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Geoff Miller’s first Test squad as national selector included 12 of England’s tried and trusted players. With Andrew Flintoff ruled out of the first two matches against New Zealand, the most significant decision has been put on the back-burner for another few weeks at least. The return of Matthew Hoggard is the most notable move, but even that was expected after his solid start to the season.The one issue still hanging over the squad is the fitness of Paul Collingwood, whose right shoulder is causing him problems, but Miller didn’t see the need to name an official stand-by. “We’ve got cover, we know where we are going but I don’t think it is necessary to announce 13,” he told . “In that eventuality we are in a position to deal with it.”The two most likely candidates should England need a replacement are Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara. Both have been in action for England Lions against the New Zealanders but haven’t stamped their authority on the match at The Rose Bowl. Shah made 43 in the second innings while Bopara failed in both innings and was given only one over in New Zealand’s first innings.Bopara started the season with a bang for Essex, passing fifty in his first six innings and scoring two centuries, while Shah has been steady for Middlesex. Shah travelled around all winter with England without a chance in the Tests, but Bopara would be able to fill in for Collingwood’s medium-pace.Luke Wright’s form has caused some interest with his 120 for the Lions coming when they were in trouble at 89 for 5 on the first day. But despite being given more responsibility with the ball for Sussex, and bowling at decent pace, he only bats at No. 7 for his county and would be a surprising, if exciting, choice.”It is about forcing the issue. We are looking to peripheral players not to be just knocking on the door but banging it down,” Miller said. “We have one or two players who are knocking very hard.”One player who isn’t banging very hard on the door is Steve Harmison, who was dropped alongside Hoggard after the defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton. He has taken four wickets at 40 in two Championship matches and Miller said he wants to see more from him.”I had a chat with Steve the other day and explained the situation. We need Steve to be bowling, as he can bowl, at 90 miles-an-hour and if he is doing that, getting wickets and his confidence is back then we will reassess it.”At this moment in time he needs to be getting those performances in for Durham and we are allowing him to do that. His mood is pretty good, he knows where he is, he knows he didn’t perform like he can perform in that first Test match in New Zealand and he is trying hard to get form back again – we will back him all we possibly can.”

Group A

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) registered a five-wicket win over Lahore Lions at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium . Needing a win after having lost one of their four previous matches, Habib Bank overhauled Lahore Lions’ score of 256 for 8 with 14 balls to spare.The opener Asif Khan made an exact 100 after the Lions opted to bat first. His knock, which came off 122 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, got his team off to a start. Ahmed Butt later contributed 54 runs off just 45 balls with five fours and a six. Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul, who appears to be recovering fast from his injury problems, took 3 for 29 runs in nine overs. Slow left-armers Aslam Qureshi and Abdul Rehman picked up two wickets each.Habib Bank were well served by their makeshift opener Sajid Shah who hit 58 off 44 balls with as many as 11 fours and a six. Rafatullah Mohmand, with 70 off 102 balls that included four fours, and Aftab Khan then added 110 for the third-wicket stand.Aftab took 99 deliveries to score 83 runs with the help of four fours and a six. Habib Bank thus joined KRL in the Super Eights Stage, that starts from Monday.Islamabad Leopards, also in the running for a Super Eights spot, beat Quetta Bears by eight wickets, in another match yesterday at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground in Islamabad. But Habib Bank’s win left them at 12 points from five matches. Habib Bank ended with 16.After having dismissed Quetta for 204, the Leopards were powered by their opener Umair Khan who finished with an unbeaten 105 that came off only 97 deliveries with 15 fours and a six. Raheel Majeed hit 55 off 41 balls with five fours and three sixes, helping Umair add 103 for the second-wicket in 13 overs.Already through to the Super Eights round, Khan Research Laboratories attained their fifth win in as many matches to head the table with the full 20 points, as they thrashed Peshawar Panthers by a big 142-run margin at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.Azhar Ali (119) and Bazid Khan (100) hit centuries in KRL’s imposing score of 319 for 7 as their third-wicket stand produced 185 runs. The Panthers were bowled out for 177 in reply, with Pakistan seamer Yasir Arafat picking up four wickets for 45 runs in eight overs. Jamaluddin meanwhile stood firm with an unbeaten 81 that came off 90 balls with 14 fours.

