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Dinesh Karthik, the Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman, is enjoying his time at No. 3. Batting up the order, Karthik said after setting up Mumbai’s victory over Delhi Daredevils with an explosive 86, allowed him to take advantage of the Powerplay.Karthik’s half-century came after Mumbai were reduced to 1 for 2, with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting dismissed within the first two overs of the match. It came after knocks of 37 (a steadying innings against Chennai Super Kings after another poor start for Mumbai) and 60 (against Royal Challengers Bangalore, in a game where Mumbai fell two runs short). The tournament’s leading run-scorer so far, Karthik’s runs have come at a strike-rate of 166, easily the best among the top 10 batsmen on the runs-aggregate chart.”When I bat at No. 3, it gives me the opportunity to play in the Powerplay. It’s a slot that I really like batting at,” Karthik said after the Daredevils game. “It is important that when a team like Mumbai Indians gives you the opportunity up at the top, you have got to [repay] their faith, and show some effort and get some runs.”Karthik strung together a 131-run stand with Rohit Sharma at over 10 runs an over. Rohit provided him with ideal support, Karthik said: “Rohit and I put up a big partnership and the way he batted was just beautiful. He was giving me the strike when I required it and, towards the end, he hit the big shots after I got out.”Ponting and Tendulkar began this year’s IPL with a half-century stand against Royal Challengers, albeit at a little over a run a ball, but have not been able to contribute much with the bat since. Ponting followed up his opening-game 28 with scores of 6 and 0. Despite his failures with the bat, Karthik said, Ponting was still having a big influence on the team.”The intensity he brings on the field has been out of the world,” he said. “Probably in terms of runs he has not had a great IPL thus far, but just the intensity he brings towards captaincy and trying to bring the unit together [is admirable]. He is a great captain.”

ScorecardYusuf Pathan’s third consecutive fifty helped West Zone reach the final of the Deodhar Trophy•Associated Press

Vijay Zol, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav struck half-centuries to take West Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy with a comfortable five-wicket win over South Zone in Guwahati. West Zone reached their target of 259 with more than eight overs to spare, and will take on North Zone in the final on Wednesday.Zol, who hit the headlines in 2011 with an unbeaten 451 in an Under-19 match, anchored the West Zone reply with a well-compiled 75 off 88 balls – his highest List A score. His 71-run partnership with Rayadu eased some early jitters after West Zone lost Parthiv Patel and Manprit Juneja in consecutive overs with the score at 26 for 2. Once Rayadu was dismissed by B Sudhakar, Zol and Pathan proceeded to shut South Zone out of the match.Pathan played his usual flamboyant game to bring up his third consecutive List-A fifty. He had a reprieve in the 23rd over after a tough chance off an outside edge went down behind the stumps, but he carried on unaffected, bringing up his fifty with a boundary over long-on. With Jadhav chipping in with a brisk 56, a comfortable win was completed.Earlier, fifties from Stuart Binny and Sachin Baby helped South Zone reach 258 for 8 in their 50 overs. The pair added 87 runs for the sixth wicket in 13.1 overs, taking the score past 200 after South Zone were struggling at 143 for 5 in the 34th over. Baby worked hard for his first List-A fifty, hitting just three boundaries in his 58, even as Binny provided a late flourish to the innings.Munaf Patel, playing only his fourth match of this season, picked up 2 for 48 in his 10 overs, while Nayar also picked up two wickets even though he conceded 49 runs in his seven overs. Jaydev Unadkat was the most economical bowler for West conceding 49 runs off his 12 overs and picking up the wicket of the centurion from South’s previous match Baba Aparajith.

