Category Uncategorized

A diplomatic incident occurred at the ICC Under-19 World Cup today between the Indian and Pakistan sides – but it was not the sort of incident to cause antagonism or shame.It was a moment of pride, for both countries, as they put aside the differences being experienced on the Kashmir frontier.It was a moment of joy, as the two teams went into a marquee at the ground after the game and embraced, each player, manager, fitness trainer, the works.It was a statement for the moment, and it was a vision for the future, as the players who will surely be competitors again, if the politicians can allow two of the most competitive nations in the cricket world to play each other, when cricket ties between the two are normalised.They had each just played a rattling good competitive game. It was won by Pakistan by two wickets, but India also triumphed as they have qualified for the semi-finals.There was tension on the field, but there was delight also that the spirit in which the game was played was outstanding.Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who had led his side to victory with an unbeaten 85 summed it up afterwards when he said the players taking part in the match did not want the problems associated with the border tensions.”We don’t want this, this is our game.”We are not at the border, we are not at the war.”We are going to play at the next level of the game against each other. We want to play in a brotherly manner,” he said.The Pakistan manager Brigadier Javed Tipu said at the beginning of the day he had approached the Indian management to see if representatives from one side could address the others to point out that despite whatever else might be happening, they were here to play a game of cricket and that it should be played in the best traditions of the game.”After mutual consultation it was decided we should each speak to our own boys and that after the match we could get together,” he said.”We love our cricket on the sub-continent, in Pakistan, in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”Cricket is the game of the future and I feel cricket’s future is more in Asia,” he said.”These boys are the future of Indian and Pakistan cricket. Most of our players in these teams go on to represent the national side and they will face each other, hopefully, in tournaments many times in the future.”We wanted them to make friends and to be on friendly terms because they played each other.”Cricket should be kept away from politics, unfortunately we have not been able to do that.”We hope and pray that today’s match is the beginning of coming back to normal cricket relations between our two countries,” he said.

