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While India were expected to win, Afghanistan were supposed to display the spark and fight that have made them a top second-rung team. They are the underdogs everyone loves. Almost every wicket they took and boundary they struck was cheered in the press box – the loudest reserved for Mohammad Shahzad’s promised helicopter shot.Their captain Nawroz Mangal had said before the game that Afghanistan wanted to compete, and prove that they belong to the top level. And compete they did. For more than three-quarters of the match, they kept up with India, refusing to let them get ahead and jolting them repeatedly. But their inexperience showed when they were found wanting at critical moments – dropping several catches, failing to keep wickets intact for a late charge, and so on.Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach, acknowledged the slip-ups but said his side had had a chance of upsetting India.”We made a few mistakes on the field. The boys dropped a few catches,” Kabir said. “That could have reduced India’s total by at least 15-20 runs. And while batting, at some stages we were well in the game but then we lost a couple of wickets in a very short time. Overall, I would say our team played much better compared to the last World Twenty20 game against India [in 2010]. I think we have impressed them. Our performance was impressive but we could have done better.”Kabir didn’t think the dropped chances had a huge impact on the total India managed, saying that their batting depth would have bailed them out anyway. “Had we taken those catches, it would have meant one quality batsman following another. They would have scored at least 140 in any case. Sometimes in cricket, you take one wicket, you follow it up with some more wickets. But the way we started, I thought even 160 was chaseable. If we had batted a little sensibly, we could have achieved it.”Afghanistan had planned to target the part-timer with India going in with four specialist bowlers, but Yuvraj Singh ended up taking three crucial wickets. “We knew they were one bowler short as they were playing with four bowlers. We were looking to play Ashwin a bit defensively and not give him wickets because he was the only one who was going to create problems on that wicket because it was not supporting pace bowlers at all. There was a chance. We thought if we played Ashwin well and scored off the other bowlers, and cashed in on the four overs to be bowled by the non-regular bowler, we had a very good chance.”They had a sniff alright. Virat Kohli felt Afghanistan were tricky opponents for India to face. “They had nothing to lose so that too is a big factor which is not discussed much, that when you are playing against a team that is ranked lower they have nothing to lose,” Kohli said. “When they come out to bowl they will go all out and the same applies to their batting. They will come out and play their shots and if they can execute them then it is a problem for the bowling side.”In the end, though, Kabir felt Afghanistan’s lack of exposure at the highest level – this was only their fifth international game against a Test-playing side – was the difference.”That’s a factor because those boys are not exposed to international cricket.””Just the sheer pressure of playing the side we were playing, the crowd, the cameras… it all came together. I have to point out that those who dropped catches are very good fielders. I think the pressure factor came into it. India as a big team knows how to handle pressure. Then again, we also play less international cricket, and less against the top teams. We played India only twice in two years but if we had played them five or six times, the result could have been different.”The day when it actually is different may not be far off, provided Afghanistan are given the opportunities they deserve.

Lancashire have announced that 37-year-old Dominic Cork will not be offered a contract for 2009, a move which may well signal the end of his first-class career.The club said that the decision not to extend Cork’s contract “was made with the longer term development of the playing staff in mind and to allow the side to evolve, providing younger players the opportunity to grow into the team.””It hurts, decisions like this,” Cork told Sky Sports News. “But, typical Dominic Cork, I’ll come back and I will haunt Lancashire and come back hopefully and prove the manager and the committee wrong.””I’m open to any offers. I just want to play as Dominic Cork always plays, with his heart on his sleeve [for] any club I can help. I’m a keen lover of the game still, at 37. I’m still very fit, I still work very hard, and still have a lot to offer in the game.”Cork, who played 37 Tests and 32 ODIs for England, moved to Lancashire from Derbyshire in 2004 and in five seasons to date he has taken 169 wickets and scored 1803 runs in 61 appearances.Another player who will not be reappearing for Lancashire in 2009 is legspinner Simon Marshall, 26. In four seasons at Old Trafford the former Cambridge University player made nine appearances taking 15 wickets at 45.60.

