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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWest Indies opener Chris Gayle scored an unbeaten 65 to take his side to a comfortable eight-wicket win against Afghanistan in Colombo. Gayle, who averages 64.30 in all international matches this year, and 70 in the three T20Is, took his time to get going, but accelerated later as West Indies reached the modest target of 123 with more than five overs to spare.Gayle and Dwayne Smith put on 29 runs in the first five overs for the first wicket, before Smith was dismissed. Gayle started to hit a few boundaries, and with Johnson Charles added 59 runs in the next six overs, which diminished Afghanistan’s hopes of an upset. Offspinner Karim Sadiq, who gave away eight runs in his three overs, and seamer Shapoor Zadran were economical, but the West Indies batsmen scored off other bowlers to secure their chase.Unlike West Indies, Afghanistan couldn’t accelerate their scoring when required. Asghar Stanikzai scored his second half-century in two matches, guiding the innings for the most part. But before he could boost Afghanistan’s scoring at the death, he departed in the 18th over to leave them at 100 for six. A couple of sixes towards the end took them to 122, pegging the required run rate at just a little more than six runs per over – that wasn’t enough. West Indies bowled well collectively: none of the bowlers went for more than 6.50 runs per overs, with four of them being among the wickets.Afghanistan face India in their first World Twenty game on September 19 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, and West Indies face Australia at the same venue three days later.

Madhya Pradesh took a 140 run first innings lead over Uttar Pradesh on thesecond day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy clash at the Green Park inKanpur on Friday. After bowling out Madhya Pradesh for 283, Uttar Pradeshwere 12 without loss from six overs in their second innings at stumps.Useful knocks by Harvinder Sodhi and Nikhil Patwardhan were the feature ofMP’s innings after they resumed on 121/3 this morning. UP’s left armpaceman Shalabh Sriwastava struck for the third time when he had DevendraBundela leg before on his overnight score of 39. Sodhi (57) and Patwardhan(49) added 82 for the fifth wicket before the latter was dismissed legbefore by Aashish Zaidi at 204.It was the first of four wickets in a row for Zaidi, including the ones ofSodhi and 39 year old skipper Chandrakant Pandit. The third seamer in the attack, Mrityunjay Tripathy, mopped up the tail by trapping the last two men infront. MP were bowled out in the 121st over, Zaidi finishing with 4/89.Five of the ten victims were leg before. UP openers Nasir Ali and JyotiYadav played out the remaining 26 minutes without mishap, the hosts needinganother 128 to make their opponents bat again.

Ricky Ponting has told his team to maintain its newly-found high standards after Australia’s breakthrough victory ended a five-Test winless streak and squared the Ashes series. The crushing 267-run success gave the hosts some much-needed momentum as the sides heads to Melbourne for a Boxing Day Test that will now be a blockbuster.”We got a nice old hiding in Adelaide last week and so to bounce back as drastically and dramatically as we have done, it says a lot about us and where we’re at,” Ponting said after missing the final morning with a broken little finger. The result caused a dramatic shift as the campaign swung in a similar way to the see-sawing 2009 Ashes in England.”There was a lot of emotion in this win, we hadn’t had much to celebrate up to now,” Ponting said. “We have now set a new set of standards this week, this is the best way for us to play our cricket, and we have to maintain those standards. We have had a better team performance here than we have for a long time and it is important we don’t take this for granted, but make sure this win is significant.”Australia have picked an unchanged 12 for Melbourne and have the option of adding a standby player if Ponting’s injury continues to be a problem. Phillip Hughes and Steven Smith held their spots after unconvincing contributions and Michael Beer retains his place as Australia seek stability.Beer, the left-arm spinner, was released to play for Western Australia in their Sheffield Shield loss to Tasmania and went wicket-less in 11 overs. Australia had huge success with a four-pronged pace attack at the WACA but will need more variety on the drop-in surface in Melbourne, where Beer is in line to debut in front of a crowd that could top 90,000.”He’s grown up in Melbourne his whole life, so he’ll know what the conditions are going to be pretty much down there,” Ponting said of Beer. “Whether he plays or not will depend on what the wicket looks like a couple of days before the game.”After the innings thrashing in Adelaide, Ponting thought “here we go again” when Australia slumped to 5 for 69 on the first day, but they recovered through the batting of Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson. Johnson then surged Australia ahead in England’s first innings before he and Ryan Harris finished off the match.The Australians were the target of fierce criticism after their performances in the first two Ashes Tests and this was the first time they have sung the team song since they beat Pakistan at Lord’s in July. “It has been warranted,” Ponting said of the public and media reaction over the past month. “Yes, it has been pretty harsh, but you expect that when you’re not performing the way people want you to perform. That is the way the team has taken it.”We’ve not been that worried about it, we’ve just tried to be better to give you guys something good to say about us and we’ve done that this week. The feeling around our group has been great and nothing has changed. I’ve just waited for it to click together like it has done this week and that is what makes me so proud of the guys.”The last Ashes series had a handful of key turning points and this campaign has a familiar feel as two solid sides trade blows without any knock-outs. England won the second game at Lord’s after being out-played in the drawn opener, while Australia drew level in the fourth Test before losing the match and the urn at The Oval.Ponting said his side had gained momentum and confidence after failing to grab it in Brisbane and Adelaide. “We’ve got the tide going back in our direction now and, more importantly, we’ve got some of our key players going well,” he said. “Like Mitchell, who is on top of the world and has as much confidence as he’s ever had in his career.”Mike Hussey is in the same boat, as is [Shane Watson], Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus and Brad Haddin, so we’ve got a number of guys playing somewhere near their best and that is why I’m confident in this group. It is amazing what impact confidence and that winning feeling amongst the group can have. It can make the team achieve some special things.”Australia squad Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Michael Beer, Ben Hilfenhaus.

