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Sialkot Stallions 156 for 4 (Naved-ul-Hasan 40*) beat Faisalabad Wolves 152 for 8 (Imran Ali 41, Naved-ul-Hasan 3-37) by six wickets
ScorecardSialkot Stallions were crowned the new champions of Pakistan’s Twenty20 Cup, beating the holders Faisalabad Wolves by six wickets in the final at the National Stadium on Saturday night.The match was marred by unruly crowd behaviour, causing a delay of almost two hours. When order was restored, the Wolves batsmen appeared visibly shaken. Their eventual score of 152 for 8 in 20 overs never looked enough to help them retain their title.The Stallions didn’t find the task too taxing. They reached 156 for 4 in reply and won the match as well as the glittering trophy with four deliveries to spare.The final ended at 2.35am on Sunday instead of the scheduled finish at half-past midnight. Although no official figures were available, according to television commentators the attendance before the trouble was around 35,000. After the long delays many left, but still several stands remained quite thickly populated.Initially, Imran Nazir’s decision to field first surprised many. But he was vindicated as the Wolves were contained to a reasonable total. Opener Imran Ali was the top-scorer with 41, made off 30 balls with five fours and a six. Faisalabad skipper Misbah-ul-Haq scored 33 off 34 balls and hit three fours while Naved Latif’s cameo of 21 included three sixes and came off only 14 deliveries.Sialkot were powered by a 14-ball 29 from Imran Nazir, with five fours and a six. Youngster Shahid Yousuf hit 30 off 21 balls then, after the fourth wicket fell at 87 made in the 11th over, the fifth-wicket pair took the Stallions through.Shoaib Malik followed his two quick wickets in the Wolves’ 20th over with a run-a-ball 31 not out. With fellow Pakistan player Naved-ul-Hasan their unbroken stand of 69 came in just 50 deliveries.After taking three wickets in his four overs, Naved required only 26 balls to hammer an unbeaten 40 that included three fours and as many sixes. He was the deserving winner of the Rs20,000 Man-of-the-Match award.Sialkot, who are also the reigning champions of Pakistan’s first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship, beat the Faisalabad side in the final of that competition too.

Will Harbhajan Singh get a chance to work his magic at the Eden Gardens again?© Getty Images

Eden Gardens has been a Test venue for the last 71 years, and has hosted 33 Test matches. India has won seven of those matches, while the opposing teams have prevailed eight times; the other 18 matches have been drawn.(Click here to check the results of all Tests at Kolkata.)

While the first five Tests here were all drawn, of late, Eden Gardens has become a more result-oriented venue: six of the last seven Tests have produced a decisive result, with India winning four of them – twice against Australia, and once each against England and South Africa.

Pakistan have an excellent record here – they’ve won one Test and drawn four, and have beaten India all three times in ODIs. In fact, Pakistan have won four out of five one-dayers here – the only time they lost was when Sri Lanka trumped them in the second final of the Independence Cup in 1997.

There have been reports suggesting that the pitch might favour the seamers this time, but if past record is any indication, the decision at the toss should be a no-brainer – the captain winning it should bat. Only five times in 33 matches has a team chosen to field after winning the toss.The last time it happened was nine matches back, in 1986-87, when Imran Khan put India in to bat. India ended up making 403 in their first innings, and the match was drawn.

Teams have usually opted to bat after winning the toss, but the average first-innings total isn’t a huge one – in the last five Tests here, going back to 1997-98, teams average 30.32 per wicket in the first innings, 43 in the second, 41.04 in the third and 25.64 in the fourth. This suggests the pitch offers something to the bowlers early on, then settles down into an excellent batting track, and then aids the bowlers again on the final day. That’s almost the perfect Test wicket isn’t it?

In the last five Tests, each team chose to bat after winning the toss, but the average score at the end of the first day was only a modest 247 for 8. In fact, the decision backfired rather badly on two occasions – in 1997-98, Australia were bowled out for 233, while Pakistan were reduced to 26 for 6 a year later, though they recovered to score 185 and ended up winning the match.

Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, or both? That’s the question that India’s think-tank have to answer, and while Kumble has been the in-form bowler in Tests lately, Harbhajan’s record at Kolkata is a compelling reason for him to find a place in the XI – 29 wickets in four matches at 18.75. Kumble’s numbers at this venue pale in comparison – 25 wickets in six matches at 35.08, more than seven runs off his career average.

Since 1998, fast bowlers have done better than spinners here. The 89 wickets by fast bowlers has come at 32.62 apiece, while spin has accounted for 67 wickets at 41.31. Indian spinners, though, have had a much better time of it, taking 52 wickets at 28.96.

If it’s Kolkata, then the VVS factor has to be mentioned. In six Tests here, he averages 84.67, with two centuries and three fifties. Sachin Tendulkar, in contrast, hasn’t had such a good time here, while for Sourav Ganguly, his home venue has been a nightmare – in ten innings, he has only managed one fifty. Rahul Dravid’s numbers here are almost as good as his career stats.

JONATHAN TROTT scored 140 for Bellville against Kuils River yesterday, setting up a big victory for his team in the season’s first limited-overs series of cricket matches.Bellville won by 116 runs. The young batsman, who now plays for Warwickshire in the English county championship, figured in a partnership of 153 for the third wicket with all-rounder Sean Ackermann. Ackermann made 66. Trott, whose innings included 14 fours and two sixes, surpassed Bellville’s highest individual score from last season – 122 by Lloyd Ferreira. Trott, who batted at No 4, and Ackermann came together after Bellville had lost three wickets for 73. Earlier they had lost two wickets for only 15 runs when Trott came to the wicket.Almar recorded an impressive win over Tygerberg. Almar’s bowling was well organised as Gareth Berg, Nick Dunn and Craig Totton taking two wickets each. Almar reached the required total with only 13 balls left with Andy Kalis and Kenny Jackson scoring half-centuries.At Langa, Rygersdal were rescued by a seventh-wicket partnership of 87 by Wally Crossland and Tony Thomas. Both batsmen were unbeaten at the end of Rygerdal’s 50 overs, with Crossland on 73 and Thomas on 51. They took the score from 57 for five to 180 for six to set up an 81-run win after dismissing Langa for 99. Crossland’s innings included six fours and lasted 145 minutes while Thomas’ innings came off 53 balls and included five fours and three sixes.At the Boon Wallace Oval, Cape Town easily beat St Augustines by 90 runs. Cape Town made 197 for six with Quasim Sheikh top-scoring with 60. Mark Ritchie also impressed with his undefeated 48. At Theo Marais Park visitors University of Cape Town scored a 31-run victory over Milnerton. UCT were dismissed for 180 with Neil Kruger top-scoring with a fluent 72.

Langa v Rygersdal

RYGERSDALE Carter c Gwayi b Dyantyi 4J Higgs c Nwuoni b Mlumbi 16S Willoughby c Botile b Dyantyi 2W Crossland not out 73R Horton b Gwayi 6A Cupido b Gwayi 7J Harris lbw Lobi 13T Thomas not out 51Extras 8TOTAL (for six wickets) 18050 oversFalls: 1/4, 2/9, 3/32, 4/47, 5/57, 6/93Bowling: Dyantyi 8-1-35-2, Mlumbi 10-3-29-1, Gwayi 8-1-34-2, Knoop 10-3-21-0, Sibinda 4-0-16-0, Lobi 5-0-24-1, Sigaga 5-0-20-0

LANGAA Sibinda lbw b Willoughby 27A Sigaga c Cupido b Carter 0V Zonkwe c Hortin b Dugtig 4P Lobi lbw b Willoughby 23N Botile c Crossland b Cupido 14T Cagwe c Williams b Willoughby 2K Nuweni stumped Williams b Cupido 0N Dyantyni c and b du Plessis 0J Knoop c Higgs b du Plessis 4S Mlumbi lbw b Carter 7S Gwayi not out 1Extras 7TOTAL 9945 oversFalls: 1/3, 2/16, 3/61, 4/65, 5/72, 6/81, 7/81, 8/82, 9/95Bowling: Carter 10-2-29-2, Dugtig 10-2-20-1, Willoughby 10-1-26-3, Cupido 10-4-9-2, du Plessis 5-1-15-2