All but buried alive, South Africa came back from deaths door with an inspired spell of bowling from Captain Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini, bowling Pakistan out for 120 in 36.2 overs and winning the third Standard Bank One-Day International by 62 runs to take a two one series lead.Pakistan with a simple task of chasing a target of 183, once again showed their inability to playing on a pitch that has a bit of pace and bounce by committing suicide in playing some very poor shots.After their dismal batting performance, South Africa came out early after supper with all the bowlers warming up. A team huddle seemed to work as Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini put together a world class new-ball bowling performance to put the skids under the Pakistan top order. Fifteen overs of disciplined bowling left Pakistan at 40/5.Saleem Elahi was never the same player he was in Port Elizabeth and after playing and missing to both the bowlers he eventually got the edge off Pollock for Jacques Kallis to take the catch that started the Pakistan rot at 20/1. Shahid Afridi, after another quick 16 edged Pollock to Mark Boucher.Not to be outdone Ntini, bowling with fire, pace and bounce, grabbed the wickets of Abdur Razzaq caught at slip and Inzamam-ul-Haq caught behind. Four wickets had fallen with each batsman playing away from the body to balls that got big on them.Pollock then suckered Yousuf Youhana into leaving outside off and then bringing one back perfectly, to the delight of the bowler, seeing the batsman shoulder arms and being bowled. At five wickets down for 39 Pakistan was in danger of rewriting the records books.A change in bowling brought the veteran Allan Donald into the attack. His second over had Younis Khan back in the pavilion, also caught behind the wicket. Donald followed that up with his next ball to have Rashid Latif sparring and join the procession of batsmen caught at slip. Seven wickets down for 49 and Pakistan had lost a game that they could have won at a canter had it not been for the precision of the South African bowlers.Jacques Kallis got rid of Saqlain Mushtaq before Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis put together a partnership of 46 runs. The two, more renowned for their wicket taking abilities, was an example to their more fancied batsmen of mixing patience with aggression.Waqar, after giving a simple chance to Neil Dippenaar on the cover boundary, lost his wicket to Hall, once again caught at slip after following a ball outside off.Wasim, 43 not out, at times had a little flourish, twice sending the ball into the stands, once off Pollock and the second off Klusener before Shoaib Akhtar was run out with Pakistan on 120 and handing South Africa a win as if Christmas came early.The 120 beating the previous all time lowest of 98 by Sri Lanka, and the 109 by Pakistan, against South Africa.Earlier, after discussions with local player Mark Boucher who had advised Pollock that “The grass will stand up in the evening”, the captain decided to bat first on a pitch that was described as being “very good” by Waqar.The decision was always under question with Waqar and Wasim putting the South Africans under a tremendous amount of pressure.Herschelle Gibbs fell to Waqar for 13 when South Africa had 28 but it was not until the Rawalpindi Express, Akhtar, blasted out Smith and Boucher that the South African innings started to crumble. Bowling in excess of 155 kilometers per hour he was visually faster than anything seen in South Africa this season.Saqlain joined the party taking the two quick wickets of Kallis and Rhodes leaving South Africa in dire straights at 81/4 and seemingly on the same path that they took in Port Elizabeth.Pollock, lucky to survive a run out chance when television replays showed incomplete evidence and given the benefit of the doubt, batted well enough to end the innings on an undefeated 32.With the last five wickets falling for 53 in 15.2 overs, South Africa was bowled out for 182, a mediocre total for a supposedly world number two one-day team.A promising innings from Smith (44), who must now learn to start batting through an innings, and Dippenaar (47) allowed South Africa to set a total of 182, one that did not look to be enough on the pitch.Pakistan can at times be its own worst enemy. One of the most unpredictable teams in modern cricket once again lacked the patience to put together a few small partnerships to cruise to victory. With the series heading for the quicker pitches of the Cape, this Pakistan outfit may just regret the chances they have squandered to win this series.

Bangladesh are in danger of following-on after South Africa, declaring at 529/4, reduced the visitors to 153/7, still 176 runs behind the follow-on target.Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis started day two in a positive fashion. They scored runs freely in the first hour, before Kirsten, having just gone to his 150, slashed a catch to backward point ending a 81-run partnership.Ashwell Prince, the next man in, lasted eight balls before being well caught at backward point by Alok Kapali. South Africa were still in command at 448/4 despite losing two quick wickets.Kallis needing to score 29 runs to reach the double of 4,000 Test runs and 100 Test wickets achieved it with a classic cover drive that effortlessly went to the rope. This feat made him the fifth Test player, and second fastest behind Sir Garfield Sobers, to achieve the target. The other players who have accomplished this feat are Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Carl Hooper. Kallis also became the third South African, behind Gary Kirsten and Daryll Cullinan, to pass the 4,000 runs mark.Martin van Jaarsveld and Kallis found that the bowling had improved and that runs were hard to come by. With the scoring rate going down, Mark Boucher decided that it was time to declare, 40 minutes after lunch, and get his bowlers out in the middle.The innings was closed on 529/4 with Kallis on 75 and Van Jaarsveld on 39.The first target for Bangladesh had to be the 329 to avoid the follow-on, but a disastrous start put them under a lot of pressure.Javed Omar was trapped leg before for seven. Al Sahariar, his partner, after clipping some neat fours off his legs, followed soon after for 18, when he could not avoid a short ball that deflected into the wickets off his arm, as Bangladesh were suddenly two down for 25.A good partnership of 66 runs followed between Habibul Bashar and Sanwar Hossain before Hossain gloved a catch to Boucher off Makhaya Ntini when on 31.Ntini at this stage took the heart out of the Bangladesh batting line-up. Bowling with pace and aggression, his second wicket came when Tushar Imran failed to control a lifter, only to be bowled off the body without scoring. Ntini followed it by enticing Bashar into an edged drive when the latter was on 38. The Bangladeshi mini-collapse left them at 100/5.Khaled Mashud was unlucky to be given out, caught off the shoulder for four before Alok Kapali, who was having some fun, was brilliantly caught by Kallis for 35 when he got a leading edge from a sweep.With Mohammad Rafique and Tapash Baisya, the last of the noted batsmen, not out at the close, Bangladesh are in grave danger of finding themselves batting for a second time on day three.

