Scorecard
A captain’s knock from Mithali Raj lifted India to their third successive win of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka at Jaipur. Set 172 for victory, India rode on Raj’s 108-ball knock, which included four fours, along with handy 30s from Sunetra Paranjpe and Anjum Chopra.Sri Lanka’s total of 171, largely thanks to half-centuries from Dedunu Silva and Eshani Kaushalya, proved to be inadequate. Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka were done in by tight Indian bowling, with Jhulan Goswami and Thirush Kamini managing two wickets apiece.Only one other batsman managed double figures and Sri Lanka didn’t get the kick in the final overs. Paranjpe began India’s reply confidently, with a stroke-filled 37, before a 70-run stand between Chopra and Raj sealed the deal.

India 338 for 3 (Ganguly 98, Gambhir 69, Dhoni 62*, Dravid 54*) beat West Indies 324 for 8 (Chanderpaul 149*) by 14 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sourav Ganguly followed up his impressive Test comeback with a spectacular return to one-dayers, but even his outstanding 98 was overshadowed by a stunning unbeaten 149 by Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground saw the most number of runs ever scored in a one-day international in India. On a belter of a pitch, India rode on Ganguly’s knock and a late fourish to pile up a gigantic 338 for 3. That seemed to be way beyond West Indies’ reach, till Chanderpaul turned it on towards the end. Even his blistering strokeplay wasn’t quite enough, though, as West Indies finished on 324 for 8, allowing India to sneak through by 14 runs.On a day when boundaries rained from start to finish, India were the early aggressors. Ganguly smashed 98 from 109 deliveries, and with Gautam Gambhir in spectacular form as well, the new opening combination put a rollicking 144 for the opening wicket – the first century partnership for India in ODIs for close to nine months. Sachin Tendulkar, walking in at No.3, showed the creativity he could offer in the middle overs, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid provided a lustrous polish at the end of the innings, pillaging 119 off the last 11.5 overs and erecting an awesome skyscraper.That skyscraper, though, was in serious danger of crumbling as West Indies put together an inspired run-chase. Requiring more than a run a ball, they got off to a frenetic start too, as Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul added 80 in less than 13 overs. Like the two left-handers who opened for India, Gayle and Chanderpaul complemented each other with their contrasting styles. While Gayle was all brute force, freeing his arms against some wayward bowling, Chanderpaul resorted to touch, cannily finding the angles. Gayle had two let-offs – on 2 and 12, both off Sreesanth – and he made the Indians pay for their lapses, swinging through the line and creaming boundaries almost at will.Subsequently, Harbhajan Singh’s double-strike pegged them back and following Gayle’s dismissal things slowed down considerably for them, reaching 139 for 2 at the 25-over stage. Chanderpaul was methodical and sly in his run-gathering. He glided Zaheer wide of first slip, top-edged Harbhajan over the same fielder, pulled Ajit Agarkar for six over square leg, pushed, tapped and burrowed. He didn’t try anything silly when India didn’t enforce the Power Plays – between the 10th and 14th over – but cashed in when the field was up soon after. He lost a couple of partners – Gayle was foxed by an offbreak from Harbhajan while Runako Morton had no clue against a doosra – but brought up his half-century in 52 balls and kept his side in the contest.

Earlier, India got the start they needed. Gambhir set the ball rolling with a salvo of boundaries early on and was especially severe on Jerome Taylor’s wide offerings. He didn’t miss out on anything wide and, once he’d gauged the true nature of the surface, even endeavored to pull the short ones.The story of the morning, especially when one considers what went before, was Ganguly. Returning to the one-day side after a gap of 15 months, he didn’t take long to find his groove. Displaying divine touches when he slashed through the off side, and showing no fear in charging down the track, he rattled West Indies. The shot with which he brought up his half-century encapsulated the mood: with an important landmark ahead and a chance to strengthen his case, he walked down the track to Daren Powell and smote him over extra-cover for a six. Risk without recklessness seemed to be the motif for the day.He was commanding against spin – whacking Gayle and Samuels straight over their heads – and showed enough energy when he ran between the wickets. He was always on the look out for a single but his eagerness led to his dismissal, falling two short of his first century in close to four years. Chancing Dwayne Smith’s arm at short midwicket, he was caught napping against a direct hit. The packed stands applauded his fine effort and one banner in particular – “The Tiger’s back” – said all that was needed.What eventually made the difference was the 71 runs in the last five overs, with both Dhoni and Dravid going ballistic. Dwayne Bravo’s slower deliveries proved effective initially but Dhoni soon teed off with a muscular approach that few can match. He jumped down the track to the fast bowlers and stung with an array of unorthodox slogging. Dravid, at the other end, was more delicate in approach but as deadly in execution. His three sixes were like flowers transforming into grenades – one over cover required just one hand – and the contrasting styles completely put off the bowlers. The stage was set for an interesting denouement and though the West Indies responded bravely India just had too many runs on board to seal their success.However, India’s slow over-rate marred the victory as the players were individually penalised 5% of their match fees. Dravid, on the other hand, copped a higher 10% fine.

