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Zimbabwe Select 36 for 3 trail South Africa A 542 for 7 (Dippenaar 189, Amla 142, Ontong 70 ) by 506 runs
ScorecardZimbabwe Select were handed a total drubbing by South Africa A on the second day of their four-day match at Queens Club in Bulawayo. On the field, their bowlers were slaughtered and their top-order batsmen humbled. Off the field it was chickens that were the problem.The bare bones of the game itself are depressing enough for the locals. Resuming on 287 for 2, Boeta Dippenaar and Hasim Amla extended their second-wicket stand to 256 before Amla was caught at point for 142. Dippenaar then opened up, along with Ashwell Prince and then Justin Ontong, and they filled their boots. Zimbabwe’s increasingly pop-gun attack could do little about it as they continued their first-day habit of dropping catches.Dippenaar, who was caught at slip within sight of a double-hundred, only called off the slaughter to give his own attack enough time to make some inroads in the remaining hour or so, and that they did. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor weathered the new ball, Taylor doing so by retreating into his shell, but Nel had Masakadza caught behind and then Paul Harris stuck twice in successive overs to remove Taylor, caught at silly point, and the struggling Vusi Sibanda lbw.By the close Zimbabwe had limped to 36 for 3 off 21 painful overs, still 506 in arrears and with the follow-on so far off in the distance as not to be worth calculating. On the evidence of the A-team matches in the last month, it will take some heroics from Tatenda Taibu to even get them halfway to South Africa’s total.The day had started embarrassingly for the authorities with the news that the South African players had found that fast food in 2007 Zimbabwe is missing one vital element – the food. Today, the caterers at least had that and it duly arrived for lunch. Sadly, such were the power and fuel shortages that they had neglected to cook the chicken, so the club had to help out. One can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has called on his captain and most experienced batsman, Mohammad Ashraful, to start performing ahead of their fourth ODI against Pakistan in Multan.Ashraful has had a poor series so far, scoring only 47 runs in three innings, as Bangladesh have relied heavily on contributions from Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riad and Shakib Al Hasan. “I am concerned about his performances,” Siddons said. “As captain of the team, he needs to perform and score.”It can’t yet be said how captaincy has affected Ashraful’s batting. He averages two runs more than his career figure of 22.26 in 15 matches as captain, though he has only scored two fifties in that period. But when Bangladesh have done well, he has usually been at the centre.He looked to be getting some form back in the third ODI in Lahore, but he was run out when set, for 22. “Ashraful is the most experienced batsman in our side,” Siddons said. “Whenever he performs the team wins. I have spoken to him about it. The way he has been training I think a big score is round the corner.”Siddons will hope his words have the same effect on Ashraful that they did on Shakib. After the second ODI in Faisalabad, Siddons highlighted the need for his top six – particularly Shakib – to start scoring runs. Shakib responded with 75 in the third ODI, taking Bangladesh closer than many thought to Pakistan.”I put the heat on Shakib and Aftab [Ahmed] after Faisalabad and they responded well to it,” Siddons said. “I am now putting the heat on Ashraful in the same way. I am confident he will come good in the last two matches.”Bangladesh’s batting has improved as the series has progressed and their total in Lahore was comfortably their highest against established opposition, as well as their highest second innings score in an ODI. If Ashraful joins Tamim, Shakib and Aftab in scoring runs against an experimental Pakistan attack, we may well have a match on our hands.

Mahela Jayawardene, whose 153-run third-wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka post a competitive 238, believed the team had themselves to blame for the loss. “We still couldn’t get the finish I intended, losing wickets in the end,” a visibly disappointed Jayawardene said. At 3 for 161 after 38 overs, they had an excellent launching pad, but only scored 77 in the last 12 despite having plenty of wickets in hand. He also thought India were gifted runs by his side’s sloppy fielding.But Jayawardene praised Sangakkara, his vice-captain and long-time friend, with whom he has been involved in several big partnerships in the past. In the scorching heat, the pair came together with Sri Lanka struggling and performed an admirable rescue act. “The role that Kumar and I have is to bat the majority of the overs. Kumar batted extremely well, one of the best I’ve seen him play for quite some time,” he said. “Credit to Kumar to (help the team) get to 238 from the situation we were in.”India’s chase got off to a dreadful start which had them stuttering at 3 for 35, but three crucial partnerships swung the momentum their way and prevented Sri Lanka from making further inroads. “When we picked up wickets we got the opportunity to put pressure, but Yuvi took chances and started hitting the ball. Our line was not consistent and our fielding wasn’t up to the mark,” Jayawardene said.”You shouldn’t take anything away from Yuvi’s innings, but we contributed to that as well.” He said that both Yuvraj and Dhoni had played really well in different situations, and refused to pick one innings as more important than the other.With their third loss in five games, Sri Lanka are at the bottom of the table, six points below second-placed India. “I haven’t done my maths yet but I know we need to win two out of our three games and India need to lose all their remaining games,” Jayawardene said. “Every game is like a semi-final.”