Railways got off to a winning start in the CricInfo Rani Jhansitournament at the AC Tech ground in Chennai today. The spin troika ofRupanjali Shastri, Deepa Kulkarni and Neetu David ran rings around theCentral Zone batswomen to restrict them to 116 in the morningsession. After losing two relatively early wickets in reply, a durablethird wicket association between Rajini Venugopal and Hemlata Kala putRailways on the victory trail and they closed out the match by sixwickets with almost ten overs to spare.In a change of tactics , Central Zone decided to bat first on winningthe toss rather than chase a target which they had successfullyaccomplished yesterday. The dependable combination of Bharati Varmaand Priyanka Sailey opened the innings . Priyanka was clearly beingthe more flamboyant of the two while Bharati played the anchor role.The strategy seemed to be to keep wickets in hand by waiting for thebad balls and in the meantime, taking the singles aggressively. Therunning between the wickets was not the most professional, a littlemore method in the madness would have been desirable, but they managedto avert tragedy.The score had mounted to 34 in 13 overs when spin made its firstappearance in the form of Rupanjali Shastri’s off breaks. In the nextover the left arm orthodox tweakers of Neetu David wereintroduced. She kept Bharati quiet for four balls before the latterlost patience, going for a heave against the spin to be bowled.Chitra Vajpayee tried another cross batted swipe off Rupanjali, a laBharati, and was lucky to see it miss the stumps. But the writing wason the wall and she tried to cut one outside off in the same over onlyto nick one through to the keeper. She was gone for a fourth ballduck.This started a procession as Rupanjali then packed off Arundhati andPreeti Dudhe in her next two overs, also for ducks, to put Central indire straits at 41/4 in the 20th over. Priyanka had watched thebloodletting from the other end and she now got a partner in RahulSingh, coming in at No.6, who seemed to possess the same steelynerves. Neetu gave the ball plenty of air, inviting Priyanka to cometo the pitch of the ball, and the latter picked up the gauntlet toloft her for two fours to wide long on. A fielder was quietly put backon the long on boundary and Priyanka just could not resist launchingherself into another flighted delivery and holed out to her. If everan object lesson was delivered in how to buy your wicket, this wasit. Priyanka had made 24 (63 balls, 3 fours), which remained the topscore in the innings.Skipper Deepa Kulkarni, another left arm spinner, had put herself onby now and Rahul, after striking three boundaries, gave a tame catchto Balvir Kaur at midoff. Varsha Raphael played some attractivestrokes en route to 21 from 31 balls and after she was bowled byDeepa at 90, captain Leena Muley and Bindeshwari Goel delayed theinevitable. The innings finally folded up for 116 in the 48th over,with Rupanjali and Deepa both finishing with 3/21 from 10 overs,while Neetu bagged 2/27 from ten.Railways began slowly with openers Rajini Sharma and Reshma Gandhijust getting their eye in and not trying to do anything daring. Rajiniwas especially strong on the off side as she stroked two boundariesthrough the covers off Central captain Leena Muley. Off break bowlerVarsha Raphael had opened the innings from the pavilion end ratherthan the more conventional medium pace option of Neetu Singh. In thetenth over Reshma came into her elements with a boundary to square legand a fluent drive to wide long off that was stopped just inside therope. But in the same over, Varsha flattened Rajini’s off stump asshe played back to one that kept a trifle low. She was thensurprisingly taken off and left arm spinner Preeti Dimri, who was notplayed yesterday, came into the attack while at the other end, PreetiDudhe, the bespectacled leg spinner was given a fling. Dimri has anice easy action with economy of effort and struck by drawing Reshmainto a drive and beating her in the flight. Keeper Arundhati had thebails off in one quick motion and Railways were down to 31/2 in the14th over.This brought two relatively new batswomen to the crease in RajiniVenugopal and Hemlata Kala. They gave the bowling a wide berth atfirst as the two Preetis despairingly attempted to make furtherinroads. Dudhe was getting good bounce and Arundhati collected one atchest height that just beat the outside edge of Hemlata’s bat. Thelatter had another close call as she drove Dudhe on the up to coverbut it just failed to carry to the lunging fieldswoman who took it onthe half volley. But the longer these two stayed at the wicket, themore emboldened they became.The running between the wickets was a class higher than anything elseseen in the match, with the ones being converted into twos withcheek. The same could not be said of the Central fielding though whichwas rather unedifying at times. The run stand was finally broken inthe 35th over by left arm spinner Rahul Singh when Hemlata stepped outto cart her away but played inside the line to leave her wickets in amess. Two balls later Balvir Kaur was bowled in identical fashion toleave the score at 93 /4 and Railways were making a struggle out of anordinary task. Captain Deepa Kulkarni brought some composure to theproceedings and with Rajini continuing to fire away at the other end,the win was finally sealed in the 41st over, with the latter unbeatenon 42 (87 balls, 4 fours).

Transfer insider Dean Jones believes that Manchester City could target Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix as an alternative to Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

The Lowdown: Kane and Haaland linked with Man City

Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of Tottenham star Kane last summer was highly documented as the 28-year-old made it known that he wanted to join the Premier League champions. City even made a £125m bid which was sensationally rejected by Daniel Levy, who was doing anything he could to keep his most prized asset.

Elsewhere, the Sky Blues are in pole position to sign Borussia Dortmund marksman Erling Haaland. It has been reported that the Norwegian has a £67m release clause in his contract, so this could prove to be a much cheaper addition compared to the Spurs man.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-news-2/” title=”Man City latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Man City could go for Felix instead

If Guardiola fails to secure the services of either of these strikers, Jones has claimed that Man City could turn to 22-year-old Joao Felix instead.

Speaking with GiveMeSport, he stated: “Manchester City have seriously looked at Joao Felix for some time, and if their main plans – Kane and Haaland – don’t work out, it would not surprise me at all to see them try to sign the Atletico Madrid star instead.

 “People close to the situation have left me in no doubt about how much he is admired within City.”

The Verdict: Pep could get the best out of him

When the Portugal youngster joined the La Liga side in 2019, he became the fifth-most expensive footballer of all time, signing in a deal worth £113m.

