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Tasmania 7 for 197 (Dighton 58, Krejza 3-45) beat New South Wales 9 for 193 (Bradstreet 45, Griffith 3-43) by three wickets
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Tasmania clawed their way to a three-wicket victory over New South Wales in the ING Cup match at Newcastle on Sunday. The Tigers reached their target of 194 with 11 balls to spare, despite the best efforts of the debutant spinner Jason Krejza and Stuart MacGill.George Bailey showed a cool head as he came in at No. 6 to lift the visitors over the line. after the openers Michael Dighton and Michael DiVenuto had cruised to 0 for 74 off 14 overs before MacGill was introduced.Dighton looked like he would lead the Tigers to a bonus point, but he holed out, trying to loft MacGill over the fence just once too often. Then a rash shot soon after by the promising wicketkeeper-batsman David Dawson handed the Blues a glimmer of hope.Krejza, the youngest member of the side, then dismissed one of the finest players to wear the sky blue. Michael Bevan’s first knock against his old state ended on 15 when he mis-hit a full toss straight to midwicket for Krejza’s first wicket in the domestic competition.

After Luke Butterworth’s departure for 6, Tasmania edged within 14 runs of the target before Krejza struck again, dismissing Damien Wright. But the visitors survived the pouring rain to register their second win from two outings.The Tasmania quick Adam Griffith was Man of the Match for his devastating three-wicket opening spell, and it was only Shawn Bradstreet’s resistance (45) in the middle order that stopped New South Wales from registering a paltry total.

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Scotland finally recorded their first victory of the season at the eighth time of asking, as Colin Smith and Cedric English combined to sink Durham in a rain-delayed encounter at The Grange.After being asked to bat first, Durham were restricted to 189 for 7 in their allotted 41 overs. Gary Pratt top-scored with a steady 48, while there were two wickets apiece for Yasir Arafat and Asim Butt.In reply, Scotland made a dreadful start, slumping to 44 for 4 after Shoaib Akhtar had terrorised the top-order, but English and Smith combined with a cool 146-run partnership, to guide Scotland home with 10 balls to spare. Smith was the aggressor, thumping 10 fours in his 83-ball 79, while English dropped anchor to excellent effect, with 53 not out from 91.It was Durham’s second defeat at the hands of Scotland – they also succumbed at Scotland’s very first attempt in May 2003 – but it was an untimely setback this season, as victory would have carried them to the top of the table. Instead Yorkshire and Middlesex share top spot on 20 points, with Durham slipping back to fourth.

Another beautifully-paced century from Kumar Sangakkara – his second in succession, making him the 35th batsman to achieve the feat – inspired Sri Lanka to an emphatic 129-run victory over Kenya at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Sri Lanka made 256 for 5, having won the toss, and then bowled Kenya out for 127 to exact some measure of revenge for an embarrassing defeat in Nairobi during the World Cup.After some helter-skelter hitting early on, Sri Lanka’s innings had fallen into a mid-innings trough and it took a 93-run partnership between Sangakkara and Hashan Tillekeratne to inject some urgency into proceedings. Kumar Dharmasena also used strong-arm tactics to great effect in Thomas Odoyo’s final over, spoiling what had been an excellent spell till then.Sangakkara used his feet well and was especially strong off his pads, working the ball through and over midwicket and also cutting and driving with tremendous power when the bowlers erred. He indulged in the by-now-customary verbals – with Kennedy Otieno – and was given a life but that apart, it was an exceptional innings that ended with a superb straight drive for four.Tillekeratne’s gritty 43 was the perfect foil, until Maurice Odumbe pulled off another superb catch at short midwicket off Collins Obuya’s bowling (191 for 4). For Kenya, both Odoyo and Obuya were outstanding, but the inconsistent support cast and generous umpiring from Umpire Barbour – who turned down the vociferous appeal for caught behind off Steve Tikolo, when Sangakkara had made just 44 – saw 133 runs coming from the last 20 overs.Kenya more than held their own for long periods under the desert sun, perhaps determined to prove that their World Cup win over Sri Lanka in Nairobi was no fluke. They were aided by a sluggish pitch and slow bowling – which, combined with some undistinguished batting – restricted Sri Lanka until Sangakkara got into the groove.Sri Lanka started sedately, with plenty of swing-and-a-miss to their batting until Alfred Luseno’s wayward line and length was punished to the tune of 14 runs in his fourth over. At the other end, Odoyo gave nothing away, bowling his seven overs for 16 runs and picking up the wicket of Avishka Gunawardene. Gunawardene hadn’t looked very convincing during his 38-ball effort and an airy waft outside the offstump, easily gathered by Otieno behind the stumps, saw him on his way for 24 (53 for 1).The ball wasn’t coming on to the bat and a couple of ungainly heaves were ample evidence of Jayasuriya’s frustration, though three runs to extra-cover that took him to seven saw him reach 9,000 runs in one-day internationals. When Tony Suji came on, his third delivery was thumped to the backward square leg fence. Next ball though, he was on his way, given out leg before by Umpire Jayaprakash even though the ball clearly pitched outside legstump (64 for 2).Marvan Atapattu and Sangakkara struggled to force the pace in unhelpful conditions, especially once Obuya came on to bowl his ripping legbreaks. They added 34 at four an over before Atapattu’s hesitant lofted-drive off Collins was superbly taken one-handed by Odumbe at cover (98 for 3).That left Sangakkara, who finished with an unbeaten 100 against Pakistan, to rebuild the innings with Tillakeratne, and the final result of their toil was well beyond Kenya. On a day when Oxford and Cambridge contested the closest boat-race in the 149-year history of the event, Kenya were never at the races.Prabath Nissanka ripped through the top order before the debutant, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, removed Tikolo to leave them tottering at 36 for 4. Odumbe and Odoyo salvaged some pride, with Odumbe compiling an attractive 42, but they were never within sniffing distance of the asking rate.The run chase started disastrously, with David Obuya edging Nissanka to Tillekeratne, and it got worse when Otieno tickled one through to the keeper off Charitha Buddhika (8 for 2).Brijal Patel didn’t stick around long either, taking the caught Tillekeratne, bowled Nissanka route back to the pavilion. But the key wicket was that of Tikolo. Lokuarachchi’s first ball in international cricket was begging to be smashed away, and Tikolo duly did, but straight to Gunawardena at short cover. Odumbe and Odoyo took the score to 97 but once Dharmasena trapped Odoyo leg before, the end was night. Jayasuriya accounted for Odumbe and Hitesh Modi, leaving Muttiah Muralitharan to mop up the tail. Kenya may be good at defending totals, but they have a way to go in the chasing game. This was a rout.

