Trinidad & Tobago stayed at the top of the KFC Cup regional one-day competition with an emphatic five-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands in Scarborough, their third consecutive win in the limited overs contest.Kieron Pollard’s 69, that steered T&T to the target of 177, won him the Man-of-the Match award. It took T&T only 36.3 overs of their allotted 50 to surpass the 176 set by the visitors, who won the toss and inserted themselves first up on a Shaw Park pitch that offered bounce.With a solid fielding and bowling display and the gallant, sturdy efforts of 19-year-old Pollard and 16-year-old opener Adrian Barath (41), T&T showed why they are the defending Carib Beer Series champions. Barath and Ganga steadied the ship with selective shots, while pinching the ones and twos. Later, Barath and Polard worked good in combination and both showed punishing stroke play.The shot of the day was struck by Pollard – on the fourth ball of the first over, facing Leewards spinner Hodge, Pollard blasted the ball high and straight past the bowler, the spectators, the pavilion and the media booths on the second level before it was deposited in the yard of neighbouring Scarborough Secondary.The win had been set up by a fine performance on the field. Some wily bowling, which saw each of the six bowlers used by captain Daren Ganga getting into the wicket-taking act, was buttressed by sharp fielding, with Ganga himself and Pollard each executing two clinical and momentum-breaking run outs.That included the “play-of-the-day” from Ganga, who swooped in fast from midwicket to produce a direct hit in one smooth motion that caught Omari Banks by surprise and well short of his crease. Leewards skipper Sylvester Joseph (72) and Cadville Rogers (50) were the only ones who dug in as their team-mates fell around them.Veerasammy Permaul’s five-wicket haul guided Guyana to a comprehensive 40-run win over Jamaica at Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth. Guyana, having been inserted to bat, managed a modest 163 but offspinner Permaul, with his second five-wicket haul in one-dayers, ensured that it was more than adequate. David Bernard (21) and Carlton Baugh (29) offered some resistance but Permaul cleaned both of them up to set up a fine win.A light afternoon shower forced the abandonment of the third round KFC Cup match between Windward Islands and Barbados at Benjamin’s Park in Dominica.After intermittent morning showers had delayed the start until 1:57 pm and reduced the match to a 20-overs-a-side affair, the game was called off when rain sent the players off the field at 2:47 pm. The stoppage forced an automatic abandonment since there was not enough time to get in the minimum number of overs by the cut-off time. When the rain came, Barbados, who were sent in, were had raced to 82 for 3 in nine overs.

The trial of Mark Vermeulen, who has been accused of starting fires at the Zimbabwe Cricket headquarters and the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, has been further adjourned to March 9. The delay follows an agreement between the defence and the state that he undergo additional medical examinations by two government experts.Vermeulen’s defence lawyer, Eric Matinenga, presented the court with two medical reports from a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist. Both diagnosed Vermeulen with “a non-pathological condition and consistent intermediate explosive disorder which can influence his conduct.” The court asked for further medical examinations to be undertaken under the country’s Mental Health Bill.The magistrate agreed to relax the conditions of bail, so allowing Vermeulen to resume playing cricket for Old Harrovians, his club side, when the Harare Vigne Cup League resumes on Sunday. He is, however, barred from playing matches at Harare Sports Club and the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, which are both operated by Zimbabwe Cricket.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) picked Pakistan fast bowlers Umar Gul and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for random dope tests after the opening match of the World Cup against West Indies at Sabina Park on Tuesday.PJ Mir, Pakistan’s media manager, said that Pakistan were informed that Gul and Naved-ul-Hasan would be tested for banned drugs as a part of ICC’s anti-doping regulations for the World Cup, which requires two players from each of the 16 teams to be selected at random for testing at 15 of the World Cup matches.The ICC had earlier tested selected players in the World Cup warm-up gamesGul and Naved-ul-Hasan are the spearheads of Pakistan’s attack that had received a pre-World Cup setback when Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were withdrawn from the squad at the last minute because of injuries. However, it is suspected that they were held back to shield them from ICC dope tests during the World Cup as there were fears that both still carried traces of nandrolone in their bloodstreams.

