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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.

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.

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

It was déjà vu all over again as Sri Lanka, boosted by Kumar Sangakkara’s double hundred, stamped their authority for the second day in succession at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium. With the cushion of a 389-run lead, captain Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in declaring the innings immediately after Sangakkara reached his landmark, giving his bowlers a shot at the Bangladesh top order.Bangladesh needed to ensure they had all ten wickets in hand going intothe third day, and the racy start provided by their openers – Javed Omarand Shahriar Nafees – was encouraging. Unfortunately, reality hit themhard after Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando struck four quick blows toleave them in tatters at 69 for 4. Another massive innings defeat loomed.The loss of those late wickets was a reflection of Bangladesh’s biggestweakness. The bowlers and batsmen together struggled to maintain themomentum after the initial euphoria. Despite restricting the scoring inthe morning on a pitch which slowed down considerably after the openingday, the visitors failed to cling on to opportunities that came their wayafter Malinda Warnapura’s early dismissal, caught at midwicket.Mahela poked at a delivery by Mashrafe Mortaza just outside the off stumpand the outside edge bisected an unusually large gap between MushfiqurRahim, the wicketkeeper, and Habibul Bashar at first slip. A thickishoutside edge off Sangakkara’s bat fell short of Mortaza at slip and racedto the third-man boundary, a half-chance that was to prove extremelycostly.Mohammad Rafique later spilled perhaps the easiest of return catches offMahela and it stung further when he and Sangakkara latched onto him andpushed the scoring towards lunch.Shahadat, undeterred by those lapses, was the most potent among thebowlers, landing the ball on a good length and getting appreciable lift.Unfortunately, he lacked support as Mortaza and Mohammad Sharif were offcolour and didn’t really threaten the batsmen with pace or bounce.Shahadat’s aggression was evident with his persistent grunting, much tothe ire of Mahela, who appealed twice to the umpires. Shahadat had thelast laugh when Mahela mistimed a pull straight after lunch. The bowler’scelebration said it all.

Sangakkara was more prepared to bide his time at the crease as heapproached his hundred. Several full deliveries on off stump were pushedstraight to the fielders as he struggled to get the placement right.However, he gained in confidence as lunch approached and reached threefigures with an emphatic six over Rafique’s head.With the seamers operating from both ends with the new ball after lunch,Chamara Silva and Sangakkara settled into a nice rhythm, with the ballcoming on to the bat easily. The pair added a quick 50 off just 68 ballsand the frustration began to show in a brief passage of play, as thefielders conceded overthrows off successive balls.Silva’s urgency spurred Sangakkara to up the tempo and he did so in style.He found the gaps with precision, taking both Shahadat and Mortaza totask. Sensing that the seamers weren’t effective enough, Mohammad Ashrafulthrew the ball to Mehrab Hossain Jnr at the fag end of the session and itpaid dividends as he struck twice in the same over.Silva could consider himself unlucky after replays suggested that the batmay have struck the ground while attempting an expansive cover-drive. Twoballs later, Tillekaratne Dilshan misread the flight and wascomprehensively bowled while giving him the charge.Prasanna Jayawardene hung around for a brief while before throwing awayhis wicket, giving Javed Omar the easiest of catches at mid-on. Vaashelped himself to a breezy unbeaten 30, allowing Sangakkara reach hislandmark at his own pace.When they emerged to bat, Nafees and Omar showed no signs of weariness,and anthing overpitched or off target was put away off the meat of thebat. Nafees was the first victim, edging to Prasanna while going for anoff-drive off Vaas. Dilhara Fernando’s first over was forgettable,conceding three consecutive boundaries to Omar, but he was soon among thewickets when he sent back Rajin Saleh, inducing an outside edge which waspouched brilliantly by Mahela at second slip.It soon became 55 for 3 when Vaas ended Omar’s cameo, trapping him infront. Fernando removed Mehrab, playing on for the second time insuccession. Bashar and Ashraful batted out the last few overs and wouldneed to bat out a lot more, with their side trailing by a massive 320 runs.Yet again, it seemed as though there was only pride left to play for.

