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Scorecard
Queensland’s bowlers have made the most of a wearing MCG pitch to claim victory in their Pura Cup match against Victoria, despite some valiant resistance by the Bushrangers’ lower order led by Adam Crosthwaite. Chasing a very difficult target of 313 Victoria were bowled out for 222 mid-way through the final session.The Bulls shared the wickets between them, with Daniel Doran (3 for 51) finishing with the best figures after he had Gerard Denton trapped lbw for 3 to give Queensland the win. Andy Bichel, Mitchell Johnson and Ashley Noffke picked up two scalps each. The Bushrangers were already staring down the barrel going to lunch at 4 for 95 and when Cameron White (16) and Andrew McDonald (14) both nicked regulation catches to Chris Hartley the situation was desperate at 6 for 134.But Crosthwaite and Jon Moss put up a good fight for 20 overs, adding 58 for the seventh wicket before Crosthwaite was out for 43, lbw to a terrific inswinger from Noffke. Moss (24) gave Noffke his second wicket when he was lbw to a short-pitched ball that failed to bounce above his knee-roll, the best example of the variable bounce that troubled batsmen throughout the match. Shane Harwood batted defiantly for over an hour for his 11 not out but ran out of partners when Clinton McKay (10) was spectacularly caught and bowled by Bichel and the injured Denton was trapped in front.The day started atrociously for Victoria when both openers were out in the first six overs of play. Lloyd Mash played on to a short ball from Bichel for 6 and when Nick Jewell also fell for 6 the Bushrangers were in trouble at 2 for 21. Jewell, who edged a simple catch to Hartley, gave Johnson his first wicket of the game.Victoria got back on track through Brad Hodge and David Hussey before a Clinton Perren run-out once again turned the match in Queensland’s favour. Hodge and Hussey had put on 41 and pushed the Bushrangers to 2 for 62 when a direct hit from Perren at deep midwicket, barely ten metres from the boundary, had Hussey (12) caught short at the bowler’s end attempting a second run.It was an even more incredible throw than in the first innings when Perren ran from the slips cordon to third-man, turned and threw down the stumps at the wicketkeeper’s end to run out McKay. Hodge made 54 and was the best of the Victoria batsmen but his day ended in the last over before lunch when he tried to drive a conventional legbreak from Doran and guided a thin edge into the waiting hands of Martin Love at first slip.Victoria’s day did not improve with the news that Denton, who left the field on Sunday with a leg injury, was likely to miss up to six weeks with shin splints in his left leg. With Mick Lewis and a host of second-string fast bowlers already out injured, the Bushrangers face an uphill battle to get themselves back in the race for the Pura Cup with just one win from four games. Queensland now have two wins from their opening four matches.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:39

