Haryana right arm medium pacer Nitin Aggarwal (5 for 16) and legspinner Amit Mishra (5 for 10) reaped a rich harvest of wickets asHimachal Pradesh collapsed to 52 allout in their first innings on theopening day of their North Zone Cooch Behar Trophy cricket match atMaharaja Aggarsain Stadium here on Sunday.Put into bat, Himachal Pradesh made a disastrous start. None of theHimachal batsmen looked in touch as both Aggarwal and Mishra ranthrough the side. Their domination was so complete that five of thebatsmen failed to score. Only Shashi Kumar (13) could reach the doublefigure mark. Himachal innings’s folded in just 25.5 overs.In reply, Haryana made a solid reply in the remaining 240 minutes toscore 230 runs for the loss of one wicket including an unbeatencentury by opener Manvinder Bisla. Bisla (143 not out, 205 balls 214s, two 6s) in the company of Bhuvanesh Sharma (62) put Haryana incommand with a 158-run opening stand in 49 overs. After a 163 minutestay Bhuvanesh departed, falling leg before to Shashi. Then IshanGandha (16 not out) joined Bisla to and the two remained unbeaten tillstumps.

Steven Smith has conceded the top spot in the Test batting rankings after an underwhelming display in the first Ashes Test against England in Cardiff where he made twin scores of 33 in Australia’s 169-run defeat.He is replaced in the No. 1 position by AB de Villiers, who is skipping South Africa’s forthcoming Test series against Bangladesh for paternity leave, while Joe Root has moved into the top five for the first time in his career – as has Stuart Broad in the bowling list – after a Man-of-the-Match display in Cardiff where he scored 134 and 60.Root, who since returning to the Test side in June last year has made 1512 runs at 84.00, is just seven points behind Hashim Amla in third position and 24 behind de Villiers’ mark.Smith twice got himself settled in the opening Test, but fell to Moeen Ali in the first innings, getting into a tangle against a delivery angled down the leg side and looping a catch to short mid-on, then edging Broad to second slip in the second innings.The top of the bowling rankings remains unchanged with Dale Steyn having a significant advantage on James Anderson in second position, but Broad has achieved a career-best figure after taking five wickets in Cardiff including a defining burst on the fourth day when he removed Smith and Michael Clarke after lunch.The other two spots in the top five of the bowling rankings are taken by Pakistan’s Yasir Shah and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.For the full rankings click here.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJoe Burns and Usman Khawaja put on a 239-run opening stand•K Sivaraman

Dravid hopes for more from India A spinners

Rahul Dravid admitted Australia A have played spin “far better” than India A have across the two unofficial Tests in Chennai, which the hosts lost 0-1, and
today again when Karn Sharma, Parvez Rasool and Axar Patel went for 170 runs in 22 overs, at an economy rate of a shade under eight.
With Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja easing themselves to centuries and playing the spinners with ease, was there concern over India A’s slow men? “There’s no hiding from that fact that we should have responded better,” Dravid said. “Naturally, I guess the three spinners that we’ve got are spinners who bowl a little bit flatter through the air, quicker through the air. That’s not going to change overnight. But I think we could have bowled better lines, maybe.
“We kept bowling a little too straight. Burns kept hitting us straight down the ground. We could have maybe tested him a little bit by bowling outside the off stump, forced him to hit over covers. Maybe going around the wicket and make him hit across the line into the leg side. Various little things that we could have done.
“Most of the guys know what they want to do, they know exactly where they want to bowl. It’s not that the tactics are wrong. It’s just that they are not able to pitch the ball where they would like on a given day and today was that day.”

