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It says much for how far the mighty had fallen that it has been or 1,660 days – since September 2007 – since Surrey could last celebrate a win in the top division of the County Championship.An 86-run win over Sussex – a team referred to as “the benchmark side” in the division by Surrey’s director of cricket, Chris Adams – therefore marks another significant step on their rehabilitation. Bearing in mind Surrey’s illustrious history and their extravagant spending power, there will always be those demanding that progress is quicker. But from the depths of 2008-09, when they had arguably sunk to the lowest point of their history, they have improved significantly. The next few years promise a great deal.They are not the finished article. While their squad – and their youth system – contains extravagant talent, that is only one of the ingredients required for success. At present too many of their batsmen want to smash run-a-ball centuries and too many of their bowlers want to blast through the opposition in a session. So gifted are they that there will be days when they are successful. But there will also be days when they fail spectacularly. Either way, they are going to make for wonderful entertainment.”It was a proper team performance,” Adams said afterwards. “This team will be exciting to watch: we’ll put hearts in mouths when we bat and we’ll bowl quickly and aggressively. It is significant that we have won, but the key is focussing on creating history, not looking back. It’s about moving forward.”There is more to come from this squad individually. I expect a lot of this squad to go on and play at the higher level. Setbacks will happen and I know we can get better in all departments. As a team, I don’t want to look further ahead than the end of this month. We just have to keep working hard and preparing well.”There was, at least, some consolation for Sussex. By completing the fourth first-class century of his career, 21-year-old Luke Wells provided another illustration of both his talent and his temperament. With his side under pressure and against an attack containing four England international bowlers, Wells did not give a chance and barely played a false stroke in almost six hours of batting. Mark Ramprakash was even drawn into comparing him to Alastair Cook but remarked that Wells was “possibly better technically”.”I don’t think there is higher praise than that,” Wells said afterwards. “You love praise from your teammates but when you get pros from the opposition praising you, especially someone like Mark Ramprakash, it is even more special. It really lifted me.”Nor was Ramprakash alone. It is rare that a coach, in celebrating victory, focuses most attention on the performance of one of the opposition players, but Adams was also impressed by Wells.”That was an innings of the highest quality,” Adams said. “When Graham Thorpe, the England lead batting coach, phones to ask about Surrey players, I will also be going out of my way to mention Luke. He showed temperament that is rarely seen in the modern game and the ability to absorb pressure. He has the skills you expect to see at the highest level and I think he has a very bright future.”There was a moment on the fourth morning, just after Jimmy Anyon had pushed at one outside off stump and edged a catch to the slip, when it appeared Wells might be denied his century. He was on 97 at the time and, when Lewis Hatchett was beaten first ball, it appeared time was running out for Wells. But soon a Jade Dernbach long-hop was neatly cut for four to take Wells to the milestone. Surrey’s victory – and 21 points – was finally sealed about 45 minutes into the final day when a delivery seemed to stop on Wells and he drove it back to the impressive Jon Lewis.”It was a funny game,” Sussex’s director of cricket said afterwards. “It’s a bit frustrating, really. It seemed neither side much wanted to win at times but we felt we had opportunities and failed to take them. We played some very good cricket, but maybe they bowled better as a unit and produced a couple of innings that took it away from us. Tom Maynard looks like a very good player.”Both sides are in action again later this week. Surrey expect to have Steve Davies back for the game against Middlesex at Lord’s from Thursday. He is likely to open the batting with Jacques Rudolph, who will be fit despite the blow he took to the hand in this game. Sussex, too, are likely to welcome back Monty Panesar for their tough trip to Liverpool to play Lancashire. Chris Tremlett, meanwhile, is said to be progressing very well following back surgery and should be back in action by the end of May.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShakib Al Hasan’s dismissal with Bangladesh needing 58 off 39 balls was one of the game’s turning points•AFP

