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Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul Haq has said changes in conditions through the course of the day were responsible for India securing a ten-run victory in the third ODI in Delhi. Defeat for Pakistan, who won the series 2-1, came after their attack put on another quality display, restricting India to 167, but their batsmen failed to chase down the target.Delhi had recorded another cold day, the minimum temperature dipping to 1.9 degrees late into the night, which made the run chase difficult for the visitors.”The weather made all the difference. Survival became difficult as the fog descended,” Misbah said. “The pitch, which looked like a batting track, changed its behaviour as the temperature dipped. I did not expect such moisture. So weather played a crucial role.”At the toss, Misbah had said Pakistan were used to playing in cold conditions because Lahore also has similar weather conditions at this time of the year. But the fog along with the cold made it more difficult for his batsmen to settle down during the chase.”It was very cold. We played under such conditions during our domestic T20 league back home and when we were preparing for the India series, but [we’ve not experienced them] in international matches on the subcontinent,” he said. “It was very difficult to bat on. It will be difficult for India and England in the coming series to play under such cold conditions.”When we started the run chase, the Indian seamers got movement and swing, the spinners got the required turn and bounce. When they batted, only Mahendra Singh Dhoni could manage to score runs, when we batted it was opener Nasir Jamshed. Apart from the duo, no other batsman from both the sides could score runs.”Jamshed and Dhoni were the only batsmen with more than 100 runs in the series, making 241 and 203 respectively. While Dhoni’s knock of 113 not out in Chennai was in vain, Jamshed’s hundreds in the first two matches ensured Pakistan’s victory and earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.Pakistan’s failure to capitalise on the start they got in Delhi, thereby missing out on a cleansweep, was a source of some frustration for them but Misbah credited India’s effort. “We missed the chance to sweep the series,” he said. “The Indian bowlers exploited the conditions well. Their fielding was great as they saved at least 30-35 runs. It was an exceptional bowling and fielding effort.”

