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No bowler likes to be faced with a Hobson’s choice. Haryana’s attack today encountered a pirate who can plunder runs and a conman who can pick them off slyly. Robin Uthappa and Barrington Rowland make a fine pair and their rollicking 213-partnership helped Karnataka gallop towards victory by the end of the third day’s play against Haryana at Mysore.Right from the start of their careers both were marked for bigger things. It was the classical Barrington, named after the famous English batsman Ken, who first moved into the limelight with a debut first-class ton. However, he faded gradually and hasn’t managed a century in two years, and, ironically, it coincided with Uthappa’s rise. The latter’s stunning hundred in the 2005 Challenger Trophy brought him into the reckoning and he soon made his one-day debut a memorable one. At the moment, both their careers have reached the crossroads – while Uthappa is cruising along on the comeback path to the national side, Rowland is taking the longer route.Uthappa has had an impressive start to this season. A 99-ball 92 in the Challenger Series in October was followed by a fifty and a 141 against Sri Lanka A in the Duleep Trophy. Incidentally, he rates that hundred as his best knock. “It taught me a lot as I learnt a lot about my own batting,” he said at the end of the day. ” I kind of know how my mind works, how my body works, and what I need to score runs. I am getting to know myself, my cricket and my game very well right now.”It’s not a new-found confidence. His mother, Rosy, once told him to ask Rahul Dravid for an autograph but he fobbed her off. “I want to give, not seek autographs.” And today, just before he sat down to have a chat, he was busy doing exactly that. “Ghulam Sandhani, who was my coach at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School, was the greatest influence in my life. If I have anything regarding my game, it’s him I turn to,” Uthappa revealed. He also mentions Hanumant Singh, former Test cricketer who recently passed away. “In those days I used to only play shots, attacking every ball. My defence was not tight. Hanumant Sir helped me a lot during my time with him at the National Cricket Academy. He taught me how to tackle short-pitched bowling, about batting in general. That’s the time when my cricket started changing.”He’s taking one thing at a time, though, and not getting ahead of himself. Asked whether he is eyeing a recall to the national team, he adds, “I am not looking too far ahead, just concentrating on the process and sticking to what I am doing right now. It [a place in the Indian team] will happen. If given an opportunity, I won’t let it go this time.”Uthappa’s three ODI appearances for India included a sparkling 86 on debut but he points out the changes to his game recently. “It is just that I have now improved my shot selection and concentration,” he continues. “I have always played aggressively and try to dominate the attack. That is my style and I am not going to change it. But I am watching the ball longer and more carefully now and looking to play forward. That’s a positive intent. As a cricketer you learn as the time goes by. You learn by yourself, by self analysis, start thinking about the game a lot. I put everything into the one-ball that I play. I will put my life on line every time I play that one ball.”As for Rowland, he is quietly finding his way back into form, with religion being his biggest strength. “I am pretty spiritual and my faith is the cornerstone for me. It puts everything into perspective. At the end of the day this is just the game, there is more to life.” Usually stodgy in his approach, Rowland was refreshingly aggressive today – 96 flowed in just 104 balls with seven fours punctuating the knock.Was it just a response to the match situation (Karnataka were pushing for a declaration) or is he going to persist with a brave new way? “I will definitely be playing much more positively than what I have done in the past,” he added. “I just have to back myself and play my shots. I have always had the shots but I have been curbing my natural game. Today I just decided to go out and play them. I badly wanted to get a ton today for my coach [Venkatesh Prasad]. He has been such a great motivator and inspirational figure for the entire team. Prasad and I have been talking about my game. I realise that if I play 40 balls then I have to score some runs. There is no use playing beautifully for 40 balls and get out for 5. I want to make it count, pile up the runs, and try to win the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka.But is he looking beyond? Like Uthappa, does he hope to play for India one day? “Definitely. Everyone should be. If you are playing first-class cricket and if you don’t have the goal to play for India … there is no use playing this game, right? God willing, if things go my way, I will make it. I just want to enjoy my cricket.”And that’s exactly the difference between the two. Barrington, usually an intense and serious player, is looking to start enjoying the game while the fun-loving aggressive Uthappa is thinking to turn on the intensity and think deeply about the game. Both have hit the right route and only time will tell how successful they become.

