Simon Katich, Damien Martyn and Jamie Cox have all continued to hit the headlines at the Bellerive Oval but their teams have departed the venue without outright points after a thrilling finish to the Tasmania-Western Australia Pura Cup match in Hobart today. Set a victory target of 387 from a minimum seventy-one overs, the Warriors finished at 9/373 – a score which respectively left the teams an agonising fourteen runs and one wicket adrift away from claiming maximum points.After Cox had established the parameters for the exciting pursuit by declaring the Tigers’ second innings closed at 9/238 thirty minutes before lunch, Katich (152) and Martyn (90) joined to set the Western Australians firmly on course for success. Undeterred by the early departures of openers Mike Hussey (5) and Ryan Campbell (19), the two Test aspirants added 193 runs in a rollicking exhibition of strokeplay that spanned less than two hours.Promoted up the order to maintain the momentum, Brendon Julian (39) capitalised effectively on the Katich-Martyn alliance by launching himself into the production of several towering hits. But his dismissal to a fast, straight delivery from David Saker (5/98) and the earlier departure of Martyn – to a loose shot outside off stump that gave thirty-two year old debutant Mark Colegrave (1/76) his maiden first-class wicket – prompted a near-reversal of the situation. Upon Julian’s dismissal, the Warriors suffered a collapse that saw six wickets tumble for the addition of just seventy runs.After receiving a hammering, like most of his teammates, at the hands of Katich and Martyn, Saker was the man who led the Tasmanian fightback. All-rounder Scott Kremerskothen (3/64) also played his part well, a part made more difficult by both the placid nature of the pitch and the loss of key bowlers Gerard Denton and Shaun Young to injury.In a major setback for the Tigers, Denton did not even take the field during the afternoon as a legacy of experiencing pain in his back – an ailment, worryingly, that has also troubled him in seasons past. Young did manage to deliver three overs, but was belted for thirty-three runs and strained his groin in the process.Their presence might well have made the difference in the concluding stages. But Saker and Kremerskothen did not appear to need all that much assistance, removing Murray Goodwin (12) quickly, engineering the vital dismissal of Katich, and then opening the way for Andrew Dykes to make a brilliant contribution of his own by taking a superb running catch at deep cover to send Mark Walsh (13) back to the pavilion as well. Matthew Nicholson (9) and Brad Oldroyd (3) did not last long and, by the time that number eleven Gavin Swan (0*) came in, he and captain Tom Moody (22*) were faced with the task of scoring eighteen runs from fourteen balls if the Warriors were to win. Swan somehow survived three raucous lbw appeals and played and missed once and, suitably discouraged from handing his partner back the strike, Moody opted that the only prudent course available to him was the act of denying the Tasmanians victory instead.Earlier, Cox (87) fell on the so-called devil’s number for the second time in the match on the Tigers’ route to their closure. Young (48) then held the lower order together as it underwent the ordeal of surviving some accurate medium pace and spin bowling from the pairing of Moody (3/23) and Oldroyd (3/87).In the end, though, all that was left to show for the teams’ imagination and enterprise was a first innings result that fell in favour of the Tasmanians.