ScorecardFile photo: Steve Tikolo scored 44 and took two wickets on his return, but couldn’t prevent a six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka A•AFP

Steve Tikolo’s first competitive match after being recalled by Kenya was overshadowed by a disciplined bowling performance, led by Dilhara Lokuhettige and Ramith Rambukwella, from Sri Lanka A which ensured they opened the seven-match T20 series with a six-wicket victory in Colombo.Kenya batted first, and despite putting on 41 for the opening stand, they began to lose wickets at regular intervals. Tikolo batted as if he had never left, scoring 44 off 40 balls and hitting six four. But Lokuhettige and Rambukwella ran through the order as they picked up three wickets a piece to restrict Kenya to 125.Sri Lanka A’s innings started rather inauspiciously with opener Shehan Jayasuriya going out with the score on just 4. Danushka Gunathilaka and Dinesh Chandimal combined for 51 to help steady the innings.Lahiru Thirimanne entered the fray and played a vital hand, scoring an unbeaten 36, as he helped Sri Lanka A cruise to a six-wicket win inside 18 overs. Tikolo featured once again, this time with the ball, taking 2 for 24.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKarn Sharma hit the winning runs as Sunrisers Hyderabad opened their account in the main draw•BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad were subjected to an examination of their batting depth and, in their opening game of the tournament’s main draw, showed that they could look after themselves even without much assistance from Shikhar Dhawan. Trinidad & Tobago were in control for the most part of the second innings, but Thisara Perera’s fearless hitting narrowed the gap between the runs required and balls remaining to take Sunrisers home in a tense chase of 161.The first game of the day – between Titans and Brisbane Heat – was a low-scoring one, with the fast bowlers taking control in helpful conditions. However, as the evening wore on, the dew became a factor and the margin for error was minimal for the bowlers, who struggled to bowl the lengths they wanted. Sunil Narine’s parsimonious and incisive spell of 4 for 9 kept T&T in the hunt but Perera not only managed to survive him but ensured he stayed till the end. Perera’s knock had its fair share of slogs that only connected thin air, some dangerously close to the outside edge, but he cleared the rope four times and his timely boundaries ensured Sunrisers were always in the hunt.Dhawan gave Sunrisers a start with a brisk 23, but when he popped the simplest of catches to Navin Stewart, it was game on. It was then down to the experience of JP Duminy to restore some order, but his run-out – caught ball-watching – gave T&T the edge. Sunrisers were going at seven an over when Duminy was dismissed, and the required rate was over nine.Perera walked in and smashed his second ball for six, over long-off. T&T had to be careful not to feed him length balls on middle and leg, Perera’s favourite hitting zone. Rayad Emrit made the mistake of bowling there and was duly smashed for a four and six off consecutive balls to deep midwicket. Narine had a struggling Hanuma Vihari stumped for 18 and proceeded to bowl out a wicket maiden, silencing Darren Sammy who opted to see off T&T’s best bowler.Perera released the pressure the following over with two boundaries off Emrit. He had a lucky escape on 32 when he pulled Ravi Rampaul to deep midwicket, only for Lendl Simmons to palm the ball over the rope while attempting a tough catch. Emrit’s final over cost T&T as he leaked 23. He started off with two wides before getting smashed by Sammy over deep midwicket. The dew may have been responsible for the low full tosses which were put away. Poor catching didn’t help T&T’s cause either as Sammy was also let off in the same over.Narine returned for his final over to nip out two wickets in two balls, but Perera’s was the wicket T&T were desperate for. It came down to seven needed off the last over but Perera showed enough trust in Karn Sharma, who sealed the win in style with a six over deep square leg.After losing the toss, T&T had been boosted by Darren Bravo who adopted a similar aggressive approach on a surface that was seamer friendly. T&T looked set to post much more, but the Sunrisers seamers shared seven wickets between then to keep them down to a competitive 160.

