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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Pakistan rode on a fluent 92 by Mohammad Hafeez and his breezy 87-run opening stand with Kamran Akmal to cruise to an emphatic seven-wicket win at Karachi and seal the series 3-1. On a flat batting track, West Indies only managed 238 despite a battling 101 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and they were made to pay for the lack of runs on the board, as Pakistan sailed home with 19 deliveries to spare.West Indies were coming off a convincing win themselves at Multan, but they carried none of that momentum into this match as Pakistan – bolstered by the return of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf – dominated right from the start. Chanderpaul managed his fourth ODI century – and his first against Pakistan – but his knock consumed 142 deliveries, and the West Indian innings had little urgency till Brian Lara came to the crease and stroked a crisp 44, in the process becoming only the fifth batsman to get to 10,000 ODI runs.Pakistan’s bowlers, though, maintained a stranglehold on the scoring rate for most of the innings. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, especially, was outstanding, nailing Chris Gayle right at the start – the fourth time Gayle fell to him in the series – and then returned with a swinging yorker at the end to dismiss Lara. He finished with well-deserved figures of 4 for 43, while Abdur Rehman, the promising left-arm spinner, had another impressive day, conceding just 39 from his ten overs for two wickets, including a peach to draw out and stump Marlon Samuels, West Indies’ hero at Multan.On a pitch which offered little pace, bounce or seam movement, the West Indian attack was woefully inadequate to curb the free-stroking Pakistan batsmen. Akmal’s 59-ball 56 offered the early impetus, as he creamed the short balls to the square boundaries and even struck a high full-toss from Daren Powell over square leg for six. Hafeez was relatively quiet, but he had his moments too – a straight six off a good-length ball from Powell was particularly spectacular.Reeling under the early onslaught, Lara delayed the third Powerplay till after Akmal fell, but that hardly helped matter, as Yasir Hameed joined the fun with a fluent 41. Hafeez, meanwhile, carried on in typically unhurried fashion, nurdling the singles and knocking off the odd boundary. Lara tried both pace and spin, but apart from Corey Collymore, none of them even managed to staunch the run-flow.Hameed fell to his own impetuosity when easy runs were there for the taking, but that only spurred Shoaib Malik to end things fast as he rushed to 34 from 36 balls. Hafeez lofted Gayle for a magnificent six to get into the 90s, but soon after fell to one from Dave Mohammed which kept low and beat his attempted pull. By then, though, the result was a foregone conclusion.

If Pakistan’s effort with the bat was impressive, then their bowling display was even better on a pitch which offered little assistance to bowlers. Almost all bowlers kept a tight control over line and length, bowled on one side of the wicket, and gave few scoring opportunities.The dominance started early, when Naved nailed Gayle with one that straightened after pitching on middle, trapping him plumb in front. Lendl Simmons started to get into his stride before chopping Mohammad Sami back onto his stumps, and when Samuels fell to a peach of a delivery from Rehman – it drifted in, then spun away, completely beating the batsman – West Indies were struggling at 104 for 4 in the 27th.On a pitch where 250 seemed to be the par score, West Indies were clearly behind the eight-ball, but Lara and Chanderpaul went about rectifying that. Lara had only managed 27 in his three previous innings in the series, but here he was at his purposeful best. After a slow start, where the intent was to knock the ball around for singles, Lara soon started using his feet against the spinners. Chanderpaul continued to turn the strike over, and the runs soon started coming at more than five an over. Lara’s footwork was at his best against Mohammad Hafeez, whom he tonked over cover for four, and Rehman. Naved, though, ensured that the innings remained only an entertaining cameo, as he slipped in an inswinger which crashed into the stumps off the pads.With Lara back in the hutch, the onus was on Chanderpaul to keep it going, but instead Pakistan’s bowlers seized on the opportunity to exert pressure. Chanderpaul himself was struggling with a leg injury which forced him to opt for a runner, and could only take the singles when boundaries were needed. With Naved bowling his swinging yorkers with outstanding accuracy, West Indies only managed 38 in the last six overs, and in the end the total they managed posed few problems for Pakistan.

Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kenya will get in their final bit of practice ahead of the Twenty20 World Championship in a four-nation tournament beginning in Nairobi tomorrow. Uganda will relish the opportunity to play against higher opposition and dip their fingers into the slam-bang form of the game that has grown in popularity.The tournament begins with Kenya taking on Bangladesh and Pakistan playing Uganda. The most anticipated match, between Bangladesh and Pakistan, is on September 2.Geoff Lawson, the former Australian fast bowler and current coach of Pakistan, sees the tournament as an opportunity to practice. “We can prepare strategies, try and find the right balances, work out plans and play any number of practice games but that can only take you so far,” Lawson said. “Until the first match happens, we won’t really know what to expect.”Pakistan, with big names that can attract the crowds in Nairobi, are easy favourites to lift the tournament because of their Twenty20 experience. Shoaib Malik, who recently said that the captaincy has made him stronger, Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi are all big hitters of the cricket ball, and Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar are two exciting fast bowlers who form a lethal opening combination.Bangladesh, who have not played international cricket since late July, warmed up for the Twenty20 World Championship with a number of practice matches in Mirpur, near Dhaka. Mohammad Ashraful, the captain, hoped this tournament would offer much-needed exposure ahead of the bigger prize in South Africa.”It is good for us to play in this tournament since we expect the Kenyan conditions to be the same as in South Africa,” he told AFP. “We have not played many Twenty20 matches and this tournament will help gauge the playing abilities of the players.”Kenya struggled recently against the A sides of India and Sri Lanka and have little experience of the Twenty20 game. Uganda, led by Joel Olweny, have four Under-19 players – Roger Mukasa, Arthur Kyobe, Charles Waiswa and Ronald Ssemanda – and three new faces in Martin Ondeko, Kebba Nicholas and Jeremy Kibuuka-Musoke.The four-day competition will be completed when Pakistan face Kenya on September 4; two days later the teams – barring Uganda – fly to Johannesburg for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has dismissed media reports that it was unhappy with Sunil Gavaskar and was planning to challenge his role as ICC’s head of Cricket Committee as “rubbish and baseless”.”We are neither making any report nor intend to make any report against Sunil Gavaskar. We respect and accept his decisions,” Abbas Zaidi, the PCB’s director board operations, told PTI from Lahore.The PCB was said to be very unhappy with the influence Gavaskar has over decisions, and this week’s appointment of Javagal Srinath as an ICC match referee ahead of any of the four individuals it nominated appears to have been the final straw. Pakistan’s rejected nominees were Colonel Naushad Ali, Talat Ali, Pervez Sajjad and Hasan Jameel.”It’s no secret that Pakistan is not very satisfied with the working of the former Indian captain as head of the committee playing and they feel the time has come now for a change at the head of this committee,” a PCB source was quoted as saying by The News.But Zaidi reiterated that the PCB doesn’t make these sorts of irresponsible statements. “These may be the views of one or two people, I don’t know, but the PCB has got nothing to do with these statements. We are an affiliated unit of the ICC and if we have any problems, we now how to address them. We don’t believe in issuing statements or maligning any office-bearer of the ICC, particularly of the stature of Gavaskar.”

The national selection committee announced a squad of 26 players to attend the third and final training and fitness camp to be held in Karachi. The camp, that runs from July 27 to August 6, will be supervised by Talat Ali with Haroon Rashid and Aaqib Javed serving as batting and bowling coaches respectively.Asim Kamal, thought by many as the perfect heir to Inzamam-ul-Haq, has been omitted from the third fitness camp even after being part of the 22 that took part in the second camp in Lahore. Five new faces, including fast bowler Mohammad Irshad, batsmen Shahid Yousuf, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor and left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir have been added to the squad for the Karachi camp.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, a prolific performer for Pakistan during the absence of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, has been overlooked again for the camps. Naved, currently playing for Sussex, was neither named in the first two camps nor was he awarded a central contract.A 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa will be named at the end of the camp. According to sources, Younis Khan, who is currently playing county cricket in England, is most likely to be selected in the 15-member squad despite not being included in the list of 26 probables. The selected squad would then attend the final phase of the camp at Gaddafi Stadium from August 19 to 26.Squad: Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, Najaf Shah, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irshad, Khurram Manzoor, Shoaib Akhtar, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Hafeez, Rao Iftikhar, Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanveer, Yasir Hameed, Naveed Latif, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Abdul Razzaq, Umer Gul, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, Shahid Yousuf, Misbah Ul Haq, Imran Nazir, Khalid Latif

