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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outMahmudullah took three wickets as West Indies struggled against spin yet again•Associated Press

The Bangladesh spinners, led by Mahmudullah, had a field day to bowl out West Indies for 237 on the opening day’s play in Grenada. West Indies had got off to a bright start, courtesy an attacking fifty from Dale Richards, but Mahmudullah seized back the initiative with a clutch of wickets. West Indies rallied back through a gritty 95 from Travis Dowlin but West Indies have a lot of running to do in this Test. By close of play, Bangladesh had reached 35 for the loss of Imrul Kayes.West Indies started well with a dashing knock from Richards and ended well with a fighting partnership between Dowlin and Ryan Austin. It was the interim phase where they played some poor cricket that led to their downfall, though. At least four batsmen fell to lame shots: Omar Phillips and Chadwick Walton threw their wickets away, Ryan Hinds played a loose drive, and David Bernard fell to a tame cut shot. You would have expected more commitment from a team trying to save the series. Even Richards’ was a soft dismissal and through this series, the captain Floyd Reifer has looked out of his depth against spin. Bangladesh cashed in and how.On a damp pitch that delayed the start by 30 minutes, Shakib Al Hasan chose to bowl and even the visitors must have been surprised at the spin track laid out for them by the curator. Shakib used himself and Enamul Haque jnr for lengthy spells, choosing to use Mahmudullah in short bursts. The West Indies start would have worried him, though.West Indies were cruising at 104 for 1 when Mahmudullah lured Richards, who had just hit a six, to drive loosely back to him by dragging back the length a touch. Two balls later, he induced the same mistake from Hinds to lead Bangladesh’s revival. Mahmudullah’s art is not a complicated one; there aren’t any bamboozling doosras, just some steady off spin and it has been working like a treat in this series. The visitors tightened the noose in the second session on a slow pitch and it was Mahmudullah again who started the damage post lunch. He got one to rip from the leg stump to trap Floyd Reifer in front.Bernard joined Dowlin to wage a grim battle against the spinners but Bernard, who was batting serenely, continuing with his good form from the previous Test, cut a short delivery from Shakib straight to point to surrender his wicket cheaply. Enamul joined the party by catching Darren Sammy plumb in front and had Walton drive impetuously to mid-on.Only Dowlin stood firm. He hails from Guyana and has obviously played a lot of spin. Unlike some of his team-mates, he was willing to play a patient game, nudging and defending his way out of trouble. When a bad ball came along he put it away with his sweeps and cuts but for the majority of time, he was caution personified. The best shot was a deft late-cut boundary against Enamul when the ball skidded on quickly. The left-arm spinners tried to get him out lbw and he did have a few nervous moments in the second session, but managed to stab the ball away. Post tea, he batted serenely to slowly lift West Indies out of the hole but eventually ran out of partners. He hit a six to reach 94 but fell immediately, trying to clear cover.The morning’s play couldn’t have been more contrasting as Richards drove, cut and pulled his way to an attacking half-century. The seamers – Shahadat Hossain and Rubel Hossain – tried to hit the full length on a damp pitch but there wasn’t much seam movement on offer and Richards took full toll. He started with couple of fluent drives and a smashing pull against Rubel before lifting the same bowler to the long-on boundary. He tried to impose himself against the spinners as well. He cut and pulled but the highlight was a lofted hit over long-on against Shakib. He looked good when he got on to the front foot against spin, and had a few iffy moments when he went back to arm-deliveries from Shakib and Enamul.Phillips, the other opener, played a strange little innings. He was a pale shadow of the batsman who made the highest score for West Indies in the last Test. He didn’t look too comfortable against seam or spin, and played some poor cricket to get out. He had just been dropped at mid-on but he tried to go for another big shot in the same over and holed out to deep midwicket. It was the beginning of the collapse.