At a time when Australia are scouring high and low for batting options, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja put themselves front and centre with a couple of effortless centuries against India A in Chennai to lead a 119-run rout.An India A bowling attack which relied on medium pace and non-turning spinners proved incredibly appetising, and the two batsmen were ravenous. Burns pummeled 154, with 14 sixes, while Khawaja batted as if he never had a knee injury; he had struck 85, 166 and 120 on the trot in October 2014 before he spent nine months on crutches. On his return to one-day cricket on Wednesday against South Africa A, Khawaja made 73, and today he smacked 100 off 104 balls. The opening stand fetched 239 in 215 balls. And in tune with the Australian teams of old, this A team put the foot on the opposition’s throat early and squeezed the life out of them.The promise displayed by two young batsmen at a time when Australia have a Michael Clarke-shaped void in the ODI team, and a few vacancies likely to develop in the Test team after the Ashes, is rather timely for Australian cricket. For the 35.5 overs that Burns and Khawaja held dominion over the batting crease, India A looked like a set of net bowlers. Add Aaron Finch’s injury-riddled summer since IPL 2015, and one or maybe both of them might find themselves in England playing the ensuing Royal London one-day series.The coin fell in Australia A’s favour – good signs for Khawaja on the day he takes over Queensland Bulls for the 2015-16 season – and then the one-way traffic began. India A contributed to their own flogging, with their three spinners constantly trying to bowl flatter and quicker every time they were targeted. Axar Patel was decent with 1 for 55 off 10 overs, Parvez Rasool was dismal with 57 runs in seven overs and Karn Sharma was abysmal, going for 58 in five overs. Even further indictment was that part-time offspinner Karun Nair had figures of 1 for 40 in eight overs, and was utilised in the final 10 because he was the among the few who actually exerted some control. It did not help that Sanju Samson dropped a couple of catches, and Burns was caught on the square-leg boundary, but Kedar Jadhav trod on the rope.But there was an important prelude to the carnage. A 9 A.M. start under cloud cover meant the first half hour had to be seen off, to the tune of 27 in six overs. Then, Khawaja began the seventh with a sublime six over extra cover and Burns ended the over with an effortless pull over deep square leg. By the tenth over, there were nine boundaries. By the 25th, there were 20. By the end of their innings, there were 38 hits that had peppered the ropes.Much of that was against spin, and it is that aspect that indicates the duo might yet be able to tackle the responsibilities of a No. 4 or 5. Burns, a tall man with long reach, kept peppering the sightscreen. He brought up his first hundred as an opener in List A cricket with the tenth six of his innings. Khawaja too soon reached his eighth List A century, and in trying to celebrate that with a six, he was caught at long-off.The run-rate began to dip a bit after that, though, indicating this was not as easy-paced a pitch as the openers made it out. There were only 16 runs between the 36th and the 40th overs. But Dhawal Kulkarni’s final two overs went for 28 runs and Australia A’s bowlers had a substantial total of 334 for 4 to defend.To down a target like that, there were two things necessary: a good start from the top order and substantial partnerships down the middle. India A got neither. Their captain Unmukt Chand stirred hopes with a strokeful half-century and Kedar Jadhav tried to avert embarrassment with a fifty of his own, but the bowlers had given away too many runs, and the mounting scoreboard pressure was just a bit too much.Adam Zampa, unlike the Indians, concentrated on turning the ball and with the batsmen coming at him, his chances of taking wickets were quite bright. He ended up with 4 for 49, including bowling Chand in his first over with a cleverly disguised flipper. Gurinder Sandhu nagged away at another end to pick up 8.3-1-28-4Essentially, the Australia A showed the hosts how to bat, and how to bowl in their own conditions, and the only interest that the chase sparked was when the final Indian pair were batting and the largest crowd of the tour so far – far more than when Virat Kohli had played here last week – cheered on every dot ball in the hopes of them lasting the full fifty overs. No luck there.