India’s poor fielding has been a worry for the side through this Quadrangular tournament and a glut of missed run-out chances and misfields in the outfield cost them dear in their 91-run defeat against New Zealand at Chepauk. New Zealand, led by Suzie Bates’s maiden century, are now through to the final on March 5. India will have to beat Australia in their must-win final match if they are to join them.The Indian captain, Mithali Raj, admitted that the fielding had been disappointing so far. “There were a lot of chances in the initial overs and if we had got even one hit at the wicket we would have had New Zealand in a spot,” Raj told Cricinfo. Haidee Tiffen, the New Zealand captain, was dropped at gully when she was on 6, and went on to feature in a century partnership with Bates. The bowlers, Raj insisted, had done well but they hadn’t got enough support from their fielders.Raj also explained that, although India does not have a fielding coach, the team requests the services of a local expert at every venue they play. “We have been concentrating on collecting and then throwing from the outfield,” she added. “But we also practise throwing at the stumps and slip catching.”New Zealand, by contrast, are very impressive in their running between the wickets, diving in the outfield and aiming at the stumps, and in that department they make India look like a grade A side. “The girls are willing to throw themselves around to save runs and fortunately no-one has got injured in doing so,” said Haidee Tiffen, the New Zealand captain. “This keeps the confidence up and we keep trying.”Tiffen added that after New Zealand’s defeat to Australia, the team had sat down to work out where they were going wrong. “We had to make sure that we’d get some solid partnerships. We had a slow start though as [Jhulan] Goswami and [Rumeli] Dhar bowled well. But I am very proud of Bates and the rest of the girls for coming back after the defeat so well.”Bates herself was very happy to get her century especially, she admitted, since the first three or four days of the tour had been very hard. “It was extremely hot to start out with and is nowhere near the temperatures in New Zealand right now,” said Bates, who suffered cramps towards the end of her innings today but decided to carry on after she had taken some salts and liquids.Bates agreed with Tiffen that India’s opening bowling pair of Goswami and Dhar were the hardest to play among the three teams. But now with New Zealand through to the final, she can enjoy her nightly routine of sipping with her team-mates at their hotel, as she confessed she had been doing for a few days now.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Spurred on by a delightful 87 from Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, thrashing South Africa by 67 runs at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. With 251 on the board, Bangladesh’s trio of left-arm spinners thrived on the sluggish surface, one that resembled a sub-continental sandpit during the second half of the match, and pulled off a truly memorable triumph.South Africa were outplayed. Having been given first use of the surface, their bowlers unravelled as the first innings went on. Barring Andre Nel, who snared his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, the rest were predictable and, worryingly, wayward. Their batsmen didn’t come to grips with the deteriorating pitch, stifled by probing medium-pace and canny spin, and chose aggression when graft was essential. It was South Africa’s first loss to Bangladesh and opens up the Super Eights to a number of possibilities.Having been inserted under overcast skies, Bangladesh turned in their most impressive batting effort in five matches. Undeterred by a Nel engineered top-order stumble, when they were reduced to 84 for 4, Bangladesh recovered through some meaningful middle-order partnerships. They followed that up with an efficient bowling effort, backed up by tigerish fielding, and didn’t allow any sizeable partnerships to flourish. Herschelle Gibbs, forced to come in at No.7 after suffering a calf strain earlier, battled till the end but lack of support, and a mounting run-rate, reduced it to an effort in vain.Ashraful’s knock, the highest individual score by a Bangladesh batsman in World Cups, was a delightful blend of caution and aggression. He was forced to play safe early on, gliding singles to third man and cobbling together a reviving stand with Aftab Ahmed, but ended in a flourish of paddle-scoops and rasping drives redolent of boyish audacity.For two batsmen with a similar aggressive bent of mind, they reined in their instincts and the 76-run stand was a steadying influence in the middle overs. Aftab fell just when he appeared to be stepping it up, lashing straight to extra-cover, but Ashraful made his knock count. He brought up his second World Cup fifty with a smoked loft over Makhaya Ntini’s head and followed it up with a cheeky four past fine leg, shuffling across the crease and angling it cutely. The final ball of the over, the 44th, was clattered past point and Ashraful stepped up the ante in fine style. Mashrafe Mortaza clouted three fours and six, giving Bangladesh exactly the kind of boost they needed to rattle the total past the 250-mark.The Bangladesh spinners exploited the sluggish surface perfectly: Abdur Razzak celebrates dismissing AB de Villiers•Getty Images

