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The wicketkeeper revealed Matt Renshaw’s return to opening was with an eye on Australia’s future needs

AAP09-Oct-2022Chicago’s Bulls had Michael Jordan lifting the standard and Jimmy Peirson says there’s two men doing the same for Queensland’s Bulls.The in-form wicketkeeper has also revealed the strategic shift designed to catapult team-mate Matt Renshaw back into a baggy green as he continues his own push for a Test debut.Peirson powered to a fifth first-class century in the last two years as the Bulls beat Tasmania by an innings and 172 runs on Saturday to open the Sheffield Shield season.His bright innings on the tricky, newly-laid Allan Border Field square followed an unbeaten 128 for Australia A in a successful chase of 367 in Sri Lanka in June. He scored 67 not out in the first innings of that game, only called into the squad as a late replacement.The state’s youngest-ever Sheffield Shield winning captain when Queensland won the competition in 2018, Peirson is enjoying the presence of Test pair Marnus Labuschagne and regular captain Usman Khawaja to begin their season.Related

• Jimmy Peirson's unbeaten tour: 'I'm not even meant to be here'

• Labuschagne starts his Shield season with classy century

• Sandhu and Peirson star as Queensland thrash Tasmania by an innings

“It’s great having Marnie [Labuschagne] around; you see the problem-solving that goes on while he’s batting, [it] is something I’ve learned from,” he said.Peirson reserved high praise for Test opener Khawaja and Australia’s No.3 Labuschagne, who scored 72 and 127 respectively in Brisbane last week.”It just sets good standards, you see how they go about their business and see that’s the level you need to be at to play Test cricket,” he said. “As team-mates we want to be rising to that level. I know when [Michael] Jordan played basketball he spoke about bringing guys along with him, and those guys do that for us.”While Peirson has been piling on the runs Alex Carey has been making the Test spot his own.”There’s a lot of keepers doing the job at the moment in Australia; all you can do is worry about your own backyard,” Peirson said of the fight for higher honours. “Kez [Carey] has done a really good job, especially in the subcontinent. He’s earned his position, but there’s no doubt everyone wants that position.”Peirson isn’t the only Queensland player pushing his case with former Test opener Renshaw and fast bowler Mark Steketee, who had a hat-trick ball dropped in the slips on Saturday, making claims.Khawaja had pushed long-term opener Renshaw into the middle order when the veteran forced his way back into the Test fold. Now cemented at the top of Australia’s order, Khawaja slid himself back down to No. 4 for Queensland’s season opener so Renshaw could face the new ball.”Matty has earned his way back up into the opening role with national selectors hopefully looking at him as a future opener for Australia,” Peirson said of the surprise move. “We’re fortunate [to have top-order depth] and Uz is at the point in his career where he scores runs wherever he bats.”

Saha is in the Test squad for India’s upcoming tour of England, while Krishna has been named as a standby

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2021Wriddhiman Saha and Amit Mishra have announced their respective recoveries from Covid-19. Both players had tested positive for the virus on May 4, the same day that IPL 2021 was suspended indefinitely.ESPNcricinfo has understood that Prasidh Krishna, who tested positive on May 8, has also recovered from Covid-19.Related

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• KS Bharat named as standby for Wriddhiman Saha for England tour

• India brace for long quarantine: two weeks in Mumbai, 10 days in Southampton

• No Hardik, Kuldeep in India's squad of 20 for WTC final and England Tests

• Sunrisers Hyderabad's Wriddhiman Saha tests positive for Covid-19

Saha is part of the India squad that is due to tour England for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, followed by a five-Test series against the hosts. Krishna is one of the four players named as stand-bys. These two, along with KL Rahul, who has undergone surgery after being diagnosed with appendicitis, had been named in the squad subject to clearing fitness tests.The England-bound India squad is set to begin its pre-departure quarantine in Mumbai on Wednesday, but Saha is expected to join his team-mates later, having received the BCCI’s permission to spend some time with his family in Kolkata. Both Saha and Mishra announced their recoveries via Twitter on Tuesday. Mishra, the Delhi Capitals legspinner, did so while expressing his gratitude to healthcare workers.GMT 1700 The story was updated with the news of Saha and Krishna’s respective recoveries.