On official fancy-dress day at Edgbaston, the only costume suitable wasmacs and wellies. Elvis Presley’s quiffs were flattened, the Pink Pantherslowly turned green and the Vikings appeared to be drawing upplans for building a long boat.When play finally started at 4.45pm, the crowd was somehow almost full. Fornearly six hours, Birmingham’s hardiest, most fanatical (or drunk?)cricket-lovers remained in their seats, or at least in the bar. Like ateam chasing down a tricky score (England take note), the crowd crossedoff successive targets: first, the end of the persistent, warm drizzle;second the appearance of the sun; thirdly the removal of the big covers(which was cheered with almost as much vigour as Kevin Pietersen’s reversesweep six yesterday); fourthly, and finally, the sight of Andrew Flintoffleading his men out. England had obviously been itching to get out there -umpires Aleem Dar and Darrell Hair were almost tripped up, so close wereEngland on their heels.This Edgbaston crowd had plenty to entertain themselves with. Many werefixated by replays on the large screen of iconic images from lastsummer’s Ashes Test at this venue. With the kind of wide-eyed wonderusually reserved for children in sci-fi films, the crowd relived everyheart-stopping moment. Was it really that close? It all seems surreal now.And Brett Lee’s cover drive through the covers that seemed to be going fora winning four before the camera showed Ashley Giles move into frame tocut it off brought audible gasps. Perhaps people were imagining the fateof that Test if Giles’s replacement Monty Panesar had been fielding in hisplace. It’s enough to give anyone the shivers.Early arrivals were also entertained by Paul Collingwood giving Panesarfielding lessons on the boundary. His dives across the grass may have beenmore elephant than elegant, but the practice appears to have worked today- Panesar was confident and without error in the field.

After a spot of fancy-dress wrestling that began to show worrying signs offalling into Fight Club territory, it was back to the stands as the sunsplit the crowds. After the umpires decided to ignore the splashes causedby rolling a ball across the outfield, Edgbaston eventually had thecontinuation of a Test match. There’s a reason why England love playinghere – the buzz never ceases, the roar rarely loses its monstrous pitch.Unfortunately, it could hardly be said the wait was worth it. Unless, ofcourse, you’re Sri Lankan. Michael Vandort and Tillakaratne Dilshan playedbeautifully and the Edgbaston crowd had the experience of watching anEngland attack lacking in ideas for the second successive Test. Dilshan’swicket late-on lifted the crowd to fever pitch, but it was more indesperation than expectancy.Prior to the wicket, the biggest talking point was the absence of GaryPratt, England’s supersub and Ponting’s nemesis. Liam Plunkett did notappear at the start due to falling heavily on a shoulder, but hisreplacement wasn’t Pratt, it was his Durham team-mate Gary Scott. So, withDurham not playing, just where was Pratt? Is he ducking the limelight? Orperhaps the 6’6” haulking Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody is too much of aterrifying prospect to upset. Whatever the reason, it would have beenunlikely that Pratt would have found a warmer, more entertaining receptionthan the one offered by the beleaguered-but-merry Edgbaston crowd.

Easterns 196 for 3 (Seymore 73, Booysen 54*, de Bruin 51) beatKwaZulu-Natal 195 for 9 by 7 wickets
ScorecardAfter losing the first class match, Easterns turned the tables on KwaZulu-Natal at Willowmoore Park to win by seven wickets. Set to make 196 in 45 overs Easterns finished the game off with 7.2 overs to spare. KwaZulu-Natal dug themselves into a hole at the top of the innings and never recovered, with wickets falling at regular intervals. Showing the importance of partnerships in the shorter form of the game Easterns set off at a cracking pace with Andre Seymore driving firmly at every opportunity. His 73, nearly in equal time, set the tone of the innings. Pierre de Bruyn after his century in the three-day game scored good 50 while Jaco Booysen tried hard to secure the bonus point, failing by a few balls. One player to keep an eye on is the Easterns opening bowler Shiraaz Abrahams. With the right support, hard work and coaching he may turn out to be the find of the season.Gauteng 250 for 8 (Otto 124) beat Northerns 241 for 8 (van Woerkom 86, van Wyk 59) by 9 runs
ScorecardGauteng took the double at the Wanderers as they squeezed out neighbours Northerns by 9 runs in a tense 45-over affair. Having scored 250, thanks to a magnificent hundred from Marthinus Otto, Northerns clawed themselves back into the game falling short by nine runs when the overs ran out. Otto showed no mercy as he carved the ball around the ground, striking 12 fours and 6 sixes as he dominated the Gauteng innings. Northerns made the worst possible start and, struggling at 58 for 4, seemed to be well out of the game. Nic van Woerkom (86) and Kruger van Wyk (59) got the innings back together again with Pierre Joubert dancing in with a quick 48. Having lost too many wickets at the top of the innings and with too much to do at the end Northerns struggled, as they finished on 241. Nic van Woerkom, of Northerns, is clearly a man on a mission, and now has two hundreds and an eighty in his last three one-day innings.

