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Hong Kong’s chief executive Tim Cutler was scrupulous in his thanks to Englandf for agreeing to a practice match but warned that cohesive plans must be put in place to fast-track emerging cricket nations

David Hopps09-Nov-2015Tim Cutler, the chief executive of Hong Kong Cricket, has entered the debate over their one-day practice match against England in Abu Dhabi, calling it “a historic event where the teams met for the first ever time in a fifty over match” and holding out hopes of a full ODI against England in the future.While expressing gratitude to England for the opportunity, he also reflected upon Hong Kong’s ODI status and warned: “We need to make sure there are cohesive plans around fast tracking the development of emerging cricket nations across the globe.”The match was played as a 13-a-side practice match with the opportunity to play a full ODI against Hong Kong, who won full ODI status last year, not taken.Cutler suggested that time was short after the Emirates Cricket Board offered the Hong Kong fixture to England – and a Nepal fixture to Pakistan – via the ICC Development Team in Dubai.”To provide the best possible practice situation for both teams, it was then agreed between the coaching staff of both teams that 13 players would be allowed to participate from each team, with only 11 allowed to bat and/or field at any one time.”We appreciate the opportunity for our players to benefit from the experience in playing against a full-strength England ODI squad in preparation for Hong Kong’s ICC Intercontinental Cup and ICC World Cricket League Championship matches.”Cutler was careful to show gratitude to ECB, and especially his fellow chief executive Tom Harrison, for their qualified support and also praised Harrison’s interest in cricket as an Olympic sport, indicating that – comparatively at least – there are some signs of a more expansionist attitude under Harrison’s stewardship.Hong Kong in talks for county pre-season tours

Hong Kong Cricket are hoping to continue their development by attracting first-class counties to the region in March.

Fresh from their first 50-over match against England, the HKCA now hopes that at least one county may be persuaded to prepare for the English domestic campaign by touring the territory for pre-season.

It is understood the club have been attracted by the possibility of their costs being subsidised by sponsorship arranged by the HKCA.

The HKCA, meanwhile, want to “present Hong Kong as a viable option for similar tours in the future,” in the words of their CEO, Tim Cutler and showcase their facilities at the Hong Kong Cricket Club and Kowloon Cricket Club. They hope such a tour might encourage more sponsorship for the sport from within the region.

They also aim to “build relationships and pathways” for their young players, in the hope that some could gain school or club places in England.

But he did not sidestep the very real issues facing Associate nations as they attempt to gain opportunities to grow the game, confirming that a reluctance from all parties to foot the bill for an ODI (thought to be less than $100,000) had played a part in the negotiations.”In response to various media reports and approaches; yes, the matter of the total cost for an ODI was mentioned during the (last minute) arrangements of the fixture, as would be expected,” he said.”Perhaps, if both parties had longer to prepare, a full ODI may have been feasible and hopefully this is something both parties can consider for the future. However the reality was that in the time available – less than a month – the proper arrangements that would normally be covered by a series MOU could not be completed in time.A memorandum of understanding describes a formal agreement between the parties indicating how a match should be staged and can vary in complexity depending on the requirements of those involved.”However frustrating it may seem (especially from an Associate ODI-status member perspective) the fixture would not have proceeded if not for the support of the ECB, especially its CEO, Tom Harrison. Tom has been one of the main drivers behind the scenes in the ECB’s change of stance to now support Cricket as an Olympic sport and the HKCA applauds his efforts in this respect.”I believe including cricket in the Olympics, alongside an expanded World Cup & World Twenty20 tournament structure are all critical to our sport’s growth. If we ever truly want to be the world’s favourite sport, we need to make sure there are cohesive pans around fast tracking the development of emerging cricket nations across the globe.”I think this particular instance highlights a need for an expanded fund / mechanism to support ODI / T20i matches between FMs and all High Performance Associate Members to underpin the bridging of the gaps between cricket emerging and the developed world. I look forward to discussing this more with the ICC Development Team as they continue to assist us in our future plans for Hong Kong’s cricketing success.”Hong Kong, ranked 16th in ODIs and 11th in T20Is, are holding preliminary discussions with at least two such nations.They also have a T20 fixture against Pakistan later in the month – although as yet this also has no T20 status – before official T20s against Afghanistan and Oman.March sees Hong Kong in a second, and successive, World Twenty20. Prior to the tournament, Hong Kong will host an inaugural home series against Scotland in January, and will take part in the Asia Cup qualifying tournament in Bangladesh in mid-February.

