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An annoying light but steady afternoon rain caused the first one-dayinternational between Zimbabwe and Kenya to be abandoned as a draw,depriving Zimbabwe of a probable victory as they were set a none too taxingtarget of 211 to win.Kenya were no doubt pleased to win the toss and get the opportunity to batfirst. On the other hand, they had lost their captain and top batsman,Steve Tikolo, who was suffering from bronchitis. Official vice-captainThomas Odoyo Migai took over the reins. They suffered another early blowwhen they lost opener Ravindu Shah (0) to the fourth ball of the innings,edging a ball from Friend straight to Alistair Campbell in the slips.Kennedy Odoyo and Brijal Patel proceeded with caution, until Obuya uppercutHenry Olonga for a spectacular six over backward point. However he becameover-ambitious and when Douglas Hondo came on tried to force him off theback foot but hit a catch straight to Grant Flower at short extra cover; hedeparted for 18, and Kenya were 36 for two.Maurice Odumbe (5) did not last long before he too departed to theimpressive Friend, caught by Campbell at slip as Shah had been. BrijalPatel, the number three, looked an accomplished strokeplayer and drove Hondofor two cultured fours, followed by a cut to the boundary, all in the sameover.A useful partnership developed between Patel and the more experienced HiteshModi, and they added 54 before Patel (44) was beaten and bowled by a fasterball from Murphy that knocked the off stump out of the ground. Theleft-handed Modi grew in confidence, even playing the reverse sweep withaplomb, and Odoyo hit some powerful strokes, but they did not have theexperience to raise the scoring rate much beyond four an over.A sweep to the fine-leg boundary brought Modi his fifty, but then seemed tolose his fluency and in the end holed out to long-off off Doug Marillier for55. Kenya were 165 for five in the 40th over and the sixth-wicket pair hadadded 70, a new record for Kenya against Zimbabwe.Kenya now looked to Odoyo for a major innings but, backing up too far, hewas taken by surprise by a direct hit from Campbell that caught him out ofhis crease. He made 37, and Kenya were 176 for six in the 42nd over. Thetail did not wag, and it took the last pair to push the score past 200.Jimmy Kamande with 18 was the only later batsman to reach double figures.Zimbabwe suffered a bad start when Alistair Campbell, following a poorseries against Pakistan, ran himself out for 2; backing up too eagerly asnon-striker, he was stranded by Modi’s direct hit from mid-on.The weather was now playing a part, and a flurry of rain drove the playersoff briefly after three overs; they resumed, but play lasted only another 13balls before the rain returned, with Zimbabwe 18 for one. A light rainpersisted for some time, leaving the outfield slippery, and soon after 3.30local time the umpires called it a day.There was little to make the match memorable for anybody, but if there hadbeen a Man of the Match award for this abandoned game, perhaps the mostdeserving player would have been Travis Friend for one of his best openingspells; he gave Zimbabwe the early initiative which they never really lost.

Australian coach John Buchanan will not lead Australia on the Travelex Tour of Kenya after sustaining a back injury this weekend during the team’s training camp in Brisbane.Buchanan suffered an acute episode of lower back pain at the end of a net session during the team’s final practice at Allan Border Field on Saturday 25 August.Diagnostic scans of his back were taken in Brisbane today.The Queenslander’s full recovery is expected to take 10 days, after which he will join the one-day international squad ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, starting 12 September.Australia A coach Allan Border will replace Buchanan as Australian coach for the Tri-Nation’s Cup in Nairobi, Kenya.Border, who was due to travel to Johannesburg on Tuesday for Australia A’s seven-game series against South Africa A, will now fly to Nairobi tomorrow with the Australian squad.Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy head coach Bennett King will take over Border’s duties as Australia A coach.Australian team physiotherapist Errol Alcott said Buchanan’s injury is severely restricting the coach’s mobility."Unfortunately, John has not responded to treatment yesterday and today," Alcott said."He has been instructed to take complete rest and not engage in any activity. Due to the severe pain and lack of mobility, he would not be able to embark on a long journey, such as the one the team is taking to Nairobi tomorrow."Alcott said Buchanan’s rehabilitation will involve complete bed rest until a review of the injury in the next few days."We’ll monitor his progress over the next day or so, expecting him to be more mobile next week."

