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Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwe batsman, has said that the side’s two-wicket win in the first ODI against Ireland has given belief to the players, and will assist them in overcoming tough situations in the future. Zimbabwe had been reduced to 171 for 7 chasing 220, but Raza made an unbeaten 60 to guide them home with an over remaining, a result he said showed the “mental toughness” of the young side.”Sometimes when you are out of form as a batter, sometimes what you need is a scratchy, ugly-looking innings to get yourself some runs and get your confidence going. What we needed was this win, maybe an ugly-looking win but what it does is it brings the team a lot closer and helps with the belief and the faith that we have in one another and ourselves,” Raza said.”This win will play a lot (bigger) role than what you see. You see that we have gone one-up against Ireland. But what I see is that it has given enough belief to the squad and we have got ourselves together. This will work in mysterious ways, especially in the change room. We will perform better when we find ourselves in difficult situations.”The win was only Zimbabwe’s fourth in 18 completed ODIs this year, to go with a solitary victory in seven T20Is. The selectors have dropped a few underperforming senior players, and Raza saw the Ireland win as a reflection of the potential the relatively inexperienced side has.”Because we were losing, there were a lot of fingers raised and questions asked and rightly so to be fair. As I said sometimes you need an ugly, scratchy win and that showed our mental toughness, especially the youngsters. We have got quite a young side. Apart from Elton (Chigumbura) I do not think there is anyone close to a 100 (ODIs). If you take away the other two guys – Chamu (Chibhabha) and Sean Williams – the rest of us are just maybe 5-10-20-30 (games). That is a good sign that we are mentally strong enough but we have to play our roles a bit better and if we can do that we will win more games in the future.”Raza was pleased to have been successful in steering his team to victory, something he said he had failed to do before. “Yes, it was nervous. I found myself for the first time finishing a game. That is taking confidence for the next game. I have found myself previously as well (in such situations) but I have never been able to win the game for the team. So today before I walked on to the park I said a few things to myself and I made sure that I stayed true to what I said to myself, and luckily it ended up working.”One of the reasons for my downfall could have been that I have gone aerial a lot earlier in my innings. Today I was just hitting the ball on the ground for as long as possible, and take the aerial shot once you really have to.”Raza’s 38-run eighth-wicket partnership with Wellington Masakadza was crucial in the chase and the batsman was full of praise for the debutant left-arm spinner, who was eventually run out for 10. “I told him, ‘sorry mate,’ because he called and I did not know where the ball was. He was batting beautifully. I mean the guy is on debut and has bowled well, has fielded his heart out. The last thing you need is for him to get out, and god forbid if we lose the game then a debutant is not in a good place.”He has got a bright future ahead. His ten overs went for between 30 to 40 (45) which is still good on that track and he came on to bowl at a crucal time as well. Most importantly to me his attitude stands out. He is a very humble guy, plenty of energy in the field. He adds quite a lot to the team and with the bat you have all seen he can hold his own especially under pressure, so that speaks volumes about his character.”

