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John Hastings, the Australia allrounder who was bought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala for $20,000, has become the latest player to leave the IPL early following injury concerns. He will head back to Australia for a scan on his shoulder, and will not return this season.”Going home from the IPL to have a scan on my shoulder. There is a lot of cricket coming up,” he tweeted. “Hopefully next year I can play a part. But yes this year there will be no IPL for me.”Hastings didn’t get a game for Kochi in the one week that he was with the team, joining them after the tour of Bangladesh. He had been a part of Australia’s World Cup squad as well, but didn’t get a look-in during the tournament.Steven Smith, another Australian allrounder bought by Kochi, had been ruled out of the IPL a week ago since he had to undergo ankle surgery.Kochi are yet to seek replacements for their injured players. They had begun the season poorly with two losses, but bounced back with wins over highly rated Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. A victory over table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday will put them level on points at the top.

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Gareth Berg ripped the heart out of Derbyshire’s batting and Chris Rogers returned to torment his former team-mates as Middlesex dominated the first day of the sides’ County Championship Division Two clash at Derby. The all-rounder took 4 for 0 in 27 balls to spark a collapse that sawthe home side crash from 45 for 1 to 154 all out. Rogers, who left Derbyshire at the end of last season, then made an unbeaten 66 to carry Middlesex to 115 for 1 at stumps, 39 behind.Berg would have celebrated his first five-wicket haul but Corey Collymore spilled a simple catch at mid-off on a day when little went right for Derbyshire, who lost skipper Luke Sutton after tea when he injured a hand keeping wicket to Tony Palladino.Derbyshire’s decision to bat first on a warm, sunny morning looked a good one after they lost only Wayne Madsen in the first 15 overs. The South African drove Tim Murtagh to point in the third over but Wes Durston and Australian Test batsman Usman Khawaja were starting to build a partnership when Berg struck.Durston fenced at one he could have left to be caught at second slip and in the same over, Chesney Hughes also edged into the hands of Ollie Rayner. Berg was finding some swing to trouble the batsman and he tempted Khawaja into a loose drive that ended in the hands of third slip Neil Dexter after the 24-year-old had scored 16 from 55 balls in his debut innings.Greg Smith went before lunch when he edged a defensive push at Berg and the slide continued after the interval when Collymore had Dan Redfern taken at first slip by Dawid Malan. Sutton was bowled playing back to Murtagh and when Jon Clare drove loosely to point, Derbyshire were in deep trouble at 106 for 8.But Collymore’s drop and some firm drives from Ross Whiteley, including a six off Rayner, at least earned the home side a measure of respectability before he drove a return catch back to the offspinner. Scott Newman went cheaply for Middlesex when he got a leading edge to mid-offagainst Tim Groenewald but Derbyshire’s bowlers could not dislodge Rogers, whorode his luck on the way to a 78-ball fifty.By then, Derbyshire’s third wicketkeeper was in action after Tom Poynton was called up from a second XI game at nearby Belper to take over from Madsen, who had replaced Sutton. It was a frustrating last session for the home side who saw a number of false strokes from Rogers and Dan Housego fly just out of reach as the pair added 85 in 25 overs.

