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A plucky last-wicket stand of 45, between Bevon Brown and Andrew Richardson, steered defending champions and current table-toppers Jamaica to first-innings points against Barbados on a tense second day in Kingston. Precariously placed at 269 for 9, the pair scored the 24 runs needed to go past Barbados’ 293 in the first innings and helped Jamaica end on 314, a lead of 21. Brown finished unbeaten on 30 from 55 balls with three boundaries while Richardson was the last man out for 12. Resuming on 31 for no loss, Brenton Parchment (47) and Danza Hyatt (34) helped Jamaica make good progress, with both putting on an opening partnership of 74. But it was Wavell Hinds’ 75 which held the Jamaican innings together. He was involved in a crucial sixth-wicket stand of 92 with Keith Hibbert (25), lifting the team from a perilous 143 for 5 after lunch. Kevin Stoute was the most successful bowler for Barbados with 3 for 56, while Ryan Hinds and Dwayne Smith finished with two wickets apiece.Captain Travis Dowlin top-scored with 61 as Guyana took a narrow lead against the Leeward Islands in Nevis. If Dowlin’s half-century was vital, first-class debutant Christopher Barnwell, and the Crandon brothers, Royston and Esaun, played their parts with the bat as Guyana clawed to 229. From the overnight score of 20 without loss, and needing 206 more for first-innings points, Guyana had two early stutters before Narsingh Deonarine andDowlin linked up to push the score past 100. However, a five-wicket blitz by Tonito Willett and the legspinner Anthony Martin put Leewards on course for first-innings honours, with Guyana reduced to 209 for 8 at tea from 116 for 3 at lunch. But Esuan was to be the late-innings hero, stroking a 29-ball 33 to help Guyana reach safety. Leewards lost a wicket just before the close to finish on 63 for 1.Fifties from Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles, along with key contributions down the order helped Windward Islands to first-innings points against CombinedCampuses & Colleges (CCC) in Barbados. Fletcher, whose place in the side was under cloud at the start of the season because of disciplinary action by the Windwards’ selectors, entertained the crowd with an explosive 69 after Charles had provided the early fireworks. Charles later settled down to score 54, as Windwards, replying to the CCC’s first innings total of 227, were dismissed for 323. A collapse in the middle though, saw them slip from 203 for 2 to 258 for 7 before a late flurry from Shane Shillingford and Mervyn Matthew for the eighth wicket yielded 69 runs, pushing Windwards to a lead of 96. Offspinner Ryan Austin was the pick of the CCC bowlers with 5 for 108, while Jamel Noel and Khismar Catlin bagged two each. Batting a second time, CCC reached 5 for no loss with captain Simon Jackson and Omar Phillips at the crease.