Manjrekar: India should have eyed 350-400 on this pitch

Considering they were effectively operating with a three-man attack, South Africa did incredibly well to take seven wickets on a pitch that was better for batting than the one in Nagpur. However, the surface was not docile enough to afford India the luxury of facing an inept fourth bowler, and the lack of support for South Africa’s frontline meant the batsmen could score freely when the first-choice bowlers were taken off or were tiring.India ended the day on 231 for 7, the highest total of the series, but they might have struggled to make 200 had Imran Tahir not been in awful form. The two new bowlers in South Africa’s XI, offspinner Dane Piedt and seamer Kyle Abbott, were incisive and displayed impressive stamina, taking four and three wickets apiece, and though Morne Morkel did not strike he offered control. Tahir, however, was bowled for only seven overs on the first day because he conceded 36 runs, serving up a buffet of full tosses and long-hops. The real damage to South Africa was in the overs Tahir could not bowl, because the rest were less threatening to face and easier to score off as they tired: Piedt bowled 34 overs, Morkel 17, and Abbott 17 for only 23 runs.The only Indian batsman good enough to battle through the hard periods and cash in on the good times was Ajinkya Rahane, who achieved his maiden half-century in India in his seventh innings and was approaching a fifth Test hundred, when bad light ended play six overs before stumps. His brisk partnership of 70 with Virat Kohli steadied India after a top-order wobble, and his rear-guard stands with Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin ensured India survived the day. A first-innings total of 250 will prove challenging on this surface, especially if a team has four reliable bowlers to defend it.Batting was difficult in the morning, when the ball was new and there was some moisture in the pitch, but Shikhar Dhawan managed to anchor India through the first session for the loss of only one wicket. He took 18 balls to score his first run. India scored only 6 in the first 30 minutes, and 16 in the first hour.Abbott had figures of 8-3-11-0 in his first spell; the variable bounce made facing him trickier. One good-length ball to Dhawan passed the off stump a little above the knee. Another short-of-a-length delivery climbed on M Vijay and was collected by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas at head height, but the ball immediately after kept low, forcing a crouching defence from the batsman. Vijay was later smashed on the right elbow by one that rose from a length, and wrung his hand in pain.Abbott had Vijay caught at slip in the 12th over but he had over-stepped, his foot erring by the smallest of margins. Vijay scored only two more runs, though, before he nicked a delivery from Piedt that drifted away from him but did not spin, to Hashim Amla at first slip.In the third over after lunch, Piedt broke Dhawan’s resistance with a classic one-two combo. The first ball drew Dhawan forward and spun away from the left-hander from around the wicket, passing the outside edge. The next delivery slid on with the arm, beating Dhawan’s inside edge as he played for the turn, trapping him lbw. Abbott then found the gap between Pujara’s bat and pad, the delivery angling in to uproot off stump after grazing the inside edge. India had gone from 60 for 1 to 66 for 3.In the middle period of the second session, however, Rahane and Kohli batted superbly, putting away loose deliveries and taking frequent singles to ensure pressure did not build. Their 50-run partnership came off 67 deliveries and they looked set to cash in on South Africa’s weak support bowlers, when Kohli suffered a freak dismissal.Kohli slog-swept Piedt, making clean contact. Instead of racing to the boundary, though, the ball thudded into the thigh of the fielder at short leg and lobbed back up towards the pitch. The wicketkeeper Dane Vilas reacted quickly and dived forward, taking the catch at full length and ensuring that Temba Bavuma, who was hopping about in pain, had something to celebrate.That wicket resulted in two more in quick time. Rohit Sharma was dropped at slip by Amla off Abbott on 0, but two balls later he tried to slog Piedt over deep midwicket, and got a leading edge to Tahir at long-on. Abbott then bowled Saha off the inside edge in the final over before tea, reducing India to 139 for 6. Rahane went into the break on 31 off 62 balls, having scored only one run off the 20 balls he faced since Kohli’s dismissal.India’s best session was the one after tea, during which they scored 92 runs for the loss of Ravindra Jadeja. Rahane and Jadeja added 59 for the seventh wicket, and scored freely against a tiring Piedt. Rahane slog-swept and pulled the offspinner for a six and a four in one over to pass 50, while Jadeja punished loose deliveries from Tahir and Duminy.South Africa had two moments of misfortune, too, after Jadeja was caught deftly by Dean Elgar at midwicket for 24. Ashwin was given not out when Piedt appealed for a bat-pad catch though the ball had brushed his glove, and then Rahane, on 78, was dropped by Amla at slip, capping a frustrating day in the field for the South African captain. Both those moments deprived Piedt of a fifth wicket, and allowed India to end the day in a far better position than they should have been.

An unbroken 56 run ninth wicket stand between Vijay Prajapati andRajiv Dutta lifted Tripura to 213/8 on the first day of their EastZone Ranji Trophy clash with Bihar at the Keenan Stadium inJamshedpur. Play was called off five overs before the scheduled closebecause of bad light.Bihar won the toss, put the visitors in and quickly took control,Dheeraj Kumar bowling Pranab Debnath with the fourth ball of the day.The wickets which fell regularly were shared among five bowlers. Thestoutest resistance was provided by Mridule Gupta who swiftly moved to61 (84 balls, 9 fours) before having his stumps rattled by seamerMihir Diwakar. The end of the innings appeared near when the eighthwicket fell in the 58th over but Prajapati (37) and Dutta (23) heldout for the last hour and a half.

