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ScorecardMiddlesex moved to the top of the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A table by cantering to a six-wicket victory against a youthful Worcestershire side at Lord’s.Dawid Malan, Paul Stirling and Chris Rogers were the stars of a successful floodlit run chase as Worcestershire’s 40-over total of 217 for 6 proved inadequate. Malan led the way with a classy, controlled 75 made off 77 balls and included with 12 fours.Malan was joined in stands of 62 with Paul Stirling, who hit a punchy 41 from only 33 balls, and 85 with the experienced Rogers was on 51 not out at the end after finishing matters off in the company of Gareth Berg.Scott Newman, after hitting the second ball of the reply through the covers for four, went in the seventh over to a very well-judged catch at deep square leg by Matt Pardoe, off Chris Whelan, but Middlesex never looked in any bother as they swept to victory with a comfortable 26 balls to spare.Middlesex have now won four of their six group games, while Worcestershire remain at the bottom of the table with three defeats from the four matches they have so far played.The Worcestershire innings was stuttering badly at 125 for 5 in the 28th over, when Pardoe missed a pull at Tom Smith’s left-arm spin and was lbw for 11. But Andrew joined Cameron in a rollicking sixth-wicket stand of 87 in just 11 overs, and Worcestershire’s eventual total was at least a competitive one.Andrew, wielding his cut-off Mongoose bat like a cudgel, hit sixes off Berg and Tim Murtagh before producing perhaps the best blow of the match – a magnificent lofted drive over long on into the MCC members’ seats off the lively fast-medium of Anthony Ireland, who was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers.Cameron remained unbeaten on 60, off 66 balls with a six and three fours, after losing Andrew when the left-hander eventually holed out to deep midwicket for a highly entertaining 35-ball 48, with two fours to go with his three big sixes.Moeen Ali and Alexei Kervezee had both earlier threatened to play significant innings, as Worcestershire initially reached 64 for following the early loss of Adrian Shankar, who was bowled by Murtagh.But Moeen, having stroked five fours and a six in 36 from just 31 balls, rashly slashed a swirling but straightforward catch to deep cover off Berg, and Kervezee’s 66-ball 47 ended when he gave Corey Collymore a return catch off a leading edge.Neil Pinner went cheaply, caught at the wicket to give Berg his second success, and the Worcestershire innings was beginning to lose all momentum before Andrew and Cameron revived it.

The opening game of the 2011 IPL saw the highest television ratings across six key markets since the league’s debut season, potentially allaying questions about cricket fatigue in the wake of the World Cup.A total of 19.7 million people tuned in to watch Chennai Super Kings’ narrow two-run victory over a new-look Kolkata Knight Riders side on April 8, giving Set Max a 29% share of the total cable television viewership in the metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. That translated into a Television Viewer Rating (TVR) of 7.77, up from 6.95 last year, and trailing only the 8.21 rating posted in 2008, according to TAM Sports, a division of Tam Media Research, the leading television ratings agency in India (TVR is a time-weighted figure which accounts for time spent by viewers in addition to the number of viewers).The all-India TVR for the same game was 7.14, according to TAM, and Set Max claims that a total of 55.8 million people caught the action, setting a new record for the league’s first day. For the sake of comparison, a total of 122 million people watched India beat Sri Lanka in the World Cup final earlier this month.In the lead-up to the IPL, there was some concern that the six-week long World Cup that ended with India being crowned champions might have satiated the Indian cricket fan’s appetite for the game, but the strong initial ratings suggest that the IPL, which is packaged as family entertainment, continues to resonate with viewers.”It is a TV show with cricket as the subject,” Santosh Desai, the chief executive of Future Brands, told ESPNcricinfo. “You don’t put yourself in it as much as you would if India were involved. It is a long engagement, low intensity model that is commercially viable.”The two games on Saturday, April 9 – Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers and Kochi Tuskers Kerala v Royal Challengers Bangalore – drew lower ratings that the opening game for the same six metros, reflecting how much local interest and the timing of the matches affects the ratings. Rajasthan, who won the right to compete in the tournament in court, cruised past Deccan by eight wickets, and the game was watched by 9.4 million, garnering a rating of 2.54. However, that match started at 4 p.m., unlike the other two games, which were played in prime time.Bangalore beating Kochi by six wickets therefore elicited more interest, especially since one of the marquee teams was playing, registering a TVR of 5.17 and attracting 15.3 million viewers.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKochi Tuskers’ seamers struck early to peg back Kolkata Knight Riders’ chase•Associated Press

