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Wally Edwards, the chair of the ICC’s executive committee, is leaning heavily on what he believes to be a new spirit of good faith at the board table to resolve the current West Indies debacle

Daniel Brettig30-Oct-2014Wally Edwards, the chair of the ICC’s executive committee, is leaning heavily on what he believes to be a new spirit of good faith at the board table to resolve the current West Indies debacle, citing the recent clamp placed on illegal bowling actions as proof of a more practical and less politicised governing body.The West Indies player walkout from the middle of their recent tour of India is the first major test for the ICC after the “big three” reforms ushered in by Edwards, India’s N Srinivasan and England’s Giles Clarke. The BCCI’s announcement that it intends not only to commence legal action against West Indies but also suspend all future bilateral arrangements has placed the Caribbean region on cricket’s financial precipice.Edwards acknowledges that the “meritocracy” principles driving much of this year’s governance reforms – which just happened to place India, England and Australia at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in terms of revenue from ICC events – have placed additional pressure on other nations to get their houses in order or risk relegation from cricket’s top tier. But he is adamant that the board is far more capable of dealing with issues now that all its members are committed to dialogue and problem solving.”I think there’s a genuine desire at the ICC next week to get things back on track,” Edwards said following Cricket Australia’s AGM, which emphasised the strong financial health of one of the game’s most prosperous nations. “In the past you’d talk about these things but you could never resolve anything in previous administrations at the ICC because there were factions all round the table and it was very difficult to have good quality debates then make a decision.”But we have now got a fully functioning board and it’s well led. Mr Srinivasan’s doing a great job in leadership, he’s not only leading the board, he’s leading the administration, and I think we’re in a good place now to move world cricket forward the way it should. We’ll go to Dubai next week to hear what the issues are, and I think we’re in good shape to try and solve it.”While Edwards acknowledged that the BCCI was “extremely disappointed, as we would be, if a team just leaves when all arrangements are in place”, he said he could not foresee West Indies being bankrupted by the withdrawal of subcontinental support via the television revenue to be gained from India tours of the Caribbean. He said the salvaging of West Indies’ next scheduled tour – to South Africa – would be the first priority at the next ICC board meeting.”I don’t believe they will be lost, I can’t imagine that,” Edwards said. “They’ve had disputes before, they’ve had ongoing rumblings there for quite a while, and I feel confident they will get resolved. I don’t ever see a system where the world will all put a player pool together and everyone gets the same amount, that’s not possible. I don’t think ICC will be delving into those sorts of issues.”Recent changes to the ICC’s protocols around illegal bowling actions, which heralded a new round of tests and bans for transgressors including Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, have been an example of the new ICC structure offering worthwhile outcomes for the game. Most pointedly, it has allowed umpires and match referees to think they can operate without fear of political ramifications for simply enforcing the laws.”We’ve made those points very, very strongly – you can’t go down this path and then pull back and leave umpires holding the baby,” Edwards said. “[But] you can understand that unless you’ve got absolute, total support from the top down, it’s not going to happen, and that’s what we’re getting now. So I’m seeing it as a good sign.”I’m not saying every issue’s going to be resolved with everyone on the one page, but this issue has been, and I think the way some of the countries have accepted the situation has been very positive as well. They haven’t been grizzling and grumping, they’ve got along with putting someone else in the team and getting on with it.”The purge of illegal bowling actions had its genesis in the ICC’s cricket committee, where the likes of the former Australia captain Mark Taylor argued forcefully for reform, before the chief executives’ committee and executive board approved a tighter testing model put together by ICC management. Edwards is now crossing his fingers that the same orderly manner of co-operation can be applied to the troubled West Indies.”There’s a desire for cricket to be getting better,” he said. “The theme running through all our discussions over the last two years at the ICC is that we want cricket to be better worldwide. It’s our responsibility, and we want to see cricket improve.”We want to see countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Scotland, Ireland get better at cricket, and that will drive interest worldwide. The pressure’s on, and that’s how it needs to be. World cricket will get better if countries get better at cricket, that’s the focus.”

