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Opening batsman Khalid Latif hit an unbeaten 101 as Karachi Dolphins defeated Karachi Zebras by seven wickets in their first-round Gold League match of the 2006-07 ABN-AMRO Cup at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex.Khalid scored the second hundred of his List A career. He faced 135 balls and hit five fours and three sixes, as the Dolphins chased the Zebras’ 203 with 19 balls to spare.With Wajihuddin, Khalid gave his team a 98-run start in 25 overs. Wajihuddin scored 54 off 83 balls with seven fours. Fawad Alam contributed an unbeaten 23 off 27 to an unbroken 74-run stand for the fourth wicket with Khalid.Earlier, offspinner Atif Maqbool had the Zebras down at 89 for 5 in the 27th over after they had decided to bat. Saeed Bin Nasir, with 84 runs off 132 balls with seven fours and a six, steadied the innings.Karachi Zebras will now play their second-round match against Rawalpindi Rams at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium on Wednesday. The Dolphins will return to action in the third round on Friday.Last season’s runners-up Lahore Eagles registered a comfortable 79-run win over Rawalpindi Rams in their Gold League match at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex Stadium.Lahore prospered after being put in and scored 270 for 9. Rawalpindi were bowled out for 191 in 40.4 overs. Lahore’s innings was powered by strong top-order contributions. Arsalan Mir hammered a 42-ball 60 at number seven with eight fours and two sixes. Earlier, Aamer Sajjad had scored 61 off 82 balls with five boundaries.Kamran Sajid contributed 44 off 58 balls with two fours while opener Nasir Jamshed took just 41 balls to make 36. After a 54-run second-wicket stand between Babar Naeem and Mohammad Wasim, the captain, Rawalpindi lost wickets at regular intervals and were dismissed well short of the target.Naved Ashraf, who came in at 75 for 3 in the 13th over, stayed till the end scoring an unbeaten 64 off 73 balls with four fours and two sixes. Lahore’s fast bowler Junaid Zia stood out with figures of 3 for 36 in his 10 overs.Although they lost six wickets while chasing a target of 207, Sialkot Stallions completed a four-wicket win over Peshawar Panthers without fuss at the National Stadium. Peshawar were asked to bat first and Sialkot restricted them to a score of 206 for 7. Sialkot achieved the target in 46.1 overs.Former Test batsman Qaiser Abbas set the tone for Sialkot’s chase. He top-scored with 69 off 106 balls with seven fours. The rest of the batsmen made useful contributions till the end.Earlier in the day, Peshawar had slumped to 72 for 5 in the first 25 overs. It took a 71-run sixth-wicket stand to help them recover. Wicketkeeper Zulfiqar Jan hammered 76 off 78 balls with six fours and three sixes. Mohammad Fayyaz made 48 off 58 deliveries with three fours and a six.Sialkot Stallions will now meet Lahore Eagles at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex Stadium in a second-round match on Wednesday. On the same day, Peshawar Panthers will play defending champions Faisalabad Wolves here at the National Stadium.

Nicky Boje misses out in the list of contracted players © Getty Images

Graeme Smith, despite a poor run of form in Australia, has been retained as captain. Cricket South Africa today announced its list of 14 national contracted players for 2006-07.Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s CEO, said, “Cricket South Africa has the fullest confidence in Graeme Smith as captain of the Proteas. Everyone knows that he is going through a tough batting period. But this has happened to the best batsmen, including Adam Gilchrist recently. It is only a matter of time before Graeme is back to his best. We have seen that Graeme has outstanding leadership qualities, and we believe he has the talent and determination to come out of this batting slump. Cricket South Africa had no hesitation in confirming our confidence in him as captain and opening batsman.”Nicky Boje is the only omission from the list of contracted players of the previous season. Haroon Lorgat, convenor of the national selection panel, said, “We are sticking to our plans of developing a high-performing and consistent squad of national contracted players. Nicky has been omitted, and no other spinner has been contracted as we would like to see what develops in this area over the next few months. In any event, at this point Nicky is not available for the ICC Champions Trophy in India later this year. The scarcity of top class spinners remains a concern, and our high-performance programme has this as one of its main priorities. Johan Botha shows a lot of promise, but he has yet to establish himself at international level.”Lorgat also stressed that the selection of players for the World Cup in 2007 will be based purely on merit and that being contracted doesn’t guarantee an automatic selection in the squad.Contracted players Graeme Smith (capt), Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph.

