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When the day started, Nepal seemed almost assured of finishing in the top two of the ICC World Cricket League Division 5, thus earning a promotion to a higher division. As it turned out, they did make it to Division 4, but only with some generous assistance from the home fans, whose displeasure with their team’s performance ensured that enough time was wasted to bring Duckworth-Lewis into play and upset the very delicate net-run-rate (NRR) calculations. In the bargain, Singapore were short-changed, being desperately unlucky to miss out on promotion due to an NRR which was 0.0035 lesser than Nepal’s.Going into the final round of league games, Nepal were sitting pretty: they were on top of the table with eight points – two clear of USA and Singapore – while their NRR was 1.919, seemingly well clear of USA (1.355) and Singapore (1.114).Things started to go wrong when they made a mess of their match against USA, getting bowled out for 162. Singapore, meanwhile, did their bit to make things interesting, chasing a target of 193 against Jersey in a mere 26 overs. That lifted their NRR to 1.347, which meant they were very much in the mix. It left USA requiring to chase 163 in 37.4 overs to dump the hosts out of the competition. And when they were coasting at 150 for 5 after 32, it appeared almost certain that USA and Singapore would make the cut.That’s when the crowd came into play. Sanjam Regmi, the offspinner, had just been carted for three sixes in a single over, the 32nd of the USA innings. That was the cue for the home fans to vent their anger, which continued long enough for the umpires to reduce four overs from USA’s run-chase. This reduced USA’s target to 157 from 46, but in the bargain it did a huge favour to Nepal, shaving off only six runs from their original score in the four overs lost. It lifted their NRR only slightly, but in a contest of such wafer-thin margins that made all the difference.When play resumed, USA polished off the remaining runs required in nine more deliveries, but it was two balls too late for Singapore: if USA had won in two fewer deliveries, or even if they had finished off the game with a six instead of a four, Singapore would have qualified at the expense of Nepal. As it turned out, the partisan crowd decided that they needed to make their presence felt. Their aim might not have been so lofty, but their contribution had repercussions far beyond the result of this game.

The dominance of spin was quite evident in the second week of the Inter-provincial four-day tournament with as many as three spinners deciding the outcome of their teams’ fortunes resulting in both Basnahira teams – North and South recording facile victories.Basnahira North secured the more impressive of the two wins, beating Ruhuna by an innings with left-arm spinner Sohan Boralessa proving to be unplayable at the Galle International Stadium picking up a match bag of eight wickets. Ruhuna were forced to follow-on despite a fighting century from the promising 20-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman Dinesh Chandimal. They trailed Basnahira North by 237 runs on the first innings and fared poorly in their second innings to be dismissed for a disappointing 129.Basnahira North who chose to bat first on winning the toss ended the first day on an impressive 359-3 and eventually declared at 538-9, the second time in successive matches they have reached a total in excess of 500. Their innings was boosted by centuries from opener Dilshan Munaweera, Sachithra Serasinghe and wicket-keeper Kaushal Silva. Munaweera, a 20-year-old opener scored an exciting 153 off 180 balls inclusive of eight sixes – his maiden first-class century and starred in a second wicket partnership of 210 with Serasinghe who made 117. Silva (108) and skipper Thilina Kandamby (68) put on a further 109 for the fourth wicket before the declaration.Legspinner Malinga Bandara played the key role in Basnahira South beating Kandurata by five wickets at the Bloomfield grounds. Bandara, who is fighting for a permanent place in the national team, took 5 for 40 as Kandurata were dismissed for 179 in the first innings and followed that performance with another inspiring spell in the second to take 4 for 75 giving him nine wickets in the match. Basnahira South’s first innings total of 300 was largely dependent on Sri Lanka Test wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene’s well-paced out knock of 84 off 162 balls and his partnership of 109 with Janaka Gunaratne (58) which lifted them from 106-5. Left with a target of 182 to chase, Basnahira South had to first overcome the wily offbreaks of Suraj Randiv who snapped up five wickets before victory was finally achieved.

