Neil McKenzie scored his second century in five weeks for the Northerns Titans, guiding his team to a first innings total of 306 for seven in their Supersport Series match against the Highveld Strikers at the Wanderers on Friday.The 24-year-old rescued Northerns from a dismal start of 28 for two, scoring 123 runs of his own and starring in a crucial third-wicket partnership with Martin van Jaarsveld.McKenzie’s early-season form has been nothing short of brilliant. This performance comes on the back of his scores of 70 and 75 against the Griqua Diamonds at Supersport Park last week.It is also his second century in five weeks following the one he scored against Western Province in their Standard Bank Cup game.Northerns captain Gerald Dros won the toss and elected to bat first on Friday. But the Strikers’ attack hardly had to break a sweat in claiming the first two wickets, with Jacques Rudolph dismissed for only three and Rudolph Steyn doing only slightly better before departing on a modest score of 22.Van Jaarsveld brought some stability to the innings with his 59, laying the platform for McKenzie to turn a dismal innings into something decent by the end of the day. And it was largely at the expense of a mediocre bowling performance by the Strikers.McKenzie entered the fray just under two hours before lunch, and together with Van Jaarsveld guided Northerns to 96 for two by the end of the first session. The duo put on 124 runs for the third wicket before Van Jaarsveld was caught behind off the bowling of Zander de Bruyn.Northerns went into the tea break at 160 for three, with McKenzie on 70. In exactly the 10th over after the break, McKenzie unleashed his bat on the bowling of De Bruyn. McKenzie hit four boundaries in the over to bring up his century, coming in 247 minutes, off 188 balls and including 18 fours.With Gerald Dros as his partner, the duo put on 99 runs for the fourth wicket, with the Strikers desperately trying to contain their opponents.Walter Masimula eventually made the vital breakthrough for the Strikers when he had McKenzie caught at mid-on by Andre Seymore, with the batsman eventually making 123, scoring hitting fours in his 282 minutes at the crease.But with this kind of form, McKenzie can surely count on building on his three Test appearances for South Africa.

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.

Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals’ team mentor, has said he respects the Justice Lodha Panel’s decision to suspend Royals and Chennai Super Kings’ owners for two years, but felt the court’s decision was a massive blow to the prospects of the younger players in the two teams.Dravid, who is currently the coach of the India A team, was speaking at a press conference in Chennai ahead of India A’s four-day match against South Africa A. While he refused to get drawn into the specifics of Lodha’s verdict, Dravid said the entire episode would affect “everyone involved with Indian cricket”.”I don’t want to make firm judgments on people, but it’s disappointing that the actions of one or two can have an impact on so many,” Dravid said. “Not only me, but generally in a situation like this, the people at the bottom of the pyramid are the ones who are most affected.”The top players and coaches always find stuff to do afterwards. It’s not difficult for top players to be picked by other franchises. However, the young players who don’t easily get an opportunity, they miss out. I feel disappointed for them, but we respect the decision the court has taken. In my opinion, not everyone at Rajasthan Royals or Chennai Super Kings are bad. There are lots of very, very good people.”When asked if his association with Royals would forever be a blot on his career, Dravid diplomatically insisted it was “for the people to decide”, but said had he been aware of any wrongdoing in the team, he would have “dealt with it”.”At the end of the day, I see my role as a mentor and as a coach of a team. People need to decide if the actions of shareholders or owners can be linked to coaches or mentors. I don’t want to try and defend myself. I only wish I had known that the three players were doing something suspicious, as I would have dealt with it,” he said.”People know what spot-fixing is. It’s difficult to know, even if in same team, if people are involved in spot-fixing. If I were to doubt every single wide or four, I would lose all my love and interest in the game. Any team I coach, I don’t go into it suspecting people everytime they get hit for a four. I had absolutely no clue, and I’ve spoken to the Mudgal commission about that. What people do in their private lives, I personally feel it’s difficult for mentors and coaches to know what decisions they are making.”

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.”

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.