An eventful day in Grenada, where Barbados were locked in a keen contest with Windward Islands, who fought back well to end the first day with a slight edge. Ryan Hinds top scored with 89 but five other batsmen who reached double figures failed to covert their scores into something substantial as Barbados squandered a dominant position of 170 for 2 to end up at 305 for 7 by stumps.Hinds batted for three hours and struck 13 boundaries in a solid knock that lasted 135 balls – he also reached 5000 first-class runs – and was well supported in a 115-run third-wicket stand with Jonathan Carter, who made 52. Their team got off to a bad start, losing captain Jason Haynes for a duck, after being asked to bat first. However, two fruitful partnerships followed – Hinds added 51 with opener Dale Richards (37) and Barbados had recovered well. However, both Hinds and Carter fell to the legspinner Raul Lewis within the space of 21 runs and appeared confounded with the decisions given against them. Dwayne Smith then made 36, and wicketkeeper Patrick Browne contributed 30 but both gave away their wickets after looking set. Five of the seven Barbados wickets fell to spinners, with the offspinner Shane Shillingford making good use of the pitch to extract turn and bounce to pick up three.Jamaica took two wickets towards the end of play to seize the initiative from Trinidad and Tobago – who were sitting pretty at 107 for 1 after being put in – on a rain-affected first day in Port of Spain. Darren Ganga, the T&T captain, and the opener Justin Guillen helped the side recover from the early loss of Adrian Barath, who as caught behind for 0 when he prodded at an away-swinger from Andre Russell, and added 106 off 235 balls for the second wicket. Ganga survived two close calls – a missed run-out opportunity and an appeal for caught behind – on his way to 57, while Guillen was the more fluent of the two, smashing the legspinner Odean Brown over long-on for six after lunch on his way to 48.The Jamaican bowlers struggled to unsettle the pair, but the medium-pacer David Bernard finally managed to find the outside edge off Guillen’s bat to have him caught at slip by captain Tamar Lambert. With the dip in scoring after the loss of a wicket came the surrender of momentum which cost T&T dearly. As they limped to 123 for 2, Lendl Simmons was trapped lbw by Brown while offering no stroke, and Ganga followed immediately, misreading an inswinger from Bernard to find his stumps pegged back. Darren Bravo and Sherwin Ganga saw them through to stumps and T&T’s progress on the second day will hinge largely on the current partnership.Another day of squandered opportunities in Bridgetown, where seven Combined Campuses and Colleges batsmen got to double figures but failed to reach a half-century to leave their team struggling at 262 for 8 against Guyana. The medium-pacer Brandon Bess took three wickets, and his new-ball partner Esuan Crandon two, as Guyana succeeded in preventing CCC from consolidating threatening partnerships.Being asked to bat, the CCC openers Romel Currency and Simon Jackson, who top scored with 45, added 60. The Guyana bowlers conceded many extras, 18 of them by way of no-balls, but once the first wicket was taken – Currency caught behind off Bess – they fell into rhythm. CCC were looking comfortable at 101, but they lost three wickets for 40, incuding Jackson, who was caught behind off legspinner Davendra Bishu. Floyd Reifer and Chadwick Walton lent some stability to the innings, adding 69 for the fifth wicket, but once that stand was broken by Bess things went downhill for CCC. They lost four wickets for 52 before the day drew to a close.

Surrey have begun to install their permanent floodlighting ahead of the new season and hope to complete the work by May.The Oval hosts four floodlit matches during the ICC World Twenty20 in June and England play Australia in a day/night one-day international on September 4. The first match under the new lights is set to be the Twenty20 game against Sussex on May 26.There will be four towers rising to 130 feet and they are retractable to half their length to minimise disruption to the local area. The new system will replace the old solution at the ground, where a number of temporary lights and generators were set up at the ground on a day by day basis.Clive Stephens, The Oval’s operations director, said the new floodlights and the recently installed drainage system will help maintain the ground’s international standards.”The new lights we are installing should help safeguard the future of The Oval as a major international ground for years to come. The system will allow us to bid for all international matches we choose,” he said. “With a brand new outfield and drainage system and this new set of floodlights, The Oval will have to be classed as one of the very best international cricket grounds in the world.”