Ali Bacher, the former chief executive of the United Cricket Board, is making good progress after his second heart bypass surgeryBacher underwent heart surgery yesterday at the Morningside Medi-Clinic and according to the clinic he was “amazed” at how techniques had changed since his last heart bypass operation 25 years ago. “I really feel strong and healthy today,” he told staff.”Only one in 30 of our patients have bypasses these days. However, recent research has raised some questions about the long term durability of stents,” John Benjamin, Bacher’s cardiologist, told the news agency.”In Bacher’s unusual case, stenting his old bypass graft would have been technically simple, but we chose the long term proven safety of a modern arterial bypass instead,” added Benjamin. It was not immediately known when Bacher would be discharged.

Kevin Pietersen, England’s middle-order batsman, has said he has gotten used to the glare of the media limelight after the “life-changing” Ashes triumph last year and has admitted that he wants to become the best in the business. Pietersen’s match-saving and Ashes-winning 158 in the final Test at the Oval took him to new levels of popularity, and has accepted that “everyone wants a piece of him”.”I’ve got used to the attention, it’s now a way of life,” Pietersen told .”It was quite daunting at first but it’s bearable now. I’ve just got to smile and look as though I’m happy all of the time. It’s not just on the field I have to put in 110 percent but it’s off the field too. I can’t go out of the house without dressing up just in case I get snapped by the paparazzi but I don’t do many things I shouldn’t.”I’m just ultra polite and ultra nice now because I’m not just representing English cricket but I want to be a good role model for kids.Everyone wants a piece of Kevin Pietersen now but it is easy for me to fit people in. If I’m not working then I’ll do it, if I’m working they can take a hike.”The South-African born Pietersen – who was voted the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year and received a prestigious Wisden Cricketer of the Year accolade for 2005 – admitted that he wanted to hog the headlines for a longer period. “The attention on me is massive, but I haven’t let it have a detrimental effect on the way I train or the way I perform. I know what has made me successful and it has given me a rather nice roof over my head,” he said.”I’m not interested in being a short-term success, I want long-term success. I want to be the best batsman in the world and that requires complete determination, hard work and making sure I keep doing the right things.”That Oval innings apart, Pietersen impressed with a second hundred on a tough tour of Pakistan and fifties in England’s 1-1 series in India recently. He also admitted that he had no intentions of slacking. “I play every game as if it’s my last whether it’s for county or country,” he said. “So much so that I only took a few days off after the tour to India before I was back training. Then I scored 98 in Hampshire’s win over Essex in the week so that shows I’ve no intention of getting complacent.”

Canada and Bermuda lived up to their pre-tournament favourites’ tag by scoring convincing victories in their Americas Under-19 qualifiers in Toronto on Tuesday. Canada beat Argentina by nine wickets while Bermuda won their second match in a row by beating Cayman Islands by seven wickets.Canada bowled out Argentina for 64 in 28 overs and then raced to victory in 9.5 overs for the loss of one wicket, ending Argentina’s chances of qualifying for the U-19 World Cup. Asif Manjra, Usman Iqubal and Pratik Patel took three wickets each and opener Ruvindu Gunasekera ensured a healthy run-rate by scoring 35 off 33 balls.Bermuda, who had crushed Bahamas by 195 runs on Monday, restricted Cayman Islands to 165 in 48.2 overs after asking them to bat. Cayman Islands captain Ramon Sealy once again top scored with 67 off 126 balls that included five fours. He had scored an unbeaten 76 against Bahamas. Malachi Jones picked up 4 for 38 for Bermuda while Stefan Kelly took 2 for 13.Bermuda reached the target in only 30.4 overs for the loss of three wickets. Jones backed up his excellent bowling performance with an unbeaten 41 from 27 balls with six fours and one six. Jones added 79 for the fourth wicket with captain Rodney Trott (37 not out) after Bermuda were reduced to 87 for 3.The tournament winners qualify for the Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next February.

