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Match Facts

June 5, 2013, Trent Bridge
Start time 2pm (1300 GMT)Martin Guptill was pumeller-in-chief at the Ageas Bowl•Getty Images

The Big Picture

We knew New Zealand were a more competitive side in one-day cricket than in Tests but few would have gambled on the tourists having the series wrapped up with a match to play. The net result is New Zealand’s stock has risen significantly and England’s odds for the Champions Trophy are lengthening.Alastair Cook is facing his first crisis as one-day captain, largely caused by injuries to Steven Finn and Stuart Broad. To call Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes suitable replacements is generous. Dernbach has surely proved his isn’t currently an international bowler and Woakes has failed to perform as many thought he might.England are now at a crossroads with their bowling attack. They can stick with their seam-bowling plan and bring Boyd Rankin in and hope they have either Broad or Finn fit, or they change tack and utilise James Tredwell as a second spinner and Ravi Bopara to take pace off the ball. They must be mindful of likely conditions for the Champions Trophy when picking their side for the third ODI.Their batting line-up was a little keen at the Ageas Bowl and England lost too many wickets that stymied partnerships which could have hurt New Zealand. A trend of batsman getting attractive 20s and 30s needs to be bucked. Jonathan Trott showed the way but England failed to bat around him.New Zealand by contrast are in excellent shape with batsmen and bowlers in form and their side settled. Both efforts with the bat in this series have been textbook. Martin Guptill played two wonderfully controlled innings that allowed freedom for the dashing players down the order. However, an attack which takes pace off the ball would test the other skills of their boundary-hitters.The New Zealand bowling has proved successful, too. Kyle Mills, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan have performed well with the new ball, Nathan McCullum has done a fine job as the spin option and once again Brendon McCullum has produced an innovative captain, his genius moment at the Ageas Bowl was the introduction of Grant Elliott. McCullum also sets a high standard in the field that his team have followed, out-fielding England at both Lord’s and Southampton.A dead rubber before a tournament gives both sides a chance to rest players – although McCullum has said his main thought is 3-0 – but England will be more concerned with rediscovering a winning formula after their Plan A was found to have a few flaws.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England LLWWL
New Zealand WWLLW

Watch out for…

Alastair Cook has enjoyed an untroubled reign so far as England one-day captain as the side steadily improved and touched No. 1 in the world. But he has arrived at the first mini-crisis. Cook is cast as operating only within tried-and-trusted methods but now team selection and tactics may need to become a little more inventive to shake England out of the malaise shown in the first two ODIs.Tall, broad-shouldered and left-armed, Mitchell McClenaghan has enjoyed a tremendous start to his international career with 15 wickets at 18.73. He is a pacey, bouncy bowler who has taken to life in the New Zealand one-day side. He must have wondered what all the fuss was about having made his debut against South Africa in Paarl with the side at their lowest ebb of recent times. Since then, McClenaghan has been part of series wins in South Africa and now England and can look forward to a solid Champions Trophy campaign.

Team news

England have to make changes. There is no possible case to persist with Dernbach – the most expensive bowler in ODI history who has delivered 1000 balls. Rankin was drafted into the squad and, in a dead rubber, is worth handing a debut to. There is also a strong case to replace Woakes, who has failed to live up to his billing in 13 ODIs. Bopara could replace him in the allrounder’s slot or Tredwell could play as a second spinner. England could also choose to rest Graeme Swann and James Anderson, especially if they have one or both of Broad and Finn available again.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 Boyd RankinNew Zealand, rather unexpectedly, have the luxury of a dead rubber but have already said that rotation for rotation sake won’t happen. Tim Southee should return after being rested at the Ageas Bowl and workloads of others will be noted. Daniel Vettori is unlikely to be risked ahead of the Champions Trophy. The likes of Colin Munro and Ian Butler may have to wait.New Zealand (probable) 1 Luke Ronchi (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 James Franklin, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan

Pitch and conditions

Trent Bridge is traditionally a swing-bowler’s ground and England will be hoping that proves the case if they maintain their Plan A. But the good weather could produce a wicket with plenty of runs in it again.

