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Muhammad Ishaq Bhatti of Rizvi Group Thursday swept to victory to become the new president of the Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) in elections held at the KRL Ground.According to unofficial results, Bhatti polled 20 votes to beat his presidential rival Khawaja Muhammad Mustafa by five votes.Irfan Manzur, also of Rizvi Group, was elected the secretary after a 19-14 win against Muhammad Yousuf while Hasan Asghar claimed the treasurer’s slot with a 21-14 victory against Hanif Sajid.The results of the elections, which were fair and peaceful, were not officially declared after the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench) on a writ filed by Muhammad Yousuf had directed the Pakistan Cricket Board to withhold the results.Yousuf in his writ had prayed that the elections should not be allowed to go ahead and that the Ministry of Sports be directed to hold the polls.The elections were conducted by the PCB election committee comprising Brig (Retd) Khawaja Muhammad Nasir, Brig (Retd) Iqbal Awan and the Board’s legal consultant Shahzad Farooq.The committee had earlier conducted scrutiny of the clubs following which 36 clubs were granted the right to vote and in Thursday’s elections only National club abstained from voting.The clubs that exercised their right to vote were I-9, King’s Gymkhana, Federal Gymkhana, Nurpur, Imran Memorial, Diamond, Asif Memorial, Muslim, Classic, Azam, All-Youngsters, Mehran, Al- Muslim, Young Capital, Youngsters, Majid Memorial, Hasan Memorial, Al-Fateh, Millat, XI Star, Punjab, Rawal Town, Evan, Islamabad Hawks, Essco, Prince, Najam Memorial, CRA (Community Centre), Shalimar, Shaheen, Ismail, Islamabad Gymkhana, Potohar Gymkhana, Services and Lucky Star.Meanwhile, a beaming Bhatti said that his first priority would be to establish a stadium of international standard in Islamabad. “I’ll leave no stone unturned to raise money for the project,” the new president told Dawn.He said that victimisation of players would now end and everyone would be given a fair chance to prove himself. “To promote cricket here, we have to move ahead hand-in-hand with our rivals.”Cricket in Islamabad is currently being run by an ad hoc committee headed by Mansoor Ahmed. The body will continue to look after the affairs in the region until the matter is settled by the court.

As expected, North Zone completed the formalities to win the Vizzy Trophyby virtue of their massive first innings lead over West Zone on the fourth and final day of the match in Nagothane in Raigarh district on Friday.North Zone had virtually clinched the title by taking a massive first innings lead of 355 runs. Resuming their second innings at 129 for three, they declared their second innings closed at 293 for seven. Middle order batsmen Sidharth Verma (105 not out off 174 balls with eleven fours and two sixes) and SachinChaudhary (75 off 98 balls with eleven fours) were the main run getters. Left arm spinner Rajesh Bambri took five for 85 while medium pacer Sameer Naik got two for 49.West Zone, who were set the impossible task of scoring 649 runs in 240 minutes, were 173 for six off 49 overs when the match was called off. Kulvindar Bagga top scored with 83 runs off 114 balls including eleven fours and a six.