Ricky Ponting believes Australia are overwhelming favourites but added that if New Zealand manage to stick to their script in the World Cup so far, “anything can happen”

Gaurav Kalra27-Mar-201512:21

Full Ricky Ponting interview

Ricky Ponting believes Australia are overwhelming favourites to win their fifth World Cup when they take on New Zealand at the MCG on Sunday. Speaking exclusively to ESPNcricinfo, he said he doesn’t think Brendon McCullum’s men “can win if Australia play as well as they can”.”They are both very good teams, but if you just saw them on paper and if you try and see weaknesses in the Australian team, I am not sure where you find one,” Ponting said. “Their top-order batting is brilliant, their new-ball bowling is brilliant, their allrounders are some of the best in the world and they are going to play at the MCG, where they know the conditions really well. That’s not saying New Zealand can’t win, we have seen how good a brand of cricket they can play, but I’ve just got a feeling that the Aussies won’t let a moment like a World Cup final at home slip.”Ponting has played in five World Cups, reached four finals and won three times, twice as captain, and he believes the opposition’s eagerness to do “something extra special” was the reason for them to “come undone” while Australia were focused on playing to the level they were capable of.”When Tiger Woods used to turn up at the majors, he had most of the guys beaten before he started because they knew they had do something extra special to try and beat him because he was that much better,” he said. “I think that’s what happened with us on a few occasions in a World Cup. Australian teams will play to their capability in a World Cup final and if this current team do that then I think another big score is on the cards. I don’t think we’ve seen them play at their best in this World Cup yet. That’s the scary thing for me with this team, they haven’t played at their best yet and they are still winning quite easily.”One playing a seventh World Cup final, the other a first. Who will win?•ICC

