All posts by csb10.top

Neil McGarrell, 41, has been named USA’s captain in a 15-man squad for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE. McGarrell, who played four Tests and 17 ODIs for West Indies between 1998 and 2001, made his debut for USA in 2012 against Canada, and takes over from Steve Massiah, who had been captain for seven years. Massiah was retained in the squad along with Orlando Baker, who captained USA to an 8-0 record in a stand-in capacity at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in March.Adam Sanford, 38, and Imran Awan are also making their way into the squad as fast bowlers. Sanford, who played 11 Tests for the West Indies from 2002 to 2004, played for USA in a series of trial matches against Bermuda this past weekend, and is set to make his official debut for USA in their opening match against Canada in Abu Dhabi on November 15. Awan, once considered one of the fastest bowlers in the Associate world, hasn’t played for USA since 2010 after struggling with his accuracy.USA’s lack of experienced pace bowlers was apparent earlier this year during the ICC World Cricket League Division Three competition, where they finished third. Seamer Usman Shuja, who was dropped ahead of WCL Division Three, was not brought back into the squad for the tour to the UAE, though he had been included in a list of 28 probables in September. Timroy Allen has decided to return for USA after announcing his retirement following the end of WCL Division Three in May to focus on work and family commitments. Allen has subsequently been named vice-captain for the tour.Three players from USA’s tour of Bermuda for WCL Division Three earlier this year are not in the squad for the qualifier. USA’s batting will likely struggle in the absence of Sushil Nadkarni and Rashard Marshall. Nadkarni had to withdraw due to work commitments, and it is believed Marshall was unavailable for the same reasons. Medium pacer Naseer Jamali is the third player not retained. Only five players who played for USA at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in 2012 – Baker, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Japen Patel and Steven Taylor – will be traveling back to the UAE in November.Besides Sanford, the only other player in the squad yet to play in an official match for USA is Srinivasa Santhanam. An allrounder originally from Tamil Nadu, Santhanam now plays for Microsoft Cricket Club in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest, and Microsoft CC in particular, has been a growing source of talent for the USA in recent years, with former USA spinners Samarth Shah and Saurabh Verma also hailing from the club, while Naseer Jamali plays in the Seattle area.USA has been placed in Group A along with Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Namibia, Uganda and the UAE. USA finished 12th at the qualifier in 2012, but posted a noteworthy upset of Scotland at the event. The top six teams in this year’s qualifier will advance to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.USA Squad: Neil McGarrell (captain), Timroy Allen (vice-captain), Danial Ahmed, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Akeem Dodson (wk), Karan Ganesh, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Steve Massiah, Japen Patel, Adam Sanford, Srinivasa Santhanam, Steven Taylor (wk).