Powered by centuries from Khurram Manzoor and Hasan Raza Karachi Zebras crushed Lahore Eagles by 152 runs . Put into bat, the Zebras rode on the back of the unbroken 200-run partnership between Manzoor and Raza to reach a huge 307 in their allotted overs. Rajesh Ramesh and Tanvir Ahmed rocked the top-order as Lahore Eagles slipped to a dismal 54 for 6, a position from which they never recovered.Rawalpindi Rams tasted their first win with a thrilling eight-run victory over Faisalabad Wolves. Rams were struggling at 115 for 5 when Usman Saeed took control and guided them to a competitive 225 with a 121-ball 95. Babar Naeem grabbed four top-order wickets to leave the Wolves tottering at 94 for 6 before a 102-run partnership between Mohammad Laeeq and Mohammad Salman steadied the chase. Laeeq’s run out opened the gates and Akhtar Ayub crashed through with a three-wicket haul as Wolves collapsed from 214 for 7 to be dismissed for 217.A disciplined batting and bowling performance saw Karachi Dolphins register a 36-run upset victory over the favourites Sialkot Stallions. Nearly all the batsman got a start – four crossed 40 as the Dolphins reached a healthy 266. Stallions got to a decent start, reaching 54 without any loss of wickets but Anwar Ali struck twice in quick succession to peg them back. Stallions rallied through a half-century from Shahid Yousuf and were placed at 203 for 5 before falling in a heap the end. Fawad Alam and Atif Maqbool did the damage with the ball as five wickets fell for the addition of only 27 runs.

Kevin Curran, who played two World Cups in 1983 and ’87 before moving intocoaching, took umbrage at the suggestion that Zimbabwe might be underdogsfor Thursday’s encounter against an Irish team that nearly upset SouthAfrica in a warm-up game last week. Curran admitted that it was achallenge to coach a young side, but was confident that he had the playerswith the quality to start the World Cup on the right note.”We’ve lost a lot of our senior group of players, and that’s left a dent,”he said. “But the new group has responded well and is improving all thetime. Prosper Utseya, the offspinner who captains the side, said that hisplayers were ready – “We’ll give it our best shot” – and weren’t tooaffected by news of further strife back home. “Now that the guys are here,we’re concentrating on playing the games.”For Ireland, who make their World Cup debut, it will be a momentousoccasion. Already, the near-saturation coverage back home has amazed thesquad, though Trent Johnston, the captain who learnt his trade in NewSouth Wales, laughed off suggestions that the side could eclipse BrianO’Driscoll’s rugby heroes. “By all accounts, it’s amazing back home,” hesaid. “Our [board] president brought over clippings of full-page articlesin the newspapers, and there’s been lots of coverage on Sky as well. Thematch starts at 2:30 in the afternoon there, so it’ll be prime-timeviewing.”Curran preferred to highlight Zimbabwe cricket’s admittedly fewpositives, one of which is the new generation coming through. He mentionedAndy Flower, a world-class performer who departed for Essex and SouthAustralia in 2003, as an example of how even the best needed time tomature. “At the age of 20, he was an average player, and I hope herespects me for saying that. But by the age of 30, he was averaging over50 in Tests. So it takes time.”Time is something that’s running out for Adrian Birrell, whose time at thecoaching helm runs out after this competition. “Maybe you guys shouldbring your recorders into the room for the last team talk [ahead of thefinal game against West Indies],” said Johnston with a laugh. “Maybe a boxof tissues as well.”

