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ScorecardFile photo: The recalled Iqbal Abdulla made a fluent 30 before he was run out•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Coming into their final league match, Mumbai were in a tight situation – needing a win if they wanted their fate to remain in their own hands – thanks in large part to their inconsistent batting. Their batsmen failed again, and handed Gujarat the advantage on the opening day at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Valsad.With fog enveloping the stadium, the toss was delayed by 40 minutes. This might have left a bit of dew on the surface, but Mumbai still preferred to bat, with three spinners in their XI and cracks visible on the pitch. The strategy required Mumbai’s batsmen to respect the bowling, especially when their progress to the knockouts, unless they won, would depend on what other teams did.But barring opener Kaustubh Pawar, who held one end together for most of the innings, no other Mumbai batsman seemed to put a price tag on his wicket. Mumbai folded for 155, before Gujarat batted more sensibly to reach 90 for 2 at stumps. If Samit Gohel and captain Parthiv Patel bat through the first session on the second day, they might well put Mumbai on the brink of the exit.Stand-in captain Wasim Jaffer quickly got off the blocks, striking three elegant boundaries before the umpires stopped play after seven overs due to fading light. In the fourth over after resumption, Jaffer glanced Ishwar Chaudhary and Parthiv dived to his left to take an excellent catch. Five balls later, D Subramanian shouldered arms to one from Jasprit Bumrah that pitched outside off and jagged back sharply to remove the bail.Throughout his morning spell, Bumrah troubled Pawar with his incoming deliveries. However, the opener hung on and along with Hiken Shah saw off the new ball. Just when Shah was looking good, he was caught by Manprit Juneja at short point off part-time seamer Bhargav Merai to leave Mumbai 39 for 3.After taking successive boundaries off the back foot off left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv in the second over after lunch, Aditya Tare edged a drive off Chaudhary to wicketkeeper Parthiv, to fall for a 17-ball 13.Considering Suryakumar Yadav’s tendency to fiddle outside off early in his innings, Parthiv brought Bumrah back on and Yadav fell into the trap, offering Parthiv a regulation catch. Pravin Tambe’s wicket soon after left Mumbai in danger of being bowled out short of 100.Then came the most convincing knock of the innings. All-rounder Iqbal Abdulla, recalled by Mumbai, joined Pawar and began timing the ball sweetly from the outset, making it appear as if he and Pawar were playing on two different pitches. The highlight of Abdulla’s cameo was an over in which he went after Bumrah, finding the boundary four times with two square cuts either side of successive pull shots.Abdulla then went for a single that was never there off left-arm spinner Akshar Patel and found himself well short of the crease. Pawar was the ninth man dismissed, thanks to an excellent one-handed catch by Gohel in the slips, before Javed Khan struck sixes to take Mumbai past 150.That was well short of the desired total. Mumbai will hope they will still have a total to defend if their spinners are to come into the game in the fourth innings. While Pawar conceded after stumps that “lack of partnerships” hurt them, Gujarat coach Vijay Patel said Mumbai’s batsmen had lacked application. “They appeared to be in the Twenty20 mode, so it ended up helping us,” Patel said. “Such a wicket, especially with the helpful conditions for seamers up front, required batsmen patience from batsmen. While our batsmen did it in the last session, Mumbai’s players just didn’t apply themselves.”

MatériaMais Notícias

A final da Copa do Brasil de 1999 é um dos capítulos mais decepcionantes para o torcedor do Botafogo. Não apenas para os fãs, mas muitos jogadores que estavam em campo naquela ocasião também lamentam a perda do título para o Juventude. O caso de um desses é de Rodrigo Beckham, que falou ao LANCE! sobre os trunfos do Alvinegro, que acabou com o vice-campeonato.

– O maior segredo daquela equipe foi o conjunto e a mescla de jogadores. Tinham atletas experientes, que eram os líderes, como Bebeto, Sergio Manoel, Wagner, e, ao mesmo tempo, tinha a impetuosidade e a juventude, como eu, que estava começando a carreira, e o Reidner, que buscavam espaço, e isso fez com que o time realmente criasse um conjunto muito especial. Era uma equipe que sabia jogar na defesa e assustava contra-atacando – analisou, por telefone.