Kochi Tuskers Kerala won a battle of attrition against Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow Eden Gardens pitch to move to the third position in the points table. The wicket did not play as low as it did in Kolkata’s win against Rajasthan Royals, but it was just as slow, making it difficult for batsmen, and a delight for the spinners.After Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan had taken six wickets for 48 runs between them to restrict Kochi to 132, Kolkata’s powerful batting line-up would have fancied the modest chase. But Kochi’s own army of spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan, Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja – stifled the runs though they did not get as many wickets, and ensured the pressure got to the Kolkata batsmen, who fell six runs short.As it transpired, the performance against the new-ball bowlers was the difference between the two sides. Kolkata’s seamers conceded 26 for 0 in their first three overs, while Kochi’s fast bowlers dismissed Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir, while conceding only 20 runs in their first four overs. Kallis fell to the hook for the second time running, swinging Vinay Kumar straight to deep square leg. Gambhir played inside the line of a full delivery from RP Singh that straightened and uprooted middle stump as Kolkata began to stutter.In the next over, Manvinder Bisla drove outside the line of a Jadeja delivery to lose his off stump. Manoj Tiwary and Eoin Morgan tried to work the ball around but the spinners were getting turn, and their different styles posed problems. Muralitharan, back after being left out for the previous two games, varied his flight and angle brilliantly, Jadeja fired the ball in, and Powar stuck to flight as he always does.The mounting asking-rate led to Morgan charging out of his crease in the 13th over for a non-existent single, and Jayawardene threw down the middle stump with a direct hit. Tiwary took on RP Singh in the next over with consecutive boundaries, but Shakib missed a low full toss off the last ball to be bowled.With 47 required from five overs, Jayawardene brought Powar back against Yusuf, who came in lower down the order, having injured himself taking a catch earlier. It was a make-or-break move, and Yusuf duly deposited the second delivery he faced beyond the wide long-on boundary. It was either foolhardy or brave of Powar to flight the next ball from round the wicket. It turned out to be the latter, as Yusuf went hard at it and got a top edge to short third man.It was all up to Tiwary now. He had batted intelligently, picking up the singles and finding the boundaries when the rate climbed. But Jadeja saw him charge out, and had him stumped off a wide delivery down the leg side. Iqbal Abdulla and Rajat Bhatia refused to give up, taking 12 off RP Singh’s last over, the 19th. But 14 off the last over proved to be too much, and Vinay Kumar throttled them with a succession of slower deliveries, to give Kochi the game.The result had seemed unlikely when Kolkata’s spinners restricted Kochi to 132. Gautam Gambhir had turned to spin after Brendon McCullum took Brett Lee for 15 runs in the third over. Right away, the left-arm spin of Abdulla and Shakib slowed the scoring-rate.The first breakthrough came when a Shakib delivery seemed to stop on McCullum, who edged a half-hearted cut to point. The introduction of Yusuf in the eighth over brought more trouble for Kochi. Jayawardene, who had got away with a close leg-before shout earlier against Abdulla, was given out lbw while sweeping, even though replays showed he had gloved the ball onto the pad.Yusuf struck in each of his next two overs. The slow nature of the pitch was further highlighted by Brad Hodge’s dismissal, bowled off an inside edge after playing the pull too early. Yusuf then trapped Parthiv Patel leg-before with a quicker one. Having slipped from 49 for 0 to 65 for 4, Kochi depended on Jadeja to take them to a fighting total.He responded by smacking a six each in overs 13, 14 and 15, before swinging Lee straight to long-on for 29. Balaji and Lee ensured that Kochi didn’t get away, but 132 turned out to be just enough in the end.