Stats and trivia

• The last time England were whitewashed in an ODI series at home was in 2006 when Sri Lanka triumphed 5-0
• New Zealand’s last ODI series sweep was in 2007 when they beat Australia 3-0 (excluding series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh).
• All five of New Zealand’s previous ODIs at Trent Bridge came during World Cups. They have won two and lost three, including defeat to England in 1975

Quotes

“What was impressive is that he always managed to find the right option at the right time.”
“It’s massively important to us to win this series 3-0. We don’t want to go to the Champions Trophy after having lost a game. We want to keep the momentum going. Any winning team is a confident team and we want to carry that forward into the Champions Trophy.”
Mitchell McClenaghan does want to lose intensity

After guiding Rajasthan Royals out of a hole and a step closer to the IPL 2013 final, batsman Brad Hodge has expressed much satisfaction at the result achieved in the Eliminator that followed an “emotional week”. His experience, Hodge said, came in handy in what was a tense situation.”It was a close contest and that is exactly where you need your experience to get a team over the line,” Hodge told the IPL site. “This is the most thrilling game I have ever played in the IPL. I have played for Kolkata Knight Riders and Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the past editions. This is the first time with Rajasthan Royals and I am delighted to win the game for the team.”Rahul [Dravid] was delighted when I walked back to the dugout. It has been an emotional week for us, and it is a really good result for Rajasthan Royals and especially for Rahul.”Chasing 133, Royals had been reduced to 57 for 5 and needed 76 off 60 when No. 7 Hodge put together a 45-run stand with Sanju Samson – in which 18-year-old Samson contributed 9 – at close to eight runs an over. Once Samson was out, Hodge added 33 more with James Faulkner at over nine an over to take the team home with four wickets and four balls to spare. Hodge finished unbeaten on 54 off 29, hitting Darren Sammy for consecutive sixes to close out the game.”The wicket was a fraction slow and that suited the type of cricket Sunrisers have been playing through the tournament. We wanted to try and be aggressive early on in the innings. We got a decent start but faltered mid-way,” Hodge said. “It did not go according to script.”We were slightly under pressure while chasing the stiff [asking rate towards the end]. We found ourselves in a bit of a hole and needed a few shots to come off well to get the asking rate down. Thankfully, we got a couple of shots in the stands that helped us get over the line.”Royals will now play Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier on Friday. That Royals are on the threshold of the final is a just reflection of the way they have played this season, Hodge said: “Everyone wants to play in the final and it is satisfying to see that you are just a step away from the final. We have had a great season this year and have been one of the top teams in the competition, and it was only fitting that we got closer to grabbing the trophy.”

Darren Gough was at his best in the heat of an Ashes confrontation, and he was often central to the rare occasions England managed to overcome Australia during the 1990s, but he is not about to write off the current generation, ahead of the first of this year’s back-to-back series.Australia’s 16-man squad was met with reactions ranging from ridicule to dismissiveness in some quarters. Even down under there is more trepidation about the forthcoming series than since the late 1980s. But Gough, who took 74 wickets in 17 Ashes Tests, believes the strength of their fast bowling resources gives them a chance in England.”I’m not going to be as critical as some people are,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Their bowling attack is very strong and the fast bowlers are superbly talented. What’s interesting to me is that most of them are coming over with the A team to have a little roll and I think that’s very important. Last time they bowled too short so they’ll be able to learn the length to bowl.”There has been little doubt of late that Australia are building a formidable pace unit – although keeping players like James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Ryan Harris fit for extended periods is proving a challenge, while Pat Cummins continues to lurch from injury to injury. But without support from the top order, they are often going to be in the position of trying to keep the side in matches.Gough suspects that some of the batsmen on the trip will not be given much more of an opportunity to show they can handle Test cricket, but added that the decision to bolster the squad with the experience of Chris Rogers and Brad Haddin could prove a shrewd move.”These guys have an opportunity,” he said. “They had a poor series in India, got beaten by South Africa, and are now coming to England with a lot of them fighting for a spot in the Ashes back home. If they can get runs on the board, England will have a heck of a fight on their hands.””They’ve realised you can’t pick players who aren’t ready. Against bowlers like Anderson, Broad, Finn and Swann you need some experience. Rogers has been a fantastic player for many years and Haddin still deserves to be Australia’s No. 1.”The key to Australia’s run-scoring potential is the captain, Michael Clarke, who has enjoyed a phenomenal run of form over the last six months. Beyond his batting, however, Gough sees an intriguing match-up between him and Alastair Cook as captains. Trent Bridge will be Cook’s first Ashes match as a captain, while Clarke first lead Australia in the Sydney Test in 2011.”Clarke’s from the Shane Warne mould of captaincy. He likes to adventurous, sometimes a little controversial, he’s a very attacking captain which will be vital. The head-to-head with Alastair Cook, who is a different style of captain, will be fascinating. I think Clarke has handled things well so far, especially India with some of the trouble they had – I thought he came out as someone with a strong personality.”ESPNcricinfo have teamed up with Last Man Stands to offer one of our lucky readers the chance to play a celebrity LMS match at Lord’s nursery ground on Friday May 24. One team will be captained by Darren Gough, the other team by Ian Harvey. To be in with a chance of winning this unique opportunity, register a team to play Last Man Stands before May 17 and enter promotional code CRICINFO at www.lastmanstands.com

