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New South Wales won a close game against Tasmania at the Bellerive Oval due to a damaging spell by Stuart MacGill, who took 6 for 85 in 25 overs. Set 259 to win, Tasmania fell short by 25 runs, managing only 233 in 62 overs MacGill struck the middle order and ran through the tail after Tasmania recovered from a precarious position and appeared set to overhaul the target.A little after lunch, New South Wales declared their innings for the second time in the game. Phil Jaques led the way with a solid 79 at the top of the order with crucial contributions from Greg Mail, Brad Haddin, Jason Krejza and Nathan Bracken. Apart from Mail’s knock of 40, the rest were hammered at faster than a run-a-ball as NSW tried to force a victory.Tasmania’s reply began badly, with Travis Birt out early, but Jamie Cox’s 84 held the innings together. He found allies in Michael Bevan (26), Daniel Marsh (20), Sean Clingeleffer (39) and Michael Di Venuto (35). But five wickets fell for only 12 runs, as they slipped from 5 for 221 to 233 all out.

ScorecardCentral Zone batted Bangladesh Cricket Board XI out of the contest on the third day of the Duleep Trophy match in Delhi. Having gained a mammoth 205-run lead in the first innings, Central assumed complete control thanks to Sanjay Bangar’s gritty unbeaten 91. Bangar was well supported in a 76-run stand by Devendra Bundela, who composed 53, and they took Central to 212 for 6 at the end of the day, with a near-unreachable lead of 417. The events, though, were only of academic interest as Central had already qualified for the final by virtue of gaining the first-innings lead.Aftab Ahmed, the medium pacer, was the most effective bowler for the BCB XI with his 5 for 28 being the only consolation for the battered bowling line-up. Aftab also triggered a mini-collapse and snapped up four wickets in the space of six runs and gave Bangladesh a small opening. But the joy was shortlived as Bangar and Nikhil Doru ground out an 86-run partnership and stabilised the innings.Resuming the day on 117 for 6, the BCB XI offered little resistance and were bundled out for 146. Manjural Islam Rana top-scored with 47 while Shalabh Srivastava was the pick of the Central Zone bowlers and ended with 4 for 33.

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Sunny Singh gritted out an unbeaten 62 on a damp opening day in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group semi-final in Chandigarh. Only 51 overs were possible in the day owing to fog in the morning and rain later in the day. Jharkhand, who elected to field, struck in the third over, when Shankar Rao removed Chetan Sharma. But Bagheshwar Bist and Sunny added 108 and revived the innings.
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Play was abandoned without even a ball being bowled due to heavy showers at Dharamsala.

