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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A seven-wicket haul by Ramesh Powar helped West Zone lift the Duleep Trophy with a massive 274-run win in Chennai. Chasing an improbable 678 for victory, South Zone put up a more spirited batting effort in the second innings, but finally folded for 403.South were always up against it when they resumed at 232 for 3, needing another 446 to win. On a crumbling pitch, their biggest challenge was facing the spin duo of Powar and Rajesh Pawar and not surprisingly, the pair bowled 64% of the overs. West already had a firm grip on the trophy by virtue of their first-innings lead; it was only a matter of whether South would hang on for a draw.West took three wickets in the opening session and importantly, claimed all the specialist batsmen. They set very defensive fields for the attacking pair of S Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik, trying to force them to make mistakes. However, that didn’t stop the pair from attacking the spinners. Badrinath, the captain, followed up his first-innings century with a fifty but perished giving Rajesh Pawar the charge, holing out to Ramesh Powar at long-on.West then attacked the new batsman, Arjun Yadav, and he didn’t last very long. Powar kept plugging away outside the offstump and his patience finally paid off when Yadav lobbed a catch to Pawar at mid-off. Karthik, meanwhile, reached his fifty with a cracking drive through extra cover and looked set for a century before a freakish dismissal cut short his knock at 75.He shouldered arms to Powar but while watching the ball through to the keeper, dragged his right leg back and trod on the stumps. R Ashwin and M Suresh took the attack to the seamers and resisted with a half-century stand. They didn’t last too long in the afternoon session as Suresh lost his off stump while trying to cut Powar.Shadab Jakati added 22 with Ashwin before he was trapped lbw by a Powar delivery which straightened. Sreesanth, in the meantime, was seen rehearsing imaginary slogs and swishes in the dressing room but it was hardly an indication of what was to come as he lasted just five balls, slogging Powar to Ajinkya Rahane at square leg . Ashwin remained unbeaten on 46 with eight boundaries and Powar finished with 7 for 140.Wasim Jaffer, West’s captain, rounded off a glorious season, having lifted the Ranji Trophy as well for Mumbai. This is West’s 17th Duleep Trophy title.

Legspinner Rawl Lewis will continue as captain of the Windward Islands team after an emergency meeting organised by the region’s cricket board managed to resolve differences between him and team manager Lockhart Sebastien. Lewis had announced his resignation on January 26 after Windward’s 166-run loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the regional four-day competition.However, at an emergency meeting of the Windward Islands Cricket Board , Lewis was asked to reconsider his decision, the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) reported. Sources told CMC that Lewis’ decision was not only prompted by the team’s string of defeats but also by the strained relationship with Sebastien, which worsened after the defeat in Trinidad.At the meeting it was decided that Sebastien should avoid making public statements that were not in the players’ best interests. The meeting, which was attended by board president Emmanuel Nanthan and chief executive Lennox Grant, took place after the separate discussions with the management team and the players.Windward Islands’ play Combined Campuses and Colleges in Barbados in thefourth round of the regional competition, which starts on January 30.

Match facts

January 2, 2009
Start time 2pm (0100 GMT)

Big Picture

New Zealand will be looking to put a summer of stalemates behind them in the second one-day international on Saturday. After two drawn Tests and a win apiece in the two-match Twenty20 series, the home side were on top in the first one-dayer in Queenstown before rain brought an early end to the game.New Zealand coach Andy Moles was pleased with his bowlers’ performance in the first game, and was particularly relieved to see allrounder Jacob Oram bowl without any discomfort after missing the Tests due to a calf strain. Another piece of good news for him is that West Indies’ middle-order rock, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is a doubtful starter, still struggling with a hand injury.West Indies coach John Dyson preferred not to read too much into the poor performance of his batsmen in Queenstown, saying that the venue had a history of poor scores.

ODI form guide (last five games, most recent first)

West Indies: TLLLW
New Zealand: TWWLW

Players to watch

Jacob Oram’s series-winning performance with both bat and ball against Bangladesh propelled him to the top of the ICC ODI allrounder rankings in October. He has since suffered a series of injuries but made a confident comeback in Queenstown, sending down six overs for 16 runs.Xavier Marshall’s class was so evident that there was hardly any criticism even when he was fast-tracked into the Test squad in 2005, despite having a first-class average in the mid-20s and no hundreds. He has shown glimpses of his potential, hammering Australia’s bowlers in a Twenty20 game before taking Canada apart in an ODI with a breathtaking assault.

