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ScorecardA determined innings from Abhinav Mukund and resistance from the lower order helped Tamil Nadu secure a first-innings lead against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Abhinav was struck on the jaw by a Pradeep Sangwan delivery that kicked off a length and forced him to retire hurt on 39, before he returned to carry Tamil Nadu to 281 for 8 at stumps, with a lead of 69.Abhinav had an x-ray done that showed no fracture and told ESPNcricinfo after the day’s play that he was having trouble talking, but was “feeling comfortable enough to bat”.Tamil Nadu would have fallen short of Delhi’s 212 if the hosts had not wasted several chances. M Vijay and Abhinav took Tamil Nadu to 35 before a double-strike from Ashish Nehra opened up the match. Nehra, on first-class return, trapped Vijay lbw as he shouldered arms to a ball that didn’t get up much and struck him on off and middle. Arun Karthik was bowled first ball to leave Nehra on a hat-trick, but Dinesh Karthik denied him.Dinesh offered a simple catch to the slip cordon soon after, off Parvinder Awana, but Yogesh Nagar could not hold on. However, it did not cost Delhi too much, as Dinesh edged behind on 18. Baba Aparajith, too, could not make use of a life – wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht had fumbled a stumping chance off Vikas Mishra, but he fell off the very next ball for just 6, trapped in front by an arm ball. By this point Tamil Nadu had also lost K Vasudevadas for a duck and were struggling at 88 for 5.R Prasanna and Yo Mahesh then began to repair the innings. Prasanna survived on 13, after fending one off Nehra that went between the slips and gully, and again on 20 – dropped at second slip by Milind Kumar off Awana. Mahesh was very cautious to begin with, crawling to 3 off 49 balls, before he began to open up a little. Prasanna got to a fifty as the pair marginally increased the run-rate – the third fifty of the innings came off 85 balls, following 119 and 127-ball fifties.Delhi put down another chance when Mahesh was dropped by the wicketkeeper off Mithun Manhas’ part-time offspin, but the Delhi captain soon struck. He had Prasanna lbw, after the batsman failed to offer a shot, to end the stubborn 86-run stand.Abhinav returned now, with Tamil Nadu still trailing by 38. He kept chipping away at the lead with Mahesh and got to a fifty post tea. Mahesh was finally snagged by Awana for 47, but he had done his job as Tamil Nadu were just five short of taking the lead by then. L Balaji, though he looked uncomfortable, hung around with Abhinav as Tamil Nadu went ahead, and fell just prior to stumps for a hard-fought 16 off 55 balls.

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David Willey took a match haul of 10 wickets as Northamptonshire thrashed Gloucestershire by nine wickets on the third day of their County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road.Promotion-chasers Northamptonshire bowled Gloucestershire out for 185 in the morning with Willey claiming two more victims to take figures of 5 for 46 and a magnificent 10 for 75 for the match.The hosts were set a paltry target of 26 and, despite losing Rob Newton, they reached it within four overs to record their first home win since May. But even the emphatic result will probably not be enough to secure them promotion Surrey beating Derbyshire and Middlesex on well placed against Leicestershire.Gloucestershire started the day on 84 for 5 in their second innings, following on after being bowled out for 183 yesterday, with captain Alex Gidman resuming on 6 and Hamish Marshall beginning his innings.Alex Gidman was to move on to 27 before Willey broke through in the ninth over of the day when he forced him to edge to his Northamptonshire counterpart Andrew Hall at first slip. A four through backward point off James Middlebrook by Ian Cockbain ensured that the hosts would have to bat again but former New Zealand international Marshall was to perish on 42.Striding down the pitch after a Middlebrook delivery, he was sharply stumped by Niall O’Brien. Chaminda Vaas then accounted for Cockbain, who made a brisk 23, in the next over when he was edged to Hall at first slip.Willey then secured his maiden 10-wicket match haul and his fifth dismissal of the innings when he trapped Will Gidman lbw for five as soon as he was brought back on in the 51st over. With the next ball, Gloucestershire’s innings was brought to an end and with it the final one for Jon Lewis after 16 years with the club before his move to Surrey next season.Lewis had clubbed eight off two balls but he was on the receiving end of a brilliant piece of fielding by Newton at point, who threw a direct hit at the stumps.Chasing 26, Northamptonshire were to lose Newton cheaply for four in the second over when he smashed Ian Saxelby straight to Marshall at backward point. But victory was secured two overs later when Kyle Coetzer, eight not out, struck four behind square leg off Saxelby with O’Brien unbeaten on 14.