Birrell, a South African, was in no doubt as to what had impressed himmost about Irish cricket. “It’s the passion for the game,” he said, “thetime, effort and money spent to keep the game going.” It hasn’t alwaysbeen easy, with the likes of Ed Joyce shifting loyalties to England aftermaking a mark on the county circuit. Eoin Morgan, who plays for Middlesex,could be the next to take that path, especially after his outstandingdouble-century against UAE in the ICC Intercontinental Trophy recently.”It could end up like that,” said Birrell, when asked if the Irish cricketteam could eventually comprise professionals who played their game abroad,much like the national football team. “I’m delighted for Ed [Joyce],” hesaid. “Maybe he didn’t feel he could achieve his ambitions with Ireland,and for most players, it’s about having a professional career.”For Johnston, whose parents have come over from Australia to watch, itwill be a proud moment, but not one that will overawe him. “We beat WestIndies three years ago in Belfast,” he said. “Obviously, it’ll bedifferent here with 20,000 spectators in [for the West Indies game]. Theatmosphere yesterday [West Indies-Pakistan] was unbelievable, and evenwhen we played South Africa in Trinidad, the crowd were going bananas forus.”The team that wins can then dream of the impossible, a place in the SuperEights. With West Indies so mercurial and Pakistan weakened by the absenceof some key players, an upset can’t be ruled out. But Curran isn’t lookingthat far ahead. “It’s the first game, and we want to treat all three thesame,” he said. “We’ve not played Ireland before. They’re a solid outfitand have had good recent results, and we’ll give them respect.”If people want to say that they’re favourites, then great. I know whatwe’re capable of. We competed well in the Caribbean last year, and I’dlike to think that we can go from strength to strength.”First, he and his wards will have to overcome the luck of the Irish.

The first meeting of the Central Organising Committee (COC) of the World Cup 2011, to be held in the subcontinent, will take place on May 18 in Bhurban, a popular tourist resort near Islamabad in Pakistan.Senior board officials from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will meet over two days to begin discussions on the organisation of the tournament, the first time it is being held across four countries.”Initially, the discussions will be on how the COC will be formed. Sharad Pawar is the chairman but other positions also need to be decided then,” Saleem Altaf, director special projects, told Cricinfo. Talks will also take in the formation and likely roles of local organising committees (LOC) during the event. Altaf is expected to be on the committee.After 1987 and 1996, this will be the third time the event has come to the subcontinent. The final is expected to be held in Delhi, with Sri Lanka and Pakistan getting a semi-final each. Of the 53 matches, India will stage 22, Pakistan 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

South Africa have not always played like a recent world No. 1 team during this World Cup, but at Bridgetown they were at their disciplined and incisive best, rolling England for 154 before disdainfully racing to their target in under 20 overs. Andrew Hall’s career-best 5 for 18 blew away the middle order after Andre Nel’s fire created the early breakthrough, before Graeme Smith minced England’s attack to lead South Africa’s march into the semi-finals.There were two teams involved in this match but only one bothered to turn up. It was a virtual quarter-final, yet South Africa crushed England as though they were one of the minnows. For much of the past month they have played like it. While being dismissed on a decent surface in 48 overs was bad enough, it was the manner in which Graeme Smith flayed the bowling that finally proved what has long been expected; England were a broken team.Smith and AB de Villiers launched South Africa to their fifty in the sixth over; it took England 16. Smith’s fifty came off 34 balls with just nine dot balls; it had earlier taken Michael Vaughan 20 deliveries to get off the mark. But it wasn’t just the bare numbers, South Africa’s intent was clear from the start.Kevin Pietersen’s wicket, a leading edge off the fiery Andre Nel for just 3, was a huge individual moment after all the pre-match hype but it was Hall’s spell after the second drinks break that sank England. He claimed four wickets in nine balls which, alongside Jacques Kallis’s removal of Andrew Strauss created a shuddering collapse from 111 for 3 to 121 for 8. His final figures were South Africa’s best in the World Cup.It was a masterful lesson in the art of reverse swing as he became virtually unplayable against England batsmen who were stuck on their crease. The major collapse rewarded South Africa for a near faultless performance in the field. Every bowling change worked, each field setting stymied England and the evidence of the hold they imposed was the 13 fours and single six in the innings.The total had crept to nine in the eighth over and Ian Bell succumbed to the pressure as he pulled Charl Langeveldt to square leg. No sooner had Vaughan seemed able to up the tempo Nel struck with his second ball as the England captain played round a straight delivery.England were 37 for 2 and suddenly the tension around the Kensington Oval rose a few levels; Pietersen entered the fray. The spectacle lasted 15 balls, Pietersen couldn’t pierce the field and spooned a catch to mid-off as he tried to loft over the leg side. Smith held the catch, a fine effort diving forward, and the whole South African team embraced. It was a wonder Nel didn’t burst a blood vessel.

