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The last round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches, which were indefinitely put on hold following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will not be replayed. Instead, Habib Bank (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), who topped their respective groups going in to the final round, will now contest the final of the tournament, to be held in Karachi from January 7-11.The decision represents a u-turn of sorts from the Pakistan board, who earlier had said that the affected matches – ten in all, of which eight were in progress – would be replayed.But Zakir Khan, PCB’s director cricket operations, told reporters after a board meeting that according to domestic rules under which the tournament operates, matches could not be replayed. However, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sialkot played out a replay of an earlier game that wasn’t completed due to an unsuitable pitch, a move which drew protests from several teams in the tournament.The last round of matches would have made little difference in Group B, where SNGPL were already assured of their place in the final. And HBL were on the verge of securing their place in the final in any case; they were about to win against Karachi Whites, a result that would’ve sent them through ahead of NBP.Some repercussions might have been felt for the relegation spots in each group though it still isn’t clear how many teams will be eventually relegated. All matches will now be considered drawn though no points will be awarded to the teams.The meeting also decided to postpone the domestic Twenty20 championships indefinitely. The tournament, among the most popular domestically, was originally scheduled to be played from January 8-14. It was then rescheduled to February 9, but has now been put on hold altogether.However, the Pentangular trophy, played among the top five teams of the country, will go ahead from February 10. It will have a break between as the country goes to the polls from February 18, before resuming again from February 22 and running till March 15.The board will also hold a two-day High-performance camp from January 12, for players who impressed during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Twenty-four players are expected to attend the camp, to be held in Karachi.

Afghanistan’s climb up the world stage continued as they sealed promotion from World Cricket League Division 4, moving into the final alongside Hong Kong, in Dar-es-Salaam.Going into the final day of the group stage, three sides were in contention for promotion but Italy, knowing they needed victory over Afghanistan to finish in the top two of the table, lost by 93 runs, thereby ending their dreams of playing in the 2011 World Cup.Hong Kong defeated Jersey by 100 runs to seal second place in the group stage, while Fiji’s dramatic four-run win over Tanzania means that Jersey and Fiji will be relegated to Division 5 on net run-rate, as all three teams were tied on two points.For Afghanistan and Hong Kong the aim is to finish in the top two of the six-team Division 3 tournament in Argentina in January, which would mean they join 10 other sides at the World Cup Qualifier, where four Associate or Affiliate Members will qualify for the 2011 tournament in Asia.At Leaders Club, Afghanistan posted an imposing target of 235 for Italy to win after another solid, mature and at times flamboyant batting performance. Rais Ahmadzai led the way with an excellently paced innings, scored at more than a run-a-ball, and hit two of the seven sixes scored in the innings, while Ahmad Shah (52) also played an important role.In reply, Italy lost Thushara Kurukulasuriya to his first ball, before the Northcote brothers added 61 for the second wicket. But Italy’s hopes suffered a blow when Andy Northcote (29) was run out by an excellent throw from man-of-the-moment Ahmadzai.Then, Hamid Hassan changed the game permanently, first deceiving Nick Northcote with a cleverly disguised slower ball, and then earning the vital wicket of Joe Scuderi with a superb throw to gain a run out. When Hemantha Jayasena was also run out in the next over without facing as panic spread through the Italian batting line-up. In the end Afghanistan, were able to enjoy a comfortable victory.Ahmadzai, who was named the Man of the Match after his crucial 68, was delighted with his side’s promotion and said he was determined to win the final against Hong Kong.”We are very happy. It’s true that there was a little bit of tension amongst the guys last night, but the coach said we should go and play positive cricket,” Ahmadzai said. “I was just concentrating on reading the wicket when I came into bat and then hitting the bad balls. The boys have done very well with the bowling, batting and fielding. We will try our best to win the final – we’ve already beaten Hong Kong in this tournament and we will try our best to do it again.”Immediately after the game Scuderi announced his retirement as a player, although he said he would continue as a coach. “You can’t keep playing for ever – I’m 40 in December and my time has come now,” he said. “Perhaps it is time for Italian cricket not to rely on me as much as it has done for the past 10 years.”In the other key promotion game, Butt Hussain missed out on his century in agonizing circumstances, run out backing up on 99, but his innings was instrumental in securing Hong Kong’s passage to Division 3 with victory over Jersey. “It was a pleasure to play such an important innings at a crucial stage for our team. It was due as I was only scoring 30 or 40 runs in my innings – I wasn’t scoring big scores,” Hussain said.After some excellent opening bowling from Ryan Driver and Anthony Kay, Hong Kong stuttered their way through the early overs. But a 119-run partnership between Hussain and Skhawat (47) transformed the game as Hong Kong’s experience and class began to show as it made a challenging 234.Jersey needed a good start, but a fine bowling display, particularly from Irfan Ahmed (3 for 10), ended any hopes as they were reduced to 134 all out.In the other match of the day, Fiji finally registered their first win with a dramatic four-run defeat against Tanzania, with Simon Jepson’s five wickets helping him win the Man-of-the-Match award.

