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Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and his Sussex team-mate Mushtaq Ahmed guided Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to an emphatic ten-wicket win inside three days against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in their second-round Patrons Trophy match at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Monday.After Naved had taken five wickets in PIA’s first innings and then hammered a brilliant 124, legspinner Mushtaq just sliced through PIA’s second innings, taking eight wickets for 53 runs in 17.2 overs. WAPDA, resuming their overnight score of 238 for 7, extended their first innings lead to 163.Then, they had PIA bowled out for a poor 181 the second time round and, reached their target in a matter of 4.5 overs.Unbeaten at 62 on the second afternoon, Naved raced to his third first-class century, his 124 coming in less than three and a half hours with 12 fours and five sixes. With Kashif Raza (12), his eighth-wicket stand was worth 72 runs. Mushtaq, fresh from his haul of over a 100 wickets with Sussex, completed his 94th five-wicket haul. He took 10 wickets in the match, for 84 runs. PIA, who have incidentally never won the Patrons Trophy title outright, have virtually been eliminated from for a spot in the Quadrangular Stage from Pool B after two straight defeats.Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) gained a slim but important ten-run first innings lead over Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) on the penultimate day of their Patrons Trophy match at Rawalpindi.Just like the previous two days, when the proceedings were interrupted by poor visibility, the last 11.5 overs of the third day’s play were also lost to bad light. Resuming their first innings at the overnight 28 for no loss, KRL made 197 in reply to SNGPL’s 187. The latter reached 20 for 2 in their second innings before bad light halted play.Opener Saeed Anwar Jnr made 34 with four boundaries while Jaffer Nazir hammered 43 with three fours and two sixes in the KRL first innings. Umpire Iqbal Butt also gave KRL five penalty runs. Should there be no result on the last day, KRL will collect three points on the basis of the first innings lead.National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were pushed to the edge of defeat by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), on the third day of their four-day Patrons Trophy match at Karachi on Monday. Forced to follow-on, National Bank were 134 for three wickets in their second innings, thanks to a fighting knock of 70 by Salman Butt.Naeem Anjum, the left-arm spinner, took the key wickets of Butt and captain Naumanullah to put NBP under great pressure. NBP were still 104 behind in order to avoid an innings defeat with seven second innings wickets in hand. Salman’s knock contained 11 fours while Naumanullah scored a fine 48 off just 47 balls with nine well-timed boundaries.Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 83 for 5, National Bank were bowled out for 202 mainly because of a defiant 56 by Fawad Alam in 183 minutes and a marathon 39 in 222 minutes by Qaiser Abbas that came off 141 balls. Mohammad Sami blasted three fours and a six in his 36 at No.10 that saw 62 being added for the ninth wicket with Qaiser. Rao Iftikhar was the pick of the ZTBL bowling attack with four wickets for only 41 runs.Pervez Aziz compiled a patient unbeaten century to help Attock Group stage a fightback against Pakistan Customs, on the third day of their Patrons Trophy match at Karachi.Aziz finished the day at 113 as Attock Group made 305 for 9 in reply to the Customs’ total of 379. Attock Group were still 74 runs behind with their last pair in. Aziz with Asim Butt had added 61 runs for the tenth wicket. Butt was 17 not out at stumps yesterday. Opener Imran Ali cracked a fine 61 earlier, with six boundaries in 244 minutes. The Customs’ pace duo of Uzair-ul-Haq and Rizwan Akbar caused much of the damage by sharing three wickets each.

