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India started off in this tournament as a strong batting team, but it wastheir bowling that bailed them out more than once. Mahendra Singh Dhoni,the winning captain, recognised that it was the bowling that had won themthe cup.”On paper the batting was much stronger,” Dhoni said. “But the way thebowlers bowled was very good, and if you compare the two, our bowling wasmuch more consistent. Though there were a few good individual battingperformances, the bowling was better through the tournament.” That, hesaid, was also a reason why he chose to bat first on most occasions afterwinning the toss. “The idea was to get a decent score and then try todefend it. Our fielding helped too. We effected a run out in almost everygame. When the total is relatively low – only around 150-155 – run outsand good fielding increases the total by 15-20 runs, and we managed to dothat in most of the games.”Dhoni’s captaincy has come in for plenty of praise, but he chose to playit down, instead praising the players for responding to the challenges.”The captain hasn’t done much. The players who have been given theresponsibility have delivered. There was no [top order] batsman who hadn’t scored runs,the fielding had been very good overall. Yuvraj [Singh] has been very good, whileHarbhajan has made a very good comeback. The best part is everything whohas been given the responsibility has delivered. This side is confident,enjoying each other’s success and backing each other.”Dhoni admitted that he was concerned about Misbah-ul-Haq’s late charge,but said he knew they were only a wicket away from wresting the initiativeagain. “We knew they didn’t have wickets in hand. Pressure becomes a veryimportant aspect in big games. Harbhajan Singh was good though he wentfor a few, Joginder [Sharma] was excellent in the last over. But I always thoughtas the game approached the final stages, our chances would increase.”About the decision to bowl Joginder instead of Harbhajan in the finalover, Dhoni said it was prompted by the form on the day. “That was thebest option available. Harbhajan didn’t bowl his last over very well. Ithought if a medium pacer bowls it would be slightly difficult sinceMisbah was timing it very well against Harbhajan, who was also not 100%sure about his yorkers. And Joginder had had a decent spell till in thematch, so I decided to go with him.”

Dhoni admitted that the number of runs they had wasn’t a par score, andpraised Pakistan’s effort in the field. “In Durban it was a lot moredifficult for batting – 170-180 was a very good total there. Here Ithought we should have got 180, as the wicket was not very difficult. Butthe way they bowled was really good. After 12 overs they bowled someexcellent yorkers, so you could hardly score off them.”He also had a special word for Rohit Sharma’s 16-ball 30, which lifted theIndian total to 157. “Rohit’s innings was critical. We looked like getting140, but we ended up getting more than 150. The confidence level went upand with our fielding we increased the target further to 170-175.”Looking back at the tournament, he said the way the team planned thepractice sessions and the periods of rest was critical. “There was atwo-and-a-half month tour to England, so it was tough on the players. Theway we planned this tournament was very important. The practice sessionswere planned such that we were always fresh when we took the field for amatch.”The Indians didn’t practice before the final, despite playing at avenue where they’d played only once before in the tournament.

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

A new-look Pakistan, without a handful of senior players, drove Zimbabwe into the ground with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Sheikhupura to clean sweep the Mobilink Cup 5-0. The overcast and bitterly cold conditions didn’t faze debutant Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan as they chased down a meagre target of 182 with 19 overs to spare.The win was set up by Pakistan’s sprightly young bunch – which included four debutants – who showed exemplary commitment in the field to keep Zimbabwe in check for much of their innings. The overcast conditions were tailor-made, it seemed, even for Pakistan’s untested seam-bowling attack, and Hamilton Masakadza’s decision to bat first was perplexing. After a top order wobble, Zimbabwe were lifted by a rearguard from Elton Chigumbura and Brendan Taylor, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as Pakistan quickly clawed back to shoot them out for a woefully inadequate score.Sharp reflexes – a refreshing change from earlier games – handed Pakistan their early wickets as Abdur Rauf managed to hang on to a low return catch, literally off his toes. Debutant Rizwan Ahmed’s athleticism contributed to the next two wickets, first running out Vusi Sibanda with a fiery throw to the wicketkeeper from deep backward square-leg, and then holding onto a stunner to his left at cover to send back Tatenda Taibu. Wahab Riaz, one among an assembly line of left-arm quicks in this series, was the beneficiary for the second, a wicket in his first international over.As the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the mercury dipped in Sheikhupura’s first international match for nearly a decade, the situation got worse as Zimbabwe lost half their side before the halfway stage. Chigumbura and Taylor, however, buckled down and produced a stand of 85, against the run of play. Pakistan allowed the game to drift a little as bowlers were made to pay each time they erred. The boundaries were interspersed with intelligent running and before anyone knew it, the pair had added fifty.Taylor, who’s had an inconsistent series with the bat, punished anything on full while Chigumbura, a proven allrounder, took on Fawad Alam’s left-arm spin and punished anything full and wide outside off stump, unfurling forceful drives. Rizwan, the legspinner, excelled in the field but had a forgettable debut with the ball as the pair feasted on his half-trackers.