The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced that Shaharyar M Khan has replaced Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia as its chairman.Shaharyar Khan, who is 69 and a member of MCC, enjoyed a distinguished political career. He had a spell as Pakistan’s foreign secretary, and was also an ambassador and a high commissioner between 1957 and 1994. He comes from a large sporting family. The senior Nawab of Pataudi was his uncle, and the junior Nawab – Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi – is his first cousin.In a statement published today, Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf, who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief, welcomed Shaharyar Khan into his new role, and also praised Tauqir Zia, who announced his resignation last week. He pointed out Zia’s “services for the uplift of the sport”, and praised “his role in the rebuilding of the Pakistan cricket team”. President Musharraf also mentioned the improvement of cricket at grass-roots level, especially the new academies, which took place under Zia’s time in charge. He concluded that his contribution would be remembered in years to come.Zia himself also issued a statement, saying he approved of his successor. “I spoke to him over the telephone in the afternoon and congratulated him,” he said. “We have worked together during the time we were preparing for the World Cup, and I find him an extremely knowledgable person.”He added: “As he has been with the team on a couple of occasions, he understands the players well and their requirements. He has the passion for cricket which will certainly make him a successful administrator.”

Back in December 1959, Australia were, as they are now, the finest team in the world, having routed England 4-0 in the previous Ashes series. And when they thrashed India by an innings and plenty at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi, the Indian selectors knew that changes were needed to prevent total annihilation.Three years earlier, Richie Benaud’s legspin – his match figures of 11 for 105 remains the best by an Australian in India – had helped clinch victory in a hard-fought game at the Eden Gardens as Australia won their first series on Indian soil 2-0. The drawn match at the Brabourne Stadium had also been dominated by the visitors, with Burke and Neil Harvey scoring big hundreds. India’s riposte had been led by Gulabrai Ramchand’s 109, and three years later, he found himself leading the side against a team that could boast of the talents of Benaud, Harvey, Norm O’Neill and Alan Davidson.

Ramchand needed a secret weapon, and he found one in the unlikely figure of Jasu Patel, an offspinner, whose relatively undistinguished career was thought to be almost over at 35. Patel’s quirky action flummoxed the Australians, and despite Davidson bowling superbly for match figures of 12 for 124, it was Patel – with 9 for 69 and 5 for 55 – who spun India to a historic 119-run victory.It was to be an engrossing five-match rubber, decided at the Corporation Stadium in Madras where Les Favell’s only Test century inspired an innings-and-55-run triumph. But Benaud’s men were more than just a great side, and despite touring conditions that were nothing like as comfortable as they are now, they won admirers everywhere for the manner in which they conducted themselves.Honours were shared five years later, as another Australian win at Chepauk was offset by a tremendous rearguard action from Chandu Borde at the Brabourne as India eked out a two-wicket victory. Bill Lawry made significant contributions with the bat on that tour, batting with typical cussedness against the spin of Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bapu Nadkarni, but it would be as captain that he would garner the headlines five years later.Unfortunately for Lawry and Australia, their 3-1 triumph would be overshadowed by the public relations disasters that dogged the tour at every step. A controversial umpiring decision on the penultimate day at Bombay – Srinivas Venkataraghavan was adjudged caught behind after his flail at an Alan Connolly delivery had missed the bat by about a foot – resulted in rioting in the stands, and projectiles being thrown at the Australians after Lawry refused to lead his team off the field.Australia won that game by eight wickets, and after a draw in Kanpur, the teams proceeded to Delhi where Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna bowled India to victory despite a marvellous 138 from Ian Chappell. India were left to score 181, and Ajit Wadekar saw them home with an accomplished unbeaten 91. It was all to play for when the teams arrived at the Eden Gardens, but sadly – not for the last time in the stadium’s annals it must be said – events off the field would cast a pall of gloom over what happened in the middle.A surge in the demand for tickets caused a stampede on the final day, and India’s meek capitulation led to further unruly behaviour in the stands. After Lawry had a mid-pitch altercation with a local photographer during a hold-up in play, Australia knocked off the 39 needed for victory. But any thoughts of celebration were stifled by the anger of the local population which pelted the Australia team bus as they left for the airport.