ScorecardTom Kohler-Cadmore recorded his maiden first-class century before Worcestershire wrapped up victory•Getty Images

Middlesex left New Road not knowing whether there will be a big price to pay for a crushing defeat by an innings and 128 runs by relegated Worcestershire in their final Championship match of the season.Their hold on a £169,000 bonus for finishing second in Division One now depends on the result at Trent Bridge on Friday. If Nottinghamshire are beaten or can only draw with Hampshire, their payout will be safe, but if Notts can conjure up a victory Middlesex would have to settle for the third -place prize money of £88,000.Their performance over three days, in which they lost 20 wickets in 79.1 overs, was certainly not worthy of a team aiming for second place for the first time since 1995. They batted timidly, with scores of 98 and 205, and completely lost control when Worcestershire scored 102 in 70 minutes on the third morning, banking maximum bonus points and declaring at 431 for 5.Tom Fell added only four runs before he was dismissed for a career-best 171 but Tom Kohler-Cadmore, his partner in a stand of 229 in 61 overs, remained undefeated with 130, his maiden first-class century.The innings finished with wicketkeeper Ben Cox smashing a 37-ball half-century in making 53 not out towards a partnership of 78 in a dozen overs with Kohler-Cadmore.If there was any consolation to be taken from Middlesex’s abject retreat, it was Neil Dexter’s contribution on his last day with the county before taking up a three-year contract with Leicestershire.Teamed up with offspinner Ollie Rayner – a ploy to straighten out a lagging over-rate – Dexter took the only wickets to fall when the home side resumed at 329 for 3. Fell, after hitting 25 fours and a six from 267 balls, drove straight to cover and Ross Whiteley made only 9 before he was caught at third man.Finally Dexter was given a generous reception by a group of Middlesex supporters when he was out for 24, caught low down at first slip, after batting better than most as all 10 wicket fell between lunch and a delayed tea interval.The first sign of a headlong collapse came after an opening stand of 44. Sam Robson, leg-before for 16, and Nick Compton, edging behind the wicket, departed in four balls from Ed Barnard and in the next over from Jack Shantry, Paul Stirling was well held by Whiteley at fourth slip.Dawid Malan ended a run of three ducks by top scoring with 25 but after putting on 48 with Dexter, he was bowled by Shannon Gabriel for the second time in the match. Shantry finished with three for 51 and John Simpson, unbeaten with 50, became top scorer in both innings after a last-wicket frolic of 72 in 9.4 overs with Tim Murtagh.

ScorecardThe Assam players get together after their innings win•PTI

Pacers Arup Das and Krishna Das shared 10 wickets between them to shoot Rajasthan out for 84 and lead Assam to a massive innings win. Krishna Das ended with impressive match figures of 10 for 55. Rajasthan endured a collapse for 37 for 7 on the final day with only four of their batsmen passing double-figures and none managing over 21. Captain Ashok Menaria was trapped lbw by Arup in his first over of the day and the procession continued with only little resistance from Ajay Singh and Deepak Chahar. Assam now lead Group A with 10 points.
ScorecardOdisha and Maharashtra settled for a draw in their Group A game at the Brabati Stadium in Cuttack, but the visitors took three points by virtue of a first-innings lead.Resuming for an overnight score of 156 for 3, Maharashtra rode on a 113-run fourth-wicket partnership between Kedar Jadhav and Ankit Bawne. Jayant Behera brought an end to the partnership when he had Bawne caught behind for 44, after which Maharashtra declared on 289 for 4, with Jadhav getting to 100 not out.Odisha needed 304 for an outright win, but Anupam Sanklecha had both Natraj Behera and Govinda Podder caught behind for single digit scores inside eight overs, leaving the home team on 26 for 2. Swapnil Gugale then dismissed Anurag Sarangi for 28 and ran out Girija Rout for 31, as the match headed for a draw. Odisha lost another wicket before finishing on 129 for 5. For his spell of 31-10-62-6 in the first innings, Shrikant Mundhe was adjudged the Man of the Match.
ScorecardDelhi wrapped up a bonus-point ten-wicket win after their bowlers demolished Vidarbha for 98 in the second innings. Vidarbha resumed on a shaky 47 for 4 and lasted only 30.1 overs into the day. Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan and Manan Sharma picked up three wickets each, with Ishant’s six-for in the first innings giving him nine for the game.Aditya Shanware (25) was the only one to offer some resistance in the morning and the highest partnership Vidarbha managed was 32 for the sixth wicket.The Delhi openers Unmukt Chand and Gautam Gambhir took only 14.1 overs to knock off the target of 95. Chand hit nine fours and a six in his 51 off 41 while Gambhir finished on 45 off 44 with seven fours.Karnataka v Bengal – Tiwary, Naved and rain seal draw for Bengal