Since then, however, Felix has struggled to live up to expectations. In 102 appearances for the club, he has netted just 24 goals, although his underlying stats illustrate his true potential. Over the past year, he has ranked in the 94th percentile for pass completion, the 93rd percentile for progressive carries and the 92nd percentile for progressive passes (via FB Ref).

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

With a reduced market valuation of £54m and with the prospect of Guardiola working on the 22-year-old’s finishing ability, he could prove to be the perfect target for City if they fail to secure Kane or Haaland.

In other news: Bild drop Erling Haaland to City transfer update

	Khulna players celebrate after taking the last Barisal wicket © Tigercricket.com

Khulna started the final round of matches with a one-point lead over Rajshahi. The key game was in Dhaka where Rajshahi appeared to be on course for a draw until dramatically collapsing on the third afternoon as Dhaka’s left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain took 6 for 13 to bowl them out for 77. Dhaka, chasing 130, had problems of their own as they slid to 91 for 7 before Mahmudullah Riyad and stand-in skipper Mohammad Sharif guided them to a three-wicket win on the stroke of tea. Sharif ended the match in emphatic style, launching two massive sixes over long-off.Bizarrely, at the end of the game Khaled Mashud, Rajshahi’s captain, led his team’s celebrations, telling bemused reporters that they were happy as they had secured the one-day title with a week to spare.As news of that result filtered through to Khulna, where the home side had surrendered a small first-innings lead, the tension mounted as Barisal reached 187 for 5 in pursuit of a target of 302. Anything other than a win would still have handed the title to Rajshahi, but the bowlers kept their nerve and the last five wickets fell for 51 runs.”We were confident because it was difficult to score near 300 on the fourth-day pitch,” stand-in Khulna skipper Nahidul Haque told The Daily Star. “We were hardly bothered about what happened in Dhaka rather our main target was to win the match.”The third match was one played in almost complete anonymity as Chittagong beat Sylhet by seven wickets at the Fatullah Stadium. Nazimuddin, who finished the top scorer in the league with 720 runs, led Chittagong’s chase of a target of 237The only downer on the season finale was the absence of national players, on duty in New Zealand. “There had been too much talking about our strength without the national players but we have proved it all rubbish,” Haque told the paper. “We proved that we have a number of good players in the team.”

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Khulna Division	10	3	1	0	6	0	108
Rajshahi Div	10	5	3	0	2	0	102
Dhaka Division	10	4	1	0	5	0	101
Chittagong D	10	4	2	0	4	0	98
Barisal Division	10	3	6	0	1	0	80
Sylhet Division	10	0	6	0	4	0	61

Stephen Fleming said he was confident his decision-making was still up to scratch © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming said he was still the best option to captain New Zealand despite their disappointing CB Series in Australia, where they missed the finals after a resurgent England overshadowed them in the later stages of the tournament. Fleming endured criticism of his decision-making and his own personal form during the series and there were calls for Daniel Vettori to take over the captaincy.But as New Zealand prepared for the first game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy at Wellington, Fleming defended his role with the team. “Leadership and decision-making is a massive part of my game,” he told . “I love the job, I love being with the team.”What I find tiring is spending weeks when you know you’re copping it. That can be a little bit draining but it’s part and parcel of being New Zealand captain when you’re not performing well. When you lose you’re torn apart.”Steve Rixon, the former New Zealand coach, said Fleming’s body language in Australia was “flat”, while Adam Parore continued his criticism of Fleming’s leadership and said Vettori should replace him. Fleming declined to respond directly to Parore’s comments. “I think we’ve given Adam enough exposure this week,” he said.Fleming’s own form was disappointing until he scored a century in New Zealand’s last game of the tour. But his tactics in that match – his 106 came from 149 balls in an unsuccessful run-chase – divided opinion in New Zealand. “In some games I’d have loved to have had another go at it, you can do 20 different things during a game,” Fleming said.He said New Zealand were expected to win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with Australia’s line-up missing Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee and doubt surrounding Michael Clarke’s fitness. “It’s an oxymoron to say there’s a weak Australian side — there’s no such thing,” Fleming said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details