While Australia will be in their seventh final, New Zealand will play their first. Under McCullum, they have shown a compelling brand of cricket and arrive in Melbourne on the back of an eight-match winning streak in the tournament. Watching their progress from the sidelines, Ponting has been impressed and expects them not to be overawed by the occasion.”They are known as Australia’s little brothers, they want to prove a point and say ‘hang on, we are as good as Australia and we are going to prove it here today’, that will be their mindset,” he said. “As long as the Australian team plays New Zealand on skill, don’t get too involved in the emotional side of things, they will win. New Zealand are a very good side, [Trent] Boult and [Tim] Southee are exceptional bowlers and if McCullum comes and does what he does at the top of the order, anything can happen.”I think it’s opening batsmen versus opening bowlers. If New Zealand can keep [Mitchell] Starc, [Mitchell] Johnson and [Josh] Hazlweood out and McCullum gets off to a flyer, it gives them a great chance of winning. If [Aaron] Finch and [David] Warner can get on top of Boult and Southee early then that will expose their third bowler, Matt Henry, who is relatively young. If he has to bowl against some of those powerful Australian middle-order batsmen when they are set, that’s going to be hard work for him. I think that’s where the game will be decided.”One of the running themes through the tournament has been the ultra-aggressive tactics employed by McCullum, often placing as many as four slips for his new-ball bowlers. Ponting is of the view that the New Zealand captain has chosen this route as the one-day game has fundamentally transformed under the new rules.”If you break down the modern game, I think there’s actually two games within one 50-over game,” he explained. “There’s 0-35 overs, which is one game and there’s the last 15 which is another, almost completely different game. What Brendon’s trying to do with his bowling is that he’s trying to break the opposition’s back before the 35th over. So he’s going all-out attack, trying to take all the wickets he can in the first 35 so teams can’t score really heavily at the back end with wickets in hand. That’s been New Zealand’s tactics so far and it’s worked because Boult has been successful while the ball has been swinging. I don’t think it will swing as much at Melbourne, so they might have to do things slightly differently.”Among Australia’s key figures in the final will be Steven Smith, who has been in red-hot form throughout the summer and produced a match-winning hundred in the semi-final against India. Ponting believes Smith has all the makings of an “all-time great” on the evidence of his performances over the last few months.”He is making batting look so much easier than other players around the world right now,” Ponting said. “He’s a little bit unorthodox in the way he does things, picks his bat up a bit different to most top-order batsmen but the positions he gets himself into are really, really good. His timing, composure and the way he’s gone about his cricket in the last 12-18 months suggests to me that he could be one of our very best players till the time his career is over.”Whenever extra responsibility has come his way, he has grabbed it with both hands. You look back at when he was made captain of the Test team in the summer and how he played with the bat. More importantly, how he handled himself and the team. As a young guy, I thought he did a great job with the captaincy side of things and his batting speaks for itself. I actually spoke to him after the semi-final and he is so keen just to have one more big game and finish off what’s been a remarkable summer for him.”Ponting also expected Michael Clarke “to stand up” in the final if he gets the opportunity to bat earlier than he did against India on Thursday. And should Clarke lead Australia to victory on Sunday, Ponting, who quit as one-day captain following Australia’s defeat to India in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final, thought there would be “no better time” for him to retire from ODIs. Sentiments that Ponting had also expressed in a column last month on ESPNcricinfo.”I was basing that on how I think his body might hold up,” Ponting said. “Everything he was saying was based around wanting to play more Test cricket and I thought the best way for him to be able to get more longevity for his career was to not play one-day cricket. The rigours of one-day cricket, not just the games but the travel that goes with it, you don’t get much time between games. For someone who has had back injuries and those sort of issues, getting on and off planes everyday and sleeping on different hotel beds, that sort of thing is not good for you. My basis to that statement was that if he wanted to play Test cricket, he might have to consider retiring from one-day cricket. If you end up winning the World Cup, there’ll be no better time.”

Suspect actions during the World Cup will be evaluated within seven days in a fast-track commitment drawn up by the ICC. The evaluation process aims to limit the period to a minimum, ensuring that bowling actions are judged with alacrity to reduce disruption of the tournament.The Brisbane accreditation centre was opened only three months ago with the World Cup much in mind, offering the chance to either clear or suspend bowlers within six days. Previously, tests have taken up to three weeks after the bowler has been reported, with the chance of another fortnight’s delay before a written report is received.The ICC’s regulation for reporting bowlers with suspect actions now states, said an ICC spokesman, that: “Independent analysis shall be carried out and the independent assessment furnished on an expedited basis. In this respect, every reasonable effort shall be made for the independent analysis to be carried out and the independent assessment furnished within a period of seven days from the date of receipt of the match officials’ report.”The faster evaluation is part of ICC’s effort to eradicate suspect bowling actions and is bound to defeat any strategy by a team thinking of saving a bowler with a suspect action for later stages of the World Cup.That would have worked under the Standard Regulations applicable to non-ICC Events where the bowler can continue to bowl in international cricket as long as he is tested within three weeks of being reported. Although the relevant rule (2.1.5) states that an independent analysis would be carried out “as soon as reasonably possible”, a period of 21 days has been adopted as acceptable, bearing in mind logistical and operational issues.The shift in policy was signalled by Dave Richardson, the ICC chief executive, on Tuesday when he said: “The ICC-accredited testing centre in Brisbane is on stand-by so that if somebody is reported early on in the tournament, he can go straight off to Brisbane, get tested within five or six days, and we can have the report so that he can either continue bowling if he’s found to be legal, or if he’s illegal, then he will be suspended.”The ICC, Richardson stressed, was unrelenting on suspect actions, an issue that had been dormant for a long time but having gained momentum with high-profile bowlers being reported both in international cricket as well as domestic cricket.Pakistan offspinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez were previously reported in international cricket while West Indies spinner Sunil Narine was disqualified from bowling in the Champions League T20 final last year having been reported in two successive matches.Ajmal has expressed confidence that unofficial tests at Edgbaston have indicated that his deliveries are within legal limits again.

