Gloucestershire 245 for 6 (Taylor 93, Adshead 69*, Khan 3-27) beat Worcesterhsire 233 for 9 (Vincent 56, Ball 4-47) by 12 runs
ScorecardThe Pro 40 competition continued its staggered start as Gloucestershire pipped Worcestershire by 12 runs under the lights at a sultry New Road. Chris Taylor’s excellent 93 laid the foundation for the win, while Stephen Adshead’s late assault put the tie just beyond the home side.After choosing to bat, Gloucestershire slid to 33 for 3 before Taylor and Alex Gidman restored order with a fourth-wicket stand of 71, but it was the sixth-wicket partnership of 106 between Taylor and Adshead which tipped the scales. Taylor’s 93 included nine fours, but as he began to tire, Adshead cut loose with six fours and two sixes in his 48-ball 69 not out.Worcestershire began brightly, cruising to 81 for 0 in 13 overs, but Ian Harvey removed Lou Vincent and Vikram Solanki with successive balls, and then Taylor ran out Stephen Moore to reduce them to 93 for 3.Any chance of a home win seemed to end when Martyn Ball dismissed Graeme Hick and Steven Davies within three balls to reduce Worcestershire to 113 for 5, and although the tail put up a fight, they were always behind the clock

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.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out – Pakistan
How they were out – England

Sajid Mahmood followed his most impressive one-day international bowling performance with a calm, matchwinning innings as England levelled the series by three wickets at Edgbaston. He’d been instrumental in keeping Pakistan down to 154, but a middle order collapse against Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq meant his work wasn’t done. When he joined Michael Yardy 37 were still needed but the pair completed the job and a fine series fightback by England.This wasn’t a match for high quality batsmenship so Mahmood’s innings deserves much praise after he arrived in an intense atmosphere following a collapse of 4 for 16 in 19 balls. In the recent domestic C&G final he’d swiped across the line with Lancashire nearing their target and here was confronted with a baying crowd containing a large proportion of support for Pakistan. While in the field he’d again been subjected to taunts, as happened in the Test series, but he managed to shut everything out to play a mature innings.He clipped Afridi through square leg to ease the tension but the killer over as far as Pakistan were concerned was the return of Rana Naved, who struggled throughout the series. Inzamam-ul-Haq had only entrusted him with one over with the new ball and bringing him back was a gamble that proved very costly. Three fours came off the over and the target was down to single figures. A word, too, for Yardy who showed the cool head that has made him a key finisher at Sussex. He didn’t hit a boundary but worked the singles and had the satisfaction of stroking the winning runs.Pakistan staged a commendable fightback to haul themselves back into contention. Mohammad Asif and Iftikhar Anjum struck with the new ball as England stumbled to 49 for 3, but Kevin Pietersen tore into the Pakistan bowlers as the target raced into view. He rode his luck to reach 34, while also playing some vintage Pietersen shots, before trying to swing Afridi away over midwicket and being castled by a googly. It was a fine piece of bowling, but another example of Pietersen not quite being able to control his emotions.Another five overs of Pietersen and the match would have been as good as over, but with a sniff of an opening – and nothing to lose – Pakistan went for broke. Inzamam crowded the batsmen and Jamie Dalrymple was trapped plumb by a quick legbreak. In the next over Paul Collingwood, in his 100th ODI, was trapped by Razzaq, who then lured Chris Read into an ill-advised hook shot. The rush of wickets enlivened the crowd and the noise level reached levels where even the umpires were saying they were struggling to hear.

Throughout the day, Pakistan’s fans hadn’t had much to cheer as their batsmen struggled to make any impression. Conditions were not easy and Pakistan only managed eight fours and a six, but part of that was down to the accuracy of the bowling and sharp fielding. Apart from an early spate of wides, the England attack plugged away on the ideal line and length and didn’t allow the batsmen width to attack.Pakistan tried to assert some authority by sending Afridi in at No.3 who attempted to blast the ball out of the park before swinging across the line at Lewis. Mohammad Hafeez’s battle ended when he dragged an attempted pull off Mahmood into his stumps and Pakistan had lost three wickets for eight runs.Mahmood has had a tough summer in the limited overs game, but retains the basic attributes of pace and swing which make him dangerous. Although still prone to throwing in wayward deliveries he kept the batsmen on their toes. Mohammad Yousuf had again been unconvincing and he could do little against the snorter from Mahmood that squared him up and was edged low to slip.Collingwood’s medium-pace then proved ideal for the conditions and he trapped Inzamam lbw and bowled Abdul Razzaq before he could repeat his barrage from Trent Bridge. Kamran Akmal’s miserable tour with the bat ended with an edge off Yardy, which Read grabbed after a bobble via his pad, and Younis Khan was left to salvage what he could.However, despite a spirited fightback Pakistan ended their long tour on a poor note while England have continued to show a welcome return to winning ways in one-day cricket – although not without the odd nervous twitch along the way.

