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India edge ahead in tense scrap

Australia 235 and 150 for 4 (Gilchrist 49) lead India 376 (Kaif 64, Patel 54, Warne 6-125) by 9 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mohammad Kaif: a gutsy innings in the heat of Chennai© AFP

An intriguing day’s play where punch was met by counter-punch and strategy was defied by grit set the second Test up perfectly going into the fourth day. Parthiv Patel and Mohammad Kaif stretched India’s lead on to a healthy 141 and then Australia, with Adam Gilchrist showing the way at No. 3, scrambled to 150 for 4, with a slender lead of 9.The Indian lead of 141 does not sound like an awful lot, but it was enough to put pressure on Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. The two began shakily, but managed to get the ball away often enough to bring up the 50-run partnership before Langer’s flash outside off fell in Rahul Dravid’s lap at first slip. Langer had made 19, but it was ironic that he was the first to be dismissed, for Hayden had been the one flirting with danger. He was dropped twice by Patel behind the stumps, first when he hadn’t yet opened his account, off Zaheer Khan, and later on 21, off Anil Kumble.Eventually, though, Hayden fell on 39, but not before he had reverted to the tactic that brought him 549 runs at an uber-Bradman average of 109 on Australia’s last tour here. Hayden’s lusty sweeps were effective, but eventually caused his downfall on 39, when one ball climbed, took the edge and ballooned up for VVS Laxman to latch onto gingerly at mid-on (76 for 2).Gilchrist then showed why he was in at No. 3, sweeping Kumble, Harbhajan and Virender Sehwag for powerful boundaries in quick succession. Simon Katich, looking to be more aggressive in this innings than he had earlier in the series, reached 9 before being trapped in front of the stumps by a sharp reverse-swinging delivery from Zaheer Khan (121 for 3). Gilchrist galloped along, reaching 49 swiftly, but after a sluggish phase in sight of the half-century, was bowled around the legs by a Kumble googly (145 for 4). Only two balls before that, Patel had chalked up his third dropped catch in under 47 overs, when Gilchrist gloved Kumble down the leg side.But Patel’s day was not all about misses. Earlier, with Kaif, he proved that it was possible to bat long on this Chennai pitch. Kaif, curious stance on display – feet close together, buttocks stuck out, hands spread on the bat handle – took his guard outside the crease, and used a straight bat to great effect against the medium-pacers. Patel, waiting and watching the ball till the last possible moment before choosing his stroke, ensured that he was able to take toll when the opportunity arose.Both batsmen had just about blunted the seamers when Gilchrist turned to spin, and Patel cashed in with two quick boundaries – a pull off Katich and a heave to midwicket off Shane Warne. The partnership reached three figures and Patel had brought up his half-century.

Shane Warne: mopped up the tail and finished with his first five-wicket haul against India© Getty Images

Kaif’s selection for this Test, his first in three years, proved to be an inspired decision. His 64, coming when it did, pulled India away from Australia after Virender Sehwag had laid the foundation. Kaif’s half-century, his first in Test cricket, meant that the score had moved from 233 for 6 to 335 for 7. The partnership was broken when a delivery from Warne bounced a bit more than Patel expected, and he gloved it to the Gilchrist behind the stumps. In keeping with the spirit of this game Patel walked before David Shepherd could make up his mind.Then there was a moment of confusion as Kaif dehydrated and cramped up badly. Having dashed off the field in urgent need of relief at the stroke of lunch, Kaif remained in the dressing-room, temporarily retiring hurt. Anil Kumble (20), who had batted well in the reassuring presence of Kaif, was bowled by one that drifted and turned and Harbhajan Singh popped a return catch to Warne, as he finished with 6 for 125.Kaif (64) returned to the crease with Yuvraj Singh as a runner, but did not last too long. He came down the wicket and lifted Warne over mid-on for one glorious boundary, and ran himself out shortly after in dramatic fashion. Having reverse-swept one to the short third man region, Kaif forgot about his runner and instinctively set off down the pitch. Then he slipped and fell on the pitch clutching his leg and couldn’t make it back before the bails were whipped off. By then, though, he had done his bit.