Rygersdal won by 81 runs

Bellville v Kuils RiverBELLVILLER van Niekerk c Jonas b Van Wyk 4JB Burger c Fouche b Claasen 8S Stephens c Van Wyk b Isaacs 18J Trott not out 140S Ackermann c H du Plooy b Haupt 66S Kristal b Claasen 0A Johnson b Isaacs 3A Vermaak not out 0Extras 16TOTAL (for six wickets) 25550 oversFalls: 1/13, 2/15, 3/73, 4/226, 5/230Bowling: Claasen 10-1-38-2, Van Wyk 10-2-33-1, Haupt 9-0-46-1, Isaacs 9-1-58-2, B du Plooy 8-0-46-0, Logenstein 4-0-23-0

KUILS RIVERB du Plooy c Theron b Burger 37J Jonas lbw Trott 6H du Plooy c Kristal b Trott 0R Langley not out 59A R Tray b Smith 5K Fouche b Smith 6J Isaacs run out 15Q Loggenstein not out 3Extras 8TOTAL (for six wickets) 13950 oversFalls: 1/23, 2/24, 3/71, 4/80, 5/94, 6/128Bowling: Du Plessis 6-2-10-0, Johnson 7-2-11-0, Trott 10-0-41-2, Burger 10-2-20-1, Smith 8-1-20-2, Kristal 6-0-24-0, Vermaak 2.4-0-8-0, Ackermann 0.2-0-0-0Bellville won by 116 runs

Pinelands v VictoriaVICTORIAA Fernandez b McConochi 58J September c Wilkinson b Adams 1B Beelders lbw Tarr 17R Jacobs c Tarr b McConochi 18M Williamson c Franke b McConochi 3J White b Franke 22D Kemp c Little b Katz 8R Ebden run out 12G Rushin c Ambrose b Franke 7O Lodewyk not out 6V Veldsman b Franke 1Extras 16TOTAL 16944.1 oversFalls: 1/7, 2/54, 3/85, 4/87, 5/117, 6/130, 7/148, 8/162, 9/169Bowling: Adams 6-1-22-1, Franke 9.1-2-24-3, Tarr 9-0-42-1, Bannatyne 10-2-22-0, McConochi 10-1-35-3, Katz 5-0-15-1

PINELANDSC Ambrose lbw b Lodewyk 10R Ballantyne c Ebden b Kemp 31A Little b Williamson 13R Clark b Williamson 30R Beukes b Williamson 7S Tarr b Kemp 27N McConochi run out 12B Wilkinson not out 13L Katz not out 1Extras 26TOTAL (for seven wickets) 17048.2 oversFalls: 1/32, 2/59, 3/82, 4/106, 5/120, 6/155, 7/169Bowling: Lodewyk 10-2-40-1, Williamson 10-3-29-3, Veldsman 9-2-34-0, Kemp 9.2-2-16-2, Rushin 10-2-28-0Pinelands won by three wickets

Alma v TygerbergTYGERBERGA Simpson c Dunn b Hemmings 22B Johnson c Kalis b Berg 27B Gilbert c Tatton b Dunn 27V Philander c Leibrecht b Dunn 5A Botha lbw Snyman 55S Buys c Berg b Dunn 10C du Preez lbw Tatton 14L Harris c Dunn b Berg 9L Timmet c and b Tatton 12L Simpson not out 3K Kotze not out 7Extras 11TOTAL (for nine wickets) 20250 oversFalls: 1/49, 2/56, 3/85, 4/90, 5/110, 6/162, 7/170, 8/191, 9/194Bowling: J Hemmings 9-0-39-1, G Berg 9-0-44-2, S Leibrecht 10-3-20-0, N Dunn 8-1-35-2, C Tatton 9-1-35-2, Z Snyman 5-0-27-1.