Rodrigo Beckham foi um dos principais protagonistas daquela final. Na partida de ida, realizada na Região Sul, o meio-campista chegou a balançar as redes em duas oportunidades, porém ambas foram anuladas por impedimento. O ex-atleta manifestou o descontentamento em relação às decisões tomadas pela equipe de arbitragem daquela época, capitaneada pelo juiz Márcio Rezende de Freitas.

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– O jogo de Caxias do Sul foi duríssimo, onde o Botafogo fez uma grande partida e eu nunca vou esquecer, porque eu fiz dois gols legítimos naquela decisão que foram muito mal-anulados. Existem correntes por aí que tem convicção desses gols terem anulados de forma muito esquisita, porque eram completamente legais, e isso acabou nos frustando na conquista do título no jogo seguinte – afirmou Beckham.

Agora, a história, em partes, se repete: o sorteio colocou Botafogo e Juventude novamente frente a frente em uma Copa do Brasil. Dessa vez, o confronto será válido pela terceira fase da competição e terá início nesta quinta-feira, no Estádio Nilton Santos. O ex-meia-atacante destacou que os jogadores podem dar um basta nesse “fantasma” e precisam melhorar o conjunto.

– Para nós, que amamos o Botafogo, com certeza esse jogo tem um sabor especial e uma oportunidade do Botafogo, de certa forma, apagar esse gosto azedo de 99 nessa nova oportunidade contra o Juventude. Para os jogadores, acho que é mais importante é ter um conjunto forte, uma estratégia bem definida para conquistar a vitória e passar a próxima fase – completou.

A VISÃO DO JUVENTUDE
Do lado da equipe gaúcha, o LANCE! entrevistou Picoli, um dos zagueiros da equipe campeã da Copa do Brasil em 1999. Ele afirmou que, atualmente, os dois times vivem realidades distintas​, mas que tudo pode acontecer.

– É engraçado como o tempo voa. Faz tanto tempo que isto aconteceu, mas veio esse novo jogo, é muito legal. A gente sabe que os dois estão em momentos diferentes. O Botafogo vem se reestruturando, o Juventude, então, nem se fala! Mas eu ainda acho que o destino está aprontando alguma coisa para este jogo… – garante Picoli.

O defensor garante que o Estádio Alfredo Jaconi, palco da segunda partida do confronto da Copa do Brasil de 2019, foi importante na campanha de 1999. Picoli relatou que todos os jogadores do Juventude encararam o duelo no Rio Grande do Sul como o mais importante, já que a pressão em solos cariocas se faria presente.

– Fomos nos fortalecendo com o decorrer da campanha e, para o jogo no Jaconi, foi impressionante. Estava todo mundo focado, dizendo: “aqui, vamos vencer, porque depois no Rio vai ser uma batalha”. A gente sabia que era final contra um time grande. Foi um jogo de muita polêmica, pegada, conseguimos sair com o 2 a 1 muito graças a termos um elenco bom. O Fernando, que fez o primeiro gol, tinha entrado no lugar do Maurílio, que estava suspenso. Mas, mesmo com a vantagem, sabíamos que ia ser um jogo difícil – afirmou.

MS Dhoni, the India captain, said he was happy with the experience gained by younger players in the series against Zimbabwe and on India A’s ongoing tour of South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2013