Aussie spearheads on top of the world

LONDON – Man of the series Glenn McGrath feels inferior to Dennis Lilleedespite beating the great fast bowler’s benchmark of 355 wickets in theFifth Ashes Test.And Shane Warne, pipped by McGrath for the honour of being the highestwicket-taker in the series by 32 to 31, says he has never bowled betterthan on the final day at the Oval.McGrath took 5-43 in England’s second innings of 184 for a match haul of7-110 and a total of 358 wickets from his 75-Test career.That’s three more wickets than Lillee claimed in his 70 Tests, but thosefigures do not include his 103 scalps from World Series Cricket andSuperTests which would have bumped Lillee’s aggregate up to 458.”I dont think I’m up there with Dennis yet,” said McGrath.”He was my hero and I doubt I will every get up there alongside him.”I rate him as one of the best – if not the best – fast bowler ever.”To go past him is a great honour but I still feel I have a long way togo yet.”Warne, dogged by injury over the past two years, bowled with all his oldturn, flight and bounce on a pitch ideally suited to spin, finishing theTest with 11-229 and a man of the match award.Warne’s 92 Tests have netted 407 wickets, fifth on the all-time listbehind Courtney Walsh (519), Kapil Dev (434), Sir Richard Hadlee (431)and Wasim Akram (414).”Here in the second innings is probably the best I can bowl,’ Warnesaid.”I think I bowled two bad balls in 28 overs and I had the ball fizzing.”A bit of the old turn was there … I feel like I’m bowling as well asI ever have.”The ball from McGrath for wicket No.355 to match Lillee was his best ofthe series, rearing off a good length and prompting a floated returncatch off Marcus Trescothick’s gloves as he ducked for cover.”There was just a spot on the wicket there where I hit it and it jumpedoff a length,” McGrath said of the Trescothick ball.”It was hard call for Marcus to get and the fact it flew straight to mewas a little bit unusual.”He could think himself a little bit stiff.The Australian bowlers were superior to their English rivals throughoutthe series with the exception of Brett Lee, who came out of adisappointing series with only nine wickets at 55.11.McGrath’s 32 were at 16.93, Warne’s 31 were at 18.7 and Jason Gillespietook 19 wickets at an unlucky 34.31.”England bowled well in spells but when you bowl to a lineup like we’vegot it is pretty tough work,” said McGrath.”You look at Gough and Caddick and they go for the wickets a lot of thetime rather than build it up and try to maintain pressure that way.”I bowl line and length because I don’t swing the ball and I’ve got nopace.”No pace, but plenty of wickets.

Hyderabad complete facile innings victory over Goa

The match between Hyderabad Under-22s and Goa Under-22s saw the hostscomplete a facile innings and 17 run victory at the ECIL Ground atHyderabad.On the first day, Hyderbad won the toss, elected to bat first againstGoa. The Hyderabad side boasted a strong batting line up and movedfrom strength to strength against a Goa bowling attack that could dolittle to make inroads. Anirudh Singh made 88 (197 balls, 13 fours),but it was NA Yadav who stole the show. Slamming 139 off as manyballs, Yadav struck 21 boundaries and cleared the ropes on threeoccasions. At 403 for 7, Hyderabad declared their innings closed.The target of 404 for a first innings lead proved to be too much forGoa. Mohammed Ghouse with 6/58 was the wrecker in chief as Goasuccumbed to a paltry 138 all out in 40 overs. Asked to follow on, Goawere once again floundering. Losing wickets at refular intervals, theyended the second day on 191/6 despite a good 65 from opener S Kamat.Starting the last day on 191/6, Goa were still 104 runs behind afterbeing asked to follow on. Nothing short of a superhuman effort couldsave Goa the blushes. On the day, there were no heroics forthcoming,and the visitors’ last four wickets delayed the inevitable by 16.5overs. Goa were all out for 248 in 46.5 overs, losing the match by aninnings and 17 runs, Goa collected no points from the game whileHyderabad were left with 8 points.

