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ScorecardSeventeen wickets fell on the opening day at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia, with Bangladesh A emerging from the carnage with the upper hand over West Indies A. The hosts chose to bowl first and despite two early wickets, Bangladesh A had progressed to 51 for 2 before trouble started. Andre Russell and Nelon Pascal ripped out the heart of the Bangladesh order, as the hosts lost 6 wickets for 28 runs. At 79 for 8, it looked like the visitors would not reach three figures, but Farhad Reza and Sohag Gazi staged a rearguard action, adding 61 for the ninth wicket, before Gazi fell to Sunil Narine for 30. Reza ended up unbeaten on 39, while Russell and Pascal took four wickets apiece.West Indies A struggled even more in their reply, with only opener Rajindra Chandrika reaching double figures, as seven other batsmen returned to the pavilion over the course of 35 overs. Farhad Reza and Suhrawadi Shuvo took three wickets each as the hosts were reduced to 60 for 7 before ending the day on 72 for 7. Chandrika was still there on 30, with Narine on 7 for company.

Allan Border has described Graham Dilley as “one of the good guys” and a forgotten hero of England’s 1981 Ashes triumph at Headingley. In a ten-year period Border played 12 Tests against Dilley, who has died at the age of 52, and whose pace and swing, Border said, made him a key man for England during the 1980s.But it was for his batting in Leeds in 1981 that the Australians most remember Dilley. During one of the all-time great Test matches, Dilley and Ian Botham put together a 117-run partnership for the eighth wicket that gave England the lead after they followed on, and Bob Willis then demolished Australia as they chased 130.”He’s an unsung hero in the ‘Botham Ashes’, because without him at the other end, Australia [would have won] that game and Botham’s heroics [gone] unnoticed, and history [been changed] changed subtly,” Border told ESPNcricinfo. “He doesn’t get the accolades, but Graham Dilley in that Headingley Test match was a big part of England getting the lead and Botham’s heroics. I often said to him, ‘You should cop more of the raps, mate!'”He was a good quality fast bowler, swung the ball away and had real genuine pace. In the mid ’80s he was at his best, although I played against him earlier than that, when he was a young tearaway with excellent pace.”He was very easygoing – not your typical meathead fast bowler. He was a good man to sit down and have a drink with, and a very good competitor. I always enjoyed the contests and then the after-match, sitting down and reflecting on things over a beer. He was one of the good guys.”Against Australia, Dilley took 41 Test wickets at 32.90, and only the offspinner John Emburey claimed more victims for England during the 1986-87 Ashes, when Mike Gatting led his side to victory away from home. The leading run-scorer during that series was Dean Jones, who said Dilley was as quick as most bowlers of the current era.”He was a quiet fella, but bowled good heat,” Jones said. “He was underrated as a bowler at that time. In ’86 with Gatting’s team he had the new nut and was pretty well supported by Phil DeFreitas and Co, and Gladstone Small, but Dilley was the first guy to worry you. There are not too many guys who are quicker than him going around even now. But you wouldn’t hear a bad word against him.”

New Zealand seamer Tim Southee has won the award for ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, for his spell of 5 for 18 against Pakistan in Auckland.”Looking at the nominees, it’s a great achievement to have even been nominated and to win it is something I will never forget,” Southee, who could not make it to the awards function, said. “Looking back at the game which has won me the award, it was Boxing Day in a full house at Eden Park and it was a big game for us as we’d been going through a rough patch of losing, something like 12 or 13 games on the trot and it was our first win in a long time. It was great to be able to contribute to that win and also put in a great performance.”Southee ripped the heart out of Pakistan’s batting line-up in Auckland, after they had cruised to an imposing 58 for 1 in 5.5 overs. Southee then struck five times in nine balls, including a hat-trick that accounted for Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal, to put his side on course for a win.Southee’s effort was adjudged the best in the voting period, from August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011. It was chosen ahead of Tim Bresnan’s 4 for 3 against Pakistan in Cardiff in September 2010, JP Duminy’s 96 not out off 54 balls against Zimbabwe in Kimberley in October 2010 and Shane Watson’s 59 runs off 31 balls against England in Adelaide in January 2011.

