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Overton twins compete for debut

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Somerset’s twins Craig and Jamie Overton both have hopes of a championship debut against Lancashire at Taunton on Thursday – but only one of them is likely to be celebrating.The Overton twins, who have recently returned from an England U19 one-day tour of Australia, are likely to be vying for only one place, which will bring mixed family emotions when Somerset’s final X1 is announced shortly before the start of play.Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, has given no clues as to whether it will be Craig or Jamie who is preferred. Both have been named in a 12-man squad and a final decision on the team will be made on the morning of the match.”We have had good reports about them from the England U19s’ recent trip and they are in contention,” Rose said. “We will make a decision on which of the twins plays shortly before the game when we have assessed conditions.”Jamie, a fast bowler, looks the probable starter with Craig, an allrounder, as 12th man.The twins play for North Devon CC which is best known as the Instow base of David Shepherd, a former Gloucestershire cricketer and international umpire, and arguably Devon’s most famous cricketing son.Both Overton twins helped North Devon win the Devon Cricket League last summer and they played in the Devon team who became minor counties champions. They made their senior North Devon league debut at 13.If they progress into the Somerset side, they will follow the twins Keith and Kevin Parsons, who represented the county together in the mid-1990s.North Devon flourished during the 2011 season, though they were hit by the death of former player and umpire Bill Shepherd. He was the elder brother of David, who died in 2009 as the club’s most renowned member.

Kent bring in Brendan Nash

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Kent have signed West Indies batsman Brendan Nash as their overseas player for the 2012 season. Nash, the 34-year-old Australia-born left-hander, played the last of his 21 Tests in June 2011 and is expected to be available for Kent’s entire campaign.Despite dropping out of the West Indies side after a run of modest form – Nash was dismissed for single-digit scores five times in his final six Test innings – he has continued to prosper for Jamaica and has made two double-centuries for them in his last ten first-class innings. He is also seen as a positive, calm and experienced influence on and off the pitch and was previously West Indies vice-captain.He has limited pedigree as a limited-overs player, however. He has never made a List A century – he has only passed 50 four times – and has never batted in T20 cricket. Nash opted not to play in the WICB 50-over competition for Jamaica in the 2011-12 domestic season, citing “personal reasons” and saying his “mind was not where he wanted it to be.”None of this will be any secret to Jimmy Adams, appointed as Kent’s head coach in January. Adams was previously technical director of the Jamaican team and is no stranger to Nash.”Brendan’s ability, coupled with his experience, will be of great value to the club,” Adams said. “I look forward to welcoming Brendan to Kent in the next couple of weeks in preparation for the season opener.”The signing of Nash continues a busy winter for Kent in county cricket’s burgeoning transfer market. While losing Joe Denly to Middlesex and Martin van Jaarsveld to retirement, Kent have signed Charlie Shreck (from Nottinghamshire), Ben Harmison (Durham), Michael Powell (Glamorgan) and Scott Newman, on a two-month loan, from Middlesex. All of them have points to prove having struggled to secure first-team cricket – or, in Nash’s case, international cricket – and in the words of Jamie Clifford, Kent’s chief executive, have “unfinished business” in the game.Several of them will have also offered good value for money. The county game is very much a ‘buyers’ market’ at present, with many players vying for the few positions open at the 18 clubs. Kent have considered a list of 65 players over the winter and, after giving trials and interviews to many, have selected only what they feel are the cream of the crop. They remain on the lookout for a bowler and will decide whether to sign a second overseas player for the FLt20 nearer the time.Edited by Alan Gardner

