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The new State League Twenty20 competition, which kicks off the women’s season in New Zealand, will be played on Friday nights. Each team plays five State League Twenty20 matches with players in contention for international honours.”The 20-over matches will act as a taster for the State League programme and give existing White Ferns more Twenty20 experience, while undoubtedly helping more talented young players emerge,” said New Zealand Cricket women’s manager Catherine Campbell.The opening round of both tournaments sees defending State League champions State Canterbury Magicians travel to Blake Park, while Mt Maunganui will play State Northern Spirit.The State League retains last season’s format, with ten matches played in pairs over the course of the season. The top two sides in the table after ten rounds will compete in the State League final on Saturday 9 February, which will be hosted by the first-placed qualifier.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The second day of the Chittagong Test exemplified not only what Bangladesh could achieve with application, but also how they let situations slip through their grasp. At the end of it, India, dismissed for 540, were in firm control, but had to put up with stiff Bangladeshi resistance for most of the day. After removing five batsmen in the morning, Bangladesh were held up by Sourav Ganguly and the Indian tail in the second session. Then, after tea, Bangladesh protected their wickets stoutly on a pitch becoming increasingly difficult to bat on, but lost three wickets in the final overs to end on 54 for 3.Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique bowled with intelligence before lunch. They removed most of the middle order, including Sachin Tendulkar with the first ball of the day. After doing most of the work, they allowed Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to add 128 runs with Ganguly. Bangladesh then survived for nearly an entire session before the spinners breached their defences. Though defeat appeared inevitable, it was satisfying to see Bangladesh finally put up a fight.Mortaza had set the tone for his team’s defiance with the first ball, bringing it in to trap Tendulkar for 36. He then removed Rahul Dravid for 160 with one that lifted and kissed the edge of the bat en route to the wicketkeeper. Not long after, VVS Laxman was outsmarted by Rafique, and patted a delivery back to him. Then Dinesh Karthik and Irfan Pathan took liberties with his left-arm spin and paid a price.

After lunch, the bowlers slackened and frittered away their advantage. Ganguly added 53 with Kumble, and then rotated the strike as Harbhajan took toll of the bowlers. The ball was repeatedly smashed to the fence, and at times over it, as 75 runs came in 11 manic overs. Ganguly, 12 short of a hundred, then unsuccessfully tried to clear the long-on fence (540 for 9). His last century was a rousing 144 at Brisbane in December a year ago.Just as it seemed that Bangladesh were going through the motions once again, they returned to the crease and showed the backbone they missed sorely in Dhaka. Nafis Iqbal and Javed Omar survived testing spells from the new-ball attack. Irfan Pathan often appeared close to breaking through, but found the openers unshakable. Zaheer Khan was also unsuccessful in his attempt to rattle them. Only when the spinners came on did cracks appear.Kumble made the ball fizz off the strip and left the batsmen groping. To counter the variable bounce, the openers played him off the front foot. It did not do them much good. One delivery caught the edge of Iqbal’s bat but was put down by the wicketkeeper. Omar pushed at another that turned and flew to Dravid at slip (48 for 1). He had faced 78 balls for his 10. Mortaza, sent in as night-watchman, then padded up to a straight one and Iqbal, after defying India 91 balls for his 31, gloved a turner by Harbhajan to Gautam Gambhir at short leg (54 for 3).Bangladesh had fought bravely, but simply did not have the resources to counter India’s firepower on a wearing track.

Andy Atkinson, an English curator in charge of the pitches during the Pakistan and South Africa series, and a pitch adviser for the ICC, promised to prepare quality pitches with pace and bounce fair to both sides.

