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5th place play-off
Scorecard

Rain had the final word at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur, washing out the play-off for fifth place between arch rivals Australia and England. In a curtailed game – 24 overs a side – Kirk Pascoe’s 55 led an impressive recovery for Australia after they were in a precarious position at 7 for 4.England exploited the damp conditions after putting Australia in, with the new-ball bowlers – Steven Finn and James Harris – snaring four victims in just 4.1 overs. A wicket didn’t fall for the next 12.2 overs, as David King provided support to Pascoe with a patient 45-ball 19.Tom Westley, the offspinner, picked up two wickets in his five overs, but Pascoe ensured Australia played out their overs for a fighting total of 106 for 7. Pascoe kept the scoring-rate ticking along with five fours and a six in his 67-ball innings.When the match was called off, England were at 47 for 2 off 10.5 overs, needing another 60 off 79 deliveries.

Plate Championship final
Scorecard
An fine all-round performance from Darren Bravo helped West Indies clinch the Plate Championship – contested for ninth place – at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur. Rain resulted in the match being reduced to 27 overs a side, and the Nepal captain Paras Khadka, playing the last match of his third and final U-19 World Cup, opted to bat.However, the move backfired with the West Indies seamers striking early blows. Jason Dawes, the right-arm fast bowler, collected three wickets, and his new-ball partner Delorn Johnson picked up one as Nepal were reduced to 17 for 4.Bravo then came and chipped away at the middle order, taking three wickets, and Dawes took his fourth as Nepal crashed to 74 all out in 25.3 overs. Extras made the highest contribution to Nepal’s total; Sagar Khadka was next with an unbeaten 17 in an innings where the best partnership managed 15.Kieran Powell and Adrian Barath got West Indies off to a steady start, before Bravo steered them to victory with an unbeaten 24. Amrit Bhattarai scalped two consolation wickets, but a paltry total meant holders Nepal couldn’t avoid losing the trophy that they famously won in 2006.

13th place play-off

Scorecard
Ireland completed back-to-back wins in Johor to secure 13th place with their first victory over a Full Member nation at U-19 level. On Friday, Greg Thompson, the captain, spun a web with his legspin against Bermuda, but it was opening bowler Andrew Britton who wrecked Zimbabwe in the 13th place play-off final.Thompson’s decision to field in a match reduced to 27 overs a side soon paid dividends. Britton accounted for Zimbabwe’s top four as they were reduced to 34 for 6, Shane Getkate picking up the other two wickets. Reginald Nehonde, the No. 7, struck 43 as Zimbabwe batted out their overs and scored 99.A 40-run second-wicket stand between Ben Ackland and James Hall set up the platform for Ireland’s chase. Stewart Matsika dismissed them both, but the remaining batsmen completed the win with six wickets and 22 balls to spare.

