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Nepal Under-19s went to the top of the table with a crushing 159-run win overVanuatu at YMCA Club. Half-centuries from opener Sagar Pun andNo. 3 Naresh Budayair, and a generous 34 wides from Vanuatu, powered Nepalto 250. Seamer Shem Sala was the most successful Vanuatu bowler,taking three wickets for 49. Vanuatu’s chase never got going as medium-pacerKrishna Karki sliced through the top order, leaving them at 20 for 4. NalinNipiko was the only batsman to put up any resistance, remaining unbeaten on36, as his side were rolled over for 91, with left-arm spinner RahulVishwakarma taking four late wickets.Ireland Under-19s stayed in touch at the top with their third win of thetournament, a tight two-wicket final-over victory over Kenya Under-19s at ObservatoryLane. After being put in, Kenya rustled up a competitive 222, withDuncan Allan’s 123 being the centerpiece of the innings. Only two otherbatsmen, Rakep Patel and Kennedy Ochieng, made it to double digits but bothwere involved in substantial partnerships with Allan. Ireland’s chancesseemed virtually extinguished when they slipped to 56 for 5, buthalf-centuries from Shane Getkate and Graeme McCarter put them back oncourse. No. 9 Barry McCarthy then swung a 23-ball 26 and, with the help ofJoshua Hall (10*), took Ireland home with three deliveries to spare.Mital Patel’s six-wicket haul propelled USA Under-19s to victory against Afghanistan Under-19s at The Hills Cricket Club Ground in Dublin. Afghanistan batted first, but Mital got into the act with early wickets. At 60 for 5, it seemed to be one-way traffic, but Nasir Ahmadzai and Najibullah Zadran added 94 to lend the score some respectability. A target of 183, however, was not enough to pull off victory, though USA lost seven wickets in the chase before getting there in the 45th over.Namibia Under-19s pulled off their third win in four games when they overhauled Canada Under-19s‘ score of 236 in 48.5 overs at The Inch in Dublin. Canada’s score was built around an unbeaten century from No. 3 Nikhil Dutta, who resisted an incisive spell from Stephen Baard (5-49). Early wickets left Namibia’s chase in a spot of bother at 62 for 4 and later 122 for 5, but Merwe Erasmus and Zhivago Groenewald turned things around. Groenewald struck five fours and as many sixes in his 68 that came off 61 balls as Namibia won by three wickets.Joining Nepal, Ireland and Namibia on six points was Scotland Under-19s, who needed a 43-ball 69 from No. 7 Henry Edwards to take them to a two-wicket win over Papua New Guinea at Oak Hill Cricket Club. The match was reduced to 33 overs a side, and Scotland were left chasing 156 after Peter Legget’s three wickets helped them bowl PNG out. Scotland stuttered in the chase and were 67 for 5 before Edwards came to their rescue. PNG seamers Raymond Haoda and Norman Vanua took seven wickets between them, but Scotland got home with 11 balls to spare.

The Sri Lanka sports minister has written to his Indian counterpart asking him to intervene in the dispute over releasing Indian players for the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), according to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Somachandra de Silva. Officials from the two countries’ cricket boards met in Hong Kong, on the sidelines of the ICC conference, on Tuesday to discuss the issue again but were unable to make any progress.”We had a discussion with the BCCI asking them to release the players,” de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “Earlier they had sent a letter signed by Mr Srinivasan, the secretary of the BCCI, saying they are going to release the players for our tournament. So now that they have changed their minds and for that we are very sad and disappointed. Even our sports minister has written to their [India’s] sports minister to try and intervene and solve this issue.”de Silva said the BCCI were adamant that they could not release the players because of the involvement of Somerset Entertainment Ventures (SEV), a private company which won the marketing rights for the SLPL, but that explanation was confusing because IMG, a private company, is involved in the IPL.”What they are saying is there is another party involved. There is no logic. What about the IPL tournament? There is another party involved – IMG. What is IMG doing with IPL?”de Silva said he was mystified by the BCCI’s stand because the two boards had a good relationship, and SLC were only asking for second-string Indian players while Sri Lanka had sent their national team to England without some of their top players because of the IPL.”Even our captain didn’t go on tour with the team. The captain went after that. So I sincerely hope the Indian cricket board will think about it again and release these players. This is not a long tournament. It is only 16 days. Not like the IPL, which is 51 days. I can’t see the reason.” Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, R Ashwin and Praveen Kumar are among the dozen Indian players reportedly signed up by the SLPL.de Silva added that the standoff has not affected the relationship between the two countries but he was disappointed by the situation. “As the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, I am sad about the whole situation. Because our relationship is so good and so I don’t know why they have refused their second-string players.”I sincerely hope that Shashank [Manohar] will go back and speak to their committee and reverse the decision.”The Sri Lankan sports minister had said last week that the BCCI had informed him that it didn’t want Indian players in the tournament because the former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was involved with it. Modi has denied having any links with the SLPL, something which SEV reiterated through a statement on Tuesday.”Contrary to recent news/media reports, SEV would like to point out emphatically that Mr. Lalit Modi has no stake or involvement whatsoever in SEV, either directly or indirectly, and has nothing to do with the SLPL or any tournaments of SLC with which SEV is involved on any level,” the statement read. “Mr. Lalit Modi is neither a partner nor a shareholder and is not associated with SEV, or its founders or shareholders, in any capacity, either now or in the past.”