Rawalpindi, Nov 4: England’s preparation for the three-test seriesagainst Pakistan got off to a confidence-boosting start when theydefeated Patron’s Eleven by an innings and 27 runs with more than asession’s play on the last day still remaining.The Patron’s Eleven, resuming this morning at 49 for one and requiring196 to make the tourists bat again, were skittled out for 169 some 44minutes before tea. England paceman Matthew Hoggard finished with fourfor 40 and spinners Ashley Giles and Ian Salibsury shared five wicketsbetween them.For the Patron’s Eleven, only left-handed Qaisar Abbas put up anyresistance of while scoring 44. He was dismissed in an unusual fashionwhen his attempted sweep short struck Dominic Cork at short-leg andscooped at mid-wicket where Ian Salisbury took a confortable catch. Hewas a model of concentration and application when he batted flawlesslyfor 15 minutes over two hours during which he received 81 balls. Hisinnings contained four boundaries.Mohammad Shafiq brought respectability to the home team’s score with a30-ball 26 that included three sixes, two off Giles and one offSalisbury, and a boundary.Test reject opener Mohammad Naveed Ashraf played a few delightfulshots before he succumbed to his over adventurous approach. He wascaught at the wicket by Paul Nixon, who finished with four dismissalsbehind the wickets, for 44 that contained seven boundaries.If Hoggard’s outswinger accounted for Naveed, the Yorkshire bowler’sinswinger left another Test discard Mohammad Wasim stranded in frontof the wickets for an easy decision by umpire Kamal Merchant.Hoggard, in the afternoon, added the scalps of Mohammad Shafiq andMunir Ansari to finish with encouraging match haul of nine for 104.His performance must be a great satisfaction for Nasser Hussain whosepacers have struggled in the one-dayers to not only take wickets butalso put brakes on scoring.”My eyes licked after watching the wicket. One of the best wickets Ihave played on. I am sure the selectors will reconsider me for thefirst Test squad,” Hoggard told reporters.Giles and Salibsury shared five wickets between them. Nevertheless,for the second successive time in the match, they couldn’t put upperformances which could be a matter of worry for Pakistan in theTests.Giles bagged three for 38 while bowling flat but Salisbury conceded 51runs from his 19 overs at the return of two wickets. While Salisburypicked up the wicket of Imran Abbas last evening, he added the wicketof wicket-keeper Javed Qadeer who offered no stroke to a straightishdelivery.Giles victims were Qaisar Abbas, Salman Shah who was caught behind andlast-man Mohammad Akram who mistimed a drive to be caught at cover.England now proceed to Peshawar on Sunday where they play NWFPGovernor’s Eleven in the final four-day match from Nov 8.

After a slow start to their campaign, Guernsey have notched up their second win in consecutive days by beating Botswana by 25 runs at The Padang. Having won the toss, Guernsey’s batsmen made it count and posted a competitive total of 241 for 6. Lee Savident gave his team a sound start with a top score of 65 off 102 balls while Jeremy Frith also contributed a half-century. Stuart Le Prevost, the Guernsey captain, scored a quick 36 and the lower order made useful contributions. Botswana were on course during their run-chase, reaching 108 for 1, before they lost direction. Frith caught and bowled Faisal Rana for 57 and dismissed Karan Kapoor to leave Botswana on 112 for 3. Gary Rich took two crucial middle-order wickets before Jamie Nussbaumer dismissed the last four batsmen. He finished with 4 for 42 as Botswana were dismissed for 216 in the final over.Bahrain put in a powerful all-round performance to crush Norway by 232 runs at the Indian Association Ground. Imran Sajjad and Adil Hanif set up Bahrain’s innings with scores of 68 and 65 respectively before Tahir Dar boosted the total to 304 for 7 by blitzing 54 off 24 balls. Bahrain’s new-ball bowlers, Yaser Sadeq and Halal Abbasi, cut through the Norway top-order, reducing them to 35 for 5, a position from which they never recovered. Not content with an aggressive half-century, Dar took 2 for 13 in six overs while Fahad Sadeq claimed 3 for 16. Norway were shot out for 72 as early as the 28th over. The win ensured Bahrain’s berth in World Cricket League Division 5 next year.”Today we just played our natural game against Norway. In Bahrain we play on matting so it’s taken some time to get used to the turf wicket but today things really came together for us and we just went for it,” Dar said. “We really wanted to create a big target for Norway and the only way for us to do that was to hit the 300 mark, which we did and they failed to make it thanks to our strong bowling.”As for tomorrow’s final against Singapore, we know it’s going to be tough, Singapore have not lost a match this tournament but we’re confident and hopefully we can bring our winning way to the finals.”Singapore maintained their 100% win record by beating Malaysia by four wickets to secure their fifth victory in World Cricket League Division Six at the Kallang Ground. The victory also secured their place in World Cricket League Division five next year. Singapore’s bowlers backed up the decision to send Malaysia in by dismissing them for 183 in 50 overs. Muthuraman Sockalingam top scored with 43 while Mulewa Dharmichand was Singapore’s best bowler, taking 3 for 37. The home side’s chase started poorly when Buddika Mendis was lbw for a duck but Narender Reddy steadied the innings with a patient 64 off 134 balls. He was supported by Monish Arora, who scored 37, as Singapore reached the target in the 47th over.

