Pakistan 78 for 2 beat New Zealand 77 (Anwar Ali 5-34) by eight wickets
ScorecardZimbabwe captain Sean Williams said before the tournament he was targeting England as a must-win game and he led from the front as his side secured a two-wicket win that ensured they topped Group D.They now face holders Pakistan in the quarter-finals while England have an equally daunting task against Bangladesh. Williams’ 3 for 35 was crucial as spin again dominated, and Zimbabwe knocked over England for 172 and then chased down the score for the loss of eight wickets with 2.5 overs in hand.”I feel relieved after what I said beforehand,” Williams said. “I am also very proud of my players because we stuck to our plans, worked hard and got our rewards.” That plan involved spin, spin and more spin as Williams used four slow bowlers, including himself, to get through 34.5 overs between them. And in the face of that trial by spin England were found wanting.They did reach 157 for 4 at one point but the pressure exerted by the spinners and the need to press on in the later stages of the innings prompted a collapse as their last six wickets tumbled for just 15 runs.The Zimbabwe spin quartet was led by Williams, who dismissed Rob Woodman (6), Rory Hamilton-Brown (47) and last man Andy Miller (4), but the other spinners – all of them legbreak bowlers – also played their parts. Ryan Higgins (2 for 33) picked up the important top-order wickets of Varun Chopra (31) and Ali (19) while Gary Balance (who bowled the last over in the win against Nepal) took 3 for 21. Balance mopped up the tail while Graeme Cremer, although wicketless, did an effective job of containment, conceding just 28 runs in his ten-over spell. Chopra and Hamilton-Brown were the only England batsmen to pass 30, although Ben Wright chipped in with a useful 27.”The pitch was one where the slower you bowled it the harder it was to hit so I told Gary (Balance) to slow things down,” said Williams. “It was important for us to top the group but now we have a tough game against Pakistan. They will be out to prove a point but maybe they will be complacent and we hope to use that against them.”Balance followed up his bowling exploits with a timely contribution with the bat. While wickets were tumbling around him he dug in to make a crucial 47 batting at No. 3 and pulled his side around from a precarious 29 for 3. Despite Balance’s Man-of-the-Match effort England were still favourites when they took Zimbabwe’s seventh wicket with 65 required but Cremer (29) and `Chamu’ Chibhabha, with a nerveless unbeaten 29, saw their side through that sticky period.England’s spinners were also excellent, with Graeme White (0 for 24), Nick James (2 for 25) and Ali (2 for 29) all impressing and pace bowler Andy Miller (2 for 28) also looking good early on.But in the end they did not have enough runs to play with. “The batting let us down again today,” said Ali afterwards. “Their spinners bowled really well but we did not play them all that well. The positive is that it is good to get a game like that out of our system.”England’s next opponents Bangladesh gave them a torrid time on a tour there in November and December and England returned home from that trip without winning a match. “All we can do is to go out there and give it everything and maybe Bangladesh might underestimate us. In some ways it was good to play like we did today because we can learn from that when we play tomorrow,” added Ali.England were without opener Mark Stoneman and seam bowler Huw Waters, both of them suffering from stomach upsets.

Kenyan officials have said they were willing to host Zimbabwe in a series of one-day internationals after the country withdrew from Test cricket for the next 12 months.”We are prepared to play Zimbabwe in March,” said the Cricket Kenya (CK) chairman Samir Inamdar. “We have already talked with Zimbabwe with the view of having their team come here before we leave for Bangladesh.” The proposed itinerary is set to involve three ODIs.The tour of Bangladesh, which may also involve Zimbabwe will start on March 10. The Kenyans are also scheduled to play three one-day internationals against their hosts during the tournament, which has been organised through the initiative of the ICC.Last week, the interim committee of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) announced they would not play any more Tests in 2006 although they were still committed to honouring their one-day commitments. It is likely that one of the conditions placed on Zimbabwe was that they play matches against the likes of Kenya and Bangladesh during the following year.

Pakistan has agreed to play three Tests and seven one-dayers on their tour of India from the first week of November next year, which has been incorporated in the new six-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the ICC.Saleem Altaf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of cricket operations, said on Wednesday after returning from a meeting with ICC officials in Dubai, that Pakistan’s viewpoint on the FTP had been accepted and incorporated accordingly.He said, “It was a good meeting from our point of view because all of our issues have been cleared now by the ICC as far as the FTP is concerned. Our programmes have been accordingly scheduled in the six-year cycle and have been circulated to the members.”In the new FTP, Pakistan will host South Africa from the first week of September to late October and then tour India, from first week of November in 2007. The Asia Cup accordingly will now be hosted by Pakistan in March-April while Australia will tour Pakistan in February-March the same year.Altaf said that Pakistan would now tour Australia in late 2008 to play three Tests and then return home to play New Zealand. They would then return to Australia for the VB series and finally complete the cycle by going on the return tour to New Zealand. “In the new FTP India will now tour Pakistan in 2009 and 2113 while England will visit in 2010.”Altaf pointed out that since Pakistan’s contract with its television agents was till March 2008, the new FTP incorporated all major cricket tours to Pakistan in this period.”We will be hosting Zimbabwe, West Indies, South Africa and Australia till March of 2008 which allows us to meet our contractual obligations to our television agents and the company which has brought bundled sponsorship rights,” he added.He confirmed that Pakistan had made a bid for the 2008 Champions Trophy but said that India had tabled a resolution, asking for the Champions Trophy tournament to be held every four years instead of its biannual cycle.”India’s resolution and the bids submitted for various ICC events including our bid would now all be decided at the executive board meeting of the ICC on March 21.”