Sussex are in a commanding position against Nottinghamshire at Hove afterMichael Bevan had hit his second hundred of the match. The home county hasleft the visitors to score 388 tomorrow with all their second-inningswickets in hand.The Australian left-hander, who is rated the best limited-overs batsman in the world, has shown a similar appetite for the championship. His third championship century in consecutive innings and at 174 was his highest score for Sussex (exceeding his 166 in the first innings).
This summer Bevan has made 1,667 runs in all competitions. He and Richard Montgomerie have scored 558 runs in this match and have enjoyed stands of 292 and 266.Bevan’s difficult chance to Paul Johnson in the covers when he was the 140was the only chance they gave. Usman Afzaal, an occasional left-arm spinner,dismissed both batsmen. Montgomerie’s sweep lobbed the ball up to thewicketkeeper, and Bevan drove the ball to Jason Gallian at extra-cover.Thereupon Chris Adams declared leaving Nottinhgamshire seven hours to play out which they did in scoring 19. Earlier in the day Nottinghamshire had folded from 240-3 to 265-8 against James Kirtley’s quick bowling. Chris Read and Andrew Harris prevented the possibility of the follow-on. Richard Stemp’s dismissal at 344 prevented the county from winning a final bonus point. Kirtley completed the innings with 6-90.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Hafeez was a dominant figure during Pakistan’s Test series victory against England and he was to the fore once more, striking an unbeaten century as they took the opening ODI in Abu Dhabi by six wickets with 6.2 overs to spare.Much of the work had been done earlier by a strikingly disciplined and energetic display in the field by Pakistan, who limited England to 216, at least 40 runs under par, before Hafeez settled in on a sluggish, largely unresponsive surface to register his 11th one-day hundred.It ensured the victory his side craved as a send-off for Younis Khan after his abrupt announcement on the morning of the match that he would retire from ODI cricket that same evening.So Younis has his farewell victory. His final ODI innings – although in Pakistan cricket you never can tell – was a laboured affair – 9 in 18 balls before he came to grief with an ugly pull to mid-on. No matter: he got the bat waves to cheering spectators, the guard of honour from smiling team mates, and ultimately got the victory. Dropped during the World Cup, seemingly for good, he had felt entitled to a departure with all the trimmings and had somehow managed to contrive exactly that.Upon his dismissal, at 41 for 3, the game remained in the balance, Reece Topley’s heavily-inked left-arm, in his first overseas ODI, having found some inswing to claim all three wickets. They were an interesting trio, kicked off by the captain Azhar Ali and a failed pinch hitter in Bilal Asif, both of them falling lbw. It could have been worse for Younis – Topley almost got him lbw first ball only for Younis to get a bit of bat on it. After 264 ODIs he probably felt entitled to a bit of fortune.Hafeez’s methodical hundred – intelligently constructed strokeplay at the top of the order – at least gave some vague legitimacy to England’s waste of a review when he was 16 by underlining the importance of his wicket. For all that, it was among the more optimistic lbw appeals ever reviewed, Hafeez having middled it, only for a second impact some time later persuading Chris Woakes into a spot of wishful thinking.As for England’s spinners, the story of the Test series remained embedded with 19 overs shared between Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Joe Root for 104 runs with only the wicket of Shoaib Malik, who flicked Moeen to midwicket, to show for it. But the spinners would have needed to be a wondrous bunch to build pressure with so few to defend. Hafeez could play much as he pleased. “It would be cruel to criticise the bowlers with only 216 on the board,” Morgan said.Babar Azam, who made his debut against Zimbabwe is his home city of Lahore earlier this year, also impressed with an unbeaten 62 in only his fourth ODI. His pull for six against David Willey was the final statement that for England there would be no way back. He might have been fortunate, however, to survive Topley’s return when, at 145 for 4, the bowler might have won a fourth wicket via a feather down the leg side, only for the umpire, Johan Cloete, to indicate with a gentle tap that he imagined the ball had brushed the batsman’s thigh. A storming catch earlier – a spring to his left at straight midwicket to intercept a Moeen Ali pull – added to a lustrous day.England were purring along at 147 for 3, with Eoin Morgan and James Taylor having recovered an early collapse with a stand of 133 in 27 overs, but wickets then clattered for a second time against disciplined bowling and alert fielding. Morgan and Taylor made 136 runs between them; the rest of England’s top 7 made 18.Morgan could at least draw personal encouragement from his first appearance – the practice match against Hong Kong apart – since he was concussed by a blow on the head from the Australia quick Mitchell Starc at Old Trafford at the tail-end of the English season. Wearing additional protective flaps on his helmet, he looked in excellent order in making 76 from 96 before Malik found slight turn and he edged to the wicketkeeper.Morgan did get off the mark in fortunate fashion when he pulled languidly at a ball from Mohammad Irfan and happily accepted the award of four runs off his forearm. Surprisingly, even on such a slow surface Azhar did not bring on Wahab Riaz earlier than planned with instructions to fire in a few short ones.Taylor, too, could take satisfaction from the stand, but he was culpable in the run out of Jos Buttler, desperately hoping for a change of fortune, but out with a single to his name, forced him into a push-and-run single to midwicket, leaving the wicketkeeper with time to sweep up Azhar slick pick up and throw.With a need to remedy his miscalculation, Taylor then fell for 60 when he chipped Malik to short midwicket. Taylor would have faltered even earlier than that had Pakistan not deliberated beyond the stipulated 15 seconds before unsuccessfully requesting a review for an lbw appeal by Malik which replays showed was hitting leg stump.England’s start was rocky: three wickets down for 14 with the innings only 3.1 overs old. Growing attention is being given to Jason Roy’s crooked defensive technique, but it was also an excellent delivery from Irfan that seemed to beat him for pace and rattled his off stump. Joe Root logged England’s second duck when he fell lbw to Anwar Ali – he spent England’s review as well, in the mistaken belief that the ball was missing leg – and Alex Hales became Anwar’s second wicket when Younis held a juggling catch at slip.The confrontation between Irfan, at 7ft tall, and Taylor, around 18 inches shorter, was a photographic joy. Add the additional height of Irfan’s arm and Taylor was receiving a delivery from more than three feet above his head. In Game of Thrones terms, it might not quite have been Tyrion Lannister vs Mag the Mighty, but it was not far short, and a near beamer from Irfan just added to the challenge.When Taylor quickened towards his fifty with straight sixes against Asif and Malik in turn, England must have had hopes for 280, but those sixes were also an indication of England struggling to tick along quite as effectively as the ball aged. From that point – an expanse of 21.4 overs – they managed only one more boundary. Even that was a full toss from Yasir Shah which Woakes gratefully despatched on his way to an unbeaten 33 which merely sugared the pill.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, feels his wicket of Mahendra Singh Dhoni shortly before stumps on day two was a turning point for Pakistan in the Feroz Shah Kotla Test. Kaneria said that moment allowed Pakistan the chance to come back in the game, and given the aim was to set India at least a 300-run target, he could have a winning role in the series opener.”Sachin Tendulkar’s run out and disturbing the Dhoni-[VVS] Laxman partnership were important” said Kaneria after an absorbing day’s play. “Dhoni’s wicket was a good breakthrough, especially when they have a long tail. Dhoni is in good form and is an aggressive player who keeps the scoreboard ticking. So claiming his wicket has helped the team a lot.”India were in serious trouble at 93 for 5 but a115-run sixth-wicket stand between Laxman and Dhoni took them extremely close to Pakistan’s total of 231. Kaneria still felt the match was could swing either team’s way.”This is a five-day match and every day is different with one team up one day and another the next day. Today it is balanced,” he said. “We have come back in the match after the breakthrough. Tomorrow morning we will do well.”Batting on day four, said Kaneria, would not be easy. “We did not have the first innings advantage but we’ll give them a target as the fourth day will be difficult to bat with the wicket deteriorating and becoming very slow and low. If we give them a target of 300 we can win the match.”There has not been much sunlight on these two days so wicket has not broken yet. It could be difficult to play spin tomorrow. We will like to come and bowl them out in the morning tomorrow. I can have a vital role in winning the match for Pakistan.”Meanwhile, injured fast bowler Umar Gul, ruled out of this Test with a back sprain, remains in doubt for the second Test. According to Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector, Pakistan may call up Rao Iftikhar Anjum as his replacement. “I don’t think Gul will be fit for the second Test. We may bring Iftikhar Anjum back to India,” Salahuddin told PTI. “Iftikhar did very well in the ODIs against South Africa.”An unnamed source in the Pakistan team disclosed that a decision on Gul would be taken in the next few days. “We have sent the [MRI] reports to Pakistan and after consulting with the orthopedics and other medical experts a decision will be taken on whether to retain him or send him back,” the source said.

