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Durham narrowly avoided becoming the first county to suffer a points deduction for a slow over rate before their match against Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street was abandoned.Under the new rule counties have to bowl 16 overs an hour and after every game they lose a quarter point for every over they fall short. The rule does not apply if they have fielded for less than four hours in the match, and when rain halted Gloucestershire’s second innings at two for one, the 2.2 overs Durham had bowled had taken them six minutes over the four-hour mark.Their over-rate was minus one, which meant they would have lost a quarter of a point had play not resumed. Consequently they rushed through 2.4 overs when they re-started at 4pm before bad light intervened. The scorers quickly calculated that their over-rate was now spot on 16 an hour.Play began at 12.10 and Durham added 23 runs in five overs before declaring on 255 for seven when Paul Collingwood fell for 68, chopping a ball from Jon Lewis into his stumps. Wicketkeeper Andy Pratt was left on 28 not out for the second time in the match.Needing 300 in 71 overs, Gloucestershire lost Tim Hancock to the eighth ball when he pushed forward and had his off stump removed by Neil Killeen. They were on two for one when rain arrived at 12.50, and moved on to six for one on the brief resumption.

Two sensational catches from Australian Daniel Marsh won a nail-biting CricInfo Championship game for Leicestershire at Grace Road.In a thrilling finish which could have gone either way, they beat Lancashire by six runs with a day to spare. The win, their first of the season, earned them 16 points and lifted them off the bottom of the First Division table.In a low-scoring match there was no doubt that Leicestershire’s hero was Marsh, son of the former Australian wicket-keeper Rodney.He followed up his first innings knock of 71 with an unbeaten half-century in the second innings as Leicestershire were dismissed for 169, leaving Lancashire a victory target of 211.Then he claimed two valuable wickets at vital times with his left-arm spin before taking the two stunning catches at the end when the visitors again looked to be edging to victory.First he dived forward to hold a mistimed pull from Mike Smethurst inches above the ground at mid-wicket, and then held on to a breathtaking catch at slip when Glen Chapple edged a swinging delivery from Jon Dakin.It had been a brave effort from Chapple who scored 44 off 85 balls with four boundaries after arriving at the crease with Lancashire at 139 for six.At one stage they seemed to be cruising it. They were 113 for two in the 31st over with John Crawley having hit a half-century during a partnership of 90 with Ryan Driver.Then he edged a ball from Devon Malcolm to wicket-keeper Neil Burns, and in Malcolm’s next over Neil Fairbrother chopped a short-pitched delivery into his stumps.When Marsh had Driver caught off bat and pad in the last over before tea, Lancashire had lost three wickets for eight runs in four overs. Chapple’s knock put them back in the hunt – but Marsh’s catching proved decisive.

