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Naman Ojha’s brilliant century went in vain as North Zone beat Central Zone by six wickets at the Ravenshaw College Ground. Ojha’s 100 helped Central finish on 250, but twin fifties from Aakash Chopra and Virat Kohli ensured North overhauled the target in the 48th over. Electing to bat, Ojha and Rajesh Bishnoi put on a second-wicket stand of 56, before captain Mohmmad Kaif joined Ojha to consolidate further. Kaif played patiently for his 46 off 74 balls, stroking two fours and a six, while Ojha hit six boundaries and four sixes in his 111-ball stay. The 104-run partnership looked to have set the platform for a late assault but Vikramjeet Malik and Pradeep Sangwan bowled magnificently at the death to contain the opposition. Both bowlers picked up three wickets apiece as Central lost five batsmen for 50 runs in the last 10 overs. An opening stand of 89 between Chopra and Rahul Dewan set the tone during the chase. Chopra ended with 56, scoring eight boundaries during his 78-ball innings. Kohli then combined with captain Mithun Manhas (44) to take North closer, putting on 78 for the third wicket. Kohli remained unbeaten on 79 off 87 balls, comprising nine fours and a six, and together with Rajat Bhatia steered North home.While captain Wasim Jaffer led from the front with a confident 81, the West Zone bowler’s backed him up as West Zone thrashed South Zone by 71 runs at Barabati Stadium. Choosing to bat, West were off on the wrong foot with opening Parthiv Patel falling for 3. Jaffer then joined Mumbai team-mate Ajinkya Rahane to get the innings back on track. Having added 42 for the second wicket, Jaffer then combined with Cheteshwar Pujara to strengthen West further. The 60-run stand kept them in the hunt for a big total, but Sreesanth Aravind’s impressive 4 for 41 pegged them back. Jaffer’s 110-ball innings comprised three boundaries, and a late show from Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 39 from 44 balls, propped them up to 223. It was a daunting challenge for South who found themselves tottering at 64 for 5 in the 14th over, undone by the fast men Abhishek Nayar and Jitendra Patil. Manoj Sai’s feeble attempt at a resurrection, with a 83-ball 47 did not help as Kamlesh Makvana and Iqbal Abdulla completed the formalities by the 43rd over.

Bermuda’s fall from grace has intensified in the aftermath of their elimination from the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, with their fast bowler Kevin Hurdle earning a one-year ban from international cricket following a row with the team manager, Lionel Tannock, during their tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.According to the Bermuda Cricket Board, Hurdle was caught smoking inside a pavilion by Tannock and, after being asked to go outside, fired a volley of obscenities in the manager’s direction.”Subsequent to the recent World Cup qualifiers tour and the reports fromtour management; Kevin Hurdle was found guilty of using obscene, offensiveand insulting language to a Team Official,” a BCB statement said.”The disciplinary committee levied a penalty of a one-year ban frominternational and domestic cricket. The sentence was appealed and the domestic ban was reduced to a three-game suspension. The one-year international ban was confirmed.”Hurdle will be 33 when the ban is lifted, and so the incident effectively ends a career which was already hanging by a thread after he failed to prove his fitness for the World Cup Qualifiers. In his absence, Bermuda crashed out of the competition in the first round after a shock defeat to Afghanistan, and so lost their coveted ODI status as a consequence.The Hurdle episode adds further weight to the criticisms that Bermuda’s manager, Gus Logie, levelled at his squad in a no-holds-barred interview with Cricinfo last week – comments which have since been reiterated by the man himself and backed up by Reggie Pearman, the board president.”The government has put a lot of money [US$11m] into development of the sport on the island, and therefore they deserve to have some sort of success out of it,” Logie told Cricinfo. “We have had professional people come in from all walks of life to come and work in Bermuda … but the general interest has been so low, that these guys aren’t interested in coming back. No one seemed to really care that much.”