Chhattisgarh and Manipur made another case to be awarded the BCCI’s full membership as they made a presentation to the board’s affiliation committee in Bangalore on Sunday.Full membership would not only give both states – currently associate members – an annual revenue in excess of Rs 20 crore (approx. $3.03mn) but more importantly, will facilitate their entry into all the senior-level tournaments conducted by the BCCI.”We made a presentation to the BCCI affiliation committee today. We were asked to present our case. Now that we have explained all the activities, we hope that the BCCI takes our efforts into consideration and awards us full membership,” Rajesh Dave, secretary of Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, told ESPNcricinfo.Both the states have been allowed to participate in the BCCI’s junior tournaments but lack of participation in the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy has hampered the progress of cricket there. Besides, with the board’s grant of approximately Rs 75 lakh (US$114,000) annually to its associate members, the developing states find it difficult to establish a structured development programme.However, CSCS and Manipur Cricket Association have been putting in a lot of effort to develop cricket in their jurisdiction. Both the states put in consistent performances in the BCCI’s affiliate and associate members’ tournament before it was disbanded two years ago as well as impressed at times during the Under-22 tournaments.The committee also considered Mizoram Cricket Association’s application to be awarded BCCI’s affiliate membership. The three-member committee, comprising BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, Vidarbha Cricket Association president Prakash Dixit and Goa Cricket Association vice-president Dr Shekhar Salkar, will now forward its recommendations for consideration at next month’s annual general meeting.If the board decides to award membership to either of the states, it will result in additional votes in the BCCI’s list. At present, the board has 30 full members. Due to the volatile election scenario, last year’s AGM had not considered Chhatisgarh’s plea.Chhattisgarh, along with Sikkim Cricket Association, Manipur Cricket Association and Bihar Cricket Association are BCCI’s associate members. Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh happen to be affiliate members, with Mizoram likely to join the ranks next month.

