At the end of the 5th round, Customs and NBP are at the top of the point?s table while PIA and HBL are running 2nd but KRL have slipped to 3rd position. The swings in fortunes are mostly due to international duty for the star players.NBP v ABL
National Bank won massively by an innings and 111 runs. NBP won the toss and put ABL to bat who managed only 266. Naved Latif and Humayun Farhat hit but Pakistan leggie Mushtaq Ahmed took 5 wickets. NBP reached a huge 514/9 and declared. NBP?s Sajid Ali played a captains knock of 104 runs. ABL, trailing by 248, were bowled out in their 2nd innings for 137 with Shabbir Ahmed and Zahid Saeed sharing 4 wickets each.Customs v ADBP
Customs defeated ADBP by 7 wickets. ADBP decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Customs did well and scored 400 with the help of all rounder Azhar Shafiq?s 89. ADBP replied with 137 and had to follow on reaching 372 runs in their 2nd innings. Waqar Ahmed a left arm pacer was their main destroyer and took 5 wickets in each innings. Customs had to score only 160 in their 2nd innings, duly achieved losing only 3 wickets.HBL v KRL
HBL defeated the Round-4 top team by 10 wickets. HBL won the toss bowled KRL out on a green wicket for a meagre 150. Ali Naqvi was top scorer with 89 while HBL?s Shahid Nazir took 5 wickets. KRL came back strongly and bowled HBL out for 196. In their 2nd innings KRL batsmen did not capitalize on their bowlers? effort and could only muster 109. HBL openers batted soundly and reached the easy target of 64 without loss.WAPDA v PWD
WAPDA won by 89 runs. PWD won the toss and put WAPDA in. WAPDA scored 286 runs with the help of Tariq Aziz?s century and bowled PWD out for 231. Bilal Asad was the top scorer with 91, while Kashif Raza of WAPDA took 4 wickets. WAPDA only managed 141 runs in the 2nd innings and gave PWD a target of 197. However, inexperienced PWD could not handle the pressure and were all out at 107. Raees Amjad was the match winner for WAPDA grabbing 5 wickets.PIA v SGCP
PIA scraped up 3 points because of their 1st innings 3 run lead in a drawn match against SGCP. PIA were put in after losing the toss and reached 379. Ghulam Ali was top scorer with 90, while SGCP?s Azhar Abbas took 5 wickets. The SGCP batsmen fought well and were finally bowled out just 3 runs short of PIA?s total. Kamran Sajid and Fareed Butt led for SGCP with 109 and 81 respectively, while Fazl-e-Akbar took 5 wickets. PIA batted slowly to reach 251 helped by Nadeem Khan?s match saving innings of 90. With little time left, SGCP had to score 255 and at close of play, had made 49 losing 1 wicket.

A steady rather than excellent batting display from Tamil Nadu’s toporder saw the home side gain a slight edge over Goa in their RanjiTrophy league match at Chennai on Sunday.Managing to bowl Goa out for 238, Tamil Nadu had a definite upperhand. MR Shrinivas took 5-57, playing a vital role in the collapse ofthe visitors’ batting line-up.Sadagopan Ramesh, opening the Tamil Nadu innings, must have beenhoping to impress the selectors with a sterling display and regain hisposition in the Indian team. He managed, however, to make only 35 off94 deliveries. His partner, Somasetty Suresh, made 65 off 130 balls,top-scoring in his side’s innings.Suresh fell with the score on 114, and Hemang Badani and Hemanth Kumarfell relatively cheaply. S Sharath and skipper Robin Singh thenstabilised the innings, taking Tamil Nadu’s total to 187/4 by theclose of play.

The Highveld Strikers lost four wickets in the final over of their innings before squeaking to their first Standard Bank Cup victory of the season, beating Border by one wicket off the penultimate ball of the match at Buffalo Park on Friday night.The Strikers went into the final over night eight to win with five wickets standing, but Liam Graham won three lbw decisions either side of the run out of Marthinus Otto before Azeem Mohammed took a boundary off the fifth legal ball of the over for the winning runs.Earlier, Border failed to capitalise on a 64-run opening partnership between Craig Sugden and Mark Bruyns in 17 overs as they reached 173 for six. Burton de Wett, who went in at three, was left unbeaten on 53 before Adam Bacher (50) and Grant Elliott (43) set up the thrilling finish.In Kimberley captain Wendell Bossenger saw Griquas home to a three-wicket victory over Easterns.The visitors suffered an early collapse, slipping to 43 for six and 62 for seven before Ant Botha’s 45 lifted Easterns to 159 all out and although Griquas made heavy weather of a modest target, Bossenger made an unbeaten 30 to take his side to victory. Zahir Abrahim won the man of the match award for his three for 21 in the Easterns innings.At Newlands, Western Province beat the North West Dragons by seven runs after Graeme Smith’s 97 had lifted the home side to 224 for seven. Smith shared a 114-run partnership for the second wicket with Jonathan Trott (50) to set North West a target beyond their capabilities, despite Martin Venter’s 59. Roger Telemachus and Paul Adams picked up three North West wickets apiece.