ScorecardAn attacking knock of 48 off 28 deliveries from captain Younis Khan took Abbottabad Falcons to a last-ball five-wicket win against Karachi Zebras at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Chasing 136, they had lost four wickets for 71 runs in the 13th over, needing 68 off 43 balls, before Younis dominated his stands with Baber Khan, and later Khalid Usman, and kept them in the hunt. Karachi seamer Tabish Khan bowled economically, giving away 18 runs in his four overs.After being put in to bat, Karachi kept losing wickets regularly. By the seventh over, four of their top-order batsmen had been dismissed. However, a fighting 73-run stand in quick time between Daniyal Ahsan and Sheharyar Ghani helped them build a solid platform for acceleration towards the end. But that didn’t happen, as they lost their last six wickets for 19 runs, due to wickets by Amjad Waqas, Junaid Khan and spinner Khalid Usman, who took three wickets in the innings, and two run outs.Abbottabad were in control of the chase at 67 for 2, with opener Hammad Ali having scored 35. Two quick wickets and slow scoring pegged them back, before Younis played his match-winning hand.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA solid combined batting effort and a four-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar ensured Multan Tigers’ convincing 42-run victory against Sialkot Stallions. Sialkot’s chances of chasing down 156 were blown away early when Zulfiqar, and seamers Mohammad Irfan and Kashif Naved left them struggling at 29 for 5 in the eighth over. Although captain Shoaib Malik and No. 7 Nayyar Abbas stuck together till the 12th over to repair the damage, and Nayyar tried to steer the innings towards some respectability in the company of the lower-order batsmen, the target proved too far off.Multan’s innings revolved around two productive partnerships, and three knocks worth over 30 runs each by opener Sohaib Maqsood, wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf and Naved Yasin, who remained unbeaten. They also suffered a setback early in their innings, when opener Zain Abbas was dismissed for four in the third over. But a 44-run stand between Maqsood and Sadaf, and a 54-run stand in 5.1 overs between Yasin and Kashif Naved took them to 155 for 7 after 20 overs.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAfter a slow start, captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Imran Khalid helped Faisalabad Wolves chase 136 in 18.2 overs and defeat Peshawar Panthers by seven wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium. The duo, having been together at the crease since the 11th over, did not hit a single boundary till the 13th over, when the required run rate had gone beyond eight per over. An expensive 14th over, in which four boundaries were hit, and the 16th over, of which 11 runs were taken, made the chase easier. Needing 18 runs off 18 deliveries, two fours, a six, and five singles took them home with ten balls to spare.Peshawar, it seemed, paid the price for the want of better acceleration in their innings. Their innings run rate could have been higher than the eventual 6.75 per over, as they had lost only four wickets after 20 overs. Opener Israrullah scored a half-century, Shoaib Khan snr scored an unbeaten 24 off 30 deliveries. At 107 for 4 at the end of the 18th over, middle-order batsman Zohaib Khan smashed three sixes and eight fours to take his team to 135 for 4.
ScorecardImranullah Aslam was the star of the chase as Bahawalpur Eagles overhauled Lahore Eagles’ total with eight wickets in hand and continued their unbeaten run in the tournament. Imranullah shared a quick half-century stand for the first wicket with Hamid Ali and then added 38 runs for the second wicket with Kashif Siddiq. By the time he was out, for 60 off 46 balls, the Stags needed 33 off 43 balls. Kashif ensured that there was no further damage as the chase was completed with 17 balls to spare.Eagles, after choosing to bat, were in early trouble as they lost three wickets with 30 runs on the board in the sixth over. But skipper Taufeeq Umar scored a half-century and shared a 74-run stand with Raza Ali Dar to revive the innings. The lower order, however, crumbled again and Eagles were limited to 136.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA collective bowling performance by Lahore Lions helped them defeat Quetta Bears by 44 runs. Although Quetta’s left-arm spinners Jalat Khan and Mohibullah took three wickets each to restrict Lahore to 130 for 9, their batsmen let them down.Lahore’s innings was built on productive knocks by the top five batsmen, all scoring between 19 and 26 runs, which helped them to 109 for 4. But they too collapsed, as the last five batsmen scored 16 run between them. Opener Nasir Jamshed was the highest scorer in the match with 26.Quetta went about their chase slowly, but two quick wickets in the 10th and 11th overs pegged them back. Three more batsmen were dismissed quickly, but after having lost seven wickets for 69 in the 15th over, they scored a further 17 runs off the remaining deliveries. Their run rate at the end of the game was 4.30 runs per over.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn unbeaten half-century by Shoaib Ahmed was the highlight of Rawalpindi Rams 19-run win against Hyderabad Hawks at the Gaddafi Stadium. Shoaib shared a 75-run stand with captain Sohail Tanvir that lifted the team from a tricky 63 for 4. After Tanvir’s dismissal, Shoaib carried on the acceleration as 61 came off the last five overs.In their chase, Aqeel Anjum and Rizwan Ahmed put up 56 runs for the third wicket, but the lack of boundaries in the partnership pushed the required scoring rate up. Once Rizwan fell, the incoming batsmen were not able to keep up with the rate and lost their wickets. Aqeel, who scored an unbeaten 75 off 48 balls, remained unbeaten as the team fell short by 19 runs.

ScorecardBrothers in arms: Siddarth Kaul took five wickets and Uday took five catches to take Punjab to an innings win over Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Harbhajan Singh celebrated his return to Test squad with three wickets in an innings win over Hyderabad to secure full seven points for Punjab. Siddarth Kaul, who took three wickets on the third evening, added two more to end up with his second five-for in his fourth first-class match.Punjab began the day needing seven wickets for an innings win, and it was always going to come down to VVS Laxman. In opener Akshath Reddy’s company, Laxman thwarted Punjab for close to two hours, but once Reddy got out to Harbhajan, the floodgates opened.Siddarth Kaul accounted for Laxman, and the rest folded easily. It was another good day for the Kauls: Siddarth’s brother, Uday, took five catches.
ScorecardJalaj Saxena, who has been the offspinner on two India A tours now, might not have been picked for the Tests but pulled out an excellent rearguard with the bat to give Madhya Pradesh one point in what looked like a certain defeat. When Saxena came in to bat, MP were 179 for 6 despite Naman Ojha’s 64, and needed to bat 33.2 overs to save the match.Saxena drew support from Amit Sharma and Anand Rajan. The latter had also taken seven wickets in Gujarat’s first innings. With Amit, Saxena saw through close to 10 overs, but the partnership of the day came with Rajan. The two played out 24.3 overs to frustrate Gujarat, who couldn’t find a wicket-taker other than Rakesh Dhurv and Mehul Patel, who bowled 51 overs between them for seven wickets.While Saxena got a much-deserved half-century, Rajan stayed unbeaten on nine off 64 balls.
ScorecardWriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Shukla roughed it out through the testing period in the morning session to see Bengal through to safety and three points. Bengal made a declaration before lunch, but in a match punctuated by bad light there was never going to be enough time to force a result.Bengal began the day at 109 for 5, still needing a solid partnership to consolidate their 97-run first-innings lead, and they found it through Shukla and Saha. They added 55 for the sixth wicket, and Saha went on to score his second fifty of the match before Manoj Tiwary set Rajasthan a target of 330.Ashok Dinda provided Bengal with a good start with Ankit Lamba’s wicket, but the experience of Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Rashmi Parida was enough to see defending champions Rajasthan through to one point.
Scorecard
Railways began the day needing 41 runs to avoid the follow-on with two wickets in hand, and only an enforced follow-on could have kept the rest of the day interesting. As it turned out, Zaheer Khan, who had cramped up on day three according to captain Ajit Agarkar, didn’t even take the field, and Railways’ ninth-wicket stand of Krishnakant Upadhyay and Anureet Singh made sure they wouldn’t have to bat again.After that Kaustubh Pawar and Ajinkya Rahane scored 80s in glorified batting practice.