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Shivnarine Chanderpaul ground Hampshire down with 171•AFP

Hampshire and Warwickshire’s relegation and promotion hopes still remain in the balance after an arduous second day’s play in their County Championship Division One clash at the Rose Bowl.Hampshire’s slim hopes of surviving in the top division of English first-class cricket are now dependent on them claiming maximum batting points and forcing an unlikely win over high-flying Warwickshire after fellow basement battlers Worcestershire gained a solitary batting bonus point in their clash with Durham.Title-chasing Warwickshire, meanwhile, for whom a win would guarantee the championship, will now have one eye on the progress of top-of-the-table rivals Lancashire, who could yet pip them to the title if they can defeat Somerset and Warwickshire fail to see off their hosts.Away from the calculations at both ends of the table, on the pitch at the Rose Bowl on the second day, Warwickshire, resuming on 296 for 3, went past 300 to gain their third batting point. However, they lost their fourth wicket soon after, when skipper Jim Troughton nicked Dimitri Mascarenhas behind to keeper Michael Bates with the score on 303.Bates was again in the action when young seamer Chris Wood drew an edge from keeper Tim Ambrose to leave the Bears on 345 for 5. And Wood struck again just 12 runs later, when he forced former England man Rikki Clarke to play on for just 8.But while Hampshire launched a spirited fightback, overseas star Shivnarine Chanderpaul remained an immovable object at the other end, moving serenely and unhurriedly to his 150, thanks to three sixes and a staggering 20 fours. A short but heavy downpour after lunch briefly threatened to leave both sides stymied, but play finally resumed just after 2.30pm, after which Chanderpaul was finally dismissed, falling lbw to Liam Dawson for 171.That brought Chris Metters to the crease with allrounder Chris Woakes and the pair formed a frustrating partnership, which led the Bears from 409 for 7 to 478 for 8 when Woakes finally fell for a brisk 62 from 99 balls, caught by Jimmy Adams off young spinner Danny Briggs. The last two wickets fell quickly, Metters falling to Wood, after the paceman had helped to run out on-loan quick Chris Wright, to close the visitors’ innings on 493.Hampshire, knowing they must score at least 344 to avoid the follow-on and even more if they are to bag the win they need – began in fine form, opener Adams and Dawson moving without alarm to their half-century partnership inside 17 overs, before finally closing the day on 57 without loss.

India’s laundry list of injuries in the Test series in England will test the selectors when they assemble on Saturday to pick the team for the limited-overs leg of the tour. India’s fitness levels, and the selectors’ perceived tendency to go by the players’ word on their fitness, have come under sharp criticism in the wake of India’s 0-2 deficit in England, and the possible loss of the No. 1 Test ranking that India held for 18 months.The fresh list of injuries includes those to Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan is yet to recover from his hamstring injury. Virender Sehwag’s shoulder is yet to be tested since his surgery.One piece of good news for India is that Ashish Nehra has recovered from the finger injury that ruled him out of the World Cup final and the IPL. Nehra has submitted his fitness certificate to the BCCI and has made himself available for selection for the Twenty20 match and one-dayers in England. Nehra told he was fully fit and was training in Bangalore.The wisdom behind selecting a squad so soon – the limited-overs games begin on August 31 – is not apparent. Yuvraj and Harbhajan have been advised a recovery period of four and three weeks respectively, making them doubtful starters, but the selectors could have waited for the third Test – starting August 10 – to see how Zaheer and Sehwag go.If Yuvraj is not selected, it could give Yusuf Pathan another chance after he managed just 42 runs in five ODIs in the West Indies. A left-field choice could be Ajinkya Rahane, who has been a massive scorer in domestic tournaments. Rahane furthered his case with a second-innings century in the Emerging Players Tournament last week.If Harbhajan doesn’t make it – or in case he is dropped after his dismal show in the Tests – Amit Mishra should join R Ashwin in the spin department after Mishra’s strong showing in the West Indies. Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel are sure to be two of the seamers, with Nehra likely to take a spot as well. Depending on the fitness of Zaheer one or two of Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and R Vinay Kumar could make the squad.Parthiv Patel is likely to be the reserve wicketkeeper.Likely squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh / Ajinkya Rahane / Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra / Harbhajan Singh, and three out of Ishant Sharma / Zaheer Khan / Sreesanth / R Vinay Kumar / Ashish Nehra