Scorecard
St. Lucia notched up an easy win over Cayman Islands in the opening match of the Stanford 20/20 at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, Antigua. Set 135 to win, Cayman Islands stumbled to 88 for 8 to lose by 46 runs and be knocked out of the 20-team tournament.Replying to St. Lucia’s 134 for 8, Cayman Islands found it difficult to maintain a high scoring rate, reaching 46 for 2 at the ten-over mark. This was due to some tight bowling by new ball bowler Xavier Gabriel, along with first and second change bowlers Gary Mathurin and Alleyne Prospere, who bowled three overs each for nine and 10 runs respectively. Captain Pearson Best was the only batsman to get a start, but he was trapped by medium-pacer Cyrille Charles for 24. Cayman Islands lost three more wickets – Keneil Irving (1), Michael Wright (2) and Ryan Bovell (1) – within the space of ten runs to sink to 55 for 6, and the St.Lucia bowlers just had to complete their alloted overs.Earlier, St. Lucia, got off to a poor start after choosing to bat, stumbling to 27 for 3 by the fourth over. But Cletus Mathurin, who scored a patient 47-ball 39, partnered with Sergio Fedee (17) to add 60 runs for the fourth wicket. Fedee was brilliantly run out by Conroy Wright, who received the US$10,000 prize for the Play of the Day, for throwing down the stumps for short third man. Mervin Wells contributed 20 towards the end to stretch St. Lucia’s score while offspinner Saheed Mohamed claimed three wickets. Mathurin earned the Man-of-the-Match award for his knock, which was the highest score in the match.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Jamaica claimed a thrilling one-run win over defending champions Guyana, who failed to score the 12 runs required off the final over bowled by Marlon Samuels, to move into the final of the Stanford 20/20. Jamaica will now face Trinidad and Tobago in Sunday’s title clash.Guyana had a pathetic start to their chase of 143. They slumped to 42 for 5 by the 11th over against some tight bowling by the pace duo of Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell and the spin of Marlon Samuels. Travis Dowlin hit a boundary on the first delivery of Guyana’s innnings but he made a quick return to the pavilion after miscuing a shot off Taylor. Samuels was introduced into the attack as early as the fifth over and he found success first-ball, dismissing Sewnarine Chattergoon. Powell then struck twice in the next over; he cleaned up Shivnarine Chanderpaul (10) with a yorker before having Lennox Cush caught behind. Guyana were staring down the barrel when captain Ramnaresh Sarwan holed out to Shawn Findlay at long-off while stepping out against Samuels.However, Guyana’s lower order adapted themselves to the task better than the top half. Royston Crandon took the lead by dispatching three sixes and a boundary in his 14-ball 35 as he attempted to bring down the required run-rate. By the time he was dismissed, Guyana needed 28 off 21 with three wickets in hand. Mahendra Nagamootoo struck a couple of fours in his 15 and the Jamaican think-tank decided to hand over the last-over duties to Samuels. A boundary was conceded on the first ball, but only two runs came off the next three deliveries. Derwin Christian took a couple off the fifth ball, and with a last-ball four needed, he only managed to hit the ball one-bounce to long-on to set about frenetic celebrations by the Jamaican team.Put in, Jamaica were pegged back when Findlay was dismissed without scoring by Esuan Crandon, who returned to trap Gayle in the fifth over. But Samuels changed the course of their inning when he took 11 runs off a Crandon over before he chopped a delivery from left-am spinner Neil McGarrell onto his stumps for a run-a-ball 26. Danza Hyatt consumed 21 balls for his first ten runs before he freed his arms, blasting McGarrell for 14 runs in the 12th over, after which he turned his attention to Crandon, whom he hit for a brace of sixes. Hyatt found ideal support from Xavier Marshall, with whom he added 91 runs for the fourth wicket.But Guyana pulled things back after Cush, the offspinner, claimed the first hat-trick in Stanford 20/20 history. In the 19th over, he bowled Hyatt for 59 with a flighted delivery, induced a false stroke from Wavell Hinds, who found the long-on fielder, before he completed the ‘trick when Xavier Marshall, after scoring 31, came down the track and hammered the ball straight to McGarrell at long-on.

Karen Rolton, the Australia Women’s captain, will undergo an MRI scan on her twisted left knee tomorrow. Rolton, 31, injured herself while fielding in Australia’s last-wicket win over New Zealand in Brisbane.The injury occurred in the 18th over of New Zealand’s innings as Rolton turned to walk back to her fielding position.”I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I felt a twinge in my left knee as I was walking back to my fielding mark,” Rolton told reporters. “I moved myself to another fielding position to see if it would settle down before coming off the field. I will have some scans on the knee tomorrow and get some further advice from a specialist.”Kirsten Pike, Australia’s 12th player, replaced Rolton on the field. Rolton returned to bat at No. 9, however, and scored a valuable unbeaten 16 to take Australia to a penultimate-ball win.Australia lead the battle for the Rose Bowl 2-0.

