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Michael Klinger’s unbeaten century gave Gloucestershire the option of trying to press for the win as they took a slim lead against Hampshire

Alex Winter in Bristol10-May-2013
ScorecardGloucestershire’s captain Michael Klinger has struck a rich vein of form in recent matches•Getty ImagesThe question hanging over Nevil Road at the moment is whether Gloucestershire will get a return on their investment. That chiefly applies to rebuilding the ground but the club hope that the signing of Australian batsman Michael Klinger pays an immediate dividend.Much faith has been placed in Klinger as the overseas player, new opening batsman and captain on a two-year deal. The early signs are positive. He followed up a century in guiding Gloucestershire to victory at Grace Road last week with another one here as his side got quickly among the batting bonus points.Reaching 400 inside 110 overs is the most realistic result for Gloucestershire, with more than a day’s play lost in the game. But they are on course after two meaty partnerships that came at a good run rate. Gloucestershire were keen to set up matches on the final day of rain-interrupted games last season and haven’t ruled out setting Hampshire a target here.But they must be wary of doing so having lost twice to Yorkshire in contrived finishes in 2012. Captain Klinger will be the negotiator tomorrow. His unbeaten century has given his side the option of trying to press for the win.Klinger blazed a trail, the like of which Gloucestershire haven’t seen since they days of Craig Spearman. Like the planning permission for the ground development, Klinger needed a second chance. But the rationale for Bristol City Council’s initial rejection of the club’s plans could be better understood than Liam Dawson’s dropped catch at second slip. A regulation edge off the bowling of David Balcombe went straight through Dawson’s hands at knee height to his left-hand side. Perhaps a steel girder in the pavilion was moved at the wrong time.A wicket then, with the total only 11, might have jolted Hampshire into action – their only hope to force an unlikely win, barring an agreed chase, being to enforce the follow-on. But the dropped chance had the opposite effect as Balcombe and James Tomlinson leaked 48 in 11 overs, with eight boundaries.Klinger, in excellent touch on the front foot, played the shot of the morning session past extra cover, the final straw in Tomlinson’s opening spell. After lunch, Danny Briggs’ slow left-arm went twice over long-on, the first of three balls lost to the construction site.Klinger added 119 in 31.2 overs with Chris Dent, the partnership being ended by Tomlinson, who changed ends after lunch to have Dent caught behind wafting at a wide delivery.Dent, who played for England Under-19s, is very much in the classy left-hander category: the ability to please spectators with effortless cut strokes and flicks off the legs but then have them pulling their hair out with a loose dismissal. It comes with the territory. Dent is a delight to watch and was in complete control for his 45 but needs to tighten up to produce the returns his talent promises.Dent could do with borrowing a bit of Dan Housego’s doggedness. As in the opening match at Chelmsford, Housego was as solid as the new Bristol pavilion’s framework. But he has another gear and his large forward stride brought plenty of runs through the covers. Raising Briggs for six over long-on brought up his half-century in 77 balls before tea and it was a shock to see him beaten by a quicker, full Briggs delivery the second over after the extended interval.That gave Alex Gidman, now free of the captaincy and eager for runs, to push Gloucestershire into a slender lead with some lusty hitting, including a flashing back-foot drive off Chris Wood.

Shane Watson has stood down as Australia’s vice-captain across all formats, declaring that he wants to focus his attention on his own performance