It is one of the continually baffling mysteries of New Zealand cricket performance down through the ages that the same mistakes seem to keep repeating themselves.New Zealand has surely played enough One-Day Internationals, 410 of them at last count, to know what is required in most given circumstances.Yet, the same old problems keep on occurring.The only countries with win percentages below New Zealand’s are: Zimbabwe, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Scotland, the Netherlands, Canada and East Africa. A worthy bunch.But for a side with the playing skills on offer that New Zealand has, the infrastructure available and the scientific expertise developed through the High Performance Centre regarded as the best in the world, the results are well below par.The New Zealanders go into the fourth ODI of their series in the West Indies tomorrow needing a victory to keep the series alive.All this after one win in four games in Sharjah, and a clean sweep of losses in three matches at the hands of Pakistan. And this is a team regarded as a contender for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.It may well be, especially if Chris Cairns can regain his dominating influence.And yes, it was said before the team left for the West Indies that there would be some experimentation with players.However, it would be fair to expect that winning would be the first priority and then worry about the experimentation until later.New Zealand continue to demonstrate a remarkable consistency at failing to make a good start.They continue to push the strike rate when batting, despite the increase in the risk factor immediately after a wicket falls. This has to be the most vulnerable point for any team batting. Apart from the opposition naturally lifting themselves to deny a side rebuilding its position, there should be a natural desire to settle into a batting groove in order to prosper later.Of course, this all very simple thinking goes out the window in the last 10 overs when the pressure is really on to score runs as quickly as possible. But it would be nice occasionally for New Zealand to get to the last 10 overs with wickets to spare.It is ironic that at the time when the side is struggling to compete, captain Stephen Fleming has found a groove of consistency in his own scoring. Now he needs the experienced players around him to be producing as well.Without Cairns and Andre Adams in the attack especially, New Zealand was always going to struggle, and as Shane Bond recovers from his foot injury, he could hardly be expected to hit his straps overnight. Then there is the requirement to keep the pressure off the back of Daniel Vettori.But these are all considerations that most professional sporting teams cope with by the strength of their back-up resources.It may be that the pain being gone through at the moment will provide greater reward come World Cup time, but the odds against it happening are high.New Zealand’s players are committing the same mistakes that have bedevilled the side for 20 years.Inability to play consistently being at the top of the list, in all facets of the game. How often do New Zealand batsmen score as consistently as Andrew Jones used to manage in the late 80s and early 90s? It is an under-valued art, but it is the core around which a successful team is built.Jones’ strike-rate of 57.86 might not be considered excessively high, but his average of 35.69 is bettered by only: Bevan Congdon (56.33) in only 11 matches, Martin Crowe (38.55), Glenn Turner (47.00) and Roger Twose (38.81). But he was a rock around which others could play. Twose performed a similar role, even if over a shorter period of time.That has to be the requirement for one member of the side before the World Cup. It might also ensure New Zealand doesn’t continue to lose wickets, in the in-fashion word of last summer, ‘clumps’. You don’t have to be William Wordsworth to work out that ‘clumps’ are for chumps.New Zealand is a marginally better team at home with a win record of 53.69% as opposed to a 27.48% record overseas. The lesson could not be clearer.New Zealand must learn to win overseas, because that’s where most World Cups are held.Performing consistently with a much greater level of individual achievement would go a long way towards resolving New Zealand’s declining record in ODIs.

Sohag Gazi is the first offspinner in Test history to bowl the first over of a Test match on debut, and the first debutant spinner to do so in 103 years.The surprise move didn’t ruffle Chris Gayle, though, who lashed the first ball of the match for a six, on his way to 18 runs in the opening over. Gazi removed Gayle soon after but despite his best efforts, West Indies scored more than four an over on the first day and are poised for a big total. This, after the hosts gave up the momentum they had gained at the end of the first session, picking up three wickets.Bangladesh had to wait out a full session for their next wicket, as both Kieran Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul helped themselves to centuries. As the day progressed even the more experienced Bangladesh bowlers looked short of ideas, and later liveliness.This was Bangladesh’s first Test of the year, and none of the front-line bowlers, barring Shahadat Hossain, have played enough first-class cricket recently to be physically prepared for staying on the field for a long time. With the wicket easing up, more hard work lies ahead for them. Shahadat and Rubel Hossain were costly as they have been throughout their careers while Shakib Al Hasan was simply steady, mainly because the allrounder finds it tricky to switch between long stints as a Twenty20 bowler to bowling long spells in Test cricket.”The wicket flattened out after the lunch session, but there was turn in the first hour,” Gazi said after the first day. “We will try to bowl them out as quickly as we can. We don’t have any sort of targets because the wicket is flat. We will try to keep them to as low a total as possible.”But it was the first session which showed Bangladesh in a positive light. Mushfiqur Rahim had decided quite early, in fact the day before, that it would be Gazi who would open the bowling regardless of who takes first strike for West Indies. So despite the inevitable attack, Gazi was only encouraged by his captain and to his credit, the debutant kept giving the ball flight. “He told me that Gayle wasn’t comfortable with my bowling, that’s why he gave me the charge. He said keep doing what you’re doing.”I was prepared to bowl the first over, whether Gayle took the strike or not,” Gazi said. “It was my bad luck that I got hit for two sixes in the first over. I was going to bowl my second over, and I just wanted to bowl dot balls. I didn’t really think of who was on strike.”The first-ball six was a jolt for Gazi, but he wasn’t frazzled. “Anyone can hit a six, I wasn’t expecting that exact shot. The ball I got him out turned slightly, because there was turn on the pitch in the first session. He tried to lift me over mid-on but mistimed it.”After he had picked up Gayle’s wicket, Gazi added that of Darren Bravo before Shahadat Hossain accounted for Marlon Samuels. But they hit a wall in the form of the Powell-Chanderpaul partnership during the middle session and lost their way in the final two hours.With West Indies sitting on a strong position after the first day, questions will be asked about the need for three off-spinning allrounders – Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam and Nasir Hossain. The trio bowled 16 wicketless overs and Gazi’s introduction to international cricket could spell the end of Bangladesh’s defensive ploy of employing eight batsmen and playing three similar allrounders. It is now clear that all three would have to make major contributions with the bat in the next four days to be automatic picks in the near future.

