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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSachin Tendulkar continued to have a prolific IPL, scoring an attacking, unbeaten 71•Indian Premier League

A graceful Sachin Tendulkar fifty was the highlight of Mumbai Indians’ convincing seven-wicket win, which was set up by the bowlers who stuck to a strategy and restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to an underwhelming score at the Brabourne Stadium. Chris Gayle boosted Kolkata with a steady fifty, but the visitors will look back at the night and feel they pushed the pedal too late, despite keeping so many wickets in hand.This IPL has revealed effective strategies used by teams to keep the batsmen in check. The tactic of bowling short at the body has worked well for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and today, Mumbai persisted with firing yorkers on the leg stump, cramping the batsmen for room. It was best highlighted in a passage of play in the Kolkata innings where they batted 37 balls without a boundary. Sixty-two off the last six overs was an improvement, but about 15-20 runs short.The Mumbai openers began the chase in fifth gear by racing to 24 off two overs, all off boundaries. Shikhar Dhawan dented Shane Bond’s confidence by smashing three boundaries off the first over, while Tendulkar gave Ishant Sharma a similar nightmare by fetching three more fours off the second, all crisply driven down the ground off the front foot.It was as if Tendulkar was on a mission to hit Ishant out of the attack and further expose his poor form in limited-overs cricket. He was punished for bowling length to Tendulkar, punched through extra cover and pulled twice to bring up three consecutive boundaries. A flick for four past midwicket off Chris Gayle brought up Mumbai’s fifty in just 26 balls, the fastest in IPL 3. The Kolkata seamers, especially Ishant, would have done well to learn from their Mumbai counterparts who varied their pace a lot more.Spin was the only way to put the batsmen under pressure and when Ganguly introduced Murali Kartik, it immediately yielded a wicket. It dented the run rate as well as Mumbai scored only 19 off the next four overs. It was an opportunity for Kolkata to attack more and push for wickets but the bowlers couldn’t sustain the pressure long enough. Saurabh Tiwary ensured Mumbai didn’t lose their grip on the game by muscling Angelo Mathews over long-on and then smacking Gayle for two powerful fours down the ground.Mumbai had the safety net of Tendulkar and even the dismissal of Tiwary against the run of play – caught brilliantly by Ganguly falling backwards – didn’t shift the momentum. Tendulkar launched another assault on Ishant, bringing up his fifty with a flick over midwicket, and a cameo by R Sathish helped close out the match out in the penultimate over.Mumbai’s victory also highlighted the gulf in the quality of the bowling attacks. Suffocating Gayle is one of the toughest jobs in world cricket today but the experienced Mumbai bowlers found a way out – cramp him for width and fire it on the blockhole. It was also unusual seeing him being outscored by Sourav Ganguly, who’s yet to find his feet in the game’s most abridged format.Mumbai kept firing in the fuller deliveries, varying their pace effectively to force Gayle and Ganguly to check their shots and drill the ball down the ground for singles. Kolkata were also guilty of not dispatching full tosses, hitting them straight to the fielders. They managed only ten fours within the first 15 overs. Mumbai in contrast, scored 16 in the same period.Even the spinners stuck to the same plan. Harbhajan bowled over the wicket to the left-handers and adopted a flatter trajectory, firing it in before they could get under the bounce to scoop it away. A frustrated Ganguly tried to slog when he flighted one up, and lost his middle stump.The promotion of Owais Shah, a lesson learnt from the previous game, infused some life and Gayle also started gaining in confidence. Shah’s first boundary was a thick outside edge which flew to third man and his flick off Lasith Malinga to midwicket was the shot of the innings. Gayle then brought up his subdued fifty with consecutive boundaries. It was the only period which Kolkata had some semblance of command, as they added some respectability to the total. The bowling, though, let them down.