The Indian women’s cricket team, who reached the final of the World Cup in South Africa, were received with much fanfare at a suburban hotel in Mumbai. The team, decked out in their India colours, faced uncommon glare and attention from the media, as their sponsors, Sahara, called a press conference to congratulate them on their performance.The team, the first from an Asian country to reach the final of the women’s tournament, got the slightest glimpse of the attention and publicity their male counterparts are used to day-in and day-out. “It’s almost overwhelming to see the kind of support and publicity we have got,” said one team member as the press conference got underway.When the hue and cry – aided at every step by Mandira Bedi, who has almost become the brand ambassador of the women’s team, clapping and cheering – died down, Mithali Raj, the captain, fielded questions with poise. “Australia, with an experience of having played four or five World Cup finals, played better than us,” she said, explaining India’s stumble at the final hurdle. “It was a dream come true for us reaching the final. Many expected us to reach the semis, but we exceeded their expectations by reaching the final.”India’s strength has traditionally been its spin bowling, and this was seen as something that could be a problem on the pitches in South Africa, which traditionally aid medium pacers. “Our spinners did very well even on those pace-friendly pitches, with three of them in the top five of the wicket-takers’ list,” continued Raj. “But fielding is one area which we need to improve. We have progressed but need to improve more.”Another of India’s weaknesses has been chasing targets, and in the final they began well, restricting Australia until halfway through their innings. But Karen Rolton ran away with the game in the latter half, scoring a matchwinning centuryand then India faltered chasing a large total. “In most of the matches we chased small targets, but in the final we lost our way chasing in excess of 200,” said Raj. “We restricted Australia in the first 30 overs, but then couldn’t sustain it.”Sanjay Lal, CEO of Percept D’ Mark, was asked if Sahara were likely to announce a cash bonus, or perhaps go further and gift members of the team with apartments in Amby Valley, a township near Mumbai which they have developed, as they had when the men’s team returned from the last World Cup in South Africa having lost to Australia in the final. “We have been discussing similar matters in management circles,” he said, “but have not decided on anything yet.”For the moment at least, the team, who walked away with a purse of merely 10,000 Rand (US$1600) for being runners up, will have to be content with attention and praise.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has hinted that Shahid Afridi may bat down the order in the second Test at Kingston as Pakistan attempt to bounce back from a heavy defeat in the first Test at Barbados. Inzamam, who missed the first Test as he was serving a suspension, added that there will be two changes to the side with him and Shoaib Malik returning to the fray.”Afridi will bat as per the requirement of the team but most probably down the order in the Kingston Test,” Inzamam was quoted as saying in , a Pakistan-based daily. “He scored a hundred batting at No. 5 [sic].” Afridi had been involved in a dressing-room altercation during the first Test, along Younis Khan, the captain for the game, when he showed his displeasure at being asked to open the batting in Pakistan’s first innings. Inzamam then joined in the argument and supposedly exchanged heated words with Younis before the other players intervened. Afridi batted at No. 6 in the second innings of the game and hammered a blistering hundred but his record is much better when he has opened the innings, when he averages 37.16 and has set the tempo for many a Pakistan charge.Inzamam added that the team failed to adjust themselves for the first Test, after whitewashing West Indies in the one-dayers, but felt that his players were capable of squaring the series. “Our batting flopped in the first innings of the Barbados Test,” he said, “and that made the difference in the end.”Inzamam added that the team would miss the experience of Yousuf Youhana, who decided to return home after his father was diagnosed with a kidney ailment, but added that it provided a chance for other players to show their worth. While criticising his batsmen for playing some loose shots in the first Test, when they collapsed for 144 in the first innings, Inzamam said spending more time at the crease would be crucial.The home team are facing a few injury problems as well. After the injury to Fidel Edwards, Bennett King, the West Indies coach, informed that Dwayne Bravo has failed to recover fully from his ankle injury and was unlikely to play the second Test.”Dwayne’s struggling at the moment,” King was quoted by The Trinidad Express. “Again, we’re gonna look in the morning. But at this stage, we’re not very hopeful. But he’s done everything that we’ve asked of him and worked really hard. He’s been getting two to three sessions daily. He’s done everything in his power to try and make things work.”King also insisted that West Indies would try to end their season on a high note. “We go out there to win every game … and we’re not going to change our strategy,” King continued. “You don’t believe that we’ve got the quality but I think we do. It’s a shame that you say things like that because what it indicates to me is that you don’t trust us.”But for me, certainly, I certainly go out there having put full faith in the players knowing that the side that we put out on the field is the best West Indies has got and also that it gives us the best chance of winning every match.”

Michael Clarke is unlikely to be available for Australia’s match against Bangladesh, at Old Trafford, tomorrow. Clarke has been struggling with a back injury, which forced him to miss the game against England on Thursday.He watched Australia’s 57-run win from his hotel bed and only went to The Riverside to receive treatment from Errol Alcott, the Australian physio. “He is improving and responding favourably to treatment, but it is unlikely that he will be available tomorrow,” said Alcott. “We will continue to monitor his progress over the next couple of days.Clarke had shown some good form in the early stages of the NatWest Series, making 54 against Bangladesh at Cardiff and 45 against England at Bristol, but Australia’s middle-order is now well-stocked after the return of Andrew Symonds.