Sri Lanka Cricket’s first election by secret ballot concluded peacefully with Jayantha Dharmadasa and Nishantha Ranatunga being elected uncontested for the two most powerful posts of president and secretary respectively.The majority of office-bearers elected for the main posts last year were retained, with the exception of Asanga Seneviratne, who lost his seat as vice-president to Mohan de Silva. That was the only major upset in an otherwise straightforward contest. K Mathivanan retained his seat as one of the vice-presidents by polling the highest with 113 votes. Nuski Mohamed retained his seat as treasurer when he beat his opponent Eastman Narangoda by 32 votes (87-55).The election was supervised by officials of the Elections Department at the request of SLC because this was the first time a secret ballot was being used to elect the office-bearers. Although all the key office-bearer posts barring the president and secretary were contested, the incumbent office-bearers managed to re-elect themselves for a two-year term. The official term for the previous year’s board was one year, but due to postponement of elections, their term was stretched to 15 months.Jayantha Dharmadasa was appointed the sole nominee for the position, after the three original candidates were disqualified, for three different reasons. Thilanga Sumathipala was first ruled to be contravening Sri Lanka’s sports law, which states no person linked to the betting industry, media or a sports equipment business may stand for SLC presidency, before incumbent president Upali Dharmadasa – Jayantha’s brother – and Badureliya Sports Club president Sumith Perera, were disqualified by the board for falling foul of the SLC constitution.With no legitimate candidates left standing, SLC’s executive then exercised a constitutional right to appoint their own nominee, after Jayantha Dharmadasa expressed strong interest in the role, and had already acquired the documentation that would allow him to stand for election.

Full list of office bearers

President – Jayantha Dharmadasa
Vice-Presidents – K Mathivanan, Mohan De Silva
Secretary – Nishantha Ranatunga
Asst. Secretary – Hirantha Perera
Treasurer – Nuski Mohamed
Asst. Treasurer – Ajita Pasqual
Tournament committee – Roshan Iddamalgoda (chairman), Kavinda Liyanage (secretary), Manuja Kariyapperuma, Samantha Dodanwela, Upali Seneviratne.
Umpires Committee – ARM Aroos (chairman), Gajaba Pitigala, Jayantha Paranathala, Lal Ranasinghe, Hiran Jayamanne
Tour Organising Committee – One of the SLC vice-presidents (chairman), SLC secretary (secretary), Chandra Rodrigo, Anil de Silva, Roland Perera, Daminda Cooray, Jayantha Jayaweera
Sponsorship Committee – One of the SLC vice presidents (chairman), SLC treasurer (secretary), Sarath Abeysundara, Matheesha Dharmasiri, Eranga Egodawela, plus two to be picked by ExCo.
District Associations – Thilina Tennekoon, Dr Sandasegara
Affiliated Clubs – Jayananda Warnaweera, Sumith Perera
Controlling Clubs – Shammi Silva, Srinath Silva, Irwin Jayawardene
Mercantile CA – Ashley Ratnayake
Nationalised Services CA – Nalin Aponso
Schools Association – president and secretary of SLSCA

