Railways 355 and 362 for 8 (Yadav 97, Bangar 77, Goud 96*) lead Punjab 309 by 408 runs
ScorecardWith an indomitable display of attritional batting, Railways all but wrapped up their second Ranji Trophy title as Punjab were ground out of the contest on a corpse-like pitch. Sanjay Bangar’s austere innings set the tone, before Yere Goud and the tail blocked their way to an impregnable position.Goud entered at a time when Punjab were threatening yet another of their umpteen fightbacks. Raja Ali, who top-scored in the first innings, had nicked one to the wicketkeeper and Railways were 251 runs ahead with two off-colour batsmen and the tail to follow. Teams have consistently chased 300-plus totals this season and on a pitch devoid of all life Punjab were still clinging on. Goud’s six matches this season had produced just 145 runs (avg 24.16) and he was soon joined by Tejinder Pal Singh, who had averaged 28.In the next four hours, though, Goud’s slumber-inducing doggedness brought the Railways dressing-room back to life. Every assured leave was followed by raucous cheers and with a series of prods, pushes and composed pad-play, he nibbled away at time, and inched Railways towards the title. Goud’s former team-mate at Karnataka, Rahul Dravid, might have applauded every step and after tea he even unfurled some expansive cover-drives, exaggerated follow-through and all. Right at the end of the day, a pendulum-smooth swing over long-off took him from 90 to 96, and Punjab were experiencing death by torture – slow, hopeless and inevitable.What Goud can do, Bangar can do better. In Bangar’s world the cricket field is a battleground, opponents will be blunted, trench warfare will rule. Why glide when you can struggle? And he turns into a blur if someone like Jai Prakash Yadav is bubbling at the other end. He was reprieved twice – both times by Sandeep Sawal at first slip – but with an emotionless method he consolidated a dominant position.Unlike the other two, though, Yadav prefers a rapid extermination. He continued his violent methods, including effortless swipes for six, and sped past the 70s and 80s. His aggressive intentions probably deprived him of his first hundred of the season, getting a top edge while trying to cut fiercely, as he was dismissed for 97 off VRV Singh. But it was an innings that turned the game within the space of a few overs, with an explosive effort that put an end to all thoughts of fightbacks.Bangar and Goud then put an end to the contest.How they were outJP Yadav c Dharmani b VRV Singh 97 (179 for 3) Attempted to cut at one that was short and wide but nicked it straight to the wicketkeeper.Bangar b Rajesh Sharma 77 (205 for 4) Pushed at one that turned sharply and played on.Ali c Dharmani b Gagandeep 14 (205 for 5) Wafted outside off.Tejinder Pal Singh lbw Rajesh Sharma 12 (236 for 6) Beaten by a good-length ball that spun sharply and struck in front.Wankhede c Dharmani b Sodhi 24 (302 for 7) Edged trying to drive through the covers.Parida lbw b Kakkar 6 (333 for 8) Missed a faster ball and was rapped on the pads.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Cricinfo.

Jimmy Allan, one of the best allrounders Scotland has ever produced, has died at the age of 73.A left-arm spinner and right-hand batsman, Allan made 60 appearances for his country between 1954 and 1972, taking 171 wickets. He made his first-class debut for Oxford University in 1953, batting at No. 11, but by the following summer he was opening for them. He won a Blue every year from 1953 to 1956 without ever finishing on the winning side. While at university he also played for Kent, and in 1954 and 1955 he passed 1000 runs, and in 1955 he came with five wickets of recording the double. He played a few more games for Kent in 1957, and in 1966 made a surprise return with Warwickshire, where he enjoyed two seasons.”He was one of the shrewdest left-arm bowlers I have ever seen, with a superb command of flight and length,” Keith Graham, a former team-mate of Allan’s with Ayr, told The Scotsman. “Jimmy was a fantastic cricketer and a super guy. Off the field he was an inspiration to a generation of young cricketers at Ayr.”

