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The spirit of Sir Viv Richards coursed through the National Stadium all day. His record for the most Test runs in a calendar year has stood for 30 years now, unsurpassed long enough for it to attain similar status as the legendary four-minute mile record. Mohammad Yousuf began the day 149 runs short of breaking it and ended it, less than a half-century away and one innings for the year left.Other records were broken or equalled though; nobody has now scored more than the eight Test hundreds in one year that he has, an honour previously held jointly by Richards and Aravinda de Silva. This was also his fifth hundred in five Tests, a feat Jacques Kallis has equalled and only the greatest, Sir Don Bradman, surpassed. As he spoke to reporters at the end of an ultimately disappointing day for Pakistan, he sensibly refused to be drawn into comparisons with Sir Viv.”Viv Richards was the best player of this era. There is absolutely no one like him around and breaking his centuries record is a huge thing for me. But I’ll admit I cannot play like him at all. Many people had pointed out that I can break his record number of runs this year too and it was on my mind. But he was a match-winning player unlike any. The bigger the bowler the better his batting would get.”Though he chose his Lord’s double as the best of his eight this year, the 102 he crafted on a sluggard of a pitch this afternoon was, like his batting this year, on a plane different to that of his fellow batsmen. Initially he struggled to adjust to the pace and indeterminate bounce but a clip through midwicket and a dab through point in the over after lunch suggested he was coming to terms with the surface. Thereafter, as batsman after batsman faltered, Yousuf glided on. As Pakistan inched on at under three an over, Yousuf floated to a hundred off 155 balls; of the 32 boundaries Pakistan hit, Yousuf’s wrists were responsible for 15.”I have been playing on pitches like this around the world for years now. If you have to make runs you should be able to make them anywhere. It is slow, some balls are keeping low and it will become difficult to score as the match progresses,” said Yousuf.Such has been his form, and Pakistan’s reliance on him – those slender shoulders have produced over 35% of Pakistan’s total runs scored this series – that his captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was moved to call him, in his column, Pakistan’s greatest batsman ever. Again, as regular as a cover drive, came the modesty. “I don’t think so. I mean Inzamam is such a great batsman himself and his record speaks for itself. I am grateful that he thinks it but Javed Miandad and Hanif Mohammad were very, very big players.”A few runs from the captain wouldn’t go amiss and his 18 today was another woeful struggle to relocate his groove. And when you become Daren Ganga’s first international wicket of any kind, you know that form has well and truly deserted you. The class, though Yousuf reminded everyone, is still with him.”When Inzamam scores runs, the team scores with him and does well. He has done it all, won matches, saved matches, everything. He is a little out of form at the moment and we hope he can get it back. But there is no player like him.” If this last year has been anything to go by, clearly there is one.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It was a rematch between last year’s World Cup finalists that turned into a mismatch. Nathan Bracken earned career-best figures as he bowled Australia to a comfortable 128-run win, exploiting the slow SCG pitch to perfection after Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist set up an imposing target of 6 for 253.Kumar Sangakkara looked like carrying on from his last international innings in Australia – he made 192 in the Hobart Test in November – as he cracked 16 off a Brett Lee over. However, when Bracken trapped him lbw with a delivery that angled in towards middle stump and kept low, Sri Lanka’s hopes quickly slipped away.Bracken finished with 5 for 47 when he collected the final wicket as Muttiah Muralitharan skied a catch to the outfield and the CB Series had its first result following a pair of wash-outs in Brisbane. The rot began with Sangakkara’s dismissal, which sparked a disastrous spell in which they lost 7 for 51.As if to prove it simply wasn’t Sri Lanka’s night, Lasith Malinga was run out in unlucky circumstances when he took a single and grounded his bat past the crease, but in the process it knocked out of his hands moments before Andrew Symonds’ throw hit the stumps. His feet were in the air and Sri Lanka were on the ground.At that point it had not seemed long since Sangakkara brightened Sri Lanka’s prospects with a series of vicious strokes off Lee. He top edged an attempted pull to third man for four but instead of putting the shot away, Sangakkara simply decided that practice makes perfect. Two further pulls from on and outside off stump raced to the boundary before he finished the over with a cracking cover drive that just evaded the diving Symonds.But one over of joy does not make a 50-over victory. Bracken led a strong bowling effort, having Chamara Kapugedera caught sharply by Matthew Hayden at first slip before Tillakaratne Dilshan thrashed a chance to long-off. Sri Lanka had needed almost the highest successful ODI chase at the SCG – the record is Australia’s 260 set in 1998-99 – but they never got close.The slow-and-low pitch was not easy to bat on but the visitors made much harder work of it than Australia. There was also the matter of the different mindsets; Sri Lanka took a defensive approach that allowed Clarke to to finish unbeaten on 77 after Gilchrist set up the total with 61.Clarke poked, prodded and sprinted his way to a half-century as he batted to fields that seemed designed just to stop boundaries. That part of Sri Lanka’s plan worked as Clarke struck only two fours and one six, but he was content to bat himself in with hurried singles and twos.Apart from a six lofted over long-on against Muralitharan early in his innings, Clarke was not forced to take many risks. His first four was an unconvincing bottom edge that flew to third man and took him to 45 but his second – and last – was a more orthodox drive through cover that brought him his fifty from 63 balls.Jayawardene’s tactics had been defensive from the start and there was no cordon in the third over when Hayden edged Chaminda Vaas to the vacant first-slip position. That allowed the 65-run opening stand that Australia used as a platform for their solid effort.The Sydney crowd was denied a Gilchrist century and settled for a sensible knock from the hometown hero Clarke. Gilchrist’s record playing Sri Lanka – five of his 15 ODI centuries came against them – suggested a big innings but there was no repeat of the last time the two sides met, when he made 149 in the World Cup final.Although he was more guarded than usual on the unhelpful pitch, Gilchrist gave the fans a couple of flashbacks to his powerful prime. He rocked back to pull Malinga viciously over midwicket for six and sent Ishara Amerasinghe through and over cover for boundaries.His half-century took more than half the innings, which is almost unheard of for Gilchrist, and his 81-ball effort ended on when Tony Hill ruled him lbw trying to slog-sweep Kapugedera. Gilchrist departed to a standing ovation and it will become a familiar feeling for him over the next month as he completes his farewell. Triple-figures or not, his final series is beginning on a high note.

