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Six wickets from Chetanya Nanda, the legspinner, helped Delhi dismiss Bengal for 211 – a lead of 63 – in the final session of day two, before Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra ensured that Delhi built on the advantage. Bengal managed to stretch its first-innings lead thanks primarily to a dogged fifty from Rohan Gavaskar and a useful contribution from Manoj Tiwari down the order. Earlier, Bengal had bowled the hosts out for a paltry 148, and Delhi will definitely need to make amends in the second innings if they wish to register their first points in the season.
ScorecardA fine hundred from Vinit Indulkar, his second in first-class cricket, helped Mumbai consolidate their position on the second day of the Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka at Bangalore. After bowling out Karnataka for a modest 186 yesterday, Mumbai rode on a solid 62 from Wasim Jaffer before Indulkar, 21, dominated proceedings. He crashed 18 fours in his 209-ball unbeaten effort and his 119-run stand with Omkar Khanvilkar, who made a patient 23, strengthened their position at the end of the day.
ScorecardUseful contributions from the middle order enabled Tamil Nadu to gain the edge on the second day of the Ranji Trophy game against Railways in Delhi. Sridharan Sriram, Subramanium Badrinath and Hemang Badani ground out half-centuries as Tamil Nadu overcame an early slump, reduced to 32 for 2, to recover to 211 for 4 at stumps. Madan Yadav, the left-arm spinner, ended as the most successful bowler for Railways, the defending champions, and ended with 2 for 58.
ScorecardIt was a tense battle at Valsad as Gujarat and Maharashtra jostled for supremacy on the second day of the Ranji Trophy clash. The Maharashtra lower order managed to add just 40 more runs this morning as Siddharth Trivedi, the medium-pacer who finished with a five-wicket haul, led a Gujarat fightback. Their top-order batsmen then stole the initiative by laying a solid platform – with Nilesh Modi, Akash Christian and Niraj Patel crossing 30 – but a triple strike from Rohit Jadhav, the offspinner, enabled Maharashtra to claw back into the see-saw contest.
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Andhra were 50 for 1 at the close of the second day’s play at Anantapur, after Ibrahim Khaleel’s maiden first-class hundred took Hyderabad to an imposing 370. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, dismissed MSK Prasad for just 9 to get the early breakthough, but Tirumal Suman, who shifted from Hyderabad this season, clubbed consecutive sixes off his – and the day’s – final over to signal Andhra’s intent. Hyderabad had began the day on 211 for 5 and lost two wickets before lunch, but staunch resistance from Khaleel, the wicketkeeper, and Inder Shekar Reddy turned a precarious situation into one of dominance.
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Centuries from Connor Williams and Jacob Martin took Baroda to a comfortable 268 for 2 on day two of the Elite group match-up against Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur, just 78 runs behind UP’s first-innings total. It was a day of struggle for UP as both Williams and Martin found the boundaries with ease and staved off any attempts of a fightback from the bowlers. Earlier, UP had extended its overnight of 303 for 6 to 346 thanks to some lower-order hitting.
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Joginder Sharma’s second consecutive five-wicket haul helped Haryana bowl out Punjab for 224, with only Ravneet Ricky’s 58 standing out amid the rubble, but two late wickets helped Punjab fight back at Mohali. Joginder’s decisive strikes with the new ball left Punjab reeling, before Ricky stemmed the rot with a gritty 161-ball knock. Dinesh Mongia, who fell for a golden duck, will hope for a much better showing from himself and his middle order as Punjab aim to push for victory in the game.

