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A sublime 83 from 23-year-old Pierre de Bruyn guided Easterns to a first innings total of 222 for eight when bad light ended play on the first day of their Supersport Series match against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Friday.De Bruyn was promoted up the batting order in the absence of Mike Rindel, who was ruled out of this match by a finger injury, and relished the opportunity to prove his worth.Under overcast skies, the talented youngster peppered the boundary rope with his 15 fours and one six.De Bruyn was also involved in two significant partnerships.”Pierre would’ve batted further down the order, probably at six, seven or eight. But we decided to move him up the order and he took the chance well, especially on a pitch as unpredictable as this,” said Easterns skipper Deon Jordaan.Dolphins captain Dale Benkenstein won the toss and sent Easterns in to bat, with the hosts limping along at 21 for two after 13 overs.That brought in De Bruyn, who together with Brad White stabilised the innings with a 72-run stand for the third wicket.White departed on 33 when caught behind by Errol Stewart off the bowlingof Benkenstein.Derek Crookes then entered the fray against his old team-mates in his first Supersport Series outing for Easterns.With De Bruyn leading the way, the duo combined for a fourth-wicket partnership of 61 runs as Easterns showed signs of early domination.De Bruyn was certainly the dominant force after lunch.But the very shot that had earned him so many runs was to be his downfall.The partnership ended when De Bruyn was caught brilliantly by Eldine Baptiste at deep third man after trying to execute his square cut off a ballfrom John Kent.That took Easterns into the tea break at 163 for four.Crookes was the first to go shortly after tea, scoring a mere 24 runs that stood out amidst a shaky Easterns middle-order.The collapse was rapid after that, with the Easterns tail flicking ever so briefly as the innings went through its final death throes, sparked by Kent’s figures of 4-66.A solid 30-run partnership between Albie Morkel (14 not out) and Kenny Benjamin (11 not out) took the Easterns total to double Nelson when the batsmen took the option of bad light 20 overs before the scheduled close.

Alex Neil will be hoping to extend his current unbeaten run in charge of Sunderland to five games as his side host Crewe Alexandra this afternoon.

The Black Cats beat Fleetwood 3-1 in their last outing at the Stadium of Light and can now make it back-to-back wins on their own turf today.

If results go their way, Sunderland can move up to fourth in the table and above Oxford with a win, whilst also potentially moving to within six points off the automatic promotion places.

One change that Neil must make to his starting XI for this match is the removal of Patrick Roberts from the line-up after the 25-year-old’s disappointing performance last time out.

Former Black Cats boss Lee Johnson dubbed the winger an “amazing coup” upon his arrival at the Stadium of Light in January, but he is yet to prove the since-sacked manager right.

Neil offered Roberts a huge opportunity to showcase his quality against Fleetwood and he spurned that chance with a worrying display. He lined up on the right of the front three and failed to show that he deserves to retain his place in the team.

The ex-Manchester City winger struggled on and off the ball before being substituted in the 71st minute. As per SofaScore, he lost five of his eight individual duels and failed to make a single clearance, block, interception or tackle. This suggests that he was lacking on the defensive side of the game, as he was too weak in his battles and did not do enough to win back the ball for his team.

The 25-year-old also offered very little in possession. As per SofaScore, he completed 16 passes and failed to create a single chance, whilst also failing with three of his six attempted dribbles. He lost the ball 16 times from 38 touches, a recurring theme for him since joining the club.

In six League One appearances for Sunderland, Roberts has lost possession 48 times from 98 touches, which effectively equates to losing the ball every two touches on average. This is a shocking statistic and shows that he has been far too wasteful on the ball for the club in his short time on Wearside so far.

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Therefore, Neil must brutally axe him from the starting XI, as the winger’s abysmal form does not suggest that he will have a positive impact on the team against Crewe Alexandra. Hopefully he will be able to rediscover his best form soon, but he may have to do that whilst coming off the bench to prove that he deserves the time to get back to his best.

