Fazal half-century helps Central clinch title

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Scorecard
Central Zone, riding on Faiz Fazal’s 95-ball 58, and a fine all-round display from Piyush Chawla, who took 3 for 47 before scoring an unbeaten 33, defeated South Zone by five wickets to clinch the 2007-08 Deodhar Trophy. Central lead the standings with 15 points after three consecutive wins, and though there’s a chance of West finishing on equal points, Central will keep the title by virtue of having defeated West.Chasing 164 for victory, Central began aggressively, with Naman Ojha leading the way with a 30-ball 29. Central lost Naman and Suresh Raina within the space of three overs, but Fazal did not let that affect his concentration, picking up runs without taking any risks. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, briefly threatened with two quick wickets: he had Mohammad Kaif top-edging a slog-sweep before having Himalaya Sagar stumped with a well-flighted ball.Chawla quickly diminished South’s hopes, blasting two fours and a six as he countered the spinners. Central lost a wicket against the run of play when Fazal holed out to Pragyan while trying to take on S Badrinath’s offspin. But with only 24 runs required, Rohit Sharma made his way to a brisk 21 not out, finishing things off by launching Vinay Kumar beyond the midwicket boundary.South were in trouble as soon as their innings began when both Robin Uthappa and Bharat Chipli fell victim to the swing of Praveen Kumar. Seamer Rajesh Kanojia then struck twice in quick time, dismissing Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik as South collapsed to 41 for 4. But Rahul Dravid, who looked solid during his 70-ball 51, and Arjun Yadav (41) led the rescue act with 56-run fifth-wicket stand.Once Dravid departed, South’s lower order folded up without putting up a fight. Chawla bowled C Raghu and Vinay, both of whom failed to pick up his wrong ‘un before Kanojia returned to have Yadav caught behind. Chawla picked up his third when he had Saurabh Bandekar nicking to the keeper, and soon enough, Raina brought the innings to a close when he dismissed Pragyan.

Wellington to host Canterbury in final

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Wellington will host the State Championship final against Canterbury after they used their severely rain-affected match against Auckland as nothing more than batting practice. Grant Elliott, fresh from his Test debut, compiled a career-best 196 not out and Neal Parlane continued his prolific campaign with 110 as Wellington reached 444 at the Basin Reserve. Auckland needed a victory to have any chance of overtaking Canterbury on the points table but there was little they could do as bad weather meant no play was possible until well into the third day. Auckland barely had time to have a bat, fizzling out to 23 for 1 when bad light ended their season.Canterbury were pleased with the rain in Wellington as they conceded first-innings points in their last preliminary match against Otago in Dunedin. They struggled against the all-round efforts of Warren McSkimming, who collected 5 for 56 as Canterbury stumbled to 247 having been sent in. McSkimming then helped rescued Otago from a precarious 134 for 6, scoring 71 and putting together valuable partnerships with Derek de Boorder and Bradley Scott to secure the lead. Todd Astle made an unbeaten 79 in Canterbury’s second-innings 215 for 3 as the match petered out to a draw.At McLean Park, the defending champions Northern Districts managed to avoid finishing on the bottom despite giving up first-innings points to Central Districts, who were left propping up the table. Brent Arnel finished with ten wickets for the match, his first such haul in first-class cricket, but the star was Ross Taylor. His 152 from 111 balls – he reached triple-figures from 85 – brightened up a game that was always heading for a draw. Taylor’s effort came as Central Districts piled on 392 for 9 in their second innings, having scored 390 in the first, when Peter Ingram made 112. Arnel grabbed 6 for 82 in the first innings and four in the second, however his batting colleagues could not quite push in front of Central Districts and finished their only innings at 365, led by Daniel Flynn’s 109. Arnel finished the preliminary rounds as the competition’s leading wicket taker, with 33 at 20.93.