Match Facts

Lord’s, September 2
Start time: 10.15am (0915GMT)Jade Dernbach made a big difference to England’s attack•Getty Images

The Big Picture

It was not quite a new era for English cricket at The Oval on Friday, but Alastair Cook’s first match since being confirmed as the new Test captain was a much-needed victory for the home side as they levelled the one-day series with their first win over South Africa this season.The four-wicket success was not flashy or especially thrilling, but very efficient and effective which, after a difficult few weeks, was just what England needed to get themselves back on track. It also confirmed that there is not an awful lot between the two teams. The series will now go to the wire in Nottingham next week, but whoever takes the honours at Lord’s on Sunday knows they cannot lose.As has been shown by the yo-yo nature of the last two games it is very difficult to say who has the momentum. England’s attack had an extra cutting edge with the return of Jade Dernbach, who took an impressive 3 for 44, and it was a smart move by the hosts to target the stumps considering their recent catching form and they claimed six bowled dismissals and an lbw.South Africa are finding out that balancing their side in the absence of Jacques Kallis is not easy. They were a batsman light at The Oval and coupled with some lose shots by the top order it left them 30 runs short. If Wayne Parnell, who later bowled very accurately, is to bat at No. 7 the onus is on one of the top four to bat through the innings as Hashim Amla did in Southampton.

Form guide

(Most recent first, completed matches)
England WLWWW
South Africa LWWWW

Watch out for…

Ian Bell has threatened to dominate the South Africa attack in this series without kicking on to a major innings. Rain curtailed him in Cardiff, then a good delivery by Robin Peterson in Southampton before he missed a straight ball from Dale Steyn at The Oval. He looks in good touch and he will not want to waste it. With Cook struggling for a little form and fluency it is important that Bell takes the pressure off his captain.In the absence of Kallis, and with an eye to the future, JP Duminy needs to show he is a senior batsman in this one-day side. Twice in this series he has played himself in and then given it away, with his miscued shot at The Oval coming at an especially crucial moment with the lower order exposed. His stock rose during the Test series and now he needs to consolidate his one-day position.

Team news

England could well go with an unchanged side which would still mean no place for Jonny Bairstow. Ravi Bopara’s tight 10 overs in the previous match will probably earn him another outing despite his batting struggles. Samit Patel did not bowl at The Oval, so in theory Bairstow could replace him, but Cook is likely to want the insurance as Bopara is unlikely to string together a full spell too often.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 James Tredwell, 9 James Anderson, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jade DernbachSouth Africa would like to be able to bring back allrounder Albie Morkel to help balance the side but his fitness situation was still unclear following ankle problems. If he is still ruled out, they may need to recall McLaren to offer a little more batting and Lonwabo Tsotsobe could be the one to make way after a poor display at The Oval. Justin Ontong would be another option in the middle order.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Dean Elgar, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel

Pitch and conditions

It would be good to see a one-day pitch with some pace and bounce to encourage stroke play. Now that September has arrived the start time to day games is a little earlier which may encourage some movement for the pace bowlers, but Lord’s is usually pretty flat. The forecast is for an overcast, but dry, day.

