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ScorecardSreekumar Nair’s stroke-filled 132 helped Kerala out of a difficult situation and gave them control of the game against Jammu & Kashmir at Palakkad. At the day’s end, J&K were 23 for 1, still 296 behind Kerala’s 319. Nair came in when the score was 20 for 2, and proceeded to play largely a lone hand as batsmen came and went frequently. At one point Kerala were 142 for 7, but Suresh Kumar assisted Nair with a quick 52. They added 101, then Nair and Sony Cheruvathur put on 62 for the ninth wicket. Nair faced 200 balls for his 132 and hit 22 fours, while Abid Nabi was the most succesful bowler for J&K, taking 4 for 83 off 18.1 overs.
ScorecardManinder Bisla turned the heat on Jharkhand with 135 at Jamshedpur. But the bowlers did well to dismiss the others for low scores, and limit Himachal Pradesh to 275. Sumit Panda ended with 4 for 55, and caught Bisla off his own bowling. Bisla struck 13 fours and two sixes, and scored his runs off only 160 balls. He made 99 more than the next-highest scorer, Ashok Thakur, who remained unbeaten on 36. Jharkhand finished the day at 4 for no loss.
ScorecardThe action at Agartala bordered on inaction. Goa played out 89.4 overs to reach 192 for 4, with neither the batsmen nor Tripura’s bowlers able to make much headway. However, Shami Asnodkar remained unbeaten on 87, off 251 balls, and the effort took him over six hours. The most successful bowler for Tripura was Sujit Roy, who ended with 3 for 51.
ScorecardRajasthan recovered from a poor start to reach a respectable total by the close at Udaipur. Their total of 269 for 8 was built on efforts by Gagan Khoda, Nikhil Doru and Naresh Gehlot. Khoda faced 214 balls for his 74, while Doru and Gehlot both made 47. Having got through the middle order, Haryana came up against more resistance in the form of Rohit Jhalani at No. 8, who remained unbeaten on 30.
ScorecardFazil Mohammad rocked Vidarbha early in the day at New Delhi to have them reeling at 12 for 2, but Services could not press on from there. When play ended, after only 40.1 overs, Vidarbha had recovered to 85 for 3, chiefly due to a 64-run stand between Pravin Londase (41) and Alind Naidu (29 not out).

Should the ICC take action or is it right to stand aside? Send us your views

Despite coming under pressure from the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Britain, the ICC is expected to ignore requests to take action against Zimbabwe when it meets this week in Dubai.The three governments have called on the ICC to ban Zimbabwe because of the country’s dreadful human-rights record which culminated in the controversial slum clearance programme Operation Murambatsvina – which translates as “drive out rubbish” – which has left 700,000 people homeless.Last week, Jack Straw, Britain’s foreign secretary, wrote to Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s president and chief executive, urging them to take action, but yesterday Speed hinted that nothing was likely to change.”For the past three years at least, we’ve been asked that players be allowed not to comply with their agreements with Zimbabwe, or that cricket not be played in Zimbabwe,” Speed said. “The ICC position has been consistent: we say to governments that we don’t take decisions based on political judgments. We expect governments to do that.””We do respect their views, but we don’t make decisions on political grounds and neither are our decisions on playing cricket based on the human rights record of a country. I haven’t had a chance to speak with our president [Ehsan Mani] but our stand on such matters is pretty clear. It’s up to the teams to decide whether they honour the commitments. If the countries want to play it’s fine and if they don’t we don’t interfere in the foreign policy of any government.”Speed added that the 10 ICC members – which include Zimbabwe – were “comfortable” with play proceeding in the absence of an outright government ban.Such bans, however, are not likely because the three countries who have raised concerns would have to change their laws to enable them to prevent their own nationals from traveling to Zimbabwe. New Zealand, however, have indicated that they will refuse Zimbabwe’s players entry to the country should they try to fulfill their scheduled tour in December. Despite New Zealand Cricket announcing that the tour had been cancelled, as recently as the weekend, Zimbabwe Cricket officials claimed to know nothing about that.The ICC’s position is unlikely to be changed on cricket grounds either, even though Zimbabwe’s on-field performances of late have verged on the embarrassing. Yesterday’s humiliating defeat against New Zealand was the latest in a long line of drubbings which many have claimed is tarnishing the integrity of the international game.