England 1973

The first World Cup – which came two years before the men’s version was born – was held in England, and won by the hosts in a one-sided final against Australia. The brainchild of Sir Jack Hayward, who paid £40,000 of the costs, the 60-over tournament comprised Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, England, Young England and an International XI, and the cup was awarded to the team at the head of the points table after the round-robin.The competition was dogged by rain in the initial stages, but the weather held fair for the final match between the two top teams, England and Australia. It was a stroke of good fortune that the 21st and final match proved the decisive tie – and England defeated Australia by 92 runs at Edgbaston. The victory was given a royal seal of approval: the trophy was presented by Princess Anne.India 1978
Australia got their revenge against England, completing a comprehensive eight-wicket win with more than 18 overs to spare in the final. This time the competition was played in a 50-over format and was contested by only four teams – India, England, New Zealand and Australia – after West Indies and Holland had to withdraw because of financial difficulties.Only six matches were played, held between January 1 and January 14. But that was six more than many people had expected: fears that the tournament would not go ahead were only ended when India – the only country which would attract large enough crowds to make it financially viable – agreed to host the tournament. The buildup was marred by controversy when England’s captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint was dropped amid rumours of jealousy of her popularity, with the older Mary Pilling replacing her in the leading role. Nevertheless, England managed to make the final, although they were soundly beaten after crawling to 96 for 8 at less than two an over.New Zealand 1982
The same four teams that ran out in 1978 – plus an international XI – contested the third World Cup, and the format reverted to 60 overs. Australia took the honours once more when they faced England in a repeat of the 1978 final. The result went the same way when – in the penultimate over – Australia reached their target with three wickets to spare. More than 3000 spectators watched the match at Christchurch, and the game was also televised.Australia 1988-89

Yet again the old firms of England and Australia met in the final, but Australia extended their advantage, scooping the title for the third time in a row. The match was held at the MCG, where England eked out a painfully slow 127 from 60 overs. Australia’s batsmen responded in equally slow, yet ominously deliberate, fashion, losing only two wickets in reaching their target with 15 overs to spare. Ireland reached the third-place play-off.England 1993
A giant leap for womankind: at last, a different finalist – New Zealand. They took on England, the hosts, for the trophy after winning all seven of their qualifying matches and conceding only 1.6 runs an over. Australia failed to qualify for the final for the first time, but England marched there thanks in no small part to Carole Hodges’ match-winning century against the old enemy in the qualifiers.England proceeded to scoop their second trophy in front of 4,500 at Lord’s: lorry driver Jo Chamberlain was the hero of the hour with a spanking 38, a run-out, wicket and a catch. Denmark managed to win one match in what was an otherwise disappointing first World Cup, while Holland also won only one match.India 1997

The sixth World Cup returned to India in 1997, and the 50-over format made a comeback as one-day cricket was standardised worldwide; it is a format which has endured. Playing in front of vast crowds, Australia picked up their fourth World Cup when they overhauled New Zealand with three overs to spare in a thrilling final at Eden Gardens. Belinda Clark played a captain’s knock with 52 as opener.New Zealand 2000
New Zealand, the hosts, pulled off a shock four-run win over the favourites Australia in a nail-biting contest at Auckland. After scoring only 184 New Zealand seemed to have blown their chances, but offspinner Clare Nicholson turned events in their favour when she bowled Belinda Clark for 91 with Australia on 150 for 7. They lost two more wickets and started the final over needing five runs, but Charmaine Mason fell on the first ball of the over. Finally, the World Cup trophy had a new name on it.

Sachin Tendulkar has said that it is important that India start their Asia Cup campaign “with a bang”. The Press Trust of India reports that Tendulkar said, “India will try hard to start with a bang in the Asia Cup, beginning in Sri Lanka from July 16. It is a fresh season,” at a press conference in Chennai.Tendulkar acknowledged the role played by the training camp in Bangalore and looked forward to the next one in Chennai. “We had a nice and useful camp in Bangalore and we will take it forward to be focused in the limited-overs tournament in Sri Lanka. The weather condition in Sri Lanka is akin to what we have here [in Chennai].” The Indian team is scheduled to attend a training camp in Chennai from July 3 to 8.Tendulkar described the list of probables selected for the one-day series in Sri Lanka in glowing terms. “The probables announced after the Bangalore camp are excellent and the team for the Asia Cup to be selected here will also be strong and excellent.” He explained that several innovative exercises were conducted in the Bangalore coaching camp and that the each player had a specially tailored regimen to follow. “We were made to play kho-kho as this sport requires a lot of physical fitness”When asked about the composition of fast bowlers in the Indian team Tendulkar was guarded. “It is the selectors’ job but the team’s combination would be decided on the kind of wickets that are prepared. Pitches in the Emerald Island are good. When we go there, we will get to know whether they will suit fast bowling or spin or batting.”Tendulkar also refused to be drawn into the debate of whether a specialist wicketkeeper should be used in the one-dayers also. “There is no point in holding a debate on this. Fifteen players will give different opinions. It is the selectors who are the best judges and I will leave it to them. It would not be prudent to sit here and make an assessment and plan things in respect of the composition of the team and specialist wicket-keeper.”