Punjab knock out lacklustre Mumbai

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Scorecard
Notwithstanding a mini collapse late in their innings, an aggressive half-century from Chandan Madan helped Punjab knock out Mumbai and enter the final against Baroda, to be played tomorrow. Madan started aggressively, was dropped on 21, but stayed calm thereafter to stitch a match-winning 60-run partnership for the third wicket with Mandeep Singh.With five overs to go, Punjab needed just 18 runs. But what seemed a formality, almost turned into an ordeal for Punjab as Iqbal Abdulla, Mumbai’s leading spinner, provided a late twist to the second semi-final, at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground. Off the fourth delivery in his third over, Abdulla lured Mandeep Singh with a flighted ball outside the offstump, which he pushed straight into the hands of Rohit Sharma at short extra-cover. Two balls later, Abdulla got the prized wicket of Madan when he drew the batsman out of his crease with a ball that dipped and then turned away. Aditya Tare, the Mumbai wicketkeeper, snapped the bails easily.Abdulla, who had taken two wickets in the quarter-final against Tamil Nadu, stuck another blow in his final over when the left-handed Bipul Sharma swept him in the air. Dhawal Kulkarni covered a good ten yards to complete a neat catch in the deep and pump some late adrenalin into the match.But Amitoze Singh slog-swept Mumbai’s second left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan for a six in the 18th over to push Punjab nine runs closer to victory. He followed it up with a straight hit over the bowler’s head for four in the 19th over off Ajit Agarkar. With seven balls to go, Taruwar Kohli dispatched a low full-toss from Agarkar for a boundary past mid-off to win the game.Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni would be an unhappy man considering Mumbai finished second to Punjab in all areas of the game. Madan had started confidently against the new ball and found the medium pace from the pair of Kulkarni and Javed Khan easy to hit. A couple of pull-shots and some strong flicks pushed him into the 20s. On 21, though, he tried to hit Khan over Suryakumar Yadav at mid-off but mistimed his shot completely. Unfortunately, for Mumbai, Yadav spilled a dolly. He had let a ball through his legs in the previous over too, leaving Khan exasperated.But it was the failure of Mumbai’s batsmen that proved the difference between the two sides. Wasim Jaffer cut to a wide delivery from Manpreet Gony straight into the hands of the point fielder; Abhishek Nayar limped out of the ground after being run-out and Ajinkya Rahane was beaten in flight to a turning ball from left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma that pegged his off-stump back.At 42 for 3 after seven overs, Mumbai were reliant on the pair of Rohit Sharma and Yadav. Rohit Sharma started fluently with two boundaries off Amitoze ; a back-foot punch behind square and then a pull over midwicket. Yadav, too, got into the groove easily with his favourite stroke, the sweep, against Bipul, which raced to the square-leg boundary.Yadav was not in the mood to wait as he welcomed Harbhajan Singh with a reverse-swept four. But going for a suicidal single, Yadav was beaten by a fine throw from Mandeep. Ten runs later, Rohit Sharma went for a casual loft against Rahul Sharma, holing out to Amitoze Singh at long-off. Mumbai then lost five quick wickets for the addition of just 22 runs, thereby losing the plot.Edited by Devashish Fuloria

Mills slams small New Zealand grounds

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Some of New Zealand’s grounds have boundaries that are too small and pitches that are too flat, especially with the increasing power of bats, fast bowler Kyle Mills has said. Mills’ comments came ahead of the second ODI between New Zealand and South Africa at McLean Park in Napier, where the square boundaries are a little over 50 metres long.”I’m a bowler so I’m going to be a little bit biased. I think the wickets are too flat and the boundaries need to go out further,” Mills told . “The bats are all pretty good these days and a mis-hit can go for six.”I think Hamilton is ridiculous. The ropes are 4m in from the [advertising] boards; that’s absurd. Richard Levi probably would have got out three or four times if the rope was back on the boards.”Levi hit a record 13 sixes during his 117 off 51 balls, the fastest Twenty20 century, at Seddon Park. His first six was a top-edged sweep over the fine-leg boundary against the spinner Nathan McCullum.Mills also called the length of the straight boundaries at Eden Park in Auckland “absurd”.”A good-sized cricket ground makes for exceptionally good batsmanship; we saw that at the Cake Tin [in Wellington], where there are reasonably sized boundaries,” Mills said. “We saw plenty of ones, plenty of twos, and the odd three. It was great for people to watch a batter like [AB de Villiers] on a good-sized ground.”The ICC’s playing conditions stipulate that the boundary rope must be at least three metres away from the fence/advertisement hoardings for safety reasons. It also says the shorter of the square boundaries should be a minimum of 59.43 metres and both the straight boundaries should be at least 64 metres.According to the playing conditions: “In all cases the aim shall be to provide the largest playing area, subject to no boundary exceeding 90 yards (82.29 meters) from the centre of the pitch to be used”.There is, however, a provision for cricket grounds that have smaller dimensions. “Any ground which has been approved to host international cricket prior to October 1, 2007, or which is currently under construction as of this date which is unable to conform to these new minimum dimensions, shall be exempt.”Edited by George Binoy