West Indies Under-19s’ four-match one-day series against their Bangladesh counterparts got off to a damp start when rain forced the first one-dayer in Savar to be abandoned.The second one-day match will also be held at the same venue on Saturday. The series provides an opportunity for both teams to gain practice ahead of the Under-19 World Cup which begins in Malaysia on Ferbuary 17.

There will be a tendency to dismiss as inconsequential India’s2-0 Test series victory over Zimbabwe. After all, it was a winachieved against the ninth-ranked Test nation – out of 10, it maybe added. Also, as I stated in an earlier column, it does notmatter that India is rated number seven or eight in the currentTest rankings. In home conditions, the Indian team makes forrather formidable opposition, borne out by the fact that only oneteam has won a Test series here in the last 15 years. Even topranked Australia came a cropper in their bid to cross the “finalfrontier” a year ago.That said, it must not be forgotten that India won both thematches in the series, something they were unable to achieveagainst the same team in their last series played here some 15months ago. Andy Flower thwarted India from registering a secondvictory on that occasion, and the left-hander’s failure this timewas certainly one reason why India made a sweep of the seriesfairly comfortably, the rather unconvincing achievement of theNew Delhi win notwithstanding. With all the huffing and puffingat the Feroz Shah Kotla, one must remember that the victorymargin in the first Test was an innings and 101 runs.

In the ultimate analysis, the series victory, besides underliningthe fact that India continues to be awe-inspiring opposition athome, also served to confirm the strengths and weaknesses of thehosts. Touching upon the former, one must first mention theHarbhajan Singh – Anil Kumble duo. The two look well on coursefor taking their place in the honoured list of the great Indianspinning pairs of the past ­ Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad, BSChandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi, and Erapalli Prasanna andBedi. The two complement each other perfectly, and notunexpectedly, they have showered praise on one another.In his 32nd year, Kumble, with over 300 wickets in the bag, is atthe peak of his powers, while his partner, 10 years younger,obviously has his better days ahead of him. Indian cricket’sstrongest point, for some years now, has been its middle-orderbatting, but the time is not far off, I venture to guess, whenthis accolade passes on to the spin duo, who shared 28 wickets inthe two Tests.Speaking of the middle-order batting, the series against Zimbabwesaw this mighty aspect lose nothing of the aura surrounding itfor some time now. Sachin Tendulkar made his customary hundred,while Rahul Dravid used the opportunity to get into his groovefollowing treatment to a shoulder injury. If there is a suddenquestion mark over VVS Laxman, who only a year ago had scaled newpeaks and was hailed as a Messiah, it is heartening to know thatVirender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar are around to fill that vitalnumber six slot in the middle order.But what was most encouraging was Sourav Ganguly finally strikingform. The Indian captain has always been a classy player, but hisextended bad run saw some critics baying for his blood. I, forone, did not join the growing list of detractors. To me,Ganguly’s case will always be paralleled with that of GundappaViswanath who too, more than once during his 91-Test career, wentthrough a bad patch that led to the “experts” calling for hisremoval. The selectors, however, displayed more wisdom than thedetractors, and the Karnataka stylist repaid this confidencehandsomely. Similarly, I can only see Ganguly getting better andbetter from here on.Shiv Sunder Das, I have always believed, is on course toovertaking Navjot Singh Sidhu as the finest Indian openingbatsman in the post-Gavaskar period. The just-concluded seriesconfirmed this view. It can also be taken as confirmed that DeepDasgupta has played his last Test match. The doors are now wideopen for Ajay Ratra, who can grab this opportunity to cement hisplace in the side as a specialist wicket-keeper whose batting isa bonus. Bangar, who opens the batting for Railways, could be asuitable contender to become Das’ partner at the top of theorder.