Form is temporary, class is permanent goes the adage. When a classybatsman is in form, that is the ultimate problem for a bowling side.Zimbabwe today were at the wrong end of an exhilarating battingdisplay from three men – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and SouravGanguly. If Tendulkar provided the initial impetus with a run a ballblistering 39, Dravid (70 not out) and Ganguly (65 not out) took Indiato their fourth consecutive victory in the first Test of the currentseries at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The pair added 110 runs for the thirdwicket and took India past the target of 190 in 37.3 overs with sevenwickets to spare.The session between lunch and tea proved to be a most dramatic one,and settled the issue in India’s favour. The Indian bowlers, freshfrom the rest and rejuvenated by the meal knocked out the Zimbabwetail. But not before they let at least three chances go abegging.Skipper Ganguly floored a sitter in the slips and Vijay Dahiya added ablackmark to a good match for him by dropping a regulation catchbehind the stumps. Fortunately for India, the error was rectified soonenough as Henry Olonga, the last man, missed a full, straight Srinathyorker and was trapped plumb in front. After charging in for 24.1overs, Srinath returned 5/81, taking his match tally to nine wickets.Although Srinath had created the chance for the Indians by restrictingZimbabwe to 225, there was still a challenging target to beoverhauled. Challenging or not, it was easy work for India given thekind of form the top three batsmen have been in.Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das walked out to the middle endingany speculation that the Indians might change the batting order in anattempt to make a quick start. Unfortunately for Ramesh, his poor formcontinued. Playing at a ball outside the off stump from Heath Streakwithout really moving his feet, Ramesh (0) presented Andy Flower withan easy catch. First innings double centurion joined Das out in themiddle and started off in splendid fashion, pulling Brian Strang tothe fence in style.Unfortunately for India even this combination was not to last. Dasmade an error of judgment, backed up too much and could not regain hiscrease before a Brian Murphy direct hit broke the stumps at the nonstriker’s end. For the third time in this match, the score read 15/2.In walked Sachin Tendulkar. Playing as only he can, the Mumbai classact decimated the Zimbabwean bowling. Driving the ball with immensepower, Tendulkar found the gaps with ease. The momentum was sofrenetic, the hitting so clean, that even Heath Streak was forced tostop and applaud.When the spinners were brought into the attack, their fate was nobetter. Tendulkar employed the sweep shot with great results. Plantinghis foot and sweeping the ball all along the ground, Tendulkar poundedthe hoardings square of the wicket. Unfortunately for India thefairytale didn’t last long. Tendulkar went hard at a ball from PaulStrang that was well outside the off stump and miscued it to backwardpoint. The other leg spinner, Brian Murphy who suffered so much at thehands of Tendulkar pouched the catch. Tendulkar’s 39 ball assault thatyielded as many runs, was over. His innings however, had put India inthe driver’s seat.Ganguly and Dravid then came together to forge a sensible 110-runpartnership that saw India through to victory. Dravid added anunbeaten 70 to his first innings double ton. Stroking the ball withgay abandon, he realised very early on that this target could beoverhauled by sensible batting. Ganguly too was patient and prudent inshot selection. When the ball was there to be hit though, neithermissed out. If Dravid’s pet stroke was the pull, Ganguly’s was thedance down the wicket that deposited the ball in the stands. WhenGanguly nudged the ball behind square for his 65th run, India hadcompleted their triumph with 9.3 overs to spare. Srinath was adjudgedthe man of the match.