AND in other news, Neil must now unleash 21 y/o Sunderland gem with “persistence” and “effortless” natural ability…

	Gary Kirsten: “The important thing for me is to focus the Indian players back on cricket. I would certainly want the Indian players to play their brand of cricket on Australian soil.” © Getty Images

Gary Kirsten, the former South African batsman who will take over as the India coach on March 1, feels this a good time to join the Indian team, mid-way through an Australian tour marred by controversy.”Maybe it’s not a bad position to be in because I’ve been so far removed from what’s been going on,” said Kirsten, who arrived in Perth on Saturday to join the team in his interim capacity as a consultant coach ahead of the third Test, starting on January 16.Kirsten, who had flown from Johannesburg, appeared fresh this morning and, along with his wife Deborah, awaited the arrival of the Indian team from Canberra. “It’s probably a healthy position and I bring a fresh perspective,” he told Cricinfo. “The important thing for me is to focus the Indian players back on cricket. I would certainly want the Indian players to play their brand of cricket on Australian soil. I don’t want them to play any other brand; they must play to their strengths. I’m sure they are already doing that.”Kirsten says the only way the Indians can now bounce back into the series, which they currently trail 0-2, is to stay calm. “It’s a cricket tour full of emotion but one needs to calm oneself and create some composure; that’s the only way you can be at your best. If you sidetrack to the other issues you are going to have problems. I’m a looking at it from a distance so I was trying to look at it very objectively as to what went right and what went wrong.”So where did it go wrong for India in Sydney? “The Indians are naturally disappointed with the last game. There’s no doubt that they came over here to win a Test series. They can’t anymore. That’s why they felt that at the SCG they were back in the series after being outplayed in Melbourne. And they felt they were right in the Sydney Test and naturally the emotions started to run high when things didn’t go their way.”They played well and they played like anyone knows that they can play,” he said of VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. “For a period of time India dominated that game. That’s what they were looking to do and they were able to achieve that.”

	I have tremendous respect for Kumble’s captaincy and he has certainly led by example, taking plenty of wickets. Equally his performance in the last hour-and-a-half in Sydney was testament to his character as a person where you could see he was desperate to save that game

Having said that, he was critical of the way they approached their second innings, considering how dependent they are on their batsmen. “When you get to the last day of a Test match and Australia are still batting you always have to be aware of these guys, that they are capable of doing something and knocking teams over very quickly. It was disappointing to see India get bowled out in effectively two sessions and I am sure the players would have been hit hard.”At the MCG we lost in the first innings after being bowled out in the 100s. You are dead [after that], aren’t you? Then you really have to bowl very, very well. But we know the strength of the Indian team is weighted towards their batsmen and they knew from the outset that their batsmen needed to be in good form.”India, who were crushed by 337 runs in the opening match in Melbourne, took refuge in their lack of preparation ahead of the game. Kirsten, though, doesn’t think the argument holds water. “More time helps but players are fully aware that one can’t use that as an excuse for losing a game,” he said, not wanting to come across as harsh. “It’s uncontrollable.”Kirsten felt Anil Kumble had towered over the rest in this series, picking up 15 wickets in the first two Tests. “I have tremendous respect for his captaincy and he has certainly led by example, taking plenty of wickets,” he said, revealing that he had been exchanging text messages with Kumble throughout the series. “Equally his performance in the last hour-and-a-half in Sydney was testament to his character as a person, where you could see he was desperate to save that game. I’m sure he would have an influence on other players in the team.”The tour of Australia is a very much a mental battle,” he said, drawing on his experience of touring Australia three times, in which he managed a healthy average of 43. He said he had prepared a report for the players once he went back to South Africa after his brief visit to Bangalore during the Pakistan series. That visit, he said, was to acquaint himself with the players; they hadn’t much discussed the Australian tour.”Before the Australia series began I sent a document with my thoughts of the experiences I’d had in Australia,” he said. “It was quite lengthy but for their benefit, with my opinions and my ideas of how I think things are going to pan out on a tour like this and maybe how they should play against the Australians.”They have to start thinking very seriously about how they can win the next two Tests. The only message I’m going to pass on is: ‘You must believe you can win the next two’. It would be crazy to try and just exist in the next two Test matches. Each individual needs to think seriously about what special thing he can do to come back.”