Middlesex have signed Australian fast bowler Ashley Noffke on a two-month contract to cover for Murali Kartik who will not be able to join the county until June 9.”We were obviously disappointed not to have Kartik for the start of the season, but we’re delighted to have signed Noffke – he’s a high quality opening bowler,” said , Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive. “It’s great to have Noffke come back home to where he played his first English county season back in 2002. He knows Lord’s and he’ll add a bit of extra fire power to our already very strong attack at the start of the season when the ball should be nipping about.”Kartik had been expected to be available earlier but he was prevented by the Indian board from playing the first couple of months of the season.

Kyle Mills will miss the third Test in Napier after failing to pass a fitness test on his injured left knee at training. Mills’ absence means that the 19-year-old Tim Southee will almost certainly make his debut as New Zealand have decided to choose their XI from the 13 remaining players in the squad.Southee made his international debut in the Twenty20 matches against England last month, where he impressed with his pace and control. He then joined the New Zealand Under-19 World Cup squad, taking 17 wickets at 6.64 to emerge as the Man of the Tournament.”He is a really good talent and he does swing the ball a bit,” said Andrew Strauss, who played alongside Southee at Northern Districts earlier this year. “He’ll be pretty excited to make his debut.”Even so, the loss of Mills will be a blow for New Zealand, especially after his performance in the first Test when he ripped through England’s second innings with four quick wickets. “It’s something I haven’t had before,” he said of his injury. “I’ve had strains and tears before and I know what they feel like. This is just the back of the knee.”It all started in the Twenty20 game back at Eden Park,” said Mills. “It’s sand-based and I dove into it and got jammed up, really. Ever since then it has been niggling me. It’s just been hard to run freely. Not only in the bowling but in the outfield as well.”Mills admitted that the strain of back-to-back five-day Tests had taken their toll. “After the heavy workload in the first three days of the last Test, it got tired there towards the end. It came up with a little tear in the top of my calf muscle. I don’t have an issue with my calf muscle at all. It feels fine. It’s just the inflammation around that tear that is giving me some problems.”Even though he will take no part in the decider at Napier, Mills will look back on the series with fond memories, and already has his sights trained on the tour of England in May. “At the start of the summer we were always considered the better one-day side and they were always the better Test side,” he said. “To win that first Test was huge for us and we probably only lost one session in the second Test when Ambrose got away from us.”I definitely feel we are competing with them,” he added. “I personally consider this as part of a six-Test series and whoever wins this Test match will get some momentum going into the Test series in England.”

Celebration of the day

Sourav Ganguly is making a habit of boosting India on the opening day of a Test. If Alastair Cook dismissal at Lord’s allowed India to break the dominant opening partnership, Mohammad Yousuf’s wicket here put them firmly on top. With a ball that pitched outside off and moved in, he rapped Yousuf on the pads and couldn’t control himself when Simon Taufel responded favourably. Charging towards Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar and extending his arms in frenzy, he was a picture of sheer delight. “Looks as if he’s got the world-record number of wickets,” said a hack in the media centre. “More like the world-record number of appeals,” joked another.Squeals of the dayTalking of appeals, lozenge companies may be lining up to sponsor this Indian side. Appeal after appeal went up through the day, most of them being met with negative nods from the umpires. Starting with Zaheer Khan’s second ball of the day, when he struck Salman Butt high on the pad, the Indians shouted, howled and, finally, implored. To the umpires’ credit, there were only a couple of really close calls but the Indians, it seemed, were making up for the poor crowd response, making a lot of noise of their own.Wild slog of the dayShoaib Akthar’s first contribution to the series was a mighty slog sweep, one attempted with such fury that it seemed intended for Rawalpindi. Shoaib obviously didn’t read a straight one from Kumble and let out an expansive hoick, one that allowed a massive gap between bat and pad. The fact that it was the last ball of Kumble’s over, when Shoaib could have simply tried to survive and support Misbah-ul-Haq, made it appear more foolhardy.Entertainment of the dayAround mid-day, with India pegging away at the Pakistan middle order, spectators at the embankment to the right of the pavilion were treated to some off-field action by a vertically challenged person. Impersonating Ganguly’s bowling action and Munaf’s appeals, he prompted peels of laughter among the crowd. Even the police’s attempts to stop him didn’t find favour with the police chief himself patted the boy on the back and telling him to continue for a bit more time. Kamran Akmal’s dismissal, which occurred during this period, went unnoticed in a couple of stands.Six of the dayMohammad Sami did a fine job hanging around but showed he was capable of the big strikes too. His mighty six towards the end of the day, off a full ball from Ganguly, soared straight into the first tier of the balcony. It was a bold statement but maybe it was also a sign of protest: the gaudy red and blue paint at the end of the ground is proving to be a major eye-sore in an otherwise impressive stadium.

