The North Zone Cooch Behar Under-19 Trophy match between Punjab andHaryana at the Maharaja Aggarsain Stadium in Rohtak ended in a draw onthe third and final day on Tuesday. Haryana in lieu of the firstinnings lead took five points, while Punjab had to be content withthree.On the final day, Punjab scored 314 in their second innings, therebysetting Haryana a target of 205. Haryana got to face just seven oversin which they scored 24 runs with the openers M Bisla (12) andBhuvanesh Sharma (7) remaining unbeaten.Earler resuming at 91 for 2, Punjab were helped by usefulcontributions by VS Sodhi (27), C Madan (24) and skipper GagandeepSingh (25). But Punjab owed their final total mainly to the lastwicket partnership of 93 runs off 21.5 overs between A Uniyal (61) andG Mandora (32).On the opening day, put into bat, Punjab were shot out for just 132.Only three batsmen Binwanth Singh (11), VS Sodhi (24) and S Sawal (48)managed to reach double figures. Jogindar Sharma (4 for 46) along withNarwal (3 for 15) and Vashisht (3 for 32) shared the wickets forPunjab.In response, Haryana took a solid 110-run first innings lead, thanksto a fighting 82 by Jogindar Sharma. He shared a 110-run eighth wicketstand in 38.3 overs with Y Sidharth Singh (33) which was instrumentalin Haryana taking a big lead.

Sri Lanka made short work of securing the first victory of their three Test tour with an eight-wicket victory over Eastern Province inside two days.The Jumbos were bowled out for 214 in their second innings, leaving Sri Lanka needing to make just 41 for victory. They did so for the loss of skipper Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara to earn themselves a rest day they probably didn’t want at this stage of the tour.The day marked the first opportunity for Mutiah Muralitharan to begin his terrorism of South African batsmen. He duly delivered with four for 41 from 28 overs including the last three wickets of the Jumbos innings in ten balls.In truth, it was just a matter of time for Sri Lanka after they added 13 to their overnight 253 for nine to leave the home side 174 in arrears.The Jumbos lost seven wickets in knocking those off, although it was a better effort than their first innings 92.James Bryant – the only man to reach double figures in the first innings – again came to the party making 50 in two-hours with eight fours, before he became the second of Dilshan’s three victims.A 50-run eighth-wicket partnership between Murray Creed (40 not out) and Wayne Murray (32) held up the tourists until after tea.Murali got the breakthrough when he had Murray caught by Dilshan and that, was very much that.

Glamorgan recorded their first CricInfo Championship win of the season, timing perfectly a daunting target of 364 runs for victory in a minimum of 84 overs to win by six wickets with 3.1 overs to spare.It was their captain Steve James who paved the way for his side’s triumph, striking an outstanding 156. His innings of the highest quality embraced flowing drives and punchy drives off his legs that kept the momentum going with 15 boundaries in the 246 deliveries faced by the opener.Glamorgan got off to a fine start with James and Jimmy Maher posting 84 for the first wicket but on the dismissal of the Australian allowed Matthew Maynard to join the masterful James.The pair added 194 in 38 overs for the second wicket with Maynard complementing his partner’s efforts to keep the scoreboard moving at the required rate.Maynard also seemed destined to reach three figures as he probed and improvised effectively, but he was caught at deep long-on within 10 runs of a well-deserved century leaving his side still requiring a further 86 runs. Although Michael Powell fell cheaply, Adrian Dale accompanied James in a partnership of 51 to put the visitors in sight of victory.It took a brilliant one-handed catch by Stuart Law to prise out James with only 14 runs still required but Dale steered the Welsh county comfortably home as they collected 19 points for the win with Essex taking three points.In successfully reaching the winning target, Glamorgan equalled the highest score that he county had ever successfully chased in the championship.