A five-member ICC sub-committee, which was set up after the 2013 annual conference to review the anti-corruption code, will also look into relaxing certain conditions of the five-year ban imposed on Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir after the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. While the most stringent stipulations of the ban will still remain, the PCB has requested the ICC to consider a few concessions, especially with regard to Amir using the board’s facilities for training.A PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: “The ICC, during the annual conference week, constituted a five-member committee that will review and recommend amendments to the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and on recommendation from the PCB, will also provide its suggestions to the ICC board on the ban related to Mohammad Amir.” The ICC was unwilling to the reveal who would comprise the sub-committee.Regardless of the recommendation from the committee, Amir will not be able to play any kind of club, domestic, or international cricket and will not train with the national team. The only significant allowance that could be made is that he regain access to the training facilities offered by the PCB.ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB made the request to the ICC only because Amir had complied with conditions of the ban: not committing any further breach of the anti-corruption code and undergoing the ICC’s educational and rehabilitation programme. Amir will be available for national selection from September 3, 2015, and the PCB sought the relaxation of some terms so that he could be ready to play as soon as his ban ends, rather than spend more months in training.Amir had not been aware of the PCB’s request but seemed content with anything that would help him return to cricket. He hasn’t been doing full-fledged training but has kept himself in good shape. By the time he completes his ban he will be 23. “I will come hard despite the five-year in-activeness,” Amir had told ESPNcricinfo last year. “I want to come back with my head held high, with a new spirit and as a role model.”Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain who was banned for ten years by the ICC on charges of spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test in 2010, had made a similar request in a personal capacity two days before the ICC’s annual conference. His case, however, was not accepted as it was believed that Butt had not fully complied with the ICC’s conditions.Butt had recently taken the first step in his rehabilitation by publicly admitting to and apologising for his part in the spot-fixing scandal. He also indicated his willingness to participate in the PCB and ICC’s rehabilitation programmes. Five out of Butt’s ten-year ban from any cricketing activities were to be a suspended sentence on condition that he would commit no further breach of the anti-corruption code and participate in a PCB-controlled anti-corruption education programme.Of the three players banned by the ICC before the criminal trial began in London – fast bowler Mohammad Asif being the third – only Amir had pleaded guilty to the charges at the Southwark Crown Court. Both Butt and Asif had pleaded not guilty and appealed their bans at the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Organisers for a proposed professional T20 league in Canada announced this week that they are seeking a location in the greater Toronto area for a planned $700m, 35000-strong stadium. Roy Singh, the businessman spearheading the project, it is now learnt, was sentenced to prison for four and a half years in 2007 for his role in a multi-million dollar fraud case.According to court documents seen by ESPNcricinfo, Singh, the chairman and chief executive of Canadian Premier League T20 LP, pleaded guilty in 2006 to a charge of “fraud over $5,000.” He was convicted of swindling the now defunct i-Trade Finance Inc., of $8 million ($US 5.25 million) between 2001 and 2003. Roy Singh is an alias for Rohit Ablacksingh, the name listed in court documents. He was released on parole in the summer of 2008, according to news reports in the , despite objections to the parole board from i-Trade’s former president Parker Gallant over Singh’s failure to compensate those affected.”Mr. Singh has been open and frank about his past legal troubles with me,” said Bob Mitchell, president of Canadian Premier League. “What happened occurred more than a decade ago. It has absolutely nothing to do with today. I believe in giving people second chances. Mr. Singh wants the chance to do something great for Canada and cricket. He realises there will always be people who will bring up his past but all he can do is move forward.”The Canadian Premier League web site states that Singh received a 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year award by the Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce and his aggressive entrepreneurial spirit has acted as a driving force for the proposed T20 league and stadium.However, the January 11, 2007 sentence summary for the case that sent Singh to prison, said that he “had no business receiving such an honour,” because Justice A M Gans said Webworx, Singh’s company, “had no business to speak of in the year in question” other than the fraud it was found guilty for.In his capacity as chief executive of Webworx Inc., Singh “through a sophisticated array of paper, faxes, emails and fictional characters, in addition to unseemly acts of ingratiation and self-promotion if not instances of disarming behavior, was able to persuade the executives and employees of i-Trade that Webworx had ongoing and profitable contracts” when in fact no such things existed. Based on false documents through a false identity, Webworx obtained millions in financing from and eventually bankrupted i-Trade. Justice Gans called Singh’s behavior in the case as “Machiavellian in the extreme” and said that time in prison would give him a chance to get “treatment for his seeming sociopathic behavior.”In relation to the Canadian Premier League, Singh and his fellow organizers also stated they were looking for investors in franchises to support a 10-team tournament in Canada, which has been delayed since 2013 and is now targeting an August 2015 start date at a temporary facility until the proposed $700 million stadium plan is approved. According to the press release, each team in the league would have starting line-ups comprised of eight Canadian domestic players and three from overseas.Among those listed on the web site as part of the Canadian Premier League management are West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Emma Everett, player agent to several West Indian players including Dwayne Bravo. The Canadian Premier League web site and Singh’s social media pages are also flooded with images of Singh posing with public officials and high profile cricket personalities, including Sir Richie Richardson sporting a Canadian Premier League hat alongside Singh, seemingly in an effort to build support for his proposed project.The most recent instance of Canada hosting Test level international players was in May 2012 when a much-hyped exhibition match turned into a major debacle. Local organising group Kat Rose attempted to stage a T20 All-Star game at the Rogers Centre, home of Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, with tickets listed at face value from $25 to $199. The projected profits for the event were pinned to targeted gate sales driven by the participation of six Pakistani players, including Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. The Pakistani players withdrew less than 48 hours before the match when No Objection Certificates could not be secured by the organisers. Brian Lara was also scheduled to play, but pulled out on the morning of the match after he was not paid his match fee prior to the start of the game.Most of the other cricketers who travelled to the event did play, but sued Kat Rose over unpaid match fees as well as reimbursements for flights and accommodation. FICA also attempted to intervene on behalf of 16 international players, including Sanath Jayasuriya, Tino Best, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Mark Boucher, Brendan Taylor and Stuart MacGill.