Sudip Chatterjee is a patient man and looks like a batsman cut out for first-class cricket. He takes his time to settle in, does not appear flustered if wickets fall in clumps at the other end, keeps his shots on the ground and sets himself up for long innings.It’s a lot like meditation. You need to be patient to get in the zone, not get distracted by what’s happening around you and develop a habit of being in one position for long durations. Both his first-class hundreds have been long innings – 192 off 303 balls and 145 off 247. Chatterjee’s unblemished concentration en route to his second century, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, showed mediation had indeed a role to play in his innings.”I like to meditate a day or two before the match,” Chatterjee said after the day’s play. “I close my eyes, think about myself, my batting, and how to prepare for long innings.”His soft-spoken personality bears likeness to that of VVS Laxman, who had joined the Bengal team as batting consultant during their pre-season camp. On Thursday, it appeared Chatterjee had benefited from the advice he got from the former India batsman. Primarily a back-foot player, Chatterjee played the ball late, used his supple wrists to flick the ball whenever it was offered on his pads, and swept the spinners without much difficulty later on in the day.”He [Laxman] spent a week with us before we came here, so he helped me on my technique, the mentality… these things were covered,” Chatterjee said. “He told me a bit about my front foot. Keeping that in mind I worked on my front-foot game and it helped me in this match.”Chatterjee did it all when the team was in the dumps on their first day of the season. The onus was on the 23-year-old when he came in at 15 for 2 and saw two more wickets fall in the next nine overs. He was joined by Wriddhiman Saha, who has not been part of the action lately. Saha did score a fifty in his last match, against Sri Lanka in a Test, but was ruled out with a hamstring injury and was recovering when most of the other first-class players were playing matches around the country. Chatterjee said Saha’s presence helped him a lot and lifted the mood in the middle during the course of their 173-run stand that lasted nearly 50 overs.”I got great support from him [Saha],” Chatterjee said. “It’s not the first time such a thing happened. He always stays so positive on the field and whenever there’s a partnership with him it feels so good that he’s positive and we joke around in the middle, so it helps us.”We were under a bit of pressure early on since we were 40 [26] for 3, so my job was to take the team out of that position – to build a partnership and place the team in a good position. It’s our first Ranji Trophy match [of the season] and it was a successful day, so it feels good. It’s great to score a hundred in the first match and it will help my confidence.”Chatterjee is neither unfamiliar with the Karnataka attack nor with the role he has to play in his team. Last season, he was Bengal’s highest run-scorer with a tally of 584, and against Karnataka he had scored 57 and 59, albeit in a losing cause at home. His century on Thursday made it his third consecutive 50-plus score against the defending champions, and he hoped his runs would help his team get into a better position this time.”The pitch is good for batting and we still have a wicket left,” Chatterjee said. “If we get another 30-40 runs and score 350 it will be great. After that it’s up to our bowling and fielding. If we do those well, then we can surely defend it.