A 77-run win in Madras clinched the series 3-1, but Lawry’s team for South Africa – where they would be routed 4-0 by Ali Bacher’s side – having won few admirers. They haven’t won in India since. The golden generation that followed never toured India, thanks to the vagaries of the international schedule and World Series Cricket, and as a result, Indian spectators never got the chance to watch the likes of Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Rodney Marsh in action.After a weakened Australian team was pummelled 2-0 in 1978-79, India had to wait until 1986 for the next group of Australian visitors. Despite being rated as one of the poorest teams to leave Australian shores, Allan Border’s men left their mark, with the first Test in Madras ending in the most dramatic of ties.With India needing 348 on the final day, Greg Matthews trapped Maninder Singh leg before in the final over to steal the limelight from Dean Jones, who had batted over eight hours in oppressive heat and humidity for his 210 before being taken to hospital to be administered a drip.The rivalry intensified in the 1998 when Australia – who had been thrashed in a one-off Test at Delhi in 1996 – were routed in Chennai and Kolkata, before they salvaged some pride with a Michael Kasprowicz-inspired coup at Bangalore. Sachin Tendulkar gave Shane Warne nightmares, smashing 155 (191 balls) at Chennai and following up with an awe-inspiring 177 (207 balls) at Bangalore.In 2001, even he would be eclipsed by VVS Laxman, who matched and then eclipsed Ian Botham’s Headingley heroics of 1981 with a glorious 281 at Kolkata after India had been asked to follow-on. Thrashed out of sight in Mumbai after Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist had slammed imperious centuries, India were down and out at the Eden Gardens despite Harbhajan Singh’s first-innings hat-trick. But Laxman and Rahul Dravid, who made 180, gave their team the kiss of life, and another devastating spell from Harbhajan, backed up by the legspin of Tendulkar, on the final afternoon saw Australia surrender a match that they should at least have drawn.And though Hayden battered his way to a splendid 203 in the decider at Chennai, a Tendulkar hundred gave India the buffer they needed as Harbhajan, with 15 wickets for the match and 32 for the series, spun Australia out. Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath bowled magnificently on the final afternoon with India needing only 155, but Harbhajan was on hand at the finish, with Sameer Dighe, as India closed out the most celebrated series victory of modern times.Steve Waugh, who had carved out a gutsy 110 in front of an adoring crowd at Kolkata, would retire two years later, and his dreams of crossing what had been called Australian cricket’s final frontier would remain unfulfilled. When Adam Gilchrist and his men take to the field on Wednesday, they will need to draw inspiration from Benaud and his team of long ago, who not only mastered Indian conditions, but did so without antagonising the locals like Lawry was to a decade later.

The $5 million winner-takes-all Stanford 20/20 SuperStar game between West Indies and South Africa due to be played on November 10 has been cancelled.The decision was made almost inevitable once the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to amend the itinerary for the forthcoming West Indies tour to allow leading players to take part in the Stanford match.”To say I am disappointed is an understatement,” admitted Allen Stanford, the Texas-based millionaire who is the main organiser behind Stanford 20/20. “We are frustrated at the turn of events, especially in light of the fact that the date for the Stanford Super Star Match was approved by both the WICB and the ICC from January 2006. However, we have always said that we would not do anything which conflicts with, or compromises West Indies cricket and so we have decided that it is in the best interest of everyone involved, especially the players, that we cancel the Super Star Match.”Perhaps the most disappointing fact about the cancellation is that the West Indies tour to Pakistan was not finalised until August, more than two months after the agreement with South Africa for the November match was confirmed. The West Indies board informed Stanford that an application had been submitted to the PCB to delay the start of the tour so that the conflict could be resolved. The PCB was unable to accommodate the request.In a last ditch effort to salvage the match, Stanford asked if the WICB could provide the names of those players that would be on the team to Pakistan so that a side could be selected out of those not going on the tour, but a spokesman for Stanford said this was also “not accommodated by the WICB leaving no alternative but cancellation”.Some of the players training at the Super Star team camp would be a natural choice for the Pakistan tour. “We did not want to put these players in a position where they would have to choose between our event and playing for the West Indies,” explained Stanford. “This would be unfair to them, and one of our goals has always been to foster the positive and successful development of our athletes.”The Super Star camp began in Antigua on August 23 and yesterday Stanford himself gave the news to the players via teleconference. “I am very, very hurt and disappointed,” said Pedro Collins. “I wish that things like this could be resolved amicably in future. Playing against South Africa would have been a great opportunity for the young players to establish themselves in world cricket.”The Stanford 20/20 board will meet on Monday in Antigua where the future of the Stanford 20/20 programme will be discussed.