Hampshire Cricket have announced the signing of former England seamer Ed Giddins on a two-year contract from the start of the 2003 season.31-year-old Giddins in his time with Sussex, Warwickshire and latterly with Surrey has amassed nearly 700 wickets in first-class and limited-overs matches.

“Looking out here at this magnificent Rose Bowl, joining Hampshire was an easy decision.” said Giddins. “The club has a lot of potential and it is an exciting challenge for me.””We are in the wrong division at the moment, it is time to get into the right division, and I hope to play a big part in that aim.””My memories of playing against Hampshire in the past are of my bowling disappearing over square leg in the 90s due to Robin Smith most of the time.”Asked about his colourful career, Giddins admitted that mistakes had been made, but that was behind him. “I am a family man now, a few errors of judgement in the past, but you learn. We all make a few mistakes, but joining Hampshire isn’t a mistake, it is something positive, and I am looking forward to getting a few wickets. And a couple of runs,” he joked.”I had a great two years at Surrey, but now is not the time to look back, it was time for a change and I leave with very happy memories.”Playing alongside Shane Warne next season is great, I have been lucky in my career to have played alongside some greats, Brian Lara, Allan Donald to name just two, and Shane will be the third in who I consider to be amongst the 10 best modern day cricketers.”Hampshire’s Director of Cricket Tim Tremlett was asked what he felt Ed Giddins could do for Hampshire. “He brings a wealth of experience a very fine bowler, bowls with good pace still and perfect for English conditions. With the demands of the English season, we needed to strengthen our squad, and perhaps that is where we fell down towards the end of last year, the strength and depth wasn’t there.”

The Trinidad and Tobago side that turned up on the north coast of Jamaica yesterday might have felt they were still in the tourist resort of Gros Islet in St Lucia.Subjected to pitches that assisted bowlers in their preliminary zone of the Red Stripe Bowl, they came here for a semifinal and approached batting at the Kaiser Sports Club in the same manner that they would have approached it at the Beausejour Stadium.Mind you, the pitch offered some assistance to the faster bowlers in the early stages of the match and there was some inconsistent bounce later on, but it was no excuse from an inadequate Trinidad and Tobago total of 147 in 48 overs.In light of how the surface played for the first 25 overs of last season’s semifinals and final, it was all the more baffling why Trinidad and Tobago chose to bat first.Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds would later show the Trinis how it should be done by wiping off the target in only 29.1 overs for the loss of three wickets.It was Jamaica’s fifth successive win in the tournament and the 2000 champions now await the winner of today’s semifinal between Barbados and defending champions Guyana.Yesterday’s match was played before the biggest crowd of the tournament to date but the estimated 3 500 fans might have been expecting a much stiffer challenge from a Trinidad and Tobago side that included Brian Lara.Jamaica, however, gained the initiative from early on the strength of fast bowler Darren Powell’s early inroads. He removed openers Daren Ganga and Andy Jackson, along with Dwayne Bravo and the visitors never recovered.Powell came back in a second spell to claim another two scalps and finished with the impressive figures of five for 23 from 10 overs.Star batsman Lara hit the topscore of 36, but the double world record-holder was never at his best and battled for 70 balls before Gayle deceived him with a straight ball and trapped him lbw.The only other batsman who provided any extended resistance was rookie Shazam Babwah, who made 30 off 46 balls batting at No. 7.The quality of Jamaica’s fielding was also impressive. Leon Garrick set the tone with a diving catch that accounted for Jackson, while Gayle featured in two run outs.Jamaica lost Garrick to the last ball of the first over from Mervyn Dillon, but the innings was soon launched by Wavell Hinds’ early aggression.Hinds spanked Dillon for two off-side boundaries, but the West Indies fast bowler gained his revenge by breaking the second wicket stand of 56 when Hinds was bowled for 21 off 25 balls as he attempted a big drive.The dismissal paved the way for the positive stroke-play of the left-handed Gayle and the right-handed Samuels, who added 83 in 17.2 overs.Trinidad and Tobago had no clue how to stop the flow of runs, with Gayle smashing 56 off 77 balls, while Samuels was undefeated on 57 off 64 balls when he finished by the match by hoisting off-spinner Rodney Sooklal over long-off for his second six.Samuels stroked five fours, while Gayle also banged five boundaries before giving a catch to long-on when only eight runs were needed or victory.