Atkinson, who worked in South Africa from 1993 to 2001, said: “I am here to make quality cricket pitches but there are no specific targets of making spintracks to support the home team.” He continued: “I came here two years ago, the soil has no problem, but maybe the way the pitches are made here is a problem. The conditions are much similar to South Africa, the clay content is the same and grass is of the same quality. The whole idea is to make consistent pitches in Pakistan.”The Pakistan board sought Atkinson’s help after criticism of the pitches by Rashid Latif, former captain, Javed Miandad, the coach and Tauqir Zia, PCB chairman. After his tour of Pakistan, Atkinson will fly to Bangladesh to supervise the preparations of the pitches for the ICC Junior World Cup to be held in January and February.Atkinson always has high praise for Australia’s wickets, but rejected Steve Waugh’s demand for uniform pitches. “It is impossible to have uniform pitches all over the world because atmospheric conditions are different,” he said. “They would be detrimental for world cricket.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to organize the forthcoming domestic international matches against South Africa. The decision was taken on Thursday in a meeting that was chaired by PCB Chairman Lt Gen (Retd) Tauqir Zia.The South African team arrives in Lahore on Tuesday morning for two Tests and five one-day internationals that will be played in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi."We are grateful and thankful to the Punjab Cricket Association for their support and cooperation in organizing international matches against Bangladesh. But for the series against South Africa, it has been decided that the PCB will organize the show. Mr Arif Rahim has been appointed the Chairman Organizing Committee of all the three committees at Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi," PCB Chief Executive Ramiz Raja said in a statement.With this decision, the season accreditation cards that were issued prior to the beginning of the home series stand null and void."The accreditation cards, except for print and electronic media and PCB officials, have been cancelled with immediate effect. Fresh accreditation/duty cards to the local match organizers and sub-committee members will be issued by Mr Arif Rahim who has made his camp office in the Gaddafi Stadium," the PCB Chief Executive said.On Friday, the PCB Chief Executive chaired a high level meeting in which security aspects were discussed and finalized."There will be no compromise on security which will be foolproof and tight. I would request all the cricket lovers to kindly support and cooperate with us because Pakistan future domestic events depend heavily on South African series. The crowds, I must admit, have been wonderful for the series against Bangladesh and I am sure their response for the forthcoming series will be equally positive and supportive," Ramiz Raja said.In the meeting, it was decided that falling items – fire arms, weapons, glass and plastic bottles, canes, fireworks, match boxes and any other item that can be used as a missile – will not be allowed inside the ground.The tickets for the first two one-day internationals will go on sale in specific branches of United Bank Limited from Monday. The following are the names of the branches: Alfalah, Anarkali, Bank Square, Bank Square Model Town, Circular Road, Garden Town, Lehhra, Liberty Market, Ravi Road, Riwaz Garden, Shahalam Market, Shadbagh and Wapda House.Tickets will also be available at the Gaddafi Stadium ticket counters at Gate No 2 and 14 from Tuesday between 1000 hours and 1600 hours.The following are the prices of tickets:Fazal Mahmood and Imran Khan Enclosures (Gate 1 and 14) Rs1,200; Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Khan Mohammad, Mahmood Hussain Enclosures (Gate 8 and 7) Rs1,000; A.H Kardar, Javed Miandad Enclosures (Gate 2 and 13) Rs800; Saeed Ahmad, Zaheer Abbas, Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmad Enclosures (Gate 11, 12 and 13) Rs600; Nazars Enclosure [for families and ladies] (Gate 3) Rs200, Senior Citizens (Gate 3) Rs100; Majid Khan, Saeed Anwar, Rajas, Abdul Qadir, Sarfraz Nawaz Enclosures (Gate 5, 9, 6, 10) Rs75.Entry for Special Children will be free from Gate No 4.The PCB has continued the following organizing committees: FOR LAHORE:
Members: Mr Amir Hayat Rokari (President LCCA), Lt Col Ghiasuddin, Lt Col Rana Sajjad (both Pakistan Rangers, Punjab), Mr Zakir Khan (G.M Cricket Operations -PCB), Maj (Retd) Javed Manj (Manager Services & HR – PCB), Mr Syed Ahmad Mobin Zaidi (SP Model Town) and Mr M.Shoaib Qureshi (Regional Chief Executive, UBL Lahore Region). RAWALPINDI:
Members: Mr Hamid Ali Khan (DCO Rawalpindi), Mr S.Murawwat Ali Shah (DPO Rawalpindi), Mr Zakir Khan (G.M Cricket Operations – PCB), Maj (retd) Javed Manj (Manager Services & HR), Maj Raja Ahmad Jahanzeb, Mr Ehtisham-ul-Haq, Mr Masood Anwar (President RDCA), Mr M.Ashraf Qureshi.FAISALABAD:
Members: Mr Tahir Hussain (DCO Faisalabad), Capt (retd) Muhammad Amin (DPO Faisalabad), Mr Zakir Khan (G.M Cricket Operations – PCB), Maj (retd) Javed Manj (Manager Services & HR – PCB), Mr Rana Anis Ahmad (Secretary FDCA).

Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lanka’s Under-19 captain and a fast bowling allrounder, leads the Man of the Tournament standings at the end of the first group phase. Maharoof picked up points in all three of his matches for both bowling and batting to lead the standings with seven points. Maharoof, a Wesley College schoolboy who has played for the A team, is tipped to break into the national squad soon.Mahroof was one point ahead of a quartet of challengers including Chamith Kulasekara, a teammate, and Shikhar Dhawan, an Indian batsman who has hit two centuries and is the tournament’s leading run-scorer. The surprise inclusion near the top of the table is Nepal’s Shakti Gauchan whose patient batting displays against South Africa and Uganda have earned him two Man of the Match awards.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Sri Lanka’s dream run continued in Dambulla with an emphatic display that oozed confidence. Despite making wholesale changes and resting four key players, including their captain, Marvan Atapattu, who scored a matchwinning 97 not out in the third match, they cantered past South Africa’s 235-run total with nearly four overs and seven wickets to spare, thanks to a controlled and stylish unbeaten 74 from Kumar Sangakkara.Sri Lanka’s run-chase started well with Sanath Jayasuriya teeing off with a cover-drive and a sweetly timed leg-side clip to the boundary after surviving a good lbw shout. But a mix-up while running between the wickets pushed them onto the back foot, as Jayasuriya, responding late to a hesitant call for a quick single to mid-off, was run out by two yards (14 for 1).Thereafter, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, who took the new ball in place of the discarded Alan Dawson, kept things tight as Avishka Gunawardene and Saman Jayantha, Atapattu’s nervous replacement, played and missed frequently, and struggled to dispatch the bad ball.Fortunately for Sri Lanka, South Africa were having another bad catching day. Gunawardene, on 13 and 32, was missed twice at slip by Jacques Kallis. Both chances were difficult: the first was a low diving effort and the second, off a full-blown square-cut, whizzed to his right.After 10 overs, Sri Lanka were 36 for 1, but, gradually, Gunawardene started to settle and find the boundary with meaty tonks over mid-on and forcing strokes through the off side. He reached his 11th one-day international fifty from 61 balls, and when drinks arrived, Sri Lanka were on target on 73 for 1.But, first ball after the break, Gunawardene wafted at a delivery fromMakhaya Ntini and feathered a catch to Mark Boucher – his 250th in one-dayers. He could have had victim No. 251 too, but was unable to hold onto a thin nick off Jayantha in Nicky Boje’s first over. Boje’s bad luck continued in his second over when Jayantha was perilously close to being out lbw.But after the let-offs, Jayantha started to relax. He had laboured for 48 balls before hitting his first boundary, but now began to strike theball more freely. When he bent down on one knee and swept a massive six over midwicket, he was rubbing salt in Boje’s wounds.Sangakkara had fewer qualms, and settled quickly into his stride, keeping things simple and rotating the strike without fuss. South Africa were fast losing control of the game as 65 runs were milked from 85 balls. By the time Jayantha skied a catch into the deep, having made 46 from 73 balls, Sri Lanka were trotting home comfortably (138 for 3).Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, andSangakkara finished off the job clinically with an unbroken 98-run stand from just 90 balls. Jayawardene ended up on 48 not out from 45 balls.