A dramatic day at Newlands witnessed 18 wickets fall, but the bat finally dominated during the final session as the Cape Cobras took a firm grip against the Titans. The day began with Alfonso Thomas tearing through the Cape Cobras with a career-best 7 for 54 as the last six wickets fell for 40 runs. However, the Titans then collapsed in more spectacular fashion as they crumbled for 103 with Vernon Philander rushing through the tail with 4 for 6. But sanity prevailed as the Cape Cobras built on their first innings lead with Andrew Puttick striking a measured half-century and Herschelle Gibbs a boundary-studded 56.Matthew Harris hit his second hundred in two matches as the Lions gained a 104-run lead over the Warriors. The wicketkeeper came in at 161 for 4 and was last-man out after facing 143 balls. His hundred built on the solid work from Justin Ontong and Neil McKenzie, who added 130 for the third wicket, but it would not have been possible without the obdurate support of Gerhard de Bruin who made 16 in almost two hours. Harris and de Bruin added 90 after the Lions slipped to 226 for 8. Johan Botha, the offspinner, enhanced his international claims with four wickets as South Africa considers their spin bowling options for the tour of India.An impressive performance from the Dolphins’ top order put them on course for a sizeable lead against the Eagles. They already hold a 74 run advantage following Imraan Khan’s 118. His century was the major contribution while Hashim Amla and Dale Benkenstein also passed fifty. Benkenstein will aim to build on today’s work, ending the day unbeaten on 71. Nicky Boje kept a semblance of control on the scoring rate, toiling through 26 overs and claiming 2 for 55.

Lancashire handed the National League title they have won for the last two years to Gloucestershire by beating Somerset in a thrilling day-night match at Old Trafford.Somerset were the only team who could overhaul Gloucestershire but they fell 10 runs short of Lancashire’s 236 for four despite a brilliant century from their Australian captain Jamie Cox – with Gloucestershire’s players watching nervously in a Brighton hotel.Lancashire are still virtually certain to be relegated but at least they salvaged some pride despite the absence of four England players – Mike Atherton, Andy Flintoff and the injured John Crawley and Peter Martin.Sourav Ganguly was their hero, scoring his third one-day century of the season after stand-in skipper Warren Hegg had won the toss and chosen to bat.Ganguly, who has failed to score a century in the Championship, made 102 from 137 balls with eight boundaries, sharing stands of 82 with Mark Chilton and 115 in 19 overs with Neil Fairbrother.It took the Indian left-hander’s tally in 11 National League games to 532 runs at an average of almost 60, in addition to 262 runs from four NatWest Trophy innings.Fairbrother also played a key role with another one-day masterclass, scoring 62 from 56 balls with six fours and a pair of sixes over long on.Mark Lathwell gave Somerset’s reply the perfect start with 53 from 83 balls including six stylish boundaries.He was bowled by Gary Keedy but as long as Cox was in, Somerset’s title hopes were very much alive.The Tasmanian cruised to three figures in only 98 balls despite only hitting five boundaries, including a straight six off Chris Schofield.But Schofield played a vital part in Lancashire’s victory, claiming the wickets of Michael Burns and Ian Blackwell and also running out Keith Parsons with a direct hit from backward point.But as so often for Lancashire, it was Ian Austin who applied the finishing touches.Somerset needed 23 from three overs when Austin returned to the attack and he put Somerset under so much pressure that Cox was run out by Glen Chapple.Austin then polished off two wickets in the last over as Lancashire enjoyed only their fifth win of the season.But they will hardly have enjoyed handing the title to Gloucestershire, who virtually condemned them to relegation at Bristol on Monday after beating them at the semi final stage of both the NatWest Trophy and Benson and Hedges Cup earlier this season.

Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the third day of the Jamaica Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 mb
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Audio length: 6.38 minsA series win outside the subcontinent has been India’s Holy Grail for the last few years, and they finally sealed one at Jamaica – their first after the win against England in 1986, if one discounts the win against Zimbabwe last year. Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the importance of this win, as well as the gains both sides have taken from this tour. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 mb
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA