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Silver League final
Fading light curtailed play on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League final at at the Gaddafi Stadium but not before Multan had taken their overnight 326 for 4 against Islamabad to 514 for 9 declared.Islamabad’s hopes of winning the Silver League final and getting promoted to next season’s Gold League circuit had already been dented, as their captain Rao Iftikhar and allrounder Azhar Mahmood left for South Africa for the one-day international series. Their pace attack had thus been weakened considerably.The result was obvious from Multan’s 500 plus first-innings score. After their overnight batsman Bilal Khilji added only five more runs to be dismissed for 137 off 274 balls with 23 fours and a six, the lower-order batsmen continued in the same relentless manner.Allrounder Kamran Hussain hit an exact 50 off 130 balls with eight fours and with Abdul Rauf helped add 61 runs for the eighth wicket. Rauf made 57 runs off just 83 balls with seven fours and two sixes.Every Multan batsman got into double-figures, except Yasir Arafat, who faced nine balls before getting out for a duck.At 21 for no wicket at stumps, Islamabad still have a mountain to climb. They need another 294 runs to avoid the ignominy of being forced to follow-on. Multan are hoping to return to the Gold League section next season. In 2005-06, they had finished at the bottom of the circuit’s points table and were demoted to the Silver League.Gold League
Faisalabad made a strong reply to Karachi Harbour’s first-innings score of 366 with 287 for 3 on the second day of their sixth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League match, at the National Stadium on Thursday.Faisalabad middle-order batsman Naved Latif struck top form as he blasted a quick fire 105 off 130 balls with 15 fours and three sixes. He posted his first-class career’s 11th hundred. With captain Misbah-ul-Haq, his third-wicket partnership of 181 runs came in a mere 170 minutes.Earlier, the opening stand was worth 58 runs and the second wicket fell on 102. Imran Ali contributed 46 off 71 balls with six fours and a six while Asif Hussain took just 39 balls to score 33 runs with six fours.The last four Karachi Harbour wickets fell cheaply yesterday morning, colappsing from 323 for 6 to 366 all out. Faisalabad fast bowler Asad Ali finished with figures of 5 for 122 while Ahmed Hayat took 3 for 59. Danish Kaneria, who recently returned from South Africa, conceded 80 runs in his 23 overs without any success.Faisalabad managed to lift themselves from the bottom position in the table and thus may have averted the ignominy of being demoted to next season’s Silver League circuit. They are now only 79 runs behind Karachi with seven wickets in hand.Karachi Harbour are currently placed at number five in the seven-team Gold League table with a tally of just 12 points, through a win, two defeats and a draw from their four previous appearances. Like Rawalpindi and Peshawar above them, they don’t appear to have any chance left to make it to the final.Defending champions Sialkot appear ready to displace Karachi Urban from the top of the Gold League points table as they bagged a 166-run first-innings lead on the second day at the Jinnah Stadium on Thursday.Aiming to overhaul Karachi Urban’s first-innings total of 164, Sialkot responded strongly with a score of 330 that gave them the advantage. By the close of play, Karachi had made 76 in their second innings for the loss of three wickets. They were still 90 runs in deficit.Having resumed at their overnight 53 for 0, Sialkot were rattled by Urban pace bowler Rajesh Ramesh who claimed all six wickets as the home side slumped to just 130 for 6, still 34 runs behind. A 132-run seventh-wicket stand then changed the entire complexion of the match.Middle-order batsman Ayub Dogar scored his maiden first-class century in his 21st match, his 127 combined with a rollicking knock of 77 by wicketkeeper Haafiz Khalid took Sialkot well beyond Karachi’s total.Rajesh didn’t take any more wickets and returned figures of 6 for 145 in 22 overs and took a battering from Ayub and Khalid. The tail was polished off by Asif Zakir, who took all the remaining four wickets for 40 runs in 8.5 overs with his off-breaks.Having lifted themselves from the fifth position in the Gold League table to occupy the second spot last week, Sialkot with 21 points are now looking towards retaining their national cricket title that they won last season. They have assured for themselves a spot in the final from February 19 to 23.Karachi Urban, with 24 points from their four previous matches, would still remain with a chance to make the final even if they are beaten here by Sialkot. But they will have to defeat Faisalabad in their seventh and last round match starting next week.Salman Butt played a captain’s knock as Lahore Shalimar made 291 for 5 in reply to Rawalpindi’s 330 runs at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground .Butt scored the ninth century of his first-class career and lifted his team’s morale with a knock of 166. He was involved in two fruitful partnerships on the way and hit 12 fours and a six. From 38 for 2, he and Imran Farhat, who played in the recent Test series in South Africa, boosted Lahore with an 85-run third-wicket stand.Farhat scored 42 off 82 balls with nine fours. Butt was then joined by Aamer Sajjad in a fourth-wicket stand that produced 155 runs. Sajjad remained unbeaten on 49 off 111 balls with six fours.Lahore Shalimar were only 39 runs behind Rawalpindi with five wickets intact. Of their five wickets to fall, fast bowler Yasir Arafat took 3 for 60.Rawalpindi, who for a while occupied the top spot in the Gold League table, are playing their last match of the competition. They now appear to have lost the battle to make it to the final of the tournament. They have 21 points and are third in the ranking. Lahore Shalimar are already at rock bottom in the table. In case they stay there, they will be demoted to the Silver League circuit of the next season.