Embarrassment caused by the abandonment of the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria at the SCG has forced a review of the ground’s transition from football to cricket season and a commitment by Cricket NSW, the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sports Trust to work more closely together in future.Cricket Australia will also be involved in the review, which will look into the factors that contributed to the ground’s surface being deemed unfit for play between the Blues and the Bushrangers. Issues such as scheduling, climate and the technology available to the head curator Tom Parker and his ground staff will all be explored, as the ground seeks to meet the world’s best practice standards after the fiasco seen at the weekend.Emergency talks between the Trust and their cricketing tenants have resulted in several other measures designed to prevent a repeat, including a revised field of play inspection protocol in the lead-up to any men’s or women’s first-class or international fixture; an updated post-match review process and the formation of a joint working party to manage the NSW team’s training needs, with the ultimate goal of producing a new practice facilities plan.All these moves have been discussed and argued over in the past, but the loss of outright points for the NSW state team on their home ground and damaging headlines across the country have brought them to a head. In this, the abandoned Shield match may be seen as a catalyst for change in the same way the loss of the Ashes to England in Australia in 2010-11 wrought fundamental change to CA’s team-performance arm.”Cricket NSW has a long and proud tradition at the Sydney Cricket Ground, one of the most iconic cricket grounds in the world,” John Warn, the CNSW chairman, said. “Cricket NSW is keen to enhance that tradition by working closely with the SCG Trust to ensure that the playing surface and training facilities are of world-class standard.”It was disappointing that the recent Sheffield Shield match against Victoria had to be abandoned after match officials ruled the playing surface unsafe, forcing the following Shield game beginning on Saturday against Tasmania to be relocated to Bankstown. Cricket NSW and the SCG Trust have had positive discussions about how to achieve and maintain the high standards required for first-class and international cricket.”Tony Shepherd, the chairman of the SCG Trust, acknowledged that “without cricket, there is no Sydney Cricket Ground”. “Cricket NSW’s commitment to excellence can be seen in the vast numbers of Australian players produced and the record 46 Sheffield Shield wins,” he said. “They expect that same standard of excellence at their home ground and the Trust will work closely with Cricket NSW to ensure that this is the case.”After the loss of the SCG’s next Shield fixture to Bankstown Oval as a result of concerns about the playing surface, the ground is expected to have improved sufficiently to host first-class cricket in time for the next fixture on from November 27.

VVS Laxman, with an unbeaten 346, created Ranji history by becomingthe first batsman to score two triple hundreds in the 65 year oldcompetition as Hyderabad rubbed Karnataka’s nose in the dirt for thesecond day running in their Ranji Trophy semifinal at the MChinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday.Undeterred by the loss of Mohd. Azharuddin for 123 in the seventh overof the day, after a 288 run fourth wicket association, Laxman marchedserenely onward, abetted by two able partners in Vanka Pratap andParth Satwalkar. Cuts, drives, pulls and flicks all flowed inprofusion from Laxman’s blade as he played every shot in the bookexcept the hook to lift Hyderabad to an invincible position of 663/6at close of play.Azhar and Laxman began in frenetic fashion in the morning, takingseven boundaries off Prasad and Ganesh in the first six overs. Azharescaped a run out appeal when Mithun Beerala threw down the stumpsfrom point with a direct hit. He also tried to pull a shortish onefrom Prasad but the ball lobbed off the edge, landing just short ofmid on. The danger signals were there and in the same over as the twoafore mentioned incidents, Prasad had his revenge. Driving away fromhis body, Azhar presented a catch to Vijay Bharadwaj at second slipwho grabbed it with alacrity.Laxman survived another chance at 194 when Bharadwaj stretched to hisright at first slip and got both hands to the ball but it justwouldn’t stick. Laxman duly got to his double ton with a gentle pushthrough the on side to leave everyone wondering what the final harvestwould be. Vanka Pratap played some elegant on drives, both the loftedversion and all along the ground as he added 124 for the fourth wicketwith VVS before Joshi bowled him round his legs when he missed anintended sweep.Satwalkar continued the good work, holding up one end, and permittingLaxman to forage for runs without a care in the world. Laxman simplylooked unstoppable and although the Karnataka attack toiled manfullythey were clueless on where to bowl to him. Indeed they seemed tothrow in the towel at one point as the irregular bowlers, B Akhil andA Vijay conducted the proceedings when Laxman reached the vicinity ofhis triple hundred. He got to the landmark with a push into the coversthat was worth only a single but for the kindness of Venkatesh Prasadwho managed to give away an overthrow from close range.Satwalkar departed in the first over after tea, caught behind by Naiduoff Akhil for 37. In one final flourish, Laxman hit Joshi over longoff for the first six of the day and the second of his innings, andalso lofted Ganesh for back to back boundaries over cover andmidoff. After Riaz Sheikh was sixth out at 636, the shutters werepulled down as Laxman and Fiaz Ahmed played for the morrow. ThilakNaidu had been immune to the fielding lapses all this while and gaveaway his first bye with the score at 646 although five more followedsoon after when the ball went through to hit the helmet behind him. Aclutch of records beckon tomorrow when Laxman resumes his innings andHyderabad will probably have no compunctions in snuffing out the lastembers of Karnataka’s resolve by extending their innings for plentymore.