Stuart Broad claims he is fresh and looking to add some energy to the England bowling attack for their World Cup assault.Broad missed the majority of the victorious Ashes series and the ODI mauling at the hands of Australia after being struck down by an abdominal injury. He returned from two months on the sidelines to spare England’s blushes with a five-wicket haul in the victory over Canada on Wednesday. He has admitted to pulling up a little stiff, but expects to be at full tilt for the World Cup opener with Netherlands on February 22.”It is really good to be back,” Broad told Sky Sports News. “It was two months since I last played so I was a bit nervous before the start. But it was great to get back on the pitch and take a few wickets.”England were far from impressive in beating Canada by 16 runs, but Broad feels there were positives to take from the game – notably assured batting from Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior and his own efforts with the ball. “We weren’t overly happy with the performance but there are positives we can take out of the game,” he said.”I feel very fresh. Having not played for a long time it was all training-based, so I felt fit and excited to be back on the park and can bring some energy to the unit. I feel like I am bowling at a decent pace. The ball was going through nicely.”I pulled up a bit stiff this morning but hopefully I can recuperate for tomorrow and put in another strong performance [against Pakistan].”Everybody is excited to be here and the energy levels are fantastic. It has been a long winter but it is something you have to crack on with and when you have an opportunity to play a world tournament, it is something everybody is tuned in to.”

The return of Matt Prior is the major surprise in England’s 15-man World Cup squad after he was preferred to Steve Davies for the wicketkeeper’s role. Davies was the original glove man in the one-day squad against Australia, but won’t be travelling to the subcontinent as England make another change behind the stumps.The rest of the squad was as expected with Ajmal Shahzad securing the final fast bowler’s slot and James Tredwell, the Kent offspinner, named as back up for Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy. Paul Collingwood was included despite his recent omission against Australia, Luke Wright retained his spot as the spare allrounder and Stuart Broad is on track to recover from the stomach injury that kept him out since the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.The last-minute switch to Prior was unexpected and meant England changed their one-day wicketkeeper for the third time in less than a year. Prior last played against Bangladesh, in Chittagong, in March where he batted in the middle order before being replaced by Craig Kieswetter, who held the position until the series against Pakistan in September, when Davies earned a chance.Davies scored 197 runs in five matches against Pakistan and when he was retained for the current series against Australia he appeared set for the World Cup. He made 42 in the opening ODI in Melbourne but it was a scratchy innings which included four let-offs. The selectors were not convinced he was the right man for the subcontinent so Prior, who has been playing in the Big Bash for Victoria since the end of the Ashes, gets another chance at the top of the order. He will link up with the squad in Hobart ahead of the second ODI, where he will open with Andrew Strauss.”Matt Prior returns to the England ODI squad after a brief absence and given his recent form and his batting style, which is very well suited to the subcontinent conditions, we believe his inclusion is warranted,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “Despite some strong performances both with the bat and behind the stumps by Steven Davies, we feel that Matt’s game will be better suited to the conditions in Bangladesh and India, the venues staging England’s group matches.”Prior has played 55 one-day internationals and averages 25.38 with a strike-rate of 74.80, while his record in India, where England will play five of their six group matches, is unflattering with 158 runs in 11 matches at an average of 17.55. However, he did finish the Ashes series in strong form with 85 in Melbourne and 118 in Sydney, and has since hit 51 off 29 balls for Victoria on his Big Bash debut against Tasmania.Prior is guaranteed his place in the starting XI but the same can’t be said of Collingwood after he was dropped for the opening match against Australia so he could “clear his mind”. He is expected to be given some match time towards the end of the one-day series and has been backed to be a key part of the World Cup.”Paul Collingwood may not have scored as many runs as he would have liked so far on the tour of Australia but he has been a consistently strong performer for England in limited-overs cricket for a long period of time,” Miller said. “His experience, ODI knowledge and skills across all three facets of the game make him a valuable member of the squad and he’ll be looking to make a big impact at another global event.”Miller was also confident the squad had the depth to cope with all the challenges that will be put forward during the tournament. “With spin bowlers set to play a prominent role in this World Cup we feel we have quality and depth in Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy and James Tredwell who have all shown their capabilities at international level,” he said.”We believe we have selected an extremely exciting World Cup squad that offers balance with several options across the entire squad. With this tournament being staged on the subcontinent the conditions will require a specific style of cricket and we feel that we’ve selected a squad that can prosper in these conditions.”Squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy

Group B

Yusuf Pathan’s six wickets took Baroda to the knockouts with an innings victory over Himachal Pradesh•Cricket Kenya

