Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A resurgent Indian side made most use of a slow, turning pitch at Bangalore and levelled the five-match series at 1-1 with a hard-fought six-wicket win. South Africa, who were thwarted in their bid to stay undefeated in a record 21 successive games, refused to surrender without a scrap but their spirited effort on the field wasn’t enough to defend a modest target.Choosing to bowl first on a surface where the ball often stopped on the batsmen, India capitalised on some injudicious strokeplay by South Africa’s top order before the spinners suffocated the rest of the batsmen with guile and rip. The chase to 170 didn’t begin too auspiciously, with the openers tied down by some immaculate seam bowling, but a spirited half-century from Virender Sehwag, who batted in the middle order, ensured an emphatic finish.After being pleasantly surprised by the seamer-friendly surroundings at Hyderabad, South Africa encountered diametrically opposite conditions here. But the capitulation of the top three, all to Irfan Pathan, was largely responsible for their downfall. AB de Villiers spooned a delicious leg-stump half-volley to square leg; Graeme Smith walked right across his stumps and missed a straight one; while Jacques Kallis flashed at one that moved away after pitching short. The trio managed just nine runs between them, and the underbelly of the batting line-up were left to negotiate crafty spin on a pitch fast turning into a flaky dustbowl.Harbhajan Singh was introduced in the 14th over and the problems he caused with his zip set the tone for the rest of the innings. Ashwell Prince and Andrew Hall, included in the side for the injured Charl Langeveldt, were tied up in all sorts of tangles as every run became a struggle. South Africa soon found themselves in a Test-match situation with close-in fielders lurking and survival, not run-scoring, became imperative. Murali Kartik continued the suffocation act superbly, conceding just 16 runs in his ten overs, while Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh also extracted disconcerting bite from the wicket. Kartik was particularly impressive: summing up the situation perfectly, he hardly bowled a loose delivery, managed four maidens in his spell and was unlucky to see several deliveries comprehensively beat the groping batsmen and go past the edge.Even the characteristically aggressive Justin Kemp wasn’t allowed to free his arms as he and Shaun Pollock settled on rotating the strike and stretching the total. The duo grafted 47 painstaking runs in 16 overs but fell at a time when South Africa needed the critical boost to go from a modest total to a competitive one.

India too found the going tough in the early stages with some disciplined bowling from the faster bowlers, who didn’t allow a single run in the first 19 balls, prevented them from getting off to a flier. Pollock led the squeeze operation with an immaculate spell up front, when he induced Sachin Tendulkar into indiscretion, and India were allowed to score only 9 in the first seven overs. Pollock was rewarded for his accuracy when Tendulkar danced down the track and failed to time his loft over mid-on, but Gambhir unclasped the handcuffs.He backed himself and rode his luck and wasn’t afraid to hook and pull. He got away with a top-edged four off Andre Nel early in on and Nel, as his wont, indulged in a few bantering duels. But Gambhir took him on, crashed some superb cover-drives and unleashed a few verbal volleys himself. Along with Pathan, who was promoted to No.3, he ensured that the bowlers weren’t allowed to re-establish their stranglehold. Pathan produced a more solid innings, the highlight being the clean straight six off Nel, and there were also some sweetly struck strokes that peppered the square boundaries.Smith was forced to set some attacking fields and there was nothing he could do when Sehwag entered his crisp striking zone. He stated his intent early on with a slashed four off Johan Botha, the offspinner, and found the sweet spot of the bat on a regular basis. He continued his assault on Botha right till the finish, clattering him for five fours, and was mainly responsible for Justin Ontong being dismissed for 28 in his 2.4 overs. Sehwag helped India race to the finish line with a flurry of fours and displayed the kind of power and timing that had brought him to the limelight on this very ground, nearly four-and-a-half years ago.