Victoria started their bid for an improved Sheffield Shield performance with a hiding of New South Wales at the MCG, though it was marred by a sickening blow suffered by Ben Rohrer

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2014
ScorecardBen Rohrer retired hurt after being struck on the helmet by a Chris Tremain bouncer•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaVictoria started their bid for an improved Sheffield Shield performance with a hiding of New South Wales at the MCG, though it was marred by a sickening blow suffered by Ben Rohrer.Rohrer and the NSW captain Peter Nevill were trying to delay the Bushrangers on the final afternoon when the former NSW fast man Chris Tremain struck Rohrer in the helmet with a bouncer from around the wicket, forcing a motorised stretcher to be called for and Rohrer to retire hurt.The blow troubled all players on the field but was also the reason the Bushrangers had recruited Termain from NSW, as the out-and-out quick who could threaten batsmen in a way the likes of John Hastings and Scott Boland cannot.From there the Blues were never quite able to forge ahead, confused by the wrist spin of Fawad Ahmed, who claimed a notable six wickets for the match. A target of 131 in 33 overs was unlikely to trouble the hosts in the Twenty20 age, and Marcus Stoinis’ powerful strokeplay made it a certainty.

Clubs are spending huge amounts of money as they aim for success at home and on the continent – but which squads are the most expensive?

Some of the world's most costly squads have been assembled in Europe as clubs pursue silverware.

UEFA's annual Club Licensing Benchmarking Report has revealed that the top 20 most expensively assembled squads on the continent rose in value by 26 per cent at the end of the 2018 financial year when compared with 12 months previously.

Some of the confederation's biggest clubs are included in the list, while there are also some surprises.

Getty Images20Southampton | €252m (£216m/$281m)AdvertisementGetty Images19Leicester City | €268m (£230m/$298m)Getty Images18Atletico | €286m (£245m/$318m)ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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Getty17Napoli | €306m (£262m/$341m)

Stumps The Bay of Plenty lived up to its name but only for New Zealand. Devon Conway and Tom Latham harvested a century each and by that time they were having so much fun they would barely let anybody else play.West Indies could argue that was a bit rude. They were in Mount Maunganui looking for rich bounty as well. A first Test win on these shores for 30 years, which if secured would hand them a share of this series’ spoils. All of that cast them in the role of a protagonist at the start of the day. But as time wore on and records – both trivial and tumultuous – came to pass, Roston Chase and his men faded into the background.Each of the five previous Test matches at this ground have yielded a wicket in its first session. This one didn’t. Kane Williamson, so used to an early start at the office, had to wait the longest he ever has to clock in. So restless had he grown that at the start of the final session, he was seen wearing all his gear barring the helmet practicing a rapid-fire series of leaves and blocks. There will be reels. Split-screens with Latham and Conway facing real cricket balls out in the middle and this guy just pretending to do so with a caption of who did it better. The answer is actually Terry Jarvis and Glenn Turner.Tom Latham brought up his 15th Test century without taking any risks•Getty Images