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has been docked 70% of his match fee after his side failed to meet the minimum over-rate requirements during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Trinidad.Gayle, after a hearing with match referee Chris Broad, was fined on the basis of having breached Level 2.11 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct regulation relating to the “failure by a captain to ensure that his team meets the minimum over-rate requirements.”The rest of Gayle’s team-mates were each fined 35% of their match fee for the same offence, as West Indies were found to have bowled six overs short of the required over-rate.”During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,” Broad said.”I saw very little evidence that the West Indies team, after learning of their slow over-rate predicament, actually tried to speed things up. Therefore, they left me with little option but to enact this penalty,” he said.Gayle has the right to contest the verdict, and must do within 24 hours of receiving the same by lodging an appeal in writing with the ICC’s legal counsel.

The schedule for the Videocon Cup, to be held in Amsterdam, has been announced. India, Pakistan and Australia will compete in this tournament, beginning on August 21.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the BCCI, released the fixtures for the tri-nation series in Kolkata yesterday. For the three teams, it would serve as an ideal rehearsal before the Champions Trophy in England in September.The Indian team are scheduled to fly out to England after this tournament, play three practice matches before beginning their Champions Trophy campaign.Schedule
August 21: India vs Pakistan
August 23: India vs Australia
August 25: Australia vs Pakistan
August 28: Final

Sachin Tendulkar will not have fond memories of this tour of Holland. After suffering a tennis elbow and seeing his team get knocked out of the tournament, he is now down with a viral fever so acute that he is barely able to speak. Keeping him company in illness are Rahul Dravid and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, reports Press Trust of India.Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, meanwhile, have recovered from their viral fever, and went shopping and sightseeing with the rest of the Indian team in Amsterdam. Dravid and Tendulkar, however, were confined to their rooms, with Andrew Leipus, the Indian team’s physiotherapist, looking after them.It hasn’t yet been confirmed if Shoaib will miss the Videocon Cup final against Australia on August 28, or if there is a chance that Dravid or Tendulkar might not recover by September 1, when India take on England in the first match of the NatWest Challenge.

Michael Vaughan admitted England were well below their best as they slumped to a crushing eight-wicket defeat at The Oval, to hand Australia the NatWest Challenge. England’s top order crumbled again and, despite Kevin Pietersen’s 74, they were never in the game once Adam Gilchrist cut loose en route to a destructive century.”We were under par with the bat but it nibbled about in the morning and we were about 60 short,” Vaughan said. “[A score of] 280-290 was about par on that sort of wicket and against a team like Australia you’re probably looking at beyond 300 to be really competitive. We were below standard, no excuses, it nibbled but we didn’t bat as well as we can do. Once you don’t get the total to put them under pressure you are always going to struggle, but Gilchrist came out and played fantastically.”Vaughan was adamant that the last two one-day defeats wouldn’t have any long-term effect on England heading in to the Ashes series. He believed the recent matches swung so much that it was hard to draw conclusions.”On Thursday, when we won at Headingley, everyone was saying the momentum was with England and I certainly didn’t believe that either,” he said. “I certainly don’t believe that the momentum has swung in Australia’s favour. One-day cricket is a totally different concept and the history suggests that these games don’t have any impact on the five-day game.”It’s just important that over the next week or so that we hit July 21 hard and make sure that we get our games and minds in order. That’s the biggest challenge of all for the summer and we’ve all been looking forward to it, and everyone’s been talking about it, so lets move our minds to that.”However, he has yet to be convinced by the new rule changes, despite Vikram Solanki’s half-century when he came in as a Supersub in place of Simon Jones. “The Powerplays work well, I’m a fan of them, but I’m a bit sceptical of the substitutions,” he said. “You get the advantage of winning the toss and then you have an extra batter to chase down the runs.”Ricky Ponting was understandably elated by Australia’s performance, especially after the tough start they have experienced to the tour. “That was very satisfying,” he said, “It’s the result of a lot of hard work, a lot of talking about our games, where we were going wrong and the finer aspects of things. We did that before the Lord’s game, we had a really good meeting and a really good training session and we’ve managed to bring all of that into these two games.”They were a couple of pretty comprehensive wins for us. Today was as close as it gets to perfect one-day cricket for us. The way we restricted them and then to peel the runs of with 16 overs left is a comprehensive win.”Like Vaughan, Ponting said he wouldn’t look too much into these results, but he clearly thought that the margin of victories gave his side an advantage. “I said before this series that I don’t read too much into the one-day game, but having said that a couple of weeks ago it didn’t look that bright for us,” he said. “But the pleasing thing for me and the team is how the players have really lifted in the big games when it has really mattered for us. I couldn’t be happier with what we’ve done in last couple of games after a very disappointing game at Headingley.”Adam Gilchrist, who had not scored an ODI hundred since January 2004, was just happy to see Australia home with his 121 from 101 balls. “It was very special for a lot a reasons, most importantly getting the job done for the team,” he said. “I haven’t often been there at the end of a run chase, haven’t often been there after 15 overs, so to be there at the end was uncharted waters. More importantly, the result showed great character.”