When their gut-wrenching disappointment dies down, Bangladesh will remember that they were just one stroke away from the Asia Cup title. And see it as clinching evidence of their progress. When their sense of relief passes, Pakistan will remember that they were tested to the hilt, but came through somehow. And see it as confirmation of their renowned ability to win the big moments.But for the moment, Bangladesh will be gutted; gutted at what could have been, gutted that it wasn’t to be. They had lost their first tournament final by two wickets to Sri Lanka in 2009. The margin was two runs today.What wouldn’t Shahadat Hossain give to take back the 50th over of Pakistan’s innings bowled by him which went for 19? What wouldn’t Nazimuddin and Nasir Hossain give to take back their innings of 16 off 52 balls and 28 off 63 in the chase?In a game that came down to four runs needed off the last ball, several passages of play could be said to have been decisive. Sarfraz Ahmed’s 46 off 52, which turned 199 for 8 into 236 for 9. Shahid Afridi’s 32 off 22 and 1 for 28 in ten overs with the ball. Shakib Al Hasan’s dismissal with Bangladesh needing 58 off 39.Bangladesh had themselves to blame for allowing a target that had seemed gettable at the start to turn into a daunting one. It was Nazimuddin’s clueless crawl of an innings that invited pressure despite Tamim Iqbal’s fourth consecutive half-century. Tamim’s departure to Younis Khan’s third sharp catch further increased the pressure on the hosts in their first chase in a tournament final.While the plan could have been for Nazimuddin to be the anchor and Tamim to be the aggressor, the former became completely subdued after being beaten four times in five deliveries by Umar Gul in the second over, leaving run-making duties completely to his partner.Tamim responded by hitting Gul out of the attack with four fours in nine deliveries. All shots bore the mark of a man in top form, with the highlight being a punch through point played with his feet off the ground. Nazimuddin continued to dig a deeper hole for himself, treating Mohammad Hafeez with utmost respect and allowing him to get through five overs for only 10 runs.Realisation belatedly dawned on him, but by then, he had got into such a rut that he was mistiming almost everything. Bangladesh were not able to get anywhere close to dominating, which they should have given the way Tamim was batting. In the same Shahid Afridi over in which Tamim brought up his fourth half-century of the tournament, off 48 balls, Younis finally ended Nazimuddin’s misery with a running catch at long-off. By then, Nazimuddin had used up 52 balls for his 16.Sarfraz Ahmed’s 46 off 52 balls gave Pakistan’s bowlers something to defend•AFP

