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The Somerset dream of retaining the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy stayed alive when they produced a remarkable victory over Kent after a tense finish at the County Ground.Batting first in front of a packed house, Somerset posted an impressive 344 for 5 from their 50 overs, thanks to some aggressive batting later on in the innings, which saw 194 runs scored from the last 20 oversOpener Peter Bowler survived an early chance when he was dropped in the second over, but then took the score onto 59 before he lost fellow opener Jamie Cox for 31.Veteran Bowler, who celebrated his 39th birthday earlier in the week found a willing partner in Mike Burns, and brought up his own half century and the Cidermen’s 150 before he was yorked by Andrew Symonds for 70.Burns was joined by big hitting Ian Blackwell and together they added 90 in quicktime, until Burns was caught at cover by Kent skipper Matthew Fleming for 72, which included 1×6 and 6×4’s.Blackwell continued to bludgeon the Kent attack and was in devastating form taking 86 from just 53 balls, and hitting 12 x4’s and 1×6 before he was out in the 46th over to make Somerset 294 for 4.Keith Parsons was run out for 32 going for a quick single, and Keith Dutch hit three boundaries from the last three balls to see Somerset pose their visitors a formidable total to chase.The Kent reply got off to a flying start, with Fleming and Robert Key bringing up the 50 in the ninth over until Parsons was introduced into the attack for the 14th over. Off the fourth ball Key chopped the ball onto his stumps, and Kent were 105 for 1.In the next over Fleming chased a ball from Steffan Jones, and was caught by Rob Turner for 63, and in Parson’s following over he trapped James Hockley LBW.In the space of three overs the White Horse county had slipped from 100 without loss to 122 for 3, and Somerset hopes had been lifted.Symonds looked well set until he top edged a sweep shot off Blackwell to short fine leg where Cox took an easy catch.Going into the final twenty overs Kent needed 130 to win and seemed to be moving easily towards their target when once again Parsons was introduced into the attack for the 38th over.With his first ball Parsons had David Fulton caught by Matt Wood at deep mid wicket, and then three balls later diving to his left Blackwell took a good catch to send Matthew Walker back to the pavilion, and Kent were 262 for 6.Kent keeper Paul Nixon and Mark Ealham took the score to within 9 runs of the target, until Nixon was run out for 33 by Keith Dutch , who was fielding at mid wicket.As the tension mounted, and both sets of supporters were on the edge of their seats, substitute fielder Simon Francis who was on the field in place of Richard Johnson, produced a remarkable piece of fielding to run out James Golding.When David Masters walked to the wicket Kent required just 7 runs for victory from 8 balls. With the last ball of the penultimate over Matt Bulbeck bowled Masters, and then off the first ball of the final over that was bowled by Steffan Jones ,Dutch caught Mark Ealham at mid wicket off and the game was all over.Somerset had snatched a 5 run victory from what had looked like a certain defeat just a few minutes earlier.As the crowds thronged onto the pitch Ian Blackwell was named as a very popular Man of the Match Winner, and the Somerset fans started to make their travel plans for the trip to Lords on August 31st.After the game Kevin Shine told me: “I’ve just spent the last 50 overs wearing out the carpet in the dressing room. From the position that Kent were in they should have won the match, but then along came Simon Francis and that remarkable piece of fielding, and from there the boys just squeezed home.”He continued: “Whoever we get in the final at Lord’s it will be a hard, but we have already beaten two very good sides in Kent and Worcester so we have to be confident of retaining the trophy. That win really does show the character that we have in our team.”What was the situation with regard to Marcus Trescothick. He told me: “Marcus is away on holiday at present but he has been in touch all day today keeping track on the score. When he heard that we had won he told me that he would be trying his hardest to be fit for the final, and lets all hope that he does make it.”Man of the Match winner Ian Blackwell told me: “We were confident with the score that we set, but when we lost `Johnno ` with cramp, and then they only needed 7 runs to win we thought that the game was slipping away.The Simon Francis run out was an amazing piece of fielding and the turning point for us.”Somerset captain Jamie Cox said: “We have got a proud record in the C and G here at Somerset and this has been a wonderful defence of our title here today. The game seemed to be lost for us for a while, but some magnificent fielding and bowling won it back for us.”Regarding Ian Blackwell the captain told me: “He was awesome. Today was a special innings from him, but I still cant quite believe that we have won today.”Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: “From an impartial spectators point of view that was a very entertaining game of cricket. From a Kent point of view it must have been disappointing, and from a Somerset perspective we are totally amazed. I’ve seen most things in the game of cricket but never seen anything quite like that.”Tickets for the Lord’s final on August 31st will go on sale to Somerset members at the County Ground from 9am on Monday morning.

