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Scorecard

A tight bowling performance and some entertaining batting from the openers took India A to an easy win in their first one-dayer against Kenya at the Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi. Praveen Kumar backed up Pankaj Singh’s 4 for 29 with three economical wickets before blazing an unbeaten 57 from 27 deliveries to take India to their target of 99 in 7.4 overs.Mohammed Kaif won the toss on an unusually chilly Nairobi morning and decided to put Kenya in. Singh struck with the first delivery of the third over when he got David Obuya to nick one behind to Parthiv Patel. Kumar removed his fellow opener Maurice Ouma, edging to second slip, Singh got rid of Tanmay Mishra and Kumar bowled Tony Suji to make it 18 for 4. Captain Thomas Odoyo managed 43 from 53 balls, amid further strikes from Singh, Kumar and Yo Mahesh, but his fall – he was last out – left India with the relatively simple target of 99.They set about their task in spectacular fashion. Kumar hammered Peter Ongondo’s first delivery, a rank half-volley, over extra cover for six. In the second over, bowled by Nehemiah Odhiambo, he picked up six more over the deep square boundary followed by a square cut and a lofted drive over cover for boundaries.Those shots took him to 28 from 11 deliveries while his partner Yusuf Pathan was still on 1. He was not about to shy away from the sumptious bowling on offer, however, and smashed Ongondo over long-on and into the car park region.Rajesh Bhudia was brought on earlier than he would expected, in the fourth over, and Kumar picked up two sixes, the first a Mahendra Singh Dhoni-like whip over deep midwicket and the second a regulation pull in the same direction, to raise India’s 50 in 4 overs. Lameck Onyango was introduced in the fifth over and Pathan immediately swept him for two before hitting him for six. Fours came at the same alarming rate as Kumar and Pathan (29 from 20 balls) finished an easy run chase.Both captains conceded that winning the toss was very important. When asked at the post-match presser what he would have chosen to do had he won the toss, Odoyo said he would have fielded in an attempt to utilise the overcast conditions.

Former Zimbabwe captain Terrence Duffin is set to make a comeback when he turns out for Zimbabwe A in their South African Airways Challenge Pool B match against South African provincial side Gauteng at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.Duffin last played competitive cricket at the beginning of May when he turned out for Southerns in the Logan Cup. He aggravated a thumb injury that he suffered against South Africa in September last year and missed out on the first-class matches against India A and South Africa A, and was not considered for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa last month.A good performance from Duffin will certainly see him being called up to the Zimbabwe senior national team set to play against Sri Lanka. Duffin is expected to bring solidity into the Zimbabwe top-order batting order and should combine well with Tino Mawoyo.Blessing Mahwire, the fast bowler, has replaced Mawoyo as captain and looks set to lead the bowling attack while legspinners Graeme Cremer and Tafadzwa Kamungozi will fight it out should coach Andy Pycroft opt for one slow bowler.The South Africans arrived in Zimbabwe’s second largest city on Wednesday afternoon and held one practice session at the match venue.Gauteng are captained by Shane Burger and coached by Lawrence Mahaklane.On Sunday, the two teams meet in a limited overs match at the same venue before the South Africans head back home.Zimbabwe A Blessing Mahwire (capt), Terry Duffin, Graeme Cremer, Trevor Garwe, Prosper Tsvanu, Alester Maregwede, Regis Chakabva (wk), Kamungozi, Tino Mawoyo, Eric Chauluka, Tendai Chisoro, Admire Manyumwa, Steven Nyamuzinga.Gauteng Shane Burger (capt), Richard Cameron, Richard das Neves, Yunus Keiler, Johnson Mafa, Dumisa Makalima, Brian Mathebula, William Motaung, Omphile Ramela, Warren Swann, Jean Symes, Dane Villas.