John Wright: ‘If you want to be a top side, you have to get the job done’© Getty Images

India’s coach, John Wright, has criticised his team for not delivering the final blow in the first Test at Mohali against Pakistan, and has advised them to be more hungry for success if they are to attain to the highest levels of international cricket.”We could not get the killer blow in,” said Wright after India failed to take the last four wickets to win the Test. “That result has to make us more hungry. It’s disappointing not to get the result we wanted, after the situation the opposition was in.” India can overtake England at No. 2 in the world Test rankings if they win the three-Test series 2-0.”If you want to be a top side, you have to get the job done. This is an area where we are still learning. If we want to climb the list we’ll have to have the killer instinct. This is what I look for and want from the team.”Pakistan were struggling at the start of the fifth day with just a 53-run lead and only four wickets in hand. However, a record 184-run partnership between Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq saved the Test for Pakistan. “In India-Pakistan contests, players always seem to find that little bit extra, but it came on the last day from the Pakistani batsmen.”When asked whether Harbhajan Singh would be selected for the Kolkata Test, Wright said: “Conditions suit us here and he [Harbhajan] has a good chance of making the side. Harbhajan has done well at the Eden Gardens and likes bowling here. I don’t think we’ll go with five bowlers. Traditionally we have always played two seamers and two spinners here and it has worked for us.”

Subrata Guha, the former Indian swing bowler, died in Mumbai following a massive heart attack early this morning. He was 57.Guha was an accurate right-arm medium-pace bowler who could swing the ball both ways, but his Test appearances were limited. Guha played only four Tests for India, in the late 1960s. He finished with three wickets at an unflattering 103.67, and 17 runs at 3.40. His best bowling was 2 for 55 – the wickets of Paul Sheahan and John Gleeson – at Kanpur in 1969-70.He made his presence felt when he took 11 wickets in the match to bowl an unfancied combined Central & East Zone team to a shock victory over the all-conquering West Indian side in 1966-67. But he had a nightmarish start to his Test career, when he sent down 48 overs and conceded 115 runs without taking a wicket against England at Headingley in 1967.In the Ranji Trophy, however, Guha was a pillar of strength for Bengal for over a decade, and took 209 wickets at 14.61, with a best return of 7 for a8 against Assam at Gauhati in 1972-73. In his first-class career, Guha captured 299 wickets at an average of 20.29.

SHARJAH-Shoaib Akhtar and Abdur Razzaq carved up the West Indian batting with venomous pace, to rustle up a comprehensive victory for Pakistan by 170 runs. It was Pakistan’s fifth consecutive win under Waqar Younis, the first in this sequence being their Old Trafford triumph against England last year.The second and last Test of this truncated rubber will be played on an adjacent wicket from Thursday. With an emphatic victory under their belt, the Pakistanis are not going to relent and the ‘visitors’, to their further dismay, may find out that even the neutrality of the venue is no help in restoring their fortunes.Set a daunting target of 342, and 318 in arrears at the start of the day, the West Indians were never likely to win. But at 115 for one with two sessions to go they must have harboured hopes of some reprieve by ensuring a draw. That was not to be, as Shoaib tore into the upper order and then came back to annihilate the tail, returning his career-best figures of five for 24, improving on his 5 for 43 against South Africa in Durban in 1997-98. In between, Razzaq struck some telling blows, to take four wickets from the other end for 25.The duo wrought such havoc that the last nine West Indian wickets could add only 56, the last seven, a mere 25. For their part, the West Indies may have cause to grumble about a decision or two – in particular the run out of Sherwin Campbell. They would argue, with some merit, that the benefit of doubt should have gone to the batsman. But the third umpire in front of the television screen felt convinced that Campbell had failed to reach his crease. Despite that point of contention, the fact is that the West Indies batsman had no answer to the sheer pace of Akhtar and Razzaq, who either bowled or trapped leg before seven of the batsmen. It was high-quality stuff, on a wicket not conducive to pace bowling, and the West Indies had no answer to that. They simply disintegrated, much as they had only recently against Muralitharan and in one of the Tests against Chaminda Vaas.The day had started on a brighter note for Carl Hooper’s charges, as Chris Gayle and Darren Ganga held the fort with considerable confidence – the former obviously more adventurous than the latter.The first hour saw the Pakistani bowlers other than Akhtar hit for runs, 49 from 12 overs, 19 of these from Danish Kaneria’s first over, Gayle thumping him for four boundaries. Ganga’s fall, to an express Shoaib delivery, didn’t stop Gayle from going after the bowling and the West Indies reached the lunch break very comfortably placed at 111-1, Gayle’s contribution an impressive 62.At that point, the Pakistanis must have felt desperate. They shouldn’t have been overly concerned. Shoaib struck two telling blows after lunch. Gayle was castled, his stroke-filled 66 including 15 boundaries. Next over Shoaib’s rising delivery took Wavell Hinds’ gloves and Rashid Latif doesn’t miss anything these days. It was his 100th victim behind the stumps, in his 28th Test – a really memorable one for him as he reached two other major milestones: his maiden hundred which also took him past 1,000 Test runs in style. Great comeback this, and Rashid deserves it.Campbell was adjudged run out, and from here on Razzaq took over; his three wickets in one over took the wind out of the Caribbean sails. The first ball of his first over, Razzaq had Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught behind, and the fifth and sixth deliveries trapped Hooper and Ridley Jacobs in front of the wicket. At seven for 150, the slide was irreversible.Razzaq was not to get his second hat-trick in Test cricket, and Shoaib too was denied the honour after he clean-bowled Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy. Ryan Hinds and Pedro Collins defied Shoaib and Razzaq for a while, putting together 16 runs in a brave last-wicket stand, but then Razzaq put this to an end by clean bowling Collins. Pakistan has drawn first blood, and they are hungry for more.