Stats and trivia

• Morne Morkel needs three wickets to reach 100 in ODIs
• England have won the two previous ODIs at Lord’s against South Africa, both by seven wickets, in 2003 and 2008. James Anderson and Graeme Smith played in the 2003 match which was the NatWest Series final.
• Eoin Morgan, Man of the Match at The Oval, averages 47.90 in run chases for England and 64.84 in matches they have won.

Quotes

“He was really good. He’s a wicket-taker, and he came in and got them at crucial times. All our bowlers did well, but especially him. He took two important wickets before the batting Powerplay.”
“From the word go we didn’t make it count with the bat and we lost momentum early in the game. The bowlers were up for it and we still believed we could win but we just needed that extra 30 runs.”

ScorecardEven if they were to win Friday night’s jackpot on the Euromillions lottery, it is doubtful whether Kent could buy a championship win just now.Having allowed Hampshire to claim a surprise draw at the Ageas Bowl a fortnight ago, Kent then slid to a shock two-wicket defeat at Derby having, in their eyes at least, dominated all but two sessions of the match.Then just when it appeared Rob Key’s side’s fortunes were changing for the better, Essex’s skipper James Foster inspired a comeback that could yet leave Kent on the wrong end of another result on Kentish soil.All had looked rosy in the Garden of England an hour into the second day, Ladies Day at Canterbury Week. Essex had slumped to 23 for 4, Kent’s seamers Charlie Shreck and Matt Coles were at times unplayable as they hooped the new ball under steamy, overcast skies and even the Shepherd Neame bitter tasted like nectar.In reply to Kent’s first day total of 226, Essex had lost opener Jaik Mickleburgh to a good tumbling catch behind the stumps off Shreck, then Tom Westley, leg before to a Coles in-ducker. Owais Shah hooked his second ball from Coles over the ropes at mid-wicket, but Coles had his revenge by having Shah caught at slip without addition.Mark Pettini was squared up by a Shreck snorter, an away-swinger which pitched on middle and clipped the top of off. When Ryan ten Doeschate chased a wide one from Stevens on the cusp of lunch to make it 76 for 5, Kent scented a useful first innings lead. How wrong they were.James Foster emerged to play an inspiring, game-changing, backs-to-the-wall knock that quite simply knocked the stuffing out of Kent.In relatively high temperatures for this summer, around 24C, and in high humidity Foster dogged it out for four and three-quarter hours, facing 226 balls for a modest return of five boundaries as Kent ran out of ideas to dislodge him.In tandem with Adam Wheater, Foster helped add 126 in 33.2 overs for the sixth wicket. Every run was hard-earned, yet fully deserved.Foster’s tenacity allowed Wheater to play with more freedom and his eye-catching innings of 82 included a dozen crisply-timed boundaries, many of them aerial. Wheater undid much of his good work just before tea when a reckless, pre-empted reverse sweep against spinner Adam Riley led to his demise leg before.It was no matter to Foster though. He teamed up with Graham Napier after the interval to add another precious 52 runs before Kent finally enjoyed further success with the second new ball.Foster nicked a Darren Stevens away-swinger to slip to go for 76 then Napier followed soon after, pocketed by Geraint Jones off the wily Charlie Shreck, whose next ball removed David Masters to a catch in the cordon. Although Maurice Chambers survived the hat-trick delivery, Shreck dismissed him at slip two overs later to finish with a creditable 5-51, his second five-for since moving from Nottinghamshire.Bouyed by their surprise 47-run lead, Essex set about reducing the Kent faithful to a whimpering wrecks by stumps as they prized out three batsmen within 21 balls.Key, though he clearly disagreed, was given caught behind down the leg-side when attempting to glance at Napier, the nightwatchman Riley had his stumps rearranged by Chambers then Harbhajan Singh out-foxed Sam Northeast to win a leg before appeal to the last ball of the day.Now, about those lottery numbers!