Team Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts Quotient For Against
Wellington 8 4 1 0 3 0 32 1.303 4250/112 3525/121
Canterbury 8 3 1 0 4 0 26 1.082 3951/105 4244/122
Auckland 8 2 3 0 3 0 20 1.015 2991/110 2892/108
Otago 8 2 0 0 6 0 18 1.068 3749/107 3706/113
Northern Dis 8 1 3 0 4 0 16 0.862 3533/121 3963/117
Central Dist 8 0 4 0 4 0 6 0.771 4253/128 4397/102

Bracewell challenges New Zealand batsmen

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Daniel Flynn, among others, has to prove a point to John Bracewell © Getty Images
 

John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, wants his batsmen to “start living above the line” of averaging above 40 on their tour of England and Scotland and beyond. He is counting on a young side, including the uncapped Aaron Redmond and Daniel Flynn, to flourish if New Zealand are to do well.”We’ve got to work above the line, and the line to be successful as an international batsman is 40-plus,” Bracewell told NZPA in Christchurch on Tuesday. “We’ve got to start moving in that direction. We’ve got to start living above the line.”Four New Zealand batsmen averaged above 40 in their latest Test series, against England earlier this year. Thirteen half-centuries were shared among seven batsmen, but only one – Ross Taylor – made a century.Redmond and Flynn now have their chance for debut. Redmond, 28, is almost guaranteed a start, as Bracewell has previously confirmed he will be the first-choice opener. 23-year-old Flynn made his ODI and Twenty20 debuts for New Zealand against England earlier this year but has yet to feature in a Test.Five players will join up with the squad in England on May 1, having been allowed to play in the IPL. Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills will arrive in time for the first-class warm-ups against Essex and England A. The first Test, at Lord’s as is tradition, is one of three and begins on May 15. They will miss two practice matches: a one-dayer against MCC in Arundel on Sunday and a three-day fixture against Kent which starts on Monday.However, Bracewell was excited about the experience the IPL offered, denying that it wasn’t good preparation leading into a Test series. “It’s going to be great for us,” he said of the experience the players would gain playing alongside such players as Australia’s Ricky Ponting.”We go from Twenty20 stuff to one-dayers to Test matches at the drop of a hat on a travel-to-play basis now and these guys are our most experienced players. They’ll be comfortable with their return to the team and what they’ve gained from that. It’s a landscape we’re reasonably used to, but not necessarily at this hype.”Bracewell is excited by “the adventure” of playing in England, and hopes this will fire up his squad. “I loved that bonding culture that you get out of busing around the place,” said Bracewell, who toured there three times between 1983 and 1990. “Those sorts of grounds, so steeped in history… It’s something that scratches my itch and I hope that it scratches the itch of some of our young players.”New Zealand head to England having lost 2-1 at home in their recent Test series. Their last tour of England, in 2004, resulted in a 3-0 win for the home side.

The future might be pink

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The colour pink, though revolutionary, was incidental: Dr Anthony Bull and his team are looking at ways to make cricket balls more durable © Getty Images
 