Team news

New Zealand seamers Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Tim Southee and Oram bowled economical spells in the first ODI but allrounder Grant Elliott didn’t get a chance to bowl. Moles may consider dropping him for offspinner Jeetan Patel, who impressed in the preceding Twenty20s, since the pitch to be on the slow side.New Zealand (probable): Brendon McCullum (wk), Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Mark Gillespie, Kyle Mills.If Chanderpaul is ruled out of the match, the hard-hitting Shawn Findlay could take his place. Brendan Nash is likely to keep his spot in the XI despite scoring only 12 in Queenstown, since he was overlooked for the Twenty20s and needs some time to get into the one-day groove.West Indies (probable): Chris Gayle (capt), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul/Shawn Findlay, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Fidel Edwards, Lionel Baker.

Stats

New Zealand have an impressive ODI record in Christchurch. In 14 ODIs since 2000, they have won 12 and lost two. West Indies have lost both their matches here.New Zealand average 39.36 runs-per-wicket with the bat at the venue, scoring at an high rate of 5.58 an over. They enjoy a 13-run advantage over West Indies, each of whose wickets cost 26.85 runs, scoring at 5.43 an over.The ground has proved a high-scoring one, with all teams except India conceding runs at more than five-an-over.

Pitch and conditions

Chris Lewis, Cantebury’s operations manager, expects the drop-in pitch to be dry, following a spell of warm weather in Christchurch, and not favour pace or bounce. The stadium is being redeveloped for the next rugby World Cup, and the entire turf was re-laid after Canterbury’s final rugby game of the season in October.The forecast is for showers in the morning, but better weather is expected later in the day.

Quotes

“We have a good history in the one-day format and we showed again when we applied pressure (in the first ODI) the team looked very dangerous.”
“He’s our number one player. If you don’t have Shiv in the team it’s a big loss.”

As the rain and Arctic chill arrived in Dunedin yesterday, eliminating the entire second day of the first Test at the University Oval, West Indies’ head coach John Dyson acknowledged a troubling point. He said that, since he joined the team last March for the Sri Lanka series in the Caribbean, the bowlers had struggled to take wickets on “flat, international standard pitches”.”They are fine when the pitches do something but otherwise they find it difficult to bowl dot balls that build pressure on the batsmen,” Dyson said. Such was the case as New Zealand posted 226 for 4 on an opening day shortened to 73.2 overs by fading light under a heavy cloud cover.”I thought we bowled fairly well,” Dyson said. “This is a flat pitch. It’s not seaming, it’s not bouncing at pace and it’s not turning.” It was the reason for the use of a seven off-side, two leg-side field once the left-handers Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn became entrenched in a second wicket partnership of 87. Dyson did not accept the assertion that seeking wickets through attack, rather than containment, was the better option against opponents whose self-belief was crushed by Australia in their two Tests there last month.New Zealand made several personnel and positional changes as a consequence, including replacing John Bracewell as head coach with Andy Moles, and were under considerable media pressure. It seemed the right time to go hard at them. Yet, apart from brief periods, the West Indies fast bowlers were content to let the batsmen make errors on their own, rather than trying to induce it.The policy did not achieve its objective. Two of the four wickets were taken through inappropriate slogs by opener Tim McIntosh, who was caught at deep mid-on, and Ross Taylor, taken off a skier at square-leg. Another, Daniel Flynn fell for 95, ruled not out, then out lbw on the experimental umpires’ review system.All were victims of captain Chris Gayle’s casual off-spin. Only opener Jamie How fell to one of the four fast bowlers. “The disappointment was that they [bowlers] presented too many loose balls and too many that were free hits,” Dyson said. His point that they are as effective as any in international cricket once there is some help from the surface -and vice-versa – is borne out by events in last June’s home series against Sri Lanka and Australia.On placid pitches, Sri Lanka amassed 476 for 8 in the first Test at Providence in Guyana and Australia 431 at Sabina Park in Jamaica, 479 for 7 declared at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and 439 for 5 declared in the second innings at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. When the pitches encouraged the bowlers, Sri Lanka were defeated after being bowled out for 278 and 268 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. Australia, however, won despite folding for 167 in the second innings at Sabina Park (from 18 for 5) and 251 in the first innings at Kensington.Almost by tradition, West Indies carried four fast bowlers into the Test here, omitting the solitary specialist spinner, Sulieman Benn. “There was a lot of discussion about that,” Dyson explained. “The fact that there had been a lot of rain in Dunedin in the lead-up to the Test, with the pitch mostly under covers, and an inspection the day before the match influenced the decision.”