Day 1 – with a fabulous 370 for 8 Pakistan take command

Despite a dismal start, tumbling to 2 for 39, Pakistan ended the day with a fabulous score of 370 for 8. It was great to finally see a magical transformation of Pakistan’s batting, facing up to the England speedsters with courage while destroying their ‘danger men’ image built at Lord’s.A masterly partnership of 141 runs between Inzamam (114) and Younis Khan (65) laid the real foundation for Pakistan’s big innings. Inzamam gave a superb display of batsmanship, punishing every bowler coming in front of him. Today Incidentally England’s fielding was not as impressive as at Lords.Then followed another excellent partnership of 53 between Rashid Latif and Azhar Mahmood. Rashid, however, continues to hold the fort with absolute command and Pakistan is quite likely to cross 400 runs if he stays at the wicket till end of the innings. His partner, Saqlain Mushtaq has the tenacity to give the support for a long stand. All day Pakistan’s electrifying scoring rate was a spectacular feature as loose balls were punished for 51 fours and 2 sixes.Earlier Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat on a rainy morning. Waqar thought the pitch to be good for batting against some commentary box comments that conditions were ideal for bowling.It was an inauspicious start though, with Pakistan paying the price for promoting Abdur Razzaq to the opener’s slot, an experiment not suited to the occasion. Razzaq was dropped in the slips on the first ball he faced and in the next over was bowled by Andy Caddick.Faisal Iqbal, another youngster on trial, offered an easy catch and departed after scoring 16 runs bringing Pakistan down to a petty 39 for 2. The two best batsmen in the side Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, got together to pull the side out of crisis. Hitting sparkling shots all round the wicket, they hoisted 50 of the innings in 13 overs.Toying with a shoulder high delivery by Caddick outside off, in the last over before lunch, Saeed was the next victim. After scoring a valuable 29 Saeed asked for his exit on a ball that could have been ‘well left’ showing that Caddick has that ability to extract extra bounce and Pakistan was 86 for 3.Yousuf Youhana also ranked among the top Pakistan batsmen was out in similar fashion, repeating his Lord’s performance of dangling his bat and offering a catch behind the stumps. It seemed the batsmen had not learnt the Lord’s lesson. By earning 3 out of the 4 scalps Caddick was now in full cry and playing havoc with the ball. Pakistan’s 100 came in 23 overs but only after losing 4 wickets.Inzamam completed his breezy but beautiful 50 in 69 balls with 9 exciting shots to the boundary. He was also the one to hoist the 50 and 100 of the Pakistan innings with sizzling shots to the square-leg boundary. Earlier in his innings he completed his 5000 runs in test cricket.Having stemmed the rot, the pair of Inzamam and Younis Khan raised Pakistan’s score to 200 in 48 overs with Younis completing his 50 in 89 balls. Something new for England bowlers was the punishment they received in the form of fours and sixes.Playing aggressive cricket, Inzamam completed his glorious century (his 14th in tests) in 135 balls with the help of 16 fours and a six, but a little later, lost his partner Younis Khan trapped lbw by Hoggard after a fine innings of 65. At 233 for 5 Pakistan had maintained a remarkable run rate of over 4 per over and the partnership had yielded 141 precious runs.Hoggard struck again when he claimed the prized wicket of Inzamam after he had played a flawless innings of 114, laying a solid foundation for Pakistan, now at 255 for 6.Rashid Latif and Azhar Mahmood batted valiantly raising the total to 308 with a useful partnership of 53 when Azhar Mahmood became Hoggard’s 3rd victim after scoring 37.Rashid Latif and Wasim Akram produced another valuable partnership of 49 when Wasim left after scoring 16. Pakistan was 357 for 8 with Rashid Latif in full command after having completed his half-century.Play ended after a full quota of 90 overs with Pakistan at 370 for 8 with Rashid Latif holding the crease with a confident 64. Andy Caddick and Mathew Hoggard were England’s star bowlers sharing 3 wickets each. All credit too for England’s pacers who had toiled all day on a reasonably batting friendly pitch, as it turned out to be. Their perseverance and effort right to the last ball was a remarkable feature of the day.