It is a partnership between the very old – one of cricket’s most traditional establishments, the MCC – and the sport’s newest tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL). Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL, has said his league will adhere to the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket, in order to maintain decorum amid all the excitement.”This partnership between the DLF Indian Premier League and MCC is both exciting and important,” Modi said. “It is exciting to be associated with the most famous cricket club in the world, which is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket and the upholder of the spirit of the game.”More importantly, all the cricketers playing in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League are role models for an entire generation of youth and it is crucial for youngsters all over the world to learn straight away the values of this great game and the spirit in which it should be played. The eyes of the world will be on the IPL and we want to see cricket, and the Spirit of Cricket, at its best.”The Spirit of Cricket first appeared as a preamble to the MCC’s Code of Laws in 2000 and is designed to emphasise sportsmanship and good grace in the game.”We are delighted that, right from the outset, the IPL is embracing the MCC Spirit of Cricket initiative,” Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive, said. “This is an innovative and forward-thinking league that has captured the imagination of the cricketing world and it is pleasing that each player and each team will play their part in supporting the very best traditions of the game.”The Spirit of Cricket is a worldwide concept that affects all players of the game, from the grassroots to the elite level, and we believe it’s fitting for MCC – a worldwide cricket club with an independent voice in the game – to promote the Spirit of Cricket in partnership with the IPL. We look forward to a league full of great cricket and superb cricketers playing in the right way – hard but fair.”The inaugural season of the IPL gets underway on April 18 with the Bangalore Royal Challengers taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore.