As the mini-drama unfolded, another, more understated, South African was trying to hold the innings together. Strauss opened his boundary account with a sweetly struck pull for six and with Paul Collingwood, England’s crisis manager, the fifth-wicket pair had appeared to weather the worst of the storm. Their stand was worth 58 in 16 overs, while not taking the game away from South Africa it at least laid a foundation.But it was a base made of quicksand and England were rapidly sinking. Strauss slashed to a wide slip and the door opened for Hall. Collingwood was trapped on the crease, Andrew Flintoff’s shocking form was exposed by his static feet, Paul Nixon pushed away from his body and Sajid Mahmood prodded an edge into his stumps.South Africa don’t have a great history of securing must-win World Cup matches and the openers made it blatantly clear they didn’t want to take their time. Mahmood’s first two overs went for 28 as de Villiers brought out his full array, including one audacious whip off his hips. Even Flintoff was greeted by a clubbed on drive from Smith and the experiment with Monty Panesar lasted two expensive overs.Flintoff kept pounding in and ended de Villiers’s 35-ball charge with an thin edge to the keeper, although by now Smith was in Twenty20 mode and anything less than four was a disappointment. England’s fielding fell to bits with Mahmood producing a feeble effort on the rope and, generally, there was the demeanour of a team who’d rather have been anywhere but Bridgetown. They’ll soon get their wish. South Africa, though, have reignited their campaign and shown they are a force to be reckoned with.

Points table

Uganda and Cayman Islands booked their places in the semi-finals of the World Cricket League Division Three as ball dominated bat on the second day of the tournament in Darwin. Both teams made short work of their opponents, comfortably winning low-scoring games in the first session.The wins gave Uganda and Cayman Islands maximum points from two games in Group B and left Tanzania and Hong Kong winless with just one match remaining. Despite Italy’s second successive win, Group B remains wide open as PNG and Argentina have one win from two games. After Tuesday’s rest day, PNG will meet Italy at Nightcliff while Argentina meet Fiji at Kahlin Oval in the last group matches.

Argentina bounced back from a thrilling one-wicket defeat to Italy on the opening day by recording a five-wicket victory over pre-tournament favourites Papua New Guinea at Gardens. Skipper Estaban MacDermott inspired the Argentineans with a match-winning spell of 4 for 22 as PNG were bowled out for 91. Argentina achieved the target for the loss of five wickets with Donald Forrester remaining unbeaten on 44. MacDermott described the victory as the biggest in Argentina’s cricket history. “All the effort that was put in is now paying off,” he said. “By defeating PNG, we have shown that we can compete at this level.”Italy recorded their second victory in the competition by overpowering Fiji by 37 runs. Batting first, Italy scored 186 for 9 with Nicholas Northcote top scoring with 37. Fiji were bowled out for 149.

Uganda defeated Tanzania by four wickets at Power Park with Charles Waiswa taking 3 for 7 as the Tanzanians were dismissed for 64. Although Benson Mwita made Uganda work hard for their victory by taking 4 for 23, his efforts were not enough to stop Uganda stumbling to a four-wicket win.Cayman Islands’ experience of playing in the Stanford Twenty20 tournament and the Intercontinental Cup was on display for the second successive day when they recorded a straightforward eight-wicket victory over Hong Kong at Nightcliff. Franklin Hinds was the star for Cayman Islands when he took 4 for 22 as Hong Kong were skittled for 67.