Cowan, Wells push Tasmania into final

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ScorecardEd Cowan and Jonathan Wells both scored centuries to secure Tasmania a place in the Ryobi Cup final with their win over Queensland in Hobart. The Tigers made light work of the highest chase in domestic one-day history at Bellerive Oval as they reached 3 for 283 in the 48th over, although they needed only 226 to make the decider against South Australia.That was the mark that would have prevented Queensland from winning with a bonus point, the only scenario that could have denied the Tigers a place in a third consecutive one-day final. As it was, Cowan and Wells steered Tasmania comfortably past that milestone as they compiled a 223-run stand, a fine achievement given the pressure of the game and the fact that they came together at 1 for 5.Cowan made 125 from 107 deliveries, his third one-day century, but he lost the chance to be there at the conclusion when he was run out in the 38th over. Wells had a couple of lives – the Queensland wicketkeeper Ben Dunk dropped him and missed a stumping off the bowling of Cameron Boyce – before he brought up his first century for Tasmania.In the 10 one-day games he had played for Tasmania until this match, Wells had a highest score of 20. But he caused problems for the Bulls and struck the winning run with a cut behind point off Boyce to finish unbeaten on 121 from 145 balls. The win means Tasmania will not only play in the final but have the chance to host it if the Redbacks lose their last game to Victoria.The Bulls gave themselves a chance of success with their strong batting performance, led by Chris Lynn and Nathan Reardon. Lynn made 98 and was denied his first one-day hundred when he was run out by the Tasmania captain George Bailey, who threw with his non-preferred left hand from inside the circle to have the bails whipped off by the wicketkeeper Brady Jones.Reardon was also run out, for 67, but some late striking from the debutant Matthew Gale allowed the Bulls to get up to 8 for 252 from their 50 overs. Joe Burns had scored 48 at the top of the order, but their efforts weren’t enough to propel Queensland into the final.