Group B

Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) qualified for the Super Eights as they defeated Sialkot Stallions by 117 runs at the Jinnah Stadium. SNGPL, in fact, finished on top of the five-team Group B table with 12 points from five matches.Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq scored his second century in successive matches, his eighth overall in limited overs cricket, as he hammered 107 off 106 balls with 10 fours and a six in SNGPL’s total of 296 for 9. His fourth-wicket partnership with Pakistan Under-19 batsman Umar Akmal, who made 66 off 83 balls with four boundaries, was worth 115 runs.Sialkot Stallions were dismissed for 179 in 42.5 overs. SNGPL captain Mohammad Hafeez followed his score of 40 with bowling figures of 3 for 45 runs in seven overs with his off-spinners.Previous leaders Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were beaten by Multan Tigers by 27 runs at the Sheikhupura Stadium in their last round match yesterday, after they had already made it to the Super Eights. WAPDA too claimed 12 points, but they were eventually pushed to the number two spot after SNGPL surged ahead on the basis of a better net run-rate.WAPDA were surprised by Multan Tigers, who won their first match of the tournament. WAPDA were all out for 271 after the Multan team had compiled 298 for 7 in their 50 overs.There was only one half-century in Multan’s big total, with Imranullah Aslam scoring 60 off a mere 32 balls with four fours and four sixes. For WAPDA, Aamer Sajjad’s unbeaten 111 off 122 balls with 10 fours at No.4 wasn’t enough to guide his team to victory.

Group C

Lahore Eagles made the Super Eights in style as they defeated National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) by four wickets in a high-scoring match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Desperately needing a win, Lahore Eagles overhauled NBP’s big total of 334 for 6 with just three balls to spare. Pakistan’s 16-year-old Under-19 star Ahmed Shahzad blasted 92 for the Eagles off a mere 49 deliveries with 15 fours and three sixes. His opening stand with Ashfaq Ahmed (33) was worth 118 in 13 overs.Shahzad has now scored 60, 88 not out and 92 in his last three innings for Lahore Eagles. The left-handed Kashif Siddiq continued the good work, scoring a 34-ball 31 that included three sixes while Ashraf Ali later made an unbeaten 75 that came off 93 balls with two fours.Earlier, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal hit 90 off 96 balls with eight fours as he and captain Naumanullah (50) rattled up 111 runs for the third wicket. Shahid Yousuf, contributed a brisk 61 off 65 balls with four fours and a six. Mansoor Amjad came in to hammer an unbeaten 52 off 36 balls towards the end.At the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Pakistan Customs beat Faisalabad Wolves by three wickets. Farhan Adil scored an exact 100, off 100 balls with five fours and a six, as Customs made 250 for 7 in reply to Faisalabad’s 246 to win with just one ball remaining. Customs, however, ended their Group C league round with only eight points from four matches.