The series may be over, but West Indies will be hoping to score their first ODI win in Sri Lanka since 2005

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Feb-2020

Big Picture

For both these teams, ODIs are perhaps their weakest format. Neither gave themselves a great chance of making the semi-finals in last year’s World Cup, and both have poor bilateral form, winning only two of their 10 previous series. As Sri Lanka move to the dead rubber at Pallekele after winning the series in Hambantota, however, they may feel they are the more resurgent outfit.The second ODI was almost the perfect game – one of their openers hit a hundred, and a middle-order man joined him for a record-breaking partnership that came at better than a run-a-ball. Both those batsmen are relatively young – 25 and 21. Then the spinners did what Sri Lanka’s coaches hoped they would – take wickets through the middle overs, after the seamers had produced an opening earlier on.West Indies, meanwhile, had an outing captain Kieron Pollard later described as “pretty, pretty poor”. Although their quicks have at times seemed penetrative through the course of the series, both bowling efforts so far have been plagued with indiscpline. At Sooriyawewa, West Indies bowled 10 wides and two no-balls. At the SSC a few days before that, they had delivered 14 wides and one no ball. Beyond just the extra runs and deliveries, these stats are indications that even when West Indies are not conceding extras, their bowlers may not have quite found their lines. In the second ODI especially, there were easy runs into the legside for almost the entirety of Sri Lanka’s innings.Pallekele, though, generally offers the most seam-friendly ODI surface in the country. Perhaps West Indies’ phalanx of fast bowlers will be more effective there. But that’s only if they put enough balls in testing areas.

Form guide

West Indies LLWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WWLLW

In the spotlight

Wanindu Hasaranga had a good finish to 2019, but he has been outstanding across disciplines in the first two ODIs of 2020. Having won the match with the bat on Sunday, he was lethal with his googly on Wednesday, taking 3 for 30. Having hunted so long for a reliably penetrative middle-overs spinner, Sri Lanka finally have a long-term prospect on their hands. Unlike spin-prospects that came before him, Hasaranga should have no issues with his action.West Indies’ spin options, meanwhile, have been less impressive. On the same track that Sri Lanka’s spinners would later go on to get six wickets, neither left-arm spinner Fabian Allen nor offspinner Roston Chase could get a wicket. That they only bowled six overs apiece is also a reflection of the fact that Sri Lanka’s batsmen looked utterly comfortable against them. Before the series, Pollard expressed confidence in a light-on-spin strategy, suggesting that Sri Lanka are good players of spin, so it may be better not to feed their strength. Sri Lanka, though, have actually not covered themselves in glory against slow bowling over the last few years.

Team news

West Indies may be tempted to bring back legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr, who at least took wickets at the SSC, although he was expensive.West Indies(possible): 1 Sunil Ambris, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt.), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Hayden Walsh Jr., 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Sheldon CottrellSri Lanka will toy with the idea of bringing Dasun Shanaka in for a match. If the pitch looks like they won’t need an extra spin option, they may leave out Dhananjaya de Silva to make room. Lahiru Kumara could come in for Nuwan Pradeep as well.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt.), 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva/Dasun Shanaka, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Nuwan Pradeep/Lahiru Kumara

Pitch and conditions

There can be seam movement with the new ball in Pallekele, particularly under lights. It is not expected to rain on Sunday, but you never can tell for sure at this venue.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have lost each of their last eight ODIs in Sri Lanka. The last time they won a match here was back in 2005, when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was captain.
• Kieron Pollard has been especially modest on the island. After six innings, he’s scored just 17 runs an an average of 2.83. He’s never taken a wicket in Sri Lanka either.
• Avishka Fernando and Shai Hope – both openers – have each hit a hundred and a fifty in the series.