MCC will sponsor an international contest for the first time with the Twenty20 and Test series between Australia and Pakistan being played under their Spirit of Cricket branding.The neutral series is being staged in England to aid Pakistan who can’t play matches at home due to the security situation with Twenty20 games at Edgbaston and Tests at Lord’s and Headingley.”MCC is committed to the health of Test cricket, and by sponsoring the series and hosting the first Test, the club is supporting Pakistani cricket at a time when the country’s Test calendar has been decimated,” said Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive. “We often speak about Tests being the pinnacle of the game – and we’re now acting to back up those words.”I believe that the club is breaking new ground in cricket by sponsoring two such exciting sides in both Test and Twenty20 formats with a not-for-profit campaign, aimed at improving awareness of the game’s cherished spirit and spreading that message as far and as wide as possible.””It is a very historic moment for PCB to enter into a unique relationship with MCC as sponsors of the Pakistan-Australia series,” said Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan chairman. The club has come forward to support this series wholeheartedly which speaks of their commitment towards cricket. I am hopeful that this relationship will further strengthen the ties between PCB and MCC.”Zakir Khan, the PCB’s director of cricket operations, said that the ultimate aim was for international cricket to return to Pakistan. “It’s very unfortunate that we haven’t played Test cricket for 14 months,” he said. “The passion is still there and we have a lot of youngsters coming up. We’re sustaining our domestic competitions and have a good four-day structure which is standing us in good stead. It’s unfortunate we’re not playing at home but hopefully the situation will improve and we’ll see Test cricket in Pakistan very soon.”MCC are also adding to their historic honours boards which are currently in the home and away dressing rooms at Lord’s to commemorate hundreds and five-wicket hauls. The club are now going to add a neutral honours board in the away dressing room to include achievements in matches such as the Australia-Pakistan series.In 1912 Charles Kelleway and Warren Bardsley scored centuries for Australia against South Africa in the last neutral Test held at the ground. They will be the first two names on the new neutral batting board.

Virender Sehwag, the Indian opener, has taken the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings after hitting successive centuries against South Africa. With a rapid 165 in the Kolkata Test, which India won to stay top of the ICC rankings for teams, and 109 in Nagpur before that, Sehwag has displaced good friend and fellow Test opener Gautam Gambhir.Sehwag sits top of the pile with 863 points, while Gambhir has dropped to fifth position with 824. He had tremendous success in 2009 – an average of 108.98 in six Tests – and in the four Tests he has played this year, Sehwag already has two centuries. He was also the recipient of the prize for best Test innings, for the second year running, for the ESPNcricinfo Awards where his audacious 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai was chosen over four other nominations shortlisted for the award.South Africa’s Hashim Amla, whose three centuries in three innings against India earned him two Man-of-the-Match awards and the Man-of-the-Series accolade, has leapfrogged to second place in the rankings with 842 points.Sachin Tendulkar, who also scored two centuries in the two-Test series with South Africa, occupies sixth place with 805 points.In the ICC’s ranking for one-day internationals, India’s captain MS Dhoni has moved back to No. 1, displacing Michael Hussey with whom he has shared a tussle for the top spot. Hussey scored 23 in his last innings and thus fell below Dhoni who has a chance to stay on top for longer with three ODIs lined up against South Africa. Ricky Ponting has jumped four places to occupy fourth place.The other big mover is Doug Bollinger, who has gained 25 places and has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career. Bollinger took 11 wickets in the five-ODI series against West Indies to help Australia to a 4-0 victory. He now sits in 18th position in the latest rankings, not far behind Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis.

