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Scorecard
New Zealand A were the more motivated and determined team on day two of the second unofficial Test against Zimbabwe A, surging powerfully ahead with some excellent late-order batting to declare at 526 for 8. That effort was followed up by some fine bowling and catching and by the end of the day Zimbabwe A had four good wickets down for only 104 runs, and were facing a difficult struggle to save the follow-on.New Zealand A, 329 for 4 overnight, were obviously intent on building a total of at least 500, almost regardless of time. They followed the same policy they had adopted on the previous day: see off the opening bowlers and then take advantage of the second string. Five runs came in 25 minutes against good bowling from Tinashe Panyangara and Njabulo Ncube, but then James Franklin attempted a half-hearted drive against the former and edged a catch to the keeper to depart for 47 off 136 balls.His partner Reece Young was more aggressive, especially through the covers, and reached his fifty with a slice to the boundary that just cleared backward point. After he was dismissed for 76 off 123 balls, Jeetan Patel made only four and the score slipped to 406 for 7 – the last two wickets having fallen to Vusi Sibanda’s gentle seamers. As New Zealand A play three batsmen whose natural position is No. 11 – No. 9 Brent Arnel has a career batting average of less than six – it appeared that the innings was almost over, even though Gareth Hopkins was still there.Again, though, a Zimbabwean team showed its inability to break through the opposition tail. Arnel was perhaps fortunate to survive an appeal for a low catch to mid-on, which the umpires decided they were unable to be sure was valid. Arnel took the opportunity to dig in and lend invaluable assistance to Hopkins, who handled the situation of batting with the tail very well.He never seemed to panic or worry about retaining the strike, but played his strokes calmly and skillfully. That pair added 71 before Arnel left, and then Bhupinder Singh also lent solid support, allowing Hopkins to reach a well-deserved century off 116 balls, with 15 fours. At this point New Zealand A declared, not long before tea, with their total 526 for 8. Njabulo Ncube recorded the best figures, taking 3 for 87, while the inexhaustible Panyangara deserved better than 1 for 88 off his 34 overs.Zimbabwe were kept under pressure by New Zealand’s bowlers from the start, Steve Marillier spending 35 uncomfortable minutes at the crease before edging a rising delivery from Chris Martin, while Vusi Sibanda slashed at his first ball and was brilliantly caught by Martin Guptill leaping to his right at second slip. Zimbabwe A were 16 for 2 in the ninth over.After a short recovery, Zimbabwe A suffered a major blow as their in-form batsman, Tino Mawoyo, edged a ball from Franklin down the leg side and was caught by the diving keeper, out for 23 out of a total of 29. After Charles Coventry was caught at slip after an unnaturally reticent innings of 7, Forster Mutizwa’s response was to assault the spin of Patel, hammering him for a four and a six, while Malcolm Waller also responded positively. The pair put on 43 together by the close and lived to fight another day – and fight is what they will have to do.

A group of Australian limited-overs specialists including Brett Lee could be crossing the ditch to New Zealand to play in its Twenty20 league this summer. Lee no longer appears in whites for Australia or New South Wales so is chasing extra games to keep him in touch for his domestic duties and any international calls.New Zealand’s Twenty20 tournament is in December while Australia’s Big Bash is mostly in January, meaning there could be a trade of talent across the Tasman. Nathan Bracken has approached New South Wales to see if he can join a provincial team while it is believed Wellington and Canterbury are interested in Lee. The obvious problem is that the players would be unable to turn out for their home sides and the overseas team.Last summer Daniel Vettori (Queensland) and Ross Taylor (Victoria) made cameos in the Big Bash while Brendon McCullum represented New South Wales once the previous season. Playing in two tournaments also increases the cricketers’ chances of winning a spot in the annual Champions League Twenty20.Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s general manager of cricket, said he was ready for the moves if there was room in the programme. “The first priority for an Australian player is here, and even with players on the periphery the selectors might want them here, but subject to those things we are open to it,” he said in the Australian. “Subject to everybody being okay with it I can’t see too many negatives.”