Nigeria have ensured they finish top of the points table – as a result qualifying for World Cricket League Division 6 – by beating Botswana by eight wickets in a rain-affected game in Gaborone.Going into the match tied on points with Botswana, Nigeria chose to field. The decision paid off, as none of the host’s batsmen were able to build on the starts they got, folding for 123 in 37.2 overs. Legspinner Sean Philips was the pick of the bowlers, stifling the batsmen to finish with 3 for 10 in 6.2 overs. Nigeria’s openers, Ademola Onikoyi and Segun Olayinka, got the chase off to rapid start, putting on 71 in 10.2 overs. But then play was interrupted by rain, and subsequently the target reduced to 120 off 47 overs. After the resumption, Nigeria knocked off the 49 more required for a win without much drama, with Olayinka batting through.Endurance Ofem, the Nigeria captain, said the ease of the victory was unexpected. “I expected more from them [Botswana] today, considering they chased down 272 [against Norway on Thursday]. But I told my guys that if we do well in the morning then the afternoon would be ours for the taking,” he said. “Our bowlers worked hard today and it really paid off for us.”Nigeria will take on Kuwait in the final on Sunday, while Botswana will play Germany for third place.Norway needed a massive win against Germany to avoid relegation to WCL Division 8, but could not pull it off, succumbing by 18 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-curtailed match.Choosing to bowl, Norway’s bowlers did well to restrict Germany to 184. While medium pacer Babar Shahzad knocked over a couple early, opening bowler Waseem Gill bowled an impressive second spell, carving up the middle and lower order with three scalps. S Satyanarayana was the only batsman to make a sizeable contribution, adding respectability to the total with 52 off 47 balls. In the mid-innings break the rain came down and the revised target for Norway was 141 in 29 overs. The right-left combination Rajeev Vohra and Ehsan Latif were hard to manoeuvre early on in the chase, picking up two apiece to leave Norway 40 for 4 in the ninth over. Norway didn’t recover and fell 18 runs short, all out for 122 in 25.4 overs. Latif claimed two more wickets, finishing with 4 for 26 in 5.4 overs.German captain Asif Khan said his team were happy to keep their place in Division 7. “On the whole, we’re delighted that we’re a part of Division 7,” he said. “Our batting didn’t click so well today, but Satya [Satyanarayana] proved his worth under pressure. I think to have got them out for under 140 on this wicket is a real achievement.”Germany will play Botswana for third place on Sunday, while Norway will take on Japan in the fifth-place play-off.The match between Japan and Kuwait was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The sides split points, taking one apiece.Japan have finished at the bottom of the table, meaning they have been relegated to WCL Division 8, irrespective of the result of the fifth-place play-off in which they play Norway on Sunday. Kuwait, who are No. 2 on the points table, have made WCL Division 6, and will take on Nigeria for the Division 7 title.

Tim Paine has spent his past two tours doing little but running the drinks, so captaining Australia A in Zimbabwe will be a welcome task. The squad flies out on Saturday for a triangular one-day series against the hosts and South Africa A, before a pair of four-day games against Zimbabwe, and the selector Greg Chappell will be there taking notes ahead of Australia’s trip to Sri Lanka in August.Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Michael Beer and Jason Krejza are among those who will be hoping to impress Chappell and win immediate promotion, while younger men like Nic Maddinson and Mitchell Marsh are just happy to be part of the tour. Paine himself is a unique case; he has four Tests to his name but knows he won’t add to that tally in the near future unless Brad Haddin is injured.That’s the life of the backup wicketkeeper, as Haddin learnt when he spent the better part of a decade waiting for occasional chances to replace Adam Gilchrist. Paine was part of the World Cup squad but didn’t play a match, and had one outing in the ODI series in Bangladesh that followed, and now he’s looking forward to getting plenty of game-time in Zimbabwe.”It can be frustrating but at the same time I loved every minute of both of those tours,” Paine told ESPNcricinfo this week. “To get the chance to go to a World Cup was outstanding. Hopefully at some stage down the track I can go to another one and be the main keeper, that would be a great result. It can get a little bit frustrating sitting on the sidelines but at the same time I realise how lucky I am to be there.”Paine, 26, has come a long way in the space of a year; he won his first baggy green against Pakistan last July and impressed with both bat and gloves. He then went on to stand in for the injured Haddin on the October tour of India, where he posted two Test half-centuries and