India 266 for 8 (Kapil Dev 175*; Rawson 3-47, Curran 3-65) beat Zimbabwe235 (Curran 73; Madan Lal 3-42) by 31 runs
Scorecard

Kapil Dev launches another boundary during his remarkable innings © Getty Images

This was one of the great one-day matches, with a truly great innings by Kapil Dev giving India an amazing victory after all seemed lost.Tunbridge Wells was quite a small ground, but that day was packed with a large crowd, squeezing in between the marquees and hospitality tents that surrounded much of the boundary.After India had decided to bat, Zimbabwe losing the toss for the fifth consecutive time, Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran bowled as if inspired, moved the ball sharply off the seam, found a lot of lift in the pitch and routed the Indian top order. Openers Gavaskar and Srikkanth both failed to score, and the five top batsmen were all gone for a mere 17 runs, with Dave Houghton taking three catches behind the stumps.Gavaskar fell in the first over, playing forward defensively but down the wrong line. Srikkanth, always eager to dominate, tried to pull Curran and got a top edge, the ball looping into the air to be well caught by Iain Butchart running about thirty metres backwards from mid-on and taking it over his shoulder. Mohinder Amarnath received an off-cutter from Rawson; he played back, the ball took an inside edge and Houghton dived to his left to take a superb catch. Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma departed to the more conventional outside edge.The organisers of the match by now were getting worried, afraid that the match would be a fiasco and over by lunchtime. They mentioned their fears to Dave Ellman-Brown, who cautiously advised them that things could still change. The BBC, anticipating a startling Zimbabwean victory, phoned him as well, intending to come over and do an interview. He told them too, “The game is not over,” and so it proved.At some stage a recovery is always expected and Roger Binny stayed in with Kapil Dev, but India were in further danger later on at 78 for seven, when Madan Lal joined Kapil Dev. Kapil played an incredible innings, but he did gain some advantage from the fact that this match was played on a pitch at the very edge of the square at Tunbridge Wells. This meant that one boundary was immense, making it possible for batsmen to run three for a hit about ten metres to the side of a boundary fielder on that side, while on the other side two runs were impossible for the same hit. On the other hand, of course, fours and sixes were so much easier to hit on that side; a strong hit only a few yards from a boundary fielder would invariably beat him for four.Kapil Dev took full advantage of the short boundary and, in the opinion of both Pycroft and Houghton, a mistake that Duncan Fletcher will always own up to with regret, due to lack of experience in this form of cricket, was his decision to take off Rawson and Curran at the same time after bowling eight or nine overs of their permitted twelve instead of keeping one of them going. Instead, Fletcher brought himself on in tandem with Iain Butchart, and this was the only match in the World Cup when Fletcher bowled poorly. On the other hand, Robin Brown feels that 12 overs was a lot for a pace bowler to bowl without a break, even when taking wickets, and that they needed to have a break before they lost their effectiveness.This removed the pressure from Kapil and Roger Binny, his partner at that stage, and enabled them to settle in and begin a recovery that Kapil completed in partnership with Madan Lal and Syed Kirmani. The latter partnership, unbroken, added 126 and is still an official one-day international record for the ninth wicket. Both junior partners did a superb job for Kapil, working the ball around to give him most of the strike, and they have not received enough credit for the invaluable role they played that day.Kapil gave no real chances, if one excepts a very difficult one to Grant Paterson on the boundary in the nineties and a number of miscued strokes that fell clear of the fielders. Otherwise it was an amazing innings of clean striking against a quality attack, a performance that Kapil never equalled in a similar situation at any other time in his career. The vital statistics of his innings are: 181 minutes, 6 sixes, 16 fours, and century off 72 balls. The total number of balls he faced has not apparently been recorded. As Houghton remembers it, most of his six sixes were actually over the long boundary.After reaching his century Kapil called for a new bat, one of the new fashion at that time with tapered-down shoulders and shaped almost like a baseball bat, and he stepped up the assault even more. Rawson and Curran when they returned later were pulverised and had their figures ruined in their last three overs, conceding about ten an over at that stage. Butchart, who bowled five overs at the death, was rather more economical as he aimed consistently at the blockhole. At the close of the innings Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil’s rival for the captaincy, met him as he came off the field with a cup of water, which Ali Shah thought a very nice gesture of respect. It was a legendary innings, and even four years later in the World Cup in India the Zimbabweans frequently had people remind them or spectators call out to them, “Remember Kapil Dev!” They were not about to forget in a hurry.Dave Houghton believes that on this beautiful batting pitch Zimbabwe should still have been able to win this match. Once again, though, so many batsmen made a start but failed to build on it. They began with a good opening stand of 44, but were set back by two run-outs. Heron’s run-out was particularly unnecessary; he hit the ball out to the sweeper on the short boundary and tried to take two, which was completely impractical, and the batsmen had scarcely crossed when the return came in. Robin Brown also feels he was greatly at fault for running himself out; he was playing the sheet-anchor role when he called Fletcher for a leg-bye that was never on. Fletcher refused the call, but Brown insisted and ran through from the non-striker’s end, to be easily run out.All appeared lost as the score slumped to 113 for six, although Brown feels that the Indians did not bowl as well this time as they had at Leicester. Curran played a superb innings, though, in partnership with Butchart and Gerald Peckover, before being out to a very tame catch. He apparently misjudged the pace of a long hop and lobbed an easy catch off the splice. As long as he was still there, the Zimbabweans had favoured their chances of winning. In the end they fought back well to finish only 32 runs short of a victory they had looked like winning easily a few hours earlier. Kapil Dev bent down to kiss the ground as he came off the field as the victorious captain.In this innings, as well as others, Robin Brown feels that too often the Zimbabweans would lose wickets in twos. They had not yet learned that when a wicket fell they needed to consolidate, start again as it were, even if it meant not scoring for three overs.Again Zimbabwe felt afterwards they should have won the match, even after Kapil’s historic innings. Due to their inexperience they had not paced their innings well, got behind the required run rate and lost wickets at the wrong time. For India, it was the turning point of the tournament, for had they lost to Zimbabwe they would almost certainly have failed to reach the semi-finals. As it was, they went on to win the whole tournament, surprisingly defeating an over-confident West Indies in the final.This match was not televised, to the disappointment of Kapil Dev himself among others. One Indian supporter made himself a lot of money, though, as he had brought his video camera to the match and captured Kapil’s great innings on it from his place in the crowd. Kapil was very happy to buy the tape off him for a large sum.