The West Indians’ humiliation at the hands of England has stirred Sir Garry Sobers into criticising the team’s preparation – but he defended Brian Lara’s position as captain.Sobers, one of the finest allrounders of all time, said that West Indies have paid for not taking England seriously enough and not treating them with respect. “I think we underestimated England,” he told BBC radio. “We returned home after performing so well on tour to South Africa and thought we would do well at home. We hadn’t heard much about England’s bowlers so we underestimated them. Complacency is the only conclusion I can come to for these results.”But with no shortage of pundits and former players rounding on West Indies, Sobers was at pains to point out that they were not a bad side. “[They are] a good team, make no mistake about that. I think they have a lot of ability. They came back from South Africa after scoring over 300 runs every time they batted. That’s a very good sign of the calibre of the players we have.”And Sobers refused to add his voice to those calling for Lara to be sacked. “Brian’s contribution has been tremendous. His record in South Africa and Zimbabwe was very good, and he came back as the world’s No. 1 batsman,” he argued. “The captaincy didn’t affect his form in South Africa. He shouldn’t be replaced … who is there to replace him anyway? We haven’t reached the standard yet where we can afford to replace him.”Lara himself would not be drawn into the subject of captaincy. “I’m devastated and it’s very hard to put my feelings into words,” he admitted. “We have to re-group and put our emotions back together. The guys are in shock. We need to get it together and get going in Antigua.”

Chandrakant Pandit, the former Indian wicketkeeper and Ranji Trophy-winning Mumbai coach, has been appointed as the Maharashtra coach. Pandit, 43, played five Tests for India, and more recently led Mumbai to two consecutive Ranji Trophy triumphs in 2003 and 2004.Pandit’s appointment is part of Maharashtra’s revamp process as they gear up for the new season. Darren Holder, an Australian coach, was recently appointed as the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s (MCA) cricket director while speculation persits over several players, like Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni, transfering to Maharashtra this season.According to Ajay Shirke, the president of the MCA, Pandit, along with Holder, would be responsible for the coaching of the senior and other teams of all age-groups of the region. Shirke also announced the appointment of Col PRV Nair as the administrative manager of the side.

ScorecardEngland Under-19s have been set an unlikely 447 for victory in the third Test against India Under-19s at Shenley. India’s batsmen rollicked along at nearly four runs-per-over in their second innings with Sumit Sharma falling one short of a deserved hundred, as the visitors continued their vice-like grip over England.Indeed England’s batsmen showed little capacity for a fight this morning as they capitulated from their overnight score of 212 for 6 to 261 all out. Only Rory Hamilton-Brown showed the required application with an unbeaten 81 as the medium pacer, Abu Nechim, wrapped up the innings with 4 for 59.India soon lost their openers in reply, but their middle-order steadied proceedings with Sharma finding good support from Virat Kohli (46) and Parvez Aziz who played aggressively for his 65. Declaring on 293 for 7 this left England the mountainous total of 447 to chase down, and they started disastrously, losing Varun Chopra for 28 minutes before the close. With one day left, their backs are against the wall.