Jayantha Dharmadasa was SLC interim president from 2005 to 2007, and is joint managing director of business conglomerate Nawaloka Group, alongside his brother. Ranatunga was elected to the post of secretary without contest for the second year in a row.He had also served in that role in two interim committees immediately preceding the 2012 elections, and has been SLC’s secretary since 2009. Before last year’s election, SLC had been run by a series of interim committees for seven years.Seneviratne, who was one of two vice-presidents elected last year lost his seat by 13 votes to de Silva, a former SLC president. Silva polled 81 to Seneviratne’s 68. Hirantha Perera and Ajitha Pasqual also retained their posts as assistant secretary and assistant treasurer respectively.Perera polled 79 against his opponent Bandula Dissanayake, who managed 51 while 14 votes were rejected. A third contestant, Priyantha Soysa, withdrew. Pasqual won by the thinnest of margins against Irwin Jayawardene (71-68) with five votes being rejected.Outgoing president Upali Dharmadasa will automatically serve in the next Executive Committee as the immediate past president, making it the first instance of two brothers serving in an SLC committee.There were contests for the tournament, umpires and tour organising committees while the sponsorship committee went uncontested for lack of candidates.The new board is another major change in a season of flux for SLC. In the past three months, SLC has appointed a new CEO, two new captains (Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal) and a new fast bowling coach (Chaminda Vaas), while the sports minister named a new selection panel, headed by Sanath Jayasuriya, in February.The elections were conducted amid tight security at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo. It commenced at 10.30am and lasted a marathon eight hours.

Michael Clarke has suggested that there could be changes to Australia’s line-up for the third Test in Mohali after what he called “unacceptable” performances from both the batsmen and bowlers in the first two matches. Clarke also conceded that the shot selection of the batsmen had been “horrible” so far on the tour and called on them to show more patience in the middle, as their Indian counterparts had done.Speaking straight after the defeat by an innings and 135 runs in Hyderabad, Clarke did not foreshadow what team alterations could occur, other than to confirm that he would move up the order from his No.5 position. None of the top four batsmen have averaged more than 30 during the first two Tests, while James Pattinson is the only bowler averaging under 30.The squad includes three men who are yet to play a Test on this trip – Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith – and the other two players left out of Hyderabad after the Chennai loss, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, will also be in consideration. The team has eight days to regroup ahead of the third Test and Clarke said the batting and bowling departments would both be under the microscope.Michael Clarke: “There’s plenty of people that not only watch us on TV but fly around the world to support us and watch us and we know we’ve let them down”•BCCI

“We have to look at both areas that’s for sure,” Clarke said. “Both have been unacceptable, both aren’t good enough. We have to try and find ways to improve and if that means making changes that’s what we have to do. We made a couple of changes for this Test match. I want to pay credit to India, the way [Cheteshwar] Pujara and Vijay played. Our bowlers in patches bowled really well but they were able to stay together and not lose their wicket and bat patiently.”While the bowlers only claimed one victim on the second day of the Test as Pujara and M Vijay put on 370 for the second wicket, it was the team’s first-day batting that really started the rot. After Clarke won the toss and chose to bat Australia struggled to 237, a paltry effort compared to the 503 compiled by India.The accurate seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for three of the top four batsmen in the first innings and spin then troubled the rest. Clarke and Matthew Wade looked comfortable during their 145-run partnership but only three other stands reached double figures. That was followed by a second innings collapse on the fourth morning and the entire innings lasted less than two sessions. But the most damning statistic was that Australia made less in the whole match than Pujara and Vijay did in one partnership.”I think they scored 50 runs in the [first] session, but they had the discipline and the patience to bat long periods of time because they knew as the game went on, second session, third session, they would catch up,” Clarke said. “It gets easier. It does. That’s the fun part about batting. You do the work at the start of your innings, you get the reward at the end of your innings. At the moment our shot selection has been horrible.”We need to be smarter with our shot selection, that’s for sure. You have seen in the first few Tests too many guys getting out playing across the line of the ball and against the spin especially early in our innings. So I think we have to be more disciplined with our shot selection. But I don’t want guys to curb their natural instinct, I don’t want guys to try and play a way they aren’t comfortable doing.”We’ve had the best of conditions, won the toss and batted on both wickets. We knew before coming to India how important the first innings was going to be. There is more variable bounce, more spin, it is harder to bat in the second innings. That doesn’t excuse today, that’s for sure. We still should be doing than we did today and yesterday but our first innings has really let us down as a batting unit.”The result was Australia’s first innings defeat since the Sydney Ashes Test in 2010-11, when Clarke found himself in charge of the Test side for the first time as the stand-in captain when Ricky Ponting was injured. When asked to offer his overall thoughts following the second-innings collapse for 131, Clarke was blunt in his assessment.”It’s probably more polite of me by not putting it into words,” Clarke said. “It’s obviously unacceptable. Very disappointing. I certainly don’t want to take any credit away from India, I thought they played very well yesterday, they showed us once again how to bat in these conditions, they showed us once you get in how to go on and cash in and make a big score.”Our performances in these two Test matches have been unacceptable, certainly nowhere near the standard we are trying to set as an Australian cricket team. There’s plenty of people that not only watch us on TV but fly around the world to support us and watch us and we know we’ve let them down.”