Shane Warne has delivered a broadside at Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh for the decision to recall Peter Siddle ahead of Pat Cummins for the fifth Investec Ashes Test at The Oval.Siddle was ignored by Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann for the two previous Tests played on seaming wickets at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, and was known to be particularly upset by his absence from the XI for the pivotal fourth match. However another green-tinged pitch at The Oval moved the selectors to include him in place of Josh Hazlewood, having earlier seemed set to choose the younger Cummins.The retiring captain Michael Clarke was seen in animated discussion with Marsh before the side was named, and after play began Warne expressed in the strongest possible terms that Siddle should not have played in a dead Test when there was an opportunity to have Cummins gain valuable experience.”I don’t think anyone thought Peter Siddle should have played in this Test match,” Warne said on commentary for Channel Nine. ” I can understand the conditions where Peter Siddle would have played but to me it looks like it’s a selection that should have been for the last Test match and while we got that wrong last Test match, let’s play him this Test match.”I just can’t understand why Pat Cummins is not playing in this Test match. Peter Siddle will do a good job – that’s irrelevant because he should have played the last Test. For me they’ve got the selection wrong again and Rod Marsh has to be accountable for that. There’s been so many selection issues this series they’ve just got wrong. Someone has to be accountable.”They’ve got Bangladesh coming up which Peter Siddle won’t go to and you’ve got a 23-year old Pat Cummins. What an opportunity to look at him in a Test match here. I just can’t understand it. I just could not believe it when the team was announced today.”The Siddle selection is the latest in a series of hotly-debated calls this series, where a heavily- favoured Australian side has fallen well short of expectations. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin dropped out of the team after the first Test, but when the wicketkeeper made himself available again after withdrawing from the Lord’s Test for personal reasons he was ignored. It was a move that miffed numerous members of the touring squad.At Trent Bridge, the selectors delayed informing the team of the XI to take the field until shortly before the toss, and in dropping Mitchell Marsh for his brother Shaun abandoned a long-held commitment to playing five bowlers. Shaun Marsh was out cheaply in both innings and the bowling attack was left unbalanced by the absence of an extra option.Lehmann has conceded that this was a mistake, and has also suggested that two separate squads should have been chosen for the West Indies and England instead of naming one group for the two tours. However Marsh has defended the work of his panel, saying he could not think of any other cricketers they could have picked for the trip, and that deliberations over the team for the fourth Test were the hardest he had ever experienced.