Jahurul Islam did not last long against Ajmal’s doosra and gave Younis his second catch, at slip. With Nasir also struggling to get going, Tamim decided to take on Gul but only found extra cover with a mis-hit pull, Younis diving forward to take another excellent catch.Carrying his nation’s hopes once again, Shakib walked in at 81 for 3 and pulled his first delivery for four. Afridi and Gul responded with consecutive maiden overs. Shakib set about targetting Hammad Azam and Cheema as Bangladesh tried to keep the rate from galloping out of control.It rose above eight. Shakib swung Cheema over midwicket for six. Despite Shakib’s hitting, Nasir’s struggle had begun to hurt Bangladesh. It was similar to the way the innings had cantered and stalled alternatively when Tamim and Nazimuddin were batting.Nasir finally holed out off Gul in the 43rd over. Shakib coolly scooped the last ball of that over past short fine leg. But an attempt to repeat the stroke in the next over off Cheema resulted in his leg stump being rattled.With 47 needed off five overs, Mushfiqur Rahim swung Cheema straight to deep midwicket. This Bangladesh side does not easily roll over though. Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Mortaza smashed Gul for three fours in four balls in the 47th over. It came down to 19 needed off 15. Mortaza then paddled Ajmal into the hands of short fine leg.With Mahmudullah still around and four needed off two, Abdur Razzak turned Cheema onto his stumps, and, in an ironic end, Shahadat, could not get the last ball away for more than a leg-bye.As Misbah-ul-Haq embraced Cheema, there were tears in the Bangladesh dressing room. They had been favourites to crack on their biggest day as a cricketing nation. A fourth consistent performance on the trot was expected to be beyond them. But they gave an extremely creditable account of themselves, especially with the ball.Pakistan are masters of the big moment, though, and somehow find a player who performs. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz, who had a highest ODI score of 24 and a strike-rate of 62.35 before this game, weighed in with a 52-ball 46.Bangladesh’s bowling was tight and their fielding was energetic, as it had been throughout the tournament. Pakistan were not allowed to get away, except in the last over. Bangladesh’s leading ODI wicket-taker Abdur Razzak rose to the occasion, with figures of 10-3-26-2. But Shahadat proved expensive once again in a horror last over which contained two no-balls and went for 19.Bangladesh’s discipline till then had kept Pakistan under relentless pressure. And that pressure had brought wickets. Their openers, Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed – who had a century and a double-century stand earlier in the tournament – failed to clear the infield in their attempts to hit out. Younis and Umar Akmal got rough decisions, Misbah’s hesitation ran him out, and Azam and Afridi threw it away.Afridi was his normal hit-or-depart self, and another promising innings was soon terminated, after a few breathtaking strokes, with a mis-hit to long-off. There was no knowing at that stage that it would turn out to be one of the most important knocks of the game.Gul could not repeat his salvage act from the tournament opener against Bangladesh, and Sarfraz was the unlikely candidate for a mini-recovery. He ensured Pakistan batted the full 50 overs and Bangladesh finally fell apart in the last one. Shahadat served up waist-high full tosses, and short and wide deliveries to be carted for 19, and left Pakistan’s strength, their bowling, with a decent score to defend.A chase in a final was something Bangladesh had never encountered before. It did inhibit the usual freedom of a couple of their batsmen, and that was the difference in the end.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Western Australian cricket officials have sought permission from Cricket New South Wales to speak to Simon Katich, the former Australia opener, about ending his first-class career in his home state.Following his stint with the Perth Scorchers in the Twenty20 Big Bash League, 36-year-old Katich reportedly told teammates he counted the experience among the most enjoyable of his career. ESPNcricinfo understands the Western Australian Cricket Association have now made a formal request to negotiate a possible deal with Katich.Katich’s ties with NSW remain close, but his links to the state were weakened by his loss of the state captaincy at the start of the summer after the state chose to hand the position to allrounder Steve O’Keefe. After learning of that decision, Katich elected to sign with the Scorchers for the BBL, and warmed to the comforts of the state that he started his career in.In the meantime, the NSW Blues have endured a most unhappy season, failing to contend for either the Sheffield Shield or the domestic limited-overs title. Their last Shield match, which Katich missed due to a concussion, ended in an innings and 323-run hiding by the Western Australia Warriors.Lachlan Stevens, the Warriors coach, said a direct approach had not yet been made, but said he would be keen for Katich to return home and be part of a Warriors squad that has struggled for consistency in recent summers.”I don’t know where Kat’s at,” Stevens told reporters in Perth. “We spoke to him during the Big Bash about Big Bash situations. If Simon Katich comes to us and says that he wants to come back to Western Australia and play a season here, you’d be silly not to use a man of his experience and his calibre. If that happens, that happens, but we’re not sure where that sits at the moment. We’ll wait and see post-season.”The Warriors are already on the lookout for a gloveman to replace Luke Ronchi, after he announced his intention to move to New Zealand to push for an international place in the country of his birth. Tom Triffit from Tasmania and Ben Dunk from Queensland were two names raised by Stevens.”We’re going to look through all our options there. We’ll open the floor and see what we can get and see who is available,” Stevens said. “Triffitt is a very good young player, he’s won a Shield down in Tasmania. Benny Dunk has been a good ball-striker. I’m not sure about his wicketkeeping all up. But we’re not going to say ‘no’ to any of them. We’re going to open the floor and see what happens.”And that’s not to discount our two young fellas as well in [Sam] Whiteman and [Cameron] Bancroft … and Michael Johnson, the door is not shut on him here.”