Having lost the toss and being asked to field, the West Indies made the best of a bad start, restricting India to 275 for six at the end of the first day. Carl Hooper and his attack of four seamers will feel that, in some part at least, they wrested the initiative back from the hosts. With the Indian tail exposed, the West Indies will hope to restrict India to as little over 300 as possible; that will be half the battle won. From there, the skipper will have to hope that his batsmen come good when most needed.The day began in somewhat bizarre fashion as the visitors made wholesale changes to their side. Surprising the pundits, the West Indies went into the game with four seamers on a wicket that looked slow and conducive to spin bowling. Marlon Samuels, Darren Powell and Cameron Cuffy were brought into the team in place of Ryan Hinds, Gareth Breese and injured left-arm seamer Pedro Collins.The strategy seemed to backfire as Virender Sehwag characteristically started to put the bowling to the sword from the moment he reached the crease. Unmindful of the fact that he was beaten time and again, Sehwag slashed merrily at anything even a touch loose. The result was six boundaries in an entertaining run-a-ball 35 before a quicker one from Merv Dillon beat the bat. Straddling his crease, Sehwag was trapped in front of the stumps, and India had lost their first wicket for a brisk 49 that came in 10.2 overs.Sanjay Bangar too seemed to be in an unusually adventurous mood. Driving at several deliveries too wide for the stroke, Bangar even edged a catch into the slip cordon early on, but watched in relief as Shivnarine Chanderpaul floored the tough chance.Rahul Dravid, in perhaps the best form of his life, stroked the ball well from the word Go, looking good for a big knock when his innings was cut short on 14. Getting the ball to come back off the wicket, Darren Powell had Dravid inside-edging onto his pad. Missing the edge, umpire David Shepherd upheld the confident appeal for leg-before. When the teams walked off the field for lunch, India were 98 for two off 26 overs, scoring at a fast clip despite the loss of two crucial wickets.In the second session, the pattern was much the same. Sachin Tendulkar, well on course to a big score, fell against the run of play in the 37th over of the innings. Flashing hard outside the off at a well-directed delivery from Jermaine Lawson, Tendulkar (36, seven fours) only managed to edge the ball to Chris Gayle in the slips.Sourav Ganguly then took over the scoring. Using the angled bat to great effect, the Indian skipper pierced the infield on the off-side off both front and back foot to score five boundaries in his 29. Then, just at the stroke of the tea, Ganguly attempted to cut a straight one from Carl Hooper – in reality, much too close to cut – and tickled the ball through to wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs.Quickly sizing up the situation, Bangar settled down to playing the role of sheet anchor to perfection. The intermittent fall of wickets at the other end only made Bangar concentrate harder. Batting with great care for 201 balls, Bangar (77, 13 boundaries) finally lost his concentration and drove Cameron Cuffy on the up into the waiting hands of Wavell Hinds in the cover-point region. The backbone of the Indian innings, Bangar once more proved his utility with a knock of high value.While Bangar was the only one to spend any significant time in the middle, all the other top-order batsmen got starts. Coming in at number six, VVS Laxman was no exception. As wristy and fluent as ever, the Hyderabadi stylist tucked the ball away to all parts of the ground for 48, including eight boundaries. However, in almost characteristic fashion, Laxman fished at a ball well outside the off-stump to be caught at slip.The Indian captain would have been disappointed with the timing of Laxman’s fall, coming as it did in the 81st over, on a day where just 83 overs were possible. Fortunately for the hosts, Parthiv Patel (18 not out) and Harbhajan Singh ensured that no more than six wickets were lost on the day.Yet again, the West Indies have managed to end a day’s play on a high note. If they are to salvage some of the fierce Caribbean pride that saw their teams rise to the very pinnacle in yesteryear, the visitors must press home the advantage, sustain the momentum, and make life as difficult as possible for India on the start of the second day.