Close to 362 days will pass before the matter formally requires resolution. But, after hitting a second successive century to guide Australia into a commanding position on the third day of the Second Test in Melbourne today, it’s safe to assume that Matthew Hayden has already been excised from South African cricket’s Christmas card list.Hayden (138) batted with the authority of a headmaster today, devastating the tourists’ attack with an innings that helped him create a new statistical feat alongside Justin Langer (85) at the top of the order and to shatter even more records upon his opening partner’s departure.By stumps, the strongly-built Queenslander’s assault had not only yielded for him the greatest number of Test runs scored by an Australian in thecourse of a calendar year. Nor simply permitted him, in concert with Langer, the chance to own the three highest opening partnerships in Testhistory by a pair of left handers. Not merely granted him 1000 first-class runs for the Australian domestic season either.Instead, it had also laid the foundation for yet more Australian domination, leading the home team’s ascent to a total of 9/487 – and a lead of 210runs – by the end of another extended day.Not even Melbourne’s previously-sullen skyline remained in sympathy with the South Africans’ position as a 202-run opening blitz was followedby substantial innings from Steve Waugh (90) and Damien Martyn (52) besides. That Waugh was dropped twice – at 24 and 39 – by short legfieldsman Boeta Dippenaar only compounded the sense of frustration.It was as well for the Proteas that Waugh was eventually run out for 90 – a world-record tenth experience of finishing a Test innings within 10 runsof a century. And that they claimed a number of wickets in bursts, foremost among them those of Ricky Ponting (22) and Hayden in the space offive deliveries on either side of lunch.To their undying credit, the tourists showed great heart through the two closing sessions as their best two bowlers, Allan Donald (3/103) andNantie Hayward (2/109), blunted Australia’s charge. Hayward was especially impressive, vengefully unsettling several members of the Australianmiddle order with the sort of short-pitched bowling to which he has already been subjected himself in this series. Donald, the unlucky man bothtimes as Dippenaar’s attempts at diving catches were grassed, also performed stoutly in the face of adversity.Like Langer, who perished to a mistimed hook at Donald only 15 runs short of another century of his own, Hayden ultimately became the victim ofaggression as he launched a delivery from spinner Claude Henderson (1/108) to deep mid on.Yet his progression to a total of 1388 runs for the calendar year (equal third-most by any Test player in history and seven more than the tally thathad made Bob Simpson’s haul in 1964 the previous best by an Australian) had already set the tone for the day by then.And, from a team that generally embodies all the qualities of Ebernezer Scrooge once it establishes command, there were to be few concessionsthereafter.Not even umpire Darrell Hair’s controversial decision to send Waugh reluctantly on his way – after wicketkeeper Mark Boucher had appeared todisturb the stumps before a ball thrown in superbly by Herschelle Gibbs at cover point did the same – could really alter the balance.More than a double century of runs behind already, and again about to be confronted with the task of defying a rested Australian attack for aconsiderable period, South Africa’s fate is unenviable.

Young NSW batsman Michael Clarke will be aiming to score a century and lead his team to first innings points after a counter-punching partnership with Brad Haddin revived his team’s fortunes against South Australia today.The Blues finished day two of the Pura Cup cricket match at Adelaide Oval on 6-275, needing another 85 runs to take first innings points, with former Australian under-19 captain Clarke unbeaten on 94 and Don Nash on six.”Anyone who gets into the 90s wants to make 100 but that’s the least of my worries, we’re just looking to pass SA’s score,” Clarke said at the close of play today.In reply to SA’s 9(dec)-359, Clarke and Haddin came together with the score at 5-151 and NSW still in some danger of failing to reach the 210 needed to avoidthe follow-on.But an aggressive Haddin scored 55 in 61 balls, in an innings that included six boundaries and a six, before being caught at deep cover attempting to loft another boundary from leg-spinner Peter McIntyre.Clarke and Haddin shared a hard-hitting sixth-wicket stand of 110 in 89 minutes to take NSW to 6-261.Clarke’s 217-minute innings included 15 boundaries and he said the partnership with Haddin was enjoyable.”Brad was hitting the ball very well, I’ve opened with him in some of the one-day matches and he communicates well, he’s good to bat with,” Clarke said.He said a declaration some time tomorrow morning was likely if the Blues could overtake SA’s total.Opener Brett van Deinsen was also aggressive in his innings earlier in the day, hitting 11 boundaries and a six in his innings of 60.But Michael Slater, demoted to No.3 in the batting order, continued his shocking run of form, managing just 10 runs in an unusually subdued 46-minute inningsbefore being trapped lbw attempting to pull Paul Rofe.McIntyre and Rofe each finished the day with two wickets.Earlier, SA all-rounder Bradley Young scored his highest first-class score of 122 before SA declared its first innings, with NSW left arm paceman Nathan Bracken taking four wickets.