Lancashire have pushed back the timetable for turning the Old Trafford square by a year, but are still on course to meet the redevelopment deadline of 2012 as they aim to secure their international futureThe pitch was due to be rotated 90 degrees at the end of the current season, but the major project will now take place after the 2010 campaign. The club said that this is to try and minimise disruption to the cricket seasons and keep costs down.”The decision to turn the square at the end of the 2010 season doesn’t affect our goal of having the new cricket square up and running by 2012,” Jim Cumbes, the chief executive, said. “The reason we’ve moved this element of the redevelopment is to contain the period of disruption to one season, whereas starting at the end of the 2009 season will affect two cricket seasons thus reducing the stadium’s capacity and increasing costs for temporary facilities.”Changing the programme will also provide some additional time for the club to work with outgrounds and help produce the best conditions possible for Lancashire’s first-class matches during the 2011 season.”The plan for the 2011 season will be to split Lancashire’s matches between Liverpool and Blackpool, while a couple of outgrounds not used in recent years may come back into consideration.The building work at Old Trafford has swung into action over the winter with a new outfield and drainage system laid along with the demolition of the Tyldesley, County and Jubilee Suites to pave the way for a new development.Turning the square is part of phase two, which will see the building of a new “Players, Media and Education Pavilion” on the Metrolink tram side of the ground where there is currently a double-decker stand. One of the main reasons for rotating the pitch is to prevent the setting sun causing problems during September and it will also increase the number of strips available from 11 to 16.”Our vision and plans are very ambitious, possibly the most complex of any sports development in progress,” Cumbes added. “There will be disruption for spectators and patrons over the next few years, but once built, the improved facilities will provide Lancashire with state-of-the-art facilities and a world-class venue that will have a long-term international future.”Lancashire’s long-term ambition is to secure a 2013 Ashes Test having been overlooked for this year’s series.

Zimbabwe Cricket has told Cricinfo that it is working with the ICC on proposals that it enters a team into the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup.The tournament features the leading eight Associates who play each other in four-day first-class matches spread over more than a year, with the top two playing-off in a final at a neutral venue.The idea that Zimbabwe, who have been suspended from Test cricket since 2005, participate in the competition was one of the proposals put forward to the ICC to enable their cricketers to prepare for an eventual return to the Test arena.A ZC spokesman said that the board were “in principle agreeable” and it was sorting out the “finer details” with the ICC.An ICC source said that were Zimbabwe Cricket to agree it could create potential difficulties for it. “It would, in effect, admit that they were at Associate level, and unless they do very well, there would be a compelling argument for them to be stripped of their Full Member status,” he explained.”Imagine the situation where Ireland or Scotland, whose funding from the ICC is a fraction of Zimbabwe’s, beat them. There could be calls for that anomaly to be resolved.”There are also issues over where games would be played as the governments of some of the countries involved in the competition still have serious political reservations over travelling to, and hosting, Zimbabwe. Those, however, are not believed to be insurmountable.The other uncertainty which will need to be addressed by the ICC development committee when it meets later this month is whether, if Zimbabwe Cricket agrees to take part, the competition is expanded to nine countries or one of the existing Associates is dropped to make room for them.However, it seems highly unlikely that an Associate – and Namibia would be the prime candidate as they secured the eighth and final qualifying slot – will be ditched.

West Indies recorded their first victory of a depressing tour as they saw off the challenge of Scotland by 14 runs at Wormsley. Their impetus, once again, was provided by Dwayne Bravo, who continued his fine form from the IPL with an aggressive 51 not out from 30 balls in a total of 143 for 6. He came to the crease at 60 for 2 in the 11th over after the demise of Andre Fletcher, who made 42 from 34 balls, and then it was over to Darren Sammy with the ball, who took 3 for 25 in three overs to derail Scotland’s prospects in the run-chase. Two early run-outs had already set them back, and though Colin Smith made a run-a-ball 40, when he and Neil McCallum fell in consecutive deliveries, the latter to yet another run-out, there was no way back, despite two sixes in six balls for Jan Stander.At Canterbury, Bangladesh bounced back from their loss to New Zealand on Wednesday to beat Netherlands by 64 runs in Canterbury. After winning the toss, Mohammad Ashraful’s 69 and the in-form Mahmudullah’s 54 helped Bangladesh to an impressive 206 for 6, and Netherlands were bowled out for 142 in 16.2 overs.Ireland’s preparations for the World Twenty20 suffered a setback when they were beaten by six wickets by a PCA Masters XI comprised of an array of former England cricketers and bolstered by the current West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard, who had faced a solitary delivery in the earlier game against Scotland. Ireland won the toss and batted, and were faced with a line-up straight from the mid-1990s, as Phil DeFreitas and Darren Gough both struck in their first overs with the new ball, before Peter Such twirled through the lower-order with 3 for 17 in four overs. The one Irishman to stand out was John Mooney, who cracked 57 from 43 balls in a total of 139 for 9. That wasn’t enough to restrict the PCA Masters, however, as Pollard followed up his two wickets with a brusque innings of 43 not out from 26 balls.

Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, has surrendered to US authorities and will appear in a federal court in Virginia on Friday. He surrendered after a warrant was issued for his arrest following allegations of massive fraud involving his Antigua bank.Stanford, 59, is expected to be transferred to Houston after his initial court appearance to face criminal charges, a federal official said. He already faces civil charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Dick DeGuerin, Stanford’s lawyer, told The Associated Press that Stanford “surrendered this [Thursday] afternoon to some FBI agents who were hiding out in black SUVs outside the residence where he was staying in Virginia”. “He walked out and asked if they had a warrant,” DeGuerin said.Stanford had been accused of “a fraud of shocking magnitude” by the SEC, the US’s financial watchdog, in February. At the time, a US district judge granted the SEC’s request to impose a temporary restraining order on the Stanford operations and to freeze the defendants’ assets, and appoint a receiver to marshal those assets.Stanford’s fall from grace affected the finances and the credibility of the ECB and the West Indies Cricket Board, the two boards most closely associated with him.The billionaire had become heavily involved in West Indian cricket since the time he built his own cricket ground in Antigua and funded a pan-Caribbean Twenty20 tournament in 2006. The level of his investment and the success of the Stanford 20/20 tournament led him to expand the competition with the backing of the WICB who agreed a five-year deal to back the event.In February 2008, Stanford announced a US$20 million winner-takes-all tournament involving England and a Stanford All-Stars XI, drawn from the Caribbean. This was to be the first in a series of Twenty20 matches over the next five years, in which he would be investing US$100 million. The deal was confirmed at a glitzy launch event at Lord’s in June last year where Stanford arrived by helicopter.The week-long tournament in October-November attracted negative publicity, the nadir being personal attacks on Stanford himself when he was pictured with Matt Prior’s pregnant wife on his lap.Amid growing criticism, Stanford closed his cricket office in Antigua last December and wound up his board of legends. He also announced he would scale back his investment in the game and by the end of January 2009 rumours were growing about the state of Stanford’s financial empire.February’s developments led the ECB and WICB to terminate their contracts with the Stanford group. The West Indies board was much worse off as it was not paid the US$3.5 million fee owed to it. Some of the West Indian players who scooped the US$1 million-a-head jackpot were not paid either. All domestic and international tournaments sponsored by Stanford were scrapped. News of his arrest is likely to embarrass world cricket further.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Matt Prior’s quick fifty swiftly built England’s lead on the third day•Getty Images