On a rain curtailed second day’s play at the Gujarat State FertilizerCorporation Ground in Baroda, the host team were all out for 467 inthe Ranji Trophy pre-quarter-final match against Bengal on Sunday.Resuming on 273/3, Baroda were soon in trouble losing Jacob Martin(103) without adding a run to his overnight score and TB Arothe (57)who made just two more runs. Baroda were reduced to 279/5 at thatstage.AP Bhoite (54) and M Maveda (62) added 79 runs for the sixth wicket,steadying the Baroda innings. Before being run out, Bhoite struckeight boundaries and a six. The heavy downpour stopped cricket for along while after lunch. The day’s play was extended for an hour tomake up for the lost time.Baroda kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Maveda was trapped infront by Shukla at 415, before being dismissed. Maveda hit nineboundaries. RB Patel (20), VN Buch (17), Irfan Pathan (13 not out) andIrfan Khan Pathan (8) contributed their might to the Baroda cause.Medium pacer Laxmi Ratan Shukla finished with 4/119 and veteran leftarm spinner Utpal Chaterjee (3/88) took the bowling honours. At closeof play Bengal had scored one run without any loss of just two ballsin their first innings, when play was called off due to bad light.

Match facts

September 19, 2012
Start time 1930 (1400 GMT)Afghanistan enjoyed great support in the WorldT20 qualifiers in Dubai. They will hope for a similar storyline in the main event•Getty Images

Big picture

If one of Twenty20’s main purposes is to globalise the game, Afghanistan are its success story. Their country has been in the news for unfortunate reasons, but its teams’ qualification for back-to-back World Twenty20s and the Under-19 World Cup is a welcome story. By all accounts, the following back home matches the frenzy cricket brings to the rest of cricketing Asia.For the second time in their two appearances in the T20 global event, Afghanistan have drawn neighbours India at the start of the tournament. They will dearly love to be the banana skin, and they know this format was founded on banana skins. They will want to put pressure on India’s bowling, which can be brittle under fire.For India this match is expected to provide some much-needed relief after their bowlers have faltered in two of their last three Twenty20s. They will do well, though, to not take their opponents lightly because this is an event where you need just three bad hours to book a return ticket.

Form guide (last 5 completed matches, most recent first)

Afghanistan LWWLL
India LWLWL

Watch out for

Mohammad Shahzad is a wicketkeeper, is known as MS in the Afghanistan dressing room, and like the other MS he aims to unleash the helicopter shot come this World Twenty20. “I am Dhoni’s biggest fan, and I love the way he bats,” Shahzad said. “I try and copy the shots that he plays and have practiced the helicopter shot at the nets. I was missing everything, it’s a very difficult shot to play. But I kept persisting till the time I mastered the shot. Inshallah, you will see me hitting the helicopter shot in the match against India. And hopefully Dhoni will like it too.”Yuvraj Singh was a calculated risk when picked for World Twenty20, the underlying idea being his fitness would be tested before the tournament began. However, rain and his late entry in the batting order has meant he has faced only 43 balls going into the first match. His fitness and strength hasn’t really been tested, and India are entering a bit of an unknown with him. They will hope that they have got back the Yuvraj of the old.