Australia’s batsmen have got until Friday to perfect a plan to deal with India’s spinners after they overcame a scare against Bangladesh to reach the Super Eights. Michael Clarke’s side was 65 for 6 before scrambling to 141 for 7 on the way to a 27-run victory.The next challenge is India in Barbados and the batsmen will face another stern examination from their high quality slow men. “Spin bowling is going to play a big part in this tournament, whether that’s how you face spin or you bowl spin,” Clarke said.”India have got some good spin bowlers, Harbhajan [Singh] is one of the best in the world, so we’re going to have to work out a plan against him and back ourselves at that. Every player in our team plays spin bowling differently, you need to be confident with your plan and stick to that.”Australia won both their group games to move into the second round and Clarke said the result that sent Bangladesh from the tournament was satisfying. They relied on an unbeaten 47 from Michael Hussey before Dirk Nannes produced a career-best 4 for 18 as Bangladesh fell for 114.”Our top order obviously didn’t perform as well as we’d like,” Clarke said. “The conditions were a lot different to St Lucia, we probably didn’t adapt as well as we’d like. But to scrape our way to 140, Huss played a wonderful innings as he always seems to do when we’re under pressure, and young Steve Smith batted really well.”Our execution with the ball was spot on. I think these conditions are really going to help our fast bowlers, there was a lot of pace and bounce in that wicket. There was also a little bit of spin as well.”Clarke said the top-order batsmen should have tried to build more partnerships as the wickets fell quickly. “But in this form of the game it’s hard, you’re trying to score runs from every ball you face and you’re disappointed when you don’t,” he said. “It comes at a cost when you bat like that, you take risks and sometimes it doesn’t pay off.Mitchell Johnson missed the match with an elbow infection but Clarke is hopeful he will be fit for the India game. “He was certainly improving this [Wednesday] morning,” he said. “Mitch is a huge part of our team with both bat and ball, hopefully he is fit.”

ScorecardOwais Shah and Neil Dexter both made centuries as Middlesex battled back on the third day of their County championship game against Leicestershire at Grace Road. Middlesex recovered from losing three wickets for 12 runs in the first eight overs of the day to post a close of play total of 356 for 5, leaving them 108 runs adrift of Leicestershire.Shah, in need of a big score after a sketchy start to the season, played himself back into form during a 266-run partnership with Dexter, who scored his second century of the season.Both batsmen had their share of good fortune, with Shah dropped on 39 and Dexter forced to fight his way through a difficult patch during the early part of his innings when he played and missed on several occasions. But the fourth-wicket pair did their job, rescuing Middlesex from the perilous position they found themselves in at 35 for 3 after 15 overs.Resuming on their overnight score of 19 without loss, Middlesex lost a wicket to the last ball of the first over, with left-arm seamer Harry Gurney finding the edge of Sam Robson’s bat to provide Matt Boyce with a low catch at slip.Gurney struck again when more late swing accounted for Scott Newman, with wicketkeeper Tom New taking the catch. Dawid Malan was dropped at slip off Matthew Hoggard, but was out next ball trapped lbw, leaving Middlesex deep in trouble.At that point they looked as though they could struggle to reach the follow-on target of 315 until Shah and Dexter turned things around. The batting was not always fluent against some accurate bowling from Leicestershire’s seamers, who beat the bat on numerous occasions without finding the edge.Shah should have been out when he edged to second slip off Gurney, but Will Jefferson was unable to cling on to the catch as he dived to his right. The former England batsman celebrated by reaching his 50 with an on drive off Hoggard and Dexter’s half-century arrived soon afterwards off 105 balls.The next landmark was Shah’s first century of the season, which arrived via a top-edged four off Jacques Du Toit. It was the 38th first-class century of Shah’s career and came off 190 balls with 15 fours. At tea Dexter was nine runs short of his 100, but reached it off 165 balls with 13 boundaries. He followed that up by hoisting Claude Henderson for six over long off.But the second new ball ended the fourth-wicket stand with Dexter skying a catch to mid-off to provide Gurney with his third wicket. A six off Gurney took Shah to 150 before he popped up a return catch to Andrew McDonald, having made 156 off 289 balls with 23 fours. Gurney was Leicestershire’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 82 off 24 impressive overs.