Day 2 of 4 Western Australia 335 and 3 for 62 lead South Australia 300 (Cosgrove 144, Deitz 51) by 97 runs
ScorecardWestern Australia squandered the advantage of a narrow first-innings lead when Shaun Tait took three cheap wickets late on the second day of the Pura Cup match at Adelaide Oval. At stumps, after leading by 35 on the first innings, WA were 3 for 62 in their second innings, an overall lead of 97, with Tait having taken 3 for 26.For South Australia, Mark Cosgrove made his highest first-class score of 144, helping his team to 300 in the first innings in reply to WA’s 335. Speaking to the media after the day’s play, he was optimistic about his team’s chances. “It leaves us with a massive chance in the game, we’re not out of it,” Cosgrove said. “It’s pretty much a line-ball game so far, Taity came out and got us three wickets, which is great, and it can go any way at the moment. Another two quick ones tomorrow morning, as you know you can get, and they’ll be 5 for 100, so anything can happen.”Murray Goodwin was unbeaten on 37 at stumps, with Marcus North, who made an unbeaten century in the first innings, on 8.Earlier, SA crashed from 2 for 191 to be all out for 300. Cosgrove, 19, played almost a lone hand, with his dashing innings including 20 fours and two sixes. He was caught and bowled by Brad Hogg, who finished with 3 for 66. North’s part-time offspin fetched him 2 for 17, his best figures of the season.Cosgrove’s previous-highest first-class score was the 118 he made against NSW in November.The loser of this match will finish the season on the bottom of the Pura Cup table.

PERTH, Feb 26 AAP – A bowler who was playing on synthetic pitches just two years ago has Australian Test opener Justin Langer on the hop.That is the belief of Australian Test captain Steve Waugh who says 21-year-old New South Welshman Doug Bollinger will be starting to play on the West Australian captain’s mind before tomorrow’s Pura Cup cricket match at the WACA Ground.NSW, which hasn’t won the four-day title since 1993/94, needs to take all six points from the match to keep alive its chances of making the March final against frontrunners Queensland or Victoria.While 59-Test veteran Langer dismissed Waugh’s comments, the left-arm quick from Sydney’s western suburbs has dismissed him cheaply twice this summer, for five in the four-day match in Newcastle and in Sunday’s ING Cup final.Bollinger, whose debut season for the Blues has had its ups and down, had Langer all at sea before dismissing him for three in NSW’s seven-wicket win on the weekend with a corker of a delivery.And Waugh, who is always happy to gain any psychological advantage available, said national teammate Langer would have been thinking about Bollinger.”I’m sure he has got Lang thinking about him, he’s got him out a couple of times, he got him out in Newcastle and here with two very good balls and he feels very confident against Justin,” Waugh said.”We all respect Langer, he’s a great player but sometimes when you haven’t seen a bowler much and he gets you out a few times it just gets in the back of your mind.”But the 32-year-old Langer, who has scored 4077 Test runs at 44.31 including 13 centuries, scoffed at Waugh’s comments.”No trouble,” he said.”Look I have made four or five Test hundreds against Wasim Akram, I don’t think Doug Bollinger is in Wasim Akram’s class, so I think Tugga is just playing games with you,” he said.However Waugh rated the very raw Bollinger as a genuine wicket-taker, and despite stretches of waywardness, could be anything.”Because he’s come from nowhere and in some ways that’s great because teams have not seen him,” he said.”I don’t know much about him, he was playing park cricket 12 months ago and now he’s been picked in the Prime Minister’s XI, it’s been a great 12 months for him, he’s a real prospect.”Bollinger worked his way through Fairfield-Liverpool’s lower grades to become an integral part of the club’s first grade premiership winning side last season to finish in the NSW Second XI.Teams:NSW: Michael Slater, Greg Mail, Stephen Waugh (captain), Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Mark Waugh, Brad Haddin, Nathan Bracken, Don Nash, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill.WA: Justin Langer (captain), Michael Hussey, Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Callum Thorp, Adam Voges, Brad Williams.

Graeme Hick has not ruled out returning to the England set-up – with his sights set firmly on the 2003 World Cup.The prolific Worcestershire batsman was not selected for either the two-Test series against Pakistan or the following NatWest Series. His form during the winter tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan had been disappointing despite the team’s overall success.Hick made his England debut a decade ago and has been recalled to the England side no fewer than ten times – and he’s now holping to make it 11.Although at the age of 35 he admits the chances of any further Test appearances may be slim, he believes he still has something to offer the one-day side.”I can’t envisage myself playing Test cricket this summer againstAustralia with the way the side has been selected and the way they are nowlooking,” he said.”I accept that the winter was not the best for me personally although it wasstill one I enjoyed immensely because of the results and being part of anEngland team while it was successful.”Winning in Pakistan and Sri Lanka was special and not something you do veryoften.”I was disappointed to miss out on the one-day games against Australia andPakistan but I think there is still an opportunity or chance that I could stillbe playing in the World Cup next year.”That is my goal, to keep myself fit and be in with a fighting chance forthat, but any international cricket would be great. As long as I am playingcricket well and I am healthy then I will have those aspirations.”

