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Rana Dutta’s six-wicket haul, which included a hat-trick, put Tripura on track for an innings victory against Himachal Pradesh in Kalyani. Resuming the third day at 50 for 1, Himachal Pradesh were bowled out for 311. They lost their last five wickets for only 30 runs, with Dutta dismissing Rishi Dhawan, Sumeet Verma and Mayank Dagar in the 88th over. Having gained a lead of 238, Tripura enforced the follow-on and in the 2.2 overs possible before stumps got a wicket too, that of Pankaj Jaiswal, who had batted at No. 9 in Himachal’s first innings.Three-wicket hauls from left-arm spinnerShadab Jakati and right-arm seamer Felix Alemao, who was playing only his second first-class game, strengthened Goa‘s grip over Services in Cuttack.In reply to Goa’s 606, which was built on Sagun Kamat’s record triple-century, Services slumped to 228 for 7. Ravi Chauhan was the first to go on the third day when he was bowled by Alemao for 47 off 49 balls. Alemao then had Nakul Verma and Shamsher Yadav caught behind.Captain Soumik Chatterjee resisted with 12 off 77 balls before becoming Jakati’s first victim. Rahul Singh, coming in at No.6, supplied more fight with 89 off 180 balls before Jakati struck in the 92nd over. Services got through the remaining 11 overs with the eighth-wicket pair of Muzzaffaruddin Khalid and Diwesh Pathania at the crease, but they still trail Goa by a whopping 339 runs.After declaring their first innings at 517 for 9, Kerala made deep inroads into the Hyderabad line-up on the third day in Bhubaneswar. Seamer Sandeep Warrier, offspinning allrounder Jalaj Saxena, and left-arm spinner K Monish returned two wickets each to reduce Hyderabad to 212 for 7. B Sandeep was the only batsmen to make a half-century and were it not for some handy contributions from the lower order – Akash Bhandari made 40 and Mehdi Hasan, an unbeaten 26, Hyderabad would have struggled even more.Left-arm spinner Aamir Aziz’s maiden five-wicket haul bowled Andhra out for 255 and gave Jammu & Kashmir a first-innings lead of 79 at Brabourne Stadium. They eventually stretched it past 100, for the loss of two wickets late in the day.Having started the day at 72 for 2, Andhra stumbled to 90 for 5 and then 156 for 6. Dwaraka Ravi Teja and Ashwin Hebbar then mounted a fightback, putting on 94 for the seventh wicket. Ravi Teja top-scored with 81 off 194 balls, including nine fours. Once he fell, the tail was wiped out, the last four wickets tumbling for only five runs.Haryana captain Mohit Sharma took three wickets and left Chhattisgarh at 50 for 6 in a chase of 279 in Guwhati. Earlier Harynana were propped up by fifties from Himanshu Rana and Rajat Paliwal in their second innings. They were ultimately dismissed for 289 from an overnight 121 for 3. Seamer Pankaj Rao, who was playing only his second first-class game, did the bulk of the damage for Chhattisgarh, claiming 5 for 74. His new-ball partner Pratik Sinha, meanwhile, took 2 for 84.

Yorkshire 194 for 6 (Gale 69, Wood 50) beat UAE 190 (Lawson 3-36) by four wickets
Scorecard