AB de Villiers c Harbhajan b Pathan 4 (4 for 1)
Graeme Smith lbw b Pathan 3 (14 for 2)
Jacques Kallis c Dhoni b Pathan 2 (20 for 3)
Andrew Hall c Kaif b Harbhajan 32 (57 for 4)
Mark Boucher lbw b Sehwag 14 (85 for 5)
Ashwell Prince c Harbhajan b Sehwag 30 (96 for 6)
Justin Kemp c RP Singh b Harbhajan 28 (143 for 7)
Shaun Pollock b Yuvraj 29 (158 for 8)
Makhaya Ntini b Agarkar 1 (169 for 9)
IndiaSachin Tendulkar c sub (Peterson) b Pollock 2 (13 for 1)
Gautam Gambhir run-out (Ontong) 38 (52 for 2)
Irfan Pathan run-out (Ontong) 37 (105 for 3)
Rahul Dravid c and b Ontong 10 (155 for 3)

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, and Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, have urged the ICC to amend the Supersub rule presently used in one-day cricket.Under the Supersub rule, teams are allowed to use a substitute player – named before the toss – in place of another during the 50 overs of play. “A bit of fine-tuning could be made to make the game even better,” Ponting told Reuters.”To be able to name your sub after the toss would work better for everybody. In its present form I’d probably say scrap it because the team that loses the toss can quite often be stuck without having that other option, so it’s almost 12 against 11.”Woolmer echoed Ponting’s thoughts on the Supersub being named after the toss, adding: “I am actually not a great fan of it. I think it is loaded in favour of one side because you have to name your Supersub before the toss.” Pakistan are due to play their first one-day match under the new rulings in the first of five matches against England, beginning Saturday.Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand spinner, said the Powerplay ruling – five-over blocks with fielding restrictions – could be `spiced up’ if the batting team was given the chance to decide when to apply them. “It’d be interesting. The 40th to 50th overs could be a bit of fun if the opposing captain had a say in those,” he said. “I think captains are just trying to get through them as quickly as possible as opposed to using them in any advantageous way. That’s probably not what they were designed to do but that’s basically what they’ve become.” Vettori is New Zealand’s captain for the ongoing Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia, standing-in for Stephen Fleming who is recovering from surgery.The Supersub and Powerplay rulings have been implemented on a trial basis and are due for review in April of next year.

ScorecardNarsingh Deonarine struck a defiant unbeaten century to earn Guyana a fighting draw against Barbados on the final day of their Carib Beer Series match at the Everest Cricket Club.Deonarine frustrated Barbados for the entire fourth day to hit an undefeated 136 as Guyana, facing a first innings deficit of 153, closed on 309 for 9 when the match was called off at 4.34 pm with 15 overs remaining. Showing fine powers of concentration, he held up Barbados for exactly eight hours, faced 366 balls and counted 14 fours on the way to his fourth first-class century which earned him the Man of the Match award. He resumed on 37, with Guyana on 105 for 2, and batted solidly for the entire day despite steadily losing partners. Deonarine reached his 50 off 136 balls with an off-drive for his sixth four and although he spent 50 minutes in the 90s, he raised his century in 20 minutes after tea from 256 balls.Deonarine was well supported by Neil McGarell in an eighth wicket stand of 72 after Barbados had put themselves in a position to win by reducing Guyana to 203 for 7 half way into the day. He stayed with Deonarine for an hour-and-half and made 48 off 60 balls with five fours and two sixes, but the match was still in Barbados’ favour when he was dismissed 38 minutes after tea.In the pre-lunch session, Guyana lost two wickets for 63 runs, Travis Dowlin was run out for 25 and Assad Fudadin was well caught low at point by Wayne Blackman. After lunch, Andre Percival, Derwin Christian and Mahendra Nagamotoo all fell cheaply before Deonarine found a useful partner in McGarrell, who was eventually run out by a direct throw from Kurt Wilkinson at mid on.At 279 for 9, Reon King joined Deonarine to put the contest out of Barbados’ reach by batting for 39 minutes after which the two captains agreed to end the match. Barbados’ bowlers, backed up by outstanding fielding, manfully stuck to the task in spite of Deonarine’s obdurate effort. Ian Bradshaw finished with 3 for 76 off 24 overs and Ryan Nurse and Antonio Thomas took two wickets each.Both teams have a brief break before playing their second match, starting on December 9, when Guyana meet Windward Islands at the Albion Community Development Centre in Berbice, while Barbados play Trinidad and Tobago at the Carlton Club, just outside Bridgetown

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.