Matthew Hayden punishes Leics for missed chances Photo © AllSport UK

Matthew Hayden’s undefeated 96 took Northamptonshire to victory by 4 wicketswith nine balls to spare over Leicestershire at Grace Road. It was his firstNational League half-century of the summer and the Australian left-handercelebrated by hitting three sixes and eight four from 110 deliveries in thechase for 188 runs.The target was less than it had appeared it would be at one time – however Leicestershire’s last six wickets toppled for 26 runs in seven overs.Quick bowlers Darren Cousins and Tony Penberthy took three wickets apiece insnatching away the advantage Phil DeFreitas and Aftab Habib had seemed togain by putting on 73 in 16 overs. Habib hit 70 from 109 balls with a sixand four fours, but his dismissal brought about the collapse. In the nextover DeFreitas was run out for 40, and then the remaining batsmen followedeach other out in procession.The batting jitters continued into Northamptonshire’s innings with AdrianRollins caught magnificently before he had scored by Darren Maddy in JamesOrmond’s opening over. The same bowlers had Mal Loye taken at slip. And ifany of the three chances offered by Hayden had been taken they would havebeen in serious trouble.He and David Sales pulled the game round with a 70 runs stand for the third wicket. Although few other batsmen stayed with him Hayden lasted the distance to make his highest score in the National League in a summer and a half with Northamptonshire. He took 72 balls to reach his half-century with six fours, and hit three sixes to win the match.

Everton have the option of terminating Frank Lampard’s contract with the club at the end of the season, claims insider Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Lampard’s struggle

Since arriving at Goodison Park, the new Toffees boss has seriously struggled in turning the Blues’ season around.

In his first seven league games in charge, 17th place.

Most recently, Lampard’s side were destroyed 4-0 by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the FA Cup, denying them a place in the semi-finals.

This has of course raised questions over the former Chelsea man’s future with the Merseyside club, with plenty of media outlets left debating his merit in the aftermath.

The Latest: Jones’ reveal

Jones has revealed that Everton have the option of parting ways with Lampard at the end of the season, without having to go through the compensation process.

Speaking with GiveMeSport, he claimed:

“From what I’m told, Everton do have the option to part ways with Lampard at the end of the season.

“I think it’s only a one-way thing, so it doesn’t count for Lampard too, as far as I understand it.”

The Verdict: Survive or go

The Toffees sit three points ahead of 18th place Watford, having played two less games than the Hornets. However, 19th place Burnley have also played the same number of matches as the Blues, and sitting just four points behind, Everton’s Premier League status is anything but guaranteed.

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One would have to think that Lampard will be sacked if he cannot guide the side clear of the bottom three come the end of the campaign, and fans should be relieved they won’t have to shell out a big compensation fee given the financial struggles at the club, allowing them to rebuild once and for all from the ground up with a clean slate.