SHARJAH – Managing only one win in their four league matches, Sri Lanka had to come up with something special to stop Pakistan’s winning spree and they certainly did! Taking full advantage of odds-on favourite Pakistan’s fielding lapses to first post 297, the highest target of the event — to the great chagrin of a majority of the 24,000 strong capacity crowd — the Lankans then blew away the might of the Pakistan batting for only 220 in 41.4 overs to deservingly walk away with the ARY Gold Cup. This was their second successive trophy in this desert emirate, as the Lankans had overcome India in the final of the Sharjah Cup here last October.Chasing has never really been Pakistan’s forte, but the way they went about the business of making 297 was really shocking. There was little method in their madness. And to give credit where it is due, the Lankans stuck to the job of inflicting regular blows quite professionally, bringing off some spectacular catches to make Pakistan disintegrate, to 108 for six before the first 15 overs had been seen off. This is where the difference lay: the Lankans had held onto the chances that came their way as if their life depended on it while the Pakistanis squandered theirs, and that contributed to their fall.And surprisingly it was Pakistan’s fielding which had contributed to their golden streak – four out of four wins in the league matches. But, call it a case of nerves or the law of averages catching up with them, the Pakistanis really never managed to sustain the pressure, both while fielding and batting. And that is why, despite having their moments, they still could not manage to come out on top.In this tournament, Anwar has been amongst the runs save once, and then it didn’t matter for Pakistan was chasing only 127 and Inzamam was on song. In the final too, he top scored with 62, consuming a mere 64 deliveries, seven fours and a six his main scoring shots. But it was more or less a lone hand, and was never going to be enough. Long before he was out, the match had really slipped out of Pakistan’s grasp. His wicket, however, provided Sanath Jayasuriya with double celebration: this was his 200th wicket in One-day Internationals in his 235th match, and it had seen off whatever little semblance of a chance Pakistan may have had of making a comeback. The asking rate being about six runs an over from the outset, Pakistan was off to a really disastrous start, losing both openers Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi in the second over. Humayun Farhat was promoted in the order and he made a quicksilver 39 (34 balls, 4 fours, 1 six), in a courageous little cameo. With Anwar stroking the ball as sweetly as he does at the other end, the charge was taken to the Lankans, and they seemed a bit shaken. Pakistan run-rate was consistently hovering around nine by the ninth over.The Lankan skipper made an inspired bowling change, bringing on his best pacer Chaminda Vaas, who had gone for a few runs in his first three-over spell, from the far end. He took three wickets in his next three overs to break the back of Pakistan’s batting – Humayun, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, all falling to good catches. Dilhara Fernando added to their woes by accounting for Abdur Razzaq, and at 108 for six, Pakistan had no hope of getting anywhere near the target.From here on, Anwar and Shoaib Malik tried to play on, to salvage some pride by avoiding total capitulation with not even a far-fetched ambition of victory. And once Anwar was snapped up, Malik and Waqar merely prolonged the agony. Ironically, the batting of these tailenders displayed, and amply so, that there neither were there any demons in the wicket nor was the bowling was of such quality to have overwhelmed them. Had Pakistan’s upper order shown the patience, they may really have made a fight of it.The Lankan innings:
The Lankans had come into this match determined to make amends, and amends they made by posting a massive 297, but their cause was aided a great deal by some really sloppy fielding, specially in the air, as four catches were floored and a stumping chance went abegging. Yet Pakistan had done a good job of containing Sri Lanka in the beginning, the first eight overs yielding only 20 for the loss of Romesh Kaluwitharana, run out by Malik. Then Jayasuriya, who had hung in there in an uncharacteristically sedate mood, latched onto Waqar Younis, driving him for a six over the cover boundary.With that shot Jayasuriya broke his shackles, and now there was no stopping him. Unleashing a string of aggressive strokes (four off Sami at gully off a cut, two back to back sixes off Razzaq at long-off and straight over the sight screen), Jayasuriya provided momentum to the innings before Sami and Saqlain stopped the free flow of runs. Jayasuriya reached his 50 but before that ‘keeper Humayun Farhat dropped him on 49. The Lankan captain’s 50 came off 72 deliveries, with the help of three sixes and two fours. Once past 50, he seemed to be well on his way to his second hundred when he perished trying to sweep off-spinner Shoaib Malik once too often. Atapattu, who had till then batted well within himself, in a stand of 114 with Jayasuriya, got down to building another partnership with Mahela Jaywardene, who not in the best of forms tried to improvise. This improvisation may have cost him his wicket, when he had barely made five, had substitute Yasir Arafat not put down a sitter. In the next over, Atappatu got to his 50 (88 balls, 2 fours) but he would not have, if Inzamam had not dropped another sitter.Three chances already grassed, the Lankans came into their own, with Jaywardene going after Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, hitting them for boundaries at will. Atappattu too joined him in this run spree. Such was the domination of the bat over ball in the last 15 overs that the Lankans nearly doubled their score – taking it from 149 for two at the 35th over to 297 in the 50th.By the time Atapattu was run out, off a Saeed Anwar throw from the deep, the stand for the fourth wicket had already put on 111 runs, and at 3-233 in the 44th over the Lankans seemed well placed for greater things. They sputtered a bit in the end, after Jaywardene (67, off 59 deliveries, five fours, three sixes) was finally caught and bowled, trying to reverse sweep Saqlain, losing four wickets for 34 runs. But Zoysa made sure that they finished strongly by making 11 off four deliveries, clouting Saqlain for a six on the last ball of the regulation 50 overs.That was a few runs too many for Pakistan, especially because they are known to make a hash of things while going for a chase. But they only had themselves to blame for allowing the Lankans to get to this huge total.