The Christchurch Metro team has been selected to play a Canterbury trial match against Canterbury Country in a 50-over match on Sunday at Dudley Park, starting at 11am.It is: Tim Papps (captain), Todd Astle, Bernhard Ballin, John Blakeley, Neil Broom, Fraser Hawes, Brandon Hiini, Richard Hooper, Jeremy Kench, Chris Sowden, Paul McCarthy, Shane McConnell. Coach: Michael Sharpe.The Canterbury Country team: Paul Rugg (captain), Danny Barclay, Rupert Bool, Brendon Donkers, Shannon Dunnett, Jeremy Duckmanton, Simon Edwards, David Hay, Cory Lelliot, Simon Murphy, Patrick Reardon, Andrew Robertson. Coach: John Hamilton.

Even though Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup in Australia and a few years ago won the annual triangular there by beating West Indies 2-0 in the finals, Australia as a cricket venue has rarely delivered a happy end game for the Pakistanis in one-day cricket. In the inaugural one-day tournament they played there in 1981-82 Pakistan were eliminated from the finals in the last match when Faoud Bacchus held firm to get the West Indies past a rain reduced target of just 100-plus; in 1983-84 they again failed to reach the finals and in 1985 in the mini-world cup there they lost to India pathetically in the final. Similar was the case in 1989-90 when Australia hammered the hides off them in both the finals after Pakistan managed to get there mainly due to a then inexperienced Sri Lanka being the third side. And last year Australia again edged through in the finals despite Pakistan doing well in the earlier matches against them and India.The reason for most of these last minute hiccups has, in my opinion, been lack of selfbelief and sticking to a planned strategy when there has been one. In fact all through the history of our cricket, especially the one-day chapter, we have fumbled within sight of victory. Whether it was the matches against Australia and West Indies in the first World Cup, the semi-final against the West Indies in the second, the quarter final of the sixth and the final of the seventh, Pakistan has been a case of nerves. In my view, even though Miandad was no doubt one of the game’s most astute thinkers and planners, Pakistan has always looked a side to win whenever it played the world’s best under Imran Khan. He has had his share of disasters, none more poignant than the Lahore defeat in the 1987 World Cup, but the team has always looked charged and visibly presented a positive mental attitude. Perhaps it was because the guys knew that worse comes to worse Imran himself will bail out the team. Or maybe he had that ability to instill pride and selfbelief in youngsters by showing them hope and a vision. No doubt it was because he never took a collapse lying down and hung in there with the typical determination that seemed to say "we are no less human than the other guys".After a long time I have seen this spirit in the current Pakistan side under Waqar Younis and the current team management. Again, there seems to be a charged atmosphere in the youngsters. In the last couple of years they have seen Waqar get them out of corners by coming out fighting. They bowled out England to win the Lord’s Test against expectations and came back in Sharjah against Sri Lanka a year back.The pessimist will say that Pakistan has been winning against opposition that has not truly tested them. Even though Bangladesh and West Indies have presented a fight stretching from the mediocre to the moderate, a cricket game still needs to be won on the field. All books on personnel management make it a point that there is no better a time for men to achieve beyond their abilities than when they are riding a crest. So even though some will say that Inzi got his triple hundred on a flat pitch against ordinary bowling and that Shoaib and Co. reaped the wickets against West Indies and NZ because of inexperienced and technically weak batsmen, it has nevertheless given our key players a high note on which to approach Australia.I also believe that Waqar, Mudassar and Yawar Saeed are all experienced campaigners who are aware of the aspects of the team they need to work on. They will know that on the bouncier track of Australia, the long absence of Saeed, Afridi’s penchant for driving on the up and the youthful enthusiasm of Nazir is more likely to be a risk than an asset. They also will be aware that Shoaib Malik, though immensely gifted in his off spin, is not the artful dodger that is Saqlain nor does Azhar bowl with the honed accuracy of Razzak, both of whom are plying their wares half way across the world.The optimism stems from the form and confidence of Pakistan’s pace attack. Man to man they are in another league when compared