	A delighted Anthony McGrath receives the trophy © Arabiancricket.com

Yorkshire have won the Pro ARCH Trophy after their four-wicket defeat of UAE put them level on points with Somerset and Lancashire, but the fact they wrapped up victory inside 25 overs gave them the best net run-rate of the three.Andrew Gale and Greg Wood launched Yorkshire’s chase of 191 in a hurry as they had to chase down the runs inside 25 overs to pip Lancashire to the title. They smacked 94 for the opening wicket before Wood was caught-and-bowled by Saqib Ali for a 39-ball 50. Gale cruised to 69, cracking nine fours in his 61-ball knock, but fell to Obaid Hameed. Jasim Suwaidi then chipped away at Yorkshire’s middle order with 3 for 17, but it was too little, too late, and Adam Lyth and Mark Lawson saw them home with five balls to spare.It was Lawson who did the damage with the ball, too, picking up 3 for 36 from nine economical overs. He was especially well supported by David Wainwright who conceded just 19 from his 10 overs as UAE were restricted to 190, laboured over 48.1 overs. With Gale and Wood going for their strokes from the off, Yorkshire were always up with the asking rate.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Yorkshire	4	3	1	0	0	6	+1.093	894/174.1	808/200.0
Lancashire	4	3	1	0	0	6	+1.055	973/200.0	762/200.0
Somerset	4	3	1	0	0	6	+0.324	857/177.4	900/200.0
Essex	4	2	2	0	0	4	-0.312	966/199.3	1024/198.4
Sussex	4	1	3	0	0	2	-0.585	796/200.0	900/197.1
U.A.E.	4	0	4	0	0	0	-1.712	783/200.0	875/155.3

Simon Katich hasn’t committed to anything yet, though indications are that he will stay on with NSW © Getty Images

Simon Katich is likely to stay on at New South Wales (NSW), despite lucrative offers from other state sides. Katich was omitted from Cricket Australia’s list of 25 contracted players for the 2007-08 season and the reported that Victoria and Western Australia, Katich’s home state, were keen on signing him up.”Simon is someone we cannot afford to lose,” Dave Gilbert, New South Wales’ chief executive, told the paper. “He is a vital member of the NSW team and we’re desperately keen to keep him. He still has at least five good years in him and we’re hopeful that they will be with us.”Katich last played for Australia in the DLF Cup tri-series in Malaysia last year and lost his place in the one-day side since the return of Matthew Hayden. He’s currently in England representing Derbyshire in the County Championship and a day after he was omitted from the contracts list, he smashed 221 against Somerset.Gilbert expressed his surprise that Cricket Australia (CA) overlooked the experienced Katich in favour of several younger players. However, he remained confident that an Australia recall was around the corner.”At the time I expressed my shock and outrage at CA’s decision not to give him a contract, and I still can’t believe it happened,” Gilbert said. “To my mind, and a lot of other people’s, he is easily among the 25 best players in the country at present. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he turned around and proved the selectors wrong next season.”Robert Joske, Katich’s agent, agreed with Gilbert that Katich was comfortable with New South Wales after speaking to him before his departure for England. “Simon has not committed to anything at this stage,” Joske told the paper. “But I would think that it would have to be an amazing offer to get him away from NSW.

Mushtaq Ahmed helped Sussex restrict Somerset with four wickets © Getty Images

South Conference

A superb spell of bowling from James Bruce sent Gloucestershire tumbling to a 62-run defeat at the hands of Hampshire at the Rose Bowl. Hampshire rattled up 221 in their innings, with Greg Lamb top-scoring with 59. However, set a revised target of 210 from 42 overs, Gloucestershire couldn’t cope with Bruce who took three wickets in the space of just five balls. Though Gloucestershire rallied somewhat – Mark Hardinges blitzed 60 from 42 balls – Shaun Udal mopped up the tail as Hampshire romped home the comfortable winners.Kent cruised past Ireland at Tunbridge Wells with a comprehensive 83-run win thanks to some tight bowling from Andrew Hall and a typically violent 57 from Justin Kemp. Darren Stevens got Kent off to a rollicking start, clubbing four fours and three sixes in his brisk 59, but it was Kemp who took the game away from Ireland with a brutal innings containing six towering sixes. Set a revised 179 from a maximum of 19.5 overs, Ireland were never in the hunt and slipped to 16 for 5; their tail edged them towards respectability, but Kent eventually won comprehensively.Rain hampered Sussex’s game against Somerset at Horsham, but that didn’t prevent Mushtaq Ahmed from seizing control of Somerset’s batsmen. Mushtaq blitzed Somerset’s top-order with 4 for 42, but the visitors were rattling along at a fine pace with Matthew Wood smashing seven fours in his 46-ball 59. Set a revised 122 runs from 17 overs, Sussex crashed from 16 without loss to 16 for 4. Matt Prior (43) played aggressively before falling to Peter Trego, and it was left to Robin Martin-Jenkins (34*) and Luke Wright (32*) to see the hosts home with nine balls to spare.A superb allround performance from Azhar Mahmood for Surrey crushed Glamorgan at The Oval. Surrey had slipped to the perilous position of 64 for 6, with David Harrison and Andrew Davies doing the damage. However, Mahmood struck a quite brilliant 101 from 98 balls, containing four sixes and nine fours, edging Surrey to 200. In reply, Mahmood grabbed four wickets – and conceded just 17 runs in his seven overs – as Glamorgan were dismissed for a paltry 132 in 31 overs.