Tournament favourites Afghanistan, Nepal and USA recorded comfortable victories on the opening day of the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey.Afghanistan survived a middle-order collapse to beat Japan by 93 runs, Nepal defeated Germany by seven wickets and USA beat Mozambique by nine wickets. Jersey also enjoyed success on a bright and sunny day when they beat Singapore by 93 runs while Norway beat Vanuatu by 183 runs and Botswana saw off the Bahamas by 70 runs.At the Victoria College, Afghanistan suffered a sensational middle-order collapse against Japan when they were bowled out for 179 in 35.4 overs after being 137 for 3. Takuro Hagihara was the pick of Japan bowlers with 5 for 25 while for Afghanistan opener Karim Khan Sedeq top scored with 47. In turn, Japan were bowled out for 80 in 40.2 overs with Hasti Gul Abed bagging 3 for 22.Taj Malik, Afghanistan’s coach, was pleased with his side’s performance and said he never thought his team was in trouble despite posting a small total. “We discussed with the players during the innings break that the pitch was assisting the fast bowlers and if Japan could get us for 180 runs then we should be able to bowl them out for less than 100 runs.”Nepal had few problems against Germany. Set a modest target of 70 runs at the Les Quennevais 1, Nepal raced to victory in 20.2 overs with opener Mahesh Chhetri stroking an unbeaten 23. Earlier, 25-year-old spinner Basant Regmi took 3 for 4 and Mahaboob Alam 3 for 24 as Germany were bowled out in 39.4 overs. “I am happy for my team because it was important for us to get a good start in this tournament which we did,” Binod Kumar Das, Nepal’s captain, said. “We did well with the ball initially and though I think we could have batted better, a win is a win and I am happy it came so comfortably.”At the Farmers Field, USA crushed Mozambique. The feature of the match was a superb knock of 70 not out by Sushil Nadkarni as USA passed the 149-run target in 21.4 overs. Steve Messiah, USA’s captain, was pleased with his team’s performance in their first match in almost two years. “It’s the start we were looking for. We have been out of international cricket for a couple of years and we are now looking forward to moving from strength to strength. Every game will be a big game for us if we are going to qualify for the World … and this is where it all begins for us.”Opener Jersey’s Peter Gough picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his 69, which included seven boundaries, in his team’s win over Singapore.Norway captain Shahid Ahmed was the only centurion of the day with a brilliant 133 not out to guide his team to 360 for 3 in 50 overs against Vanuatu. Ahmed then completed a fine all-round performance when he claimed 3 for 11 as Vanuatu, who needs wins against two Associate members in Jersey if their application for Associate membership is to be successful, were dismissed for 177.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has demonstrated his concerns about a diminishing supply of high-class pace bowling resources by revealing he tried to convince Mitchell Johnson to remain a limited-overs player after his retirement from Test matches in Perth.Johnson told Lehmann and the captain Steven Smith of his intention to leave international cricket on the third evening of the WACA Test against New Zealand. While they accepted their spearhead’s decision, Lehmann has said he floated the possibility of Johnson sticking around as an ODI or Twenty20 bowler for Australia but was rebuffed.”His mind was made up as soon as he spoke to Steven and myself after day three. He’d been thinking about it for a while, been talking about it in the media,” Lehmann told the Adelaide radio station . “We spoke to him about maybe playing the one-dayers, we think that was a really good option for us to have that experience there. But he’s not into it, he’s not into the training anymore, he’s had enough and he just wants to sit at home and watch us play.”While no longer eager to pursue the rigorous training and travel regimen of an international fast bowler, Johnson is set to keep playing in the game’s shortest format for some time yet. The Perth Scorchers have been in discussions with his manager Sam Halvorsen about a potential Big Bash League deal, and the WACA chief executive Christian Matthews has said that “we’ve had indications he’s keen to play for us”.Lehmann, meanwhile, has reflected on a shrinking supply of pacemen, with the loss of Johnson and Ryan Harris thrusting the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson very much to the forefront of the national team’s plans across all forms of the game. The selection of Andrew Fekete, who has since been dropped by Tasmania, for the postponed tour of Bangladesh demonstrated a wide open field beneath this quartet.”We’ve got a few injuries at the moment, with Harris and Johnson retiring and then you chuck in Pat Cummins injured at the moment,” Lehmann said. “We’ve got some depth in young kids, but these four [Starc, Hazlewood, Siddle, Pattinson] are prime bowlers for us and we’ve got to keep them on the park.”Hazlewood, Siddle and Pattinson are seemingly duelling for two bowling spots alongside Starc. Lehmann said that Hazlewood had not performed to his satisfaction in the first two Tests of the New Zealand series, but he was hesitant about being overly critical of a young bowler still learning his game and duly inconsistent.”He got better and better in Perth, he certainly bowled well with the new ball in the second innings, better than he probably has all series, so he looks like he’s running into a little bit of form there,” Lehmann said. “But it’s tough to spot because he’s a young kid, he bowls well in patches and we probably should have held a few catches to help our bowlers out a little bit as well. He’d like more wickets, as we would.”Bowlers on both sides have been neutered by flat pitches in Brisbane and Perth, but Lehmann stressed that he expected better of Australia’s pacemen in particular. While the likes of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have flourished so far, Lehmann contended that this was largely as a result of their not being put under enough pressure by consistent bowling to the fields set by Smith.”I certainly don’t think we’ve bowled as well as we should have,” he said. “I said that after the first Test and then the second Test. We’re certainly batting well enough at the moment, so if we get the bowling right, and get the ball in the right areas and put a bit more pressure on them, not too many free balls, that might be a different story.”