Haryana stormed into the quarter-finals with a seven-wicket win against Orissa in Rohtak. With Uttar Pradesh conceding the lead to Karnataka, Haryana are assured of finishing third in the group. Haryana needed five wickets, and Orissa’s lower order resisted for more than 30 overs before being bowled out for 170. Subhrajit Sahoo (50) and Biplab Samantray (31) delayed the inevitable in the morning before both fell to Haryana captain and India legspinner Amit Mishra, who finished with 3 for 49. Nitin Saini led the chase of 144 with a half-century while Ankit Rawat polished off the remaining runs with an unbeaten 34.Yusuf Pathan took six wickets as Baroda thrashed Himachal Pradesh by an innings at the Moti Bagh Stadium to move into the knockouts. Resuming 123 runs behind, the only question was whether Himachal would be able to avoid the innings defeat, and they fell short of making Baroda bat again by 17 runs. It was Yusuf who hastened the end, picking up five of the six remaining wickets. He got the breakthrough after Varun Sharma and Vinit Indulkar had a decent partnership going, sending back Varun for 43. Nine runs later, he caught and bowled Indulkar. He then ran through the lower order to end with his tenth first-class five-wicket haul, as Himachal were dismissed for 214. They will play in the Plate League next season after finishing last in the group.Piyush Chawla’s highest first-class score wasn’t enough to prevent Uttar Pradesh from conceding a substantial first-innings lead to Karnataka in Kanpur, and with Haryana beating Orissa, it effectively ended UP’s chances of making the quarter-finals. Chawla and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had rescued UP from the depths of 90 for 5, but the remaining deficit of 253 was always going to be difficult to bridge. And when Bhuvneshwar fell for 62 with more than 200 still required, it was all but over for UP. Chawla continued to play his strokes but was dismissed by Amit Verma after hitting 18 fours and a six in his 104, his second first-class hundred. The lower order resisted gamely, but Karnataka proved too strong for them, and UP were eventually restricted to 319, a deficit of 97. Robin Uthappa and KB Pawan hit half-centuries as Karnataka breezed to 178 for 2 at stumps.

Group A

Form Guide

Tracking ESPNcricinfo’s players to watch this season
Rohit Sharma: Came in at 106 for 4 and cracked 148 off 154 balls against Delhi
Ravindra Jadeja: Took three wickets in the second innings, and eight in the match, against Assam
Piyush Chawla: Made an aggressive 104, his highest first-class score, against Karnataka

Defending champions Mumbai have effectively ended Delhi‘s chances of going through to the quarter-finals after scoring 413 runs on the third day at the Roshanara Club Ground, giving them a lead of 553. The hosts needed an outright win to progress, and had the visitors tottering on 169 for 5, but a free-flowing 148 from Rohit Sharma changed the complexion of the game and carried Mumbai to 487 for 8. Rohit struck 15 fours and four sixes in his 154-ball knock, and added a mammoth 291 with Prashant Naik for the sixth wicket. Both men fell to seamer Pradeep Sangwan, who had Rohit caught before bowling Naik for 81. Ajit Agarkar went soon, but Iqbal Abdulla made sure there was to be no let up for Delhi, racing to 73 from 69 balls, with 11 fours and a six. Abdulla put on an unbeaten 102 with Mun Mangela for the ninth wicket as the Delhi bowlers wilted, with no sign of a declaration from Mumbai.Railways are on the brink of an unexpected place in the knockouts, after their bowlers reduced Bengal to 105 for 6 in their second innings at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Both sides needed a win to have any chance of going through, and having taken a 144-run first-innings lead on the back of an unbeaten 81 from Dhiran Salvi – who batted for almost four hours and held the lower order together – Railways’ bowlers wasted no time in putting Bengal under the cosh. JP Yadav removed the openers with 22 on the board, and Murali Kartik removed the dangerous Manoj Tiwary cheaply. Sourav Ganguly, who is playing the game as a tune-up for the IPL, fell for his second low score of the match, falling again to Anureet Singh, to leave the visitors on 72 for 4. Kartik and fellow left-arm spinner Nileshkumar Chauhan claimed two more wickets to leave Bengal needing another 39 to make Railways bat again.Saurashtra avoided relegation in emphatic fashion in Rajkot, as Kamlesh Makvana took a career-best 6 for 22 to send Assam packing to the Plate League. Set a target of 249, Assam crumbled to 76 as offspinner Makvana and India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja took nine wickets between them. After seamer Saurya Sanandiya had bowled Dheeraj Jadhav with the first delivery of the chase, the spinners took over as Assam could not last for even two hours. S Sriram’s 24 was the highest score in a sorry batting performance that included five ducks. Makvana and Jadeja took 18 of the 20 Assam wickets in the game.Rain washed out play in Chennai with Tamil Nadu needing another 16 runs with seven wickets in hand to take the lead against Gujarat and book their place in the quarter-finals. However, even if the game is rained out on the final day tomorrow, Tamil Nadu should be able to qualify.