ScorecardSussex won a high-scoring game by 19 runs against Essex at Hove to go clear at the top of the Friends Life t20 South Group.Chris Nash made 52 and Joe Gatting 45 not out as Sussex set a daunting total of 209 for 6, the second highest in the competition this season. Some big hitting from Mark Pettini (44) and James Foster (47) kept Essex in contention but they fell short in the end, with Chris Liddle taking 3 for 35.Sussex’s former Essex player Scott Styris took the Man of the Match award after making a quickfire 36 and claiming 2 for 28.Luke Wright and Nash set the tone by smashing 21 runs off the second over from Graham Napier as Sussex raced to 74-0 after the six-over Powerplay. Wright carried on where he left off against Middlesex on Friday night when he made 91 as he hit sixes off David Masters and Napier before slapping a full toss from Ryan ten Doeschate straight to long off for 40 off 21 balls.The departure of Wright did not slow the scoring rate, however, as Nash and Styris continued to take the attack to Essex. Nash made his runs from 41 balls, including two fours and two sixes, before being stumped by a smart piece of work by Foster off a leg-side wide from ten Doeschate.Styris enjoyed himself against his old side as he crashed sixes off ten Doeschate and Reece Topley before being caught in the deep for 36 off 20 balls. Gatting ensured Sussex’s innings did not lose momentum as he hit a career-best score from just 22 balls, including four fours and two sixes, as the Sharks posted their second-highest total ever in the competition.Essex made a slow start in reply but remained in contention thanks to Pettini, who made 44 off 31 balls. The Eagles were well behind the run rate at halfway on 74 for 2 but some powerful hitting from Greg Smith and Foster gave them hope of pulling off a sensational win.Smith hit three sixes in his 26-ball 39 before being bowled by Will Beer while Foster hit four sixes in a row to reduce the deficit to 25 off the final over but Essex’s hopes disappeared when their captain was caught on the boundary with three balls to go.

The Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), the most lucrative club cricket tournament in the world, could possibly be moved to South Africa. Cricket South Africa acting CEO Jacques Faul told ESPNcricinfo, “It could be a possibility [that SA will host] but we will only know later in June. There are problems with the IPL qualifiers venues for the CLT20 but there has been no final decision yet.” Faul has returned from a CLT20 governing council meeting in India which was held in Chennai after the end of the IPL.Faul is one of the members of the CLT20 governing council, replacing the previous CEO Gerald Majola, who is suspended pending disciplinary action. Following the governing council meeting, there has been no formal announcement of the 2012 CLT20 other than the two on Twitter by Sundar Raman, a member of the CLT20 technical committee. The first Tweet said Sialkot Stallions of Pakistan would be invited to take part in the IPL, the first time a Pakistani team would be competing in the event. The second said the dates for the tournament would only be released by the end of June.ESPNcricinfo understands that talks of moving the CLT20 to South Africa were driven by several reasons, including the Indian monsoons and a five-day festival in the east of the country. Late last week, had reported that the tournament would take place in India from October 10-28 over five venues: Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and New Delhi. Kolkata had lost out on hosting matches during the latter half of the tournament as the entire state of West Bengal would shut down for the Durga Puja holiday from October 20 to 25.In the 2011 CLT20, a six-team qualifier leg was held for the first time with the fourth-place finisher from the IPL, the national T20 champions from New Zealand and West Indies, a team from Sri Lanka and two teams from England competing for three qualifying spots. The total prize money on offer was $6m with the winner earning $2.5m. The event was won by Mumbai Indians.

ScorecardRikki Clarke’s innings was confirmation that Warwickshire have the longest batting line up in the country•Getty Images

Warwickshire’s attempts to grind their way to the championship title narrowly failed last season when they couldn’t take the seven Hampshire wickets they needed on the final day at West End. They have analysed their shortcomings, searched their soul and come up with a solution: they will grind once more, only this time they will grind even more severely.With 281 for 5 banked on the opening day, and grim weather forecast for Sunday, Jonathan Trott had vaguely floated the suggestion that in essence Warwickshire were left trying to win a three-day game. Trott has never been accused of being a reckless gambler, far from it, so it seemed that a dash to a lunchtime declaration might be in the offing. It was not to be the case. Instead, they batted on to 545, the highest total of a season where large scores have been few and far between.Warwickshire batted until tea, adding another 264 in 65.5 overs, achieving a rate of four an over with barely a care in the world. Trott, now confirmed as an international batsman of repute, advanced phlegmatically from 132 to 178, his superiority calmly reasserted, his only awkward moment coming when he survived an lbw appeal on the back foot against Monty Panesar.He fell at slip, on what proved to be the last ball before lunch, driving expansively at Chris Nash and edging to Mike Yardy so ending a stay of nearly seven hours in which he cemented Warwickshire’s place as championship leaders. On his first championship appearance of the season, he looked relaxed and contented, the only England batsman who has emerged from a difficult winter confident about the nuts and bolts of his game.Sussex had proudly announced their membership of the Crimestoppers’ Golden Handcuff Club, demonstrating their commitment to helping reduce crime in Sussex. To mark their involvement, the crime novelist Peter James handed over a pair of handcuffs at the ground. Had they managed to entice Trott over to take a look at them, they might have found a way to keep him in check.It all ended at tea on the second day when Jeetan Patel clubbed Nash to short midwicket. Until then, Warwickshire dipped their bread. Tim Ambrose, struck on the hand by James Anyon, an incident that raised false hopes that the second-day pitch might turn spiteful, batted nearly three hours for 75, Rikki Clarke more than two hours for 78 not out. Clarke at No. 9, even if he was a place lower than expected because of a nightwatchman, was a reminder that no county bats deeper. An air of resignation hung over the Sussex attack.The final session had the makings of an awkward one for Sussex. They have been second best throughout the game but they only lost two wickets and will reason that the weather will probably get them out of this one. Varun Chopra held a quick chance to his right at first slip as Keith Barker found Nash’s edge and also struck Ed Joyce on the helmet as he ducked into one. Patel’s off-spin had Ed Joyce lbw in his first over but Luke Wells and Murray Goodwin survived until the close. They need another 339 to avoid the follow-on. That or a torrential downpour.