The first trial of a pink cricket ball took place at Lord’s today with MCC taking on Scotland in a 50-over friendly, as the lawmakers of the game investigate ways to find a more durable ball than the existing white one used in limited-overs cricket.Last year MCC, who have spent £10,000 on cricket balls for the 500 games they will play this year, approached Dr Anthony Bull, a bioengineer from Imperial College, to work with the ball manufacturers Kookaburra and produce a more durable alternative.The white ball has long caused contention with players and officials. Although much more visible than the traditional red-dyed ball against the backdrop of players’ coloured clothing, it is liable to discolour and deteriorate. Outfielders and batsmen are the obvious victims, but the other principle concern is with the delays involved in replacing the ball mid-game. No two balls are the same, either. The pink ball, as Bull explained, is a work in progress. Unlike traditional red balls, whose leather is dyed in a paraffin wax, other colours such as pink are painted on the surface which makes them liable to chip and fray. “For me, it’s about how the colour can stay in the leather, but clearly the technology is not there,” Bull said. “The manufacturers are just doing a paint job, a surface treatment.”Cricket is no stranger to pink in these metrosexually modern days. Matthew Hayden uses a bat with a pink grip to promote awareness of breast cancer, and last year Middlesex’s Twenty20 side strode out to Lord’s sporting salmon-pink kit. The colour of the new ball, however, is incidental. “It could be any colour, that’s the point,” Bull said. “If you can get something into the leather, it could be any colour.” Any colour but orange, it would seem, which was trialled without success in the early 1990s.The lush carpeted outfield and a spongy, green Lord’s wicket in April were not the most testing of conditions for the bright pink ball – abrasiveness is the white ball’s greatest enemy it seems – though it was impressively luminous on a very dull London day. Scotland didn’t appear to have much trouble picking it up, reaching 253 for 7 from their 50 overs, though MCC’s bowlers didn’t appear to gain the same prodigious swing which has characterised one-day cricket with a white ball.The experiments are being driven by MCC, but also by the manufacturers who, as Bull points out, are understandably keen to find a solution.”Manufacturers are very careful about their processes,” Bull said. “They’re putting all their technology into creating the pink ball, but they could apply all the same processes into producing another coloured ball. The red ball is dyed and it goes into the leather. For the pink ball, it is painted on in a very smart way, but therefore it’s very similar to the white ball in the way it is achieved.”Bull and his students have also begun exploratory investigation into the future of bats. The ICC banned Kookaburra’s graphite-reinforced bat on October 1 2006, but Bull is convinced that improvements can be made within the law. “The question for cricket is: do you want bats that allow a nick to go for six,” he says. “That’s the question. We’ve started looking at this very seriously. You could ‘hole out’ bats, or the surface covering of a bat could be of a certain stiffness to influence the characteristics of the bat. Does the sport want to allow that, though?”Most intriguingly of all, Bull believes it would be possible to enhance bats to make a ball travel “20% further” in the current definition of the law. The ramifications of this are obvious and undoubtedly exciting, but the question remains: does cricket want to allow batsmen yet another advantage, and whose responsibility is it to regulate such drastic technological advances in the sport?A pink ball, however, is rather less revolutionary and results from this first trial were encouraging. Bull’s dream goal – indeed, cricket’s too – is to exactly replicate the traditional red ball, which opens up the possibility of having one ball for all cricket.”We’re being led by the cricket world,” Bull said, “where the red ball is the optimum. The whole art or science of bowling, and swinging the ball, [happens with] the red ball, so what we need to do is simulate that with whatever colours we can get. The optimum would be to have one ball, of course, which behaved in the right way [for all cricket].”

Sayers, Worrall bowl South Australia to win

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ScorecardChadd Sayers picked up 4 for 41 (file photo)•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Chadd Sayers and Daniel Worrall picked up four wickets each as South Australia consigned Tasmania to their third loss from four Sheffield Shield matches this summer. The Tigers were chasing an unrealistic 502 for victory; their main aim was to bat out the day for a draw, having started the morning in trouble at 3 for 42.Half-centuries to Jake Doran and Beau Webster were encouraging but there was not enough resistance to prevent the Redbacks running through the order. Doran made 50 and Webster was lbw to Sayers for 59, with George Bailey’s 37 and Hamish Kingston’s 24 the only other double-figure scores of the day.Sayers finished with 4 for 41 and Worrall ended up with 4 for 59, adding two of the last three wickets after picking up two in his first over of the innings on day three. Tasmania were dismissed for 199, handing South Australia a 302-run win.