Teenage Portsmouth batsman Michael Barnes has joined the growing list of cricketers who have been ruled out of action for the remainder of the season.Barnes was to have been behind the stumps in both Hampshire’s Under-17 and ECB Under-21 Championship side in the next few weeks.But he has been diagnosed with a form of Hepatitis for which he is having hospital treatment.In-form 2nd XI all-rounder Dean Oliffe replaced Barnes in Portsmouth’s thumping nine-wicket defeat by Havant last week and will play at Liphook & Ripsley on Saturday.A broken collar bone has put Rob Wade on the sidelines – just as the South Wilts captain was enjoying his best season for some time – while highly promising Academy all-rounder David Wheeler underwent a back operation in a London hospital last week and will not play again until next season.It appears the operation went well, though, with the powerful New Milton teenager up on his feet in the hospital ward barely an hour after being under the surgeon’s knife.Also struggling for fitness is Sparsholt captain Ian Stuart, who broke a thumb earlier in the season.

A new season of one-day cricket on the subcontinent kicks off on Saturday inDambulla, a market town surrounded by some of Sri Lanka’s most ancientheritage sites. But while the idyllic lakeside setting harks back to thepast, drawing in tourists by the thousand each year, the tournament openerprovides a fascinating glimpse of the future, as India try to plug enormousholes in their top order and Sri Lanka experiment with a new opening partnerfor Sanath Jayasuriya.The unavailability of Sachin Tendulkar (elbow injury) for the entiretournament and Sourav Ganguly, at least for the first two games after hisICC match ban was reduced from six to four games after much legalhuffing and puffing, leaves India in new territory, as they will be shorn of 23,587 ODI runs and 618caps’-worth of experience. India have rarely missed both at the same time in thelast ten years and their absence has triggered animated debate as to thelikely shape of the new top order.The safe money is being put on VVS Laxman jumping up the order to partnerVirender Sehwag. This is the entirely sensible and boring option that willbalance the top six. But there are still many secretly hoping that theyounger and longer curls of MS Dhoni accompany Sehwag to the middle. Itwould be a high-risk but potent alliance that would have the potential forcreating major headaches for Marvan Atapattu, who will be missing ChamindaVaas and Nuwan Zoysa, his most experienced pace bowlers.While the ball is hard in the first 15 overs, India have their best chanceof stamping their authority on the game. The Sri Lankan injuries mean thatthe pace attack now has a fragile look about it: Lasith Malinga is exciting andunusual with his round-arm action, but far from polished after just fourmatches; Farveez Maharoof is struggling to find his best bowling form;Dilhara Fernando is under pressure after a long layoff; and DilharaLokuhettige, the new allrounder, is untested.In such circumstances, playing Dhoni – the one batsman to click into form onthe tour thus far – might be a gamble worth taking. But the old hands whofollow India around the world with their laptops, the people who decode theteam’s poker-faced press conference sound-bites for a living, say Dhoni is likely toappear in the middle order with Rahul Dravid, the new captain, at No. 3 andMohammad Kaif at No 4. Yuvraj Singh’s position at No. 3 in both practicegames is considered a red herring – although Greg Chappell has mentioned’flexibility’ so many times this week that we should mentally prepareourselves for the unexpected.India are also set to give an international lifeline to Jai Prakash Yadav, a30-year-old seam bowling allrounder who played the last of his two ODIsagainst West Indies in 2002. He disappeared for a couple of years but strongperformances in the 2004-05 domestic season have given him hope of a secondcoming. With Ganguly set to return for India’s third game next week, he mayneed to make an impression fast.The Dambulla pitch started its international life in 2001 as a batsmen’shellhole; the ball dancing around for the pace bowlers and spinners. But inthe years since the pitch has bedded down and runs flowed last evening whenan Atapattu XI tussled with a Jayawardene XI. However, there is enough helpfor the seamers to persuade both team’s to play three frontline quicks.India will have to choose between Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble onceagain.Sri Lanka, too, have been giving their opening combination some deepthought. Tom Moody, their new coach, has made it clear that the time hascome for more stability at the top. In the past 17 months Jayasuriya has hadfive different partners. But Sri Lanka believe that may have unearthed theanswer, Upul Tharanga, a wispy left-hander blessed with sweet timing and anarray of strokes. His classy 35 in the practice match shone with potentialand he is certain to play.The middle order has a familiar feel with Atapattu, Sangakkara andJayawardene ensconced in their normal positions. Tillakaratne Dilshan’sperky batting during the Test series against West Indies should be enoughfor him to get the nod over Russel Arnold, who has been pushing hard for arecall with stacks of runs for the A team. Upul Chandana will then occupythe pivotal No 7 position with Dilhara Lokuhettige set for debut after somelusty blows last night and a mean spell of seamers. Sri Lanka are desperateto unearth a seam bowling allrounder and he is the latest to be tried.With Muttiah Muralitharan, back to full fitness and good form during theWest Indies series, and Malinga already pencilled in then Fernandoand Farveez Maharoof will sweat over the final place. Fernando’s greatercutting edge with the ball and reputation as a wicket-taker may put his nosein front, but it’s a close-run contest because Maharoof, in his short career,has shown and cool head under a pressure and Atapattu needs strong mindswithout Vaas and Zoysa. Maharoof also offers more with the bat.Teams
Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Marvan Atapattu, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 LasithMalinga.India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 VVS Laxman, 3 Rahul Dravid (Capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 MS Dhoni, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Jai P Yadav, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lakshmipathy Balaji