A methodical second-innings batting performance has England poised to end Australia’s era of dominance at Lord’s. Only inclement weather or a historic Australian fourth-innings effort can deny Andrew Strauss’ men, who have amassed an authoritative 521-run lead after three days of the second Test.No team has successfully chased more than 418 runs to win a Test match – the record at Lord’s is 344 – although the South Africans demonstrated recently that survival at this ground is possible in desperate, late innings situations. Graeme Smith’s side batted for almost 12 hours to reach 393 for 3 to save the first Test almost a year ago to the day, but whether Australia’s batsmen are capable of holding out a driven and in-form England pace attack for six sessions remains to be seen.Rain prompted a premature end to play on Saturday, and Australia will be hoping for more of the same over days four and five. Intermittent showers are predicted for Sunday and Monday, but they will presumably bring with them heavy overhead conditions which the likes of James Anderson and Graham Onions can exploit, as was the case on a rain-interrupted day two.England, having declined to enforce the follow-on, advanced to 311 for 6 in their second innings, scoring their runs at a merry 4.35 an over and again taking a fancy to the out-of-sorts Mitchell Johnson. Kevin Pietersen (44 from 101 balls) and Paul Collingwood (54 from 80) denied the Australians any hope of a prompt end to the innings, and Matt Prior (61 from 42) compounded the tourists’ misery with an innings that could scarcely have been more dashing had it taken place in the Twenty20 arena.The day was not without its share of controversy, and again Rudi Koertzen was at its epicentre. A magnet for controversy in this Test, Koertzen referred Nathan Hauritz’s claimed catch off Ravi Bopara in the final over before tea to the third umpire, Nigel Llong, who found replays to be inconclusive. The South African official subsequently ruled Bopara not out, prompting Ricky Ponting to confront both the umpire, and then Pietersen, the non-striker – all on the MCC’s designated “spirit of cricket day”. Ponting, who had been incorrectly ruled out by Koertzen the previous day, was decidedly unamused at the decision to allow Bopara to continue batting.

Hauritz had earlier removed England’s openers shortly after the lunch break, but Australia squandered several other opportunities to claw their way back into the second Test during the second session. Within the space of five deliveries, Ponting missed a chance to run out Pietersen and dropped a dolly off Bopara at second slip as England advanced their overall lead to an intimidating 340 runs.Hauritz had provided the Australians with their first glimmer of hope in days when, in the second over after lunch, he dismissed Cook lbw for 32. The mode of dismissal was a familiar one for Cook – playing around his front pad – and came after a morning session in which the hosts had ruthlessly dominated their antipodean foes. Hauritz followed that effort by removing Cook’s partner, Strauss, in his next over with a beautifully flighted delivery that gripped, kissed the outside edge and floated to Michael Clarke at first slip. England, suddenly, were 74 for 2, and Australia sensed an opportunity.But once again they would fluff their lines at the critical juncture. Following a raucous lbw shout by Peter Siddle, Pietersen strayed from his crease momentarily but was spared an embarrassing dismissal when Ponting’s shy at the stumps missed the mark. Worse was to come for the Australian captain in that over when, in attempting to take a low catch with fingers up, he spilled an easy chance off Bopara at second slip.Curiously, Ponting did not bowl Hauritz again after he claimed his second wicket, preferring instead to use Hilfenhaus unchanged for 90 minutes from the Nursery End and experiment with Johnson from both over- and around-the-wicket in front of the pavilion. Johnson turned in a far more disciplined performance in his second spell, conceding just 11 runs from seven overs, and will count himself unfortunate not have had the wicket of Bopara just prior to tea.Pietersen and Bopara made the most of their reprieves, advancing England’s second innings total to 147 before Hauritz finally had Bopara dismissed at bat-pad. Pietersen turned in one of his most attritional innings in recent memory, only to inside-edge a Siddle delivery to a diving Brad Haddin. Siddle’s persistence was further rewarded with the wicket of Collingwood, who walked from the field with nary an appeal from the bowler, and Prior’s innings was terminated by a brilliant direct hit from Marcus North, but by then the damage was done. When rain arrived in the 72nd over, England were already equipped with a total that should prove more than a handful for the Australians.Earlier, Strauss sought to turn the screws on the Australians by again sending them back into the field, despite them falling 10 runs shy of the follow-on target. Onions snuffed out the final wickets of Hauritz and Siddle on a morning in which Australia’s tail gave a better account of itself than the top-order.Hauritz and Siddle combined for a 44-run ninth wicket stand – the second-highest partnership of the Australian innings – before the former flashed at Onions’ third delivery of the day and was caught by Collingwood at third slip for 24. Hauritz had displayed immense courage to that point, batting with a dislocated finger on his right hand which was clearly causing him discomfort. On many occasions, Hauritz withdrew his hand from the bat shortly after making contact, but held firm for 47 balls and 67 minutes.Siddle and Hilfenhaus took Australia within 10 runs of the follow-on target, before Siddle was dislodged by Onions for 35. Onions finished the innings with figures of 3 for 41 from 11 overs – including 2 for 9 on Saturday – and was far more effective than Stuart Broad, whose short-pitched strategy seldom threatened. In total, Australia added 59 runs for the loss of two wickets from 14 overs on the third morning.