Pakistan have left out experienced allrounder and former captain Shoaib Malik from the list of 30 probables for the 2011 World Cup. Malik had been under the scanner of the PCB’s integrity committee and ultimately appears to have failed to gain clearance for selection. Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, over whom there has been as much speculation, has, however, been selected.The pair, alongside legspinner Danish Kaneria, have been frozen out of recent Pakistan squads. The trio have not participated for Pakistan in any format since the summer tour to England; Kaneria was part of the Test squad for the South Africa series in the UAE but was prevented from travelling by the board at the very last minute. Though not an ODI regular, he also doesn’t find a place in the 30.The PCB hasn’t said so publicly but the trio have been under suspicion in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal that has rocked Pakistan’s cricket. Akmal was the subject of an ACSU notice earlier this year but has since asked for and received a written clearance from the ICC. Kaneria’s name featured in a separate spot-fixing scandal at Essex county. Malik has not been linked with any specific incident though he features regularly in the fevered speculation and gossip of Pakistan’s cricket structure.As a result, over the last few weeks the players have appeared three times before the PCB’s integrity committee and handed in various financial documents and statements. They last appeared before the committee last Thursday. The lack of clarity over Akmal and Malik in particular had forced the PCB to ask the ICC for more time in naming their probables. The world body extended the deadline for Pakistan from December 19 to January 5.Elsewhere there is little genuine surprise. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, provisionally suspended for their alleged role in the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal, were never in the running for the squad. Mohammad Yousuf, the veteran batsman recently discarded from Pakistan’s Test side, is in the running for a middle-order spot. There will be quibbling over the axing of Fawad Alam, who averages nearly 38 in the limited opportunities he gets, but at least one member of the selection committee has been against his inclusion as a matter of policy. Nasir Jamshed, the left-handed opener, is also included, in place of Imran Farhat.”We are satisfied that we have selected the best squad from amongst the available players,” chief selector Mohsin Khan said. “There is a lot of speculation in the media regarding clearance or otherwise of players by integrity committee of PCB. The integrity committee has given its views on some players to the selection committee which has taken into consideration that input and has selected the 30 players for the World Cup.”The ODI squad for the series against New Zealand will be announced next week.Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Taufiq Umar, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Naveed Yasin, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Salman Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanveer, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Ali