But just when a lower-order revival threatened to push the score over 200, the spinners struck back, breaking up the stand. Thereafter Rauf returned to clean up the last two wickets with inswinging yorkers to end the innings with over four overs to spare.Zimbabwe’s attack lacked the sting and pace to cause Pakistan any trouble. Nasir Jamshed threw his wicket away early when the going was good, but Younis and Manzoor were determined not to miss out.Manzoor was impressive, the bridge between domestic and international cricket seemingly invisible as he sized up his first ball with a firm backfoot punch to the cover point boundary. Busy at the crease, he was particularly strong with his bottom hand, unfurling another punch on the hop, this time beating the covers.But Manzoor soon took a backseat as Younis arrived and the chase progressed at pace. Chigumbura suffered as Younis announced himself with a punchy square drive and then blazed three consecutive boundaries in his next over, immediately after the second Powerplay began. Each was classic improvisation, beginning with a scorching square drive, following it up with a straight six after exposing all stumps on the walk, and then ending with a biff over midwicket.Younis didn’t slow down once the spinners came on. Ray Price was welcomed with a reverse sweep and Keith Dabengwa’s long hops were bludgeoned to the on side. He soon brought up his fifty with a sweep to fine leg. Manzoor, meanwhile, was providing solid support.Both looked set to see Pakistan through, before recklessness set in. Younis fell slogging, while Manzoor was cleaned up sweeping across the line, just after reaching his half-century. By that stage, however, the deal had been sealed as Pakistan, after four unconvincing victories, ended on a high before taking on the Australians.

Scorecard
Seamer Tonito Willett took a career-best 5 for 31 to help Leeward Islands to a 34-run victory against Windward Islands in St Georges. Overnight on 183 for 6, chasing 289, Windwards were dismissed for 254 shortly after lunch. Allrounder Liam Sebastien scored a defiant unbeaten 54 but ran short of partners. His stand of 43 with captain Deighton Butler for the eighth wicket took Windwards closer, before Willet ran through the tail. The victory was sealed when Willet trapped Nelson Pascal lbw, swinging across the line. It was the second loss for Windwards after their nine-wicket defeat against Barbados. Leewards are now tied at third spot with Trinidad & Tobago on 12 points.
Scorecard
Suleiman Benn and Dwayne Smith shared seven wickets between them to help Barbados to a comprehensive innings-and-57-run victory against Guyana at the Kensington Oval. Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan found form with a half-century and his 87-run partnership with Assad Fudadin defied Barbados till lunch, but it wasn’t enough to make Barbados bat again.The overnight pair of Sarwan and Leon Johnson buckled down and took the overnight score of 85 for 3 to 122 before Benn dismissed Johnson. Sarwan survived a very confident appeal for a catch on 36 off Kemar Roach and proceeded to his half-century. Fudadin, who provided solid support to Sarwan in his 33, fell shortly after lunch, caught by wicketkeeper Carlo Morris after the ball rebounded off Jason Haynes at short leg. Benn returned to dismiss Sarwan for 82, caught at forward short-leg while Smith cleaned up the lower order to finish with figures of 3 for 66. Benn, who bowled 36 overs, ended with 4 for 96. The defeat left Guyana at the bottom of the table with the Combined Campuses & Colleges and Windward Islands.Points table