On 27 April 2002, during the third and final encounter of the three-match ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, young Shoaib Malik fashioned a fine all-round performance to better his career best performance with both bat and ball. Opening the batting, the 20-year old made a superb 115 and later on took 3 wickets for 37 runs to write his name in the elite club of all-rounders scoring a century and also taking three or more wickets in the same match.It was actually the 11th such performance by the 9th player in the history of shorter version of the game, with Nathan Astle and Viv Richards doing so twice.Curiously enough, Shoaib who became the first Pakistani to do so, however also provided the 13th instance of a Pakistani scoring a fifty or more besides taking three or more wickets in the match too.For the interest of the readers here are more details:

Players scoring a century & taking 3 wickets in the sameODI match (11)Allrounder Runs Wkts Vs Ground DateDJ Callaghan (SA) 169* 3/32 NZ Centurion Dec 11, 1994SR Tendulkar (Ind) 141 4/38 Aus Dhaka Oct 28, 1998SC Ganguly (Ind) 130* 4/21 SL Nagpur Mar 22, 1999NJ Astle (NZ) 120 3/40 Ind Rajkot Nov 05, 1999IVA Richards (WI) 119 5/41 NZ Dunedin Mar 18, 1987NJ Astle (NZ) 117 4/43 Pak Mohali May 09, 1997IVA Richards (WI) 110* 3/42 Ind Rajkot Jan 05, 1988PA De Silva (SL) 107* 3/42 Aus Lahore Mar 17, 1996CL Cairns (NZ) 103 3/37 Ind Pune Nov 24, 1995RR Singh (Ind) 100 3/20 SL Colombo (SSC) Aug 23, 1997Shoaib Malik (Pak) 115 3/37 NZ Lahore Apr 27, 2002Pakistani players scoring a fifty & taking 3 wickets in thesame ODI match (13)Allrounder Runs Wkts Vs Ground DateShoaib Malik 115 3/37 NZ Lahore Apr 27, 2002Aamir Sohail 87 3/43 WI Kingston Mar 23, 1993Aamir Sohail 85 4/22 SL Sharjah Oct 12, 1995Abdur Razzaq 70* 5/48 Ind Hobart Jan 21, 2000Aamir Sohail 67 3/46 SL Centurion Dec 04, 1994Mudassar Nazar 64 3/44 Aus Sharjah Apr 03, 1987Majid Khan 61 3/53 Aus Nottingham Jun 13, 1979Shahid Afridi 61 5/40 Eng Lahore Oct 27, 2000Imran Khan 58 3/36 Aus Lahore Nov 04, 1987Imran Khan 55* 3/47 WI Calcutta Nov 01, 1989Shahid Afridi 53 3/33 WI Sydney Jan 18, 1997Imran Khan 50* 3/49 SL Sharjah Mar 24, 1989Mudassar Nazar 50 3/20 Aus Sydney Dec 17, 1981