West Indies coach John Dyson has said his players will have to maintain high intensity levels to ensure success against India in the four-match ODI series, the first of which is at Sabina Park on Friday.”We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency of performance,” Dyson said. “There is a lot of cricket in any calendar year, but that’s what professional cricket’s about. They earn good money from playing cricket and it’s part of the job.”West Indies have had a packed calendar so far in 2009. The tour of New Zealand ended in January after which they took on England at home from February through April. A few star players like captain Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Bravo then left for South Africa to represent their respective franchises in the IPL, held towards the end of April. They had to be back in England mid-way through the tournament for the return series in May, just ahead of the recently-concluded ICC World Twenty20.Dyson, however, said he expected a total team effort from all his players. “The squad’s balanced fairly well,” he said. “If you look at the possible side that could walk on the field, we’ve got an extra batsman, we have an allrounder who is also a very good batsman, [we have] normal pace and reserve pace, which is good. Our spinner [Sulieman Benn], hopefully Chris [Gayle] will be providing back-up spin to him.”When asked if West Indies would target specific Indian players, Dyson said, “We always look at the opposition and try and determine who their key players are, and think of ways to combat them. What we don’t know, of course, is the low-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that’s something we have to monitor as the series progresses.”Dyson said the pitches would also prove crucial in determining which way the series went. “It depends on the sort of wickets we’re playing on, on the conditions of the day, and the form our own players are in, and the opposition players are in.”

Many see power-hitting as the key to Twenty20 success but Indian batsman Anjum Chopra has said that technically sound batsmen will do well in the game’s shortest format.Citing the example of this season’s IPL finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore, who were derided as a Test team last year, Chopra said: “In the women’s T20 cricket also the technically sound cricketers will be successful. I understand that women cricketers may not play powerful shots like Yusuf Pathan, but technically sound cricketers will certainly have plenty of opportunities in the format.”She welcomed the ICC’s move to host the men’s and women’s World Twenty20s simultaneously. “This is going to be a fine opportunity for women’s cricket as the World Championship is being held side by side with the men’s tournament,” she said. “The women’s event will also get enough limelight during the event which will play as a launching pad for women’s cricket.”Chopra, who returned to the national side last October after a 20-month absence, will be one of India’s key batsmen in the tournament. India kick off their World Twenty20 campaign on June 11, when they take on England in Taunton.

Match facts

April 28, 2009
Start time 16.45pm (14.45GMT)

Big Picture

Will Gautam Gambhir please stand up?•Associated Press

The Centurion leg of the IPL begins on Tuesday and the first match at Supersport Park features teams in different halves of the league. Delhi Daredevils won three out of three games and are currently in second spot, behind Deccan Chargers who won all of their four matches. Last year’s champions Rajasthan Royals are second from bottom with only one win – after a Super Over against Kolkata Knight Riders – from four games and will be underdogs against a formidable Delhi side.Delhi have almost no worries with any disciplines of their game. Their bowlers have struck form: Dirk Nannes proved a handful with the new ball with his skiddy pace while the spin duo of Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra succeeded in stalling Bangalore Royal Challengers in the last game. Delhi’s strength is their powerful top-order and at least one batsman has come good in every game to ensure victory. A minor worry, though, is the form of Gautam Gambhir who is yet to make a contribution to Delhi’s campaign.Rajasthan’s two defeats so far have been because of batting collapses: they folded for 58 against Bangalore and 112 against Kings XI Punjab. They are missing Shane Watson’s contributions with the bat and Graeme Smith has been in poor form this season. They’ve had to rely on Yusuf Pathan for big hits and the lack of depth – Dimitri Mascarenhas and Ravindra Jadeja are a spot too high at Nos 5 and 6 – is hurting them.

Form guide

Delhi: Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers have 117 and 126 runs respectively at strike-rates of over 150 from two innings. Gambhir, however, has only 31 runs from three matches. Vettori is their leading wicket-taker with six wickets and an economy-rate of just over seven while Mishra impressed with 1 for 19 in his only game.Rajasthan: That Shane Warne has the best batting average – 39.00 – among the Rajasthan batsman says a lot about how poor the rest have been. Smith has scored only 19 runs in three innings. Left-arm fast bowler Kamran Khan has been their best bowler with five wickets and an economy-rate of only 4.90.

Watch out for

Tillakaratne Dilshan: The pre-tournament talk regarding Delhi’s batting revolved around their exciting new signing, David Warner, and a few people were surprised when Dilshan was selected ahead of the Australian in the XI. Dilshan, however, has played two vital innings which helped Delhi recover from losing their openers cheaply.