Younis Khan picked up from where he left off against India earlier in the year with an assertive innings © AFP

As openings go, this one was out and out one-sided. One team rejoiced after an inspirational century and two vital fifties, under sunny skies on a featherbed of a pitch, and took control. Another side started the day with a selection conundrum and ended it with several other riddles to ponder over.Pakistan made the most of their fortune at the toss. They saw off the new ball, consolidated in the second session, and finished with a mighty flourish, shredding the bowling to bits. India, not for the first time in the last year, ran into a red-hot Younis Khan and wilted in ideal batting conditions in a half-full, yet joyous, Gadaffi Stadium. No greentop, no wintry conditions; simply one jolly run-fest. Welcome to Pakistan.If it’s India it must be Younis. Carrying on from his heroic efforts on the Indian tour series earlier this year, he displayed his array of flourishing twirls and spanking straight-drives against an attack that failed to summon too much incisiveness.Cheering his partners with customary vigour – applauding, smiling, wrist punching – he propelled Pakistan right through the day, reached his tenth Test hundred with a magnificent straight-drive and entered a blistering zone as the light began to fade. Shoaib Malik had lent solidity earlier this morning and Yousuf gave him company through the afternoon merrymaking and Pakistan were wrenching away the momentum too early, too well. Forget the rest. When Anil Kumble finishes the first day with none for 93, you know that it’s been tough going.Walking in in the third over of the day, after a wandering Salman Butt had been run out by Yuvraj Singh in one of few inspirational moments India could manage, Younis latched on to the full deliveries with glee, driving assertively to the straight boundary. The paddle-sweeps against Harbhajan Singh and the classy cuts off Kumble put them off their rhythm, before cute late jabs, when the ball went finer and finer as the day progressed, and macho swipes took over. Amid all this, though, was some canny scampering as the fielders found themselves scattered in various parts of the park. Having had an indifferent series against England, Younis couldn’t have chosen too many bigger stages to stamp his authority, with the most emphatic of opening salvos.Just like at Kolkata earlier this year, he found an able ally in Mohammad Yousuf, the touch artist, who as always, handled the spinners with ease – paddling, sweeping, pulling the long hops and dancing down the track – as the attack slowly began to lose its bite. Kumble’s long hops were dismissed over midwicket, Pathan’s wide ones caressed through covers, and Harbhajan’s flighted offerings creamed through, well, anywhere on the off side. Cruising to fifty off 72 balls, he delicately dismantled the Indian attack, sometimes even summoning the courage to dance down the track to Kumble. He offered a chance when on 90, flashing at a wide one from Agarkar, but was smiling again when Virender Sehwag, at gully, reacted a tad too late.The importance of the third big knock of the day shouldn’t be under-estimated. Malik, who was retained as an opener, bided his time against the faster men and executing the glide to a nicety. Playing with soft hands, mostly in control, he regularly found a gap between the three-man slip cordon and gully. The flick was also one of his favourites and was helped by the fact that the bowlers slid down the legside on quite a few occasions.He was in no mood to get bogged down by Harbhajan Singh, who extracted some turn in his opening over, and waltzed down the track in his second over, tonking him over midwicket for a superb six. He brought up his fourth Test fifty, his first in nearly six months, with a similar stroke and gradually began opening up at the end of the first session. His aggression probably got the better of him and he fell soon after the break, driving uppishly against Pathan only for Harbhajan to take a simple catch.Rahul Dravid juggled his bowling options around, and tried a few innovative field settings – including two close in on the leg-side for Malik – but it was tough going all day. With the ball not swinging too much in the air, Pathan and Agarkar lacked the incisive edge while the spinners, though extracting a bit of turn, found it tough against batsmen who read the length of the ball early.Ganguly, who was included in the side at Gautam Gamhir’s expense, also tried his hand, keeping it tight and not experimenting too much, and all the bowlers were forced to do the same as the day progressed. It didn’t matter. On a day such as this, when the ignition refuses to switch on, nothing, yes nothing, will work.