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan’s request to have his appeal against the indefinite ban imposed on him by the PCB heard in presence of the media has been turned down by the arbitrator hearing the appeals, former high court judge, Irfan Qadir. Younis’ hearing will now resume on June 5.On a day when Qadir decided to overturn the one-year ban on Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik, Younis’ lawyer Ahmed Qayyum demanded that his client’s hearing be conducted in front of journalists. Qadir denied the request and was willing to announce his verdict on Younis’ appeal, but the lawyer refused to hear a decision “behind closed doors”.”The judge told me he would hold my hearing in camera and didn’t allow the media representatives Younis wants to attend his hearings,” Qayyum was quoted as saying by PTI. “Before the hearings I requested the judge to allow the media reps in but was told this was not possible as it was a confidential hearing. I was indirectly also told that the judge wanted to give a ruling on Younis Khan’s ban immediately behind closed doors but I refused.”Younis has been picked in Pakistan’s preliminary squad of 35 for the Asia Cup and the tour of England. He was banned indefinitely by the PCB along with Mohammad Yousuf in the aftermath of a winless tour of Australia for reasons of indiscipline, but his being considered for Pakistan’s upcoming international assignments could be an indication that the PCB is willing to leave a door open for a possible return.The reason for demanding a hearing in the presence of the media, Qayyum said, was to get the board to highlight the evidence based on which it decided to impose the ban. “Now they are saying it is not a ban and the Chairman of the board can include him (Younis) anytime in the team. But my client is adamant that he wants his case to be heard openly because he has done nothing wrong,” Qayyum said. “My client wants the truth to come out and my client wants the board to show the evidence on basis of which they banned him.”Qadir said the board had explained its position on the issue, as a result of which he was ready to “wrap up” the pending appeals. “I wanted to give a ruling on Younis Khan’s appeal but his lawyer said he wanted more time to talk to his client,” Qadir told reporters. “I want to wrap up these appeals because the board has made its stance clear to me now.”

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is set to reply to the third show cause notice issued by BCCI, and repeat his request that the board president Shashank Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan recuse themselves from participating in the proceedings. Later tonight Modi will email his response to the notice, which accuses him of irregularities in the awarding of theatrical rights during the third IPL season. Mehmood Abdi, Modi’s legal counsel, will submit the hard copy tomorrow.”There is a continuous issuance of notices wherein the allegations are wholly misconceived and irresponsible,” Abdi told PTI. “The notices are being issued despite full knowledge that no material warranting their issuance existed.”Abdi was highly critical of Srinivasan’s role in the proceedings. “Modi’s application seeking Srinivasan’s exclusion from proceedings against him is still undecided,” he said. “Despite this, the honorary secretary continues to issue further notices to him. Therefore in the interest of justice and fair play it is incumbent upon Srinivasan to totally exclude himself.”Abdi said there was no need for the third show cause notice and that the BCCI had exaggerated a non-issue. “It seems that in BCCI somebody has not done his homework properly, otherwise the matter would not have necessitated any show cause. It’s a matter of routine internal procedure and record. Still we are submitting our explanation covering all angles and concerning all the issues. Though I don’t want to trivialise the issue, still with a view to slap another show cause notice, a mountain has been made out of a molehill,” Abdi said. He also said the reply would consist of approximately 50 pages, while the attachments would consist of nearly two dozen.

ScorecardSteven Croft carried Lancashire into the Friends Provident t20 quarter-finals on the back of a tense seven-run win against Worcestershire at New Road. With Croft making 88 from 52 balls, Lancashire piled up 198 for 6 – their biggest total of the campaign – but they were stretched to the limit when Moeen Ali launched a blistering counter-attack with 72 from 39 deliveries.Even when the left-hander was caught on the boundary off Gary Keedy after hitting eight fours and four sixes, the Royals kept up their chase until finishing tantalisingly short on 191 for 7. It was a cruel blow to finish bottom of the North Group despite giving third-placed Lancashire a major fright.Needing 23 from the last two overs, they were finally tamed when Sajid Mahmood took two wickets in five balls – including James Cameron for 26 – and the task was too much when Tom Smith bowled Daryl Mitchell for 39.A pre-match skydiving display by the Red Devils was followed by an even swifter descent for Worcestershire as they entered their final match without an overseas player. Phil Jaques missed the last two games after returning to Australia and Sri Lanka veteran Sanath Jayasuriya was released after a defeat by Warwickshire ended any hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.An inexperienced team was powerless to stem the flow of runs despite an early glimmer of encouragement when Imran Arif bowled former New Road team-mate Stephen Moore for 10 in the fourth over.Lancashire’s response was little short of brutal. While Croft hit 10 fours and four sixes, Smith went past 500 runs in this season’s competition with a power-packed 40 during a stand of 81 in six overs.Left-arm spinner Shaaiq Choudhry managed to stem the flow, bowling Smith in the midst of a relatively economical spell, but Croft charged on after a let-off when he was caught off a no-ball on 43.Nathan McCullum drove Choudhry for two sixes before top-edging Jack Shantry and the left-arm seamer also removed Croft with a smart catch by wicketkeeper Ben Cox.