Over the past 12 months, Adam Gilchrist’s batting had subsided to such an extent that the only table he topped was the one for the most ducks – five. After scoring a cavalier century against a Zimbabwe team taken apart by the rampaging Matthew Hayden, nine subsequent Tests – starting with the draw against India at the Gabba last December – produced just 412 runs at 27.46, with only two thrilling innings in Sri Lanka, 144 and 80, revealing the true depth of his talent.When he came to India in 2001, Gilchrist was about to embark on a hot streak that would result in his name being mentioned alongside the most destructive batsmen to have ever played the game. And though Harbhajan Singh worked him over in the final two Tests of that gripping series, Gilchrist’s thrill-a-minute century at the Wankhede Stadium had helped Australia romp to victory inside three days.That was a truly exceptional innings. After Sachin Tendulkar’s one-man show had taken India to 176, Australia collapsed to 5 for 99 once Harbhajan had warmed his fingers. But Hayden, on the comeback trail and with everything to prove, and Gilchrist wrested the game from India’s grasp with a scintillating 197-run partnership, with Gilchrist’s effort a force-ten gale of sweeps, cuts and lofted drives that left opponents and fans open-mouthed.His century today may have come at a cracking pace, but had nothing of the devil-may-care approach that characterised that 84-ball evisceration. This was cool, considered, and utterly effective. The sweep, a shot that touring batsmen can sometimes be unduly obsessed with, wasn’t unveiled till he had made 87, and there were very few risky darts behind square.Instead, he cut and drove with tremendous fluency, clearing mid-on and mid-off with nonchalant flicks whenever he felt the need to puncture the bowlers’ confidence even further. And far from being weighed down by the cares of captaincy, Gilchrist appeared to thrive, shepherding a slightly jittery Michael Clarke past a memorable hundred on debut.But while the new order may have lit up the Australian batting – Gilchrist being the exception – it was the old guard to the fore as India’s best batsmen were decimated before stumps. Glenn McGrath has played only two Tests in the last 14 months, and after England’s batsmen had treated him with some disdain in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final, there had been a few ignorant voices pronouncing his demise.

McGrath answered the snipers with relish, deceiving Aakash Chopra with one that darted back, and then getting rid of Rahul Dravid with a peach that eased between pad and tentative bat. Yuvraj’s statuesque waft completed a perfect afternoon’s work, and McGrath’s amazing figures on Indian soil – 19 wickets at 18.26 before this Test – might look even better come the end of the series.Shane Warne proved a point too. VVS Laxman had batted quite beautifully for his 31, flicking and driving Warne with the same panache that had precipitated the turnaround in Kolkata three years ago. But Warne toiled away manfully on a pitch that was only taking slow turn, and got the most prized wicket – Laxman has 965 in his last six Tests against Australia dating back to that Eden Gardens epic – with a ripping legbreak that was as good as anything Mike Gatting or Jacques Kallis were flummoxed by.But the two stalwarts of the old firm were both outshone by another – Michael Kasprowicz, whose story epitomises the virtues of perseverance. Virender Sehwag’s wicket might have been a bit of a gift, but the delivery that seamed away and lifted to take the edge of Sourav Ganguly’s bat was one of many corkers that he bowled in mid-afternoon. Never the speed gun’s favourite, Kasprowicz has been a sterling performer in subcontinental conditions because of his ability to swing and reverse-swing the ball while cutting it both ways off the seam.Such bowlers with a penchant for hard yakka, as Aussies like to call it, are rarely valued in this part of the world – where there is an increasing tendency to value hype and image over substance – but how India could have done with a Kasprowicz out there as Gilchrist and Clarke pushed them ever closer to the precipice.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul
On his team’s performance
I must say well done to the young guys who went out and played this game. Probably no one would have expected them to come out and play the sort of cricket they played. In the first innings we were doing well and had them on the ropes but let them off the hook. We just didn’t have the killer instinct to take the game awayfrom them. We relaxed a bit and let them back into the game.On the forthcoming second Test
We have a few days now to go and prepare and practice against those balls swing back [from Chaminda Vaas]. Murali and Vaas are two world class bowlers and you would expect them to do well. We just have to look at ways to go about playing them.Bennett KingOn the team’s overall performance
I am disappointed that we didn’t come away with a win there. We played very well initially and set up what should have been a positive result for us. But it is very hard to win a cricket match when five of your top six score 11 runs. They are certainly better players than that.On the threat posed by Chaminda VaasIt was quite dark and the ball swung around during that period probably more than at any other time of the match. But these guys have played against left-armers that swing the ball back in the Cariibeaan and at this level I would expect them to be good at it. We knew it was coming and we practiced it, but when they went out they moved too early.On the performance of the bowlersThe bowlers did enough to make them uncomfortable for long periods of time on what was a very flat track. We got through their top order pretty well, although we let them off the hook when their No 9 and 10 got runs. I was disappointed because we didn’t have the petrol in the tank to execute our plans. Then, again, in the secondinnings, we got to a position where we ran out of gas again.Marvan Atapattu
On playing a weakened West Indies team
They had a nothing to lose going in as there was only one side expected to win. People might have expected us to just run through but that does not always happen in cricket. Actually, to have a win after playing for four innings was more pleasing than just playing one innings and getting them out twice. Their batters are findingit a bit tougher than their bowlers. They have a good attack and in the first innings were very disciplined, bowling a good length and line which got us in a bit of bother.On Jayawardene and Samaraweera’s winning stand
We were 49 for 3 and under pressure, but both of them batted brilliantly and took responsibility for winning the game. We want to have all our batting going a bit better in the next game.On the thinking behind the inclusion of Gayan Wijekoon
We wanted to groom a youngster as an allrounder, especially with this new rule coming up in one-day internationals, and we wanted to have a seamer in the No 7 or No 8 slot that can bat a bit..On Murali’s performance
He was a bit worried I would say after the first innings. After bowling 30 overs he rarely ends up getting just one wicket. But he bowled a better line in the second innings and the pitch was a deteriorating a bit which helped his cause. He is back to being the normal Muralitharan.

