Pakistan 257 (Youhana 65, Inzamam 64*) beat Bangladesh 201 for 9 (Sarkar 61, Kapali 61, Gul 5-17) by 42 runs (D/L method)
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Bangladesh never quite got themselves in a position to mount a serious attack on a target of 258, let alone the revised 244 from 44 overs. They lost wickets regularly, and the only contribution of note came from Hannan Sarkar, but even he batted too slowly to cause the Pakistanis any worry. Umar Gul, improving with every game, picked up a five-wicket haul, scalping 5 for 17 and sent Bangladesh spiraling to a 42-run loss. Pakistan’s total of 257, achieved on the back of half-centuries from Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haq proved more than sufficient. With this win, their 300th in one-day internationals, Pakistan took an unassailable 3-0 lead in this five-match series.Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start in pursuit of 258. The lights failed twice at Lahore, but no overs were lost on the first occasion. Bangladesh were rocked by strikes either side of the first stoppage. Mohammad Ashraful (1) edged the fourth ball of the innings, from Gul, straight to Inzamam at first slip (1 for 1). Soon there was another stoppage, when one light tower failed completely and six overs were lost. Bangladesh were then set a revised target of 244 from 44 overs.Gul then struck again in the fifth over before Bangladesh could settle down, removing Rajin Saleh. A full delivery induced the drive and the resultant nick was easily pouched by Kamran Akmal. Saleh (4) had batted well in the Test series, but Bangladesh were in disarray at the fall of his wicket (9 for 2).When play resumed after the second stoppage Habibul Bashar (14) compounded Bangladesh’s problems, top-edging a pull to third man (42 for 3), and Gul had his third wicket.The required run-rate climbed steadily. Sarkar, who scored a patient 61, was keen to play out the overs rather than go for the target. When Sarkar attempted a late surge after reaching his half-century, he was undone, playing down the wrong line to Shoaib Malik. His off stump was pegged back and Bangladesh were in trouble at 137 for 4.Mushfiqur Rahman was run out by a good bit of outfielding from Gul and Alok Kapali’s valiant 61 from 70 balls came to an end when he clipped Gul to Younis Khan at midwicket (175 for 6). Khaled Mahmud (16) struck two boundaries before skying the ball high in the air, attempting an ambitious heave off Shabbir Ahmed (183 for 7).Gul (5 for 17) then completed a hugely profitable outing when he shattered Mashrafe Mortaza’s stumps to pick up his fifth wicket (186 for 8). From here on, the game held interest merely for the scorers, who in the end noted that Pakistan had won by 42 runs by the Duckworth/Lewis method.As at Multan and Faisalabad, Pakistan’s innings, earlier in the day, revolved largely around the two men in form – Youhana and Inzamam. Youhana in particular was overtly aggressive. After Mohammad Hafeez edged Tapash Baisya to Khaled Mashud (13 for 1), Youhana came out seemingly intent on tearing the cover off the ball. He thick-edged the ball to third man more than once and narrowly escaped two chances. After Mohammad Rafique was introduced into the attack, Youhana predictably danced down the track and attempted a heave over long-on. He missed, and so did Mashud, who fumbled the stumping chance.Youhana’s second reprieve came when Yasir Hameed tapped a ball around the corner to short fine leg and then refused to run even as Youhana came tearing down the length of the pitch. The throw, though, was wild, and that gave Yasir the time to come out of his reverie and make his ground at the non-striker’s end in time.Both Youhana and Yasir struck some glorious fours, driving elegantly through the off side. When Yasir fell (90 for 2) – skying a catch to Baisya at long-on – Pakistan slowed down, and Bangladesh’s spinners, and Rafique in particular, pinned the batsmen to the crease. Runs dried up, but to their credit, Youhana and Younis Khan played intelligently, refusing to lose their head out of impatience.Youhana, in fact, fell to laziness rather than anything else. Rahman’s gentle delivery outside the off stump was nothing special, but Youhana prodded at it and inside-edged the ball onto his stumps (127 for 3).As the final overs approached, batsmen fell rapidly in the pursuit of quick runs, and only Inzamam, swatting full-tosses over square-leg for six, lasted the course of the final 10 overs, steering Pakistan to a total only 13 short of what he said he was aiming for when he won the toss in the afternoon.

Shiv Sunder Das will captain the Indian A team for the two matches to be played against Sri Lanka A. The news was announced by SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, in Hyderabad today.The squad itself includes many players, such as Hemang Badani, Murali Kartik and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who could consider themselves unlucky not to be going to Australia with the senior Indian side in December.Also included is Ambati Rayudu, captain of the Under-19 team which will be playing Sri Lanka A in the three-day tour opener which starts at Rajkot on Nov 18. The first four-day match is at Ahmedabad, starting on Nov 23.Squad Shiv Sunder Das (capt), Hemang Badani, Gautam Gambhir, Sridharan Sriram, Rohan Gavaskar, Mohammad Kaif, Murali Kartik, Ajay Ratra, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Siddarth Trivedi, Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra.