Salman Butt run-out (Yuvraj) 6 (12 for 1)
Shoaib Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 59 (136 for 2)

Australia 9 for 239 (Martyn 43, Ponting 41, Gilchrist 40) beat Pakistan 208 (Youhana 51, Razzaq 47, McGrath 5-27) by 31 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Glenn McGrath dug a knife deep into Pakistan’s batting and then twisted it by dismissing Inzamam© Getty Images

Glenn McGrath ruthlessly dismantled Pakistan’s flimsy top order to set up Australia’s VB Series victory before sealing it with the late dismissal of the dangerous Abdul Razzaq at the SCG. McGrath forced his opponents’ chase to follow a similar path to the first match at Melbourne with a blistering opening spell, and finished with five wickets as Pakistan fell 31 runs short of Australia’s total of 9 for 239.Australia’s fine bowling, which followed another inconsistent batting performance, wrapped up the series on a tricky two-paced pitch. Pakistan were 4 for 27 at Melbourne, where they lost by 18 runs, and suffered similar damage as McGrath claimed three wickets from his first six overs. As Pakistan resisted with a potentially dangerous ninth-wicket stand of 48 between Razzaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, McGrath returned to add the final two wickets for figures of 5 for 27 and the Man-of-the-Match award.Yousuf Youhana restored Pakistan’s chances with a run-a-ball half-century, and when Razzaq and Shahid Afridi started racing, Australia were nervous. Afridi had sprinted to 30 off 20 balls in the 35th over, in which he belted Brad Hogg for two sixes, when he risked a second on Brett Lee’s accurate throw from third man. Gilchrist’s quick take was ruled successful by the third umpire (7 for 133). It was an important moment in a match where only Gilchrist and Youhana managed to score comfortably.”We haven’t been at our best in the two finals but we’ve bowled really well,” Ricky Ponting said before lifting the trophy. “Pakistan pushed us all the way in the two games but we were lucky to keep our noses in front.” Ponting also signalled out McGrath for special praise.More expensive than his opening partner Lee in their first spells, McGrath stayed two overs longer and caused the most damage. The dismissal of Inzamam-ul-Haq was by far the most important as the captain has led the middle-order resistance. Inzamam walked out to another rebuilding exercise after his top three failed again, but for the first time in the series he wasn’t able to help as McGrath’s off-cutter caught him in front third ball (4 for 38).Kamram Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez departed to similar shots from eerily similar McGrath deliveries. Television graphics showed the balls hitting the pitch millimetres apart on a length too short to drive, but Akmal edged his to Gilchrist and Hafeez struck to Michael Clarke at a specially ordered short point (3 for 38). As has been his custom over the past month, Lee, the Player of the Series, made an early incision when Taufeeq Umar, playing his first game of the tournament after replacing Salman Butt, top-edged a pull to McGrath on the fine-leg fence (1 for 13).Unfortunately for Pakistan it was mostly their bowlers who were willing to fight for the trophy with bat and ball, and their first-innings performance rattled Australia. After Gilchrist made sure Australia blasted off as he rocketed to 40 off 30 balls with six fours and a six, the visitors fired an impressive comeback with a steady flow of wickets.Boasting all-round bowling contributors, Pakistan withstood the initial blast – 50 runs in the first 6.4 overs – and then, through Rao Iftikhar and Razzaq, applied the brakes. But it was the spinners Afridi and Hafeez who took the most advantage of the pitch, which became harder to score on as the ball softened, with 20 brilliant overs. Afridi collected Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann and conceded 38 runs and Hafeez gave away 34 as the middle order folded. Following a summer of dominance the home side were in disarray and even had a Pakistan-style run out when Katich and Damien Martyn both landed at the bowler’s end (5 for 166). Andrew Symonds, missing after injuring his Achilles tendon at Melbourne, was a big loss from the line-up and his absence left Martyn to calm a falling run-rate with a hard-earned 43.Not only did Pakistan restrict their opponents in the middle stages, they also reduced the danger of the late-innings rush and Naved narrowly missed a hat-trick when McGrath squirted him to fine-leg.Razzaq, who returned to uproot Martyn’s off stump, started Pakistan’s first recovery with two maidens and the crucial wicket of Gilchrist, who popped a drive to Shoaib Malik at cover (1 for 55). However, Rudi Koertzen ordered Razzaq out of the attack after his second high full toss in the 49th over. Razzaq was also lost towards the end of the second innings during a match – and a tournament – where Pakistan required much more from their top order.