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Steven Crook returned only the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career against Northamptonshire – the county that let him go two years ago – but could not prevent the Division Two leaders taking control against second-placed Middlesex at Lord’s.A responsible half-century from Niall O’Brien helped the visitors gain a first innings lead of 82 before Chaminda Vaas, who had taken five wickets against his former county in the first innings, trapped Middlesex openers Scott Newman and Sam Robson leg before wicket.Then Andrew Hall claimed Dawid Malan lbw and had Neil Dexter brilliantly caught by Rob White at second slip in the space of three balls and Middlesex closed on 58 for 4, 24 runs behind.Crook, a 28-year-old fast-medium bowler who was born in Australia but has a British passport through his English parents, did not play at all last season but was given the chance to resurrect his career by Middlesex after a trial during the winter.He had already taken two wickets when Northamptonshire resumed at 188 for 2, 129 runs behind, and swung the ball at a good pace to pick up three more wickets and finish with five for 94 from 19 overs. Mal Loye added only seven to his overnight 80 before he was caught behindpushing forward to Tim Murtagh and after that the Northamptonshire batting was a curious mixture of obdurate defence from Alex Wakely and flashing strokeplay from Rob Newton, Hall and James Middlebrook.They all threw the bat and all perished to Crook, Newton miscuing a hook to midwicket, Hall edging to first slip and Middlebrook driving to cover where he was superbly caught by Dexter diving to his left. In between times, Wakely, who was strokeless for long periods as he spent twohours 10 minutes adding 20 to his overnight 12, was finally undone by a good ball from Corey Collymore which took out his off stump.Northamptonshire were still four runs behind at 313 for 7 but O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, curbed his attacking instincts and went on to make 50 off 88 balls – including six fours – before Jamie Dalrymple had him caught at mid-off.Vaas, who had joined O’Brien in an eighth wicket stand of 38, and Lee Daggett then added another 39 and by the time Middlesex went in again a sunny afternoon had turned cloudy and created ideal conditions for the swing of Vaas.

ScorecardFive games to go – six in the case of Warwickshire – and Lancashire’s title ambitions look a little less convincing than they did at the end of the victory over Yorkshire at Leeds last week, a result that left them primed to overtake Durham at the top of the First Division by beating a side without a win in the Championship since April.That was the plan. Needless to say, the script they followed deviated rather severely from the original. Indeed, in the end they were beaten rather miserably, falling a long way short of a fourth-innings target of 258 as Andre Adams and Darren Pattinson exposed their batting as lacking substance.It was a tough target – with that no one would argue. The track has not been the spinners’ paradise that both sides had imagined but normal wear and tear made scoring 25 more runs than the highest of the previous three innings a tall order. Yet it was not an impossible one and had there been one Lancashire batsman able to rise to the challenge and produce the solid, anchoring innings that was needed, they would surely have gone close. And in that there would have been no disgrace at all.Yet the best they could muster was Karl Brown’s 23 and the margin was not close at all. Adams, back to the form that made him the leading wicket-taker in the country last year, took 4 for 51 to finish with ten in the match. Pattinson, who has been troubled by injuries in a stop-start season, looked similarly rejuvenated, taking 5 for 44.It was no wonder that coach Peter Moores, who knows a thing or two about winning titles from his pre-England days with Sussex, pronounced himself “disappointed” in his typically understated way. He was only too aware that an opportunity had been missed, particularly since Nottinghamshire had been 27 for 5 on the opening day.”It is disappointing,” he said. “We never really got that close. We got off to a flyer in the first three overs today but Notts bowled very well after that and we were always under pressure. Although Chapple