Latham had a big part in the history he helped make. Over 25 home Tests, dating all the way back to March 2012, New Zealand have only ever chosen to bowl after winning the toss. Here, he had a hunch about putting runs on the board. Outside of that one bold move, everything else he did was basic. Playing close to the body. Knowing exactly where his off stump was. Frustrating the bowlers to target his pads. Manufacturing easy put-aways. Latham’s 15th Test century – where he went past 6000 runs as an opener – was proof that fairy tales aren’t the only things that can come to life. Textbooks do too. It took all the way to 6.30pm for Latham to fall on 137. Test cricket was so close to having a fifth opening pair lasting the entire first day.Conway played himself into form. Twenty-six of his last 39 innings were cut short at or below the 30-run mark, which isn’t ideal considering his role at the top of the order is to set the whole team up. Given he was walking out onto a pitch with an unusual amount of grass – 13mm, normally it’s around 7-10mm – there was cause for concern. He put them all to bed, weathering an initial period where West Indies were willing to give up only 11 runs in eight overs. He instigated the first period of New Zealand dominance, the six overs to morning drinks where they scored a-run-a-ball. He went on to bat for longer than he has ever done since his double-century on debut at Lord’s four years ago.The only way any of this could have been worse for West Indies was if they had brought it all on themselves, and only the finest line separated that from what actually happened. Because they got what they wanted at the toss. First use of a surface that looked like it had been left in the care of a kindergartener with a green crayon. The bowlers, though, didn’t make the best use of it.Tom Latham nicked one behind to Tevin Imlach when on 104 and was dropped•Getty Images

Their third seamer, Anderson Phillip, started with a spell of 3-0-25-0, and as hard as he tried to improve – creating a rare wicket-taking opportunity when Latham nicked one behind to the keeper on 104 and was dropped – he still went to stumps with 14-2-71-0. It was symptomatic of a bowling attack that still produced jaffas – and might feel aggrieved none of them yielded any joy – but didn’t have it in them to back it up; to hit the good length spot consistently, test the batter’s discipline and search for vulnerability.Indeed, at the start of the second session, New Zealand had a harder time not scoring boundaries, five of them coming their way in the space of 12 balls. A small spell of rain offered West Indies the chance to regroup and they appeared willing to take it, Jayden Seales adopting the method of local hero Neil Wagner and going short for a concerted period of time. Conway wore one on the left hand, needed medical attention, and at the start of the 52nd over, he was overheard on the stump mic asking the umpire about the time for tea. He was in need of reprieve. Seconds later, Chase lobbed up a long hop that he pulled away for four. West Indies kept undoing their own good work. Often immediately.This was no batting paradise. Nor was it ever a fast bowler’s dream. Spinners took two-thirds of the wickets in the most recent first-class game in Mount Maunganui. It is with that in mind that New Zealand brought Ajaz Patel into the XI and backed themselves to put up a big total.Conway has led them there – batting through cramp, batting one-handed and eventually hitting that rarefied place where he was just batting on instinct, reacting perfectly even to things like extra and low bounce – but things could have been so different if West Indies had shown a little more discipline. Now their batters have to pick up the slack.

