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)

The Indian board is likely to use the services of Rudi Webster, the renowned sports psychologist, to help the team prepare for next year’s World Cup.”We are yet to enter into discussions with Webster, though we hope to get him to have a few sessions with the players during next month’s Champions Trophy,” Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, was reported as saying in various Indian newspapers.Webster, who has worked with several top athletes, is most noted for working with the all-conquering West Indies side of the late ’70s and early ’80s.Shah said the proposal had come from coach Greg Chappell and captain Rahul Dravid in preparation for the World Cup in West Indies. The Indian team had a few sessions with Webster during their recent tour to the Caribbean, where they recorded a Test series victory for the first time in 35 years.

On the day Pakistan landed in India for the Champions Trophy, in Delhi onOctober 8, Younis Khan and Bob Woolmer addressed the media. In theprevious 24 hours, the country’s cricket captaincy had been changed twiceand the chairman had changed once and one would have expected them to bediscussing serious matters before the press conference took place. Formost of it, the two communicated by scribbling messages on a piece ofpaper but don’t be fooled into thinking they were matters of nationalinterest. It was simply a discussion about whether to grant a televisionchannel an interview.On the day before Pakistan’s opening encounter of the Champions Trophy, inJaipur yesterday, the same duo addressed the media. In the previous 24hours, the team’s two premier fast bowlers had failed dope tests, nobodyknew what the future held in store and one would have, again, expectedthem to be discussing serious matters before addressing the press. Beforethey began the press conference, both – coughing intermittently -communicated some thoughts in hushed tones. Surely this time it wasserious. Instead they were trying to out-guess each other on the number ofquestions that were likely to be posed. One of them said 60; the otherreckoned it would be 70.These may appear insignificant incidents but they convey quite a bit abouthow this bunch managed to stay cool when the roof had blown off. Over thelast week, of the seven teams that visited Jaipur, it’s been Pakistan whohave, ironically, appeared most relaxed. People spotted them inrestaurants, movie halls and tourist sites. It was a side that appeared tobe thoroughly at home with their surroundings, thriving amid the fans andbanter.Younis spoke passionately about the period, adding that it had no doubthelped alleviate the pressure. “We’ve had a lot of fun over the lastweek,” he said at the end of a thoroughly satisfactory day. “We playedhard cricket, practised hard and had some competitive games amongstourselves. What I couldn’t do as a youngster, I wanted my boys to do. Iencouraged them to see movies, to have fun. We missed Inzamam a lot andspoke a lot about him, about his captaincy and his professionalism. But wewanted to forget the pressures. One day before the game we got another joltbut I always felt the boys were fit and wanted to play good cricket. Forme, before this game, winning or losing wasn’t important, all I wantedthem to do was to play good cricket. And we did.”And good cricket they played. A packed house of neutrals rejoiced inPakistan’s fightback with the ball before cheering every run in theirrun-chase. Their very unpredictability, their sheer bloody-mindedbounce-back ability, was a joy to watch. Just when the tension reached thehighpoint, they found in Abdul Razzaq a matchwinner who sliced through itlike a Rajasthani sword through silk. The standing ovation they grantedPakistan after the triumph was in direct contrast to the afternoon’sevents when the Shiv Saniks, a Hindu fundamentalist organisation, heldbanners asking Pakistan to ‘Go home’.Younis Khan didn’t make much of a contribution with the bat but his coolcountenance no doubt proved crucial. “There was definitely a bit ofpressure,” he said, “but I don’t normally put myself under pressure. Ofcourse, if we’d lost people would have got a chance to say things againstus. But the boys stood together, even though they were under pressure. Iwas asked at the toss if I’d slept OK and honestly I slept very well.Whatever pressure was there, it didn’t affect my sleep.”Over the last few years, Inzamam-ul-Haq’s monk-like cool, with an emphasison religion, has played a vital part in keeping the side together. It cameas no surprise when the side got together for a after thegame, thanking the God almighty for this fine win. Younis mentioned theimportance of faith, he added that their religious beliefs always keptthem strong. He didn’t mention it but sometimes you wonder what this teamwould do if controversies decide to take a back seat. The more thetrouble, more the joy.Comment on this

