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Mithun Manhas scored 100 off 161 balls at the Kotla © Cricinfo Ltd

ScorecardMithun Manhas’ hundred and Rajat Bhatia’s 83 took Delhi to 387 before the home side’s bowlers, led by legbreak bowler Chetanya Nanda, took seven Rajasthan wickets on day three at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Manhas duly moved from an overnight 86 to 100, but Bhatia could only add 18 to his score in the morning as fast bowler Pankaj Singh took his second five-wicket haul in the game to bowl Delhi out.Gagan Khoda (71) and Robin Bist (50*) battled hard but there was little support against Nanya (3 for 61) and Delhi’s opening duo, Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Bhandari. Rajasthan need 234 to win, but with the pitch suddenly cracking, it is Delhi’s game tomorrow.
ScorecardBowled out for 227 in 79.1 overs, Hyderabad were forced to follow on and finished day three 158 runs behind Bengal’s 461 at Eden Gardens. Resuming the third day 386 runs behind Bengal, Hyderabad combusted further and needed a career-best from Amol Shinde, in his third game, to get them to a respectable total. He added 74 for the eighth wicket with Pragyan Ojha (35) but fell to Saurashish Lahiri ten short of a maiden hundred. Lahiri picked up his fourth wicket to finish the innings, and following-on, Hyderabad slipped to 86 for 3 by stumps, all three wickets falling to Murtaza Lodhgar’s slow left-arm spin.
ScorecardHimachal Pradesh rallied around Ashok Thakur’s second five-wicket haul in the match, and a maiden first-class hundred from opener Manish Gupta, to draw with Saurashtra at Dharamsala. By virtue of a first-innings lead Saurashtra took three points to HP’s one, and but lost their last four wickets for 47 runs in the morning. Cheteshwar Pujara added just three to his overnight 106 as Thakur, who took 6 for 73 in the first innings, finished with 5 for 73. With an unattainable target of 384, HP lost two early wickets but Gupta, with 104 from 144 balls, and Ajay Mannu, with 57 from 93, steadied the ship.

Hemal Watekar hit his second hundred of the game at Dharamsala © Cricinfo Ltd

ScorecardAndhra made Punjab toil in the field, hitting 287 for no loss on a fourth-day pitch, but the hosts took three first-innings-lead points from their draw at Amritsar. Pankaj Dharmani declared at Punjab’s overnight 372 for 9, just 38 runs ahead of Andhra, but none of his bowlers could manage a wicket as the top order weighed in. Hemal Watekar followed up his first-innings century with 100 from 146 balls before retiring hurt, and fellow opener Prasad Reddy finished with an unbeaten 114*, his fourth first-class ton. For good measure, No. 3 Satya Kumar Varma chipped in with an unbeaten 58 from 86 balls to deny Punjab. Medium-fast bowler Gagandeep Singh, who took 4 for 53 in Andhra’s first innings, did not bowl and his absence was felt on the final day.
ScorecardRahul Dravid found his true form on the last day of this match, hitting a double-century to guide Karnataka to a draw against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Karnataka made 397 for 6 at tea before declaring to set Mumbai a target of 256 in 32 overs, 17 of which had gone by before both captains settled on a draw. Dravid fell one short of his highest score in the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai secured three points for their first-innings lead while Karnataka got one.Maharashtra 430 (Takawale 76, R Ashwin 6-133) drew with Tamil Nadu 338 for 7 (Badrinath 72, Srinivasan 62, Karthik 56, Ashwin 51*)
ScorecardTamil Nadu fought back from an overnight 58 for 3 to finish 338 for 7 in their rain-hit draw with Maharashtra at Chennai. There were no hundreds, but fifties from Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Rajhamany Srinivasan and R Ashwin helped the host complete a facile draw. Ashwin, after taking 6 for 133, scored his maiden half-century in his just sixth match. Both teams shared one point each.