Ireland won the European Cup for women on Sunday, inflicting the firstdefeat on an England side in the twelve-year history of the tournament.Ireland secured victory when they sensationally defeated the England Under-19 team by 59 runs on Sunday, dismissing them for just 60. Saibh Young wasthe star for Ireland taking a hat-trick.England Under-19 finished asrunners-up in the three-day tournament, held at Bradfield College, Reading,with the Netherlands finishing in third place.Scotland, making their firstappearance in an international tournament, started shakily when dismissedfor 24 by the English on Friday, but improved as the series progressed eventhough they failed to win a game.

Graeme Swann struck two important blows as Division Two leaders Northamptonshire shaded the first-session honours against second-placed Sussex at Wantage Road.The 21-year-old off-spinner, who snapped up 5-55 to wrap up his side’s innings victory over Worcestershire earlier this week, turned one sharply to bowl opener Toby Peirce (21) in his first over of the match.And he struck again just before lunch, sending back Sussex skipper Chris Adams for 11 as the visitors reached 99-3 from 37 overs at the break.Adams had little hesitation in choosing to bat first on winning the toss, but he saw Richard Montgomerie depart in the fifth over with only 12 on the board, trapped leg-before by Darren Cousins.Wasim Khan, making his first Championship appearance of the summer, dug in for an unbeaten 43 while Tony Cottey opened his account with two boundaries off successive balls from Swann.

The second day of the Trinidad Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka turned tragic for the Hosam family as West Indian supporter Michael Hosam, 66, died after being taken ill while watching the game.Hosam was at the Queen’s Park Oval for the match when other fans noticed he looked unwell. He received medical attention at the ground and was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where family said he was pronounced dead.The West Indies board and the Trinidad and Tobago board offered their condolences to Hosam’s family and friends. “We in West Indies Cricket know we have people out there who are loyal and dedicated in their support and we wish his family all the best at this time,” Julian Hunte, the WICB president, said.Ikin Williams, Hosam’s bother-in-law, said he was a West Indies supporter for decades and always wore his maroon shirt when he came to watch matches at Queen’s Park Oval.”He was a true West Indies fan and he loved the team. He loved West Indies cricket.”