Team news

During the warm-up games, India tried playing five specialist bowlers and used Irfan Pathan and R Ashwin at Nos 7 and 8, but don’t expect MS Dhoni to take that adventurous route. He never does, no matter how weak the bowling might be. Dhoni said India will go in with four bowlers for the opening game.India (possible): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt. &wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Irfan Pathan, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 L Balaji/Ashok Dinda.Seamer and Afghanistan’s strike bowler Hamid Hassan has been ruled out of their opening game due to injury. He missed their warm-up games as well.Afghanistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Javed Ahmadi, 3 Karim Sadiq, 4 Nawroz Mangal (capt.), 5 Asghar Stanikzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Samiullah Shenwari, 8 Dawlat Zadran, 9 Shapoor Zadran, 10 Gulbodin Naib, 11 Izatullah Dawlatzai

Pitch and conditions

The warm-up game between Indian and Pakistan, although played on a corner strip of R Premadasa square, was low, slow and flat, a U-turn on all the talk of changing nature of pitches in Sri Lanka. The groundstaff will hope for a little more even surface. They will also want something miraculous to happen to the patchy outfield that resulted in many a bad bounce and fumble in the warm-up game.

Stats and trivia

• Mohammad Shahzad, with 312 runs in 11 innings, is the highest run-getter for Afghanistan in Twenty20 internationals.
• Gautam Gambhir, with 444 runs, is the fourth-highest run-getter in all World Twenty20s. In doing so, he has scored four fifty-plus scores, behind only Mahela Jayawardene who has done so on five occasions.
  

  Quotes

  “It looks very unlikely, when you see the top seven batsmen we have to see which batsmen suits which position the best. Virat can bat at No 3 and then Yuvraj, Raina and Rohit. These are the people who need to get in. Maybe I will take over the slog opportunity and look to play big shots from the first ball. That can be the most likely scenario but it may change later.”

ScorecardLuis Reece made his first significant score as a Lancashire opener•Getty Images

Luis Reece enjoys batting at Grace Road. The Lancashire opener led his side’s commanding first-day performance with a polished 85, his best score in the Championship in only his fifth appearance. It came just over three months after posting a first-class best of 114 not out here in Leeds/Bradford MCCU colours.In the same match, the 22-year-old Reece captained the students to a notable win over Leicestershire in an early season friendly, and he will be hoping that this contribution helps bring about a similar result for the Division Two leaders, who are searching for their fourth win in five.He will, however, be frustrated that he could not add a bit of symmetry to the early stages of his career – maiden first-class and Championship hundreds on the same ground. The latter will have to wait.Reece, who hit 12 fours in 160 balls, is a first-year professional with Lancashire. Discarded after being with their academy in 2008, he impressed enough for his university side and for the Unicorns to force the coach, Peter Moores, to have another look at him. He was offered scholarship terms as a result for 2012 and a full contract for this summer.He was part of Lancashire’s first century opening stand this season with Paul Horton, back in first-team colours for the first time since May 19 after dislocating the ring finger on his right hand twice. They are the county’s sixth different opening partnership in the Championship in 2013.Horton survived an lbw appeal from Matthew Hoggard with the first ball of the contest as well a run-out chance from square leg as he wandered some way out of his ground.After Leicestershire were invited to field first, Hoggard and new ball partner Alex Wyatt found some early assistance off the pitch to test Horton and Reece, who survived and prospered to reach three figures before lunch.Horton will count himself unlucky to have fallen for 59 five balls into the afternoon as Ollie Freckingham took a stunning one-handed catch at midwicket to help Wyatt make the breakthrough with the score on 104.Cracking his opening partnership has been Moores’ toughest task this summer. A stable middle-order is underpinned by Simon Katich, who made 62, and Ashwell Prince and he can also count on a potent bowling attack led by captain, Glen Chapple, and left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan. But it just hasn’t worked out at the top of the order for one reason or another.Injuries have contributed, Horton being the case in point. But so has the lack of a substantial innings here and there. Stephen Moore, Luke Procter, Andrea Agathangelou and Karl Brown have all been tried against the new ball without nailing down their place.The current pair at least know they will get a decent run at it after this performance, which was full of intent against a home attack lacking depth. Hoggard and Wyatt threatened initially before keeping things tight, but the likes of Freckingham, Shiv Thakor and Tom Wells leaked runs.Leicester certainly improved in the afternoon and evening, taking all five wickets, and Lancashire’s position in the game could have been better. But this was Reece’s and Lancashire’s day.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShoaib Malik continued his good run for Barbados•Getty Images