to the Aussie pace attack, even though the home side has McGrath and Lee. Lee has not really been up there in the one-dayers and did not start the seven match series in South Africa as first choice. He has the tendency to bowl short and wide on the off stump and seasoned batsmen like Saeed, Youhanna and Inzimam can pick his pace. Shoaib’s maturity, on the other hand, has been a revelation; a lesser man would have been reveling at the speed record. Shoaib continues to tell everyone he meets that he is happier that he has achieved the accuracy and swing he always strived for.And while McGrath offers the miserly runs per over rate in his one-day record the Pakistanis are aware that he primarily bowls offor outside off-stump and has not the variety that Wasim can juggle up. Many seasoned commentators of the game that have seen bowlers from Lindwall to Walsh believe that he is perhaps the only bowler who can bowl six wicket-taking deliveries in one over. Likewise, Waqar is a born-again swing bowler and his swinging in-dipper still makes him a study for missile trajectory scientists.Australia continues to place their faith in Shane Warne but is already realizing that he has been losing it in the last two years. At one time perhaps the most dangerous bowler in one-day cricket he has been picked easily for runs since his shoulder injury and has been seeing the ball dispatched mostly to the mid wicket fence. Youhana and Inzamam are perhaps two of the most gifted players of spin and Waqar and Mudassar will be banking on these two to build the innings for the team.Nevertheless Australia has advantage in the batting. They are stronger mentally and physically. In Ponting, Gilchrist and Maher they have attacking batsmen while Bevan remains the master of the end game. On top of that they are playing on home territory and all have experience of playing in the indoor arena, having played the inaugural one-day series there in August 2000 against South Africa. Only Bichel, Hayden, Lehmann, Maher and Watson among the 13 chosen for the three-match series have yet to play under the roof.For the entire Pakistan team however, playing indoors will be a new experience. When Australia first played there a little under two years ago even some Australian players took time to get used to the atmosphere, going by their own words. The Colonial Stadium is basically for Australian Rules rugby. It stretches 170 meters long by 140 meters wide and can seat a cricket audience of 48,000. It remains an awesome arena. In such places the echo factor accentuates the crowd’s noise.The outfield is not exactly as pristine as some of the cricket grounds in Australia as it is subjected to a grinding from the rough tackling that symbolize rugby. The pitch should not be a problem as it is going to be airlifted and placed at the centre. The enclosed conditions will resemble the overcast skies of England and as such Wasim and Waqar can expect the ball to swing and Azhar has a great chance to apply what he has recently learnt in England’s early summer, not too different from the conditions at the Colonial. At the same time Shoaib and Lee cannot expect the wind to be behind their thrusts. But they are such class acts that absence of this one factor should not inhibit their skill.I feel confident that Pakistan remain one of the top three one-day sides and have the never-say-die attitude to come out punching when thrown against the ropes. Their track record against Australia makes reasonable reading: They have won 24 of the 60 ODIs, losing 33 with one match tied.The strategy for Pakistan should be to attack Gilchrist and Ponting; they are stroke players who rush into a challenge. Since long they have not faced genuine pace and swing. They have four left-handers in the top six, so Shoaib Malik can look forward to some exciting times. Pakistan’s batsmen nevertheless need to deliver on their technique and maturity. McGrath needs to be seen off and Warne needs to be challenged more from down the wicket.With both Australia and Pakistan on a high, it promises to be a truly sensational affair. Australian writers, even former one-day captain Steve Waugh, have said that Pakistan remain a dangerous team anytime, a point not lost on the chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, who said: "In recent years Pakistan has proved to be a tough opponent in one-day international level, so we had to think long and hard about choosing the squad that will help us win this series."Coming in these tense times for the sub-continent, perhaps this sort of excitement is just what is needed for all the millions of people of this area and a study in how two varying styles can enjoy themselves under one roof.