confirmed that he has the temperament and maturity to be a fine Test player.The selectors certainly rate him highly. After leading the Prime Minister’s XI in January, he was swiftly thrust into the national Twenty20 vice-captaincy behind Cameron White when Australia played England the same month, and he can further enhance his leadership credentials by steering an Australia A side with a mix of experience and youth.”This tour and as much last year the Prime Minister’s XI, they’re both big honours to be named captain of those sides,” he said. “I’m certainly thrilled to be given the opportunity. It’s something I enjoy doing but it’s something I realise I need to improve and want to improve. The more opportunities I get, the better I’ll be.”Paine has Callum Ferguson as his vice-captain for the Zimbabwe tour, which will feature several interesting subplots as the competition for places in the squad for Sri Lanka intensifies. Hughes can seal himself as the immediate opening replacement for Simon Katich with one big score, while Khawaja also wants to impress and make sure he remains in the Test squad.The spin bowl-off between Krejza and Beer in the four-day side could determine who gets the job for the first Test against Sri Lanka, with Beer not having won a Cricket Australia contract despite being the incumbent. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus also want plenty of wickets as they prepare for Sri Lanka, and they won’t want to be outbowled by fellow fast men Trent Copeland and Mitchell Starc.And with several months now having passed for World Cup post-mortems, Australia’s management and selection panel will be keen to see how the spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe, the allrounders Luke Butterworth and Mitchell Marsh, and the batsmen Aaron Finch, Nic Maddinson and Matthew Wade perform in the 50-over format.The squad has been preparing for the past three weeks in Brisbane under the supervision of the Australia A coach Troy Cooley and his assistant Jason Gillespie, who will help the fast bowlers on the tour. Paine said the players were ready for some time in the middle against quality opposition.”It’s an important tour for everyone,” Paine said. “There’s two lots of guys, there are the guys who have played international cricket, who are looking to get either back into the team or on to tours, then you have the younger guys who are getting their first opportunity to play cricket overseas against international sides, so it’s exciting for them.”It has been very busy the last two or three weeks. We’ve been training every day, so it’s been good for the boys to get back into it.”

ScorecardJames Vince hit an unbeaten 85 as Hampshire crushed Sussex by 112 runs at Hove to clinch first place in the South Group of the Friends Life t20. Vince hit six sixes in his 49-ball innings and shared a partnership of 94 with Neil McKenzie (45 not out) as Hampshire piled on 193 for two.It was the highest T20 score at Hove this year and proved far too much for Sussex, who crashed to 81 all out with Danny Briggs claiming 4 for 17. The hammering means Sussex must now win their final game against Surrey on Friday to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.Hampshire got off to a flying start after winning the toss and electing to bat as Jimmy Adams and Shahid Afridi put on 51 off 35 balls. Adams was the driving force in the partnership, hammering 34 off 26 before being trapped lbw by Naved Arif.Afridi was subdued in comparison as he hit just three boundaries before holing out to Joe Gatting at long on for 24 off the bowling of Michael Yardy.The Pakistan star had put on 48 with Vince in 38 balls but Hampshire began to cut loose once he was back in the pavilion. Vince raced to his 50 off 35 balls which included two sixes off the spin of Yardy and another off Ollie Rayner.He then smashed Chris Nash for successive sixes into the top tier of the Pavilion Stand to pass his previous best of 77 in T20. McKenzie played his part in a thrilling partnership which saw Hampshire score 62 off the last five overs. The South African hit five fours and a six in his unbeaten 45 which came off just 24 balls.Only Arif avoided severe punishment as he finished with figures of one for 26 while Yardy returned one for 33. Sussex’s reply got off to a disastrous start as they lost four wickets in the opening seven overs to virtually end their hopes of victory.Dimitri Mascarenhas did most of the damage as he removed Matt Prior, Chris Nash and Murray Goodwin to claim figures of three for 20. Sussex continued to lose wickets at regular intervals with Lou Vincent being bowled by Imran Tahir’s flipper and Yardy holing out on the boundary off Briggs.Arif was run out in as Sussex’s innings fell apart and at one stage it looked like they might not surpass heir previous lowest total in T20 of 67, which was also against Hampshire at Hove four years ago.Ollie Rayner top scored with 15 to ensure they avoided that record but he became Briggs’ fourth victim in the 18th over when he was lbw.