Despite including two former World Cup heroes – Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas – in the provisional 30-member squad for the tournament’s 2011 edition, Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva gave no indication that they would be in contention for a spot in the final 15.”We felt that, in the 30 we need to have a combination of experience as well as youth,” de Silva, also a member of the 1996 World Cup winning side, said. “We have mainly considered performances and also, to a certain extent, experience. Putting everything together that is what we ultimately came out with.”You know what Vaas and Jayasuriya can do but you also have to consider the current form. We have seen the potential of some of the guys we have tried out. It is only if there is an absolute requirement or necessity that we need experience as well as good performances, will we look at them.”Vaas, 36, last played for Sri Lanka in August 2008 and the 41-year-old Jayasuriya’s last one-dayer was in December 2009. de Silva hinted that the youngsters who have been a part of the set-up in recent times were likely to be prefered.”At the moment if you take some of the fast bowlers who are doing pretty well we need to persevere with them,” de Silva said. “We must also consider the fact that Vaas has not played one-day cricket for a little while. If you take Sanath into account, there are guys like Tharanga Paranavitana who we wanted to try. All this time we didn’t include Jayasuriya in the team because we didn’t have a requirement. That is why we went with the present team. We have a basic idea of about 10-11 players but there are a few places which we need to work out, and if we can get some cricket before the final selection it would be ideal.”de Silva also mentioned that unity would be essential to the team’s cause, and that the selectors were guarded against allowing divisive influences to creep into the side’s make-up. “If there is any antagonism or issue in the team of someone being included, who is going to create any sort of problems within the team, that will be the main reason for leaving them out of the squad,” he said. “That sort of thing will be very hard to tolerate especially during the World Cup because you need unity if you want to succeed. We can’t have any divisions within the team.”Sri Lanka’s lead-up to the World Cup has been strong, with victories in the Dambulla tri-series and in Australia, but weather dealt a setback to the final plans, forcing a postponement to the home series against West Indies.”Missing those five ODIs against West Indies was very crucial because we were really looking at finding an ultimate combination before picking the final 15,” de Silva said. “There were things which we wanted to try in the five ODIs. It was very unfortunate we missed out on it, but nevertheless we have a basic idea of what we are looking for. There are a couple of things we would have loved to have tried out and made sure before the World Cup.”If we are unable to get some international fixtures we’ll have to take the risk and go with our gut feeling in selecting the final 15. That is why we are here to take certain decisions on the experience we’ve had and what we seen. My co-selectors and the team management are quite confident we will put out a strong squad.”de Silva underplayed the notion that Sri Lanka would lose the home advantage because they haven’t been able to familiarise themselves with the three Sri Lankan venues for the World Cup – Hambantota, Pallakele and R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. “When I saw the wickets and how they played I didn’t see much of a difference from the past,” he said. “It is all a mental game. Even when you play at a familiar venue on that particular day the conditions can defer. As international cricketers, there is no excuse to say that you haven’t had enough cricket on a particular ground or a wicket. It’s unfortunate the West Indies series had to be postponed but they will have enough practice under lights at these three venues.”