Baroda Cricket Association joint secretary Sanjay Patel is set to be appointed as the BCCI secretary, replacing Sanjay Jagdale, who resigned last Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2013Baroda Cricket Association joint secretary Sanjay Patel has been appointed as the BCCI secretary, replacing Sanjay Jagdale, who resigned last Friday. The other high-profile BCCI post which fell vacant last week, that of the treasurer, is yet to be filled.Patel, a practising chartered accountant, has been involved in cricket administration for over a decade. He is currently a member of the IPL governing council and the BCCI’s finance committee. Besides being a member of various sub-committees of the Baroda Cricket Association, he has also served as vice-president of the association.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim in-charge of the BCCI, announced Patel’s appointment at a press conference in Kolkata. At the conference, he also said that the board’s next working committee meeting will be held on June 10 to discuss the alleged involvement of Rajasthan Royals co-owner, Raj Kundra, in betting on IPL matches. Delhi Police said Kundra had confessed to betting in IPL matches after questioning him at their Special Cell Office for nearly 12 hours on Wednesday.”Raj Kundra issue will be discussed in the Working Committee, which is going to be held on June 10 and after we hear the details,” Dalmiya said. “If it demands any strict action, we will look into it.”Dalmiya also said the three-member inquiry commission from which Jagdale stepped down will now have only the two former high court judges – Justice T Jayaram Chouta and Justice R Balasubramanian. There will be no BCCI official in the commission which will look into the complaints against India Cements, the owners of Chennai Super Kings, Gurunath Meiyappan, the Super Kings official arrested on charges of alleged betting, and Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd, the owners of Rajasthan Royals.”I have decided that let there be a two-man commission,” Dalmiya said. “We repose full faith in the two retired judges and leave the matter to them.”Meanwhile, a one-man commission of Ravi Sawani, the head of the BCCI ACSU, who was handed the responsibility of conducting an inquiry into the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players on charges of spot-fixing, submitted his preliminary report to the BCCI. The Supreme Court had directed the BCCI to complete the initial inquiry by June 6 and then follow their internal procedures.Sawani’s findings will now be passed on to the BCCI’s disciplinary committee. However, considering that Srinivasan is a member of the disciplinary committee along with Arun Jaitley and Niranjan Shah, either Srinivasan will be replaced from the committee or a new disciplinarycommittee will be formed exclusively for conducting the inquiry into IPL corruption scandal.

Strengthening Royal Challengers Bangalore’s pace attack at the IPL auction, new captain Virat Kohli has said, was something he “insisted on”