The Pakistani players who participated in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL) have served a legal notice on the league’s management over payments due to them since December 2008.”In spite of all the efforts, there is still no response and the promises have not been fulfilled by ICL which caused the players to suffer considerable losses,” a statement issued on behalf of the players said. “To this effect, a legal notice has been dispatched to ICL by players to clear their dues.”Nineteen players from Pakistan, including current captain Mohammad Yousuf and allrounder Abdul Razzaq, had signed up with the league. The defection had taken away nearly the entire bench strength of the national side at the time, but, upon severing their ties from the league, starting May last year, the players became eligible for international return. A bulk of the Pakistan players in the ICL were part of the Lahore Badshahs team, coached by former wicketkeeper Moin Khan.The legal notice has been filed after repeated attempts by the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), the players’ lobby group, to negotiate the matter of outstanding dues with the ICL had failed. Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, said in December last year the ICL owed “millions of dollars” in outstanding payments to its players, officials and support staff. He had warned that the situation, if not resolved, could be damaging to the league.”For a number of months, FICA (on behalf of a number of players from numerous countries) has been in discussions with the ICL in relation to outstanding payments to players, officials and support staff, relating as far back to 2008,” May had said. “These outstanding monies amount to millions of dollars.”The players are sick and tired of the broken commitments from ICL and the evasiveness of various ICL officials and now after exhausting all reasonable efforts to settle the issue amicably, they believe they have no other option than to contemplate legal action against ICL for the recovery of these payments.”Officials from the ICL, when contacted by Cricinfo, were unavailable for comment.

New Zealand Under-19 coach Chris Kuggeleijn hopes home advantage will give them the edge in the Under-19 World Cup beginning on Friday. New Zealand had finished third in the previous edition in Malaysia in 2008, but this time their form has been patchy – they lost a home series 1-2 to 2004 and 2006 champions Pakistan, while they lost to Bangladesh and beat England in their warm-up games.”We got a few things right (against England) but we’ve just got to string it together,” Kuggeleijn told . “We’ve got to think how can we turn that around after such a bad performance the day before … but if we play to our potential and get things right, then we’ll go pretty close.”The contracted first-class players in the current New Zealand squad – Corey Anderson, Harry Boam and Doug Bracewell – would be crucial in ensuring success, according to Kuggeleijn. It will also be the second under-19 World Cup for Anderson, Boam, and Michael Bracewell, who were part of the side in 2008.”They’ll be key figures for us with their performances on the field and within the group,” said Kuggeleijn. “A guy like Corey, he’s a fine talent and really clean striker of the ball who can take the game away from an opponent.”Kuggeliejn reckoned Pakistan and India were the two favourites – the two teams have won the three last three editions between them – but said Bangladesh were also a good outside bet. Reflecting on their loss to Bangladesh in the warm-up match Kuggeleijn said, “They look very well prepared, a very organised team. They go hard early with the bat and play with a lot of intent, and we just couldn’t pull them back.”The hosts have been placed in Group C of the tournament alongside Canada, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, and kick off their campaign against Canada at Lincoln 3 on January 16.