Team news

Delhi have lost Manoj Tiwary to injury and replaced him with Mithun Manhas, who held his nerve during a tense finish against Bangalore. Mishra, who was also brought in for the last game, is likely to retain his place unless the conditions in Centurion are extremely seamer friendly.Delhi: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Mithun Manhas, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Dirk Nannes, 9 Pradeep Sangwan, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Ashish Nehra.After the defeat against Punjab, Warne said that they would make changes to the top-order but it’s hard to predict what those changes will be. Tyron Henderson and Lee Carseldine are options but Rajasthan have few strong players on the bench to pick from.Rajasthan: 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Rob Quiney/Tyron Henderson/Lee Carseldine, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 6 Ravindra Jedeja, 7 Shane Warne (capt), 8 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 9 Abhishek Raut, 10 Kamran Khan, 11 Munaf Patel.

Head-to-head record

Delhi and Rajasthan played each other thrice last season. Delhi won the first encounter easily by nine wickets, but lost the next two. Rajasthan clinched a home victory by three wickets in the second league game before winning the semi-final by a whopping 105 runs in Mumbai.

Andy Flower has been confirmed as England’s new full-time team director of cricket after working on an interim basis during the recent tour of the West Indies.Flower, 40, stepped up from his assistant role in January, following the dismissal of the former head coach, Peter Moores. Though England’s results were mixed during a turbulent 11-week tour, he impressed the selectors with his work ethic and formed a strong bond with the captain, Andrew Strauss, which was rewarded with a last-gasp victory in five-match ODI series that followed the Tests.After taking over in such uncertain circumstances Flower admitted it took him a while to decide if he wanted to apply for the full-time post. “When I went on that West Indian tour I didn’t know whether I wanted to apply for this job or not. Halfway through I had made up my mind that I did,” he said. “I’m very honoured to be given the position. I believe the last three months will stand me in good stead.”Now that he has the top job Flower has the chance to stamp his identity on the team and is looking forward to being able to plan ahead. “I was interim coach for that tour, now that I’m in charge, so to speak, things change, definitely,” he said.Flower’s salary is expected to be approximately £250,000, and his first major job will be to help select the squad for the first Test against West Indies, at Lord’s, which begins on May 6. An enlarged squad is expected to be named at the weekend.”There are some big decisions we have to make, it is a huge summer ahead of us,” Flower said. “It’s going to come up on us very quickly, some of our players are already away at the IPL, and the season starts today so there are big decisions to make and hard work to be done.”Having called upon the professional headhunting firm, Odgers Ray & Berndtson, to help pinpoint the ideal candidate for the role, the ECB were left – partly by design and partly by accident – with what Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, described as “a very short shortlist”.

Morris said that 30 people had applied for the role although many high-profile targets pulled out at various stages. “We had a great deal of interest and were very happy at the level of candidates and we believe we have the right man for the job,” Morris said. “Andy was a world-class cricketer and we believe he has the potential to become a world-class coach.”One high-profile figure, Western Australia’s coach, Tom Moody, chose not to put his name forward, while another, Kent’s coach Graham Ford, the former favourite for the role, withdrew from the nomination after criticising the long-drawn-out nature of the process.Other names mentioned but since ruled out include the coaches of South Africa and India, Mickey Arthur and Gary Kirsten, while Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, was told he lacked sufficient experience, which left him frustrated. John Wright, the former India coach and now New Zealand’s high performance manager, remained as the one genuine competitor but in reality the job always seemed to be Flower’s since the end of the West Indies tour.One factor in Flower’s favour, in the short term at least, was the sheer volume of cricket faced by England’s cricketers in the coming months. After a period of intense upheaval, encompassing the loss of three captains and a coach in the space of four months (and with a fourth captain in the pipeline for the World Twenty20), the time has come for some consolidation at the top, especially with the Ashes looming in early July.It may have taken Flower until the final weeks of England’s tour to register his first victory in the role, but on his watch the team has put a greater onus on personal fitness, which will prove invaluable given that most of the squad faces a non-stop 11-week schedule in the run-up to the Ashes, starting with the IPL in South Africa for several key members, including Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.Furthermore, Flower will also have to make a call on the readiness of the former captain, Michael Vaughan, for a return to the Test side. He quit the captaincy in August on account of a prolonged run of poor form, and he made just 12 for MCC against Durham in the season opener at Lord’s last week, but Vaughan’s reputation in Ashes cricket could well count in his favour, especially if doubts continue to linger about his competitors for the No.3 spot, Ian Bell and Owais Shah.