North Conference

Northamptonshire’s woeful one-day form continued with a 36-run defeat by Warwickshire. After Chris Rogers and Lance Klusener had pushed Northants to 219 for 7, a torrential downpour during Warwickshire’s run-chase effectively ended the match. Warwickshire, at that stage, were 66 without loss after 10.5 which, according to Duckworth-Lewis calculations, handed the win to Warwickshire.Michael di Venuto’s unbeaten 93 was the catalyst for Derbyshire’s impressive seven-wicket win over Worcestershire at Derby. Worcestershire were indebted to Stephen Moore (68) and Vikram Solanki (53) to reach 204 for 5 from 42.2 overs. Rain, inevitably, caused the target to be revised – 189 from 32 overs – but di Venuto paced his innings perfectly, crunching ten fours. He and Chris Taylor (49*) starred in a fourth wicket stand worth 94 as Derbyshire sneaked home by seven wickets.Two contrasting knocks from Phil Mustard and Dale Benkenstein led Durham to three-wicket win over Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street. With the match reduced to 39 overs each, Leicestershire struggled to force the pace, losing Darren Maddy for 10 and Dinesh Mongia for 6 in their total of 151 for 6. However, Durham were soon in trouble during their run-chase, wobbling on 39 for 3, before Benkenstein and Mustard both struck 31 to see Durham home with more 14 balls to spare.Nottinghamshire 61 for 6, Lancashire 15 for 0: match abandoned.

Shantha Kalavitigoda: misses out because of a shoulder injury © Getty Images

Dilhara Lokuhettige (also known as Lokuhettige Danushka Dilhara) is the only new face in the 14-member Sri Lanka A squad to take on West Indies A in two unofficial Tests at Dambulla and Kandy starting on June 23.Lokuhettige is a hard-hitting right-hand batsman and effective right-arm medium-pace bowler who came to prominence when he scored the fastest fifty of last season, off just 22 balls, for Moors against Air Force on his home ground at Braybrooke Place.Lokuhettige, 24, won selection for some consistent performance over the past few seasons. Since making his first-class debut in 2000-01, he has scored 1682 runs at 27.76, with one century and four fifties, and also captured 134 wickets (27.51) from 58 matches. He started off with Antonians SC and then moved to Galle CC before joining Moors in 2003-04. “We think that he has the potential to develop into a good allrounder,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “That is why we have picked him.”The rest of the squad remains unchanged from the one that played in the four unofficial Tests against England A and Pakistan A, with the exception of Shantha Kalavitigoda, Thilan Thushara, Anushka Polonowita and Thilina Kandamby. The last three failed to make it to the 25-member pool owing to poor performances in the last series, while Kalavitigoda has been omitted because of an injured shoulder. “Kalavitigoda is nursing a shoulder-muscle injury,” said Kaluperuma. “He has not recovered 100%. We decided to rest him to give him time to recover to full fitness.”Kalavitagoda, the right-hand opener, made an instant impact in the only match he played against England A, scoring an impressive 83, a knock which put him on the flight to New Zealand where he went onto make his Test debut at the age of 27. Kaluperuma also said that his committee decided to stick by several tried and tested players who had appeared for Sri Lanka in order to give them an opportunity to regain their places in the national side ahead of the West Indies series that will follow the A tour.He added that for the two-day practice game against West Indies A on June 19-20 at Moratuwa, the selectors would concentrate on picking players from the Under-19 team who are members of the 25-member A-team pool, namely Harsha Vithana, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Charitha Jayaweera and Gihan de Silva. “We don’t want these players who have been identified as future talent to be thrown into the deep end at once,” said Kaluperuma. ” We want them to come up gradually and make the grade.”The 25-member A-team squad is currently under training under the watchful eyes of coach Stan Nel and the new manager Anura Tennekoon, the former Sri Lankan captain.Sri Lanka A squad
Russel Arnold (capt), Prasanna Jayawardene (vice-capt, wk), Avishka Gunawardena, Ian Daniel, Michael Vandort, Jehan Mubarak, Gayan Wijekoon, Malinga Bandara, Suraj Mohamed, Dilhara Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Malintha Gajanayake. Standby players: Upul Tharanga, Nandika Ranjith, Priyankara Silva, Gihan de Silva.