There was little wrong with the new ball attack, with JavagalSrinath and Zaheer Khan capable of making the earlybreakthroughs. The latter was particularly impressive, his speed,swing, line and length all having the Zimbabwe batsmen hopping.As far as home conditions go, I emphasise, there seems to be noproblem with the Indian attack, and it is to be hoped that Bangarwill work on his bowling skills to become the kind of all-rounderthat Indian cricket has needed for so long.A word about the visitors. In a nutshell, they proved to begallant losers. They were badly outplayed at Nagpur, but within afew days, they were able to raise the level of their game severalnotches to run India pretty close at the Kotla. Overall, however,their batsmen found Kumble and Harbhajan too hot to handle, whilethe bowlers were no match for the run-hungry Indian batsmen.But a bright future surely awaits Ray Price. The 25-year-oldleft-arm spinner displayed tenacity of purpose, a tantalisinglength and line, besides biting turn on a pitch that was onlyslightly helpful. Even the reputation of being the best playersof spin did not aid the Indian batsmen in overcoming the guilesof Price, and however long he plays the game, the fact that hedismissed Tendulkar three times running ­ twice for scores lessthan 50 ­ could remain his proudest achievement.

Sri Lanka have lost a long-standing umpire following the death of Stanley Kuruppu. Kuruppu, 82, father of former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Brendon Kuruppu, was renowned for his services to the umpiring fraternity in Sri Lanka. He was a pioneer in forming the umpires committee for the board in the mid-sixties.Kuruppu was a qualified Grade One umpire and officiated in division I club cricket and important school matches. He was also the vice-president of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers Sri Lanka (ACUSL), who later became a life member for his services to umpiring.He did a lot to promote the game and popularise it. Kuruppu had thorough knowledge of the laws of the game and conducted many seminars on umpiring for the benefit of up and coming umpires. A government servant in the clerical grade, he also served as president of the Sri Lanka Softball Association. He was ailing for a long time and is survived by his second wife Dulcie and two children.

Glenn McGrath and Brad Hodge have joined the Australian backlash over Sunil Gavaskar’s linking of David Hookes’ death to poor on-field behaviour. McGrath said Gavaskar “crossed the line” while Hodge was “pretty disappointed” his former coach, who died in 2004, had been brought into the argument.Gavaskar warned the Australians could get “whacked” in a bar if they operated the same way off the field as they did on it and his comments followed Ricky Ponting’s complaint Gavaskar acted badly during his playing days. Allan Border and Darren Lehmann were also upset by Gavaskar’s response.”Fair enough, if that’s what [Gavaskar] thinks, he’s allowed to comment on the team,” McGrath said on Sydney’s 2KY. “But I think when you start bringing David Hookes into it that’s crossing the line. It’s very disrespectful. Sunny was an amazing cricketer, but I think this time he’s gone beyond.”McGrath agreed Gavaskar’s words could damage Australian cricket’s relationship with the ICC official. “I think potentially it could be, we’ll wait and see,” McGrath said. “The comments in themselves are very disappointing when he’s mentioning David Hookes and you really feel for Hookesy’s family.”McGrath said Gavaskar must feet Australia were a threat to India and “he’s trying to put us off our game”. He also said the current side’s behaviour was not “any worse than any other teams”. “It’s fine to say that we are, but at the end of the day I think the Indian team does it as well as every other team,” he said.Hodge made a brief statement at the team hotel in St Kitts. “I’m disappointed about comments made about my former coach David Hookes,” Hodge told AAP. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A fighting century from Kumar Sangakkara set it up but it was an outstanding spell of death bowling and brilliant catching under pressure that enabled Sri Lanka to pull off a tense five-run win in a Rajkot heart-stopper. Needing 23 in 4.3 overs, with five wickets in hand, India looked set to wrap it up but they were thwarted at the finish line by a team that simply refused to give in.The old firm of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar combined in an exciting counterattacking stand, allowing India to overcome a couple of early blows, but their dismissals allowed Sri Lanka a sniff. The 66-run stand between India’s two wicketkeepers – Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni – appeared to be the last act of the day but it took a fast, searing, yorker from Lasith Malinga, the quickest bowler on show, to instigate a twist. Farveez Maharoof, who was justly rewarded with three wickets, continued the choke operation before Sanath Jayasuriya, the king of stranglers, completed the asphyxiation.A top edge from Harbhajan Singh was pouched splendidly by Mahela Jayawardene running back towards third man but the catch that sealed the match arrived in the penultimate ball. Dhoni, who’d declined two singles in Jayasuriya’s final over and needed six runs in two balls, received one which was in the slot and swatted it high to extra cover. That was when Maharoof, running back from cover, braved a possible head-on collision with Upul Tharanga, running in the opposite direction, and pulled off a sensational catch to seal the match. Sreesanth will rightly argue that the last ball should have been signaled wide but even he will admit that Javed Miandad-esque heroics are beyond him.Until those final moments, Sri Lanka never appeared in line for a win but the ingredients were always promising. Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan turned a potentially modest total into a competitive one, the former through a skillful century and the other through a dashing 58. Once his colleagues had made their exit with some leaden-footed strokeplay, too eager to play their shots when caution would have served them best, Sangakkara gave a master lesson in handling a crisis. Blending peachy drives with solid defence, he ensured that he saw out the fast bowlers before taking on the spinners. He didn’t spare the loose offerings – tonking a long-hop from Anil Kumble over the midwicket fence and thumping half-volleys majestically through the covers – and found an able ally in Dilshan.Both went after the spinners, on a pitch that offered just a hint of turn, and put Sri Lanka on track at the halfway mark. Dilshan was the more attacking of the two, quick to pounce on anything short and pummeling drives through a speedy outfield, and their 108-run stand came at just the right time for Sri Lanka. It took a mesmeric doosra from Harbhajan to undo Dilshan – clueless against the one that turned away and clipped top of off – but nothing could halt Sangakkara’s surge.