The five-member working group formed by the BCCI to propose remedial action for ensuring smooth conduct of the IPL has met all the stakeholders of the league. BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is one of the five members, is confident the group will submit its report ahead of schedule.”We have completed our meeting with stakeholders and have taken into account their suggestions,” Thakur told reporters in New Delhi on Monday. “I must tell you that all stakeholders are on the same page regarding what needs to be done. The deadline is August 29 but we are planning to submit our report before that.”Over the last week, the group had discussed the fallout of the Lodha panel’s verdict to suspend the owners of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years. The group had invited representatives of all the major sponsors of the IPL, the tournament broadcasters, all the IPL franchises apart from the two suspended teams, and the IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman for one-on-one discussions. On Monday, the working group met with representatives of PepsiCo India, the title sponsors of the IPL.It is understood that all the stakeholders stressed on the need to have an eight-team IPL. The working group, which includes Thakur, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, IPL governing council member Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI’s legal consultant Usha Nath Banerjee, will now have to chalk out a pathway that ensures eight teams for the next two editions.”Now that we have met all stakeholders, the members of working group will meet again to discuss and prepare the report,” Thakur said.Despite Thakur’s optimism, the decision over the fate of the IPL is likely to be taken only during the BCCI annual general meeting in September. Before that, the working group will have to table its recommendations to the IPL governing council, which in turn will need to forward its proposals to the BCCI working committee. With the working committee likely to be convened towards the end of the month, it is all but likely that the governing council recommendations will directly be tabled before next month’s AGM. The date of the AGM is yet to be finalised.

Worcestershire have indicated their willingness to help should England decide they want to turn Moeen Ali into a Test opener in the UAE.Moeen has already said he would be open to the idea and Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, told the club website – perhaps with a view to ensuring Moeen’s availability after the ODI series with Australia – that a move up the order could be accommodated.Although Moeen’s involvement in England’s limited-overs squads means he won’t be available for Worcestershire’s next Championship game, against Sussex, he could appear in the final two rounds, should the ECB grant permission. Worcestershire are fighting to stave off relegation but Rhodes said they could see their way to using Moeen as an opener if requested.”With Moeen playing in the one-dayers, that would take him right up to the brink of the last two games against Durham and Middlesex,” Rhodes said.”There is talk in the media that England may try and open the batting with him in Dubai against Pakistan. If that is the case, it seems logical that maybe we can help that out. If England requested him to open the batting, then we can accommodate that.”The failure of Adam Lyth against Australia – he averaged 12.77 with a highest score of 37 – means England are likely to look at alternatives for the three-Test series against Pakistan. Moeen was deployed at No. 8 during the Ashes, though he is a top-order player for his county and has not hidden his desire to bat higher for England.While offering sympathy to Lyth, Moeen admitted in his ECB blog that he would not be averse to opening in Tests, having done so to good effect for England in limited-overs cricket.”I would love to be batting back up the order, because coming in at No. 8 it was already 80 for 6 or something like that,” Moeen wrote. “Before the series I thought to myself that the best thing I could do was be consistent and hopefully push myself up. I feel I’ve done that, and I was last man out in both innings at The Oval.”I certainly wouldn’t mind opening, in Tests as well as white-ball cricket – even though I’ve never done it in first-class cricket, I have in the second team as well as in one-day stuff with Worcestershire and England.”But I feel a bit bad talking about that because of Adam Lyth. It’s probably the hardest job in cricket, opening the batting, especially in the Ashes, and he must be so frustrated because I always thought he looked all right against the new ball – he just couldn’t go past getting those starts.”