South Africa’s one-day allrounder, Justin Kemp, has been appointed as captain of the Nashua Titans franchise for the 2005-06 season.Kemp, who made a successful return to international cricket against England in January and February, enjoyed a brilliant domestic season in 2004-05, especially in the PRO20 Series in which he averages 82.50 at a strike-rate of 189.65, including 13 sixes.During the Standard Bank Cup, Kemp averaged 56.50 at a strike-rate of 77.13, and received the Mutual and Federal Award for the Standard Bank Cup player of the year. Often branded a one-day specialist, Kemp also averaged 57.77 in first-class cricket.Kemp’s sublime form has resuscitated his international career and he performed superbly with the bat in one-day internationals for South Africa against England, Zimbabwe and West Indies this season. He has already, at this early stage of the year passed Lance Klusener’s record of 23 sixes scored in a calendar year, which Klusener accomplished in 1999.”It was not only Kemp’s fine performances which had elevated him to the status of Captain of the Titans, however” said Brandon Foot, the chairman of the board. “Kemp has developed over the past two seasons into a highly competitive cricketer, who has matured remarkably and emerged as a natural leader within the Titans.”Of significance, is that each and every Titans squad member was asked to cast a vote for the Titans captain, and Justin has emerged as having overwhelming support.”Kemp is currently honing his skills with Kent Country Cricket Club under the watchful guidance of the former South African national coach, Graham Ford, in the company of Martin Van Jaarsveld and Andrew Hall.”Justin will be returning from Kent early, by prior arrangement with Kent Country Cricket Club”, said Foot. “We are comfortable that he is in most capable hands under Graham Ford.”Kemp expressed his pleasure at his appointment. “It is a great honour to be made captain of such a talented team. This is a job that I wanted badly and I am very pleased to have been given such an opportunity. It will be difficult to follow in the significant footsteps of my predecessor Daryll Cullinan and I would like to thank Daryll for all that he has done for both myself and the Titans. I am also grateful to my team-mates for having supported my appointment.”Foot added: “The Board is aware that Kemp could well not be available for the Titans when he is called up for, in particular one-day international duty by South Africa. We are, however indeed fortunate to have a number of Titans who have both experience and potential as leaders. Should Justin be called upon for national duty, we will have able replacements for him and this will also ensure pro-active succession planning for the Titans captaincy into the future.”

After that temporary glitch at Cardiff, normality has been restored to the NatWest Series, with both England and Australia guaranteed of their places in next week’s final at Lord’s. But, in the long drawn-out battle for the Ashes, tomorrow’s dress rehearsal at Edgbaston will lack nothing in terms of psychology, with both sides desperate to stamp their authority ahead of the main event.After a slow start to their tour, it is Australia who enter the match with the wind in their sails. They atoned for their embarrassment at Sophia Gardens with a thumping ten-wicket win in the return match against Bangladesh, having already laid a few ghosts with an impressive victory against England at Chester-le-Street.England, meanwhile, were in scratchy form during their five-wicket win over Bangladesh at the weekend, and Marcus Trescothick, their stand-in captain, was quick to admit that the team had been some way short of their best. “We were not our normal bubbly selves,” he said after the match. “‘It just looked wrong. Our whole energy was not there at the start.”Privately, England must be mightily relieved to have seen the last of the Bangladeshis for this season. As Australia discovered, the only real practice that they offered was a lesson in how to deal with humiliation, and the Aussies, it has to be said, bounced back from their indignity very well indeed. There are now five Anglo-Aussie one-day internationals between now and the start of the first Test on July 21, and both sides can now begin the process of finetuning their form.England expect to be lifted for tomorrow’s clash by the return of their captain, Michael Vaughan. A groin strain ruled him out of the last two games, but now he is set to return at the ground where his thrilling 86 carried England to victory in the semi-final of last season’s Champions Trophy – a result that ended a run of 14 straight defeats.”It was a dirty day for us,” admitted Ricky Ponting, who broke his thumb in the same game and was ruled out of the first three Tests of Australia’s subsequent tour of India. “It was an awful day, weather-wise as well as on the field. But there won’t be any talk about the last time we played at Edgbaston.”England won’t want any talk of Chester-le-Street or Headingley either, where their intensity levels were clearly down a notch or two from the high standards they set earlier in the summer. To that end, they can expect a return for Steve Harmison, who was rested against Bangladesh, with Simon Jones resuming his place on the sidelines.Australia’s main fitness issue concerns Michael Clarke, who has been struggling with a sore back and will undergo a late fitness test.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Kevin Pietersen, 7 Geraint Jones, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Chris Tremlett, 10 Darren Gough, 11 Steve Harmison.Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Mike Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Twelve people, including the former Queensland allrounder Brett Henschell, will face a District Court trial in Brisbane over an alleged $8 million superannuation fraud.The alleged fraud against the Commonwealth Bank’s key superannuation funds was discovered following a two-year investigation by the bank and Queensland police. Henschell, 43, and some of the bank’s former employees and customers were involved in a two-week committal hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court that ended today.The Magistrate Noel Nunan found enough evidence to commit the group to trial. They are accused of back-dating super fund switch forms to cash in on gains made by the funds on the stock market. None of the accused has entered a plea.Henschell, 43, made his debut for Queensland as an offspinner in 1981-82 and was picked for the Prime Minister’s XI against England in 1986, dismissing Allan Lamb and Ian Botham. He ended his first-class career with 2720 runs at 29.56 and 87 wickets at 43.96.