Glenn Maxwell has not played a first-class match in more than two months but his work in the nets to master the offspinner’s stock ball has impressed Australia’s selectors as they finalise the Test squad for the upcoming tour of India. The coach Mickey Arthur has suggested a spinning allrounder will be part of the Test squad, to be announced later this week, and Maxwell is a leading candidate after narrowly missing out on a Test debut against Sri Lanka in Sydney earlier this month.Although he remains far from a frontline bowler, Maxwell could be called on to fill the allrounder’s position in India as Australia adjust to life without Shane Watson’s bowling. The retirement of Michael Hussey has opened up a place in the lower middle order and Arthur said the selectors would keep their options open in India, with spin- and seam-bowling allrounders in the mix along with a specialist batsman, as well as the possibility that Matthew Wade could move up to No.6 to allow room for an extra bowler.”We’ve tried to cover every base that we can,” Arthur said of the Test squad. “We could play a spinning allrounder, we could play a seam-up allrounder, we will have the option of two spinners, we’ll probably have as many as five quicks going over. We’ll try and cover as many of the bases as we possibly can and then determine team that plays based on the conditions that we face.”We have the option of slotting Wadey up to 6 and playing a spinning allrounder or a seaming allrounder, but we’ll have that position at No.7 available. If we want to go with the six specialist batsmen then that will be the wicketkeeper’s position. Those are the things we have to weigh up.”The likelihood of spinning pitches in India might improve Maxwell’s chances of playing alongside the frontline offspinner Nathan Lyon, although the left-armer Steve O’Keefe has also made a strong case with eight wickets in a Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales over the past week. O’Keefe is the leading spin bowler in the Shield this summer with 17 victims at 24.29, and his overall first-class figures of 78 wickets at 27.33 are encouraging.Glenn Maxwell has been playing only short-form cricket lately but his bowling has impressed the coach Mickey Arthur•Getty Images

It may be that Lyon and O’Keefe are included as the lead spinners alongside Maxwell as more of an all-round option, leaving the selectors with plenty of choices. Although Maxwell only bowled 16.1 overs during the ODI and T20 games against Sri Lanka, there were signs that he was turning the ball more than in the past and Arthur said he had been impressed by the progress Maxwell had made since he was earmarked by the selectors at the start of the summer.”Maxwell has bowled extremely well, he is getting better and better,” Arthur said. “I thought he bowled really well in Hobart in the last one-day game, albeit he only bowled two overs, but there was good shape on the ball and he did a nice job. In these two Twenty20 games he has done a nice job. He works incredibly hard.”One of the things we’ve sat down and said is if you want to be the spinning allrounder you’ve got to put a huge amount of time into your bowling, because Maxy would always try to bowl the miracle ball and then he’d bowl a leggie, then try a doosra, he just didn’t settle on anything. All we’ve got him in the nets is bowling offspin, offspin, offspin. It’s repetition all the time and he’s getting better and better at it. He’s a very fast learner.”Patience has never been Maxwell’s strong suit, as he demonstrated while waiting for Sri Lanka to finalise their plans for the last ball of Australia’s Twenty20 chase in Melbourne on Monday, but it is an attribute he has tried to introduce to his bowling. The challenge for Maxwell will be if he does win a Test cap to show that he can maintain such perseverance if the Australians spend days on end in the field.”It [patience] is something I’ve had to learn,” Maxwell said before the Melbourne T20. “Wanting things to happen very quickly has been the way I have gone about things. Learning patience has been something I have worked on with Warnie and a few of the other guys in the state set-up. I’ve done a whole lot of work. I’ve been in the nets relentlessly for the last 12 months.”Shaping the ball has changed a lot, I’m starting to get the ball to drift away from the right-hander and spin back, which I wasn’t really doing. It was very straight [before]. I’m getting a lot more work on the ball, my pace and control is better as well. I’m hoping it’s going to be good enough and hopefully I can play in all three formats at some stage this year.”

