Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A match that appeared to be drifting inexorably in Pakistan’s direction inthe afternoon session was left tantalisingly poised after a 115-runpartnership between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and VVS Laxman pushed India backinto contention. Shoaib Akhtar bowled with tremendous pace to dismiss bothopeners, and there were two wickets too for Sohail Tanvir on debut, butafter slumping to 93 for 5, India would have been satisfied to end the dayjust three runs adrift.Dhoni and Laxman eased the immediate pressure with scampered singles, apattern broken only when Dhoni cut Mohammad Sami powerfully for four.Laxman then played two magnificent strokes down the ground off Tanvir, andDhoni greeted Danish Kaneria’s reintroduction with a savage cut for four,but at tea, it was still Pakistan that were dictating terms.The complexion of the game changed after tea though, with Dhoni’s straightswat off Kaneria revealing India’s positive intent. Laxman laced somegorgeous shots down the ground and through midwicket, while Dhoni muscledthe ball through the off side field whenever he was afforded the width.Shoaib Malik rotated his bowlers often, using Shoaib’s pace in shortbursts, and both batsmen were largely content to see him off. Even then,the runs came at four an over as the partnership mounted rapidly. A pushthrough cover took Dhoni to 50, but his movement thereafter was hamperedby the ankle that he had injured in Jaipur.John Gloster, the Indian physio, came on to give it some strapping, but itwas clearly a factor as he charged a Kaneria leg break to get the thinnestof edges through to Kamran Akmal. His 57 had spanned just 93 balls, andbeen the dominant part of a partnership similar to that which saved theLord’s Test for India in July.Laxman eased to his own half-century soon after, Anil Kumbleplayed one flamboyant square drive off Shoaib, and the fag end of the day wasall about consolidation. When the umpires offered the light at thescheduled close, with Pakistan well behind the over-rate, both Laxman andKumble had little hesitation in walking off.The situation when Dhoni arrived to a raucous ovation had been verydifferent. Rahul Dravid, who had played some lovely shots in his 38,saw his off stump knocked back by a Tanvir delivery that pitched onmiddle and leg and left him a shade. Coming soon after Ganguly’s departure- bowled off the inside edge to give Tanvir his first Test scalp – it puta severe dent in India’s hopes of establishing a first-innings lead.The unlikely figure of Mohammad Yousuf had provided a telling blow minutesearlier. A sizeable crowd had cheered Sachin Tendulkar all the way to thecrease, but when there was a mix-up between him and Dravid over going fora second run, Yousuf’s throw to the keeper found him inches short.Another run-out, albeit a much more bizarre one, had precipitated the endof the Pakistan innings in the morning. Neither Munaf Patel nor ZaheerKhan could break through with the relatively new ball, and after 40 moreminutes of being thwarted, Kumble brought himself and Ganguly on.And it was off Ganguly’s bowling that the 87-run partnership – a Pakistanirecord for the ninth wicket against India – was finally broken.Misbah-ul-Haq, who had faced 243 balls for his 82, played one to point andset off. He seemed to have made his ground when Dinesh Karthik’s throwcame in. But rather than get his body in the way, Misbah chose airborneevasive action and the ball struck the stumps. When the third umpire handed down his decision, the crowd erupted.It took Kumble just two balls to clean up Kaneria, leaving India’s vauntedbatting line-up to chart their own course on a pitch predicted to be at itsbest for batting on the second day. Though Karthik went before lunch,fending at a Shoaib delivery that moved away, Dravid and Wasim Jafferproceeded to put on 56 without too many alarms.Shoaib was the biggest threat, combining the odd unplayable delivery withsome wayward stuff. Clearly unhappy with the landing area on the pitch, heasked for sawdust, changed his boots and then kicked a ball away infrustration on his followthrough when he couldn’t find rhythm.The second coming proved to be luckier. Dismayed to see Billy Doctroveturn down a leg-before appeal against Jaffer in the opening over of theinnings, he returned to thud one into the pads at serious pace. In theensuing 6.2 overs, India would lose 4 for 22 and stumble towards an abyss.Fortunately for them, neither Laxman nor Dhoni were in freefalling mood.