There appears to be little sign of a thaw in the decidedly frosty relationship between the ICC and the Indian board.The BCCI has opted to play a game of brinkmanship over the Members’ Participation Agreement by waiting until the last minute before making noises that it might not sign, and now it emerges that its representatives failed to turn up to a meeting in Delhi which it had requested to discuss the likelihood of its bid for broadcasting rights to ICC events for the next eight years being accepted.Newspaper reports this weekend indicated that Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told the BCCI that it was free to make a bid, but warned that it would first need to overturn a recent decision by the commercial arm of ICC, ICC Development International (ICCDI).The ICCDI decided to restrict bids for the eight-year contract to “broadcasters and agencies”, thus removing the BCCI from the list of those who might lodge a bid.If any doubt about the power of the BCCI were needed, it is likely to come when the ICC meets in Mumbai in early November to discuss removing this restriction.It would require seven of the ten votes to overturn the ICCDI ruling, and Cricinfo believes it has those. Recent meetings made clear that the BCCI can rely on the other three Asian countries to back it, and West Indies will almost certainly be onside after covert agreements made – but denied by both parties – at the time of the decision to award the 2011 World Cup to Asia. An insider said that Zimbabwe and South Africa, for different reasons, are also likely to vote with the BCCI.Other parties thought to interested in the rights include Global Cricket Corporation, whose existing seven-year deal ends after the World Cup, and India’s Zee TV.

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.”

Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistan seamer, has had his bowling action cleared and is expected to return from his one-year ban in the near future.The Pakistan board has said that tests carried out at the University of Western Australia show Shabbir’s action to be within the 15 degree limit set out by ICC. He was banned from international cricket for 12 months after he was reported for the fourth time in November 2005 following the Multan Test against England.The board added that it “expects a detailed report in a week’s time subsequent to which the PCB will do the needful for getting Shabbir cleared to represent Pakistan after his year-long ban finishes on December 18.”The report needs to be cleared by ICC before Shabbir is allowed to play again. Pakistan are keen to have him back before the tour of South Africa early next year and then for the World Cup in West Indies. The situation has been made more urgent by the bans handed out to Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif following their failed dope tests, which has left Pakistan short of pace bowling.Shabbir has taken 51 wickets in 10 Tests and 33 wickets in 32 ODIs in a career plagued by questions over his action. It was first noticed in 1999 and again in January 2004 but he was cleared by ICC after tests. However, in 2005 his action was reported twice; firstly in May then during England’s tour in November.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former ICC president, will stay away from an emergency Working Committee meeting of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) tomorrow. The meeting has been called to discuss his expulsion for life from the BCCI and its implications for him as the president of the CAB.The meeting is expected to be stormy, what with the BCCI turning the heat on the CAB, and the dissidents, who lost the July elections to the association, also actively seeking to force the curtains down on Dalmiya’s long rule.Following the Special General Meeting’s decision to expel Dalmiya, the equations within the CAB have been affected, with some hitherto staunch Dalmiya loyalists now clamouring for his resignation from the state body. They claim that Dalmiya ceased to be CAB president the moment he was expelled by the Indian board. They have referred to rule 38 (V) in the BCCI constitution which says that any person expelled by the board automatically stands debarred from being associated in any capacity with an associate or affiliate unit of the board.Dalmiya has, however, contested the claim, saying he was still the CAB president as the said rule was ”non-existent”. He has claimed that the rule, incorporated in the board constitution as an amendment in September 2000, was not sent for registration in time.

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.