Concerns of a West Indies player strike have eased, with local officials confident the fifth one-day international in St Lucia will proceed on Thursday. Bryan Calixte, president of the St Lucia National Cricket Association, believes there is a “90%” chance of a full-strength West Indies team turning out for the series decider against England at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.”There was a bit of concern for a while because there was a dark cloud hanging over the game,” Calixte told Cricinfo. “But it more or less looks like it is turning into a silver lining. I have been told by good sources that there is a 90% chance the match will go ahead. That is obviously good news, because there have been a lot of patrons on talk radio here expressing concerns about the match going ahead. There has been a lot of excitement with the series coming here at 2-2, and the West Indies playing some good cricket in the last few months.”Doubt has surrounded the fifth ODI since the West Indies captain, Chris Gayle, told reporters on Saturday that an ongoing pay dispute with the WICB had prompted players to consider strike action. Talks between the board and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) broke down last week, however attempts are being made to bring the parties back to the bargaining table.”I can say straight up that a boycott is a real possibility,” Gayle said on Saturday. “I am not going to go all around the world. I am going to say it plainly, ‘we need to have these matters resolved before the end of the series’, so we can forget about all of these disputes.”Donald Peters, the WICB chief executive, declined to reveal the state of negotiations with WIPA. “We have no further information,” Peters said. “In any case, we have agreed not to make any further comment on this.”But it seems progress has been made. A West Indian board official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Cricinfo he was confident of the St Lucia one-dayer going ahead as scheduled. And the fact that the West Indies saw fit on Monday to name a squad for the fifth and final ODI was perceived by others as a positive sign.John Dyson, the West Indies coach, said he was not aware of the players’ intentions. “I have not been involved in the meetings,” he said. “I am preparing as though the game is going ahead.”

Zimbabwe’s selectors have kept faith in the squad that played in Bangladesh and Kenya at the beginning of the year for the President’s XI trip to India.Zimbabwe have been invited by the Indian board to take part in the Deodhar Trophy, a regional one-day tournament which starts on March 13. They were scheduled to head to Sri Lanka afterwards, but this was postponed because of issues with the host broadcasters.The team turned in some much-improved performances in Bangladesh before whitewashing Kenya 5-0 in Nairobi, and that persuaded the selectors to name the unchanged squad.The side will play the first of two Group B matches on March 14 against South Zone and two days later will meet West Zone. The final is set for March 18.The selectors also named the team for the Namibia tour where an A team will play the Namibia national side to help them prepare for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in April.Zimbabwe President’s squad to India Prosper Utseya (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu, Ray Price, Sean Williams, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Vusi Sibanda, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Forster Mutizwa, Malcolm Waller, Graeme Cremer, Ed Rainford, Chris Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa.Zimbabwe A squad to Namibia Regis Chakabva (capt), Eric Chauluka, Cephas Zhuwawo, Mark Vermeulen, Charles Coventry, Mbekezeli Mabuza, Timycen Maruma, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Shingi Masakadza, Trevor Garwe, Tendai Chisoro, Bothwell Chapungu, Admire Manyumwa, Natsai Mushangwe.

Derbyshire have reported a surplus of £14,065 for 2008, the county’s third successive profitable year.There was a 73% increase in ticket sales, largely as a result of there being more Twenty20 matches, and good income from non-cricketing functions. The surplus also came despite a reduction in central funding from the ECB.Keith Loring, the chief executive, said it was !a great achievement for this club and it is testament to the outstanding hard work of the off field team. Our supporters can be assured, however, that we will, by no means, be resting on our laurels and we will continue to explore every avenue at our disposal to increase income, which can subsequently be invested in the team.”Areas such as conference and banqueting and the club’s special events have been built from almost nothing and have created excellent revenue streams. Without these extra sources of income, these excellent financial figures would not be possible.