Bangladesh have a mountain to climb as they face up to South Africa in the last of three Standard Bank One-Day Internationals. The day/night encounter in Kimberley is not expected to be any different from the convincing South African wins of the first two matches.Building a team for the World Cup in February 2003, the South African selectors are still working towards a balanced squad. National Convenor, Omar Henry, commented that there are still concerns over certain positions.Four changes have been made. Out go Lance Klusener, Dale Benkenstein, Errol Stewart and Mfuneko Ngam and in come Jonty Rhodes, Ashwell Prince, Steve Elworthy and Robin Peterson.Rhodes is over his hand injury, while Prince and Peterson have shown enough form in recent matches to warrant selection. Elworthy, the yo-yo selection of South African cricket, is recalled due to the Ngam injury and the `resting’, as National Selection Convenor Omar Henry put it, of Klusener.For Bangladesh this series continues to be a huge learning curve. The youngsters in the squad would have gained tremendous experience on the tour that can only stand them in good stead in the future.The inability of the batsmen in getting into line to anything quicker than medium fast has been their downfall. Quite capable against the slower paced bowlers, scoring freely at times, they have had no answer to anything quick and short of a length.For them it is also a time to look at their game plan. From this series it appears as if their only plan is to survive for 45 overs and then to try and get the run rate up in the final overs. A far more positive attitude could help their cause.In the fielding department they have a lot of work to do between now and the World Cup. Far too many simple catches have gone down and the numerous fumbles in the outfield have to be minimised. To perform at this level every run saved could have a major impact on the game and the result.South Africa should win the match at a canter, but with places still undecided for the World Cup every player will be giving 120 percent to secure a place in the final 15.South Africa from: Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Steve Elworthy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Ashwell Prince, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Martin van Jaarsveld.Bangladesh from: Khaled Mashud, Hannan Sarkar, Al Sahariar, Tushar Imran, Alok Kapali, Khaled Mahmud, Tapash Baisya, Manjural Islam, Javed Omar, and Talha Jubair, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Rafique, Sanwar Hossain, Rafiqul Islam, Anwar Hossain.