Barbados Tridents’ spinners Ashley Nurse and Shakib Al Hasan picked up five of the eight Antigua Hawksbills wickets to fall to set up a 12-run victory, their second in as many matches at Kensington Oval.A stunning catch at mid-off from Devon Thomas, who leaped into the air and snatched Dwayne Smith’s lofted drive, put Barbados, who had won the toss, at 11 for 1 in the third over. Shoaib Malik steadied the innings with Jonathan Carter, adding 42 runs for the second wicket before Antigua captain Marlon Samuels struck in successive overs, accounting for Carter and Shakib – both caught by Thomas again.Umar Akmal joined Malik in a brief union, which produced 22 runs. Malik fell in the 13th over, however, with the captain Kieron Pollard coming in and Akmal striking well, Barbados looked set to reach a big total. Left-arm seamer Sheldon Cotterrell ended their 33-run stand in the 18th over, duping Akmal with a slower ball and Pollard became Thomas’ fourth catch, before No. 10 Jason Holder hoisted the last ball for a straight six to end the innings on 146 for 8.Antigua followed a similar trend of losing wickets regularly, though their opener Johnson Charles produced the highest score of the match with 44, including five fours and a six. His partner Thomas faced a maiden from Shakib and only managed 2 from his 13 balls.Ricky Ponting could not to reproduce his county form in his first match for Antigua, and edged Shakib to slip. Samuels laboured for 23 off 31 balls, striking only two fours before he charged at Nurse’s first ball and was stumped to leave his side at 88 for 4 in the 16th over. Nurse got thumped for six by Ben Rohrer in his next over but exacted immediate retribution, the second slog finding Kieron Pollard at long-off. With 28 needed off the final over, Nurse made quick work of Dave Mohammed, and with 26 needed off four balls Kemar Roach hit two sixes before his third attempt found deep midwicket.

