Before pushing up to the Premier League, Leeds United’s transfer business has now been thankfully exposed to be full of many hits, rather than misses.

While Daniel Farke has reminded the Elland Road faithful that there is a “long road” ahead for survival, it cannot be understated how much of an influence the likes of Anton Stach have had on proceedings, with the summer signing from Hoffenheim’s delightful free-kick sealing a big 4-1 win over Crystal Palace last time out.

Additionally, Jaka Bijol has also finally arrived at the party in recent contests, after an initially wobbly start, winning a commanding 25 duels across December to date.

Still, it goes without saying at this point that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the pick of the bunch when it comes to the influential recruits, with the free transfer of the ex-Everton marksman going down as an unbelievable steal.

The stats behind Calvert-Lewin's start at Leeds

Staggeringly, Calvert-Lewin is now the only player in Leeds’ history to score in each of his team’s five final league matches before Christmas, as the festive period has proven to be a fruitful time for the revitalised goalscorer.

Indeed, the often injury-prone 28-year-old has looked a man reborn in West Yorkshire, with seven Premier League goals now next to his name from just 15 appearances.

DCL’s PL form – 24/25 vs 25/26

Stat

24/25

25/26

Games played

26

15

Goals scored

3

7

Assists

1

0

Scoring frequency

543 mins

147 mins

Goal conversion %

6%

21%

Stats by Sofascore

It has been a very sharp turnaround in fortunes for Farke’s leading man, with the overjoyed German hailing him as an “unbelievable” player to work with, after his late equalising header against Brentford.

On the contrary, towards the end of his long-standing Everton spell, he was simply written off as a wasteful attacker well accustomed to the treatment room, with only three league strikes coming his way last season.

Now, however, he’s a number nine in a rich vein of form, with a goal coming his way in league action every 147 minutes. Moreover, he has been unbelievably effective in front of goal, with Calvert-Lewin only needing three shots in total to pick up a whirlwind double against the Eagles.

Therefore, it’s an argument that is hard to pick holes in when you state that Calvert-Lewin is Leeds’ best signing of the season. Yet, there is one figure who could be considered an even better signing than the Sheffield-born talisman.

Leeds star is a better signing than Calvert-Lewin

Leeds fans might well err on the side of caution when it comes to waxing too lyrical about their new favourite target-man, with Calvert-Lewin prone to barren patches of form, but also many recurring injury troubles.

The proof will soon be in the pudding if he can keep this up for a full Premier League season, with Ethan Ampadu, on the contrary, now three seasons down when it comes to delivering some top-drawer performances at Elland Road.

Farke’s top five most-used Leeds players

Player

Games

Goals + Assists

1. Joe Rodon

115

3 + 0

2. Joel Piroe

107

33 + 10

3. Ethan Ampadu

101

3 + 2

4. Wilfried Gnonto

100

18 + 12

5. Daniel James

94

25 + 17

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The table above reinforces how crucial Ampadu has been as one of Farke’s main heartbeats in West Yorkshire, with the Welshman now up to 101 games and counting under the German’s long-standing Whites tenure.

While he doesn’t boast anywhere near the same levels of output as Calvert-Lewin, Ampadu has still more than played his part in Leeds’ recent successes, with the £7m once splashed out on his services immediately justified last season, as his 16 clean sheets as a rock-solid midfield anchor helped Leeds return to the Premier League as emphatic champions.

He has also worn the captain’s armband with heaps of passion and bravery since pushing Leeds up to the top-flight, with the goal instinctively fired home by the ex-Chelsea youngster against Palace, capping off a tremendous all-round display, with a mighty 11 tackles and duels also won. Without this steel week in week out, Calvert-Lewin’s goals might ultimately count for nothing.

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Farke has rightly recognised how crucial of a glue Ampadu has been for his side over recent seasons, by noting in the build-up to the Sunderland contest to come that he is “one of the best midfielders in the league”, for how well-rounded and lively he is, with the ex-Norwich City boss also lauding him as a “cornerstone” centrally.

Of course, Calvert-Lewin’s contributions in recent matches have been more obvious, as goals are what catch the eye.

But, Ampadu has also been sensational to watch across Leeds’ December upturn in results, with the 25-year-old keen to secure survival for his beloved side, to not only strengthen his label as a favourite amongst supporters, but also in his manager’s good books.