Westfield pleads guilty to spot-fixing

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Mervyn Westfield, the former Essex bowler, has become the first English cricketer to be convicted of spot-fixing after pleading guilty at the Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court, to criminal charges arising from a spot-fixing investigation by Essex police. He will be sentenced on February 10 and faces a maximum jail term of seven years.Westfield admitted he accepted £6000 to concede 12 runs in his first over of Essex’s Pro40 tie against Durham at Chester-le-Street in September 2009. The match was televised live and was available in many parts of the world, so making it an appealing target for cricket’s illegal gambling industry.He pleaded guilty to accepting or obtaining corrupt payments under the 1906 Corruption Act. A lesser charge of assisting another person to cheat at gambling was ordered to lie on file. Judge Anthony Morris also made a pointed reference to a second person referred to in court as the “fixer” when he said: “It seems the alleged corruptor is a person whose name is known to me, and I’m sure known to many people interested in cricket.”Westfield, bearded and wearing a dark suit, black shirt and dark tie, spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea. Judge Morris told him: “Mr Westfield, I hold out no promises for the outcome of this case but I am sure that you have been told that it is open to the court to pass an immediate custodial sentence.”The prosecution claimed that Westfield agreed to concede 12 runs in the first over of his spell. In the event he only conceded 10 and Westfield’s defence counsel said this demonstrated he did not go through with the plan.His barrister, Mark Milliken-Smith, asked the judge to consider suspending any custodial sentence and spoke of the “snaring” influence of the man referred to as “the fixer.”Milliken-Smith said: “The prosecution is based almost entirely on what he unguardedly told fellow players.” He added there was no evidence that Westfield did actually bowl badly. “The aim was to snare for future activity. The reality is, on any view, he didn’t do what he was supposed to have done.”Though it was accepted that Westfield failed to concede the 12 runs in one over as expected in the Durham match at the end of the 2009 season for the £6000 he had accepted, Milliken-Smith conceded that Westfield “did his best to keep his side of the bargain.” Judge Morris commented: “It’s really a matter of chance, almost, as to whether the batsmen are going to able to take advantage of the balls that are bowled to them.”Some of his Essex team-mates were immediately disconcerted by Westfield’s spell, but it was not until the following May that he was arrested by Essex police along with his team-mate, the Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria, after a team-mate at the time, Tony Palladino, expressed concerns.Kaneria was never charged and was released from bail in September at the end of the English season.Palladino, who would have been the main prosecution witness had the trial proceeded, would have testified that Westfield had shown him money that he said represented a pay-off for deliberately conceding runs in the game.Sporting bodies in the UK are increasingly confident that they have discovered a legal template to enable successful prosecutions in cases of this kind even though proof of deliberate under-performance is thought to be virtually impossible to achieve.Three Pakistan cricketers, the captain Salman Butt and two fast bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, were all jailed three months ago at Southwark Crown Court after they were found guilty of corruption during a Test against England at The Oval in 2010.The Westfield judgment switches attention to the English domestic game, leaving the ECB in no doubt that all professional cricket is vulnerable to corruption especially when those matches are televised.Not only are salaries lower in the county game and players often less experienced, there is also less media attention which encourages the belief that corrupt practices are less likely to be intercepted.The PCA’s chief executive Angus Porter said: “While it couldn’t be described as a good day for cricket, it is encouraging that action has been taken and that wrong doing has been uncovered.”Westfield made his debut for the county in 2005, aged 17. He struggled to gain a regular place in the side and was released at the end of the 2010 season “on cricketing grounds.” Essex refused to comment.

Sarwan slams Guyana Cricket Board

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Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has hit out at the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) for leaving him out of its team for next month’s Caribbean Twenty20 Championship.Guyana announced their 14-man squad on December 6 and the board said in a statement that Sarwan had not been selected because they were not certain he would be fit to play. Sarwan, however, said he had personally kept the board updated on his recovery”First of all, I would like to make it crystal clear that I have recovered from my injury and I am working on my match fitness,” Sarwan told the . “In regards to the board being unsure about my recent injury, I say that is total c**p.”I had spoken to the president of the board [Ramsey Ali] and informed him about the status of my injury, I had also spoken to the chairman of selectors, Mr. Reyon Griffith, and so from that point of view they were well informed.”The injury had forced Sarwan to miss West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh and India, and he has not played competitive cricket for almost five months. In addition to Sarwan’s injury issues, the GCB said that he had not played in the domestic T20 tournament that was used to pick the Caribbean T20 squad.Sarwan, who is currently in Canada, accused the GCB of being inconsistent with their selection policy, since he had not played the domestic tournament leading up to the Super50 one-day series back in October either.”When I was named in the 14 to represent Guyana in the 50-over tournament, I also did not play in the inter-county competition which was used to pick that team,” Sarwan said. “Everyone knew how hard I worked with the trainers and everybody in Guyana and how much I wanted to play in the 50-over competition. I am wondering why we couldn’t go through the same process?”I got the experts who treated me to send an e-mail to me which I forwarded to the GCB on the status of my injury. I think it’s important for them (GCB) to release that letter to the public so they can see the latest update on my injury.”

