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

Mumbai raced to their 37th Ranji Trophy title in fine style, beatingBengal by 132 runs shortly after tea on the fourth day. Magnificentinnings from Manoj Tiwary and Sourav Ganguly kept Bengal in the hunt, but in the end the combined firepower of Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar proved too much to resist, as the last six wickets fell for the addition of only five runs and Bengal folded for 339.While Ganguly was at the crease there was room for the faithful to hopethat Bengal might pull off something sensational, but when he fell – againto Zaheer – pulling and only managing to lob a high catch to Ramesh Powarat midwicket, Bengal had lost their prize wicket with 338 on theboard. Ganguly was visibly upset with himself when he lost his wicket, butcan take joy from the 90 that he made.The end came when Ashok Dinda attempted to heave Zaheer over the ropes andholed out to Abhishek Nair at midwicket. The 19-strong Mumbai squad rushedas one to the pitch, plucking out stumps for souvenirs and celebrating.Zaheer ended with nine wickets for the match, and was easily the playerwho made the most difference.Tiwary’s bold strokeplay had Mumbai running for cover, and huntingleather, for the best part of the first two sessions. On the third day itwas Deep Dasgupta who led from the front, ducking, weaving, dabbing anddefending, keeping Agarkar and Zaheer at bay. When the fourth day dawned,with Bengal on 98 for 2, it was clear that the initial plan was to justoccupy the crease, even if it meant that no runs came. Both Dasgupta, andthe usually aggressive Tiwary, left alone more than they played at, andforced the bowlers to bowl to them.To Bengal’s credit, they battled hard for the best part of the day, makingMumbai work hard for their wickets. Tiwary was terrific in his shotselection, committing wholeheartedly when he played the big shots and yetnot committing early to front or back foot. With the pitch having easedout considerably, Zaheer found the going tough, and was operating belowfull pace. He slanted the ball away from the right-handers, andoccasionally caused a bit of hesitation when he got his line right, butthe absence of inswing vastly reduced his wicket-taking options.Tiwary sensed that Zaheer was flagging, and took him on. The shot of theday being a clean hit over mid-off that sailed the distance and went forsix. In the course of his innings, Tiwary became the highest run-getter ina single season for Bengal. Arun Lal held the record, but Tiwary alreadyhas 776 and looks far from finished.The one spot of joy for Mumbai in an otherwise fruitless morning came whenDasgupta fell, against the run of play. A momentary lapse in concentrationmade Dasgupta chase a delivery outside the off stump, and this onlyresulted in a nick for Vinayak Samant to pouch behind the stumps. Onceagain Wilkin Mota had struck, and Dasgupta was gone for a well made 57.

Ganguly walked out to the middle with plenty to do, and fortunatelyfor Bengal was in good nick. He was fluent from the word go, and playedsome pleasing shots, especially square of the wicket on the off side. BothZaheer and Agarkar were handled easily as Ganguly timed the ball away inthe arc between point and cover, picking up boundaries early on in hisinnings.On a pitch that was affording turn Ramesh Powar was ineffective, andGanguly was able to easily leave the ball alone to begin with, and thenpick off singles at will, even occasionally lofting the ball for plenty.In the company of Rohan Gavaskar, who unfurled an array of strokes on bothsides of the wicket, Ganguly kept Bengal well on target for an amazingwin. Gavaskar was especially severe on Zaheer, who sprayed the ball arounda bit and made it hard for Amol Muzumdar to set fields. But, when Agarkargot Gavaskar to nibble at one outside off, and had him caught behind,Mumbai had the foot in the door that they needed.Bengal went from a strong 270 for 3 to 335 for 7 by tea, and hopes of agrand win fast receded. After Gavaskar was dismissed Zaheer snaffled twoquick wickets, bowling Laxmi Ratan Shukla for a duck and following it upby trapping Sourashish Lahiri in front of the stumps. And soon after, thewheels came off, giving Mumbai yet another win in the premier domesticcompetition.