Division One

Phil Jaques’ second century of the season guided Worcestershire to a draw against Surrey at Guildford. His 103 carried the visitors into the lead alongside half centuries from Stephen Moore (54) and Ben Smith (66). Worcestershire were never really in danger on the final day once Jaques and Smith added 112 for the third wicket. Harbhajan Singh claimed all five wickets to fall, taking his match haul to nine, but couldn’t grab breakthroughs in clusters to force Surrey a victory. A draw wasn’t what either side needed from this match with them stuck in the two relegation places.John Crawley struck a fine century, but Hampshire couldn’t force a win against Sussex at The Rose Bowl despite handing them a scare with three early wickets. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took out Hampshire’s middle order, but Crawley held firm and reached his hundred off 148 balls. Once Crawley had taken Hampshire to a second batting point, Shane Warne declared and Sussex’s top order wobbled. James Bruce, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Daren Powell did the damage and suddenly the pressure was on. Murray Goodwin and Chris Adams calmed nerves with a stand of 89 and Hampshire took the points honours nine to seven.Younis Khan hit an unbeaten double-century as Yorkshire and Kent played out a draw at Scarborough

Division Two

Derbyshire were decimated by Charl Willoughby and Andy Caddick, capitulating for 52 as Somerset completed a 278-run win at Derby. Chasing 331 after yesterday’s negotiations, the home side were soon in tatters at 13 for 5 as Willoughby claimed four of the top five. The spinners, Ian Blackwell and Cameron White, then ran through the tail as Derbyshire folded inside 28 overs. Ant Botha was the only batsman to reach double figures before falling to Blackwell for 21.Chris Taylor’s 101 almost enabled Gloucestershire to turn impending defeat into victory against Essex at Bristol in a match played over one innings after rain washed out the first three days. After being inserted Gloucestershire slumped to 23 for 4 and 122 for 8 against impressive bowling from Andy Bichel and Ravi Bopara. They claimed eight wickets between them, but Taylor found support from Steve Kirby and Ben Edmondson as the last two wickets added a priceless 62 runs. Gloucestershire’s attack then repeated the damage to the visitors with Kirby’s four wickets sending Essex sliding to 89 for 7. But Bichel (22 not out) and Alex Tudor (16 not out) held firm in the closing stages and the honours were shared.The match at Abergavenny between Glamorgan and Leicestershire was abandoned without a ball bowled due to unsafe run-ups. “It’s a shame for all concerned and especially Abergavenny Cricket Club but unfortunately we had to do the right thing and the run-ups were just not fit,” said umpire Barrie Leadbeater.3rd dayCenturies from Stephen Fleming and Mark Wagh put Nottinghamshire in the driving seat against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Fleming struck 19 fours and a six in his even 100, adding 112 for the second wicket with Wagh, before he was stumped off Jason Brown. Wagh then combined with Samit Patel (54) to add another 111. Wagh took 174 delivers over his third Championship ton of the season and Nottinghamshire are poised to take a lead. Earlier, the home side added 102 to their total mainly through the efforts of Johann van der Wath, who struck and unbeaten 59, and an eighth-wicket stand of 69 with David Lucas.

* – match still ongoing

It’s an intriguing battle on cards in Indore. The two teams have taken slightly contrasting routes to reach the semi-finals. While Baroda cruised in the initial half of the season before spluttering a touch in the end, Delhi started off in a hurry, slowed down in the middle and then peaked again. The weather that washed out their penultimate game against Karnataka threatened to spoil Delhi’s party, but they won convincingly against Tamil Nadu to storm into the final four with confidence.The absence of key players from both teams has levelled the field. Baroda lost Irfan Pathan to the national team mid-way during the season while Delhi, who were already without Ishant Sharma and Virender Sehwag, will lose the services of the promising left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan and the middle-order batsman Virat Kohli for the game as both are away playing for India Under-19.Rahul Sanghvi, the veteran left-arm spinner, and the former Haryana medium-pacer Sumit Narwal have been drafted in as replacements. “When we play Baroda we have a left-arm spinner in Rahul and a leg-break bowler in Chetanya Nanda. Our team has the right balance of experience and youth.” Vijay Dahiya, Delhi’s coach, told Indian Express. “This entire season we were without a left-arm spinner and we thought why not give him a call for this crucial encounter. We have got an opportunity to be the best domestic team in the country and Rahul will be of a great help.”But it has to be watched whether Delhi go with a double-spin attack as the pitch has some live grass on it. Both teams are yet to decide the final eleven as they want to have a final look at the pitch on the morning of the match. “The wicket looks pretty good,” Dahiya said. “There is some grass on the track.”Baroda will look to their openers Rakesh Solanki and Connar Williams, who have each piled over 500 runs this season, to give them a good start. The middle-order has a few consistent performers – Yusuf Pathan, Pinal Shah and Azharuddin Bilakhia.The spinners have shouldered the burden for Baroda. They have been the strike-cum-stock bowlers. Yusuf has bagged 25 wickets while Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, has taken 20. Sumit Singh, with 15 wickets, has done his best to cover the absence of Irfan, but it has to be seen whether the attack can keep the strong Delhi batting line-up in check. Apart from the consistent opening pair of Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, they have the likes of Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan and the allrounder Rajat Bhatia. The presence of Bhatia, who has claimed 20 wickets at 10.30, and has a century this season, gives Delhi the right balance.You would have to pick Delhi as the slight favourites but in a season of surprise, where the previous year’s finalists have been forced to eat the humble pie, you can never be sure.