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Graeme Hick led the revival – a brief one – for the World XI with his 44© Getty Images

Brilliant hitting by Stephen Fleming took New Zealand to a resounding victory by nine wickets over the FICA World XI at Jade Stadium in Christchurch with nearly 34 overs to spare. Fleming went on a one-man wrecking mission as he raced to a century off 54 balls, with his last 50 runs coming in ust 19 deliveries. He struck seven sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan to bring up New Zealand’s 100 in only the 12th over.Fleming saw plenty of Muralitharan during his innings of 274 in the last Test series played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 2003. He showed Murali no mercy here , playing a large part in his sorry figures of 0 for 57 in only 3.1 overs.Fleming’s batting reached the heights it did during his innings of 134 against South Africa in the 2003 World Cup. He reached his century with nine sixes and nine fours, and hit one more four before holing out to Craig Spearman for 106. Such was his dominance that Nathan Astle seemed a passenger with his unbeaten 36, which came at almost a run a ball.The damage was done earlier, when Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills scythed through the World XI’s top order after Shane Warne had chosen to bat first. Both Tuffey and Mills took two wickets apiece as the World XI slumped to 20 for 4. But Jonty Rhodes, out of cricket since September 2003, and Graeme Hick, who hadn’t played since the end of the last English season, effected a mini-recovery. They added 79, with Rhodes scoring 36 and Hick 44. Warne hit out for 26 as well, but after the fast bowlers did the damage at the top, Daniel Vettori swept through the lower order to take 3 for 33 to dismiss the World XI for 158 in 39.3 overs.Tuffey took 2 for 25 and Mills 2 for 30. There was a special cheer when Jeff Wilson, a double international, took Hick’s wicket to end with 1 for 27 off seven overs, his first wicket at this level since 1993.Off the field, much of the attention centred around the good cause which the match was supporting – to raise funds for the tsunami victims in South East Asia. The takings from the game came to $NZ506,233, and it supplemented a sum of $NZ700,000 that had already been pledged.The only sour note was provided by the arrest of five people for drunk and disorderly behaviour, and another spectator – also inebriated – trying to run off with a collection bucket. Those around him caught him and handed him over to the police.The second match will be played in Wellington on Monday, with the final game to follow in Hamilton two days later.

The South African board has announced it will meet in Johannesburg tomorrow to discuss reviving the cancelled tour to Pakistan. Gerald Majola, the chief executive, said he had received a letter from Pakistan offering alternative fixtures.A statement read: “Gerald Majola is to convene a meeting of the management committee of Cricket South Africa in Johannesburg on Tuesday to discuss the PCB proposal and to receive a full briefing from security consultants.”The South Africans originally called off the tour after a bomb blast in an empty Karachi office building on Friday night. They said the security in Pakistan had deteriorated to an unacceptable level, and offered to either play the series outside Pakistan or delay the tour until security improved. The Pakistan board, however, refused to play the series away from home.The revised fixtures miss out Karachi all together and have the option of excluding Peshawar. The South African committee will consult with their government, Eric Simons, the coach, and Graeme Smith, the captain, before making a final decision.”We made a decision on Saturday, based on information from our security consultants who had also been in contact with intelligence agencies,” Majola added. “That information was that the situation in Pakistan, particularly following a bomb blast in Karachi on Friday evening, meant that sending our team to Karachi on Sunday as planned would have constituted an unacceptable risk.”Majola said the his board would continue to assess the security situation and continue to look at it in relation to the proposed alternative fixtures: “We will continue to make every effort to find alternatives that do not pose an unacceptable level of risk to our national team.”Meanwhile, Rameez Raja, chief executive of the Pakistan board, said he was confident that the tour would still go ahead. “I talked to Gerald Majola and he has conveyed to me that they would find a positive way before Tuesday evening to reschedule the tour.”He added: “I am confident that the tour will go ahead with three Tests and as many one-day games as originally planned. They had misconceptions about Fridays blast that it was a car bomb and after talking to our security officials, they got the clear picture that the blast was not linked to terrorism.”