ScorecardPakistan Under-19’s bowling attack restricted England Under-19 to 168, before a 96-ball 63 from Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan to a three-wicket win in Abu Dhabi.Pacers Zia-ul-Haq and Irfanullah Shah led the attack for Pakistan, who after electing to field, bundled England out in 43 overs. The opener Ryan Higgins top-scored with 80 off 84 balls, but received little support from the rest of the batsmen. Zia finished with 3 for 32, while Shah and Karamat Ali chipped in with two wickets each to run through an England batting order in which seven of their players failed to get into double digits.England made a bright start during the chase as the seamer Josh Shaw picked up three early wickets to leave Pakistan rattling at 39 for 4 in the 11th over. But Imam-ul-Haq and Shakeel led the recovery, adding 71 for the fifth wicket, before the former fell for 49 in the 31st over. Saifullah Khan was immediately dismissed in the next over, but Shakeel and Zafar Gohar contributed 53 for the seventh wicket to all but seal Pakistan’s second straight win of the tournament.

Zimbabwe A will look for inspiration from last month’s T20 series win as they look to stop an unbeaten South Africa A in the final of the tri-series on Saturday.South Africa A have been dominant in the tournament, largely due to some responsible middle-order batting. In all four of their league games, there has been at least a batsman who has looked to bat throughout the innings to try to eliminate any slip-up. Colin Ingram, the highest run-getter in the series with 179 runs, right-hand batsman Reeza Hendricks who follows him with 163 runs, captain Faf du Plessis and opener Richard Levi have all played their part.In the third match, the only tight game South Africa have played in the tournament, No. 3 batsman Ingram and No. 9 Rory Kleinveldt managed to steer their side to a tight victory when the chase looked improbable at 114 for 5, and later 182 for 7, chasing 243. The match, according to Zimbabwe commentator Dean du Plessis, could have been won by the hosts. “Had Zimbabwe A held on to their catches and fielded better, the outcome may have been different,” he said in a Zimbabwe cricket media release. The win could have meant three wins in the tournament for them, and the same for South Africa.While batting has been the advantage for South Africa, Zimbabwe’s bowling has been the best of the three teams. Left-arm fast bowler Brian Vitori has been the most prolific wicket-taker with nine wickets, including a spell of 5 for 37 against Sri Lanka A on July 14. Elton Chigumbura, who has played 142 ODIs for Zimbabwe, took a match-winning spell of 6 for 24 in his second game of the tri-series, against Sri Lanka A on Thursday.South Africa have the benefit of the experience of players who have played for the national side like Wayne Parnell, who took 3 for 10 in their opening match in Harare, and captain du Plessis, but the hosts can topple the favourites if top-order batting performs.”Yes, there has been some good bowling at times, but all the batsmen have been very reluctant to express themselves and to up the tempo,” Dean du Plessis said. “Strong teams such as South Africa are very good at tightening the screws while applying pressure, but they are also only human and once you take the game to them by playing attacking and aggressive cricket, they will begin to feel the pressure like any other team.”Zimbabwe have defeated Sri Lanka twice in the tournament, including the convincing eight-wicket victory on Thursday courtesy Chigumbura. Having already eliminated one of the stronger teams, Zimbabwe will hope to add another big scalp in the final.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Darren Bravo had to wait 10 Tests to reach his maiden Test ton•AFP