Despite the absence of Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo in the five-match ODI series against Pakistan, Bennett King, the coach of West Indies, was confident of his side coming good. “It’ll test us as a team without two of our key one day performers over the past six to 12 months in Sarwan and Bravo,” he told WindiesCricket.com.Sarwan was ruled out with a minor hairline fracture of the right foot, sustained when he was hit by an Umar Gul yorker during the Karachi Test, while Bravo was released from the squad to return home “to be with persons close to him who are unwell”.Both have been key to West Indies’ recent successes, but King was forced to see the prospects that their absences threw up. “It allows opportunity to others trying to stake their claim for World Cup berth,” he said. “The players coming in [Ian Bradshaw, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith] bring with them freshness and energy after what’s been a long tour for us.”Sarwan is considered one of the leading batters in the one day game and he has proved that over a long period of time and has been a key to our past successes,” King added. “Bravo was adapting to different roles within our side and it’s unfortunate that we can’t build on those but where one door shuts another one opens.”Despite dropping the Tests 0-2, King looked forward to the challenge of the one-day series. “Every game gives us opportunities to move up the rankings of the ICC points table and to build our one day reputation,” he said. “Pakistan presents formidable opponents especially at home, they beat us 3-0 in the West Indies [in 2005] but we feel that we’ve improved since our last meeting both individually and as a team.”

Somerset obtained the fifth batting point – their maximum for thefirst time this season – and secured their First Division status atthe end of the third day of their County Championship Division Twomatch against Leicestershire at Taunton.Somerset resumed on 273 for 6 and declared their innings at lunch at411 for 7 in 103 overs with Ian Blackwell scoring 109. Having startedthe day at 40, Blackwell shared a seventh wicket stand of 124 withPeter Bowler (38 not out). Jason Kerr (19 not out) and Bowler battedon for Somerset to get the fifth batting point.Leicestershire started off poorly having lost Ian Sutcliffe early.Then Darren Maddy (102) and Ben Smith (69) put on 148 for the secondwicket when Smith was out to Graham Rose. Maddy got out after scoringhis century and Darren Stevens quickly followed for a duck while AftabHabib was 34 not out at the close. Leicestershire ended the day at 233for 4 in 69 overs.

Things could not be tighter at the top of the National League Division Two Table, of the four sides in the hunt for promotion, Hampshire and Middlesex have four games remaining, whilst Lancashire and Northamptonshire have five.The run in:Hampshire:
v Durham at Riverside on 24 August
v Lancashire at The Rose Bowl on 7 September
v Middlesex at Lord’s on 14 September
v Derbyshire at Derby on 21 September

Lancashire:
v Middlesex at Old Trafford on 19 August (d/n)
v Somerset at Taunton on 1 September (d/n)
v Hampshire at The Rose Bowl on 7 September
v Sussex at Old Trafford on 14 September
v Northamptonshire at Northampton on 21 September

Northamptonshire:
v Derbyshire at Derby on 24 August
v Scotland at Edinburgh on 26 August
v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on 31 August
v Durham at Northampton on 7 September
v Lancashire at Northampton on 21 September
Middlesex:
v Lancashire at Old Trafford on 19 August (d/n)
v Sussex at Hove on 3 September (d/n)
v Hampshire at Lord’s on 14 September
v Durham at Riverside on 21 September