ScorecardFile photo – Mandeep Singh and Uday Kaul added 124 together•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh made sure Punjab ended the third day against Uttar Pradesh in a position of strength despite hitting some speed bumps. On a day when either team could have seized the momentum to set up a win on the last day, Punjab first took a first-innings lead of 46 runs, and then accumulated 244 in the second innings to stretch the overall lead to 290, before bad light curbed the third day in a row. UP bowled well only in phases – first with the new ball and then in the second session to take three wickets in 13 overs – but things became easier for the Punjab batsmen as the pitch did not assist the bowlers the way it did on the first day.Punjab and UP, who are among four teams to be stuck with 17 points in Group B, will be desperate to get six points and push for a quarter-final spot.Mandeep and Uday did most of the work for Punjab in the first two sessions as they switched gears according to the conditions and the situation. They weathered a spell of 12 consecutive and probing overs from Praveen Kumar before lunch to soften the ball as the sun came out after an overcast morning. While Uday was patient and mostly defensive, Mandeep showed his aggression from the beginning by pulling Praveen for his first four, in the 13th over.

Mandeep Singh on…

Punjab’s declaration: “We’ll look to score another 30-40 runs and then ask them to bat. The wicket will be difficult to bat on the fourth day because there are some patches now. If we can give them 70-80 overs also, we can turn it into a match.”
Punjab’s approach for the last day: “It will be tough to get them out but both teams need those six points. If we can give them 325-odd then they will also have a chance to score quickly and chase. But we will have to take a chance to go for a win.”
His recent form: “I didn’t score well in the last three to four innings but at Patiala we played on a rank turner and Baroda had a lot of uneven bounce. I’m not saying I got out only because of that but…it wasn’t playing on my mind that my last few innings had been a flop or anything. Overall I knew I was batting well. Like in the first innings my target was to leave as many balls as possible because it was cutting a lot. I did what I wanted to do in the first innings – to wear the ball down and then score some runs.”
Batting on the third day: “Initially it was a bit difficult to bat because the ball was hard and new. But it was a bit easier in the second innings so I was looking to score freely and big today, and we were looking to declare today itself but unfortunately we couldn’t do it.”

The two batsmen put on 124 runs after Punjab had lost their openers in consecutive overs to UP’s pacers. Manan Vohra started briskly with two fours before he pulled Praveen straight to deep square leg and Imtiaz Ahmed drew Jiwanjot Singh’s outside edge with an outswinger.Punjab were left in a spot of bother at 28 for 2, but Mandeep and Uday showed confidence and steered the score past 150, not allowing UP to press the accelerator. Mandeep, who had scored three ducks in his last five innings, made sure that he capitalised on a good start this time.Suresh Raina was forced to change his tactics, as he brought spinners from both ends about 40 minutes after lunch, and Mandeep cashed in further by shifting to accumulation mode. Piyush Chawla conceded nine runs from his first over, including two no-balls, and a four that brought up Mandeep’s fifth-fifty plus score of the season. He soon launched left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar over long-on for six but was bowled by a flatter delivery only three balls later, for 84.Seeing Yuvraj Singh walk out next, Raina replaced Chawla with Praveen, gifting the crowd another PK-Yuvi show. Yuvraj went about his innings fluently, taking three fours and a six off Praveen in consecutive overs. He started by steering one off the pads, one through the covers, and a back-foot cut before Praveen switched ends and Yuvraj unleashed a six on the leg side.But Yuvraj’s show ended when Ankit Rajpoot trapped him lbw with a short ball; a decision that left the batsman seemingly unhappy. To make things worse for Punjab, first-innings top-scorer Mayank Sidhana swatted Praveen to midwicket for a straightforward catch for 4 in the last over before tea with the score reading 197. The loss of five wickets meant Punjab’s score was not commanding, but their lead of 243 meant they were well ahead.Punjab were hardly troubled after tea. With Mandeep gone, Uday took charge as the main run-scorer and pushed Punjab’s score past 200, and lead towards 300, by scoring 36 runs from 52 balls with five fours, in the last session. He took minimal risk, played most of his shots along the ground, and nudged the ball easily in the gaps as UP tried several bowlers in pursuit of breakthroughs. Gitansh Khera fell when he gave an easy catch to over off a leading edge at the score of 239 but Punjab had consolidated their position by then.UP’s assistant coach Mritunjay Tripathi, however, was confident of his team staging a comeback on the last day, saying that they would not hesitate to chase a target beyond 300. “If we can get them out in the morning and have a target of 300-350, it’s chaseable in about 80 overs. We’ll try our best and go for it. We’ll go with a positive intent and win hopefully.”Earlier, Siddarth Kaul foiled UP’s plans to minimise the deficit, from their overnight 205 for 8, by removing Imtiaz and Rajpoot in quick succession, even as Saurabh collected boundaries at the other end. The hosts were eventually bowled out for 226.