MS Dhoni, the India captain, said he was happy with the experience gained by the younger players in the series against Zimbabwe and on India A’s ongoing tour of South Africa. According to Dhoni, these performances will hold India in good stead when the team embarks on their tour of South Africa in late November.”The exposure the boys are getting in Zimbabwe and South Africa will help them in the long run,” Dhoni said. “It will help them when they take on a quality opposition like South Africa later this year. They have done really well and the experience will help them in adjusting to conditions better.”India swept Zimbabwe 5-0 in their ODI tour, while India A took the the one-day tri-series, beating Australia A in the final. India A are also playing two unofficial Tests against South Africa A and have dominated the first game so far.Dhoni praised stand-in captain, Virat Kohli for his leadership during the Zimbabwe tour: “I think Virat did well in Zimbabwe. He is an expressive guy and that is important. He has changed a lot in the last one year and his approach is positive. His batting performance as captain is a good sign for Indian cricket.”Focusing on Australia’s upcoming ODI tour, which begins on October 10, Dhoni felt that the toss would be vital in dictating the outcome of the series, given that all the matches will be played into the night. “Around that time there will be a lot of dew, so it will be vital to win the toss. We will still try to give our best in the series,” he said.With former India captains Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly presenting their greatest Indian ODI and Test teams recently, Dhoni felt that such an exercise was futile because the game had evolved over the years: “I don’t think I will ever make my all-time greatest India team. You cannot compare one era with another as they will be different.”Whether a player has played one match or a hundred, we should give him respect for what he has achieved and leave it at that. It is like comparing two-stroke bikes with four-stroke. I don’t think you will get a better product by mixing them.”

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, is looking forward to returning to Wales with his West Indies team during the Champions Trophy, for what could be a group decider against South Africa, holding fond memories of his time there for Glamorgan.Gibson played for the county from 1994 to 1996 and remembers the support he received from crowds that have “passion and love” for the sport and hopes that can be replicated on June 14.West Indies play their opening two matches at The Oval in London, against Pakistan and India, where they will like to think they can latch onto the Caribbean community which used to support the team in force during their heydays of the 1980s but the fans have been a far smaller presence in recent years with the side struggling.However, the Welsh public have had few chances to see West Indies in their backyard – they have only played a single ODI, against New Zealand, in 2004 – and Gibson has asked them for a strong display of support.”I played for Glamorgan in the early stages of my cricket career and people welcomed me into the county. It was a really good time and the people of Wales were nice and good to me,” he said. “The people there are very passionate about their team. I believe if we can get there early and get the support of the locals that would be great for us”I had many highlights from my time there; I got over 60 wickets and made 700 runs in my debut season, so that was a very good start to my county cricket career in the UK. I had a very good time and great experience.”When I was at Glamorgan, we also had amazing support when we played around the county circuit and at Cardiff Wales Stadium and I know that support has continued over the years. It’s a wonderful place for sports and you always feel the passion and love for sports over there.”However, Gibson’s first priority will be to ensure his team still have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals when they reach Cardiff. October’s Twenty20 success gave the long-suffering fans in the Caribbean a moment to savour, but Gibson knows it is vital the team build on that especially with a World Cup to follow in 2015.”This is a good opportunity for us as a one-day team to see where we are compared to the other guys. This tournament format is similar to how the World Cup is going to be – you have to get out of the group stage to advance to the second phase.”We hope the success and the experience we had in Sri Lanka will help everybody to stay calm when the pressure is on. We believe we can win these big tournaments. So, this is something that we are really looking forward to.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Mereceu o pedido de desculpa?

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Bruno Henrique fez a estreia dos sonhos com a camisa do Flamengo. O jogador substituiu Vitinho quando o Botafogo vencia por 1 a 0 o clássico desde sábado, e fez os dois gols da virada rubro-negra. Mas o momento mais inusitado da primeira partida do camisa 27 ficou mesmo para o pós-jogo.

Em entrevista na beira do campo, o ponta revelou que o árbitro pediu desculpas por assinalar impedimento num lance aos 48º dotempo (foto acima), que terminaria com o passe de Bruno Henrique para Gabigol marcar o terceiro do Flamengo na partida.

– O árbitro até brincou comigo, pediu desculpa. Falou ‘pô, você é muito rápido (risos), achei que você tava na frente – contou em tom bem humorado o jogador, na saída de campo.

Na partida entre São José e Inter, o principal adversário foi o calor

O Internacional visitou o São José, pelo Gauchão, e acabou derrotado por 2 a 0. Os dois times, porém, tiveram um adversário em comum: o calor. Com a temperatura acima dos 30º em Porto Alegre, o gramado sintético do Estádio Passo D’Areia chegou a 60º! O jeito foi improvisar baldes de gelo para jogadores e arbitragem refrescaram os pés. Que situação!