Group ATamil Nadu’s S Badrinath was given an award for playing his 100th first-class game•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Eighteen wickets tumbled on the opening day between Railways and Saurashtra in Delhi, and at the end of it Saurashtra were well placed to take the first-innings lead. On a sharply turning track, Saurashtra were shot out for 175 after choosing to bat, with Ashish Yadav taking 4 for 35 for Railways. The visitors had made a steady start, with the openers adding 59, before ten wickets fell for 112 runs. Wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson top-scored with 39.When they batted, Railways crashed to 71 for 8. They had got to 18 without damage before losing four wickets for no runs. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled unchanged from the Pavilion end after replacing seamer Sandip Maniar in the fourth over of the innings, took three of those wickets and finished the day with 6 for 22. Mahesh Rawat was the only Railways batsman to show some application, using his feet well and stepping down the track several times to kill the spin. He remained not out on 31 at stumps.First-class cricket returned to Shimoga after 32 years, and Stuart Binny marked the occasion with his second rescue job in as many games. His unbeaten 86 airlifted Karnataka from 171 for 6, after their top order fell apart against Uttar Pradesh in relatively easy batting conditions. Binny, aided by Sunil Raju, steered them to 300 for 7, leaving the game even after a see-saw day. Read the whole report here.Thirty-one years after his namesake took five wickets on first-class debut for Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium, medium-pacer Balwinder Sandhu repeated the feat and dealt a blow to Punjab’s hopes of securing a quarter-final berth. Sandhu struck with his third delivery in first-class cricket and, along with Kshemal Waingankar, ensured Mumbai did not suffer from the absence of the experienced Aavishkar Salvi, who left the field clutching his side in his second over. Read the whole report here.A solid performance from Rajasthan’s top order gave them a strong platform for a formidable first-innings total against Orissa in Jaipur. After getting sent in to bat, Rajasthan lost Aakash Chopra early but Vineet Saxena, who is coming off a hundred against Saurashtra, and Hrishikesh Kanitkar made half-centuries and added 139 runs for the second wicket. Both batsmen were dismissed in successive overs with the score on 158, but Robin Bist and Rashmi Parida steered Rajasthan to 209 for 3 at stumps.Group BAshok Dinda’s five-wicket haul helped Bengal curb Baroda’s strong start and reduce them to 284 for 9 in Vadodara. Baroda only need first-innings points to secure a quarter-final berth and they were on course for a formidable total after being asked to bat. After they lost Anupam Gupta early, Aditya Waghmode and Rakesh Solanki scored half-centuries to lead Baroda to 145 for 1.Dinda dismissed both set batsmen and cut through the middle order, reducing the home team to 222 for 6. He then broke a 56-run partnership for the seventh wicket before Sourav Ganguly struck twice in the only over he bowled to leave Baroda on 278 for 9. Three wickets had fallen for no runs. Dinda ended the day with figures of 5 for 96.Gujarat’s bowlers made short work of Haryana’s batting line-up, dismissing them for 207 in Surat. Medium-pacer Mehul Patel took 4 for 59, and he was supported by Ishwar Chaudhary and Ashraf Madka, who took 3 for 50 and 2 for 23.Haryana had made a steady start after choosing to bat but lost their way from 59 for 1. Sunny Singh top scored with 69 but had no support from his team-mates, none of whom passed 30. Gujarat then lost their captain Parthiv Patel off the first ball of their innings, but Priyank Panchal and Niraj Patel steered them to 46 for 1 by stumps.Both teams squaring off in Chennai are already in the quarter-finals and it was Tamil Nadu that had the better of the first day against Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh had chosen to bowl, a decision that did not pay off – though the opening pair of T Sudhindra and Ishwar Pandey extracted a bit of movement off the pitch – as all the Tamil Nadu top-order batsmen got starts and three of them converted it into half-centuries to help them reach 294 for 4 at stumps.M Vijay and Kaushik Gandhi made 83 and 80, while Dinesh Karthik was unbeaten on 60. Vijay and Karthik were both in positive in their approach as Tamil Nadu had at least a half-century stand for each of the first four wickets, ensuring MP’s successes were few and far between. Vijay crafted some crackring drives, while Karthik peppered the straight boundary. S Badrinath, who was playing his 100th first-class game, meanwhile, hit the only six of the day before falling for 32 at the stroke of tea. The visitors used as many as eight bowlers and Amarjeet Singh had the best figures – 2 for 79.