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Moises Henriques produced an allround display of sheer class as Australiacrushed Sri Lanka at the SSC to progress to the semi-finals. Not contentwith knocking the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batting, he then smashedan uncompromising 79 off 60 balls against a deflated attack. Tom Cooperwas no slouch either with 84 off 93 as the pair flayed a stand of 146 in21 overs.While the clean striking from Henriques was breathtaking, his massive hits were effortless, sailing miles into the stands. He cleared the ropes on six occasions, one of which landed on the roof of the press box – a monstrous blow – and never came down again. Cooper had begun the chase in emphatic style, piercing the field off front and back foot and displaying another example of the form he produced against South Africa inthe opening match, where he made 104.Australia’s intent to finish this match quickly, and not give the SriLanka spinners a chance to dominate, was evident when Henriques came in atNo. 3. The team management explained they didn’t see any point nudgingaround for the runs, something the top order clearly agreed with.Henriques was delighted with the crushing nature of the win: “Everythingwent our way. It is sometimes difficult chasing a low target and you canstart pushing around a little, but we just went out there and played asthough we were batting first.”He also added that the cut-throat approach was something that had beendiscussed by the team. “Being ruthless is one thing we have really workedon, when a team is down and are we are on top we need to nail them. It showed atthe end, where we could have easily lost a late wicket, but we fought hardto make sure we didn’t lose our intensity and make it all the moreconvincing.”Each Sri Lankan bowler was treated with equal disdain, the slow left-armerMalinga Pushpakumara being creamed for 52 in five overs. They werehampered by Angelo Mathews’ inability to bowl, owing to a groin strainwhich has troubled him throughout the tournament. His injury created amoment of controversy when he was allowed a runner, despite having comeinto the match carrying the injury.However, even if Mathews had been fully fit it would not have made muchdifference. Sri Lanka never looked like being able to replicate thetriumph of their senior side in Adelaide, yesterday, and were underpressure from the moment that Adam Ritchard removed Dimuth Karunaratne inthe second over. By the end of the ninth over Henriques had begun his tourde force with two wickets, and the innings was struggling at 23 for 3.Once again in this tournament, the Australia seamers managed to extractbounce from the pitch that no other team has managed. Twice the Sri Lankanbatsmen were struck on the body or helmet and the quicks were not shy of using the short ball – and to good effect. Ritchard ensured Sri Lanka could never find any momentum, bowling his ten overs off the reel for just 20 runs, and Henriques explained: “The ball was swinging around early so we decided to keep him on as long as we could and he ended up bowling all ten.”Only when Mathews and Dilhan Cooray were together did the innings threatento gain any semblance of control, their stand of 62 the only obstacle to Australia’s march. Henriques broke the stand – no surprise given the day he was having – with a great delivery that squared-up Mathews, shortly after the Sri Lankan captain had asked for the runner.This is not a bad Sri Lankan team but they had nothing to offer againsttheir rampant opponents, despite having home advantage. After a scareagainst West Indies in the qualifying matches, Australia are peaking whenit really matters. They are two wins away from burying the memories of2004 in Bangladesh, and in this form they will take some stopping.