1996Dropped from the Pakistan squad for the Sahara Cup against India on grounds of indiscipline and poor attitude. His international debut is thus delayed by over a year.1997Tours England with Pakistan `A’ and makes an impact on and off the field; is cited for indiscipline by the Pakistan manager in the end of tour report. Finally makes his international debut in November in the second Test against West Indies in Rawalpindi.1998February brings his first major impact; 5 for 43 in Pakistan’s first Test win in South Africa.1999The breakthrough year; starts with in Kolkata and continues through the World Cup, where he ends not only as one of the leading wicket-takers, but also its leading star. Soon after, he signs a contract to play for Nottinghamshire. He ends the year by being called for the first time in his career in Australia by umpires Peter Willey and Darrell Hair and John Reid, the match referee; a pattern for highs followed inevitably and immediately by lows is set.2000Bowling action is cleared early in the year but a rib injury forces him to miss the start of the county season. A side strain then forces him out for the rest of the season and then a shoulder injury rules him out of England’s visit to Pakistan in the winter. Knee and ankle injuries are also added to the catalogue before the year is out.2001Returns in March for his first international outing in ten months against New Zealand. Five wickets suggests he is back but breaks down with a hamstring injury nine balls into the next game…and is called again by umpires Steve Dunne and Doug Cowie. A report from the University of Western Australia concludes his action is the result of “unique physical characteristics.” Pakistani officials say the report `clears him’. Misses much of England summer tour due to injury and poor health and is called again in November in Sharjah. Again, he is `cleared’ by the University in December.2002Hit by a brick from the Dhaka crowd in January, forcing him to miss end of tour. Recovers to destroy New Zealand twice at home, in the process bowling the first-ever 100 mph delivery. Blitzes Australia twice later in the year but is banned for an ODI after throwing a bottle into the crowds in Zimbabwe. Caught ball tampering in first Test, though he escapes punishment. A knee injury rules him out of the Test series against South Africa.2003Axed from Pakistan team after a poor World Cup and told by PCB chief Tauqir Zia to clean up his act or be removed from team forever. Recalled in May for a triangular in Sri Lanka and promptly becomes the second player ever to be banned for ball tampering. Appointed vice-captain for Test against South Africa and is served up a lawsuit by a Pakistani citizen for attending a fashion show on a night of religious significance. Banned for one Test and two ODIs for abusing Paul Adams in the first Test. Misses Test in New Zealand with calf and groin injuries but is photographed one day before enjoying a jet-ski ride, much to his management’s chagrin. Typically, returns for second Test, helps Pakistan win with a stupendous seven-wicket burst (11 in the match) and gets injured again in the ODI series.2004A disappointing series against India ends with a back injury in the final Test. Unable to bowl for the rest of the match, he comes out to bat later, freely smacking boundaries in a 14-ball 28. Inzamam publicly questions the authenticity of the injury. Amid disquiet over his commitment and attitude, Shoaib is called before a medical inquiry which eventually finds his injury to be a genuine one. Returns to the squad where on the tour to Australia at the year’s end his true Jekyll and Hyde nature comes out. He fights a lone battle against Australian batsmen in the first two Tests, but in the process is disciplined by match referees (for sending Matthew Hayden on his way) and injures his shoulder at Perth. By the time of the last Test in Sydney, looks physically spent and rumours of disciplinary breaches and problems with the team management emerge.2005Starts the year with a hamstring injury and misses most of the VB Series. Hamstring keeps him out of the India tour and fitness problems preclude his inclusion for the tour to the Carribean. On the bright side, he is offered a Bollywood role. Relationship with both Inzamam and Bob Woolmer erodes steadily and his stock is at its lowest ebb when he is verbally maligned by Worcestershire chairman John Elliott for being a disruptive influence. Comes back for the series against England after proving his fitness in a training camp, finishes with 17 wickets, and silences any number of critics with a rehabilitated performance. Ankle injury surfaces in the last Test at Lahore.