Nikita Bastian in Bangalore03-Apr-2013At the IPL auction in February, Royal Challengers Bangalore picked up three of the five Indian seam bowlers on offer in RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat and Pankaj Singh, apart from West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul. Strengthening the pace attack, new captain Virat Kohli has said, was something he “insisted on”.”In Bangalore, if the wicket’s nice and fresh, the ball does seam around. Last year we were not to our 100% because of injuries to bowlers – we had to persist with a set of bowlers that did not probably work for us. So, this year, I insisted that we pick a lot of bowling options,” Kohli said on the eve of Royal Challengers’ game against Mumbai Indians.”With Indian bowlers, if you don’t have the regular guys doing well, then you always have six or seven fresh options who can come into the side and are confident.”Kohli, who will be the full-time captain of a senior side for the first time on Thursday night, said that decision demonstrated his faith in his team’s batsmen: “Our batting has been doing well for the last three years consistently. I was showing confidence in the batsmen.”Royal Challengers had a disappointing IPL 5, failing to make it to the playoffs. Over the last couple of years, Kohli had lead the team when regular captain Daniel Vettori had fitness issues. He admitted he had made a few mistakes, but said he hoped to learn from all that: “I’ve always enjoyed captaincy, last year and the year before that too. There were a few off moments, like in 2011 we played Kings XI Punjab in Dharamsala and I got the bowling combination wrong, and we ended up giving 220 runs on a green wicket. I was not too good with the field placements either but, yes, all that was a good learning curve.”Apart from missing out on the experience of the injured Zaheer Khan in the Mumbai game – recovering from a side strain, Zaheer is “70-80%” fit – Royal Challengers will also not have Anil Kumble to lean on. Kumble, for the first time, will be part of the opposition camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, having joined Mumbai Indians as chief mentor after stepping down from a similar role with the Bangalore franchise. Kohli said he learnt a lot by observing Kumble’s working style: “He was always someone who would help the players in any way we wanted. Whether it was any sort of issues or about cricket.”One thing he liked was always giving his 100% on the field, and he expected the other players to be the same. He kept pushing the players to perform but if he thought the players were down, he would then pull the load off the team all by himself. So that was something that was very striking in his captaincy and it’s something I would like to implement in our team as well.”Mumbai, too, will take the field with a new captain and minus their pace spearhead – Lasith Malinga is recovering from a sore back and will only join the team on April 5. Ricky Ponting takes charge for them, and he said he was looking forward to the challenge after a “refreshing” Australian domestic season. “I knew my time was up as far as captaincy in Australian cricket is concerned, so finishing the season with Tasmania and being just a regular player in the side was quite refreshing for me.”But I’ve known about the captaincy of Mumbai Indians for a couple of months now and I’ve been excited about that. With the squad of players we’ve got to work with, why won’t you be excited?”Unlike Royal Challengers, Mumbai’s main concern is the batting. Last season they fielded 24 players in all, and tried several opening combinations without much success. This is something he is looking to address, Ponting said: “Over the last couple of seasons we’ve swapped and changed and had different combinations opening. Guys have gone in and out of the side quite regularly. That tends to happen when you’re not winning games.”What we want to do this year is get off to a good start, and try and keep a pretty settled group of players together through the tournament. Barring injuries, hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”Much talk in the lead-up to the tournament has centred around Ponting having to share a dressing room with Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar, both of whom played central roles in the 2008 Sydney Test’s controversy. Ponting said the trio was getting along fine. “I’ve really enjoyed their company over the last couple of days. Just having those experienced minds around will hold the team in good stead through the tournament.”

VVS Laxman, in his 16-year Test career, established himself as one of the best players of spin bowling in the world but, by his own admission, it wasn’t a talent he had acquired when he first picked up the bat

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Hyderabad01-Mar-2013VVS Laxman, in his 16-year Test career, established himself as one of the best players of spin bowling in the world but, by his own admission, it wasn’t a talent he had acquired when he first picked up the bat. Failures early in his career taught him to respect spin bowling more and after hours of practice his batting had evolved to the point where he could master any attack.Laxman was speaking at the launch of , a compilation of the best Q&A long-form interviews published by ESPNcricinfo and Walt Disney. The book features 22 interviews with current and former players speaking on specific topics such as captaincy, swing bowling, commentary, batting etc. Those interviewed include Sachin Tendulkar, Ian Chappell, Mahela Jayawardene, Barry Richards, and Laxman himself.”I never got to play quality spin bowling when I was growing up,” Laxman said in a discussion with Harsha Bhogle and ESPNcricinfo editor Sambit Bal, responding to an extract from an earlier interview. “As a kid I always enjoyed playing fast bowling. I neglected playing spinners. At the end of the practice session I got extra throw-downs, asking the coaches to throw from ten yards so I could play quicker bowling. I used to practice on cement wickets using a plastic ball or a wet tennis ball.”When I started playing the Ranji Trophy, there were some quality spinners in domestic cricket and I remember I would invariably get out to Sairaj Bahutule (former Mumbai legspinner), playing against the spin and getting caught at midwicket. That’s when I came back to the nets and luckily Hyderabad had some quality spinners like Arshad Ayub, Venkatapathy Raju, Kanwaljit Singh. I practiced hard at the nets against them and I always felt that the hard work you put in the nets will reap results. Within a span of six months to one year I became an excellent player of spin. In domestic cricket we used to get tough wickets, like the one in Chennai for the Test (against Australia), and my confidence grew.”Laxman’s admissions could be a lesson for the touring Australian team, whose batsmen struggled against spin in Chennai. “You react to the ball that is coming at you,” he said. “If you focus on the guy holding the ball, your thought process changes. You should remove things like the state of the pitch from your thought process and only react to the ball. If you think too much about the wicket, you’re only expecting a certain kind of delivery and in the bargain you lose out on the shot you could have played.”Laxman also spoke at length about how it’s a bigger challenge for youngsters today to strike the balance between their game and their personality, compared to the scenario at the time he was growing up. He felt it is a challenge for the modern cricketer to manage distractions better, given that players nowadays have plenty on their plate to deal with.