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A see-saw battle between two teams trying to catch up in Group B ended in Baroda’s favour, with their international players stepping up to hand their first win of the season. At 273 for 6 in the second innings, Maharashtra began the day with a 194-run lead, but quick strikes from Munaf Patel set up a target of 227, and Yusuf and Irfan Pathan guided the hosts to victory.Maharashtra lasted 15.2 overs on the final day as Munaf ended with figures of 4 for 40. He reduced them to 299 for 9, and left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar soon took the wicket of Rohit Motwani, the overnight batsman, to complete his four-for.Opening bowlers Samad Fallah and Mun Mangela then rattled Baroda with four quick wickets, and the score was 75 for 5 when Pinal Shah was run out – the second time he was dismissed in the manner in the match. However, Maharashtra’s hopes were dented by the Pathan brothers, who put the chase on track with a vital century stand. Yusuf cracked 16 fours in his 100, which came off 109 balls. Irfan was far more patient during his 50 not out. They put on 150 runs before Yusuf fell with two more runs needed, and two balls later the win was achieved.Yusuf, who came off a successful ODI series against England, continued his good form in this match. “I wasn’t under pressure when I walked in. I just decided to put up some fight and play my natural game. But I was careful while playing shots as I knew I had to stay in till the end,” he told the .
Scorecard
A washout on the first day jolted Tamil Nadu’s chances of a result against bottom-placed Andhra, but they still tried to force a win after gaining three points – and top spot in Group B – for the first-innings lead in Vijayawada.Resuming on 131 for 1, Tamil Nadu’s overnight batsmen both went to score centuries as the team bettered Andhra’s 283. Abhinav Mukund scored his second hundred of the season, while S Badrinath hit his second century in as many innings, keeping him in contention to retain his spot in India’s Test squad – he had been dropped from the ODI squad against England.Tamil Nadu declared on 286 for 4 – Abhinav and Badrinath had added 244 for the second wicket – to give their bowlers a shot at triggering a Andhra collapse. The hosts lost three wickets for 42 in 18.3 overs, before M Suresh and B Sumanth held out for a draw. Relegation seems likely for Andhra, who after five games, have only three points, one less than Maharashtra, who also have a game in hand.Uttar Pradesh 346 (P Kumar 98, Raina 66, Kartik 3-60, Karan 3-73, Singh 3-86) and 150 for 6 dec (Srivastava 62, Parida 2-7) drew with Railways 200 (Goud 78*, Chawla 5-33, RP Singh 3-81) and 215 for 8 (Rawat 80, Bangar 70*, B Kumar 5-35)
ScorecardA determined Sanjay Bangar and Mahesh Rawat, playing with viral fever, took Railways to a tense draw, after Uttar Pradesh had reduced them to 33 for 6, then 77 for 7. UP declared 5.5 overs into the final day, and 33.4 overs and seven wickets later were only formalities short of an incredible win. But Bangar and Rawat frustrated them for close to two-and-a-half hours, before Bangar and Anureet Singh batted out 13.2 overs to keep the visitors at bay. (Read the full report.)

India go into the second ODI against England in Indore with Ishant Sharma virtually ruled out of the game and are waiting for a final decision on Yuvraj Singh’s fitness, which will be assessed on Monday morning.Ishant missed the first match of the series because of an ankle injury he sustained during the Test series against Australia. “Ishant is virtually out of the match because, if he doesn’t play here, it will give him five-seven days’ time to recover,” India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, said.Yuvraj was the Man of the Match for his 138 off 78 balls in India’s 158-run victory in Rajkot but he hurt his back during the course of that innings and needed a runner. He did not field while India were bowling and did not practice today in Indore either. Dhoni said there was “considerable improvement in Yuvraj’s condition” but India would “take a final call on him before the match”.Dhoni expected the pitch in Indore to play differently from the one in Rajkot. Both captains wanted to bowl in the first match and Dhoni later said that losing the toss was a blessing. India were sent in by Kevin Pietersen and scored 387 for 5 on a flat pitch and a fast outfield.”The toss is important. The wicket will not be like the one at Rajkot. There will be wear and tear as the match progresses. It’s dry and it will become slow and it will be difficult to score,” Dhoni said, before adding, “but all these are only predictions.”This is the first series for both teams under the new playing conditions, which allows the batting side to decide when to take one Powerplay, and Dhoni said that the change “made the game more interesting”. India took their Powerplay after the 34th over in Rajkot and scored 41 off it.”It’s quite early to say [how it affects the outcome of a match],” Dhoni said. “One has to have a few options to deal with it. Generally the batting team decides to take it soon after the change of ball [mandatory after 34 overs]. It depends on what sort of starts the teams get.”India crushed England in the first one-dayer but Dhoni said that his team were guarding against complacency and remained “focused on what needs to be done” to win in Indore on Monday.