Group D

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) thrashed Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by the emphatic margin of nine wickets at the Cricinfo’s Newsletter National Stadium in Karachi on Friday.Having bowled SSGC out, after having asked them to bat first, for a modest 166, the PIA batsmen reached the target with more than five overs to spare. Kamran Sajid top scored with an unbeaten 80 that came off 132 balls while Khurram Manzoor scored an unbeaten 73 and the two added 163 for the second wicket and took their team through to victory.Khurram’s knock came off 134 deliveries and included three fours and a six. Sajid had earlier captured two wickets for 23 runs in eight overs, while slow left-armer Nauman Alvi was the most successful with figures of 3 for 31.Experienced SSGC captain Saeed Bin Nasir top-scored with 46, that came off 66 balls with two fours and two sixes. His fifth-wicket stand with Mansoor Ali (35) was worth 67. But the last six SSGC wickets could only add a mere 17 runs. PIA will be joined by Rawalpindi Rams in the Super Eights Stage, starting from Monday, from the six teams that played in Group D.In an inconsequential match, Karachi Dolphins earned some consolation as they defeated Abbottabad Rhinos by 69 runs to gain their only win in five matches at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1.Thanks to an unbeaten 141 by the Dolphins captain and opener Shadab Kabir, they notched up a total of 279 for the loss of only three wickets in their fifty overs. In reply, the Rhinos were bowled out for 210 in 48.5 overs. Slow left-armer Mohammad Ali and the Pakistan U-19s legspinner Shahzaib Khan had identical figures of three wickets for 38 runs in 10 overs for the Dolphins.The 30-year-old Kabir, who has represented Pakistan in five Tests and three one-dayers, posted his fourth hundred in major limited overs cricket. His knock came off just 142 balls with 11 fours and two sixes.With the in-form Akbar Rehman (40 off 64 balls with two fours and a six), Shadab’s second-wicket stand yielded 95 in a matter of 10 overs. Faraz Patel (36) joined Kabir to add another 91 for the third wicket.Sharjeel Ashraf, 20 not out, helped Shadab put on 52 for the fourth-wicket by the time the overs ran out. Abbottabad’s opener and wicketkeeper Ghulam Mohammad (31 off 26 balls with five fours) and Wajid Ali (35) added 51 for the second wicket. Later on, Usman Khan hit 53 off 61 deliveries with five fours to boost his team’s score. Due to some tight bowling, the Rhinos fell well before the target could be achieved.Rawalpindi Rams performed a sort of giant-killing act as they beat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by a big 111-run margin at the Niaz Stadium to go through to the Super Eights.After being asked to bat, the Rams rattled up a score of 255 for 8 in their allotted 50 overs. ZTBL, seven of whose batsmen failed to get into double figures, were bowled out for a poor 144 in 44 overs. At one stage, ZTBL lost five wickets for only 23 runs on the board before the tenth over. The sixth wicket fell at 52. Zohaib Khan and wicketkeeper Shakeel Ansar then recovered with a 72-run stand for the seventh wicket.Zohaib’s 59 came off 90 balls with four fours while Shakeel took 61 balls for his 33 that included three boundaries. The end was, however, quite near and the last four wickets fell for the addition of 20 runs.Rawalpindi’s successful new-ball bowler Yasir Ali continued his wicket-taking spree with figures of 3 for 16 in seven overs. His left-arm medium-fast partner Mohammad Aamer, slow left-armer Yasim Murtaza and captain Naved Ashraf, with his off-breaks, picked up two wickets each.Earlier, the Rams were in trouble at 97 for 5. Yasim Murtaza and Yasir Ali were the batting heroes too as they added 80 for the eighth wicket and took their team well beyond the 200-run mark.The left-handed Yasim hammered an unbeaten 53 off a mere 42 balls with three fours and as many sixes. Yasir’s 37 came off 31 deliveries with three fours and a six. With this win, the Rams took their points tally in the six-team Group D to 16.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers have sunk to the bottom of the points table in the Indian Premier League after their fourth loss out of five matches, against the Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday. However, Rahul Dravid, the Bangalore captain, brushed away suggestions that his team was unsuited to the Twenty20 format.”Twenty20 fates are decided in an over or two. Luck and the rub of the green are factors here,” Dravid told reporters after the loss in Delhi. “And it’s not that our team does not have youngsters. If there is any missing link, I think we lack that x-factor.”That x-factor could be Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been benched despite his outstanding batting in the World Twenty20 because of the cap on the number of overseas players in the XI. Bangalore’s four overseas players against Delhi were Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn.”It was difficult fielding all the foreigners,” Dravid said. “We needed an allrounder because our bowling was not strong, so Kallis played. Ross Taylor will leave now and Misbah will definitely get his chance.”The 10-run defeat against Delhi was Bangalore’s third loss in a row and the second close one, after the 13-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 28. Dravid said McGrath’s four-wicket haul was the key to Delhi’s victory and also singled out Daniel Vettori’s economical spell of 1 for 19.”I think the difference [between the sides] was McGrath’s wickets, both upfront and in the later stage,” Dravid said. “Vettori gave next to nothing in his four overs, Yomahesh bowled tight too. Twenty20 matches are decided in one-two overs and we needed two big overs, which we just didn’t get. Chasing 10 per over, we were right on track but could not eventually make it.”Bangalore opened with Praveen Kumar, their fifth opener in five games, to try and boost the run-rate while chasing a target of 192 but the ploy did not work. Praveen was dismissed by McGrath in the first over.”Chasing 10 runs per over, we had to send our stroke-players upfront,” said Dravid. “Praveen was sent up with this idea. If he could score 15-20 quick runs, things could have changed. There was nothing wrong with the strategy.”Bangalore’s next match is a home game against the Deccan Chargers on May 3 and Dravid hoped that Anil Kumble, who missed the last two games because of injury, would be able to return. “I hope things would improve when Anil returns,” he said. “Our fifth bowlers are conceding 50-odd runs. If Anil concedes little less, it would help the side.”