Laughlin bowls Tasmania to victory

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ScorecardBen Laughlin was an ODI player in 2009•Getty Images

In his second game for his new state Tasmania, Ben Laughlin bowled his side to victory and the top of the Ryobi Cup table with a six-wicket haul against New South Wales at Canberra’s Manuka Oval. In a tense finish, New South Wales needed 18 off the last two overs with four wickets in hand, but Laughlin removed two batsmen and Ben Hilfenhaus held his nerve in the final over to secure the win.Laughlin had Nathan Hauritz caught at long-on and two balls later Trent Copeland was lbw, and by the start of the last over the Blues required 11 runs with two wickets in hand. Josh Hazlewood was run out from the first ball of the over and Moises Henriques, the established batsman, couldn’t find the runs needed and finished unbeaten on 65, failing to make contact with the last ball, when the Blues needed five.Laughlin finished with 6 for 53, his second six-wicket haul in one-day cricket, the first coming for Queensland before his move during the 2011 off-season. Laughlin played five ODIs and a Twenty20 international in early 2009 but had dropped off the state radar, let alone the international one, after his brief taste of the elite level.The Blues were chasing 189 for victory and at 4 for 122 they looked to be on track, but Laughlin troubled the middle order and there was not enough support for Henriques. It was a disappointing result for New South Wales, after the spinner Luke Doran collected 4 for 40 and Hazlewood picked up 3 for 34 to bowl the Tigers out for 188 in the 50th over.George Bailey top scored for Tasmania with 35 and a tenth-wicket stand of 39 between Laughlin (16) and Xavier Doherty (32 not out) proved especially valuable in the end. Tasmania are one point clear on the top of the competition table, although they have played one more match than the second-placed Queensland, while the Blues sit fourth with three wins and three losses.

India hunt series whitewash

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Match facts

October 25, Kolkata
Start time 14.30 (0900 GMT)Varun Aaron’s debut was another exciting part of the series for India•AFP

Big Picture

England have a final chance to avoid a whitewash but the omens don’t look good. India have overpowered them in all areas, relishing home conditions again after a difficult few months overseas. After the problems they faced in England this series has shown that India’s 50-over game is in pretty reasonable health and it has given Duncan Fletcher another chance to look at a number of young players.He’ll have been impressed by what he has seen, too. R Ashwin has caused England no end of problems, Varun Aaron made an exciting debut, Ravindra Jadeja is a talented allrounder and Ajinkya Rahane has been a solid presence. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has led his stand superbly – out-captaining Alastair Cook by a street – and continues to defy his enormous workload.For England it’s a less rosy picture. The batting, apart from once in Mohali, has failed to adapt to conditions and having started the tour on a crest of a wave this has been a sudden jolt back down to earth. The management won’t panic, they are wiser than that, but the last two weeks has gone to reinforce that some of England’s one-day game is still lagging behind.

Form guide

India WWWWL (completed games, most recent first)
England LLLLW

In the spotlight

After a year where almost everything has gone right for Alastair Cook he’s again a man under pressure. Not that his place is under threat but he has come in for some criticism on this short tour, both for his own tactics and the behaviour of his team. After making a promising 60 in the opening game the runs haven’t flowed, either, which has meant England have struggled for solid starts, but it doesn’t yet count as a slump. Cook isn’t part of the Twenty20 side so this will be his final England outing until January and he’ll be desperate to leave with something positive.The crowds for this series have been disappointing with vast numbers of empty seats in traditional hot-beds such as Mumbai. Even in India, where one-day cricket is king, the signs are emerging of overkill. This is Eden Gardens’ biggest match since early 2010 – they staged World Cup fixtures but their marquee game between these two teams was moved to Bangalore – and history shows that a full house here is one of cricket’s most compelling sights. That, though, appears an unlikely prospect.

Team news

There aren’t many parts of India’s game that haven’t gone to plan, but Parthiv Patel hasn’t had a productive series opening the batting and it could be a chance to give Manoj Tiwary an outing. Elsewhere, it would only be a question of whether anyone needs a rest.India (possible): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Manoj Tiwary, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar, 11 Varun AaronEngland shook up the bowling attack in Mumbai but it was the batting that let them down again. Ian Bell remains sat on the sidelines and must be wondering what he has to do to get a game. Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow have both struggled in the series so Bell could replace either of them, or Craig Kieswetter if Bairstow was given the gloves. After a game off, Graeme Swann may replace Scott Borthwick before leading the T20 side at the weekend.England (possible): 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Meaker, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

Warm and sunny during the day, although perhaps not as hot as Mumbai, while dew hasn’t been the major factor that it might have been during the series. For IPL matches the surface has tended to be slow and low. India would be quite happy with more of the same.