Piscininha, Amor!

Ainda no ritmo do verão, Fred aproveitou para dançar o hit “Piscinha, amor” após abrir o placar para o Cruzeiro no clássico contra o Atlético, que acabou empatado em 1 a 1. Desde que música inspirada no vídeo do lateral Egídio estourou, o atacante tem atuado como uma espécie de embaixador do single nas redes sociais.

Homenagem às vítimas de Brumadinho

Nem só de danças e comemoração viveu o clássico mineiro. Antes do apito inicial, jogadores e torcedores presentes no Mineirão fizeram um minuto de silêncio ensurdecedor em homenagem às vítimas do rompimento de uma barragem de rejeitos de mineração, em Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, que chocou o Brasil na última semana.

Ao marcar o gol de empate do Atlético-MG em cobrança de pênalti, Fábio Santos também prestou a sua homenagem à cidade mineira e as vítimas da tragédia. O lateral correr até a câmera e mandou “força” a Brumadinho. Até o fechamento desta galeria, o número de mortos confirmados era de 60.

Policial surpreende o torcedor do Sport

O Sport venceu o Náutico neste domingo por 3 a 1, pelo Campeonato Pernambucano. Mas uma cena chocante marcou o duelo: após um dos gols do Leão, um(a) policial surpreendeu os torcedor rubro-negro e jogou spray de pimenta nos que subiram no alambrado da Ilha do Retiro para comemorar. O que achou da atitude?

Barisal Burners came out on top in the battle to avoid the bottom spot in the league, thanks to Azhar Mahmood’s all-round performance

The Report by Mohammad Isam04-Feb-2013
ScorecardBarisal Burners came out on top in the battle to avoid the bottom spot in the league, thanks to Azhar Mahmood’s all-round performance. They crushed Khulna Royal Bengals by seven wickets to remain in contention for a top-four finish, while the Royal Bengals are more or less out of the race.The Burners captain Brad Hodge made it an easy passage for his team. His 63 off47 balls led the chase of 145. Hodge hit six fours and two sixes over long-on, using the pace of the bowlers whenever it was offered on a slow wicket, but mostly worked the angles to collect singles.He added 93 for the third wicket with Azhar Mahmood, who was unbeaten on a 33-ball 52 with seven boundaries and a six. The experienced pair sensibly played out the dangerous Shapoor Zadran before attacking the rest of the bowlers, who looked insipid at most times. Hodge and Mahmood batted at more than 10 an over, making sure the target was reached in 17.5 overs.Mahmood had success with the ball too, taking 3 for 23 to keep the Royal Bengals to a sub-150 score. After bowling tightly with the new ball, he picked up three wickets in his last two overs, including the top-scorer Shahriar Nafees. The three-wicket burst stifled the Royal Bengals in the final few overs.Nafees had made 66 off 50 balls with nine boundaries, but never got support after Nazimuddin fell in the ninth over. Before his dismissal, Nazimuddin had blasted two boundaries and two sixes in his 30-ball 33, but after the opening partnership was broken, their foreign batsmen in the middle-order failed. Once Travis Birt, Daniel Harris and Riki Wessels were removed, the lower order hardly made an impression.Apart from Mahmood, Alok Kapali and newcomer Farveez Maharoof took two wickets each.

After the first round of matches in the UAE, Super Kings appear to be a far superior side than Royal Challengers

Saurabh Somani23-Sep-2021

Big picture

On paper, this is a clash between two top sides who both have had good results in IPL 2021 so far. But, after the first round of matches since IPL 2021 re-started, there appears to be a wider gulf between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore than a difference of just two points suggests. Super Kings outdid Mumbai Indians at their own game, seemingly dead and buried but rising, like Undertaker in WWE, to deliver chokeslams and tombstone piledrivers to the defending champions. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, sank to one of their heaviest defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders.What Royal Challengers missed in their first return game was the runs AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell had provided in the India leg of the tournament. The rest of the batting had revolved around the two middle-order powerhouses, but when neither got going, it seemed to leave a big hole in the line-up. However, it was just one game into the re-start, and Virat Kohli did stress that there was no reason for the team to panic.