On the first day in Mohali, India passed milestone after milestone: Sachin Tendulkar became Test cricket’s highest run-scorer and took his tally past 12,000, while Sourav Ganguly notched up 7000. Such records inevitably fall by the wayside during long enough careers. There was one milestone, however, that was missed by India, and also by Gautam Gambhir.Gambhir had attacked Australia on a flat pitch and had pushed the field back but, when the century was there for the taking, he got bogged down and wasted the opportunity. It wasn’t the first time either for, since his comeback, Gambhir has looked good for a hundred at least four times, without actually getting one. He came into this Test averaging 36 which isn’t bad but it doesn’t do justice to the kind of form he’s been in. And openers averaging 36 aren’t rated much either.Simply put, he needed a century. When openers are judged, and when they’re selected or dropped, it’s the hundreds that count. The near-misses are forgotten for they are merely starts which haven’t been converted. And Gambhir had only one century to show for his 18 Tests.”It was always playing on my mind, that I was getting starts but not converting them,” Gambhir said completing his second Test century. “Everyone was telling me that I was just getting 60s and 70s. Today the only thing different was that I just tried to be in the present. Those 60s and 70s had happened in the past; I thought it better to just think about each ball.”He looked comfortable in the first innings. He drove balls bowled at speeds approaching 150km with authority but, after shifting to fourth gear, he switched back to first and got stuck. There was a sense that he was perhaps wasting the best form of his life.”It was very frustrating. In Test cricket it’s important to get big runs,” Gambhir said. “It’s not like you will be getting starts in each game and each innings; there will be times when you will get out early. The important thing, whenever you get a good start, is to get as many runs as possible.”Gambhir’s comeback to the Test team was via the Twenty20 and one-day route, formats in which he’s thrived and scored runs, even against Australia. However, he knows that Test cricket is the real deal.”You always want people to remember you as a good Test cricketer, rather than just a good one-day cricketer or a Twenty20 cricketer,” Gambhir said. “There was a lot of pressure on me. I really wanted to establish myself in Test cricket. Today was a very important knock for me, a Test century against Australia”His reaction upon reaching the century said as much. He clipped Cameron White towards the midwicket boundary and started celebrating even before completing the single that would take him to 100. The fist-pumping was exaggerated and portrayed the great relief of a burden being lifted.Rarely does one get a second chance soon but Australia offered him the driver’s seat again. The third ball of his second innings was full and wide and Gambhir freed his arms and square drove it. Soon he started walking down the wicket and toyed with the bowlers.Boundaries alone, however, weren’t enough against this Australian side. They knew their weaknesses and were quick to go on the defensive. Gambhir’s century was compiled under circumstances similar to the middle overs of a 50-over game and he looked for quick singles and tried converting ones into twos. Having Virender Sehwag at the other end during most of his innings helped immensely for Gambhir and Sehwag are a perfect cricket marriage. They are friends off the field and on it. Both are aggressive although in different ways. Their understanding is so good that calling is redundant; eye contact is often enough.”I always have extra confidence when Viru [Sehwag] is batting at the other end,” Gambhir said. “It is always difficult when you are playing the new ball. He is one person you can share your thoughts with. So far it has been working out well.”Another of Gambhir’s good friends is only one Test old. Amit Mishra plays for ONGC, the same club as Gambhir and Sehwag. Mishra has spent years feeling happy about his friend’s inclusion in the national side. “I used to sit in front of the TV set in hope that maybe this time my name would be there. But it was only Gautam’s name that would bring a smile on my face, the only saving grace.” It is fitting that Gambhir should have cemented his place in the same match that Mishra took a five-wicket haul on debut.