India 193 for 5 (Jaya Sharma 60) beat New Zealand 191 (Tiffen 57) by 5 wickets
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A fine 60 from Jaya Sharma enabled India to chase down a modest target at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Earlier, India’s spinners had kept the New Zealand batters on a tight leash, and only Haidee Tiffen provided much resistance in a disappointing innings.India might have lost the toss, but they took the ascendancy from the very first ball, when Maria Fahey was trapped leg-before by Amita Sharma. The batsmen prodded on thereafter, and the innings was in dire need of some impetus when Maia Lewis, the captain, fell in the 35th over (96 for 4)But a swift 34 – off just 35 balls – from Aimee Mason added respectability to the total and some sheen to the day’s proceedings. Mamta Maben, Neetu David and Nooshin Al Khadeer finished with four wickets between them, and conceded only 104 runs in their 30 overs.India’s reply was built largely around Sharma, who hit ten fours in her well-crafted innings. Mithali Raj injected some urgency into the chase with a brisk 32, and India coasted home with 11 balls to spare.

Ricardo Powell, the West Indian Test batsman from Jamaica, is among five newcomers in a youthful Trinidad & Tobago squad to face the Leeward Islands in their opening Carib Beer Series match. The hard-hitting Powell, who has played one Test and 79 one-day internationals, was granted permission to represent T&T after marrying a Trinidadian and taking up residence there.The other newcomers are the left-arm spinner Davindra Krishna, who has captained the West Indian Under-15 team, the opening batsman Tishan Maraj, a former T&T U19 skipper, and the former national youth team players Kenton Thompson and Amit Jaggernauth. Krishna, who has had a niggling shoulder injury, is expected to have a fitness test before the match, which starts on Friday (Jan 10).In the absence of the regular captain Daren Ganga, who is with the West Indian team in South Africa, the opener Imran Jan will take charge for the first time.Trinidad & Tobago squad
Imran Jan (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Tishan Maraj, Ricardo Powell, Shazam Babwah, Aneil Kanhai, Gibran Mohammed, Marlon Black, Reyad Emrit, Amit Jaggernauth, Davindra Krishna, Theodore Modeste, Kenton Thompson, Rodney Sooklal. Manager: Omar Khan. Coach: David Williams

East Zone 388 and 216 for 9 dec (Gandhi 87) drew with South Zone 331 and 7 for 0
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Despite a valiant 72-run ninth-wicket partnership between Ramakrishnan Ramkumar and Narender Pal Singh, South Zone failed to gain the first-innings lead in their opening match of the Duleep Trophy at Dharmasala. Assured of two points, East Zone settled for batting practice and killed all hopes of a thrilling climax.Having secured a crucial 57-run first-innings lead, East were precariously placed at 33 for 4. Rohan Gavaskar’s breezy 37 off 38 balls ensured there would be no collapse, even as Devang Gandhi compiled a fluent 87 to take the team to safety. Gandhi’s knock contained 10 fours and a six. Sunil Joshi was the most impressive of the South bowlers, as in the first innings, finishing with 6 for 160 in the match.East declared at the fag end of the day, and South played out the three overs without losing any wickets. Shiv Sunder Das had laid the solid foundation for East on the first day with a dogged 120, and Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s energetic 84 propped up the total on the second day. None of the South batsmen converted their starts, and only Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sunil Joshi passed the 50-run mark. Central Zone 549 (Khoda 156) drew with West Zone 352 for 4 (Jadhav 154, Kanitkar 96, Martin 50*)
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Dheeraj Jadhav might have tested everyone’s patience with his 445-ball 154, but that innings ensured that West Zone came away unscathed after their opening match against Central Zone at Gurgaon. Jadhav’s monumental effort was complimented by dogged knocks from Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Jacob Martin. Kanitkar contributed 96 to the 216-run partnership with Jadhav, and Martin helped himself to 50, remaining unbeaten in the end.Central’s mammoth 549 was largely built around Gagan Khoda’s 156 at he top of the order. Four other batsmen achieved half-centuries as the West bowlers toiled for more then six sessions. In the end though, neither team picked up any points from the match.