The glut of controversies Pakistan cricket has gone through over the last few years has made playing for the national side “mental torture,” according to Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq. The list of destabilising events in Pakistan cricket in recent years is long and it has taken, Misbah said, a heavy toll on players and their performances.”It is a mental torture to go through such things and it affects your performance,” Misbah said in an exclusive interview with local television channel . “It has been a torture at times because these things do affect our image and people talk about it. There are people who pass remarks on the roads and it affects you.”I must give credit to the players for adjusting to these pressures and still trying to perform on the field. In that way the performances we have given in recent months are very good.”Though the spot-fixing scandal last summer was the most damaging issue, much of the mess from the last year has emerged from a widening gap between the board and its players. In March 2010, the PCB banned and fined seven of its top players after the side’s disastrous, winless tour of Australia earlier in the year. Eventually the punishments were reduced or rescinded altogether.But since then, Shahid Afridi and now Danish Kaneria have taken the board to court in separate disputes. The fall-out from the spot-fixing scandal led to Misbah taking over as Test leader, while the board’s dispute with Afridi meant Misbah also took over the one-day reins. Misbah said the formation of a players’ association could help resolve matters.”A players’ association with the right people in place can do a lot in Pakistan cricket,” Misbah said. “It can improve communication between players, management and board. It can educate and guide players on contentious issues. It can lead to a reduction in the controversies and scandals that hit Pakistan cricket.”Misbah also said that players should take time to understand clauses of the board’s central contracts before signing them. The nature of the contracts has come under scrutiny in recent months, with some players privately feeling them to be too constrictive in a number of ways. For example, if a centrally-contracted player goes for a county stint he will not be paid his contract retainer for the time he is away, a practice in no other board in the world.”I would advise all players to consult their elders or even lawyers if they don’t understand the clauses of the contracts,” Misbah said. “It is a binding agreement with the board. Once you sign it then it is no use complaining afterwards about it.”Asked specifically if he felt the existing central contracts were draconian in nature, Misbah refused to comment. “I think these are issues that can be sorted out with better communication,” he said. “What I think about the contract, I should be talking about it directly to the board not in the media.”Lines of communication between team management, players and the selection committee needed to be clear and open, Misbah said, in reference to the dispute between Afridi and the board. That was sparked by what Afridi saw as undue interference from Younis in selection matters.”I think it is important for a captain, coach or manager and players to know their job descriptions and responsibilities. They must know where they stand. They must also be communicating with each other all the time on any issue,” he said. In asking for a clear delineation of roles and duties, Misbah in effect asked for what Afridi was sacked for.”Even the national selectors must communicate well with the management. Both should know why a certain player is being dropped or why a certain player is being selected in the team,” he added.Misbah turned 37 on the day he captained Pakistan in an ODI against Ireland in May and his age has often been used in arguments against his taking over as leader. But he insisted that his passion for the game had not dimmed. “I am mentally up for international cricket. As long as I am performing I will carry on,” he said. “Age is no bar for me. I feel a cricketer only matures after the age of 30. Fortunately that is what happened to me.”