Matt Coles, the England Lions allrounder, has joined Hampshire on loan until the end of the season from Kent, where he has refused to sign a new contract.Coles, a right-handed seam-bowler and left handed batsman, will be available for Hampshire’s County Championship match against Lancashire on Wednesday and will hope to impress and attract a contract. He becomes a free agent in October.23-year-old Coles has taken 133 first-class wickets at 30.67 and also has a first-class century to his name, made against Yorkshire at Headingly at the start of the 2012 season.The campaign proved fruitful for Coles, with 52 wickets at 22.03 in the County Championship earning him a call-up for England Lions’ tour of Australia in February 2013.But Coles’ form reflected the struggles of the whole squad. He took only two wickets in three matches as the Lions went winless in their seven completed matches. Worse for Coles, he was sent home before the end of the tour for a breach of discipline, along with Durham allrounder Ben Stokes.Both players have begun rebuilding their reputations but Coles felt he needed a move away from Canterbury, saying at the time: “I feel now is the right time for me to move on in pursuit of my medium and long term career ambitions.”On his move to the Ageas Bowl, Coles said: “I’m delighted to be joining Hampshire for the remainder of the 2013 season. I have played against and alongside many of the guys in the team and look forward to a very productive time at The Ageas Bowl.”Hampshire have work to do if they are to challenge for promotion in Division Two of the County Championship. They currently sit 51 points behind second-placed Northamptonshire with five games to play but they do have a game in hand and will play Northants in the third-last round of matches.

ScorecardMichael Klinger’s outstanding form was again central to Gloucestershire’s success•Getty Images

Michael Klinger once again led from the front as Gloucestershire kept alive their hopes of a place in the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals with a thrilling two-wicket Group C win over Glamorgan at Bristol.The captain took his run tally in the competition to 662 at an average of 94.57 by scoring 87 to help the hosts to their target of 248 with just one ball to spare. Hamish Marshall contributed 55, while Dean Cosker claimed 2 for 28 from his eight overs.Gareth Rees had scored 83 off 110 balls to provide the backbone to Glamorgan’s 247 for 7 after winning the toss, with Murray Goodwin also making a brisk 49 and Tom Smith returning two for 43.Rees might have been run out in the opening over of the game as Mark Wallace sent him back attempting a single to backward point. Ian Cockbain’s shy at the stumps missed when he could have given wicket-keeper Gareth Roderick time to get to the stumps.The Glamorgan openers went on to build a half-century stand before Wallace departed for 18, caught at deep square as he pulled a ball from David Payne. Gloucestershire introduced the left-arm spin of Smith for the 16th over and the loan recruit from Middlesex had Chris Cooke caught behind cutting for 19 with the total on 83.It was 95 for 3 when Marcus North fell cheaply to Smith. Rees reached fifty off 62 balls, with five fours, and survived a stumping chance off Smith when on 63.After Jim Allenby lifted a catch to deep midwicket off Benny Howell, Goodwin supplied the necessary acceleration with six fours in his 32-ball innings, helping the score to 199 when he gave a catch to backward point.Graham Wagg hit a straight six in making 19 before being yorked by Craig Miles and Rees took successive boundaries off the penultimate over, bowled by Payne before being caught at mid-off to give Miles a second wicket.Gloucestershire made a confident start in reply as Klinger and Marshall put together a century opening stand, the latter hitting six fours in his 43-ball innings before offering a return catch to Cosker.Klinger continued his love affair with the competition, striking nine fours in facing 99 deliveries before getting an inside edge on to his stumps off Simon Jones with 49 runs still needed.There were nerves in the home dressing room when Alex Gidman followed for 28, but Howell played a key role with a six and a four off Jones in the 38th over, which cost the seamer 17, followed by another six off Wagg.Wagg responded with two wickets in the same over, but the home side began the final one from Michael Hogan needing only five. He removed Smith caught and bowled, but James Fuller hit the winning boundary.The result puts Gloucestershire level on points with group leaders Somerset, with the two arch-rivals facing each other at Bristol in the final group match tomorrow week. Glamorgan are two points adrift, but have two games remaining, at home to Leicestershire next Sunday and away to Yorkshire 24 hours later.