As the Zimbabwe squad prepares to travel to South Africa for the forthcoming Test and ODi series, Dean du Plessis, a local analyst, claimed that most players are not fit enough for the demands of international cricket.”The majority of the players need to bulk-up, to play at the highest level," he told the Zimbabwe Standard. "Our bowlers do not benefit from the weight-load that comes with a bigger physique. The other thing is our bowlers are not consistent enough … impressing in one match only to flop in the next. Those were our biggest let-downs in Bangladesh and unless the team improves on those, then we will be in big trouble when we tour South Africa."Zimbabwe led the five-match one-day series against Bangladesh 2-0 before squandering that lead and losing the last three matches. Many blamed the side for not being fit enough and quite literally running out of steam when it mattered.The Standard also quoted Nick Chouhan, a former board member, as saying that the administration lacked professionalism in its approach, making it hard for the team to function to its full potential. He cited the comments made by Richie Kaschula to the effect that the defeats were the fault of coach Phil Simmons as being a prime example."What Kaschula has done is highly unprofessional and deplorable," Chouhan told the paper. "They should have waited for Simmons to present his report on what transpired first and in private, rather than condemn the man in the press. You would not expect such things from a national selector.”

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England comfortably won the final ODI at Dhaka and thus completed a 3-0 clean sweep in this short series. They were made to work a touch harder for it this time, but Bangladesh’s fighting total of 182, in which their lower order again helped them out, was still never going to be enough. Marcus Trescothick led the reply with a calm half-century before Paul Collingwood and that man Andrew Flintoff again led England home with 10 overs to spare, and to their third consecutive seven-wicket win.After Vikram Solanki, who scored only 11 runs in the series, again fell early with an angled slash outside off stump off Mushfiqur Rahman for 1, Trescothick and Michael Vaughan and took their time to build a winning platform – the first boundary of the innings, from Vaughan, didn’t come until the seventh over.The Bangladesh attack kept things tight, but only Rahman posed any real threat, and he trapped Vaughan lbw in the 16th over with one that moved in off the seam a touch and hit Vaughan plumb in front for 29 (66 for 2). Rahman bowled with good pace and movement, but after he finished his spell of 2 for 29 from his 10 overs, the game was all but over.Trescothick started to stamp a calm authority on the game, picking out the singles with ease and unleashing the odd big hit. He came down the track to Khaled Mahmud and smacked him over long-on for four, and then carved him over point for his fifth boundary. Collingwood, meanwhile, was happy to pick out the many gaps in the field, including a huge heave off the left-arm spinner Manjural Islam Rana over midwicket for four and a dazzling lofted cover-drive.Trescothick, just after reaching his fifty, then played around a straight one from Mahmud which kept low and bowled him (102 for 3). The under-fire Mahmud had some good news for once – but the sight of Flintoff striding out wiped the smile off his face pretty quickly.Flintoff waited for six overs to signal the charge. But after a quiet start he suddenly drove Rafique past mid-on for four and then deposited him over long-on to pass Ian Botham’s record of the most sixes by an Englishman in ODIs. That strike was Flintoff’s 45th maximum, beating Botham’s 44 in 65 matches. Then just for good measure, he smashed Tapash Baisya over midwicket for another four. And you know it’s your day when even the umpires don’t want you to get out. After missing a sweep against Manjural, Flintoff somehow survived a stumping which Akhtaruddin, the third umpire, decided wasn’t out.From then on, it was a stroll under the Dhaka lights for Collingwood and Flintoff, who collected his third Man of the Match award. He hammered a further three sixes to take it his tally to ten in the series, which he has dominated from the start. But at least the England batsmen were pushed a touch harder this time for their routine victory after Bangladesh made a much better fist of things to reach a respectable 182 from 49.1 overs.