Angelo Mathews will embark on a new stage of his career when he captains Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 against New Zealand in Pallekele, but says the burden of leadership will not affect his game. Mathews has been groomed for the captaincy since being named vice-captain in July 2011, and has been given the post of Twenty20 captain for one year, after Mahela Jayawardene stepped down following the World Twenty20.”Because I am captain my game will not change. Whether you are captain or vice-captain you have a way of playing the game and that won’t alter because you have been given added responsibility.”Mathews already bears a heavy workload in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs team, where he is looked upon as a finisher in the batting order, as well as a reliable seam option – sometimes called upon to open the bowling. With Jayawardene set to reassess his Test and ODI captaincy at the end of January, Mathews may be tasked with leading all three teams next year, in addition to contributing across all three disciplines.”When Mahela was captain in the T20 format he managed me quite well,” Mathews said. “All the bowlers need some sort of management when it comes to preparing for tournaments and to prolonging their careers. It will be the same but in the ODIs and T20 formats I will be bowling but in Tests I will have to manage my workload.”The seniors have played a major part up to now with me. TM Dilshan, [Kumar] Sangakkara, Mahela and even [Chaminda] Vaas and Sanath [Jayasuriya] all of them have helped me quite a lot. They have always told me to keep it simple and try and be calm as possible when tense situations arise.”Mathews also said his team must perform well against New Zealand in order to prepare psychologically for their tour of Australia, which begins in December. Sri Lanka play three Tests, five ODIs and a T20 international on that tour, which begins two weeks after the end of the second Test against New Zealand.”We lost the World T20 final to West Indies due to a mental factor. If we are to be successful in the future we have to get over that mental block. We have a lot of matches coming up for us. After New Zealand we go to Australia which is a big series so we need to perform well.”The teams have had poor preparation leading into the tour, with the north-east monsoon having arrived in force, leading to one of the wettest starts to the rainy season in recent memory. Neither side been able to train since arriving in Kandy, and their practices in Colombo have also been hindered by bad weather. West Indies were the last team to tour Sri Lanka in November, and that tour was plagued by incessant rain, which made a result impossible in all three Tests and forced the postponement of the ODI series till late January.”Hopefully we’ll get the game going tomorrow,” Mathews said. “The toss will play a big part. If the Duckworth-Lewis rule comes into play it is always beneficial for the team to be batting second.”Sri Lanka last met New Zealand at the same venue during the World Twenty20, when the match was decided in a one-over eliminator. New Zealand also tied with eventual champions West Indies, also at Pallekele. Mathews said Sri Lanka were wary of the threat New Zealand posed, particularly in the shortest format.”We’ve had meeting before the game and we have analysed all their players. New Zealand has always been a very forceful team in international cricket wherever they play. We can’t take them lightly we need to step our game and rise to the occasion.”