An overwhelming majority of Australian cricketers believe players will turn down central contracts in order to position themselves as Twenty20 “freelancers” in the coming seasons, prompting the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief Paul Marsh to describe the issue as “one of the biggest cricket has faced.” The findings, published in the ACA’s annual survey of national and state cricketers, also revealed almost a quarter of Cricket Australia’s 25-man contract list would consider declining future offers from the national board to expand their playing options.Asked whether they envisaged Australian players following the freelance path taken by Andrew Flintoff earlier this year, 67% of surveyed cricketers responded in the affirmative. Of those, 22% of CA contracted players said they would consider making such a move now, with another 39% stating they were unsure. No players had considered the move previously.A reduction in touring commitments, greater earning potential, fewer physical demands and the avoidance of scheduling conflicts with the IPL were among the factors players said would be taken into consideration when deciding whether to pursue freelance careers. Almost half the cricketers surveyed said they were open to the idea of early retirement to pursue careers in the IPL, with another 30% listed as unsure.But not all was doom and gloom for national boards. In a promising development for the game’s traditional employers, the prestige of representing Australia was rated by both state and national players as the factor that would most weigh on their minds when deciding whether to play as a freelancer, indicating that the lure of IPL riches has not entirely replaced that of the baggy green cap in the hearts, minds and pockets of Australia’s cricketers.”The reality is that the boards no longer have a monopoly over the players’ services,” Marsh told Cricinfo. “There are new and lucrative options available to players and not surprisingly many around the world are giving serious consideration to their futures. Our players are well paid, but a competition such as the IPL in many cases provides more money for less work. That’s a proposition most people would accept in a heartbeat.”As such I think the issue of freelancing will be one of the biggest that cricket has faced. I hope, for the game’s sake, we can find a solution that doesn’t see players choosing IPL over international cricket. The survey reinforces that our players still have a desire to play international cricket so in order to retain them, those running the game must firstly ensure that the scheduling of international cricket doesn’t conflict with events such as the IPL. Secondly, a period of player leave must be factored into the schedule so that players can play international cricket and IPL as well as having an annual break to allow their bodies to recover and so they can spend time with their families.”Saturation scheduling was highlighted as the greatest concern held by players in the poll. Only 18 % of CA contracted players said they supported the Future Tours Programme in its current format, with 78% voting for a world championship Test model. Entering the final stages of a 2009 campaign in which Australia were scheduled to play 13 Tests, 39 one-day internationals and nine Twenty20 matches across seven countries, only 29% of CA contracted players felt the current scheduling mix was appropriate – down from 43% last year.Almost 80% of Australia’s elite players felt too many ODIs were being scheduled – more than double the figure from 2008 – and most felt bi-lateral 50-over series should be restricted to five games. The management of players’ workloads by resting them from selected 50- and 20-over matches proved most unpopular – 86 % were against the ploy.To alleviate the issues of over-scheduling and IPL conflicts, Marsh called upon administrators to include nine-week annual windows in the new FTP, which will run from 2012 to 2020. He also implored boards to grant players an additional annual leave period to reduce the risk of player burn-out.”We believe these windows must be provided if the international game is to retain its elite players,” he said. “The ICC and its member boards need to accept that less international cricket will need to be scheduled moving forward. The opportunity for these boards is to make each game of international cricket more valuable and we strongly believe greater context is the answer. In our view international cricket desperately needs context in the form of global Test, ODI and T20 championships so that every game has meaning amongst players and fans.”