Amazing acts of individual brilliance have sometimes decided the outcome of Cup finals, and three breathtaking moments of magic from Shawn Findlay effectively settled the KFC Cup final last night.

As a result, Jamaica’s long wait for regional limited-overs glory is over, triggering emotional celebrations that included a spontaneous rendition of their national anthem moments after the mission was accomplished at 9.20pm.Under lights at the 3Ws Oval before an appreciative crowd, Jamaica won an absorbing duel against dethroned champions Trinidad and Tobago by 28 runs in a match in which Findlay’s sensational triple-play in the field proved decisive.As Trinidad and Tobago were trying to keep hope alive in pursuit of 231 from 50 overs, Findlay produced magic at critical times to help limit the men from the Land Of The Hummingbird to 202 in 49.3 overs.Daren Ganga’s men were just about starting to recover from the early discomfort of 36 for three in a fourth-wicket partnership of 43 between the solid Lendl Simmons and the potential big-hitter Kieron Pollard when Findlay intervened.Spectators at long-off were scampering for cover when Pollard launched into a drive against medium-pacer Brendan Nash that seemed headed for six, but were stunned to see Findlay leap to clutch in a spectacular left-handed catch.It was almost unbelievable. It was out of the top drawer. It was one of the finest ever in regional cricket. More was to come. With Simmons on 64 and a lot depending on him, he was prised out required confirmation from the television replay umpire.It left Trinidad and Tobago 130 for 5 in the 31st over and the match still delicately poised, but Jamaica refused to let up and went on to claim their first regional limited-overs success since 1999.Denesh Ramdin tried his best to rally the effort for Trinidad and Tobago, but when he was caught at extra-cover for 48 in the 42nd over, the match was as good as over. Findlay’s third piece of magic was late in the piece, a wonderful diving catch running in from the cover boundary in which the ball was taken inches off the turf as he dived forward.Jamaica owed their early inroads to incisive fast bowling from their West Indies combination of Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell, who combined to claim the first three wickets, including Trinidad and Tobago’s two most reliable batsmen at this level, Ganga and Dwayne Bravo.Taylor started things by removing Mario Belcon, who was an lbw victim playing across the line, in very much the same way Powell accounted for Bravo for a first-ball duck. In between, Taylor took care of Ganga, whose unconvincing attempt to hook ended up in a catch to the keeper. Twice, Taylor and Powell knocked batsmen on the helmet and their early impact was just as crucial as Findlay’s contribution.The two fast bowlers were earlier part of Jamaica’s rally at a time when Trinidad and Tobago might have been fancying their chances of restricting Jamaica to a total of less than 200. It was somewhat of a surprise that Trinidad and Tobago chose to field first and their decision seemed to be paying off when Jamaica were 167 for 7 in the 42nd over, subsiding to a quick three-wicket burst from leg-spinner Samuel Badree, after off-spinner Sherwin Ganga, who also took three wickets, stemmed the early flow of runs.Brenton Parchment provided the early impetus with 52 off 67 balls, but after Jamaica ran into the trouble they required important runs from the lower half which was getting a chance to bat for the first time in the competition. Danza Hyatt, who batted at No. 5, made 28 and there were also useful runs from Carlton Baugh (25), Nikita Miller (26), Powell (20) and Taylor (18).