In his own words, James Pattinson has been “smashing” a full length at every opportunity for the past four months. Given the chance to make his debut for Australia in Brisbane, he duly used that length to smash New Zealand.Pattinson’s second-innings heroics at the Gabba, which at one point reaped three wickets in four balls, and at another gave him the figures of 5-7, were a reward for speed, swing and perseverance.”We spoke about it before the game we wanted to try to bowl nice and full,” Pattinson said. “Pup [Clarke] supported me there and said it doesn’t matter if you get driven a couple of times, which I kept at the back of my head and tried to just keep doing the same thing and it paid off for me in the second innings.”More significantly, Pattinson’s performance confirmed that Australia are building a formidable bowling attack, mixing pace and spin under the agile captaincy of Michael Clarke. All this has developed under the watch of the bowling coach Craig McDermott, whose simple, “get it up there” mantra was in Pattinson’s mind every time he sent a rapid away swinger hurtling towards the New Zealand batsmen.Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and South Africa have all been part of Pattinson’s elongated preparation for the Gabba, and he has spent as much time bowling in the nets as any member of the Australian attack. McDermott was never far away, and the development of Pattinson’s bowling had him ideally tuned for Brisbane.”That’s been really valuable for me,” Pattinson said. “Having that sort of pre-season over there in tough conditions for me and getting my length right as well has paid dividends for the right length to bowl out there. I’ve been smashing that area over in Sri Lanka and South Africa every time I bowl and Billy’s (McDermott) been right on my case. So it is great to get the rewards for some hard work.”Michael Clarke, basking in victory at home, said he had known for some time that the likes of Pattinson were on course to take up the attack for Australia.”I’ve probably seen that for a while now that there’s some young players that have been around first-class cricket who are now involved in the Australian set-up that have had a lot of talent,” Clarke said. “It is just about giving them an opportunity to see how they go, and then trying to get better.”Patto’s been around the group for a while now in regard to one-day cricket, we’ve always known he’s had a lot of talent, it was just about getting him as fit and strong as we could, him biding his time, going back to first-class cricket and taking wickets and waiting for an opportunity.”I said before the start of this Test match I was confident we could take 20 wickets and we could win the game. That’s because I’ve seen Sidds (Peter Siddle) bowl for a while now, I’ve seen Patto bowl in one-day cricket and first-class cricket, I’ve known Starcy (Mitchell Starc) for a while. I know we’ve got the talent, it is just a matter now of continuing to improve the consistency, that is probably the most important thing for us, as a team, not just as a bowling unit.”As the younger brother of Darren Pattinson, who played one Test for England, James Pattinson has had a family background in the experience of Test cricket. But observers have always felt the younger brother would develop into a more piercing bowler, and in one Test he has already put his brother in the shade.”Um, how many Test five-fors have you taken?” Pattinson joked about asking his brother. “Nah, I might not say that. I probably won’t say anything because he might whack me across the ear. I’ll have a couple of beers with him and talk about things. He’s been a great supporter of mine.”

The Asian Cricket Council has confirmed that the Asia Cup 2012 will go ahead as scheduled, from March 12 to 22 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, all but ruling out the possibility of Pakistan touring India as outlined in the Future Tours Programme. The decision was taken at the ACC’s meeting in Singapore earlier this week; it also endorsed, pending a fuller discussion and satisfaction with security and other issues, a proposal by Pakistan to host the 2014 tournament.”It was agreed that the Asia Cup 2012 would go ahead on the proposed dates,” Subhan Ahmed, the PCB chief operating officer, told ESPNcricinfo. “There was discussion of the ACC postponing the Asia Cup if both India and Pakistan agreed to play their series within that slot but that idea has faded out for many reasons.”The PCB was hoping at the meeting to get some confirmation from the BCCI on the resumption of bilateral series between India and Pakistan but Ahmed said that the BCCI representative, Ratnakar Shetty, was unable to give any assurance in the absence of N Srinivasan, the president of the Indian board.”Pakistan-India series was not on the agenda at the ACC meeting but we were looking forward to Srinivasan coming across to discuss it,” Ahmed said. “We had an ideal platform here to talk with our India counterpart but he [Srinivasan] didn’t attend the meeting.”He [Shetty] was not in a position to talk on it. So I don’t think India and Pakistan could play each other in a full series next year but they will meet in the Asia Cup.”Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, was also in Singapore. He was due to travel to Chennai in the first week of December to talk to Srinavasan on the mutual cricketing interests of both countries but the sudden illness of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, also the PCB’s chief patron, forced him to postpone of the visit.At the ACC meeting, Pakistan also proposed hosting the 2014 Asia Cup. Ahmed said that the other ACC members showed their support and understood how essential the hosting of the event was for the country but asked the PCB to satisfy them on security concerns. “Our request has been endorsed and was not turned down. They want a full discussion on the precautionary steps that the PCB will take to ensure security. We obviously assured them the best and the case has been deferred until next meeting.”