Scorecard
Mountaineers’ Bernard Mlambo was one of Njabulo Ncube’s four victims in the first innings•Zimbabwe Cricket

Mark Vermeulen’s unbeaten century guided Mountaineers to a five-wicket victory over Matabeleland Tuskers in Bulawayo on the final afternoon after fast bowler Shingirai Masakadza’s five-wicket haul on the third day had left them with 249 runs to chase.Mountaineers were in some trouble at 78 for 3 but a 114-run stand between Vermeulen and Prosper Utseya steadied the innings. After Utseya’s dismissal, Vermeulen kept his cool to steer his side to a win in what could have become a tense chase.Masakadza, who made his one-day and T20 debut against West Indies earlier this year, set up the chase with impressive bowling in Tuskers’ second innings. He first reduced them to 26 for 3, including the big wicket of Charles Coventry, and then returned to take three of the last four wickets as Tuskers were dismissed for 243. That total was possible largely due to Keegan Meth’s aggressive 94.The match had been reduced to a second-innings battle after both teams were dismissed within five runs of each other in the first innings. Coventry’s century in an otherwise uninspiring performance took Tuskers to 267, legspinner Natsai Mushangwe taking 4 for 68. Njabulo Ncube and Chris Mpofu ensured Mountaineers didn’t cross that total, taking seven wickets between themselves as Mountaineers were bowled out for 262.Mountaineers earned six points for their win to go to the top of the table while Tuskers got a point for taking the first innings lead.A last-wicket stand of 20 enabled Mashonaland Eagles to take the first-innings lead against Southern Rocks and earn themselves a point in a drawn game dominated by batsmen at the Masvingo Sports Club.Forster Mutizwa had played a captain’s innings of 114 but his side still needed 14 runs to overhaul Rocks’ total of 325 when the last pair of Tinotenda Mutombodzi and Mark Mbofana came together. Mutombodzi ensured his team went ahead and Eagles finally declared on 331 for 9. He had earlier taken 5 for 97 with his legspin, including the wicket of top-scorer Chamu Chibhabha for 85.After conceding the slender lead, Rocks piled on the runs in the second innings, eventually declaring on 449 for 5. Tatenda Taibu was unbeaten on 153 while former Kenya captain Steve Tikolo and Steve Marillier missed out on centuries, both getting dismissed in the nineties. Eagles batted for less than five overs in their second innings before the match was called off.

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman, has won the prize for the Best Twenty20 Performance at the ICC Awards ceremony in Bangalore. McCullum’s unbeaten 116 against Australia in Christchurch in February this year was singled out as the greatest among the five nominations.McCullum’s 56-ball innings, laced with 12 fours and eight sixes, beat competition from Australia’s Michael Hussey for his 60 not out off 24 balls against Pakistan in the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20, South Africa’s Ryan McLaren for his 5 for 19 against West Indies, and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene for his two performances at the ICC World Twenty20 – 100 off 64 balls against Zimbabwe and 98 not out off 56 balls against West Indies.McCullum, who is in Bangladesh with the rest of the New Zealand squad for the Test and ODI series there, was delighted with the award. “That score is my highest in a Twenty20 International and on the day everything just seemed to go right for me.”The award rounded off a good year of Twenty20 International cricket for McCullum, who scored 411 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.36 during the voting period, which ran from August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010.

John Howell, the former New Zealand Cricket (NZC) national coaching director, has died at the age of 67.Howell assumed the coaching role in 1984 and worked with the board till 2003. He played a key role in the implementation of a national player talent identification programme, the creation of the NZC Coaches Association, and was involved in the development of high performance coaches. After his stint with NZC, he set up the Howell Cricket Academy in Tauranga.Earlier, Howell was a right-arm medium-pace bowler with the Central Districts. He played in the Plunket Shield competition between 1966-67 and 1972-73, picking up 82 wickets in 34 games.