All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardA century from Kyle Coetzer helped Northamptonshire pocket four batting bonus points in their rain-affected Division Two clash with Leicestershire at Grace Road. Alex Wakely also chipped in with a solid 63, before allrounder David Willey hit a quickfire 45, allowing Northants to declare.That left Leicestershire with 16 overs to negotiate before the close and they were soon in trouble, losing two early wickets. Chaminda Vaas, the former Sri Lanka bowler, bagged them both, dismissing Greg Smith and Kadeer Ali, via edges to wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien, as the home side reached stumps on 38 for 2.With more than a day and a half already lost to the weather, there seemed little else left in the match other than a battle for bonus points. At least conditions were much brighter at the start of the third day, although there was still a delay of 35 minutes to complete mopping-up operations, before Northants could resume on 99 for 3.Coetzer, on 43, took another 39 balls to reach his 50 as he and Wakely carefully added to their fourth-wicket partnership. They looked in little trouble, and Wakely reached his half-century off 95 balls with four boundaries. The stand went past the 100 mark before the introduction of offspinner Josh Cobb finally brought Leicestershire a wicket.Wakely, surprised by a low full toss, popped up an easy return catch to Cobb but Coetzer continued to bat with confidence and purpose, reaching his first century for Northants with a glorious cover drive to the boundary off Robbie Joseph. It was his 12th four, and another five followed in rapid succession before Nathan Buck, playing his first Championship game of the season after a back injury, snapped up two wickets in an over.Andrew Hall pulled a long hop to midwicket and Coetzer edged to second slip before O’Brien fell cheaply, but James Middlebrook and Willey joined forces in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 61 in 10 overs. Willey struck five fours and two massive sixes in his sparkling innings, while were two wickets each for Leicestershire seamers Matthew Hoggard, Joseph and Buck.

Mark Ramprakash, the most prolific batsman in English first-class cricket, has become the first player to crack under the pressure of playing on county pitches that are more treacherous than they have been for 25 years.With April looking bound to become the wettest on record, and flood alerts anticipated in many regions over the next four days, the ECB’s gamble on the earliest start to the Championship season has already turned sour.Ramprakash, who at 42 is England’s most experienced current player, has been penalised under the ECB disciplinary code for abusive language to the umpires Nigel Llong and Jeff Evans during Surrey’s Championship match against Worcestershire at The Oval last week.All 22 players batted on the third day, with Ramprakash getting one of the unkindest deliveries of all – a shooter from Alan Richardson which extended one of his most unsuccessful sequences in a record-breaking career. Surrey’s first-innings total of 140 was their lowest at The Oval since 1999.Ramprakash, who is now only one transgression away from an automatic suspension, has condemned the start to the Championship season as “a lottery” and described batting conditions as the most difficult since his career began in 1987 – a debut that coincided with English cricket’s final move to an era of covered pitches.”There has been extravagant movement and it has made batting at times a lottery,” Ramprakash told The Daily Telegraph. “In our dressing room we are saying that conventional play is not effective and you feel like you need to chance your arm because the bowlers are so much in the ascendancy.”It is the hardest I have found it since 1987 when I started. I think it is really tough, especially for the younger players who have worked hard all winter. It is hard and the guys don’t know whether to stick or twist at the moment. You try to ‘guts it out’ but then you feel it is not getting any easier and you never really get in.”The pitches are doing plenty throughout the game. It has been very difficult and it is more about trying to bat in a very aggressive way whenever possible. I don’t feel that is proper batting. I feel proper batting is treating the ball on its merits.”Groundsmen, who have been allowed minimal square preparation time in a season that began on April 5, the earliest Championship start date ever, have pronounced it virtually impossible to produce good batting pitches in cold, wet weather that makes it difficult to remove enough moisture from the pitches.Players brought up on dry four-day pitches, and influenced by the more aggressive nature of the one-day game, have shown little appetite for the sort of dutiful, defensive innings that were a regular feature of the game in the era of uncovered pitches. England’s professional game switched to covered pitches in 1980; a further experiment in 1987, Ramprakash’s debut season, in which pitches were left uncovered during the hours of play, was abandoned after only one year.Ramprakash was reported by the umpires for a level one breach of the code: using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting and/or making an obscene gesture. An ECB statement said: “As this incident follows a previous breach of the fixed penalty system within the last two years, Ramprakash has received three penalty points. This penalty will remain on his record for a period of two years and he now holds six penalty points. The accumulation of nine or more penalty points in any two-year period will result in an automatic suspension.”April is expected to be the wettest on record with some areas forecast to be hit by a month’s rain over a few days as the drought that has afflicted many parts of the country breaks in spectacular fashion. The Met Office has issued several severe weather alerts, with southern England and eastern Scotland likely to be worst affected. “Strong and gusty winds and significant and heavy falls of snow on higher ground” are also predicted over the coming days.Ramprakash, who has 114 first-class centuries, the most made by any current player, has managed only 62 runs in six innings at an average of 10.33 so far this season. He will attempt to put that right, weather permitting, against Durham at The Oval tomorrow, one of eight Championship matches scheduled. Rain is forecast in all of them with temperatures forecast to be as low as 7C.Edited by Alan Gardner