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s decision to field first with a new-look pace attack had been in danger of backfiring as South Africa galloped out of the blocks. But a mid-innings wobble, when three wickets fell for two runs, pegged the South Africans back. Shaun Pollock then nursed the South Africans back into the game with an intelligent 52 not out.In the absence of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa, the new ball was entrusted to Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, who were a touch wayward in their first spells as South Africa started rapidly with Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs adding a run-a-ball 47 for the first wicket. Gibbs had made 27 when, not for the first time in the series, missed a pull and was bowled, the ball just clipping the off bail (47 for 1).Kallis strode out at No. 3 in his 200th game, as South Africa reverted to a more traditional top order, ending the experiment with pinch-hitters. He pulled a majestic six off Fernando but was then uncorked by a jaffa from Farveez Maharoof that nipped back sharply off the seam and crashed into off stump (61 for 2).Smith, facing growing pressure but apparently safe as captain until the end of the Champions Trophy, knuckled down with Jacques Ruldolph and scored freely off the part-time spinners. The pair added 52 runs in 65 balls. But just when the South Africans were taking full control, cruising on 113 for 2, Maharoof ran out Rudolph (24) with a swift pick-up and direct hit running in from cover.Smith, who had scored 46 from 64 balls with four fours, fell two overs later, when he missed a sweep off Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who has beenconfirmed as Muttiah Muralitharan’s replacement for the ICC ChampionsTrophy. Lokuarachchi needed just two balls to send back Jean-Paul Duminy, who shuffled across his stumps and was trapped plumb in front of the stumps (115 for 5).Pollock and Boucher scrapped hard and were able to consolidate, adding64 runs in 104 balls. They threatened a late-innings disintegration similar to Wednesday’s game, as Boucher was bowled and Lance Klusener (12) was stumped in the final 10 overs, but Pollock shepherded the team sensibly through till the end, squeezing 49 runs from the final five overs.The runs appeared crucial at the time, but Sri Lanka had read the pitch well in the morning. It was a beauty and with confidence sky-high, Sri Lanka clicked their 15th win in their last 16 matches. South Africa, meanwhile, have lost their last nine games and travel to Colombo looking forward to the end of a nightmare tour.

Latest points tables

Group A

Ireland will have to wait until Thursday to secure a place in the 2007 World Cup after all three ICC Trophy Ireland 2005 Group A matches were washed out. No play was possible between Ireland and USA at Waringstown so Ireland need one more point from their final game against Denmark at Bangor to be certain of qualification. It will, though, take a major upset for Ireland to miss out on either first or second place in Group A. They go into the final round of games with a two point advantage over both Denmark and Bermuda and a significantly superior net run rate. Denmark and Bermuda both have five points while Uganda and United Arab Emirates remain in contention on three points ahead of the decisive matches. But for the USA, the washout means that they cannot qualify for the World Cup and face an ignominious exit from an event they should have been playing a major part in.

Group B

Three teams will be contesting the top two places in Group B on Thursday after Canada sealed a dramatic two-wicket victory over Holland. Canada’s win leaves them level with Holland on six points while Scotland lead the group with eight points. In the final round of matches Holland will play Scotland at Stormont while Canada faces Papua New Guinea at Downpatrick.Canada’s third tight win of the tournament came with one ball to spare. They were chasing a revised target of 160 in 30 overs after Holland amassed 187 in 35 rain-affected overs. With Canada captain John Davison the first of Billy Stelling’s five victims it was left to opening partner Desmond Chumney to lead the chase. Chumney’s valuable contribution kept his side in touch with the run rate but when he was dismissed for 64 the momentum swung in Holland’s favour.Three more wickets fell for only 14 runs but valuable lower-order runs from Don Maxwell and George Codrington helped Canada edge to an essential victory. If Holland had won, it would have guaranteed its place in the semi-finals along with Scotland, who beat Namibia. Instead both Holland and Scotland sides go into their final match with everything to play for.Scotland beat Namibia by 27 runs in a match that was reduced to 33 overs-a-side. Ryan Watson was instrumental to the victory, taking advantage of the short boundaries to hit 87 of Scotland’s 236 runs. Namibia were always in contention during the reply but to keep up with the run-rate their batsmen were forced to take chances. Nine of the ten wickets fell to catches as they were all out with 11 balls remaining.Papua New Guinea claimed their first victory of the tournament, bowling out Oman for 41 to win by 93 runs in a match that was reduced to 24 overs.The final round of six group games takes place on Thursday.