ScorecardSuhrawadi Shuvo, the Bangladesh Under-19 captain, triggered a late collapse and claimed five of the last six wickets to fall as his team successfully defended 233 against Pakistan Under-19 to square the five-match ODI series two-all.After losing their first four wickets with only 49 on the board, Pakistan were within sight of victory at 183 for 4 thanks to a 134-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ali Asad (106) and Umair Mir (64). The collapse – with the home side losing six wickets for 37 runs including the last three for only one run – completed a remarkable comeback by Bangladesh who were precariously placed at 57 for 3 after opting to bat.Marshall Ayub and Mahmudul Hasan put on 126 for the fifth wicket after Mithun Ali, Bangladesh’s opener and wicketkeeper, had scored 33. Ayub hammered 88 runs off 91 balls with five fours and a six while Hasan chipped in with a valuable 44 to enable their team post a respectable total.In reply, Dolar Mahmud tore through the top order and finished with four wickets for 40 runs before Shuvo, following a resurgent knock by Asad, bowled Bangladesh to victory to level the series 2-2.The fifth and final match of the series is to be played here at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex Stadium on Friday.

Ramnaresh Sarwan will lead defending champions Guyana in the Stanford Twenty20 tournament, starting in Antigua on January 26.Guyana’s hopes of regaining the title were given a boost by the inclusion of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who will join their 13-man squad after West Indies’ tour of South Africa comes to an end. Joining Chanderpaul will be his West Indies team-mate Sewnarine Chattergoon, who had been included in the national squad for the forthcoming ODIs in South Africa.Besides Sarwan, the squad includes seven other players who appeared in the 2007 final, when Guyana defeated Trinidad and Tobago to claim the $US 1 million top prize; the more prominent among them being vice-captian Travis Dowlin and Narsingh Deononarine.Royston Crandon, Zaheer Mohamed, and Jeremy Gordon have been named as stand-bys, while the team management consists of Albert Smith (coach) and Carl Moore (manager), both of whom were part of Guyana’s support cast in the 2007 season.Squad
Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Travis Dowlin (vice-captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Lennox Cush, Leon Johnson, Derwin Christian, Christopher Barnwell, Esaun Crandon, Neil McGarrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Deon Ferrier.

Shoaib Malik’s ongoing battle with a troublesome ankle means he is still not a certain starter for Pakistan’s first ODI against Zimbabwe in Karachi.Malik, Pakistan’s captain, injured his ankle during a post-match football session after the Delhi Test against India in November. He subsequently sat out the remaining two Tests of the tour and though undergoing rehabilitation since then, he has still not fully recovered. He is currently taking part in a three-day training camp in Lahore as Pakistan prepare for the five-ODI series and he told reporters after the first day that he was feeling better.”My ankle is improving. I have started running and the ankle will get better over the next few days,” he said. “But if I am not 100% fit by the time the first ODI comes round, I will tell the board management.”Observers at the Pakistan camp suggest that the first ODI, on January 21, might be too soon for him. If that is the case then Pakistan will be looking for a temporary captain. Younis Khan, vice-captain in India, stood in when Malik first injured himself, but has in the past been reluctant to take on the role. Other possible options include Mohammad Yousuf and even Misbah-ul-Haq.Pakistan will be without a number of first-choice players during the series, the selectors keen instead to test new faces, particularly in the bowling department. Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar are out of the series due to injury – though the latter did make himself available. Mohammad Asif has yet to recover fully from surgery on a long-standing elbow problem.