Canterbury Cricket reported a disappointing $NZ96,937 loss during the last financial year, $NZ42,706 worse than the previous year. The situation was compounded when an investigation revealed that income believed due of $80,345 was unrecoverable.David Shackleton, the chairman of the Canterbury board, commented: “Very late in the financial year the board became aware that some financial information presented to it on a regular basis was inaccurate. A thorough investigation occurred and a report was commissioned seeking an external review of the Association’s financial position and systems.”This report highlighted that there were significant accounting errors in the presentation of reports to the board. This meant that the breakeven position that the board had been advised would occur in the year ended May 31, 2003 was subsequently determined to be a loss of $NZ96,937,” he said.Part of Canterbury’s accounting processes will now be handled by New Zealand Cricket which would allow for more reliable information to be presented to the board each month. Shackleton did say that since the balance date, the financial position of the association had improved substantially.The Jade Stadium connection is still troubling Canterbury Cricket. Shackleton said it was paramount that Canterbury retain the right to play cricket at Jade Stadium. Negotiations between the two parties have been protracted but were close to finality. However, no Test play has been allocated to the ground next season, although there will be two one-day internationals at the ground.Canterbury has been looking for an alternative ground, and while the extensive work that has gone into the ground at Queen Elizabeth II Park was a vast improvement, there was still a desire for another ground.”We have been able to identify an alternative second-tier ground, and a number of meetings have been held with interested parties in an effort to reach a win-win outcome for all concerned. Once a Heads of Agreement is concluded we will be in a position to make a joint announcement concerning this venue. The board is confident that all involved in cricket will agree that this proposal, when announced, will be in the best interests of cricket,” said Shackleton.Richard Reid, the CCA chief executive, hinted further that the venue would be close to the central city, somewhere at Hagley Park. He said: “Following the success of the 125th jubilee match at Hagley Oval it was obvious, to me as an outsider, that the long term venue needed to be somewhere within the confines of Hagley Park. I am hopeful that we will be in a position very shortly to publicly state our intentions with regard to our preferred option as to a long term venue for Canterbury Cricket.”Canterbury have also been undergoing a change to their metropolitan club structure in time for the season of 2004-05. Shackleton commented on the change: “We consider that if the status quo remained there was little likelihood that there would be any improvement in the quality of club cricket at the top level. It is important that clubs take full advantage of all the opportunities that are available to develop their resources in order to enhance their opportunity to either remain in the premier competition or to advance to that level.”Reid also reported that the intended coaching and development plan for the province was underway in what will be a three-to-five year plan. He said that the Association’s new indoor centre, which is part of its office complex, had been a revelation. “It makes me wonder how we did things beforehand,” commented Reid.

Delhi Daredevils conceded 15 runs off the final over in their last-ball defeat to the Chennai Super Kings, but instead of faulting Shoaib Malik, the bowler, his captain Virender Sehwag blamed the defeat on the lack of a specialist spinner in the side.Sehwag said it was a choice between him and Malik for the final over. “I consulted my team-mates and they said either me or Malik should bowl [the last over]. I thought he would do a better job than me, so I gave it to him,” Sehwag said. “Such things happen in Twenty20, sometimes you are hit and sometimes you are not.” .Delhi had posted a formidable 187, but Sehwag felt they lost the plot in the end stages of the match. “187 is not a small score. [Gautam] Gambhir and [Shikhar] Dhawan batted superbly and then [Vijaykumar] Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan did their job while bowling. Everything was going to our plan till the 15th over [of Chennai’s innings]. At the end we lost at the last over.”If we had a specialist fifth bowler, we would have saved 30-40 runs, we missed a fifth bowler,” Sehwag said. Together he and Malik gave away 58 runs off their four overs, and Sehwag suggested a change for the next game. “We are including a specialist spinner in the next match.”That means legspinner Amit Mishra might get a game, as Daniel Vettori is away on New Zealand duty. Following the match, Delhi were fourth in the points table, but Sehwag wasn’t too perturbed. “We lost a match today but it happens in cricket we will bounce back,” he said. “Our top order was batting beautifully and bowlers bowled well, it so happened that we lost in the last over.”

The pressure on Vikram Solanki grows by the day, and his five-ball duck in England’s loosener on Saturday has only added to the weight on his shoulders.His wretched form of late has been well documented – his three one-day innings against Bangladesh produced 11 runs – and despite bullish comments to the contrary, as he sloped around the team hotel on Sunday he had the air of a man who knows that the noose is tightening around his neck. Duncan Fletcher, the coach, has continued to publicly support Solanki, but even his belief that players should have a good run in the side might not save him.What Fletcher has to decide is whether Solanki is a capable player going through a rough patch or simply not quite good enough to play international cricket. In 21 ODIs Solanki has passed fifty only twice, and worryingly the nature of his dismissals have often raised doubts regarding his tendency to play loose shots early on.Solanki’s team-mates were quick to offer words of support. “He [Solanki] has only played three games, or four including yesterday, where he has not scored too many runs," Marcus Trescothick said. “I am not sure how it will pan out over the next couple of weeks. We have three one-day games left, and I hope he will get some form back pretty quickly. I have tried to help a little bit, but there is only so much you can do.”Luck plays a crucial part in a player’s career, and it was hard not to feel for Solanki after he received what was generally considered a harsh leg-before decision at Moratuwa on Saturday. But as the door came closer to closing on him, it opened for Andrew Strauss, who made the most of his chance with an impressive 83.Whereas Solanki is a hitter, Strauss is happy to accumulate. “I’ll never be a blaster of a cricket ball," he admitted. "My game is based around trying to work the ball around and keep the scoreboard ticking. We have enough players in our squad here who can hit the ball over the ropes. So, hopefully, at some stage there will be a role there for a nudger and nurdler like me. It’s not a glamorous role, but it is there.”Strauss’s chance could come as soon as tomorrow.