Scorecard

Stelling held his nerve © ICC

Netherlands sneaked past Canada by one wicket in the rain-affected fifth one-dayer at Benoni to take the ICC Tri-Series on Thursday.Set a revised 205 from 42 overs, Netherlands made good progress thanks to a counterattacking partnership between Ryan ten Doeschate (38) and Luuk van Troost (34). And when Daan van Bunge passed fifty from 52 balls, Netherlands appeared to be cruising home before they stumbled from from 142 for 6 to 178 for 9, with Billy Stelling the last of the recognised batsmen. However, he held his nerve – crashing two fours and lofting two sixes – in his 34-ball 39 as Netherlands crept home with just two balls to spare.Earlier Canada’s innings was a stuttering affair with Ashish Bagai (23) and Abdool Samad (44) sharing a promising second-wicket stand of 52. But the innings foundered somewhat, with Tim de Leede picking up two cheap wickets, before a huge thunderstorm during the lunch interval delayed the start of Netherlands’ innings, causing the intervention of Duckworth and Lewis.The final game of the series between Canada and Bermuda will be played on Saturday.

Tom Moody: ‘We have a series to save, and a Test to win’ © Getty Images

MoodyOn the fitness worriesA number of players are suffering with various illnesses – a viral stomach bug and flu. It’s no different from the Indian team. A couple of guys stayed back at the hotel to rest, and we’re hoping to pick from a full squad.Once the match starts, we’ve got to get on with it. The adrenaline takes over, and you’ve seen many fine performances from players who are injured or ill.On Dilhara Fernando and Chaminda VaasThey have a bit of fever, but we’re pleased that it’s 24 hours before the match because these things ease off. But they’re not 100 percent at the moment. Marvan [Atapattu] is also suffering a bit from flu, and has been going about things in a low-key way.On the pitchIt looks much the same as the one we had for the ODI. It’s a good cricket wicket, and it looks like there’ll be turn. It should be a good-scoring game.On what the team approach would beWe have a series to save, and a Test to win, which we’ve never done before in India. There’s obviously pride involved. We’re going with in confidence, like we did in Delhi. The defeat has not taken that away.On the batting collapses in DelhiI can’t do anything about that. It’s up to the players to learn from them. Delhi was not a difficult pitch to bat on. It was just the first 20 minutes when you were unsure if you were in or not in, which was probably why wickets fell in bunches there. But once a batsman was established, it was hard to budge them. We need to review our performance, look where we went wrong and correct those mistakes. That’s the difference between a good team and an average one.We lost that match over the course of 60 minutes of bad batting. This time, we won’t make the same mistakes, and we will hope that it’s the opposition that make them.JayawardeneOn recovering from DelhiDelhi is finished. We start all over again here. We have talked of attacking their bowlers, and depending on the pitch and the match situation, we’ll try and do that again.On Anil KumbleWith close to 500 wickets, he’s way up there with the great bowlers. He’s been a great campaigner for so long, and a very intelligent bowler. The way he’s been bowling, he’s the best in their side.On whether Sanath Jayasuriya was being missedWhen someone has played 100 Tests, will you not miss him? We miss the experience and the contribution he could have made if he had been around, but we can’t think about it now. There are some talented players here, and we have to perform.

Ray Jennings insisted that his team were upbeat despite a long day in the field which yielded just one wicketGetty Images