England’s top One-Day International wicket-taker and appearance maker Clare Taylor says she still has lots to offer, even at the age of 37.At the top of England’s batting averages, which “possibly puts our tournament into perspective,” tail-ender Taylor, the oldest player at Lincoln, still opens England’s bowling 14 years after her debut.In New Zealand since November, the medium-paced seamer hopes to emigrate after completing a year’s teacher-training course beginning in September. She has an honorary MA from Hull University and a degree in Geography.”I quite like the lifestyle and the people are absolutely brilliant. That’s the long-term plan after cricket.”Not that she plans to retire soon.”At 37 I don’t really think I should still be playing a part in the team, some of the youngsters have really got to take it by the scruff of the neck and say ‘I want your place, I’m good enough, I want your place and I’m going to take it’. It’s great for me, but I feel for the state of the English game that the youngsters need to take it on a bit more and say I want your place rather for me to say I’ll call it a day.”Opening the batting for Otago, Taylor is topping the averages.”It’s just good to be out here in the middle getting bat on ball rather than in the nets in snow-bound Huddersfield.”The “usual suspects” have performed in the tournament, though England’s squad has been together for two years since the World Cup, “its perhaps a little frustrating that we haven’t really gone on.”Taylor, who gave up working for the Royal Mail after 14 years to play for Otago and England in 2002/03, she said she’s not going to be playing cricket for too much longer, but still played a key role in the World Series of Women’s Cricket this January and February at Lincoln, and is set to lead England’s attack in two Tests against Australia later this month.”If we come off the back of this tournament with two good wins under our belts (against India) it will lift the girls, especially the batters and make them feel that they can do it.”I think all we’re looking for is belief. The Kiwis have got it and the Aussies have got it in abundance and I think that’s all we’re lacking – we’re not lacking in talent, it’s turning that talent into runs out on the pitch in the big games, rather than just against lesser teams.”With Australia the pre-eminent team in cricket, Taylor is realistic about the task ahead. She is one of the usual suspects who have performed at Lincoln, along with Australia’s Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton and the pacy 100-wicket woman Cathryn Fitzpatrick.”You can imagine Fitzy coming steaming in and trying allsorts, but we’re going to stand solid and see what happens.”Taylor has some of the Australian self-belief, something many of her England colleagues clearly lack.”If I could bottle it, it would be worth a bloody fortune. Week in week out I’ve been training with them and I don’t know what it is, perhaps a psychologist could help. I don’t know whether it’s the British mentality.”An analogy I made it was like the British are driving along and the car goes below a quarter of a tank they panic.”We don’t want to run out of petrol, we’re very conservative, while the Aussies and the Kiwis will probably drive a car until it runs out of petrol, ‘she’ll be right mate, you know, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ In fact, I asked most of the girls if they’d ever run out of petrol and they said no.”Erring on the side of caution, it’s the British mentality, whereas the Aussies and Kiwis are more laid-back in their lifestyles and more laid back in their cricket and that’s how they get their results. Perhaps we’re a bit in fear of failure.”I find it a bit strange that in the nets everyone bats really well and goes for their shots and don’t seem to have any inhibitions. It seems when we go out into the middle we perhaps go into our shells a little bit.”She said England’s top 48-player Super Fours tournament is giving the game a boost in quality, “because it’s a big leap from county to international level.”I don’t think we’ve gone backwards, because the guy we’ve got on board now, John Harmer, he’s the top guy, he’s guided the Aussies too, I just love listening to him, hang on his every word, because he makes it all sound so simple.”While Taylor has had to work throughout her career until this season, many of the England players have started to make a living from the game.”The money’s there. The ECB’s been backing us to the hilt and a lot of the girls have got lottery funding as well, so financially there’s no constraints to how much training and practice you can do and with John, you’ve got the guy who’s top of the shop in his field. So you’ve got to look at the individual players and it comes back to self-belief.”Starting playing aged 23, Taylor was inspired by Ian Botham’s mentality. She has starred in Yorkshire’s phenomenal 11 wins out of 12 in the County Championship. Known as Romper, Taylor is now an MBE for services to cricket.She made her ODI debut in the 1988/89 World Cup in Australia and was second top wicket taker in the 2000/01 tournament in New Zealand.Taylor has played 90 ODIs for England at this stage of the World Series and is the first English player to approach 100 wickets.A former soccer player, Taylor, from Huddersfield, became a Sport England sporting ambassador in 1998, promoting healthy lifestyles among the young.”You’ve got to give it your best shot, you can’t go in half-hearted. You’ve got to have the belief you can do it and perhaps if a few more of us have that Botham mentality then we’ll be fine.”

Worcestershire have signed Ben Scott, the 28-year-old wicketkeeper, on loan from Middlesex. He will arrive at New Road at the beginning of next season for a minimum of four weeks to fill in for Ben Cox, Worcester’s 17-year-old first-choice keeper, while Cox completes his A-Levels.Angus Fraser, the Middlesex director of cricket, said the move was instigated by Worcestershire and suited both the clubs and Scott himself.”Worcestershire have a young keeper who they regard highly, but educational commitments mean that he is unavailable until the end of June 2010, a situation that encouraged Steven Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, to contact me about the availability of one of Middlesex’s wicketkeepers.””I informed Steven of Middlesex’s position and he asked whether we would be prepared to allow Ben to go on loan to Worcestershire until their young keeper became available.”Middlesex endured a torrid season in 2009, finishing eighth in Division Two of the Championship and Scott struggled, making 167 runs at 12.84 from eight first-class games. He was replaced by Simpson who fared better, contributing 170 runs at 28.33 from his three games.”Ben had a difficult season in 2009; a summer that culminated in us favouring John Simpson as our first eleven wicketkeeper. During his time in the first team John performed extremely well and showed great promise,” said Fraser.”His potential did not go unnoticed, with the ECB selecting him for one of their winter performance squads. In my view John performed well enough last season to merit his selection in the first eleven for the start of the 2010 season, which Ben has been made aware of.”Fraser was keen to assert that Scott’s future remains with Middlesex and the conditions of the loan mean that Scott could return to London at any time.”Ben has repeatedly been told that he remains a part of Middlesex’s plans moving forward and the club very much want him to be with them during pre-season.””The loan agreement allows Middlesex to recall Ben at any point, should John Simpson sustain an injury that prevents him from playing. Middlesex can also recall Ben should John’s form no longer merit him a place in the first eleven.”Josh Knappett, another young wicketkeeper in the Worcestershire squad has had limited opportunities to impress while Steven Davies, currently in South Africa with England’s Test squad, was at New Road. Davies’ move to Surrey, announced in August, could have opened the door for Knappett while Cox was unavailable but Worcestershire opted to sign Scott instead.Scott could feature against Middlesex in the Championship on April 9 and has said he wants to use his opportunities at Worcester to reclaim his starting spot for Middlesex.”I am extremely excited by this new challenge and I am looking forward to the experience. I am grateful to Worcestershire for potentially giving me the opportunity to play first eleven cricket and my full intention is to show Middlesex that I not only have what it takes to play in their first eleven, but also to go on and perform at a higher level.”