2006Questions are raised about his action again, this time, by Greg Chappell after the Faisalabad Test against India. Ankle injury becomes a stress fracture and rules him out of the ODI series. All the while rumours fly about ICC concern over his action although no official action is taken or statement made. Injury forces him to miss the Sri Lanka tour and doctors discover soon after a degenerative knee condition which threatens to end his career. Is due to undergo surgery, the results of which will determine whether or not he can continue playing but speculation about whether it is his action or his injury which have forced him out intensifies.2006Banned for two years after testing positive for the banned substance Nandrolone, Shoaib was sent back to Pakistan and missed the Champions Trophy. The verdict, however, was overturned by a three-man tribunal a month later.2007Things look bright for the bowler as he is named in a 30-man squad for the World Cup. After not initially being picked for fitness reasons, the selectors have a change of heart and recall him. He makes a successful return against South Africa in the second Test, taking four wickets in the first innings. But a hamstring injury forces him to miss not only the second innings, but also the rest of the tour. A televised spat with Bob Woolmer results in Shoaib being fined by the board. Later, after much deliberation, Shoaib is declared unfit to take part in the World Cup due to injury at the very last minute. Speculation has it that his exclusion was from fear of being dope-tested by the ICC, and that traces of Nandrolone were still present in his body.2007A fit-again Shoaib is named in the Asia XI squad to take on an Africa XI but is withdrawn by the Pakistan board after declaring himself unavailable for Pakistan’s tour of Abu Dhabi. Shoaib is included in the squad for Scotland and later named in the team for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. He leaves a training camp in Karachi without permission and is fined at a disciplinary hearing. On appeal, a second hearing suspends the fine and charges and puts Shoaib on a six-week probationary period. A dressing-room spat with Mohammad Asif in South Africa results in Shoaib being sent back home prior to the event.Shoaib is consequently handed a 13-match ban and a fine of approximately US$57,000 for a number of breaches of discipline. He is also placed on a two-year probationary period during which any disciplinary breaches could result in a life ban.2008The board’s announcement of new central contracts in January sees Shoaib demoted from the top category to a retainership. He is handed a five-year ban, preventing him from playing for and in Pakistan, after accusing the board of double standards over awarding of the contracts. His troubles continued when a three-man appellate tribunal, in their interim ruling, rejected his appeal against the ban. To add to his agony, the Indian Premier League maintained their position of not allowing him to take part in the tournament. He pushed for a suspension of the ban and earned a reprieve when the Appellate Tribunal decided to suspend his five-year ban for one month till reconvening on June 4. It made him eligible to represent Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

The South African board has called on the ICC to bring in tough preventative and remedial measures to combat racial abuse from spectators, including lifetime bans for those involved. This follows yesterday’s report by India’s solicitor general, Goolam Vahanvati, on behalf of the ICC regarding the racial abuse suffered by the South African team on tour in Australia.”We have not studied the full report, but judging from the comments made by the ICC chief executive, Malcolm Speed, the report confirms the occurrence of racial abuse directed at some of our players by spectators in Australia,” Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive, said.”Speed says that Vahanvati has also found that it would be wrong to attribute racial abuse to only expatriates living in Australia. [He] said that it was found that the abuse was premeditated, coordinated and calculated to get after players. This justifies statements made on this issue by our team management, and fully justifies our official complaint to the ICC.”Racialism cannot be allowed to raise its ugly head in sport, and the use of it by some Australian spectators to get at opponents is serious in the extreme.”Majola added that it was now time for the ICC to take action. “The report has confirmed our view that the ICC must add tough preventative and remedial measures to its policy in order to stamp racialism out of cricket. As far as spectators are concerned, we are going to recommend that the ICC adopts our security measures at matches under its jurisdiction.”He said that security for matches in South Africa has been stepped up and measures put into place to ensure people who are caught don’t return to the ground. “Our measures include placing extra security personnel near players fielding on the boundary, who were the main targets in Australia. Our security officials have been instructed to quickly identify culprits, expel them from the ground, charge them criminally at the nearest police station, photograph them, and then ban them for life.”We in South Africa take racism very seriously because of our history. We know how dangerous it is to let it grow, and we simply cannot allow it to gain a foothold in cricket.”Majola drew comparisons with the way FIFA has had to deal with racial abuse in football. “The organised racism that occurred on the Australia tour is reminiscent of racial abuse by spectators in European football. The ICC must adopt the stringent measures employed by FIFA which include punitive action against relevant federations if necessary.”We are grateful to the ICC for its prompt handling of this matter, and we are confident that tough measures will now follow”.