Australia’s bold move to field five specialist bowlers in its first Testvictory over the West Indies could be short-lived depending onconditions in Trinidad for Saturday’s second Test.Selectors will wait for news on the wicket in Port of Spain beforedeciding if one of the bowlers used successfully in the nine-wicketvictory in Georgetown will be dropped for batsman Martin Love.Captain Steve Waugh wouldn’t be drawn into speculation on the likelyteam until the Australians arrived in Trinidad on Tuesday after spendingalmost two weeks in Georgetown.”We’ll have to wait and see what’s presented at Trinidad. I hear thewicket is going to be a bit of a turner so we’ll have to wait and see,”Waugh said.”[Five bowlers] worked pretty well but I’m not sure whether we’re goingto go back to four bowlers the next Test.”Pacemen Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Andrew Bichel and wrist spinnersStuart MacGill and Brad Hogg all claimed wickets on the lifeless Bourdapitch.The Australians, who enjoyed a rest day after winning the opening clashinside four days, expect a tougher battle in the second Test withWindies selectors likely to name vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan andbatsman Chris Gayle.The pair was absent from the first Test as the Windies battled adistracting lead-up with the sackings of captain Carl Hooper and coachRoger Harper.Recalled skipper Brian Lara, who was a controversial appointment, wasbooed by some spectators despite his excellent century in the secondinnings amid claims the Windies weren’t a harmonious team.Acting coach Gus Logie said Lara had the full support of his players.”There has been a lot of dissension in and around the camp. We aretrying to make sure that is deleted as much as possible,” Logie said.”At this point of time it’s very difficult to change techniques.”We are trying to change the attitude – an attitude that says: ‘I wantto play for West Indies, I am committed to play for West Indies’.”West Indies cricket means a lot to us and the players have expressed adesire to do that.”They are quite willing, they have contributed to team meetings, morethan previous times from my understanding.”

Ricky Ponting faces disciplinary action from match referee Ranjan Madugalle for how he reacted when he was run out by substitute fielder Gary Pratt’s direct hit on the third day. He is to appear before Madugalle after stumps on Sunday.Ponting, who made 48, was called for a tight single by Damien Martyn, and Pratt, fielding for the hospitalised Simon Jones, threw down the stumps from cover with Ponting six inches short of safety. As he waited for the third umpire’s decision, Ponting was seen having an animated discussion with Aleem Dar, the square-leg umpire, and he also exchanged words with some of the fielders as he left the field as well as aiming comments towards the England dressing room.”I was disappointed with my dismissal given that it was a crucial stage of the game and I’d worked hard to get to that position,” Ponting said in a statement. “I let myself down with my reaction and for that I apologise to those who see me as a role model.”My frustration at getting out was compounded by the fact that I was run out by a substitute fielder, an issue that has concerned us from the start of this series and one we raised before the series.” Australia have been concerned about England’s use of substitute fielders since the NatWest Series, arguing that it is a way of giving the home side’s fast bowlers a rest. Substitutes are only generally allowed if players are ill or injured but, according to the Laws of Cricket, it is the umpires alone who have the responsibility for letting substitutes take the field and the opposing captain has no right of appeal.

Some reports claimed that Duncan Fletcher, who was on the England balcony when Ponting returned, was the target of comments . “I don’t know what he said, I haven’t spoken to my players about it but there’s always some sort of chat out there,” Fletcher shrugged. “I don’t say ‘hold on what are you talking to the Aussies about?’. I saw him mumble something but I don’t know what he said.”As for complaints about the use of substitutes, Fletcher was dismissive. “Simon Jones was off and I don’t think we could have gone on with 10 men. It was very important we put a 12th man on to replace him. The guys go off to excuse themselves – nature calls and they’re replaced for an over. That’s the way it goes. You want to take a run to a cover fielder and get run out, whose fault is that?”