Syed Rasel provided Bangladesh with two crucial early blows. Smith tried to manufacture drives through the off side, backing away outside off, and paid the price for trying often, missing a straight one and losing his off stump. Jacques Kallis was uncharacteristically edgy early on, nibbling eagerly, and he appeared to want to dominate the bowling from the outset. Rasel, though, stuck to the basics and lack of width did Kallis in, mistiming an attempted loft to mid-on.That was enough of an opening for the spinners to barge in. Enter Abdur Razzak with his snarling darts. One spun slightly away and foxed de Villiers, the next went straight on and rattled his stumps. Enter Mohammad Rafique with his 117 matches of experience and the pressure valves were slowly tightened. Just five runs came in the third Power Play, between overs 15 and 20, and three wickets were winkled out. Enter Saqibul Hasan with youthful vim, and Mark Boucher was prised out with flight. Justin Kemp was undone by a smart return catch next ball and South Africa were being spun out in quick time.Shaun Pollock and Gibbs added 45 but the asking rate was climbing too fast and it took a sharp direct hit from Tamim Iqbal to end that resistance. Rafique’s loop was too good for Nel and Razzak returned to mop up No.10 and Jack. Gibbs limped on, with a runner for company, but strangely never made a serious attempt to go after the bowling. He was content with finding the gaps and never really tried to smash the bowling out of the ground. Maybe he was too hamstrung, maybe the bowling was accurate. Whatever the reason, the match was going only in one direction by then.

England have received a boost in the build-up to the first Test at Lord’s which starts next Thursday (May 17) with the news that Michael Vaughan may recover in time to play. However, Stuart Broad is unlikely to come into contention for one of the pace bowling slots after being forced out of the Leicestershire’s current match against Derbyshire with a knee injury.Vaughan suffered a broken finger last week when he was struck on the hand in a County Championship match by Hampshire’s Stuart Clark. The initial prognosis was that he would need between three and four weeks to recover.But Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, told the BBC that Vaughan had “definitely improved since it happened last week.”I don’t know whether they’ve made a decision or not but he’s getting better,” Moxon said. “I’ve not had a chance to speak to him yet today but hopefully we’ll know by early next week.”Broad, though, is expected to be out for a couple of weeks. “This is a fresh injury which flared up earlier this week and we have sent him to see a specialist in London,” Tim Boon, the Leicestershire coach, told the club website. “At this stage, I anticipate that he will be out for another two games and we are just hoping that it is not even longer.”But there was better news regarding Kevin Pietersen, who missed the current round of county matches with a strain to his left calf. He expects to have fully recovered in time for the Test.

The Sri Lanka A squad for the tour of England starting in July is expected to be drawn from the squad of 19 players selected for training on February 21.Chandika Hathurusingha, the former Sri Lankan batsman who is currently coaching the Sri Lanka A side, said that the team comprising 16 players would be selected from the 19 already chosen for training, but added that it would probably include a few players from the national side who may not be needed for the home series against Bangladesh. Bangladesh is set to tour Sri Lanka from June 17 to July 25 to play in a series of three Tests and three one-day internationals.Of the 19 selected Malinda Warnapura, Ishara Amarasinghe and Kaushal Lokuarachchi were selected in the Sri Lanka team that recently went to Abu Dhabi to play in a three-match one-day series against Pakistan.The Sri Lanka A team’s tour of UK itinerary comprises nine matches, five of which are first-class games.The 19 picked for training are: Michael Vandort, Mahela Udawatte, Malinda Warnapura, Tilan Samaraweera, Jehan Mubarak, Thilina Kandamby, Kanchana Gunawardena, Kaushal Silva, Ishara Amarasinghe, Akalanka Ganegama, Sujeewa Silva, Dhammika Prasad, Tharanga Lakshitha, Chanaka Welagedera, Rangana Herath, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Dilruwan Perera, Ranga Dias and Gayan Wijekoon.The tour itinerary: July 10-12: v MCC at Arundel, July 14: v Worcestershire at New Road, July 16: v Kent at Canterbury, July 19-21: v Sussex at Hove, July 25-27: v Warwickshire at Edgbaston, July 29: v Lancashire at Liverpool (tbc), July 31-Aug 3: v Yorkshire at Headingley Carnegie, Aug 6: v Derbyshire at Derby, Aug 8-10: v Durham at Riverside.