ScorecardThe openers set the tone for the day early and the rest of the batsmen followed suit•International Cricket Council

Afghanistan’s batsmen dominated Scotland after being inserted on the first day of the Intercontinental Cup fixture in Ayr. Each of the top five batsmen got off to a start and though none managed to reach three-figures, Nawroz Mangal should be pleased with his team’s efforts.Noor Ali Zadran and Karim Sadiq set the tone early, adding 67 runs without too many problems in 14.4 overs as the hosts settled for a day of toil. Noor Ali had stroked six fours in a 38-ball 36 when he was run out, after deciding late to go for a fourth run. Mohammad Shahzad, who came in at one-drop, anchored proceedings with Sadiq as the visitors set their sights on a big score. Sadiq raised his half-century first, off 102 balls inclusive of seven fours, and Scotland reprieved him immediately, Qasim Sheikh dropping a chance at slip. Shahzad hit a six and six fours in his 90-ball 54 when Matthew Parker intervened. Both the set batsmen departed, edging Parker behind within the space of two overs as Scotland saw an opening.Mangal settled at one end to thwart Scotland’s hopes of making further inroads while Asghar Stanikzai kept the scoreboard moving briskly. He announced his intentions early, lofting Majid Haq for a six off the second ball he faced, and repeating the treatment in his next over. Mangal opened up against Dewald Nel, hitting a couple of fours leading up to tea and the visitors went into the break with the upper hand.Iqbal sent Mangal back on resumption, inducing him to mis-hit a loft. Mohammad Nabi could not last long and perished for 10 runs, but Samiullah Shenwari ensured that his side did not feel the loss. Stanikzai was given two lives off Haq, the wicketkeeper Simon Smith missing a stumping and a catch respectively, and Scotland paid dearly for the errors. A flurry of boundaries before stumps meant Shenwari reached his fifty before stumps and the pair looked good to add to their unbroken 95-run association on the second day.

Brian Lara still has serious ambitions of coming out of retirement to try his hand at Twenty20 and is targeting next year’s fourth IPL tournament.Lara, who is now 41, will turn out for MCC against Pakistan on Sunday, at Lord’s, and it will be the first time he has played competitive cricket since being part of the rebel Indian Cricket League where he made just 31 runs at 6.20 for Mumbai Champs.Earlier this season he was in talks about joining Surrey for their Friends Provident t20 campaign and although that move fell through he hasn’t shelved his plans of cashing in on the lucrative Twenty20 game.”I’m thinking about it,” he told the Lord’s website. “I would love to be a player-coach. [I was] very close to joining Surrey this season. I was disappointed the talks broke down. If I have intentions of getting back and making an impression in IPL 2011 I need to start playing now.”Lara retired before the format took off internationally and although he maintains Test cricket remains the pinnacle he is positive about the impact Twenty20 has had. “I’m from the old school, I love Test cricket and I’m very happy that was the game I made my name in, but everything in life changes,” he said. “Evolution is important.”Lara has been in the nets at Lord’s preparing for his MCC appearance where he will line-up alongside Sourav Ganguly in a match which is part of the club’s sponsorship of Pakistan’s series against Australia under their Spirit of Cricket banner.”It has been a while since I played in a competitive match, surely I will be a bit rusty, but it’s great to have on the gear again,” he said.

Pakistan’s controversial team selection for the tour of England is set to be scrutinized by a sports committee of the parliament’s upper house that has summoned officials and selectors over the “injustice in selection”.The head of the Senate’s committee on sports, Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would have to explain its actions. “We have come to know that there are injustices in the team selection and to probe that we have summoned officials and selectors in a meeting in Islamabad on July 9,” Qureshi told AFP.The squad was announced during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this month with only chief selector Mohsin Khan, coach Waqar Younis, captain Shahid Afridi and manager Yawar Saeed in attendance. The selection was severely criticized by former players, and even members of the selection committee who weren’t involved in the procedure.The biggest point of contention was the exclusion of former captain Younis Khan, despite his appeal against the ban imposed by the PCB upheld. Ijaz Butt, chairman of the board, said later that Younis’ return would require clearance from the board, something that wasn’t deemed to be an issue with Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, who were all pardoned and included. Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Sami were the other notable absentees from the 17-member squad.Pakistan will play two Twenty20s and two Tests against Australia, followed by four Tests, two Twenty20 and five ODIs against England.