The Surrey fast bowler, Jade Dernbach, will be staying at The Oval until the end of the 2010 season, after signing an extension to his existing contract.Dernbach, 22, has been a regular in Surrey’s one-day team for the last couple of seasons and last week he broke into the County Championship side against Somerset at Whitgift School, where he produced a career-best performance of 6 for 72.”Jade’s contract was up at the end of this season,” said Surrey’s cricket manager, Alan Butcher, “and I said that I would be prepared to re-negotiate if he proved to me that his attitude, commitment and everything that goes with being a professional cricketer was right.”He has done that to my satisfaction, therefore we offered him a new contract from now, and his performance against Somerset has fully justified that. He has been knocking on the door all season and could have played at anytime. He has come on leaps and bounds and fully deserves his contract.”Dernbach was a product of the original intake of the Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy, and became Surrey’s youngest debutant for 30 years when he was selected to play against India A in 2003. Two years later, he started to make regular first-team appearances, and featured in the 2005 Twenty20 semi-final against Lancashire, before going on to make his List A debut in the same year.In 31 one-day matches for Surrey, Dernbach has picked up 49 wickets at an average of 26.73 demonstrating that he is developing the sort of control required for the longer version of the game.

Can surprise leaders Andover repeat their slick 50-over form in the longer all-day version of ECB Southern Electric Premier League cricket?That’s the burning question on the eve of nine weeks of all-day `time’ matches, which begin with table-topping Andover facing third-placed Bournemouth at London Road, 11 o’clock."We’ve been on fire in the 50-over stuff," says Andover skipper Roger Miller, who hit his first SL century in ten years against Burridge last weekend. "Actually, we could even have won all five games, but playing all-day matches, in which you bat up to 66 overs, is an entirely different ball game."But we are buzzing with confidence just now and are just as eager to win the all-day games as were the 50-over matches," Miller said.Andover may make two changes for the visit of in-form Bournemouth, who beat title holders BAT Sports and Bashley (Rydal) in their last two games.Mark Miller is certain to replace the injured Ian Langdown (hamstring), with the captain pondering on whether to reinstate teenager James Manning, who played for the Hampshire Academy last weekend.Bournemouth expect to have Richard Scott back in a key all-rounders role after missing the ten-wicket mugging of Bashley (Rydal). "We’ve previously encountered a lot of problems bowling teams out in the all-day games," says Bournemouth skipper Matt Swarbrick."But we now have a much more balanced attack, with four seamers and two young left-arm spinners to work with at Andover."The rain of the past few days suggests conditions may favour the bowlers, but we’ve got a fine right/left-arm mix, which should be ideal."Second placed Havant, four points behind Andover, travel to Liphook & Ripsley, who are currently anchored to the basement after one win in five games. Paul Gover is a continued absentee, while Mackie Hobson and Bev Moynan could be missing through work commitments.Bashley (Rydal), knocked out of the ECB Club Championship by Havant just 24 hours after the Bournemouth mauling, must pick up the pieces from a disastrous last weekend."We didn’t apply ourselves at Bournemouth – and it’s happening time after time," groaned skipper Neil Taylor."How we can score 301 one week and then get bowled out for barely 100 the next baffles me."Shaun Lilley, free from wedding engagements, returns against Portsmouth, who travel to the BCG minus influential skipper Raj Maru. Lee Savident leads Portsmouth, who will rely heavily on Matt Keech to cover their spin bowling options.Dave Banks is still troubled by the thumb injury he picked up playing for the Hampshire Board three weeks ago. But he expects to play at South Wilts, where BAT will be looking to build on last year’s stunning all-day form."We won all seven completed `time’ matches and that, without doubt, won us the championship," Banks recalled."We start this summer’s all-day cricket with an identical record to 2001 – played 5, won 3, lost two – so let’s hope for a repeat performance."South Wilts, two points behind BAT, have Russell Rowe again at the forefront of the batting charts – the beefy opener having clocked up 293 runs in five visits to the crease already this season.Burridge have Neil Cunningham and Matt Godwin back against Calmore Sports at Loperwood Park. But Paul Hawkins, who is using his "Hawkie" ball tracking technology at Queen’s Club, is a major doubt.Calmore, who won five of their eight `time’ games last season, expect inspirational skipper Tom Pegler to return, but teenager Paul Cass suffered a back spasm during the Hampshire YCs trip to Guernsey earlier this week.