Close England 139 and 30 for 0 (Trescothick 7*, Strauss 21*) trail South Africa 332 (Kallis 162, Pollock 43) by 163 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball

A masterful century from Jacques Kallis put South Africa firmly in control of the second Test on the second day at Durban as they took a first-innings lead of 193 runs. England’s batsmen chipped away in reply as the lights came on, but they head into the third day under the kosh, trailing by 163.England’s tiring pace attack threw everything at the classy Kallis throughout the day but he never wavered. When he finally fell for 162 – pulling Matthew Hoggard to the waiting substitute Paul Collingwood on the leg-side boundary – South Africa were in the box seat and they were odds-on favourites to level the series.It was a remarkable rescue act by Kallis, who dragged South Africa from 118 for 6 to 332, with some capable assistance from a reinforced lower order. Shaun Pollock contributed 43 in a stand of 87 which took the home side ahead. Then Makhaya Ntini upped the ante, striking 22 and scoring only in boundaries as his four fours and a six formed part of another vital partnership with Kallis. Between them, they struck 50 in 58 balls.But the day belonged to Kallis, who was patient at first, grinding down the bowlers in the heat and leaving anything outside off stump before he cut loose after tea. His chanceless century was the embodiment of exemplary concentration as he peppered shots to all parts, and a glorious straight drive back past Matthew Hoggard brought up his fifth century of 2004, and the 18th of his career. From then on, he stroked boundary after boundary as he found his groove.

England’s pace bowlers were up against it from the off as Ashley Giles was off the field all day with back spasms. Michael Vaughan sent down ten overs of his occasional offspin to allow the pace attack some respite – but they had no answer to the majestic innings of Kallis and the tailenders.Pollock eventually fell to Vaughan, as he chased one down the leg side and edged to Geraint Jones, but not before he had worked hard to gain the home side an important advantage. And there was no let up after Pollock’s departure, as the handy Nicky Boje joined Kallis in punishing the bad balls and keeping the score ticking over. Hoggard removed Boje for 15 as Paul Collingwood tumbled forward at point to take a good, low catch (243 for 8).Yet if England thought they could finish it off quickly they were wrong and, in fact, worse was to come as South Africa piled up 89 for the last two wickets. Ntini’s intent immediately showed as he launched a towering six off Hoggard to get off the mark, before Kallis added another off Andrew Flintoff for good measure. Ntini’s typical tailender’s swish was then matched by Dale Steyn who swung the bat with abandon.At the start of the day, Graeme Smith said he would be happy with an advantage of 200 runs. This looked nothing more than a fanciful late addition to his Christmas list, after his team were wobbling on 90 for 5 as England’s bowlers worked tirelessly and Kallis stayed in his shell, albeit defiantly.

South Africa had started the day on 70 for 3, but after a loosener which Kallis drove through mid-on for three, Flintoff struck. Martin van Jaarsveld, whose footwork is not one of his strengths, was caught leaden footed and his half-hearted defensive jab crashed into his middle stump via an inside edge (80 for 4). England had the breakthrough – but it was hardly deserved after some loose bowling early on.Hashim Amla made just 1 amid a painful battering in his baptism into Test cricket when he received a brute from Harmison which he failed to evade and a gloved edge arced to Geraint Jones (90 for 5). AB de Villiers (14) smacked two delightful fours and, for the first time, South Africa were taking the attack to England. But he came unstuck when Jones surprised him with bounce and extra pace and a checked pull looped gently to Graham Thorpe at midwicket.But in came Pollock to join Kallis as Smith’s lower order rallied, duly delivering just seven short of his desired 200-run lead. England made a decent fist of chipping away at their reply before the close, as Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss steered them to 30 without loss. And another chink of light for England’s batsmen: the pitch could get flatter. But they now really have their work cut out to overcome this total and get back in the game.