Skipper Tushar Arothe hit a fine century to give Baroda the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Thursday.Baroda started their first innings well, putting on 70 runs for the first wicket. Nayan Mongia, batting at number three, hit an unbeaten 74, made off 149 balls with seven fours. He held the fort as a mini-collapse occurred with him at the other end.Arothe’s presence stabilised the innings, and the pair took Baroda through to the close of play. At stumps, Baroda were 283/4, with Arothe not out on 105 off 202 balls. Mongia and Arothe had added 149 runs for the fifth wicket.

Rangana Herath, who has spearheaded the Sri Lankan bowling attack for the past six years since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, says he won’t make any decision on how long to carry on playing until after the end of the 2016 World Twenty20 in India. However, Herath, who will turn 38 during the World Twenty20 next March, says it could come “very soon” and admits he is struggling to stay fit with recurring knee problems hindering his effectiveness.”With my age you cannot perform the way you did some 10-15 years ago. From my fitness I am doing the maximum with the injury, I am struggling a little bit on it,” Herath said. “I cannot give a guarantee with my bowling or my fitness. I am trying to retain whatever energy I have and to prolong my career I have reduced the number of one-day matches and play only Tests.”If I put a target to end my career I will not be able to give my maximum to the team. Every time I play I look to give 100% to the team. But before long I will have to take a decision on my future. I will decide after the World T20 which is to be played in India next year. We are the reigning champions and we have a good chance of defending it with the present team although they lack in a bit in experience.”The upcoming two-Test series against West Indies represents another challenge for Herath. In particular, his knees are a special area of concern after undergoing surgery on each leg four years ago. To reduce the pain, Herath went to Australia shortly before the 2014 World Twenty20 and got a C-reactive protein injection for each knee but it is a over a year since and the pain has returned.”I did an operation on both knees in 2011 for damaged cartilage,” Herath said. “I had a clean-up and I had no problem playing after that. But of late I have been getting pains. It is four years since the operation and the effect of it must have worn off over the years due to the wear and tear while playing.”I sometimes get the pain on my knees when I start to run but not when I am bowling. I have been working with the physios, trainers and the medical staff how best to manage my injury and taking tablets and taping myself when I play in matches.”Following the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Herath is one of the few experienced hands around for skipper Angelo Mathews to turn to for advice, making his presence all the more valuable.”Even when Mahela and Sanga were around as a bowler I offered advice and assistance to Angelo. In future, Angelo will require the support of all the team members. As a senior player I also have a responsibility to support him especially from the bowling side. If you take our bowling unit apart from Dhammika [Prasad] and me the rest have not played many matches. When you play with an inexperienced bowling unit, the captain will need to have a lot of patience because you will not get the breaks every time you need them.”In the past five-six years it has been this bowling unit which has been shuffled around and played. We always look as a team to build partnerships with the bowling unit. If anyone is bowling well from one side, not consistently bowling maiden overs but lessening the number of loose balls and not allowing batsmen the freedom to score, the strike bowler has more chances of taking wickets.”This was something that didn’t happen during Sri Lanka’s Test series against Pakistan where young offspinner Tharindu Kaushal leaked runs from one end which affected Herath, who could manage only two wickets in the series and found himself dropped for the third Test.”I don’t blame anyone for my poor performances against Pakistan. From my side I had room to improve myself which I managed to do during the Indian series,” said Herath. “PHT [Kaushal] is a newcomer to Test cricket. We cannot expect too much from him like building pressure and things like that. He needs the experience to do that. With experience only you can improve their performance. From my side I could have bowled better than I did against Pakistan.”Technically you cannot put your finger on anything that’s wrong. It is against Pakistan that I have performed very well taken about 90 Test wickets. What I found was that the Pakistan batsmen played me better than in the past and although I did not concede as many runs what stood out was that I could not get any wickets.”Despite the early inconsistency, Kaushal does have two five-wicket hauls in his first six Tests and Herath believes that Kaushal is the best option Sri Lanka has to succeed as a frontline spinner after him.”If you take our spinners it is Kaushal who has played a lot and has the wicket-taking ability,” Herath said. “Even Dilruwan Perera has it but Kaushal from the wicket-taking angle is the most successful and promising, we should pursue with him for the future. He has a problem with his doosra but I believe he can go a long way with his offspin.”PHT does not spin the ball as much as Murali. Murali had a wrist from which he could impart sharp spin and turn. Kaushal does not have that advantage, but he definitely has turn.”In contrast to all other opposition, Herath’s record against West Indies is poor. He has only taken eight wickets in five Tests but he is confident that he can put the record straight in the upcoming series.”I am confident that I can do what I have been doing in the past and have great belief if I bowl well we have a good chance of winning the series.”