Harshal Patel ran through Jammu & Kashimir with his first List A five-for, then came back as an opener to hammer 54 of the required 76-run target. The cherry on top of a match that Haryana wrapped up with only 33 overs bowled in two innings was a hat-trick for legspinner and captain Amit Mishra.Jammu & Kashmir won the toss, chose to bat and just withered away as Harshal wrecked their top order with 5 for 21. There were five ducks in all and only three scores in double-digits. At 38 for 7, they were in danger of being bowled out for under 50 but a 37-run eighth wicket partnership between Ram Dayal and Zahoor Sofi took them past that ignominy. Eventually Mishra brought himself on as fifth-change broke the stand and knocked the tail over to claim his first List A hat-trick.Haryana decided to have a bit more fun and sent Harshal out to open. He came back unbeaten with 54 off 27 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.Saurabh Tiwary’s unbeaten 94-ball 87 steered Jharkhand to a five-wicket win over Kerala in Bangalore.Jharkhand suffered a wobble in their chase of 237 and were struggling at 129 for 4 in the 32nd over after MS Dhoni’s dismissal for 18. Tiwary and Kaushal Singh kept the chase on track with a stand of 75 for the fourth wicket. Kaushal was dismissed for 48 but Tiwary stayed until the end, ensuring a win for the side in 47 overs.Earlier, Kerala’s total of 236 for 8 was propped up by fifties from opener VA Jagadeesh (60) and Sachin Baby (61). The pair also shared a 77-run, fourth-wicket stand before Padmanabhan Prasanth provided quick runs at the end with an unbeaten 34 off 18 deliveries.Axar Patel turned in yet another all-round show to help Gujarat record a four-wicket win over Railways in Bangalore’s Alur grounds, their second win in as many matches at the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy.Railways, who were sent in to bat, were driven by Arindam Ghosh(96*) to 259 for 5. The other vital contributor apart from Ghosh was Mahesh Rawat, who made 60, with Karn Sharma (26) and Ashish Yadav (22*) lending the finishing touches to the Railways innings.Gujarat lost Smit Patel for a duck, but captain Parthiv Patel, and Priyank Panchal steadied the innings with a 64-run stand. But Railways fought back courtesy Karn, who dismissed both batsmen in quick succession to leave them in a hint of trouble at 79 for 3. That became 126 for 4 when Yadav dismissed Manprit Juneja to bring the match back on an even keel. But Axar (75) and Rujul Bhatt (72) put together 120 for the fifth wicket to allay fears of a meltdown as Gujarat won with two balls to spare.

Alex Hales and Dan Christian helped Nottinghamshire kick off their Royal London Cup campaign in impressive style with a nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire

ECB/PA25-Jul-2015
ScorecardAlex Hales scored a blistering century as Nottinghamshire cruised to victory•Getty Images

Alex Hales and Dan Christian helped Nottinghamshire kick off their Royal London Cup campaign in impressive style with a nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire at Welbeck Cricket Club. Hales blasted his way to 103 and hit seven fours and nine sixes in his 61-ball stay as Notts chased down their victory target in only 28.1 overs.During the first part of the day, Christian took the bowling plaudits for the home side, taking 5 for 40, as Warwickshire were bowled out for 220 in only 49.1 overs after being invited to bat first. Ian Bell, given dispensation by the ECB to play in between Test matches, made 52 from 83 deliveries but there was little in the way of support for him, as last season’s runners-up made a stuttering start this time around.Defending a modest total, the visitors ran into Hales and the in-form Riki Wessels, who were both at their hard-hitting best. The openers put on 164 in just 20.1 overs before Recordo Gordon picked up the only wicket to fall, having Hales caught at the wicket by Tim Ambrose.Wessels reached his own 50 from 56 deliveries, with five fours and a maximum and he closed on 86 not out, with James Taylor making an unbeaten 24. Notts hadn’t used a home outground within Nottinghamshire since 1998, when they had last played at Worksop, and an enthusiastic crowd of around 2000 turned out to wish them well in their venture.Earlier, Warwickshire were put under pressure after a fortuitous incident broke their opening partnership. A drive by Bell was deflected by the bowler, Luke Fletcher, on to the stumps at the non-striker’s end and Jonathan Webb was adjudged to be short of his ground.Christian’s first over, when he entered the attack, didn’t give any indication of what was to come, with four ill-directed leg side wides contributing to the total. From then on, the 32-year took centre stage with his medium-fast swing bowling and he picked up wickets in each of his next three overs. Tim Ambrose was caught behind by Chris Read and then both Rikki Clarke and Laurie Evans were taken in identical fashion by Alex Hales at second slip.Ian Bell and Chris Woakes mounted a fightback, adding 63 for the fifth wicket before Christian returned to remove them both. Bell had reached his 50 from 82 balls, seven of which were hit to the boundary boards but he then perished tamely to his next delivery, after picking out James Taylor at point.Woakes, who had played one match in recent weeks for Nottinghamshire’s second string on his recuperation from a knee injury, made an impressive 36 before playing all around a full-pitched delivery.Keith Barker hit a lusty 27 and Ateeq Javid contributed 33 but the total always seemed well below par and Warwickshire even failed to bat out the final over, with Jake Ball dismissing Josh Poysden for his second wicket. Ball, a product of the Welbeck club, finished with figures of 2 for 47.Notts will stage the second part of their “Welbeck Weekender” on Sunday when they host Glamorgan at the same venue.