After the hapless Moniruzzaman was caught and bowled by James Anderson for a second successive duck (6 for 1), Hannan Sarkar and Habibul Bashar, arguably Bangladesh’s best batsmen, did their best to keep up the a refreshingly competitive run-rate. Collingwood checked their progress with a spectacular throw off balance to run out Hannan (35 for 2), but unlike the previuos two games, there was no sudden wicket landslide. Habibul, with the help of Rajin Saleh, put on a sturdy partnership of 31. It wasn’t exciting stuff, but it represented a definite improvement.But in between the odd big hit, England slowly reasserted the pressure, and Rikki Clarke undid all the batsmen’s good early work with two quick wickets. He struck with his first ball when Habibul played right across the line to a dead-eyed straight delivery and was lbw (66 for 3). In the next over, Gareth Batty’s first, Saleh attempted to sweep a straight ball, but only gloved it over his head to Chris Read for 19 (75 for 4). Things got even worse when Alok Kapali was bowled by Clarke trying a horrible pull shot off a ball far too full, and lost his off stump (83 for 5).Then followed the farcical run-out of Mahmud, the beleagured captain. He and Rahman both ended up at the non-striker’s end, and there was a slight delay as the third umpire worked out who was actually out. England wanted the more dangerous Rahman to go, but the crowd wanted the head of Mahmud – and they got it (103 for 6).However, England’s bowlers again failed to polish off the tail. Rahman injected 36 valuable runs, with five boundaries, to the total before he was unluckily given out lbw to Flintoff (139 for 7). Flintoff’s yorker then again paid dividends when he cleaned up Mashud, who hung around for 16. Manjural and Rafique further frustrated England until two late strikes by James Kirtley ended their innings on 183 with five balls remaining.Vaughan and his side now head to Sri Lanka with a clean sweep in both the Bangladesh series, but it’s a different story for Khaled Mahmud, who may well have played his last match for Bangladesh.

State Central Hinds have named their side to play the State Otago Sparks at Logan Park in Dunedin on January 5 and 6.Megan Graham (captain, Hawke’s Bay), Abby Burrows (Hawke’s Bay), Philippa Gerrish (Horowhenua Kapiti), Erin McDonald (Hawke’s Bay), Sara McGlashan (Hawke’s Bay), Zara McWilliams (Hawke’s Bay), Aimee Mason (Taranaki), Melissa Murray (Manawatu), Kate Pulford (Nelson), Toni Street (Taranaki), Nicole Thessman (Manawatu). One to be added. Coach: Paul Unwin. Manager: Jacqui Gardiner.Cindy Forsyth (Manawatu) is unavailable for the two matches against Otago but will join the team for the matches against the State Canterbury Magicians at the Village Green, Christchurch on January 7-8.

Adopting a methodical approach, Mumbai had taken a firm grip on their Ranji Trophy Super League match against reigning champions Karnataka by stumps on the second day at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday. Replying to Karnataka’s first innings score of 209, Mumbai replied with 322 for eight wickets at close.Having obtained an advantage on the opening day by dismissing Karnataka for a modest total, Mumbai consolidated, thanks to invaluable contributions from their first three batsmen, Wasim Jaffer, Amit Pagnis and Jatin Paranjpe, and Mumbai received a bonus when No 8 batsman RV Pawar hit a bright 45.Jaffer and Pagnis countered the varied Karnataka attack of medium pacers Dodda Ganesh and Mansoor Ali Khan and spinners Sunil Joshi and Yalvigi with some fine batting. The openers put on 125 runs off 40.2 overs before Jaffer, the more aggressive of the two was out for 72. He faced 125 balls and hit ten of them the ropes.Joshi then brought Karnataka back into the game when in successive overs, he dismissed Pagnis (54 off 135 balls with seven fours) and Amol Muzumdar (0). Vinod Kambli, in buoyant mood, hit a breezy 22 off 20 balls with one four and two sixes. Joshi then dismissed skipper Sameer Dighe (11) and Amit Dani (4) in successive overs and Karnataka had recovered some ground by reducing Mumbai, after their great start, to 214 for six.However Pawar and Paranjpe retreived Mumbai’s hopes of a sizeable lead by adding 93 runs for the seventh wicket off 22.5 overs. Pawar matched Paranjpe in run production and faced 65 balls hitting eight fours. Ganesh took two wickets towards the end of the day’s play but Paranjpe could not be shifted and came in unconquered with 93 at stumps. He has so far faced 170 balls and hit 13 fours.Ganesh and Joshi were the two bowlers who kept the Mumbai batsmen in check somewhat. The paceman was rewarded with three for 93 off 29 overs while the left arm spinner bowled 34 overs to capture four wickets for 101.