bowled well for us, Adams was probably the pick of the bowlers on both sides.”At 27 for 5 on the first morning the game was obviously with us but, credit to them, their lower orders got some valuable runs as a unit and as a combination Adams and Pattinson were always hard work for us.”They just played a little bit better. There were a couple of periods where our bowlers leaked a few runs and we did not get any substantial partnerships with the bat. But you have to be able to take a loss. We are still in the mix and with five games to go it is probable the team that wins three of them that will take the title.”Lancashire, then, could have been healthily in front but will still begin the next round of matches only two points behind leaders Durham. The chance to bounce back comes at Liverpool on Monday, where third-placed Warwickshire are the visitors. Durham, meanwhile, are themselves up against Notts, who could therefore do Lancashire a favour.The loss of Alex Hales and Samit Patel to England Lions duty does not come at a good moment but at least Chris Read’s team looked something closer to the one that won the title in 2010. Their defence has stuttered. This was their first win since April.”One of the things that was to our advantage here was that we had more pace than Lancashire and with Saj Mahmood not playing,” director of cricket Mike Newell said. “I think both sides would agree we misread the pitch after expecting it to spin and the pace off the wicket we had from Adams and Pattinson was crucial.”It’s a huge relief because we’ve gone two and a half months without winning a game. Andre has been really good for us. The last couple of games he’s come back into form after having a little lull. Darren has hardly played any four-day cricket because of injuries, although he’s been our key man in Twenty20, and we were keen to get him back involved.”Lancashire have been playing excellent four-day cricket and they’re going to have an interesting race between them, Durham and probably Warwickshire for the championship but it was nice to throw a spanner in the works here.”Andre has been a key figure in our improvement. The batsmen who had been out there for any length of time in the first innings felt he would be a crucial bowler on that wicket and I thought he was absolutely outstanding.”Indeed, the 36-year-old New Zealander bowled superbly here, whether he was drawing batsmen into injudicious drives or, as Paul Horton found to his cost, persuading them to leave balls that swung back late. Pattinson, who has struggled for fitness, looked in decent order too.Lancashire had started positively with Stephen Moore cutting Pattinson’s first ball of the day for four and then pulling him for six onto the railway line that passes the Trafalgar Road ground in his next over.But their progress was brought to a stop when Pattinson tempted Moore into a carve off the back foot and Alex Hales took a sharp catch at first slip. Adams, whose six first-innings wickets had been vital to Notts claiming a narrow but important lead, struck in his third over, dismissing Horton and Mark Chilton in successive balls. Horton opted to leave a ball that jagged back and took his off stump before Chilton pushed forward tentatively and edged to Chris Read.Steven Croft survived the hat-trick ball but departed four overs later, edging behind. Brown was dropped on one by Hales off Pattinson and profited for a while from his reprieve as he and Tom Smith guided Lancashire to lunch at 79 for 4.But it was not to be a platform for a significant advance. Three balls into the afternoon, Pattinson sent Brown’s off stump flying with no addition to the score and Notts began to sense a swift passage to victory.The decisive spell came when three wickets fell in the space of nine balls without a run scored as Smith nicked Adams to second slip and then Pattinson removed Gareth Cross, who chopped on, and Kyle Hogg, squirting a catch to second slip, as Pattinson registered a double-wicket maiden.Pattinson completed his five by bowling Chapple off his pads before Simon Kerrigan chipped a ball from Luke Fletcher into the hands of mid-off, fittingly involving Graeme White in the final action of the match.Ironically, after being selected as second spinner for Notts, White did not bowl a ball in the match. Yet his half-century in the second innings was probably the match-winning knock.