Related 18 months after leaving Leeds, £22m star is a bigger talent than Archie Gray

This former Leeds United prodigy has turned into an even more exciting talent than Archie Gray since exiting Elland Road.

Posts 1 ByKelan Sarson

A fine unbeaten 142 by Amit Pagnis and his unfinished third wicket partnership of 147 runs off 57.4 overs with skipper Abhay Sharma (61) helped Railways score 267 for 2 wickets in 90 overs at the end of the first day’s play in the Central Zone Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi today.Abhay Sharma won the toss and decided to bat. Pagnis, who joined Railwaysfrom Mumbai this year, opened the innings with Sanjay Bangar. The two put on 91 runs before Bangar was caught by debudent wicket keeper Gurucharan Singh off the bowling of JP Yadav. Bangar scored 41 off 64 balls with the help of 4 fours and a six. Murli Kartik was out for 8 off JP Yadav.Pagnis completed his century in 4-1/2 hours off 218 balls with the help of 15 fours and 2 sixes. By close he had batted six hours, faced 308 balls and hit 20 fours and two sixes. Sharma had faced 162 balls, hitting six of them to the ropes. Not even the new ball taken at 260 for two after 84.5 overs, made any impression on the two batsmen.For MP, medium pacer JP Yadav took both the wickets conceding 65 runs off25 overs.

Stuart Binny has been a professional cricketer for more than a decade, and an international one for 18 months. Yet in 10 one-day internationals before this one he’d never really had the chance to show what he’s capable of with the bat. In the first ODI against Zimbabwe, Binny walked out with his side in deep trouble at 87 for 5 – but importantly there was still half the innings to be played, and he had time to express himself fully with a career-best 77 at better than a run a ball.”I’ve played 10 ODIs and I haven’t had the opportunity to bat more than five or six overs,” Binny said. “It was a great opportunity for me to go and spend some time in the middle and try and get as much as we could.”Binny didn’t have it all his way at the start of his innings. With Chamu Chibhabha in the middle of a parsimonious spell of medium pace, Binny suppressed his attacking instincts for a good half hour before biffing legspinner Graeme Cremer over long-on for six. Slowly but surely Binny and his partner, centurion Ambati Rayudu, eased India back into the game.”We didn’t set any totals when we went into bat, we just wanted to bat the next 10 overs and try not to lose any more wickets. It was a bit tough, but the wicket started to ease out a bit. Once you were set you could rotate the strike a bit more and play a few shots. But we just wanted to bat the first ten overs.”The pair eventually added 160 for the sixth wicket – a record for India – and combined to help India reap 90 runs from the last 10 overs as the hosts’ attack grew increasingly ragged. The match was ultimately a close one, with India winning by just four runs, and Binny stressed upon the advantage of having set batsmen in the crease at the death.”The difference was when we were batting it was me and Rayudu both set at that point of time, but [Zimbabwe] had one batsman set and the other one was trying to rotate the strike so two didn’t go hard at the same time. But when we were batting we set the platform. We had batsmen in the shed who could go, and we were both set on 60-plus. If you’re set you’ve got to take it as far as you can.”With all of the matches on this tour being played at Harare Sports Club, it’s likely that India will have to overcome bowler-friendly conditions again, and Binny suggested that a healthy respect for the new ball was needed.”If we get a chance to bat up front again early in the morning it’s crucial, with the Dukes ball that does swing and seam a bit, that we’ve got to give the bowlers a lot more respect, compared to playing with the Kookaburra ball in other ODIs. If you can get through the first 15 overs without losing more than a wicket or two, then we’ve got the firepower to get 300 in an ODI.”