Group A

Karachi’s new pace-bowling sensation Sohail Khan created a Pakistan first-class record, ending with a match-haul of 16 wickets on the third day of Sui Southern Gas Company‘s tenth round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship encounter against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium in Karachi.Already the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing competition, the 23-year-old Malakand-born Sohail captured a career-best 9 for 109. Added to his equally splendid figures of 7 for 80 in WAPDA’s first innings, Sohail completed 16 for 189 in the match. It beat the earlier record set by Fazal Mahmood (15 for 76) for Punjab against Pakistan Combined Services in Lahore during the 1956-57 season.In what must rank as one of the most sensational entries into first-class cricket, Sohail, who made his debut as recently as October, has now captured 65 wickets at just 18.43 runs apiece. He has taken five in an innings on eight occasions and 10 in a match twice.In spite of Sohail’s heroics, WAPDA compiled 353 runs yesterday, leaving SSGC to make 328 runs to achieve an outright victory. There were several resolute batting displays in the WAPDA innings: Nawaz Sardar, who struck 18 fours and a six, missed a maiden first-class hundred by two runs. Along with skipper Aamer Sajjad (40), Nawaz helped add 80 runs for the fourth wicket. Bilal Khilji (80) and Sunny Irshad (75) then joined together for fine 146-run association for the sixth wicket. However, the last five WAPDA wickets added only a further 19.Neither team might have done enough for a final slot though one thing is clear: third-placed WAPDA will not make it to the top of the 11-team Group A ranking.Leaders Habib Bank Limited (HBL) took another step towards qualifying for the tournament final on the third day of their tenth round, Group A Quaid-e-Azam Trophy against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). They took a crucial 44-run first innings lead in the match against NBP Sports Complex Stadium in Karachi.Thanks to a fine 137-run fourth-wicket partnership between Aftab Khan and Khaqan Arsal, Habib Bank responded with 341 against National Bank’s 297 all out. The 23-year-old Khaqan, who brought up his third first-class century, remained unbeaten till the end with 109, a knock involving 16 fours.Aftab cracked a 210-ball 80 in a little over four-and-a-half hours. Skipper Hasan Raza perished for a rare duck as did Salman Qadir, but a 42-run seventh-wicket partnership between wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat and Khaqan allowed Habib Bank to gain the lead. By the close of play, with opener Nasir Jamshed having made an unbeaten 58, National Bank gained a slender edge of 42 runs with nine wickets in hand.Habib Bank are in a must-win situation here. A draw will take their points tally to 66 after nine matches. National Bank will then still have two more games to go and the full points from two wins will keep them in contention for the final.After having dominated Sialkot for much of the first two days, Lahore Ravi were in some trouble, on the third day of their tenth round match, at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground in Lahore.Sialkot, who had restricted Lahore’s lead to 77 after being shot out for a pathetic 88, recovered to score 288 runs in their second innings. Needing 212 to win, Lahore Ravi were 177 for 7 by the close of play, needing 35 more to wrap up the win.For Sialkot, skipper Ayub Dogar hit a splendid century, a 240-ball 124 that included 15 fours and two sixes. Lahore pace bowler Waqas Ahmed, meanwhile, continued with his excellent display in the match taking 6 for 70, ending with 10 for 118 in the match. Medium-pacer Mohammad Ali Bhutta continued his devastating form, ending with 4 for 54 in the second innings, adding to his 5 for 38 in the first.Multan scored 446 runs in their first innings, taking a 111-run lead over Hyderabad in the Multan Cricket Stadium. A double-hundred by their left-handed opener Usman Tariq, who’s knock contained 20 fours and five sixes, formed the bedrock of the Multan innings.Centuries by Asif Iqbal and Zahoor Elahi allowed Pakistan Customs to compile 338 runs against Karachi Whites at the National Stadium. In reply, Karachi managed to reach 154 for 4 at close, still 184 runs in deficit. Iqbal scored his second first-class century and his highest individual score after batting for over five hours and hitting 13 fours. With Elahi, he added 159 runs for the fourth wicket. For Karachi, Khalid Latif continued his impressive form with the bat and scored 42 while Asim Kamal is still unbeaten on 47.