Namibia maintained their unbeaten run in the ICC Africa Region Division One Twenty20, 2011, with another one-sided win, this time a 174-run rout of Ghana at the Lugogo Cricket Oval in Kampala. Choosing to bat, Namibia piled up 255 for 2. The innings was launched by Craig Williams who tonked 23 off 10 balls. After he departed, the score reading 28 for 1 at the end of two overs, the charge was carried on by the other opener, Louis Petrus van der Westhuizen, who scored 97 off 40 with 14 fours and five sixes. Sarel Burger and Gerrie Snyman did not let up either, smashing 75 off 46 and 52 off 24 respectively. The Namibia bowlers rounded-off the perfect game for their side, strangling the Ghana line-up. Only Obed Harvey and James Vifah – the sole Ghana batsman who scored at a rate in excess of 82 – managed to get into double figures, as their side limped to 81 for 9 in their 20. Burger backed up his performance with the bat with the best bowling figures of the game – 3 for 12 in four overs.Nigeria registered their first win of the tournament, beating Kenya by eight wickets at the Kyambogo Cricket Ground, Kampala. Being asked to bat, Kenya put on 128 for 6. Opener Duncan Allan looked good in his knock of 41 off 31 balls, by was run out. The only other sizeable contribution came from Joseph Ochieng, who pushed the total past 100 with his 27 off 21. Apart from lapses in running, offspinner Ramit Gill did all the damage to the Kenya top-order, claiming 3 for 8 in his four overs. Nigeria made short work of the chase, knocking off the target with 16 balls and eight wickets to spare. The top-order shared the work, with each of the top four producing cameos ranging between 21 and 35 to steer Nigeria to an easy win.Kenya slumped to their second eight-wicket defeat of the day, losing to Namibia at the Lugogo Cricket Oval. Opener Duncan Allan top-scored for Kenya for the third time in three games, making 58 off 49 balls out of a total of 105 for 8. He did not receive any support though, with no other batsmen getting into double digits. Louis Klazinga and Gerrie Snyman ran through the top order with combined figures of 4 for 35 in eight overs, while Louis Petrus van der Westhuizen troubled the lower order with his left-arm spin, claiming 3 for 12. The chase was steered almost single-handedly by opener Craig Williams, who was unbeaten on 70, from 41 deliveries. His innings included five sixes and Namibia romped home with eight wickets and 7.5 overs in hand.Uganda edged past Nigeria by two wickets in a low-scoring game at the Kyambogo Cricket Ground. Choosing to bat Nigeria posted 104 for 6, mainly through a 61-run fifth-wicket stand between Kunle Adegbola and Olajide Bejide. Offspinner Frank Nsubuga was the best of the Uganda bowlers, claiming 2 for 9 in a miserly four-over spell. While most of the Uganda batsmen failed to get going – four were out for ducks – a half-century stand between Arthur Ziraba (who top-scored with 48) and Arthur Kyobe did just enough to get them home. Uganda’s victory came in the 19th over, despite a spirited spell from Adeleke Oyede, in which he took 3 for 9 in 2.1 overs.

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England Lion James Taylor put his name in the frame for the forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka with a match-winning cameo for Leicestershire against Derbyshire in the Friends Life t20 match at Derby. Taylor scored an unbeaten 15 from seven balls, including an overhead scoop for six off pace bowler Steffan Jones, as the Foxes celebrated a five-wicket victory with five balls to spare.Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald’s 62 off 45 balls and Abdul Razzaq’s 40 from 25 set the stage for Taylor to take his side past the Falcons’ 160 for 4 – in which Martin Guptill led the scoring with 44.The Falcons had lost Wes Durston in the second over when he chopped Harry Gurney into his stumps and the Foxes should have removed Guptill cheaply three overs later. Guptill was on 10 when he drove Razzaq to mid-off – but Matthew Hoggard misjudged the catch and the ball went through his hands to the boundary.The Leicestershire skipper had plenty of time to reflect on that as the New Zealander batted for another 11 overs and, with Chesney Hughes and Wayne Madsen, laid the platform for a late onslaught. Hughes scored 22 off 20 balls before he was stumped charging Claude Henderson and Madsen’s 28 from 26 balls included a scoop sweep for six off McDonald.Guptill hit six fours in his 44 which came off 43 balls before he pulled Hoggard to deep midwicket in the 16th over – and Madsen went in the next when he miscued a pull at White.With three overs left, Derbyshire were still short of a competitive total but Garry Park and Ross Whiteley plundered 44 from the last 23 balls. Whiteley drove Wayne White over extra cover for six but the pair ran hard between the wickets to set a challenging target which looked even better when Tim Groenewald yorked Josh Cobb with the fourth ball of the Foxes’ reply.Guptill plunged full-length at deep midwicket to send back Jacques du Toit in the fifth over but McDonald kept the Foxes in the hunt, reaching his fifty by cutting Hughes for his sixth four. McDonald’s excellent innings ended when he drove back a return catch in the 16th but Razzaq drove two big sixes before he was bowled by Jon Clare.However, Taylor silenced the home fans when he drove Jones to the cover boundary and then flipped a full toss over the wicketkeeper for six – leaving White to strike the winning blow against his former county.