On the day’s play
It was an interesting day’s cricket … We did not start well with the ball but then made a brilliant comeback. We bowled in good areas and were rewarded for that. But when we batted again in the second innings they came really hard at us. They knew they had to strike early. There was something in the wicket and they bowled really well.On whether Sri Lanka batted badly
I would not just say we batted badly – they bowled really well and there was something in the wicket. Some of the batters got really good balls. Mohammad Asif bowled particularly well – his delivery to get rid of Thilan Samaraweera was a peach. Obviously, though, it would have been nice to have still had a specialist batsman at the crease overnight. On the whole, though, we have played five good sessions of cricket but made a couple of mistakes in the final sessions.On whether a target of around 200 will be enough
Whatever the score is we will have to defend that – that is the bottom line. We have to make sure we bowl in the same areas we bowled earlier today and make sure we get a result in our favour. We have played six sessions and everything is in the balance. I think we are in a good situation because there are chasing. When I lost the toss I thought they had grabbed an early advantage, but then they now have the disadvantage of chasing late in the game which will be hard. The fast bowlers need to bowl really tight and support [Muttiah] Muralitharan who be lethal out thereOn Sanath’s injury
It’s very unfortunate what happened to Sanath [Jayasuriya] – would have been really nice to see him opening the batting in his farewell performance. Unfortunately, that is cricket – especially in Kandy. But you never know with Sanath. He may turn up tomorrow and bat for us – he is that kind of person. But I have not yet heard an exact assessment.

Australian selectors named a strong Australia A squad for a series of four-day, one-day and Twenty20 cricket matches against A teams from New Zealand, India and Pakistan in Darwin and Cairns during July.The squad, showcasing Australia’s depth, contains players with international experience including wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin, the pace trio of Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Shane Watson, dumped Test batsman Brad Hodge and opener Phil Jaques. Haddin, who has played 13 ODIs for Australia, will lead the side.The new chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said.”We see the Top End series as a very important tournament for young, emerging talent in Australia and in particular for those pushing for Australian selection in the upcoming Champions Trophy, the Ashes and the World Cup.”We have selected players with some real experience at international level in Haddin, Hodge, Watson and [James] Hopes, whilst we also have some very exciting young players who have experience with the Australian team.”The pace attack of Johnson, Tait and Ben Dorey have all played for the Australian side recently, and along with Jaques, will be pushing their claims for the Ashes and World Cup.”The selectors have also included the young off-spinner Daniel Cullen, who played in the recent one-day series in Bangladesh. “Australia is obviously very well served at the moment with spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, but Dan Cullen has shown us what he is capable of on the recent tour of Bangladesh and Cullen Bailey has had a very strong domestic season and also deserves his opportunity,” Hilditch added.The tournament will be the first time international cricket is played in the top end region of Australia since Sri Lanka played two Tests there in July 2004.Australia A Brad Haddin (capt/wk), Cullen Bailey, Travis Birt, Mark Cosgrove, Dan Cullen, Brett Dorey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Rogers, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson

Ian Blackwell, Somerset and England’s allrounder, is to undergo surgery after injuring his shoulder in Somerset’s Championship match against Leicestershire.Blackwell, Somerset’s captain, is likely to require at least three or four months to recuperate – a bitter blow for him, and England, after his encouraging bowling in the one-dayers in the subcontinent. He will certainly miss the one-dayers this summer against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and is a serious doubt for the ICC Champions Trophy in October.”He has been diagnosed as having a SLAP lesion in his left shoulder which has been confirmed by shoulder consultant Mr Alan Dunkley,” Brian Rose, director of cricket at Somerset, said. “This is where part of the joint capsule is damaged along with part of the bicep tendon. The severity is yet to be confirmed but surgery is required regardless.”Blackwell, 27, has played 14 one-day internationals, and a single Test against India.