I suppose it was inevitable that such a gratuitous photo would evoke such questionable imagery from our readers for our latest caption competition: Alastair Cook pictured with a naked, painted lady.”Why can’t I open with her? Rather see her on the other side of the pitch than Andrew Strauss,” suggested Ashish Sharma. A fair effort and at least it was vaguely polite, though Strauss might beg differ. Jeremy Stevens from Canada had other ideas. “Okay. First we’ll teach you how to hold a bat the right way…then we’ll teach you how to dress the right way.”Gregory Duke, a senior research fellow at Niagara University, began the proverbial ball rolling with this side-splitter: “Alastair was hoping for two things: water-soluble paint, and a spot of rain”. A winning entry from Gregory there, appealing to our warped sense of humour. “Did you hear that Emma, they think we’re twins!” honked Dave Ridyard from the States but Steve Davies rather confused us with this rather odd offering. “If there’s grass on the wicket, let’s play cricket!” Yes indeed. Thankfully, Neil Cozzi was wittier with his effort: “Cook becomes first player to be victim of a first-class maiden”. Very droll.”Cook struggles with bat after England’s new one day kit is unveiled,” dead-panned Graham Theobold but our favourite came from Thomas Lawlor who, rather impressively, managed to include Shane Warne into his curious quip. “Warne denies that his mother’s diet pills have any side effects”. Special mention to Matt Lewis: “‘How does your box stay in when you run?’ asks Cook”. His was one of dozens to offer similar risqué sentiments.Prizes, then, to Thomas, Graham, Gregory, Neil and Jeremy. We’ll have another competition for you in a couple of weeks.

Zimbabwe’s cricket fraternity has responded furiously to the decision by Zimbabwe Cricket to dissolve traditional provinces and to accommodate 10 smaller associations which will be run by interim boards.The decision has been described as a desperate effort by ZC to buy time and silence the emerging dissatisfaction from the smaller provinces over ZC’s mismanagement of the game.The old provinces have however declared to keep their structures intact outside the ZC set-up. “We will still continue as a province with or without ZC,” Charlie Robertson, head of the provincial chairmen’s association, said. “What happened is dictatorship at its worst.”Robertson said ZC had dissolved the provinces in contravention of its own constitution in an attempt to pacify the government for its failure to complete the drafting of a new constitution by the April 3o deadline set by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).”Up to now nothing has transpired with regards to the constitution,” Robertson said. “There has been zero communication from ZC. No one has been consulted. We are still the legitimate stakeholders in Zimbabwe cricket. If they are not talking to us, then who is drafting the constitution.”What happened shows that no one is prepared to adhere to the constitution. The SRC letter last year shows that the commission encouraged ZC to decentralize but in line with the constitution. All this has been ignored. This is shocking behaviour. The laws of the constitution and special general meeting have been flouted. Its well-documented that Chingoka is quite happy to ignore that constitution.”A former ZC general manager added his voice to the disapproval, saying the decision by the interim committee was part of a determined elimination process.”ZC had earlier said they could not affiliate without following the constitution. So what has happened now,” he questioned. “It’s a total mess. They are just doing what they want now and no one can stop them. They are bringing new people into the system because they do not want to leave office now. They want total anarchy so that no one sees what they are doing.””The issue of affiliation has always been on the cards,” Elvis Sembezeya, leader of a splinter Mashonaland Cricket Association board fighting for legitimacy in the province, said. “But it comes down to the reasons why we are doing this at the end of the day. What the constitution says must carry the day. I’m not sure if what happened was constitutional. And if there is any constitutional amendment happening, it must involve the old provinces because they are they are still the biggest stakeholders. How can you make a constitution when you sideline the oldest provinces. It’s not surprising anyway that ZC has chosen that path. They have always done things without following the constitution. But I tell you if someone decide to fight against the legality of the decision, ZC will be found wanting.”Sembezeya added that the new provinces needed a bit more time before they could be given full-province status. “If you don’t have structures how can you call yourself a province? ZC should have given them time while assisting them to grow in terms of capacity and player base. Cricket is unique … you cannot run it like you do with other sports.”Cricinfo has gathered that stakeholders are considering challenging the province’s abolition in the courts, although nothing concrete has been decided yet.

Danish Kaneria, Pakistan’s 22-year-old legspinner, has been offered a contract for the 2004 season by Essex.Kaneria has taken 51 wickets in 12 Tests, although 34 of those have come in five outings against Bangladesh. His Test-best is 12 for 94 in the opening game of the Asian Test Championship in 2001.”It will be a good learning experience for me,” Kaneria said, “and hopefully make me a better bowler.”Essex were able to recruit another overseas player because Andy Flower is now considered to be a domestic registration as he has a British passport.

Inzamamul Haq has been at odds with a national selector about the timing of the announcement of the Pakistan squad for the forthcoming Asia Cup. The reported Ehteshamuddin, a national selector, as saying that the Pakistan squad would be announced on July 7, but Inzamam hoped that it would happen earlier.Ehteshamuddin, the former Pakistan medium-pacer, said that the selection committee wanted to give Bob Woolmer, the new coach, enough time to assess all the 26 probables at the ongoing training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.However, Inzamam felt that the squad should be named as soon as possible so that Woolmer could train the chosen candidates suitably. “We have 14 batsmen in the camp,” he said, “and it’s difficult to give each of them adequate time. It would make sense to select the final team and concentrate on it.”Woolmer, who was appointed as a replacement for Javed Miandad earlier this month, is expected to arrive on Friday.