Dilhara Fernando, Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler, is ready to return to international cricket after seven months on the sidelines. Fernando, now 24, has battled his way back to full fitness after a stress fracture – the second of his career – during a quadrangular tournament in Sharjah earlier this year.Champaka Ramanayake, Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach, was hopeful that Fernando would return to the Sri Lankan side soon, perhaps even for the first Test against England, which starts on December 2 at Galle. Fernando has been selected in the Sri Lankan Board President’s XI, which will take on England in a three-day warm-up match at the Colombo Cricket Club from November 26.”Dilhara has recovered fully from his spine injury and has been bowling long spells for SSC [Sinhalese Sports Club] in the Premier Trophy competition without any discomfort,” said Ramanayake on Monday. “He has been out of international cricket for nearly seven months and needs to get some exposure against an international team to regain his confidence.”He had a technical error in his bowling action which is called counter rotation which twisted his spine and resulted in the stress fracture. We identified the fault and changed his alignment so that he is bowling more upright now.” Fernando has captured 12 wickets for 220 runs in four matches for SSC in the ongoing Premier Trophy, Sri Lanka’s main first class competition.The other likely contenders for Chaminda Vaas’s new ball partner in the Galle Test include Nuwan Zoysa, Dinusha Fernando and Nuwan Kulasekera. Sri Lanka are only likely to play two fast bowlers, unless conditions aid seam bowling.