South African cricket is on the edge of a crisis with coach Mickey Arthur facing the sack after a row erupted over transformation quotas for the Bangladesh tour.Arthur is part of a selection panel that picked a squad for the Bangladesh tour which included only four coloured players despite CSA guidelines saying there should be seven. The announcement was delayed as hurried discussions took place.After Norman Arendse, president of CSA, laid formal charges against Arthur and told the that he was being “disrespectful” and “abusive” while adding he was “cocking a snook at his employers’ policy of transformation”, Arthur hit back by filing a counter-complaint with the board.”This has reached ridiculous proportions,” Arthur told the news agency. “I’ve laid a counter charge against him, because he was just as abusive to me as I was to him.”Earlier, Arendse had urged the coach to fall in line with CSA transformation policy. “If a coach says, ‘There’s no transformation policy’ (among selectors), if he says, ‘Sorry, I’m not prepared to implement Cricket South Africa’s policies’, then his position is untenable.”After laying the charge against Arendse, Arthur said, “I have no problem with transformation and I am very willing to work for transformation. However, seven players of colour in a squad of 14 is a target and not a policy.”The situation has arisen after Arendse questioned the make-up of the squad for Bangladesh, with earlier reports saying he wanted Herschelle Gibbs and Monde Zondeki to be included. There have been suggestions that Graeme Smith has considered resigning a players strike is in prospect.Arthur rejected reports that he was threatening to resign and said: “There was nothing that drastic … but the selection panel were very disappointed that we were asked to alter the squad.”However, he did say Thursday was “a crucial day” and hinted at further action if the squad isn’t passed. “Anything could happen in terms of the composition of the squad. I haven’t thought about what course of action I would take if our squad isn’t ratified.Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, said: “The players are not involved in selection, nor should they be. However they believe strongly in the need for integrity in the process.”In a team sport such as cricket selection is probably the most important factor. The team has yet to be finalised so it is not for us to comment further at this stage. For the sake of the integrity of the process however, this issue needs to be finalised quickly.”Arendse added that his role was to make sure the transformation policy was working when squads were selected but said Arthur hadn’t wanted to entertain the notion.”The more I was asking questions about transformation, the more he (Arthur) said they did not have a transformation policy,” Arendse said. “He questioned the fact that I was even asking questions and holding him to account.”

Nottinghamshire have signed swing bowler Darren Pattinson on a two-year contract.Pattinson, 28, was born in Grimsby but raised in Australia. He made his first-class debut for Victoria in 2006-07 and has played in five Pura Cup and 12 limited-overs games for the state.”We have had an eye on Darren for a couple of years, ever since he came along for a net with us two years ago,” Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell said. “Like Charlie Shreck, he’s come into the first-class game late and that should mean he’s got plenty of miles left on the clock.”He bowls with good pace and gets the ball to swing. We’re keen to see how he gets on with more regular cricket and believe he will be a very useful performer in all competitions.”