ScorecardFile photo – Varun Aaron rocked Delhi’s top order and finished with figures of 3 for 27•Getty Images

An unbeaten half-century from Nitish Rana helped Delhi overcome a poor start and pull off a five-wicket win over Jharkhand at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Rana walked in with Delhi 14 for 3 chasing 135, and remained unbeaten on 60 off 44 balls (9×4, 1×6) after seeing them through with two overs to spare. He added 64 for the fourth wicket with Dhruv Shorey (30) and an unbroken 40 for the sixth wicket with Pawan Negi (24 not out). Varun Aaron, who struck twice in the third over of Delhi’s innings, finished with figures of 3 for 27 from his four overs.Sent in to bat, Jharkhand lost wickets at regular intervals, with Virat Singh (45) and Ishank Jaggi (42 off 29, 6×4) putting on the only significant stand of their innings, 62 for the fourth wicket. The highest score either side of that was Kumar Deobrat’s 13, as Delhi’s bowlers, led by Parvinder Awana’s 3 for 28, kept them down to a score of 134 for 7.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh coasted to their second successive win with a seven-wicket win against Gujarat in Mumbai. Chasing 166, Samarth Singh struck an unbeaten 65 – his first fifty – to help Uttar Pradesh romp to the target with an over to spare.Uttar Pradesh lost Prashant Gupta early before Suresh Raina (21 off 12) and Samarth combined for a brisk 31-run stand. Umang Sharma (38) and Samarth then put on 63 to help Uttar Pradesh into the ascendancy. Rush Kalaria picked up two wickets.Earlier, Gujarat rode on a 40-ball 54 from Manpreet Juneja after losing their openers early. However, it was Chirag Gandhi who provided the required impetus to the innings with a quick 41 to help Gujarat to a total of 165 for 6. Praveen Kumar claimed two scalps but it was Piyush Chawla who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1 for 16.
ScorecardShreyas Iyer smashed a 51-ball 86 to lift Mumbai to a comfortable five-wicket win against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai lost Akhil Herwadkar early in the chase of 182, but Iyer and Tare (41) got them back in the contest with a 71-run second-wicket stand. Iyer lost partners regularly but his innings, which featured four fours and six sixes, ensured the damage had been done as Mumbai reached the target with seven balls to spare.After being insterted to bat, Vidarbha posted 181 for 4 on the back of a fifty from Jitesh Sharma (56 off 30) and brisk contributions from Apoorv Wankhade (36) and Urvesh Patel (31). Sagar Trivedi picked up two wickets, but conceded 44 off his four overs.

Captain VVS Laxman, Arjun Yadav, Pragyan Ojha and Daniel Manohar will be the only four Hyderabad players with an experience of more than 10 first-class matches going into the Ranji Trophy. Hyderabad have been reduced to this situation after almost all of their team defected to the Indian Cricket League (ICL). D Ravi Teja (5 matches), Praneet Arjun (3), Anoof Pai (2), Amol Shinde (2) are the other players with any experience at first-class level.Even Laxman, expected to play Tests for India, might be available for only two games, away matches against Bengal and Punjab. Yadav was appointed the vice-captain for the season. Hyderabad will hope Teja and Arjun build up on their strong debuts last season: Teja, a right-hand opening batsman, scored an 84 against Maharashtra and Arjun, right-arm medium-pacer took four Mumbai wickets in his first showing.Squad: VVS Laxman (captain), Arjun Yadav, DB Ravi Teja, S Daniel Manohar, S Anoof Pai, Amol Shinde, Habeeb Ahmed (wk), Pragyan Ojha, Praneet Arjun, SM Shoaib, Ashwin Yadav, A Lalith Mohan, Vishal Sharma, Mohammad Ahmed Shakeer, Danny Dereck Prince

ScorecardA 21-ball blitz from Phil Mustard put Durham on course for a five-wicket win against Middlesex, which was eventually achieved with three balls to spare, in a match reduced to 19 overs per side by rain. Mustard sped to 49 with nine boundaries and Durham’s middle order kept up the required rate.Michael di Venuto fell to the first ball of Durham’s chase, trapped lbw by Chaminda Vaas, but this didn’t put Mustard off. He and Kyle Coetzer added 73 to bring the requirement down to a run-a-ball. Further heavy showers scudded across the ground to make life tough for the fielders, but the umpires stayed on throughout.Murali Kartik produced a tight four-over spell, removing Mustard, and kept Middlesex in the hunt while Tim Murtagh’s three scalps made Durham think. However, Gordon Muchall and Dale Benkenstein took their side most of the way.Middlesex’s innings fell away after a rollicking start from Eoin Morgan and Ed Smith. Morgan, the Ireland batsman, held his team together with a 46-ball 52, but Durham held their nerve with the ball and produced some electric fielding. The highlight was a stunning, running catch from Gary Park at long off to remove Murtagh.