ScorecardMichael Klinger saw Gloucestershire storm to victory•Getty Images

Glamorgan’s chances of reaching the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals disappeared as Gloucestershire trounced them by nine wickets in the final group match at Cardiff.Chasing 142 to win, captain Michael Klinger helped Gloucestershire achieve the double over Glamorgan with 86 from 59 balls with 11 fours and a six, as Gloucestershire won with 22 balls to spare.Glamorgan needed to win to qualify for the last eight but it was a disappointing end to their T20 campaign after they had won their opening four games. Glamorgan, who included former England bowler Simon Jones, were put into bat and could only make 141 for 5 from their 20 overs despite Jim Allenby batting through the innings, scoring 85 from 58 balls with four sixes and six fours.His dominance was highlighted with only two other batsmen – Marcus North and Murray Goodwin – getting into double figures. And out of 13 boundaries in the innings Allenby struck 10 of them with Glamorgan struggling to dominate a largely inexperience attack.Openers Allenby and captain North, who was promoted up the order, gave the home side a useful platform scoring 41 from the opening six-over Powerplay. But runs dried up as North was bowled by the impressive Benny Howell leaving Glamorgan 55 for 1 in the ninth over.The big-hitting Chris Cooke failed to make his mark as he holed out to deep midwicket for just 6 and Nathan McCullum, pushed up the order, was out leg before. It saw Glamorgan struggle to 73 for 3 in the 12th over.Glamorgan failed to get a boundary from the eighth to the 14th over until Allenby struck his fifth four which saw him reach his 50 from 42 balls. It was Allenby’s third half century in nine T20 matches this season. Allenby struck a six to bring up the 100 and followed that up with another six off the final ball of the innings.Gloucestershire, through Klinger and Chris Dent, made a positive start reaching 18 for 0 after the first two overs from Michael Hogan and Jim Allenby. Klinger and Dent each struck a boundary off Wagg as Gloucestershire reached 32 after four overs.Glamorgan gambled on slow left armer Dean Cosker bowling the final over of the Powerplay but 12 runs came from it as Gloucestershire reached 50 for 0 after six overs. After Gloucestershire had got to 65 for 0 after eight overs McCullum came into the attack to have Dent caught at long-off.By the halfway stage Gloucestershire reached 79 for 1 with 15 coming off the 10th over from Simon Jones. Klinger went to a 37-ball half-century as Gloucestershire cruised to victory in the 17th over.

Bangladesh pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza is targeting the home ODI series against New Zealand in October for his international comeback. His fitness has been boosted by a three-week fitness programme that ended at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.Mortaza, who has been recovering from a left-heel injury, said that he has lost weight and has started to bowl more overs progressively. He suffered the injury during the Bangladesh Premier League final in February, and has taken unusually long to cure because of the myriad injuries on his left leg. He had undergone a rehabilitation programme while the Bangladesh team was touring Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and continued to work on his fitness thereafter to participate in the fitness camp which began last month.

Nazmul Hossain set for comeback

Nazmul Hossain, currently recovering from a surgery on his left knee, is targeting the start of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League on August 29 to return to cricket, well in time for the New Zealand series in October. It has been more than a month since he underwent the operation in Australia after he got hurt in Sri Lanka in March this year.
“I hope to start bowling from next week,” Nazmul said. “I have already begun running after completing a month after the surgery. Dr David Young, who operated on me, said that I can return to full fitness after a month.”
Fast bowler Abul Hasan, however, is set for a long lay-off as he prepares for surgery on a slipped disc. He had recurring back pain since the Test series in Sri Lanka in March. It has degenerated into a prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc, according to physio Vibhav Singh.
BCB’s sports phyisician Dr Debashish Chowdhury said that the sooner the surgery takes place the better, because he could be out for more than a year. “Even if the operation takes place today, he will probably miss out on the World Twenty20. We are trying to find out where he can be sent as soon as possible,” he said.