Brydon Coverdale20-Apr-2013Shane Watson has stood down as Australia’s vice-captain across all formats three months out from the Ashes, declaring that he wants to focus his attention on his own performance. Watson’s role as Michael Clarke’s deputy was the subject of significant public debate during the recent Test tour to India when he was one of four players suspended for a match for failing to complete a task set by the coach Mickey Arthur.Later the same day, Watson flew to Sydney for the birth of his first child and while checking out of the team hotel said he would use his time at home to weigh up his cricketing future. However, a few days later Watson committed himself to the team in the long term and rejoined the squad in Delhi, where he captained Australia in the fourth Test when Clarke was unavailable due to his back injury.But during that match, Watson’s disappointing run of batting form continued and he finished the tour with 99 runs at an average of 16.50, a miserable return given that he had chosen to embark on the trip as a batsman only. Watson has not scored a Test century since October 2010 and since becoming vice-captain in 2011 he has managed only 627 Test runs at 24.11.”Making the decision to step down wasn’t easy but it’s something I’ve been thinking about since the Test series against India ended,” Watson said. “I think it’s the right time for a change for both the team and me. I’ll be honest and admit I wrestled with the decision for some time, however once I made up my mind, I informed Cricket Australia so the selectors could consider their options for the Ashes given the squads will be announced soon.”I want to be the best Test player I can be for Australia and think I can do that by stepping down from the vice-captaincy to focus my attention on scoring runs, taking wickets and doing whatever is necessary to help the team achieve success. I won’t be the vice-captain in title but I think I can still be a leader and strong contributor around the group.”Yesterday I rang John Inverarity, Mickey Arthur and Michael Clarke to advise them of my decision and they respect that decision and agree with me that this is the best outcome for me and the team. I thank Cricket Australia for the leadership opportunity over the past two years and I’m really looking forward to this next phase. In my conversations with Mickey and Michael I reaffirmed my commitment to the team and support for them as we fight to win back the Ashes and get back to being ranked number one in the world.”John Inverarity, the national selector, said: “Shane Watson should be commended for making the tough call to step down from the vice-captaincy to focus on playing. Regardless, he will still be an important senior leader within the team. The national selection panel will now consider and then put a vice-captaincy recommendation to the Cricket Australia Board for its approval.”Watson was named vice-captain to Clarke in March 2011 after Ricky Ponting stood down as the team’s leader. He filled in as Australia’s captain in nine one-day internationals for five victories as well as leading in the Delhi Test.

Peter Siddle scored his maiden first-class hundred and then the Australia A bowlers proved too much for Scotland who crumbled to 149

Callum Stewart at The Grange08-Jun-2013Australia A 372 for 8 dec (Haddin 113, Siddle 103*) and 165 for 4 lead Scotland 149 (MacLeod 51, Pattinson 3-16) by 388 runs
ScorecardJames Pattinson eased into his tour with three wickets•Getty ImagesPeter Siddle scored his maiden first-class hundred and then the Australia A bowlers proved too much for Scotland who crumbled to 149. James Pattinson, one of a trio of likely Ashes bowlers in operation, claimed three wickets before the Australians opted for batting practice rather than a swift victory.Siddle, whose previous best was 87, had resumed on 85 and, as the Australians pressed for a declaration, he was given a life on 93 but a sparkling cover drive brought him his hundred.Scotland started their reply full of nerves with Josh Davey facing 15 deliveries before being caught behind for a duck. Matt Machan showed promise from the other end hitting a couple of fours off the bowling off Chad Sayers, but Freddie Coleman was run out by a superb direct hit from Nathan Lyon, and Richie Berrington soon followed, being clean bowled for 1 by Pattinson.Lyon, who could come under pressure for his Test berth if Fawad Ahmed is fast-tracked into the main squad, was given an early bowl and beat Machan in the flight. Moneeb Iqbal lost his off stump when he shouldered arms at Pattinson and Matthew Cross, the wicketkeeper, fell to Moises Henriques when he left his bat in the air while avoiding a bouncer. When Ashton Agar claimed two wickets Scotland were in tatters at 83 for 9.However, Callum MacLeod and Iain Wardlaw added a record 66 for the last wicket as they attacked the spinners, especially Lyon, although the offspinner finally ended their fun when MacLeod picked out deep square-leg the ball after reaching fifty.Australia opted not to force the follow-on to allow their top order, which had not been fluent in the first innings, another chance. Jordan Silk and Usman Khawaja edged to first slip but the lead swelled to nearly 400 by the close.

Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards has given his chief executive James Sutherland the full support of the board, but there is no reason to believe that means what it usually does

Daniel Brettig in Taunton25-Jun-2013Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards has given his chief executive James Sutherland the full support of the board, but there is no reason to believe that means what it usually does.As CEO of the game’s governing body in Australia since 2001, Sutherland is facing the kind of pressure he has artfully avoided for most of a 12-year tenure, for his role in Australian cricket’s descent into a pronounced dive. The sacking of Mickey Arthur and his replacement by Darren Lehmann a mere two weeks before the start of an Ashes series has led to serious questions about how Sutherland allowed the national team to reach a point of such disarray before intervening.However Edwards was unequivocal in his support for Sutherland, who recently negotiated a new A$500 million domestic television rights deal and remains secure in his position. There is no indication of the board offering its full support immediately before choosing to reach for the knife in the time-honoured manner. “Absolutely, without question,” Edwards told when asked whether Sutherland had the board completely in his corner. “We are very comfortable with the way things are tracking at that level.”Arguably the least visible chairman among cricket’s Full Member nations, Edwards stood to one side and watched Sutherland and the team performance manager Pat Howard explain at a press conference in Bristol why they had decided to jettison Arthur little more than halfway into a three-year contract. Edwards’ amiable, quiet way of doing business has been similar to Sutherland, but he supported the decisive action that took place before the Ashes squad assembled in Taunton.”That’s the reason for changing coaches, that things were not progressing the way we wanted, so that hard decision was made,” Edwards said. “That came initially from management. It would have been easy to ignore, to say let’s leave it for another year or six months and let the contract run its course, but we didn’t. That is what I call managing the business.”Sutherland and Howard were both offsite during the dramas of the India tour, leaving Arthur to mete out a punishment that caused former England captain Michael Atherton to suggest in the coach had been guaranteed to lose his job the moment he decided to suspend four players from a Test match for failing to follow instructions. Edwards did not deny more needed to be done.”That was a difficult time, no question, and it’s in those circumstances that the stress levels rise and issues that exist burst forth. That is what happened,” Edwards said. “We all wish that hadn’t happened, but it did happen. There are probably still issues there to be resolved. We will see how the new coach and new structure works.”In hindsight you can always do things better, but at the time it was a fast-moving issue and management and the board grappled with it as best we could with the information we had. We did what we thought was right at the time and backed management on the ground.”Sutherland did his share of deflecting in Bristol when pushed on whether he had considered his own position, and whether he had let things get out of hand just as Arthur, captain Michael Clarke and the team management had done in India and then during the Champions Trophy.”I don’t think it’s about me at all but it is about Australian cricket fans and what they want and expect from Australian cricketers,” Sutherland said. “It’s certainly caused me to reflect on issues and performance-related matters that as an organisation we need to take responsibility for.”

Guyana fast bowler Ronsford Beaton has been ruled out of the Caribbean Premier League after picking up a stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2013Guyana fast bowler Ronsford Beaton has been ruled out of the upcoming Caribbean Premier League after suffering a stress fracture. Beaton was in the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad.Beaton came into the limelight after an impressive domestic season during which he took 16 wickets from six matches in the regional four-day competition and another seven wickets in five matches in the Caribbean Twenty20.He will be replaced by 21-year-old fast bowler Keon Joseph.”It is unfortunate that we had to lose Beaton to injury as we expected him to play a major role in the team,” Roger Harper, coach of the Amazon Warriors, said. “However, we are delighted that we have been able to replace him with a talented player like Keon Joseph, and we are sure he will do a good job.”Joseph, who has represented West Indies in the Under-19 format, recently came to the fore after rocking Jamaica with a four-wicket haul at Providence in April.”I definitely feel excited that I’ve been called up to play for the Guyana Amazon Warriors,” Joseph said. “I am definitely coming to play and bringing my best.”The CPL begins on July 30 with the first match between Barbados Tridents and St Lucia Zouks. Guyana Amazon Warriors play their first match on July 31 against Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel.

It may have come too late to revive Middlesex’s title prospects, but Ollie Rayner’s career-best haul could well have hammered a nail in the coffin of Surrey’s Division One survival hopes.