Michael Clarke believes he might need to rediscover the attacking approach of his youth to become a successful Twenty20 batsman. Clarke has no intention of giving up his place as Australia’s captain in the shortest format despite struggling to lift his scoring rate in the World Twenty20, where he led Australia to the final, which they lost to England.Ricky Ponting has been impressed with Clarke’s leadership and in the on Thursday, Shane Warne argued that Clarke was the best captaincy option and No. 3 for the Twenty20 team. However, after arriving home to Sydney, Clarke conceded he might have to dust off some of the more aggressive strokes he played as a younger man.”Who knows? Maybe I need a little bit of that back,” Clarke said. “Everybody has a different role in our team though and that is one thing that players certainly are aware of, and you need to do your role to the best of your ability.”For me my role is not the same as Dave Warner or Shane Watson. I always want to perform, I always want to score runs, it doesn’t matter what form of the game I’m playing, but like I said in this game, sometimes you can’t always make those runs.”Clarke’s immediate future in the format is expected to be decided over the next week as the selectors settle on the squads for the upcoming tour of England. Clarke is determined to stay in charge of the Twenty20 side, a role he took over last year when Ponting retired from that version of the game.”No doubt [I want to continue], I’m disappointed we couldn’t win the World T20, win the final, but I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity,” Clarke said. “I’ve loved playing with the guys, I’ve had a lot of support from people back at home, the people who came and watched the games in the West Indies, and family and friends, so it’s been great and I’m enjoying it.”Clarke said that while the loss to England was disappointing, there was no reason to panic ahead of next summer’s Ashes series in Australia. The urn is held by England following their triumph at home last year, but the previous series in Australia was won 5-0 by Ponting’s men.”It always hurts losing to England in any form of the game, but obviously a lot of guys in both teams that won’t take part in the Ashes series,” Clarke said. “They will take confidence out of it, no doubt about it, but I can guarantee the way we’ve been playing Test and one day cricket of late, or even T20 cricket in this tournament, we’re very confident.”

The veteran batsman Michael Dighton has been left out of Tasmania’s list of contracted players for 2010-11, a group with few other changes from last season’s squad. The Tigers lost Daniel Marsh to retirement and did not re-sign the rookies John Rogers and Wade Irvine in the first round of offers, but the absence of Dighton was more of a surprise.Although he has not been part of the first-class team since November 2008, Dighton, 34, has remained an important part of the Tasmania top order in the 50-over format. He played every match in their triumphant FR Cup campaign and two months ago scored 80 in their victory over Victoria in the final, and the coach Tim Coyle said Dighton could yet remain in the mix.”He’s played well for a number of years but his form, he would admit, has fluctuated in recent times,” Coyle told Cricinfo. “He played a very good innings in the final but up to then he’d had an average year, and he would have admitted that himself. We know he’s a quality player so we’ll just see how things roll out next week.”The states must finalise their full lists by next Thursday, meaning Dighton could yet win a contract in the second round of offers. However, there is a large group of axed players from other states searching for a home this season, including several top-order batsmen such as Mark Cosgrove, Nick Kruger, Greg Moller and Lloyd Mash.The Tigers have added to their squad the batsman Steven Cazzulino, 23, who was the leading run scorer in Sydney grade cricket last summer with 1289 at 71.61. A left-hand opener who can bat for long periods, Cazzulino will aim to become Ed Cowan’s opening partner in the Sheffield Shield after Jon Wells and Rhett Lockyear struggled to make the position their own in 2009-10.There was no room for Rogers or Irvine in the first round of offers, while the bowler Hamish Kingston, 19, won a rookie contract. Despite finishing second last on the Sheffield Shield table last season, Tasmania were keen to retain stability by backing the core of their existing young squad.”We’ve shown some faith in quite a number of people,” Coyle said. “We had a number of new faces into the team last year. Having another major cleanout this year could have destablised the group.”We blooded some players last year who did quite well – Alex Doolan, Brady Jones had some time as the wicketkeeper, Adam Maher played some cricket – all new players and developing players. There’s still a lot of improvement in the group that we have.”Jason Krejza will spend the next couple of months recovering from hip surgery this week, although he is expected to be fully fit for the start of the pre-season. The other major injury worry is the ongoing knee problem for Ben Hilfenhaus, who this week started bowling again at the Centre of Excellence and is targeting the Australia A series against Sri Lanka A in late June for a possible comeback.Tasmania squad George Bailey, Travis Birt, Luke Butterworth, Steven Cazzulino, Ed Cowan, Gerard Denton, Xavier Doherty, Alex Doolan, Brendan Drew, James Faulkner, Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith, Ben Hilfenhaus (Cricket Australia contract), Jason Krejza, Rhett Lockyear, Tim Macdonald, Adam Maher, Tim Paine (CA), Ricky Ponting (CA), Jon Wells.Rookies Matthew Day, Brady Jones, Hamish Kingston, Jeremy Smith, Tom Triffitt.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Harbhajan Singh dismissed the dangerous Matthew Hayden•Indian Premier League