Even if the former England international keeps his side up, the board at Everton could decide to part ways in the summer, given the convenience of this clause in his contract.

In other news: Everton: Frank Lampard shares Andros Townsend injury update

Hamilton Masakadza top scored with 87, but a few missed chances helped Pakistan chase down the target with ease © AFP

Hamilton Masakadza rued the number of dropped chances, which he blamed forhis side’s defeat against Pakistan in the second ODI at Niaz Stadium inHyderabad.Zimbabwe dropped five catches in all, including two tough chances – Nasir Jamshed and Shahid Afridi benefitting twice each. Had they taken their chances and furtheredPakistan’s mini stutter during the middle overs, the result just mighthave been different.Each of the drops was crucial. Jamshed, dropped on 6 and 72, scored 74, his second successive half-century. Afridi scored an attacking,unbeaten 43 to take Pakistan through but he was able to do so only afterbeing dropped on 30 and 32.”I thought we played well to reach that total [of 238] and it could have been agood total had we taken our chances,” Masakadza said. “We spilled those opportunities at crucial junctures and we might have takenit a bit closer had we held on.”Masakadza was leading the team on the field after Prosper Utseya injuredhis foot while batting, and had earlier top scored with an aggressive 87 after Zimbabwe opted to bat. An early start provided plenty of seam movement and Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha both edged behind off Sohail Tanvir.”The movement was there but it only lasted about five to six overs,”Masakadza said. “After that, the pitch eased up and it was a good battingwicket.”Masakadza proved his point ably, hitting ten fours altogether and sharinga 137-run third-wicket partnership with Tatenda Taibu (81). However, abatting collapse after Zimbabwe went past the 200-mark – in which fivewickets went for only nine runs – meant Zimbabwe fell at least 50 runsshort of posting a competitive total.

The presence of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar in their respective sides should make this one of the most eagerly awaited Ranji Trophy finals © AFP

Just when you think you’ve had enough cricket, having dozed through one ODI series and awaiting another, here’s a match that could prove to be a classic, and a match deserving of being the Ranji Trophy final. Bengal and Mumbai have taken contrasting routes to get to here: Bengal reached their second consecutive final via a smooth, composed, and assured march, and face red-hot Mumbai who – much like Uttar Pradesh last year – have risen dramatically from the shambles they were in midway through the season.Bengal, too, have had a turnaround of sorts, but far more gradual, having to pick themselves up from their loss in last year’s final. “There are more reasons to celebrate our performance throughout the season than to mourn this loss,” said Ranadeb Bose exactly a year ago in Lucknow after Bengal had lost a close match to UP. The team was wrapped in gloom, thanks to a dodgy umpiring decision and a dodgy wicket, and finally the fact that UP, the hosts, had started the presentation and speeches before the Bengal players had arrived. Yet even then, as Bose’s fellow pacer Shib Shankar Paul organised a game of volleyball, they were probably aware that better things were to follow, that it would be them and not the champions carrying the “favourites” tag.Their performance this season has lived up to that billing. They have been consistent; their batsmen solid, their bowlers penetrative; and they have raised their game in crunch situations, as they showed against Punjab, Hyderabad, and Karnataka. “We have come back a better team,” Bose said at the nets before the final. Paul stands on the sidelines, practising with the team but unable to play following a pre-season knee operation. “We have recovered well from his loss, with Sourav Sarkar and Ashok Dinda doing well,” says Bose.But when it comes to recoveries Mumbai are past masters. From zero points in three games, and from 0 for 5 – the worst start ever in first class cricket in India – in the second innings of the semi-final, Mumbai have absorbed everything, and returned in kind. Three straight wins in the league stages and a dogged fightback by the tail in the semi-final have given them loads of confidence.Add to that the four India players who will be joining the side for the final – Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, and Ramesh Powar – and all of a sudden Nilesh Kulkarni’s statement that Bengal have got to be intimidated sounds more conviction than boasting.However, the presence of stars presents its own problems: With the inclusion of Tendulkar and Zaheer’s debut, Mumbai would have tried 21 players over the season, a reflection of the turmoil they’ve been through. The stars will have to straightaway gel into the team. Bengal, on the other hand, have operated as a well-oiled machine, never having to look beyond the original fifteen. They also have the psychological advantage of having made Mumbai follow-on, for the first time in their history, earlier this season.That match in Kolkata must seem so long ago for this Mumbai on the up. The last time they lost in the Ranji finals was a thrilling two-run defeat to Haryana in 1990-91; they have won six finals since; and seven of the likely eleven have tasted Ranji success before. They have beaten Bengal in all the six finals they have met in before. Sourav Ganguly is the only Ranji champion in the Bengal team – they last won in 1989-90 in an undecided match but due to better run quotient – apart from coach Paras Mhambrey who won with Mumbai in 2002-03.The wicket looks a perfect Wankhede track: hard and bouncy, with a tinge of grass. Sudhir Naik, the curator, says it is a fair track that will suit pacers early on and spinners in the latter parts of the match. Unless the cricket is very unenterprising, there should be a result on this wicket. A perfect test for the batsmen would be to face Bengal pacers on the first morning and Mumbai spinners on the final afternoon.Bose, on the losing side last year at Lucknow, said the biggest difference in the two matches would be the wicket which is more sporting. “There should be a lot of bounce and carry, and sideways movement too,” said Amol Muzumdar, the Mumbai captain.For the neutral seeking a team to support, the choice is difficult. Bengal are a team that experienced heartbreak last year and instead of disintegrating, consolidated on their progress; a team that treated the previous loss just as the first lap of a race, and are now at that final step. Mumbai are a team that have been ridiculed for letting down the glorious past, and have come back with the most emphatic of replies. The best way to decide, and that’s what makes it a perfect finale, would be to sit through five days at the Wankhede. One of the teams has to present reasons more compelling than the other’s to lift the Ranji Trophy.Teams
Mumbai (likely) Amol Muzumdar, Wasim Jaffer, Sahil Kukreja, Sachin Tednulkar, Rohit Verma, Abhishek Nair, Ramesh Powar, Vinayak Samant, Ajit Agarkar, Nilesh Kulkarni, Zaheer Khan, Wilkin Mota (12th man)Bengal (likely) Deep Dasgupta, Arindam Das, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Manoj Tiwary, Sourav Ganguly, Rohan Gavaskar, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Saurashish Lahiri, Sourav Sarkar, Ranadeb Bose, Ashok Dinda, Subhomoy Das (12th man)