Michael Clarke, the Australia vice-captain, has joined Andrew Flintoff as a key injury concern ahead of the crucial fourth Test in Headingley from Friday. While Flintoff, who was named in England’s 14 man squad, is having his knee problem monitored daily, Clarke has begun regular treatment for a stomach strain picked up during his unbeaten 103 at Edgbaston on Monday.Clarke’s century, his 12th in Tests, ensured Australia left Birmingham with a draw and kept them within one match of levelling the five-game series. He will not train at Headingley on Wednesday and pulled out of a promotional appearance in Leeds on Tuesday night.Alex Kountouris, the Australian physiotherapist, said Clarke felt the injury after the game finished. “He will continue to be treated with a view to him being fit for the fourth Test,” he said.Australia are also waiting to see whether Brad Haddin’s broken finger improves enough for him to regain his spot. Graham Manou stepped in at the last minute and put in a strong performance behind the stumps after Haddin was hurt in the warm-up shortly before the match.Haddin was able to put his glove on the injured hand on Monday, but previously had struggled to hold a bat. He will visit a specialist in Leeds on Wednesday. Brett Lee, who hopes to bowl at full pace throughout this week, is another Australian on the comeback trail following a rib injury picked up before the series started.

ScorecardA tight contest is developing at Aberdeen after Scotland secured first-innings points courtesy of an unbeaten century from Qasim Sheikh, who contributed almost half of the home side’s total, while Regan West took a career-best 7 for 88. Scotland earned a narrow six-run lead and by the close Ireland were 102 for 3 having once again been troubled by the offspin of Majid Haq.Spin is having a key influence on this game as West chipped away at the visitors and the slow bowlers shared nine wickets in the innings. West broke an important partnership between Sheikh and Ryan Watson (29) which had added 75 for the third wicket to put Scotland in control. The game changed when Watson was beaten by a quicker ball and West began working through the innings.Neil McCallan carelessly lofted to mid-off and Richie Berrington was also bowled to leave Scotland 170 for 5. Kyle McCallan also chipped in as Scotland slumped to 199 for 9 when Gordon Goudie was caught at silly point and putting the lead points at risk.However, No. 11 Ally Evans managed to stay with Sheikh to push Scotland ahead. Sheikh then reached a superb hundred as he pulled West for four then picked up a single behind point.Ireland were soon back in the lead as William Porterfield and Jeremy Bray made a positive start, but Haq gave Scotland some important late impetus. He had Bray caught at second slip and bowled Paul Stirling with a beauty that took off stump. Andre Botha then gave his wicket away with a wild mow at Watson and suddenly Ireland were shaking.Porterfield, though, held firm until the end and passed his half century with Kevin O’Brien for company. Both have crucial roles to play in building a lead because it won’t be easy chasing in the fourth innings with the pitch offering plenty of help for the spinners.

Match facts

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Start time 1430 (1230 GMT)Will Smith be any closer to that trophy in a fortnight’s time?•Getty Images