ScorecardVarun Chopra succeeded where others had failed to build on Warwickshire’s bowling effort•Getty Images

It will be an irony lost to few in Essex that, while the club finds itself in Division Two of the County Championship, two of its old boys who struggled to find a role at Chelmsford, are producing sterling performances for a club that could well challenge for the title.By the time Chris Wright realised his career at Essex was going nowhere – about midway through last year – he was 26 years old and had a bowling average uncomfortably close to 40. The future was not bright for a fast bowler who had already had a spell with Middlesex.Declining the offer of a contract from Gloucestershire, Wright instead took his chances with a month-long trial at Warwickshire towards the end of last season. The instigator of the move was Graeme Welch, previously bowling coach at Essex and now performing the same role with Warwickshire, who always felt that Wright was a man with more to offer.It has proved a masterstroke. Wright, inspired with fulsome backing of his colleagues and coaches, has grasped his chance gleefully and, such was his potency on the first day of this game, that Warwickshire barely had cause to miss the injured pair of Boyd Rankin and Chris Woakes. Generating sharp pace, using the crease intelligently and hitting the pitch hard, Wright gained consistent seam movement and, in four-and-a-half Championship games, has now taken 26 wickets at only 22.38 for his new club.”I’m not doing anything differently,” he said. “I was playing well for the seconds at Essex, but they have a strong attack and I wasn’t selected for the first team. We used the new ball well today, but it’s not a 150 pitch. It looks a good pitch.”Wright’s bowling played a considerable part in reducing Somerset to 95 for 8; not what the visitors had in mind when they won the toss and elected to bat. It was not necessarily the wrong decision, however. While the conditions certainly provided assistance – both in the air and off the pitch – Tony Pigott the ECB pitch liaison officer declared himself satisfied and, had Somerset’s top-order shown a little more application and technical nous, they could have made the decision work for them. Warwickshire confirmed that they would also have chosen to bat.As it was, though, Warwickshire’s opening pair bowled beautifully, were well supported by their fielders and found Somerset’s batsmen just a little loose. Wright, going wide of the crease and angling the ball in, had Arul Suppiah and Craig Kieswetter taken in the slips by fine deliveries that left them off the seam, while Nick Compton was beaten by the one that went straight on.Keith Barker, the left-arm paceman, lost nothing in comparison. He consistently swung the ball into the right-handers and his opening spell to Marcus Trescothick was quite masterful. Time and again the Somerset opener was drawn forward and beaten by late away movement and it took him 18 balls to get off the mark.Eventually the pressure told. Trescothick, drawn into prodding at one, edged to second slip while next delivery, after a brief break for rain, James Hildreth’s somewhat loose drive was defeated by a superb inswinger. Later Peter Trego’s attempt to force through the off side resulted in an edge, Jos Buttler was caught down the leg side – and walked rather than waited for the umpire’s decision – and Adam Dibble set off for an unlikely single only to see his partner remain rooted in the crease.That Somerset reached as many as 147 was largely due to Vernon Philander. The South African counterattacked sensibly, pulling one six off a labouring Neil Carter and driving another off Darren Maddy. His 38 may not sound like much but, in the context of the match, could yet prove a significant contribution.The only man to score more in the day was another former Essex man, Varun Chopra. The Warwickshire opener, who scored a double-century against this opposition in the first game of last season (his first of three double-centuries in 12 months), produced an excellent demonstration of the technique and temperament required to survive in such conditions. Although batting was never easy, he left well, played straight and – crucially – took advantage of the rare poor ball. Having picked up nine runs from his first 56, he struck three boundaries in an over off Trego – each of them a delightful backfoot drive – and provided the foundations on which Warwickshire can build.His partners struggled. Ian Westwood, trapped in the crease, was beaten by a straight one, before William Porterfield was caught down the leg side and Jim Troughton, back when he should have been forward, was comprehensively bowled.Philander threatened throughout and, with a bit of luck, might have enjoyed more success. But Chopra has succeeded where Somerset’s top-order failed and, against the softening ball, batting should become easier.

