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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Ganga gave West Indies the upper hand with contrasting centuries but India managed to claw things back a touch with some useful wickets as rain forced an early end to play at the tea interval on the second day. In the morning though it was West Indies all the way as Sarwan savaged the bowling – Munaf Patel was creamed for six boundaries in one 25-run over – while Ganga dug deep and dropped anchor. When the day’s play was called off at 3.30pm local time West Indies had pushed on to 420 for 5.When West Indies began the day on 207 for 1, India needed a few quick wickets to get back into the game. But that just didn’t happen. Sarwan continued in his positive vein and even Ganga, who was quite guarded on the first day, opened his shoulders and began to play a few shots.The early signs were not great for India. The ball was turning a bit for Harbhajan Singh, but slowly enough for any error in length to be punished. Ganga played a pleasing pull shot backward of square leg quite early in the day, and it almost pushed Rahul Dravid towards taking the second new ball as soon as it was available.Patel and Sreesanth had bowled with great control and penetration with the new ball on the first day, and Dravid would have hoped that a repeat performance would usher in a wicket. While Sreesanth was on target right away, Patel was anything but. Beginning at slower than full pace, as he so often does, Patel bowled far too wide of off stump to be a threat. Sarwan, who was on 71, thumped the first ball of the 83rd over through cover for four, pulled the next over square leg, sliced the third over short cover, squeezed edges to fine leg and third man and capped off the over with a bold stroke through point. With the last boundary coming off a no-ball 25 runs were scored off the over with one ball to go. Fortunately for Patel that was blocked to gully and Sarwan was on 99.Soon Sarwan celebrated his 26th birthday in fine style, reaching his ninth Test hundred. A bit before Sarwan’s pyrotechnics, Ganga had brought up his own landmark, reaching his third Test hundred, a meticulous, even subdued, yet valuable innings.With shoulders beginning to droop and the lunch break not far away, India finally broke through, as Ganga, on 135 off a patient 294 balls, inside-edged Patel back onto his stumps. By then West Indies had reached 346 for 2, thanks mainly to the 203-run second wicket stand. Ganga was replaced by Brian Lara and a leading edge that just went over Kumble’s head lifted the Indians.Soon after Patel got one to pitch on the stumps and straighten just a touch, crashing into Lara’s pad, and winning the lbw appeal. Rudi Koertzen went with the bowler, and Kumble would have every reason to wonder if he had been bowling from the wrong end all match. Brian Jerling, the other umpire, flatly refused to entertain any lbw appeals, several of which most umpires would have been happy to give.The fall of two quick wickets gave India a foot in the door, and when Sarwan was sent on his way after lunch, adjudged lbw to Sreesanth by Koertzen against a ball that might just have slipped down the leg side, West Indies were 371 for 4, a far cry from their resplendent 346 for 1. Sarwan had made 116 with some flair and panache, striking 17 fours and a six.Dwayne Bravo never seems to be short of confidence and today was no exception. He was keen to use his feet to the spinners and almost caused some serious damage when he came down the pitch and flicked Harbhajan hard into the side of Yuvraj Singh’s helmeted head at forward short-leg. Bravo eased a couple of boundaries on the way to 21 but found himself in the middle of a probing spell from Harbhajan.The ball was fizzing through quickly and skidding off the pitch and when Bravo tried to steer a fullish delivery past slip he only managed an edge and Mahendra Dhoni took the catch in his second attempt. Umpire Jerling raised his finger to signal the dismissal for the first time in Tests, and the fifth West Indian wicket had fallen. Shivnarine Chanderpaul then settled down in the company of Marlon Samuels before play was prematurely called off. The rain that ruined the first session yesterday accounted for the last today further ruining chances of a result in this Test.

Daren Ganga b Patel 135 (346 for 2)
Brian Lara lbw b Patel 10 (356 for 3)
Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw b Sreesanth 116 (371 for 4)
Dwayne Bravo c Dhoni b Harbhajan 21 (406 for 5)