Every Indian Premier League match will be broadcast live in Australia after the Ten Network bought the rights for five years. Ten is believed to have paid between $10 million and $15 million to show the games, which begin on April 18.The deal provides a challenge to Channel Nine, which has dominated cricket broadcasting in Australia for 30 years. “It is the biggest new cricket competition and the most revolutionary thing that’s happened in world cricket since Kerry Packer started the World Series in the mid-70s,” David White, the Ten Network’s general manager of sport, told the .It was originally anticipated that the IPL Twenty20 matches would be shown on pay television in Australia, if at all, but Ten’s decision means every match will be telecast free to air. The station intends to show the games live, with start times from 9.30pm to 1.30am [AEST] followed by repeats on its high-definition digital channel.Ten has been a long-time broadcaster of motor sports in Australia, and in more recent years Australian rules football, but its lack of cricket experience means it will need to build a commentary team from scratch. Grant Blackley, the network’s chief executive, kept his cards close to his chest when asked if he would attempt to poach any of Nine’s established callers.”You shouldn’t draw any conclusions at this point,” Blackley said. The participation of Australia’s current players in this year’s tournament is still unclear, with the in-doubt Test tour of Pakistan set to clash with the IPL. However, former stars such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and the soon-to-be-retired Adam Gilchrist will take part.

Scorecard
The Under-19 World Cup will be formally opened tomorrow and the first round of matches kick off on Sunday. But Thursday’s warm-up fixtures offered a preview of the talent on display: Sri Lanka were playing South Africa, Bermuda with Namibia, and Zimbabwe against Nepal.The pick, though, was Australia versus West Indies. One could watch Philip Hughes, the batsman who’s already played for New South Wales, perhaps spot a future West Indian tearaway fast bowler, and check out if the Australian U-19 outfit was as clinical, relatively speaking, as their national side.The weather in Kuala Lumpur is more humid than hot and the conditions are quite sapping, especially since the tournament’s schedule allows little time for rest. As it turned out, Hughes was given the day off so Australia opened with Marcus Stoinis and Kumar Sarna, the Delhi-born batsman who plays his cricket in Victoria. The openers were patient and after a slow start – 16 came off the first six overs – they had added 63 by the 15th. Sarna made 32 off 65 balls and Stoinis 22 off 48. They were the only batsmen to pass 20 as Australia collapsed and lost ten wickets for 96 to finish on 159.So which fast-bowler wrecked Australia? Larry Gomes, the coach, had said that all the three quicks had the attributes necessary to grow into good fast bowlers. Jason Dawes wasn’t express pace but bowled a testing line and length, as did Dawnley Grant. And when you look at Delorn Johnson, his tall physique and long arms give away what he offers to the side. So which of the three was it? Was there an individual that stood out or was it a pack-attack?There was a stand-out performance but it came from a spinner- the West Indies captain Sharmarh Brooks – who picked up 5 for 25 off 9.2 overs with his legbreaks. Brooks, who plays for Barbados, varied his flight and pace cleverly and several Australian batsmen holed out as they tired to clear the boundaries. Brooks received solid support from left-arm orthodox bowler Veerasammy Permaul and the offspinner Steven Jacobs, who is his deputy. Permaul took 2 for 18 off his seven overs while Jacobs had 1 for 29 off his ten, giving the spinners a total of eight wickets to the fast bowlers’ one (one batsman was run out).Adrian Barath, who plays for Trinidad and Tobago, was another batsman towatch. Gomes said he’s not been in the best of form of late and wasn’t feeling 100% fit either. However, it was Kieran Powell who impressedthe most today. Powell is a tall left-hand opening batsman who hits the ball powerfully. One shot stood out: Powell drove the ball straight and so hard that the sound of the ball hitting bat made heads turn. Most were too late for the ball was already nearing the boundary ropes. Powell finished with 51 and his attacking start had set the platform for a successful run chase.Australia opened their bowling with a four-pronged pace attack: Jeremy Smith and James Pattinson shared the new ball while David King and James Faulkner came on first and second change. The first spinner on display for Australia was the left-arm orthodox bowler from Victoria, Clive Rose, who had Powell caught at mid-on in his second over. West Indies then lost a few batsmen in quick time but chased down the target with five wickets in hand.Beating Australia, albeit in a practice match, was a huge boost to West Indies, who also beat Sri Lanka in their first warm-up fixture. “It will be difficult to pick a final XI,” said Gomes. “I prefer to be in that position.”