Vodafone sponsor the England women’s cricket teamThe England women’s cricket team will play current World Champions New Zealand tomorrow, with victory guaranteeing either team a place in the inaugural women’s one-day international tournament final at Chester-le-Street on Saturday 20th July.Both teams have six points, following convincing victories over India last week in Jersey, and the teams took 2 points each following their rain abandoned match on Friday.The match will be played at Durham’s Racecourse Ground, with India playing New Zealand at the same venue on Wednesday, followed by England v India on Friday 19th July at Chester-le-Street.

Canterbury Cricket celebrated their 125th jubilee at the weekend and as part of their festivities they selected the best men’s and women’s teams to have represented the province.The men’s team was: Walter Hadlee (captain), Dan Reese (vice-captain), Graham Dowling, Roger Blunt, Brian Hastings, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Richard Hadlee, John Ward, Dick Motz, Tom Burtt. Chris Harris (12th man).Walter Hadlee represented Canterbury from 1933-52 and scored 3183 runs for Canterbury at an average of 43.6. For New Zealand, in a career that spanned World War 2, he hit one century and two fifties and he lead New Zealand expertly on the famous 1949 tour of England. He captained New Zealand in eight of his 11 Test matches.Opening the innings with Blunt was Dowling who, from 1958-72 scored 3690 runs for Canterbury at an average of just under 40. In Tests for New Zealand, he scored three Test centuries and 11 half centuries in a career that brought 2306 runs, an average of 31 and a highest Test score of 239 scored against India at Lancaster Park. He captained New Zealand in 19 Tests.Blunt played 27 matches for Canterbury from 1917-25 and made 1886 runs for Canterbury averaging nearly 38 with four centuries. He had nine Tests for New Zealand, a highest score of 96 and an average of 27.5. A president of the MCC for many years, he was regarded as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen of his time. His selection plaque will be presented to his first school, Waihi School in South Canterbury.Hastings scored 3540 runs at an average of 31 during 72 matches for Canterbury from 1961-77. He had a highest score off 226 and in his international career he hit four Test centuries and seven half centuries in his 1510 runs posted at an average of 30.It is a reflection of the pressures of modern cricket that Nathan Astle has scored only 1167 runs for Canterbury, but at the average of just under 43. He made his debut in 1991 and in a prolific international career, to the start of the summer, he had six Test centuries and 12 half centuries.New Zealand didn’t feature in official Test matches when Reese was playing but he was regarded as a brilliant all-rounder in a career that lasted from 1895 until 1921. He scored 2066 runs for Canterbury at 25.5 and in his time played with Dr W G Grace and against Pelham ‘Plum’ Warner and Victor Trumper.Cairns is the first of the all-rounders selected. He started with the Canterbury side in 1990 and has a batting average of nearly 29 and he has taken 92 wickets at 21. But he has played much more cricket for New Zealand and hit four Test centuries and 19 half centuries. He should be the second Cantabrian to take 200 Test wickets.There was never any doubt that Richard Hadlee would be included in the side. He scored more than 2000 runs for Canterbury and more than 3000 for New Zealand. He took 285 wickets at 16 for Canterbury and 431 Test wickets at 22. In a career from 1971 to 1989 he is undeniably New Zealand’s finest cricketer.Sharing the new ball duties with Hadlee and Cairns will be Motz. He played from 1957-69 and took 239 wickets for Canterbury at an average of 19. He was