ScorecardHamilton Masakadza and Paul Stirling made it a short evening’s work for Sylhet Royals, who blazed to a six-wicket victory – their third in a row – against Khulna Royal Bengals. Their 78-run stand, which helped Royals to the highest Powerplay total of the BPL – 81 for 1 – came after the unlikely new-ball pair of Dirk Nannes and Sohag Gazi had produced identical figures to limit Royal Bengals.Nannes and Gazi both had figures of 2 for 20 from four overs, and Suhrawadi Shuvo took 1 for 22, making it only 62 runs off those 12 overs. Though Khulna tried to make up by adding 83 in the other eight overs, their total of 157 for 4 was modest. The Royals captain Mushfiqur Rahim also had a role to play: he took two superb catches, the first one breaking an important partnership between Riki Wessels and Daniel Harris. Wessels remained unbeaten on 63 off 44 balls, with four boundaries and a couple of slog-swept sixes.During the chase, Masakadza blasted Shapoor Zadran for a boundary and two sixes before Stirling finished the innings’ second over with two more boundaries to take 25 off it. Masakadza scored four boundaries in Farhad Reza’s next over, before leaving it to Stirling to pick up four sixes in the next two overs off Nabil Samad and Sanjamul Islam, who was hit for three sixes in the space of four balls in his first over.Stirling missed a straight one from Nabil before Masakadza was cleaned up by a beauty from Zadran, this time coming from around the wicket. By then, however, the Royals needed to score at four an over in the next nine overs to complete the win, which they eventually did with 22 balls to spare.The Royal Bengals are bottom in the league after losing their third game in a row, while the Royals are level with Dhaka Gladiators on six points at the top of the table.

ScorecardA man in a Narendra Modi mask was among the spectators who turned up•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

All the pre-match talk had centred on how the pitch would behave at theSaurashtra University Ground in Rajkot. With no first-class matches playedat the venue so far, neither captain knew how the track would behave. Theground had been used so little that even the scorers didn’t know what thetwo bowling ends are called, and the Karnataka manager wondered whether itwould be an under-prepared wicket.All those worries proved unfounded as though the outfield was a bit bumpyand the dressing rooms were pretty basic, the surface had little in it totrouble the batsmen, and Karnataka’s bowlers struggled to maintain anysustained pressure through the day. Still, they managed to prise out fivewickets and kept Saurashtra to 272 for 5, a total that will not worry thevisitors too much.Sheldon Jackson, the 26-year-old batsman who has finally established himself in the Ranji side this season nearly seven years after making his domestic one-day debut, made his fifth fifty-plus score of the campaign to lead Saurashtra’s effort. He pounced on the many short balls offered to him by the spinners, regularly picking boundaries with powerful cut shots. When the quicks pitched it short, he was quick to pull, as he showed Abhimanyu Mithun in the first over after lunch.After tea, with the sun out, a pleasant breeze blowing across the ground,and Jackson’s partnership with Aarpit Vasavada for the fifth wicket nearinga century, Saurashtra’s batsmen had little to worry about. Jackson himselfwas closing in on his second hundred for the season, and with KP Appannabowling defensively at his pads with six men on the leg-side, a bit ofpatience would have got him there. Instead, he swung Appanna towards widelong-off; Lokesh Rahul sprinted back and to his left from mid-on and with the high ball swirling in the wind, completed a superbly judged tumbling catch that had the entire Karnataka team running towards him in joy.It was Rahul’s fourth catch of the day, and sucked the momentum out of the innings for the final 45 minutes of the day. Vasavada remained unbeaten on49, shelving the strokes he displayed before Jackson’s dismissal to ensureSaurashtra lost only five wickets on the day.For most parts of the day, Saurashtra’s batsmen were comfortable in the middle. Their most important player, Cheteshwar Pujara, who delivered victory in their must-win final league match last week with an aggressivedouble-century began in the same vein today. He took Stuart Binny for 14 inthe over before the first drinks break, with two cuts behind point and awhip off the pads. He had sprinted to 37 off 48 when he flicked K Gowthamto leg slip, to the elation of Karnataka’s fielders.The day’s play took place with the players aware that India’s ODI squad forthe England series would be picked in the evening, with Pujara and perhapsMithun standing a chance of selection. Pujara had only a cameo role, afterMithun provided one for the highlight reel by breaking Sagar Jogiani’s offstump into two in the ninth over of the day. Mithun returned to get thewicket of captain Jaydev Shah as well, who poked a catch to gully.The other opener was Saurashtra’s most experienced player, Shitanshu Kotak,who played a typically patient innings, leaving plenty outside off. He usedhis feet well against the spinners, skipping down the track often as heprogressed to 46 before he too gave a catch to Rahul.It was a day both teams won’t complain too much about, and with the pitchplaying true on the first day, the focus over the next few days will shiftto the actual cricket instead of the nature of the surface.