ScorecardAll Marcus Trescothick’s trademark shots were on display•Getty Images

This was a day spent chuntering about could-be controversies and moral quagmires that never quite came to pass. In those disputes stead stood Marcus Trescothick.With both sides trapped in a relegation bunfight with Hampshire, not many at Hove were impressed with the contrivance at the Ageas Bowl, especially when Yorkshire fell to 37 for 3. This sense of injustice was exacerbated by the fact that Hampshire were facing a weakened Yorkshire outfit, which is set to return to full strength when Sussex visit Headingley on Tuesday. But when Yorkshire’s fourth wicket was worth 190 those grumbles rather died, as it became clear Hampshire had gone hard, and were going home.Then, with this game merely an exercise in accumulating vital bonus points, not many Sussex fans were particularly enamoured by the idea of a Somerset declaration that denied them a shot at two more points for their bowling. But having taken four in 100 overs, the chances of two more in 10 looked slim, so when Trescothick turned and offered a hand to Ed Joyce to call stumps, he duly accepted.Ultimately, both these sides, Somerset having given Mike Yardy a guard of honour on his last day at Hove, and Sussex having watched the last rites at the Ageas Bowl on TV, as well as Worcestershire’s relegation being confirmed, left pretty contented.The unflappable constant was Trescothick, who produced a magnificent sixth first-class double century, never looking like getting out, and all the while utterly aware of Somerset’s position in the game, and totally unconcerned by goings-on elsewhere. He was here to bat as long as his team needed him to in order to leave with 13 points, and to blunt Sussex’s attack to limit their haul: 157 personal and 324 team runs later for the day, he did just that. Somerset took 13 points, two more than Sussex, and a place above them in the table for good measure.The man oozed control: going through the motions, but going past marker posts for bonus points and personal milestones, too. “I didn’t try to get drawn into what was going on at the Ageas,” he said. “[Umpire] Alex Wharf told me out there that they were 30 for 3 but I just thought ‘I’m not interested’. What will be will be. It’s out of our hands, we can’t control what they are doing over there.”I was really determined going into this game. It was just so important, given the position the two teams were in in the competition. Getting in there today, the bonus points were absolutely vital, in the context of what it is, and trying to limit Sussex to as little as what they could do. Going in from lunch onwards, we had a clear plan. I was really determined about how we approached it and it worked out great.”The great joy of watching Trescothick make runs these days is that, really, nothing has changed. The strokes are the same: the punchy drives with minimal foot movement, that scythe of a cut, the gentle dab to third man, the dismissive flick should the bowler err onto his pads and the glorious, gut-swinging pull off his chin; even the upper cut made an appearance when Chris Jordan dropped short. There’s a pair of glasses and he’s a touch slower between the wickets, but Trescothick’s all there.It was the cover drive that brought him his century, his second in a week and 58th of his career, after a quiet start to a day played under blue skies on a flat pitch. His partner was James Hildreth, an equally assured presence, driving prettily and flicking nicely to leg; indeed it was a particularly fine glance that took him past 50.Both dissected some rather strange fields as Ashar Zaidi and Luke Wells did plenty of bowling, while Steve Magoffin – who now has 535 Championship overs in his legs this season – appeared to rest up ahead of a trip to Headingley. Either way, Sussex didn’t look a team as desperate for their bonus points as Trescothick, who flogged them for their folly.Hildreth was caught down the legside by a diving Ben Brown, and Jim Allenby fell the next over, a thick edge heading straight to Chris Nash at third slip. But while Sussex’s tails were temporarily up, all they had done was bring Trescothick and Peter Trego together, the latter with an equally insatiable appetite for slaughter. He was away with a fizzing straight drive off Zaidi – who cut an extremely frustrated figure after a couple of rejected appeals – and was quick to pull anything short.Trescothick continued relentlessly, consecutively cover driving for four and hoicking for six off Wells, while Sussex’s last hope was the new ball, and its first delivery was flicked hard to the midwicket fence. He took Somerset past 400 with a wild pull and reached 200 with a cut off Wells. Not to be outdone, Trego plonked Zaidi for a huge straight six, and dab swept and cover driven fours in an over, before savagely pulling for his century shortly after 4.10.Over strolled Trescothick, as Trego pumped the air in celebration, shook his team-mate’s hand, turned to Joyce and told him enough was enough of this mighty fun partnership.”[My body] is barking at the moment,” Trescothick reflected. “The back is in bits from bending over quite a bit. But it’s one of those pains that is quite nice to put up with. One of the ankles is a bit sore, so I’ll keep an eye on that. But I’m more than happy to stay out there if I’m making this many runs.” So are we, Marcus. So are we.