West Indies consolidated their hold over the second Test, moving from a position of control to complete dominance by extending their lead to 331 with Darren Bravo, who reached his maiden international ton in his 10th Test off the last ball of the day, and Kirk Edwards laying the platform to shut Bangladesh out of contention through a stand worth 151. On a track where spinners found some turn and bite, the Bangladesh bowlers let themselves down, were not backed up by their fielders and appeared to be beating a retreat with spread-out fields when the need of the hour was quick wickets and a strong comeback.The spin-strong hosts would have been encouraged by the assistance the pitch offered Devendra Bishoo and Marlon Samuels in the morning session; West Indies took little over an hour to polish off the last three wickets of the Bangladesh innings. There were rough patches on either side of the crease that the slow bowlers targeted, and they promised a tougher outing for the batsmen in the second innings. The run-out of Kraigg Brathwaite in the first over and the needless, and failed, attempt by Kieran Powell to clear mid-on after a solid start gave Bangladesh hope of limiting the damage to manageable proportions. But Bravo’s counter-attack, Edwards’ unshakeable determination that only slipped shortly before stumps and a failure to put the pair under pressure cost the home team.Starting with a packed in-field and catchers close in, the Bangladesh spinners tempted Bravo with flight, aiming at the rough, but were caught off-guard as he responded with aggression. Off his second ball, he smashed Shakib over his head and launched him over the long-on boundary in his next over. Shakib slipped his sliders and Nasir Hossain got some turn but their efforts were inadequate against a calculated Bravo onslaught that put Bangladesh quickly on the defensive. He struck Nasir over mid-on, drove him through the covers and pulled him over midwicket, all in the same over. Soon enough, the field was pushed back, triggering a routine flow of runs to those stationed at long-on and long-off.His quest for runs prompted Bravo to nick Shakib to Mushfiqur Rahim and then Imrul Kayes at first slip – both chances were spilled, drawing a smile of resignation on Shakib’s face. Edwards was content to cede the floor to his partner and rotated the strike comfortably, driving through the V, using the sweep and gradually laying the stage for his second century of the game. He was the recipient of a spate of low full tosses from the Bangladesh slow bowlers but also dealt soundly with those that turned; he drove Shakib twice through the extra cover for four and was equally assured on the back foot, punching him to the boundary despite there being a deep cover. Though not one to take unnecessary risks, he surprised a few when he took on Shahadat Hossain, thumping him over mid-on and clearing the ropes.Barring a mistimed pull that landed inches short of Shakib at midwicket, Edwards experienced no major hiccups and looked to become the first West Indies batsman in 10 years to score a century in each innings. His pursuit was cut short by a momentary lapse in concentration when he flicked too early against a full delivery from Suhrawadi Shuvo – who hardly spun the ball – and was bowled.Bravo toned down in the final session, the stream of singles continuing uninterrupted however. Only two fours came off his bat post tea, one a streaky edge off Rubel Hossain – who bowled too short in his return spell – and the other a punch off Shakib past cover. As nightwatchman Kemar Roach kept Bravo nervous company on the day’s dying stages, Shuvo gave him an anxious moment when he scraped past the outside edge in the final over but a cut through point off that last ball that fetched him two drew a roar, an animated celebration and eventually tears, summing up the relief of having reached a most cherished milestone.The reckless top-order approach on the second day, and missed opportunities and lack of effectiveness with the ball on the third, have left Bangladesh facing a formidable challenge of saving the Test, let alone winning it, on a pitch that could get trickier.