Sri Lanka is fast emerging as the likeliest venue to host a shortened bilateral series between Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka Cricket has been sounded out by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and appear very keen to host the series.Things have moved fast since BCCI president Shashank Manohar and PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan met at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Sunday afternoon to break the deadlock over where the series should be held. The BCCI has made no comment as yet on the meeting, and Manohar left Dubai this morning to return to India.Shaharyar left too, and was meant to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Monday, to brief him on the discussions in Dubai. But the meeting could not take place as Sharif was busy. “I could not meet him as he was very occupied with various things, so I will communicate to him in writing all that transpired at the meeting,” Khan said. He also pointed out that he would not be travelling back to Dubai on November 25, as originally planned, to meet ECB president Giles Clarke, who is acting as a mediator between PCB and BCCI.*Shaharyar and Najam Sethi, PCB’s head of executive committee, had come out of the Dubai meeting sounding optimistic, but they did not divulge any details. Those were supposed to be provided by Clarke at a media briefing today in Dubai but it is understood that will not happen. The ICC also confirmed there was no media conference scheduled.The biggest hurdle to the series was the venue: the BCCI had made it clear that it would not play Pakistan anywhere else but in India. Rejecting that offer, the PCB responded by saying the memorandum of understanding signed by both countries in 2014 clearly stated India would travel to the UAE. Then, last Friday, Shaharyar added that the final decision would be taken by the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.The UAE has not been dropped as a venue, officially speaking, but Manohar’s opposition to play there remained. So holding the series in neutral ground like Sri Lanka was one of the proposals the PCB placed at the Dubai meeting. Also with South Africa’s tour of India finishing on December 7 and India travelling to Australia for a limited-overs series from January 12, both boards decided to modify the original schedule. The best possible option was playing three ODIs and two T20Is. In the ICC FTP Pakistan are listed to host India for a full tour comprising two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.According to an official privy to the details of the meeting, a final decision on the series would be made by November 27. He added that dates and stadiums haven’t been chalked out yet but indicated the matches would be played towards the latter part of December to avoid washouts.A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official said Khettarama and Pallekele were the likeliest venues to host the tour. It has rained almost daily in both Colombo and Kandy this month, but the weather is expected to clear towards the end of December. The northeast monsoon typically tapers off quicker in these cities than in Hambantota or Dambulla.There is a potential clash since Khettarama is scheduled to host domestic T20 matches on December 23rd and 30th, but those games may be moved elsewhere. Pallekele’s schedule is wide open in the window for the Pakistan-India series.Since Pakistan would play the host, the series would be broadcast by Ten Sports. No official from Ten was available for comment. Although no definite plans have been made yet, the Sri Lankan official said SLC would expect significant compensation for the use of their stadiums.*12.30GMT, November 23: This article was updated.

The Women’s Big Bash League has continued to gain strong support, with the Ten Network confirming it will now provide television coverage of the tournament semi-finals and also move two of the remaining three matches to its main channel.Each semi-final is to be played as a double-header with the men’s semis, and will be broadcast on the network’s digital channel One. That brings the number of games being broadcast up to 10 from eight.The Sydney derby between the Sixers and the Thunder on Saturday January 16 will be shown on Channel Ten, as will the final on Sunday January 24, which will serve as part of a double-header with the men’s final.The move comes after Ten moved last week’s Melbourne derby to its main channel and was rewarded with impressive ratings figures, a peak audience of 439,000 viewers nationally and an average of 372,000. Other matches had been shown on one of Ten’s digital multi-channels, but the network’s sport executive David Barham said the WBBL was proving to be a hit.”Network Ten is a big supporter of women’s sport,” Barham said. “We are putting the same resources into the WBBL broadcasts as we are for the men’s games and it is certainly proving to be a hit. We are thrilled with the WBBL ratings to date and are excited to be working with Cricket Australia on this initiative. It is a very exciting time for women’s cricket and women’s sport as a whole.”The post-game coverage for the remaining three broadcast matches will also be extended by half an hour. Cricket Australia is also reportedly in discussions with the Nine Network about the possibility of moving the upcoming three women’s T20 internationals between Australia and India onto its main channel.”This is another significant step forward for women’s sport and in particular women’s cricket in Australia,” Ben Amarfio, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager – media, communications and marketing, said. “We want as many people to be exposed to the game, so to have another two WBBL matches move to Ten’s primary channel is a great endorsement for the growing appeal of women’s cricket.”There is a proven TV appetite with the five WBBL broadcast matches so far this season averaging a TV audience of just under 250,000 across Ten’s secondary and primary channels, including a record national average of 372,000 tuning in for the women’s Melbourne derby last weekend.”We are committed to embracing all Australians and promoting cricket as being a female-friendly environment. Network Ten has been a great supporter and is playing a key role in inspiring females to understand that cricket is a game for girls and women too.”

Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out of the Test series in Sri Lanka and is unlikely to be available for the tour of New Zealand early next year after undergoing further keyhole ankle surgery in Holland.Flintoff returned home after the World Twenty20, where he played in all England’s matches but continually showed the strain on his ankle. The decision to carry out further surgery in Holland was taken following extensive consultation with leading international specialists including those from the UK, Australia and the United States.”The operation involved the removal of extra bone, including fragments, from the front and back of the ankle which were causing bony impingement and compression of a tendon in the back of the ankle,” said the ECB. “The nature of these bone changes was such that there were additional difficulties in the normal functioning and stability of the ankle. The operation was carried out by one of the world’s leading authorities on arthroscopic ankle surgery.”The statement added that the surgeon was confident this latest operation would solve the underlying problem in Flintoff’s ankle which has required three previous surgeries. The first came after the South Africa tour in 2004-05, followed by another during the 2006 season and a third in June this year.In all, Flintoff has missed out on 11 of England’s last 16 Tests, including the whole of the 2007 home programme against West Indies and India, as well as 21 of their last 48 ODIs, including the current series in Sri Lanka. He returned to England action in the one-day series against India, but had to be carefully managed and only played four of the seven matches.Last week, a source close to Flintoff said: “We are looking anywhere on the planet for help. There might be a surgeon in America, for example, who has encountered something like the problems Freddie is suffering … maybe a baseball player or basketball player … anything, to be honest.”It is expected that Flintoff will return to training in the New Year with a view to a playing comeback for England’s 2008 international programme, which begins in May with a Test series against New Zealand.”We would love to have him in the squad but we won’t risk Andrew in the Test matches,” said England’s coach, Peter Moores, after Flintoff was reported by the Daily Mail to be “frustrated and worried” by his constant struggle for fitness.

Accrington Cricket Club, one of the stalwarts of the Lancashire League, are facing the real prospect of folding after the club’s management revealed they have debts of more than £10,000.Last week Peter Barratt, the president, wrote to members warning them that the club could go out of business unless they were able to raise funds”We are determined to overcome these problems but they are very real problems that need to be confronted,” Barratt told the Burnley News. “It has gone on too long where we have tried to struggle through. “It’s been creeping up on us for a while and it has got to the situation where we have to make it public and ask for help.”The club is losing money and it needs to be halted and turned around. As it is there is a very real prospect that we will go out of business.”Accrington were formed in 1864 and have won the league five times, most recently in 1975. Many famous overseas players have turned out for the club, including Wes Hall, Bobby Simpson, Eddie Barlow and Mohsin Khan, while home-grown cricketers included David Lloyd and Graham Fowler.But in the last 16 seasons they have finished in the bottom two ten times, and the ground has also been subjected to repeated vandalism. Two years ago a substantial refurbishment was undertaken but it has not produced the expected increase in returns.

Australia have altered their focus from swing to Twenty20 as they try to find a way for their bowlers to cope at the World Championship in South Africa. Troy Cooley is hosting a camp for the fast men at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane this week to prepare for the two-week tournament in South Africa.This time last year the bowlers were working on traditional and reverse-swing in a bid to tackle England, but the unforgiving nature of Twenty20 has forced some experimenting. “We are really trying to develop plans to help the bowlers survive in the game,” Cooley said in the Courier-Mail. “It’s a pretty tough one for bowlers to survive in.”We have been doing a lot of talking about that and we are working on some technical things as well. Last year we worked on swing bowling, this year we are working on Twenty20.” Bruce Reid, the former Australia bowler who was a part-time coach with India, is also at the camp where Brett Lee is continuing his return from ankle surgery.

England 76 for 2 (Northeast 34*) beat Malaysia 73 (Miller 3-25, Westfield 3-5) by eight wicketsEngland routed Malaysia in their opening match of the Malaysian Invitational Under-19 Tri-Series at the Selangor Turf Club, bowling the home side out for 73 and knocking off the runs for the loss of two wickets.Greg Wood won the toss and put Malaysia in, and they were never in the match once Andrew Miller had removed the top three, although they did recover from 58 for 9. The only blot on England’s performance was that they conceded 23 extras, more than double the highest score by a batsman, including 15 wides.Sam Northeast and Billy Godleman put on 58 for England’s second wicket to all but seal the tie.”It is a wonderful start for England in the Tri-Series,” said team manager John Abrahams. “The bowlers did a fantastic job today.’England take on Sri Lanka, who defeated Malaysia yesterday, on Monday at the Kinrara Oval.