Harshal Patel ran through Jammu & Kashimir with his first List A five-for, then came back as an opener to hammer 54 of the required 76-run target. The cherry on top of a match that Haryana wrapped up with only 33 overs bowled in two innings was a hat-trick for legspinner and captain Amit Mishra.Jammu & Kashmir won the toss, chose to bat and just withered away as Harshal wrecked their top order with 5 for 21. There were five ducks in all and only three scores in double-digits. At 38 for 7, they were in danger of being bowled out for under 50 but a 37-run eighth wicket partnership between Ram Dayal and Zahoor Sofi took them past that ignominy. Eventually Mishra brought himself on as fifth-change broke the stand and knocked the tail over to claim his first List A hat-trick.Haryana decided to have a bit more fun and sent Harshal out to open. He came back unbeaten with 54 off 27 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.Saurabh Tiwary’s unbeaten 94-ball 87 steered Jharkhand to a five-wicket win over Kerala in Bangalore.Jharkhand suffered a wobble in their chase of 237 and were struggling at 129 for 4 in the 32nd over after MS Dhoni’s dismissal for 18. Tiwary and Kaushal Singh kept the chase on track with a stand of 75 for the fourth wicket. Kaushal was dismissed for 48 but Tiwary stayed until the end, ensuring a win for the side in 47 overs.Earlier, Kerala’s total of 236 for 8 was propped up by fifties from opener VA Jagadeesh (60) and Sachin Baby (61). The pair also shared a 77-run, fourth-wicket stand before Padmanabhan Prasanth provided quick runs at the end with an unbeaten 34 off 18 deliveries.Axar Patel turned in yet another all-round show to help Gujarat record a four-wicket win over Railways in Bangalore’s Alur grounds, their second win in as many matches at the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy.Railways, who were sent in to bat, were driven by Arindam Ghosh(96*) to 259 for 5. The other vital contributor apart from Ghosh was Mahesh Rawat, who made 60, with Karn Sharma (26) and Ashish Yadav (22*) lending the finishing touches to the Railways innings.Gujarat lost Smit Patel for a duck, but captain Parthiv Patel, and Priyank Panchal steadied the innings with a 64-run stand. But Railways fought back courtesy Karn, who dismissed both batsmen in quick succession to leave them in a hint of trouble at 79 for 3. That became 126 for 4 when Yadav dismissed Manprit Juneja to bring the match back on an even keel. But Axar (75) and Rujul Bhatt (72) put together 120 for the fifth wicket to allay fears of a meltdown as Gujarat won with two balls to spare.

A party of young cricketers from Somerset are busy preparing themselves for the trip of a lifetime.Somerset Under 13’s are gearing themselves up for their tour to South Africa in the spring of 2003 that will culminate with them watching the final match of the Cricket World Cup.Whilst they are out in South Africa the Somerset team will be playing in a specially organised tournament that is being organised in Johannesburg that will involve other Under 13 teams from England including Cornwall and Worcestershire.However in addition to honing their cricketing skills to the highest possible level before they leave in just a few months time, each of the fourteen youngsters is having to raise £900 towards the cost of the trip.Last season the Somerset team enjoyed considerable success, winning six of their twelve matches and only being beaten on two occasions, so the team will be going out to South Africa with the intention of winning their tournament as well as enjoying the World Cup final.Team manager John Davey, who will be accompanied on the trip by Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson and coach Ben Wellington told me: "This is a wonderful opportunity for the young players, and it will be a trip that they will never forget. There are some very talented cricketers in the team and they are all looking forward to it immensely."Whilst the young players are busy raising their own funds to pay for the tour John Davey is still anxiously looking for a sponsor for the Somerset Under 13’s team shirts.If anybody feels able to help Mr Davey with shirt sponsorship he can be contacted at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton, telephone 01823 352266

