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Victoria 4 for 325 (Hodge 136*, Finch 61) beat Queensland 300 (Carseldine 105, Reardon 72, Hartley 70, McDonald 4-50) by 25 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrad Hodge raised his 16th one-day domestic century in Australia as he helped Victoria reach the decider•Getty Images

Victoria were missing four of their best players to international duty but despite a big scare it didn’t matter because they still had Brad Hodge to steer them into the FR Cup final. When Hodge is focused he can cover any hole in the batting order and his unbeaten 136 off 118 deliveries sped the Bushrangers to 4 for 325, a total which stayed just out of reach of Queensland.Lee Carseldine and Nathan Reardon led a brave chase but the hosts lost 8 for 35 at the end to hand the game to the Bushrangers. Carseldine guided the two-paced pursuit with 105 off 98 while Reardon provided extreme power with five sixes in his 72 from 42.The Bushrangers, who already own the Twenty20 trophy, get their next chance for another major prize when they host Tasmania in the final on February 28. No other teams could cope without their equivalents of Cameron White, David Hussey, Dirk Nannes and Clint McKay, who are on Australia duty, but Victoria own a Hodge. He carried the batting and while he could not cover the bowling as well, the deficiencies in the attack were overcome by the huge total.During the innings Hodge passed Jimmy Maher to become the leading run-scorer in the domestic competition, eventually finishing on 4711 as he taught his team-mates and handed out lessons to Queensland’s young bowlers. He moved calmly to his half-century, which landed in 61 balls shortly after he eased Chris Simpson for six over long-off. Hodge threatened to swing himself off the rails briefly in the lead-up to his hundred before refocusing and punishing in the 16th domestic one-day century of his home career.Ben Cutting, the promising fast bowler, was pulled for four and then sliced over cover off the back foot during the batting Powerplay, while Alister McDermott was savaged at the end. Hodge charged at McDermott, who dropped in a reasonable short ball, but the batsman swayed back and hooked a six to square leg.In the second last over Hodge reverse-glanced McDermott for four through the vacant third slip area and crunched his final six behind square in another powerful swipe. The three clearances sat alongside 10 fours and a host of ugly bowling figures.McDermott, the 18-year-old swing bowler, went for 81 off his 10 overs, Ben Laughlin gave up 71 and Cutting was taken for 66. Victoria were soon motoring at the start of the innings, with Aiden Blizzard (33) and Chris Rogers (46) providing a strong start before Hodge grabbed control.Aaron Finch’s 61 off 57 deliveries, with two sixes, helped the acceleration in a 126-run stand with Hodge at more than a run a ball. When the late blasts of John Hastings (22) and Andrew McDonald (13) came the game already seemed to be Victoria’s.Queensland started strangely and slowly in the chase, desperately trying not to lose wickets and not bothering about a build-up of dot balls. Ryan Broad, who was lbw to a Darren Pattinson off-cutter, stayed 30 deliveries for his 12 while Chris Hartley’s half-century took 82. Just as Hartley started to take off he was caught-and-bowled by Pattinson after toe-ending an attempted pull on 70.That was the signal for the Bulls to start charging and Carseldine and Reardon put on 130 at more than nine an over to give Queensland hope. Carseldine showed his strength from the 30th over onwards, when the Bulls needed to score at 10 an over, and with Reardon it was a comfortable prospect. They took 52 from the batting Powerplay and then struck 19 off six Bryce McGain deliveries to frighten the visitors.Andrew McDonald, the captain, struck back when he bowled Carseldine in the 44th over and in the next over Reardon holed out to long-on off McGain. Craig Philipson slipped two balls later to McGain and despite some rapid bursts from Chris Lynn (11) and Simpson (20) the hosts fell 26 short of their target.McDonald cleaned up with 4 for 50 in a composed performance at the death while McGain’s 2 for 81 came off eight overs. Pattinson was impressive with 3 for 45, collecting the final wicket when Simpson heaved to long-on.