ScorecardChris Woakes took four wickets to take his match tally to seven•Getty Images

Andrew Gale’s disappointment at letting a strong position slip away to hand Warwickshire the chance to claim a third straight win would have been felt more sharply had events elsewhere not favoured Yorkshire. Derbyshire’s surprise win at Hove guarantees his side stay top, while Durham’s defeat at Lord’s leaves the title rival whose results were concerning them most with some ground to make up. Moreover, he left the ground in steady rain, which he will not have minded at all if it is a foretaste of what lies ahead on the final day.Even so, it had been a poor day compared with the opening two, beginning with a sloppy opening session for which Gale could offer no excuse, not least because he was guilty of one of two bad drops that enabled Jeetan Patel to score 63 when he should have been out on 37 or 42. Jack Brooks spilled the first chance, on the square leg boundary, and Gales the second, at short midwicket. Adil Rashid, the legspinner, was the bowler feeling the pain.Those chances came during a stand of 99 between Patel and Keith Barker, who played some fine cricket shots in making 49 and felt he was unlucky to be given run out as he came back for a second to a firm stroke through cover off Rashid retrieved by Brooks. Patel, with less finesse, hit 10 fours and a six over long-on off Ryan Sidebottom that gave Warwickshire an unexpected lead.It was the kind of turnaround that gives one side a fillip and creates uncertainty for the other and it was no surprise in that respect that the eight overs Yorkshire had to negotiate before lunch brought more problems as Chris Woakes removed both their openers. Alex Lees, failing to move his feet, edged to third slip before Adam Lyth, playing across a full length ball, was leg-before.Yorkshire fought back after lunch, Gale seeking to make amends for his drop and Gary Ballance continuing to enjoy his run of form. They added 76 before Gale, trying to adjust to extra bounce, fended a ball from Boyd Rankin that looped to William Porterfield at gully.Yet more wastefulness followed as Rashid, whose early season form with the bat seems to have deserted him, fell to a poor attempted hook and Azeem Rafiq – batting despite a damaged wrist – was caught off bat and pad. When Ballance was bowled by a full-length ball from Woakes off an inside edge, Warwickshire were again firmly in control. Woakes then had Liam Plunkett caught behind – much to the obvious anger of the batsman, who was adamant he had not hit the ball – to finish the day with 4 for 31.When bad light and then rain curtailed play early, Yorkshire’s advantage looked dangerously small at 141, raising the prospect that Warwickshire might need less than half a day to forge a path to victory, should the weather be kind to them. If they pull it off, the gap between themselves and Yorkshire will be 21 points.”We were not at our best this morning, it was uncharacteristic,” Gale said afterwards. “We missed a couple of easy chances, my own included, and we did not bowl well enough, and we probably took a bit of that into our batting.”It would have been nice to be four or five down rather than seven but if we can get anything over 200 I think it will be game on tomorrow. And if there is rain about, results elsewhere have gone for us and it might be one of those days you look back on and think that things have gone our way even though we didn’t play well.”

Scorecard
Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI and Sri Lankans played out a draw at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Just 31 overs were bowled today and the visitors finished on 396 for 6. They added 120 runs on the day, with Prasanna Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal scoring half-centuries. The pair added 110 for the fifth wicket in 27 overs. Both fell before the close. Sri Lanka’s batsmen, though, had begun their tour on a positive note, with three half-centuries and a century in response to CA Chairman’s XI’s 439. The game ended by mutual agreement between the captains.