Rod Bransgrove, the high-profile Hampshire chairman, has outlined several radical proposals, including having two divisions in Test cricket and cutting down the number of Tests, to revitalise the game’s longest format. He also advocated banning international Twenty20s and making ODIs 40-over-a-side games.”I would reduce the number of Tests and remove all the meaningless games between aspiring countries and major Test nations,” he told the . “They are degrading the game; nobody is interested in them, nobody goes to them and nobody benefits.”To ensure more competitive Tests, Bransgrove wanted two divisions with six teams each. He mooted that relegation and promotion would be decided by an annual play-off between the top-ranked team from the second division and the bottom-ranked one in the first division.He also recommended getting rid of international Twenty20s and having three major domestic Twenty20 leagues – the IPL, the English (and Welsh) Premier League, and a southern hemisphere competition – with windows in the international calendar to allow the game’s leading players to participate. “The EPL would be jointly owned by all 18 counties and MCC (and, in part, by other important stakeholders such as ECB) but will be made up of eight or nine city-based franchises using the largest stadia to maximise revenues,” he said. “Each of these competitions would run for four to five weeks when there is no international cricket so all players can take part.”As for the game’s other major format, one-day internationals, Bransgrove felt that reducing them to 40-over affairs would “remove the boring middle 10 overs” as well as reduce interference from bad light.Bransgrove is expected to echo these views at an ECB conference next Monday that was called by board chairman Giles Clarke to discuss the future of Test cricket.

The battle for Test cricket’s wooden spoon has moved from the Arctic gloom of Dunedin to the warmth and Caribbean sunshine of Napier – and the shift in the balance between the teams prior to the second Test is just as stark.By mid-afternoon of the fourth day of the first Test last Sunday, West Indies were 173 for 6 replying to New Zealand’s 365. The infamously fragile tail was exposed. The situation was as bleak as the weather.Jerome Taylor’s brazen, counter-attacking 106, his seventh-wicket partnership of 153 with the immovable Shivnarine Chanderpaul and two New Zealand second innings wickets in the final 10 overs of the day so transformed the contest that the team happier at the last day washout was the one in the new, widely condemned black-trimmed sweaters.The swing in fortunes has continued in the interim and the force is surely with West Indies. It was evident in their exuberance, even on the flight into Napier when the vivacious, black Air New Zealand hostess, originally from Zimbabwe, had Sewnarine Chattergoon and Shivnarine Chanderpaul handing out coffee, tea, biscuits and water to the delight of team-mates and passengers.The attitude was the same at their net session yesterday under a welcome blue sky and a temperature in the mid 20 degrees at the expansive Nelson Park, across the road from the Test venue, McLean Park.With the conditions in their favour West Indies provide an excellent opportunity to reverse three successive series losses to New Zealand, their last victory dating back to 1996, and keep New Zealand below them at No.8 on the ICC Test standings.It is not to say that captain Chris Gayle is without his concerns. His latest opening partner, Sewnarine Chattergoon, was out for 13 and lucky to even get there. Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin once more fell cheaply, a failure diminished by Taylor’s brilliance.The bowlers, as usual, lacked consistency and were hard pressed to dismiss opponents with a new opening batsman (Tim McIntosh, who scored 34) and an experimental switch in the order (Danuel Flynn up to No. 3 where he scored 95 and Jese Ryder to No. 5 where he made 89). All three are left-handers and West Indies need to reassess their tactics of a 7-2 off side-leg side field bowling to a line wide of off stump, where all three are strong.The balance of the attack will also be high of the agenda of the convenor of selectors, Clyde Butts, who is in New Zealand for the entire tour in his official capacity, Gayle, vice-captain Ramdin and coach John Dyson.In the first Test, they opted for Lionel Baker, on debut, as the fourth fast bowler in preference to Sulieman Benn, the tall left-arm spinner. The decision was influenced by heavy rain preceding the match and the expectation that the pitch would be damp. There was no help for speed, swing or seam and Gayle ended up bowling his off spin for 20 overs on the first day – and claiming three of the four wickets.Knowledgeable local information that the pitch at McLean Park is hard and faster and bouncier than at Dunedin’s University Oval would point to the retention of the all-pace bias.Yet reference to the previous Test at the ground, won by England by 121 runs in March, would favour Benn.In England’s second innings 467 for 7 declared, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori wheeled away for 45 overs with his left-arm spin for a return of 4 for 158. The figures of England’s equivalent, Monty Panesar, in New Zealand’s second innings were 46-17-126-6.The presence of West Indies’ only genuine all-rounder at present, Dwayne Bravo, would solve the problem. He would be No.6 in the order and the fourth quick bowler, allowing for the inclusion of a specialist spinner. He continues to recuperate from his ankle operation. He cannot return fast enough.In the meantime, West Indies have every reason to assert themselves. It is not often in recent times that has been the case.