One of cricket’s more poignant memories is Graeme Smith’s glance at the sky after a valiant but ultimately fruitless century in a Champions Trophy match in 2009. He had battled cramp, and been refused a runner, but marched to 141 before being dismissed by Stuart Broad. It was obvious Smith was battling tears and losing. So were South Africa.Chasing 324 to win, South Africa were 274 for 9 after Smith fell, and had 19 balls to score 50. The game was up. England were through.It’s another war story of another team who have put South Africa out of a major tournament. Its another case of underachievement. Another choke. And the best (or worst, depending on how you measure these things) of the lot. It was dignified. It was heroic. And it hurt.Since then, South Africa have been dumped out of other major tournaments and their pain has only increased. Centurion 2009 stings no more than St Lucia 2010, Dhaka 2011 or Colombo 2012. What South Africa do not want is to add London 2013 to the list.Since Gary Kirsten took over as coach, they’ve approached major tournaments in a more open-minded fashion and embraced the label they once shunned. AB de Villiers seems to be able to say the word “choker,” a million times a minute, just to underline he is not afraid to spit it out unprompted. He has even extended his use of it, applying it to different situations and different teams.”I believe all teams choke in certain situations. It’s just we somehow managed to get that tag behind our names,” he said. He may have meant Sri Lanka, who have been in the last two World Cup finals and lost, or England, who have yet to win a fifty-over tournament, but those are mere details when compared with South Africa are the team that have been branded this way.Quite simply, because they have always had a unit capable of winning and they have always come up with ways not to win. As recently as Friday last week, they almost did it again. South Africa were one ball away from a flight home and know that if they are to find themselves on an airplane before Monday, they will be stuck with the same questions, again. “Unless we win this tournament, people will say we’re chokers,” de Villiers said. Damn right, too.This time, South Africa claim to have worked on ways to deal with pressure. “The most important thing there is to expect the unexpected. We know it’s going to happen. We know the pressure will be there,” he said. “It’s something we learned from Mike Horn leading up to this tournament: always expect what you don’t think is going to happen.”That seems a sound philosophy apart from one thing: if something is unexpected, it can’t be anticipated, and if it is then they are no longer expecting the unexpected. Be that as it may, de Villiers means South Africa are trying to prepare for anything, even the things they don’t know they should be preparing for.

De Villiers on tampering claims against England

“If they are doing something funny with the ball, then it’s definitely a concern, yes, but we’ve got no proof of that. Look, they seem to get it to reverse a bit quicker than the rest of the teams so maybe they’ve just got really good skill in their bowlers. I’ve tried, as well [as] all [the other] teams, [but] we haven’t really managed to succeed in that. But we’ll try again tomorrow and see if our bowlers can find [some]. It’s something that the umpires and the ICC will probably look into [as to] why England and some of the other teams might get it to reverse quicker. All that is really not up to me to decide or comment on.”

They’re doing that by ensuring the camp is as relaxed and happy as possible. Few would argue that South Africa appear the best managed team in world cricket at the moment. Controversy seldom follows them. They don’t have bar brawls, they don’t get into problems with girls, and they don’t make the papers for big nights on the town.Even their most exciting outing so far – the Rihanna concert at Twickenham on Sunday night – was preceded by a morning in church. They spend their days tending to babies and their nights having quiet dinners with their wives and the occasional double date with a team-mate and his wife. In other words, they do on tour what they would do at home because Kirsten lets them.De Villiers said that “allowed us to free up our minds and really just show our skills under pressure.” Whether the latter is a result of the former will never be scientifically proven but South Africa believe it is. So far, their results agree. Even though they are in the semi-finals because luck went their way, the strength of their performance in the other two matches would suggest they deserve to be among the final four, certainly more than Pakistan or West Indies did.They’re talking the same talk they do before any major tournament knockout and saying things like, “we’ve had two big games and we didn’t choke there,” and “we know what we’re capable of as a team. We’re in a very good space.” But all de Villiers’ rhetoric will count for nothing unless South Africa push on to Birmingham, and then to the trophy. Unless they get there, what happens tomorrow will just be another memory, and another heartache.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEd Joyce’s unbeaten ton went in vain•AFP