Shoaib Malik’s all-round performance inspired Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a four-wicket victory against Islamabad at the Gaddafi Stadium, earning them a place in the final of the One-day National Cup.Islamabad were put in to bat and reached 212 thanks mainly to a 116-run fifth-wicket stand between Zohail Ahmed, who scored 68 not out, and Faizan Riaz, who made 58. None of the other batsmen made a significant contribution, allowing PIA to keep Islamabad down to a chaseable total. Malik conceded 50 runs in his 10 overs, but took four wickets. He broke the stand between Ahmed and Riaz, and took two more quick wickets to leave Islamabad in a situation from which it was hard to accelerate.The chase went down to the final over, with Shoaib Khan remaining unbeaten on 58 to ensure PIA won with four balls to spare. Malik had set up the chase, with his 60, but the runs came at a strike-rate of 68.18, and PIA needed someone to lift the rate at the death. Shoaib Khan was that man, his 58 coming off 65 balls and featuring four boundaries and a six.

Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar scored centuries to set up a big win against Sialkot Stallions at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, and book Habib Bank Limited‘s spot in the final. Farhat and Taufeeq shared a 220-run opening stand that deflated Sialkot and got HBL to an imposing 334 for 6. Taufeeq focused on accumulation, getting just 28 runs in boundaries out of his 100 but still managing to strike at 88.49. Farhat was more aggressive, striking four sixes and 13 fours in his 125 off 107 balls. The pair vindicated their captain’s decision to bat, and quick runs from the middle order, including a 23-ball 38 from Humayun Farhat, ensured HBL had a winning score.Sialkot did not put up much of a fight in their chase. Mohammad Yasin got 41 at the top of the order and Shehzad Malik scored a slow 44 in the middle, and there was never any real hope of them getting close. They were eventually bowled out for 180 in 42.1 overs, with legspinner Danish Kaneria helping himself to four wickets and offspinner Aftab Alam taking 3 for 31.HBL will meet PIA in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium on March 21.

ScorecardAlister McDermott was one of Queensland’s wicket takers•Getty Images

James Hopes and Ryan Harris led a strong bowling display from Queensland as they increased their chances of making the Sheffield Shield final on the first day against South Australia. The Bulls knocked over the Redbacks for 162 and at stumps they were 2 for 58, needing another 105 runs to take first-innings points, with Alex Kemp on 24 and Joe Burns on 23.Queensland began the last round of matches second on the Shield table but good performances from Tasmania and Victoria in their games mean it is unlikely the Bulls will reach the decider unless they take some points against South Australia. They gave themselves a good chance of doing that after Hopes sent the Redbacks in.South Australia have not won a match in this campaign and again they were disappointing, with Tom Cooper’s 21 the highest score among the specialist batsmen. Hopes collected 3 for 28 and Ryan Harris took 3 for 29, while Steve Magoffin and Alister McDermott each picked up two wickets.The Redbacks could have found themselves in even more trouble after they crashed to 9 for 107, but a tenth-wicket partnership between Gary Putland (31 not out) and Peter George (22) at least gave the bowlers a slim chance of defending their total. George and Putland picked up a wicket each before stumps but a big job lies ahead of them if they are to deny Queensland the lead.