Scorecard
Ireland weathered a strong fightback from Afghanistan to claim their first win of the Associates Twenty20 Series at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. William Porterfield’s boundary-laden 46 powered Ireland’s reply to a sub-par 121 for 9 from Afghanistan before a brief middle-order collapse reduced Ireland from 91 for 2 to 98 for 5 in the space of 12 balls.Calm innings from John Mooney and Gary Wilson ensured the win, and with it a small measure of revenge after Afghanistan’s defeat of the Irish in the Intercontinental Cup a week ago and at the World Cup qualifiers last year.Earlier, Afghanistan struggled to replicate the pyrotechnics of yesterday’s game against Canada. Karim Sadiq, who top-scored with 69 in that game, was dismissed for single figures today, edging Trent Johnston through to Niall O’Brien. Johnston also accounted for Mohammad Shahzad before cutting short Shafiqullah’s threatening cameo and snaring Asghar Stanikzai for his fourth wicket.George Dockrell, the young left-arm spinner, showed just why he is so highly rated in Irish cricket circles, taking 2 for 11 in a superb display of control and variety. Andre Botha’s accurate medium pace proved too much for Afghanistan’s tail, and had it not been for Raees Ahmadzai’s unbeaten 33, the Afghans may not have even reached 100.After a strong start to their reply courtesy of O’Brien and Porterfield, Ireland’s chase stalled somewhat in the middle overs. Hameed Hasan and Sadiq slowed the flow of runs, sparking a nervous flutter in the middle order before Mooney and Wilson’s unbeaten 26-run partnership saw Ireland home.

Scorecard
Sri Lanka A overhauled Ireland’s 147 for 5 with an over to spare in the second Twenty20 warm-up game played at the Nondescripts Ground in Colombo today. The Sri Lankans had been in some strife at 54 for 5 before their recovery, with Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Seekkuge Prasanna and Jeewan Mendis all making 28 to secure the win.Ireland lost Niall O’Brien early on in their innings as he gave Kosala Kulasekara the first of his three wickets. Contributions from captain William Porterfield (24), Andre Botha (20) and Alex Cusack (20) kept Ireland’s score ticking over before Andrew White and Gary Wilson came together, adding 47 runs in quick time to give the total a sheen of respectability.Kulasekara was the most successful of the seven bowlers used by Sri Lanka A, while Chaminda Vidanapathirana and Mendis also chipped in with a wicket apiece. In return, Ireland’s bowers started strongly as Dimuth Karunaratne, Nuwan Zoysa and Dilruwan Perera all fell for single figures.Chamara Kapugedera, who was captaining Sri Lanka A today, prompted a recovery with a quickfire 20 but with his dismissal – by the 17-year-old George Dockrell – half of the Sri Lankan batting line-up was accounted for before the end of the eighth over.The lower middle order rallied, with Prasanna particularly severe on the Irish bowlers, clearing the boundary four times before he became Dockrell’s second victim. Jayasinghe and Mendis then combined to add 47 and power Sri Lanka A’s innings. Cusack bowled Jayasinghe with the first ball of the 19th over, but Mendis remained to guide Sri Lanka A home.

