultons) 411, Steve Watts (New Milton) 368, Ian Hunter (Purbrook) 368, Michael Heffernan (Alton) 359, Simon Greenfield (Havant) 345.Bowling: Nathan Collins (Gosport Borough) 26, Bob Paul (Bashley Rydal II) 23, Neil Doods (Ventnor) 22, John Barrett (Hambledon) 22, Andy Cattle (Leckford) 22, Julian Ballinger (Alton) 21, Andy Snellgrove (New Milton) 20, Ben Neal (New Milton) 20, Mark Stanley (Purbrook) 20.All Divisions
Wicketkeeping: John Burton (Redlynch & Hale) 14, John Harris (Hursley Park) 14, Dave Banks (BAT Sports) 14, Keith Trodd (OT & Romsey) 13, Lee Wateridge (Andover) 13, Dave Coles (Lymington) 13.Catches: Richard Hindley (Havant) 10, Stuart Tulk (OT & Romsey) 9.

Manicaland moved closer to their first Logan Cup victory of the season at Mutare Sports Club yesterday by forcing Matabeleland to follow on 330 runs behind. With another first session lost to bad weather yesterday time will become a big factor in deciding Matabeleland’s survival or Manicaland’s victory. Needing a further 283 to make Manicaland bat again, Matabeleland need to bat three sessions to safety. Openers Siziba (31 n/o) and Walker (11 n/o) made a good start by seeing off 23 overs before bad light stopped play for a third day running.Resuming their first innings score on the overnight 142 for three, Matabeleand lasted just 38 overs to finish on 244 all out off 70 overs. Only Strydom (72) offered worthwhile resistance and he remained positive throughout. This wish to dominate noticeable in all the Matabeleland batsmen may be the key to Manicaland’s chances of success on the last day. The pitch is unlikely to change significantly so it will be up to Manicalands bowlers to tempt and provoke indiscretion from the Matabeles. Paul Strang is the most likely to succeed in this tactic, having already lured Mbangwa to a swift stumping in the first innings. His repetitive forearm-stress-fracture forces him to bowl loopy leg-spinners these days and in some grades of cricket this is enough. Although this match has been designated first-class status, a lot of Matabeleland’s batting looks sub-second league class.It is likely that Alistair Campbell and Ian Coulson will be used for long periods during the day with Kingsley Went as an additional off-spinning option. Strang left the field late yesterday to seek physiotherapy treatment so his fitness is in question. The other three have had little impact on the game so far so will be fresh to answer their captain’s callings. ‘Jumbo’ King looked good for his 43 in the first innings, and with Siziba and Strydom showing good touch Matabeleland might just frustrate the home side.