Brian Lara was quick to point out the ills of day-night matches after West Indies convincingly beat South Africa in a day game at Centurion to register their first win of the five-match one-day series. Lara, who scored an unbeaten 59 from just 37 balls to guide West Indies home, felt that the toss played too much of a factor in day-night matches, with the team bowling under lights almost assured of a win.”Finally, we got a game where the toss didn’t matter,” Lara said. “It’s a bit disappointing that we will play four of the five games under lights. It’s unfair to both teams. Conditions are so much in favour of the side bowling second, it’s ridiculous. Today cricket was the winner, and the spectators loved it.” West Indies batted under lights in the first two ODIs and managed just 54 and 162.With the last match, at Johannesburg, scheduled to be another day-night encounter, Lara predicted that the toss would be a huge factor again. “We’re going to the Wanderers on Wednesday, and you wonder what’s going to happen come 6.30 or 7pm.”Speaking about the match itself, Lara was all praise for his batsmen and scoffed at Graeme Smith’s suggestion that South Africa lost because the team was exhausted. “Graeme Smith loses one game against us and his team is tired? West Indies are fighting on, we’ve had so many injuries and haven’t complained.” Keeping the win in perspective, Lara added: “We’re not going to go overboard with this win. We need to win the next game, and we’ll go home a lot happier.” A win at Johannesburg will level the series 2-2, with rain having washed out the third match at Durban.For Smith, it wasn’t the ideal present on his 23rd birthday, and he identified indisciplined bowling as the primary reason for the defeat. “We weren’t good today. On a very good batting pitch you need to be precise, and we weren’t. It’s back to the drawing board now, learn from this and come back stronger at the Wanderers.”

Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain who has been accused by Greg Chappell of being unfit to lead the team in a sensational email to the Indian board, has said he has been vindicated as he had done nothing wrong.Ganguly and Chappell, involved in a public spat which has made headlines since the last few days, had both deposed before a six-member review committee of the board which had hammered out a compromise between the two in Mumbai on Tuesday.”In a way I feel I have been vindicated because I hadn’t done anything wrong,” Ganguly told , a Bangalore-based daily. “The review committee gave me a patient hearing and I put my point of view across to them. I think they were reasonably convinced with my replies and I am very happy the matter has been settled now … You could say I am happy and relieved in equal parts.”Asked whether it was possible for him and Chappell to work as a team, he said, “I don’t see any reason why we cannot. After all, both of us are interested in the welfare of the team and Indian cricket.”He added that there was lot of cricket ahead for the Indian team and it was necessary to forget the past and concentrate on the job at hand. “Whatever happened is in the past I am confident we can come together in the future and work well,” he said. “We have a lot of cricket ahead of us starting with the series against Sri Lanka next month. After a break for a couple of weeks it is time for the Challenger series. We need to do well because our record in one-day finals is not great.”Ganguly’s future as captain, ahead of the home series against Sri Lanka, is likely to be decided on October 13, when the national selection committee, headed by Kiran More, meet at Mohali, on the final day of the Challenger series. The Press Trust of India quoted a board source who said: “The committee is tentatively scheduled to meet on the 13th evening to choose the Indian skipper. The selectors would meet the next day [Oct 14] to select the rest of the team members.”India and Sri Lanka are scheduled to play a seven-match ODI series commencing at Nagpur on October 25. The senior selection panel is scheduled to meet on October 1 at Delhi to choose the captains and team members of the India Seniors and the India A and B squads for the October 10 to 13 Challenger limited-overs series that will be played under lights.More is also expected to talk to Sachin Tendulkar, still recuperating from his elbow surgery, about his availability for the tournament. According to board sources, More was in constant touch with Indian team physio John Gloster on the star player’s progress on the fitness front.

Zimbabwe Cricket has appointed Ozias Bvute as their new managing director. He takes the post with immediate effect.Bvute, who has degree in banking and finance from Pune University in India, has been the acting managing director since Vince Hogg resigned last August for personal reasons. In 2001 he joined the board of directors of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, as it was then, and was placed in charge of the policy relating to the advancement of black players, and later, of marketing.Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman explained the thinking behind the appointment: “With a substantive managing director at the helm, we will now all focus on our specific tasks and intensify efforts to make ZC a leading player in the global sports and entertainment industry.”Chingoka was on the four-man panel that made the appointment, along with Justice Ahmed Ebrahim, Stan Staddon, who is the chairman of the human resources committee, and Clive Barnes.The announcement will not be universally welcomed. Bvute is widely recognised as being one of the senior board members criticised by the ICC hearing into allegations of racism against the ZCU. He has also been identified by opponents as being one of the leading figures behind the increasing politicisation of the board.

South Zone

Hyderabad upset Tamil Nadu by 36 runs at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground in Bangalore to make the knockouts. Hyderabad’s 333 for 9 was set up by an opening stand of 151 between T Suman and Ravi Teja. Suman hit 122 off 117 with 17 boundaries while Teja contributed 69 off 78. There were three cameos down the order that lifted Hyderabad well above 300. Tamil Nadu began with a big opening partnership as well, when S Anirudha and Abhinav Mukund put on 135 in quick time. Anirudha’s dismissal for 77 off 70 led to wickets falling regularly even as Mukund kept scoring at the other end. It was Teja who did the damage with his legbreaks, taking his maiden List A five-for. His victims included S Badrinath, Arun Karthik and eventually, Mukund, who was the sixth man to be dismissed with the score on 257. Teja also took the last wicket to fall as Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 297 in the 48th over to be knocked out of the tournament.

Robin Uthappa made a century and Abrar Kazi took four wickets as Karnataka finished on top of the South Zone points table with a 56-run defeat of Andhra at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Uthappa, who cracked 104 off 95, added 78 upfront with Mayank Agarwal (42) and 117 with Ganesh Satish (67). Karnataka were in a dominant position at 195 for 1 in the 31st over but fell apart after Uthappa’s dismissal . They managed 275 in the end but it was to prove more than enough. Only opener Prasanth Kumar (61) challenged Karnataka’s attack as the rest subsided in several wasted starts. Kazi ended with 4 for 33 as Andhra were dismissed for 219.