ALMARA Kalis run out Philander 59A Bonora c Philander b Simpson 24K Jackson b du Preez 55S Leibrecht not out 31G Berg not out 14Extras 21TOTAL (for three wickets) 20347.5 oversFalls: 1/51, 2/150, 3/168Bowling: Philander 8.5-0-40-0, Simpson 10-0-33-1, Gilbert 8-1-37-0, Du Preez 9-0-39-1, Timmet 6-0-26-0, Buys 6-1-19-0

Cape Town v St AugustinesCAPE TOWNL Moore lbw Mullins 1Q Sheikh lbw Williams 60K Coetzee c Kuiler b N Jacobs 22J Holgate c Roberts b Kuiler 20M Ritchie not out 42D Holgate b Miller 5M de Beer run out 3S Martin not out 23Extras 21TOTAL (for six wickets) 19750 oversFalls: 1/4 2/49 3/110 4/122 5/128 6/149Bowling: Mullins 10-0-37-2, Kuiler 10-2-32-1, Miller 10-0-52-1, N Jacobs 10-1-32-1, Daniels 10-1-36-0

ST AUGUSTINESS Fransman run out 16E Jacobs c D Holgate b Gie 0S Davids b Gie 4D Newkirk b Martin 22S Roberts c D Holgate b de Beer 1R Daniels lbw Palmer 0P Reid c and b Holman 27I Kuiler c Martin b Gie 18N Jacobs b Gie 1A Mullins not out 0D Miller b Holman 2Extras 16TOTAL 10740 oversFalls: 1/1 2/6 3/10 4/50 5/56 6/61 7/96 8/106 9/107Bowling: Gie 10-2-28-4, de Beer 7-3-7-0, Martin 10-1-21-2, Palmer 10-2-25-1, Holman 3-0-16-2 n Cape Town won by 90 runs

Claremont vCape Tech-Green PointCAPE TECH-GREEN POINTD Henry c Loebenstein b Stockton 0J Baykom b Stockton 2R van Harte c Swanson b Loebenstein 21A Smith lbw Cullen 16J Fortuin c Swanson b Loebenstein 6S Olivier b Van Duiker 13L Davids lbw Loebenstein 0S McDonald lbw Stockton 25H Ngxoweni b Van Duiker 0J P van Wyk b Van Duiker 4R Williams not out 1Extras 14TOTAL 10232.1 oversFalls: 1/0, 2/6, 3/40, 4/46, 5/50, 6/60, 7/74, 8/74, 9/94Bowling: Stockton 7,1-2-15-3, Van Duiker 10-2-27-3, Loebenstein 7-1-17-3, Cullen 4-2-10-1, Barham 4-0-23-0.

CLAREMONTP Lawson c Henry b Ncxoweni 26J Louw b McDonald 11S Hobson b Henry 0W Havenga c Henry b Davids 10M Adams not out 12M Barham not out 17Extras 28TOTAL (for four wickets) 10427.3 oversFalls: 1/27, 2/30, 3/70, 4/72.Bowling: Henry 10-2-29-1, Smith 4-1-14-0, McDonald 4-0-19-1, Davids 5,3-2-19-1, Ngxoweni 4-1-18-1. n Claremont won by six wickets.

Milnerton v UCTUCTC Vadas c Van Blerk b West 12D Worth b De Jager 36R Short lbw West 0N Kruger c Van Blerk b De Jager 72D Ridley b De Jager 2D Slater c and b D Jager 16D Murphy c Green b Japhta 11W Morrick b Lebanon 20E Williams run out 2B Jugmohan run out 0J Crooke not out 0Extras 9TOTAL 18044.2 oversFalls: 1/21, 2/21, 3/204, 4/120, 5/134, 6/146, 7/166, 8/169, 9/180Bowling: West 7-0-28-2, Milne 5-1-18-0, Japhta 10-0-37-1, Taylor 2-0-20-0, De Jager 10-1-36-4, Hardenberg 3-0-13-0, Lebanon 7.2-1-26-1