Mohammad Yousuf will have to wait till April 30 to know whether he will be allowed to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The final decision of the arbitration panel hearing the case filed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) to block Yousuf from participating in the IPL would not announce its final order till then, ICL lawyers said.The announcement is a setback for Yousuf as, with the IPL slated to begin on April 18, he is likely to miss a major chunk of the IPL even if the panel rules in his favour. ICL legal adviser Hitesh Jain was quoted by as saying that since the arbitration panel had reserved its order for final pronouncement the stay order on Yousuf from playing in the IPL remained.The ICL also challenged Yousuf’s claim that he had returned the advance payment amount he got from ICL to one of its agents in Pakistan.”Our case is that Yousuf has not returned the advance amount to ICL or to an authorised agent of ICL,” Jain said. “The person to whom Yousuf claimed to have returned the money is not ICL’s agent in Pakistan and therefore ICL has not received any money from Yousuf.”ICL still holds that there is a binding contract between ICL and Yousuf and he can’t participate in any competing league during the term of the contract.”The uncertainty surrounding Yousuf’s availability ensured that his services were unsold during the IPL auctions.

The day before the First Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium, the one thing more uncertain than the weather is the Indian team composition. Much of it surrounds the batting line-up, from the opening pair down to the middle order, possibly even the choice of keeper.Their squad of 15 has only one specialist opener, Wasim Jaffer; partnering him could be any one of the experienced Indian middle order – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, and Yuvraj Singh [making a Test comeback after his knee injury kept him out of Tests in South Africa] – or Dinesh Karthik. And if Karthik opens, only Jaffer and Dravid are the other certainties.Asked about the opening pair, Dravid said he would like to keep it a bit of a surprise.The bowling attack is similarly unknown, save the fact that Dravid may go in with five bowlers, given that it is going to be difficult to get 20 wickets on a flat wicket in the hot and muggy weather. “We do have the option of playing five bowlers in these conditions considering the weather, the wicket and what we are trying to achieve in this game,” Dravid said. Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble look the certainties with the ball, while any two or three of the other bowlers might play.Bangladesh look more certain and announced their 12, the choice made easier by the elimination of Tushar Imran who is ruled out with fever. The selection could very easily have become difficult had Habibul Bashar not recovered well from the fever he had yesterday. Bashar said today he was confident of playing in the Test.One out of Saqibul Hasan and Mehrab Hossain jnr is set to make his debut. If they play two pacers, it will be the sturdier Shahadat Hossain and not the accurate Syed Rasel who will open the bowling with Mashrafe Mortaza.Dravid said that the conditions will be the same for both the teams. Yet, that does not take away the significance of the conditions in the build-up. “The wicket looks pretty bare. It should hold together for the first two- and-a-half or three days,” Dravid said, “It might break up as the game goes on. But initially I expect it to be pretty good and hold firm for a few days at least.”It may prove difficult to get 20 wickets here, and thunderstorms are never too far away either. India, on paper by far the stronger of the two sides, will probably attack the game from the off; therein lies Bangladesh’s chance. The longer Bangladesh deny them and stay in the game, the more likely India are to get frustrated and Bangladesh’s chances of causing a big upset will only get stronger. In Dav Whatmore’s last series as the coach, Bangladesh will need the one virtue they have lacked, one that Whatmore has been demanding all through his tenure: patience.Whatmore has been in the news in his own right, of course, having reportedly shown an interest in coaching India. Would such talk, even as the series is on, have any negative impact on Bangladesh? No, says Bashar. “We have never had such problems. He [Whatmore] is a professional; whenever he is on the field, he never lets his coaching suffer,” he said. “We are doing the same thing as a professional team.”The last time Bangladesh played India, their batsmen kept at bay the Indian bowling attack, which wasn’t weaker than the current one. But from 239 for 4, they collapsed to 333, even as Mohammad Ashraful, now the vice-captain, played the innings of that series, scoring an unbeaten 158. They ended up losing that match by an innings. That was three years ago, but the story was the same last year. At Fatullah, Shahriar Nafees had scored another breathtaking century and Bangladesh got 355 for 5 in the first day, but their next 15 wickets fell for 220 runs.This Test will most likely be a battle between the persistence of Indian bowlers and the will of the Bangladesh batsmen. There could be a twist in the tale: if Bangladesh manage to put up a considerable total, they can become the aggressors as they did against Australia at Fatullah.Squads
Bangladesh: Javed Omar, Shahriar Nafees, Habibul Bahsar (capt.), Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Saqibul Hasan, Khaled Mashud (wk), Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque jnr, Shahadat Hossain, Mehrab Hossain jnrIndia: Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid (capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Rajesh Pawar, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, VRV Singh, RP Singh