In the feudal world of cricket, an Associate nation has never beaten a Full Member in an international series, but Ireland came desperately close to beating Pakistan before a breathtaking partnership took the game, and series, away.Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz came together with just under 100 needed off 13 overs. Kamran is experienced in Irish conditions, having played with the Limavady club in 2002 and 2003, and with his young colleague he went about repairing the early damage wreaked by the Irish seamers. But Kamran is a wily performer and eased into destructive mode as the bowlers struggled to find their lengths.Wahab took nine balls to get off the mark but his demolition of Tim Murtagh in the 47th over proved decisive and he made an ODI career best 47 not out. Murtagh, a Middlesex seamer, is the leading championship performer this season but he was taken apart by clean hitting as the over went 2,6,6,0,4,6 with the maximums soaring over long-off and square leg.With just eight needed off three overs, Kamran tried to finish it off and lost his wicket, but Wahab and Junaid Khan saw Pakistan home. The decisive eighth wicket partnership of 93 took just 62 balls. “Two special innings took it away from us”, admitted Kevin O’Brien, who took the Man-of the-Series award.Ireland had a special innings of their own to enjoy. Ed Joyce walked to the wicket in Clontarf after just five balls of Ireland’s innings, and left it unbeaten 49.1 overs later. His highest score of 116 was an innings of high quality from a player who became only the second man to make an ODI century for two countries. The first was also an Irishman, Eoin Morgan, who is playing for England.Pakistan made three changes to their bowling attack, bringing in debutant Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz and Abdur Rehman for Mohammed Irfan, Saeed Ajmal and Ehsan Adil. Ireland, too, called upon a newbie in James Shannon, who came in for club-mate Andrew White.And Ali quickly showed his great promise, finding extravagant seam movement as he reeled off three maidens to open his international career. Ireland were quickly 4 for 2, but the experienced southpaws Joyce and Niall O’Brien stitched the ideal partnership for the situation and battled their way through to see off Ali and Junaid Khan, with the debutant’s opening spell reading 6-4-4-1.When he reached 33, Joyce passed 1000 runs in ODIs, 471 of which he made for England. The pair was batting with increasing confidence when Riaz found the edge of O’Brien’s bat. Gary Wilson perished soon after when he ballooned an attempted reverse sweep to slip, but Joyce found a steady partner in Kevin O’Brien.Kevin has often been accused of inconsistency, but he continued here as he finished Thursday’s tie. He played several powerful drives and was looking set to make back-to-back ODI fifties for the first time since the 2007 World Cup when he holed out on the midwicket boundary.Joyce rode his luck – an entertaining juggling act from Mohammed Hafeez spilled to earth after five attempts when he was on 61 – and moved serenely towards his century. Kevin’s departure seemed to cause panic in the Irish lower order and four wickets fell for 11 as Rehman found some turn. Trent Johnston fell to the first leg-before decision of the series but Murtagh hung around long enough to see his former Middlesex colleague into three figures, which Joyce raised with his only six, over midwicket.Ireland had switched pitches two days before the game, banking on a greener track to negate the Pakistan spinners. The 7,000 euro bill for moving the scaffolding and grandstands looked money well spent until those last ten overs. Trent Johnston and Tim Murtagh found extravagant seam and played havoc with the Pakistan top order, reducing them to 17 for 4.  That score could have been worse had two catches not been forsaken off Johnston to dismiss Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik before they had scored.But experienced players of the Pakistan middle order battled their way back with stands of 43, 52 and 21. Misbah and Shoaib were able to settle in when the Irish opening bowlers were removed and the pressure slipped a little. George Dockrell turned back on the heat with a spell of 8-2-16-1, but by the time he came back for his last two overs, Kamran was eyeing up the ropes.Skipper William Porterfield knows how close his team came to a historic series victory. “We’re pretty dejected at the minute because of the position we got ourselves in,” he said. “We’re very disappointed not to win.”