the first New Zealander to take 100 Test wickets and with the bat he hit a century and three 50s for Canterbury. It is said of him that he never turned in a poor performance.With Blunt’s leg-spin and the left-arm slow mediums of Reese, there might have been sufficient slow bowling but the selectors opted for a specialist; they would like to have had room for two, they said.Their choice was Burtt, who took 241 wickets for Canterbury during his career from 1943-55 at an average of just over 20. For New Zealand, he played only 10 matches, but he had 33 wickets at 35 and he had an outstanding tour of England in 1949 when he took 128 wickets at 23 runs apiece.The wicket-keeper of the team is Ward. He played 54 matches for Canterbury from 1959-71 and eight for New Zealand. For Canterbury he took 136 catches and had 17 stumpings and, for New Zealand, there were 16 Test catches and 1 stumping. There were injuries and selection disappointments but our selectors agree that he was the best specialist ‘keeper ever to play for Canterbury.The 12th man, who must have been unlucky to miss selection was Harris. He had scored over 3000 runs for Canterbury since 1989 at an incredible average of 61 and taken 64 wickets at 33. His 19 matches for New Zealand were fragmented so he was always fighting for a regular place. But there could be no doubting his value, over a long career, as an irrepressible fielder; he is always a danger to any batsmen and constantly delights the spectators with his special talents.The women’s team named was: Leslie Murdoch (nee Shankland), Pat Quickenden (nee Moore), Shirley Cowles (nee McCaw), Ann McKenna, Debbie Hockley, Phyllis Blackler, Jenny Olson (nee Lowe), Sue Rattray, Sarah Illingworth, Sue Brown (nee Teale), Catherine Campbell.Murdoch scored 2072 runs at an average of 36.35 with one century and 17 50s. She captained Canterbury for 13 seasons from 1975-1991, of which 12 times were national title winning efforts.Quickenden played 55 times for Canterbury from 1947-68, scoring 2254 runs with five centuries and 10 50s at nearly 38 while also taking 152 wickets at 13.66.Cowles hit two centuries and 10 half centuries in a 44-match career from 1953-78.McKenna played for Canterbury over 17 seasons from 1961 and scored 2759 runs at 28 and hit three centuries and 12 50s.A 17-season career was also the record of perhaps the greatest cricketer of all that New Zealand has produced in Hockley. Her record for Canterbury was 2827 runs at an average of just under 50. She hit eight centuries and 15 50s.With a highest score of 202, 18 50s and 3424 runs at more than 40 as well as 312 wickets at 11 made for an outstanding record for Blackler in a career spread from 1935-66.Olson played 71 matches, hit 2186 runs which included seven half centuries as well as 132 wickets at just over 12 per wicket in 21 seasons spread from 1961-85.Rattray’s leg spinners accounted for 228 victims at an average of less than 11 while with the bat she hit 1754 runs at just under 23 in a span from 1966-85.Illingworth was quick to make her mark as wicket-keeper and in only 20 matches, during eight seasons for Canterbury from 1986-96 she took 37 catches and 17 stumpings.Brown’s opening bowling was the stuff of legends with 283 wickets at 9.12. She played from 1973-91.From 1983-2000, Campbell picked up 146 wickets at just over 20 and capped it all with a World Cup for New Zealand in her last season.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today confirmed that Surrey CCC were mistakenly attributed a penalty of 0.25 points in respect of a slow over-rate in the Frizzell County Championship match against Lancashire that concluded on Saturday 11 May.No over-rate penalty should have been applied. Surrey have therefore gained 16 points from the match, and not 15.75 as previously stated.