A quite superb 273 by Durham’s Martin Love, the ninth highest score ever against Hampshire, was the stepping stone that gave the home side the ascendancy at Riverside on the second day of the Frizzell County Championship match.His innings consisted of 38 fours and two sixes, the latter coming as he pushed for runs with his side 9 wickets down. He finally fell going for another big shot off Shaun Udal, having survived over 7 and a half hours.Love had good support at the bottom of the innings and Durham’s highest Individual score set up a formidable 515.Rain meant that play did not get under way until 12:15, but despite the overcast conditions Hampshire’s bowlers failed to make the breakthrough early enough.Batting suddenly became a different story when Hampshire began their reply needed an awsome 366 to avoid the follow on, and despite setting an opening partnership of 50, finished the day at 88 for 4.James Adams having batted for 80 minutes edged the seamer Mark Davies to the wicket-keeper, then after hitting three fours, Simon Katich celebrating his 28th birthday, was snared lbw by the same bowler.Robin Smith playing his first match for 6 weeks did not survive long falling lbw to Paul Collingwood, then skipper John Crawley top edged spinner Graeme Bridge.Bad light stopped play an hour early, much to the relief of the Hampshire batsmen, but they will have to do a great deal of back to the wall batting on the third day if they are not to suffer a third successive Championship defeat.

Scorecard
How they were out

Muttiah Muralitharan took eight wickets to annihilate West Indies in the second Test at his hometown of Kandy. Set an imposing 378 to win, West Indies were not expected to pull off any miracles, but the manner in which they were decimated by Muralitharan that left them shellshocked, and rendered the capacity crowd at the Asgiriya Stadium delirious with joy. In the end, West Indies were shot out for 137, with Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath claiming the other two wickets, as Sri Lanka won with more than four sessions to spare.Even a turning pitch and an inexperienced West Indian batting line-up could not detract from a monstrous bowling performance by Muralitharan, who swept away batsmen in a manner reminiscent of one swatting pesky flies. If the offbreak was dangerous, the doosra was unplayable, accounting for most of his victims. The batsmen were left clutching at air, in a maelstrom of offspin bowling that sucked them in, whirled them around and then spat them out. This was not a contest. This was a case of schoolchildren being taught a lesson they would remember for a long, long time.For the record, Sri Lanka won the Test match by 240 runs and the series by a 2-0 margin. But neither scoreline could adequately describe the outright humiliation that the players and spectators witnessed on the fourth afternoon at Kandy. The threat of rain was looming all the time, and Sri Lanka missed the talismanic Chaminda Vaas. No matter. With Muralitharan being in the form he was in, West Indies could have fancied their chances of saving the game only up till the point that he came on to bowl.

If Muralitharan had looked competitive in the first innings, in the second he was positively devastating. Runako Morton, Ryan Ramdass and Sylvester Joseph were left flummoxed by vicious doosras, the last two off consecutive deliveries, and Narsingh Deonarine, the only batsman to pose any kind of resistance, was forced back on to his stumps and bowled. Omari Banks followed an offbreak down the leg side into the hands of the keeper Kumar Sangakkara, and Daren Powell gave Mahela Jayawardene his fourth catch of the innings at silly mid-off. Denesh Ramdin’s promising knock ended with yet another doosra – he was drawn out of his crease and bowled. Tino Best was undone by a ripping offbreak. In the middle of the carnage, Herath snapped up Chanderpaul to to capture the only Test-class batting talent that West Indies possessed. Malinga picked up the wicket of Xavier Marshall, but these were just side-shows in the Muralitharan extravaganza.Sri Lanka had their eyes on a series whitewash long before Marvan Atapattu called his players in with the Sri Lankan score on 375 for 7. Play commenced late after rain delayed the start of the fourth day’s morning session. Sangakkara continued from where he had left off, moving effortlessly to 157 not out from his overnight 135, a performance that got him the Man-of-the-Match award. Atapattu chose to delay his declaration, possibly influenced by Vaas’s injury, and Muralitharan’s recent attack of the flu. Sangakkara and Herath used the opportunity to share a 54-run stand to put the target well beyond the reach of West Indies. But with Muralitharan bowling the way he did, they really needn’t have bothered.