India’s external affairs ministry has approved a proposal to issue visas to cricket fans in the border city of Amritsar, The Times of India reports. "We have today conveyed to Pakistan our approval of the proposal for a visa camp in Amritsar to facilitate people from that region who wish to go to Pakistan to watch cricket matches," a ministry spokesperson said.* * *India’s players have been forbidden from accepting gifts during their tour of Pakistan, an official from the home ministry told The Times of India. Accepting personal invitations was prohibited, and only official receptions could be attended. The regulations laid down were to ensure there was no security risk. For the higher risk factor in Peshawar, the ministry advised that the team would not step outside the ground and the hotel.* * *Khawar Rabbani, a computer analyst and Javed Miandad’s friend, has been hired to assist the Pakistan team for the forthcoming series against India. Part of a four-man computer team, Rabbani’s duties will include preparing and passing appropriate footage on to the bowlers. Speaking to Press Trust of India, Rabbani said, "The wing has been given the task to cast a web around the Indian batsmen and pinpoint their weaknesses and strong points."Pakistan’s last effort to spin a web ended with last year’s unsuccessful World Cup campaign, and the analyst, Sikander Bakht, was promptly sacked. Even Intel gave up their plans to establish a computer lab at the Pakistan cricket board after the administrators made their disinclination clear.But back to Rabbani. People weren’t too happy with his inclusion by Miandad. Sources said, "Rabbani does not know much about computers and the other experts feel that in the presence of a lesser knowledgeable man, the system cannot be used to the best effects."* * *According to The Times of India, during India’s tour of Pakistan in 1982-83, the media had more than a few problems with the facilities. One problematic area was the scorer – in Lahore and Karachi the scorers were inaccurate, while in Faisalabad there was none.* * *Just as Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan were giving up all hope of taking their 12th standard exam, the Gujarat cricket association has come out fighting for their cause, according to PTI. The cricket association appealed to the state government to allow the two players to take their exams at a later date. "Unfortunately, Parthiv has been missing his board exams for the last three years due to his selection in the Indian squad," Narhari Amin, the cricket association’s president, said. "If the government could conduct exams in two phases when the earthquake occurred, why not for these cricketers who are playing at the international level?"These were misplaced but welcome words for Parthiv, who said, "I feel awkward remaining in the 12th standard for the last three years. It would be good if the state government considers my request for a retest, as a special case."* * *The Pakistan cricket board said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a Kapil-Imran trophy for India-Pakistan contests, according to The Times of India. Zakir Khan, a manager for the Pakistan board, pooh-poohed media reports, saying, "Reports appearing in the media are apparently based on speculations."* * *The Pakistan cricket board has spent a large amount on Andy Atkinson, an English curator, who will remain in Pakistan for a month and direct pitch preparation for the upcoming series against India. Nothing wrong in that, except that a source who spoke to The News said that Atkinson was brought in to prepare pitches desired by the Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad. But any budding conspiracy theories were popped when a board official declared Atkinson’s appointment was to ensure result-oriented pitches.* * *The ICC’s special investigators will watch every ball of India’s tour of Pakistan with keen interest, and keep an eye out for any signs of betting and matchfixing. According to a report in The Times of India players have been barred from using mobile phones and email on match days, and close-circuit cameras will monitor the dressing rooms. The level of betting during the series was expected to hit $15 million, and The Guardian reported that security officials would be employed to discourage feelers from potential matchfixers during the upcoming series. The officials will accompany the players constantly, and visitors will be screened. Besides the officials, regular security guards would also be present.* * *Hemang Badani, picked for the one-day squad, said the contest was between India’s batsmen and Pakistan’s bowlers, The Times of India wrote. "Playing Pakistan in Pakistan is never going to be easy," Badani said. "We have good bowlers and good batsmen, so it’s like more of [our] batting against their bowling." He admitted it was tough to live up to the expectations of well-wishers, but said the team would give it its all."We cannot say we will come back with a 5-0 win," he said. "When we play Pakistan we are going to put in that much extra – that’s what we as players can do and we will be surely doing that. Playing Pakistan means a lot for every cricket team no matter whatever way it is. I have been in the team for four years but I never got a chance to play against them," Badani continued. "It has been years since we have played each other. We haven’t really gone there and played any cricket – for that reason it should be a very good tour.”* * *To end on a cheery note, the chief minister of Sindh has declared a holiday in Karachi for the opening one-day clash Saturday, March 13. Acknowledging the cricket match was an honour for Sindh, Ali Muhammad Mahar said the holiday would allow people to watch the match live at home.