Group B

Making their debut in the competition this season, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) became the first team to qualify for the tournament final when, on the third day of their tenth round, they easily defeated Lahore Shalimar by ten wickets in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.After having gained a first innings lead of 135, SNGPL bowled out the opposition for a modest 206. This left them just 72 runs to win, which they attained without loss in a matter of 7.1 overs.With 63 points from nine matches, and a game in hand, SNGPL have raced ahead of second-placed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in the Group B table. PIA have their last match coming up and, with only 48 points in their kitty, don’t have a chance of making the final.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited rattled up a big first-innings lead of 327 over Karachi Blues, on the third day of their tenth round, Group B Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex Ground No.1 in Karachi.Opening batsman Afaq Rahim’s unbeaten 205, his second double-hundred of the tournament following his career-best 275 against Quetta last month, was a record-breaking milestone. It was the 100th double century achieved by any batsman in the 50 editions of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.The 22-year-old Afaq, from Mirpur in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, had already reached his career’s seventh hundred with his 107 on Friday afternoon. He batted just a minute over 10 hours in an innings that comprised 450 balls with the help of 24 fours. Afaq added 232 vital runs with Wajahatulla Wasti, who cracked his 15th first-class hundred with the help of 13 fours and three sixes.Having bowled the Blues out for 188 on the opening day, ZTBL reached a massive 515 for five yesterday before skipper Wasti declared. By the close of play, Karachi Blues had lost two wickets — both to medium-fast Kashif Dawood, the five-wicket hero in the first innings – while adding 51. They still need another 277 to avoid an innings defeat.This match is really of no importance in the context of the teams getting to the final. ZTBL are placed fifth in the 11-team Group B ranking with 27 points from nine matches. They are making their last appearance in the pool round. The Blues are down at No.9, just above Abbottabad and Quetta, with just 12 points from eight matches.At the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, the hosts, took the first innings lead against Quetta. Ameer Khan missed a century, managing a 170-ball 92, but had done well to help his team to the lead. Quetta responded with 237 for 4 in their second innings, mainly through an unbroken 96-run fifth-wicket stand between opener Shoaib Khan (95) and Jalat Khan (46), and are now 199 ahead with six wickets intact.Rawalpindi took a 60-run lead over Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, after compiling 316 in reply to the hosts’ 256. Youngster Usman Saeed (94) missed his hundred by six runs. Peshawar erased 45 runs off the lead while losing one wicket in their second innings by the end of the day.The left-handed Saeed Anwar attained the 12th century of his first-class career, as he made 107 runs in the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) score of 356 for 7 against Abbottabad at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. The two teams had earlier forfeited their respective first innings after the opening day on Thursday had been completely washed out. The highlight of the innings was Saaed’s 151-runs stand with Bazid Khan (78).

Zimbabwe were always likely to be up against it, no matter what side Pakistan turned out, but to win the toss and field on a pancake-flat Karachi track was surely not going to help their cause. Still, Prosper Utseya, the quiet, young captain, had his reasons for doing so.”We don’t have enough experience of playing in such conditions,” he explained after his side lost the opening ODI of the series by 104 runs. “We thought we could do well chasing. 347 was obviously too much of a target but if we had kept them to under 300, it was doable.”There is logic there, for Zimbabwe are not a poor batting side. In their last eight ODIs they have only failed to go past 200 twice and have scored over 240 four times. Indeed, their batting wasn’t the problem here either. Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha might even have entertained vague notions of a chase until the 20th over: both scoring confident, contrasting fifties. Sean Williams added a battling, if ultimately futile one at the end, but as Utseya noted, there is something there.”Three of our guys got fifties and that is definitely a positive for us. We can take that confidence in to our next match,” he said. “We also fielded well and took our catches, so I don’t think fielding first was a mistake.”What he didn’t linger on, and what is likely to be a factor as the series progresses, is their bowling, which appears desperately weak on today’s evidence. Shoaib Malik, who capped a fine match with three wickets to add to a fifty, was probably stretching the bounds of Pakistani hospitality when he said Zimbabwe bowled well.Perhaps it was the effort they put in he was lauding, but at no stage in Pakistan’s innings did the batsmen appear under any pressure. Nasir Jamshed, with the honesty of a debutant, seemed to get it about right when asked which bowler troubled him most during a commanding 48-ball 61: “None of them.”Jamshed was one of five batsmen to score fifty for Pakistan – a record – and one of eight in the match – also a record. But if Pakistan will be perturbed about anything – and it is nitpicking really – it would be the stick Samiullah Khan and Rao Iftikhar Anjum received.”It was a very, very flat wicket,” Malik said. “Every bowler gets hit around occasionally, but when he does, you have to see what he is trying to do when he is being hit. Is he bowling restrictively, is he trying to take wickets?”Pakistan’s combination might also need tinkering and it might be the case in Hyderabad as Malik later hinted; they played with only five bowling options, two of whom are allrounders. They ended the game bowling Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. “We had only five bowlers today so I wanted to give some confidence to our non-regular bowlers,” was Malik’s response, which may or may not have been said with tongue fully in cheek.The imbalance was the result, it is learnt, of a selectorial disagreement a few days before the match. Malik was keen – as he said publicly – on using Kamran Akmal as an opener, thus letting him try out another specialist bowler. The selectors wanted, however, to try out Jamshed, as a possible solution to the eternal opening conundrum. Nobody will be too unhappy with the results, but Pakistan will be keen to try out an extra bowler somewhere along the line, especially as they couldn’t bowl Zimbabwe out here.”Zimbabwe are a good side. There was a lot of effort on their part today,” Malik recognised. That is undeniable, but it probably won’t be enough over the next four matches.