Pakistan players are regularly made fully aware of what substances they are and aren’t allowed to take, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Speaking to Cricinfo on condition of anonymity, a PCB official said that the players were given a list every year, sanctioned by the ICC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), detailing what constitutes banned substances and what doesn’t.”We give them an updated list every year and stress to them the importance of being aware of what is allowed and what isn’t. This year, just before the tour to England, we provided them with an ICC booklet with this information,” the official said. “Every player is aware of exactly what is and isn’t right.”Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan’s new-ball attack, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone in an internal doping test carried out by the PCB. As a result they have been called back from the Champions Trophy and now face possible disciplinary action at the hands of a PCB-instituted tribunal consisting of a former Test cricketer.The findings initially asked questions of how much communication there is between the PCB and its players on such matters, particularly when players are injured. Significantly perhaps, both players have recently come back from injuries which kept them out of cricket for extended periods. Before he appeared in the ODI series in England recently, Shoaib had been out of the game since February with knee and ankle injuries. Asif too missed much of the Test series against England with an elbow injury.The official, however, insisted that the PCB had played its part. “We are very particular about this. We make sure the players know what they need to, especially when injuries occur and rehabilitation needs to take place. At the end of the day, they are also professionals and should have an idea of what is going into their bodies. Steroids after all are steroids and surely, as a player, you must be aware of that.”There appears to be no global uniform policy regarding keeping players as informed as possible. Not surprisingly, Cricket Australia appears most proactive. Awareness sessions are held with players: one was held recently at the pre-season training camp. Additionally, players also have access to an information hotline in case they are unsure about certain substances.England signed up to the WADA code earlier this year, and all England players are drug-tested as a matter of routine.In South Africa, players were tested before they came to India for the Champions Trophy and are also provided, like their Pakistani counterparts, with booklets on relevant information. The Sri Lankan board holds awareness sessions in the academy and exercises, according to one journalist, considerable control over the players in terms of diet, training and treatment.Shoaib has denied any wrongdoing and he is backed up by his personal doctor Dr Tauseef Razzak. The implication hidden in the official’s remarks, though, is that both players should have known what they were doing. Judgment will be reserved, however, until the PCB tribunal comes to its own conclusions, or either player offers an explanation.