Steven Finn wants England to continue their feel-good summer by wrapping up a 4-1 Ashes win in the fifth Investec Test at The Oval and believes that such a resounding margin of victory would help atone for their whitewashing in Australia 18 months ago.The legacy of that tour cast a shadow over much of 2014 and when this year began with England departing the World Cup at the group stage, the public feedback Finn received was of the “people hanging off scaffolding abusing me” variety. England have since won over the fans with some swashbuckling displays in ODI and Test cricket and next week will go after four victories in an Ashes series for the first time since 1978.The enjoyment has been even sweeter for Finn, who returned to the Test side at Edgbaston after two years out and picked up eight wickets. The problems with his action and run up came to a head during the 2013-14 Ashes tour, from which he returned home early, but Finn felt the pain of a 5-0 defeat even as he toiled in the nets.”Obviously we wanted to avenge that coming into the series, it was deeply embarrassing being over there for that,” he said. “I didn’t even play a part in the series but I was there watching every day and it hurt to be beaten like that. So to be sat here now having regained the Ashes is a very nice feeling.”We want to win 4-1, we don’t want to finish on a downer, that would be such a disappointing way to end what has been such an exciting series. We are glad that people are celebrating.”It’s great when you get stopped in the street to say they are proud of you and it’s nice considering where we were when we came back from that World Cup, when people were embarrassed to be associated with England or to be supporters of English cricket. To make people proud is a great feeling and I think if we were to win 4-1, which is very much what we are focused on, hopefully we can make them even more proud.”While many England supporters viewed the summer with trepidation – their unease added to by a 1-1 draw in the Caribbean – a thrilling one-day series win over New Zealand helped reignite enthusiasm. Australia arrived as favourites for the Ashes but a giddy fortnight, during which they were twice crushed inside three days, saw England reclaim the urn as well as a great deal of public affection.”Just walking up and down the street doing the shopping over the last couple of days, people stop you and say ‘we’re proud of you’ and it’s lovely – that’s what going out there and doing it is all about,” Finn said. “We go out there for ourselves and the team, obviously, but we do it for the wider perspective and other people as well. That is something I really enjoy and if we can put smiles on people’s faces then that is fantastic. Six months ago no one stopped me, no one said hello – other than people hanging off scaffolding abusing me!”Victory at The Oval in the final Test, which starts on Thursday, would see England rise from No. 6 to No. 2 in the ICC rankings – they will go third, behind Australia, with a draw or defeat – but Finn has cautioned against looking too far ahead.England’s next Test series is against Pakistan in the UAE, where they travelled as the No. 1-ranked side in 2012 only to be whitewashed 3-0. They will then take on South Africa, currently the world’s top Test team, but Finn said it was important the team remained focused on their current opponents.”We started to think about legacies and things like that and I am not comfortable with that sort of thing,” Finn said of England’s rise to No. 1 in 2011. “Why we have done so well, and won people back to cricket this summer, is we have taken every day as it comes – we have played with smiles on our faces and it’s brought the best out of us.”If we start talking about anything beyond that it could prove detrimental to what we are doing at the moment. That is for other people to talk about. We are not thinking about anything other than trying to win these five days at The Oval and then enjoying the challenge when we get over to the UAE as well.”Finn’s international career has in some ways reflected England’s ups and downs but his return to form has been a heartening one. He looked on from the sidelines as England won the Ashes in 2013 and 2010-11 but said being involved at Trent Bridge was “a moment to savour for the rest of my career”.He now requires one more wicket for 100 in Tests – having become the youngest Englishman to 50 more than four years ago – and looks a more complete bowler after rebuilding his action, adding consistent outswing to his armoury.”I have worked hard on swinging the ball over the last year but sometimes it has almost felt like I have sacrificed pace when I have been trying to move the ball sideways,” he said, “but something clicked in a four-day game at Merchant Taylor’s against Somerset recently. It was something I had been trying in practice and it started coming out better – then I thought, sod it, I am going to try it in a game. Richard Johnson, Middlesex’s bowling coach, has been encouraging me for a long time to just give it a go – I never had the confidence to do it.”