Shane Warne might be serving out a 12-month ban for using a banned diuretic, but his presence in the Australian team for the 2005 Ashes series is being keenly awaited in England. That’s the conclusion from a survey conducted by magazine.Seventy percent of respondents to the survey said Warne should be picked for Australia when he’s completed his 12-month ban. He might be the bane of English batsmen, but fans can’t wait to see the great leg-spinner back in action.John Stern, the editor of The Wisden Cricketer said, “People who love cricket want to see the big names and Warne is one of the greats. People will say [when] he’s served his ban, bring it on. Most English fans would love to see Warne play here again.”Not quite as many – 50 percent – believe England can win the series, with or without Warne, and slightly more than half would be happy if some on-field verbal conflicts were part of the entertainment.

Ben Smith’s story is an old one – as old as cricket. A lean spell breaks and at the most opportune moment and a player out of form reveals his true talent with a century.Not just a century but one which is redolent of class and technical excellence and one which has no vestige, no hint of the poor run of form that has preceded it.And the reasons ascribed by the player to his change of form are again as old as sport. Smith no longer has the cares of the captaincy, responsibilities which caused him to subordinate the needs of his own game to the needs of the team.But the greatest begetter of form and the oldest is hard work. Smith has addressed the shortcomings of his own game and, after overcoming a limited preparation, has come out of his slump stronger and more confident, has begun to harvest the fruits of his labours.There was the consideration today, as well, that Smith had a challenge in front of him when he came to the crease and that challenge provoked the competitor in him to bring out his best form.Central Districts were two for two when Smith came to the crease at 4.05pm this afternoon, replying to Canterbury’s imposing first innings of 428. They had lost both openers and there was not yet a run from the bat. Neither Richard Scragg nor David Kelly had scored – both were out lbw – and the only runs against Central’s name were from no-balls.Then Jamie How was out, also lbw, and Smith found himself alone – about to be joined by Glen Sulzberger – and Central were seven for three. This was a crisis. Central were yet 275 runs from the follow on and their top order was reduced to rubble.But Central found in Smith a man whose moment had come.Nor should Sulzberger’s contribution be under-rated. There was irony in the fact the Central captaincy has passed this season between Smith and Sulzberger. Smith had not asked to be relieved of the responsibility of leadership – though he felt the duties of captaincy had begun to impinge on his form – but the decision had been made to make Sulzberger captain in Smith’s place.Smith said that decision had been taken for sensible and understandable reasons – because he is an Englishman based here temporarily and because Sulzberger, relatively young and indisputably local, is likely to serve Central Districts for many years in the future.Smith believes he has a role to play for Central, not just as a batsman but in passing on the fruits of his experience to younger players. But he supports the decision to move the captaincy onto a man whose long term future is with the province, an association Smith has come from Leicestershire to serve.Smith was able to rise quickly above the crisis in which he found himself immersed when he came to the crease. He batted from the outset with fluency and confidence and as he prospered, so too did Central’s trial lessen.Smith reached his half century from only 53 balls – the fastest of the five half centuries the match has seen so far – and then to a century – a very satisfying century – from 132 balls.He reached his century, or at least he thought he had reached his century, when he hooked a ball from Wade Cornelius forward of square leg. Smith turned, even before the ball fetched the boundary, and raised his arms in triumph towards his team-mates gathered at fine leg.In fact, the scoreboard had overstated Smith’s total by one and he was only 99. There were no further alarms and he achieved his hundred in the scorers’ estimation from the following ball.”The fact is I didn’t have the best preparation for the start of the season and having the captaincy, while it offered me another challenge, didn’t always have a positive impact on my form,” Smith said.”I spent a lot of time thinking about that, about the needs of the team and I put my game to one side to help in other areas.”But I also put a lot of work in the off season at home into getting right back and getting right forward, to put it in a technical sense. I felt that had helped my game and it was a matter of time before it began to show.”Smith’s effort was to ensure he played both lengths decisively and he did so today. Many of his runs were scored in an arc between midwicket and backward square and that also reflected a change in his game, in his strokeplay, occasioned by study and hard work.Smith realised he had become a player who relied, for many of his runs, on width outside off stump and he recognised, equally, that bowlers had begun to take account of that fact. So he adjusted his game to be less reliant on that area and his success was revealed today in the success of his leg-side strokeplay.He began to work that arc most obviously when New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin, who bowled his first 10 overs consecutively from the city end, began to tire and to stray from a full length. Martin had taken the wicket of Scragg with the second ball of his first over.Warren Wisneski, who cut his teeth in Taranaki, took the two other wickets to fall – those of Kelly, who offered no shot to a full in-swinger and was caught on the back pad, and of How.Smith was 102 not out at stumps – Central were revived at 166/3 – and Sulzberger, who batted with the quaint seriousness of a captain come to the aid of his team, was 48 and batting with impressive soundness.Canterbury were earlier all out for 428, having resumed at 301/5. Chris Harris went from 46 not out overnight to 52 and was out when his innings had seemed full of promise. He didn’t recover the form today he had begun to show before stumps on the first night when he had six fours and three sixes.Paul Wiseman held together the tail of an impressive innings with 59, batting more than two hours.