Six players missed out on the opening day of the Cricket Skills camp for the players selected for the ODI series in Ireland which started in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy today. Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj Singh, and Ramesh Powar couldn’t join the camp and all are expected to arrive in the city in the night.The players had a three-hour session of bowling, batting and fielding in the afternoon. In the absence of Chandu Borde, the newly appointed manager of the Indian team, Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach, and Robin Singh, the fielding coach, are overseeing the camp. Team trainer Gregory King and physio John Gloster were also present. Even during the Bangladesh tour where Ravi Shastri was the cricket manager, Prasad used to take complete charge of the nets. It is learnt that Borde will not attend the camp.The Indian board had conducted a bowlers’ camp at Mysore from June 4-8 and a batsman’s camp in Bangalore which concluded yesterday. Prasad had expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the two camps. “We wanted to keep the players going soon after the Bangladesh tour, which was tough because of the heat and humidity,” Prasad said on June 12th.”These camps were basically for improving fitness but me and Robin wanted to break the monotony and introduced batting and fielding sessions too, but briefly. In Mysore the players tried bowling at one spot and also some variations. In these eight days the players did core training, strengthening of body and built up endurance,’ he said.The players also took time off on Tuesday to interact with physically challenged children from ‘Mathru Foundation’, a charitable organisation, run by special Olympics medalist Malathi Holla.

Matthew Mott, the former Queensland and Victoria batsman, has signed a two-year deal as the new coach of New South Wales. Mott will replace Trevor Bayliss, who guided the Blues to the Pura Cup final last season and was then snapped up by Sri Lanka.Mott has been an assistant coach to Bayliss and also for Australia at the Under-19 World Cup in 2005 and he has just completed a six-week coach exchange at Kent, where he worked with Graham Ford. Dave Gilbert, the CEO of Cricket New South Wales, said Mott already had a good relationship with the players.”Matthew Mott has served an invaluable apprenticeship in his role as the Second XI coach over the past three years and has performed an outstanding job with this team recording seven outright wins from the 12 matches contested,” Gilbert said. “Players such as Ed Cowan, Ben Rohrer, Peter Forrest, Scott Coyte and Moises Henriques have benefited from his tutelage and moved up to play for the Blues.”In many respects, this is a similar scenario to the appointment of Trevor Bayliss three years ago, who was the then Second XI coach. With the recent retention of Simon Katich on a five-year contract and now the appointment of Matthew Mott, I’m confident New South Wales can build on its success of recent years.”Mott, 33, was a top-order batsman who played 66 first-class games for Queensland and Victoria in a career spanning ten seasons. After beginning in his home state and helping the Bulls to the 1996-97 Sheffield Shield with a vital 86 as an opener, Mott moved south and became an important cog in the Victoria line-up. He played under John Buchanan at Queensland and John Scholes, David Hookes and Greg Shipperd at Victoria.Mott said he was grateful for the opportunity to coach at a higher level. “I’ve learnt a lot in the past three years and am excited by the challenge of becoming the state coach,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working again with many of the young players I’ve coached in the Second XI, as well as the senior players.”

Kevin Pietersen has again called for more time off for England’s players as he squeezes in a short break ahead of the India series. He says his poor form during the one-day series against West Indies, 42 runs in three innings, was down to him becoming increasingly tired during the season.He began the summer with a bang, hitting a career-best 226 at Headingley after a century at Lord’s, but his form has slowly tailed off since. His packed schedule led to the ECB chartering a helicopter to fly him straight from the final Test at Chester-le-Street to The Rose Bowl for Hampshire’s Friends Provident quarter-final against Warwickshire.”I’m mentally fatigued – really, really tired. It was a long winter of Champions Trophy, then the Ashes, then the World Cup,” he said. “I rattled into the West Indies series but got progressively worse, more and more tired.”That’s why I have to make the most of these little windows of opportunity for a proper rest. So we’re going out of this country, I’m going to turn my mobile off and enjoy waking up knowing I don’t have to play cricket or do a gym session.”Pietersen had a four-week break during the CB Series after breaking his rib, but won’t have another sustained period away from cricket until mid-October. Three days after England’s final ODI against India the Twenty20 World Championships start in South Africa, from where England fly straight to Sri Lanka for a five-match one-day series.Then there is a month’s break before England return to Sri Lanka for a three-Test series before, following a rare Christmas at home, leaving for New Zealand in late January to play two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODIs and three Tests.