Somerset Seconds ended the first day of their Championship match against Northamptonshire at Taunton in a strong position thanks to a century from Wes Durston.The visitors won the toss and somewhat surprisingly elected to field, a decision which seemed to be justified when Somerset slipped to 102 for four.At this stage Durston came in to join Michael Coles and between them they added 103 for the fifth wicket before Coles was out for 56. Coles, who plays club cricket for Bridgwater, is in a good run of form; this was the third time he has exceeded fifty in three innings.Durston was then joined by James Knott and together they added 150 runs for the sixth wicket. Eventually Knott was out for 51, and Durston was out for 142, made from 179 balls in just over three hours, before Somerset declared on 384 for nine.When the visitors batted they lost an early wicket, but in the 14 overs before close of play they reached 40 for one.The game continues on Thursday and Friday.

The Vigilance Commissioner of India’s cricket Board, K Madhavan hasexamined batting mastreo Sachin Tendulkar in connection with thecontroversial Ahmedabad Test match in 1999 when India did not enforcethe follow-on against New Zealand despite being in a position to doso.Sources in Mumbai today said Tendulkar was examined by Madhavan beforethe team left for Zimbabwe last month. They said Tendulkar was thethird person to be questioned by Madhavan, who has been asked by theBCCI to probe into the controversial Test, in which India, with a leadof 275 runs, could have easily asked New Zealand to follow-on.Tendulkar was leading the team in the controversial Test, which waseven probed by the CBI during its investigations into the betting andmatch-fixing scandal. However, the sources said Tendulkar was”examined as a witness only” and his comments were necessary in theMadhavan probe as he was the captain of the team.Madhavan, a former Joint Director of CBI, had already examined AjitWadekar (the then manager of the team) and Kapil Dev (the then coachof the team), the sources said. When appraoched by PTI for hisconfirmation, Madhavan, who investigated the famous bank securityscam, refused to comment on the issue. However, he said he was probingthe Ahmedabad Test and would be submitting his report by this monthend after examining another person.The Ahmedabad Test sparked a serious controversy after the Indian sidedid not ask the Kiwis to follow on. The match, which ended in a draw,was played from October 29 to November 2. About his finding in theAhmedabad Test, Madhavan said “my inquires have revealed that thematch was drawn due to certain factors and I cannot say anythingbeyond this.”He, however, added that since the Test took place in 1999, it may notbe possible to probe into all the aspects that led to the drawnresult. Besides this, he said the BCCI had been referring to him forinvestigating some more cases including the recent ticket scam in Goa.Comparing his report to the one submitted by the International CricketCouncil’s Anti-Corruption Unit chief Sir Paul Condon, Madhavan said”the terms of references of such inquiries aim at identifying betting.But this has to be tackled by the police and CBI, who have been doinga commendable job.”Madhavan favoured making mandatory certain rules against carryingmobile phones to the match venues or inviting unknown persons to hotelrooms by players the world over. The BCCI Vigilance Commissionercommended the Condon report and said “it was well researched anddefinitely a step in the right direction.”

Kent and Lancashire matched each other blow for blow on an eventful opening day of this sun-kissed CricInfo Championship clash in Canterbury.The plaudits went to Kent opening batsman David Fulton, the first batsman in the country to pass 1,000 runs for the first-class season, and to Martin Saggers, who received his Kent county cap during the lunch interval.But the Red Rose county also had good reason to be pleased for limiting the hosts to 301 for eight on a decent St Lawrence pitch and in conditions ideal for batting.Indeed, John Crawley’s early decision to invite the Hop County to bat raised a few eyebrows, but the Lancashire skipper had looked at a green tinted pitch and an even covering of grass and, despite the absence of his premier seamers Glen Chapple and Peter Martin through injury, elected to bowl first.Kent made a decent enough start, adding 25 for the first wicket before Rob Key found an inside edge when driving to give former Durham seamer John Wood the first of his two wickets on Championship debut for the visitors.Ed Smith also went before lunch to a catch at third man by Muthiah Muralitharan, who was the bowler when Fulton swept for four to reach his 1,000-run milestone.Kent’s new overseas player Andrew Symonds (31) helped post 58 for the third wicket before he flailed at Wood to give wicket-keeper Warren Hegg the first of his four catches of the day.Wickets fell regularly thereafter, including that of Fulton for 65 and, at 208 for eight, Kent looked likely to miss out on a second, let alone a third batting bonus point.But then Saggers teamed up with ninth-wicket partner Paul Nixon to post an unbroken 96 to help Kent to respectability and frustrate the visitors for the final hour of the day.