Sheikhupura brightened their chances of reaching the semi-finals stage of One-day tournament (Associations) after routing favourites Karachi Blues by 7wickets, as Imran Nazir, the test discard, got the highest individual score of the competition so far.The right-handed opener hammered 148 off only 110 ball, punching 14 boundaries and 7 sixes to make short work of a respectable target of 234. He added 160 in around 25 overs for the first wicket with Majid Majeed (47 off 80, 4 fours) and then compiled another quick-fire 69 for the second wicket with Qaiser Abbas, before giving his wicket away just five short of target.Earlier, Karachi Blues, put into bat, were helped by a 112-run 3rd wicket partnership between skipper Mansoor Khan (72 off 94) and Atif Ali Zaidi (47 off 78), after losing two wickets for just 32.However, apart from these two, none of the other batsmen could take his personal score past 20, with five of them even failing to achieve double figures.Qaiser Abbas, the left-arm leg spinner, was the most successful bowler for the winners, taking four wickets for 34. Aaqib Javed also bowled well, getting 2 for 40, whereas Mohammad Haroon bagged 2 for 49.In the second match of this round, played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, the home side handed Lahore Blues their second defeat in the Pool B.Put into bat first, Faisalabad were helped by a watchful 90 (122 ball, 9 fours, 3 sixes) and an attacking 78 (67, 10 fours, 1 six) by Imran Younis, as they posted a commanding 271 on the board.Lahore fell into trouble right at the start of their innings, losing two wickets for just 13 on the board. Adnan Butt (26 off 50) and Kamran Akmal (34 off 24) added 55 for the third wicket, before a middle order collapse saw them losing five wickets for 93 by the 21st over.After that, it was just a matter of time, before the Lahore innings folded in 49.5 overs for 198, thus, losing the match by 73 runs.For Faisalabad, Mohammad Naeem, Saeed Ajmal, Maqsood Ahmed, and Sohail Nazir took two wickets each, whereas Imran Younis and Ijaz Mahmood got one each.The third match of this round, played at Sargodha Sports Stadium, saw the home side going down by 2 wickets after posting a modest 173 against Gujranwala.Put into bat first, Sargodha batsmen just failed to build any worthwhile partnerships, as three of their batsmen threw their wickets away after getting good starts. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq top scored with 37 off 63, whereas Mohammad Sarfraq got 35 off 54.Needing to score below 3.75 runs per over, Gujranwala reached 124 for three by the 20th over. However, they made things look a bit difficult after losing some quick wickets after that.They were reduced to 166 for 8 at one stage, before knocking off the required runs on the first ball of the 34th over, thus, earning their first win in the competition.

Given India’s impressive record at home, a one-sided contest waspredicted on the eve of the five-match one-day series againstZimbabwe. Some pundits even wrote of a 5-0 whitewash for the hometeam. On the face of it, this did not seem to be far-fetched,especially in the wake of the visitors losing both Tests. But twoimportant factors were conveniently overlooked. One, that Zimbabwe area better limited-overs team than a Test side, and secondly, that theIndian team would be weakened by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag and Javagal Srinath, all unavailable for variousreasons.In my column on the eve of the one-day series, I had cautioned thatthe Indian team would do well to not take the Zimbabweans too lightly.I had mentioned that the visitors were not the same side that had lostseven of eight matches played on two previous tours and had evenpointed out that one could not brush aside a team that had won a oneday series in New Zealand just a year ago. But even I had notbargained for a scenario that envisaged India being down by twomatches to one in the series.