As the Irani Trophy encounter between Mumbai and Rest of India resumed on the fourth morning at the Wankhede Stadium, the only point of interest was whether Murali Kartik would scalp all ten, a feat achieved by only four other Indians in first class cricket: Premangshu Chatterjee, Subhash Gupte, Pradeep Sunderam and Anil Kumble. The umpire from whose end Kartik bowled unchanged was – you guessed it – AV Jayaprakash, who had given the marching orders to Kumble’s ten victims just about 20 months ago.The 24-year-old left armer almost got there, picking up the first nine wickets, and even misdirecting a shy at the stumps that would have thrown out Nilesh Kulkarni when Mumbai were eight down. Speaking to the press after the game was over, Kartik said that was the moment when he felt God wanted him to take all ten. Unfortunately Sharandeep Singh was not kept posted of the almighty’s wishes and invited Santosh Saxena to drive a fullish length delivery into substitute Reetinder Sodhi at extra cover.Sharandeep bent his head in embarrassment like a schoolboy caught out by his headmaster after a disreputable act but that took little away from Kartik’s bravura performance. His unchanged spell of 24-6-70-9 – all victims caught – was a record for the Irani Trophy, beating Ravi Shastri’s 9-101 almost twenty seasons ago. Mumbai were bowled out for 184, leaving Rest with a target of 56 runs which openers Sadagopan Ramesh (24) and Shiv Sunder Das (34) knocked off in 35 minutes inside eight overs.Resuming from the Tata end this morning, Kartik had Paras Mhambrey caught at silly point by Mohd. Kaif in his first over without any addition to the overnight score of 145. And in his next over Ramesh Powar was brilliantly caught at forward short leg by Shiv Sunder Das for scalp number seven. Having watched the carnage from the other end, Amol Majumdar seemed to have realised that by playing defensively to Kartik, it was only a matter of time before one of the close catchers pounced. Indeed after the two openers were caught at midon and midoff as they charged Kartik, the next five victims were all snapped up around the bat.Skipper VVS Laxman had opened with Dodda Ganesh from the pavilion end and in the ninth over of the day, he introduced off spinner Sharandeep Singh who had been underbowled in the second innings after matching Kartik wicket for wicket in the first. But it was Kartik who broke through yet again. Majumdar’s intention to go after the bowler was laudable as he jumped out of the crease but the execution was faulty, the ball brushing past him en route to Laxman at first slip.The batsman stood transfixed at the crease for almost a full minute, staring in disbelief at Jayaprakash as though willing him to reverse his verdict. Majumdar’s two hour occupation of the crease had netted 37 from 92 balls with five fours as Mumbai slumped to 175/8. Rajesh Pawar stroked Sharandeep for two boundaries to midwicket but when he sought to give Kartik the same treatment, it proved fatal. The intended sweep was top edged for Jacob Martin to take a splendid catch running several metres backwards from his position at leg slip. It was Kartik’s ninth successive wicket, leaving him with two deliveries in the over to get at Nilesh Kulkarni but he passed up the opportunity and Sharandeep made no mistake.Kartik said the wicket had been seaming early on and providing good carry but got slower and slower as the match progressed. Asked whether his ejection from the National Cricket Academy had raised doubts in his mind about whether he would gain selection for the Irani Trophy, Kartik replied with an emphatic negative. He said he had to leave because of a cracked wrist bone which had not been diagnosed properly and it was the media which had played it up by clubbing him with two others who had been forced out because of indiscipline. The return to peak fitness of this Superintending Officer employed with the Indian Railways should lend a new and formidable dimension to a hitherto nondescript Indian attack in the ensuing season.