ScorecardMarlon Samuels scored his second half-century of the tournament•BPL T20

Duronto Rajshahi completed the highest successful run-chase of the Bangladesh Premier League so far, knocking off the 193 required to beat Bairsal Burners in 17.1 overs for the loss of just one wicket. Barisal had set Rajshahi a daunting total, but Shahzaib Hasan and Junaid Siddique got the chase off to a blazing start with a partnership of 93 from just 6.4 overs.Shahzaib fell for 46 off 22 balls, but Siddique continued to score quickly, and was given company by Marlon Samuels. Siddique hit five sixes and seven fours in his 89 off 51 balls, and Samuels struck three sixes in his 54 off 30 balls. The pair added 100 runs in 10.3 overs, and got Rajshahi home with 17 balls to spare.Everything had seemed to be on track for Barisal when they chose to bat and got off to a quick start despite being without the injured Chris Gayle, who has flown to Durban ahead of the MiWAY T20 Challenge in South Africa. Ahmed Shehzad and Phil Mustard got them to 98 for 1 in the 12th over. Shehzad was dismissed for 44, but Mustard did not slow down, and was given support by Mithun Ali and then Rameez Raja. Mustard finished unbeaten on 88 off 58 balls, but Barisal’s 192 was not enough to beat Rajshahi.In the high-scoring game, Rajshahi legspinner Monir Hossain’s figures of 4-0-19-1 were outstanding.Following the match, Rajshahi’s coach, Khaled Mashud was penalised by match referee Mike Procter for entering the field of play during the strategic timeout. Mashud was fined 15,000 Taka since, as per the law, no officials are allowed onto the field during the course of play.

Mahela Jayawardene, in his first match back as Sri Lanka captain, made an interesting move in not picking a specialist spinner. Sri Lanka lost a close match, but Jayawardene did not think the team combination was the reason. “If we had taken the last four wickets, you would have said, ‘good combination’. We felt the pitch was such that four seamers would probably do the job for us. Picking up wickets is very crucial against India. We went with bowlers we thought could do that.”The move seemed erroneous because the India spinners bowled well and got assistance from the pitch. Between them, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja went for 73 runs in their 20 overs and picked up four wickets. “Ashwin bowled really well,” Jayawardene said. “But he is Ashwin; a tall bowler. We go with what strength we have got. We try and work on those areas, have a game plan and try to execute that.”The bowling unit did a pretty good job. Thisara [Perera] wasn’t up to the mark today. If he had been, another couple of wickets might have meant anything. Angie [Angelo Mathews] bowled really well, Dhammika [Prasad], all of those guys. I think where we went wrong was that we fell 30-40 runs short of a good total. We had a good start and just had to have one more big partnership to get to 260-270. That was our target, which we fell short of.”Sri Lanka had two half-century partnerships, three of their batsmen got starts, but no one kicked on to make a matchwinning contribution. “I thought it was a good game of cricket,” Jayawardene said. “Yes, we made a few mistakes with the batting. Small partnerships probably held us back. Other than that it was a good effort. We executed a lot of our plans.”In the big picture, considering what turmoil Sri Lankan cricket is going through, a competitive showing first-up in the Commonwealth Bank Series was not too bad a start. “We have had quite a few meetings since arriving in Australia,” Jayawardene said, “trying to cultivate a few things we want in the team: the thinking process, and getting the guys to take more responsibility and be freer out there when playing cricket.”Even today we feel we can take quite a bit from the game. The attitude, the hunger they had on the field, the fielding was fantastic, the bowling was very aggressive, which was great. Hopefully we can continue to do the good things and improve in the areas we need to.”