Wolves have shown over the past few years that as well as signing new players to come into the club, they have also seen a number of players move out of Molineux for significant transfer fees.

One player that left the Old Gold in recent years that they will not be missing is winger Helder Costa, who was sold to fellow Premier League club Leeds United back in the 2020 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £16m.

Wolves originally signed the attacker on loan from Benfica in 2016 before securing him on a permanent basis for a then-record club transfer fee of £13m in the 2017 January window.

During his time at Molineux, the winger racked up a total of 19 goals and 19 assists in 109 appearances across all competitions.

Since leaving the Midlands club for Leeds, the 28-year-old’s career has probably not gone the way he or the Elland Road side would have liked having scored just eight goals in 71 appearances before being moved out on loan to Spanish club Valencia last summer.

Even with the La Liga side, the Angola winger hasn’t been able to prove himself with no goals scored in 20 appearances as well as a rather underwhelming overall performance rating of 6.47/10 according to WhoScored.

Labelled as a “massive flop” for the Yorkshire club by Noel Whelan, Costa’s current market value of £7.2m from Transfermarkt shows a 55% decrease from the fee that Wolves picked up for him.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say that Wolves made the right decision in selling Costa when they did and making a profit on him by doing so.

Despite not being particularly potent in front of goal this season with 24 goals scored in 25 league games, it’s hard to see the former Old Gold attacker being much help in that department if he had stayed at Molineux based on what’s he’s delivered for Leeds and Valencia since his exit.

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Moving forward, unless the player can end his loan spell in Spain on a high note, it will be hard to see what the next step in his career will be.

In other news: Forget Traore: Lage must finally axe barely-seen Wolves outcast, he’s “miles off” – opinion

Tanmay Mishra: off to Indian university © Getty Images

Cricinfo can reveal Tanmay Mishra was left out of the Kenya squad for the matches against Canada because he was unable to attend training sessions.Mumbai-born Mishra, 20, was absent because he is preparing to travel to India where he will attend university for the next three years. This will limit his availability for the national squad although it is still expected that he will be able to play in some major matches.Mishra was heralded as one of the brightest young talents when he broke into the national side in 2004-05. In 12 first-class matches he has scored 659 runs at 32.95 and in 28 ODIs he has made 698 runs at 31.72.