Steffan Jones told me how delighted he was to be awarded his county cap before the Norwich Union National League match against Kent on Sunday.”I’m going to send it home to my Dad in Llanelli. He’ll be so proud and pleased that I have won my cap for Somerset. I know that he has already asked one of his mates to make a special cabinet for it so it will be on display in the house.”Steffan’s dad Lyndon is quite a regular visitor to Taunton, and played cricket for Wales Schools and Glamorgan Seconds but never quite made the grade into first-class cricket.

New Zealand’s one-day team to tour Sharjah and Pakistan is to be named tomorrow on what should be the next phase of the side’s World Cup ’03 development.But such is the injury count at the moment that it can only be an exercise in match strategy involving some of the second tier of players who may or may not be called on in the final count, depending on the injuries down the line.Out of consideration are: Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Dion Nash and it could be that the national selectors decide that Daniel Vettori deserves a rest in preparation for the Pakistan Test series which follows the two one-day exercises in Sharjah and Pakistan.Fourteen players are to be named for the tour which includes a minimum of four games in Sharjah and three in Pakistan.In Sharjah, New Zealand play Sri Lanka on April 9, Pakistan on April 11, Sri Lanka on April 14 and Pakistan again on April 15.The tournament final is to be played on April 17.The basis of the side obviously has to be the team which beat England 3-2 and which made the finals of the VB Series in Australia.That would see: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Chris Harris, Daryl Tuffey and Andre Adams as certainties for the side.Chris Nevin should be retained as wicket-keeper and with the absence of Adam Parore for future consideration, there is a chance for him to claim the position for himself with the gloves and as an opener.If the selectors decide that Vettori is still in good enough condition to make the tour then he too, will be in the automatic category. However, if he is rested, then Auckland’s Brooke Walker must be the favoured option. He has had chances in the past and while he was covering for injury to Vettori, there must be hope that he has had a chance to absorb the lessons and be reconsidered.Glen Sulzberger has also been part of the mix in recent times and it could be that he gains his place if two spinners are preferred.One important decision that will be made is whether Brendon McCullum holds his place in the squad. He is a long term investment by the selectors and he has too much to offer to be placed on the substitutes’ bench and he should retain his spot.James Franklin should also be recalled to the side to continue his education in international play and his recent run scoring for Wellington will have been appreciated by the selectors.Another consideration will be Central Districts’ captain Jacob Oram back in action after missing much of the season with a foot injury. He was shaping as a key element in New Zealand’s one-day planning after last summer and given the on-going problems with Cairns, he should be a consideration for the side.The final choice will be in the bowling attack. Whether Scott Styris offers anything more in the bowling than that offered already in the attack and it may be that a workhorse-type of bowler like Chris Drum, especially with the Pakistan leg of the tour in mind, catches the selectors’ eyes.That would leave the team possibly looking like: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Chris Nevin, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Chris Harris, Daniel Vettori/Brooke Walker, Glen Sulzberger, Daryl Tuffey, Andre Adams, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Chris Drum.

Yousuf Youhana and Abdur Razzaq shared a third wicket partnership of 137 runs to lead Pakistan Probables to three-wicket win over Karachi Young at the National Stadium, after being reduced to 7 for two in only the second over of the innings,in their search for 202.