Ricky PontingOn the turnaround
We were really struggling. I thought we did a pretty good job with thebat, to tell the truth. It wasn’t the easiest conditions to bat in. Wedidn’t think it was till Shiv [Chanderpaul] came out and played the way he did.[laughs]. That was probably the best way to play on that wicket, to justback yourself and try and make use of the Powerplays. As I said at thetoss, I always thought it was going to be hard batting second. In thesesort of humid conditions, I thought it would seam around a bit more atnight time. Once we got those couple of wickets, we got on a bit of aroll. I don’t know what it was in the end – something like a 9 for 20-odd. Itwas a pretty amazing comeback.On McGrath’s return
He was a little bit frustrated early on. He was actually swinging it,which is very unlike him, so I told him halfway through his first spellnot to worry about swing and get back into hitting a good area. I thoughthe was excellent in the second spell. It was a pretty important time tocome back on and take a wicket and keep things pretty tight. He’ll onlyget better with bowling. We all know that. That’s the reason he’s here, toget some bowling under his belt.It’s his first game in 12 months, and he’d have been disappointed withbowling as many wides as he did in his first spell. As I said to all theplayers last night, it’s going to be difficult for us just to get thetempo again. I think Glenn was just trying a bit too hard in his firstspell. It’s a matter of getting his body in the right shape to do what hewants to do.On whether they might have experimented too much with team composition
We’ve managed to win by 78 runs so I didn’t think we experiemented toomuch. Coming here with 18 guys, we were always going to mix and match, andwe’ve done the best job we can. As I said yesterday, some guys will gettwo games, some will get three and only one player in the whole squad willget all four games. That’s the ‘keeper [Brad] Haddin. That’s just the way we’redoing it.On Mitchell Johnson taking two key wickets in his second spell
At that stage of the game, I got Glenn and Mitchell back because I thoughtthey’d be our best wicket-taking chances. Mitch copped a bit of stickearly but to be able to come back and get those vital wickets was great.It won’t do his confidence any harm at all. It was a pretty amazing gameactually. We haven’t had the chance to sit back and think about it.On Johnson getting Lara for the second time in two games
That sort of wicket tonight, it was very suited to seam-up bowling. Oncewe got a bit of a sniff, I told our bowlers to attack the stumps. We’llhave to make sure we play Mitch in the next game against the West Indiesif he’s got that sort of record against Brian [Lara].On what went through his mind as Chanderpaul and Gayle cut loose
It can be really hard to stop that sort of batting at times, no matter whoyou bowl or what fields you set, when you’re on a roll, as Shiv was, andwith Gayle joining in. But once you get two wickets, you expose newbatsmen to those conditions,On what he thought of the pitch
It wasn’t a great batting wicket. We made 280 batting first but there wasenough variation there to make it difficult.On Watson and Johnson
Man of the Match and 4 for 40, I think Shane deserves to answer somequestions. It’s terrific to see blokes that work so hard on their game getsome reward. Shane’s been around for a while now, and played someexcellent cricket for us of late. Mitch is in the same boat, and justkeeps improving game by game. We need to keep exposing these younger guysto the international game. Until you’ve done it a few times at the highestlevel, you’ll always have a few doubts in the back of your mind.Shane WatsonOn bowling in those conditions
Our batters did an extremely good job to get us to 280 and set us up. Ireally enjoyed bowling out there. One-day wickets are usually extremelyflat, and geared towards the batters. When there’s a little bit ofmovement there, it’s always handy to bowl.On his tactics when the ball was being flayed everywhere
My thinking was to try and change it up a little bit. I was trying to bowla few yorkers, a few bouncers and a few slower balls to stop the batsmengetting into a rhythm against me.On missing a hat-trick
I’ll take four wickets any day of the week. It would’ve been nice, but I’mextremely happy to contribute to a really good fightback.

Craig Wishart has been ruled out of the VB Series with a knee injury, and will be replaced by Dion Ebrahim. Wishart originally damaged his left knee while batting in last Sunday’s match against Western Australia at Perth, and after consultations with specialists in Adelaide and Sydney he is to return home for surgery.”The injury may have recovered with rest in a couple of weeks, but realistically Craig would not have been mobile enough to take a full part in a demanding one-day series,” said Brad Robinson, Zimbabwe’s physiotherapist. “In the long term he is best having an operation to affect a full recovery, rather than play on with an injury that could have recurred at a future point.”Wishart himself said, “It’s obviously a major disappointment not to be able to play in the VB Series. I feel that I’ve been in good form and I know my runs are important for the team.” He continued: “But, we have a lot of Test and one-day cricket ahead in the next few months so my immediate aim is to regain full fitness and return to the side as soon as possible.”Ebrahim will join up with the squad at Sydney on Saturday evening. where Zimbabwe play India and Australia in the space of two days. “It’s pretty unlikely he will play against Australia on Sunday,” Geoff Marsh, Zimbabwe’s coach, said, “but he will come into contention for the two games we have in Hobart next week.”On a better note for Zimbabwe, Stuart Carlisle, who picked up a slight thigh strain in the game against Australia A at Adelaide, is expected to be fit for their opening game, against Australia on Sunday.