Indeed, the fourth game too was evenly poised until Yuvraj Singh andMohammad Kaif came up with their timely rescue act. Which means thatIndia came quite close to losing a series that, according to theexperts, was to have been a romp. Rather than blame India for huffingand puffing their way to victory over opponents who seemingly were notin their class, one should give Zimbabwe some credit.I am inclined to agree with the views expressed by Stuart Carlisle.The visiting skipper said that he was getting pretty much tired of hisside not being given enough credit for their good performances.”Whenever we win, it is said that our opponents played badly. Whydon’t the same people pat us for playing well?” was the gist of whatCarlisle said. For example, when Zimbabwe won at Kochi, much was madeof the poor batting of the Indians, while not enough credit was givento Douglas Hondo’s opening burst that paved the way for the victory.Credit, however, was duly given to Douglas Marillier for playing whatwas surely the knock of the series ­ and in a contest that saw somehigh-quality batting. A number 10 batsman hitting an unbeaten 56 off24 balls is by itself a truly astonishing statistic. What made thefeat really astounding was the manner in which he batted.The scoop – off the faster bowlers, mind you – that sent the ballhurtling past the ropes behind the wicket-keeper was a stroke thatwill not be found in any textbook. Even in limited-overs cricket,where one has become used to seeing innovative shots like the reversesweep and hitting the ball inside-out to the boundary, “theMarillier,” as it will undoubtedly be termed, was a revelation. Thathe did it repeatedly ­ even with only the last man at the crease forcompany – gave a storybook touch. Indeed, that first game at Faridabadhad the a storybook finish, with Zimbabwe winning by one wicket withtwo balls to spare.

Already without three key players, the Indians suffered anothergrievous blow when Anil Kumble was out of the series after the secondgame through injury. But overcoming these handicaps, the Indians didshow some resilience in winning three of the next four games. Thecredit should go mainly to the reserve strength. The non-availabilityof the leading players gave the chance to fringe players like DineshMongia, Kaif and Yuvraj to take center-stage, and it must be said thatthey made the most of their opportunities.There has been much talk of late that the Indian team relies too muchon the established stars, leading to question marks being raised overthe reserve bench. The three youngsters proved that there is enoughdepth in the batting should the stars be unavailable or go through alean trot. This is also a sign to the established players that theycannot take their place for granted, and this has got to be a healthysign for Indian cricket. The series also underlined the fact that,whatever his failings at the Test level, there is no mistaking AjitAgarkar’s match-winning qualities when it comes to the limited-oversgame.It must have been galling for the Zimbabweans to come so close tocreating an upset and then getting pipped at the post. But, to becandid, whatever the strength of their batting, their bowling wasquite amiable. Hondo’s dream spell at Kochi was just one occasion wheneverything came off. In the remaining matches, the bowlers made noimpression at all, a fact highlighted by the Indian totals of 241 forsix (in 48.1 overs) and 274 for six, 319 for six and 333 for six (allin 50 overs). From Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell andTravis Friend, the Indian crowds saw batting of high entertainmentvalue. But in the ultimate analysis, it was Zimbabwe’s weak bowlingthat saw them lose the series.