Never expect the expected in India. As the one-day international series gets under way in front of some 100,000 people in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, tomorrow, there is no knowing how it will turn out.Even the Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly has said that England will be faced with “an astonishing experience” once they enter the field or, as it will seem to the tourists, the bear-pit of Eden Gardens. The noise, the atmosphere, is like nothing to be encountered anywhere in the rest of the cricketing world.Ganguly, who will be playing in front of his home, adoring crowd, believes that it is impossible to prepare for such an experience.”You won’t be able to hear yourself think because the crowd is so loud. It is something they will never have experienced before.”It becomes a bit of a problem captaining in one of these games because the other players cannot hear you. You have to rely on hand signals, and it’s the same when you’re batting.”Ganguly has been under pressure himself because of a lack of runs and criticism of his captaincy as India struggled to hold onto their lead in the last two Tests of the recently-concluded series. But one-day cricket is a different matter and he is expected to be back at the top of the order to open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar.”I will open with Sachin as usual,” he said. “We have been together for six years, and I think our style of batting means we complement each other.”Sachin is a class act. I sometimes just enjoy being down the other end and watching him bat and I think we rotate the strike very well.”Meanwhile, Ganguly’s opposite number, Nasser Hussain, sees the game and the series as part of the continuing build-up to, eventually, the World Cup in South Africa in 2003. Like a football manager who is keen to play down his side’s chances he says, “We will only learn from the experience. This is why we play the game, big games like this, and we’re all lookingforward to it immensely.”I’d rather be playing in front of a big crowd like this than in front of one man and a dog on a Monday in Chelmsford. Those with strong characters can come through tomorrow and show people that this is what they play the game for.”You have to use it as a positive and the Indian crowd during the Test series were very appreciative of good cricket. They are a knowledgeable crowd and they enjoy their cricket and we have no problems with it.Hussain, born in India himself, is not adverse at putting some pressure back on the home side in the war of words that always precede encounters like these. “There is also a lot of pressure on the Indian team. They have a few young players coming in, they are expecting to win this game in front of a big crowd and we’ve got to make sure we put them under the cosh in front of their home crowd.”The England camp admits that it is struggling to match other countries when it comes to experience of one-day international cricket. There are only four players in this squad who have played in excess of 50 such matches – Hussain himself, Darren Gough, Nick Knight and Graham Thorpe. This is an opportunity to test out not only the techniques of some of the younger players, but also their temperament.”This side is not playing catch-up, this side is starting on its road,” explained Hussain. “It’s got some very young players and it has opportunities that maybe previous sides haven’t had and it’s up to them to take those opportunities.”By that I mean not only learning from your victories but learning from your defeats, learning from the opposition, learning about pressure situations and learning about playing under lights.”I fully believe this side will do well like we did in the Test matches, but that will come from heart and ticker tomorrow night. In a pressure situation with a lot of people watching it will be all about what they have inwardly rather than how many games and what talent they have.”Before they can bother about the mental and cricketing preparation, England have some last-minute physical matters to consider. Marcus Trescothick in particular suffered during yesterday’s warm-up game with a ‘flu-like virus, and Paul Collingwood is another who is not exactly in prime health after going down with a stomach bug.Both, however, were able to train under the Eden Gardens lights in the final practice session and England will probably be prepared to go into the game with some players who might not be 100 per cent fit, but fit enough.It is one of those things that happens in this part of the world, even with modern medical science on hand. It could well be that Trescothick and Collingwood wake up feeling great – and four other members of the team are struck down.Rather than never expecting the expected, perhaps everyone should expect the unexpected. How, for instance, could anyone have forecast that there would be an attempt by a local to prevent the match taking place at all?Kolkata resident, Mr. Subhas Dutta, made a plea in the High Court to the effect that to play under floodlights was a “malicious waste of electricity” while West Bengal suffers with an energy crisis. But the application for an injunction was thrown out. Thankfully – especially for Mr. Dutta, one suspects, in this cricket-crazy city – the game is on.

Gujarat, batting cautiously, scored 209 for five wickets off 90 overs at stumpson the first day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy match against Baroda at theSardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on Friday.Opting to bat, Gujarat lost Vivek Gandhi for a duck in the second over. Theother opener Nilesh Modi (43) and Niraj Patel (40) steadied the innings byadding 80 runs for the second wicket off 39.5 overs. Modi symbolised the Gujaratapproach by taking 201 minutes to compile his runs. He faced 111 balls and hitfive fours. Patel too took his time to get his runs (156 minutes). He faced 133balls and hit only three boundaries. After the fall of both these batsmen,Mukund Parmar (54) and Kirat Damani (37 not out) continued the recovery processby adding 68 runs off 23 overs for the fourth wicket. Parmar batted in a ratheraggressive manner, his runs being scored off just 97 balls with eleven hits tothe fence. But Damani was more circumspect taking 174 minutes over his unbeaten37. He faced 117 balls and hit two fours. Among the bowlers, medium pacersZaheer Khan (2 for 47) and Rakesh Patel (3 for 57) were the pick and deservedlyshared the wickets.

Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas has told the club that he wants to leave over the summer, The Daily Record have reported.

The Lowdown: Parkhead source reveal

Labelled as ‘horrendous’ by pundit Tam McManus, the Greece international doesn’t seem to be in Ange Postecoglou’s Parkhead plans, making just two appearances in 2021/22.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-23/” title=”Celtic updates!!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

He hasn’t been seen in a Premiership matchday squad in 2022, with his last matchday involvement coming against Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup in mid-February.

The most expensive goalkeeper in Celtic’s history is now free to leave Parkhead in the summer, according to a Hoops source.