Justin Langer is on course to play in next week’s third cricket Test against South Africa in Sydney, Cricket Australia said.Langer was forced out of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne with a hamstring injury, but returned to batting practice on Wednesday after physio treatment.It was the first time Langer had batted since he strained his left hamstring in the first Perth Test 10 days ago. He has been in Melbourne since Christmas, undergoing treatment with Errol Alcott, the Australian team physiotherapist, to be fit for the last domestic Test of the southern summer.A Cricket Australia spokesman said, “He’s been progressing well and has been doing a bit of running and a lot of strength work and he’ll continue to work over the next couple of day. A decision on his availability for Sydney will be made at the end of the week.”If Langer plays in Sydney it will give him the chance to play his 100th Test during the tour of South Africa next March. Phil Jaques, who replaced Langer in the second Melbourne Test against the Proteas, made two and 28 in his Test debut.

Division One

Nottinghamshire became the first side to notch a win in 2008’s Championship with a comprehensive rout of Kent, who were beaten by 10 wickets at Canterbury. Nottinghamshire only needed 22 runs to complete the victory with Will Jefferson (5) and Matthew Wood (17) guiding them home.Hampshire’s match against the champions Sussex ended in a predictable draw, with rain preventing any play on the fourth day at The Rose Bowl.Persistent drizzle in London also called a halt to the game at The Oval, with Surrey drawing their match against Lancashire.

Division Two

Essex eased to their first win of the season, beating Northamptonshire by nine wickets on the final day at Chelmsford. After their poor day yesterday, when they slipped to 38 for 4, Northants’ batsmen fared much better with Lance Klusener cracking 92. But he became David Masters’ fourth victim, Essex dismissing Northants for 237 to leave the home side needing a mere 15 to win. Jason Gallian fell for 1 but Varun Chopra saw them home in the third over.Nadeem Malik took 5 for 51 to spark a mini Middlesex collapse in which they lost their last five wickets for 141 as Leicestershire romped to a six-wicket win at Grace Road. Owais Shah notched his fifty, adding to the fine 116 he made in the first innings, and Shaun Udal also cracked his maiden half-century for his new county, but Middlesex fell away to be dismissed for 258, leaving Leicestershire 166 to win. Chris Silverwood nipped out two early wickets to give Middlesex hope, but Matthew Boyce’s 66 and an unbeaten 69 from Jim Allenby urged Leicestershire to their target.Tony Frost, Ant Botha and drizzly conditions in Birmingham all conspired against Worcestershire, who were denied an opening victory against Warwickshire on the final day at Edgbaston. Resuming on 26 for 3, Warwickshire’s resilience began with the nightwatchman, Lee Daggett, frustrating for nearly an hour before he was bowled by Gareth Batty. Navdeep Poonia followed almost immediately, and when Luke Parker edged to gully, the hosts were 109 for 7. Enter Frost (46*) and Botha (18*) who ground Worcestershire down for an hour-and-a-half, and inclement weather prevented any further action after tea.No play was possible between Gloucestershire and Derbyshire at Bristol, the match dribbling to a damp draw.

Andrew Flintoff insists that England’s cricketers care just as much about one-day cricket as they do about the forthcoming Ashes series, despite a run of feeble performances that has left them on the brink of elimination from the ICC Champions Trophy.England are adrift at the bottom of their group following heavy defeats against India and Australia, and they are in need of a miracle if they are to qualify for next week’s semi-finals. But Flintoff was adamant that the team would pick up their performances, especially with the World Cup looming next March.”I speak for myself and I know I speak for the team — we are just as interested in one-day cricket,” Flintoff told The Sun. “Some of the lads in this team haven’t played Test cricket so this is their England team and it’s massive.After the heady scenes in 2005, when England regained the Ashes after an 18-year hiatus, there is no doubt about which form of the game is the most popular among English supporters, and the hype ahead of the rematch Down Under has been all-embracing.”I think people have tried to make it a distraction because almost every question at Press conferences seems to be about The Ashes. But I’m equally excited at the chance of playing in another World Cup. Myself and Duncan Fletcher stress the importance of all one-day games and it’s unfortunate we haven’t fired in this tournament. But it’s nothing to do with not caring.”While the Test team has been riding high in recent years, with seven series wins out of ten and a world ranking of No. 2, the one-day side has been slipping ever onwards towards oblivion. Last week’s defeat against Australia was their 14th in 19 matches this year, and they have only Saturday’s showdown against West Indies to come.”I think the difference is the Test team has been successful for a while,” explained Flintoff. “There is a lot of experience in that side and, although we’ve had a few injuries, we’ve played together for a while and gained a lot of confidence. The one-day side is more inexperienced and we have some players who have played just a handful of games.Flintoff did single out a few plus points – the emergence of Mike Yardy and Jamie Dalrymple, Ian Bell’s batting and the bowling of Saj Mahmood and Jimmy Anderson. “But,” he added, “there’s no doubt we’ll have to play better.”