Quotes

“Within the next 18 months or so, we need to be among the best four teams in all formats. That’s vision of every member of the team.”Lakshan Sandkan outlines Sri Lnaka’s long-term vision.

A 76-run win helped the Sixers climb out of the bottom of the points table

The Report by Mohammad Isam25-Jan-2019How the game played outSylhet Sixers climbed out of the bottom of the Bangladesh Premier League points table with a 76-run win over Rajshahi Kings in this season’s first match played in Chattogram. Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Nawaz took three wickets each to headline an excellent Sylhet bowling performance to shoot Rajshahi out for 104 in 18.2 overs.Laurie Evans’ early dismissal rocked Rajshahi, who failed to gain any momentum in their chase of Sylhet’s 180 for 6.Sylhet earlier put up a strong total, mainly because of a 62-run third-wicket stand between Jason Roy and Afif Hossain. Roy, in his first innings for Sylhet, struck four fours and two sixes in his 28-ball 42, while Afif scored 28 in 29 balls. Towards the end, Tanvir slammed four fours in his unbeaten 23 off nine balls.Turning points

• Sylhet added 90 runs in the second half of their innings despite losing a set Roy at the end of the tenth over.
• Zakir Hasan and Fazle Mahmud took up 5.2 overs to add 36 runs, and that didn’t really help Rajshahi to recover from their three early losses.
• Run-rate pressure led to Fazle, Christiaan Jonker and Mehidy Hasan falling in the 15th over to Nawaz.

Star of the dayThe experienced Tanvir wasn’t the captain for this game, but he delivered a very good all-round performance. First, he blasted 23 in quick time before picking up three wickets.The big missSoft dismissals hurt Rajshahi in their pursuit of 181. First, Mominul Haque’s attempted clip off Taskin Ahmed went straight to short fine-leg, and then Ryan ten Doeschate was bowled off a really short delivery from Alok Kapali.Where the teams standRajshahi are stuck in fifth place with three games remaining, while Sylhet have returned to the sixth spot following the win.

The Committee of Administrators has instructed the BCCI to call an emergency special general body meeting to discuss three specific issues

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Nov-2017The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has instructed the BCCI to call an emergency special general body meeting (SGM) to discuss three specific issues. The three issues pertain to: settlement dispute concerning the former IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the new Future Tours Programme (FTP), which will comprise the Test championship and ODI league, and the inclusion of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) back into the BCCI fold after it was suspended once Lalit Modi was elected its president in 2014.It is understood the CoA’s decision came on the back of a request from BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary, who felt the members needed to be briefed about the three issues as otherwise no decision could be taken without the consent of the members, the state associations.In the e-mail, which was sent on Tuesday to the top three BCCI office bearers, the CoA asked CK Khanna (acting board president) to send the SGM alert to all the board members by Thursday. The committee also asked Khanna to point out to the members that the SGM would be attended by only eligible office bearers of the state associations. The CoA also made it clear that Rahul Johri, the BCCI chief executive officer, would be attending the meeting.As per the BCCI’s existing constitution, the president can call for the SGM with a 21-day notice period. However, only the president has the power to reduce the notice period to 10 days and the CoA asked Khanna to do the same. In case Khanna failed to send the notice by Thursday, the CoA asked Choudhary to send the notice alert. But if Choudhary does end up sending the notice, then he would need to give a 21-day alert as per the rules.Of the three issues on the SGM agenda, the FTP and Kochi are the most significant points. This October, at the ICC Board meeting in Auckland, the BCCI along with the other boards gave its in-principle nod to the Test championship and ODI league structures.The Test championship is scheduled to commence immediately after the 2019 World Cup and will run for two years culminating in a final in 2021 between the top two teams. The first ODI league, featuring the game’s top 13 limited-overs nations, will commence in 2020-21, running for two years leading into the 2023 World Cup, before converting into a three-year league in each cycle beyond that.The finer points of both leagues, including the week-by-week schedule, are likely to be discussed by the member boards at the ICC’s next scheduling workshop in Singapore in December. Without the approval of the BCCI general body, no decision can be taken by Johri, who will be attending the workshop.As for Kochi issue, the BCCI needs to decide whether and how much it should pay the owners of the franchise, whose agreement was terminated in 2011, two seasons after it came into existence. The BCCI had also encashed the bank guarantee of INR 153.34 crores at the time of termination, which the owners contested in the court. The court asked the matter to be settled via arbitration.In 2016, the Kochi owners won the arbitration case, which said that the BCCI would not only refund the bank guarantee amount encashed by them, but also pay an additional INR 384.83 crore towards compensation for termination of the franchise.Subsequently, the BCCI’s attempts to resolve the issue amicably failed as the Kochi owners wanted a compensation upwards of INR 1000 crore. During the SGM in May, Choudhary told the members that the BCCI would negotiate a settlement soon.In October, the IPL governing council resolved that the BCCI was left with no choice but to pay the compensation. Hence, the CoA now wants the members to take a collective call on the subject.