A strong rearguard action saw Hyderabad, 262 for five overnight, score421 in their first innings on the second day of their South Zone CoochBehar Trophy (under-19) match against Andhra at the Ukku stadium inVisakhapatnam on Wednesday. But Andhra, far from being overawed,replied fairly strongly and were 105 for two off 25 overs at stumps.The overnight not out batsmen Arjun Yadav and Ibrahim Khaleel took thescore to 290 before the latter was out for 34. The two had added 61runs for the sixth wicket off 33.5 overs. This was followed by aseventh wicket partnership of 46 runs off 18.2 overs between Yadav andAhmed Qadri. Yadav was out for 52 off 155 balls with four hits to theropes. Syed Yakoob was out first ball but Qadri and Nalin Reddyprolonged Andhra’s agony by adding 76 runs off 35 overs for the ninthwicket. Reddy, who batted two hours for his 32, faced 112 balls andhit four of them to the fence. The innings did not last longthereafter but Qadri came in unbeaten with 64, compiled off 163 ballswith seven boundary hits. Md Faiq, with four for 66, was the mostsuccessful bowler while opening bowler Appala Raju took three for 41.Andhra made a rather shaky start. Openers M Suresh (3) and Manoj Sai(27) were out with only 40 runs on the board. But an unbroken thirdwicket stand of 65 runs off 16.3 overs between Y Gnaneswara Rao (45)and ASK Varma (27) revived their hopes at close of play.

Half centuries to Matthew Hayden and Martin Love, together with a disastrous Victorian batting collapse, have helped Queensland assume control by the halfway mark of the Pura Cup match between the teams in Brisbane. At stumps on day two, the Bulls are placed at a score of 4/243 – one that leaves them just six runs shy of the Victorians’ first innings tally with six wickets still in tact.For the Victorians, the devil came in the detail of a debilitating batting collapse through the opening fifty-five minutes of the day’s play. Having resumed at a healthy 4/229 when proceedings began, the Bushrangers surrendered their last six wickets for a mere twenty runs to be reduced, in the end, to the very disappointing total of 249. Pacemen Andy Bichel (4/69) and Adam Dale (3/50) were the chief destroyers, their ability to swing the ball in humid conditions proving too much for the succession of Victorian batsmen who were forced to shuffle their way to and from the pavilion. Wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe also indulged himself, ending with six catches following another fine innings of work behind the stumps.The Bulls then compounded Victoria’s agony by racing off in pursuit of first innings points at a scoring rate of close to four runs per over. With a polished hand, Hayden (81) went a long way toward parcelling up one of the opening spots for the First Test in Brisbane in a fortnight’s time, while Love (51) continued on from where he had left off against Tasmania last week, again timing the ball beautifully to both sides of the wicket. And just for good measure, Andrew Symonds (38*) played another electrifying cameo to thoroughly reinforce Queensland’s advantage before bad light intervened at the end of the day.After their solid start to the match yesterday, the injury-riddled Victorians had headed into the day’s play in a positive frame of mind. But they suffered from a lack of application with the bat, and an inability to restrict Hayden and Love in the course of their 122 run partnership for the second wicket. Pacemen Mathew Inness (2/47) and Michael Lewis (2/43) battled bravely, but there were few ways past the bat for the Bushrangers on a still placid pitch. Also hanging over the fielding team’s head was the absence for much of the day of veteran gloveman Darren Berry, who left the field during the second session on account of a stomach virus.