“There is so much of fame, adulation, scrutiny, and money [these days]. It is very important for any young cricketer to be as balanced as possible. It is very difficult to do so and I feel for them.”VVS Laxman

“It’s not just about distractions. It’s the amount of options available to you. For example, when I chose not to become a doctor and chose cricket as my career path, there was nothing in my life except cricket. When my friends went to movies etc, I used to go home, so I could be fresh in the morning for practice. Now, there are so many options. If you are not successful as a cricketer you could be successful in any other field. That is why now it is very important how you communicate with the youngsters. You cannot be negative with them. You have to be positive so that their interest in the game always remains.”There is so much of fame, adulation, scrutiny, and money [these days]. It is very important for any young cricketer to be as balanced as possible. It is very difficult to do so and I feel for them.”While he agreed that mentorship is important to a player’s growth, he insisted that a youngster should be educated on what his priorities should be at an early age.”What was the one thing that kept me going? It was the pride of playing for your country,” Laxman said. “That can be ingrained at a young age. [Money] is a danger. For young cricketers, their priorities should be emphasised. They should know that money is a by-product of what you’re trying to achieve. Pride and passion should be the first priority. I have noticed in the same coaching camps I used to attend as a kid, the parents now say ‘I don’t care if my son plays for India or not but I want him to get into one of the IPL franchises.’ There has to be a balance. That will happen in the ages of 16-19. The coaches at camps like at the NCA have to address the issue.”Coaching youngsters, he says, also needs to be handled with caution. “After my retirement my son suddenly became interested in the game, I don’t know why,” Laxman said, which was followed by laughter. “I just tell him to hit the ball. My nephew goes to a coaching camp and one day I was playing with the two of them. It was strange. My son was only hitting the ball without bothering about his head position etc, but my nephew would come to me as ask, ‘uncle, how is my elbow position?’ They are just aged 6 and 7. What structured coaching sometimes does is it removes the natural instincts of a player. Till a cricketer is mature, one should not load too much information on him. I notice spinners are at their best till they are 15, but they vanish. The coaches try to correct them and the player gets confused.”

Preston Mommsen has been preferred to Kyle Coetzer as Scotland’s captain for the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2014Preston Mommsen has been preferred to Kyle Coetzer as Scotland’s captain for the World Cup. Coetzer, who was relieved of the job in September ahead of the acclimatisation tour of Australia and New Zealand in September, will be Mommsen’s vice-captain.Grant Bradburn, the Scotland coach, took the decision to allow Coetzer to focus on his batting earlier this year after a difficult season for Northamptonshire. The move paid dividends as Coetzer was Scotland’s leading batsman on their pre-World Cup trip with 333 runs at 55.50 including the only hundred of the tour.Although Mommsen’s tour was less impressive, with 182 runs at 26.00 from seven matches, he has had a productive year including being Player of the Tournament at the World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand in January and he was named ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year.”It’s a huge honour to be leading the Scotland team into the 2015 Cricket World Cup,” Mommsen said. “This group of players have been together for a couple of years now, and this has always been the dream.”The preparation over the past couple of months has been hugely productive, with the squad fully focused and committed to delivering on the World Stage. It’s an exciting time for everyone involved in Scottish Cricket and hopefully our performances in Australia and New Zealand will help promote the game, and inspire the next generation in Scotland.”Bradburn said: “We have a strong squad line up and excellent leaders in Preston and Kyle, as we prepare to play some international cricketing giants on the world stage next February in New Zealand. We don’t underestimate the challenge but we have been training hard and will be bringing our absolute best to this hugely important global event.”