North Zone

In his third game back since prematurely leaving the England tour, Virender Sehwag top-scored for Delhi as they beat Services by 37 runs in a low-scoring encounter at the Delhi Public School in Rohtak, and qualified for the knockout stages of the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy. Sehwag’s 35 off 39 balls helped Delhi reach 115 for 6 in their 20 overs and Services were bowled out for 78 in response. Left-arm spinners Puneet Mehra and Pawan Negi took five wickets between them to wreck Service’s middle order. Ashish Nehra provided a breakthrough in the first over of the chase, and Sehwag and Ishant Sharma also picked up a wicket each. Only three Services batsmen reached double figures as they lasted only 18.2 overs.Delhi had been steady in their innings, scoring at around five an over throughout. Though they lost wickets regularly, they managed a total that proved more than enough in the end.

At the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak, Punjab chased down 112 against Jammu & Kashmir with five wickets and three balls to spare to finish top of the North Zone table and progress to the knockout stages. J&K chose to bat, but none of their line-up could get going. At one point they were tottering at 35 for 4, before Parvez Rassol and Ian Dev Singh doubled their score. Another mini-collapse followed, but Nos. 8 and 9 Majid Dhar and Samiullah Beigh made sure they got past 100 with a 33-run stand. Punjab’s bowlers shared the wickets around. In the chase, their top five batsmen all scored between 11 and 27 to guide their side home in the 19th over without much drama.

Haryana earned a narrow victory against Himachal Pradesh at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak but it was not enough to take them through to the next round. Delhi and Punjab won their respective games leaving Haryana third in the group. Seamers Dhruv Singh, Harshal Patel and Sachin Rana bowled Himachal out for 96 but Haryana had trouble chasing the low total. They were 13 for 2 and then 59 for 5 and only got home in the final over, with just two wickets in hand. Himachal seamers Vikramjeet Malik and Rishi Dhawan caused the early flutter in Haryana’s chase and left-arm spinner Abhinav Bali’s quick wickets in the middle made the end tense.

West Zone

Kuldeep Raval smashed 83 runs off 41 balls to take Saurashtra to an 11-run win against Gujarat at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot. The victory kept Saurashtra’s hopes of progression alive but they were dashed when Baroda won the second match of the day on the ground. Raval, 25, had only played three list A games and three Twenty20s for Saurashtra before this match, but saved his team after they were in trouble at 37 for 4 in the eighth over. He smashed nine fours and five sixes, and put together 110 runs for the fifth wicket with Aarpit Vasavada, who made a steady 45. Raval’s belligerence got Saurashtra to 162.Gujarat, who had lost all their three games before this one, wobbled early in their chase, losing two wickets within the first two overs. Manprit Juneja kept them afloat with an aggressive 66. But the required-rate kept rising, Gujarat lost too many wickets, and they eventually fell short.

A marauding innings from Yusuf Pathan helped Baroda thump Maharashtra in Rajkot, and go through to the knockouts. Yusuf, batting at No. 3, took just 32 balls to smash 72 runs and by the time he was done Baroda had already reached 136 in the 14th over. Yusuf’s brother Irfan Pathan chipped in with 20 and Aditya Waghmode got 32 as Baroda racked up a total of 192. Maharashtra floundered in the chase, slumping to 18 for 3 inside the first five overs. A bunch of batsmen in the middle order got starts but the chase never gathered momentum and Maharashtra ended up on 124 for 8 after their 20 overs.

Central Zone

A five-wicket haul by TP Sudhindra, and half-centuries from Harpreet Singh and Udit Birla, helped Madhya Pradesh to a 32-run win against Uttar Pradesh at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. After choosing to bat, MP slipped to 52 for 3. Birla then joined Harpreet and the pair put on 99 before Birla was bowled for 56 off 37 balls. Harpreet, though, took MP to 200 before he was run out for 59. Chasing 202, UP were set back right away by twin strikes by Sudhindra. Tanmay Srivastava held the chase together for a while, with 53 off 39, but Sudhindra returned to pick up three more wickets and seal the game for MP.Railways eased to an eight-wicket win against Rajasthan at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. After choosing to bat, Rajasthan were steered to a competitive 162 for 8, courtesy 52 off 38 from Ashok Menaria and 47 off 28 from Vaibhav Deshpande. Jai Prakash Yadav was the pick of the Railways bowlers, claiming 3 for 21 in his four. The top order was solid in the chase. Shreyas Khanolkar and Mahesh Rawat put on 69 in 7.2 overs for the first wicket, before Faiz Fazal added 49 for the second wicket with Rawat. Fazal and Sanjay Bangar then got together to take Railways home in the 19th over with another solid stand.The knockout stages of the tournament will be played in March next year.