Stats and trivia

  • This is England’s first game in Kolkata since 2002 when India won by 22 runs despite Marcus Trescothick’s 121
  • England have only suffered two 5-0 series scorelines in ODIs; against Sri Lanka in 2006 and India in 2008

Quotes

“There is always that balance, as we know, and part of our responsibility as a side is to get that. Sometimes on this tour, we might not have always got that balance – but I didn’t see too much wrong this time.”
“We wanted to win 5-0 in England, but we couldn’t. It’s not always just what you want – you have to play well. We’ll try to win it 5-0. But the main motivation is just to go out there and play good cricket.”
MS Dhoni isn’t getting to wrapped up in the scoreline

Raees ton, Siddiq hat-trick give SBP win

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Division One

Adnan Raees’ big hundred and Kashif Siddiq’s five-for, which included a hat-trick, combined to give State Bank of Pakistan a comfortable win over Karachi Blues by an innings and 11 runs at the National Stadium in Karachi. SBP began the third day leading by 42 runs with four wickets in hand but Raees and Sadaf were able to push it to 86 before Sadaf fell for 50, the third-highest individual score of the game. Two quick wickets followed, but Raees was able to add 36 with last man Saad Altaf before he was last out for 190, having batted one minute shy of seven hours. Karachi started steadily in their second-innings, but Khalid Latif’s dismissal created a sense of panic that Siddiq in particular took advantage of when he trapped Shahzaib Hasan, Javed Mansoor and Tanvir Ahmad lbw of consecutive deliveries. That reduced Karachi to 64 for 6, and though there was some resistance from Wajihuddin and Mohammad Sami, Siddiq wrapped up the match with his fifth wicket as Karachi succumbed for just 113.Seamer Mohammad Khalil and left-arm spinner Zohaib Khan ran through Faisalabad’s line-up to give Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited victory by an innings and 124 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. After ZTBL had declared with a 264-run first-innings lead, Khalil took three quick wickets – two bowled and one lbw – to leave the hosts 14 for 3. Mohammad Shahid and Mohammad Salman tried to give the innings some stability and both got into the thirties, but Zohaib kept picking up wickets, finishing with 3 for 39 in the innings and eight wickets in the match. Khalil then came back to get two more and finished with five for the innings.Water and Power Development Authority took control of their game against Abbottabad at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, thanks to a century from Ali Azmat and late strikes by their bowlers. Azmat made 105 from 153 balls, an innings that included 11 fours and a six. He was backed up by Sarfraz Ahmad, who made a lusty 63 from 61 balls batting at No.10 to push WAPDA to 325, a lead of 66. Abbottabad were then rocked by Naved-ul-Hasan, who dismissed both openers with just two runs on the board, and Zulfiqar Babar, who took two late wickets, to leave the home side tottering on 70 for 5, a lead of just four runs.An unbeaten hundred from Afaq Raheem and Naeem Anjum’s 58 not out provided some resistance for Islamabad but they were still 167 runs behind Pakistan International Airlines with five wickets remaining at the end of the third day at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Only 95.4 overs of play had been possible over the first two days, but PIA may have still harboured hopes of a win when they had Islamabad 146 for 5 in response to their 423. After an opening stand of 82, seamers Anwar Ali and Aizaz Cheema, who has been included in Pakistan’s squad to play Sri Lanka later this month, picked up two wickets each to leave Islamabad in trouble. Raheem and Anjum’s unbeaten 110-run stand all but ensured Islamabad would avoid the follow-on but PIA are still favourites to take points for the first-innings lead.Unbeaten centuries from Umar Amin and Fawad Alam helped National Bank of Pakistan fight back after they had conceded a 195-run first-innings lead to Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. SBP reached 296 for 3 by the end of the day, leaving them 101 runs ahead. They had started poorly. First, they let Muzammil Nizam and No. 10 Mohammad Rameez take their ninth wicket stand from 37 overnight to 118. Rameez got 74 of those runs off just 63 balls taking Rawalpindi to 348. Then NBP lost three early wickets and were 37 for 3 before Amin and Alam put together an unbeaten 259-run partnership. Alam scored his runs quickly, taking just 148 balls to reach 141, while Amin hit 20 boundaries in his 131.Sialkot‘s bowlers came back strongly to earn a 104-run first-innings lead over Habib Bank but were let down by their batsmen who crumbled against Danish Kaneria and Abdur Rehman to finish the day on 61 for 7 at the Jinnah Stadium. Sialkot struck early to dismiss Taufeeq Umar and Asad Shafiq but Imran Farhat (105) and captain Younis Khan (52) revived Habib Bank with a 108-run fourth-wicket stand. Habib Bank, however, could not build further and collapsed from 218 for 3 to be dismissed for 293. Sialkot’s batsmen surrendered the advantage towards the end, losing seven wickets in 25 overs with Kaneria and Rehman taking three apiece.