Scorecard
Chris Rogers anchored Victoria’s innings with his 57th first-class century before a Chadd Sayers burst with the second new ball pulled South Australia back into the contest on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.Rogers’ innings provided another reminder of the technique and poise available to the national selectors should they wish to add an experienced batsman to their party for the Ashes later this year. But it was a less auspicious day for the potential India tourists David Hussey, bowled for one after flying to Adelaide on match morning from ODI duty in Hobart the night before.The Bushrangers lost Rob Quiney cheaply upon winning the toss and batting, but Rogers formed fruitful stands with Michael Hill and Peter Handscomb to seemingly blunt SA’s bowlers. The Test spinner Nathan Lyon had a barren day, as did the former Victorian club swing bowler Daniel Worrell.However Sayers pinned Rogers LBW with his first delivery after taking the new ball, and added the wickets of Hussey and Handscomb. Joe Mennie chimed in to dismiss John Hastings shortly before the close.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSamit Patel’s unbeaten 44 off 20 got England to 325•BCCI

India had never chased more than 325 to win an ODI on home soil and, if the old India might have regarded England as ripe for the taking, this present side lacks the same formidable presence. They came close, but when Ishant Sharma was left to hit Jade Dernbach’s last two balls for six to win the match, India probably knew in their hearts that the game was up.England had lost 16 of their last 18 ODIs in India and two defeats in their warm-up matches did not auger well, but they served up a victory for their new limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, at the first time of asking and will now face the rest of the five-match series in the belief that they are in an even series.The first international at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium lavished favours upon the batsmen. The pitch was amenable and the outfield glassy and there were many times when India’s chase looked bound for success, not least when Yuvraj Singh struck a 38-ball fifty or MS Dhoni, furious that the water carriers did not seem to be living his dream, cleared the ropes four times in three overs.But James Tredwell, with international-best figures of 4 for 44, stood firm. An understudy to Graeme Swann in England’s ODI side, he now has a chance to assert himself with Swann resting out of the series, although “assert himself” is probably the wrong phrase because he is a mild-mannered unassuming chap, very much the introvert to Swann’s extrovert.This was only his 10th ODI, and the first time India had seen him. To their cost, four top batsmen now know a little bit more. Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir had prospered against England’s quick bowlers, but Tredwell dismissed them in successive overs, tossing one high to have Rahane caught at long-off and then deceiving Gambhir in the flight to have him caught at short midwicket.None of England’s thumpings came any worse than the 158-run defeat at Rajkot’s old Madhavrao Scindia ground five years ago when Yuvraj, with 138, set about them. At a new stadium – immediately distinctive because of its Lord’s-style media box – Yuvraj threatened to work his old magic, until he back-drove Tredwell to Jade Dernbach at short fine leg.Briefly, it seemed as if the match might hinge on a reprieve for Suresh Raina, on 46, when he drove at Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan claimed a catch at third man, fairly enough, but there was just enough of a possibility on the TV replay that the ball had brushed the ground for the third umpire, Vineet Kulkarni, to rule “not out.” India still needed 95 from 10 overs at that point, but Tredwell soon straightened one on a placid surface and held Raina’s soft return catch. Swann would have looked ready to burst into song at that; Tredwell merely smiled in surprise.

Smart stats

• England’s total of 325 is their third-highest in ODIs in India, but it’s their highest winning total. They’d tied (v India) and lost (v Ireland) on the two instances when they’d scored more.

• India have scored 300 or more 71 times in ODIs – more than any other side – but their win-loss ratio in those matches is 4.38 (57 wins, 13 losses, one tie). Australia have the best win-loss ratio, winning 61 out of 66.

• This is only the second time in England’s ODI history that five of their top six batsmen scored 40 or more in a match.

• The opening partnership of 158 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell is England’s fourth-highest for any wicket in India, and their second-highest for the first wicket. Bell has been involved in three of those four stands.

• Ishant Sharma’s economy rate of 8.60 is the poorest for any bowler who has bowled two or more maiden overs in an ODI. Only twice have Indian bowlers bowled ten-over spells and gone for more runs.

• James Tredwell’s 4 for 44 are his best figures in ODIs, and his second four-wicket haul in ten matches.