Chris Rogers, the former Australia opener who announced his retirement last week, has suggested a similar change to the toss regulations introduced in England for the 2016 Championship season could also benefit Australian cricket

Alan Gardner28-Sep-2016Chris Rogers, the former Australia opener who announced his retirement last week, has suggested a similar change to the toss regulations introduced in England for the 2016 Championship season could also benefit Australian cricket.Away teams were given the choice of bowling first or asking for a toss (if they wished to bat), a move designed to discourage teams from preparing green, seaming pitches and give spinners more of an opportunity as games wore on. Rogers led Somerset to second place in Division One – missing out on a first title by four points to Middlesex on the final day – after overseeing the club’s switch to playing on turning surfaces during the latter half of the season.Although Rogers, a regular performer in county cricket for more than a decade, said he felt his game was better suited to playing on traditional English surfaces that aided swing and seam, he was encouraged by his own development against spin, in his final season as a professional, and suggested the experiment could be taken to Australia and the Sheffield Shield.”I think Australia would benefit from it as well,” Rogers said. “The one thing that seems to be happening in Australian cricket, all the wickets there are becoming quite uniform in the way they play. The drop-in wickets, at Melbourne and Adelaide, and then Sydney doesn’t play the way it used to.”So in the end I worry if we’re producing players who only really know how to play in a certain type of condition. If it meant that sides were trying to get different types of wickets that might help Australian cricket as well. So I’d like to think that they’d consider it.”Australia’s Test side has struggled on overseas commitments in recent years, winning in South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand but suffering chastening defeats in England, India, the UAE and, most recently, Sri Lanka. The coach, Darren Lehmann, expressed similar concerns about the state of home pitches during the 3-0 loss in Sri Lanka, with questions being asked of Australia’s batting and the ability of players to adapt to different conditions.Discussion of the surfaces produced in Shield cricket has gone back and forth in recent years, with a trend for increasingly bowler-friendly pitches being reversed by Cricket Australia directive.An experiment with using Dukes balls in the Shield has already been flagged for 2016-17, after Ricky Ponting’s call in the wake of Australia repeatedly coming unstuck against the lateral movement achieved by England’s pace attack during the 2015 Ashes.Rogers did express a concern that a shift away from seaming pitches in England might diminish what has historically been a strength – both in terms of bowlers coming through and top-order batsman able to combat the moving ball. But, after signing off his first-class career with a century in each innings at Taunton, he felt that the change to the toss had helped rebalance the domestic game and also provided him fresh learning opportunities as a batsman and captain.”How to captain spin, that’s quite a skill in itself,” he said. “I felt my captaincy got better the more we played on those wickets. Everybody’s learning, which is great.”I’ve never been a great player of spin, I found it really hard, but to get two hundreds in the last game, on a wicket that was turning – I think I was getting better and better, even at this late stage of my career, and that’s a good thing as well. It’s going to help the younger guys when they go to some of the Asian countries and play there, it’s going to be so hard but at least they’ll have a little bit of experience.”