Keith Mitchell, the chairman of the CARICOM sub-committee on cricket governance, has expressed “grave concern” over the comments of West Indies coach Phil Simmons about outside influences robbing him of the best possible ODI squad for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka.Mitchell recommended it was time for “Project West Indies cricket”, which would encourage unity, openness and co-operation from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) administrators to ensure Simmons and the selectors were given the autonomy to do their jobs.”The head coach’s comments about the selection of the West Indies one-day team to tour Sri Lanka are highly disturbing,” Mitchell wrote in an open letter to the WICB on Sunday.Earlier this week Simmons had revealed that he and Clive Lloyd, the chairman of selectors, were outvoted 3-2 in the selection meeting on September 23 on the inclusion of allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. The pair have been out of the ODI side since the series in South Africa this January. At the time Lloyd had said he had spoken to the two players and explained to them that the selection panel wanted to move on and give youngsters more chances.But Simmons said Lloyd and Jason Holder, the West Indies Test and ODI captain, wanted Bravo and Pollard in the squad.”The disappointing fact is that you can lose 3-2 in a vote-off but there is too much interference from outside in the selection of the ODI squad and it’s disappointing for me to know that in any aspect of life … [people would use] their position to get people into a squad; or in this case, get people left out of a squad. It is wrong and I don’t like it and that is my beef with the selection of the ODI team.”According to Mitchell, all the leaders involved – captain, coach, selectors – needed the support of the WICB and no intrusion, if West Indies cricket had to regain its lost glory.”The team is now at an important crossroads, and it will require wisdom and good leadership to chart and follow the right path. It will therefore take the skill, motivation and priorities of the men who lead and the players who follow, to restore the team to world prominence.To that end, the leadership unit must receive the full and unequivocal support and cooperation of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and the backing of an independent selection panel, that is free of interference, fear, or favour.”Mitchell said one reason his political party was elected to power in Grenada in 2013 was because it placed the interests of the country before any personal agendas. That was part of the manifesto called Project Grenada that Mitchell said had proved successful.”We need a similar “Project West Indies cricket” approach if the team is to be successful. The entire cricketing organization should be fighting battles on the field against opposing teams, and not with each other in boardrooms and offices,” Mitchell said. “I believe that if Simmons is given the right tools to do his job, the liberty to make critical cricket decisions, the autonomy to create learning environments in which young players can grow and prosper, and the freedom to field the best teams, West Indies cricket will flourish.”Mitchell also highlighted that Simmons, in the short time he has been coach – he took over after the World Cup in March – had already managed to sit with national players across the Caribbean and help them understand and buy into his vision.”Already the head coach and his coaching team have taken a great step forward by gaining the trust, respect and loyalty of the West Indies players. These are things that administrators and other West Indies coaches struggled with and failed to achieve during the last fifteen years.”A disgruntled players’ fraternity up in arms against a divided WICB and a revolving door of coaches and captains have been some of the factors responsible for West Indies cricket not only sliding down the rankings table but also losing face and respect in world cricket. Dave Cameron, the WICB president, who was elected for a second term recently, has tried hard to gain the players’ confidence and win over his opponents within the board, but has been severely criticised throughout his tenure. Nothing signified this more clearly than West Indies’ aborted tour of India last October.Bravo, who was the ODI captain on that tour, led the pullout with one ODI, one T20 and three Tests pending, due to a protracted