Beau Casson’s return to cricket with New South Wales has taken a most unfortunate turn after the former Australian left-arm wrist spinner was taken to hospital.Recalled to the NSW side for the first Sheffield Shield match of the summer, against South Australia at Adelaide Oval, 28-year-old Casson felt unwell and left the field shortly before lunch on day one. He was later hospitalised for monitoring of his state.Casson’s career, which shone briefly when he was picked for his Test debut against the West Indies in 2008 and returned match figures of 3 for 129, has been dogged by a congenital heart condition known as Fallot’s syndrome, which impedes the heart’s ability to regulate its rate after physical exertion.Last November, Casson underwent surgery for the condition, and returned to play for the Blues in a Shield fixture against Victoria at the MCG in February. He was excited by the prospect of playing in Adelaide, but the sight of Simon Katich delivering 17 overs in his stead was not the return Casson was looking for.”Unfortunately he wasn’t feeling too well and he had to go off the field, we’ll know a bit more in the next couple of days I guess, once the tests have been done,” Katich said. “He’s had some issue in the past with that, so he went off the field and had to miss, he’s in hospital at the moment. Hopefully he will be alright.”He’s had a previous condition which he had problems with last year, I think he fainted at one stage at third man in a club game and it’s a very serious condition. The boys are pretty disappointed, it wasn’t great circumstances for him given it was obviously great for him to be back into the team.”Daniel Harris, the SA opening batsman, said he and fellow opener Michael Klinger had little inkling of any trouble.”All our thoughts and wishes go to Beau and hopefully he’s ok, it’s not too serious,” Harris said. “He went off just before lunch and it looked like they’d wanted to bowl him an over or two before lunch. We thought he’d gone off with a finger or something insignificant, and the next we heard he’s gone to hospital. Hopefully he’s ok and we see him here towards the end of the game.”Katich was left to do an unexpectedly heavy share of the spin bowling for the Blues, and did well to claim two wickets and bowl tidily on a pitch that offered some turn but was friendly to batsmen.”The plan was I might’ve bowled anyway but not to the same extent [as today],” Katich said. “I’ve probably been bowling a lot in the winter, since June when we’ve been training and given that I knew I wasn’t going to be captain that was always something that meant I was going to bowl more, I was going to be asked to when if I’m in charge I don’t bowl myself.”

Quietly and unobtrusively, Michael Beer has bolstered his knowledge of spin bowling on the subcontinent across his first three days of cricket in Sri Lanka. Beer is a man of few words, but his left-arm orthodox vocabulary was handily expanded in the drawn tour game against Sri Lanka Board XI.While his counterpart Nathan Lyon also had his moments, not least on the final day when Thilan Samaraweera was lured into giving his wicket away in a flurry of aggressive strokes, Beer’s ability to keep the batsmen quiet and draw variable degrees of turn and bounce from the P Sara Oval pitch will have heartened the tour selectors more than his figures of 2 for 42 and 0 for 39 might suggest.Australia’s plans around spin bowling have been generally less imaginative without the genius of Shane Warne, and Beer’s ability to bowl reliably – plus his greater amount of time in the Australian team dressing room – lends itself to selection for the first Test in Galle.”It was good, I enjoyed it. The first day was a bit hot but I enjoyed being out in my first real experience of subcontinental conditions,” Beer said. “I think the way the game was played I think everyone in the team benefited, especially myself bowling on day one and day three.”It was a trial to different batsmen, the way they play, they train differently to us from a young age, and that is definitely something. Also just try a few things in different conditions. It’s totally different to the WACA but it’s something where you vary your pace, you see what works and you go from there.”I feel more settled. I feel part of the group. I’ve wanted to help Trent [Copeland] and Nathan as they’ve come in, it’s the sort of group where it’s very easy to settle into, they’re great guys and good fun to be around.”In each innings Beer began a little sluggishly before growing into his work, spinning the ball more as his fingers warmed to the task and gaining the occasional instance of bite out of the footmarks. Since learning of his selection for the tour, Beer has sought as much advice as possible while also running his eyes over plenty of footage of the Sri Lankan batsmen, and of matches played in Galle, Kandy and Colombo.”We’ve done a lot of homework on their big players and all the way through to some of the blokes who played here that might play during the Test match,” Beer said. “We’ll do a lot of research and just back ourselves, back what we’ve been working on and hopefully do our job. I’ve definitely tried to speak to as many people as possible back home, and I’ve watched a lot of footage of games here, I’ve used that for research.”Beer and Lyon have taken similarly hard-working paths to the Test squad, playing plenty of lower grade cricket before being recognised at a higher level. They first met at an off-season spin summit and have similarly laconic gaits.”A couple of years ago we were both at the spin camp together,” Beer said. “I just got contracted and I knew SA were talking to him, we were both in a similar situation, both came from different sorts of surroundings, playing lower cricket and working our way up. I definitely respect that and saw him play his first Shield game at the WACA and he bowled really well in that. He’s a great bowler and got a lot to offer.”