Sri Lanka are hoping to give their former skipper, Sanath Jayasuriya, a grand farewell by winning the second and final Test against Pakistan, which starts at Kandy on Monday. Jayasuriya, 36, Sri Lanka’s highest run-scorer in both Test cricket and one-day internationals, announced his retirement from Tests on Friday.Trevor Penney, Sri Lanka’s assistant coach, said: “We haven’t beaten Pakistan for 20 years at home. It is going to be the last Test for Sanath and he deserves a grand send-off for what he has been for cricket.”Penney, who took charge after Tom Moody, the senior coach, flew to England to attend the funeral of his father-in-law, said the team would miss Jayasuriya, who will continue to play one-dayers. “We won’t be doing anything drastically different but just stick to the basics and try to come up with a good show.”Jayasuriya, meanwhile, has confirmed that he will retire from all cricket following the World Cup. “Not playing test cricket will help me keep fit and allow me to play on until next year’s World Cup. I will definitely retire from all cricket after that tournament.”The opening Test ended in a draw in Colombo after Sri Lanka set an improbable 458-run target for Pakistan, who played out over four sessions to save the match. The home side will not be risking Chaminda Vaas, who is recovering from a side strain and have named an unchanged squad.Penney added: “He has sort of recovered but we don’t want to risk him in a match situation. The idea is to give him plenty of rest and recovery period and have him fit for the upcoming England tour.”Nuwan Kulasekara, the young seamer, is expected to come in for Dilhara Fernando, who failed to take a wicket in the first match. Sri Lanka were also likely to field the uncapped left-arm spinner, Sajeeva Weerakoon, in place of Malinga Bandara.For Pakistan Mohammad Yousuf, who missed the first Test with a hamstring injury, has recovered although Abdul Razzaq is battling to be fit after suffering a knee injury. Pakistan have a selection dilemma as they will have to leave out Faisal Iqbal, who put up a match-saving partnership with Shoaib Malik in the first Test.Inzamam-ul-Haq said: “I was impressed with the way the youngsters performed. I am always happy when there is a problem in selection because it means there is competition.”Sri Lanka (from) Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Sajeewa Weerakoon.Pakistan (from) Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (wk), Salman Butt, Danish Kaneria, Rao Iftikhar, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Arshad Khan.

Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, expressed the fullest confidence that his team could overcome English conditions and England if they perform to their capabilities.”There are no fears out there. There’s nothing we can’t handle. It’s just how we prepare ourselves mentally and physically and what we want to do,” he said on the eve of Sri Lanka’s 80-day tour.”We have six or seven young guys going to England on a big tour and they will learn a lot. That will be an investment itself for the future.”Sizing up England, Jayawardene was well aware that it would be tough against a well balanced squad and clearly outlined his team’s immediate tasks in tackling the opposition.He said: “We shouldn’t worry about what they will do to us. What we should worry about is how we are going to handle them and control that. We know the players and should work on their strengths and weaknesses.”Jayawardene added the biggest limitation his team had was trying to worry about things ahead of time. “For instance, in England you will start talking about the ball moving and all that jazz. We shouldn’t worry about that. We haven’t even gone to England yet. In England you have some of the best batting wickets, which I have batted on, Lord’s for instance and Nottingham where the third test is scheduled to be played.”It’s all about how you go there and adjust and how you apply yourself. It is as simple as that. I think we did that very well in Australia and proved that we can handle pace, bounce and movement. It’s all in us, how you believe in your capabilities. It’s all up here.”Reflecting on his first tour to England in 1998, Jayawardene said, “My first tour of England taught me a lot. I had the opportunity to play in every game and learnt a lot in English conditions. Even though you are set when you are on 60 you can still get a good ball and get out. The first couple of matches were tough for me but luckily I had a lot of experienced guys to advice me. I learnt quickly and it helped me a lot especially to adjust myself for the next tour, which was in 2002.”Jayawardene said the English experience of Tom Moody, Sri Lanka’s Australian-born coach who played and coached Worcestershire for 15 years, and Trevor Penney, the Zimbabwean-born assistant coach who played 14 seasons for Warwickshire, would prove invaluable to his team. Both coaches went ahead of the team and are in England at the moment.He also revealed that Sri Lanka had not been practising ahead of the start of the tour. “There was no point, because the conditions are going to be totally different in England. So we used the time to give the players some rest. We have only undergone physical training to freshen ourselves after a hectic season.”Squad – Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.