The crowd were stirred, nevertheless, chants of “Dhoni, Dhoni” gaining in intensity after an outrageous one-handed six off Samit Patel. But Dernbach, whose line to the left-handers had been so awry that it demanded a scribbled reminder to do better if he could find space on those powerful, tattooed forearms, removed Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over, Dhoni failing to muscle a slower ball over long-off.As serenely as Ian Bell and Alastair Cook proceeded to give England a flattering start, in an opening stand of 158 in 27.4 overs, England’s most destructive batsmen, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, were restricted to a brace of 40s. An uninhibited final fling by Patel, who made 44 not out from 20 balls, as 38 came from the last two overs, was a necessary flourish. Ishant, who always seemed to be bowling at the wrong time, conceded 20 in the penultimate over and leaked 86 in all.Bell again looked so comfortable at the top of England’s order in 50-over cricket that it is now hard to believe it took him so long to settle there. There was nothing outlandish in his strokeplay, just an exercise in technique and timing. His form has been a boon to Giles, their productive relationship at Warwickshire restated at international level.Bell, on 15, edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar between MS Dhoni and R Ashwin, who was virtually stood at second slip, with both fielders motionless. It was apparent in the Test series that Dhoni’s captaincy responsibilities sometimes submerge his keeping and he remained rooted. But these moments soon became distant regrets as Bell crept up the pitch surreptitiously in search of elegant drives.Cook was not quite as mellifluous, but his resourcefulness is beyond doubt. Whatever he puts his mind to at the moment, he achieves and he is minded to lead England to a one-day series win in India. That would not be one of his most important prizes, but it would be one of his most remarkable.Bell was run out by Rahane, who hit direct as the batsman tried to steal a single to short fine leg and chose not to dive for the crease; Rahane also had a hand in Cook’s dismissal, although on this occasion he had no need to exert himself in the same position as Cook top-edged a sweep off Raina.Raina sneaked in five overs for 18 as England’s innings slowed; Joe Root, on debut, was to do the same for England later. Others had less cause for pleasure: Ashwin’s tactic of stalling in his delivery stride, a method first employed by Robert Croft for England, was over-used and disturbed his own rhythm more than the batsmen’s.To see Pietersen and Morgan joining forces at 172 for 2 in the 32nd over was unnerving for India, but both began tentatively as Morgan, after some whip-crack flat-batting, fell to a return catch by Ashok Dinda, who fumbled and cradled the rebound. Pietersen lofted Dinda to long-on. Just when it seemed that England’s innings was losing impetus, Patel proved otherwise.