With all tickets available through the public ticketing system for next year’s World Cup final sold out, fans hoping to acquire the remainder of the tickets will have to purchase the hospitality and travel packages, the organisers informed yesterday.In an article posted on the official website of the World Cup, the organisers said that the demand for the final in Barbados was great during the first phase of public ticketing, and that every category – including the best seats at US$300 apiece and the US$200-per-person Party Stand – was oversubscribed.However, Cricket Logistics 2007 claimed that travel and hospitality packages are still available – including match tickets for the final, albeit in limited numbers. Tom Roche , the general manager of Cricket Hospitality 2007, urged fans not to delay buying the remaining tickets, including those for the semi-finals in Jamaica and St. Lucia.”Fans need to be buying their packages now because if they wait too long there will be nothing left”, Roach was quoted in cricketworldcup.com. “This not only applies to the finals but, to both semi-finals as well, because they are proving very popular. In fact, because of how the match schedule is structured, people are buying combinations of Hospitality packages to watch Super Eight matches in Barbados, then go to St. Lucia or even Jamaica for a semi-final, and come back to Barbados for the finals.”Stephen Price, the commercial manager of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007, warned that the tickets for the Super Eight matches are also on the verge of being sold out during the first phase of the public ticketing system.The second phase of public ticketing will start on September 1, and will operate on a “first come, first serve” basis which runs until November 30, with the remaining tickets being sold online and at the Official Ticket Centres in the nine venues across the West Indies.

ScorecardAshok Dinda’s six-wicket haul put East Zone in the driver’s seat as Central Zone crashed to 130 at the end of the second day of the Duleep Trophy match in Indore. Rohan Gavaskar continued his good form with the bat, remaining unbeaten on 79 at stumps as East Zone stretched their lead to 319, with six second-innings wickets in hand.Resuming on 40 for 3, Central Zone suffered an early setback as Dinda struck with the wicket of Tejinder Pal Singh. Abbas Ali was the only batsman who looked in control, scoring 57, while the rest failed. Sourav Ganguly, who failed with the bat, bowled an impressive spell, claiming the wickets of Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla, both trapped leg before. Dinda wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Ali, finishing with his best first-class bowling figures of 6 for 52.East Zone got off to an encouraging start in their second innings, with the openers adding 51. However, they were pegged back by the loss of three quick wickets for just 14 runs, with Kumar picking up the first two in quick succession. Gavaskar and Ganguly consolidated with 58 for the fourth wicket, before Ganguly was dismissed by Chawla for 25. Gavaskar and Deep Dasgupta remained unbeaten till stumps to take the score to 204.
ScorecardThe Indian duo of Anil Kumble and Sreesanth shared eight wickets between them as South Zone restricted West Zone to 180 at the end of the second day of their Duleep Trophy match in Gwalior. Kumble finished with 5 for 42 and Sreesanth 3 for 65 to give South Zone a first innings lead of 111, after they were bowled out for 291 at the start of the day.Earlier, Rohit Sharma led West Zone’s recovery, taking the score to 70 after the early loss of Cheteshwar Pujara. However, the wickets began to tumble as Kumble and Sreesanth cut through the middle order, with Ravindra Jadeja the only batsman to cross fifty. Jadeja attacked the bowlers, as his entertaining knock of 53 came off only 49 balls. In their second innings, South Zone lost Robin Uthappa early to Zaheer Khan but ended the day at 65 for 2, with VVS Laxman and Venugopal Rao at the crease.

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.