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTrent Boult produced two excellent deliveries to remove Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott•Getty Images

Although the scoreboard only read four wickets, New Zealand could be highly satisfied with the opening day of the series at Lord’s having restricted England to a run-rate of two-an-over. Each of the top four bedded in before being chipped out by a supremely accurate bowling attack who were again led astutely by their proactive captain.It is fair to say that Brendon McCullum would have swapped one of the wickets today for that final scalp in Auckland six weeks ago, but New Zealand know the importance of backing up their performance at home with a strong showing overseas and they have ensured that England will not be sitting too comfortably overnight.Trent Boult claimed two key scalps in the afternoon session, due reward for high-class, crafty swing bowling. Alastair Cook, who had problems against him and Neil Wagner in New Zealand, pushed at one side off stump and Jonathan Trott – shaping to play a significant innings on a ground where he averages over 70 – was brilliantly caught low at third slip five minutes before tea.Trott’s dismissal will have left one New Zealander feeling especially relieved; Bruce Martin had given him a life before he got off the mark when he spilled a return catch. It meant that Joe Root, who had never played at Lord’s, emerged for his first home Test innings in a tricky situation five minutes before a break but was as assured as any of the England batsman while compiling a jaunty 25 during the final session before rain lopped off the last 10 overs.Three down would have been a solid enough – if unspectacular – day for England but the removal of Ian Bell, 10 balls before the second new ball became available, ensured New Zealand could end the day the happier side. Bell had produced a display of considerable self-restraint before being drawn into pushing at a ball (his 133rd) angled across him. It was a poor shot at a poor time, but nothing less than Wagner deserved for pounding in on a fairly unforgiving surface.Although the sun shone for the opening day of the international summer, batting was not a simple prospect. But both captains got their wish at the toss with McCullum saying he would have bowled. Firstly there was swing, the subject of much debate in the build-up, then there was a pitch on the sluggish side that made timing the ball difficult and an outfield – relayed over the winter following the Olympic Archery – which deflated value for shots on a ground where the ball normally races away. A tally of 15 boundaries in 80 overs was testament to that.Spin, historically, does not play a major role in May Tests but there were signs that it could have an influential role in this match. Martin, who only had his place confirmed on the morning of the game when New Zealand resisted the temptation of an all-seam attack, tweaked his first ball past Nick Compton’s edge which was just enough to plant a few doubts.But it could not really explain Compton’s dismissal when, completely out of character to the rest of his innings, he advanced down the pitch to try and drive over cover but only succeeded in toe-ending a catch to point. The shot came on the back of four consecutive maidens with England finding it difficult to rotate the strike. Martin should have made it two successes before lunch but shelled the chance, chest-height to his right, when Trott drove a fraction early.The rare early boundaries that did come went to Cook – a clip and a cut – but he had to work hard to survive Tim Southee’s opening spell from the Pavilion End. Southee and Boult found consistent swing and though it was not always on target it was enough to keep the batsmen wary. After lunch it was Boult’s turn to harass Cook, the movement enough to make him unsure what to play and what to leave, and he found the outside edge which was superbly held by BJ Watling having realised the ball would not have carried to first slip.Following his reprieve, Trott produced some of the best timing on show as he flicked strongly off his pads whenever the bowlers drifted and also drove strongly through the off side. Unlike overseas, where the Kookaburra ball will stop swinging after about 20 overs, the Dukes offers encouragement for much longer and Boult, brought back for a burst before tea, made one jag across Trott which, although he tried to play with soft hands, just carried to Brownlie. In New Zealand, Brownlie had a 50-50 series in the slips but this was a cracking grab.Amid the blocking and leaving there was the occasional gem; Bell’s cover drive off Wagner was a particular highlight while Root, playing with a little more intent that others, took a rare boundary off Martin with a strong sweep. When a heavy shower arrived Root was with his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow. They are the future of England’s batting. This will be a good test of their credentials.