At the start of the Test, it was England’s turn to put their coach beforethe press to explain away their bad day at the office. Today however, itwas Ray Jennings’ job to front up for South Africa, after they had beenput to the sword by Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss. And true toform, Jennings had plenty to say for his players and their performance.”Cricket to me is all about how you put the effort in, and what you getout of it,” he said, after his players had put in 80 overs of hard toil,and got the solitary late wicket of Trescothick as a reward. “The lack ofwickets, plus the perception that the wicket was flat, maybe affected ourperformance. There’s no such thing as a flat wicket, just as there’s nosuch thing as an easy catch.”But I’m not unhappy with the performance,” Jennings insisted. “Nicky Bojemaybe could have exploited the rough better, but in the last 45 minutes,we were full of energy and the wicket didn’t look at all flat. This matchhas been dominated by three batsman – Jacques Kallis and the Englandopeners – and it all depends on the mood of the game when they first getin. For the first 20 or 30 balls, any player can look out of nick on thiswicket.”By the close, England led by 88 with nine wickets standing, and despitetheir tough day in the field, Jennings had no doubt the match was still inthe balance. “Our guys are upbeat,” he insisted. “We were full of energyin the last 10 or 15 overs, and there was a positive rap in thedressing-room at teatime. It takes a lot more to get this South Africanside down. Not many sides would have handled the heat and the mindset ofhaving a lead and losing it like we did. We see 250 runs in 80 overs forone wicket as a positive.”A winning lead on this pitch could be anything from 150 to 400,” addedJennings. “It’s that type of game. The way Kallis is playing, he can chasethe target himself. I’m sure we are good enough to handle the pressure,and we’ll handle the conditions as well. There are still 180 overs to go,and I reckon we’ll be set about 300.”But with Andrew Strauss at the crease – again – South Africa have theirwork cut out if they are to claw their way back into the game. Jennings,naturally, had an interesting take on his instant impact on Test cricket.”I think Strauss’s youth adds value to the package,” he said, somewhatcryptically.”He’s young, he likes a challenge, he has freedom to play, and he’s happyand he smiles. It’s when you get older that the expectations increase, andyou become a bit bored of spending too much time away. That’s when the troublestarts. But he’s not thinking too much just yet. He’s in Phase One of hisTest career.”South Africa will be hoping he becomes a cynical old pro overnight.

Five years ago, Ricky Ponting’s captaincy credentials were pretty thin on the ground, blighted by repeated run-ins with authority and inconsistent form. When Steve Waugh’s one-day career came to a shuddering halt after the VB Series in 2001-02, Adam Gilchrist was considered by most to have the best chance of becoming first among equals. But Australian cricket got to its position of pre-eminence largely because of the establishment’s knack for following up on inspired hunches, and the appointment of Ponting may be considered one such in the years to come.

Ricky Ponting – Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year © AFP

Waugh had led them to World Cup success in 1999 and presided over the era of dominance that followed, but anyone who expected a mini-dip under Ponting was in for a rude awakening. Australia lost only one one-day match of any consequence – against Sri Lanka, on a sluggish pitch, at the ICC Knockout Trophy – and Ponting ended the season with a win-loss record that read 30-5. More importantly, a team deprived of the services of Shane Warne at the stroke of midnight progressed unbeaten through the World Cup campaign.Not only did Ponting lead the side with flair, imagination and the aggression that we have come to expect from those in baggy green, but he also contributed immeasurably to the victory with his bat. A blistering hundred in the Super Sixes helped rout Sri Lanka, and he followed that with a glorious 121-ball 140 in the final, hammering India’s in-form attack into submission. It was easily the highlight of his one-day season, one that produced 1150 runs – inclusive of five 100s and three 50s – at a tremendous average of 47.91.Not having to concern himself with the captaincy, he was even more impressive in the Test arena. Two glorious hundreds at Colombo and Sharjah contributed to a 3-0 thrashing of a hapless Pakistan side, and he followed that with back-to-back Ashes centuries at Brisbane and Adelaide as Australia retained the urn inside 11 days.The pinnacle though was reached in West Indies, where Ponting chiselled out superb hundreds at Georgetown, Port-of-Spain and Bridgetown to continue Australia’s recent domination of the Frank Worrell Trophy contests. It ensured that he finished the season with 1351 Test runs at 75.05, and the small matter of seven centuries.Great players have enjoyed halcyon years in the past, but few will ever be able to look back on a catalogue of achievement that reads 2501 runs, 12 centuries and a bauble called the World Cup. If 1930 belonged to Sir Donald Bradman and 1976 to Sir Vivian Richards, 2002-03 will forever be associated with a man who got lucky with every punt he made, a batsman and leader with few peers in modern-day cricket.