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The longest day was over all too quickly for Hampshire as their relegation fears in the County Championship increased with a crushing nine-wicket defeat by Worcestershire at New Road.The resurgent home team needed only two balls to take the remaining wicket as Hampshire’s second innings closed for 269 and captain Daryl Mitchell then made a half-century in clearing off a target of 106 in 24.5 overs.Unless there is a marked improvement in the second half of the season – and so far Hampshire are the only side without a win – it looks likely that England’s newest Test venue will be hosting Division Two cricket next year. The Rose Bowl was built with visions of staging international events and the county team winning titles, but this defeat – their fourth in seven games – has left Hampshire stranded at the bottom of Division One.In contrast, Worcestershire’s achievement in registering back-to-back victories in the top flight for the first time has transformed the prospects of a side who began the summer with six consecutive defeats.They are now out of the relegation positions, 36 points clear of Hampshire and also ahead of Yorkshire, and beginning to believe they can stay up for the first time, having gone down straightaway in three previous spells in Division One.Their cricket in this game was mostly strong and purposeful. Vikram Solanki ensured a big first-innings total with an eye-catching century and the bowlers did their job in dismissing Hampshire for fewer than 300 in both innings.Front-line seamer Alan Richardson got more out of the pitch than anyone, taking 9 for 114 in the match, and Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan claimed seven wickets in a one-off return to Championship action.Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal has now arrived to fill the overseas slot for the second half of the season and Worcestershire will be hoping he is as successful as Shakib was in the late charge to promotion last year.Richardson was denied an opportunity to take 10 wickets in a game for second time in a 16-year career when Imran Tahir top-edged a simple catch back to Shakib. This left Worcestershire virtually all day in which to complete the formalities but in practice the game was over before lunch as they took only 96 minutes to complete their 24-point maximum.The openers put on 62 before Matt Pardoe (19) was out in the 16th over, clipping a ball from Tahir to Jimmy Adams at short leg, and Mitchell carried on to reach 50 for the second time in the match. He was unbeaten with 57 after steering James Tomlinson to third man for the winning boundary, his eighth in all.

ScorecardRory Hamilton-Brown top-scored for Surrey with 57•PA Photos

Rory Hamilton-Brown and Tom Maynard both hit half-centuries as Surrey made it three wins in three games as they claimed a 17-win over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40.While Hamilton-Brown and Maynard shone for the hosts at The Oval, Josh Cobb produced a fine all-round contribution for Leicestershire. Cobb, primarily a batsman, took two good wickets with his leg spin, held two stunning catches, one off his own bowling, and hit a rapid 45 but Leicestershire subsided to 189 all out in pursuit of a target of 207.Surrey had made a poor start on an Oval pitch lacking its usual pace, slumping to 45 for 3 before Hamilton-Brown and Maynard gave them some momentum in a fourth-wicket stand of 63 in 13 overs.Steve Davies gave Nathan Buck a simple return catch, Jason Roy skied Buck to midwicket and Zander de Bruyn miscued his third ball from Nadeem Malik to mid on and was caught by a leaping Wayne White at mid on.Even Hamilton-Brown and Maynard, both powerful strokemakers, struggled with their timing but Hamilton-Brown had made 57 off 61 balls with seven fours when he drove fiercely back down the pitch and Cobb held a stinging return catch.Matt Spriegel helped Maynard add 49 in 10 overs before Cobb had him caught at long off for 28 and Maynard had reached 55 off 71 balls with only two fours but 40 singles when he was bowled by Buck. Cobb took his third and best catch of the innings – a running, diving effort at long off to remove Yasir Arafat – but a brisk, unbeaten 26 from Chris Schofield lifted Surrey to 206 for eight.It did not seem to be enough when Cobb was launching Leicestershire’s reply with 45 off 36 balls, including seven fours, three of them off successive balls from Jade Dernbach, and a six, driven back over Arafat’s head. Then he pulled Gareth Batty’s third ball into the hands of midwicket and Leicestershire lost four wickets for 14 runs in seven overs.James Taylor was well caught by Davies, standing up, when he tried to cut De Bruyn, Will Jones, an Australia-born batsman making his debut, was leg before to Batty and Matt Boyce was caught at slip off Stuart Meaker.It was 111 for 6 when Jacques du Toit was brilliantly run out by Maynard’s direct hit and White was caught behind off Arafat but Paul Dixey kept Leicestershire’s hopes alive and they even had a chance of winning when Matthew Hoggard joined him in a ninth-wicket stand of 29 in three overs.Then Hoggard, who had hit three fours and a six, holed out at long on, Dixey was bowled by Meaker for a gallant 42 off 38 balls with six fours and Surrey won with nine balls to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Paul Stirling’s ton came off 94 balls•Associated Press