Fawad Ahmed, the Pakistan-born legspinner who was granted asylum to live in Australia last year, has been named in the Prime Minister’s XI to take on West Indies in Canberra on January 29. Ahmed, who made his Big Bash League debut for the Melbourne Renegades on Wednesday, was initially denied asylum but that decision was overturned late last year.He is part of what Australia’s national selector John Inverarity called a side that reflected the cultural diversity in Australia’s cricket pathways, with the fast bowler* Gurinder Sandhu, and the Pakistani-born Usman Khawaja also in the team. Ricky Ponting will captain the side with Brad Haddin as vice-captain.”The PM’s XI game is a special fixture on the Australian cricketing calendar,” Inverarity said. “It provides a unique opportunity for many of our most talented and promising cricketers to showcase their skills. Captain Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Brad Haddin are two players who bring with them leadership and enormous experience on the international stage, and will be excellent drawcards.”Usman Khawaja has been in great form this summer and James Faulkner, who made his international Twenty20 debut for Australia against India last year, will also be keen to make his mark.”The team also features emerging leg spin bowler Fawad Ahmed, who was born and raised in Pakistan. Fawad is playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the KFC T20 Big Bash League and grade club Melbourne University, and we are encouraged by his ongoing development.”We have also been very pleased with the progress of … fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu, who has performed well for the Sydney Thunder following strong performances for Australia in last year’s Under 19 World Cup. With two Pakistani-born and one Indian-born player in the team, these talented players reflect the cultural diversity that exists within our pathway systems.”Prime Minister’s XI Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Haddin (vc, wk), Fawad Ahmed, Jono Dean, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Kane Richardson, Gurinder Sandhu, Ashton Turner, Nick Winter (12th man).* 09:35 GMT, January 11, 2013: The story has been edited to remove “Indian-born” from the description of Gurinder Sandhu. The same description has also been removed from John Inverarity’s quote.