Gujranwala U-19 beat Karachi U-19 by 51 runs to claim the limited oversfinal of the Pepsi Junior Under 19 Tournament (Grade I) played at thelush green KRL cricket ground, Rawalpindi. The four-day final betweenthe two teams would be played at the same venue from tomorrow.Put into bat by Karachi Under-19s, Gujranwala Under-19s lost their firstwicket with just 20 runs on the board. A second wicket partnership of103 between Atiq-ur-Rehman and Kamran Younis at this stage did not onlytake their score to safety but it also seemed that Gujranwala will beable to post a huge total.However, with the fall of Atiq at the individual score of 54, theGujranwala players appeared to have lost their way. It was not long afterthat the wicket of dangerous looking Kamran was also taken at the scoreof 147. Kamran played a fine knock of 63 off 91 balls.With both Kamran and Atiq now back in the pavilion, the Gujranwalabatsmen could not find enough grit and determination to take their sideto a big total. Naeem-ud-Din, the stylish left-hander, was the onlyother player who could take his score past 20. However, he too was slowin batting as he took 49 balls to reach 21 runs.The rest of the Gujranwala batsmen just gave in under the pressureapplied by Karachi players’ good fielding and bowling. They could gathera total of only 41 in the last 10 overs as they lost 6 wickets duringthis period. The Gujranwala innings came to a close at 218 in the 48.5overs.Azam Hussain, the left-arm spinner from Karachi, took three wickets for41 runs in 9 overs. The other successful bowlers were Faraz Ahmed andAftab Ahmed with figures of 3/47 and 1/34, respectively. The other threewickets to fall were all run outs.Requiring 219 to win in their 50 overs, the Karachi side started offaggressively despite losing the early wicket of Khalid Latif at thescore of 16. They reached their fifty in only the 6th over without anyfurther success for the fielding side.However, with the loss in quick succession of Mohammad Farooq, theskipper of the Karachi side and Mushtaq Afridi, the younger brother ofthe hard-hitting Shahid Afridi, brought real troubles for the battingside. Farooq scored 14 from 28 deliveries whereas Afridi could get onlyone run in the ten balls that he faced.Seeing that the wicket was taking the turn, the Gujranwala captain appliedspinners from both ends in short spells, ensuring thatthe batsmen just do not adjust themselves to the playing conditions.It was mainly due to this tactic that the Karachi side, which boasted ofa fairly long batting line up, was reduced to 102 for 6 by the 29thover. Realising that they had grabbed the initiative from theiropponents, the Gujranwala bowlers attacked with more ferocity and vigor,making life extremely miserable for the batsmen.Ashraf Ali, the right-handed opener, was the only batsman who could putsome resistance against the Gujranwala bowlers. However, his run out atthe individual score of 46, rendered the Karachi line up virtually atthe mercy of the opposition.The late order of Karachi, comprising of Amin-ur-Rehman (18), AzamHussain (14), and Aftab Ahmed (14), did spend some time at the crease,but their efforts were just not enough to overhaul the target. Karachiwas all out for a mere 167 in the 47th over, in the end conceding thematch quite easily.Every Gujranwala bowler was among wickets. However, Kamran Hussain andthe skipper Bilal Hussain were the pick of the lot with figures of 2/20and 2/25, respectively.The victory in this match has certainly shifted the odds in favour ofthe Gujranwala side to win the four-day contest, too. However, oneexpects that the Karachi players would learn from their mistakes and putup a brave show in the coming match in order to avenge their defeat atthe hands of their rivals.

Cricket Kenya will be holding its elections on June 24 with all positions on the board up for review.Under the constitution, the elections had to be held by the end of June and the date was the last available to fulfill that requirement.Samir Inamdar, the current CK chairman, is standing for re-election. As Kenya’s representative on the ICC, as well as a member of the ICC executive board, he should be in London for the start of a week of ICC meetings starting on June 24, but he will have to wait in Nairobi for the election results before flying out.The last elections were held in May 2005 when the old board, headed by Sharad Ghai, was kicked out.