Stuart Carlisle: ‘I feel sorry for a lot of the young players’ © Getty Images

Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, has admitted that he is worried about the situation inside Zimbabwe but that the ICC has been assured by Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe cricket’s chairman, that its concerns will be addressed.In an exclusive interview with Zimbabwe’s Independent newspaper, Mani continued to stress the ICC’s stance that this was fundamentally a domestic issue while admitting that the ICC would no longer remain totally on the sidelines.”The ICC is clearly very concerned about a range of cricket issues in Zimbabwe,” he said. “We recently met with Chingoka and outlined a series of outstanding concerns to him. In doing this it was also indicated that these concerns must be promptly and effectively addressed. Chingoka has committed to raising these concerns at the first board meeting of the new committee.””The board of Zimbabwe Cricket had clearly become dysfunctional; the board was divided and meetings were not being held to discuss issues of genuine concern to its stakeholders due to a lack of quorum. While there is an inevitable link between sport and politics – the two areas are intertwined throughout the world – the operations of our member boards must be motivated by an overriding duty to serve the best interests of the sport. [Chingoka] is aware of the ICC’s position in this respect.”With regards to the overtly racist comments made by the head of the Sports & Recreation Commission, the body that appointed the interim board headed by Chingoka and admitted to cleansing it of white and Asians, Mani was less forthcoming. “The ICC takes a very firm stance on the issue of racism on and off the field of play. For example, you will recall that when allegations of racism were raised by the Zimbabwe players in 2004 they were investigated by an independent dispute resolution tribunal. The concerns raised to Chingoka included a detailed discussion of the process through which the composition of the committee was determined. The ICC has made certain recommendations on the composition of the Interim Committee so that it includes stakeholders from all the communities in Zimbabwe. We await the response of the interim committee.”That interim committee remains a problem in that it is headed by Chingoka, the man the players and many stakeholders wanted removed over allegations that there was widespread financial mismanagement. “The ICC has called on the committee to deal with these allegations in a transparent and open manner,” Mani argued. “Once this has been addressed, necessary action must also be taken to effectively deal with any issues that are identified.”