Mitchell Johnson has warmed up for his Test debut by warning Sri Lanka’s batsmen to prepare for a string of bouncers at the Gabba. Johnson picked up only two wickets during the tour game in Brisbane, where he was out-bowled by his Queensland team-mate Ashley Noffke, but he felt the pitch prevented him from unsettling the tourists with his short balls.The Gabba is expected to produce more consistent bounce and Johnson, who was 12th man for the entire 2006-07 Ashes series, wants to take advantage of it. “I probably didn’t bowl enough bouncers at them [during the tour game], which I’d love to do out here,” he said at the ground. “I’d like a few more short balls to unsettle them.”In the lead-up to the match the Sri Lankans have insisted any problem with this type of bowling is a myth, but Johnson and his team-mates plan to test out the theory from Thursday. “I’m sure they are going to give their fair share [of bouncers] and I’m sure they’ll get their fair share back,” Johnson said. “Brett Lee is in the side and he bowls quick, so I’m sure there’s going to be a bit of chin music out there.”Johnson has not had his place in the team confirmed, but he is ahead of Tasmania’s Ben Hilfenhaus and destined to join Lee and Stuart Clark. “Any opportunity would be great, but I’d love to get the new ball,” he said. “I get it for Queensland, so that’s a strong point for me.”A series of serious back injuries threatened Johnson’s career and led to him losing his state contract in 2004. After the demotion he spent a month back home in the north Queensland city of Townsville working out what he wanted to do with the sport. He got healthy and returned with a more aggressive attitude, which has assisted his development into a bowler on the verge of his first Test.”To be in this situation now, it’s a real bonus for me,” he said. “I’ve had to work pretty hard to get here, so I’m quite proud of where I’ve come.”

Darren Lehmann will bolster South Australia’s fragile batting line-up when he returns to the side this weekend after recovering from a torn hamstring. Lehmann is one of four inclusions for the Pura Cup match against Tasmania starting on Monday at Bellerive Oval following the Redbacks’ 270-run humiliation at the hands of Victoria in their season opener.Cullen Bailey’s hopes of a national call-up this summer suffered a setback as he lost his place in the side following match figures of 1 for 103 against the Bushrangers. Jason Borgas, Cameron Borgas and Daniel Harris were also axed to make way for Shane Deitz, Shaun Tait and Andy Delmont.Deitz, who kept wicket last season and was one of South Australia’s most consistent run-scorers, might play as a specialist batsman as Graham Manou has been retained in the 12-man group. Delmont made his FR Cup debut in the middle order last week and could follow it with his first-class debut, while Tait’s successful return in the one-day match against Victoria has led to his inclusion for his first four-day game after elbow surgery.The Redbacks will also take on Tasmania in an FR Cup match in Hobart on Saturday and their limited-overs squad is more settled. The only change is the return of Lehmann at the expense of Cameron Borgas, who made 0 in the last game and a pair in the Pura Cup match. The Hobart games will be Lehmann’s first outings for South Australia since quitting the state captaincy at the end of last season.Tasmania have regained Ben Hilfenhaus for the one-day clash after his trip to India with the Australia squad, while Luke Butterworth also returns from injury. Ricky Ponting will miss the FR Cup game due to cortisone injections but is expected to be available for the Pura Cup match.South Australia FR Cup squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Mark Cosgrove, Nathan Adcock (capt), Darren Lehmann, Andy Delmont, Graham Manou (wk), Ryan Harris, Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen, Shaun Tait.South Australia Pura Cup squad Matthew Elliott, Shane Deitz, Mark Cosgrove, Nathan Adcock (capt), Darren Lehmann, Andy Delmont, Graham Manou (wk), Ryan Harris, Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen, Shaun Tait.Tasmania FR Cup squad Michael Dighton, Travis Birt, Michael Di Venuto, Daniel Marsh (capt), George Bailey, Tim Paine (wk), Luke Butterworth, Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus, Adam Griffith.