George Dobell at The Oval04-Sep-2013
ScorecardOllie Rayner destroyed Surrey with career-best figures•PA PhotosIt may have come too late to revive Middlesex’s title prospects, but Ollie Rayner’s career-best haul could well have hammered a nail in the coffin of Surrey’s Division One survival hopes.Rayner made use of a helpful pitch and some hapless battling to claim eight wickets in a remarkable afternoon session which saw Surrey collapse from 72 for 1 to 145 all out. Not only did Rayner, a tall offspinner, claim all his wickets in a frenetic 75-minute passage of play, but he played a part in both the other dismissals, holding on to two good catches. No wonder he later described it as “the best day of his career” and suggested he will end up “the answer to a trivia question”.It speaks volumes for this pitch that 18 wickets fell in the day and 14 of them to spin. This previously used surface has provided copious assistance to spin bowlers and appears to be worsening by the session. Gary Keedy, the Surrey spinner, has already claimed the first five wickets to fall in Middlesex’s second innings and batting fourth looks as if it will be desperately demanding. Middlesex, with a lead of 282, may already be out of sight. Such surfaces render the toss disproportionately important.Indeed, if there was any consolation to be taken from a grim afternoon by Surrey it is that David Capel, the ECB’s pitch liaison officer, departed after the first day declaring himself satisfied with what he had seen. There will be no points penalty for this pitch.That is probably right, too. Despite their success in India, England’s batsmen have a well-earned reputation for struggling against spin and conditions like this may provide valuable experience. Surrey’s panic-strewn innings reinforced the view that few county batsmen are equipped, mentally or technically, for such conditions.It would be churlish not to credit Rayner for an outstanding performance. Gaining bounce – he is six feet five inches – and substantial turn, he utilised the conditions well and engendered something close to panic in the Surrey ranks by delivering so few release balls. In partnership with Ravi Patel, who bowled his left-arm spinner nicely from the Pavilion End, Middlesex’s two spinners soon had a stranglehold on the Surrey batting.Surrey were awful. Barely two weeks after England’s players were alleged to have urinated on the pitch at The Oval, Surrey produced a performance that was every bit as grim. With conditions crying out for occupation of the crease, players lacking confidence in their defence, either prodded around nervously or attacked needlessly. None of the top six, with the exception of the out of sorts Arun Harinath, fell to a defensive stroke and only one or two Surrey batsmen – notably Tim Linley – could consider themselves the faultless recipients of unplayable deliveries.The crucial breakthrough owed much to an outrageous slice of fortune. Bowling to a batsman as accomplished as Hashim Amla must be a daunting experience for a 22-year-old with a handful of first-class games behind him, so perhaps it was nerves that resulted in Ravi Patel delivering a waist-high full toss. Inexplicably, however, Amla thrashed it to mid-on where Rayner clung on a sharp chance.Perhaps the wicket shocked Surrey. It was, after all, only Amla’s intervention that led Surrey to their first victory of the season, against Derbyshire, the other day and with him gone, all the old flaws were apparent. Rayner later commented that Middlesex had sensed Surrey’s fear and concluded they might “cave in” if they could build pressure, but Middlesex can hardly have dreamed they would “cave in” so easily.Rory Burns and Steve Davies were caught by brilliantly by Sam Robson at short-leg as they turned balls into the leg side, Zander de Bruyn top-edged a sweep – a high risk stroke on a surface offering sharp bounce – while Vikram Solanki and Stuart Meaker both drove to mid-wicket in trying to hit over the top.Surrey only passed the follow-on mark due to four byes though Middlesex later confirmed that they would not have enforced it anyway.”I’ve bowled better,” Rayner, Fallingbostel’s finest, admitted modestly afterwards. “But when things go for your way, these things can happen. A couple of wickets there were lucky and the pitch is really conducive to what I’m doing. It’s ragging out there and maybe my height is making the difference. There’s a long way to go, but maybe this will put us back in the title race.”I’m very grateful to Middlesex. They’ve been very patient and stuck with me even when I haven’t been able to take any wickets and my batting has been crap. It’s good to be able to repay them a little.”