India bowling coach B Arun has said India will be satisfied with a lead of around 100 runs because of the condition of the P Sara Oval pitch, which he said would offer both bounce and reverse swing. The Indian bowlers kept Sri Lanka down to under three runs an over in their first innings on the second day, as the hosts ended on 140 for 3, still 253 runs behind.”We are probably looking for a lead of about 100 runs… If we get a lead of 100 runs on this track, it is beginning to wear and there was sign of spinners extracting some turn,” Arun said. The P Sara pitch, regarded as the most seamer-friendly in the country, is not offering the carry that it has been known to but Arun said the track, “was a lot harder than what we had at Galle. It has a lot more bounce to offer as the game progresses, but not so much turn.”The decision to play Umesh Yadav over Varun Aaron, who bowled at a good pace but conceded 107 in his 18 overs in Galle, had to do with Umesh’s better dexterity with the ball, both when it would be new and old. Arun said India had benefitted from having a variety in the bowling attack on this tour, giving the team “much more freedom” to choose the attack made for the surfaces they faced.”If you look at this wicket, it does not have that much pace to offer,” Arun said. “There was dry grass and also the fact that the ball could reverse on this track and Umesh is pretty good with reverse swing, that was the main choice for Umesh over Varun.” In the past, citing the example of the tour of Australia, Arun said Umesh had tended to bowl spells, “when he was good and then he could leak runs. So we had to work on Umesh to become a lot more consistent because he has the pace, he can move the ball and also he can reverse it with the old ball. That makes him a potent bowler provided you have a lot of discipline and that’s exactly what we worked on and we will go ahead with it.”The control shown by the Indian seamers, Arun said, had pleased the team because “to do well in Test matches, you need to be bowling with a lot of discipline. This is something that we have worked really hard on. Today was there for it to see. Restricting them to under three an over, it was pretty good bowling.” He said that “discipline”, when it came to bowlers, involved “ironing out your difficulties” and thinking clearly under pressure. “The calmer you are, if you have clarity of mind, then you have the best chance to perform.”When Sri Lanka came out to bat, Arun said the plan was, “to make them work for every run. We reworked our fields, we looked at the batsmen’s strengths, these are the areas they were really scoring at. And we said we are going to plug those very areas where they are going to be looking for runs. So far it has worked well for us.”

Pakistan suffered an injury scare on the eve of the first Test after Yasir Shah went down with a back problem in training. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq said he had experienced a back spasm and an assessment would be made in the morning but the team’s management remained optimistic about Yasir’s recovery overnight and were taking every necessary step to ensure he plays.Yasir was bowling in the nets and collapsed after catching his studs in the turf. He was left lying on the ground in apparent pain before being helped away by fellow spinner Zulfiqar Babar.The legspinner, who recently became the fastest Pakistani to 50 Test wickets, has been viewed as one of the key bowlers in the series and his absence would be a significant blow for Misbah’s side. Pakistan’s No. 3, Azhar Ali, has already been ruled out with a foot injury.”We want to wait until tomorrow and hoping for the best,” Misbah said. “He got a back spasm and let’s see [how his recovery goes] overnight. His loss could be a big blow but we are hoping that he will be a fine as he is our key player and we are very much concerned about him.”Obviously we are looking into it [a replacement]. In case if he won’t recover then we need to have someone and we are working on that. Hopefully we will get someone for tomorrow morning.”Considering the injury to Azhar Ali, now if Yasir couldn’t make it it will be a tough challenge for us. It will be hard for us to cope without him but this is exactly the same scenario, we are already playing against a top team and we knew we have to come hard so it will be more challenging.”Yasir Shah walked off the field in discomfort after hurting his back during a training session•Getty Images

Pakistan have called up left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, who played against England in their two warm-up matches last week. Gohar had returned to Pakistan and is unlikely arrive back in the UAE before the start of the Test on Tuesday, which means Pakistan may have to resort to playing another pace bowler if Yasir is unfit.Chief selector Haroon Rasheed told ESPNcricinfo: “Team management required a replacement as a precaution and we are making sure that a player should be sitting on bench before the Test match starts.”Gohar, an uncapped left-arm spinner, came into the spotlight at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup when he was Man of the Match in Pakistan’s semi-final win over England. He picked up five wickets in two practice matches against England in Sharjah and has been named as ‘temporary’ replacement for Yasir but must wait on his application for a visa. There is a possibility that Gohar could travel, subject to visa, on Monday night and join the squad before the Test starts but it would not be ideal preparation to make his Test debut.Pakistan’s team management are still hopeful that Yasir can make a speedy recovery with the help of extensive treatment. But if he doesn’t make it and Gohar is unable to fly in time, Pakistan face a difficult selection conundrum.Pakistan would have no option but to play three seamers – most likely Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Imran Khan – along with one full-time spinner in Zulfiqar Babar and include Shoaib Malik as an allrounder. Fawad Alam, an assured batsman who can chip in with some spin bowling, is also a possibility. But from now until the toss, Pakistan are hoping for a miracle Yasir recovery to solve the problem.

Ireland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and USA will participate in the qualifiers of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, in Kuala Lumpur from October 15 to 22. The winner of the qualifying tournament will proceed to the main event to be played in Bangladesh early next year.This is the second and final chance for the five Under-19 teams to qualify after they finished second in their respective regional qualifying tournaments. The 12 matches will be shared between Kinrara Oval and Bayumas Oval, including the final on October 22 at the Kinrara Oval.The winner will join the ten Test-playing nations along with Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia and Scotland.