After drawing comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar for his masterly knockagainst New Zealand, Virender Shewag today disclosed that the battingmaestro had sent him a congratulatory message for his match-winninginnings yesterday.”Sachin has sent a message asking me to ‘keep it up’,” a beamingShewag said.Shewag, who opened the Indian innings with captain Sourav Ganguly inthe absence of Tendulkar, smashed a 69-ball 100, to guide India to acomprehensive seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the last leaguematch of triangular one-day series for a place in Sunday’s finalagainst Sri Lanka.The innings drew comparisons with Tendulkar for the sheer contemptShewag showed for the bowling while blasting 19 fours and a six, allof which were brilliant shots.The effort however was not enough to earn Shewag a place in the 16-member squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka announcedyesterday. “I have to perform better to get into the Test side,” wasall Shewag had to say about his exclusion.A middle-order batsman, Shewag said he was comfortable opening theinnings too. “I will bat in any position that the team wants me to,”he said.Shewag’s maiden century was the seventh fastest in limited overscricket. However, he said he was not going for the records and was noteven aware of Mohammad Azharuddin’s 62-ball hundred which is thefastest by any Indian. “I just kept playing my shots,” he said.Yuvraj Singh, who produced a similar match-winning knock against SriLanka the day before, said playing one’s natural game was the key tosuccess in one-day matches.”We didn’t put any pressure on ourselves and just played our shots,”Yuvraj said. The left-handed all-rounder, who made a sensational debutagainst Australia in the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi lastyear, has also been left out of the Test squad.Yuvraj said he was not disappointed with the decision and was workingon his bowling too to develop into a genuine all-rounder. He had agood outing in this tournament with the ball too and felt if he wasable to contribute handsomely with the bat and the ball while being anoutstanding fielder, the selectors could not ignore him for the Testsfor long.After winning three successive pressure games, a relieved Indian teamteam took a deserving break today, ahead of the final on Sunday.”From the way we have won the last three matches, I can say we hope towin,” team manager AN Mate said.A group of underpriveleged children from a charitable institution inRatmalana, a suburb of Colombo, visited the Indian team today.

Mark Wagh and David Hemp gave Warwickshire hope of reaching a target of 375 to avoid following on after a mammoth total of 524 by Worcestershire at Edgbaston.They put on 120 for the third wicket until Wagh fell for 83 and Hemp went on to make an unbeaten 89 as they cut their overall deficit to 301 by reaching 223 for 4 at the close.Worcestershire may have scented a chance to press for an emphatic victory when the home side faltered at 30 for 2. Michael Powell was caught at slip – a 50th Championship wicket of the season for Alamgir Sheriyar – and Ian Bell was lbw to Chris Liptrot.But Wagh timed his shots well from the outset in a 56-ball half-century and hit 11 fours in all before a good delivery from Litptrot moved away for a diving catch by wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes.Any danger of a further slump was avoided as Hemp put on 65 with Jim Troughton, a left-hander whose thespian grandfather, Patrick, played Doctor Who. The 22-year-old was eventually caught at point off Sheriyar after taking a good foothold on his Championship debut.Worcestershire had reached their highest Championship total for two years despite losing their overnight batsmen in three balls – including a wide – from South African-born Neil Carter.Andy Bichel was caught from a top-edge after making 42 in a stand of 90 and Hick, who added only five runs to reach 201 – his 12th double century – hoisted a catch to long leg.The left-arm Carter took one more wicket for a Championship-best 5 for 78 and Steve Rhodes was unbeaten with 28 when Worcestershire finally capitulated following a short break for rain.