The batting skills displayed by both these stalwarts was full of precision and maturity as they weathered the opening hostile spell from Mohammad Sami and Saad Altaf with exquisite concentration. Once settling in, they led an all out offensive on the Karachi bowlers as the home side, led by Rashid Latif, found it hard to contain the free flow of runs.Youhana emulated his performance at Lahore, where he scored 96 against Lahore Tigers, to become the highest scorer of the match. He made a fine 75 off 124 balls, which contained 8 hits to the fence. His partner was equally proficient in his batting skills as, after given a chance in the first slip by Arshad, he commanded his authority over the bowlers by getting 56 with the help of 8 fours and one six.After the fall of Youhana’s wicket at 160 in the 38th over, the going was quite easy for the middle order batsmen of Probables. However, they made a mess of things, losing seven wickets in all until they reached the target in the 46th over.Earlier, Rashid Latif, the captain of the Karachi Young, had won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch, which had no grass on it.After losing the wicket of Naumanullah cheaply, Shadab Kabir, the left-handed opener of Karachi shared a partnership of 91 for the second wicket along with Faisal Iqbal to set a solid foundation for their team. However, this opportunity was not efficiently grabbed by the middle order batsmen of Karachi. They failed miserably to score quick runs in the later stages of their innings, as they ended up on 201 for 8 in the allotted fifty overs.The spin duo of Mushtaq Ahmed and Shoaib Malik, bowled superbly for the Probables, as they tested the batsmen with teasing line and length. They did not only break the threatening partnership between Shadab and Faisal, but also gave little liberty to the late order to score quick runs off them.Mushtaq and Shoaib took two wickets each for 47 and 31, respectively, in their ten overs, whereas the skipper, Wasim Akram bagged one wicket for 27 runs in nine overs.Yousuf Youhana, after yet another valiant show with the bat, was awarded man of the match, whereas Yasir Arafat was declared the best fielder.The fourth match of the series will be played on the 31st of January at the Shahi Bagh Stadium, Peshawar.

An enthralling finish at Lord’s saw Middlesex scramble home by one run in their reduced-overs Benson & Hedges match against Kent who seemed to be progressing comfortably at one stage on 102 for 3 after 24 overs, chasing 147 for victory.But a superb spell of off-spin bowling by Paul Weekes, who had been brought into the attack in the 23rd over, rapidly changed the course of Kent’s innings. He removed the next four batsmen for 13, to eventually finish with four for seventeen from four overs and claim the Gold Award for the player of the match.Kent’s top scorer Matthew Walker, with 36 from 42 balls, was among his victims and after his departure, there was little else to come from the Kent batting. Three wickets went in the penultimate over and two in the last with James Golding the ninth and last to fall, on 145, as he frantically charged for a second run. This was three balls after Paul Nixon’s gallant effort of 20 from 21 balls was ended when he was bowled by Angus Fraser.Earlier, despite a clear blue sky and sunshine at Lord’s – conditions that could be described as alien so far this season – the wet ground conditions delayed the start of play until 2pm, restricting the number of overs to 31 per side.Having put Middlesex in to bat, Kent wasted little time in claiming early wickets. Amjad Khan, in his second B&H cup match, sent Mike Roseberry back without scoring when he was caught at cover point. With Stephen Fleming out next, also without scoring, Middlesex were 21 for two after just four overs.But a fine 74-run partnership between Andrew Strauss, who top-scored with 61, and Owais Shah revived the innings. Strauss’s attacking strokeplay took him to fifty from 59 balls with six hits to the boundary.Shah, who was dropped on 40 on the mid-wicket boundary, fell shortly after, just two runs short of his half-century, having faced 74 balls. Both batsmen were claimed by James Golding who finished with three for 25 as did his captain Matthew Fleming who had a sensational second spell, later in the innings, of three wickets for one in four balls.

Multan completed an eight-wicket win over Quetta in their Group B encounter at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Set a target of 155, a challenging one given the first-innings total – the highest of the game – was 210, Multan eased to victory with an unbroken stand of 64 between Usman Tariq and Rameez Alam. Usman top scored with 68, and steadied the chase along with his elder brother, Hammad Tariq, after they lost a wicket with the score on ten. The two put on 81 runs. Hammad was dismissed for 47, but Rameez continued from his unbeaten first-innings 82, scoring 25 more runs to see Multan home. The team moves to fifth place in Group B with six points from the win.It was a third consecutive day without play in the other match which began a day later in the second round, at the Marghzar Cricket Ground. Islamabad had closed the first day at 47 for 2 against Peshwar, and the game ended in a pointless draw at the same score.