Ricky Ponting has urged Australian supporters to provide a “sea of green and gold” for the summer’s Ashes series. Tickets for the 2006-07 international matches go on sale to the Australian Cricket Family on Thursday morning and Cricket Australia is determined that the grounds will not be over-run by England supporters.”The Australian team can’t wait for this Ashes series to start and having a sea of green and gold supporters in the stand will give us a massive boost,” Ponting said. “Make sure you get in early on June 1 and we’ll see you during the biggest summer of Australian cricket.”The 128,500 members who registered on the organistation’s website can buy tickets from 9am eastern standard time on Thursday until June 15. Seats will go on general release for overseas supporters and those not in the “family” on June 19. Cricket Australia has predicted all Test grounds will be sold out for the first day and there are hopes of a world-record crowd for Boxing Day at the MCG.A Cricket Australia spokesman said family members must be Australian residents and provide an Australian postal address to buy tickets. “If these conditions are not met, tickets shall be cancelled,” he said. The first Test starts at Brisbane on November 23.

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi both struck powerful cameos as Pakistan beat an International XI side in a charity match at The Oval, despite 50 from Sachin Tendulkar. Rain and gloom reduced the Twenty20 clash to a ten-over-a-side encounter but a 20,000-plus crowd were entertained by the glittering array of stars on show and raised £250,000 for survivors of last October’s earthquake in Pakistan.On a wet and gloomy evening in south London, chasing 124, Afridi did what he does best and clobbered the bowling around the park. In the space of just 12 balls, he smashed 41 runs – 22 of which came from his first four balls. The unlucky victim was Zaheer Khan who, bowling in near darkness, was hit for three sixes and a four in typically violent manner.Inzamam then finished off Afridi’s work with a pugnacious 36 as Pakistan, needing 18 off the last over, sneaked home off the penultimate ball.Earlier, Tendulkar and Brian Lara put on 72 for the first wicket with Tendulkar bringing up his 50 from 26 balls with eight fours and a six. He might have been facing bowlers of international experience for the first time in close to four months but there was little to suggest any sort of discomfort. He fetched boundaries off three powerful pull shots – two fours against Shahid Nazir and a huge six off Waqar Younis – and appeared to have his shoulder worries under control.The free-flowing delight of Lara and Tendulkar was soon overshadowed by some brutal hitting from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Not only did he crunch 35 from 13 balls, unleashing his characteristic hoicks, but also added to Pakistan’s woes in the bowling department. With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ruled out of the series and Mohammad Asif doubtful for the first Test, starting in Lord’s on July 13, the last thing Pakistan would have wanted is a further denting of their bowlers’ confidence.Mohammad Sami was nowhere close to his best; Umar Gul, bowling with a high-arm action, got only one over; Shahid Nazir was carted to various corners and Abdul Razzaq , on today’s performance at least, won’t be sending too many shivers down too many batsmen’s spines.Of course, it was just a charity match; of course, the bowlers weren’t stretching themselves; and of course, it didn’t even matter to the eventual result. When you have a monster hitter like Afridi in your ranks, why sweat over minor trifles like your pace-bowling attack?

India will not host a tri-series featuring West Indies and Sri Lanka in 2007 as originally planned, and will instead play separate bilateral series against both teams. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that India would play a maximum of eight to ten one-dayers in January as a build-up to the World Cup.The new plans were discussed when Zorol Barthley, chief cricket operations officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), met with BCCI officials during his visit to Mumbai. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, confirmed the new proposal and reasoned that the change in plan was to ensure that India gained as much match practice as possible before the World Cup began in March.”It is more a build-up, so the more matches we play the better it will be before the World Cup”, Shah told . “So we are pressing for a bilateral series.”India’s tour of South Africa concludes in early January, while Sri Lanka return from New Zealand in the second week of January. West Indies do not have any international commitments scheduled for that period, so it is likely that the bilateral contests will be held in mid-January.

Though the series opener at Sophia Gardens was washed out, Ian Bell believes England are capable of defeating Pakistan in the five-match contest. Bell’s 88 – which he termed his best one-day innings – was the sole bright spot out of England’s dismal 202, and he was determined to cement his place during a busy season.”I’m not too sure there’s relief, we were pretty positive about going out there and getting a few wickets,” Bell told reporters. “It’s nice to stop the losses but it’s not the way we wanted to stop the defeats. We’ll be excited to get to Lord’s as we believe we can beat Pakistan in this series.”With a revised target of 159 from 32 overs, Pakistan were 46 for 1 after seven overs before heavy rain forced the umpires to call the match off. Discounting a win over Ireland, a non-Test side, England have lost eight consecutive one-day internationals.Bell ranked his 88 as his best effort in ODIs as he continued his recent Test form. “I tried to carry over my form from the Test matches [in which he scored three back-to-back hundreds],” he said. “I also felt pretty good in the nets and just wanted to carry on. That was the best I’ve played in one-day cricket for England. It was just the fact that I looked to be really positive. Number three is where I normally bat for Warwickshire, I’m happiest at three in one-day cricket. It gives me that opportunity to get myself in and gradually score quicker and quicker.”Following October’s Champions Trophy in India, England will participate in the VB Series in Australia before the World Cup in March.