Australia 3 for 346 (Ponting 137*, Langer 82, Hussey 63*) v England
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Ponting’s innings was scripted to perfection from the moment he won the toss and chose to bat first © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting launched his quest for Ashes vengeance with a brilliant unbeaten 137, as Australia piled on the runs on the opening day of first Test at the Gabba. Ponting, whose reputation as captain rests entirely on his success in this campaign, produced a flawless innings from first ball to last, as England’s bowlers wilted in the baking Queensland heat.It was more than just an innings from Ponting, it was a declaration of intent. This was his 10th Test hundred in just 15 Tests dating back to that epic 156 at Old Trafford, but whereas that innings had helped sustain the tension of the 2005 Ashes, this performance was conceived with the absolute opposite purpose. Fed up with the stigma of being Australia’s Ashes-losing captain, he set out to crush any semblance of a competition. It was as if every one of his innings since that moment had been mere dress-rehearsals for today.Ponting’s innings was scripted to perfection from the moment he won the toss and chose to bat first. That particular blow to England’s morale was not as acute as it had been on this ground four years ago, when Nasser Hussain opted to bowl and was met, then as now, by Ponting’s crashing blade. But as word filtered out that Ashley Giles had been selected as England’s spinner ahead of the more attacking Monty Panesar, a packed and patriotic Gabba began to feast on England’s negativity.In particular they feasted on Steve Harmison. After all the hype and all the hoopla, the official presentations, national anthems and assorted paraphernalia, Harmison’s first delivery of the 2006-07 Ashes was the ultimate anticlimax – a massive wide that was fielded at second slip to guffaws from the stands. So much expectation – too much expectation – had been heaped on his shoulders, but this was a moment to rank alongside Phil DeFreitas’s long-hop to Michael Slater on this ground way back in 1994-95.Then, as now, it pricked the bubble of anticipation, and provided Justin Langer – whom Harmison had given such a working-over at Lord’s on the last opening morning – the ideal sighter to settle his nerves. This may have been Langer’s 101st Test match, but his 100th, at Johannesburg back in April, lasted precisely one vicious delivery from Makhaya Ntini. Instead, Harmison’s nervy two-over spell was dispatched for 17 runs, mostly crashed behind square on the off-side, to set the tone for an ominously one-sided first day.Inevitably it was the captain who hauled England back into contention. Flintoff’s first over had not been laced with stardust – two no-balls and an awful overthrow from James Anderson were the highlights. But then he found some extra bounce outside off stump to kiss the edge of Matthew Hayden’s bat, and Paul Collingwood claimed a comfortable chest-high catch in his first match as England’s second slip. Hayden was gone for 21, a solid enough innings but one that was a far cry from his bullying brilliance of four years ago.

Flintoff hauled England back, twice, but found no support from his other bowlers © Getty Images

That dismissal, however, brought Ponting to the crease and at 79 for 1, with one captain facing up to the other, the Ashes had truly begun. Ponting started watchfully, needing 10 deliveries to get off the mark, but when he did it was with two shots of pure class and confidence – a full-blooded pull and a back-foot steer off Harmison, who had been recalled to the attack to inflict another of his Lord’s duelling scars, but instead had his own figures lacerated.Harmison’s malaise spread to the rest of England’s seamers. Matthew Hoggard was unable to swing the Kookaburra ball and was milked out of the attack, while Anderson – in a reprise of his nightmarish performance at Johannesburg two winters ago – was clattered for 13 fours in 15 overs. He was twice entrusted with the first over of a session, and twice he failed to live up to the task, conceding nine runs straight after lunch and tea. That didn’t however stop Flintoff trusting him with the new ball late in the day, with predictable results.Langer was particularly harsh on Anderson’s waywardness, and he seemed a shoo-in for his 23rd Test century when, on 82, he swatted a wide one from Flintoff to Kevin Pietersen at point, and swished his bat in annoyance as he left. But the damage to England’s psyche had already been done. In the absence of any cutting edge, England desperately needed a steadying influence, and lo and behold, it was the maligned Giles who provided in his first first-class match for exactly 12 months.Steady as ever, he found some extra bounce and bite outside off stump to surprise Damien Martyn as he shaped for a cut and conceded just 51 runs from his 18 overs. But by the close, the almost unnoticed Mike Hussey had nudged and shimmied his way to an unbeaten 63.It was Ponting’s day, however. By stumps he was level with Steve Waugh as Australia’s leading century maker (32) and needed just 71 more runs to reach 9000 runs in Tests. He is destined to break every record in the book. But, and it is a big but, if he fails to win this series as captain, he is destined to be judged as a failure. On today’s evidence, it’ll be over his dead body.