Pakistan have dropped seniors Younis Khan and Umar Gul from the one-day squad for the three-match series against Australia in the UAE later this month

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2012Squad for ODIs against Australia

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman, Junaid Khan, Anwar Ali
In: Anwar Ali, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Junaid Khan
Out: Mohammad Sami, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Umar Gul

Pakistan have dropped seniors Younis Khan and Umar Gul from the one-day squad for the three-match series against Australia in the UAE later this month. Kamran Akmal, who was recalled for the Twenty20s, also made it to the one-day leg of the tour and the other notable inclusion is Junaid Khan, the left-arm fast bowler who had an impressive Test series in Sri Lanka recently. Anwar Ali, the fast bowler who has played one Twenty20 international back in 2008, is the only relatively new face in the team.Gul, Pakistan’s strike seam bowler, was selected for the Twenty20s but ignored for the ODIs. He had a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka, taking only four wickets in five games. Younis was out of sorts throughout the series, scoring just five runs in four games.Iqbal Qasim, Pakistan’s chief selector, said both were dropped for the sake of rest.”For a while Gul and Younis have been struggling and they have been dropped only to give them a break,” Qasim told ESPNcricinfo. “Both have contributed a lot for Pakistan and we need them to be fresh ahead of the busy schedule. They desperately need a break to mange their workload.”The selectors also ignored the unpredictable seamer Mohammad Sami, who played two one-dayers but was expensive in the fifth match in Colombo, leaking 75 runs in a thrilling encounter. Rahat Ali, the rookie left-arm seamer, was also left out after getting just one opportunity.”The selectors have decided to drop Rahat Ali, who needs more grooming and he is a future prospect, while Anwar Ali has been in the pipeline for quite a long time,” Qasim said. “He has been included to get some confidence and much-needed exposure.”The allrounder Shoaib Malik also gets a recall, after being ignored for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka. Malik played an ODI in February this year against England. Kamran Akmal’s inclusion was on expected lines after he was named in the Twenty20 squad for the UAE tour and the World Twenty20 next month in Sri Lanka. He last played an ODI during the 2011 World Cup. Pakistan selected three wicketkeepers – one for each format – in Sri Lanka, picking Shakeel Ansar and Sarfraz Ahmed for the Twenty20s and ODIs respectively. Both were left out in favour of Akmal.”Akmal is our first-choice as wicketkeeper-batsman for limited-overs cricket mainly because of his assured batting skills,” Qasim said. “So drafting him in the ODI squad could help him gain more confidence ahead of the World T20.”Anwar made a name for himself during Pakistan’s successful Under-19 World Cup campaign in Sri Lanka in 2006. He went wicketless in his only opportunity for Pakistan, against Zimbabwe in Canada. He is also a handy lower-order batsman, with a first-class century to his name.However, the squad lacks an experienced seamer, with Abdul Razzaq too missing out, despite making the Twenty20 squad. Hammad Azam, rated highly by the likes of Ramiz Raja (the former Pakistan captain) as an allrounder with potential, was ignored yet again.”Pakistan have been relying more on spin bowling, and in view of the pitches and conditions in the UAE, the onus will be on spinners,” Qasim said. Additional reporting by Umar Farooq

The South Africans took six wickets for 64 runs after tea to dismiss Kent for 210 at Canterbury. Imran Tahir cleaned up the tail to record his best figures for his adoptive country.