South Africa’s four-day domestic title, the SuperSport Series, is back in Bloemfontein after the Eagles drew their final match against the Cape Cobras, to top the table with a whopping 117.52 points.Dean Elgar, the Eagles’ 20-year-old former Under-19 captain, finished unbeaten on 54, following his fine 122 in the first innings as the match drifted to a draw. Rory Kleinveldt picked up five wickets, removing the top-order, as the Eagles struggled in reply to the Cobras’ first innings of 395. But Elgar, showing a solid technique, along with Ryan McLaren – who finished on 121 not out – defied the Cobras bowlers as the Eagles were bowled out for 353. Elgar and McLaren’s efforts limited the Cobras’ first innings lead to a manageable 42 before Henry Davids, Cobras’ leading run-scorer, scored his third century of the season to extend their lead in the second innings. However, the Cobras only declared after lunch on the final day as hopes of an exciting conclusion cooled. Stiaan Van Zyl added an unbeaten half-century to his epic first-innings score of 152.In Pietermaritzburg, the Dolphins were heading for a comprehensive defeat against the Warriors before brothers Ahmed (150*) and Hashim Amla (99) rescued them with a 219-run stand for the third wicket in their follow-on innings. The Dolphins, who trailed by 173 runs in the first innings, finished on 372 for 4 but a flat Oval pitch and sweltering heat made it immensely hard work for all the fast bowlers.Robin Peterson was the one bowler to prosper, finishing with eight wickets in the match. Arno Jacobs scored 218 not out in the Warriors’ first innings of 500 for 4. HD Ackerman added 112 in the pair’s 246-run fourth-wicket partnership as the Dolphins bowlers were made to toil. The Dolphins made a steely reply as openers Imraan Khan (69) and Doug Watson (78) put on 127, but the rest of their innings crumpled like tin as Peterson picked up 5 for 124. Dave Miller, the 18-year-old making his first-class debut, did provide a late fightback with a highly promising 63 not out.A wet outfield marred the match between the Lions and Titans in Potchefstroom, delaying play until the afternoon. The Titans built a solid first innings of 365 around half-centuries by Heino Kuhn, Rushdi Jappie, Farhaan Behardien and Brendon Reddy. The Lions were grateful for a top-class 90 from Stephen Cook, son of the former Somerset and South Africa star Jimmy, as they replied with 266.The Titans, leading by 99, rattled off 322 for 5 in their second innings thanks to an inspired an unbeaten 176 by Kuhn which meant they only occupied the crease for 79 overs, leaving them 91 overs in which to bowl out the Lions.But Cook, who has struggled with his form in the past couple of years, lifted the Lions to 283 for 3 with a fluent 108 not out. Neither the Titans nor the Lions, first and second respectively last season, had the wings to get off the bottom of the table, however.Player of the Week – Stiaan van Zyl
In amassing 210 runs without being dismissed by the Eagles, Cape Cobras batsman Stiaan van Zyl finished in the top five of the SuperSport batting averages for the season. The Cobras finished last and winless in last season’s competition and have been combing the winelands and peninsulas for answers to their batting woes.van Zyl, coming into the side with Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy on international duty, immediately impressed with his determination to battle it out at the crease. And, for a 20-year-old, he showed unusual daring in being willing to leave the ball. Cobras coach Shukri Conrad should take plenty of credit for the left-hander’s progress.”From the first time I saw him bat for Boland, I really liked him,” Conrad said. “Being able to let the fifty-fifty [deliveries] go was his biggest asset and he can bat for long periods. Some guys you feel strongly about and you want to back them even if they go through a barren patch. But Stiaan has fully justified the selectors’ choice and he is a quiet, unassuming lad.”

In a frank post-mortem after the 70-run loss, Pakistan’s batting coach Grant Flower has said the visitors “didn’t use [their] brains” towards the end of New Zealand’s innings, in which 71 runs were plundered off the final five overs. Those runs had largely come from New Zealand’s No. 9 and 10 batsmen, Mithcell McClenaghan and Matt Henry, who put on 73 together, before No. 11 Trent Boult edged the final ball of the innings through the vacant slip region.Pakistan had used the short ball well, to have New Zealand 99 for 6 by the 23rd over, but Flower said the death overs required a different approach.”We didn’t use our brains at all towards the end,” he said. “Bowling yorkers is skill execution, and we didn’t do that. They played well at the end. The short ball worked to a certain extent, but we overdid it, and we didn’t learn and we just didn’t bowl enough yorkers.”If we’re going to be honest we should have got them out for 200-odd, seeing the start we had.”