Canada are unsure whether John Davison, their captain and senior player, will be released to play for them in next month’s ICC Intercontinental Cup semi-final against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah.It had been assumed that Davison would be allowed to fly straight to Sharjah from Adelaide, where he plays for South Australia. But Ron Aldridge, an administrator at the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA), admitted that the situation was “up in the air”.Although Davison still hopes to join the squad, the CCA have been told by the South Australia Cricket Association that he will not be released.Canada squad John Davison (capt), Ashish Bagai, Umar Bhatti, Ian Billcliff Desmond Chumney, Austin Codrington, Sunil Dhaniram, Haninder Dhillon, Don Maxwell, Ashish Patel, Jason Patraj, Kevin Sandher,Zubin Surkari and Sanjayan Thuraisingam.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Some parsimonious bowling by their spinners and a Shahriar Nafees hundred helped Bangladesh defeat Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the fifth ODI at Harare. Though the hosts have won the series 3-2 this win helped Bangladesh salvage some pride.Bangladesh’s decision to play three spinners, led by the miserly Abdur Razzak, and buttressed by the presence of the part-time offspinner in Rajin Saleh, proved correct as the slow men applied a chokehold to reverse a solid start by Zimbabwe and to eventually restrict them to 197. Saleh, who ended with four wickets, reaped the fruits of the regular spinners’s labour.Zimbabwe, with the cushion of a series win behind them, had raced away to a comfortable position when Khaled Mashud, Bangladesh’s stand-in-captain for the injured Habibul Basher, went for his main weapon: spin. Eleven overs of medium pace had bled 59 runs before Razzak came on. The pitch held no great demons: there was no huge turn or magic balls. Varying his pace smartly he attacked the middle and off stump line. And with the ball not coming on and the spinners hitting the right line and the length, the batsmen struggled to force the pace. The run rate dropped, the pressure grew and the batsmen succumbed one after the other. Hamilton Masakadza put up a battle but, with his colleagues deserting him at regular intervals, he perished as well, hastening the end of the innings.Masakadza had nearly succeeded in breaking free when he hit Mohammed Rafique out of the attack with two stunning hits in the 21st over that erased the smiles from the Bangladeshi faces. He waltzed down the track and sent the ball screaming over long-off and immediately went for the cow corner in deep midwicket. But just when he had earned the license to go for the kill, he found himself bereft of support.Brendan Taylor, the third-match hero, crawled to a painful 24 off 71 balls, unable to strike out against the spinners. He struggled, especially, against the accuracy of Rafique, eking out only 8 runs from 30 balls. And it was not just Rafique; there was to be no relief from the other end as well. The third left-arm spinner, the young Saqibul Hasan, who replaced Shahadat Hossain for this match, was also miserly, and helped tighten the screws. Taylor struggled to rotate the strike back to Masakadza and eventually fell, trying to cut Razzak. The noose had begun to tighten.Elton Chigumbra, sent up the order to increase the tempo, combusted immediately on arrival. An under-pressure Mazakadza soon followed, playing across the line to Saleh and a run out saw another batsmen going down. Four wickets in the space of 13 runs and the spinners had Bangladesh on top. Saleh struck to the basics: kept the ball up, struck to an off stump line and watched as the tail fell, the last five wickets eked out only 25 runs.With Nafees leading the charge and Saleh chipping in with a crisp 37, Bangladesh moved along assuredly in their chase. Prosper Utseya gave Nafees a reprieve in the fourth over when he couldn’t quite hold on to a running catch off a mistimed pull. Nafees was off and running after that. He drove pleasantly and cut with panache to steer Bangladesh home.Earlier, Zimbabwe’s openers, especially Terry Duffin, had gone for the jugular, hitting on-the-up over cover, pulling and driving merrily down the ground. Lady luck humoured Zimbabwe as well: an inside-edged four, by Vusi Sibanda, started off the run-count, a couple of leading edges flew over the fielders and, keeping with the theme of the series, there was the usual drop by a butter-fingered Bangladeshi. In the second over, Sibanda threw his bat at a Farhad Reza delivery which was palmed off at first slip by Mushfiqur Rahim. Two cover drives off Raza – one was so fiercely whacked that nobody moved on the field – followed before Sibanda was done in by a clever bit of bowling from Syed Rasel. Rasel had kept bending the ball back into Sibanda before he suddenly slipped one across the body. A surprised Sibanda did not quite get behind the line, lunged forward and tried to leave the delivery at the last minute but failed.Duffin, who was getting increasingly edgy as the run-rate dropped, tried to hit out of trouble. First, he attempted an ugly hoick, failed, and then off the next ball fell trying to sweep as Razzak slipped one full and straight.Mazakadza’s was a serene effort. True, two savage hits off Rafique would lead the highlights package in news channels, but it was not the norm. He didn’t bludgeon his way around but chose to caress: dabbed a few to the off side, drove a few down the ground, swept to alter the length of the spinners, cut when there was the opportunity and, suddenly, his fifty was up. But with his team-mates struggling against nagging spin, the young Zimbabwe team could not conjure up another dreamy day of cricket.However, the series triumph has provided them considerable redemption in a turbulent period. With the ICC working out a timetable to put Zimbabwe back in Test cricket, this win could not have come at a better time.

Vusi Sibanda c Khaled Mashud b Syed Rasel 17 (45 for 1)
Terry Duffin lbw b Abdur Razzak 40 (79 for 2)
Brendan Taylor c Mashud b Razzak 24 (165 for 3)
Elton Chigumbura b Saqibul Hasan 0 (166 for 4)
Hamilton Masakadza b Rajin Saleh 75 (172 for 5)
Mufambisi run out 1 (178 for 6)
Prosper Utseya c sub (Alok Kapali) b Rajin Saleh 7 (189 for 7)
Matsikenyeri b Rajin Saleh 10 (189 for 8)
Anthony Ireland run out Syed Rasel/Khaled Mashud 3 ( 196 for 9)
Bangladesh
Rajin Saleh c & b Prosper Utseya 37 (99 for 1)
Aftab Ahmad st Taylor b Utseya 6 (128 for 2)