Two brilliant knocks from Khaled Mashud Pilot and Anisur Rahman had posted Rajshahi Division well into a commanding position after day-3 of Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 3rd National League. Their opponent Khulna Division is fighting to evade the looming innings defeat with 147 for 4 at the close of the day.Rajshahi had amassed 536 runs for 8 wickets when their swaggering skipper Khaled Masud decided to declare the innings against a Khulna first innings total of 239. Masud hammered the second double century (201 not out) in the League (Minhajul Abedin got the first one) with good support he got from Anisur Rahman (107) and the Shamimul Haque (43).Masud, the skipper and wicket keeper of Bangladesh National team, has added more 144 runs to his overnight tally. To reach the double figure he sent the ball 18 times to score boundaries and chose the aerial for a single occasion. Thanks to his fifth wicket stand with Anisur Rahman that procured Rajshahi 155 runs.With Shamimul he summed up another 108 runs in the next wicket and declared the innings soon after he reached his double hundred.Khulna Division suffered a middle order collapse after a good start. Sajjadul Hasan (45) and Nahidul Haque (43) set in motion auspiciously as they gathered up 88 runs in the opening stand.However, after Nahidul’s departure Khulna middle order crumbled miserably as they lost the next 3 wickets in quick succession. At stumps they were pulling out all the stops on 147/4 with Hasanuzzaman (31) and Asadullah Khan (19) on the crease.

He may not have been in the most prime form when playing for India, but returning to domestic cricket was akin to a homecoming for VVS Laxman, and he proved it in full by striking a century on the first day of Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda on Tuesday.Winning the toss, the hosts put Hyderabad in to bat, and they must have been pleased when the first wicket fell with 19 on the board. Thereafter, although wickets fell regularly, Laxman dominated the crease with his unique brand of strokeplay.Putting on 95 runs for the fifth wicket with D Vinay Kumar (41), Laxman played a striking knock, hitting 101 before being caught behind. His century must come as a clarion call to the national selectors who, although dropping him from the one-day side, will find it hard to resist pencilling his name into the Test squad against Zimbabwe.For Baroda, Zaheer Khan took five wickets, and he too called attention to himself, particularly after many commentators argued for his presence in at least one of the recently concluded one-day series against England.Hyderabad were bowled out for 290 in 79.1 overs, and Baroda then proceeded to play out eight overs before stumps, reaching a score of 21 for no loss.

The Valley, Anguilla Having surrendered their cup title, Barbados will try to restore some pride over the next four days.They will be seeking a place in the semifinals of the International Shield when they oppose the Leeward Islands in a sixth round Busta Series match at the Ronald Webster Park starting today.Barbados, sixth among the eight teams in the standings with 24 points, face a tall order if they are to progress to the International Shield, which is contested by the top four teams at the end of the preliminary phase.They will need to beat the Leeward Islands this weekend and the West Indies ‘B’ next weekend and then hope that other results go in their favour.Leewards, second on 39 points, have always been one of the most feared teams at regional level, but recent history points to Barbados having a chance in the Leewards’ backyard.Last season, when Barbados were desperately trying to stay in contention for the cup, they toppled the Leewards at Grove Park in Nevis, with Ryan Hinds, known more for his batting, setting up the victory with a regional record match haul of 15 wickets.Two seasons earlier, Barbados beat the Leewards at Webster Park, with another left-arm orthodox spinner, Winston Reid, snatching a career-best eight-wicket haul in the first innings.The Leewards have had a tendency to have difficulties against spinners who turn the ball away from right-handed batsmen, and Barbados are likely to recall left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn in place of off-spinner Ryan Austin.Fast bowler Tino Best, who was asked to sit out the last match against Bangladesh ‘A’ following the return of four West Indies selectees, is also tipped to feature in Barbados’ first four-pronged fast bowling attack in a few seasons.Barbados will also be closely monitoring the other matches.They will be hoping that Jamaica, the cup champions-in-waiting, secure maximum points against fourth-placed Trinidad and Tobago.Barbados will also want bottom-of-the-table Bangladesh ‘A’ to deny fifthplaced Windward Islands and for seventh-placed West Indies ‘B’ to avoid defeat against Guyana.Standings:Jamaica 51, Leeward Islands 39, Guyana 36, Trinidad and Tobago 33, Windward Islands 30, Barbados 24, West Indies ‘B’ 12, Bangladesh ‘A 10.