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

Partisan fans at the Feroz Shah Kotla were treated to a cracker of a match as the Chennai Super Kings pulled off a dramatic last-ball win, sneaking past Delhi Daredevils’ total of 187 for 5 by four wickets. Chennai’s chase veered from the authoritative to the bumbling but they kept their nerves and put an end to their three-game losing streak, thanks largely to some fearless hitting right through the order.Chennai recovered somewhat to restrict the hosts to under 200 after Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan added a record third-wicket partnership of 121 and that, in hindsight, proved critical before a thrilling chase helped them get back to their winning ways.Chennai were given a 62-run start inside seven overs with S Vidyut, promoted to open in place of Parthiv Patel, batting purposefully. Both Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif were unusually off-key in their first overs and Vidyut handled the short and full deliveries admirably, stepping out to meet the ball. Asif’s first over went for 15, with Vidyut taking two fours and Stephen Fleming playing a gorgeous cover drive, and the sixth over, bowled by Yo Mahesh, cost 20 with both openers clubbing the width.Vidyut fell for 40 from 23 balls, attempting another pull but Fleming, finding rhythm after three poor innings, kept the momentum with Chennai. Initially a watchful spectator with Vidyut cashing in on some short-pitched stuff, he played some eye-catching square-drives and cuts. Shoaib Malik bowled a poor line and Fleming kept McGrath busy at square leg with powerful sweeps.With Mahendra Singh Dhoni keeping the ball along the grass, Fleming went for his shots except that a flat hard drive found AB de Villiers at cover. Suresh Raina steered a simple catch to backward point four balls later and Chennai failed to score a boundary for 16 deliveries. Albie Morkel made up with 25 off a Virender Sehwag over, swung into motion by three consecutive sixes, but the bowler had his revenge of sorts with a direct hit from mid-on sent Morkel running on his way to the pavilion.Dhoni threatened to seal the deal with a sensible hand but Yo Mahesh returned to snap up two wickets in the 19th over – one down to a stunning catch from de Villiers, running in from long-on – and that left Chennai with 15 to get off six balls. Sehwag gave the task to Malik and it proved a disaster. Manpreet Gony slogged the first ball over midwicket for six, a wide followed, easing the pressure further, and a thick edge past the wicketkeeper sent the crowd into silence. A single to mid-on set the stage for S Badrinath, who tied the scores with a chip over the covers for two, and won it with another over mid-on.The afternoon began with two of Delhi’s most reliable top-order batsmen welcoming Dhoni’s decision to field first – for the first time in the tournament – with a record 121-run stand in 12.4 overs after early trouble. Sehwag flickered with whips off the pads and a ramrod-straight drive before a crushing yorker from Gony breached his defence. Morkel, sharing the new ball in Makhaya Ntini’s absence, produced a pearl to clean up de Villiers first ball to make it 46 for 2 in the sixth over.Gambhir bottom-edged Muttiah Muralitharan’s first delivery narrowly past off stump and between Dhoni’s legs for four and was offered a freaky slice of luck a couple balls later when Murali’s flick back onto the stumps dislodged the bails a fraction too late. Loosening his shoulders after that last reprieve, Gambhir nudged to fine leg, flicked over midwicket, and flat-batted through the covers.A massive six over mid-on raised Gambhir’s fourth IPL half-century from 35 balls and earned him back the orange cap from Sehwag, and he proceeded to drill three consecutive fours in the 15th over to jack the run rate up near nine. He fell trying to steer one past backward point, for a 49-ball 80, and Dhawan fell shortly afterwards for a 46-ball 59 in the penultimate over. Delhi’s decision to bring in Manoj Tiwary over Rajat Bhatia cost them a fifth bowler, and that hurt them plenty.

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Scorecard

Zimbabwe enjoyed another day of surprises and success after a battling bowling performance, led by Ray Price, shattered the West Indian middle order and left them reeling at 241 for 6 by the close on the third day’s play – and still needing 67 to avoid the follow-on.Price took three late wickets to give Zimbabwe the edge and leave West Indies with a tricky morning session tomorrow which could decide which way the game will go. But the bowlers had to wait for a frustrating 90 minutes before play started due to a freak incident involving a heavy roller. It’s not often that a hole in the pitch stops play, but that’s what happened this morning.As the wicket was being rolled before play, a practice ball got jammed right underneath the roller and left a deep indentation in the pitch at the City end. To make matters worse, it was just short of a good length outside the left-hander’s off stump, and considering West Indies have five left-handers, they were understandably keen to make sure the problem was solved. An auger was borrowed from the neighbouring golf club to replace the small area of turf, and the umpires finally decided it would be possible to start play one and a half hours late.When play did get underway, Heath Streak, eager for wickets, began with an attacking field and openers Chris Gayle and Hinds were quick to exploit the gaps, galloping along at almost a run-a-ball, mainly through well-placed ones and twos. Streak was surprisingly expensive for a while, but then settled down and found movement under the overcast skies, severely testing the batsmen.Hinds scored the quicker of the two, alternating bursts of superb stroke-play with periods of solid defence. But after they had put on fifty, Gayle tried to turn a straight ball from Streak to leg and missed and was correctly given out lbw for 14 (50 for 1). Daren Ganga then immediately settled in with Hinds, who reached his fifty off 70 balls, and they brought up the hundred in the 25th over.Hinds began to play with more aggression, attacking the bowling with gay abandon and smashing 14 fours. He had a century in his sights, but he became a little too reckless and miscued a pull off the accurate Blessing Mahwire to Andy Blignaut at mid-on for 79 (127 for 2).