ScorecardUAE’s Saqib Ali and Khurram Khan defied Scotland’s bowlers with a dogged century partnership on the first day of their Intercontinental Cup match at Ayr.After a five-hour delay due to heavy rain – play getting underway at 4pm – Scotland picked up three quick wickets, making the most of helpful and seamer friendly conditions. Craig Wright was first to strike, trapping Arshad Ali, UAE’s captain, in front for a duck. Five overs later, Wright broke through in identical fashion to remove Gayan Silva, before John Blain found the edge of Amjad Javed’s bat, Ryan Watson pulling off a fine catch at second slip.At 18 for 3, UAE were up against it but Khurramm and Saqib were let off the hook by Scotland and soon the pair capitalised. They put on 153 for the fourth wicket, before Khurram fell to Majid Haq for a composed 74. However, with poor weather forecast for the remaining three days, both sides have plenty to do if they’re to force a win.

Yuvraj Singh has never been to Ireland but he’s confident that it’s where India can set the tone for a successful summer and where he can secure a permanent spot in the batting order. India play three one-day internationals against South Africa in Stormont before taking on England in three Tests and seven ODIs.”How the tour progresses is very important, so if we can do well against South Africa in Ireland I’m sure we’ll play good cricket,” he said at the end of day three of a four-day conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. “For the last six or seven years I’ve been batting in the middle order, but it’s been tough finding my place, especially in Tests. It depends where I come to bat. If I come lower down then I have to go for my shots. If I get sent up the order then I can settle in and open up later.”Current form can’t be assessed in one or two series. At the World Cup I was in form but unfortunately we didn’t go far and in Bangladesh I couldn’t get started. In the Afro-Asia Cup I came in lower down, so if I can get a run for a five or six-match series at one spot then you can see how I perform. It’s going to be a tough tour so we have to focus on being mentally and physically fit, but I’m confident of doing well.”With his left knee still in a brace after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament before the Champions Trophy, Yuvraj said he didn’t feel uncomfortable on the field. “I’ve been working on it [the knee] three or four times a week, and obviously the brace is a precaution so I have to keep it on until I get properly fit. But when I’m playing a game I go 100% all out.”The focus of the day at the NCA was batting in pairs. Two batsmen went in at a time and had to chase 45 runs in eight overs. Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir failed, losing Uthappa in the process. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid chased it down with ease and made 53 before Ganguly got out. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, batting against the spin of Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar, also succeeded as did Yuvraj and Dinesh Karthik.Sharma, a promising young Mumbai batsman who was included in the 30-member probables list for the 2006 Champions Trophy, used his chance to bat with the seniors. He was impressive against the spinners and hustled to make singles into doubles and once lofted Powar to long on where Sreesanth dropped a sitter. “Keep it up!” yelled a jaded spectator sitting alone in the stands.Yuvraj wasn’t confident against spin, often lunging forward and playing around his pad. Was it a worry, given that Monty Panesar, in fantastic form, would bowl a lot against India over the summer? “All of our batsmen play spin well, so I don’t see him as a threat. Obviously he’s doing very well so we have to look out for him.”Gregory King, the physical trainer, and physio John Gloster were overseeing the camp, the last of three conducted ahead of India’s tour of Ireland and England. Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach, stood at square leg and took notes for most of the time.”It’s going well, after just two days. Today we had some match practice which went well for all the batsmen and bowlers,” said Yuvraj. “We didn’t really feel the absence of a coach, as there was a bowling coach and a fielding coach [Robin Singh] and the team is looking really good. Everyone’s quite happy with the coaching camp.”

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.