Kenya’s coach Andy Moles is the favourite to be appointed as Scotland’s new coach according to a report in Scotland on Sunday.Moles made the four-man shortlist to replace Tony Judd, and according to the paper will travel to Edinburgh next week for a final interview.”The shortlist has been cut to Moles and one other,” a Cricket Scotland source told the paper, “but Moles has impressed from the start. It would be a surprise if he doesn’t get the job.””Andy had loads of success with Warwickshire and has developed a good reputation as a coach,” Dougie Brown, Scotland’s allrounder and a former team-mate of Moles’s at Warwickshire, said. “His big-match experience both as a player and a coach would stand him in good stead if he lands the Scotland job.”While the Kenyan board denies that Moles is going anywhere, it is an open secret that he has had enough of the infighting and disputes which have undermined his attempts to build on Kenya’s success in the World Cup.And while Kenya have no matches scheduled for more than six months, Scotland have a very busy summer which includes the ICC Trophy in August.

Pakistan’s performance at The Oval was certainly one they willneed to eradicate from their minds going into the NatWest Challenge deciderat Lord’s. They faltered in all departments, and it’s hardto draw any positives other than Yousuf Youhana’s welcome return to form.Rashid Latif’s decision to bat first was perfectly justified. Thepitch held no terrors with its consistent bounce very conducive forstrokeplay. Although Imran Nazir would count himself unlucky to get agood delivery first up, the same cannot be said for Mohammad Hafeez. He wasclearly tempted by the vast open spaces on the legside, and had flirtedwith danger plenty of times by playing across the line before beingtrapped in front of the wicket by Andrew Flintoff.Pakistan have too often been guilty of thrusting their frontfoot across to the off stump, which means they have to play around theirpads, making them serious candidates for a leg before decision. That isa technical flaw that has to be addressed immediately by Javed Miandad, as the youngsters will find it hard to progress at this level if they do not sort it out soon.The shot selection from most of the Pakistani batsmen again left a lot to bedesired. Yasir Hameed once again threw his wicket away afteranother impressive start, and Abdul Razzaq attempted an adventurous shotat an inopportune time.Another alarming aspect was the appalling running between the wickets.Youhana may have played an excellent knock, but one cannot forgive theconfusion in calling while he was at the crease. Shoaib Malik lost hiswicket to a ridiculous piece of running, while both Razzaq and AzharMahmood escaped on various occasions when the fielders missed thetarget. Youhana has a definite problem when it comes to running andcalling, and it is affecting the other batsmen.The low total of 184 to defend forced Latif to instruct Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami to try and blast out a wicket every ball before settling into a line and length. If this was the planned strategy then it failed miserably.The new-ball bowlers, especially Sami, must seriously considerbowling round the wicket to Marcus Trescothick from the outset. Hethrives on room outside the off stump, but a change in anglewould definitely counter that problem and rule out his smashing shotsover point or gully.Shoaib’s comeback was disappointing to say the least as he over-pitchedtoo many balls and offered too much width. It was a spell that was not farremoved from the drubbing he got from Sachin Tendulkar in the World Cup,but this time it was Trescothick and Vikram Solanki in the action. To cap that off was the ineffective bowling by Azhar Mahmood, who was pulled and cut atease. Pakistan have gone into both matches with a bunch of allrounders and theattack lacks diversity.By trying to pad out their batting, Pakistan are compromising with thepresence of a genuine wicket-taker like Danish Kaneria. Hewould do well against England, who are traditionally weak facingquality spin. While Razzaq and Mahmood lack penetration, Pakistan must seriously consider drafting in Kaneria for the decider, a game in which Pakistan need to go flat out.After forgetting this one the Pakistanis must go to Lord’s in a positiveframe of mind. It will be a test of nerves for the younger players of both sides.