Ivo Tennant15-Aug-2013The biggest day in the English domestic cricket calendar, as Dimitri Mascarenhas puts it, will also be his swansong. Not necessarily in all aspects of the game, but most certainly in the format in which he will always be best remembered. Hampshire’s T20 captain retires at the end of the season, his future at the Ageas Bowl or elsewhere still to be resolved. He is in discussion with Rod Bransgrove, his chairman, about moving into coaching.Echoing 007, he did emphasise that he will never say never again. Mascarenhas might just be enticed elsewhere in the world where T20 is played, which these days is just about everywhere. For the time being, he is concentrating on beating “a very strong” Surrey side and is insistent that Hampshire will not be over reliant on Michael Carberry, the man of the moment, who has scored 496 runs in the competition this season.”I am glad we are playing in the second match at Edgbaston,” Mascarenhas said. “It gives us time to have a look at the pitch. We are not wholly dependent on Carberry, as James Vince has been excellent in two of our matches, but he is our best player and despite being over 30, is only going to get better. They will make for a good partnership for the next three years. If I was picking the England team, Carbs would definitely be in it.”Mascarenhas will be 36 in October, his stubble is greying and his body is creaking. As it is, he reckons the Hampshire physio has prolonged his career by at least one season and possibly more than that. “I am going to miss T20 hugely. I love everything about it – batting, bowling and captaining these great lads. That is why I shall not turn down an offer from IPL or New Zealand or Bangladesh, where I have played before, but I haven’t had one as yet.”Carberry, like Mascarenhas, spoke to Shane Warne when he watched Hampshire’s quarter-final victory over Lancashire last week, and they expect to meet up with him again at Edgbaston if he is commentating on Finals Day. Did their former captain impart any particular advice? “I can’t give away all my secrets,” Carberry said. “But he has had a massive influence on me, launching my career and giving me freedom. The fact that I’m improving is the most important thing. James Vince and I bat together nicely but an England call-up is not on my mind.”There have been other successes. Chris Wood, now very much regarded as a specialist ‘death bowler’ at the end of the innings, as he emphasised in Cardiff at Flt20 Finals Day last year, has only ever played in a winning side on Finals Day. “I get told in advance if I am going to bowl in the closing overs. I think if one shies away from anything in sport, one is going to be on the end of a defeat. But taking wickets at the start of an innings is just as important as not conceding runs at the end.”Trying to be a ‘death bowler’ when the opening batsmen are at the wicket would not work. I would not take wickets like that. I have picked up on the grapevine that the England selectors are looking for left arm bowlers. And my batting is improving – I want to play in all our Championship matches, not just half, and so I have to work on that.”

Being gracious in defeat but scathing in self-examination is a Misbah-ul-Haq speciality and he was on top form with it again today