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England ended the third day of the only Test at Delhi on 3 for 0, and require another 308 runs to win this match after India declared on 175 for 4. India will be looking towards the impressive Jhulan Goswami – who took 5 for 25 in the first innings – to deliver as they attempt their first Test win against England.Charlotte Edwards and Laura Newton began England’s run chase in cautious mode, facing four overs against the new ball. No doubt they are waiting for the final day to attempt any acceleration. Earlier in the day, Beth Morgan and Jane Smit saved the follow-on by putting on 50 for the ninth wicket, which was also the last after Katherine Brunt retired hurt with a broken hand.Richard Bates, England’s coach, told Cricinfo that England will look to capitalize on a good batting track and seize the initiative early on. “Our first plan will be to see off the new ball and then we will assess where we are at tea,” he said. England only need to score at three an over to secure victory, and after a shocker of a day yesterday, Bates was feeling happier. “I’m a little bit better. Today wasn’t about trying to get ten wickets, it was about trying to restrict them as much as possible and they gave us a very sporting declaration.”Though no batsman passed 50, vital contributions from Karu Jain (35), Anjum Chopra (31*) and Goswami (34*) saw India extend their lead. After Monica Sumra’s early departure, Jain was joined by Mithali Raj, and the intent of the Indian captain was plain for all to see – to score fast. She wasted little time in taking advantage of a defensive field, and her drives through the off side were elegant. Edwards was the most testing of the bowlers, impressing with her variation and extracting decent turn with her swift leg-cutters. At 52 for 2 she had Jain caught and bowled going for a drive – Edwards smartly rolling her fingers over a slower one – and diving forward to hold a good catch. She could have had more success too – in her next over, Raj cut hard at a shorter delivery but the sharp chance was spilled at gully.Raj (24) and Rumeli Dhar took the score to 94 for 2 at tea, but shortly thereafter England fought back to stymie India’s progress, spinner Rosalie Birch dismissing both batsmen. Towards the end of the day Chopra and Goswami opened up with some lofty hits to the fence, and a dropped chance by Edwards, off her own bowling, signalled a tough afternoon session for England.Earlier in the day England had resumed at 103 for 7, but immediately lost Birch, leg before, as Goswami snared her fifth victim of the innings. Thanks to Smit and Morgan’s battling partnership, however, England were able to stretch their total to 154 and avoid batting again.A couple of loud appeals apart, little pressure was applied on Smit and Morgan as the bowlers continuously dropped it short. It didn’t help that the day three pitch was as lifeless as a bone in a museum case but, given Goswami’s fine showing on day two, you would have expected the bowlers to come in with guns blazing.

England XI 220 for 3 (Solanki 82, Bell 51) beat Namibia 219 for 8 (Snyman 75, Karg 39, Anderson 3-36) by 7 wickets
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The England batting hero Vikram Solanki hits out during his 82© Getty Images

A spirited 82 from Vikram Solanki carried the England XI to a seven-wicket victory against Namibia at Windhoek in their last warm-up match before the one-day series against Zimbabwe starts on Friday (Nov 26). Namibia had recovered from an early wobble to post 219, but an England win was never in doubt after Solanki and Ian Bell put on 110 for the first wicket, before Geraint Jones and Kevin Pietersen steered them home with more than six overs to spare.Deon Kotze eventually broke the opening partnership as Bell, having just brought up his fifty, was caught by Morne Karg, but this proved a rare moment of cheer for him in a nine-over spell which cost 59. Sarel Burger claimed the only other wickets to fall for England, as Solanki was stumped and then Matt Prior (17) offered a catch to Namibia’s batting star, Gerrie Snyman (157 for 3).Snyman had earlier carved 75 to lift Namibia to the realms of respectability as he and Louis Burger shared a stand of 70 after Karg had stabilised the innings with a quickfire 39. But they had got off to a terrible start as James Anderson struck twice to reduce them to 6 for 2. Wickets tumbled steadily, and Namibia found themselves in trouble at 45 for 4 before a spirited fightback, but one which proved too little, too late as England eased past their total relatively untroubled.