Pakistan women won the opening ODI against Bangladesh Women in Karachi by 20 runs to take the lead in the two-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2015
ScorecardBismah Maroof goes on the attack during her 92•AFP

Pakistan women won the opening ODI against Bangladesh Women in Karachi by 20 runs to take the lead in the two-match series. Bismah Maroof scored 92 off 128 balls to propel Pakistan to 214 before the left-arm spinner Anam Amin collected 3 for 25 to restrict Bangladesh to 194 for 9.Pakistan, after winning the toss, got off to a sluggish and found themselves struggling at 38 for 2. However, they recovered through a 61-run partnership for the third wicket between Nain Abidi (27 off 45) and Maroof. Two more quick wickets reduced Pakistan to 99 for 4, but Maroof kept the score ticking by anchoring the lower order and helped her team past the 200-run mark. Salma Khatun, Bangladesh’s captain, was the pick of the bowlers, ending with 3 for 31 from her 10 overs.The visitors began the chase cautiously, and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Rumana Ahmed was the only batsman to put up a resistance, scoring 70. She was involved in two crucial stands worth 44, for the fourth and eighth wickets, but they were in vain, as none of the other senior players stood up with a substantial knock. Besides Amin’s scalps, Asmavia Iqbal, Sana Mir, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz and Maroof claimed a wicket each.

Ricky Ponting has mounted a staunch defence of Shane Watson’s qualities as a team player

Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale14-Mar-2013Ricky Ponting has mounted a staunch defence of Shane Watson’s qualities as a team player and also said that Cricket Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard would regret his implication that the national team’s vice-captain was anything otherwise.Speaking after he made his third Sheffield Shield century of the season for Tasmania against Victoria in Hobart, Ponting was adamant that he had never found fault with Watson’s actions in the past, though he described the decision to suspend four players from the third Test in Mohali as “drastic” but merited in the circumstances.”Shane worked as hard as anybody around his cricket, there’s no doubt about that,” Ponting told reporters at Bellerive Oval. “He’s obviously made a blue here – I don’t like to refer to it as homework because it wasn’t homework – not getting his tasks done that were given to him by the coach.”I’ve never known him to be anything other than a very good team player and a great bloke to have around your team.”Howard’s words that he felt Watson worked in the best interests of the Australian team “sometimes” were hurtful, and the accused quickly asserted that those he had played the game with knew him better than the man who has been in charge of CA’s team performance wing for a little more than 12 months. Ponting concurred.”I think he’d regret saying that as well, but people are going to make judgments,” Ponting said. “I think Shane said this on the way home. Pat’s known Shane for 12 months and Michael [Clarke] and Shane have known each other for the best part of 20 years.”
Watson’s strongest phase as a Test allrounder took place while he played under Ponting, and the former captain provided a useful insight into how he extracted the best from a talented cricketer who fought injuries and plenty of critics to be a consistent performer between 2009 and 2011.”I loved every moment that I played with Watto,” Ponting said. “To tell the truth I think I understood him and his personality as well as anyone that I ever played with. I tried to get as close to him as I could. I tried to know him as well as I could both on and off the field and I actually felt by doing that I got as much out of him as I could as a player.”Watson’s chances of returning to India in time for the fourth Test in Delhi rose after his wife Lee gave birth to a baby boy, Will, on Thursday. Watson flew home from Chandigarh on Monday in the hope of being present for the birth after being told by his wife the baby was likely to be born earlier than expected.His departure also coincided with being told by the team management that he would not be part of the third Test in Mohali due to his suspension. When he left India, Watson said the punishment was “very harsh” and he intended to use his time at home to weigh up his cricket future.”I am going to spend the next few weeks with my family and weigh up my options as to exactly which direction I want to go,” Watson said on Monday. “There are a lot more important things in life. I do love playing cricket and that passion is still there and I feel I am in the prime years of my cricket career.”His words indicated that at the time, Watson did not intend to return to the tour and it remains to be seen whether the early birth of his son will alter his plans. Clarke said on Wednesday that the best-case scenario for the team would be if Watson was able to return as vice-captain for the final Test, which starts in Delhi on Friday next week.

Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, has been named as Kolkata Knight Riders’ new head coach, replacing Dav Whatmore

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2012Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, has been named as Kolkata Knight Riders’ new head coach, replacing Dav Whatmore who stepped down two days ago.”We are pleased to welcome Trevor Bayliss as our head coach,” Shah Rukh Khan, co-owner of the Knight Riders, said in a press release. “With his rich experience, very successful track record and knowledge of the conditions in the subcontinent, we believe he is the right person to take KKR to the next level of performance.”Bayliss, 49, will be the third coach of the Knight Riders, after John Buchanan and Whatmore. “I have followed the IPL and KKR’s performance and I am honored to become part of this team,” Bayliss said, “which has already built a reputation as a very popular & professional franchise.”Bayliss had been in charge of the Sri Lankan team for four years before resigning following their run to the 2011 World Cup final. He had also guided them to the final of the World Twenty20 in 2009. As coach of New South Wales until 2006-07, he helped the Blues win a Pura Cup title as well as a domestic one-day trophy. He isn’t new to the world of Twenty20 franchise cricket either, and is currently in charge of the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League tournament in Australia. The BBL appointment came after he missed out to Anthony Stuart on a mentoring assignment with the New South Wales team.

Round-up of the third day of the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2010

Group A

Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary got his team back into their match against Saurashtra with an unbeaten century•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Two fast bowlers set up what could be a potentially exciting final day between Delhi and Railways at the Roshanara Club. The first two sessions on the third day belonged to Delhi right-arm seamer Sumit Narwal, who ran through the Railways batting line-up to pick up seven wickets, as Railways were dismissed for 166, leaving Delhi 136 runs to get for victory. New-ball bowler Anureet Singh stole the limelight in the final session as he picked up three crucial top-order wickets, to leave Delhi precariously placed on 48 for 4. With the match between Tamil Nadu and Mumbai heading for a draw, a win for Delhi will get them closer to Mumbai at the top of the table and also build a gap between them and Tamil Nadu, who are in third poistion.Railways second innings began disastrously as Narwal struck to dismiss openers Faiz Fazal and first-innings centurion Shreyas Khanolkar for ducks. He then picked up the wickets of Rakesh Mishra and Harshad Rawle in an incisive seven-over spell as Railways looked in deep trouble at 34 for 4. But Sanjay Bangar and Mahesh Rawat stemmed the rot adding 90 runs for the fifth wicket. The partnership was looking threatening for Delhi, until Narwal had Rawat caught behind soon after he reached his half-century. He followed this up with the crucial wicket of Bangar – who was dropped thrice in the slips – to leave Rajasthan at 133 for 6 and Delhi back in control. Rajasthan lost their last four wickets for 33 runs, Narwal finishing with match figures of 9 for 101.Delhi captain Shikhar Dhawan was the first to fall, for 14, after he miscued a pull shot off Anureet Singh. Aditya Jain was the next to go, trapped plumb in front by JP Yadav. Mayank Tehlan fished at an away-going delivery from Anureet to give Railways captain Murli Kartik a simple catch in the slips. Anureet struck again towards the end of the day’s play to pick up the crucial wicket of Unmukt Chand, who had defied the Railways bowlers in the first innings with a century. With the ball doing a fair bit, the pressure will be on Delhi’s middle and lower order on the final day.Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary led from the front as he hit an unbeaten 116 to guide his team to 295 for 5 at the end of the third day’s play against Saurashtra in Rajkot.Resuming the day on 33 for 1, overnight batsman Shreevats Goswami and Dibyendu Chakravarty looked solid as they carried Bengal past 100. The partnership was finally broken when Shitanshu Kotak dismissed Goswami just one short of his half-century. That brought Tiwary to the crease and he and Chakravarty dashed any hope that Saurashtra might have had of picking up another quick wicket. The duo added 127 runs for the third wicket with both batsmen finding the boundary with ease.Rajasthan had some relief when Chakravarty was out for 80, edging a delivery from Saurya Sanandiya to the wicketkeeper. Sanandiya then struck in his next over to removed Anustup Majumdar. But Tiwary held one end firm, as he and No. 6 Writam Porel put on 44 runs before Sanandiya picked up his third wicket of the day, getting Porel caught behind. Tiwary was joined by Laxmi Ratan Shukla and the duo held firm till stumps. Bengal still trail Saurashtra by 128 runs and will be looking towards Tiwary and Shukla to gain the crucial first-innings lead on the final day.The game between Tamil Nadu and Mumbai in Chennai was interestingly poised as Tamil Nadu reached 149 for 4 at the end of the third day, still trailing Mumbai’s first-innings total by 89 runs.Tamil Nadu did well to restrict Mumbai to 238 all out, after the visitors ended the second day on 180 for 4. Lakshmipathy Balaji struck early to pick up the crucial wicket of Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer, who could only add one run to his overnight score of 66. None of the remaining Mumbai batsmen could get going as Balaji and offspinner Suresh Kumar ran through the lower-order to share four wickets apiece, as Mumbai lost their last five wickets for 56 runs.Tamil Nadu started steadily before Iqbal Abdulla removed openers Srikkanth Anirudha and Abhinav Mukund. S Badrinath and Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik steadied the innings as they carried their team past 100, before Karthik was dismissed. Left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh then swung the momentum in Mumbai’s favour, picking up the crucial wicket of the in-form Badrinath soon after the batsman reached a half-century. K Vasudevadas and R Sathish survived close to 10 overs, adding 32 runs and Tamil Nadu’s hopes of picking up the first innings lead rests on this pair.Gujarat ended the third day in control against Assam in Guwahati. The visitors posted a commanding first innings total of 387 all out, propelled by Sunny Patel’s century. Patel made 108 as the Assam bowlers struggled to make inroads in the Gujarat batting line-up. Assam ended the day struggling on 108 for 3, and look in grave danger of conceding the first-innings lead and points to Gujarat.