MILNERTONW Green lbw Morrick 11I Taylor lbw Morrick 7B van Wyk st Ridley b Murphy 20D van Blerk c Murphy b Morrick 22J du Toit lbw Crooke 5R Milne b Murphy 5G West st Ridley b Murphy 0G Japhta st Ridley b Slater 15L de Jager b Crooke 24A Lebanon s Ridley b Short 3Z Hardenberg not out 9Extras 28TOTAL 14944.5 overFalls: 1/19, 2/21, 3/60, 4/74, 5/74, 6/74, 7/82, 8/135, 9/137Bowling: Worth 9-0-28-0, Morrick 10-2-37-3, Crooke 10-0-32-2, Murphy 10-2-23-3, Williams 3-0-9-0, Slater 2-0-8-1, Short 0.5-0-3-1. n UCT won by 31 runs

Northerns-Goodwood v WPCCNORTHERNS-GOODWOODC Laars lbw Preston 31N Hill b Ten Doeschate 15L Vermaak lbw Colussi 16M le Roux c Clarke b Colussi 0C Raubenheimer b Ten Doeschate 31C Milne b Preston 27J Rudman not out 9B Bischoff not out 15Extras 18TOTAL (for six wickets) 16250 oversFalls: 1/25 2/67 3/73 4/74 5/134 6/138Bowling: Smith 5-0-24-0, Ten Doeschate 10-4-35-2, Colussi 8-2-22-2, Preston 10-2-18-2, Clarke 9-0-27-0, Mansina 8-1-28-0

WPCCG Colussi lbw Bischoff 0N Quayle not out 76R Hendricks not out 58Extras 29TOTAL (for one wicket) 16347.2 oversFalls: 1/0Bowling: Bischoff 6-0-25-1, Wesraad 8-0-26-0, Groenewald 3-0-13-0, Vermaak 4-0-17-0, Rudman 4,2-0-19-0, Raubenheimer 10-0-36-0, Holman 10-2-20-0 n WPCC won by nine wickets

Durbanville v UWCDURBANVILLEA Northcoate c Du Plessis b Albanie 7T de Grooth c Solomon b Albanie 20A Schipper b Albanie 27G Langner c Poole b Albanie 0N van Rensburg run out Poole 18T Crous b Albanie 1D Nagel c Harris b Nkomo 6M Brown b Koopman 2L da Silva c Masinda b Koopman 2J Rossouw not out 38F Gantz not out 4Extras 26TOTAL (for nine wickets) 17850 oversFalls: 1/14, 2/56, 3/56, 4/63, 5/72, 6/91, 7/115, 8/125, 9/132Bowling: Knott 5-0-28-0, Albanie 10-0-36-5, Nkomo 10-2-22-1, Van Wyk 8-2-31-0, Masinda 10-1-32-0, Koopman 7-1-22-2.

UWCJ Koopman c Langner b Nagel 57C Williams run out Crous 2P du Plessis b Rossouw 0E van Wyk c and b Nagel 28E Poole not out 51G Knott c Rossouw b Brown 0E Solomon c Gantz b Da Silva 6L Harris c Van Rensburg b Da Silva 15J Albanie not out 0Extras 17TOTAL (for seven wickets) 17550 oversFalls: 1/12, 2/17, 3/86, 4/120, 5/122, 6/145, 7/171Bowling: Rossouw 10-3-29-1, Da Silva 10-2-33-2, Gantz 10-0-46-0, Brown 10-01-31-1, Nagel 10-0-31-2 n Durbanville won by three runs

Glamorgan v Fish HoekFISH HOEKD Pedersen c Brown b Barros 2R van Eeden run out 0J Fifé b Japhta 1N Round c Japhta b Arries 13C Lyons run out 21D Bowditch c and b Rossouw 20G Snowball not out 66G Conway run out 0S Howells b Rossouw 0J Lowry run out 0S Brand not out 1Extras 15TOTAL (for nine wickets) 13850 oversFalls: 1/3, 2/4, 3/4, 4/44, 5/44, 6/107, 7/111, 8/117, 9/118Bowling: Barros 10-3-29-1, Japhta 10-6-12-1, Rossouw 10-3-30-2, Arries 10-0-37-1, Williams 10-1-24-0