disagreement between the players, the WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association over the payment structure specified by the players’ revised contracts. Calling the episode a “monumental disaster”, the BCCI demanded $41.97m as damages from the WICB. Since then Cameron has received a lot of flak with critics, former players and CARICOM officials blaming him for the embarrassment caused to West Indies cricket due to the pullout.Ralph Gonsalaves, the St Vincents and the Grenadines Prime Minister and Mitchell’s associate on the CARICOM committee, accused Cameron of “dishonouring” his word after Bravo and Pollard were first dropped from the ODI squad. Gonsalves said Cameron had assured him at an earlier meeting that none of the India 14 would be “victimised” and the squads for South Africa tour would be picked on merit.Mitchell’s remedy for the WICB is to be more inclusive. “A sports organization needs good management and administration to function at its best, but it cannot win battles on the field without sensible, coordinated and innovative leadership at every level throughout its ranks. The organisation must not be divided unto itself.”Mitchell even quoted Pope Francis, who, in his speech at the United Nations earlier this week, “reminded the world about the dangers of polarisation, anger, hatred, resentment, exclusion and adversarial attitudes, and the benefits of inclusion, kindness, unity, cooperation and common purpose. We sincerely hope that his words were heard and heeded by our cricket administrators.”

The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE will play each other to decide the one Associate who will advance to the main draw involving the region’s four Full Member teams.ESPNcricinfo understands the format for the qualifier will feature a single round-robin stage with each team playing three matches and the team that finishes on top will advance to the main event. In case two teams finish with the same points, their net run rates will be used as tiebreaker.Sources had earlier indicated that the qualifier might be played in November in the UAE due to the fact that Hong Kong are touring to play UAE for a four-day Intercontinental Cup match and two WCL Championship ODIs while Afghanistan are hosting Papua New Guinea at Sharjah in the I-Cup a few days later.Oman’s geographical proximity to the UAE was also a factor, but the four Asian teams will be playing a series of bilateral T20Is against each other from November 25 to 30. They will be the first T20Is for each country since the World T20 Qualifier in June. Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman have all qualified for the World T20 next March in India.

At the scheduled start time of this match – 10.45 BST – there appeared little chance of any cricket taking place in Sophia Gardens after heavy overnight rain and further showers had left the outfield sodden and a vast acreage of covering over the square. However, the weather cleared and a 42 over-a-side match was possible starting at 1.15.England won the toss and got off to a good start. After John Sadler had fallen with 58 on the board, Nicky Peng and acting captain Ian Bell put on 108 for the second wicket from 20 overs. Peng’s fine innings came to an end when he played on to Akalanka Ganegama and Bell went on to reach 62 before he became the first of 5 run out victims in the match in the 35th over.Useful runs were garnered by the lower order in reaching 238 for 6 from the allocation of 42 overs, with Ranil Dhammika the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, his 9 overs producing 1 for 28.The Sri Lankans got off to a good start themselves, putting 51 on the board before the fall of the first wicket in 9 overs. Ian Daniels had been particularly effective off his legs and driving straight before he was out for 43 from 33 balls including 7 fours, and although Thilina Kandambi reached a fluent 50, Sri Lanka began to lose their way.As the required rate rose to difficult proportions and wickets fell at regular intervals, England began to assert themselves. Despite some occasionally wayward bowling and indifferent fielding, England kept their nerve and finished winning a splendidly fought contest by 15 runs.The second match in the NatWest Series of Under 19 internationals takes place at Cardiff again on Saturday, with the third match at Hove –a day/nighter – on Monday.

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.