Firdose Moonda in Harare14-Sep-2013Being gracious in defeat but scathing in self-examination is a Misbah-ul-Haq speciality and he was on top form with it again today. The Pakistan captain was sincere in congratulating an opposition who outplayed his own team and stern in his assessment of a group, specifically a batting unit, who did not play well enough together.”Our batting was the culprit on a pitch which was good for batting,” he said. “In both innings we couldn’t cross 250. We only crossed 300 once in the four innings on this tour. How can you win a Test match without scoring 300 runs?”Pakistan were bowled out for 230 and 239 in this match and 249 in the first innings of the previous Test, in which they also piled on 419. But it was the inability to chase on a surface Misbah deemed “at its best” on the final two days which irked him most.The demons in the mind far outweighed the almost non-existent demons in the surface, which was feared underprepared because the groundstaff only had two-and-a-half days to get it ready, but actually provided a good contest between bat and ball. “It’s all about the pressure,” Misbah said.”There was nothing wrong with the pitch. We were playing shots and drives which were not there for the first three days because the ball was stopping. So it was all in the mind of the batsman. Chasing in the fourth innings, the pressure makes you make mistakes and panic. That’s what happened.”More than careless strokeplay, Pakistan’s batsmen succumbed to frustration against an attack that kept them quiet and tired them with consistency. “They had a set plan in bowling and asked questions of the batsmen which we could not answer,” Misbah said. “To do well against bowlers who are good in their own conditions you need experience, patience, technique and a lot of hard work.”With Younis Khan and Misbah leading the run-charts, the value of old hands is obvious but it also brings to the fore the problems Pakistan’s young crop are having. Azhar Ali showed good temperament in the first Test and Khurram Manzoor was promising with his two half-centuries but Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal battled, particularly Shafiq against bounce and movement.Concerns over the next generation are well-founded and shared by Misbah, who insists they will only learn through experience. “These youngsters were really performing well in pressure series against Sri Lanka and England, but at the moment, they are struggling,” he admitted. “Zimbabwe really exploited our inexperience. This morning, we were positive right from the start and decided wherever we can attack them, we’ll do it. That’s how we approached it but nobody could stand.”One of the players who put up the least resistance was Mohammad Hafeez, who much earlier in the innings had been dismissed cheaply and scored only 59 runs from four innings. Misbah conceded there was a worry over his performances in the longer format but he was not certain it would lead to changes. “It’s a big concern because he was in good form in the ODIs and he did not contribute in Tests,” he said. “It’s not my decision, it’s a board decision so let’s see.”Perhaps the only thing he was pleased about was his own leadership which was, once again, formed by example. But Misbah said his undefeated 79 gave him little joy. “It matters when your team performs. If your team is losing, you really hurt as a captain. You don’t want to lose or tie these sort of series. You win matches as a team, you can’t win matches as individuals. You really need to stand up as a team.”By “these sort of series”, Misbah was referring to the opposition who he said “won most of the sessions” but who Pakistan were expected to beat. Their inability to do so has seen them slip from fourth to sixth on the Test rankings and are certain to cop even more criticism from their fans.Misbah resigned to that and said when the fault-finding begins, he will be ready to hear it. “Actually, we’ll have those guys for some solutions,” he said. “It’s easy to say things but not that easy to find solutions.” Judging by the numbers already being proposed, Misbah may find himself with a lot to consider before Pakistan host South Africa next month in the UAE.

A round-up of the first day’s play of Group A’s fifth round matches from the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2013
Scorecard
Abhimanyu Mithun’s burst reduced Odisha to 66 for 7•AFPAbhimanyu Mithun ripped through the Odisha top order to leave them tottering at 66 for 6 before a superb rearguard led by Abhilash Mallick gave Odisha’s total some respectability. With six of the top eight batsmen being dismissed in single digits, Odisha were at 66 for 7 before Mallick began a recovery act with the lower order. Both Alok Sahoo and Basant Mohanty stuck around for over an hour each to support Mallick, who did most of the scoring in the two stands that yielded 106 runs. Mallick missed out on what would have been a maiden century, trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi on 98. That brought in the debutant Suryakant Pradhan, who slammed three fours and three sixes in a 28-ball 34 that lifted Odisha beyond 200.
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On a day of slow progress in Jamshedpur, half-centuries from Rameez Nemat and Saurabh Tiwary took Jharkhand to 194 for 5 against table-toppers Gujarat. This was Tiwary’s fifth 50-plus score in his previous six Ranji innings this season. Nemat and Tiwary came together after Jharkhand lost two wickets in the first hour, and they put on a patient 133 to steer the side to 168 for 2. With less than 14 overs to go till stumps, it was overwhelmingly Jharkhand’s day, but Gujarat hit back with three late strikes to even up the contest.
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Lahli, the setting for Sachin Tendulkar’s final domestic game, became the scene for a memorable comeback. Five years after he last played a first-class game, Punjab fast bowler VRV Singh returned to the domestic circuit and took a five-for, routing Haryana for 163. The hosts, however, hit right back, grabbing three Punjab wickets, including that of Jiwanjot Singh before the end of the day. Read the full report here.
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Wasim Jaffer’s landmark 50th first-class hundred rescued Mumbai on the first day of their maiden Ranji Trophy clash against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. Riding on Jaffer’s unbeaten 133, Mumbai ended the opening day of the Group A league clash at 254 for 8.Read the full report here.