Sachin Tendulkar was the rudder, Shikhar Dhawan provided propulsion, and they combined for a 92-run opening partnership which charted Mumbai Indians’ course for success at the Brabourne Stadium. The victory helped the hosts steam past Royal Challengers Bangalore and take top spot in the league with a game in hand. The absence of major setbacks during the pursuit of a formidable target, on a day their usually efficient bowling attack failed, emphasised Mumbai’s status as one of the tournament favourites.Chennai Super Kings also had several things going for them as they sought to nip their budding losing streak: MS Dhoni had returned, Matthew Hayden bludgeoned Zaheer Khan to seize the initiative, and Suresh Raina and S Badrinath forged a partnership of 142, the second-best of all IPLs. However, their bowling attack is perhaps the competition’s weakest and Dhoni had too many chinks to find cover for against a ruthless batting line-up. Muttiah Muralitharan apart, none of the others caused a flutter, and Mumbai cruised home with an over to spare. The defeat was Chennai’s third in a row and their fourth in six games.Mumbai’s start wasn’t fluent. There were few boundaries in the early overs, and a healthy helping of extras were needed to stay abreast of the asking-rate. Tendulkar’s timing wasn’t there, though that had little to do against the bowling of Albie Morkel and L Balaji. Then Dhoni gave the fifth over to Joginder Sharma, who did not play the previous game, and Dhawan cut loose, peppering the leg-side boundary with two pulls and a flick. The 50 was up in the fifth over and Dhawan accelerated further in the next by pulling Balaji for consecutive sixes.Dhoni tried left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati after the fielding restrictions were lifted, but Dhawan greeted him with a reverse-swat to the boundary. In Jakati’s second over, Dhawan charged and lofted him straight to reach a 31-ball fifty with a six. He holed out three balls later, but had already caused serious damage. Morkel had been satisfactory but the rest, especially the unthreatening medium-pace of Balaji and Joginder, had leaked runs.Murali, who had come on in the eighth over, trapped Saurabh Tiwary lbw in the tenth during the only phase when Chennai reined Mumbai in. They scored 94 off nine overs and only 12 off the next three. Mumbai needed 75 off 48 balls and it was now that Tendulkar decided to hit his first six of the season, stepping out to Murali and lofting him over long-on. He didn’t demolish the bowling during this half-century, brought up off 40 balls, but stayed in long enough to ensure there would be no hiccups during the chase.The introduction of Thissara Perera sealed Chennai’s fate. The debutant started with a full toss – on offer aplenty from Balaji and Joginder too – that Tendulkar put away to fine leg for four. He then bowled two more, and Tendulkar glanced them both off his pads effortlessly. While Tendulkar was being steady, Pollard muscled 20 off 9 balls to hack away at the asking-rate, and Dwayne Bravo ended it with typical Caribbean flair, flicking Balaji for four before getting the winning run.Mumbai’s batsmen rose to the challenge on a day their bowlers under-performed. Only Ryan McLaren, who took the new ball for the first time, and Harbhajan Singh exerted control over Chennai’s scoring-rate, while Zaheer, Bravo and Lasith Malinga, who was first used only in the 11th, went for over ten an over.Hayden wielded his bat like a club from the start. He missed the first ball, a wide from Zaheer, and hit the second to mid-on. The next four, all length deliveries with width, disappeared to different parts of the off-side boundary, each placed straighter than the previous one and dispatched with immense power off the front foot. Those hits were with a regular bat but Hayden called for the little one when Harbhajan came on in the third over. He lasted two balls before a slider caught him in front, leaving Chennai on 32 for 1.Parthiv Patel followed soon after, bowled off his pads by a McLaren yorker, which brought together Raina and Badrinath. Raina was severe on Bravo, hitting his first two balls for a six and a four, chipping him over the slips before dealing him another six and four a few deliveries later. He brought up his half-century off 32 balls, Badrinath lofted Zaheer over his head to reach 50 off 41. They added 142, but towards the end were unable to find the fifth gear. Chennai had plenty of wickets in hand and looked set for 200-plus, but Malinga returned and conceded only seven off the final over to keep them to well below that. In the end, 180 wasn’t enough.