Pakistan have rewarded some of their consistent performers in domestic cricket by including three uncapped players – top-order batsman Rameez Raja, legspinner Yasir Shah and seamer Aizaz Cheema – as well as fast bowler Sohail Khan, who has played only one Test, in the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe that starts on August 28. There are also recalls for opening batsman Imran Farhat, who hasn’t played for Pakistan since the one-day series against South Africa in the UAE in October 2010, and left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir, who was last included for the New Zealand tour earlier in the year.The squad seems to be an experimental one, with the bowling attack in particular featuring several new names and missing some of the senior players. Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz, who have been Pakistan’s three premier fast bowlers in recent times, have all been rested, with Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Cheema and Junaid Khan making up the pace attack. There is also a change in the spin department with Abdur Rehman being rested and Yasir being given an opportunity.Pakistan’s chief selector Mohsin Khan explained that the fresh look to the squad was an effort to blood youngsters. “We have to bring in young players along with seniors so that they could be groomed,” he said. “Because it’s a short tour we have selected only one squad for all three formats of the game and have rested Riaz and Gul in a hope to try out some youngsters.”Adnan Akmal has reclaimed the wicketkeeper’s spot in the squad, meaning Mohammad Salman, who failed to impress with the bat in the West Indies and Ireland, makes way. Allrounder Hammad Azam also failed to have an impact on those tours and has been kept in the standbys to make place for Raja. Ahmed Shehzad, who was dropped after the tour of the West Indies, has been left out again.Another development is the inclusion of Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan captain, in the list of standbys. Malik has been involved in a battle with the PCB, whose integrity committee has not cleared him for selection since the controversial tour of England last year. Mohsin said Malik would only be included if he managed to obtain clearance from the PCB. Meanwhile, legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has taken his fight to get clearance to the Sindh High Court, continues to be ignored.Raja’s call-up comes on the back of consistent domestic performance in all formats. He was the leading run-getter in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One last season, and was top of the run charts again during the recent Faysal Bank Super Eight Twenty20 Cup. His performances in the T20 competition, which included a 97 in the semi-final and a half-century in the final, led to calls for his inclusion in the national side.Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir and Cheema were all recently part of an emerging players camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, where they received tips from former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz. Sohail Khan and Sohail Tanvir both brought themselves back into the limelight during the Super Eight Twenty20 competition; the former took 14 wickets in Karachi Dolphins’ road to the finals, while the latter captained Rawalpindi Rams to the title. Cheema, 31, earned his call-up through another strong first-class season in which he took 57 wickets in eight games in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.Yasir impressed with his 16 wickets in four games during the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup at the beginning of this year, and then took 3 for 29 for Pakistan A against Afghanistan in a one-dayer. Farhat also did well in the Pentangular, hitting a century and two fifties, and was leading run-getter in the domestic one-day competition before that.Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja junior, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.Standbys: Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Talha, Hammad Azam, Shoaib Malik (subject to clearance from PCB integrity committee)