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ScorecardAs expected, Mashonaland used the third day to recover from a regular first-innings aberration and turn the screws on the hapless Matabeleland team. The feature of the day was a monumental unbeaten 181 from Stuart Carlisle, his fourth century of the year out of seven in his 11 years in first-class cricket. Matabeleland, set 424 to win, struggled to 82 for three at the close.From 134 for one overnight, Mashonaland ground their way to 442 for six, built around Carlisle’s 6½ innings, before declaring. Matabeleland seemed resigned to defeat from the start, bowling a negative line outside off stump from the start and after tea putting nine fielders on the boundary to their spinners.Carlisle’s innings included 15 fours and 7 sixes. Dion Ebrahim made 70 before edging one of Mbangwa’s width balls to the keeper, while there were useful contributions from Tatenda Taibu (31), Elton Chigumbura (32), Andy Blignaut (45) and Ryan Butterworth (29 not out).There was time before the close for Mluleki Nkala to show real class with the bat, finishing unbeaten on 28, but his team faces a virtually hopeless task.Day 2 Bulletin

England 231 for 6 (Trescothick 108*) beat Pakistan 229 for 7 (Razzaq 64, Younis 63, Flintoff 4-32) by four wickets

Marcus Trescothick completed a memorable weekend with a magnificent unbeaten 108, and Chris Read chipped in with a resourceful and impish 25, as England recovered from a seemingly hopeless position to win the deciding match of the NatWest Challenge in the most thrilling manner imaginable.Chasing 230 for victory at Lord’s, England had at one stage been cruising at 129 for 2, but lost four wickets for 25 runs as Pakistan stormed back into contention. Trescothick and Read, however, withstood a ferocious onslaught from Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, adding 77 for the seventh wicket. Such was the potency of Pakistan’s fightback, the result was never truly settled until Trescothick deposited Azhar Mahmood into the Grand Stand to seal the match with nine balls to spare.Trescothick’s innings of 86 at The Oval had been an eye-popping onslaught, but in terms of sheer gumption, it was not a patch on this performance. He rode his luck, outrageously at times, but with the memories of his past failures at Lord’s – two centuries and an 86 in his last three visits, all in a losing cause – he was not about to let it slip for a fourth match in succession.England were 154 for 6, 86 runs from victory, when Read joined Trescothick in the middle of a disturbing wobble. For Read, it was a first return to Lord’s since his famous dismissal by Chris Cairns’s slower ball in 1999, but together they kept the run rate ticking at six an over. Trescothick swept a brace of welcome boundaries off the spinners, while Read tickled Mohammad Hafeez for four to third man, before picking up four byes as Hafeez beat everyone with a skiddy doosra.A steady drizzle sent the England balcony scurrying for their Duckworth/Lewis calculations, as Shoaib returned for his final burst of the match. He could – and should – have made the breakthrough, when Trescothick, on 93, edged a searing off-stump delivery to the left of Rashid Latif, who spilled the chance. Trescothick doubled the agony by cutting Shoaib to third man to bring up his fifth ODI century, and Shoaib finally accepted it wouldn’t be his day when a Waqar-esque late-swinging yorker exploded across Read’s stumps and away for four byes.When – if – they can bear to conduct a post-mortem, Pakistan will accept that they lost this match in the first 15 overs of England’s innings. Sami and Shoaib, still smarting from their rough treatment on Friday, had strained every sinew to make the breakthrough, and it defied logic that England were able to grind their way to an extremely healthy 71 for 1.England’s confusions began in the second over, when Trescothick survived a point-blank run-out attempt from Sami, and then sparred a Shoaib short ball over the heads of the slip cordon. Vikram Solanki didn’t last long, blown out of the water by Sami’s 95mph off-stump lifter (24 for 1), but Michael Vaughan lived a charmed life – dropped on 0 at second slip by Hafeez, then bowled by a Sami no-ball.Trescothick might have been run out – again – after jabbing down late on a Sami yorker, and on 35 he was dropped at midwicket again by Hafeez. But the relative calm of Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq enabled him to grow in confidence, alongside Jim Troughton, who cracked four eye-catching boundaries in a 40-run partnership for the fourth wicket. But with the introduction of the spinners, Shoaib Malik and Hafeez, came four wickets in nine overs as the pendulum swung Pakistan’s way at last. Trescothick and Read, however, could not be halted.After winning a good toss, England had been ahead on points – just – at the halfway mark. Razzaq, with 64 from 53 balls, and Mahmood had stolen 91 runs from the last ten overs to ensure a competitive total, but England owed their position to another command performance from that unlikeliest of misers, Andrew Flintoff. Flintoff returned figures of 4 for 32, his best in a home international, picking up 3 for 13 in his first eight overs to restrict Pakistan to 118 for 5 after 35 overs. For Pakistan, Younis Khan gritted his teeth to score 63, his first runs of the series.England were deserving winners of an astonishingly close and uplifting series. Pakistan, for their part, did not deserve to lose.Click here for today’s Wisden Verdict