ScorecardAditya Sarwate picked up 6 for 64 on first-class debut•PTI

Vidarbha, currently scraping the bottom of the group, were in line to register their first outright win this season after debutant left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate (6 for 64) and offspinner Akshay Wakhare (4 for 37) bundled Assam out for 160 in the second innings in Nagpur to set up a chase of 213. As many as five Assam batsmen got into double figures, but Swarupam Purkayastha’s 35 ended up the highest score to round off a disappointing performance.Wasim Jaffer, who has just one fifty from six innings this season, was unbeaten on 43, while Faiz Fazal made 38 to take Vidarbha to stumps on 88 without loss. Given they still have the experience of Ganesh Satish and S Badrinath, the captain, Vidarbha will fancy their chances of polishing off the 125 runs they need to move into the top half of the group standings.
ScorecardVital contributions from Haryana’s top seven in the second innings ensured they were in with a chance to break Karnataka’s 33-match unbeaten streak in Mysore. Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul saw off six tense overs to take the hosts to 9 for 0 at stumps, but are still well adrift of their target of 373 going into the final day.After pocketing a 110-run lead, Haryana declared their second innings on 262 for 9, with Nitin Saini top-scoring with 52. Virender Sehwag, who walked in to bat at No. 7, set pulses racing with a 36-ball 40 to follow his swashbuckling 136 in the first innings to add some lower order impetus. After going wicketless in 16 overs in the first innings, legspinner Shreyas Gopal was rewarded for his persistence as he finished with figures of 4 for 53, while Vinay Kumar, the captain, and David Mathias had two scalps apiece.
ScorecardBengal took the first-innings lead over Delhi at Feroz Shah Kotla, but a lot of attention was deflected towards a reported on-field altercation between Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary, the two captains.Delhi, who resumed on 100 for 3, were bowled out for 249, with Milind Kumar top-scoring with 77. Delhi’s only semblance of resistance came when Milind and Nitish Rana, who made 43, shared a 67-run fourth-wicket stand.Pragyan Ojha, who moved to Bengal in order to play in the top drawer of the Ranji Trophy, enhanced his credentials. He finished with figures of 4 for 77 off 27 overs. Ashok Dinda, the pace spearhead, had three scalps. Bengal, who would have hoped to drive the game forward in their second dig, lost their top three with just 29 on the board. Manoj Tiwary was unbeaten on 21, with their lead standing at 155 with one day to play.Rajasthan v Maharashtra – Maharashtra take lead with Tripathi ton

The Australian women’s team asserted their place alongside their malecounterparts as the number one team in their sport, following their sixwicket victory over New Zealand at the Albert Cricket Ground in Melbournetoday.The win ensured that Australia claimed an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the threematch series over the only team who could be considered a serious rival totheir quest for the World Cup this coming December. The win, Australia’ssixth in six one-day internationals in the past eleven days, means that theRose Bowl – women’s cricket’s answer to rugby union’s Bledisloe Cup -returns to Australian soil.New Zealand squandered a good opening stand of 81 in 21.2 overs to finish on8/166. Australia scored the required 167 for the loss of just four wicketsand 22 balls to spare.Debbie Hockley, who today became the first woman to appear in 100 one-dayinternationals, picked up from where she left off on Sunday, dominating thebatting and taking the attack to the Australian bowlers. She blasted ThereseMcGregor out of the attack after taking four boundaries off her third over.The first wicket fell when Kate Pulford (27) was run out, the third run outof the series in which Hockley was involved.When Hockley was dismissed, caught off a top edge to wicketkeeper JuliaPrice off the bowling of Avril Fahey for 66, the momentum fell away.Kathryn Ramel finished unbeaten on 28. Avril Fahey (3/27) was the mostsuccessful of the Australian bowlers, while Cathryn Fitzpatrick (2/34) leftit till her final over to take two wickets in the aspace of threedeliveries. Charmaine Mason, who was so successful with the ball againstEngland, went wicketless in this game, taking 0/39.As they have done so many times in the past, Belinda Clark and LisaKeightley got Australia off to a rousing start in their chase of 167,sharing an opening partnership of 124. Helen Watson broke the stand whenshe accepted a return catch off Clark in the 32nd over. Clark’s 78 from 96deliveries was her fourth consecutive ODI half-century, and included thefirst six of the international summer, when she pulled a Haidee Tiffen fulltoss over the square leg boundary.Keightley (49) was bowled by Katrina Keenan while attempting to bring up herhalf-century. Despite the loss of Cherie Bambury (4) and Jo Broadbent (runout without scoring) the Australians cruised to their target with relativeease.The final match in the series will be played at the Junction Oval, St kilda,tomorrow. Though a dead rubber, Australia will be aiming to finish theirbrief international season with seven wins out of seven.