Goa beat Kerala by 98 runs in an inconsequential match at the Aditya Academy Ground in Bangalore. Reagan Pinto (65) and Rohit Asnodkar (45) laid the base for Robin D’Souza to smash an unbeaten 44 off 29 which took Goa to 250 for 8. Kerala had a disastrous start to their chase when they were reduced to 26 for 4. Robert Fernandez (52) and P Anthaf (44) took the score past 100 but once they were dismissed, Kerala crumbled to be bowled out for 152 in the 40th over. Sher Yadav took 4 for 21 for Goa.

North Zone

Delhi secured progress from North Zone with what ended up being a tense win against Haryana at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi were cruising at 174 for 3 in the 41st over, chasing 214, but a couple of wickets caused a slowdown, and the game went into the final over before captain Rajat Bhatia struck the winning runs to maintain Delhi’s 100% record in this year’s tournament. It did not look like the game would be that close when Mohit Sharma was in the middle. He scored 68 off 65 balls, and after a slow start seemed to have put Delhi on course for an easy win. A couple of strikes from Haryana kept them in the game but their total of 213 was not enough.The below-par total was a result of Haryana losing three wickets in the first 20 overs, and their middle order not being able to accelerate. Parvinder Awana took two early wickets, and then returned to take another, to finish with figures of 3 for 31 from his 10 overs, with three maidens. Sachin Rana and Rahul Dewan put together a partnership of 75 to help Haryana recover from the early losses, but the runs came slowly. Haryana left the acceleration too later – Kuldeep Hooda played a couple of big shots right at the end – and their total was not big enough.

Punjab gave themselves a good chance of qualifying for the next round, with a 131-run hiding of Services, at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi, that earned them a bonus point. It was a comprehensive performance from Punjab: the top order fired to get them to a total of 288 for 6, and the bowlers skittled Services for 157. Gurkirat Ahluwalia, playing only his fifth List A game, scored 108 off 103 balls, and was given company first by Ravi Inder Singh, who scored 51, and then India Under-19 star Mandeep Singh, who got 62 off 65 balls.Services were out of the contest as early as 10.3 overs into the chase, by when they had slipped to 23 for 3. Ravi Inder Singh kept the middle order in check with his offspin, and finished with 3 for 38. Services lumbered to 157 in 43 overs before being bowled out.

Jammu & Kashmir’s winless run continued as they lost to Himachal Pradesh by three wickets at the Model Sports Club in Delhi. J & K did well to get back into the game, after Himachal were 152 for 3 chasing 212, and pushed the game till the penultimate over. Left-arm spinner Raman Dutta took 3 for 32 and helped make the game close, but Himachal’s top three had done enough to ensure the target was achieved. J & K had lost wickets regularly in the first innings with No. 10 Ram Dayal top-scoring with 34 not out off 25 balls. The wickets were shared around by Himachal’s bowlers. Rahul Singh was the most successful, taking 3 for 39.

Central Zone

A century by Shivakant Shukla helped Railways beat Rajasthan in Nagpur and finish top of the Central Zone table. Shukla’s 122 guided Railways’ chase of 246 and got them home with three overs and seven wickets to spare. Rajasthan lost early wickets after being put in but Robin Bist and Puneet Yadav helped them recover. Yadav’s 81 came off 91 balls, but Bist took 110 balls to reach 74, which meant Rajasthan’s run-rate did not rise much above four till the 40th over. Yadav and Raman Chahar accelerated towards the end but the total of 245 was not enough to challenge Railways, who finished the group stage with a 100% record.