Adams faces tricky declaration decision against Durham

After a day of mixed fortunes Sussex skipper Chris Adams faces a tough decision over when to declare against Durham at Chester-le-Street.An astonishing spell of four for six by Adams was not enough for Sussex to enforce the follow-on as they seek their fifth win in six matches.The captain is on 33 not out as Sussex go into the final day on 135 for one in their second innings, leading by 217.He could be influenced by an elbow injury to his leading wicket-taker Jason Lewry, who retired today just as the new ball was due.Durham had already passed the follow-on target by then, but there was further frustration as Mark Robinson had to be removed for running down the wicket and Adams had to bowl again.He finished with 4-28, beating the career-best 4-29 he took for Derbyshire against Lancashire at Derby in 1991, but Durham’s last two wickets put on 115 before they were all out for 360.Replying to 442, Durham were 222-3 when Adams introduced his gentle medium pace and induced a skied return catch from Nicky Peng off his first ball.Paul Collingwood skied a catch to mid-wicket, Martin Speight was bowled shouldering arms and Danny Law was stumped down the leg side.When Lewry had Graeme Bridge lbw Durham went into lunch on 245-8, still needing 48 to avoid the follow-on.But wicket-keeper Andrew Pratt led the revival, making 51 not out, his second Championship half-century.

Hampshire to give Championship debut in squad of 12 for Southgate

Hampshire will be giving a County Championship debut to at least one player, as both Irfan Shah and Chris Tremlett are included in the squad for the CricInfo Championship clash against top-of-the-table Middlesex at Southgate.The pair are in the squad of 12, that is without Alan Mullally, who is on England international duty.Tremlett has played one first-class game, against New Zealand ‘A’ two seasons ago, while Shah is included for the first time, with the prospect of a typical turning Southgate wicket requiring Hampshire to list two spinners.Team: GW White, DA Kenway, WS Kendall, RA Smith (capt), NC Johnson, LR Prittipaul, AN Aymes (w-k), AD Mascarenhas, SD Udal, AC Morris, IH Shah, CT Tremlett.

Middlesex bring in Junaid Khan

Middlesex have signed Junaid Khan as their latest overseas player. The Pakistan left-armer will be available to play in the Royal London Cup as well as the Championship, if required.Junaid replaces Joe Burns, who was brought in after Adam Voges, initially signed as captain, was selected in Australia’s Ashes squad. Junaid has previously played county cricket with Lancashire, for whom he took 31 T20 wickets at 14.58 during two spells between 2011 and 2014. His first game for Middlesex could come against Lancashire at Blackpool on Wednesday.Junaid has not played since Pakistan’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the Colombo Test last month. A regular in the side since his debut in 2011, he has struggled since returning from a knee injury sustained in late 2014.”We are delighted to have got a bowler of Junaid’s quality at such short notice,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said. “I would like to than the Pakistan Cricket Board for their help in getting this deal through. With over 80 international appearances and over 150 international wickets he will bring variety, experience and further quality to our bowling attack.”His time with Lancashire means he has experience of English conditions. His presence will ease the workload on our main seamers too.”