ScorecardCrucial knocks by lower-order batsmen repaired Bahawalpur Stag’s chase and took them to a close two-wicket win against Karachi Dolphins in Lahore. Bahawalpur had lost half their side for 86 in the 14th over, needing 67 more runs to win at more than 11 runs per over. But Kamran Hussain, Usman Tariq and Moinuddin together scored 50 runs in 31 deliveries to help their side get to the target in the last over. Seamer Tanvir Ahmed was the most expensive bowler, giving away 41 runs in his four overs.Karachi’ innings was based on productive contributions by wicketkeeper Amin-ur-Rehman and Fawad Alam, who scored 44 and 43 respectively. After an aggressive stand of 51 runs in five overs that laid the foundation for a strong total, Karachi suffered a minor collapse. But Fawad Alam and Khalid Latif steadied their innings. The final total of 152 wasn’t out of reach of their opponents.
ScorecardSialkot Stallions captain Shoaib Malik led the chase of a below-par target and completed an eight-wicket victory against Karachi Zebras at the Gaddafi Stadium. All of the Karachi top-five batsmen made starts but no one carried on. Daniyal Ahsan’s unbeaten 24 was the top score as Adeel Malik claimed 3 for 19 to restrict Karachi to 111 for 5.After Sialkot lost their openers, Haris Sohail anchored the innings with 34 off 44 balls, while Shoaib Malik blasted 50 off 31. The target was achieved with 20 balls to spare.
ScorecardIn another tight battle, Abbottabad Falcons defeated Islamabad Leopards by two wickets, helped by captain Younis Khan’s responsible knock of 38. The low-scoring match seemed to be heading Islamabad’s way after fast bowler Umar Gul had helped them reduce Abbottabad to 105 for 8, but in the company of Junaid Khan, Younis took them to the target of 120 with one ball to spare.Abbottabad were in control of their chase at 83 for 2, but Mir Azam’s wicket triggered a collapse as they lost six wickets for 22 runs to be in trouble, before the recovery by Younis. Azam, with a quick 59, scored a run less than half of the team’s total.Islamabad had similarly slipped against their opponent’s bowling to post 116 for 8. Middle-order batsman Imad Wasim put up a resistance with 45, but couldn’t string more than two productive partnerships. Left-arm spinner Amjad Waqas took three wickets.
ScorecardThe contest between Lahore Eagles and Peshawar Panthers wasn’t so evenly matched as Peshawar were restricted to 86 for 8 to lose by 76 runs at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Four batsmen scored in double digits, and opener Israrullah top-scored with 22. A fourth-wicket partnership of 25 runs was the highest Peshawar could muster. It was a combined effective bowling effort from Lahore as no bowler went wicketless.Lahore, after being put in to bat, started with a brisk 43-run opening stand in four overs. Imran Farhat, who scored 68 off 45 deliveries, was the bedrock of the strong total. At 150 for 3, they lost six wickets for 12 runs at the end of the innings.
ScorecardFaisalabad Wolves achieved an authoritative victory by eight wickets against Hyderabad Hawks. Their bowlers restricted Hyderabad to 97 for 8, and opener Farrukh Shehzad and Naved Latif then put on 74 runs together to chase the target down with 23 balls to spare. Shehzad won his second successive man-of-the-match award.After choosing to bat, Hyderabad suffered a shaky start as the top three batsmen in their line-up fell cheaply. They had lost half their side for 50 in the 13th over. Although No. 4 Rizwan Ahmed struck a 41-run stand for the sixth wicket Mir Ali, the latter’s dismissal in the 18th over caused a collapse, as Hyderabad limped to 97 or 8.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal drove Lahore Lions to a commanding total of 182, by the weight of which they crushed Multan Tigers by 30 runs. Although Multan were in the hunt in their chase till the penultimate over, their hopes had been diminished once set batsmen Gulraiz Sadaf and Saeed Anwar jnr were dismissed.Lahore, from the outset, were in control of their innings. After a couple of partnerships of more than 50 runs each, Shehzad and Umar added a further 50 runs in 3.4 overs, with Umar smashing 55 off 21 deliveries. The late acceleration pushed them to a run rate of over nine runs per over, and it ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides. Seamer Mohammad Irfan, who took 3 for 8 in his previous game, conceded 47 in his four overs.

ScorecardA quickfire 174 by Jesse Ryder propelled Wellington to a five-wicket victory, chasing a challenging 343 against Central Districts in Napier. The match was even for most part of the four days. Wellington conceded a 43-run first-innings deficit, and the match hung in the balance after Central Districts’ declaration at 298 for 7. But Ryder, who had scored a first-innings century as well, sealed the chase for Wellington.Chasing 343, Central Districts had taken four wickets for 112 runs. But the following 167-run stand between Ryder and Luke Woodcock, who scored a half-century, shifted the game towards Wellington. After Ryder was dismissed, the 63 needed were knocked off by Woodcock and wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi with 13 overs remaining in the day.Central Districts, after being put in to bat, looked to post a commanding total when No.3 Carl Cachopa and Mathew Sinclair both scored centuries, sharing a 224-run partnership for the third wicket. But the middle and lower order couldn’t build from there as seamer Andy McKay took three wickets to peg them back.It took a 113-ball 117 by Ryder to help Wellington get close to Central Districts’ 383, as apart from openers Michael Papps and Stephen Murdoch, no one went on to post a productive score.Central Districts, however, kept losing wickets regularly in their second innings. At 223 for 6, they ended their third day with a lead of 266. The No.8 Doug Bracewell top-scored for them with 85, and dominated the seventh-wicket stand of 120 before his team declared.Ryder’s ton again rescued Wellington again, and gave them the victory.