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shikhar Dhawan got his highest Twenty20 score•AFP

The happily-ever-after ending that Kings XI Punjab were expecting for their campaign slipped through their fingers, literally, in Dharamsala. Their rise from the dead has been the story of the IPL, but they crumbled in the field in a must-win game and were eliminated from the race for the play-offs.Dropped catches galore, spiced up with misfields and missed run-outs, allowed Deccan Chargers’ openers, Shikhar Dhawan and D Ravi Teja, to deliver just the kind of a partnership that would lift the spirits of a struggling team in its final game. While Amit Mishra did his bit with a hat-trick, it was their stand that put the task beyond Punjab’s batsmen. The result meant Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the play-offs.The first over set the tone for the day. There was encouragement for Praveen Kumar from the track, with the ball moving both ways, but there wasn’t much the bowlers could do when not backed up by their fielders. Ryan McLaren missed an attempt to run out Dhawan first ball and Ravi Teja was dropped by Paul Valthaty in the deep moments later. Both chances were difficult, yet manageable, and proved decisive in the outcome.The opening bowlers, Praveen and Ryan Harris, erred in line, particularly against Dhawan, who played through square leg and fine leg for boundaries. While Dhawan looked determined to bat through, it was Ravi Teja’s responsibility to maintain the high tempo. Dhawan focussed on the gaps, timing and power enabling him to pierce them with ease, while Ravi Teja went over the top, accomplishing the task he was sent out for, albeit with much fortune.Streaky as he was, Ravi Teja sent Punjab’s frustration levels soaring. He survived a run-out in the 11th over – umpire Asad Rauf didn’t call for a replay – and edged the next two balls from McLaren to the third-man boundary. He was dropped by Harris in the next over, and then launched Piyush Chawla for two massive sixes in another over that yielded 20 runs. By the time he was finally caught, he had smashed 60 when he should have been dismissed for a duck.Having fed on tripe bowled on the pads, Dhawan drove Harris twice for boundaries through the off side, then ceded the floor to Ravi Teja, before taking the lead once again following his dismissal. His intentions were clear right after the second time-out, as he slog-swept Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt. He scarred Harris in his return spell with consecutive fours, including one that almost decapitated the man at the non-striker’s end, Cameron White. Dhawan’s first six was over cow-corner, and he was unfortunate to miss out on three figures, not being able to farm much of the strike at the end of the innings.Punjab had changed their strategy in this game, opting to chase, leaving some a little surprised since Adam Gilchrist had scored a blistering ton at the same venue after batting first in their previous game. The pressure of a big target, despite the friendly surface and the small boundaries, was too difficult a challenge. Valthaty perished in the second over, Shaun Marsh smashed JP Duminy for successive boundaries but was caught on the third attempt, edging to short third man. Gilchrist stood in the way and there was hope when he launched Anand Rajan over extra cover and slog-swept Pragyan Ojha into the stands.Unlike Punjab, though, Deccan caught well and when Gilchrist drove Daniel Christian straight to White in the 11th over, the game was decided. Mishra got into the act: his first wicket, that of McLaren, was a product of an excellent diving catch by Christian in the deep. Mandeep Singh swung and missed to be stumped off the next ball, and Harris edged a googly straight to second slip to complete the hat-trick. The element of suspense Punjab brought to a mostly predictable tournament was over.

Zimbabwe Cricket have announced a 20-strong provisional squad for the ICC Women’s World Cup qualifiers in November. The squad was picked following the domestic inter-franchise tournament held at Old Hararians and Sunrise Sports Club in Harare, which was dominated by Southern Rocks.