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But could that prompt a rethink in their combination? There is Tim David waiting, on the back of a successful year and a recent outing in the CPL that brought consistent runs at a rapid pace. Bringing him in would mean two changes: a batter and one of Wanindu Hasaranga/Kyle Jamieson sitting out, while David and a bowler – likely Shahbaz Ahmed – come into the equation. However, given that it’s been only one match into this leg, Kohli might not want to make too many changes.Super Kings, meanwhile, began their UAE leg in dire fashion, before effecting a miraculous turn-around built on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s remarkable innings. It was the sort of win – against a bogey opposition – that infuses a side with extra belief.

In the news

Sam Curran ought to have completed his mandatory quarantine period, which means he is available for Super Kings. The question is, who can they drop among Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo and Josh Hazlewood to fit Curran in? They will also have to balance that with Ambati Rayudu’s fitness. His X-ray showed no broken bones, but he did sustain a bad bruise on his left elbow. If Rayudu is still not match-fit, there is a replacement available in Robin Uthappa. Super Kings could think of bringing in Curran for du Plessis too. Otherwise, there could be a straight swap of Curran for Bravo, though that would be extremely harsh on Bravo.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Josh HazlewoodRoyal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 KS Bharat (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 Sachin Baby, 7 Kyle Jamieson, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Strategy punt

• It’s not really a punt, more of an ‘everyone is aware of this’ tactic – but Royal Challengers will be looking to target Suresh Raina with their quicker bowlers. Raina has scored 61 runs against pace in IPL 2021 so far, and 66 against spin. The strike rates tell the full story though – being 91 and 183 respectively. Raina was made to hop around by Mumbai’s pacers and was out to a fuller ball when camped on the back foot expecting a short ball. Jamieson and Siraj, particularly, are likely to be pressed into service as soon as Raina comes out to bat.
• de Villiers is a complete T20 batter, notwithstanding his first-ball dismissal against Knight Riders, but teams must exploit the hint of a weakness if they see one. Since IPL 2019, de Villiers has been middling against fingerspin, with an average of 20.7 and a strike rate of 112. In Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali, there are two competent fingerspinners Super Kings can use to try and tie de Villiers down.

Stats that matter

• While overall Super Kings have won 17 out of 27 matches in this contest, the recent record is more even, with Royal Challengers winning two of their last five matches (since IPL 2018).
• Kohli is 66 runs shy of becoming just the fifth man to get to 10,000 runs in T20 cricket, behind Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik and David Warner.

South Africa have inched closer and closer to that edge in their quest to become the No.1 ranked Test team in the world and now they find themselves right on it.