After Sri Lanka ended the second day in the first Test of the threeTest series at the Galle International Stadium well on top, Sri Lankancaptain Sanath Jayasuriya declared it as a total team effort by hisside. "It was a good overall team effort. I am happy that we managedto bowl them out for less than 200. It was crucial to get them outbefore too long," said Jayasuriya."After getting the cream of the Indian batting out yesterday, wewanted to just to finish them off under 200 and the bowlers did justthat," remarked the Sri Lankan captain.Dilhara Fernando made life difficult for the Indian batsmen byfinishing with a five-wicket haul. Jayasuriya’s side in the recentpast has depended on Muralitharan a lot in the bowling department, buttoday Fernando rose to the occasion,"It was a grassy wicket and conditions were ideal for a bowler likeDilhara. So he made use of the conditions and things went on reallywell for us," said Jayasuriya.After the wonderful display in the field, the Sri Lankans had to batwell to end the day on top. Their batsmen did just that and Sri Lankaended gaining considerable advantage, "After the good performancewith the ball it was the responsibility of the batsmen to do well andI thought all of us batted well."Jayasuriya himself ended the day with a century and, analyzing theIndian bowling, he said, "Srinath bowled well in his first spell. Weknew we had to see him off in his initial burst and then when I was inthe middle I got a lot of width from both sides of the wicket and Ithought of making the most of the opportunities."Harbhajan Singh picked up the first Sri Lankan wicket but failed toput the brakes on the Sri Lankan batsmen despite bowling a marathonspell of 27 overs. "He’s a good bowler. You can’t underestimate him.He’s the type of bowler who can really turn the ball. More than himmaking any mistakes, I thought we handled him well," remarkedJayasuriya.Though Sri Lanka ended the day in a good position, Sri Lankan coach,Dav Whatmore cautioned his players. "You haven’t won a Test Matchuntil you have really won it. What we are trying to do is to get agood advantage and then try and extend that advantage. It’s a verytricky pitch and batting last on this track will be very difficult, sothere’s a lot to play for tomorrow."

Lancashire will be confident of completing victory tomorrow after ending the third day in firm control of this match.They forced bottom of the table Essex to follow-on after gaining a first-innings lead of 187 runs and then captured three wickets to leave the home side still needing a further 77 runs to avoid an innings defeat.Victory would considerably ease Lancashire’s relegation worries and their cause today was assisted in chief by Glen Chapple who added two more wickets to his first innings haul of 4-71.Having dismissed Essex for 236, the visitors were given an immediate boost to their victory aspirations when Chapple removed Darren Robinson for a duck and then followed up by having Stephen Peters superbly caught low down at slip by Graham Lloyd for 3. That gave the red-haired pace bowler his 50th first-class wicket of the season and left the home side on a parlous 8-2 in the ninth over.A partnership of 68 between Paul Grayson and Stuart Law added some substance to a flagging innings but having reached 46, Law hooked Andrew Flintoff to deep fine leg where Joe Scuderi took a fine running catch to rekindle his side’s victory hopes. It was only the third time this season that Law had failed to score at least one half-century in a championship match.However Grayson continued in resolute manner showing studious defence to end the day 38 not out having batted for almost three hour to underpin his side’s 110-3 at the close.Earlier James Foster had offered dogged resistance in the Essex first innings batting resolutely for three hours to score 32. His eighth wicket serene partnership with Tim Mason produced 47 gritty runs in 26 overs and at one stage just two runs were added in nine overs.Foster batted throughout the morning session but was dismissed three overs after the interval when Lloyd clutched a difficult chance at slip before Peter Such joined Tim Mason for an invigorating last wicket stand of 47 in 15 overs that took their side to their only batting point when Mason struck Chris Schofield for his second boundary of his innings to bring up the 200. There was time for Such to sweep John Wood for 6 before the tail ender was fooled by Schofield’s wrong’un and was bowled for 21 offering no shot to leave Mason unbeaten on 41 and Essex asked to bat again.