He stepped it up once he was past 75, clattering Sachin Tendulkar for a six over midwicket. Kumble was mangled in the 48th over – hoicked for two towering sixes, one of which brought up his hundred – before Munaf was at the receiving end of a furious hit over long-on. It was his sixth one-day hundred, and second against India, and had the satisfaction of making his first matchwinning hundred against major opposition.Yet, 257 didn’t appear enough on this pitch, especially when Tendulkar and Ganguly got going. The pair came together with India wobbling at 29 for 2 and made the most of Malinga’s errant line. Tendulkar just needed to flick his wrists and see the ball speed away to the square-leg fence while Ganguly was quick to latch on to anything wide, freeing his arms and bisecting the off-side field. Tendulkar brought up his half-century, 76th of his career, in just 51 deliveries, cracking nine fours in the process, while Ganguly was the calmer partner, assured in his approach, yet emphatic in strokeplay.Their dismissals, followed by a sloppy late-cut by Virender Sehwag, created a few flutters. Sri Lanka, who until then, appeared to be nowhere in the contest found an opening and exploited it smartly. Almost all their bowlers contributed. Malinga, who is right there at the top in the fast bowling stakes, possesses a lethal bouncer and yorker – Dhoni was lucky to hear a no-ball call after being bowled by a searing toe-crusher. Maharoof’s two early blows showed the lift and cut he could generate from this pitch – Robin Uthappa, on the front foot, flinched at a short one while Rahul Dravid had no answer to a peach of an incutter that deflected off his inside edge. Malinga Bandara, the legspinner, produced a most effective and under-stated effort.It’s not often that legspinners succeed against Indian batsmen but his variation of pace, and sharp legbreaks, proved vital. In the course of his spell, he forced Tendulkar into a few indiscretions before earning the distinction of becoming the first legspinner to get him stumped either in Tests or ODIs. But for the matchwinning spell one can’t look beyond Jayasuriya, keeping his head at the dying stages and frustrating India till the end.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that Inzamam-ul-Haq will lead Pakistan in the home series against West Indies next month. Younis Khan, the stand-in captain for the ongoing Champions Trophy in India, will be his deputy. Dr Naseem Ashraf, the new PCB chairman, announced the news after the board’s ad hoc committee meeting in Lahore.Inzamam was banned for four matches by the ICC for bringing the Oval Test into disrepute – owing to the ball-tampering controversy – which forced him out of the Champions Trophy. Younis initially refused the captaincy, stating that he did not wish to be a “dummy captain”, but was quickly reinstated after Shaharyar Khan resigned from his post as PCB chairman. The new regime, under Ashraf, also sacked Mushtaq Ahmed as assistant coach for the tournament.Ashraf announced that Pakistan would have a paid selection committee immediately after the World Cup next year in the West Indies. He added that there was no need to revamp the selection committee at this stage.”The ad hoc set-up considers the long standing issue of the paid selection committee and has unanimously decided that it is not the appropriate time to make any changes in the committee,” he was quoted in , a Karachi-based daily. “The present selectors who raised the team should be given time to see the ultimate results of their selection in the World Cup.”Immediately after the World Cup, the paid selection committee will be formed for which the board will suggest the job description and they will be watching the entire domestic season to pick the best lot for the different teams.”Among other issues, Naseem said that the committee had also recommended the appointment of a chief operating officer in the PCB to give it a corporate setup and that an advisory council would also be formed in which cricket experts and former cricketers would be included to get their inputs. He added that the PCB would take steps to make the National Cricket Academy more effective, in order to identify talented players for the national team.