Afghanistan, Namibia and Papua New Guinea won their games on the final day of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Ireland, to book their place in next year’s tournament, which will be played in Queensland, Australia. Scotland, Nepal and Ireland, who finished at the top of the points table, had already qualified. These six teams will be joined by the ten Full Members at the World Cup.Kenya Under-19s’ Duncan Allan, who finished the tournament with 455 runs from nine games at 50.55, was named Man of the Tournament. Allan said he was disappointed not to have made it to the World Cup – Kenya, with only two wins, finished ninth on the points table. “It would have been great to be part of the tournament next year. But I learnt a lot this time playing this tournament and I believe am a better player for the experience.”Scotland Under-19s won the qualifying tournament, after crushing bottom-dwellers Vanuatu Under-19s by 130 runs at Lodge Road. It was Scotland’s eighth win out of nine games, putting them ahead of Nepal Under-19s by two points. Nepal also qualified, as did hosts Ireland, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan. Ross McLean’s half-century helped Scotland get to 222, and then Vanuatu crumbled to 92 all out. Offspinner Kyle Smith took 5 for 17 as none of Vanuatu’s batsmen offered any resistance.The pitch, Smith said after the match, aided his bowling. “The pitch was a bit two-paced. So, all I had to do, was to bowl in the right areas. I am glad the tournament went off well for us, as we had prepared well for it.”Papua New Guinea Under-19s continued their rise up the table and secured qualification by picking up their fourth win in five games, this time easily beating Ireland Under-19s at Woodvale Road.Seamer Norman Vanua was PNG’s star with the ball; he picked up two early wickets that started a top-order collapse for Ireland, and when the Ireland lower order was fighting to take their team to a defendable total, Vanua came back and removed the last two batsmen. The 38-run eighth-wicket stand between Adam Coughlan and Barry McCarthy that Vanua broke was the highest of Ireland’s innings, and they only managed 155. PNG reached the target quickly, but not without losing five wickets. A quickfire 30 from Vagi Oala got the chase off to a rollicking start but the run-rate slowed slightly as wickets fell. PNG were always comfortable though and got home in 29.1 overs.Wicketkeeper Dogodo Bau, who was at the crease at the end and had claimed five catches when PNG bowled, was the Man of the Match. “It feels good to be part of the squad that qualified [for the World Cup],” he said. “The pitch was good today, but had something in it for our fast bowlers. We have done well to get through.”Nepal Under-19s stayed in second spot in the points table with a convincing 99-run win against USA Under-19s at the Limavady Cricket Ground. No. 3 batsman Naresh Budayair’s 76 set up the base for Nepal, as they recovered well from 78 for 4. Budayair was ably assisted in the recovery by Pradeep Airee, who scored 57. Krishna Karki then blasted four sixes in his 45 off 17 balls to lift Nepal from 214 for 6 in the 47th over to 264 for 9. USA’s chase ran into early strife as Avinash Karn and Krishna Karki reduced them to 15 for 3 in no time. Steven Taylor hit a quick half-century, but USA kept losing steam thanks to Rahul Vishwakarma’s four-wicket haul, and they were bowled out for 165 in the 45th over.Man-of-the-Match Budayair who had top scored with 76 said once Nepal got Taylor, they were confident of winning. “I thought we had enough on the board. But while Steven Taylor was at the crease, we were a bit wary. Once he fell, we were certain of a win.”Afghanistan Under-19s routed Canada Under-19s by eight wickets in a one-sided encounter at New Strabane Park which secured their qualification in fifth place. No Canada batsman managed to score more than 13 as they were skittled out for 71 by an all-round bowling effort from Afghanistan. Sayed Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai and Abdul Naseri picked up two wickets each to leave their batsmen facing an easy chase. Javed Ahmadi and Hashmatullah Shaidi did the needful, racing home in 15 overs despite the loss of two cheap wickets.Ahmadi’s positive, unbeaten knock of 34 from 25 won him the Man-of-the-Match award. He said the win came courtesy his sides’ high quality fielding. “Today’s victory belonged to the fielders. They were just brilliant and ran two batsmen out. When I batted, it was all very simple, since we did not have much to chase.”Kenya Under-19s dismal run in the tournament continued as they lost to Namibia Under-19s by 109 runs at the Drummond Cricket Club. The foundation for Namibia’s total of 314 was laid by captain Stephen Baard’s 89 and Merwe Erasmus’ 51, while the final surge was provided by Gert Lotter’s 35 off 18 balls and Christopher Coombe’s 31 off 17 balls. Lotter and Coombe took 64 runs off the last five overs to ensure Namibia reached the highest total of the tournament so far. Kenya never really went for the total in reply. At the end of 20 overs, though they had only lost two wickets, their run-rate was 2.70, and though they batted out the 50 overs, and Joseph Ochieng got a half-century they ended up losing by a big margin.Man of the Match Stephen Baard said the pitch suited the batsmen. “I had to lead the way for the side. We had to win and win big. It was an easy paced track. The batsmen had it easy during the day. We knew if we posted a huge score, it will become easier to qualify.”