Firdose Moonda at Canterbury13-Jul-2012
ScorecardMorne Morkel took four wickets and demonstrated greater control than earlier in the week•Getty ImagesThe South African bowlers took six wickets for 64 runs after tea to dismiss Kent for a moderate total on a placid pitch. Imran Tahir cleaned up the tail to record his best figures for his adoptive country. Morne Morkel was the other standout bowler of the day and showed massive improvement from his outing in Taunton while using the short ball to good effect.After a Kent opening stand of 81 defied the South African attack for 107 minutes in the morning session, only Mike Powell’s 48 offered any further resistance. The rest of the line-up was undone by bounce from Morkel and flight from Tahir. In reply, Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen looked set to usher the South Africans safely to the close but Smith was caught behind after playing himself in carefully and starting to settle.The Kent opening pair, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Northeast, started confidently. Although Morkel threatened with his bouncer, he occasionally overpitched and both batsmen were quick to take advantage. The duo brought up 50 inside 14 overs, with 32 runs in boundaries.The first time either of them played and missed was in the 17th over, when Bell-Drummond attempted to drive against Morkel. Steyn caused them further problems when he was brought back on. He appealed for a catch at slip off Northeast but only Steyn and Smith, who was the fielder, seemed interested. In the next over, Northeast dabbed at one and was caught Smith, successfully on that occasion.Bell-Drummond went into lunch on 42 and did not add to his score. In the first over after the break, he was caught behind off Morkel, giving AB de Villiers his first victim in his role as wicket-keeper in this series. Vernon Philander removed a scratchy looking Ben Harmison lbw, with a delivery that pitched on middle and off and seemed to be hitting. Morkel got rid of Alex Blake’s the same way after a 25-minute rain delay.Smith gave the ball to JP Duminy immediately after tea, a move that seemed to be a stop-gap but paid dividends. Jacques Kallis took a sharp catch to his left at slip to give Duminy the wicket of Sam Billings. Just as Tahir seemed fated to go another innings without much to show for it, Kallis changed that. He backpedalled to take a catch off a sweep from Matt Coles which opened the door for Tahir.He went on to bowl Adam Riley and Ivan Thomas, the first with a googly, the second a legbreak and grew in confidence with each success. Charlie Shreck made Tahir the top wicket-taker for the South Africans when he charged down the pitch and lofted him to mid-on. Smith ran from mid-off to complete the catch.Smith and Petersen had to see off 13 overs to the close of play but Smith fell two overs from the close. He was caught behind playing away from his body off Shreck, leaving Hashim Amla to partner Alviro Petersen to the end of the first day.

Sean Abbott helped give New South Wales hope of victory on the third day in Hobart, where they finished the day on 0 for 43 chasing 255 to beat Tasmania

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2013
ScorecardMark Cosgrove was the dominant batsman for Tasmania (file photo)•Getty ImagesSean Abbott helped give New South Wales hope of victory on the third day in Hobart, where they finished the day on 0 for 43 chasing 255 to beat Tasmania. Abbott picked up 4 for 36 as the Tigers, with the notable exception of Mark Cosgrove, struggled to post a big second-innings score and finished all out for 164.Cosgrove was the only Tasmania batsman to pass 20, and he struck 12 boundaries in his 81 from 106 balls before he was caught behind off the bowling of Abbott. Doug Bollinger, Gurinder Sandhu and Steve O’Keefe each collected two wickets as Cosgrove’s colleagues failed to follow his lead, after the Blues had earlier added 64 to their overnight total.New South Wales began the day on 5 for 200 but the overnight half-centurions, Trent Copeland (58) and Kurtis Patterson (54) added little in the morning. Abbott chipped in with 33, including three fours and two sixes, as New South Wales reached 264 in their first innings. At stumps, they were 212 runs from their target, with Ryan Carters on 26 and Nic Maddinson on 17.