West Indies second innings
Xavier Marshall lbw b Malinga 1 (2 for 1)
Shuffled across to a yorker that swung lateRunako Morton lbw b Muralitharan 9 (38 for 2)
Ryan Ramdass c Jayawardene b Muralitharan (49 for 3)
Sylvester Joseph c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 4 (49 for 4)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Jayawardene b Herath 24 (77 for 5)
Narsingh Deonarine b Muralitharan 29 (105 for 6)
Omari Banks c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 1 (111 for 7)
Daren Powell c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 0 (119 for 8)
Denesh Ramdin b Muralitharan 28 (131 of 9)
Tino Best b Muralitharan 8 (137 all out)

John Emburey has attacked the England selectors for failing to include Owais Shah in either the Test or one-day squads to tour Pakistan in October. Emburey, Shah’s coach at Middlesex, has accused the selectors of operating a “closed shop” policy.Shah has enjoyed a superb season for Middlesex, scoring over 2000 runs in both four-day and one-day competitions. Despite his omission from the senior side’s squads, he was however included in the National Academy squad. But Emburey feels this is scant reward for a young player who has performed so well all season.”The fact that he’s not there [in the one-day squad] to me is criminal. He’s going to have to bat like Don Bradman to play any better than he has done this year.” Emburey told .Emburey feels Shah has been ostracised because “his face doesn’t fit.” He added: “I think it’s a closed shop to be honest. I think they’ve got their people they want to bring on and his face doesn’t fit, as simple as that.”Shah, 26, last played for England in the 2002-03 one-day series against Australia. A solid season in 2003 saw him rewarded with the captaincy of Middlesex – but he was relieved of the captaincy in June 2004 following a string a poor results. A highly gifted and stylish batsman, Shah is one of many young England players who initially found county cricket an easy affair, only to fall by the wayside in recent years with inconsistent performances. However, consistency is one aspect Shah has improved upon as his statistics this season clearly demonstrate.”I hope someone actually speaks to him and tells him why he isn’t going and doesn’t use his little knee injury as an excuse,” added Emburey. “I want someone to be honest with the bloke – either the selectors or the coach.”I can understand there are no vacancies in the Test side for him because the batting is fairly solid and they have kept a squad of players together which has performed very well, and I think that’s right.”But I think their one-day cricket has been very inconsistent and there is a need to bring someone in which can add something to the team and make them better.”

Shah isn’t the only player whose omission has raised eyebrows. Chris Read was, yet again, not chosen for either squad; Matt Prior from Sussex, a counterattacking and aggressive batsman, is Geraint Jones’ wicketkeeping back-up. And of course, it was Jones who initially replaced Read two winters ago; Read had kept beautifully all winter, but in averaging just 15 with the bat in 11 Tests, England decided they needed a more punchy lower-order batsman.”The keeping side of things is always under scrutiny, but the ability to score runs has maybe overtaken that. My personal opinion is it might well go in a cycle,” he told .”We’ve seen Adam Gilchrist, who turned the art of the keeper-batter on its head by averaging 50-plus. A lot of the nations have tried to emulate that, probably with limited success. Now that Gilchrist is within two-to-three years of retirement, it will be interesting to see what Australia have up their sleeve and how the other countries react to that.”