Abdur Razzak, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, thought he would miss the chance to complete 200 ODI wickets in the three-match series against Sri Lanka. After going wicketless in the first game and the second one being abandoned, he ended up getting all five wickets required to reach the landmark in the final game in Pallekele, a testament to his persistence over difficult periods in his career.”After the first two matches, I thought I would have to wait a long time for another opportunity,” Razzak said. “It came in the third game and I was extremely happy. The moment when I took the fifth wicket was unforgettable. Before the series I had it in mind to reach the 200-wicket mark.”Razzak’s numbers, and stature as the most experienced bowler in the line-up have made him a valuable member of the ODI side. All but one of his four-wicket hauls came in defeats while all four of his five-fors have been in wins.Yet, it is his experience with the darker side of international cricket that has taught him the lesson of not taking even an ordinary spell of bowling for granted. Razzak was twice pulled up for chinks in his bowling action, the second occasion costing him almost a year’s international cricket. He was first reported in 2004 and four years later told to correct his action.”I am one of those few players from Bangladesh who has seen some really critical periods in their career. When the bowling action was questioned, everyone spoke to me as if my career was over. I was strong on the inside. I didn’t think my career was over.”I think that has given me a lot of strength as a person. I love taking up challenges, I can’t hide away from bowling in certain periods because it doesn’t make me comfortable. I like to go through these difficult experiences during matches or otherwise, so that I know what to do the next time it happens,” he said.Razzak has experienced memorable moments too. After taking three wickets on debut against minnows Hong Kong, he was impressive against Pakistan in his next game. Problems with his bowling action kept him out till 2006 when he became a regular for another three years. During this time he was instrumental in Bangladesh’s progression to the 2007 World Cup’s Super Eights.Razzak was the Man of the Match against West Indies in his comeback game in 2009 after correcting his action. It was followed by a hat-trick against Zimbabwe in 2010, and through ups and downs, he has remained the backbone of a side short on experience.”It is hard to make a distinction on which has been my best moment. There have been so many good moments. But I think I have enjoyed the fact that the 200 wickets have not taken too long. I have done it in 141 innings which gives me a lot of pride.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDavid Warner looked ominous, but a brilliant run-out from Brad Hodge helped even the odds, before Kevon Cooper pulled off the heist•BCCI

An electric late rally in the field, completed by a stoic over of pinpoint yorkers from Kevon Cooper, saw Rajasthan Royals begin their IPL campaign with a thrilling five-run win over Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Daredevils were hurtling towards their target after 17 overs, with only 22 runs to get, and a flourishing David Warner at the crease. But Cooper ignited his side with a five-run over in the 18th that ended with a wicket, before a direct hit from acting captain Brad Hodge at cover dismissed Warner in the penultimate over, to give his side hope of a still-unlikely victory.Nine runs were required off Cooper’s final over, but the bowler delivered six yorkers, two of which dismissed panicking Daredevils batsmen, and provided the IPL’s first week with its second nail-biting result. Johan Botha was out lbw, attempting a reverse paddle with seven required from four, before Andre Russell also fell trying to hit the ball fine with six needed from two, only this time Cooper cleaned him up. New man Naman Ojha had to hit a six off the last ball for Daredevils to salvage victory, but could not connect with a wide yorker, sparking ecstatic celebrations from Royals.Daredevils’ death-over meltdown almost mirrored Royals’ returns from the same period of their innings, after the visitors had managed just six runs from their last two overs, and lost four wickets. Royals had arrived in the 18th over at 159 for 3, and were eyeing a 180-plus total that seemed par on a good batting surface. They however lost four batsmen in six balls, including Rahul Dravid, whose immaculately paced 65 off 51 held the team’s innings together.Dravid had arrived at Kusal Perera’s demise in the third over, and aside from a controlled edge to the third man fence first ball, was largely content to collect singles to begin with, despite the fielding restrictions. When the bowlers erred, as Andre Russell did when he served up a wide delivery in the sixth over, Dravid’s placement and timing ensured the desired boundary was achieved.He was dropped twice in the 12th over, when he began to introduce more aggression to his innings, but he was undeterred, and having made only 22 from his first 26 deliveries, he quickly achieved a more laudable strike rate through the middle overs.For Daredevils, Warner was also relatively reticent to begin with, allowing opening partner Unmukt Chand to provide the early innings impetus, and striking at no better than a run a ball until the tenth over of the innings. When he eventually exploded in earnest, with two fours off Rahul Shukla in the 13th over, Daredevils appeared to be executing a measured chase.Warner was dropped early in his innings, and had one more reprieve just after hitting fifty, as he continued to maul some indifferent Royals bowling through the middle overs. Just before Daredevils hit their wall, Warner launched Siddharth Trivedi in the 17th over for 13. After Warner’s demise however, none of the Daredevils batsmen seemed capable of finding the boundary, and Royals achieved revenge for the mighty close defeat they had suffered last year, in the same fixture.