A brilliant, belligerent century by Paul Stirling wasn’t enough to take Ireland to victory over Pakistan in the second ODI. A solid innings of 64 by Younis Khan ensured the visitors were not embarrassed and took the two match RSA Series in Belfast 2-0.Stirling played an innings that alternated between control and raw aggression as he racked up his third ODI century, his first against a Full Member. It helped set Pakistan a target of 239, which they achieved with eight balls to spare, but not before their most experienced batsmen rescued them from a tricky situation as Ireland’s celebrated fielders tightened the screws.Stirling’s innings showed great maturity for a man who has his critics in Irish cricket. He has too often been a player who raced to thrilling thirties and forites, but rarely went on. His previous highest score against a Full Member was just 52.But an Irish record one-day score of 177 against Canada in September showed what could be achieved and he round off the recent World Cup with a blistering ton against Netherlands. That innings was the third-fastest century in the competition’s history, behind only Kevin O’Brien and Matthew Hayden.He thrashed three sixes and seven fours in his innings of 109, which backboned Ireland’s total of 238 for eight.On the pitch used for Saturday’s rain affected game – and after a day of warm sun in between – William Porterfield opted to take first use.Ireland persevered with their decision to promote Ed Joyce to open, although the Sussex batsman was rarely fluent as Junaid Khan and Umar Gul made use of the overcast conditions.Stirling, meanwhile, played in his usual manner and was 38 when Ireland passed fifty.Misbah turned to the spin of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Hafeez to slow things down, and was immediately rewarded with the wicket of Joyce. Ajmal extracted some extra bounce and Joyce edged to Mohammed Salman with the total on 65.Porterfield joined Stirling and was at the other end as he reached his fifty off 43 balls. The pair hoisted the hundred in the 22nd over when Stirling hoicked the ball over wide mid-on for six.Pakistan preferred Hammad Azam to Tanvir Ahmed and the Rawalpindi bowler’s gentle medium proved useful in the conditions. But it was Mohammed Hafeez who dismissed Porterfield, bowled for 15.Stirling was watchful to the spinners and the rate slowed as Ajmal extracted turn on his way to 4 for 35. Stirling raced into the nineties with a sumptuous cover drive but took six more overs to reach 100, which he did with a straight drive past the bowler Azam. He passed the century mark in 94 balls.Rain – which threatened several times – eventually forced the players off for 15 minutes, but no overs were lost.Alex Cusack played a typical innings as second foil to a more aggressive batsman, and took the total to 174 before he fell charging Ajmal. He fell in the second over of the Powerplay, which Ireland struggled to exploit.Stirling was dropped by Junaid who made an awful hash of a gentle hook to fine leg off Saeed. But Junaid made amends next ball when he bowled Stirling for 109. Gary Wilson came out to cheers in his 100th appearance for Ireland, but although he hit the last two balls of the Powerplay for four, the five-over period yielded a miserable 23 for 2.Wilson hit a breezy 33 off 25 balls, but Ireland’s total was probably 30-40 short of expectations as Pakistan prevented them accelerating at the death.Mohammed Hafeez fell in the second over as he mistimed a drive off Trent Johnston, but ODI debutant Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar steadied the ship in the face of accurate bowling from Boyd Rankin. The big Warwickshire man extracted bounce and pace in his nine overs, claiming Azhar to a sharp slip catch.At 80 for 3 Pakistan needed steady hands and were able to turn to Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. The pair have played 300 ODIs between them – more than the whole Irish team – and were able to dictate the pace from there.The partnership consolidated, scoring one boundary and 30 runs off the first ten overs, but as the clouds loomed they put in a mini-charge to ensure they went ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis calculation.With the score on 148 John Mooney induced the thinnest of nicks off Misbah, who seemed reluctant to depart, but his wicket gave Ireland renewed hope. The feisty Umar Akmal came in and took the game by the scruff though, smashing three sixes in an innings of 60 off 48 balls.All the while Younis Khan was accumulating while Ireland fought for every run. Porterfield at cover saved a dozen runs as Stirling, Joyce and Mooney ensured the ring was hard to pierce.Having hit just two boundaries getting to 48, Younis dragged the ball into the crowd at midwicket to complete his fifty. He perished chipping to Kevin O’Brien off Cusack trying to hit the winning runs.Stirling was named as Man of the Match, but it was Pakistan’s day.