Central Districts and Wellington with eight points each, share the lead in the National Under-17 tournament being played at Nelson Park in Napier today.Central Districts 192 and 124/7 (M Sim 55; P Carey 2-6, J Morgan 2-9) beat Northern Districts 169 (K Read 37, A Devicich 25; D Bolstad 3-19, D MacDonald 2-30), on the first innings.Otago 129 and 201/5 (W Henry 72 not out, C Smith 69, T McLean 31; C McDowell 3-41) lost to Auckland 173/7 dec (D Winger 80 not out, C McDowell 52 not out; B Paterson 4-16) on the first innings.Wellington 258 beat Canterbury 144 (M Goldstein 67; K Forde 4-14, S Rennie 3-36, L Crisp 2-10) and 163/4 (D Crosbie 43, M Ling 39, B Findlay 35 not out, T Astle 31 not out; A Corless 2-36) on the first innings.Points are: Central Districts 8, Wellington 8, Northern Districts 4, Auckland 4, Canterbury 0, Otago 0.

North West held the edge after the first day of the four-day SupersportSeries match against Boland in Paarl, on a day when 12 wickets fell and one batsman was hospitalised.The visitors won the toss, elected to bat and scored 216 for nine. It was effectively all out as North West skipper Martin Venter went to hospital after being struck by a fearsome rising delivery from left-arm seamer Neil Carter.The ball rose off a good length shortly after lunch with the captain on 44. Venter has severe damage to his hand and may have to undergo surgery. Carter was aggressive throughout the day and bowled for almost the entire session between lunch and tea. He finished with three for 50. His opening partner Charl Langeveldt continued his good form this season taking four for 48.North West were unable to string any good partnerships together, although the final wicket stand between Alphonso Thomas (33) and Garth Roe (19 not out) yielded 50-runs. The same two batsmen put on 174-runs for the tenth wicket last week in the match against Griquas – a South African record.Glen Hewitt scored 34 and batted beautifully after a shaky start, only to be thwarted by a sharp rising Langeveldt delivery outside the off-stump. Craig Light scored 31 with no other significant contributions from anyone else.Boland, in response, were 40 for three at the close. West Indian Mark Lavine removed opener Jonathan Trott, leg before for five, and Louis Koen for a duck in the same over. Boland were struggling on seven for two, but a competent 33-run partnership between James Henderson and Pieter Barnard helped steady the innings.With the last ball of the day’s play, Lavine had Barnard trapped leg before for 19 to a delivery that appeared to have hit the bat. On Saturday Justin Ontong should make his way to the crease.

Sunderland’s youth academy has produced a number of important players for the club over recent years, with the likes of Lynden Gooch, Elliot Embleton and Dan Neil all becoming key parts of the team.

The club also have homegrown duo Anthony Patterson and Benjamin Kimpioka part of the first-team squad, while the likes of Norwich City-owned Bali Mumba, Stoke City striker Josh Maja and Hull City star George Honeyman have all gone on to make excellent starts to their careers after leaving the Stadium of Light.

One man they will be having nightmares over letting go so early is 18-year-old Joe Hugill, who signed for Manchester United back in the summer of 2018 for a £297k fee.

Having scored 12 goals in 21 games this season across the Red Devils’ youth teams, he has slowly become one of the Premier League giants’ most exciting prospects.

“Joe Hugill’s progress has come as a pleasant surprise to the coaching staff at Manchester United who recognised his potential when they brought him in from Sunderland,” said Sky Sports News reporter James Cooper about Hugill’s development last year.

“But the speed of that progress has exceeded expectations, bearing in mind he’s only been at the club for three months.

“Hugill was part of a recruitment drive that has seen some of Europe’s best young talent arrive at Manchester United in recent weeks to not only bolster the club’s Academy but also provide Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with more options further down the line.”

With comparisons made between him and Harry Kane due to his ability to hold the ball up, link-up play and finish clinically, we may finally get to see more of the 6 foot2 forward over the next few seasons, either playing in the Premier League 2, or out-on-loan at a Football League side.

While Sunderland striker Ross Stewart has notched 22 goals already this season, the next highest goalscorer is Embleton with five, level with Nathan Broadhead – and despite goals not particular being the team’s biggest issue, if the North-East club kept Hugill for just a little longer, he would have thrived in League One, and the transfer fee they earned for him could have been far larger.