Matthew Mott has said he is 50-50 on whether to accept the job as New Zealand’s coach or stay in his current role with New South Wales. Mott is New Zealand Cricket’s preferred choice to replace John Bracewell but after only one season as a first-class coach he is uncertain whether to take on the job.”I’m definitely keeping my options open. I’ll be brutally honest, it’s about a 50-50 split at the moment,” Mott told . “I’d love to keep repaying the faith that New South Wales showed in me when I made the progression from player to coach. I can’t fault the way they’ve looked after me.”Mott, 35, was a first-class batsman with Queensland and Victoria but ended his playing career relatively early to move into coaching. He was an assistant under Trevor Bayliss at New South Wales before taking the senior role in 2007-08 and he guided the Blues to the Pura Cup title in his first season.He became the frontrunner for the New Zealand job when the South Africans Graham Ford and Mickey Arthur made themselves unavailable. However, an improved two-year offer from New South Wales has made the decision a difficult one for Mott.”There always comes a time to move on, and whether that time’s now,” he said. “In an ideal world I’d love to have another couple of years here. There’s also the fact that the job you knock back is the one you probably never get. That’s weighing on my mind a bit.”Mott has some links with the New Zealand team; he coached Brendon McCullum at the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He said besides landing the job as Australia’s coach, the New Zealand role was the next best option on the international scene.”From what I’ve heard Dan Vettori is a very good captain and a fresh bunch of senior players around him are keen to make a difference,” Mott said. “With the management changes there seems to be a good young vibe with a bit of a blank canvas, which is what appeals to me.”Mott will this week get a closer look at the New Zealanders when they face New South Wales in a tour match at the SCG starting on Thursday. New Zealand have confirmed their starting line-up for the match and it includes four specialist fast bowlers with Mark Gillespie and Grant Elliott left out.New Zealand team for tour match Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Flynn, Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Iain O’Brien, Chris Martin.

Speaking after his final day of international cricket, Sourav Ganguly has said his most significant contribution was to raise the image of Indian cricket by building a team that was competitive overseas.”During the phase from 2000 to 2005 [when he was captain], and it’s still going on now, Indian cricket’s image has gone up immensely, especially while touring,” Ganguly said. “We were always termed as soft when we travelled. I think that has changed considerably. At the present moment India are a formidable side home and away.”I was lucky to have Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid], VVS Laxman, Anil[Kumble], [Virender] Sehwag and Harbhajan [Singh] probably playing theirbest cricket at that stage. We’ve always been a strong team at home. Theoverseas results I’ll always cherish.”Under Ganguly’s captaincy, which began in November 2000, India won 11 Tests overseas including matches in Sri Lanka, West Indies, England, Australia and Pakistan. India’s success abroad has continued even after Ganguly’s tenure ended but he felt that the challenge for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team now would be to continue winning after the retirements of keyplayers. However, he felt Dhoni would be up to the task.”Captaincy is a spark, it’s not just preparation or the homework, it’s about the spark on the field, which MS [Dhoni] has,” Ganguly said. “He’s got that extra bit of luck which you require in captaincy. I have never believed too much in the drawing board. I see a lot of that in MS Dhoni. He doesn’t believe much in team meetings and all. He just does what he sees on the field. He will be tested when India goes overseas and I’m sure he will live up to it.”There was a lovely moment during the final passage of the Nagpur Test whenDhoni handed over the captaincy to Ganguly for some time. It was a magnificent gesture and fittingly, it was exactly eight years to the day since Ganguly had begun his tenure as captain in 2000.”I didn’t expect MS to ask me to captain the side for five overs,” Ganguly said. “I was already switched off, so he woke me up. I didn’t know what was happening the first six-seven balls. Luckily they were nine down so I managed to do it for three and then said it’s his job, not mine any more.”

Ganguly had been under tremendous scrutiny before the start of this seriesand his place in the squad was uncertain after he was left out of the Restof India squad for the Irani Trophy. However, he was named in the 15-man squad and he announced his retirement before the series began. Ganguly made valuable contributions during his final series, steering India to safety in Bangalore, scoring a century in Mohali, and 85 in the first innings of the Nagpur Test. He finished the series with 324 runs at an average of 54 and India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”We’ve beaten the best team in the world 2-0,” he said. “I’ve played well,the team’s played well. There were lot of doubts after we came back from Sri Lanka. The way this Test match finished … it’s probably one of the best finishes I’ve seen in terms of a team performance. I want to cherish this for a long period. I could easily sacrifice ten to 12 Tests forthis.”When asked which of the numerous series that he’s been involved in was the most memorable, Ganguly thought for a moment before picking out two of India’s best moments in this century: the 2000-01 home victory against Australia and the drawn series in Australia in 2003-04.Was he disappointed with his first-ball duck his final innings? “I was disappointed with the 85 I got,” Ganguly said. “I was so close to getting a hundred. That was more disappointing than the first-ball duck.”Ganguly left a Test venue as an Indian cricketer for the final time on the shoulders of Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman but the dramatic scenes that played out after Kumble’s announcement in Delhi were absent. “This is my time to leave,” he said, and he went quietly.