Brian Lara, in his first Test innings against Zimbabwe, played forward firmly to his first ball from Mahwire and timed it so well that it beat the bowler and glided all the way to the boundary. Then followed a keen duel between Lara and Streak, in which Lara came out on top of. He played some handsome strokes, especially the flashing square-cut, but he then relaxed his concentration and tried to hit Price for a straight six, only for Mahwire to take a good running catch on the long-on boundary (179 for 3). The field then briefly resembled a scrum as the Zimbabwean players raced to celebrate with each other.Ganga, meanwhile, was steadily growing in stature, and was his usual cautious self, providing the rock of the innings. He and Ramnaresh Sarwan consolidated for a while, and passed 200 without any troubles. But two quick wickets by Price swung the balance of the match dramatically.First Sarwan played right across the line to a straight ball and was plumb lbw for 3 (211 for 4). Then Ganga, on 73, suffered a freak dismissal when he played a ball from Mahwire firmly down into the ground off the back foot, only for it to bounce up, hit his elbow and roll onto the stumps (215 for 5). Then Ridley Jacobs, who had not looked comfortable, especially against Price, was given out by Billy Bowden caught by Mark Vermeulen at bat-pad. The replay was not altogether convincing, but the ball appeared to kiss the face of the bat off the pad (240 for 6).West Indies were suddenly feeling the heat, and shortly after Jacobs’s wicket, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Vasbert Drakes eagerly accepted the offer of bad light and the day ended with Zimbabwe enjoying the unusual experience of being on top in a Test match.

Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Scott Styris and Ian Butler are to miss New Zealand’s five-match one-day international tour of Pakistan which starts next week. They have opted out of the tour with the backing of New Zealand Cricket.It was revealed today that NZC have received a threat concerning the safety of the New Zealand players on the tour. Martin Snedden, the chief executive of NZC said today: “The threat is being discussed with the (NZ) Ministry of Foreign Affairs andTrade and investigations are proceeding to determine its validity.”We have notified the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board of the threatand have entered into a consultation process with them. That process isexpected to be completed over the next three or four days. We will continue to keep the Cricket Players’ Association and theplayers fully informed throughout the process.”NZC decided to proceed with the tour last week after a comprehensive security review was completed by independent security adviser Reg Dickason. As a result of his findings NZC decided they would make the tour.They also decided that all members of the team and its management, and players in contention for selection, would have the right to make an individual choice about whether to tour. NZC would continue to monitor the safety and security situation in Pakistan before and during the tour and would react as required to any information received.The New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, and the players, were fully briefed on the process and Snedden said, “Following the traumatic experience in Karachi when the Black Caps last toured Pakistan we agreed that individual team members could make themselves unavailable if they were seriously concerned about safety.The side for the tour will not be named until the process of discussion on the threat received is completed. New Zealand has at least one more match to play in India, and should it win, it would be required to play a final against Australia in Kolkata on Tuesday. The first match in Pakistan is at Faisalabad on November 22.