Virat Kohli’s 23rd ODI century – in only his 157th innings – was the cornerstone of India’s series-levelling victory in Chennai and it was also a sign of his evolution as a batsman according to captain MS Dhoni.”Virat is somebody, right from the very start – and not today, I’m talking about the ODIs when he started – he was always someone who was very keen on improving his game,” Dhoni said after the win. “And even when he would get out scoring a 60 or a 70, he wanted to convert it into a hundred.”Just watching how he plays his 50 to 60 and 100 to 110 – because a lot of times these are the brackets where you see a lot of batsmen getting out – so once he crosses that, with the kind of mindset he has he will always play a big innings.”On the surface Kohli’s 138 off 140 balls implies an innings that befits the pace of modern cricket. But it was achieved using old-fashioned values. He was back at No. 3 and was forced onto the scene in the fifth over. Then in the eighth he watched another wicket fall to leave India at 35 for 2.The new ball zipped off the Chennai pitch, so Kohli had to mind the bounce on offer. Later on, as the ball got older and softer, he had to adjust from weathering the pace on the ball to making the pace himself. This is one-day cricket after all and runs need to be made at a fair clip.But that doesn’t necessarily mean it had to come from flashy strokes. Kohli, as per the team’s strategy, fed his innings through singles and twos. They accounted for 84 (66 singles, nine twos) of his 138, a whopping 61%. He kept the ball along the ground. He trusted a strength – his wrists – and subsequently a lot of his runs came through on-drives and flicks to square leg and midwicket. He was severely efficient against spin – 77 off 62 balls faced from Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso.”I felt he was rotating the strike really well and again the important thing is when you play such a long innings, the middle overs when you put pressure on the fielders is the key,” Dhoni said. “You can’t play a big innings by playing only the big shots. With the amount of heat that’s around, you have to put pressure on the bowlers especially when they are fielding out on the boundary and that’s how you get them tired.”When they come to bowl their second spell or third spell they will commit that error and give you a few balls to hit. I felt he is very good that way and he was just brilliant when it comes to pacing his innings and how he played the full quota of overs.”One-day cricket in India is no longer the same as it once was. Slower pitches are not readily conducive to hit through the line. The extra fielder – five as opposed to four – on the boundary allows fielding sides to restrict the flow of runs even in the death and South Africa’s tall and extremely pacy bowlers have been able to extract reverse swing as well. So Dhoni felt this knock was a clear sign of Kohli’s evolution from when Australia visited India in 2013, when Kohli clinched the record for the fastest ODI ton by an Indian.”Also if you see, the wickets have been very different. You can compare his hundreds to the hundreds he scored in the Australian series. There was a bit of dew, the ball was coming on nicely to the bat and it was big-scoring games – we chased down 350 twice – so that’s why I felt it was an important innings because on a slow wicket what happens is the batsman who is set will always find it slightly easy when compared to the new batsman coming in and playing the big shots.”However, with AB de Villiers in the opposition nothing can be taken for granted. Moreover, India were without R Ashwin, whom Dhoni called “his main bowler.” But Harbhajan Singh made sure India’s attack was not bereft of threat.The old loop is back. The drift away from the right-hander is palpable. Harbhajan produced a beautiful offspinner that beat a fluent Quinton de Kock in the air and had him caught at second slip. Then he set up another left-hander in David Miller by sneaking the arm ball through and trapping him in front.Although they were only two wickets, Dhoni from behind the stumps, could see Harbhajan’s rhythm was very good.”At times we always assess bowling in terms of wickets. If somebody is getting wickets we say he is bowling well,” Dhoni said. “But a lot of times, and especially being a keeper, you have the advantage of seeing what the bowler is doing, seeing what he is extracting off the wicket. I think he is bowling really well.”Losing Ashwin right at the start of the series, that is a big blow because especially in these conditions he is our main bowler. I can use him in the first ten, I can use him in the middle overs, I can use him in the slog, wherever I have to he is always there. That did put a bit of pressure on me.”But it was good that Harbhajan, the way he has bowled so far in the series, that eases a bit of pressure because I can use him in the first ten, couple of overs in the first 10, then today also I used him in the last few close to the 40th over onwards. He has eased off the pressure.”

Bangladesh’s national selectors have asked Al-Amin Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Jubair Hossain to return from the A-team’s tour of Africa, in order to prepare for the senior team’s home series against Zimbabwe next month. Bangladesh A begin officially begin their tour of Zimbabwe on October 30.The five players who will replace the returning six from the Bangladesh A team are batsmen Tasamul Haque and Naeem Islam, wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, and pace bowlers Dewan Sabbir and Mukhtar Ali.Should Al-Amin be picked in the ODI squad for the Zimbabwe series, it will mark a return for him to the national fold for the first time since the 2015 World Cup. Al-Amin was sent home from the World Cup due to disciplinary reasons, and was subsequently ignored for the three home series against Pakistan, India and South Africa.Al-Amin, Sabbir, Soumya, Liton, Rabbi and Jubair will all return to Bangladesh after the A-team’s second and last warm-up fixture in South Africa, on October 29. While Sabbir, Soumya, Liton and Jubair were in Bangladesh’s last ODI squad in July against South Africa, the selectors are considering Al-Amin and Rabbi to replace the injured Rubel Hossain, who is all but ruled out of the Zimbabwe series after suffering a calf muscle strain last month.It is, however, likely that Taskin Ahmed and limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza will return for the Zimbabwe series after recovering from injuries. Taskin suffered a side strain in June during the India series, and had a relapse during the A-team’s tour of India in September.Mashrafe was also hospitalised earlier this month with dengue. While Mashrafe has taken time to recover from the illness, Bangladesh’s team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said that both he and Taskin were likely to be fit in time for the Zimbabwe series, with Mashrafe expected to start training from Monday.Shakib Al Hasan too is likely to be part of the ODI squad though he is currently in USA on paternity leave. Shakib was given leave till mid-November on the condition that he return on the wake of fresh international commitments.There are unlikely to be any other changes in the Bangladesh team as the selectors are inclined to continue with more or less the same squad that beat South Africa 2-1 in July.Bangladesh A squad for the tour of Zimbabwe: Shuvagata Hom (captain), Shadman Islam, Rony Talukdar, Dewan Sabbir, Tasamul Haque, Nurul Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahmudul Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Naeem Islam, Mohammed Shahid, Muktar Ali, Abu Jayed, Saqlain Sajib, Taijul Islam