Group AFor the second day in a row, eighteen wickets fell at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. With two more days to go, Saurashtra brightened their hopes for a knockout berth by setting a target of 247 and then reducing Railways to 97 for 6.Railways, reeling overnight at 71 for 8, could only add a further ten runs in their first-innings. Subsequently Saurashtra, sitting on a comfortable lead of 94, failed for the second time in succession as they mustered a meagre 152, but the target set seemed to be enough going into the third day.With the exception of Ravindra Jadeja, who played late to top score with 45, the visitors showed the same lack of application as that of the Railways’ batsmen. Luckily it did not hurt Saurashtra so much as Kamlesh Makvana ripped apart the Railways’ batting order in their second innings with his fastish offbreaks, which fetched him his fifth five-for in first-class cricket. There was not much hope for Railways when senior batsmen like Sanjay Bangar and Shivakant Shukla gave away their wickets by charging out to Makvana.The Railways coach Abhay Sharma, however, didn’t blame the nature of the pitch for the slew of wickets. “Some of our batsmen played bad shots. I don’t think the curator is responsible in any way. When you have a three-day gap between two matches, a curator could have hardly done anything,” Sharma said. “In northern India, it’s difficult to water the pitch as it might remain wet and also you can’t just use the roller on a dry pitch.”Orissa were staring at a big first-innings deficit as they ended on 76 for 6 in reply to Rajasthan‘s 423 in Jaipur. Robin Bist’s unbeaten 127 and Puneet Yadav’s 63 were instrumental in Rajasthan getting to an imposing score. The pair added 124 for the fifth wicket before Yadav was caught behind by Alok Mangaraj. The 24-year-old Bist, originally from Delhi, continued till he ran out of partners, hitting 16 fours in his knock. This is his fourth century in five matches for Bist, who at 829 runs is the top run-maker of season so far. Basanth Mohanty finished with 4 for 104.Rajasthan’s Pankaj Singh then made early inroads with the ball before Sumit Mathur, instrumental in Rajasthan’s victory against Saurashtra last week, took three wickets in five overs to leave the visitors in trouble. With Orissa still adrift by 347 runs, the defending champions would like the enforce the follow-on and try and go for an innings victory to get the bonus points and keep alive the chance of a knockout berth for second year in a row. If they do manage to do that, Rajasthan would have to thank Bist a lot. “This has been my best season in Ranji Trophy. Before this season, I had just one Ranji century. Now, I have five,” Bist told the at the end of the second day’s play.Wasim Jaffer became the highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy and, along with the belligerent Suryakumar Yadav, steered Mumbai past Punjab‘s first-innings total during a typically elegant knock. Punjab toiled all day but were blunted by Mumbai’s ultra-defensive approach in the first session, and later by Jaffer’s and Yadav’s aggression. With Saurashtra and Rajasthan in strong positions in their games, Punjab’s chances of making the quarter-finals were slim. Read the full report here.The second day’s play in Shimoga followed the course of the first, as Uttar Pradesh mirrored Karnataka‘s batting effort to finish 39 runs short of the first-innings lead, with four wickets standing. Like their Karnataka counterparts on day one, UP built a solid base in the morning, only to lose wickets in a clump in the lead-up to tea. Like Stuart Binny on the first day, Mohammad Kaif battled through the slump, before stalling it with a dogged seventh-wicket stand. Read the full report here.Group BTamil Nadu strengthened their position against Madhya Pradesh in Chennai, with Dinesh Karthik scoring 156 – his second century in as many games – to take the team to 486. The hosts then consolidated their position by sending the vistors’ top order comprising Naman Ojha, Mohnish Mishra and Devendra Bundela – essentially the MP batting’s engine-room – back to the dressing room in no time.Earlier Karthik was bold in his strokeplay, despite having only the tail for support. Yo Mahesh, M Rangarajan and L Balaji all frustrated the MP bowlers, while Karthik went from strength to strength. After the debuant Amarjeet Singh failed to latch on a hard-hit return catch when Karthik was on 89, the former Tamil Nadu captain progressed to make 156. For MP, Ishwar Pandey finished with 4 for 123 off nearly 40 overs. Zafar Ali, the MP opener, witnessed three partners depart before stumps, leaving plenty for the visitors to do on the third day to match TN’s score.Gritty half-centuries from Sourav Ganguly and Anustup Majumdar put Bengal well on course to take a first-innings lead against Baroda at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. It was an eventful day for Ganguly who started the morning by wrapping up the Baroda innings while he finished with figures of 3 for 1. But Bengal were in for a rude jolt when they were wobbling at 98 for 4, which included the wicket of Manoj Tiwary, who had scored a century in each of his previous three matches. Bengal lost their opener Jayojit Basu to the left-arm seamer Gagandeep Singh, before Firdaush Bhaja had Arindam Das caught in the slips. Shreevats Goswami’s boundary-filled 38 came to an end when he nicked Gagandeep to the keeper. Gagandeep struck again when he had Manoj Tiwary caught at cover.Luckily Ganguly found a stable partner in Majumdar and the paired added vital 93 runs for the fifth wicket before the former Indian captain retired hurt due a left hamstring pull. Till then, Ganguly had 60 runs to his credit including nine fours. Majumdar, who ended the day unbeaten on 71, added a further 73 with Laxmi Shukla before stumps.Gujarat just about managed to take a slender first-innings lead of 21 runs against Haryana in Surat. Resuming on 46 for 1, the Gujarat top order showed an appalling lack of discipline and application, with no one managing even a half century. Luckily for the team, Pratharesh Parmar and Manprit Juneja showed some resistance, adding 63 for the fifth wicket, to help Gujarat to match Haryana’s score. For Haryana the job was done by India legspinner Amit Mishra and the debutant offspinner Jayant Yadav, as the pair took three wickets apiece to peg the hosts back. The other debutant, Mohit Sharma, took two wickets.Haryana erased the deficit of 21 by ending the day on a healthy 61 for no loss. If Gujarat lose this match, they would be relegated to the Plate division. And with the pitch aiding the spinners, a result seems likely. “The match is wide open and any target above 250-275 is going to be difficult to chase in the fourth innings on this ground with the wicket taking spin,” Jayendra Saigal, the Gujarat coach, said. “Our batsmen did not do justice to their talent today.”