As Steve Harmison lurches into his latest crisis following an insipid performance in Hamilton, Allan Donald, the man who last summer was charged with trying to coax him into action, has revealed Harmison came to him and admitted he was ‘scared’.Donald was England’s bowling coach during the 2007 season but turned down the full-time position so that he could spend more time with his family and has joined Warwickshire as their bowling coach. The moment when Harmison opened up came at Old Trafford during the third Test against West Indies after he’d struggled to hit the cut strip.”He needed confidence,” Donald told the . “He needed to feel appreciated. I’ve never seen a cricketer as low as he was. He came off the field in the Test at Old Trafford and told me he was scared. It was so sad.”From his low point in the first innings at Old Trafford, Harmison did manage to regain some composure with an improved performance on the final day and in the fourth Test on his home ground at Chester-le-Street. However, just as he was finding some confidence another injury came along and he missed the rest of the summer. He has continued to suffered fitness issues, especially with his back, during the winter tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand.Harmison’s fate is now in the hands of Ottis Gibson after Donald opted against a full-time role. “To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have taken the England job even if this role at Warwickshire hadn’t come up,” Donald said. “Working with the England team was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel I made a positive impact. And, I have to say, the ECB were brilliant. They are a highly professional organisation and, in many ways, everything about the job was great.”But I’ve been on the road for years. At some stage you have to put the family first. I want to see my children grow up.”

Ashley Noffke will warm up for his Test tour of West Indies with a brief stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Bangalore picked him to replace the injured Nathan Bracken. Noffke leaves for India on Tuesday but must be back in Brisbane in early May for Australia’s training camp ahead of the Caribbean series.Noffke did not originally nominate for either of the IPL auctions and intended to stay focused on his push for international honours. But after he was confirmed for the West Indies trip and named in Cricket Australia’s 25-man squad of contracted players for 2008-09, Noffke decided a short Twenty20 spell could be beneficial.”It’s a pretty exciting proposition to go up against so many good players,” Noffke said. “I’m taking the view that it will be good for my development as a player as well as a chance to get some bowling under my belt ahead of the Windies tour.”Noffke’s last-minute dash to India means he will be available for Bangalore’s opening clash against Kolkata on Friday. If selected, that could pit Noffke against the Australia captain Ricky Ponting as well as the newly-contracted David Hussey.He will also be free to play three more IPL games before heading home for the training camp. Bracken, who is still recovering after having knee surgery in March, will be assessed prior to the ODI tour of West Indies to determine whether he can take part.

The president of the Guyana Cricket Board, Chetram Singh, has said that Shivnarine Chanderpaul was granted permission to attend the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) awards ceremony mid-way through Guyana’s Carib Beer Cup match against Windward Islands.There was confusion on the second day when Gajanand Singh came out to bat with captain Travis Dowlin, although Chanderpaul had been unbeaten on 78 after the first day. Match referee Omar Bacchus, along with the two umpires, Davetirth Anandjit and Terence Birbal, confirmed to that they were not informed by the Guyana team-management about Chanderpaul’s absence, and hence ruled him retired out.Guyana’s manager, Carl Moore, and coach Albert Smith were unable to explain Chanderpaul’s absence during the second day, with Smith saying that Chanderpaul should have informed him of his plans to play only a part of the match.Chanderpaul’s unexplained absence on the second day and parts of the third day had incensed the Windwards team-management, who refused to allow Guyana a substitute fielder for him. Chanderpaul, though, returned during the second session of the third day and remained at the pavilion when Guyana’s turn came to bat again.But Chetram maintained that Moore was informed about Chanderpaul’s plans to attend the awards ceremony. “The manager was informed that Shiv was leaving and I am at a loss as to way he felt it was not necessary to inform the relevant authorities.”The responsibility of the manager is to inform all the relevant parties that Shiv was not going to continue his innings and I would say that poor management caused all this confusion.””Shiv asked to go before the match began and permission was granted. He agreed to play for his country which was good for the game, especially since [Ramnaresh] Sarwan was asked to rest from this game,” Singh told .”The idea was for him to leave after the day’s play and return the next day but no flight was available out of Guyana to Trinidad after 10:30 pm. Shiv was forced to cut short his innings to catch that [sic] flight and as agreed, he returned the next day even though the second Test was being played in Trinidad.”Singh felt Chanderpaul “deserved to have been allowed to personally collect his awards”, and blamed a flight delay for him not being able to resume his innings. “He could have also requested some rest and missed the last-round game, but in the absence of Sarwan he felt he needed to play. It was unfortunate that the unavailability of an afternoon [return] flight resulted in him having to cut short his innings.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