Division Two

An improved batting effort and an innings of 81 from Mohammad Waris on first-class debut were not enough for Multan to avoid an innings defeat to Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. After a horror season in Division One last year, when they lost 10 of their 11 games Multan’s beginning to life in Division Two was equally traumatic, as they were bowled out for 67 on the first day. Trailing by 298, their batsmen did better on second attempt. Naved Yasin had reached a half-century on the second day, and Waris got to the fifty mark on the third. But seamer Waqar Ahmed chipped away at the wickets and finished with five in the innings as Multan were bowled out for 287.Saeed Bin Nasir carried Karachi Whites to a comfortable seven-wicket win over United Bank in Karachi. Following his unbeaten hundred in the first innings, Nasir guided Karachi in their chase of 177 after United Bank had been dismissed for 241 in their second innings. Kashif Bhatti had dismissed the openers with 30 on the board but Nasir and Atif Ali added 107 for the third wicket to put Karachi on course. Atif departed on 45 but Nasir remained unbeaten on 92 with 17 fours to take Karachi home. Saad Sukhail (76) had earlier taken United Bank to 241 from their overnight score of 164 for 6. Legspinner Mansoor Ahmed finished with 4 for 53.A century from Abid Ali put Lahore Ravi in a position from which they can push for a win against Lahore Shalimar at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Having secured an 84-run first-innings lead, Lahore Ravi scored at a brisk pace on the third day and declared on 290 for 3, leaving Lahore Shalimar 375 to win. Abid hit 15 boundaries in his 108, and received support from Junaid Jan, who scored 53, and Mohammad Saad (55). Saad Nasim got some quick runs at the end of the innings, striking three sixes in his 49-ball 56. Lahore Shalimar’s openers negotiated 10 overs at the end of the day but their batting will have to improve from the first innings if they are to avoid a loss.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited made slow progress on the third day and finished 222 runs ahead of Khan Research Laboratories with four wickets remaining at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi. SNGPL have already secured a first-innings lead but scored just 153 in 81.3 overs on the third day, and lost five wickets. They were in trouble at 116 for 6, but a 75-run unbeaten stand between Khurram Shehzad and Adnan Akmal ensured they still hold a slight edge going in to the final day. KRL’s spinners kept SNGPL in check, Nayyer Abbas taking 2 for 40 and Ali Naqvi getting 2 for 32.Hyderabad‘s bowlers secured a first-innings lead against Quetta on the third day at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Beginning the day on 124 for 4, Quetta had a couple of half-century partnerships but lost wickets in clumps and were bowled out for 311. Hyderabad then got to 54 for 2, leaving them 133 ahead by the end of the day. Ata-ur-Rehman was Quetta’s top-scorer with 67 and was involved in both fifty stands. Quetta’s last three wickets fell for eight runs, with Lal Kumar completing a three-wicket haul. Legspinner Zahid Mahmood also picked up three.