In the final what separated the winner from the loser was the confidence factor. Sri Lanka drove on with the impeccable record of winning in the finals to move forward, while India succumbed under pressure once again in the summit clash. In all Sri Lanka have played 14 finals and they have just lost two.Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, was direct in his analysis when he said that the team had been struggling in the one-dayers. “The team is not been doing particularly well in one-day cricket. Winning takes some practice. We are bit down on confidence at the moment,” he continued. “With success, we got a little bit careless and thought success would continue. Well, it hasn’t continued and we have got a crisis in confidence. Otherwise, I don’t think there is much difference between the two teams.” The Indian Oil Cup series was Chappell’s first assignment and despite just winning two of the five matches in the series, he felt that his team were in a position to do much better. “We were in a position to win three or four of the five games but we were not good enough. We do have to analyse not only this series but what has been happening in recent times in Indian cricket.”His captain Rahul Dravid was not that worried that Indian had lost one more final as he felt it was a learning curve and they had to start getting better. “We have not won many finals. It is just a question of going back and working on it, getting ourselves in good position, getting ourselves in more finals and trying to win them. We have to learn from and get better at.”He further added that the Sri Lankans understand their conditions very well and were the only team to bowl two spinners in the last ten overs. “They have that nous to win in these conditions as they understand how to play cricket here and not many teams beat them.”Dravid backed his team selection of playing an extra bowler instead of the batsman He reasoned on the fact that it had not helped the team when they had played an extra batsman in the past finals. “We played a lot of finals with a bowler short and ended up giving runs and then it doesn’t really matter how many batsmen you have. I backed my batsmen as each one of us had got runs at some stage of the tournament. If we could restrict them to a decent score we could chase successfully. But Sri Lanka batted well in the middle overs and a wicket there might have restricted them to 250.”Chappell thought 281 was an achievable score and the team was in a position to win untill the last 15 overs. “281 was a reasonable target and Rahul and Yuvraj (Singh) were batting well and at one stage we needed 112 runs from 108 balls with 8 wickets in hand and we should’ve won the game from there.”Yuvraj who had scored a match-winning century in the last group game against the West Indies was showing the same fluency but in a period of urgency played a shot too many. His wicket triggered a quick mini-collapse. “Yuvraj’s wicket and my run out coming in quick succession was a turning point, as we left a bit too much for the lower order. We needed to carry on for at least six to seven overs,” said Dravid.Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said he was aware that India would come out strongly early on, especially with the likes of hard-hitting Virender Sehwag opening. “We tried to patient as we knew they would come hard at us in the first 15 overs and we just tried to remain patient.”Sri Lanka’s total was boosted by a fifth-wicket partnership of 125 runs between the in-form Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold, who were busy stealing singles and twos, ticking the scoreboard over. Jayawardene, who had scored an unbeaten 94 against India in Dambulla in the fourth game of the series, felt it was nice to be under less pressure this time as his partner was taking the lead in the getting the runs. “It is always good when the guy who comes in starts scoring quickly and takes the pressure off you. My job became easier with Russel coming in and moving the scoreboard.”Atapattu attributed the series win to the team and felt, “We all have performed in one game or the other to secure this victory. So this is a team thing. We trust each other and we enjoy each other’s company and that helps us perform as a team.”Dravid’s conclusion was more downbeat: “Sri Lanka is the number two side in the world in one-day form so they have been winning consistently which we have been not been doing over the last 14 to 16 months. When you get yourself in the position to win sometimes you just need that extra bit of confidence to win.”

New Zealand are likely to be boosted by the presence of Stephen Fleming, their captain, for the first Test against Australia which starts at the Gabba in Brisbane next Thursday. Fleming had been battling a mystery virus since his return from the tour of Bangladesh, and sources suggest that he is on the road to recovery, despite failing to complete a training session in Wellington on Friday.According to a report on , Fleming could manage only 15 minutes of batting in the nets before he decided he couldn’t carry on. However, he will fly into Sydney on Saturday afternoon, and team officials expect him to be fit to make the XI for the first Test.Daniel Vettori and Nathan Astle, who missed the warm-up game against New South Wales with shoulder and back injuries, are both expected to be fit in time to face the Australians, who are coming off a series win in India.The last time New Zealand crossed the Tasman Sea, they surprisingly held Australia to a 0-0 draw in a series interrupted by inclement weather. However, if they are without Fleming – whose batting has been as instrumental as his captaincy in their recent successes – few will fancy their chances of repeating that feat.

South Africa A took the honours on the opening day of their three-day match against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla thanks to impressive bursts from their pacemen. Monde Zondeki, Tyron Henderson and Zander de Bruyn grabbed three wickets each as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 206.Jacques Rudolph, the South African captain, asked Sri Lanka to bat after the match had started two hours due a damp pitch and his seam attack utilised the conditions. Upul Tharanga, who has recently made his one-day international debut for Sri Lanka, gave further evidence of his adundant talent as he provided the majority of resistance with a stubborn 72.However, the rest of the Sri Lanka line-up could not handle the sustained pressure from an experienced South African seam attack. The South Africans made a positive start in reply and although Hashim Amla fell for 15, Rudolph will resume in 42.

Andrew Flintoff has been cleared of any serious damage to his right wrist after copping a blow while attempting a return catch off Ricky Ponting. Flintoff was taken to hospital for a precautionary X-ray, but it was later revealed that the bruise and swelling wasn’t of a serious nature, and that he would be available for the one-off Test against Australia at Sydney, which starts on October 14.The news that Flintoff’s injury is only a minor one will be a huge relief to the England camp as he is expected to be a key member of their side on the tour to Pakistan, which starts later this month. Flintoff’s injury also means that two of England’s Ashes stars have suffered in the field during this one-day series – Kevin Pietersen strained his hamstring during the second match on Friday, and was omitted from the final game. However, Pietersen too is expected to be fit in time for the Pakistan tour.