Gayle, Finch power Renegades to five-wicket win

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle and Aaron Finch put on 84 in six overs•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Over the last week, Hobart has hosted the Taste of Tasmania event on the shores of its harbour. The festival showed off the best of the island’s fine food and drink, in a picturesque location, with the weather wonderful. It was evidence that Tasmania has much going for it.Tasmania, however, for all those abundant virtues, does not smack as Chris Gayle’s sort of place. Gayle is not renowned for his love of craggy coastline, picturesque woodland, or varied flora and fauna. In Hobart, there may be dancing girls, but they don’t immediately meet the eye, and it’s not a famous hub for collectors of bling. In this light, it was unsurprising that Gayle batted like a man in a hurry to get back to the mainland.After a slow start, welcome to the Big Bash League, Chris. Gayle faced only 15 deliveries. Three of the first five went for four, and the next two went for six. Another six, another four and a few drag-footed singles later and he was gone, his dismissal coming entirely in the spirit of Gayleism; a legside hoick shorn of its power as he slipped, tumbling as if a lumberjack had been hacking away at his trunk. Sensing a moment, Channel Ten bravely sent their reporter Mel McLaughlin to get some sharp, on the spot analysis from the West Indian, but, ever the opportunist, Gayle continued to play shots. “Hopefully we can win this game and we can have a drink after. Don’t blush baby,” he said. McLaughlin gave Gayle suitably short shrift, and minutes later, the network – after briefly exploiting the situation on Twitter – were issuing an apology.Gayle’s batting had been far more endearing. After a series of trademark, brutal biffs to legs and a superb straight driven six off Shaun Tait, he fell to the last ball of the Powerplay but by then, the game’s result was beyond doubt. Eventually, the Melbourne Renegades – having looked on for an even more comprehensive thrashing – only won by five wickets. Aaron Finch, playing his last game before joining up with Australia’s ODI squad, almost saw them home, before, like Gayle, falling to Cameron Boyce, who impressed once more, caught at deep midwicket.Finch had played a series of outstanding cover drives and flicks to leg in his 60, but it was his first act of the night that proved most decisive. Heading into this game, these two teams were travelling in different directions. The Renegades had lost their last three games, all batting first (having lost the toss); the Hurricanes had won their last three (having twice won the toss), all bowling first.It’s amazing what happens when the coin falls your way. Unsurprisingly when the coin landed in his favour for the first time this season, Finch chose to field first. This played to the Renegades’ strengths, leaving their powerful batting line-up to chase whatever their seemingly weaker bowling attack served them; in their last two games, they’d managed just three wickets in a pair of thumping defeats.The batsmen weren’t left with a great deal to haul down as, on a tacky pitch and after Finch sprung a surprise by opening the bowling with two spinners, they had three wickets – key wickets – by the end of the Powerplay and their season was back on track. Tim Paine played all round a Xavier Doherty turner, before the Hurricanes’ key men Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey fell to peculiar shots as the pressure told. Sangakkara uppercut the excellent Chris Tremain straight to third man, and Bailey slapped Cameron Gannon straight to mid-off. The Renegades had found 14 consecutive dot balls, and two straight wicket maidens. The result was the lowest-scoring Powerplay of the tournament, as the the Hurricanes finished 20 for 3.Dan Christian led a Hurricanes fightback, of sorts. The allrounder carefully played himself in, with seven of his first nine deliveries dots, before pummelling Nathan Rimmington over the short cover boundary for six and continuing to accelerate. Cameron Gannon’s 14th over was taken for two more sixes, before one stroke too many saw Christian sky Xavier Doherty to long-on. Shortly before, Ben Dunk, who was far less fluent but held the innings together and played a pair of good off-side scythes, had been caught at deep midwicket.Some resourceful hitting from Jonathan Wells hauled the Hurricanes to 140, but it never looked enough. With Gayle in a hurry to get out of town, the drubbing – a major blow to the Hurricanes’ finals aspirations – was never in doubt.