THE CONTINUED ZCOYou may remember I emailed you when there was talk of the ZCO no longer existing. Well, I just wanted to say thank you very much for continuing to do such a sterling job. If I may just bother you with three quick questions.Firstly, I really cannot believe the selectors have been so quick to drop Carlisle. He has really improved these past few years and is certainly a more viable option than Matsikenyeri/Vermeulen/Campbell/ Ebrahim, etc. Are there any personality issues and do you think he will return soon?Secondly, I have been very impressed with what have heard of Strydom; what news of him?Thirdly, I am always keen to hear of young cricketers and two were mentioned in the past year or so Andrew Durham I think he was called and a chap called Lamb who has returned to Zimbabwe and was said to have lots of potential, so what has happened to them?Thanks for all your work.Rodney Juice (England)Reply: Carlisle did not score many runs until just before Christmas, but there may well be things behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Strydom has been accepted into the CFX Academy for this year. Durham does not have a Zimbabwean passport the last I heard, which rules out international opportunities, while Lamb is here only on holiday; he is currently taking up British citizenship.

After surrendering so meekly on the lively tracks in New Zealand,skipper Sourav Ganguly sounded philosophical about the dismalperformance by the Indian batsmen. Ganguly found support from theNew Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, and even from the CEO of NZcricket Martin Snedden – about the nature of pitches prepared forthe one-day series.Granted that the conditions were not friendly for the Indianbatsmen in New Zealand. Even the most cynical Indian supporterwas willing to give them the benefit of doubt after that debacle.But what about looking like wannabes against the Dutch at Paarl?One could be forgiven for thinking that it was starting-troublefor the Indian batsmen against the Dutch.So they travelled to Centurion to take on the world championsAustralia. There were enough reasons to hope that India would putup a better performance at Centurion. We still had faith in theseven-batsman theory, though there were enough signals in ThePeople’s XI to suggest that Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Kaif havebeen put on notice. Ganguly picked up only 76.69% of votes andwas placed at # 8, and Kaif finished at #11 – picking up 61.81%votes.<!–.sch {font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,MS Sans Serif;font-size: 10px;color: #000000;}.hah {font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,MS Sans Serif;font-size: 10px;font-weight: bold;color: #999999;}th {font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,MS Sans Serif;font-size: 10px;color: #FFFFFF;}

//–>

View in graphic formatGoing by the vote pattern in The People’s XI, Ganguly and Kaifhad a lot to prove with their bat at Centurion. Ganguly failedagain after spending 27 minutes in the middle, hitting oneboundary in making nine runs. He was again caught behind,sparring at a delivery outside the off stump. When the skipperstruggles so badly, the rest of the team follows suit.

But there can’t be any excuses for the way Mohd Kaif has beenbatting lately. Today he scored just the solitary run beforefinding the fielder placed at deep backward square leg withuncanny accuracy – with a hook shot. That makes it 90 runs in thelast eleven outings at an average of 8.18Even though the selectors can’t give the failing batsmen a shocktreatment in the middle of a tournament, they have full right tocall up the team management and ask them to get things right – atthe earliest. As far as India’s chances in the World Cup go, theycannot afford to lose a game from here on.This was the playing XI at Centurion – and all they could gatherwas 125 runs, and the seven-batsmen theory was put to shame onceagain. For the tenth time in a row India failed to bat out thefull compliment of 50 overs. Now that is some dubious record!Here is your chance to make your opinion heard loud and clear.Even before the selectors get together and even decide to talk tothe team management, cast your votes for The People’s XI. It isthe people’s choice – whether the likes of Bangar and Agarkarshould play ahead of Kaif or even Ganguly for the next gameagainst Zimbabwe at Harare.India hold a 2-1 advantage over Zimbabwe in all one-dayers playedat Harare Sports Club. The last time India played a one-day gameat Harare, they lost to West Indies in the final of the Coca-ColaCup, with Sachin Tendulkar making a duck! Another battingcollapse at Harare is something India cannot afford.Vote for The People’s XI to play against Zimbabwe at HarareSports Club in Harare on 19th February 2003.The People’s XI for the India v Netherlands game at Paarl (Analysis)