The Latest: Barkas’ demands

The Daily Record relayed reports from Greek outlet Onlarissa, who suggested that Barkas has ‘demanded’ to leave Celtic Park in the summer.

The 27-year-old has “already begun the countdown to his departure” after failing to secure a loan move to either Sheffield United or IFK Gothenburg in January.

The Verdict: Just go…

As mentioned, Barkas had the chance to leave the club in the New Year, with prospectives moves to Sheffield and Gothenburg falling through due to salary demands.

Some Celtic fans may well be getting fed up with stories over the outcast shot-stopper, especially this one where he has reportedly ‘demanded’ to leave Glasgow.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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He looks set to follow youngster Ben Doak out the Parkhead exit door over the coming months, but we have no sympathy for the Greek goalkeeper as there were offers on the table for him to depart just two months ago.

In other news: ‘Unfortunately…’ – Journalist gutted ‘for Celtic’ as more exit news emerges from Parkhead

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

	James Anderson rocked New Zealand with 5 for 73 © Getty Images

England grasped control of the second Test in Wellington, with James Anderson picking up his fourth five-wicket haul to help dismiss New Zealand for 198 shortly before stumps on the second day. With a lead of 144, and on what remains an excellent pitch, England’s hopes of levelling the three-match series grow by the day.Before this Test, Michael Vaughan spoke of his excitement at the change in personnel following the semi-ruthless double-axing of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. And although Tim Ambrose’s credentials have increased exponentially following his attractive maiden hundred and silky-smooth keeping, it was Anderson and Stuart Broad – the new, young bowling replacements – who Vaughan most needed to pass the litmus test. Both did just that.After Ambrose’s superb maiden hundred – becoming the first England wicketkeeper in 11 years to reach a ton on foreign soil since Alec Stewart in 1997 – Anderson was immediately to the fore, ripping out New Zealand’s top three in perfect bowling conditions. Much as England’s lower order had struggled, New Zealand’s openers couldn’t cope with Anderson’s natural away swing. The ball to remove Matthew Bell was as unplayable as Jacob Oram’s crackerjack to Vaughan yesterday, knocking over his off stump and giving the bowler the confidence to pitch it up. Jamie How prodded meekly at another outswinger, as did a quizzical Mathew Sinclair, and after 16 overs New Zealand had slipped to a precipitous 31 for 3.They weren’t finished, however. Stephen Fleming – playing for the last time on his home ground – and in particular Ross Taylor took the attack to England in a fourth-wicket stand of 71, laden with counterattacking strokes in front of square. There was a determined (perhaps sentimental) stickiness to Fleming which contrasted starkly with Taylor’s natural inclination to force the scoring rate, and the pair made hay while England’s concentration noticeably slipped. Monty Panesar’s fielding was at its most clumsy and costly, letting through two fours and missing a run-out opportunity – though he was on the receiving end of a dreadfully panicky throw from Kevin Pietersen at cover.Fleming threw away his wicket with a careless slap to point and, after Taylor brought up an attractive 74-ball fifty, he became Anderson’s fifth victim when he pushed forward at another awayswinger. It was Anderson’s fourth five-wicket haul, and you could hear the rumbles of discontent grow ever noisier at Auckland’s decision to employ him last week.At 113 for 6 New Zealand were in danger of folding like a pack of cards, but in came their most in-form and dangerous pair, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori, who smacked 52 in little more than five overs. McCullum looked in bristling form, charging Anderson and shuffling to the off side. A wonderful back-foot drive past Broad looked to have dented his confidence, but impressively he had the gumption to pitch it up two balls later, handing Andrew Strauss his second safe slip catch.Vettori at least managed to cut down England’s lead with another hugely valuable and immensely infuriating fifty – brought up off his 42nd ball with the most audacious of uppercuts for six over third man. However, Paul Collingwood mopped up the tail with career-best figures of 3 for 23 as New Zealand were dismissed for 198 with about half-an-hour of the day’s play remaining.Alastair Cook and Vaughan survived the last five overs and, leading by 148, England are in the box seat and ready to bat New Zealand totally out of the game.