ScorecardChris Read’s century put Notts into the lead•Getty Images

Chris Read helped himself to a second century of the season as Nottinghamshire dominated day three against Middlesex at Trent Bridge. Having passed three figures for the first time this summer in the four-day game between the sides at Lord’s back in April, the Notts captain was at it again, this time on home soil.Having been dropped on 54, Read, the 36-year-old former England wicketkeeper, went on to score 108 from 206 balls as Notts built a useful first innings lead.Resuming on their overnight score of 180 for 4, Notts found themselves in a spot of trouble when Samit Patel was bowled, in the third over of the day, at 184 for 5 and Steven Mullaney holed out to Tim Murtagh off Ollie Rayner 45 runs later. At that stage, they still trailed Middlesex by 145. But despite losing 15 overs to rain, Notts pushed on after lunch with Read and Brett Hutton adding 157 for the seventh wicket.Read, who missed six weeks of the season from the middle of May due to a hamstring injury, struck eight fours in reaching his half century, off 101 balls, and posted three figures for the first time since mid-April, off 190 balls. Having been dropped at slip by Ollie Rayner on 54 – a sharp chance to Rayner’s right hand – he eventually fell to Toby Roland-Jones, at 386 for 7.The captain’s job was made all the more easy by Hutton, who batted beautifully to post his highest first class score of 72. The 22-year-old bowling allrounder brought up his own half-century off 121 balls, with seven fours, and looked comfortable throughout against a Middlesex attack that offered precious little as the day wore on.Hutton continued to bat with due care and attention after his skipper’s departure and with Luke Wood, who was dropped on 0 off the bowling of Dawid Malan, he added 25 for the eighth wicket. But he finally departed at 419 for 9 and at that juncture Notts declared with a first innings lead of 45. Middlesex opener Sam Robson and nightwatchman James Harris successfully negotiated the final two overs of the evening and trail Notts by 38 runs with all 10 second innings wickets in hand.

South Africa will look to continue their successful run against New Zealand with a win in the second ODI in Port Elizabeth. The hosts almost faltered during theirrun-chase in the first ODI in Durban but a win on Friday will give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Going by current form, South Africa are clear favourites and this iseven without considering their recordin day-night encounters at St. George’s Park – eights win out of tenODIs, with one no result.The hosts will be boosted by the return of Herschelle Gibbs, who hadmissed the Twenty20 international and the first ODI with a kneeinjury. Gibbs’ standby Morne van Wyk has been released from the squad toplay for the Eagles in the SuperSport series.The other dilemma facing the South African selectors surroundstheir pace attack. New Zealand’s batsmen were blown away by Dale Steynduring the two-Test series, and his inclusion in the playing XI coulddent the tourists’ confidence ahead of a must-win game.However, with Shaun Pollock conceding next to nothing in his ten oversand Andre Nel playing a pivotal role with both ball and bat in the firstODI, the axe could fall on Makhaya Ntini, who proved to be expensive,especially at the death in Durban. Johan Botha might play despite unimpressiveshowings in recent ODIs, since the pitch at St. George’s Park couldfavour the slower bowlers.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, hinted at possible changes inthe bowling line-up. “We’ve got to look at the wicket and theconditions, but obviously Dale [Steyn] and [Charl] Langeveldt come intothe equation,” he was quoted as saying on the website SuperCricket. “We’ll seewhat switches we need to make to suit the conditions.”

Smith’s opposition counterpart Daniel Vettori must be wondering what histeam needs to do to beat this South African side. New Zealand’smain worry through the Tests was the form of their batsmen, but afterthe Durban ODI, the team would be concerned over its bowling optionsas well, besides their poor catching, which Vettori highlighted as the main reason for the last-ball loss at Kingsmead.Kyle Mills’ 5 for 25 in Durban would have done Shane Bond proud but New Zealand could have done with somefirepower at the other end – Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, ScottStyris and Vettori conceded 220 runs and picked up three wickets.Allrounder Jacob Oram will be a handy addition to the bowlingdepartment. Oram suffered a hamstring strain in thefirst Test, and Vettori indicated the team would play six bowlers.”Jacob’s probably the most important member of our team purely from theroles he fills, batting at number six and able to bowl 10 overs,”Vettori told SuperCricket. “It’s a luxury not many teams have and havinghim back means I can take six bowlers and we get a nice balance whenhe’s playing.”That means wicketkeeper-batsman Gareth Hopkins, who scored a first-ball duck at Kingsmead, is likely to be dropped. The New Zealand captain alsoindicated Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, could get the nod ahead of oneof the quicker bowlers. “The times I’ve played here, I’ve always foundit a low, slow wicket and the guys who’ve been able to take the pace offit have always succeeded here [in Port Elizabeth],” he said. “So seamersstill have an important role to play, but we’ll have a lot of emphasison the slow bowlers.”Vettori admitted his team would be under pressure to win the remainingtwo matches. “We need to win both matches to give ourselves a shot atthe series,” he said. “The way we play tomorrow will be with that inmind, and we definitely will not be playing defensively.”We’ll be chasing that win as hard as we can, but the key thing is thatwhen you are chasing a win, you maybe push a little too hard and forgetabout a few of the simple things you need to do.”However, Smith said he expected South Africa to up their game, and sealthe series. “We want to be more clinical come tomorrow. It would befantastic to close off the series tomorrow,” he said. “The guys get anice break after this weekend, so hopefully we can step it up and playsome really good cricket.”