Cruel arithmetic dictated that only one of Simon Katich and Michael Hussey would be handed a Cricket Australia contract for 2011-12.Born only a few months apart, the pair have a long history together, dating back to their days in Western Australia’s under-age team. Katich, 35, was best man at 36-year-old Hussey’s wedding, and was again stood to one side, this time in far unhappier circumstances, when the 25-man contract list was announced.Having produced one of the best series of his career amid a generally disastrous Australian performance in the Ashes, Hussey remains a part of the national selectors’ plans. Hobbled by an Achilles tendon injury during the second Test of the series and invalided out of the remainder of the summer, Katich can no longer join him.”I’m pretty disappointed for Kato, his contribution to the Australian team over the last few years has really been enormous so I’m very disappointed for him,” Hussey told ESPNcricinfo. “We go back right to the start – he was best man at my wedding – so you’d have to say we’re pretty good mates. My initial reaction was to be very disappointed for him.”It is a disappointing way to go out but knowing Kato he won’t think about it that way, he’ll remember all the great times he’s had with the Australian team and be proud of that. Not many players get to have the fairytale finish.”Though the older of the pair, Hussey’s physical durability has played an unquestionable part in his retention. He is clearly the more agile fielder, throwing himself around in the gully in Tests or the outfield in limited overs matches, while his powers of recuperation were made plain by a rapid rehab from a hamstring tear to reinforce Australia’s World Cup campaign.By contrast Katich has never been the most dynamic presence in the field, though he has held his share of excellent catches in the thankless position of short leg. Katich added plenty of grit to the team, but Hussey’s boundless energy fits more neatly with the vision of the new captain Michael Clarke.”I’m not sure what the selectors would’ve spoken about in relation to me but I made it clear to them that I still wanted to be a part of the Australian team, and I guess the way I got into my recovery from the hamstring tear showed that desire to still be around,” Hussey said.”I’m still enjoying playing, my physical fitness is still pretty good and I hope I can continue on. I haven’t thought about that (whether this is the last contract) and I haven’t ever thought about the end. I think if you’re starting to think about retirement then you’re already halfway there.”Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, has indicated that Hussey and Ricky Ponting will need to play a major role in mentoring the younger Australian batsmen about to come through. Hussey said he would be happy to help, though his prime goal would be to keep putting together the sort of scores he managed during the Ashes.”The most important thing for me still over the next 12 months is to be making as many runs as I possibly can,” Hussey said. “On a secondary level it will be important to help the other guys as much as I can. My way with the young guys is really to encourage them to play their way and to know their own games really well.”Before Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in August, Hussey intends to speak with CA officials about the issue of the Twenty20 Champions League, which again looms as a potential sore point for both Doug Bollinger and Hussey. They remain contracted to Chennai for a tournament that will straddle Australia’s tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa.”I haven’t spoken to anyone about it yet or had too close a look at the fixtures, but I definitely will be talking to Cricket Australia about it to make sure things run a bit more smoothly than they did last year,” Hussey said.