GLAMORGANA Jackson lbw Howles 15R Brown c Conway b Lowrey 32Z Allie c Snowball b Lowrey 10D Arries not out 50D Jackson c Bowditch b Brand 14C April not out 3Extras 16TOTAL (for four wickets) 14039 oversFalls: 1/24, 2/45, 3/73, 4/118Bowling: Howells 7-1-16-1, Pederson 10-1-26-0, Lowrey 8-2-30-2, Snowball 9-0-44-0, Brand 4-0-12-1, Bowdich 1-0-6-0. n Glamorgan won by six wickets

Flintoff- off with the shirt Photo Reuters

The men in suits at Lord’s might not approve, but the touring England cricketers are not unhappy that their big all-rounder Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff did a soccer-style strip of his shirt after England beat India by five runs on Monday to square the one-day series three-all.Flintoff was at the sharp end of the action when he took two wickets and made a run out during the last over of the Indian innings.Flintoff, a strapping 1.85m 105kg all-rounder, stripped off his shirt as he was surrounded by his cheering team-mates. The action drew some tut-tuts from Lord’s, and a slap on the wrist from David Graveney, chairman of the England selectors.But Nasser Hussain, the England captain, was not at all concerned about Flintoff becoming “Shirtoff” when he arrived at Auckland today for the England tour which will contain five One-Day Internationals and three Tests, plus other games between Friday and April 3.”Our team enjoyed that victory,” said Hussain, “and if you don’t enjoy winning off the last ball before 50,000 spectators, you never will.”There was a lot of character behind that win, and Freddie’s brought a lot of character to the side. You win on character.”We will keep these things down to a minimum, but I don’t think that was the worst thing – or it may be close to the worst thing as far as Freddie’s body goes – that has happened on a cricket field.”Flintoff, nick-named the “large lump from Lancashire” by some Indian spectators, was part of the new strength coming into the England side according to Duncan Fletcher, the England coach.Three or four years ago Flintoff was regarded as most promising, and while his early results were not outstanding his development work had continued. Now, said Fletcher, all-rounders like Flintoff and Ben Hollioake, were giving England more strength in depth.

Centuries by SS Das and Sanjay Raul put Orissa in an imposing position by stumpson the second day of their Ranji Trophy East Zone tie against Tripura at theMaharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala on Saturday. Having declaredtheir first innings at 378/4 for a lead of 264, Orissa made an earlybreakthrough in the Tripura second innings as the hosts finished at 29/1.Overnight batsmen Das and Raul extended their third wicket association to amassive 223 before being separated. Skipper Das was the first to make his exitfrom the proceedings – in the day’s 56th over – but not before belting amediocre attack for 178 (260 balls, 25 fours, 3 sixes). After he fell at 304,Raul continued to punish the bowling until he was run out for 134 (212 balls, 11fours, 2 sixes). Three overs later Das mercifully declared the innings closed,leaving their opponents to play out the remaining 15 overs. Fifteen-year-oldleft arm seamer Tushar Saha took two of the three wickets that fell to thebowlers.Although Debashis Mohanty packed off opener RP Chaudhuri in the fifth over,skipper S Dasgupta and RN Ghosh survived the efforts of five different bowlersto take Tripura safely through to stumps. Tripura goes into the third day onSunday needing a further 235 to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.

While a 1-0 defeat is by no means a disastrous result for West Ham United to take back to the London Stadium from their first leg Europa League round of 16 tie with Sevilla, David Moyes may well be wondering how his team did not get something out of their trip to Spain.

Indeed, the Hammers had the perfect opportunity to take the lead after a well-worked first half free-kick, only for Nikola Vlasic to direct his header straight at Bono between the Sevilla sticks, while Manuel Lanzini also saw what seemed a sure-fire goal brilliantly blocked by Jesus Navas after the interval.