Muttiah Muralitharan reacted to “substantial provocation” from a man in the crowd © Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan will face an “unofficial reprimand” after responding with a single-finger gesture to crowd taunts in Perth, during Sri Lanka’s VB Series match against South Africa last Tuesday.A statement released by Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body, on behalf of the International Cricket Council match referee, Jeff Crowe, said the matter would be discussed with Muralitharan in Hobart next week.Muralitharan was photographed making the gesture towards a man in the crowd who had painted his face black and had the words “no-ball” painted across his chest. Crowe advised in the statement that although no official match report had been received, players needed to keep their emotions under control even though there had been “substantial provocation”.”Therefore, an official reprimand will be discussed with Muttiah and the Sri Lankan team management when the ICC match referee and the team gather before the ODI in Hobart on February 7,” the statement said.The Sri Lankans said earlier they were fed up with Australian crowds taunting Muralitharan but would not lodge a formal complaint about racism. The team manager, Michael Tissera, said he would not follow in the footsteps of the South Africans, who have formally complained of racist slurs from Australian crowds, but added that they were upset by the ongoing treatment of their best bowler.Australian crowds have continued to chant “no-ball” as Muralitharan runs in to bowl, in reference to his controversial action. He was no-balled for throwing seven times during the 1995 Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne but subsequent scientific tests cleared him of any serious breach.”It’s not racial, we are not going to do anything on the racial side of it, but we are quite cheesed off that this abuse keeps going on and on and on,” Tissera said. “There’s nothing we can do. This taunting keeps going on and on and on and the player is thoroughly frustrated.”The International Cricket Council is investigating racism amongst Australian crowds following the South African complaint. There have also been reports that racist obscenities were shouted at Sri Lankan players by crowd members during their tour of Australia but coach Tom Moody said earlier this week they had no problems.