Debutant Michael Strong broke the back of Yorkshire’s innings with threewickets in twenty deliveries as Northamptonshire, who have never lost to the Tykes in this competition, beat their visitors by 69 runs in their NatWest Trophy fourth-round match at Wantage Road. The 26 year-old quick bowler sent back Gary Fellows, Richard Blakey and Darren Lehmann as Yorkshire slumped to 183 all out.Northamptonshire’s own 252 runs total had been built around a 118 runsthird-wicket partnership between Matthew Hayden (63) and David Sales (65) which had retrieved the ground lost by the early dismissal of Adrian Rollins and Mal Loye to Gavin Hamilton. The Australian hit a six and seven fours in his stay of 69 deliveries, and Sales’ more circumspect approach – taking 94 balls – showed why he had been made Northamptonshire’s player-of-the-month for a sequence of impressive limited-overs performances.Lehmann’s slow left-arm spin dismissed Sales and Graeme Swann in the courseof four balls when Northamptonshire at 207-3 seemed to be set for a huge score.That was but a prelude to Darren Gough (4-36) finishing off the lower-order but the 252 runs total offered Yorkshire a stiff target.It looked even more formidable when they sagged to 28-3 against Strong’sinitial assault in his first match in the competition. Shortly afterwards Devon Malcolm took the prized wicket of Michael Vaughan to a catch in the covers. At 36-4 Anthony McGrath (64) and David Byas (33) showed some resilience in taking the score to 73 when Tony Penberthy effectively settled the matter by dismissing Byas. McGrath’s departure after 69 deliveries merely underlined the inevitable. Last man Gough was run out with Yorkshire still out of sight of their target.

Georgetown (Guyana), May 8: A tropical downpour flooded large parts ofthe Bourda pitch on Monday and washed out the fourth day of the firstTest between West Indies and Pakistan.It had been raining all through the night after play on the third dayhad been called off before time with West Indies on 222 for seven intheir first innings in reply to Pakistan’s 288.Umpires Steve Bucknor of the West Indies and his South Africancolleague did not even bother to step out on to the ground on thfourth morning as rain continued to pour down.From the steps of the pavilion balcony Koertzen signalled to the mediabox the decision of the umpires that play will not be possible at all.It will be a miracle even on the final day tomorrow (Tuesday) if anyplay gets under way with more rain forecast in the next 24 hours andthe field increasingly waterlogged.Like most of Georgetown, which is protected from the Atlantic ocean bya wall, the Bourda pitch lies one metre below sea level and isnotoriously slow to drain.The teams also did not appear at the ground, realizing well that itwill be nigh impossible for the opening Test to restart.When Pakistan captain Moin Khan was contacted he obviously showed hisdisappointment saying that his side had a fair chance of going intothe second Test at Barbados with a 1-0 lead.”I think we could have bowled them out on the fourth morning gainingat least a 30-run lead which in the end could have mattered a lotafter we had batted second time and set West Indies a target,” hesaid.West Indies fought back from a poor start to reach 222 for seven intheir first innings on a curtailed third day’s play on Sunday. Thehome side are still 66 runs short of Pakistan’s score of 288.Their recovery was brought about by a record seventh wicketpartnership of 74 between the obdurate Shivnarine Chanderpaul andNixon McLean after Pakistan had reduced them to 139 for six.West Indies lost skipper Jimmy Adams to the fourth ball of the daywhen Mushtaq had him nicely held low at slip by Younis Khan for20. Television umpire Colin Alfred was called in to adjudicate afterAdams stood his ground.Chris Gayle, one of the seven left-handers in the West Indies line-up,hit a couple of lusty blows but holed out to Wasim Akram at widemid-on off Mushtaq. He made 13.Wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs was run out for six in a terrible mix-upwith Chanderpaul. Wajahatullah Wasti’s return to Mushtaq at thebowler’s end left Jacobs stranded by miles.But then Chanderpaul and fellow left-hander McLean combined togetherto take West Indies at tea at 174 for six. After the interval, McLean,by far the more aggressive of the two batsmen, improved his previousbest score of 39 against South Africa at Cape Town last season beforethe second new ball was claimed by Moin Khan.With his score on 46, McLean was taken at second slip byInzamam-ul-Haq inches off Waqar Younis. The 74-run partnership in 133minutes had erased the previous best against Pakistan for the seventhwicket of 70 between Clive Lloyd and Joel Garner at Bridgetown in1976-77. McLean’s 95-ball innings contained eight boundaries.Chanderpaul’s 46 off 172 balls at stumps had already occupied thecrease for just over four hours. He hit three fours.Curtly Ambrose survived some anxious moments against Wasim Akram andWaqar Younis to remain unbeaten on two.

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.