However, while a loss was certainly not the result the 58-year-old would have liked to bring back to England, he will nevertheless have been exceptionally pleased with the performances of a number of his starting XI, with Declan Rice, Kurt Zouma and Ben Johnson all shining against the La Liga giants.

While Rice and Zouma were fantastic on the night, it will undoubtedly be the latter of those three who will have been most pleased with his display at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Thursday, as the 22-year-old ran the show from right-back.

64 touches

With Vladimir Coufal remaining sidelined due to injury, Johnson was once again handed a start on the right of West Ham’s back four, and the youngster did not disappoint.

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the £6m-rated dynamo proved very solid at the back, making four clearances and three tackles, blocking three shots and winning three of his five duels – all while up against one of the most exciting wingers in European football in Lucas Ocampos.

However, it was not only defensively that the £19k-per-week youngster impressed, as Johnson also enjoyed 64 touches of the ball, completed 26 passes and found his man with three of his six attempted crosses and two of his six attempted long balls, in addition to playing one key pass.

These returns saw the player who ExWHUemployee dubbed a “sensational” talent earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.4, with no West Ham player earning a higher score than the right-back.

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As such, while Johnson may not have been Moyes’ first choice on the right-hand side of his defence so far this term, the 22-year-old’s display against Sevilla may well have convinced the manager to rethink his pecking order in the position. Johnson well and truly ran the show for the Hammers at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

AND in other news – Forget Vlasic: “Stupid” £12.5m-rated Irons dud who lost 75% duels failed Moyes against Sevilla

	Paul Reiffel says retaining umpires from neutral countries in international matches is a good idea © Getty Images

Paul Reiffel has thrown his support behind a possible challenge rule, which would allow players to request a review of an umpire’s decision with the assistance of television replays. The ICC is considering trialing such a system, in which the teams would be able to ask for a limited number of referrals.Reiffel, who has regularly stood in first-class matches in Australia after retiring as a player, said the idea had merit. “You want the right decision to be made,” Reiffel told the . “It doesn’t bother me how you get it. If it’s there and available straight away, you [should] look at it.”The ICC trial will probably take place at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September. The reviewed decisions will be based solely on replays, not technological tools such as Hawkeye and the Snickometer, which Channel says are not 100% accurate and take too long to configure. However, Reiffel said technology should not be written off altogether.”You don’t want everyone to be waiting and waiting all the time,” Reiffel said. “It’d slow down the game too much. But let’s look to improve the situation and embrace the technology if it means less controversy and contention. The trouble in the past is that the technology hasn’t quite been in place and the players have said they don’t want it.”Umpiring has been in the news after several controversial decisions in the Sydney Test between Australia and India, and Reiffel’s former captain Steve Waugh said abolishing the neutral-umpire rule might be the answer. But Reiffel said the current system was safer. “I know having had 15 years’ experience [playing] with Victoria,” Reiffel said, “that I’m more comfortable standing in games interstate involving teams other than Victoria.”

Sialkot suffered a setback when they lost seven wickets for only 154 in their first innings against Karachi Harbour, at the National Stadium. After Karachi Harbour posted 293 yesterday, Sialkot were still 139 behind with only three wickets in hand.Anwar Ali scored his maiden first-class half-century, scoring 59 to take Karachi Harbour close to a total of 300. He scored seven fours and a six in his knock and his ninth-wicket partnership with fellow seamer Faraz Ahmed (16) was 63. Anwar then started Sialkot’s slump by trapping opener Atiq-ur-Rehman for a duck second ball. There were pockets of resistance later on, but none lasted long enough. Mohammad Ayub and Tariq Mahmood added 43 for the fifth wicket.With Shahid Yousuf having to retire hurt without scoring and seamers Faraz Ahmed and Uzair-ul-Haq bowling effectively, Sialkot don’t appear to have much of a chance to take the first-innings lead.Points for Karachi Harbour will help them hold on to their spot in the Gold League. They already appear to have avoided demotion to next season’s Silver League circuit.Karachi Urban held the upper hand with a first-innings lead of 154 after wrapping up Faisalabad for a modest 200 at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1. The only real resistance from Faisalabad came from their captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Coming in at 22 for 2, remained unbeaten till the end with 83, off 161 balls with nine fours and a six. He also added 63 for the fifth wicket with Naved Latif (39) was significant.Faisalabad were tied down by offspinner Tahir Khan who took 4 for 64 in less than 20 overs. Seamer Imran Javed took 3 for 40 in 11 overs and young left-arm spinner Azam Hussain 2 for 54 in 21.Karachi Urban are currently at second place in the Gold League table behind Sialkot, who too have an identical points tally of 24. Karachi Urban will now most probably join defending champions Sialkot in the final, if they go on to beat Faisalabad here.No play was possible for the second day running in the match between Peshawar and Lahore Shalimar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