Good morning Haydos
Just before play started, Matthew Hayden kept Zaheer Khan waiting. For two minutes, he gardened on the pitch, on the non-strikers’ end too, and then when Zaheer was getting ready to run in, Hayden squatted and made Zaheer wait again. Then he got what he asked for. A fired up Zaheer delivered a sharp, accurate bouncer which Hayden failed to negotiate and was hit in the helmet. A concerned Simon Katich walked up to his partner to check on him. Hayden hadn’t seen the last of it though as the third ball of the over, another bouncer, hit his shoulder.Angry young fielder
India didn’t start with Ishant Sharma today. One can’t be sure if that riled him up, but the moment he got an opportunity to have a shy at the stumps, he absolutely let it rip. Katich had played it straight to Ishant at mid-on, and dashed off for a single in a frenzied manner. Ishant took aim and broke the middle stump into two, shattering the stump camera in the process.Beeroz Shah Kotla
At least once each during their umpiring careers, Aleem Dar and Billy Bowden have officiated in matches where bees have attacked the field and held up play. It happened to Bowden in Vishakhapatnam, during the India-Pakistan one-dayer in 2005 and Dar faced it in Kandy, during the England-Sri Lanka Test in 2007-08. The bee attack seemed inevitable when the two united for the Kotla Test.This one was an assault like no other. For what seemed an eternity, the players lay on their tummies, waiting the bees to go away. As the players pondered whether to bee or not to bee, everybody had a good laugh. Ishant, fielding at the fine-leg boundary, was the only brave man standing. Sachin Tendulkar, covering his ears with his hat, sported a bee-tific smile, and Hayden rolled on the grass like a child. Bowden tried to be brave and started moving first, but the bees put him back in his place. Sourav Ganguly was, as expected, the last one to get up once the bees went away. All in all, what a bee-mer.Gettin’ jiggy with it
The IPL has not left the Kotla. Popular local music blares at every break in play, however small, and none of the players have taken a liking to it. Just after mid-day drinks, Virender Sehwag ran in to bowl to Hayden, but the music didn’t seem to stop. Hayden lost his concentration and had to pull out of the second delivery. He also did a little jig to suggest he may as well start dancing if the music didn’t stop. We can’t be sure whether the whole thing affected Bowden’s concentration, because Hayden was given lbw off the next ball to a delivery which may or may not have gone over the stumps.

The ICC has granted ICL the opportunity to present its case for official sanction, and Subhash Chandra, the Indian businessman who owns the league, will meet ICC president David Morgan in London. The meeting is expected to take place in the first week of October after which Morgan will report back to the ICC’s board of directors. The ICL will start its second season of domestic and international twenty20 tournaments on October 10.”The ICL had previously written to the ICC requesting its approval and now it has asked for this meeting, to which we have agreed,” Morgan said. “All members of the ICC board have been informed of this meeting and I will report back to those directors at the board’s next meeting, in Dubai on October 14 and 15.”Himanshu Mody, the ICL’s business head, said that they were still awaiting an official communiqué from the ICC on the meeting. “But we welcome the step they have taken in agreeing to meet us,” Mody told Cricinfo.It is learnt that Chandra, the owner of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, which also owns the ICL, will be accompanied by members of the ICL management for the meeting during which the league will seek official sanction under Rule 32 of the ICC operations manual that pertains to authorised unofficial cricket.Currently, the Stanford venture in the West Indies and the Hong Kong Sixes tournament operate under this rule, but the ICL’s case is different as it has not been endorsed by the home board, the BCCI. The Indian board has, in fact, banned ICL players from all forms of official cricket and barred them from using any of its facilities.Yet, the ICL has managed to remain in the news by unveiling its ninth team last week, the Dhaka Warriors, comprising 13 players from Bangladesh, including six with central contracts. It has also received unexpected support from Sri Lanka where the board last week lifted its domestic ban on six ICL players, including Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, and allowed them to play in the Premier League tournament this season.The ICL has been pressing the ICC unsuccessfully for official recognition of their unsanctioned venture for several months. Subsequently they requested the ICC for a meeting, and hinted at legal action if they ICC didn’t accede to the request. The ICC, meanwhile, has held several meetings of a working group it set up early this year to study the legal aspects of unofficial cricket.”All that has happened now is that the ICC has decided to hear Mr Chandra’s point of view,” a member of this working group told Cricinfo. “Everyone has the right to be heard. It doesn’t mean that the ICC has to agree to that point of view, or agree to any proposal. Any further discussions on this will happen after Mr Morgan reports back to the board on this meeting.”An ICC press release said that it will be making no further comment on this matter at this time.