Mortaza now believes that not only has he completely recovered from the injury, his confidence has also been on the rise.”I have lost four kilos from the start of the camp, and I still need to reduce [another] four to five kilos,” he said. “I need to weigh around 84-85 to feel completely fit. Vibhav Singh [Bangladesh physio] told me that I still need four to five weeks to be completely fit.”This time, however, Mortaza hasn’t required a surgery, which would have been his 11th since his Test debut in 2001. His last international match was an ODI in December last year against West Indies. “I bowled four-five overs yesterday with a short run up, and I bowled almost six overs today with the same run-up, and I didn’t feel any pain,” he said.”But I am not able to bowl at my full strength as I feel that the pain may return if I rush myself. There is enough time for me to make myself fitter as the New Zealand series is in October, and I am confident of getting there on time.”The fitness programme has been useful for many players who were injured after the BPL this year, and have been trying for a comeback since then. According to one of the coaches, the programme was their first since their preparations for the 2011 World Cup. They will return next week with more focus on skills, but Mortaza will continue to build confidence through more fitness work.Closing in on his 30th birthday, and having suffered several injuries, Mortaza has little margin for more injuries. He has already been restricted to limited-overs cricket, and a return to Tests or first-class cricket is still quite a distance away.The ODIs against New Zealand are scheduled after the Test series, which will give Mortaza more time to recover. The last time New Zealand toured Bangladesh, he tumbled over after bowling just one over in the first ODI, injuring his ankle. This time, he knows that his international career would be jeopardised if there’s another injury.”I am very careful about recovering from my injury this time. I can’t afford any more injuries at this point of my career,” he said.

ScorecardDaryl Mitchell enjoyed a superb day with bat and ball•Getty Images

Worcestershire kept their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign alive as Daryl Mitchellsigned off a golden two days in a nine-run win against Warwickshire at NewRoad. Mitchell followed up a championship century against Essex on Fridaywith a top score of 71 in his side’s total of 210 for 9 and then took 3for 27 as their local rivals were dismissed for 201.The pressure applied by Mitchell was matched by Brett D’Oliveira as the21-year-old leg-spinner, bowling in front of the stand named after hisgrandfather, Basil, claimed 3 for 35, his best List A performance.Yet there was still a late scare for the hosts as Warwickshire’s ninth-wicketpair Steffan Piolet with 30 and Ateeq Javid, 40 not out, added 47 at a run-a ballbefore Alan Richardson bowled Piolet. Even then Javid smashed successive sixes off Moeen Ali in the penultimate over, only for last man Chris Wright to be run out when sent back by his partner.On a slow, low pitch, the new ball represented the best chance for batsmen tomake progress and this was where Worcestershire won the game with Mitchell’spartnership of 95 with Moeen in the first 15 overs.Although Worcestershire’s innings ended in disarray, with five wickets fallingto Darren Maddy and Jeetan Patel in the last five overs, they had enough runs onthe board to end a run of three successive defeats in Group A.Warwickshire were persistently pegged back by flashes of brilliance in thefield as they chased 211 for victory. Moeen held an overhead one-handed catch from Varun Chopra, Aneesh Kapil ran out Jim Troughton for 31 from midwicket and Ben Cox scooped up low chance from Tim Ambrose at square leg.Javid and Piolet gave the visitors a glimmer of hope with some lusty late blowsbut they fell just short in the end when Wright was run out in the penultimateover.Worcestershire’s early surge could have been choked off if Patel had not putdown a fierce but straightforward chance from Moeen at extra cover. Wright was the unlucky bowler and he more than anyone was to suffer as the twoopeners each hit two boundaries in his next over.With momentum established, Moeen turned on the style, driving Rikki Clarke intothe crowd at long off on his way to a half-century in only 44 balls.Warwickshire eventually stemmed the flow of runs as Piolet and rookieoffspinner Javid took the pace off the ball. Piolet claimed the key wicket when Moeen was lbw for 56 but Mitchell, although going through 25 overs without a boundary, put on 60 with the talented England Under-19 all-rounder Kapil.They took Worcestershire up to 182 in the 34th over before Wright bowledMitchell and there was little to come when Kapil, after making 42 from 51 balls,went leg before to Maddy.