David Warner’s days as a Test opening batsman are done, and perhaps so too those as a serial source of trouble in Australian cricket. Speaking for the first time since the former national coach Mickey Arthur was replaced by Darren Lehmann, Warner admitted his repeated poor behaviour contributed directly to the sacking, and acknowledged that another misstep will mean he is “on the first plane home”.As it is, Warner will not be anywhere near Lord’s at the time of the second Test. On Tuesday he will depart for Australia A duty in South Africa, where he will commence his re-education as a middle-order batsman and set his sights on emulating Michael Hussey’s energy and adaptability in the position.For Australia A, Warner will bat at No. 4, marking the first time he has slid down the order since his Test debut against New Zealand in 2011, and preparation for a potential return at No. 6 should he make the requisite number of runs to return later in the Ashes series.”I’ve been spoken to about batting six and that’s the role I’m looking forward to being part of this team,” Warner said in London. “If I get into this team and I bat six, I’ll be doing everything I can to fill that Mike Hussey role and come out and have that intent from ball one, because I see that as the acceleration number in the team. His intent that he had over the years he played was magnificent and I feel I can play that role as well.”You have to sum up the game situation. You could be come in at four or five for nothing or you could be coming in at 400 and it’s up to me to try to adapt to that situation, to try to come out and accelerate from there or to try to grind it out like the boys did the other night before stumps.”The frustration Warner felt at falling out of serious contention for the Trent Bridge match due to his suspension from the lead-up games was intense, to the point that he broke down in tears when informing his family he would not be playing in Nottingham.”As a kid growing up you want to play in the Ashes and after that incident I went back to my room and I was pretty shattered for a week and a half, two weeks. I still feel the guilt of what happened. I feel myself it’s led to me being in this situation at the moment. Things would have been different, I would have been able to play those warm-up games and I could have pressed my claims to play in this first Test but that’s me. I put my hand up and accepted the consequences and now it’s about me putting as many runs on the board these next two games and press forward.”I rang my mum and dad and told them I wasn’t playing. And I kind of broke down on the phone to mum and it’s just one of those things you ask your mum and dad what could I have done better in those situations and you don’t want to really go into it as much but I’ve matured a lot since that incident and now it’s all about me trying to play cricket again.”Arthur’s sacking, arriving so soon after Warner was suspended, provided a reminder of how much his behaviour had affected others. “It was probably another thing that was gutting, that I may have played a part in that,” Warner said. “But that’s the business we’re in and James Sutherland explained the reasons why that happened and that’s the thing that we have to do, we’re professional athletes, we have to move on from that and now Darren is the coach and we respect him 100%.”There’s a lot of contributing factors to certain things that went on around the team. No-one likes a guy disturbing their preparation and that’s what I felt I did, especially with the Champions Trophy. All that stuff came out before that game against New Zealand, I didn’t play and then it was about me and not about the team’s focus and that was the most disappointing thing I felt came out of that.”Lehmann has described Warner as having a “clean slate” under his leadership, and there are no longer any strict individual boundaries set out for him. Instead senior players, including the pivotal figure of the wicketkeeper and vice-captain Brad Haddin, are entrusted with the task of watching over Warner, by day and by night.”Darren’s just said to go out there and score runs and be myself,” Warner said. “Just get that X-factor back that I can have for this team so hopefully I can score some runs. Definitely still enjoy myself off the field. There’s no bans, there’s no curfews, no nothing. The mistakes, I’ve learned, I’ve become more mature, off the field as well. I know if I stuff up again I’m on the first plane home. No-one needs to tell you that because you already know it.”

Gloucestershire have announced that Will Brown, head of commercial operations at Betfair, will take over as chief executive when Tom Richardson steps down from the role at the end of August.Brown, 37, has a “track record in driving significant revenue uplift” and in over five years at Betfair has been involved in their sponsorship of cricket and it’s partnerships with the ECB and Professional Cricketers’ Association. He previously held positions at the Lawn Tennis Association and ESPNcricinfo.He will take over on September 2 from Richardson, who is stepping down after 12 years at Bristol during which time he has maintained regular international cricket in the West Country and began the redevelopment of Nevil Road.Brown is a lifelong Gloucestershire fan and will take over on September 2 with the primary challenge to ensure the £10 million investment in the ground brings commercial success. He is also charged with improving results on the field with Gloucestershire having declined from the glory years at the turn of the century.”I am absolutely delighted to be joining Gloucestershire at such an exciting time for the club,” Brown said. “With the new ground, and all the hard work from Tom Richardson and his team, the future looks bright and I look forward to helping develop this success both on and off the field.”Gloucestershire chairman Roger Cooke added: “I am very pleased that Will is taking over. His arrival will coincide with the opening of our rebuilt Bristol Pavilion, and all the commercial and membership opportunities that will represent.”