Afghanistan’s cricketers made it two wins out of two on their historic maiden tour of England, as they eased to a seven-wicket victory over the Officer Cadets of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.This was a match-up that few could have envisaged. The future leaders of the British Army, many of whom could soon be serving in Afghanistan itself as the military operation in Helmand is stepped up, versus the pioneers of a sport learned in exile in Pakistan and carried back home with enthusiasm after the fall of the Taliban regime.It was never a close contest, but in the spirit of past tussles between the two nations, neither side gave an inch until the final run had been scored, whereupon the Last Post was sounded and the Academy’s standard was lowered from the flag-pole outside the pavilion.The cadets took their defeat with dignity. For many it was the first match of a season that has been decimated both by rain and the inevitable demands of an arduous 42-week training course, and the ring-rustiness was at times evident against an opposition as good as anything that most of the players had ever before encountered.

Particular praise was lavished on Shahpur Zadran, a 19-year-old left-arm seamer who conceded just two runs from his first six overs as he buzzed his deliveries across the bows of a succession of becalmed batsmen, and Mohammad Nabi, who hit the headlines in March when he clubbed a matchwinning century against MCC in Mumbai. This time it was his offspin that earned the plaudits, as he ripped out four middle-order wickets for 22 in eight overs.The intrusions of Sandhurst’s hectic schedule were in evidence throughout the day. A third of their available players were whisked away to South Wales on the morning of the match to undertake a 70km hike through the Black Mountains, while their star performer, Officer Cadet Michael Sheeran, who made a gritty 64, had just returned from ten days of sleep deprivation in Thetford Forest.And for the cadets in their final term, there was little time to wait in the pavilion and chew their bat-handles. Having recently settled on the regiments they intend to join at the end of their course, they took turns to disappear off to the army tailors, to have their mess and service kits measured up.And there was little time for practice before the match. Several of the team had spent the previous week learning the ropes of counter-insurgency, which involved donning riot shields and deflecting potatoes and petrol-bombs flung by their colleagues from close quarters. At least their reactions against the fast bowlers had been fine-tuned, if not their footwork against the spinners.For the Afghans, this was just the latest phase of an eye-opening two-week tour. Under Taliban rule, cricket had been limited to just four of the 22 provinces and was viewed with great suspicion by the Vice and Virtue Police, who once arrested several players for forgetting to attend to their prayers during a match.Now, however, the game has spread throughout the country, and in turn beyond its own borders, with the national side gaining more recognition with every new achievement. On this tour, they are scheduled to play seven matches against a variety of opponents, with the next match taking place against a Glamorgan 2nd XI at Swansea today.

North

Lancashire and Leicestershire‘s match, for example, went down to the wire at Grace Road, with Lancashire emerging triumphant thanks to Steven Croft’s last-ball four. Tight bowling from the young trio of Simon Marshall, Tom Smith and Oliver Newby, who each grabbed two wickets, left Leicestershire defending a target of just 161. But their own bowlers did a tidy job, Stuart Broad removing Mal Loye early on, yet it wasn’t to be. Stuart Law led Lancashire’s innings with 58 from 40 balls to set up the win.

Midlands/Wales/West

At Bristol, Gloucestershire‘s bowlers kept their nerve against Worcestershire to record their first win of this year’s tournament with a thrilling one-run victory. Gareth Batty took three wickets and Roger Sillence bagged a brace to restrict Gloucestershire to 181 for 7, with Chris Taylor topscoring with 61. But after Carl Greenidge snaffled the bighitting Graeme Hick for a second-ball duck, the Gloucestershire attack didn’t let up and, although Batty and Sillence nearly proved heroes with the bat at the end, they failed to get the runs they needed.But the tightest match of all was a tied game between Northants and Somerset at Northampton. After choosing to bat Somerset lost wickets regularly – two of them to Sourav Ganguly – until they crawled to 151 for 9. But if Northants thought they had an easy chase on their hands, particularly when Usman Afzaal was going great guns from the off, they were wrong. Richard Johnson and Charl Willoughby pegged them back with two wickets each and when the destructive Lance Klusener was run out for 7 the tide had turned in Somerset’s favour. Afzaal (67*) took Northants close and shared an unbeaten stand of 50 with Andrew White, but it was just not enough.

South

Only at The Rose Bowl was the result never in doubt, as Middlesex slumped to a second successive defeat, this time by 59 runs. Mike Carberry biffed 90 to boost Hampshire to 225 for 2 and Dominic Thornely added an unbeaten 50. Middlesex’s batsmen never really got going and by the time Paul Weekes had blasted 49 from the middle order, the momentum – and the match – was firmly with Hampshire.