Cricket South Africa will soon – possibly as early as next year – appoint a black African selector in accordance with their transformation policy, in an attempt to better represent the country’s demographics. South Africa’s population is more than 80% black African but they are largely under-represented in cricket.”We want to transform and reflect the demographic of our country as best as possible. A black African selector is needed to help address representation on all levels, which includes management,” Jacques Faul, acting CSA chief executive told ESPNCricinfo.He clarified that the move should not be seen as one which will push the case for black players only. “Just as white selectors don’t only select white players, so would black selectors not only select black players,” Faul said.ESPNCricinfo understands that former fast bowler Makhaya Ntini is the frontrunner for the position, even after his criticism of the team make-up ahead of the Australia tour. Ntini was quoted saying reserve wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile would have played for the national team if he was white, but Tsolekile brushed off the remarks. Despite being nationally contracted in February and identified as the replacement to Mark Boucher, Tsolekile has not played a Test because AB de Villiers has been promoted to the role of the permanent keeper.In Perth, South Africa played their 200th Test since readmission but in that time, only five black Africans have represented the country. Of those, Ntini played 101 Tests but the other four: Mfuneko Ngam, Monde Zondeki, Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have less than 20 between them and South Africa have not fielded a single black African in Test cricket in the past year.It is a record CSA wants to change. “I don’t think people realise what a big gap Ntini left when he retired from international cricket. He was a great role model and obvious choice for the Test team,” Faul said. “It is important for us to improve on this statistic. We hope that in the next 200 Tests we will be able to do that.”CSA does not enforce a quota system but state in their policy they intend to make cricket a “truly national game.” They fund an academy at the University of Fort Hare which Ngam runs, exclusively for black African cricketers to further that aim. Ntini was due to start an academy in the Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape for the same purpose but has not been able to secure sufficient funding to get the project off the ground.Failed endeavours like that are what CSA hopes to avoid in future. Their transformation policy thus “recognises the fact that, although now all South Africans are equal under the constitution, serious inequalities still exist in terms of creating opportunities and providing facilities and adequate coaching for cricketers of colour. The transformation charter carries the responsibility of capacity building in all communities and thus making cricket a truly national game.”Faul said CSA are encouraged by the “black African talent within the franchise system.” Players such as batsman Khaya Zondo from the Dolphins Temba Bavuma, left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso from the Lions and wicketkeeper batsman Mangaliso Mosehle from the Titans are on the national radar, with Phangiso likely to be picked in the Twenty20 squad to play New Zealand.The new selector will not be in place in time to pick those squads, though. South Africa are expected to name their T20 and Test squad for the New Zealand series on Thursday.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who was ruled out of India’s second Test against England due to a lower back injury, will miss at least the third Test of the series too, which starts in Kolkata on December 5.Yadav, the most effective of India’s pace bowlers in the series-opener in Ahmedabad, will not recover in time despite there being a prolonged break ahead of the Test. “The injury is more serious than it was thought to be, so the team will have to make do without him for at least another Test,” an insider told ESPNcricinfo.It was learnt that Yadav, who has been advised “at least 10 days’ rest” by a specialist in Mumbai, will get a short break along with his team-mates. While England will remain in Mumbai before leaving for Kolkata on November 30, India’s players have been given time off and have been asked to report in Kolkata on December 2. Yadav will join the squad in Kolkata to be monitored by physiotherapist Evan Speechley*.As a result of Yadav’s injury, the national selection panel will have another reason to ponder over the bowling attack when they sit down, on Tuesday, to finalise the India squad for the remaining two Tests and the two Twenty20 internationals that follow before England fly home for Christmas.After Yadav was ruled out of the Wankhede Test, on the eve of the game, the team management chose to ignore Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda, who was called in as late replacement for him, and played all the three spinners in the XI instead. However, the trio of Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh was outdone by England’s Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, meaning changes are on the cards.Sandeep Patil, India’s chief selector, and his colleagues will have to decide whether one of Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra, the legbreak bowlers who have proven their fitness in the Ranji Trophy, is a better choice than Harbhajan as the third spinner. Returning to Test cricket after a 14-month break, Harbhajan returned match figures of 23-1-84-2, with lower-order batsmen Stuart Broad and James Anderson his only victims. Harbhajan, though, is one game shy of becoming the tenth India cricketer to have made 100 Test appearances. Dinda is set to remain in the fifteen.There are unlikely to be any changes made to the batting line-up, despite the top order’s failure at the Wankhede.With India having failed to impress for the third consecutive time in the World Twenty20, in Sri Lanka in September-October, it will be interesting to see the new selection panel’s T20 combination. These selectors are set to pick a squad for the shortest format for the first time, and it might not be a surprise if there is a major shake-up to that unit, which failed to make it past the Super Eights stage at the World T20.*18:19GMT, November 26: This article has been updated

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHenry Davids scored 54 off 38 in an opening stand of 109 with Jacques Rudolph, which gained Titans a firm hold in the match•Getty Images

Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids launched the Champions League Twenty20 in a blaze of boundaries and the Titans’ fast bowlers used their knowledge of home conditions to ensure Perth Scorchers’ chase never got going. While Rudolph and Davids feasted on the numerous length deliveries on offer on their way to an opening stand of 109 in 12.2 overs, Titans’ quicks, led by Cornelius de Villiers, pegged Scorchers’ top order back with several short-of-a-length balls.After putting Titans in on a green-tinged pitch and watching Rudolph and Davids hit boundaries at will, Scorchers did come back at the death to restrict the home team to 163 on a ground which is considered difficult to defend – Titans once made 222 here against Cape Cobras and lost. At one stage, the home side looked set to achieve a total in excess of 190, but the way their attack bowled to the pitch, the 163 that their openers set up for them was more than enough.It was Davids who had taken charge initially, stepping out to the Scorchers quicks, who were not exactly bothering him with pace, and lofting them over the infield. The introduction of the chinaman bowler Brad Hogg restricted the runs from one end for a while but Davids broke free with a flat pulled six off Ben Edmondston, before showing off his timing by flicking the bowler into the deep midwicket rope for another six.That stroke took Davids to 43 off 23 but he eased off after that, struggling to find the same fluency against the spinners Hogg and Michael Beer. Davids managed only 11 of his next 14 deliveries before being bowled by Beer.The team run-rate didn’t suffer, though, as Rudolph had assumed charge even as Davids tapered off. Skipping away repeatedly to the leg side against the quicks, he was able to slice and stab them for boundaries over point.Rudolph took on Hogg in his final over, lofting him over extra cover for six and cutting him past point for four. He administered the same dose to Mitchell Marsh, taking three more fours in the 17th over, but Nathan Rimmington was to hit back for Scorchers. Bowling a mix of yorkers, full deliveries and slower ones, Rimmington conceded just five in two overs as a tiring Rudolph and incoming batsmen found it difficult to accelerate.Scorchers were not chasing too many, but Titans’ fast bowlers did not give them the length to drive, and the pressure showed soon. Ethy Mbahalati began the squeeze, getting his first delivery, in the third over, to probably hit one of the many thin cracks on the pitch and rear up alarmingly from a good length past Shaun Marsh. Mbahalati kept it back of a length for the rest of the over, which went for just four.In the next over, Shaun Marsh chased a wide one from de Villiers and was caught at slip. Two balls later, Marcus North inside-edged an incoming shortish delivery onto his stumps.Herschelle Gibbs and Simon Katich hung around for a while, but managed only two boundaries in 47 deliveries between them, reflecting the discipline of the Titans’ attack.Mitchell Marsh treated the sizeable Centurion crowd to some big hits on his way to an unbeaten fifty, but Scorchers had already lost the game when they came second-best at the start of both innings.

ScorecardDespite declarations from both teams to try and force a result, the first unofficial Test between New Zealand A and India A in Lincoln ended in a draw. India needed two wickets and New Zealand 41 runs from a maximum of 20 overs, when play was called off due to bad light.India, from an overnight 132 for 2, got to 208 for 4, before declaring just over an hour into the day’s play. That meant New Zealand needed 314 from a maximum of 82 overs. First-innings centurion Tom Latham could not fire again in the chase, but a 149-run between George Worker and Neil Broom meant the hosts were in relative control at 169 for 1. However, once Jaydev Unadkat had Broom caught on 72, India struck with regularity to get back into the game. New Zealand lost seven wickets for the next 101 runs in 19 overs, to be reduced to fighting for survival. Vinay Kumar was the pick of the India bowlers, taking 3 for 47 in a tight spell.The second unofficial Test will be played from Wednesday, at the same venue.

Neil Carter’s career with Warwickshire may be coming to an end, but his international career could be just beginning.Carter, the 37-year-old South Africa-born allrounder who is retiring from county cricket at the end of this season, is aiming to continue his career playing with Scotland after a change in recent regulations. He hopes to start his international career in the World Cup qualifiers in March.”There was a rule change about a month ago,” Carter told ESPNcricinfo. “In the past you either had to be born in the country or spend 100 days a year there. Now if your parent was Scottish – and my mum is – then you can qualify.”Carter, or “McCarter” as his team-mates have started to call him, has struggled to win a place in the Warwickshire team that won this season’s Championship title, but is expected to play in the CB40 final at Lord’s next week.He won Most Valuable Player of the 2010 domestic season and hopes that, by playing international limited-overs cricket for Scotland, he will be considered for short-term spells in T20 leagues around the worldIain Wardlaw, the Yorkshire seamer, is also thought to be considering making himself available for Scotland.