Former Australian captain and leading commentator Ian Chappell has said India don’t have the resources to retain their No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings for a long enough period to emulate Australia and the great West Indies teams of the past. Chappell said that India’s batting alone will not sustain them and to do so, they will have to unearth a couple of champion bowlers.Chappell and former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar aired their views in Time Out, Cricinfo’s new fortnightly audio show hosted by the leading commentator Harsha Bhogle. India bagged the top ranking from Australia after beating Sri Lanka 2-0 in the three-Test series at home last month. India jumped from No. 3 to No.1 for first time since the rankings came into place in May 2001.Manjrekar said a big reason for India’s success is the arrival of a strong opening pair in Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and the ability to adjust to foreign conditions.”It’s a huge asset to have, a stable opening pair. I noticed a change in India’s batting around the time Sourav Ganguly was leading India, John Wright was in charge, and I saw India playing on foreign pitches,” Manjrekar said. “I found that the new generation of Indian batsmen could play the pull shot, the cut shot, and they were pretty good against the short deliveries.”However, Chappell felt that India have completed only half the job of being a well-rounded team.”I don’t think great teams are built on opening batting partnerships. But to me, there is a far more important thing, and this is one reason why I don’t rate India as a long-term No.1, ” Chappell said. “I think you have got to have two champion bowlers in your line-up to be a long-term successful cricket team. That is where India is falling down at the moment.”When I look at the averages and the strike-rates for India in the last 12 months, I don’t see two champion bowlers. In fact, I am struggling to find one champion bowler in that line-up. They’ve got some good bowlers. Sure, they have got a very good batting line-up, but the bowling is really not good enough to see them win consistently all around the world.”Over the last two years, India have played 20 Tests, winning nine and losing three. Three of those wins have come against Australia, including one in Perth during their last tour in 2007-08. Chappell acknowledged that India had performed above themselves in the last two tours of Australia, but their success would have tasted much better had they beaten them while they were still a major force in international cricket.Since the collective retirement of their champion players like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and later Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, Australia haven’t produced the same level of consistency in results.”I would have thought it was a greater achievement if they had caught up with Australia while Australia was still very much a great side, rather than waiting for Australia to come back to the field,” Chappell said. “That to me has been the disappointing thing. It seems to me that the other teams have almost thrown their hands and said that ‘it’s hard to beat them, we will just wait for them to fall back and then we will catch them’.”

England XI 317 for 5 (Strauss 100 ret, Pietersen 71) drew with South Africa Invitational XI 263 (Wiese 80, Pietersen 64, Sidebottom 5-42)
ScorecardJames Anderson struck with his tenth delivery of the match, but was made to toil thereafter•PA Photos

James Anderson was the focus of attention as England wound up their four days of practice at East London, but Ryan Sidebottom was the most impressive bowler on show as he took 5 for 42 against the South African Invitational XI to make a late bid for Test selection. Anderson, who is battling a unknown injury to his right knee, got through 15 overs in his first bowl since the fourth ODI although he managed just a single wicket.Charl Pietersen (64) and David Wiese (80) ensured England didn’t have things all their own way with a seventh-wicket stand of 119 after the home side had fallen to 101 for 5. Sidebottom took two wickets in his first spell and return after tea to mop up the tail as the final four wickets fell for one run. Although there were still more than 24 overs remaining when the innings ended, England didn’t bother batting again and the match was called off.The result, clearly, was academic, but the South African resistance was nevertheless timely for an England bowling attack that was in need of a competitive workout ahead of next week’s first Test at Centurion. After their successful morning, they were limited to a solitary scalp during a hard afternoon session – that of Yaseen Vallie, who was bowled by Graeme Swann for 56.The most significant aspects of the day’s play were the performances of Anderson, who took a major step towards proving his fitness for Centurion, and Sidebottom, who shrugged off his recent side strain with impressive results to put pressure on Graham Onions for a place in the Test side.Anderson had not bowled competitively since claiming 5 for 23 at Port Elizabeth to set up England’s one-day series win two weeks ago. He showed few signs of injury, however, as he struck with his tenth delivery of the morning to remove Andrea Agathagelou for 2. By tea, he had bowled 15 rust-removing overs, claiming 1 for 58.Sidebottom has been a peripheral figure for England throughout 2009, and has not played a Test since the tour of the Caribbean in March. He enhanced his prospects with an effective morning’s work, bowling the opener Divan van Wyk for 22, before inducing a nick from Sammy-Joe Avontuur that flew through to Matt Prior behind the stumps.Luke Wright, who is widely tipped to make his Test debut as England’s allrounder next week, had a hand in each of the other two wickets to fall before lunch. First he found Mangaliso Mosehli’s edge to give Prior his second catch of the morning, before catching Wendell Bossenger at mid-on to give Stuart Broad his one wicket of the session.But after the break, the South African batsmen began to find their feet. Vallie converted his lunchtime 34 from 38 balls into a well-deserved half-century, whereupon Pietersen and Wiese repelled everything that England could throw at them on a slow and unresponsive surface.However, once Sidebottom removed Pietersen after tea the end was swift as Wright also claimed a second scalp. After all the rain in recent weeks, England will leave East London content with their work although questions still remain to be answered in the next three days.