Expect a better performance from New Zealand’s batsmen in the second National Bank Test with England after the lift they got from Nathan Astle’s display on the last day in Christchurch.That’s Craig McMillan’s feeling going into the Wellington match at the Basin Reserve, a ground that has been good for him in the past.”The knock that Nathan played was great.”It gave other guys a lift, some confidence after two or three pretty tough days where we had been behind the eight ball for most of the game after that first over that Cairnsy (Chris Cairns) bowled.”You could just see perhaps a little momentum that hopefully we can show on Thursday,” he said.The onus was on the more experienced players to lead the way, especially now that the firepower of Cairns had been lost.The senior batsmen in the side had failed to score enough runs in the first innings and had not achieved any of the game’s disciplines well enough, or for long enough, he said.”It’s a big game and it is going to take a big effort from everyone.”I love playing here, I’ve had some really good innings here and Hamilton are my two favourite grounds in terms of runs scored, I’ve had two of my Test hundreds here.”It’s a cricket ground, I enjoy the atmosphere, the people come in to watch us, it’s a good place to play cricket,” he said.In contrast to his home ground at Jade Stadium, he expected more people to turn out to watch the match.”The crowd was hugely disappointing in Christchurch. I was also disappointed with the one-day crowd. It is a rugby town.”But it disappoints me they don’t come out to watch especially when there are four or five Canterbury players in the side.”And after the success we’ve had all summer you wouldn’t think there would be many more reasons to come out and watch us.””In the end we didn’t play well so people may say that justified not coming to watch but in saying that they missed what from the first over to the last over was an enthralling Test match.”I’m sure those who did go along thoroughly enjoyed it.”I was disappointed as were most of the other guys.”Of the bowlers they had been up against there was respect for Matthew Hoggard who had shown he could be dangerous when the ball was swinging.”We played him better when it wasn’t swinging around and if it doesn’t continue to swing we will continue to play him well.”Take nothing away from him, he bowled well and to get seven wickets is a great achievement.”Hopefully if it does swing then the guys have made the necessary adjustments. You need to be a little more patient and a little more selective because all he really did was bowl in that channel.”He didn’t give us a lot to hit but because of the pressure they built by bowling dot balls, he didn’t go searching then we went searching and that was the difference.”When we bowled, we went searching and they didn’t have to go looking because we were serving it up to them and that is probably shown in the number of boundaries hit, especially in that partnership between (Andrew) Flintoff and (Graham) Thorpe.”We’ve got two days to turn it around.”It came back to basics and if you didn’t do them well then any side could knock you over”It starts in the nets here and that is what the guys have been trying to focus on.”If they can’t do in the nets then they are not going to do it out in the middle,” he said.

Easterns finally mopped-up a match they had controlled virtually from the outset, beating Boland by 139 runs in a meaningless exercise in first-class cricket in Paarl on Sunday.Resuming on their overnight 71-3, chasing an entirely notional 450 to win, Boland were dismissed for 310. Kudos for Easterns, but the silverware will be going elsewhere this season.Easterns were made to work hard, if not quite run up a serious sweat on the final day as they searched for the seven wickets they needed complete a routine victory. Resistor-in-chief was Louis Koen, the Boland captain reigning in his more innate attacking instincts in the cause of his side as he scored 66 in a little under four hours, an innings which included only five boundaries from a bat which is more used to causing mayhem than playing ‘though shall not pass’.There was also an entertaining ninth-wicket stand of 91 off just 110 balls between Bradley Player and Willem du Toit, but it was no more than a blip on the steady Easterns’ progress to victory. Man of the match Anthony Botha added three more wickets on the final day to give him figures of 6-106 in the Boland second innings. It was Botha’s unbeaten 49 on the second morning which helped Easterns past 300 and into a position of strength from which they never faltered.Botha put the ball in the right place and exacted just enough turn to keep wicket-keeper Dylan Jennings and Derek Crookes at first slip interested. Crookes picked up two catches of his bowling, while Jennings snapped up an edge from Justin Ontong to send the young all-rounder back to the pavilion for just 13.Ontong will now turn his attention from the South African domestic scene to his up-coming trip to the West Indies to hook up with the South African one-day squad. After scoring his maiden first-class century earlier in March, he is bursting with confidence and eager to make the next step. Watch this space.

Over the next few weeks the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy will be touring the country as part of a campaign to draw attention to the new cricket season and to highlight the building societies involvement in sponsoring the major limited over cricketing competition in this country.What more appropriate place could there be to launch the tour than in Taunton the county town of Somerset, the current holders of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.Between 1pm and 3pm on Wednesday afternoon two Somerset cricketers, Keith Dutch and Keith Parsons, will join officials from Cheltenham and Gloucester at their premises in North Street in Taunton town centre to launch the tour of the trophy.Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: "We are delighted and honoured that Cheltenham and Gloucester have chosen to launch their campaign here in Taunton. We are also delighted that Cheltenham and Gloucester have chosen a town like Taunton in the middle of a rural area rather than a city for the launch."Mr Anderson continued: "It is fitting that Keith Dutch and Keith Parsons, the Somerset heroes of the semi-final and the final of last year’s Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy victory, should both be in attendance on Wednesday."The Chief Executive concluded: "The players are very confident that winning one of the limited over competitions is well within their reach, and they will of course be doing their best to make sure that Somerset retain the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy this season."Somerset fans are invited to go along to the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the trophy and the stars that helped to win it for them.Those fans who turn up at the building society with the token from last week’s Somerset County Gazette will also be able to have their photograph taken with the trophy by a professional photographer free of charge.