When Rashid Latif made his debut in the Oval Test of 1992 few, including himself, could envisage the course his career would take. Latif kept unobtrusively and athletically that day, as was to become his hallmark, and added to it by compiling a refined fifty.There were a couple of punches off the back foot through square cover, on top of his toes, which prompted Henry Blofeld to comment on what a “beautiful figure” Latif cut on the field. Then, he seemed set to replace Moin Khan as Pakistan’s first-choice wicketkeeper. Yet in the 12 years since, he has played in only 36 more Tests, and memories of that accomplished debut recede every time he makes the news now. In a country not short of temperamental, complex, enigmatic cricketers, Latif has been a breed apart. No cricketer has aroused as many different emotions; he brings on as much justified criticism as he does praise. Just what do you make of him?Ostensibly, he is forthright, outspoken, principled and brave. He has worked tirelessly to eliminate match-fixing, to harness talent in Karachi, and to rebuild the Pakistan side after last year’s World Cup. But there is also a careless, dangerous eccentricity that has marked his career. Running parallel to his efforts to cleanse and enhance the game are incidents which have dented his public image of crusader extraordinaire.There was the alleged racist slur at Adam Gilchrist in last year’s World Cup, or the flimsy charges of match-fixing which he levelled at the fourth one-dayer between Pakistan and India at Lahore earlier this year. There has been the constant ambiguity of his retirement plans – he “retired” in 1994-95 after the match-fixing scandal first broke, and then again from Tests in November 2002. That floored catch he claimed against Bangladesh last year, which led to a five-match ban and what seems to be his final removal from the team, was among the more infamous in a line of incidents that have defied explanation and evoked ambivalence. In all this, it has been difficult to defend Latif, and harder still to reconcile with his image. And now again his behaviour comes under question – although this time the Pakistan Cricket Board’s reaction demands equal scrutiny.Latif conceded a domestic match while leading Karachi Blues against Faisalabad last week, because of what he claimed was a dangerous, unfit pitch. On the surface, at least, he wanted to protect his players. There is no doubt that regulations have been breached – it is not up to one team to decide that the pitch is unfit – and that disciplinary action was necessary, but only after a due process of investigation. Given the unprecedented nature of the incident, and its grave implications, this process surely warranted a meeting between Latif and the Board. Shaharyar Khan, the Board’s chairman, says he based his decision on the views of the match referee, the umpires, the domestic tournament monitoring committee, a national selector … and a letter from Latif to the match referee.The domestic regulations state that “If a match is conceded, the points scored by the defaulting team during the tournament … will be nullified and the team will be scratched from the tournament … in addition a fine of 15,000 rupees shall be imposed.”According to the PCB, their chairman “has exercised his discretion in deciding that the Karachi Blues team would be allowed to continue participating … and that no fine or restriction would be imposed on them…” The PCB says he made this decision “in view of the fact that Latif appears to have acted independently”.But there is no evidence here: views have been garnered from various players in the drama, and not from the instigator. A unilateral decision seems to have been taken. Why single Latif out? He was captain at the time, but stated that the decision was taken along with his team members. If it is natural that the captain gives the unified views of his team, how do you distinguish an independent decision from a group one?Furthermore, the punishment was taken him bearing in mind that Latif has acted in “such a precipitous manner” before. What were they referring to here? That catch? His comments on match-fixing? That last incident occurred while he wasn’t with the board or the team in any official capacity, yet it seems that it’s now being used against him. Those incidents bear no relation to what he did last week – an act, which by its unique nature, demands examination in isolation.The relationship between the PCB and Rashid Latif has always been prickly. His outspoken views have rarely endeared him to successive boards over his career: indeed, they have often been embarrassing. He has been tolerated, rather than welcomed, and when possible they have tried to remove him altogether. He hasn’t helped himself, but this time it seems the PCB is falling over itself to remove him swiftly and arbitrarily.This season there had been increasing calls for his recall to the national team, something the Board seemed reluctant to countenance. Now he is banned for six months, and out of contention for the next three series. Is this just a convenient way for the PCB to oust him from Pakistan cricket one last time? If this is the end – which is by no means certain – then, given the promise of that 1992 debut, it is an undignified one.Osman Samiuddin is a freelance journalist based in Karachi.