Northern Districts (ND) recorded the first win of the Plunket Shield by brushing aside Otago by ten wickets in Dunedin. This was a success put into motion on the opening day when Brent Arnel took 6 for 18 in ten overs to roll Otago for 88 inside 30 overs. Following that outstanding display from Arnel, ND’s batsmen racked up a total of 410, with Joseph Yovich weighing in with an unbeaten 128. His dismissal left ND 195 for 7, but Graeme Aldridge (52) and Bradley Scott (65) frustrated Otago with a 99-run partnership.Otago captain Craig Cumming and Leighton Morgan posted an encouraging 139 for the first wicket before stumps on day two, but a deficit of 322 proved daunting. Morgan’s dismissal for 51 left Cumming seeking further stability but it was not to happen. Otago lost six wickets for 87 runs and Cumming’s 16th first-class century failed to prevent a ten-wicket defeat. ND knocked off the 13 needed to win and collected maximum points with more than a day to spare.Overseas import Kruger Van Wyk helped bat Canterbury to safety against Wellington at the Basin Reserve, thereby ensuring Chris Nevin’s 100th first-class match ended in anticlimax. Set 255 for an outright win, Canterbury were 191 for 6 at the close, having been 91 for 6 on the final afternoon. van Wyk hit an unbeaten 85 in a key seventh-wicket stand with Andrew Ellis before bad light curtailed play seven overs before the scheduled close.Canterbury had secured first-innings points when they crossed Wellington’s 214 – Chris Martin’s 4 for 35 had put them in the driver’s seat – but it wasn’t easy. Martin’s fellow Test campaigner Iain O’Brien bowled well to take 5 for 75 and limit Canterbury to 222. Wellington fared better in their second innings, though Cameron Merchant was dismissed one run short of a maiden century. Leighton Burtt, the medium-pacer, unsettled Merchant with a bounce and a few words and the next ball, a full toss, was clipped straight to square leg. With a lead of 193 at stumps, and three wickets in hand, Wellington were dismissed for 262 and that left Canterbury 255 to chase. They slipped up before van Wyk took over the innings and batted out a draw.Tim McIntosh reminded the national selectors of his talent with a handy innings that guided Auckland to a draw against Central Districts in Napier. His 67 in just over three hours at the crease forced the umpires to call a draw before tea on the final day after Auckland had conceded first-innings points on day three. Andrew de Boorder’s maiden first-class century had formed the crux of Auckland’s total of 403 after they opted to bat, but Mathew Sinclair’s 28th century came to CD’s rescue in tense circumstances. Sinclair, who crossed 11,000 first-class runs in the process of scoring 165, was dismissed with CD five short of overhauling Auckland’s total and it needed the No. 10 Kieran Noema-Barnett ‘s unbeaten 32 to take them past the mark and to two crucial points.Auckland’s second innings was carried by McIntosh and Richard Jones, who added 138 for the first wicket, but it was a ultimately an alliance of little consequence. McIntosh, who struggled during New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka in August, gained timely batting practice by facing 149 balls. Auckland were 232 for 3 when stumps were drawn with a session remaining, a lead of 217.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu’s batsmen piled it on last season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Tamil Nadu can look back at the last season and afford a big smile. A team fairly ravaged by the ICL was going through a transitionary phase and it was a question of how long it would last. After initial struggles, they grew in confidence once their top order started notching up big scores. In 2008-09, the pieces started falling into place.Tamil Nadu possessed one of the strongest batting line-ups in the competition with the likes of Abhinav Mukund, M Vijay, Arun Karthik, S Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik. Abhinav began the season with an unbeaten triple-hundred and ended with a mountain of runs. Karthik, the captain, was the second-highest run-scorer after Abhinav with 634. Vijay, who averaged 77.20, was rewarded with a Test debut against the Australians. L Balaji had a fairytale comeback from a career-threatening injury with 36 wickets and was back in contention with the Indian team.All the while, coach WV Raman remained quietly optimistic a revival was just around the corner. He was rewarded for his belief with a semi-final spot. Unfortunately, Tamil Nadu were edged out on first-innings points against Uttar Pradesh and the chapter ended there.They are placed in Group A and begin their campaign against Railways in New Delhi. Their biggest challengers will be Gujarat, who finished second in the group stages last year, and Ranji champions Mumbai. They play all seven games away from home but last season’s performance has indicated that they’re very comfortable playing away.Like many other teams, the big difference this season is the recall of the ICL players. The squad for the opening match features only one in R Jesuraj and as the season progresses, we could see players like R Sathish, G Vignesh and Syed Mohammad get a look-in. “We’re finding it difficult to include everybody,” says Raman. That itself indicates the competition for places.