After two severe batting collapses against Australia and Sri Lanka, Herschelle Gibbs has urged South Africa’s middle-order batsmen to build on the solid starts provided by the top order.”The guys are firing up front and it would be good for our middle order to fire as well,” Gibbs told . “In order to win a tournament like this you need a big team effort and along with that team effort comes individual performances and the guys are good enough to turn it all around in one game. I wouldn’t say it’s a problem right now. The guys up the order have been setting it up, we just need the middle order to get in there and bat with the same intensity.”Chasing 378 for victory in their final Group A match against Australia, South Africa were on course at 220 for 1 in the 32nd over, but they were eventually dismissed for 294. It got worse in the Super Eights match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. South Africa needed only five runs off 31 balls with five wickets in hand but Lasith Malinga took four wickets in four balls and it was left to Robin Peterson to edge South Africa home with a wicket to spare.”We learnt the lesson of not completing the innings with the same intensity with which we started it,” Gibbs said. “That’s what happens when you drop the intensity, it takes four good balls to turn the game on its head. It was an interesting experience and very, very nice to come away with a win. But it was a big lesson for all the batsmen who batted at the end.”I don’t normally have the stomach for matches like that. I’m normally the first one hiding in the toilets at the back of the change room, not able to watch. But I sat through it this time and witnessed every ball and had a drink very quickly after it was finished. Maybe we just took things for granted and weren’t clinical enough at the end of the innings. But the lesson has been learned and the same mistake won’t be made again.”South Africa’s next match is against Ireland on Tuesday in Guyana and Gibbs said there was no way they would underestimate the Irish challenge. “We know they are a dangerous team and we know you can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “If you disrespect your opponents you will come short. The games are hotting up now. It’s a big time in the tournament and we can’t relax.”

The former West Indies offspinner Omari Banks has joined Somerset as a Kolpak player for the 2008 season.Banks, 25, played 10 Tests and five ODIs for West Indies between May 2003 and August 2005, but has since failed to break into the international set-up.His finest hour came at Antigua in 2003, in only his second Test, when he scored 47 not out from No. 8 as West Indies chased a world-record 418 to beat Australia.”Omari is a great signing and will give us strength in depth in key positions in our squad,” said Somerset’s director of cricket, Brian Rose. “He will be a huge asset to us and will be very dangerous in one-day cricket and the Twenty20 Cup.”Banks does not count as an overseas player as he was born in Anguilla, a British protectorate. He spent two months in the Leicestershire second team, with a solitary senior appearance against Pakistan.

St Thomas College 22 for 2 trail Royal College 294 for 6 dec (Edussuriya 140*, Ratnayake 49) by 272 runs
ScorecardThe Sri Lanka-Australia Test at Galle might be attracting all the international attention, but the 125th annual Royal-Thomian match – the famed three-day “Battle of the Blues” – at the Sinhalese Sports Club was all the talk in Colombo. And a superb hundred by Dhanushka Edussuriya, which gave Royal College the edge at the end of the first day, was sure to generate headlines tomorrow.Edussuriya came to the crease with his side struggling on 60 for 4 after they had lost the toss and been inserted by St Thomas College. He added 101 for the fifth wicket with Ganganath Ratnayake (49) and then 134 for the sixth wicket in 30 overs with Manoj Morawake (45*).In front of a decent crowd, including a fair number of politicians and corporate big-wigs, the morning session belonged to St Thomas as their seamers exploited the early moisture to rip through Royal’s top-order.But St Thomas’s bowlers, bereft of Chathuranga Somapala who failed a late fitness test, lacked the penetration to press home their advantage, and Edussuriya’s took charge. His innings was a masterpiece of timing and control – he reached his fifty in an hour-and-a-half, his hundred in three hours, and never allowed the bowlers to settle. His stand with Morawake left St Thomas’s wilting, and enabled Royal to declare and give themselves 45 minutes to have a go at St Thomas.The tactic worked, as both openers were dismissed in the nine overs before the close.

ScorecardEd Joyce struck 104 as England Lions completed their India tour with a comprehensive 176-run win against Saurashtra. His century enabled the Lions to close in on 300 before an efficient bowling display, led by Charlie Shreck’s four wickets, completed the victory.Joyce added 122 for the second wicket with Joe Denly (56) to set a solid platform for the middle order. Andrew Flintoff made 23 off 28 balls in his second outing, after missing the last match with a stomach bug, but he and Joyce fell with the score on 195.The acceleration came from James Hildreth and Michael Yardy as the pair added 84 for the fifth wicket. Hildreth clubbed 43 off 31 balls and Yardy contributed 42 off 33 as the Lions made up for their below-par effort in the previous match. Nayan Doshi, the Derbyshire left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets but was carted for 80 runs off his 10 overs.Saurashtra never provided a challenge in the run chase as all the Lions bowlers chipped in. Graham Onions began the rout by striking with the third ball and there was a steady procession of wickets with Shreck removing the lower order.