Phenomenal Klinger flies back to book Lord's date

ScorecardMichael Klinger continued a phenomenal season•Clint Hughes/PA Photos

His stint in England officially completed, Michael Klinger had confirmed his departure for Australia after guiding Gloucestershire to the Royal London semi-finals by suggesting that he might return if they got to Lord’s. Back in Perth, the lure of a final was impossible to resist. He chatted to his wife, got back on a plane and played the innings to get them there himself.He has been playing innings of quality all summer long. Klinger’s run in the 50-over competition has been remarkable: three hundreds in his last five innings, against Somerset, Durham and, finally, Yorkshire, his 137 not out from 145 balls, guiding Gloucestershire to an eight-wicket win at Headingley with 19 balls to spare.Yorkshire made only 263 for 9 when they looked set for 300, from which point Klinger was clinical enough to compute victory without ever needing excess. It was a long-haul innings to follow a long-haul flight.”I have travelled a long way for a day’s work but it has been a great day for the club and the players,” Klinger said. “I would have felt pretty guilty if I hadn’t come back. It was a no-brainer. Thanks to the club for flying me back for five days and allowing me to see my wife and kids. I am going to wait around for the final. I have put myself through a Western Australia fitness camp to make sure my coach, Justin Langer, doesn’t get too upset with me when I get back home. I think it’s our time.”

Klinger’s march to Lord’s

107 (133 balls) vs Somerset
114* (135 balls) vs Durham
87 (81 balls) Hampshire
137* (145 balls) vs Yorkshire

There were around 8,000 at Headingley on a gorgeous late summer’s day, most of them anticipating the next stage of a potential Yorkshire double, but instead they endured an innings of draining authority on a dry surface as Klinger took Gloucestershire to Lord’s to face the winner of Monday’s second semi-final between Surrey and Nottinghamshire at the Kia Oval.Yorkshire’s semi-final record remains dreadful: 16 defeats in 19 stretching back to a time when Margaret Thatcher had just been elected as prime minister in 1979.Klinger has dominated Gloucestershire’s one-day season to an extraordinary extent. He has been the most compelling story of the county season. He goes to Lord’s with three hundreds and an average of 132.75 in the competition. He averaged 81.75 in the NatWest T20 Blast, another three hundreds gained, and before the English season, he was the leading run-scorer in Australia’s Big Bash.”We need Klinger”: The imperative was there for Yorkshire from the moment he took guard. “We need Klinger”: It began as a logical statement of fact, grew into unease, then desperation and finally taunted every Yorkshire fielder with the knowledge that as much as they wanted Klinger it would never happen, as distant from actuality as wanting to own a Caribbean island or to take wings and fly to the moon.Yorkshire’s attack appeared inadequate. Lacking Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid on England duty, they also chose to omit two bowlers at the centre of their expected Championship triumph – Ryan Sidebottom (who has long dispensed with one-day cricket) and Jack Brooks, a more debatable omission in a semi-final when the Championship is as good as won. Remove those four and what was left was an insipid attack which gave an inexperienced captain in Alex Lees no room to manoeuvre. It was loyalty gone too far. This was a game that explained why Yorkshire, as strong as they are, have signed David Willey.Benny Howell’s three wickets rallied Gloucestershire•PA Photos