Their season opener against Maharashtra in Nasik was one for the record books. Abhinav and Vijay added an insane 462 for the first wicket, with the former going on to record the third triple-hundred by a Tamil Nadu batsman. Unfortunately, they fell just three short of the all-time Ranji record for the opening wicket. That draw was followed by another high-scoring one in Bangalore, against Karnataka. Arun Karthik and S Vidyut were amongst the runs and they had made enough to enforce a follow-on. Their first outright win came against UP in Ghaziabad. Dinesh Karthik set it up with a double-hundred before Balaji’s five-for ensured an innings win. Their next game, against Andhra, was affected by rain. Balaji and Karthik teamed up again, in their 259-run win against Baroda and that was followed by a high-scoring draw against Railways. Balaji’s six-for in the quarter-finals against Bengal set up the next knockout clash against UP. Shivakant Shukla’s monumental knock of 178 – the fourth-longest in first-class cricket – edged out Tamil Nadu on the basis of a first-innings lead.

Over two seasons, Abhinav has turned into a run machine. No surprise though that he finds himself in the Board President’s XI team against the Sri Lankans next month. Arun Karthik, who has a century on first-class debut, will be a force to reckon with at No.3, his preferred position, but he could be asked to open if required. Aushik Srinivas and Kaushik Gandhi are the two rookies to look out for, says Raman. Gandhi, a 19-year-old right-handed batsman, was amongst the runs in the Tamil Nadu leagues. Srinivas is a promising left-arm spinner.

Punjab

Chandan Madan, who was rewarded with an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians after his Man-of-the-Series performance in the BCCI Corporate Trophy, will be the man to watch out for Punjab•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It’s hard to tell what changes to Punjab’s set-up really mean because they happen so frequently and without significant results. This year Punjab will play under a new captain and coach, their fourth in four seasons. Ankur Kakkar, the batsman, takes over from veteran Pankaj Dharmani; Karan Goel, the batsman who played for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, has been left out of the squad; Ravneet Ricky, the veteran of 72 first-class matches yet only 29, is also absent from the list. There are four new faces, Bharat Loomba, Gaurav Gambhir , Rahul Sharma and Vishwas Bhalla and it remains to be seen what they contribute. The absence of VRV Singh through injury – he missed last season – is a blow.Punjab clearly are yet to recover from the ICL exodus that saw 12 players defect to the now defunct unofficial league. They did well to avoid relegation last season. That the likes of Reetinder Sodhi and Dinesh Mongia have not been called back is indicative of the mire in which Punjab cricket lurches.Punjab had a disappointing season last time and their new coach Bhupinder Singh has said it will be tough to get the team to start winning matches again. Punjab last won the Ranji Trophy in 1992-93 and from being runners-up in 2005 to securing just eight points in six games the next year, then losing half the team to ICL, then finishing fifth along the eight teams in Group A of the Super League least season, it has been a downhill ride.What they did last season
Punjab played just one match at home last season and the effects of homesickness were evident. Their nadir was being bowled out for 60 in their first innings by Orissa in a nine-wicket defeat, while a ten-wicket loss to Gujarat seriously rankled. Their two solo wins – over Rajasthan and Hyderabad – were down to clutch performances from a couple individuals but all too often the failure of the bowlers to run through sides hurt Punjab. For the second season running Uday Kaul’s centuries were individual landmarks in helping the team avoid conceding first-innings leads, and Sunny Sohal and Kakkar also scored good runs, but far too often Punjab failed to bowl sides out in a hurry. Manpreet Gony had a second disappointing season with the ball and Gagandeep Singh, while adding more wickets than in 2007-08, didn’t get the desired support.Men to watch
Kaul and Sohal scored the bulk of Punjab’s runs last seasons and will again be expected to shore up a lot of the responsibility. But the one man with a considerable buzz about him is the 26-year-old Chandan Madan, who was rewarded with an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians after his Man-of-the-Series performance in the BCCI Corporate Trophy. Madan has had a stop-start first-class career with Punjab, playing only 13 matches despite making his debut in 2003, but after topping the tournament scoring chart he may well get more playing time. With VRV still recuperating from injury and not expected to play at least in the first half Gagandeep will for the third season lead the attack. Harmeet Singh, the medium-pacer who was part of IPL winners Deccan Chargers, can expect to make his first-class debut in VRV in Siddharth Kaul’s absence.