India’s fine start to the one-day series, where they amassed 338 and held on for a 14-run win, shouldn’t mask some of the problem areas. A key concern facing them, especially with the World Cup around the corner, is the middle overs – both in the batting and bowling departments.Interestingly, the problems in both areas are interlinked. Added to that is a fielding malady where there aren’t any easy solutions. The squad for the last two matches of the series is to be selected on January 25 and tomorrow’s game becomes paramount for more than a few players.In the absence of Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, the bowling options are severely restricted. Suresh Raina doesn’t offer much while Dinesh Karthik is a wicketkeeper. Raina has already been left out of tomorrow’s clash, replaced with the genuine offspinner Ramesh Powar who is handy with the bat as well.Powar has the flight and the guile to tease the batsmen but he’s only been used sparingly, with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble jostling for the sole spot. Kumble is expected to return for the last two matches and Powar will have to turn in a special performance tomorrow to retain his place. Ditto for Karthik, who might find it difficult to hold his place if Yuvraj or Sehwag returns.The other concern is the batting in the middle overs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni muscled and Rahul Dravid innovated on Sunday, as 112 runs flowed in the last 10 over, but one shouldn’t ignore the problems that India have had in that area recently. Is Joginder Sharma the answer to the vital allrounder’s slot? We might get an early indication tomorrow in what promises to be a make-or-break game for him. He’s had a great domestic season with both bat and ball but will he be able to bridge the vast gap between the first-class and international levels?In case he isn’t up to scratch, India would do well to fall back on Sehwag. Of course, of late Sehwag has been more vulnerable to phantoms in his psyche than demons on the pitch. But even during that miserable phase in South Africa, he managed a 50-ball 40, with six fours and a six, from the middle order. That pitch, at Cape Town, was taking some spin and that’s what India are likely to encounter in the World Cup. And he can bowl. With Irfan Pathan still struggling to get back his bowling touch, Sehwag and Yuvraj, along with Tendulkar and Ganguly, could handle the allrounder’s duties.Compounding India’s worries is their fielding. They dropped four catches in the first game and Dravid is, understandably, concerned. “We are not natural athletes, especially the senior guys,” Dravid said. “So we have to find that balance between the younger and the senior guys and the seniors have to work on their fielding. We have to still try and get to as good a level as we can. There are some guys in this side who obviously cannot become brilliant. But we have to try and improve and obviously hold all our catches.”We are working very hard on our fielding and we are looking to improvingevery day. But we need to find the balance between picking the youngsters andthe experienced guys. When we pick a lot of youngsters, the criticism was thatthere are not enough experienced players, so when you pick the experiencedplayers you have to accept that the fielding is not going to be brilliant.That’s a fact and you just have to accept it. So we have to look at thepluses and the minuses and we have to get the right balance. Thatis a situation we are faced with and we have to deal with it.”India will grapple with all this and more as they head into the second one-dayer. They will be hoping that Cuttack provides them with some, if not all, of the answers.

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Plate Group Points Table
Madhya Pradesh ended the second day of their Ranji Plate semi-final on even terms, closing on 191 for 5 in reply to Saurashtra’s 296. Shitanshu Kotak, overnight on 95, brought up his ninth first-class century before Amay Khurasia’s power-packed 80 charged Madhya Pradesh left the match hanging in the balance.Khurasia, who played only two games this season, chose the right moment to come good. After the openers put up a 55-run stand off 16.3 overs Khurasia took charge and the next fifty rolled off in just eight overs before Sandip Maniar removed Sachin Dholpure and knocked off Devendra Bundela, the leading run-getter for MP, for a duck to push them to 106 for 3.Abbas Ali joined Khurasia and the duo steered MP to 182 for 3 before Saurashtra fought back with two wickets. Earlier, Saurashtra resumed on 226 for 6, were propped up by Kotak’s first hundred of the season and 21 from Sandeep Jobanputra, the No 10 batsman.