Group A

Pakistan International Airlines dominated the opening day at the National Stadium, dismissing Karachi Whites for 192 and finishing on 60 for 0. No bowler really threatened; rather it was a proper team effort with each of the six bowlers used picking up at least one wicket. Partnerships were never allowed to blossom – 61 for the third wicket was the highest – and most crucial was how PIA took the last seven wickets for 96 runs. In the 16 overs before stumps Khurram Manzoor and Agha Sabir reduced the lead to 132.The right-arm medium-pacer Junaid Nadir led with the ball for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, who had Khan Research Laboratories at 250 for 9 by the close in Rawalpindi. Nadir dismissed the opener Saeed Anwar jnr early but did the real damage later on, reducing KRL from 68 for 3 to 110 for 7. KRL needed the experience of former Pakistan batsman Zahoor Elahi, whose unbeaten 98 in a 119-run eight-wicket stand with Nauman Ali proved massive. Nadir picked up his fifth shortly before stumps.Water and Power Development Authority claimed a slight edge over Lahore Shalimar at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground, closing the opening day needing 74 run to overtake their total with six wickets in hand. The groundwork for an ultimately pleasing day was done by their bowlers, namely Sarfraz Ahmed and Umaid Asif. The pair chipped in to slice through Lahore Shalimar’s line-up; from 40 for 1 they slipped to 148 for 9 before the last wicket managed to add 25. Sarfraz took 4 for 36 and Umaid 4 for 60, while the top score of the innings was Suleman Khan’s 61. Ahmed Said, the wicketkeeper, had six dismissals. Lahore Shalimar hit back with four wickets before stumps. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited were the better side on day one at the Sheikhupura Stadium, bowling out Sui Southern Gas Corporation for 160 and reducing the deficit to 59 by stumps. Samiullah Khan returned his best figures of the season, 5 for 41, to do the damage for SNGPL . Only the opener Azeem Ghumman (88) managed to cross 32 and there were only two double-digit scores. Mohammad Hafeez, the former Pakistan allrounder, batted his way to 49 before the close as SNGPL finished a dominant day.Group leaders National Bank of Pakistan achieved a pleasing opening day’s performance against Habib Bank Limited at the Gaddafi Stadium. Having been put in to bat, NBP put up 267 for 5 thanks to Fawad Alam (98), Rashid Riaz (60) and Qaiser Abbas (60*) after they had been reduced to 42 for 3.