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Riding on a half-century by Ian Bell and a five-for by James Anderson, England started their tour of New Zealand on a positive note with a 34-run win in the warm-up match against Canterbury in Christchurch.Bell’s 79 and his 95-run partnership with Kevin Pietersen (48) laid the base for some lower-order fireworks by Luke Wright, which took the England XI to 295 in their 50 overs. Wright’s 42, at No. 8, came off 15 balls with three fours and three sixes. He added an unbeaten 59 in four overs with Ravi Bopara.Wright said he wasn’t certain he would get a chance to bat. “It all happened quite quickly and it was nice to get in for five overs and luckily it went well,” he said. “I suppose it suits me to either go in at the top of the order or going in at the end and just trying to get bat on ball. It was perfect for me and Ravi to go in and have a go.”We’ve got a strong squad so everyone is fighting for their places at the moment. Every time we go out in the middle or in training, I think everyone is trying to impress and get in that first side.”Johann Myburgh’s 98-ball 87 was not enough for Canterbury to win the 13-a-side match as Anderson struck with 5 for 47. Myburgh added 81 with Peter Fulton after Anderson removed the openers. Dimitri Mascarenhas dismissed Fulton (31) and Shanan Stewart in quick succession to expose the lower order to the seamers. Ryan Sidebottom chipped in with two wickets while captain Paul Collingwood effected a run-out to dismiss Myburgh.England will play another 50-over game against the same opposition on Sunday, this time with 12 players each, ahead of the Twenty20 in Auckland on Tuesday.

South Africa’s selectors have handed Test specialists Paul Harris and Hashim Amla their maiden one-day call-ups while announcing a 14-man squad for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.Joubert Strydom, the chairman of the selection committee, said Harris was included to partner offspinner Johan Botha . “We have always wanted to have two specialist spinners in our one-day squad for the sub-continent,” Strydom said. “With both the Champions Trophy in September and the next World Cup scheduled to be played on the sub-continent, it is important that we explore our options in this regard.”Harris had recovered from a surgery that kept him out of ongoing Test series against Bangladesh, and Strydom said it was important that he get “as much exposure to sub-continent conditions as possible” ahead of the tour to India.Strydom said the selectors were keen to see how Amla, who has scored 1251 runs from 21 Tests at 33.81, performs in ODIs. “We will now have a very young middle order of Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy behind the experienced opening combination of Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs and we are very interested to see how they fare under testing conditions.”Meanwhile, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini have been rested from the ODIs. Explaining the selectors’ decision, Strydom said: “It is with an eye on the Indian Test series that we have also decided to rest Kallis, Boucher and Ntini.”It is going to be a very tough assignment and we need to have them fresh and ready for the challenge. We feel that the rest will be extremely beneficial in this regard.”South Africa will be without the services of Shaun Pollock, who retired from the game in the home series against West Indies, and the performances of the two allrounders, Albie Morkel and Vernon Philander, will be closely watched to see whether they can fit in as long-term options.The first ODI begins in Chittagong on March 14.Squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Albie Morkel, Vernon Philander, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveld, Andre Nel

Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, is certain age was not a defining factor in Australia’s CB Series loss to India. The average of the squad was 32 years, but Hilditch said it was almost the same unit that secured the World Cup less than 12 months earlier.”It’s far too much of a generalisation to say the side was too old,” Hilditch told the Australian. “The facts are we had some key players not scoring runs at critical times and that can happen.”Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds were both out of form, with neither finishing in the top 10 batsmen of the series. The team’s 2-0 finals defeat means South Africa only need to cleansweep the contest with Bangladesh to move to the No. 1 ranking.”Once you lose a game you can sit back and analyse all sorts of reasons and nobody can prove anything right or wrong,” Hilditch said. “But I certainly don’t think in any way, shape or form that age was a factor. In fact, I’d be positive that’s not the case.”The side is basically the same, with obviously a couple of critical changes, to the one which won the World Cup and repeated that standard of performance in India in extremely difficult circumstances, where they played really well. And we were comprehensive in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.”Australia’s form was less predictable after the contentious Sydney Test even though they topped the table in the preliminary rounds of the CB Series. However, they lost the final three matches of the campaign and the trophy went to India.”Like after the 2005 Ashes, we’re going to do a detailed analysis of where we can improve,” Hilditch said. “We’ll do that again this year. But often you can over-react because the result can come down to playing well on a couple of days in one-day cricket. The general view of the season is remarkably positive.”