There were plenty of star batsmen on show but the two best innings of an absorbing encounter came from two youngsters. Shaun Marsh’s unbeaten 84 on his IPL debut, carrying Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable seven-wicket win – their third on the trot – and fourth place in the points table, followed Rohit Sharma’s 76, which lifted the Deccan Chargers to a respectable 164.Each side also saw cameos from more experienced hands; VVS Laxman provided the early aggression for Deccan with a typically fluid 48 off 34 balls, while Mahela Jayawardene shrugged off his indifferent form to date with an assured unbeaten 45 to shepherd Marsh – the son of the former Australian opener Geoff Marsh – as they ran down the target with ease.Sent in to bat, Deccan raced to 50 for 1 after six overs on the back of Laxman’s efforts, and seemed on course for a huge total. However, the game’s complexion changed when legspinner Piyush Chawla intelligently varied his trajectory and pace in a two-over spell to remove Herschelle Gibbs and Laxman. Gibbs, on his IPL debut, fell as he clubbed a short one straight to midwicket while Laxman was too early into a drive to lob one to Yuvraj at covers to leave Deccan at 67 for 3 after nine overs.Enter Rohit, who had burst into the limelight with a fighting fifty against South Africa in the ICC World Twenty20 last year. As wickets fell around him and only Shahid Afridi touching double figures, Rohit took the fight to the bowlers. He started slowly, as the Punjab’s bowlers keeping things tight.It wasn’t till the 15th over that he opened out, taking Chawla for 12 runs, including a four and a big six, to spoil the legspinner’s figures. The next over was from Gagandeep Singh, playing his first IPL match; he fired in a couple of great yorkers but Rohit hit him for two powerful boundaries off the last two balls. His fifty came with a heave over midwicket off VRV Singh and the runs continued to flow as he took Gagandeep for three consecutive fours in the 19th. A six off Irfan in the final over rounded off his exploits, having scored his last 57 runs off 22 balls.For all that, though, it was still a below-par total that Punjab had to chase down and Marsh got them off to a confident start with a couple of sweetly-timed boundaries in the first over. Laxman shuffled the bowlers around and managed to stifle the runs but it needed a stroke of luck for the breakthrough.With the score on 41 in the sixth over, Marsh lashed a Sanjay Bangar delivery straight back and the bowler managed to get a hand on it as it crashed into the stumps with non-striker Ramnaresh Sarwan out of his crease. Sangakkara fell soon after but Marsh and Yuvraj were involved in a 41-run stand off four overs to keep the target well in sight.Marsh remained unruffled even after Yuvraj’s dismissal and was joined by the cool-headed Jayawardene, who smashed three boundaries off his first five balls. The only time they looked in trouble was when Bangar sent down a tight 14th over and the required run-rate crept over nine. The response from Punjab was swift – Jayawardene played a couple of scoops and an extra-cover drive as 19 runs came off the next over.Besides scoring heavily square of the wicket on the off side Marsh – who was a replacement for Simon Katich, Punjab’s matchwinner in their previous game – also unleashed some lovely on-drives. There were a few streaky shots towards the end before he clubbed Zoysa for a straight six, his first of the match. Jayawardene brought up the victory with another classy extra-cover drive, as Punjab continued their resurgence after losing their first two games.