Dav Whatmore, the Zimbabwe coach, says his side will need time and experience to start converting ability into performance

Liam Brickhill in Harare14-Jul-2015Dav Whatmore knows a thing or two about coaching struggling sides, and coaxing success out of whatever resources are at hand. He masterminded Sri Lanka’s World Cup win in 1996, and sparked a change in Bangladesh’s trajectory when he took over the coaching role there in 2003.He moved into his current position with Zimbabwe less than six weeks before the World Cup earlier this year, and was able to bring enjoyment and cohesion back into the team environment in remarkably quick time. Yet positive results haven’t been forthcoming, and on Tuesday Zimbabwe slipped to a 3-0 series defeat to India despite putting themselves into positions of dominance in all three matches.”That was a hugely disappointing effort in that first game. We honestly thought we should have won that. When you get so close, and you don’t, I think psychologically it becomes a little bit greater when you play the next one. We’ve got the potential, as you can see, we just need to transform our ability into performance, and that comes from here,” Whatmore said, pointing at his head.Though Whatmore prompted “a total 180 in the players’ mindsets” very quickly, according to former captain Brendan Taylor, he insists there is no quick fix for Zimbabwe’s issues.”It doesn’t happen like that,” Whatmore says, clicking his fingers to emphasise the point. “It never does. It takes a bit of time. If you look at the history of Zimbabwe cricket over the last four years, if you’ve done your research you’ll know that we’ve only played a handful of games. And to improve you need to go through certain situations more often. So hopefully boys will learn as quickly as possible, because we are now playing competition which we haven’t had in the past.”It’s okay to say ‘be patient with us’, it’s a cliche but I’m very pleased to have played these three games and we look forward very much to the future matches coming in this calendar year. And we look to improve. So please bear with us, we are trying really hard to get it right and we will need a bit more time. As other sides do.”Zimbabwe have been slightly surprised by the way these pitches have played, as ordinarily Harare Sports Club tracks ease out during the course of the day, particularly in winter. In this series, there has always been something on offer for the bowlers. They “briefly” considered batting first after Elton Chigumbura won his third toss in a row, Whatmore explained, “but this wicket generally gets a lot better than this. It’s sort of misbehaving a little more than what most of us thought. Generally speaking this wicket flattens out a little bit more, but it’s had some life in it right throughout.”India haven’t had it all their way in this series, slipping to 87 for 5 in the first match, losing 6 for 77 in the last 10 overs on Sunday, and wobbling at 82 for 4 today, but Zimbabwe were never able to land the killer blow and, as Whatmore admitted, “we’ve let them off the hook a couple of times”.The problem, for Chigumbura, is a lack of ruthlessness.”It’s just about being ruthless,” he said. “You tend to relax when you are on top, or sometimes some guys realise we’re on top. And also because of not playing many games regularly. I think the more we play the more we could quickly learn from these mistakes.”We need to dig deep when we get into these situations. I think that’s where we’re lacking. We always get into a good position, in almost every series that we play we’ll get one or two chances that we can take with both hands and win the game, but we don’t.”Zimbabwe have a quick turnaround in which to try to set things right before the Twenty20 series starts on Friday, but they can also look forward to an unusually full schedule in the months to come. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, particularly on the psychological aspect of their game, Zimbabwe could yet be another of Whatmore’s success stories.