Close
ScorecardClaire Taylor and Lydia Greenway put England in a commanding position over South Africa in the third day of the first Test at Shenley. Taylor scored a Test-best 177 and Greenway 70 as England ended play with a 163-run lead.Taylor hit 22 fours in her marathon innings and shared a mammoth 203-run partnership with Greenway, who was eventually bowled by Leighshe Jacobs to leave the score on a dominating 340 for 4. Jane Smit (56*) and Helen Wardlaw (36) then joined in the fun as England piled on to 497 with a lead of 181 runs.South African openers Claire Cowan and Josephine Barnard saw out the last half hour with no alarms to finish on 18 for no loss.

Virender Sehwag is likely to find out later today if his back injury is serious enough to cut short his first season in county cricket. According to a report in The Times of India, the Leicestershire county officials are awaiting the results of a medical scan, which will be available today, before deciding if a replacement is required.The report mentioned Matthew Nicholson, a fast bowler from Australia, and West Indian batsmen Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan as possible replacements for Sehwag. An official stated: “We’re contemplating a few options but would ideally want Sehwag to continue playing for us.”Meanwhile, Kevin Hills, Leicestershire’s general manager, dismissed reports that county officials were unhappy with Sehwag’s endorsement commitments, which required him to go off on media assignments. “We’re very happy with Sehwag. His performance has been fine, if not great, but that’s OK with us. As far as these [photograph] shoots are concerned we were aware of them and never minded Sehwag’s involvement.” Sehwag was in India over the weekend for a shoot.Though Sehwag has had a mixed county season so far, his presence attracted the Asian community to Leicestershire’s matches. He averages nearly 48 in the four-day Frizzell County Championship, inclusive of two centuries, but his performances in the limited-overs matches have been rather more ordinary: an average of 24.66 in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, and 33.28 in the National League. Sehwag was omitted from the Leicestershire line-up for the four-day match against Sussex last week, apparently so that he could be fresh for the Twenty20 semi-final. The move didn’t pay off, though: Sehwag lasted all of three balls in the semis, scoring 5 before being nailed by Waqar Younis. Leicestershire lost the match by seven wickets.

New Zealand’s hopes of getting a good start to their women’s Test match with India at Vapi, took a blow, almost from the outset. Asked to bat on a pitch that offered little suggestion of how it would play, the lost two key wickets to disappointing decisions.Kate Pulford, one of the opening batsmen, was adjudged to have edged the ball behind when her bat was well away from the ball after only five balls and her fellow opener, Maria Fahey was given out caught bat-pad off her toe. The road to recovery was a slow grind and the scoring rate barely reached two runs per over throughout the 94 overs bowled.Katey Martin, who was one of six New Zealand women making their Test debut, settled in for the long haul. There was a significant disappointment when Maia Lewis, New Zealand’s captain, started aggressively but was caught out from the bottom edge for only nine runs.Martin was joined by Haidee Tiffen and they grafted their way to 81 before Martin, in sight of a half-century on debut, played back to Neetu David, the left-arm spinner, and was caught behind for 46, scored off 139 balls in 176 minutes of batting.The message was to build partnerships, but at every stage they seemed to be developing, a wicket was lost. Tiffen produced a monumental display of control, given her attacking bent, and by stumps she had batted for 264 minutes for her unbeaten 38.New Zealand were disappointed that they had not been able to score faster and at stumps were left in No Man’s Land on 141 for 7. The pick of the Indian bowlers was Nooshin Al Khadeer who took 3 for 36 from her 27 overs. Neetu David took 2 for 37 from 29 overs.

Somerset Seconds fielded a very strong side for their two day match against Sussex that started at North Perrott Cricket Club near Crewkerne in the sounth of the county today.The considerable number of spectators who made the journey to what is probably one of the most attractive grounds in the county were not disappointed and were treated to some good cricket in the sunshine.Batting first the visitors, who also included a number of first team players in their team scored 433 for 8 declared, with Kevin Innes top scoring with 159 and James Kirtley making a hard hit unbeaten 69.For Somerset Keith Dutch took 3 for 87 from his 25 overs, a performance that is likely to have earned him a call up to the first team squad for Friday’s championship match at Bristol, whilst Keith Parsons bowled steadily but without luck to end with 2 for 56 from his 14 overs.Steffan Jones ended with 1 for 58 from 13 overs, and Michael Parsons 1 for 57, but there was no luck for Matt Bulbeck who left the field injured after bowling five overs this morning.At the end of the day assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: "Today has been a very useful exercise for everybody, and was a hard day in the field. The wicket was unhelpful to our attack and we have to get used to bowling in these sort of conditions."