Barbados 367 for 8 (Campbell 81, Smith 114) lead Guyana 310 (Sarwan 121, Chanderpaul 81; Collins 4-85) by 57 runs
ScorecardBarbados snatched a slender lead over Guyana thanks mainly to Dwayne Smith (114) and Sherwin Campbell (91). Barbados began the third day on 138 for 3 with plenty of work left to be done.Initially it was Ryan Hinds (56) and Campbell who took Barbados forward. They added 105 runs for the fourth wicket, before Hinds was caught by Vishal Nagamootoo off the bowling of Rayon Griffith (155 for 4). The next man to go was Campbell. He fell nine runs short of the three-figure mark, caught by Ryan Ramdass off Travis Dowlin (215 for 5).From then on, it was only Smith who kept Barbados ticking. His 114 at number six gave the team just the impetus they needed, and he only fell after the first innings lead was secured. Mahendra Nagamootoo claimed Smith’s wicket, caught by Narsingh Deonarine. By this stage Barbados had a 10-run lead.Ian Bradshaw made his presence felt with a timely 33 low down the order and Barbados finished the day on 367 for 8.

Close Day 4 East Zone 322 and 213 for 3 (Dhoni 60, Powar 51*) need 196 more runs to beat North Zone 330 and 400 (Chatterjee 4-63)
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Four dropped catches by the North Zone fielders, including two by Yuvraj Singh, could prove critical as East Zone gave themselves a fighting chance of an historic triumph at Mohali. Chasing 409 for their maiden Duleep Trophy crown, East Zone were comfortably placed by the close on 213 for 3, with Kiran Powar unbeaten on 51.North Zone will only have themselves to blame if East Zone pull off their run-chase. After gaining a tremendous advantage yesterday, in running up a lead of 300, North lost their way in the first session as Utpal Chatterjee pegged them back with four quick wickets. Mithun Manhas played back to one that hurried on, then Ajay Ratra was rather dubiously given out caught at short leg (316 for 5). After bowling Dinesh Mongia round his legs for 48, Chatterjee then lured Sarandeep Singh into a return catch (341 for 7), which put him just one away from a career tally of 500 first-class wickets. But the landmark proved elusive – now he’ll have to wait until the start of next season to get there. The tail swished and swatted, and North Zone finally finished on a round 400 – not bad, but much lower than might have been expected yesterday when Yuvraj was creaming the ball around.MS Dhoni gave East Zone the initial momentum with some clean hitting. He pierced the covers with some blazing drives, and wasn’t prepared to let the short ones go unharmed. The crowd came to life when he unleashed a ferocious pull for six when Ashish Nehra banged one short. There were a few streaky edges, one of which brought him his half-century, but it was the ideal start his team needed. After hitting eight fours and a six, he tried another ambitious pull and the resultant top-edge was easily pouched by Yuvraj at first slip (77 for 1). Dhoni’s 60 took him only 47 balls.Arindam Das, the other opener, essayed a few silky cover-drives amid an otherwise solid defensive technique. He was unlucky to be adjudged lbw to Sarandeep for 35, as the ball appeared to be missing leg stump (116 for 2). Rohan Gavaskar lived perennially on the edge and he teased the slip fielders no end. Yuvraj grassed two regulation slip chances, and there were a number of times that the ball flew agonisingly wide of the cordon. Gavaskar finally fell for 49 – edging, inevitably – as North Zone finally got the break that they were desperately seeking (200 for 3).Powar continued where he left off in the first innings, and efficiently mixed caution with some brutal sweeps. He didn’t allow Sarandeep to settle into a rhythm, and swept a few balls from wide of off stump. Powar also had a reprieve, when a diving Ratra failed to collect one down the leg side, and there were a few close shouts as he padded up without offering a stroke. But he looked in ominous touch at the end of the day, and was confident of leading his side to victory: “The wicket is playing well, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. There is no way I am going to give it away after doing all the hard work, like in the first innings. Tomorrow is a huge day.”SS Das was suffering from a torn calf muscle and won’t bat tomorrow unless it’s absolutely necessary. Considering the way the pendulum has swung to and fro so far in this match, he’ll probably have to pad up and limp out for a nailbiting finish.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Wisden Cricinfo in India.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been dropped for the fourth and final Test against England, starting in Antigua next week, after managing just 101 runs in six innings this series. But the West Indian selectors have resisted the urge to make wholesale changes to their batting line-up, despite the feeble second-innings capitulation at Bridgetown that handed England their first series win in the Caribbean for 36 years.The circumstances which led to Chanderpaul being dropped were far from straightforward, with the board admitting that he had told them he felt "tired and lethargic". He was asked to meet with one of the board’s medical panel to be checked out, but Chanderpaul “showed some reluctance to comply with this direction” and was sent home "for further evaluation".West Indies now have only their pride to salvage, but Chanderpaul aside, they have put their faith in the batsmen who let them down in Barbados. The solitary change to a squad of 13 is the introduction of the local boy, Sylvester Joseph.Joseph, 25, toured Australia with the senior squad three years ago, and has four ODI appearances under his belt, but he has yet to play a Test. He did, however, stake his claim with a decent performance in the recent warm-up game in Barbados, scoring 36 and 50 for a Carib Beer XI against England’s second-string attack.England, not for the first time this series, have a air of serenity about their preparations, although they are not without need of a bit of fine-tuning as they seek to inflict West Indies’ first whitewash in a home series. In particular, the wicketkeeper’s role has come under the spotlight, with Chris Read impressing behind the stumps, but consistently failing to produce a big score with the bat.Since Alec Stewart’s retirement, Read has managed 162 runs in 11 innings, and with Geraint Jones waiting in the wings, he knows he has to come good soon. “He’s got to get a few more runs,” admitted England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher. “He’s been given quite a good run in there and it’s an area we might have to look at, even though his keeping has been very good.”Jones took his chance with an impressive 66 in the warm-up game in Barbados, but Fletcher was loath to read too much into that. “You’ve only seen one guy in a three-day game compared to a Test match,” he said. “Once they step up to that higher level it’s totally different.”In the meantime, Fletcher’s main concern is to keep his team fully motivated, even though the tour’s main objective has been completed. “It’s very easy to lose a cricket game and very difficult to win one,” said Fletcher. “Anyone can lose it, but to win is hard and they have to make sure they develop this culture that you just keep dominating and don’t relax at any stage.”West Indies squad
Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Sylvester Joseph, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hinds, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards.