Hardik Pandya debuts with a horror first over

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The maiden over
Maiden as in first. Definitely not as in free of runs. Debutant Hardik Pandya was waiting for his first over, and then he was waiting for his first over to end. The eighth of India’s innings and the first of Pandya’s career began with three consecutive wides down leg side as Steven Smith walked inside the line, and two more followed later in the over. It meant the over lasted 11 deliveries, and given that a six and a four came off two of the legal balls, he finished with figures of 1-0-19-0 and five wides.The comeback, part one
Nearly five years after he last played for Australia, Shaun Tait took the new ball once again. His first ball was 150kph, a quick reminder of his capabilities. But a four and a six followed later in the over – Tait was unlucky the six was not a wicket, more on that shortly – and by the end of his four overs he had leaked 45 runs. It left Tait with the worst economy rate of his 20-game T20 international career.The comeback, part two
Okay, Shane Watson played Australia’s most recent T20 international, so this was not technically a comeback. But he has retired from Tests and was overlooked for the recent ODI series against India, so this was his first outing for his country this summer and thus felt like a comeback. He could hardly have made a stronger start. His first over brought two wickets – Rohit Sharma caught at mid-on off an offcutter and Shikhar Dhawan caught behind from a slower bouncer – and only one run. Watson’s return of 4-0-24-2 was a reminder that he could be a highly valuable member of Australia’s World T20 side.The fielding woes
Kane Richardson’s four overs leaked 41 runs without a wicket but just as costly was his work in the field. The fourth ball of Tait’s opening over of the game was top-edged by Rohit Sharma and Richardson at long leg misjudged the flight, running in before realising he had to be back on the boundary, and spilled over the rope what could have been a regulation take had he stayed there in the first place. Another poor piece of judgment came in the 19th over when Cameron Boyce’s throw from long-on found the bowler Richardson in front of the stumps instead of behind, which almost certainly cost Australia the chance at a run-out.The pull-out
On 14, Suresh Raina was all set to face James Faulkner, but then he wasn’t. As Faulkner let go of the ball Raina backed away and pulled out, indicating that he was not ready. The ball crashed into his stumps, but the umpire Simon Fry had no hesitation in calling a dead ball. Faulkner looked unimpressed, but then again, he often does.

Cameron Green breaks IPL overseas record in move to Kolkata Knight Riders

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Cameron Green became the highest priced overseas player in IPL history, bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 25.20 crore (AU$4.2 million approx).At Tuesday’s player auction for the 2026 season the Australia all-rounder was the subject of intense bidding between KKR and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before being purchased by the three-time champions.Related

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Green became the ​third most expensive ‌IPL player overall, after India internationals Rishabh Pant (AU$4.46m) and Shreyas Iyer (AU$4.42m).His earnings are capped at just under AU$3 million under a new IPL regulation with the rest of the money paid by KKR going to the BCCI to support player welfare.Green received the news of his lucrative signing while preparing for the third Test against England starting on Wednesday.But Steven Smith headed a list of Australians who went unsold, in his case he did not even come up for offer with none of the teams requesting to bid on him.Unlike Green, whose deal was one of the first completed, Josh Inglis had to wait until approaching 2am Adelaide time to discover his fate. Smith’s fruitless wait was even longer.Cameron Green has earned a bumper deal•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

“He adds lot to our team, especially with our new power coach Andre Russell, very nice to have a young allrounder,” said KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore of Green. “Him having had IPL experience, we know what he does with bat and ball. Couldn’t be happier.”Green previously played for Mumbai Indians (MI) and ​Royal ​Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but ​missed the 2025 season ​after back surgery,In 29 IPL matches he has averaged 41.58 with the bat at a strike rate of 153.69, with a top score of 100 not out, while he’s taken 16 wickets at 41.50 and an economy rate of 9.07.Green’s price eclipsed Australia team-mate Mitchell Starc’s AU$4m figure for 2024, when also bought by KKR.Starc, now with Delhi Capitals (DC), was not in this year’s auction. He was one of 10 Australians already retained, along with Test team-mates Pat Cummins and Travis Head, both at Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).Josh Hazlewood, currently injured, has unsurprisingly been kept on by defending champions RCB.Four other Australians were also recruited. Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings added Ben Dwarshuis (AU$725,000) and Cooper Connolly (AU$500,000) to their coterie of Australians. Matthew Short (AU$250,000) joined CSK and SRH made New South Wales allrounder Jack Edwards (AU$500,000) the only uncapped overseas hire.That brought to 16 the number of Australian players involved in the 19th edition of the IPL, which begins on March 26, with several others among coaching staff, notably Ponting and Justin Langer.

Sunderland journo on Dajaku vs MK Dons

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James Hunter was left slamming Leon Dajaku after he missed a golden chance to score for Sunderland in their 2-1 loss at home to MK Dons on Saturday.