Michael Bevan, who at his peak was the best one-day batsman in the world, has retired with immediate effect. Bevan spent his last three seasons with Tasmania and joined his former national team-mates Shane Warne and Damien Martyn as senior players who have walked away this summer.Bevan, 36, has suffered a series of on-going fitness problems, which have limited him to six matches for his state in 2006-07, and his inability to play at his desired standard forced the decision. “It got to the stage where injuries and pain were holding back my motivation,” Bevan told AAP. “It got to the stage where I was finding it hard to get up for matches and that was probably a pretty clear indication that it was time to move on.”With his pin-point placement, quick running and calculating mind, he was a crucial part of a string of Australian one-day successes over ten years that included World Cup victories in 1999 and 2003. He played 232 ODIs but none was more memorable than the game against West Indies on new year’s day in 1996 when he sealed victory with a last-ball four off Roger Harper. Australia had fallen to 7 for 74 chasing 173 and he calmly steered them to safety.It was an escape act he would master many more times, including reviving Australia with Andy Bichel against England in the 2003 World Cup, but the 78 runs he scored at the SCG were the most valuable of his career. “The game is like my tied Test,” he wrote in From the Best of Bevan. “It seems this night will always be my signature piece in cricket.”The timing of the innings was also important for Bevan as it came when there were doubts over his Test credentials. A problem with the short ball was exposed on England’s trip in 1994-95 and despite scoring heavily in the first-class arena in Australia and during county stints, he could never rid himself of the stigma. He produced half-centuries in each of his first three Tests in Pakistan in 1994-95, including a career-high 91 in Lahore, but struggled to maintain his lofty domestic standards and finished as an allrounder who employed useful left-arm wrist spin.

Against West Indies in 1996-97 he made unbeaten scores of 85 as a No. 7 in Adelaide, where he also took 6 for 82, and 87 in the next match at Perth, but his 18-Test life was over a year later when he failed against South Africa. While his career in whites was unfulfilled, his effort in the one-day side remained untarnished until a slow home series in 2003-04 and an unproductive tour of Sri Lanka.Aged 33, he was dumped from Cricket Australia’s contract list along with Bichel, the World Cup saviours of a year earlier, and the following season moved from New South Wales to Tasmania, where he doubled as an assistant coach. He hoped for a one-off recall for the World Cup defence in the West Indies and did not go quietly, scoring a record 1,464 runs in the Pura Cup season of 2004-05 at an average of 97.6.”[The World Cup] was something that I always wanted to be a part of and I still felt I was a good enough player to be a part of the team,” he said. “But I guess this reason is more about whether I felt I was doing the right thing about myself and the right thing by Tasmania.”His body stopped putting up with his heavy demands – knee, heel and hip injuries afflicted him in his last three years – and at an international level his era had passed. He will move back to his home in Sydney next week but continue in a part-time coaching role with Tasmania. “A first-class job would be something I would look to at some stage in the future,” he said.Bevan’s amazing limited-overs batting average of 53.58 is third on the all-time list behind Michael Hussey and Kevin Pietersen. He finished with 6,912 runs, six centuries, the patent for closing a one-day innings, which Hussey has built on, and a truly unforgettable night at the SCG.

Scorecard

Vusi Sibanda and Gary Brent led Zimbabwe to their first ODI victory in 14 matches as they levelled the series against Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club. Brent’s four wickets were a key part of restricting Bangladesh to 153, then Sibanda powered the run chase with an unbeaten 93.This result will provide a much-needed fillip for Zimbabwe as the World Cup approaches, but for anything positive to come from it the upturn in fortunes must continue for the remaining matches. Today, however, it was a rare occasion of Zimbabwe dominance.”This was a really good and much needed performance, giving us great morale with which to go into the next match,” said Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya. “Sibanda was outstanding today, as was Brent. But it was essentially an all-round effort.”Any thoughts Bangladesh had of fighting back after a poor effort with the bat were scotched by an opening stand of 125 between Sibanda and Terry Duffin. While Sibanda took the lead role, Duffin played a familiar style innings, providing stodgy support. His 32 took 83 balls before he was run out backing up with the winning line in sight. Sibanda moved along at an impressive clip, striking nine boundaries plus a pulled six off Shahadat, and was there at the end with Sean Williams for company.Bangladesh’s cause wasn’t helped when Mohammad Rafique was forced to leave the field mid-over after a collision with Sibanda. It was Rafique’s lower-order hitting which spared their blushes after they’d decided to bat first. He came to the middle with the innings in tatters at 81 for 7.The top order came and went before the new ball was even scuffed, and then Brent ripped the heart out of the innings with three wickets in two overs to leave Bangladesh 50 for 5. He swung the ball from the off, and grabbed the key man, Habibul Bashar, who dragged the ball into his stumps.From then on in it was damage limitation, and Rafique hit out as Sean Williams, who finished with 3 for 23, chipped away at the other end. At one stage Brent had figures of 8-2-12-3 before he came in from some tap from Rafique, although he struck a final time when he held a stinging return catch to dismiss him.