A push to give umpires access to Hawk-Eye to help their decision-making has won support from an unlikely source, with Geoff Boycott insisting the ICC make the move as soon as possible. Boycott believes at the very least the game’s governing body must allow umpires to see basic information such as whether the ball pitched in line with the stumps.The ICC is set to discuss Hawk-Eye at its Cricket Committee meeting in Dubai next week and a trial in Winchester on Wednesday was intended to give the members hard proof of whether the system works. However, rain meant the testing had to be postponed, possibly in favour of another trial at Lord’s following the England-New Zealand Test in a fortnight.But Boycott hopes it will not be long before umpires are allowed to use the technology. “We seem too reticent to try things, we’re taking too long,” he told Cricinfo. “As a player, all you ever want is as many accurate decisions as possible. If I make a mistake and I’m out, well so be it, that’s my fault, but you don’t want to be given out when you feel you’re not out.”Boycott is a member of the MCC World Cricket Committee and there is strong support within the group for greater use of Hawk-Eye. If the ICC agrees, it must decide whether to give umpires unrestricted access to all of Hawk-Eye’s data, including the predicted flight of the ball, or limit it to more clear-cut information such as where the ball pitched and where it struck the batsman.Although Boycott believes in the accuracy of Hawk-Eye’s predictions he thinks a gradual introduction of the technology would help appease the doubters. “These line decisions – I think we can get them into the game straight away,” he said. “The lbws [predicted ball path] – there’s too much doubt at the moment to convince the ICC.”He hopes the on-field umpires can remain in charge by simply asking the third official for specific Hawk-Eye information, much like the video-referee system in rugby. Boycott believes the proliferation of new tools being shown to viewers means umpires are being hung out to dry.”Umpires make mistakes – they’re human, we all make mistakes – but today with television as it is and so good, they show the replay and it shows up any errors. I don’t like seeing umpires embarrassed or made to look foolish but you can’t tell television not to show it because television now pays all the money to keep the game alive.”There should be a way of doing it, like other sports, where the umpire on field is still in charge and makes the final decision. We need to get rid of blatant mistakes but also accept line-ball decisions. Unless it’s clearly not out we should go with the decision of the umpire on field.”If Hawk-Eye is adopted by the ICC, the spotlight will almost certainly move to other devices like the snickometer and the infra-red Hot Spot camera. While Boycott is uncertain whether those tools should be used by umpires, he believes it would be foolish to deny the officials any hard facts available to viewers.”I’m more concerned at the moment about things that are quite easy to tell – pitching outside leg stump, that should be quite straightforward,” Boycott said. “Television is getting so good you’ve got super slow-mo, it shows inside-edges when people are given out lbw. You’ve got to find ways to open your mind and some people have closed minds to change.”

SuperSport Series

The polite indifference which some stars feign when they reflect a fine performance cannot be applied to Mario Olivier, the Warriors fast bowler who last week became the third South African to take 10 wickets in an innings.”I can’t describe how I am feeling,” Olivier said. “I am in the clouds. I have just been looking at the scorecard and it is unbelievable. Everything came together today. I had good rhythm and the ball was moving a bit. I couldn’t find good rhythm at the beginning of the season but I have been working hard in the nets and today it paid off.”Bert Vogler, who according to delivered “the off-break with a leg-break action” and could also bowl fast, took 10 for 26 for Eastern Province against Griqualand West in 1906-07. Twenty years ago, Western Province’s Stephen Jefferies, the bristling left-arm fast bowler who was denied an international career by apartheid, took 10 for 59 against Free State. And now comes Olivier, who took 10 for 65 – but his haul wasn’t enough to deny Eagles heading to a 10-wicket win at Bloemfontein.The Warriors were dismissed for 215 in their second innings, leaving the Eagles to notch an easy 24-run to win.The Maritzburg Oval is one of the game’s most gracious grounds, resplendent with grand old trees and a creaking pavilion that is propped up by a pair of turreted towers. But the pitch is something else – straight off a rubbish tip. That might have the view of some of the batsmen: 39 fell on the first three days of Dolphins’ match against the Cobras at at Pietermaritzburg. Monde Zondeki, the Cobras fast bowler, wasn’t complaining after taking match figures of 10 for 93, but the Dolphins had the last laugh when they claimed the last wicket early on the fourth day to win by 47 runs.In stark contrast, little rose above the level of mediocrity in the drawn match between the Titans and the Lions at Centurion.

SAA Provincial Three-Day Challenge

Two Ugandan cricketers who disappeared at the end of the World Cricket League in Darwin earlier this month have been found in Adelaide by Australia’s Immigration Department.The Age reported that Patrick Ochan, 18, and Jimmy Okello, 19, are expected to apply to stay in the country. It said that the pair were staying with Ken Skewes, a young South Australia player who they befriended at an Under-19 tournament, and he contacted the authorities when he realised that the men were being sought.The paid have valid visas until June 28, so no further action is expected until then.An editorial in Uganda’s New Vision was highly critical of the players’ actions. “It beggars belief that two key players can so wantonly disregard professional ethos in the way that Ochan and Okello have done, and the UCA’s response is to display an attitude that borders dangerously on nonchalance.”The UCA must earn their keep by investigating the two players’ “holiday” and providing the concerned public with convincing answers. And should Ochan and Okello eventually return, UCA must ensure they are robustly chastised for their behaviour.”