There is little to play for at the Telstra Dome tomorrow save individual pride and records. The cynics were predicting a contrived dream finish for the series on Friday morning, but Australia had little regard for the ideal script, and their clinical demolition of a star-studded World team has robbed the final match of all significance and occasion. The only tangible gain for the World XI could be some meaningful practice for some of their leading batsmen before the Test that starts at the Sydney Cricket Ground next week.The performances of some of the leading World batsmen has been the most disappointing factor in this one-sided series so far. Between them, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid have managed only 81 runs in two innings, 22 less than what Adam Gilchrist scored in one. These four will form the backbone of the Test XI, where they will come up against a more formidable Australian bowling attack that will include Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.Lara and Kallis came to the series with very little competitive cricket in recent times and looked completely out of sync. Lara has lasted only 15 balls so far, being dismissed in identical fashion twice, driving Nathan Bracken to Andrew Symonds’s lap at cover. Sehwag, whose continued failure in one-day cricket should be a major concern, got out in a manner that that should be a cue for the Australian bowlers in the Test. He has a tendency to be caught on the front foot against sharp short balls and Brett Lee got him fending one in front of his face.Ironically, the World XI are set to lose their most successful batsman in the series so far after the one-day games because the selectors reckoned Mark Boucher was a better bet behind the stumps than Kumar Sangakkara on a potentially turning pitch at Sydney. That Sangakkara has far greater experience in keeping to Muttiah Muralitharan was apparently of little consequence before Boucher’s expertise against a line-up of spinners where Nicky Boje is the most distinguished member. Coincidentally, Chris Gayle, the only other World team batsman to have scored a fifty so far, will also head home after Sunday’s match.The World team failed to announce their 12 the day before the match because they are still unsure about the fitness of Kevin Pietersen, who left the field clutching his hamstring in the last over of Australia’s innings on Friday and later batted with a runner. His condition was not serious, said John Wright, the World team coach. A scan has shown a slight strain and a decision will be made on Sunday morning. It might be a folly to risk him in a meaningless match considering England are about to embark on a significant tour to Pakistan shortly.Australia have their own injury worry with Simon Katich – who has been a successful replacement for Matthew Hayden, scoring 58 and 47 in the first two matches – receiving treatment for a groin injury. If Katich is found unfit, Australia might field James Hopes, the 26-year old allrounder, who has opened in one-day cricket for Queensland.But Australia will be boosted by the return of Glenn McGrath who sat out the second match and he will be doing no favours to the World team batsmen before the Test.Likely teamsWorld XI1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Jacques Kallis, 6 Brian Lara, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Shaun Pollock (capt), 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan, 12 Makhaya Ntini.Australia1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Andrew Symonds, 9 Cameron White, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Glenn McGrath, 12 Nathan Bracken.

Andhra completely dominated the opening day’s play in the South ZoneCooch Behar Trophy (under-19) tournament match against Kerala at theUkku stadium in Vishakapatnam on Monday. After skittling out Keralafor 56 runs, Andhra replied with 164 for one wicket at stumps.Opting to bat after winning the toss, Kerala struggled for 37 overs tocompile their meagre total. Only NJ John (18) reached double digits.Three batsmen failed to score. Md Faiq was quite unplayable andfinished with the excellent figures of 13-5-15-5. He was wellsupported by Appala Raju (two for 10) and Gnaneswara Rao (two for 9).Kerala had the comfort of an early wicket when D Vinod was out fornine when the total was 27. But for the rest of the day, the otheropener Tahir Hussain (79) and Gnaneswara Rao (61) batted confidentlyto register 137 runs for the unbroken second wicket partnership off38.1 overs. While Hussain faced 175 balls and hit eight of them to theropes, Rao faced 94 balls and hit six fours and a six. Andhraoverhauled the Kerala total in 26.2 overs.

Percy Sonn, who has today taken over as ICC president from Ehsan Mani, has accepted an invitation from Zimbabwe Cricket to visit the country and see for himself the state the game is in there.”What I want is some degree of understanding of the issues that surround the administration of cricket within Zimbabwe,” Sonn told the ICC’s Business Forum at Lord’s on Friday. “I am delighted to say I will get that [understanding] following an invitation to visit the country from Zimbabwe Cricket.”I will hear first hand of the challenges that confront the sport there, how those challenges will be dealt with and, at the same time, we will discuss how the ICC can assist the game in Zimbabwe. Once I have done that I will then report back to the ICC’s Executive Board so that we, as an organisation, are better informed about what is happening there.”Sonn will make the trip with Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive.”Zimbabwe has seen many of its leading players walk away from representing the national side over the past few years and that has led to an inevitable weakening of cricket there,” Sonn added. “We are now at a stage where Zimbabwe has voluntarily stepped back from its Test commitments and, moving forward, they will only return to that arena when they are ready to do so.”By travelling there, talking and listening, I believe we will be in a better position to support cricket in Zimbabwe at a time when such support is clearly needed.”