A 37-run ninth wicket partnership gave Vidarbha a two-wicket win against Madhya Pradesh at Jamtha, but MP still qualified ahead of Vidarbha on account of having scored more bonus points in the group stages. Urvesh Patel was Vidarbha’s hero, as he helped them recover from 144 for 6 to chase 234 in 44.5 overs. Amol Ubarhande had given Vidarbha a platform with a half-century, but his dismissal in the 22nd over started a slide. Urvesh Patel stayed solid at one end as Vidarbha slipped to 163 for 7 and then 197 for 8. He found support in Nos. 9 and 10, and moved to 86 not out to take his team to victory. MP had reached 233 thanks to Rameez Khan’s 97, and though they lost they are still in the tournament.*

West Zone

Yusuf Pathan smashed ten sixes in making an unbeaten hundred as Baroda beat Saurashtra by 52 runs at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground in Mumbai. Yusuf built on the start given by Kedar Devdhar and Aditya Waghmode who put on 75 upfront. There weren’t any big contributions from the middle order apart from Yusuf, who kept hitting sixes all around the ground. He was finally bowled on 114 off 78 deliveries with six fours and ten sixes. Baroda set a stiff target of 316 and Munaf Patel immediately jolted Saurasthra, bowling Sagar Jogiyani off his fourth delivery which jagged in from short of a length. Shitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara could not carry on for long but Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the game with his maiden List A hundred. Jackson benefitted from a few dropped chances but did not back off from playing his strokes in making 117 off 120 with seven fours and five sixes. As with Yusuf, there wasn’t much help for Jackson from the rest of the line-up and Saurashtra were dismissed for 263 in the 45th over. Left-arm spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Swapnil Singh finished with three wickets each.

Ankit Bawne and Akshay Darekar starred as Maharashtra defeated Mumbai by 15 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Bawne made an unbeaten 93 to take Maharashtra to a competitive 254 for 8. Sangram Atitkar chipped in with 54. Dhawal Kulkarni and Abhishek Nayar took two wickets each for Mumbai. Mumbai’s top order failed again with only Nayar (42) managing to make more than 20. Anupam Sanklecha and Darekar soon had Mumbai reeling at 130 for 6 before Iqbal Abdulla and Ankeet Chavan started the repair job. The duo hit fifties to take Mumbai past 200 but Darekar had both batsmen caught by Nikhil Paradkar and dismissed Kshemal Waingankar for a duck to end the innings on 239 in the 49th over. With this result, though, Maharashtra and Mumbai have both progressed to the knockouts.

East Zone

Assam entered the knockouts with a 46-run victory over Jharkhand at Eden Gardens. Dheeraj Jadhav made yet another century this season and R Sathish was not far behind with a quick 82 as Assam surged to 301 for 9. While Jadhav was relatively patient in his 107 off 120, Sathish clubbed nine boundaries in racing to 82 off 59. Shiv Gautam and Saurabh Tiwary did for Jharkhand what Jadhav and Sathish had done for Assam. Gautam struck 124 off 129 while Tiwary made 76 off 83 in helping Jharkhand recover from 27 for 2. The rest of the line-up, though, did not turn up and the third-highest score by a Jharkhand batsman was just 11. Deepak Gohain led Assam’s assault with 4 for 46 while Abu Nechim, back after injuring himself during the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone, claimed 3 for 68.

Bengal also made the knockouts from East Zone with a 30-run win over Tripura in a low-scoring game at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata. Wriddhiman Saha held a faltering innings together with a patient 66 after Rana Dutta and Sanjay Majumder had rocked the Bengal top order. Saha took Bengal to 198 in the end. Laxmi Shukla and Sanjib Sanyal grabbed four wickets apiece in Tripura’s chase which seemed to be over at 80 for 8 in the 22nd over. Manisankar Murasingh (66) and Dutta (24 not out) more than doubled the score, though, in an 86-run partnership to bring the visitors back. Sanyal ensured Bengal would come out on top when he had Murasingh caught in the 37th over. The innings ended on 168 in the next over when Bengal captain Sourav Ganguly trapped Majumder lbw. Ganguly had gone lbw as well, for 8.*February 27, 2012 9:49 GMT: This report originally said Vidarbha had qualified ahead of Madhya Pradesh from Central Zone. It has been corrected.