Denesh Ramdin has been recalled to keep wicket and Marlon Samuels to bat in the middle order while Kraigg Brathwaite and Carlton Baugh have lost their Test places in the West Indies squad for the tour of England due to begin in May.The West Indies selectors named their 15-man squad for the tour on the final morning of the home Test series against Australia, also including the uncapped fast bowler Shannon Gabriel alongside Assad Fudadin, who was named in the squad for the Dominica Test.The offspinner Shane Shillingford has leapfrogged Devendra Bishoo with two strong displays in the final two Australia Tests to claim the sole spinner’s berth, with WICB chairman of selectors Clyde Butts saying that the panel expected pace to be West Indies’ primary weapon on early season English pitches.Bishoo and Brathwaite, who made three ducks and 11 in his final four innings of the Australia series after starting with a doughty half-century, will instead be playing for West Indies A against an India touring team at home. Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell were both included for England despite not passing 50 against Michael Clarke’s tourists.”We are going to England early in the season, where the conditions tend to favour the quick bowlers more than the spinners,” Butts said. “Young Gabriel continues to impress the selectors in both regional and A-team cricket, and we feel it is a good time to introduce him to the team. We feel he will be an asset to the team in England and has a bright future in West Indies cricket.”Shillingford has bowled very well against the Australians and we expect a lot from him in England. Bishoo has done well for West Indies in the last year or so, but he has lost some of his confidence and the selectors feel playing him in the A team against India A will give him the chance to regain that confidence.”We have got to continue to build for the future and we believe that Barath and Powell have bright futures in the game. We also feel this way about Kraigg Brathwaite, but he too, has lost some of his conviction and the selectors also feel playing him in the A team against India A will give him the chance to regain that confidence. None of the other openers in the region have stood out and we are hoping to strengthen this part of our cricket in future regional tournaments and the A-team tours.”

West Indies Test squad to tour England

Darren Sammy (capt); Kirk Edwards (vice-capt); Adrian Barath; Darren Bravo; Shivnarine Chanderpaul; Narsingh Deonarine; Fidel Edwards; Assad Fudadin; Shannon Gabriel; Kieran Powell; Kemar Roach; Denesh Ramdin; Ravi Rampaul; Marlon Samuels; Shane Shillingford

Baugh’s omission may mean the end of his West Indies playing days, as he again failed to bridge the gap between the 20s he consistently makes in international matches and the centuries he has compiled in regional competition.”Baugh has been good behind the stumps, but his batting has not quite lived up to expectations, hence the selection of Ramdin,” Butts said. “Before he got injured in the camp prior to the series against Australia, Denesh was showing good form both behind the stumps and with the bat.”Samuels has returned after asking to be exempt from selection for the Australia series in order to participate in the IPL, his cause aided by the fact that numerous young players did not step up quite as hoped in his absence. “Marlon since his return to the team has not done badly for us and the selectors feel that he is an asset to the team,” Butts said. “He had asked to miss the Australia matches for a stint at IPL.”There was no sign of Chris Gayle in the squad as the series clashes with the latter part of the Indian Twenty20 tournament, though he remains a possible inclusion for the limited-overs portion of the tour having reached an agreement with the WICB. West Indies’ first tour match is against Sussex at Hove from May 5. The first Test begins at Lord’s on May 17.