Santner’s positivity helped me drop anchor – Nicholls

Henry Nicholls has said Mitchell Santner’s positivity at the crease helped him bind the innings together with his 111-ball 82. The pair lifted New Zealand from 99 for 6 with a 79-run stand.
“It was great the way Mitchell came out and was positive, which allowed me to play more of an anchor role and keep wickets in hand from that position. Credit needs to go to Pakistan the way they got those early wickets, but we had to play positive. The wind and one short boundary made us realise 250 probably wasn’t going to be enough.”
Henry’s dismissal in the 45th over brought together ninth-wicket pair Mitchell McClenaghan and Matt Henry, who provided an explosive finish to the innings, hitting seven fours and six sixes between them.
“I was dirty on myself getting out when I did – didn’t want to miss out on some overs,” Nicholls said. “But it was probably a blessing the way they had that partnership. Matt got hit a couple of times but way he came back was massive to us, in being able to get a score on the board.”

Pakistan’s seamers were guilty of bowling lengths that allowed New Zealand’s tailenders get under the ball. Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan struck six sixes and seven fours in what was a record 73-run ninth-wicket stand for New Zealand against Pakistan.”You can get as many messages as you want out to the players, but it’s got to come from within,” Flower said. “It’s also executing your skills. If there’s a yorker to be bowled, you have to bowl it as a yorker, not a half volley.”Flower didn’t confine his stern words to the bowling attack’s performance. Pakistan’s batsmen had made a slow start to the chase of 281, making just 33 runs from the first 10 overs, at the end of which the required rate had climbed to 6.2. Flower felt they could have been more aggressive.”Even though we should have got them out for a lot less, I still backed the guys to get the target. We lacked a bit of intent at the start and then we had quite a few soft wickets. We didn’t take advantage of a good batting track in the afternoon.”New Zealand have now won 9 out of 11 completed limited-overs matches in their home summer. Pakistan, meanwhile, have lost three consecutive matches on tour, having begun with a comfortable T20 victory in Auckland.”It doesn’t seem like we’re learning from our mistakes – that’s the disappointing part,” Flower said. “It’s one thing losing, but you’re paid to do a job and if you keep making the same mistakes, there are going to be questions asked.”Flower praised New Zealand’s “resilience” for defending 280 despite losing McClenaghan’s overs through injury, and described Henry Nicholls’ 82 as “mature”.

Scorecard

Hyderabad Heroes were powered to a seven-wicket victory over the Chennai Superstars by their South African recruits Nicky Boje (61*) and Justin Kemp (66*).In the first match of the ICL to be held in Hyderabad, the Heroes went against the trend in this edition of the tournament at the toss and instead chose to field. Their decision seemed to have backfired as Ian Harvey and G Vignesh gave the Superstars a breezy start with 41 coming off the first six overs.Boje was then introduced into the attack and he struck immediately, dismissing Vignesh for 19, and sent down a miserly three-over spell, giving away only seven runs. Harvey, though, continued to plunder runs off the other bowlers before being trapped lbw by left-arm spinner IS Reddy for a 36-ball 49. Hemang Badani then carted three sixes and two boundaries in an express 33 to lift the Superstars to a respectable 152.The Heroes’ reply got off to a dreadful start as Jimmy Maher and Anirudh Singh were both dismissed in the first over. The runs didn’t flow until Thiru Kumaran’s first over; 17 runs came off it. Boje then picked off three consecutive boundaries off Harvey as he and Ambati Rayudu put on 50 runs in quick time.Rayudu’s dismissal left the Heroes at a shaky 53 for 3 and brought Kemp to the crease. By the end of the 12th over, the asking-rate had climbed to 9 before Kemp showcased his ability to muscle the ball out of the park. Four sixes and six fours flowed off his bat as he clobbered his way to the tournament’s highest score. Boje also completed a superb half-century as the two put on 103 to take the Heroes to victory.The result leaves the Superstars at the bottom of the table having lost both their matches while the Heroes now have one win and one loss so far.