Brad Hodge’s sixth Test was familiar to his first. After a long wait for promotion, his opponents were West Indies and he stepped in with a confident contribution. On an opening day when both sides introduced and recycled some fresh faces, Hodge provided the most attractive support role to the A-list performance of Ricky Ponting.Calm and assured, Hodge did not look like the accidental tourist he became when Michael Clarke delayed his trip to the Caribbean for family reasons. Hodge’s inclusion was expected to last a week in case of another injury, a usually unlikely scenario. Then Matthew Hayden’s heel refused to heal and Hodge went from the fringe to the middle.Australia’s position was unsure when he arrived at 174 for 3. Ponting was cruising, but Michael Hussey had battled after Simon Katich and Phil Jaques departed relatively early. A cut for four was followed by a straight drive to the boundary in the same Daren Powell over. Hodge was settled. On a pitch that was staying low at times, he was troubled on a few occasions, including on 12 when his glance off Amit Jaggernauth was missed by the wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.He was more comfortable when the ball was on the stumps and West Indies helped him re-adjust to Test life. During his debut in 2005, Hodge scored a delightful 60, but Bob Simpson, the former Australia coach, worried about his tendency to play away from his body when pushing at balls outside off stump from the fast bowlers. It was a thought that concerned the selectors enough not to pick him for the 2005-06 South Africa tour, and he was dropped with a Test average of 58.42 after five Tests.West Indies didn’t seem to remember Hodge’s previous problems and he was allowed to drive straight, play behind point and produce the occasional pull. The most brutal shot came two overs before stumps when he stepped back and thrashed Jaggernauth for six over midwicket to bring up his half-century. He finished the day on 53 and will re-start his innings, and his push for more Test action, on the second morning.Ponting out-scored Hodge and the Victorian was happy to remain in control, unlike Katich earlier in the day. Katich had to wait two-and-a-half years for another Test chance and his stay was over in 11 deliveries as an aggressive outlook took hold. The danger of an edge first ball did not put him off and he struck three boundaries before driving airily and falling to a catch in the gully off Fidel Edwards.Australia’s other new face, Brad Haddin, spent a quiet day waiting to bat after collecting his cap from Ricky Ponting and becoming the country’s 400th Test player. Two more wickets have to fall before he can make his first mark.There was no long delay for Jaggernauth – the offspinner’s cap had come from West Indies’ manager Omar Khan – and he was employed by Ramnaresh Sarwan in the second session. While things were much tougher for him after tea, his first victim was unforgettable. Hussey had been proving difficult to remove, but Jaggernauth went around the wicket and forced an edge, which was taken athletically by a lunging Dwayne Bravo at first slip. He finished with 1 for 74 off 20 overs following some heavy treatment from Ponting, who stood above everyone on the opening day.

PERTH, Dec 11 AAP – Mighty Murray Goodwin’s marathon knock of 176 for Western Australia stymied Tasmania’s bid for its first outright win of the summer at the WACA Ground today.The former Zimbabwean Test batsman’s 442-minute innings ensured the Pura Cup match ended in a draw on the fourth day.Goodwin guided the Warriors to an eventual second innings total of 405 after they trailed the visitors by 127 runs on first innings.Stumps were drawn early after the dismissal of Michael Clark (26) with Paul Wilson unbeaten on ten.Right-hander Goodwin celebrated his 30th birthday with a composed display the inexperienced home team badly needed with seven players on Australian or Australia A duty.His place in the WA lineup had been questioned this summer after a below-par 2001/02 season but he demonstrated today that he was still a class act.He hit 28 fours in his 344-ball effort and brought up his third hundred in 30 four-day interstate matches for WA with a well-timed straight drive for four off Scott Kremerskothen’s bowling.Goodwin scratched around yesterday but, having survived, he flourished today with his highest score for WA and showed why he averaged just under 43 from 19 Tests for the African nation.Young Tasmanian left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty had the pick of the figures with 4-92 off 30.4 overs.But the result further reduced second-last Western Australia (6) and cellar dweller Tasmania’s (2) already slim hopes of making March’s Pura Cup final.After beginning the day at 4-135, the Warriors started slowly and were in early trouble at 5-175.Debutant Adam Voges (32) failed to further his ambitions at first-class level and Kade Harvey (17) was run out in a mix-up with Goodwin.Harvey attempted to take a second run off a misfield but left himself stranded at the same end as Goodwin.Just after lunch rookie wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi (33) became fast bowler Damien Wright’s (2-44) second scalp with WA leading by 100 runs.However another debutant Beau Casson entered and put his head down taking 46 minutes to record his first run.He and Goodwin put on a 123-run seventh wicket stand in two and a half hours to kill off the visitors’ hopes of adding another four points to the two collected in the first dig.