Scorecard
A superb century by Durham’s Ben Stokes denied Somerset victory in their County Championship match at Chester-le-Street. The 19-year-old left-hander contributed 120 to a stand of 170 with Dale Benkenstein, who resisted for 207 minutes to make 66.When Steve Kirby removed both Benkenstein and Ian Blackwell in mid-afternoon a Somerset win was still possible, but after two-and-a-half days in the field without a recognised spinner they were a spent force. Phil Mustard and Scott Borthwick shared an unbroken stand of 73 and with Durham on 489 for 6, 116 ahead after being asked to follow on, hands were shaken on a draw at the start of what would have been the final hour.Only three wickets fell on the final day – and only 22 in total over the four days – on a placid pitch on which Somerset made 610 for 6 declared batting first. Durham needed a further 146 runs to avoid an innings defeat at the start of the day, but Stokes raced from 6 to 86 in the morning session.When the new ball was taken in the day’s second over he drove Gemaal Hussain’s opening delivery to the cover boundary and a straight-driven four followed in the same over. When Somerset turned to the slow left-arm of Arul Suppiah he was driven for two huge sixes in the space of three balls.Stokes hit 10 fours in his 59-ball half-century and a back-foot four through the covers off Suppiah took him to his century. Durham were 11 runs in front when he drove outside off stump at CharlWilloughby and got an inside edge into his stumps.Benkenstein was on 52 at the time – his sixth half-century in nine innings – and on 58 he survived a confident appeal for caught behind off Kirby. He finally edged the same bowler to first slip, then Blackwell, again batting with a runner, survived a chance to Willoughby at mid-on off a miscued pull.But later in the same Kirby over he sliced a drive to gully to depart for 18. Durham led by only 43 at the time, but with his senior bowlers on their knees, Marcus Trescothick had to turn to youngsters Lewis Gregory and Alex Barrow in the final session. They were unable to make a breakthrough as Mustard made his way comfortably to 43, with Borthwick on 28 at the close.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTake that, Deccan Chargers•AFP

For a large part of his career, it was tough being Sachin Tendulkar. In the IPL, it’s tougher being Virender Sehwag. After having watched his bowlers take wickets off no-balls and his fielders drop sitters, the Delhi Daredevils captain took his frustration out on the Deccan Chargers with a blistering century, his first in Twenty20s. The assault bettered his masterpiece against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, and stunned Deccan into offering him two chances. Unmindful of the complete lack of support from his team-mates, Sehwag cashed in and drowned Deccan in a flood of boundaries that took the bite out of a challenging total. The next highest score was James Hopes’ 17.Delhi’s bowlers had been profligate in letting Deccan surge to 175, and their top order, barring Sehwag, let the pressure get to them. Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha and Venugopal Rao combusted against seam as Sehwag watched bemused from his end. From 25 for 3 in the sixth over, only Sehwag could have taken Delhi home, and he did it in some style, moving from 8 off 13 balls to 119 off 56, pushing Deccan to the brink of elimination.Sehwag has made a career out of sticking to his guns regardless of the situation, and his approach today was no different. Two balls after Venugopal Rao top-edged a pull off Ishant Sharma, Sehwag shuffled across and glanced a boundary from the middle-stump line to fine leg. In the next over, Travis Birt struggled against Daniel Christian, getting beaten three times in four balls, as the asking-rate crossed eleven at by the end of seven overs.Sehwag broke free in the next over, bowled by IPL debutant Ishan Malhotra. The first ball disappeared over deep square leg, the next over deep midwicket. Two more boundaries followed, as Sehwag looted 23 off the over. As if to dispel the notion that he had targeted just the newcomer, Sehwag plundered 13 off the next over, from Christian.Sangakkara brought on spin, so often Sehwag’s strength as well as weakness. Sehwag displayed his strength first ball, dancing down and launching Amit Mishra over the straight boundary. The weakness was on display next ball, as he rushed out again but ended up slicing to sweeper cover. That is when Deccan decided to return the earlier favours, substitute Ankit Sharma clanging a simple chance. Sehwag gladly guided the third ball through third man for four.Birt departed in the 11th over, having contributed four runs to a partnership of 61 off 28 balls. Sehwag continued to ignore the procession at the other end, dispatching Mishra for three consecutive fours. The second of those boundaries slipped into the boundary from Ravi Teja’s grasp, after he had managed to get both hands to the chance.With 69 needed off 48, Sangakkara brought Dale Steyn back. Steyn dug one in short, Sehwag got on top of it, and flashed it past backward point. A desperate Sangakkara turned to Bharat Chipli’s gentle medium pacers. Mistake. Sehwag brought up his hundred off the first ball, and then creamed the next two for sixes. Twenty-seven needed off 30. Game over. Though Steyn had Sehwag caught behind in the 17th over, the remaining batsmen managed to complete the heist.Victory was looking far away for Delhi when they had allowed Deccan to run amok on a bouncy pitch. Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan had chances grassed, and JP Duminy and Christian would have been dismissed within the space of three balls, had Yogesh Nagar not over-stepped twice in the 15th over.Two of the four reprieved batsmen made Delhi pay dearly. Sangakkara doubled his score to make 44, and Duminy went better, clattering four sixes on his way to converting 23 off 18 deliveries into 55 from 31. The no-balls meant what should have been 114 for 5 in the 15th over turned into 175 for 5 in 20 overs.Sangakkara’s partnership with Duminy was a stop-start affair, with punchy and edged boundaries alternating with swings-and-misses. More luck was to come Deccan’s way when Morkel dropped Sangakkara at short fine leg off Ajit Agarkar, and then failed to get near the ball when Dhawan top-edged a pull off the next delivery.After Dhawan fell, Sangakkara’s aggression allowed Duminy to play himself in before launching into an onslaught. Duminy, who had made 77 runs in five previous games, hardly looking like the batsman who had been struggling for runs. He added 71 in 33 deliveries with Christian, as Deccan made 108 in the last ten overs. It counted for little in the end.