South Africa 311 for 7 (Smith 115*, Kemp 80) beat England 304 for 8 (Pietersen 100*) by seven runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten century was all in vain© Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen’s sensational 69-ball hundred, England’s fastest in one-day cricket, was not enough to save them from defeat in a thrilling fifth one-day international at East London. England eventually fell seven runs short of the 311 posted by South Africa, who now take an unassailable 3-1 series lead to Durban on Friday.Graeme Smith and Justin Kemp put England’s bowlers all around the park in a thrilling 117-run stand for the fifth wicket. Smith recorded his second century in three matches, and Kemp walloped 80 from just 50 balls, before being yorked by Darren Gough, the only bowler to emerge with any credit. Smith struck a magnificent unbeaten 115 – his second century of the week – as South Africa exploited an easy-paced pitch to reach a dominating 311.Jacques Kallis (49) and the impregnable Kemp battered England’s attack at either end of the innings as South Africa made full use of their 50 overs after a rain-delayed start to leave England needing the highest one-day score at Buffalo Park. And they nearly did it, but were left to rue a slow start which brought only 59 runs after 15 overs. South Africa had no such sluggishness at the start of their innings.On a small ground where the boundary was brought in after the rain, the second-wicket pair of Smith and Kallis wasted no time in rattling up a stand of 90 in as many balls, to propel South Africa to a lightning start. Kallis demolished Kabir Ali’s first over with five exquisite fours and, along with Smith, put his side in firm control, vindicating the decision to bat. Darren Gough had made an early breakthrough, dismissing AB de Villiers through an edge to Geraint Jones for 2 as England set about attempting to keep themselves in the series (10 for 1). But this merely brought Kallis to the crease, and he immediately displayed his array of classy strokes.

Justin Kemp strikes yet another six on the way to his highest ODI score of 80© Getty Images

Smith brought up the first four of the day with a cracking cover-drive off Matthew Hoggard: but the ball only trickled over the rope on a small but stodgy outfield, littered with islands of sawdust. He added two more off Hoggard, with drives through extra cover and long-on, while Kallis late-cut a four to hurry Hoggard out of the attack after his first four overs went for 28. Michael Vaughan kept faith with pace and brought on Ali, who lasted just one over as Kallis rattled up those five fours, a masterclass in punitive batting.A brave Ali battled back, though, in his second spell after the medium-pace of Paul Collingwood and Marcus Trescothick stemmed the tide. Ali removed Kallis and the in-form Herschelle Gibbs in quick succession: Kallis punched his first ball to the substitute Ian Bell at midwicket for 49, before Gibbs chipped to the towering Pietersen at midwicket (119 for 3). Gibbs, unable to continue his rampant run at No. 4, was gone for 8: but he wasn’t required this time as the others all contributed.Ashwell Prince was dethroned by Hoggard’s throw after a breezy 34 from 45 balls, as South Africa marched on to 181 for 4. But his flighty innings was made to appear pedestrian as Kemp joined the fray and, as in the last match, floored the accelerator. He was in imperious touch – lofting six after seamless six into the stands – and ruined Ali’s figures for the second time in the match, striking 25 from just one over (his other seven overs went for a miserly 21). Smith was also on fire, and played sensibly after an initial assault. His second fifty was devoid of boundaries but full of thought, as he steered his team to a record score at East London.

Graeme Smith celebrates his second century of the series© Getty Images

Gough eventually ended Kemp – and the sizable crowd’s – fun with a yorker, but only after Kemp had bludgeoned seven sixes and four fours on his way to an electrifying 80, to all but end England’s series hopes. Mark Boucher fell next ball – another inswinger – and Gough found himself on a hat-trick (298 for 6). Shaun Pollock drove the danger ball, but he was a faller nevertheless as he failed to get back for a third run and Gough removed the bails from Vikram Solanki’s throw. Gough had 3 for 58, but by this time South Africa had reached 300.England made a slow start in their reply as the opening bowlers – Pollock and Makhaya Ntini – continued to work well in tandem, as they have done all series. Pollock was the first to strike, removing Trescothick, who never looked comfortable. He scratched around for 20 balls for his 4 before sending a simple catch to Kemp at first slip (22 for 1).South Africa’s bowlers continued to tie down England’s batsmen, and Andre Nel picked up the wicket of Geraint Jones for 37 after he made another decent start, while Andrew Strauss’s bright knock of 20 was brought to a close by a sacrificial runout. Michael Vaughan made painstaking progress – bringing up his first four in the 19th over – and posted 70 from 94 balls before he became Nicky Boje’s first victim, caught by Prince at midwicket. At 179 for 4, the odds were still heavily in South Africa’s favour.But that was to reckon without England’s talisman, Pietersen, who changed the complexion of the match with an outstanding unbeaten century. He was joined by Solanki. Pietersen rocketed to fifty from 38 balls, and took a particular liking to the leftarm spin of Boje, despatching him for three sixes. He enjoyed taking apart the pace of Ntini, too, carting him for four after four.Solanki, looking to force the pace, played a useful cameo for 19, but he couldn’t get back for a second and Nel removed the bails. Paul Collingwood (4) lent brief support before he was trapped lbw by Kallis (236 for 6). Ashley Giles hit Nel back over his head for a startling six, and then applied the salt with a four next ball. But Kallis burst his ripening innings of 15 from seven balls with a leg-stump yorker. At 254 for 7, England still needed 58 from 32 balls with three wickets remaining.Ali did his best – striking a six on his way to 20 before being run out attempting a second. But it was the punchy Pietersen who was the driving force of England’s innings. He continued to take them close with an exceptional knock, backing himself and his trusty eye for the ball all the way. But at the death Nel backed , and delivered a strangling 48th over which all but killed off the game. Ntini’s experience told in the penultimate over as the batsmen couldn’t strike a boundary. Pietersen may have larruped Nel’s final ball over long-on for six, but his knock was all in vain – and South Africa emerged deserved victors.

The Western Australian Cricket Association Selectors today named to Second XI teams for Cricket Australia Cup matches in Queensland and New South Wales.The first match against the Queensland Cricket Academy will be played at Allan Border Field, Brisbane from November 17-20.Team for QLD
Kade Harvey (C), Aaron Heal, Steven Jacques, Andrew James, Brett Jones, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Scott Meuleman, Luke Ronchi, Craig Simmons, John Taylor, Michael Thistle and Adam VogesThe second match against the New South Wales Second XI will be played at Alan Davidson Oval, Sydney from November 27-30Team for NSWMBR>Scott Meuleman (C), Geoff Cullen, Steven Glew, Aaron Heal, Sam Howman, Andrew James, Brett Jones, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Luke Ronchi, Craig Simmons, John Taylor and Adam VogesTravelling with the side will be WA `A Coach, Doug Harris. The tour party departs Perth on Sunday, November 16. The sides are subject to Pura Cup selection due to take place on Wed Nov 12.