• It was the 1496th Test match in cricket history.
• It was the 36th Test match between these two sides. The record now reads:West Indies 12, Pakistan 10, drawn 14.
• It was the 18th Test match between these two sides in West Indies.The record now reads: West Indies 8, Pakistan 3 and drawn 8.
• It was the 161st Test match on West Indian soil. The record now reads:West Indies 65, opponents 27, drawn 69.
• Umpire Rudi Koertzen was officiating in his 19th Test, while forEddie Nicholls it was his 11th match as test umpire.
• Ramnaresh Sarwan was making his Test debut. He became 234thWest Indian to make a Test match appearance. At 19 years 330days Sarwan became second youngest since Shivnarine Chanderpauland 10th youngest in all to play for West Indies. The following table has the details:

  Yrs-days Player Island Opponents Venue Date of Debut17-122 Derek Sealy Barbados England Bridgetown Jan 11,193017-245 Garry Sobers Barbados England Kingston Mar 30,195418- 31 Robin Bynoe Barbados Pakistan Lahore Mar 26,195918- 74 Jeff Stollmeyer Trinidad England Lord’s Jun 24,193918-173 Alfie Roberts St.Vincent New Zealand Auckland Mar 9,195619-213 S.Chanderpaul Guyana England Georgetown Mar 17,199419-242 Alfred Scott Jamaica India Kingston Mar 28,195319-285 Gerry Gomez Trinidad England Manchester Jul 22,193919-312 Elquemedo Willett Nevis Australia Bridgetown Mar 9,197319-330 Ramnaresh Sarwan Guyana Pakistan Bridgetown May 18,2000