New Zealand want to postpone their already rearranged tour of Zimbabwe until 2011 or play it in a neutral venue due to the security situation in the African country. The side was due to tour last year but rescheduled the trip for June 2010 and Justin Vaughan, New Zealand’s chief executive, said the situation had not improved.”It is clear from our recent discussions that the government’s assessment of the security situation in Zimbabwe has not changed from that of a year ago, when the scheduled tour was postponed,” Vaughan said.He has told Zimbabwe Cricket of the decision and asked for the matches to be postponed again. “We have a possible window for the rescheduling of the tour next year in May/June,” Vaughan said. “The other option is that we look at playing the scheduled tour in a neutral venue.”The prime minister John Key said the main concern was for player safety. “They are the major issues when we last looked at this issue about a year ago,” he said.Key said although some progress appeared to have been made in the political situation in Zimbabwe, there were still concerns. New Zealand last toured Zimbabwe in 2005 for two Tests and a one-day tri-series.

Mithali Raj, who nearly took the second ODI away from England with her unbeaten 91 in Bangalore, gave credit to the visitors for holding their nerve during the final overs of the chase.Raj had added 106 with Amita Sharma for the fifth wicket and at one stage India needed 11 off 19 balls with four wickets in hand. Fast bowler Jenny Gunn struck twice in her penultimate over; with her first ball she broke the 45-run stand between Raj and Jhulan Goswami and then with the sixth she had Nooshin Al Khadeer caught at mid-off.”At one point I thought it would be difficult but during this partnership and the one with Jhulan, I felt we were in the game,” Raj said. “But hers and Amita’s wicket fell at the wrong time. Even if one of them had been there, we could have pulled off the win.”Raj said her decision to let the tailenders take strike had been forced by England bowlers who managed to keep her to just taking singles. “I must give them credit for holding their nerves when it could have been anybody’s match. One mistake or a boundary would have cost them the match but they fielded really well.”England captain Charlotte Edwards said she had been worried as Raj and Sharma whittled down the target but held on to the hope that breaking the stand would expose the Indian tail. “Everybody put their bodies on the line and there was some great bowling from all the bowlers,” Edwards said.”It was a fantastic win for us. I think we’ve done really well today having lost senior players Sarah Taylor and Nicky Shaw in the morning, and Claire Taylor and Holly Colvin at home. So to win the game in India with a lot of young players in the side is a great effort and something we’re really proud of. But we know it’s the start of a big series and hopefully we’ll nick the next couple and it will be a great series win for us.”Indian left-arm spinners Gouher Sultana and Preeti Dimri took six of the eight wickets to fall but England coach Mark Lane said he was happy with the way the team played against the spinners. “We batted well against the spinners in the first game but didn’t finish things off. You have to remember playing Indian spinners on a third-day pitch is a big challenge for anyone. We’re not used to conditions quite as dramatic as that. Our girls have adapted well and we’re looking forward to the next leg of the tour and performing well down there.”The teams will now head to Visakhapatnam for the next two games – on February 24 and 26 – before heading to Mumbai for the final leg of the tour.