ScorecardIreland need a further eight Kenya wickets in order to reach the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, after dismissing the hosts for just 186 in their first innings. Following on, Kenya put up a much better fight, with Seren Waters – their classy 18-year-old debutant – remaining unbeaten on 65, but they still trail by 246.Kenya are by no means out of the contest, or the final, just yet. A draw will earn them their spot against Namibia in South Africa, though much depends on both Waters and Steve Tikolo – the youngest and eldest of the team. And judging by their first-innings effort, Kenya’s batsmen are thoroughly up against it.Kyle McCallan and Regan West took four wickets apiece as Kenya were rolled for 186. In the face of Ireland’s huge first-innings total of 578 for 4 declared, Kenya’s batsmen had no answer and as the pitch offered some turn for the slow bowlers, McCallan and West combined excellently.Only Tikolo (44) and Thomas Odoyo (32) looked like causing Ireland any trouble, and it was no surprise when Kenya were invited to follow on. It appeared Kenya might crumble again, when Trent Johnston made a double breakthrough to leave the home side on 76 for 2. But Tikolo and Waters dug in with an unbroken third-wicket stand of 70. Waters, in particular, was quick to dispatch anything short – Boyd Rankin was smacked for four fours in an over – and showed the benefit of using soft hands against the spinners.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThomas Odoyo ripped through the Pakistan Cricket Academy’s top order, taking 4 for 14 in six overs, but Kenya failed to capitalise and succumbed to a 19-run loss in Nairobi. Pakistan were reduced to 37 for 4, but Ali Asad’s 43 and fine all-round performances from Imad Wasim and Anwar Ali denied Kenya.Pakistan won the toss and struggled against Odoyo’s disciplined new-ball heroics. Opener Raheel Majeed was first to go, cleaned up by a yorker, and his partner Umar Amin was trapped in front. A fuller delivery on the off stump accounted for Khurram Manzoor and Odoyo – leading the team in Steve Tikolo’s absence – got his fourth when Farhad Iqbal edged a rising delivery to second slip.Asad, though, ensured the visitors weren’t bowled out cheaply. He put on useful stands of 29 and 44 with Fawad Alam (14) and Anwar Ali (18) as Pakistan went past the 100-run mark. Asad nicked Jimmy Kamande to wicketkeeper David Obuya. At 115 for 7, Kenya would have sensed an opportunity to clean up the tail quickly, but there was more frustration as Wasim scored 27 and Mohammad Talha 29. Pakistan were all out for 190 in 48.4 overs; Odoyo didn’t come back for a second spell.Kenya had a sedate start to their chase. Eighteen runs came in 8.3 overs before Anwar had Obuya leg-before. Alex Obanda failed to build on his 26, edging to gully as he attempted a drive. Maurice Ouma and Rakep Patel added 30 for the third wicket, but Patel’s attempted slog-sweep landed in the hands of midwicket. Imad got his second wicket when Ouma nicked one to the keeper, and Talha made it 98 for 5 , bowling Kennedy Otieno.A 32-run stand between Odoyo and Kamande took Kenya to 130 but Odoyo couldn’t steer his team home, out to an inside-edge off a quicker ball from Alam. The asking-rate increased as left-arm spinners Wasim and Alam kept the runs in check. Nehemiah Odhiambo scored a brisk 26-ball 30 to keep Kenya’s hopes alive. However, Anwar struck twice in his second spell – both tailenders bowled – and Mohammad Aamer trapped Odhiambo lbw to seal the win.Pakistan, who have won every match on their tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya so far, head into the final game having already secured the three-match one-day series 2-0.

Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, has announced he will be standing down at the end of the season following 11 years in charge. The allrounder Michael Yardy, who has played one-day internationals for England, will take over.An emotional Adams made the decision public after Sussex won the Pro40 title with a thrilling two-wicket victory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.”I just feel the time is right for me to go,” he told the . “I always promised myself one season of playing without the responsibility of captaincy and I am looking forward to that now.”I have had 11 fantastic years in charge of a wonderful group of players but the team is changing. We have had a glimpse of that this season and also that ‘my team’, which has been together for a long time, is starting to break up, especially with Mushtaq Ahmed retiring.”Yardy said: “He’s going to be a tough act to follow but I am really looking forward to the challenge and I’m sure I will have his support if he carries on playing next season.”Adams made a high-profile move from Derbyshire to Sussex in 1997 and began building a side that would become one of the major forces on the domestic scene. He has brought three Championship titles to Hove, including the first of their history in 2003, plus the C&G Trophy in 2006.”The end of the Yorkshire game will be a sad day for everyone, but at the same time an exciting one,” Mark Robinson, the cricket manager, said. “Grizz has been at the helm for the club’s most successful ever period and will thoroughly deserve all the tributes and praise that he will receive. I would like to thank him personally and on behalf of the club for all he has done for Sussex.Adams said he was keen to continue his playing career, but he won’t be short of offers to move into a managerial position. The top job has opened up at Hove following the departure of Gus Mackay to Surrey, as their managing director, and Adams has never made any secret of wanting a major role in running a county side.He almost left Sussex at the end of 2006 to take a similar post with Yorkshire, but shortly before agreeing a deal decided on staying. Two Championship titles followed in consecutive seasons and the Adams era will go down as the greatest in Sussex’s history.

Anil Kumble is a man of few words when it comes to addressing the media before, during and after a match but his crisp verdict that India needed to win in Galle at any cost was the most forthright he’s been this series. The last time India trailed a three-match series 0-1 was against Sri Lanka in 2001-02 and this Test could prove to be the most important in recent history, given that a loss here could seriously throw up composition concerns going forward into a busy season.”One down is one down, whether you’re in Australia or Sri Lanka, so it’s a matter of regrouping,” said Kumble. “We’ve done that and spent quality time discussing issues on and off the field, seeing how we can cope and come back. We’ve done that in the past with the same set of players and there is definitely a lot of experience and resilience in this team.”We will fall back on that resilience and I’m sure we will be able to put up a better show and get the right result here. We need to win this Test match. That’s the approach we are taking.”India clearly underperformed at the SSC but before questions started to fly around about who was at fault, Kumble pointed out it was a collective failure. “If you look at the team, overall we didn’t play to our potential,” he said. “It is wrong to point fingers at one batsman or one player. Whatever confidence I can give as a captain and team member, I’ve done that. It is not just the batting line-up. It’s all the members of this team. We are all disappointed at what happened in the last game and we’re looking forward to this challenge.”Perhaps aware that the only sides to beat Sri Lanka in Galle did so because of massive totals, Kumble stressed on batting well. “We will definitely approach this Test in a very positive way. The series is still alive and we’d like to go out and get as many runs as possible. We need a good score and have quality spinners as well to ensure we come into the game,” he said. “It is a good surface for the fast bowlers as well. There will be a bit of swing because of the conditions here. But I’m sure the spinners will definitely come into play.”Coming to Sri Lanka and winning was never going to be easy, said Kumble, but the signs shown in the past four days led him to believe they were hungry to prove they could win. He also said he had no plans to change the batting order, as he had complete faith in the names on the team sheet.India’s combination for this Test will remain “more or less the same as before” and nothing in India’s practice session suggested a change either. The mood was upbeat, with Gary Kirsten, the coach, sharing laughs with India’s batsmen as he handed out catching practice. Venkatesh Prasad was stoic as he monitored the bowlers but there was nothing out of the ordinary at that end of the ground. Zaheer Khan’s departure from practice early was not a matter of concern, said Kumble, as it was team policy to allow a player to leave once he felt satisfied.After losing the toss in Colombo, how crucial would it be here in Galle? “Toss and weather is not something we like to concentrate on,” Kumble said. “Whether we bat or bowl first we need to do a good job – bat well, land the ball in the right areas, take our catches. In the subcontinent the toss plays a crucial role but we can’t worry about it too much.”Last December, when England played Sri Lanka in Galle’s comeback Test, Kevin Pietersen was flipping through the channels one evening when he came upon highlights of The Oval Test in 1998 when Muttiah Muralitharan famously wrecked England’s batting line-up. On the eve of the Test, Pietersen noted how much England’s approach to Murali had improved since then. After being bowled out for 81 in their first innings, England creditably rallied to 251 before rain forced a draw. England’s batsmen allowed Murali only four wickets in that Test, and so Pietersen’s observations were correct in a way.India will hope that their batsmen have improved since they last played Sri Lanka in Galle in 2001 – and that will be a true test of the resilience Kumble speaks of.