Big picture

Lack of choices can be a blessing in disguise. Hence we have potentially the best event organised by the ICC in a long while. Not entirely by design, though: there was no window for a longer tournament, there isn’t even a reserve day for the final. So there was no space for flab or Super Sixes or Eights or whatever. Although Bangladesh can argue they had a better case than West Indies, few could have envisaged the political turmoil in the Caribbean when the tournament was being drawn up. As a result the preliminary groups are neither meaningless cakewalks nor so fickle that one freak loss ends the tournament for a team. Throw in the fact that the top three teams are so close to each other, the No. 1 ranking is likely to change hands more often in this tournament than the baton in a relay race. So good on the ODIs, which could do with this shot in the arm.It helps that South Africa has been the setting for memorable starts to world events. In the first match of the 2003 World Cup, Brian Lara’s century helped West Indies beat South Africa by three runs in a tense finish. Four years later the ICC went to South Africa unsure if the World Twenty20 would be accepted by the audience. The same two teams, in 37.4 overs, hit all such trepidations out of the Wanderers. The possibility of an exact repeat has been ruled out by the draw, which pits Sri Lanka opening the tournament against the hosts, but a similar start is needed.Both players in the act on Tuesday run the risk of becoming perennial best men: both have been consistent limited-overs teams for large parts of last 15 years, but only two players in each team have tasted success in an ICC event (excluding the 2002 Champions Trophy, which they shared with India): Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan won the 1996 World Cup, and Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis won the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998.Since then South Africa have lost two World Cup semi-finals, one World Twenty20 semi-final, and three Champions Trophy semi-finals. Sri Lanka haven’t been that consistent, but they too have lost a World Cup final and semi-final each, a World Twenty20 final, and shared a Champions Trophy final.Not much has changed on that front: this is another best chance for South Africa to shrug off the chokers’ tag, and although Sri Lanka are not starting off as favourites it would be folly to underestimate them. So let the nearly men kick the nearly tournament off.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)South Africa – LWWWL
Forget their record in big tournaments, this is indeed South Africa’s best chance in a big tournament. They are the most settled team among the eight, Australia are not what they used to be – their 6-1 win in England notwithstanding – and others generally have more issues to settle than the hosts. They last played an international match back in April. Will they be rested or rusty?Sri Lanka – LWWLL
A new-look team trying to bring together mavericks, team players and veterans makes for interesting following. Their No. 5 ranking in ODIs should not prompt other teams to let their guard down.

Team news

Smith has confirmed Hashim Amla will open with him in Gibbs’ absence due to a rib injury that has ruled him out of the first match. It probably won’t hurt the middle order, which looks settled – only Albie Morkel and Mark Boucher could be needed earlier than usual. The most likely to sit out are Robin Peterson and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Expect a toss-up between Roelof van der Merwe and Wayne Parnell for the final position.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Roelof van der Merwe/Wayne Parnell, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Dale Steyn.Murali should be fit to take the field now. After the tri-series final that Sri Lanka lost to India, Sangakkara had said Murali was fit but they didn’t want to risk him before the Champions Trophy. Whose place will he take if he plays is an interesting question. Unless it is a rank turner, Ajantha Mendis should be the man most likely to sit out.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thilan Thushara, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Watch out for…

Dale Steyn has stated what the world knows in its heart of hearts but is not so convinced about when it comes to big tournaments. “If the team play to their potential, and this might sound cocky, I really believe no side can match us at the Champions Trophy.” The world is waiting, Dale, for the “team to play to their potential”.Nuwan Kulasekara quietly became the No. 1 bowler in ODIs without many noticing, and has kept the ranking for some time now. Now he will be tested in the open and, if the conditions help swing, his accuracy, inswingers, and the odd one that goes straight could just confirm the ICC rankings.Graeme Smith has not shied from making statements for his team, and on the first day of the tournament, with regular co-opener Herschelle Gibbs out, his team needs the leader in the front.Kumar Sangakkara the captain has been conspicuous in trying to bring a hard edge to his skilled team, but Sangakkara the batsman last scored an ODI century in June 2008, against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka won’t mind a reconciliation of the two Sangakkaras.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have a 5-1 lead in matches against Sri Lanka in ICC events. They lost to Sri Lanka in the 1992 World Cup, and tied with them in 2003, but have won all other encounters.
• Murali, with 23 wickets, is the highest wicket-taker in Champions Trophy history.
• Sangakkara, with 22 catches and four stumpings, leads the dismissals table for wicketkeepers.

Quotes

“Our team has a lot of variety. We have got a left-armer, we have got pace, we have got allrounders and we have got spin. It is nice as a captain to have so many options.”
“A game’s a game and it doesn’t matter who the opposition is. But it’s nice, because we’ve come here as underdogs in this game and they [South Africa] have got a major tournament to start, to kick off in front of their fans and the pressure is really on them.”