For the second week in a row Army came from behind to snatch victory after conceding a first-innings lead and maintained their position atop the Premier Tier B standings.With the Tier A clubs enjoying a free weekend, the focus was on Tier B and whether Panadura, the nearest challenger to Army’s position, would be able to close the gap. By the end of the second day it looked likely that they would do so with Army struggling against Air Force. But Army were able to come back strongly and overcome a first-innings deficit and win, Panadura were denied victory by Police, who managed a draw at the Police Park Ground in Colombo.Panadura were in a strong position, having reduced Police to 104 for 9 in reply to their first-innings total of 272. A follow-on looked inevitable for Police but they managed to avoid it with a last-wicket stand of 36 which meant that Panadura had to bat again. In the process, they lost precious time while setting Police a target of 335 to chase in the fourth innings. When play ended on the final day, Police were 215 for 7.Army’s match-winner was once again right-arm spinner Ajantha Mendis, who helped dismiss Air Force out for 92 in the second innings, leaving Army only 146 to chase. The victory was Army’s sixth of the season and they maintained their unbeaten streak.Third-placed Saracens also lost ground when they conceded a narrow first-innings lead of 13 runs to Singha in a drawn match Nondescripts Cricket Club.Sebastianites were the only other club apart from Army to record a win Burgher Recreation Club Ground, beating Burgher by 170 runs, their first victory of the season in six matches.Player of the Week: Ajantha Mendis
Ajantha Mendis isn’t playing in one of Colombo’s most influential club sides and his team isn’t competing in the elite Tier A but the less glamorous Tier B of the Premier League. However, Mendis’ spin bowling is one of the main reasons why Army are on top of Tier B and could be promoted to Tier A next season if they keep up their current form and emerge champions.Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is.”I had only two variations when I started to play for the Army but within a period of one year I have managed to increase it to four. Now I can bowl in six different ways,” said Mendis, who bowls with an unorthodox action.Mendis is the season’s top wicket-taker with 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches with five five-fors and one ten-wicket haul.Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage predicted a bright future for him and said that Mendis should be nurtured carefully because he was going to be Sri Lanka’s next Muttiah Muralitharan”The most impressive aspect of Mendis’ bowling is that he maintains a consistent line and length while still bowling five different deliveries in an over. To be a good bowler at international level you need to have a lot of variations and Mendis has them,” said Kalpage, a former Sri Lanka off-spinner.”Mendis came under the watchful eyes of Mahela Jayawardene, when he played in the provincial one-day tournament, and the captain was quite impressed with his bowling,” he said. Mendis turns 23 on March 11. He has a whole new world waiting for him, if he can be guided on the right path.

South Africa are hopeful of Dale Steyn’s chances of bowling in the Kingsmead Test and the rest of the England series after an “inconclusive” scan revealed no tear to the muscles or ligaments around his right shoulder.Steyn first experienced discomfort on the first day of the match, left the field after bowling 3.2 overs in the second innings but was not taken for a scan immediately. Instead, with a view to not being penalised for being off the field if he could bowl, Steyn stayed on the park and then delivered three more balls only to leave left again in the 21st over.At that point, he was taken for the scan but on his return, he was back on the field again. He threw underarm and with his left arm for the rest of the day. He will test his ability to bowl in the warm-ups on the fourth morning before a firm decision is made over any further participation in this match.”Dale first experienced discomfort in his right shoulder after day one, which was probably because of a long lay off and great deal of bowling load on the first day,” Mohammad Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager said. “He woke up sore on the second day but got through first innings but then in second innings, the pain increasingly troublesome so he had to leave the field.”The scan is inconclusive in that it showed no tears to muscles or ligaments so we are treating it as shoulder stiffness. If he gets through warm-ups, he will be allowed to bowl tomorrow and then we will take a call on his availability for the Cape Town Test after this match.”Given the current situation – South Africa are 261 runs behind and England still have seven wickets in hand – a speedy recovery for Steyn will be foremost in South Africa’s mind. They will also be concerned about his long-term future, especially as this is the ninth time in two-and-half-years and second in successive series that Steyn has been injured.He sustained a groin strain in South Africa’s first bowling innings of a four-Test series in India and sat out the rest of the matches. That meant he spent almost seven weeks on the sidelines and the inaction followed by intense action contributed to the current niggle.If Steyn is unable to bowl in this match, South Africa will have to rely on their two pacemen, Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott, the specialist spinner Dane Piedt and the part-timers. Should not Steyn not recover for the Newlands match, which starts two days after this one is scheduled to end, Kagiso Rabada, who is in the squad, will be the most likely replacement. South Africa will probably also look for cover in the form of some of their franchise players and Hardus Viljoen could find himself in line.The Lions’ quick took ten wickets in a first-class match last week and has already taken six in this week’s fixture, in which he has only bowled in one innings. Marchant de Lange, who travelled to India as cover, may also be called up.