Zimbabwe Women squad: Ruvarashe Chinyemba, Julia Chibhabha, Precious Marange, Sharye Saili, Thandolwenkosi Mlilo, Nonhlanhla Nyathi, Sharne Meyers, Ashley Burdett, Ashley Ndiraya, Sarah Dambanevana, Sinikiwe Mpofu, Chipo Mugeri, Pellagia Mujaji, Christabel Chatonzwa, Nyasha Gauzeni, Monalisa Chimutashu, Tazmeen Granger, Loreen Tshuma, Audrey Mazvishaya, Priviledge Charumbira

Warren Deutrom, the chief executive of Cricket Ireland, believes that the right of Associate nations to compete at the 2015 World Cup will be established at the ICC’s annual conference in Hong Kong at the end of June. His comments came after ICC president, Sharad Pawar, requested that the tournament’s composition be reassessed in response to strong and widespread criticism of the decision to limit participation to the ten Test-playing nations.Following two weeks of silence in the wake of the decision reached in Mumbai on April 4, the ICC confirmed in a press release on Tuesday that a reassessment was on the cards. “I have given this matter further serious thought and will request the board to consider this topic once more,” Pawar said. “I can understand the views of the Associates and Affiliates and the ICC will seek to deal with this issue in the best way possible.”Deutrom interpreted the ICC’s silence until now as a sign that they knew they could not justify their decision. “The lack of response in those two weeks probably meant they realised they were defending the indefensible,” Deutrom told ESPNcricinfo. “The ICC management are a very careful and expert bunch, and they will have done their homework. I know a lot of people have been telling us over the two weeks how strong our position would be if external remedies were necessary, although we don’t want to get to that stage, we want it to be the last resort.”I think the issue would have to be resolved in June,” he added. “If there was to be any fudge, it would be completely unacceptable unless the conclusion was that we need a qualifier but we don’t know what that qualifier should be. If the principle was established that a qualification tournament was to be reinstated I don’t think the Associates could have too much of an argument with that, and we wouldn’t necessarily need to be involved in that ongoing discussion. Our argument is purely that there needs to be opportunity for the world to be involved in the World Cup.”Over the past few days, the Associate members had met and discussed among themselves how best to handle the decision; those discussions resulted in a letter being sent to the ICC.”We’ve done a great deal of research over the last week, particularly Warren Deutrom of Ireland; we’ve had a lot of letters of support, we’ve also had some experienced sports lawyers contacting us offering us help,” Richard Cox, chief executive of the Netherlands board, told ESPNcricinfo. “On that basis we felt we were at least able to contest the decision around qualification and the opportunity to qualify which is what we’ve done.”At its meeting on April 4, two days after the World Cup final, the ICC board decided to allow only the ten full members in the 2015 edition to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand. The board also agreed that the ten-team format would be in place for the 2019 World Cup in England as well, though there would be a qualification process involving the Associates.Despite the encouraging signs of a rethink, Deutrom was determined not to lose sight of the bigger picture. “We are not regarding it as anything other than a short step in a longer journey,” he added. “The fact it is back on the [ICC] board’s agenda is a good thing, but it’s still the same ten people having the same discussion on the same issue, so there clearly has to be a catalyst. We have to help them reach a different decision.”Part of that process we would hope would be a face-to-face meeting, which is what we asked for in the letter we wrote to Sharad Pawar,” Deutrom added. “That wasn’t addressed in his response to us this morning, so we sincerely hope that it will be addressed in the coming days. We would seek a meeting with the president, vice-president and senior ICC management, so that everyone is fully aware of the depth of our resolve on this matter. All of our members are very much as one on this. They completely, unreservedly and wholly condemn the decision, and our elected representatives are mandated on behalf of the 95 non-Test nations to go ahead and seek redress with the ICC.”The recently concluded World Cup, which has been largely hailed as a success, featured 14 teams, and the league stage was played in two groups of seven each, with the top eight teams playing the quarter-finals. The proposal to trim the event meant that a team such as Ireland, which has had two successful World Cups, would not be a part of the next tournament. To compensate, the World Twenty20 was expanded to 16 teams, giving six Associate or Affiliate members a chance to play in a premier world event every two years, but no matter how well they perform there, they did not have a chance to make the cut for the 2015 50-over World Cup. Pawar’s intervention could yet change that.