Scorecard

Upul Tharanga stood out with a quick-fire 169 as Sri Lanka A gained valuable batting practice in their high-scoring draw against the South African Challenge XI at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni.Batting first, Sri Lanka set off at a rollicking pace despite the early dismissal of Tharanga Paranavitana, reaching 50 in the ninth over. Tharanga found strong support from Kanchana Gunawardene, with whom he added 226 runs for the second wicket. Gunawardene fell ten runs short of three figures when he was dismissed by Cliff Deacon. In the mean time, Tharanga, who brought up his hundred, continued to flay the South African bowlers before he was caught behind by Wendell Bossenger off Lundi Mbane.Thilina Kandamby, Sri Lanka’s captain, contributed a 99-ball 71 and batted with the lower order to extend the duration of the innings. South Africa’s frustrations were compounded by a 52-run last-wicket stand, with Sujeewa de Silva, who made 43, doing the bulk of the scoring. Sri Lanka had put on a massive total, but more importantly, got those runs at a shade under five an over. The pick of the South African bowlers was Mbane, who finished with creditable figures of 3 for 73.South Africa began their first innings in solid fashion, with the opening pair of Chad Baxter and Adrian McLaren (34) putting on 84 runs. But a three-wicket burst from debutant seamer Isuru Udana sparked a sudden collapse, the home side slipping to 123 for 6. Deacon and Mbane each scored 30s to ensure that South Africa went past 200 but they were still 364 runs adrift when they were bowled out.The tourists decided against imposing the follow-on and opted for batting practice ahead of the contests against South Africa A. Angelo Mathews, the middle-order batsman, made the most of the opportunity with an unbeaten 101 off 127 balls, including ten fours and a six. Sri Lanka then declared their innings with a massive 594-run lead.South Africa needed to bat out a little bit more than 40 overs, but left-arm spinner Rangana Herath gave them a few jitters by taking three wickets to push them down to 92 for 4. But Baxter’s steady half-century, and his unbroken 53-run stand with Bossenger (28*), ensured that there was no further alarm.Sri Lanka now travel to Potchefstroom, where they take on South Africa A in the first of three four-day matches beginning Friday.

Scorecard

The Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy skittled the South Africa Academy for just 77 to claim a thrilling three-run win in their four-day match in Pretoria.Double strikes from Mahbubul Alam and Shafaq Al Zabir had South Africa reeling at 32 for 7. Roelof van der Merwe and CJ de Villiers then took them to within ten runs of victory before Alam had van der Merwe trapped lbw. In a nail-biting finale, the hosts inched towards a win: soon four runs were needed with two wickets in hand. Alam struck again, removing Basheeru-Deen Walters and two balls later Bangladesh’s captain Suhrawadi Shuvo bowled de Villiers to complete a stunning turnaround.The visitors had been playing catch up for most of the match after de Villiers sliced through their batting to restrict them to 217 in the first innings. South Africa tightened their grip with a commanding batting performance, led by opener Stiaan van Zyl’s 161. Half-centuries by Rushdi Jappie, Dane Vilas and van der Merwe helped the hosts to a 157-run lead. The advantage would have been even more substantial had it not been for Alam’s four wickets.In the second innings, Bangladesh lost their openers with 24 on the board, and a double-blow from the left-arm spin of van der Merwe reduced them to 80 for 4. The rescue act was led by Marshall Ayub, who made an unbeaten 72 and was involved in crucial stands with Nadif Chowdhury (37) and Shuvo (20). That lifted them to 237, leaving South Africa firmly in control and needing a paltry 81 for victory before Bangladesh turned the tables on them with a superb bowling performance.The second and final four-day match will be played at the Laudium Oval in Pretoria, starting on Thursday.