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It’s safe to say this was somewhat of a howler from Stewart Donald to let him move away so easily and indeed cheaply.

In other news: Speakman masterclass: Major SAFC claim emerges that’ll leave supporters buzzing

Match facts

January 20, 2015
Start time 1500 local (0900 GMT)Bangladesh are a step away from their second successive T20I series win over Zimbabwe•AFP

Big Picture

It is becoming increasingly difficult to predict playing XIs from both sides, who aren’t afraid to tinker with their combinations in their quest to narrow down on an ideal combination going into the World T20 in India.Both Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have to play in the preliminary round, also featuring Oman, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands, with the top two teams progressing. That means, both sides will want to throw the younger players into the deep end, to see how they acclimatise to the pressure. That Bangladesh are sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead means the time is ripe for them to unleash their bench strength. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, are still smarting from their series loss to Afghanistan in the UAE. Ordinary performances in the first two games means they are running out of time.They rested the designated captain Elton Chigumbura among three players in the last game. It remains to be seen if they are brought back in at a crunch time. That apart, they will also need impact players like Sikandar Raza and Luke Jongwe to come good if they are to challenge the hosts in conditions as subcontinental as they can get.With Bangladesh missing Mushfiqur Rahim due to a hamstring injury, even as Mustafizur Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain, their best seamers on show in the first two games, have been rested, Zimbabwe will hope to cash in on the relative inexperience of some of the Bangladesh players. Among them, Sabbir Rahman will be keenly followed after his impressive outing in the previous game that also earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

 Bangladesh: WWLWL
Zimbabwe: LLLLW

In the spotlight

With Mushfiqur out of the series, Nurul Hasan, who impressed in the Bangladesh Premier League, will now have a lot more focus on his batting as well. But his main job would be to keep things clean behind the stumps.Malcolm Waller did well in the last T20 series in Bangladesh and also had his moments in the BPL, but hasn’t really come up with a blinding knock in this series. Zimbabwe will look at him to provide a late flourish.

Teams news

Although Imrul Kayes has remained in the squad, it is likely that newcomer Mosaddek Hossain will come in place of Mushfiqur, while three out of Taskin Ahmed, Muktar Ali, Mohammad Shahid and Abu Hider are likely to get a place in the XI. Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Muktar Ali, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Abu HiderWith the series on the line, Zimbabwe could bring back their regular captain Chigumbura along with senior members Sikandar Raza and Luke Jongwe. Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 7 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Taurai Muzarabani

Pitch and conditions

Favorable batting conditions are likely to continue. Both sides have started well with the bat, but haven’t been able to finish off the innings. The team batting second will have the advantage of dew, as it would allow the ball to slide onto the bat nicely, while making life difficult for the spinners.

Stats and trivia

• If Bangladesh hand debuts to three players, it will be the first time since December 2012, against West Indies. The uncapped players are Abu Hider, Mohammad Shahid, Mosaddek Hossain and Muktar Ali.
• In the previous game, Hamilton Masakadza became the first Zimbabwean to reach 3000 runs in T20s.

Quote

“Like we always do, we will try to win tomorrow. If we play our own game we will definitely win. We are not talking about a series win right now.”

Jamaica bound: Brendan Nash has left Australia for the West Indies © Getty Images

Brendan Nash, the former Queensland batsman who left Australia to restart his career in the Caribbean, has been named in Jamaica’s 17-man squad for this season’s forthcoming KFC Cup.Nash is eligible to play for Jamaica as his father, Paul, is of Jamaican origin, having represented the country as an Olympic swimmer. Nash is joined by two new faces in the squad: Donovan Sinclair and Krishmar Santokie, the left-arm fast bowler.Chris Gayle leads the strong side which includes Daren Powell, JeromeTaylor and Marlon Samuels.David Bernard, Xavier Marshall and Donovan Pagon, who have all played for the West Indies, have been left out, as has Dwight Washington.