Otago’s 18-run win over Canterbury in the State Shield match at Oamaru today became the battle of the bonus point.Otago scored 156/8 in their 37 overs and Canterbury, if unable to match that target, had to try and stop Otago picking up a bonus point, to achieve that they needed to reach 125, and they managed that but not before a fright or two.In their chase Canterbury lost their two openers Michael Papps and Stephen Cunis for seven, and then slumped to 46/6. Gary Stead, who else, and Paul Wiseman effected a recovery.Otago had to restrict the Canterbury scoring but some indifferent bowling from the usually miserly Craig Cumming and Craig Pryor produced a flurry of runs and Canterbury went to 80/6 from 24 overs – a partnership of 45 runs.In the 28th over Stead was bowled neck and crop by Cumming for 23. Canterbury were 93/7.Wiseman followed in the 29th trying to hit Nathan McCullum over square leg and was caught by Andrew Hore on the boundary for 22. Canterbury were 95/8.Consideration of the bonus point did add a different dimension to the game which would otherwise have been dead.The 30th over saw Warren Wisneski and Carl Anderson take six off Cumming to go to 101 but in the 31st over Hore again took a brilliant running catch to dismiss Wisneski on the square leg boundary for six. Canterbury were 103/9.The target for Canterbury was now another 55 runs but with only six overs left and one wicket in hand. The cry of ‘Otaagoo’ went around the ground. It looked very much as though they would defeat their old enemy twice in the one season.With 33 overs gone and Canterbury 115/9, Kerry Walmsley resumed the attack. He had to contend with a wet ball after a shower which lasted for two overs made the ball slippery and the fielders understandably make a couple of minor errors. He conceded five from the over. Canterbury 120/9 from 34 completed overs.The last Canterbury pair at the wicket were looking good,they were playing straight and collecting singles and Otago’s chances of gaining a bonus point were receding. Pryor conceded only three in the 35th over and the Canterbury total was 123/9 with two overs to go.Canterbury denied Otago the bonus point in the 36th over as Walmsley conceded two runs and then with nothing to lose the batsmen hit out in the last over to reduce the deficit to 18 runs. Canterbury had denied Otago the bonus point, but the satisfaction for Otago was huge as they claimed their second victory of the summer over their old rivals.Carl Anderson finished on 18 not out and Ryan Burson 14 not out.Bowling for Otago, Walmsley took two for 17 from eights, David Sewell three for 22 from five and McCullum two for eight from four.Earlier, Otago had built its position on a solid innings of 41 from 71 balls by Cumming while a lower injection was given by Lee Germon with 21 and Martyn Croy 26. Cunis did best for Canterbury by taking two for 18 from eight overs.