The Lowdown: Another defeat

It is safe to say that the Stadium of Light faithful have not improved since the departure of Lee Johnson, at least in terms of results.

It is now four defeats and one draw from their last five league games, which has left them outside of the play-off places (SofaScore).

Alex Neil will certainly need to turn things around quickly if they are to get themselves back in contention for promotion up to the Championship.

The Latest: Dajaku slammed

Taking to Twitter, The Chronicle journalist Hunter slammed Dajaku after he missed the good opportunity early in the second half, which would have levelled the scores:

“Dreadful miss from Dajaku. Should be 1-1.”

The Verdict: Costly

Ultimately, Dajaku’s miss ended up proving costly, as the Black Cats lost the match by a single goal.

It was not his best game in general, losing out on seven of his duels, while he also never managed a shot on target, dribble, key pass or accurate cross (SofaScore).

Dajaku gave possession away far too cheaply, 11 times in total, and only managed 21 touches of the ball (SofaScore), meaning that astonishingly he lost it roughly every 1.9 touches on average.

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Nonetheless, the winger knows that he needs to perform better if he is to help his side win promotion.

In other news, find out who SAFC’s three worst performers were here!

Why cashing in on Ashley Cole is not necessarily a bad thing

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With the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid he was always going to be linked with his former players. It is reported that he is particularly interested in the likes of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole and would love to bring the pair from Stamford Bridge to the Santiago Bernabeu.

I doubt Lampard would leave for Spain now that he is with that Christine Bleakley off of the One Show and he is firmly settled at the club. But Cole is a different case all together and it isn’t out of the question that he could leave west London for pastures new.

Some quarters of the press suggest that Mourinho is desperate to get his hands on the left-back, so Chelsea could stand to make quite a profit over any potential transfer and there are many reasons why a deal could suit all parties concerned.

Firstly, the ever popular Cole is troubled and has had ongoing problems in his private life. Unfortunately for him his ex Cheryl Cole happens to be much loved by the nation and he could avoid a backlash over his divorce by getting away from it all in sunny Spain. Many may argue that this shouldn’t affect performances, but last season we saw John Terry have lapses in concentration because of the attention focused on him after revelations over his private life.

Secondly, Chelsea may want to use the left-back in a potential deal for long-term target Kaka, who has not had the best of times in Madrid, but Carlo Ancelotti got the best out of the player during their time together in Serie A with AC Milan and Roman Abramovich may see him as the sort of player who can help with the club that elusive Champions League (a competition that they’ve had some bad luck in). The club’s interest in Kaka has divided Chelsea’s fans as some argue that the player is a major risk and not worth going for if it would mean losing Cole, who they regard as being the best left fullback in world football and he certainly enjoyed a great season with the club winning an historic double. But others argue that passing up a player of Kaka’s quality off the back of one poor season would be incredibly foolish if he was available and would trust Ancelotti’s judgement if he wanted the player.

As good as the man nicknamed ‘Cashley’ is there are question marks over his loyalty. During his time at Chelsea’s rivals Arsenal he was caught up in a tapping up storm, he claimed that he almost crashed his car after being told Arsenal were only offering him £55,000-a-week and his controversial book upset many at his former club Arsenal and their fans. However, I believe he was undervalued at Arsenal and that isn’t the case at Chelsea, so I doubt he will leave west London with any bad feelings for them.

My final point is that Cole is not irreplaceable as the squad also possesses Yuri Zhirkov, who came to Stamford Bridge last summer for the sum of £18 million and after a slow start (due to injuries) he impressed during the absence of Cole during his injury layoff. In my opinion it is a waste of time to leave an £18 million player on the bench and it is doubtful he will usurp Florent Malouda (one of Chelsea’s top performers of their double winning season) of his position.

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The only downside to any potential deal for the troubled defender is that Cole may not be able to play his natural game under Mourinho. At Chelsea he enjoys an attacking reign down their left flank, but the Special One prefers that his fullbacks do not cross the halfway line.

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