An unbeaten 163 from the captain Rajat Bhatia helped Delhi make a remarkable comeback against Bengal and finish ahead after the second day at Eden Gardens. Delhi started the day on 252 for 8 but a 132-run stand between Bhatia and Manoj Chauhan lead the visitors to 392. In a further blow to the hosts, Delhi’s medium-pacers reduced Bengal to 84 for 4, leaving the visitors in a favourable position to take the first-innings lead.This is the second time in two weeks that Bengal let their grip on an opponent slip: they had Tamil Nadu at 140 for 5 last week before bad fielding let L Balaji’s side recover to 391. Bengal lost that match by ten wickets. On Wednesday, Bhatia received support from the 19-year-old Chauhan, who was praised by his captain for putting up staunch resistance for four hours. Chauhan made only 28 but he lasted 151 deliveries. At the other end Bhatia, who represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, went on to complete his second century of the season and fulfil a dream of getting three figures on his favourite ground.Bengal’s reply got off to a rocky start when Arindam Das was bowled by Kuldeep Rawat in the second over. Shreevats Goswami was run out for 14, and then Pradeep Sangwan struck twice in the 20th over, trapping Writam Porel lbw and getting Shami Ahmed to edge behind. Bengal needed 158 more runs to avoid the follow-on but had Manoj Tiwary, fresh from his first ODI hundred, and Sourav Ganguly at the crease.Abhinav Mukund completed his second double-century of the season, and Dinesh Karthik and K Vasudevadas made hundreds too, as Tamil Nadu plundered 693 for 8 against Gujarat at Motera. Abhinav moved to second on the run-charts in the Elite division after making 220 from his overnight score of 150. Karthik then got his first hundred of the season but Gujarat did not get any respite even after he was dismissed. Vasudevadas, who had scored his second first-class century in Tamil Nadu’s pervious match, followed it up with his third. He raced to 105 off 150 in a brisk partnership of 132 with R Prasanna, who scored 69 off 95 balls. Left-arm spinner Parth Parikh had to bowl 62 overs on debut and had figures of 3 for 226.Gujarat’s bowlers were wayward according to their coach Jayendra Sehgal. “They bowl two, three good deliveries and then throw away the advantage by bowling bad balls,” Sehgal said.If you looked at the scorecard at tea on the second day, you’d be forgiven for thinking the surface at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had transformed overnight from the featherbed it was on the first. Punjab had sauntered to 278 for 4 on Tuesday, but ten wickets went down in the first two sessions today for 154. It took a free-swinging, unbroken 83-run stand between Stuart Binny and CM Gautam in the evening to show there were no gremlins in the track. Karnataka ended on 183 for 5 in response to Punjab’s 357. Read the full report here.Medium-pacer TP Sudhindra took four wickets after Devendra Bundela scored a hundred to give Madhya Pradesh control of their game against Haryana in Rohtak. Sudhindra’s strikes reduced Haryana to 22 for 5 in reply to MP’s 487. Sudhindra, who is on top of the wicket-charts in the Elite division, ripped through Haryana’s top order. During a spell of 7-2-11-4, he had Rahul Dewan caught behind in the third over, dismissed Sunny Singh and Prateek Pawar off consecutive deliveries in the fifth, and bowled Nitin Saini in the ninth.The collapse came after Haryana were made to toil in the field for a second day. Bundela got his first hundred of the season and shared a 157-run partnership with Murtaza Ali. Though the tail collapsed after that, MP finished with a big total, and have an opportunity to push for a win after Haryana’s top-order crumble.Mahesh Rawat, the Railways wicketkeeper, completed a century to get his side to 379 but Orissa’s openers reached 108 for 0 by stumps on the second day at the Karnail Singh Stadium in in Delhi. Rawat scored 103, his second hundred of the season, and Ashish Yadav made 68 to take Railways from their overnight score of 204 for 5 to 379. Orissa’s openers started the response smoothly, with Parthiv Patel scoring 41 not out and Subhrajit Sahoo reaching 60 not out.Rajasthan’s medium-pacers, led by Pankaj Singh, reduced Saurashtra to 215 for 7 in in Jaipur, making the hosts favourites to take the first-innings lead. Responding to Rajasthan’s 396, Saurashtra got off to a confident start and were in control at 172 for 2. Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Bhushan Chauhan, who had scored a century at home against Mumbai in the previous round, had scored fluent fifties. But aggressive spells of fast bowling by Pankaj and the debutant Rituraj Singh put the visitors on the backfoot as five wickets fell in about an hour late in the day. Rituraj cut a ball that cleaned up Chauhan and then he induced an edge from Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah, which Robin Bist caught behind the stumps. Pankaj struck the decisive blow as he bowled Pujara, who was moving towards his first century of the season. Pankaj’s 4 for 49 has now given Rajasthan strong hopes of grabbing vital first-innings points.Fog delayed the start of play for hundred minutes on a shortened day in in Lucknow but Mumbai reached a commanding 414 for 9 against Uttar Pradesh thanks to half-centuries from captain Wasim Jaffer and Hiken Shah. UP’s attack, which included RP Singh and Piyush Chawla, struggled to dominate the visitors on a placid pitch as they spent the second successive day in the field. Mumbai, with seventeen points, are virtually assured of a knockout berth and were not worried about scoring at a faster rate. Jaffer had a century partnership with nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni. Hiken Shah, who had scored a century in the previous round against Saurashtra, made a fluent half-century. UP, who have twelve points so far from five matches, need to take the first-innings lead to get the three points to keep their knockout chances alive.