ScorecardMonty Panesar staked his claim for a Test recall with a five-wicket haul on the second day of England’s final warm-up match against a Pakistan Board XI in Dubai. Panesar helped England end the day with a lead of 151 after their openers reached stumps on 82 without loss.By outbowling Graeme Swann – who finished with just one wicket from his 29 overs – Panesar made a strong case for inclusion as the second spinner in the team for the first Test against Pakistan. Panesar’s last Test came in Cardiff at the start of the 2009 Ashes and it would still require a significant change of heart from the England management to alter their policy of fielding three seamers and six specialist batsmen.Panesar, making intelligent use of a worn pitch, sparked a collapse that saw the PCB XI lose five wickets for 28 runs. Only an unbeaten half-century from Raza Hasan frustrated England, with the teenage tailender recording his highest first-class score while adding 54 for the ninth-wicket with Mohammad Talha.Panesar, sometimes hurrying the batsmen but also displaying some pleasing variation, first had Fawad Alam caught at short mid-wicket off bat and pad before Haris Sohail missed a straight one and Swann had Sarfraz Ahmed caught at silly-point. Mohammad Ayub Dogar was then caught behind off an outside edge before Yasir Shah was caught at slip.But Hasan and Talha then resisted for 28 overs, with the latter twice heaving Swann for leg-side sixes, before Panesar found enough turn to take the edge of his bat.Earlier there were wickets for seamers Graham Onions and Chris Tremlett. Onions, playing his first game for England in more than two years after a serious back injury, struck with the fourth ball of the day trapping Nasir Jamshed lbw before Tremlett defeated Afaq Raheem – half forward to one that struck him low on the pad – and had Usman Salahuddin caught behind, fencing at one outside off stump.With Alastair Cook having scored heavily on this tour, England took the opportunity to provide extra batting practise for some of their other batsmen. Jonathan Trott, opening with Andrew Strauss, responded with an untroubled performance as the pair reached the close with few alarms.

Shane Watson has conceded that he is unlikely to be able to bowl in the Boxing Day Test as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury. Watson will join his batting colleagues at a camp in Melbourne next week to prepare for the first Test against India, but having played no cricket since the tour of South Africa he needs to prove that he is ready for Test cricket again.Shaun Marsh is expected to miss the Melbourne Test as he battles an ongoing back problem, while Phillip Hughes is almost certain to be axed. Should Watson not be considered fit, that would raise the prospect of a debut for the in-form Tasmania opener Ed Cowan, who is set to play in the three-day Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI match against the Indians in Canberra.Watson will miss the Sydney Sixers’ opening Big Bash League match as he aims to be fit for Boxing Day. He said he was hoping to be available for the Test and would like his role to be clearly defined, having carried the burden of opening the batting and bowling plenty of medium-pace over the past year.”There’s no doubt that would be great if my role was defined,” Watson told reporters on Wednesday. “But my role … most [probably] will be different if I’m not bowling in Melbourne.”I might not be available as an allrounder in Melbourne, so it’s going to be hard to exactly define my role before Boxing Day because I won’t be bowling. But there’s no doubt for my piece of mind and for the team’s it would be nice to know what they see me as and for the balance of the team to get the best out of myself.””I’m not that confident [of being picked] because in the end I haven’t played for three or four weeks. There’s no doubt I’d love to be able to play on Boxing Day. With a preparation of about a week … I feel like I’d be able to be in a good place with my batting alone. I’d be confident that I’d able to play close to my best if not at my best on Boxing Day if selected.”