Whilst the First XI were struggling against their Somerset opponents, Hampshire 2nd XI were recording their second successive ECB 2nd XI Championship victory against the same second side. In a run chase on the third and last day, the last five wickets fell for just 6 runs to give the visitors victory.The first day did not start until 4pm following heavy rain, but the Hampshire batsmen made up for lost time with Alex Morris, Lawrence Prittipaul and Iain Brunnschweiler all posting half centuries.When Somerset batted Piren Holloway played superbly, hitting 21 fours and 4 sixes in his run-a-ball 143, James Hibberd the young Calmore all-rounder took 2 wickets, as Somerset declared 52 runs behind.Again with rain threatening, Hampshire pushed their second innings score along. Dominic Clapp who made his first team debut for Hampshire in the match against Oxford UCCE scored 55, whilst Iain Brunnschweiler’s 49 allowed Hampshire to set Somerset a target of 5 an over (281 in a minimum of 49 overs).Somerset set about their task with vigour, Holloway and Keith Parsons both plastered the boundary boards, and skipper Wesley Durston kept up with the run rate, however with 51 still needed Parsons was run out on 88, Renato Almeida was well caught by Charlie van der Gucht off Chaka Hodge, Rowe was bowled by the impressive Mark Thorburn, who then had Reynold McLean (brother of Nixon) lbw next ball, to give Hampshire victory.Mark Thorburn dinished with 4 wickets, with van der Gucht and the Anguillan, West Indies ‘B’ player Chaka Hodge taking 2 a piece.

On January 29, 2002 Australia defeated New Zealand by two wickets in the 10th match of the VB series at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Aussies had lost their 6th wicket at the score of 82, leaving Bevan and the tail-enders to get another 164 runs. The majestic left-hander saw his team to victory from the jaws of defeat by smashing an unconquered 102.Australia’s victory was thus only the 25th by any side after having lost their 4th wicket with still 150 or more runs required to win. It was also the fourth best performance in all-time list. The best still remains Zimbabwe’s when they won the match after being 224 runs in deficit, at the fall of their 4th wicket with the score just 50.For the record, Australia’s victory was also the very first instance when a team won after losing their 6th wicket with 150 runs still required.For the interest of the readers here under are the details.Sides winning after losing 4th wicket with 150 or more runs still required (25)

– All data updatedto 24-02-2002

Carl Hooper, the current West Indies cricket captain should do the right thing and step down as captain for both the One Day and Test teams…. and immediately.This, following the West Indies’ dismal performance during the preliminary round of the 2003 Cricket World Cup (CWC), in South Africa. Failure by Hooper to voluntarily leave office, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), should insist that he does so.In other professional sports, when teams perform as poorly as the West Indies did during their recent campaign at the 2003 CWC, heads are expected to roll. There should be no deviation from this practice in professional sports. It simply cannot be business as usual. The West Indian public deserve much better than the lackluster performances that the team seem capable of producing while on overseas tours.The management team, all of whose contracts with the WICB have come to an end during the course of this month also should go. This is the absolute minimum that should be expected as a result of the team’s poor showing.The early exit from the 2003 CWC is especially hurtful, since the West Indies will play host to the next CWC in 2007. Many of the countries vying to host matches during the 2007 CWC were hoping to use the opportunity to start sensitizing the rest of the cricketing world of the facilities and amenities that can be expected for the next CWC. But, all these plans have to be either shelved or scaled down since the West Indies team has made an early exit from the sports biggest tournament.It is also apparent that the West Indian players have no sense or appreciation of what it means to represent nearly 10 million people – both at home and abroad. Their lack of commitment and understanding even of their roles as ambassadors of the Caribbean is also evident.One calypsonian summed up the significance of cricket to the West Indian peoples this way: "It [cricket] is like a tattoo on the heart of every West Indian." The fact that our players seemingly lack understanding as to their roles as ambassadors is also a reflection on their preparation by the Board might explain the team’s sustained poor performances abroad.The WICB is not without blame in this situation either. It was the same Carl Hooper who previously `resigned’ from the West Indies team just days prior to the team’s departure for the 1999 CWC in England. It was the same Carl Hooper, who, along with Brian Lara was also at the center of controversy prior to the West Indies’ tour to South Africa in 1998.After all, Jimmy Adams was `relieved’ of his position as captain of the West Indies team following a series of poor performances by the West Indies especially abroad. The same standard must therefore be applied to Hooper and nothing less would be acceptable.Also, with the player revolt taking place just days before the team’s departure for the 2003 CWC, it begs the question: what was the state of mind of the team going into the most prestigious competition of the sport? Where is their commitment to the 10 million people of the Caribbean who pay their salaries? They should be made to show more resolve and purpose whenever they put on the West Indies colours and take the field.It is therefore time that the WICB start looking towards a more youthful player who can (a) command a place in the team, and (b) inspire the team to many successes in the future. The West Indian public has been hearing since 1991 that the West Indies team is in a "rebuilding phase". Certainly, it does not take 12 years for an all-conquering team to revamp and retool. The patience of the West Indian public is beginning to wear out, and the team needs to start performing much better – both at home and abroad. The first step in this though, is for the current captain to step aside and take a few of his worn soldiers with him. The young players now playing in the Carib Beer Cricket Series can therefore look forward to the 2003 Cable & Wireless home series against Australia, then Sri Lanka with much hope and expectation. The West Indian selectors cannot afford to keep faith with these `tried and proven’ failures. This simply cannot be business as usual.

Former Somerset scorer David Oldam died in Taunton on New Years Day at the age of sixty six.David was the first eleven scorer for Somerset between 1983 and 1999, and during his sixteen years never missed a single match played by the county in any competition either at home or away.Before taking on the post of scorer he ran the main scoreboard at the County Ground for two years.After he retired at the end of the 1999 season David continued to be involved at the club and made all of the tannoy announcements at Somerset home matches up until the end of last season, apart from a short break when he was in hospital.His knowledge of Somerset cricket was considerable and on many occasions David was able to provide the answers to questions that were raised by members of the press box who were situated next door to where he scored.Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me earlier today, “It’s always a sad loss when you lose such a devoted member of the club. David was a man who didn’t suffer fools gladly , but he knew his cricket.”David Oldham will be cremated at Taunton Deane Crematorium on Thursday January 10th at 1.30pm.He will be sadly missed by all of those who got to know him over the years that he was involved with the club.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the first one-day international between India and England on Saturday. The series promises to be as enchanting as the atmosphere at the Eden Gardens. This venue has the highest crowd capacity in the country and the outfield is as good as the best one could find anywhere in the World.The Kolkata crowd being sports crazy, one can expect a full house what with the local lad Ganguly leading the national side. Even under normal circumstances, the Bengalis like to egg the home side on. One thing to bear in mind though is that they are not too tolerant when dealing with failures. With the Indian skipper hard up for runs, the crowd would be behind him and rooting for his success with the bat. The Bengalis are aware as much as Ganguly himself that it is about time he puts up runs on the board.

Ganguly is more of a demi-god in Kolkata for his achievements as a cricketer overshadow those of any other Bengali. A posse of security men guard his palatial home at Behela. It does not take much effort to get to his place. One has to only get to the neighbourhood and anyone would guide you to his residence readily enough. He gets the privileged treatment that a ranking politician gets when it comes to travelling within the city. The escort and pilot cars forewarn the traffic cops to clear the way. Ganguly out on the roads in Kolkata is more of a problem for his sentinels – the adulation he enjoys in his city renders it impossible for him to get out. As much as he enjoys the support of people he is aware that he will be cut down to size if he does not perform consistently.It was Geoffrey Boycott who dubbed Ganguly, the `Prince of Kolkata’, and indeed, the Prince will be under considerable pressure as he walks out to bat with Tendulkar. Any captain in international cricket is prone to anxiety on the eve of a game, but in the case of Ganguly it is all the more greater as this series is a big one and may well dictate his future. The shorter version of the game has proved to be his saviour and his success in the one-dayers has caused the selectors to overlook his failures in the Tests. Quite obviously, he is going through a very lean phase and the Eden Gardens is the ideal venue for him to reassure himself and the people who hold him in high esteem by notching up a ton.

Ganguly is realistic enough to know that his walk back to the pavilion would be a nightmare if he fails and as such would be doubly determined at the crease. He has had a break and at the moment, one gets the impression that his problems are related to the mental aspects rather than the technical ones. The other way of saying is that his movements are products of his hesitancy in thinking. He has been criticized in a couched language that he is susceptible to short stuff but as a matter of fact he has been getting out caught in the slips. Then, of course, the slip cordon will not be as strong as it is in the Tests but still he will be made to work hard by his opponents.The Eden Gardens revived Azharuddin’s career in 1993 when he was in the same situation as Ganguly is in today. It was again the same venue, which took Laxman to the pinnacle of his career. Ganguly has grown up batting at the Eden for most part of his career and the familiar atmosphere and the support would mean more to him now than before. The stage is set and there is hardly any time left for the all-important series to begin. One can only hope that he does not put the selectors in a delicate situation of having to sit and deliberate about him. The Prince of Kolkata is a pleasure to watch when on song and hopefully he will continue to entertain for a fair while to come.

Bangladesh were given another taste of the harsh realities of playing cricket in Australia when the Commonwealth Bank Academy side proved a model of batting concentration at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane today.Playing their second match of their Australian tour, the Bangladeshis ended the first of three days trailing by 205 runs, with nine wickets in hand, after the home side declared at 258 for 3.A third-wicket stand of 180 between opener Matthew Innes and Rhett Lockyear lifted the Academy side after two early setbacks. The partnership lasted 195 minutes and just over 53 overs, putting the hosts in control and demonstrating the virtue of application to the tourists.Innes, from Victoria, looked especially good, batting through the innings for his 128, scored off 200 balls in 293 minutes. Lockyear, from New South Wales, scored 90 before he was stumped by Khaled Mashud off Mohammad Rafique.The Australians capitalised on their decision to bat first, but there was some early excitement as Scott Meuleman was bowled by Mashrafe Mortaza off the second ball of the second over. Aaron Nye then attempted to dig in but fell to a catch by Khaled Mashud for 10, leaving the home team tottering at 20 for 2.But Innes and Lockyear settled down well, and while none of the bowlers were really taken to the cleaners, steady accumulation kept the momentum going right through the innings. Innes’ half-century came off 107 balls and Lockyear’s off 123.Once Lockyear departed, Callum Ferguson joined Innes to add 58 in 46 minutes before the declaration was made.Bangladesh opener Javed Omar struggled to score, and after battling for 36 minutes, he had reached 8 when he was trapped in front by Chris Duval. But Hannan Sarker and Habibul Bashar consolidated to take Bangladesh to stumps at 53 for 1 off 19 overs, with Sarkar 32 not out and Bashar on 13.

Hyderabad had a satisfying opening day against Himachal Pradesh at theGymkhana Ground, Secunderabad. The hosts dismissed the visitors for192 runs before reaching an impressive 69 for no loss in reply.In the morning, Himachal opted to bat. Opener Nischal Gaur, who made99, played a lone hand as the home team bowlers led by Narendra PalSingh ran through the remaining batsmen like knife through butter.Singh, who claimed five for 27, and Venkatapathy Raju, who claimed twowickets, were the pick of the home team bowlers.The Hyderabad openers, Daniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore, then,consolidated the home team’s position, batting soundly on their way to28 and 39 respectively from 61 balls each.

Complacency will be Pakistan’s biggest enemy when they take on minnowsBangladesh in the Asian Test Championship opener at the picturesqueMultan Cricket Stadium from Wednesday.The match itself will be the first-ever between the two countries. Itwill also be a unique incident when a Test centre will also be makingits first-class debut. This implies that the conditions to thedefending champions will be as alien as to the tourists who have lostall their previous three Tests since getting into the elite circlelast year.Irrespective of the unknown conditions, there is no reason to believethat Waqar Younis’ men will not come out comfortable winners becauseof the experience and prowess they have in their ranks and alsoconsidering that Bangladesh lack experience at this level.But while saying this, it should not be forgotten that Pakistan hadalso started as odds on favourites against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka andEngland in the last three years only to end up on the losing side.Their other home series defeat since 1998 was against Australia whiletheir last home series win dates back to 1997 when Wasim Akram’s menwhitewashed the troubled-hit West Indies.Hopefully, this season, which will also see New Zealand visit for athree-Test series, will begin on the right foot. And the key tosuccess in this season opener will be a combined team effort andthorough professional performance.The recent controversies triggered by the selectors when they playedmusical chairs with former captain Wasim Akram, or Waqar Younis’threat of quitting if not consulted over the composition of the team,or the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia’sbaseless and flimsy allegations against the print media need to bekept aside.The business has started and all concentration should be on how theplayers will perform rather than blow the trumpets as to whateverhappened this month which, by all counts, conveyed negative signalsdomestically and internationally and surely left a black spot onPakistan cricket.Pakistan are likely to award Test caps to left-handed opener TaufiqUmer and off-spinner Shoaib Malik which means Faisal Iqbal might carrythe towels. Traditionally, Pakistan announce their playing XI shortlybefore the toss. But considering the pitch, in all likelihood, thereigning champions will go in with five frontline batsmen, threepacers (including Abdur Razzaq), two spinners with Rashid Latif behindthe stumps.The wicket although has a green top, but the scorching hot and humidconditions here is expected to dry the moisture underneath the surfaceand juice from the wicket as early as late first session ofWednesday’s play. It will be then when the spinners will be moreeffective than the fast bowlers.Bangladesh have decided to retain the same team that earned a draw inthe three-dayer against the PCB XI at the UBL Sports Complex inKarachi last week. Al Shariar will serve as the 12th man.While Saeed Anwar will be hoping to score the required 49 runs tobecome the sixth Pakistani to complete 4,000 Test runs behind JavedMiandad, Salim Malik, Zaheer Abbas, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mudassar Nazar,Inzamam will be looking forward to delight his home ground with aninnings which has made him the backbone of the team.Inzamam, who watched Vivian Richards blast Pakistan in the 1980-81Test here from the Qasim Bagh Stadium general enclosure, slammed acentury against Sri Lanka 11 years later in a One-day Internationaland then returned to blitz a half century against Australia in1994-95.”I still remember Richards’ innings. I would be hoping to play aninnings of that class before my home crowd” Inzamam said.Although the Asian Test Championship final is set between Pakistan andSri Lanka even before the first ball in the tournament has been bowledafter India pulled out, Bangladesh will be looking forward, to atleast, collect some bonus points which are in the offing in the first100 overs of the innings.While the team winning the match by an innings will get 16 points andan outright victory will fetch 12 points, bonus points will be awardedin batting and bowling. Scoring 250-299 runs will earn one point,300-349 will fetch two points, between 350-399 three points and above400 runs four points.In bowling, a side taking four to five wickets will get one point, sixto seven will earn two points, eight to nine three points and fourpoints for all 10 wickets.It would be gross injustice to the stadium if a couple of lines ofappreciation are not dedicated to the venue which is absolutelybreathtaking and can be easily compared with the Gaddafi Stadium. The30,000-capacity stadium is fully equipped with modern and highlyquality facilities for the spectators. The facilities for media andplayers are also excellent. But lack of proper hotels is the onlyhurdle in Multan becoming a regular Test venue.Teams (likely):Pakistan: Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umer, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Shoaib Malik, WasimAkram, Waqar Younis (captain), Danish Kaneria. 12th man: Faisal Iqbal.Reserves: Imran Nazir, Naved Latif, Irfan Fazil.Bangladesh: Naimur Rahman (captain), Akram Khan, Aminul Islam,Enamul Hoque, Habibul Bashar, Hasibul Hossain, Javed Omar, KhaledMashud, Manjural Islam, Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Sharif. 12th man: AlShariar (12th man). Reserves: Ranjan Das, Mohammad Ashraful.Umpires: Darrell Hair (Australia) and Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka).Third Umpire: Riazuddin (Pakistan).Match Referee: John Reid (New Zealand).