Australia’s limited-overs and Test cricketers will be under no illusions about the difficulty of the task facing them in Sri Lanka after the Twenty20 team was swept 2-0 via the spin of Ajantha Mendis, Cameron White has said.Twice in as many matches Australia were flummoxed by slow bowling, but the second occasion was far more dramatic as Mendis claimed 6 for 16 to foil the chase after Shane Watson had seemingly set the tourists on the path to a comfortable victory.White, Australia’s Twenty20 captain, will now fly home after not being included in the ODI or Test squads, and he said his team-mates would have to find better ways of starting their innings.”It was pretty obvious that once there was a couple of new batters, it was quite hard work,” White said. “It’s going to be no different during the one-day series. It’ll be hard and tough work for the batsmen against the spinners.”Everyone knows that, it’s no secret and it’s just going to be about who can come out on top at the end of the series.”The Australia ODI squad will benefit from the arrival of the captain Michael Clarke and experienced batsmen Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, who can help to avert the sort of panic that was glimpsed as four wickets went down for four runs in 16 balls on Monday evening.”A couple of senior players coming back into the side, Michael and Ricky, have seen a lot of Mendis so they’ll have, straight from the start, a bit more experience there and I think the more you get to face guys like that, who you haven’t seen as much, it becomes easier,” White said.”He’s a different bowler but, as I said, the more you get to see of guys like that, the easier they become to face. Definitely, as Mendis showed tonight, he’s a very good bowler. Clearly, six wickets in a Twenty20 game for under 20 runs is an unbelievable effort.”Sri Lanka’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan was happy to note that an approach laden with spin bowlers and patience had worked so well to start the tour.”We knew [if we took] one or two wickets and we could put pressure on them,” he said. “We were hanging in [there] and waiting for a breakthrough.”

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Spin bowler Imran Tahir took five wickets but the battle between the bottom two sides in Division One moved firmly in Worcestershire’s direction at the end of the third day. Tahir finished with five wickets for 29 runs and left arm pace bowler Chris Wood took 4 for 35 but Worcestershire still managed to finish with a slender first innings advantage of 29 at The Rose Bowl.By the close this had began to look of vital importance because Hampshire ended the day only 53 ahead at a perilous 84 for 6 in their second innings. Medium pacer Gareth Andrew, who took three wickets in the Hampshire first innings, took another three in the second to leave second-from-bottom Worcestershire in with a great chance of victory.The visitors began the third day 67 behind at 112 for 1 with the first 75 minutes – and 12 overs – lost to overnight rain. Worcestershire appeared to be heading for a commanding lead at lunch when they were 135 for 1 with Vikram Solanki in control.But Wood induced a collapse in which Worcestershire lost five wickets for six runs in only four overs. Wood dismissed James Cameron, Moeen Ali two bowls later, and then had Alexei Kervezee caught at the wicket to give him three wickets in five balls.James Tomlinson then bowled Aneesh Kapil and Wood removed Andrew to give him figures for his spell of 4 for 8 in five overs. There was a late resistance between the obdurate Solanki and Ben Scott who added 43 for the seventh wicket but then Tahir quickly ran through the tail.The Pakistan-born, South Africa-qualified legspinner sent back Scott, Richard Jones, Kemar Roach and last man Alan Richardson as Worcestershire were all out for 204 – having lost their last nine wickets for 69. Only Solanki resisted, finishing with a crucial 79 not out from 156 balls – an innings which included 11 fours.Hampshire was soon in trouble again when they batted a second time with Liam Dawson, Michael Carberry and Neil McKenzie all out before the deficit had been overcome. Worse was to follow for the bottom-placed hosts with James Vince out on 43, Sean Ervine 10 runs later and then, just before bad light brought the players off, Nic Pothas.Andrew finished with 3 for 31 and there were two wickets for West Indian pace bowler Roach, making his county debut. However, Hampshire know a sixth defeat of the season will push them nearer relegation.