• The match was 17th for Courtney Walsh, which takes him pastDesmond Haynes and Viv Richards’ tally of 16 matches againstPakistan. The record of making most Test appearances againstPakistan, is however held by India’s Kapil Dev – 29.
• The match was Wasim Akram’s 16th against West Indies, whichequals Javed Miandad’s tally. Now only Imran Khan (18) is ahead ofAkram for Pakistan.
• The five wicket haul in the first innings was Courtney Walsh’s thirdagainst Pakistan – maximum for West Indies. He was earlier at level withtwo such instances with Ian Bishop (in 8 matches) and Malcolm Marshall(in 12 matches).
• The catch of Chanderpaul in first innings was Moin Khan’s 23rd dismissalin ninth match as `keeper against West Indies, which makes him the most successfulPakistani `keeper against West Indies. Moin surpassed Salim Yusuf’s tally of 22 dismissals(19 catches and 3 stumpings) from seven matches. Incidentally Australia’s Ian Healywith 78 dismissals in 28 matches holds the record of making most dismissalsagainst West Indies.
• Wavell Hinds scored his maiden Test hundred in his fourth Test. His inningsis the second highest for West Indies against Pakistan at this venue afterEverton Weekes’ 197 in 1957-58.
• Ramnaresh Sarwan became the fifth youngest West Indian to score a maiden Test matchfifty. His innings is also the 18th highest by a West Indian debutant andfifth highest by a West Indian on his first appearance against Pakistan.
• The 219 run partnership for the first wicket between Mohammad Wasim and Imran Naziris the second highest for Pakistan for this wicket against West Indies – homeor away after the 298 run stand between Aamir Sohail and Ijaz Ahmed at Karachi in 1997-98.
• The partnership is,however, a new record for Pakistan on West Indian soilobliterating the 159 run partnership between Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas atGeorgetown in 1976-77 (though 219 runs were added for this wicket, it consistedof two separate partnerships, Sadiq Mohammad retired hurt and was succeeded byZaheer Abbas when 60 had been scored).
• The Wasim-Nazir partnership was the sixth double century partnership for firstwicket against West Indies. Interestingly four times this feat has been recordedon West Indian soil.
• Imran Nazir scored his maiden Test hundred in his second Test. His previous highestwas 64 on debut against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1998-99.
• At 18 years 157 days Nazir also became the third youngest batsman to notch up amaiden hundred in Test cricket history. Only fellow Pakistani Mushtaq Mohammad andIndia’s Sachin Tendulkar had scored a Test hundred at a younger age than Imran Nazir.The following table lists the youngest Test centurions in cricket history. The details :

  Yrs-days Batsman (Score) Countries Venue Season17-82 Mushtaq Mohammad (101) Pak v Ind Delhi 1960-6117-112 Sachin Tendulkar (119*) Ind v Eng Manchester 199018-157 Imran Nazir (131) Pak v WI Bridgetown 1999-0018-328 Salim Malik (100*) Pak v SL Karachi 1981-8218-335 Shahid Afridi (141) Pak v Ind Chennai 1998-9919-26 Mohammad Ilyas (126) Pak v NZ Karachi 1964-6519-108 Mohammad Wasim (109*) Pak v NZ Lahore 1996-9719-119 Javed Miandad (163) Pak v NZ Lahore 1976-7719-121 Henry Vivian (100) NZ v SA Wellington 1931-3219-121 Neil Harvey (153) Aus v Ind Melbourne 1947-48

• Nazir also became the second Pakistani and 34th batsman to score a hundred onfirst appearance against West Indies. Hanif Mohammad ,with record 337 atBridgetown in 1957-58 ,is the only other to do so.
• The duck in second inning was Wasim Akram’s seventh against West Indies.He hasnow joined four other batsmen who have also recorded an aggregate of sevenducks in a career against West Indies: England’s Pat Pocock (in 10 matches),John Snow (in 14 matches) and Derek Underwood (in 17 matches) and India’s BishanSingh Bedi (in 18 matches). However it is an Australian who holds the record ofaggregating most ducks in a career against West Indies. Ian Healy’s 28 matchesfetched him 10 ducks against West Indies.
• Wavell Hinds became fourth West Indian to score a hundred and a fifty in the samematch against Pakistan. Others to do so are : Garry Sobers (125 & 109* at Georgetown in 1957-58), Roy Fredericks(120 & 57 at Port-of-Spain in 1976-77) and Gordon Greenidge (100 & 82 at Kingstonin 1976-77). Interestingly Hinds is the first West Indian to score fifty plusscores in both innings of a Test against Pakistan since Viv Richards who made 72 & 67 atFaisalabad in 1980-81.
• The catch of Wavell Hinds in second innings was 100th for Moin Khan in his54th match. He became the second Pakistani to do so after Wasim Bari (201 catches in 81 matches). However his tally includesone catch taken in the field, hence technically he is still one short of completing his century of catches as `keeper.