Stuart Broad has admitted that he knew his Ashes tour was over from the moment he began his second spell on Monday afternoon, as England’s famous innings-and-71-run victory at Adelaide was tempered by the loss of one of the key members of their bowling attack.Broad was ruled out of the tour shortly before play on the final day of the second Test, after the ECB chief medical officer, Nick Peirce, confirmed that he had suffered a torn abdominal muscle. He is due to fly back to England on Wednesday, where he will undergo a ten-week programme of rehabilitation, with a view to returning to fitness in time for the latter stages of the World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh that gets underway on February 19.”Obviously I’m heartbroken. I’m distraught at leaving the tour,” said Broad. “Within two or three balls of my spell, I knew I was in big trouble, and I immediately said to Jimmy Anderson, ‘I might be struggling here’. I got through a few overs, but it felt like someone stabbing me in the stomach. I put a couple of bouncers in and I could hardly breathe. I knew my tour was over. I was going for broke then, and just trying to get a wicket before I was gone.”Broad briefly remained on the field after grimacing through his 11th over, but was off receiving treatment on the injury for much of the afternoon. While he was off the field, he bowled off a minimal run-up in the nets with a strap around his waist, and was seen lifting a medicine ball with considerable difficulty. He returned to the field late in the day, but did not bowl another over.”I had an injection to see if I could get through this Test, bowling and do a job from one end, but the tear was too big, and it wasn’t really feasible,” said Broad. “I’ve been fortunate in my career, because I’ve been fairly injury free, but this is a blow. It’s going to be hard to watch, but I will be watching – because the guys are playing fantastic cricket.”The lads have a fantastic opportunity to win the Ashes, and I hope they will keep playing this sort of cricket without me. It will be hard to leave this changing room. It is a fantastic place to be, but it’s a great opportunity for whoever takes my place. Everyone is capable of stepping up and delivering.”My next focus is to get it 100% right for the World Cup and be fresh and ready to perform then,” he added. “It’s eight to 10 weeks’ rehab, and the first World Cup game is nine weeks (away). But the thing about that World Cup is that it goes on for years, so even if I miss the first game I’ll still be available for the end of it. But my family are coming out for Christmas, so we will probably cross like ships in the night.”England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, admitted that Broad had known his fate before the results of the scan had been confirmed. “It was pretty clear last night what was likely to happen, so I had a couple of words with him,” he said. “He’s distraught, and I think we’re all distraught that he’s going to be leaving us because he’s a big part of our side, not just on the field but off the field too.Broad, 24, will also miss the seven-match ODI series that follows the Ashes, as his focus shifts to the second of England’s twin peaks for the winter. “Stuart will return to England shortly to commence a rehabilitation programme and we expect him to make a full recovery in time for the World Cup next year,” said Dr Peirce in an ECB statement.”Playing for England in an Ashes series in Australia has been something I’ve dreamed of for a long time so to have that cut short by injury is devastating,” said Broad. “So far the series has been everything I had anticipated and knowing I’ll play no further part is quite hard to take. Given the way we had started the series I was looking forward to playing a leading role in England retaining the Ashes but that’s not to be.”Injuries happen and there’s nothing I can do about it other than make sure I get stuck into rehabilitation and come back stronger in time for the World Cup next year. This winter is a big one for the England team so my focus will have to shift to preparing for the World Cup.”Despite claiming two wickets at 80.50 in the first two Tests, Broad’s height and aggression will be sorely missed throughout the rest of the series. It means that England’s tour match against Victoria at Melbourne, which gets underway on December 10, will take on an extra significance, with Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan all competing for the vacancy.”He’s been one of the mainstays of our bowling attack for a while, and he’s got all the ingredients to bowl well in Australia as well,” said Strauss. “We’re devastated for him but the show moves on, and those other three have got a chance to stake a claim and have a big impact on the series now.”The likelihood is that all three of those will play in Melbourne, and we’ll see which one is looking the most potent and the most suited for Perth, which is going to be important as well,” added Strauss. “What happens in Melbourne will have some effect, but we’ve got to think what bowler is likely to make an impact.”