In the euphoria of Australia’s magnificent victory Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne agreed the performance was the best they had seen. It is high and justified praise as the match was unbelievable and the pair has been involved in some spectacular wins over the past 15 years.”To turn a Test around like that, it doesn’t happen,” Ponting, the Man of the Match, said. “You have to do something exceptionally well to turn a game around like that and our cricket over the last three days has been as good as you’ll ever see from any team.”Early on day three Australia were 3 for 65 chasing England’s first innings of 551 and staring at a defeat that would have levelled the series. Rather than falling in a heap, Ponting recorded 142 and Michael Clarke produced an outstanding 124 before Warne toppled England with 4 for 49. The chase of 168 was dusted off without too much discomfort and the Australians celebrated like a team that has the Ashes within their grasp.”England would have turned up today and wouldn’t have even thought they could lose,” Ponting said. “They probably wanted to get into a position to chuck us in late today and put us under a bit of pressure. We started so well and had them under pressure, then the game was there for the taking.”Warne’s previous best Test was in Sri Lanka in 1992, when he picked up 3 for 11 in only his third game, bowling Australia to victory after they gave up a 291-run advantage on the first innings. “In 140 Tests this was the greatest I have played in,” Warne said. “[In the first innings] if we got rissoled the game was over. Everyone played their part through the Test. Today we wanted to win and to go 2-0 up with three to play is a big advantage for us.”Neither player would call the Ashes for Australia but England face an almost impossible task. “I said to Shane after the game,” Ponting said, “that he’s changed the course of the Test and it could be the series.”

South Africa have released Jacques Rudolph and Paul Adams to play for their franchises as they whittled the squad down to 12 for the opening Test which starts at the Wanderers on Friday. Ahead of an afternoon training session on Wednesday, Mickey Arthur, the coach, spoke of how his team would attack India with pace, on pitches that would aid a five-man fast-bowling line-up.None of the first team played in the last round of domestic games, and Arthur said that they had been rested ahead of what will be an arduous season, with three Tests against India and three Tests and five ODIs against Pakistan ahead of their departure for the World Cup. “We’ve had astiff training programme,” he said. “The players needed some time away from the game. But they did work on some batting and bowling.”The South Africans warmed up with a game of Frisbee, and then some catching practice before heading across to the nets. As for the Indians, it was an off day, with only Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir opting for a net session outdoors.South Africa were emphatic winners of the one-day series, and Arthur was confident that they could carry their dominant form into the Tests. “We want to continue the pattern that developed in the ODIs into the Tests,” he said. “We didn’t allow them to settle. We played well. It wasn’t justthat they played badly.”Nicky Boje’s retirement, announced on Tuesday morning, was a slight setback, though it was unlikely that he would have played any part at the Wanderers, or at Kingsmead in Durban. “He’s been a great servant of South African cricket,” said Arthur by way of tribute. “We’re likely to play aspinner in Cape Town.”Arthur admitted that the team management had already been in touch with the groundsmen, and intimated what sort of surfaces they were looking for in the Test series. “We want pitches with pace and bounce, and not too much grass,” he said.The recall of Paul Adams, barely a factor in domestic cricket over the past couple of seasons, was also addressed. “It’s a long-term selection,” said Arthur. “We need to know what he can offer. He has been very successful in Test cricket, and he offers something different. We need tosee if there’s any chance of reviving what has been a successful career.”Boje once won helped win a Test match against India at Bangalore (2000), while Adams, barring his six-wicket haul at Kanpur, hasn’t enjoyed a great time against them. There’s little doubt which man the Indians would rather face.

Click here to have your sayThe ongoing mystery over the marketing deal agreed by the USA Cricket Association and Centrex continues, with the USACA refusing to provide stakeholders or the media with any information.It now seems that not even all the association’s board of directors are aware of what has been signed. “At a conference call on November 16 we were promised a copy of the deal,” one member told Cricinfo. “We were clearly told that it would not be in electronic form as “some” board members were prone to “leaking” such information and the executive was going to make it harder to “leak” such information.”He continued: “A marketing deal that is supposed to be beneficial to the organisation is not touted to the membership and press as the best things since sliced bread; instead we are concerned about the information “leaking” to the media and the membership. I know, I find that rather hard to swallow too.”The USACA has a long history of refusing to keep stakeholders informed, and for several years it has effectively shut out the media. Senior officials have repeatedly refused to answer questions put to them by Cricinfo.There is growing concern over exactly what the new deal, which according to some could earn US cricket millions of dollars, actually involves. Given that there is a continuing row over the USACA’s constitution, there have also been questions as to whether it is within the current leadership’s powers to agree to enter into such a major contract.

India’s Supreme Court has stayed the conviction of Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former opener. Sidhu was convicted last month of a charge similar to manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison, but was released on temporary bail. The charges related to an incident in 1988 when he dragged an elderly man out of his car and showered him with blows after a road accident.The unprecedented decision has opened a Pandora’s Box of sorts because it is the first time in 57 years that a conviction of this nature has been stayed by the highest court in the land.Sidhu had argued in his petition that under the People’s Representation Act only a stay on his conviction would allow him to contest the forthcoming by-election for the Amristar parliamentary seat.