CFX Academy won toss and elected to bat.Weather overcast.Pitch devoid of grass and a little spongy.The new format for 1st Class cricket in Zimbabwe with 4provincial teams and the Academy, proposed by the Academy andadopted by the ZCU is proving to be an outstanding success. Thetalent in the former stronghold, Mashonaland, has now beendissipated to the provinces and the games are proving to behighly competitive and even contests. The Academy is now provingthat its existence is vital to the future of cricket in Zimbabwe.Already in this competition 8 out of the 9 centuries have beenscored by Academy or former Academy students.On this dead and low bounce pitch it was vital that the Academybatsmen play straight. Too many batsmen got themselves outplaying indiscriminate shots. However Greg Lamb, with hisabundant natural talent, rescued the Academy with, for him, apatient and well constructed century in 179 minutes off 156balls. Other than Lamb and Went, making his 1st class debut with37, this was a disappointing batting performance by the Academywho were bowled out for 191 in 78 overs.Manicaland, the log leaders, lost an early wicket but NeilFerreira, the most improved Academy player in 1999, continuedwhere he had left off in previous games with a solid start. TheAcademy fought back well, capturing 3 wickets before stumps weredrawn early due to bad light at 5.47pm.DAY 2Ferreira continued his inexorable compilation of runs in makinghis 3rd century in 4 matches. He continues to remind theselectors that he should receive national recognition. He wouldbe the perfect foil to the stroke players in the test side withhis tremendous powers of concentration and excellent defence. Itis indeed puzzling that a player of this calibre, performing sowell at 1st Class level has not been included in the 15 man Ateam squad to Sri Lanka. He is a more than adequate wicket-keeperand he must now be included in national teams. It is inexcusableto keep playing the same batsmen failing at test level when youngplayers are performing so well at 1st class level.The other Manicaland batters played good supporting roles toFerreira, who was eventually caught off Haakonsen, for 121 in 420minutes in 344 balls. Andy Whittall put bat to ball at the end ofthe innings before Manicaland were bowled out for 288 with a leadof 97 on 1st innings.The Academy opened their 2nd innings with King and the lefthanded Vaughan -Davies giving Maragwede respite from a long dayin the field with the gloves.Vaughan-Davies relished the opportunity scoring freely, finishingthe day on 33 out of 50, 47 runs behind with a day to go, losingthe wicket of King LBW to Whittal half an hour before stumps.Day 3The Academy started soundly taking no chances in overtakingManicaland’s 1st innings score. Lamb,the 1st innings centurymaker could not bat above No 7 after dislocating his leftshoulder yet again in the field. Went, also injured in the 1stinnings, also had to bat below 7. Maragwede fell LBW to theveteran John Brent when the score was 80 and the 17 year old”Dombo” Stone losing his wicket to a good catch at bat/pad offLawson for 6. Vaughan-Davies fell a few balls later to anoutstanding catch at deep gully off the bowling of Burmester.This was a good fighting innings by an enthusiastic and dedicatedyoung cricketer making 61 in 155 balls.Manicaland could now sense victory and applied the pressure. Atlunch the Academy were 37 ahead with 6 second innings wicketsstanding. However a good 5th wicket partnership between theAcademy captain Paul Strang and the talented all rounder TravisFriend removed the immediate danger. A thunderstorm threatenedand the players left the field at 14.05pm. Play resumed 50minutes later but with no further wickets being taken byManicaland the captains decided to call a halt to proceedings at3.55pm with the scare at 250 for 5, captain Strang undefeated on74 and Young on 26.Manicaland have made great strides in their quest to become atruly 1st Class province. With the inspiration of theirexperienced and competitive captain Mark Burmester, the secondinflux of Academy students next year and the distribution ofestablished test players to the provinces this province isassured of continuing to be one of the best sides in the country.