Harbhajan Singh is yet to play a one-dayer in Pakistan and may not be fit enough for the Rawalpindi match as well © Getty Images

Just four days into the one-day series and both India and Pakistan have injury concerns ahead of the second one-dayer at Rawalpindi on February 11. Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh, who both missed the first one-dayer at Peshawar, appeared unlikely starters while India had further worries with Sreesanth and Greg Chappell, the coach, also rendered ill-disposed.Harbhajan, who is yet to play a one-dayer in Pakistan, had a brief knock with the bat at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and took part in fielding drills, but refrained from bowling. “Unfortunately, Harbhajan hasn’t bowled today and we’re monitoring the situation,” Dravid said after a nets session. “We’re keeping in mind the forthcoming series and need to handle the situation accordingly. It’s a sort of injury where it’s tough to put a finger on the time-frame of recovery. We will take a decision keeping in mind the future matches.”Sreesanth and Chappell also aren’t well. They’ve come down with a sore throat and are feeling feverish. We didn’t want other guys getting ill as well. As a precaution we decided it’s better for them to skip it.”Pakistan too may have a worry with regard to Shoaib Akhtar, whose ankle has been a worry since early December, limped off after a bowling stint during Pakistan’s practice session, and was visibly in pain. His problem began during the Lahore Test against England but wasn’t serious enough to stop him from playing all three games against India, though he was an unlikely starter for the Karachi Test. It was the first time in his career that he played six Tests on the trot but a need for rest, combined with the side’s rotation policy, kept him out of the opening ODI. There will be an advantage of playing on his home ground and Shoaib would no doubt be raring to help Pakistan carry on the momentum.The pitch, with a greenish tinge, might have encouraged him as well but Dravid felt that one could get a clear picture only tomorrow. “There’s a bit of cut grass and it’s been watered but there’s still 48 hours to go and anything can happen,” he said. “When we playedhere last more than 300 runs were scored and it could be a similar story here.”He added that India’s inability to defend a big total was a concern and hinted that there may be a few changes in the bowling line-up. “We could probably do a few more things with the bowling,” he said. “We have a young and inexperienced attack and are trying to improve in every game. It’s tough to bowl on these conditions and we’re looking to get better. Pakistan have a good batting side, they bat low down and are very effective in sub-continental conditions.”Both teams finished practice by 11:00am to avoid being held up by Muharram processions in and around Rawalpindi. The Indians had a relaxed schedule on Wednesday with a few members of the side playing some golf, while the others visited a Gurudwara near Islamabad. Pakistan had an optional net session yesterday with some players preferring to spend time in their homes.

With the first Test only three days away, the BCCI has finally concluded its immediate television-rights deals by awarding the overseas rights for the India-Pakistan series to Sony Entertainment Television. The company put up a winning bid of US$11.5million for the three Tests and six one-dayers.”I was authorised by the BCCI’s Working Committee earlier this week to take the decision on satellite rights,” said Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president of the Indian board. “Since Sony was the highest bidder, it was given the rights.”While the procedure was seemingly a straightforward one, the head of Nimbus, a rival bidder, said that his offer had been higher. But Kunal Dasgupta, Sony’s chief executive, said that when the bids were opened, his company’s was the highest. Indiantelevision.com quoted him as saying, “There is no cause for any dispute in this matter.”