Firdose Moonda12-Aug-2012

There is a thrill that comes with being on the edge. It is a mixture of exhilaration in knowing that something potentially amazing awaits and fear of the possibility of falling off.South Africa have inched closer and closer to that edge in their quest to become the No.1 ranked Test team in the world and now they find themselves right on it. In less than a week, something they have worked toward for years could finally come together. And they don’t even have to win a match for that happen.All South Africa need to do is the thing they have become almost flawless at doing for the last six years: not lose. In six years, since Sri Lanka 2006, South Africa have not been defeated in a series away from home. Whatever the result of the Lord’s Test, that record will remain intact. But if the result is either a draw or a South African win, the record will sprout some bells and whistles and it’s those sounds that the players are starting to hear.”I’m pretty excited about Lord’s,” Dale Steyn, South Africa’s premier fast-bowler, said. “Gary Kirsten mentioned the other day that we are on the brink of something special. In a few days’ time we could be the number one Test team in the world. He said we should enjoy this time because this is what we’ve worked for.”Since Kirsten took over last June, this is the most excited he has allowed the team to be. One of his first acts was to promote a mood of stability. Wins and losses were treated with fairly similar feelings, there was no over-celebration for the former and no deep disappointment of the latter. All of them were part of a “process,” a word Kirsten has used to often it has become nauseating to listen to.The actual details of the process have not been revealed to those outside the dressing room except to say that it does not end in England, irrespective of whether the No.1 status has been achieved or not. It seems obvious that some part of the process will be completed next week at Lord’s and the sense of anticipation has become too big to simply file away and Kirsten is allowing a little more than expression.Not too much, because when Steyn was asked whether there was a feeling that something special was around the corner, he immediately reigned in his thoughts. “It’s weird. We’re just in a really nice groove and in such a good environment that we haven’t had too much pressure. Everybody seems so up for it.”Guys know what their job is. There’s a lot of trust. If we go on and win then in a month, two months after this, maybe in a year, we might sit back and say maybe we should have had different feelings. But we’re 1-0 up with one game to go and I’m not going to change the way we do things.”Consistency has been a major advantage to South Africa in this Test series, highlighted perhaps by the chaos in the opposing dressing room.England have had their first-choice No.6 batsman, Ravi Bopara, pull out because of personal reasons and had to replace him with a debutant. They have also the person many consider their best player, Kevin Pietersen, embroiled in a text message controversy and were forced to drop him and bring in someone who has not fared well in his previous international encounters, Jonny Bairstow. They changed their attack, leaving out a spinner for the first time since 2003 and it did not work and their bowling attack cannot seem to find the venom they once had.By contrast South Africa have seemed serene. Their big guns, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, fired in the first Test. Then one who struggled, Alviro Petersen, was their standout player of the second Test. Their biggest worry has been Imran Tahir’s no-ball issue and he may have rectified that, having not overstepped once during the two-day match against Derbyshire. While England have to iron out dressing room creases, South Africa have had endless bonding sessions, starting in Switzerland and most recently having dinner cooked by the country’s first Masterchef winner.They are, as Graeme Smith told ESPNcricinfo before the series started, at peace. Ironically, that means their killer instinct has never been sharper. Even though they have the option to play defensive cricket and hold on to their 1-0 lead, they do not want to do that. Steyn gave a guarantee that they will go for the win at Lord’s, the same way they did at Headingley when Smith declared and put England in on the final day and later confirmed he did it with the intention that South Africa could for the win.”If the weather wasn’t around I reckon we would have been in a better situation,” Steyn said. “A draw is not in our eyes. We’ve come out here to play good, attacking positive cricket. It’s the way we want to play and we are definitely going for it at Lord’s. It just shows Test cricket is definitely alive and that this current South African team is trying to push for it.”

Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued to defy the England bowlers as West Indies fought hard to avoid defeat inside three days