Group B

Seventeen wickets fell on the opening day at the Diamond Club Ground, with hosts Islamabad struggling to overcome bottom-ranked Quetta’s first-innings score. Having opted to field, Islamabad did well to keep the opposition to 163, but stumbled in reply. Rauf Akbar (3 for 31), Shehzad Azam (3 for 71), and Nasrullah Khan (4 for 35) grabbed the wickets in the first half of the day, after which Quetta’s attack gave them hopes of a maiden win this season. Each of the four bowlers used chipped in, with former Pakistan offspinner Arshad Khan taking 2 for 3 in two overs before stumps.A maiden first-class century from Hyderabad wicketkeeper Mohammad Awais could yet prove to be more pivotal than it seems as matters unfold in Muridke. Opting to bat first, Hyderabad had difficulty imposing themselves against Peshawar’s pace attack, led by Nauman Habib and Imran Khan. The new-ball pair found early assistance from the conditions and reduced Hyderabad to 77 for 5, and later 113 for 7, with Imran taking 5 for 85. But Awais, batting at No. 7, refused to budge and provided commendable reliability at one end. With Pir Zulfiqar (14) he added 29 for the eighth wicket and 73 for the ninth with Naeem-ur-Rehman (27), after which in the company of the last man Farhan Ayub he put on an unbeaten 61. At stumps, Awais was on 110 off 211 deliveries.Three wickets from the medium-pacer Mohammad Rameez allowed Rawalpindi claim the day’s honours over Karachi Blues at the National Ground. There was just one half-century in Rawalpindi’s innings of 271 (the opener Babar Naeem made 50) but useful contributions from the captain Naved Ashraf (40), Yasim Murtaza (36) and last man Haseeb Azam (32) proved significant at the end of the day. Rameez, taking the new ball, made incisions early to leave Karachi Blues breathing heavily at 41 for 4.Sialkot crawled their way to 200 for 8 thanks largely to the opener Majid Jahangir’s unbeaten 110 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Having been put in to bat by Abbottabad, Sialkot failed to impose themselves against a tidy seam attack led by Junaid Khan (3 for 41) but will count themselves in a positive situation after Jahangir’s performance. Batting out the day, he faced 268 balls in 341 minutes.Faisalabad closed on 266 for 4 and will look to step on it on day two at the Iqbal Stadium. Ammar Mahmood (70) and the wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman (89) contributed the bulk of that total through their 121 partnership for the third wicket.

Deccan Chargers would not want a difference of one wicket to end their run in the Champions League. That’s the margin they lost to Somerset by during a thrilling game in Hyderabad, and only victory against Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday – which, if achieved, will be their first in nine attempts in their home city – can ensure their progress to the next round. Trinidad are more comfortably placed with a healthy net run-rate of 2.20, well above the others in the Group A. Even if they lose to Deccan, they still stand a chance of making the next round; they just have to ensure they don’t lose by a margin big enough to bring their current net run-rate below Somerset’s -1.00.Somerset, in a helpless situation, can only hope T&T knock Deccan out, or knock themselves out by losing heavily.Deccan have a side packed with batsmen, but failed to build on an explosive start provided by VVS Laxman and Adam Gilchrist in their tournament opener. The main problem, though, lay with their bowling. Having reduced Somerset to 99 for 7 in a chase of 154, they failed to shut them out. But with their experience, they hold a slight edge against T&T, who caused a huge surprise against Somerset with their clinical bowling display led by Dwayne Bravo. While Deccan were left demoralised by a last-ball defeat, the West Indian champions are fresh with confidence after a comprehensive win, and the outcome could well hinge on whether Deccan can use their experience to bounce back.VVS Laxman played an uncharacteristic 35-ball 46 that represented a contrast to his normal style of play. He succeeded in delivering a flying start but wasn’t backed up by contributions from Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds in the middle order. More will be expected from the two, who form an integral part of Deccan’s batting arsenal.Fidel Edwards was taken off the attack after bowling two beamers against Somerset, and Man of the Match Alfonso Thomas called that the turning point. Edwards’ fiery pace, extra bounce and lethal swing will test his West Indian counterparts.T&T’s spin attack is a unique one, comprising a legspinner (Samuel Badree), an offspinner (Sherwin Ganga) and a chinaman bowler (Dave Mohammed). The trio were economical against Somerset, taking four wickets between them and conceding less than five runs an over. The Deccan batsmen, particularly their middle order, will be up against a varied attack.