With the competitive interest having long been put to rest, the Ranji Trophy semifinal between Karnataka and Hyderabad meandered to a listless conclusion in Bangalore today. Vanka Pratap’s sixth Ranji century and his second this season was the only saving grace after Karnataka’s resistance had terminated at 557 in the morning. VVS Laxman failed and Mohd. Azharuddin did not deign to grace the wicket with his presence as Hyderabad settled at a score of 236/6 to go ahead towards a summit clash with Mumbai in Mumbai beginning April 19.Earlier Dodda Ganesh enlivened the proceedings with some big hitting on the final morning. Ganesh struck consecutive sixes over long on and mid wicket off Kanwaljit Singh while Mansur Ali Khan who had got off the mark earlier with a five, including two overthrows, played the two spinners with an admirably straight bat. The third new ball was due eight overs into the session but Azhar persisted with the two spinners and it was Raju who drove the final nail into the coffin when Ganesh charged at him with head high in the air and eyes off the ball, to have his stumps rearranged. His 76 was the sixth half century of the innings and if just one guy had played a longer hand, Karnataka would have got within sniffing distance of the Hyderabad total.With a lead of 154 in the kitty, Daniel Manohar and Nandakishore resumed battle against the Karnataka seam attack. Ganesh bowled a short length to Manohar and was pulled away to the boundary on two occasions. But Ganesh persisted and took a good left handed catch to his intense delight as Manohar got an edge while trying to dismiss the ball from his presence once more. Off the very next ball, Nandakishore fell leg before to Prasad, playing forward but not enough to sow some doubt in the umpires mind. VVS Laxman and Vanka Pratap both got their first boundaries to the vacant third man area. With Sunil Joshi not taking the field, Vijay Bharadwaj was thrust into the role of lead spinner and in the second ball after lunch he uprooted Laxman’s middle stump through the gap between bat and pad, with the batsman having taken his season’s tally to 1258, just 22 short of Bharadwaj’s record.Parth Satwalkar kept driving into the midriff of silly point who was standing too close to hold anything but Bharadwaj finally snared him when he flicked one in the direction of midwicket where Akhil leapt to his right to hold a brilliant one hander. That left Hyderabad at 93/4 but Azharuddin still did not bother to make the effort to climb down one flight of stairs and enter the middle. Karnataka were bowling with enthusiasm and appealing spiritedly as they tried to make further inroads into the middle order although it was dubious whether this would serve any practical purpose.Vanka Pratap’s favoured routes for directing the ball to the fence were through the covers and to backward point as he got in some useful batting practice ahead of the final against Mumbai. After Riaz Sheikh presented a simple catch off Rowland Barrington’s leg breaks to Prasad at short extra cover, Vanka and Fiaz Ahmed added 99 for the sixth wicket in the final session. Vanka was more adventurous as his innings progressed, taking the aerial route several times, to the long on and long off boundaries. Dropped on 94 by substitute KN Ramesh, he reached his hundred off 201 balls with an extra cover drive off A Vijay. And when he holed out to long off where Ramesh made amends with a neatly judged catch off the very next ball, the match was called off with Hyderabad at 236/6 in the 73rd over.

Daily Record journalist Steven Mair has talked up the possibility of Liam Kelly making a ‘fairytale’ return to Rangers this summer. 

The lowdown

The 26-year-old came through the youth ranks at Ibrox before he was offloaded to Livingston four years ago. From there, he moved to Queen’s Park Rangers, and then onto current club Motherwell.

Rangers may need a new ‘keeper this summer, with the veteran Allan McGregor reportedly set to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Kelly still has just under two-and-a-half years left to run on his deal at Fir Park, and he is valued at just £405,000 by Transfermarkt.

The latest

In pinpointing potential successors to McGregor at Rangers for the Daily Record, Mair claimed that Rangers realise Kelly has ‘plenty of peak years’ ahead of him. Furthermore, he is a particularly ‘great option’ for Giovanni van Bronckhorst if he ‘wants to go down the route’ of a ball-playing ‘keeper.

Kelly was ‘cut adrift’ by the Light Blues in 2018, so Mair wrote that ‘it would be the stuff of fairytales’ if the 26-year-old came back and assumed the number one spot. However, the journalist warned that he ‘wouldn’t come cheap’, which will surely be a consideration for the Gers.

The verdict

It was only at the weekend that Kelly faced off with his former club at Ibrox, and he certainly gave a good account of himself, making seven saves (five from inside the penalty area) to earn a team-high SofaScore rating of 8.0/10.

Mair described one save from James Tavernier as a ‘worldie’ but stressed that he’s produced a multitude of ‘wow’ moments over the course of the campaign.

In addition to his eye-catching saves and passing range, Kelly also boasts intangible attributes. For instance, WhoScored cite ‘concentration’ as a strength of his, while Mair noted that the goalkeeper is ‘largely seen as a great influence’ in the dressing room at Fir Park.

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Therefore, it should come as no great surprise that he is being talked up as the possible successor to McGregor at Rangers.

In other news, one journalist expects significant transfer interest in these two Rangers players