The Report by David Hopps19-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryEven when he was given out lbw to Tim Bresnan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul survived, thanks to the DRS•Getty ImagesIt is perhaps no surprise that Shivnarine Chanderpaul inhabits his own little world. It must be much safer there. When he made his Test debut 18 years ago, West Indies were No. 1 in the world. Now Test match victories are a rarity and the sound of Caribbean cricket is a prolonged lamentation for what has gone before.West Indies, trailing by 155 runs on first innings, and already widely dismissed as no-hopers after the first two days of a three-match series, lost three top-order wickets for no runs in nine balls on the verge of tea and until Chanderpaul put up unyielding resistance with an unbeaten 34 in two-and-a-half hours (that he made so many was due to a late flurry) there was a possibility that they could lose in three days. Instead, they trail by 35 runs with six wickets remaining and have the right to a measure of respect.Chanderpaul was intent upon batting time. He blocked a lot and left a lot. His leave is an interesting phenomenon because as he comes out of his square-on stance, his right shoulder hurtles towards the ball at roughly the same time his arms withdraw the bat in the opposite direction. Do not attempt this at home unless you have a Level 4 coaching certificate and medical insurance.He shows colossal commitment to the cause; he just shows it in his own, sometimes contrary, way. He had six from 53 balls when a mistimed pull against Stuart Broad gave the crowd meagre sustenance; 13 from 71 when he managed his first boundary, an offside push against James Anderson which he just happened to time down the hill. There were dots in the scorebook and dots before the eyes. England imagined that Tim Bresnan had him lbw on 22 from 84 balls but lost a review as umpire Marais Erasmus’ assessment that the ball was leg side was supported by Hawk Eye. They have bowled wide at him and stalemate has ensued.England’s pace attack had begun by firing in more short balls than has become their habit and it paid dividends. Adrian Barath fell to a top-of-off delivery from Bresnan, who found slight movement to have him caught at the wicket, Kieron Powell to a sucker punch as Andrew Strauss pushed Ian Bell back to deep square and Powell obligingly hooked Stuart Broad into his hands.Then Darren Bravo was involved in his second run-out incident of the match, only this time, unlike the first innings when Chanderpaul pulled rank, Bravo did the same to Kirk Edwards. Bravo squirted Bresnan in front of square on the off side then belatedly turned down the run with Edwards halfway down the pitch, whereupon Jonny Bairstow ran him out with a direct hit.There was also reward for Graeme Swann’s offspin, a beautifully disguised arm ball that Bravo, in an aberration, allowed to drift down the slope into his off stump.England, after sedately taking control on the second day, had to work much harder to extend their advantage as they were dismissed 45 minutes into the afternoon session, losing their last seven wickets for 132 runs. Strauss had accepted a wonderful opportunity on Friday to restate the impregnability of his position as England captain, on the Lord’s ground he loves so much. He added only a single to his overnight 121 before West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy successfully turned to DRS to win a wicket for Kemar Roach. Hot Spot showed a faint inside edge as well as contact with his trousers after the ball had nipped back. Strauss must have been grateful that he had played the bulk of his innings the previous day.Ian Bell, another England batsman seeking to recover from a tormented winter, played resourcefully in more demanding circumstances before he was last out for 61, hooking Shannon Gabriel to deep square. His ninth-wicket stand of 55 in seven overs with the ebullient Swann was a useful bonus for England and, in West Indies’ terms, wasted much of their good work.A West Indies bowling attack that had failed to swing or seam the ball the previous day was a different proposition. Fidel Edwards swung the ball most noticeably and there was a bit off seam about too, with Gabriel picking up his first three Test wickets. The cloud cover was similar and so were the lengths West Indies bowled, the technique they displayed and their purpose. It could only be the ball.Such are the glorious random aspects of cricket. Weather, pitches and even cricket balls can change from day to day. In some sports, and some parts of the world, the lack of uniformity would be viewed as a weakness; in Test cricket it is rightly seen as a strength. But it must have been galling for West Indies.Bairstow, who had stifled an occasional yawn on the balcony the previous day as he watched England make guarded progress, was presented with a more onerous batting debut than he might have expected. He took his first ball in Test cricket, from Roach, on the chest – a badge of honour in no time – but looked settled for a debutant and unveiled three fine boundaries – two leg-side clips and a cover drive – before Roach brought one back to have him lbw.England were anxious to push on positively with rain forecast later in the game. But Matt Prior whipped across one to give Gabriel his first Test wicket and, in the following over, Bresnan fell for nought, dangling his bat at a delivery from Sammy that seamed away.England reached lunch at 341 for 7 and Stuart Broad faced only one delivery afterwards as Edwards skimmed his off bail. Swann fell as did Prior, bowled by Gabriel as he aimed through midwicket, but not before he had exacted some damage, making 30 from 25 balls as he feasted on several wide, fullish deliveries. He had been welcomed with a stomach-high beamer from Edwards, accidental, but worthy nevertheless of a formal first warning by the umpires for intimidatory bowling.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Duronto Rajshahi captain, has been fined for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ during his team’s Bangladesh Premier League match against Barisal Burners on Saturday. Following a code of conduct hearing by match referee Mike Procter, Mushfiqur was fined 25,000 Taka.The umpires had reported Mushfiqur to Procter for his actions during his side’s time in the field. Proctor concluded that by challenging the decision of the umpires and clearly showing dissent, Mushfiqur had brought the game into disrepute.”Rahim accepted that he was guilty of the code of conduct breach,” Procter said. “We took into account his general good conduct history but also felt that as captain of the side he must take responsibility for what happened on the field and a fine was imposed.”Rajshahi were defeated by Barisal, by 22 runs, slumping to their second consecutive defeat in two days.