Klinger’s judgment and placement was impeccable. On the rare occasions Lees tried to squeeze the game, Klinger chose his moment and pummelled one down the ground. He lost Chris Dent to the last ball of a well-judged Powerplay, Matthew Fisher striking his off-stump, and Gareth Roderick dragged Will Rhodes to mid-on to encourage Yorkshire hopes that Gloucestershire, too, would unravel as the ball softened.But Hamish Marshall proved a redoubtable ally in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 177 in 28 overs – a Gloucestershire record stand against Yorkshire in one-day. Marshall, 78 not out from 75 balls, was not quite as stylish perhaps, but he was equally adept. Both played what Klinger rightly called “high percentage cricket”. He rounded it off by lifting Fisher straight for six.Gloucestershire have not won a one-day trophy since 2004, the end of a period when they dominated the limited-overs game. Ian Harvey, one of the stalwarts of that era, is now back alongside Richard Dawson as assistant coach, and if there is no longer the sight of Jack Russell yapping away behind the stumps, maintaining intensity in his washed-out sun hat, Klinger is the lynchpin in a side rediscovering its self-belief.That was illustrated by the way Gloucestershire dragged Yorkshire back from 159 for 2 with 22 overs remaining. Adam Lyth had played with verve for 96, his Ashes failures cast aside as he drove on the up with vim, but pulling James Fuller in search of his hundred, he fell at long leg.Step forward Benny Howell: one wicket and 12 overs before today in the competition. His surreptitious medium-pace made better use than any Yorkshire bowler did later, Gary Ballance chipping a return catch to become one of his three victims.There was a vital wicket, too, for Liam Norwell, who should have caught Jonny Bairstow, on 34, off his own bowling only to inexplicably drop the ball to the floor. He might just have persuaded the third umpire that he had the ball under control for long enough, only to compound his error by throwing his hands to his face and thereby pronounce himself guilty. Norwell, to his immense credit, withstood an over of baiting from the West Stand, smiled affably at his mark at the start of his next over and removed Bairstow with an inswinger without further addition.Klinger then knew that a Gloucestershire recovery was possible. “After the first 10 or 15 overs I thought it wasn’t the best call to bowl, but we have chased well in both formats this season,” he said. “The credit today has to go to our bowling attack. That second 25 overs was the difference to us chasing 260 not 300. I think it’s our time.”Yorkshire had suffered a similar middle-order collapse in the quarter-final against Essex only for Plunkett and Rashid to get them out of jail. That escape route no longer existed. Klinger duly took command. Lyth’s unexpected appearance as an off-spinner unsettled him enough to get down to the non-striker’s end to have a look, Rhodes made him hurry on 92, with a direct hit, but each successive drive told of a batsman whose memorable season has not been prone to error. Gloucestershire will pray that he can do it just one more time.

Rawalpindi struggle to 156 for six

Rawalpindi struggled to 156 for six in their first innings against Lahore Whites on a curtailed opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam Cricket Trophy Grade I match at the LCCA Ground here on Saturday.The match started 90 minutes late as the pitch was wet due to wateringof the ground, which done two days ago. The morning dew also hamperedits drying out process.The right-arm fast-medium bowler Irfan Fazil exploited theconditionsefficiently to claim four wickets for 54 runs after Lahore Whitescaptain Naeem Ashraf elected to field.Rawalpindi’s skipper Naseer Ahmad played a steady head to stabilisethe innings with an unbeaten knock of 61. He has so far batted for 196minutes. His 120-ball innings includes nine boundaries.Naseer and Shahid Javed (29 with five fours) shared an invaluablepartnership of 83 for the fifth wicket in 112 minutes.

Marshall hundred cannot stall Glamorgan

David Lucas, who took 4 for 68, celebrates the wicket of Ben Smith on the third day at Northampton © Getty Images
 

First Division

Click here to read John Ward’s report of the third day between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at Headingley.Click here to read Will Luke’s report of Sussex against Surrey at Hove.

Second Division

4th dayGlamorgan secured a 114-run victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol even though they contrived to drop Hamish Marshall five times on his way to a hundred. Gloucestershire, set 315 off a minimum of 80 overs, slid to 76 for 5 before Marshall and Steve Snell put on 114 for the sixth wicket. The game appeared to be heading to a draw but Robert Croft (3 for 39) and Jason Gillespie (3 for 39) ripped through the tail as five wickets fell for 10 runs. In the morning, Matthew Wood (83*) and David Hemp (72) extended Glamorgan’s second innings to 178 for 1 against occasional bowlers.Matt Boyce scored his maiden first-class hundred as Leicestershire’s game with Warwickshire at Edgbaston petered out in a draw. Resuming on 121 for 1, Leicestershire used the day for batting practice, with Boyce leading the way with 106. With HD Ackerman, who made his 11th Championship hundred, he added 182 for the second wicket while Ian Salisbury finished with 5 for 67 on his home debut.3rd dayWorcestershire enjoyed the best of the day against Northamptonshire at Northampton where they amassed 400 for 8, a first-innings lead of 232, against a fairly toothless bowling attack. Kabir Ali (46), Gareth Batty (37) and Steve Davies (31) helped add 148 for the last five wickets. Northamptonshire wobbled in reply, before Nicky Boje and David Sales steered them to 161 for 2 by the close.

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