A round-up of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup matches played on November 30, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2013Group AKhan Research Laboratories successfully defended their middling total of 127, just edging National Bank of Pakistan by two runs at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. A thrilling contest decided in the final over – that required eight more runs with the two set batsmen in Hammad Azam (20) and Fawad Alam (20*) in the middle. An economical over by Yasir Ali, conceded just five runs and claimed a wicket, as National Bank were kept to 125. National Bank’s chase was nervy from the start. After ten overs, the score was 50, and despite Umar Waheed’s 32 off 20 balls, runs continued to dry up with Fawad at the other end. KRL, earlier, had chosen to bat first, with Naved Yasin (29) and Saeed Anwar junior (36) helping the side get a decent total on the board to defend.Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik both scored half-centuries to help Pakistan International Airlines beat State Bank of Pakistan by six wickets. The duo shared a 135-run stand for the third wicket to chase down 154 with four balls remaining. Malik remained unbeaten on 61 off 44 balls, with seven boundaries and a six, while Sarfaraz smashed 74 off 54 balls before being run-out. Earlier PIA opted to bowl first, brimming with confidence from an overnight show when they routed Pakistan TV by 10 wickets. However, Najaf Shah went wicketless in his four overs and conceded 41 runs. Aizaz Cheema finished with 2 for 19, but SBP went on to compile 154.United Bank Limited captain Tariq Haroon blasted a 25-ball 48, before medium-pacer Asif Raza finished with 4 for 16 to help the team to a comprehensive 38-run win over Pakistan Television in Lahore. Haroon’s knock, which included three fours and three sixes, helped United Bank build on the good start made by the openers Abid Ali and Ahsan Ali and power United Bank to 166 for 7 from their 20 overs. Pakistan TV, who were bundled out for 96 against Pakistan International Airlines on Friday, did not fare much better today, losing wickets regularly during the chase. Their only major contributions came from Zeeshan Mushtaq and Zohaib Ahmed, who made 41 and an unbeaten 52 respectively. But eight of their batsmen failed to reach double digits, as Raza ran through their line-up to restrict them to 128 for 8.Group BWater and Power Development Authority were comprehensively beaten by Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited by 10 wickets, after being bundled out for 64 in 17.1 overs – the lowest domestic Twenty20 total in Pakistan. Sui Gas, despite losing their openers, needed only 9.3 overs to overhaul this paltry score, with Mohammad Rizwan’s 16-ball 25 paving the way for an easy win.WAPDA, put in to bat, were shaky right from the start, and lost wickets at regular intervals. They were reeling at 29 for 5 at one stage, as the seamers Imran Ali and Mohammad Farman picked up two wickets apiece to run through WAPDA’s top order. Opener Muhammad Fayyaz and Ayaz Tasawwar were the only two batsmen to reach double digits, as the spinners Yasir Shah and Imran Khalid notched five scalps between them to remove the tail and set up an easy chase.The victory takes Sui Gas up to second in Group B. One more win against Habib Bank Limited on Sunday will secure their place in the semi-finals. WAPDA, however, are rooted at the bottom without a single win to their credit.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited continued to dominate their group, beating Port Qasim Authority by eight wickets at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The win meant they finished their pool matches unbeaten, leading the points table with eight points. PQA, laden with flamboyant batsmen, began poorly, being reduced on 18 for 4. Khurrum Manzoor (20 off 26) with Mohammad Waqas (27 off 39) tried to rescue the team from the early wobble, but could not kick on from their stars and they crumbled further till Mohammad Talha knocked off 40 in 18 balls to help the side post 114. Imran Nazir and Sharjeel Khan responded swiftly – the pair piled up 50 in five overs before both were removed by left-arm spinner Azam Hussain (2-16). Then Yasir Hameed and Haris Sohail took their time to settle in, but got the team home with 10 balls to spare.