Hyderabad

Can the ICL returnees make a difference this year?•ICL

“We may not have won a single game last season, but Hyderabad has always been good enough to survive,” says coach Venkatapathy Raju. With nine players lost to the ICL exodus, the team managed to stay afloat in the Elite Group over two seasons, a credit to their skills. The previous season was particularly hard, littered with draws, three defeats and not a single outright win. It’s all a part of a rebuilding process and this season promises a better showing, now with the ICL players returning.The batting, according to Raju, is the least of the team’s worries but it’s the bowling that needs attention. There wasn’t enough arsenal to go that extra mile and pick up those 20 wickets. A lot will hinge on the left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, as long as he’s available. The team will also look to make use of VVS Laxman’s inputs and experience while he’s around – his availability is only restricted to the first two and last two games. Arjun Yadav will take over the captaincy in his absence and Raju had a word of praise for his leadership last season.The team is placed in Group A with Railways, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Mumbai. Their main challengers will be Gujarat, TN and Mumbai. The team was unfortunately denied sufficient match practice during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament after four matches were called off when Andhra Pradesh went into mourning after the sudden death of chief minister YSR Reddy.They have the home advantage this time, playing six of their seven games in Hyderabad. Now with a slightly stronger team – with the inclusion of the gifted, yet rebellious Ambati Rayudu – they will be out to make amends. For inspiration, they can read up the Deccan Chargers’ story.

Hyderabad managed draws in their first four games. They bagged first-innings points against Orissa and Ranji champions Delhi, were in trouble when Gujarat enforced the follow-on before the captain Arjun Yadav led the rescue effort with a century. They then played out a high-scoring draw against Rajasthan, with Laxman piling on 224 in his only Ranji appearance that season. But things went downhill. Mumbai batted them out of the game and that innings defeat was followed by a nine-wicket loss to Punjab. That was followed by a low-scoring encounter against Saurashtra, which ended with them tumbling to 71 while chasing 177. Their batting was exposed against stronger opposition, but despite the succession of defeats, they finished seventh.

Audiences had the chance to witness T Suman in the IPL and he ended the last season with decent returns of 426 runs in seven games. Anoop Pai, the Ethiopia born top-order batsman, led the run charts last season with 550 runs. Besides Rayudu, the coach Raju expects the other ICL returnees, batsman Anirudh Singh and seamer Alfred Absolom to make an impact. Their experience will be crucial if both Laxman and Ojha aren’t available. All three tasted plenty of success at the other side of the fence with the ICL Hyderabad Heroes. All they need to do is bring that winning culture into the team which nurtured their skills.