Daren Ganga has resigned as the captain of the Trinidad & Tobago national team with immediate effect after nine-years at the helm. He made the announcement in a press release issued on Saturday.”It is with great humility and a deep sense of gratitude that I announce my resignation from the post of captain of the Trinidad and Tobago team, a position I have held with pride, passion and commitment over the last nine seasons,” Ganga said. “One of the most fulfilling aspects of my captaincy was the opportunity to contribute to Trinidad and Tobago’s rise from the lower tiers of West Indian cricket to the regional powerhouse it is today.”Ganga steps down as the country’s most successful captain so far, leading the team to multiple championships during his tenure, including back-to-back WICB 50-Over Championship in 2008 and 2009, the Stanford 20/20 in 2008 and Caribbean T20 earlier this year. He also led the team to the finals of the first Champions League T20 in 2009. This season, in addition to winning the T20 tournament, T&T also reached the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Tournament and were beaten finalists in the Regional Super50.According to Ganga, “the emergence of a pool of potential leaders within the team” led him to conclude that now was the right time for him to give up the captaincy. However, he remains committed to the side and offered his support to whoever takes his place.”I wish to make it abundantly clear that I am not retiring from cricket and I continue to make myself available for selection on the national cricket team and pledge my support to the new captain.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was a day for spinners to play starring roles with the bat•AFP

Piyush Chawla was run out off what turned out to be the last ball of a dramatic final, as India Red matched India Green’s score of 238 to share the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. India Red were out of the game when they lost their fifth wicket in the 23rd over with just 102 on the board, but Chawla held the lower order together and whittled down the target. When Bhargav Bhatt was ninth out, they still needed 26 off 16 balls, and Chawla’s dare-devilry almost got them over the line.The match boiled down to the last over with Chawla chasing 17 off left-arm seamer Samad Fallah, who was enduring a horrid night. A dot ball, a slogged couple and a wide reduced it to 14 off 4, with Chawla having to hit a boundary to stay in the game. He responded by lofting Fallah over mid-off to make it 10 off 3, before pushing two more through long-on. Fallah’s penultimate ball was fuller on off stump, and Chawla launched it over the sightscreen for a six that made India Red favourites for the first time in the last quarter of the game.With two needed off the last ball, Chawla was set on running, regardless of what happened. As it transpired, Fallah bowled a wide down the leg side. The non-striker Jaydev Unadkat rightly declined the single but Chawla had charged across to the bowler’s end, allowing CM Gautam to break the stumps and tie the game. The ending was reminiscent of the finish to an India-Zimbabwe ODI in 1997, when Robin Singh was the last man out off a wide, which left the scores level. The finish also had similarities to the famous tie involving Lance Klusener and Allan Donald in the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Australia.That such an electric denouement was possible was down to Chawla’s second score in the 90s in a century-less List-A career. By the time he took guard, Abhimanyu Mithun and Harbhajan Singh had made incisions through the top order to push the chase into freefall. Chawla kept fighting, though Iqbal Abdulla kept striking at the other end. Chawla worked the fields to move to 40 off 48 balls by the end of 40 overs before stepping up. His first six came off T Suman in the 41st over, and he began to target Fallah towards the closing stages, picking up two fours in the 46th over. Bhatt’s exit in the 48th left India Green a wicket away from victory, but Chawla forced them to share the trophy.India Green’s batting effort was an equally up-and-down affair on a pitch that offered spin and bounce. S Anirudha and Mohammad Kaif were the only top-order batsmen to come to terms with the surface, before a triple-strike from the seamers in the middle overs reduced India Green from 134 for 3 to 151 for 6. Harbhajan Singh hauled his side out of the doldrums with a responsible innings, where he overcame his propensity for flashy strokes.Tail-enders Sumit Narwal, Abdulla and Abhimanyu Mithun played around Harbhajan, who made an unbeaten 49 off 54 balls despite not slogging till the very end. The headlines, however, were stolen by the batting efforts of an opposition spinner.