Group B

Karnataka finished the third day in a commanding position against Baroda at the Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground in Mysore. The hosts are 390 runs ahead with six wickets in hand and have a chance to declare and push for a win on Saturday. A win would make their place in the semi-final almost certain, while a loss for Baroda will mean they will still be one point behind Uttar Pradesh, with both teams having played five games. Karnataka, though, didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get some quick runs and put pressure on Baroda on Friday. They scored at 2.9 runs an over and finished the day at 302 for 4. Allrounder Stuart Binny, who scored a century in Karnataka’s last match, scored 60, while Amit Verma and Ganesh Satish also got half-centuries.Sachin Rana’s century helped Haryana avoid the follow-on, but Punjab ended day three still in command in Rohtak. Haryana ended the second day more than 100 runs adrift of the follow-on target with just three wickets in hand but Rana defied the Punjab bowlers on the third day. He added a crucial 83 runs with Dhruv Singh, who made 30, before he was dismissed for 102. Dhruv and Sanjay Budhwar then helped Haryana sneak past the follow-on target before Haryana were dismissed for 270.Punjab’s second innings started badly when they lost Inder Singh and Karan Goel cheaply, but Mandeep Singh made 73 and Uday Kaul scored 31, and carried Punjab to 144 for 3 at stumps, with an overall lead of 289.Rain continued to interrupt the match between Orissa and Himachal Pradesh at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, but the 27.4 overs that were played on the third day was enough for the hosts to bowl out Himachal for 163. Starting the day at 85 for 6, Himachal captain Paras Dogra and seamer Rishi Dhawan continued their overnight partnership and extended it to 72 runs. Dogra got his half-century, but Himachal lost their last four wickets for 13 runs as seamer Basanth Mohanty completed his four-wicket haul.