Baroda

The Pathan brothers will have to lead from front to lead Baroda to the knockout stage•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It probably came as a surprise for Baroda not to find themselves in the knockout stages last year, having made the semi-finals in the previous two seasons. But then, they had decided to experiment by introducing young talent and like with all things youth, patience is the key. Paras Mhambrey, who joined Baroda last year as coach, is of the firm belief that the youngsters in the team are steadily getting confident in their own ability and would soon start delivering the goods.Irfan Pathan’s appointment as the captain is a positive step considering the average age of the Baroda team is in the 23-24 range if you take out the four veterans – Satyajit Parab, Connor Williams, Jacob Martin and Rajesh Pawar.Unfortunately Irfan is not available for the season opener, against heavyweights Delhi, on home ground as he is not completely fit. The responsibility moves to elder brother Yusuf, who was dropped from the Indian ODI squad recently. More importantly it is a good challenge for youth brigade of Ajitesh Arghal, Azhar Bilakhia, Swapnil Singh and Rakesh Solanki to go for the broke and re-establish Baroda as a contender in the Ranji campaign.

It was a frustrating season with three losses against seasoned sides (Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) and three victories against weaker opponents (Railways, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra). Apart from Irfan’s brilliant bowling that included three five-fors, Baroda never really were in the news.

Needless to say seniors like the Pathan siblings and Munaf Patel (depending on their availability) would obviously remain the go-to men. But it is the youngsters who could just play a vital role. Bilakhia, their top scorer last year, would fancy to take over the leadership in the batting order and also deploying the tips he might’ve picked at Deccan Chargers, current IPL champions, from the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds. The pair of Rakesh Solanki and Swapnil Singh, two talented batsmen, is capable of lending able support to the seniors and hungry to prove their worth at this level.

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, has been fined 20% of his match fee for two breaches of the ICC code of conduct during his team’s ODI against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi on Monday.Mills had been originally charged will three Level 1 offences – showing dissent, using offensive language and excessive appealing – by on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Nadeem Ghauri as well as third and fourth officials.Mills pleaded guilty to using obscene language but not-guilty to the other two charges. Following a hearing convened by match referee Andy Pycroft, Mills was found guilty of two out of the three charges.In addition using obscene language, Pycroft found Mills guilty of excessive appealing but not guilty of showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.The offences took place in the 49th over, as the match drew to a tense finish when Mills, ranked No.1 ODI bowler, appealed for a caught-behind decision against Mohammad Aamer. Mills celebrated without waiting for the umpire’s decision and then, once Aamer was ruled not out, Mills was heard using offensive language.Following the hearing Mills was fined 10% of his match fee for swearing and a further 10% for excessive appealing.”I fully accept it was a crucial moment in the match and the player was caught up in that excitement,” said Pycroft. “However, his actions went far beyond what is acceptable behaviour on the cricket field. He was heard to use an offensive expletive and clearly he was guilty of excessive appealing by celebrating a dismissal before the umpire had given his decision.”I am content to dismiss the charge of dissent because I feel it is tied up with the other two offences and so it would be unfair to charge him with that as well. The fines are on the low side because of Kyle’s good conduct in recent times and the fact that he is a senior member of a team that has shown itself to play consistently within the spirit of the game.”

An ICC spokesman has criticised players from Afghanistan and Uganda who absconded at the end of the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers in Toronto, and who are believed to be looking to claim asylum in Canada.Reacting to concerns that the players’ action will have a detrimental effect on future tournaments, a spokesman told Cricinfo: “The ICC does not condone the act of players absconding during or after playing in an overseas tournament. Such an action does not benefit anyone: it affects the member from whom the players come as it means it is weaker for subsequent events.”It affects the country where they come from as it damages its reputation and, potentially at least, makes it harder for nationals and players without intentions to remain in a country illegally to obtain travel documents in the future; and it damages the reputation of cricket. Even those that abscond are potentially worse off as they become illegal within that country.”There has been growing concern that the recent defections will make it harder for players from some countries to obtain visas for future events. “The ICC does not play a role in obtaining visas for member boards,” the spokesman said. “That is the responsibility of each of those members. It is also the responsibility of those members to have knowledge of each of their players and their likely behaviour.”Asked if the ICC might take a more hands-on role in such matters, the spokesman said it was not for the ICC to interfere in the way that teams are selected. “The ICC does not seek to vet, to approve or disapprove of any selections of players for any teams and that has to be correct; each member is free to select whoever it sees fit.”