Match facts

Wednesday July 30 to Sunday August 3, 2008
Start time 11.00 (10.00GMT)

Big Picture

In any other contest, there’d be no question where the balance of power currently lies. After the drubbing that England received at Headingley, and the destabilising recriminations that followed, South Africa would appear to be in total command of this series. And yet, whenever these two teams meet, you just know there’s a twist lurking around the corner. On three occasions since readmission, South Africa have taken the lead in England with a brutally emphatic victory – 356 runs in 1994, 10 wickets in 1998, an innings and 92 runs in 2003. Not once, however, have they managed to convert that start into a series win. At the halfway mark, the tourists have the upper hand, but do they have the mental strength to build on their early advantage?

Form guide

England LDWWD
South Africa WDLWD

Watch out for…

Paul Collingwood: Back in England’s starting line-up, and desperate to make amends for his woeful recent form, Collingwood has a sum total of 92 runs in nine first-class innings this year, and he hasn’t made a Test century since West Indies visited his home ground of Chester-le-Street in June 2007. But in a batting line-up that has invited accusations of mental fragility, Collingwood is a player whose temperament is nothing less than rock-solid. He was missed at Headingley, where England folded with scarcely a whimper in both innings.Andre Nel: A gentle giant off the pitch, Nel takes white-line fever to pantomime extremes of absurdity with his alter-ego, “Gunther”, a madman who lives in the mountains in Germany and suffers from oxygen deprivation. The nickname was bestowed on him a few years ago by one of the South African technical team, and given the snarling and grimacing that marks his average performance, it has unsurprisingly stuck. “Gunther will definitely be coming out – there’s no doubt about that,” said Nel, as he prepared to take the field in his first Test since the West Indies series in January. South Africa will be without Dale Steyn, but their aggression levels will remain pumped to the max.

Team news

England’s chaotic selection process at Headingley last week has been swept very quickly under the carpet. Darren Pattinson might as well be the figment of a fevered imagination as Ryan Sidebottom waltzes back into the team after his back problems. Collingwood returns in place of the jaded Stuart Broad, whose magnificent batting could not distract from a bowling average that is rapidly moving into negative equity. And Steve Harmison remains on the sidelines for the eighth match running – although if England’s four-prong attack fails to take 20 wickets in this match, he could yet make his comeback at The Oval next week.England 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt),4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Tim Ambrose (wk), 9 Ryan Sidebottom, 10 Monty Panesar, 11 James AndersonSouth Africa remain the more settled of the two sides, although the loss of Dale Steyn is a major blow – especially given the hold he has had over England’s captain, Michael Vaughan, all series. Andre Nel is a more-than-adequate replacement, although South Africa’s pace attack does now have a certain amount of sameness to it, with three bowlers who prefer to bang it in rather than pitch it up and swing it. There could yet be another change to their team if Graeme Smith is forced out of the side because of his back problems. If that happened, JP Duminy would come in as opener, and Ashwell Prince would take over as captain.South Africa 1 Graeme Smith/JP Duminy, 2 Neil McKenzie, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Makhaya Ntini.Umpires: Steve Davis and Aleem Dar

Pitch and conditions

Steve Rouse, the groundsman – and a Warwickshire stalwart for 40 years – predicts that his pitch will favour the swing bowlers rather than the hit-the-deckers, and he also imagines that it will break up as the game goes on, to bring the spinners into play. Both factors, on the face of it, seem to favour England, although it promises to be another crucial toss. The weather will also play its part. Torrential rain on Monday night heralded the start of an unsettled week.

Stats and Trivia