Northern Districts were able to hold on for a nine-run victory over Otago to seal their first victory of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Aaron Redmond tried in vain to get Otago close to the target•Getty ImagesA pair of fifties from the two Daniels – Flynn and Harris – ensured Northern Districts had enough runs to keep Otago at bay, as they opened their HRV Cup campaign with a nine-run victory in Dunedin. Northern Districts batted first, with the openers Brad Wilson and Flynn putting on 49.After Wilson was removed for 27, Flynn was joined by Harris, and the pair had a 69-run partnership. Flynn finally fell for 57 off 48 balls, which included three sixes and fours. Scott Styris chipped in with 14, but the rest of the lower order failed to add anything significant. Harris finished on 68 when he was run out by Neil Broom off the penultimate ball of the innings. Northern Districts reached 183 for 6.Otago, playing their first HRV Cup match since winning the tournament last year, got off to a belter as Broom and Jesse Ryder put on 65. Both openers fell by the 10th over, as Otago looked to build a strong platform to mount a chase of a competitive score. Aaron Redmond, coming in at No. 3, played an integral innings of 50 not out off 31 balls, as he and Ryan ten Doeschate combined for 76 runs for the third wicket.When ten Doeschate departed with the score on 147 for 3, Otago still required 37 runs off the final nine balls. Some inspired hitting from Redmond was not enough to close the gap, and Otago fell short by just nine runs.The match between Canterbury and Otago in Dunedin on November 8 was abandoned without a ball bowled on account of heavy rain on the morning of the match.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group B matches on December 1, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2012
ScorecardIgnored for the ongoing Test series against England, S Badrinath made his 29th first-class century as Tamil Nadu ended on 235 for 3 against Vidarbha in Nagpur. Arun Karthik and Abhinav Mukund got starts but were dismissed by Shrikant Wagh. Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik then put on 133 for the third wicket to build the innings. Dinesh Karthik made 49 off 147 deliveries before he was caught behind but India Under-19 allrounder Baba Aparajith ensured Tamil Nadu finished only three down. Badrinath faced 190 balls for his unbeaten 101 and hit 14 fours and a six.
ScorecardAnkit Rajpoot, 18, playing only his second first-class game, took four wickets to help Uttar Pradesh dismiss Baroda for 254 on a Green Park pitch with lots of grass on it. Suresh Raina asked Baroda to bat and the visitors lost their openers with just nine on the board. When Rajpoot had Rakesh Solanki edging to the slip cordon, Baroda were struggling at 83 for 4. Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Devdhar added 104 to steady the innings but Rajpoot broke the stand by having the Baroda captain caught behind for 85. Devdhar under-edged a googly from Piyush Chawla to the wicketkeeper and the innings soon ended on 254. The UP openers batted out six overs without any damage.
ScorecardOdisha’s fairytale run continued when they had Maharashtra seven down for 264 in Sambalpur. Medium-pacer Basant Mohanty hardly gave anything away, and had figures of 22-13-35-2. Five other Odisha bowlers picked up a wicket each. Wasted starts were the story of the day for Maharashtra, with two batsmen, Harshad Khadiwale and Chirag Khurana, going in their forties, and Ankit Bawne falling for 51. Kedar Jadhav, who had made 327 against UP earlier, motored to 33 off 33 before being dismissed. Maharashtra were 139 for 5 when Jadhav fell but Bawne and Khurana helped stage a recovery.
ScorecardFast bowler Parvinder Awana took three wickets as Delhi reduced neighbours Haryana to 219 for 6 in Lahli, near Rohtak. The Lahli pitch has acquired a reputation for being a batsman’s nightmare but the surface for this game was bare without any grass. Rahul Dewan and Nitin Saini (45) put on 69 for the first wicket before Awana struck. Sunny Singh and Abhimanyu Khod did cause much damage. Awana did, with the second new ball, taking out Sachin Rana and Amit Mishra leg-before. No. 5 batsman Rahul Dalal remained unbeaten on 42.