England’s preparation for their second five-match ODI series against India in under a month will open with two practice matches against a Hyderbad squad, the BCCI has confirmed. England arrived in the city, which is the venue for the first ODI on October 14, on Tuesday and two day-night practice games will form part of their ten-day acclimatisation.The two practice matches will be held on October 8 and 11, with Hyderabad trying to rebuild after a poor 2010-11 Ranji Trophy season in the lower-division of the Indian domestic championship. The team to face England is expected to be selected on Thursday.A BCCI official said England could not face a Board President’s XI or an India A team consisting of the highest rung of domestic cricketers because of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, a domestic 50-overs tournament featuring India’s elite players.The tournament, featuring India’s top 36 ODI players, will be held in Nagpur from October 10 to 13, with the players divided into three teams – India Blue, India Green and India Red. Gautam Gambhir, who is part of the Indian squad for the first two ODIs, will captain India Red.England underwent their first day of training in Hyderabad on Wednesday,a few players struggling in the 30-degree heat. England captian Alastair Cook was pleased with England’s long warm-up period before the one-dayers. “It is quite unheard of as a one-day preparation period, to have 10 days,” he said. “Normally, you come straight from a Test series. So to have that time is fantastic.”England coach Andy Flower joins the England team on Thursday, after having undergone minor shoulder surgery and receiving his OBE during an Investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter is part of the Somerset squad taking part in the Champions League T20 and by Wednesday night will know whether his team will be part of the semi-finals or whether he will be making his way from Bangalore to Hyderabad.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, has said his team had gifted away the Mirpur Test with some irresponsible batting on the final day. Bangladesh, he said, have to work on their temperament. West Indies completed a 229-run win to take the Test and series on Wednesday, after Bangladesh failed to bat out the fifth day on a relatively easy track.”They [West Indies] hardly got us out, we gave away the wickets,” Mushfiqur said. “[Shivnarine] Chanderpaul told us at the end of the game that ‘At no stage did we think we got you out. Don’t do this [bat recklessly] in the future.'”Coming into the fifth day, Bangladesh needed 344 runs to win, and had Tamim Iqbal batting on 82. The plan, Mushfiqur said, was to not lose more than two wickets in a session. “Our gameplan was to bat session by session. A win would have been big but a draw wasn’t that bad either. It would have been hard for them to bowl us out if we had lost a maximum of two wickets in a session.”However, Bangladesh lost Tamim in the third over of the day, and then Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur in quick succession before lunch. “After Tamim unfortunately got out, Shakib and I batted till about 25 minutes to lunch. There were 12 overs left before the new ball and I believed that if we had played till lunch and negotiated the next ten overs, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to us.”Tamim edged to slip while trying to drive Devendra Bishoo – who was getting a fair amount of turn out of the rough, the only assistance the pitch was offering the bowlers – while Shakib’s attempted paddle sweep off Darren Sammy produced a top edge that was snaffled by Chanderpaul. Shakib’s misjudgement, Mushfiqur said, swung the game in favour of West Indies.”It [Shakib’s wicket] was the real turning point today,” Mushfiqur said. “He didn’t play a good shot, he knows it too. I haven’t seen a shot like this in Test cricket. Batting is a game of one ball, one misjudgement and you’re out. Shakib knows what he did today and I hope he won’t do it again.”The team, Mushfiqur said, need to work on the art of building a Test innings. “We don’t play long innings in Tests, we lack temperament. You need to play long innings if we want to win or draw a Test match. We need to work on this, make it a habit of playing long innings.”There are times when we don’t know what to do, whether to go slow or up the pace. Our thoughts have to be to make it a big knock after we are set. We lose concentration when a wicket falls at the other end. Batting is about selecting the right ball and I think we really have to work on these things.”