A round-up of the matches played in Group B of the Ranji Trophy on December 9, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2014Group B
ScorecardYuvraj Singh scored a swift hundred with 14 fours and five sixes•PTI

Yuvraj Singh struck a brisk hundred and Sandeep Sharma took three early wickets to put Haryana in trouble, after setting them a target of 321 with a day to go in Patiala. Punjab declared at the score of 330 for 6 in their second innings soon after Yuvraj’s 130 to have 10 overs to bowl to the Haryana batsmen, in which they were left struggling at 26 for 3.Resuming at 21 for 0, leading by 11, Punjab’s top order got starts but could not capitalise on them – Jiwanjot Singh, Manan Vohra and Mandeep Singh fell for low double-digit scores, leaving the team at 94 for 3. Amitoze Singh and Yuvraj then got together to put Punjab in the driver’s seat with a stand of 145 runs at 4.55 per over. Wicketkeeper Nitin Saini rolled his arm and broke the stand by dismissing Amitoze for 65 and also got rid of Gurkeerat Singh for 20. But Yuvraj continued at the other end, hammering 14 fours and fives sixes during his 20th first-class hundred to take the score past 300. Punjab declared with a lead of 320 once Yuvraj handed a return catch to Amit Mishra, who also finished with two wickets, like Saini and Jayant Yadav.Haryana were rocked early in the chase when Sandeep removed Abhimanyu Khod and Sunny Singh in consecutive deliveries in the third over. He didn’t get the hat-trick but struck again four overs later with the wicket of Yuzvendra Chahal to leave Haryana with a tough task of scoring another 295 runs to win.
ScorecardDelhi’s pacers took nine wickets between them to bowl Saurashtra out for 217 and earn their team a huge first-innings lead at the Roshanara Club Ground. Saurashtra, who began the day at 152 for 6, could only manage another 65 runs, as Sumit Narwal (3 for 52), Parvinder Awana (3 for 30) and Rajat Bhatia (3 for 25) each claimed three scalps to run through their line-up in 79.5 overs. Divyaraj Chauhan was Saurashtra’s top scorer with 63, but nobody else was able to score more than 38. With a massive lead of 225 in hand, Delhi enforced the follow-on and once again made early breakthroughs. Narwal, Awana, Bhatia and Navdeep Saini claimed a wicket each, as Saurashtra were struggling at 163 for 4 at stumps, still trailing by 62.
ScorecardFifties from Harshad Khadiwale, Chirag Khurana and Shrikant Mundhe helped Maharashtra secure a first-innings lead against Odisha in Pune. Maharasthra were well-placed at 126 for 0 when the day began, but the openers Khadiwale and Khurana could only add 11 more runs to that partnership, as Deepak Behera dismissed both batsmen in successive overs early on. Khadiwale struck 13 fours during his 83, while Khurana’s 54 included 10 fours. Behera took 4 for 82 to rattle Maharashtra’s top and middle order, and Biplab Samantray’s 3 for 36 cleaned up the tail, but by then, Maharashtra had already posted 371 to take a 60-run lead. The hosts were aided largely by Mundhe’s unbeaten 82 down the order, and a handy 44 from Kedar Jadhav.
ScorecardA century from Priyank Kirit Panchal, and a two-wicket burst from Ishwar Chaudhary left Gujarat comfortably placed to prevail against Rajasthan in Jaipur. Set a steep target of 412, Rajasthan were tottering at 34 for 3 at stumps. The hosts were 172 for 8 in their first innings when the day began, and Gujarat needed just 6.2 overs to claim the final two wickets, as Rajasthan were bowled out for 195. Gujarat lost two early wickets in their second essay, but Panchal’s 110, which included 18 fours, as well as thirties from Parthiv Patel, Rujul Bhatt and Akshar Patel, lifted the team to 266. Shailender Gehlot was the pick of Rajasthan’s bowlers, collecting 4 for 50. Rajasthan did not begin their chase well, as they lost Siddharth Saraf, Vineet Saxena and Gehlot in the space of three overs, leaving them 378 runs adrift heading into the final day.