Shoaib Akhtar will escape punishment from the Pakistani board after it found that he did not fake an injury in the recent third Test against India.Shoaib missed the third day of the Test in Rawalpindi because of a back problem which stopped him bowling. It was later suggested that he feigned injury due to a lack of commitment to the cause, but a medical examination last month revealed a bone scan which put him in the clear.However, it wasn’t all good news for Shoaib. In a statement released today, the board reminded him what was expected of him, and that he would have to prove himself in all areas in domestic cricket.”The Board has taken serious note of Shoaib Akhtar’s conduct after he left the field which according to the doctors, management and captain led to demoralizing in team spirit in the dressing room,” the statement read. “There followed an abject surrender by the Pakistan team in the second innings for which other offending members of the team must share the blame for not showing grit and fighting spirit required from the national squad.”Accordingly the board has decided not to invoke a penalty against Shoaib Akhtar, but he will have to demonstrate his discipline to team morale, his fitness and prove his playing ability in domestic cricket to earn selection. Other players have similarly been cautioned that they need to demonstrate 150% commitment to team spirit and morale to merit selection in the national squad.”Meanwhile, four other players also had their injuries investigated. Umar Gul’s will have further treatment for his bad back, Abdul Razzaq should be fit for the training camp set for May, Shabbir Ahmed is suffering from shin splints and should continue with existing treatment, while Moin Khan’s back problem led the medical staff to suggest hydrotherapy should be made available for all wicketkeepers.

On the day that Australia begins one of the least appetising Test tours everundertaken, Sean Ervine begins the rest of his cricketing life. Ervine, aflamboyant 21-year-old who in an apolitical world would be one of the firstZimbabweans picked, will instead meet with West Australian cricket officialstoday to discuss his prospects for the next year – and maybe beyond.Ervine flew out of Harare on the same night the Australians flew in. Now inPerth, he has declared his Zimbabwean career over and is entertaining vagueambitions of one day wearing the baggy green.”It has crossed my mind,” he admitted, “but that is quite a long way away.You have to get through the four years of becoming a citizen and proveyourself as a cricketer. If it comes one day, I’ll be happy.”Ervine looks every inch a strapping, fair-dinkum Aussie on the front page of The Australian newspaper today. Blond and beaming, wearing a T-shirtand jeans, he is pictured cuddling his comparably fair-haired, toothy andstriking girlfriend Melissa Marsh, daughter of the soon-to-be former Zimbabwe coach Geoff Marsh.”With Melissa here,” he told the paper, “it made my decision much easier.”Ervine agreed with the Australian team’s decision to go ahead with the tour,saying it would raise awareness of Zimbabwe cricket’s ills, but warned “I wouldn’t say it would be any better any time quickly … The ICC should have come into it and done a bit more.”A combative right-arm swing bowler and lower-order bat, Ervine would be an obvious asset to a WA side short on spark which last won the domestic competition in 1998-99 when it was still called the Sheffield Shield – anexcruciating drought by modern western standards. He averages 32 with thebat and 43 with the ball in his five Tests. He was one of the less traumatised witnesses to Matthew Hayden’s record runfest at the WACA last October, emerging with four wickets, a half-century and his reputation enhanced.There are new reports, meanwhile, that Australia’s planned two-Test tour ofZimbabwe might yet become a one-Test tour. In the face of growing farce,officials from both countries have reportedly discussed scrapping the secondTest scheduled for Bulawayo and replacing it with two one-dayers; a mild relief for some Australian fans and perhaps players, hopelessly irrelevant for Sean Ervine.