Rawalpindi completed the stirring fightback they had begun on the third day by rolling out Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited for 139 in the fourth innings to secure a 171-run victory at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Zahid Mansoor’s unbeaten overnight century had helped Rawalpindi erase a mammoth 120-run first innings deficit and lift them towards a strong score, but on the final morning it was Sadaf Hussain who sealed the deal, first by scoring 25 demoralising runs from No. 11 to set a target of 311, and then scything through the ZTBL batting line-up with his third five-for in his fifth first-class match.Afaq Raheem and Shahid Yousuf departed early before Imran Nazir counterattacked for ZTBL with seven fours in his 36 off 27 balls. Yasir Hameed held up the other end in a stand of 58 that raised hopes of a strong pursuit, but Sadaf was soon back to continue his handiwork. Hameed and Nazir – who was bowled by Sadaf – departed with the score on 66 as Rawalpindi closed in against the tail. Nadeem Sikander ran through the lower order before Sohail Tanvir and Junaid Zia showed some resistance, but it was too little too late for ZTBL who were bowled out in the 41st over.Seamer Asad Ali’s 13th five-wicket haul helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines skittle Multan for 134 and complete an eventually easy 136-run victory at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Resuming their chase of 271 at 2 for 1, Multan’s top order failed to take the initiative against some purposeful bowling. Overnight batsmen Zaka-ur-Rasheed and Tahir Maqsood did not last long, and when Yasir Butt exited at 19 for 4, the stage was set for an early finish. Kashif Naved resisted briefly to lift the score past 50 before Asad and co. got into the act once again.Yasir Shah sent back Kashif, and Asad responded by dismissing Tariq Nadeem a run later to leave Multan gasping at 52 for 6. Abdur Rauf’s attacking 31 hauled them past the three-figure mark, but never left the final result in doubt. There was enough time for Asad to complete his five-for before Multan folded in the 35th over.Faisalabad‘s batsmen, led by opener Farrukh Shehzad’s maiden century, dug deep on the final day to hold on for a draw against Habib Bank Limited at the Iqbal Stadium. Resuming the day requiring 248 runs to avoid an innings defeat with only seven wickets remaining, Faisalabad were anchored by the doughty overnight pair of Shehzad and Naved Latif. Latif was obduracy personified in his 66 that spanned a minute short of five hours, and consumed 266 balls. Shehzad proceeded to his century but fell soon after, having struck 12 fours in 101 off 281 balls. The pair’s partnership yielded 120 for the fourth wicket but crucially killed enough time to take their side towards safety. Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Aslam made three quick inroads to set up a potentially thrilling close, but their efforts were scuppered by Ijaz Ahmed jnr. He saw things through to the finish with a half-century, securing a honourable draw for his side after they had fallen well behind in the first half of the match.Content with the three points on offer for the first-innings lead, Islamabad‘s middle and lower order settled for batting practice instead of pushing for an outright victory as their game against National Bank of Pakistan ended in a draw at the Diamond Club Ground. Resuming their second innings at 177 for 5, an overall lead of 264, Islamabad continued to accumulate runs at a sedate pace. Imad Wasim struck five fours in his 71 that came off 221 balls, before No. 9 Rauf Akbar contributed 65 off 100 balls. Mohammad Talha finished with five wickets, but NBP’s inability to make quick inroads on the final day cost them the opportunity to push for a win. The batsmen scored 60 for 2 in the 14 overs they got in the fourth innings, but the match had been robbed off a decisive result long before that.

The pitch at Hambantota, one of Sri Lanka’s new venues for the 2011 World Cup, was not to blame for the low scores in the second unofficial Test between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A, Sri Lanka’s head curator, Anurudda Polonowita, has said.Only 505 runs were scored in the unofficial Test that finished in a little over two days with the home team winning by 39 runs. Twenty two wickets fell on the first day while 13 went down on the second. The ICC’s pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson, was also present to witness the first day’s play and despite the flurry of wickets he was extremely happy the way the pitch played, according to Polonowita.He said that there was some assistance for the bowlers from the newly-laid turf wicket, but blamed poor batting by both teams for the early finish. “The batsmen lacked application and they were getting out trying to hit boundaries without settling down to play a long innings,” Polonowita said. “This was a four-day test and the batsmen needed to spend some time in the middle before opening out.”National selector Ranjit Fernando, who watched the match, said that there was nothing alarming in the pitch. “Not a single ball misbehaved, nor was any ball unplayable,” he said. “There was more grass left on the pitch than at Colombo. It helped the fast bowlers in the morning and the spinners later. Both teams have been playing on very placid pitches in Colombo and when the ball did a little bit the batsmen were found wanting. It is a dry area and you need to have some grass on the pitch otherwise it will dry up very quickly.”On the first day, when 22 wickets fell, there was movement as well as turn but gradually, over a period, the pitch settled down as you can see from the second-innings totals. Every time teams get out for low scores you cannot say the pitches are bad.”Hambantota will host two matches in the World Cup – Sri Lanka against Canada on February 20 and Kenya against Pakistan on February 23 – and Fernando had a word of caution for teams travelling there. “Any team playing here should come 2-3 days ahead of the match to adjust to the conditions. The winds are so strong (I am told it is stronger than at Dambulla) that the bails often get blown away and have to be replaced constantly. Even after making deep grooves on the stumps the bails were still flying.”Also the batsman must know which side to hit the ball in the air. The stadium is so large that you need to get used to the atmosphere. The distance between the centre pitches to the boundary lines is about 100 metres.”