The phenomenal heavy-scoring of Ian Ward continued yesterday to the detriment of a Barbados team that made no impression in spite of a change of pitch at Kensington Oval.Ward, a 27-year-old left-hander who came into the fourth round Bustamatch with an unbelievable 444 runs and a staggering average of 111,batted through the day to complete his third hundred of a fairy-taletournament.Solid from his first ball to his 306th, the England ‘A’ openingbatsman attempted nothing rash and hardly played a false stroke in anunbeaten 133 that carried his aggregate to 577 runs.He must be somewhat disappointed that the US$50 000 on offer to thefirst Caribbean batsman to reach 1 000 runs has not been extended tothe visitors. At the rate he is going, he is almost certain to comeclose to the landmark that many felt was unattainable.It was a busy day for statisticians after a rare double-century firstwicket stand between Ward and Mike Powell in which third-placedBarbados toiled long and hard without success.They were finally able to break the stand after exactly five hours inwhich Ward and the right-handed Powell put on 224, which was 66 shortof the 290 put on by the Leewards’ Richie Richardson and LivingstoneLawrence against Trinidad and Tobago at the Antigua Recreation Groundin 1984.There were very few times yesterday that Barbados threatened todislodge Ward and Powell.The change of surface that was supposedly expected to offer moreassistance to the faster bowlers made no difference to the Barbadiansafter the visitors chose to bat first.During the first two sessions in which the scoring rate averaged 45runs per hour, the closest Barbados came to separating the openers waswhen Sean Armstrong, stationed at forward short-leg, failed to clutchonto an offering that was firmly played into his chest.The fortunate batsman was Powell, who was 33 at the time and having acouple of problems against teenaged off-spinner Ryan Austin.By then, however, England ‘A’ had posted 75, with 63 coming in thefirst hour when most of the lashes were reserved for Barbados captainIan Bradshaw.In spite of his rich form in the tournament, Ward came to Barbadoswith a reputation as a dour batsman who steadily accumulates his runs.It was a comment made on the basis that he spent very long periodsover his 49, 69, 109, 13 not out, 118 and 86 not out in the firstthree matches which were reportedly played on very slow pitches in St.George’s and Port-of-Spain.On the evidence of what he displayed yesterday, no one could suggesthe was merely a blocker. He was fluent in his strokeplay from the wordgo and even outscored Powell, who was the much faster scorer when theyput on 134 in the first innings of their previous match.For most of the day, they were on each other’s trail. In a lunch-timescore of 97, Ward was 47 and Powell 44 and when the pair returned tothe Garfield Sobers Pavilion two hours later to another standingovation from about 40 of their countryman on the balcony upstairs, thetotal was 183 with Ward nine shy of his seventh first-class centuryand Powell on 81.Ward reached his hundred with his eighth boundary, a sweep off legspinner Dave Marshall and Powell appeared set to join him in tripledigits when he inexplicably gifted his wicket at 4 p.m.Powell was on 96 when he attempted a reverse sweep against a straight,faster ball from Austin. It ended an innings that included seven foursand a six from 212 balls.The six was lifted over mid-wicket off Austin from the ball afterArmstrong missed the difficult chance, and it was the first of twosixes struck off Austin.Outside of those, the 19-year-old off-spinner, playing in only hissecond first-class match, created a favourable impression in the 35overs he sent down.Of the other Barbadian bowlers, only Hendy Bryan looked like taking awicket. He came on at a stage when the openers were in full flow andimmediately stemmed the flow of runs with a seven-over spell that costeight runs.Corey Collymore surprisingly only delivered nine overs in two shortspells and was nothing more than tidy. The same could be said of legspinner Marshall.The untidy Barbados bowler was Bradshaw.The left-arm fast medium bowler was banged for 27 runs from his firstthree overs and when he came back for a second spell after lunch, hewas immediately cracked for three boundaries in an over that cost 17and never bowled again for the day.

The West Indies selectors have invested in youth by selecting a young squad with an average age of 21 for England’s solitary first-class warm-up ahead of next month’s first Test in Jamaica.England, who fly out to the Caribbean on Wednesday, January 21, will play a three-day practice match against a St Kitts XI at Basseterre from January 25-27 before taking on West Indies A at the same venue two days later.There has been one change to the original squad with fast bowler Kevin McClean replacing Nelon Pascal, who was injured in the second round of the regional four-day competition.Of the 12 players named for the second fixture, only Darren Sammy – who claimed seven wickets on his Test debut at Old Trafford in 2007 – has faced England at the highest level, although Lendl Simmons played in a Twenty20 international at The Oval on the same tour.Simmons, Amit Jaggernauth and Darren Bravo were also part of the Trinidad & Tobago side that came within one run of beating England in their Stanford Series warm-up in October.West Indies A 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Brandon Bess, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Amit Jaggernauth, 5 Leon Johnson, 6 Kevin McClean, 7 Keiran Powell, 8 Kemar Roach, 9 Darren Sammy, 10 Lendl Simmons, 11 Devon Thomas, 12 Gavin Wallace.