Kevin Pietersen is likely to return from injury to face Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 game at The Rose Bowl on Thursday, and Paul Collingwood is also set to play despite sustaining a thigh injury during Tuesday’s ODI win over Ireland. Glen Chapple, who has an abdominal strain, will undergo a late fitness test.”It’s pretty much all right now,” Andrew Strauss said of Pietersen’s hamstring strain. “There was no point in risking him [against Ireland] but he should be OK for the Twenty20.”Collingwood too was optimistic, despite leaving the field for treatment during Ireland’s innings. “It’s a bit tender at the moment but hopefully I should be OK,” he told BBC Sport. “I could have stayed on and bowled a few more overs but it was tightening up and we thought it would be best to get it iced up. Hopefully it’s not too bad. We’ll see more when I get into running and sprinting then make a decision but I can’t see it being a problem.”While England have some international Twenty20 experience – the victory over Australia on the same ground a year ago kick-started a remarkable summer – this will be Sri Lanka’s first outing. However, they showed that they are likely to adapt quickly when they took on a PCA Masters XI at Arundel on Tuesday, thrashing the ball to all parts in making 180 for 3 off 16 overs before rain set in.A full house is expected at Southampton, with many fans arriving at 4pm to watch England’s World Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago on the giant replay screens. The Twenty20 game starts at 7.15pm.

ScorecardAllrounder Jalaj Saxena and left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma shared six wickets between them to reduce Mumbai to 69 for 6, after Harpreet Singh’s 59, coupled with useful contributions from the lower order, guided Madhya Pradesh to 240.Mumbai openers Akhil Herwakar and 19-year old Jay Bista began reasonably well, putting on a 39-run stand before both batsmen fell in successive overs. Soon after, Saxena had Shreyas Iyer caught behind for 1, the batsman’s first single-digit score after 20 innings in the Ranji Trophy. The slide continued as the visitors lost six wickets in space of 30 runs in eight overs.After having opted to bat, three of MP’s top four had starts but neither carried on to make a substantial score. Harpreet Singh, however, anchored the innings, hitting five fours during his 155-ball vigil. Offspinner Ankush Jaiswal, playing his maiden first-class game, took four wickets, including that of Harpreet, but a quick last-wicket stand of 56 in less than six overs dragged MP past 200.
ScorecardSneha Kishore, the 21-year old left-arm spinner, claimed his maiden five-wicket haul to skittle Railways for 182 at Karnail Stadium in Delhi but the hosts hit back, leaving Andhra at 62 for 4 at stumps on the first day.Anureet Singh struck with his first ball to trap Srikar Bharat lbw before Mohammad Kaif fell in a similar manner, bagging his fourth successive duck this Ranji season. Koripalli Sreekanth and AG Pradeep also failed but opener Prasanth Kumar and Ashwin Hebbar ensured that there was no further damage.Earlier, Railways lost an opener of their own – Ashish Singh – for a duck, before Saurabh Wakaskar and V Cheluvaraj steadied the innings with a 76-run partnership. Kishore then tripped up the middle order but Ashish Yadav and Arnab Nadi guided Railways past 150. The innings was wrapped up by seamer Bandaru Ayyappa, who finished with four wickets.Overnight rains and intermittent showers forced the abandonment of the first day of the eighth round fixture between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in Tirunelveli, which was hosting its first Ranji game after 10 years. The day was called off at 1.45 pm local time, without even the coin going up, after two ground inspections.UP v Punjab: Khera, Sidhana resist after UP pacers strike