After a four games on tour without a win, it was a relief for Daniel Vettori to see some smiles on his players’ faces. Having won his first toss of what until this evening had been a disappointing tour, Vettori played a stellar role with the ball to help New Zealand sneak a humdinger at the R Premadasa Stadium.Vettori was typically deadpan at the post-match presentation, but there was an undeniable air of achievement when he looked back at a come-from-behind win. New Zealand’s total of 141 looked in severe danger of being overhauled with overs to spare when Tillakaratne Dilshan smacked four fours of the first over, bowled by comeback man Shane Bond, but a series of spectacular fielding efforts, Vettori’s guile and Jacob Oram’s hat-trick pulled the carpet from under Sri Lanka’s feet.”We had targeted getting into the middle order and managed to get a couple of the good players cheaply. It always gave us a chance but we knew Dilshan’s was the big wicket,” said Vettori. “Dilshan is playing exceptionally well and when he’s in full flight like that it is hard to know where to stop him but fortunately once we did we put in a very complete performance. The way we fought back, I think that’s what everyone has wanted to see, and we really showed it.”With a slight smile threatening to creep up on his face, Vettori was happy to concentrate on the events of this evening, including two excellent moments from Jesse Ryder in the field. First he cut off and released the ball at backward point to execute a direct hit that saw off Mahela Jayawardene, and then he plucked a good low catch at backward point to cut Dilshan off on 57. “He’s a supreme athlete, but sometimes his physique doesn’t give that away,” said Vettori of Ryder. “He’s one of the more talented guys in the way he moves and he can do pretty much everything in the field. That run-out gave the team a massive lift and he added a great catch. We need guys stepping up like that. I thought Brendon McCullum was outstanding in the field, Ross Taylor gave everything, all the guys put it on the line. There wasn’t a lot I could have asked more for.”Dilshan looked like a man with a train to catch, clattering four successive boundaries in Bond’s opening over for New Zealand in almost two years. Despite the onslaught, New Zealand dismissed Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayawardene cheaply and that had given Vettori hope. “You just try and stick to your plans. In Twenty20 the run-rate is still high and even though it’s accepted that it’s not that hard, you get new batsmen in and look to put pressure on them to make it difficult for the tail.”Bond pulled the game back for New Zealand, allowing just 11 off his last three overs, while Oram, after a poor first over, hit back well at the death, taking a wicket with the last ball of 17th over and two in two when he was left to defend nine off the last over. “He [Bond] was fine. I think he just wanted to get on with things,” said Vettori. “Every bowler got better and better as their spells continued. I was satisfied with all the bowling. Everybody stepped up to the mark. Jacob had a tough start but the way he bowled that last over was fantastic. Kyle Mills was unlucky. Ian Butler takes wickets when we need them.”But the pick of the lot was Vettori himself. He came on in the seventh over and that went for three runs and yielded Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket. It was a clever delivery, with plenty of dip that sucked Sangakkara into a chip to cover. With Ian Butler taking two in two overs, Vettori dried up the runs with lovely variations in pace. Only eight runs came in his next three overs, which also included the wicket of the debutant Gihan Rupasinghe. Those four overs were mesmeric to watch and left Sri Lanka floundering.The final result left Sangakkara bitter and asking his players to rethink their roles in the team. After getting off to a roaring start, Sri Lanka lost regular wickets and failed to close out the deal – it once again highlighted the frailty oft their middle order. “It’s a big deal when we restrict a side to 141 and get one of the best starts we could ask for, only to not capitalise,” he said. “All the players have to take a good, hard look at themselves and ask themselves how they’re going to take responsibility. It’s hard to imagine that we lost this one.”