England carried their magnificent form from Old Trafford to the picturesqueRiverside ground in Durham and virtually ended West Indies’ hopes of apassage to the final of the NatWest Series next Saturday.For the second successive match, England produced a highly commendableperformance that brought them victory by a most comfortable margin of tenwickets, the first time that they have achieved it on such a scale in 314one-day international matches that they have played since the first one inMelbourne nearly thirty years ago.Capacity crowdIt was a display that would have brought some warmth to England’s supportersamong the crowd which filled the ground to capacity on a bitterly coldmorning. Ironically, by the time the game ended, the ground was bathed insunshine.It was England’s day from the start, having put the opposition in to bat,England’s bowlers remained on top throughout the innings, apart from theperiod when Brian Lara and Chris Gayle were putting on a 61 run stand,having got together on 43 for three. Needless to say there were no individualscores of any significance barring Lara’s half-century in West Indies’ total of169.Worry for West IndiesFor West Indies, the decline in both the major areas of their game since thewin in the first Test match at Edgbaston, a month ago, must now be a sourceof considerable worry. It’s true that their veteran and leading fast bowlersCurtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh are currently missing from the attack, andthat must surely take some pressure off England’s batsmen, but theirbatting – even allowing for the absence of the injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul -shows obvious lack of depth and application.It has undoubtedly put pressure on Lara who contributes substantially, bycomparison to others, but does not come up with the big scores that he is socapable of and, indeed, is expected to.It now calls for an allmighty effort from the Windies in their remainingtwo games in this series to have a chance to reach the final. They will have towin their match against Zimbabwe tomorrow and against England next Thursday,by considerable margins, and then, too, they must hope for Zimbabwe todefeat England on Tuesday, to entertain any hopes for a Lord’s final. That is the, almost unrealistic, formula that they hope will apply.West Indies attack dominatedEngland’s innings today saw a total domination of the West Indies attack.Marcus Trescothick, with 87 not out, showed he is going from strength tostrength in these limited-over matches, and as he says, he now hopes to finda place in the England Test side. Captain Alec Stewart, who formed such aneffective opening partnership with him, hitting an unbeaten 74, said:” Itsbeen two great performances on the trot. We carried on from where we leftoff at Old Trafford. They produced a very good wicket here and all credit toDurham for it and all the facilities.”

After being restricted to a total of 190, Hyderabad hit back to takethree Karnataka wickets for 26 by stumps on the first day of theirSouth Zone under-22 cricket tournament match at the M Chinnaswamystadium in Bangalore on Thursday.Opting to bat, Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals and it wasonly a gallant 70 by Santosh Yadav that helped them to get near the200 run mark. Yadav, who came in when two wickets were down for 32,was ninth out at 177. He faced 165 balls and hit six fours. The factthat the highest partnership was 43 runs for the ninth wicket betweenYadav and Ramakrishna (35) tells the tale of the inconsistentHyderabad batting. Three run outs added to Hyderabad’s agony. MdAleem, who wrecked the middle order, was the most successful bowlerwith four for 42.When Karnataka batted, opening bowlers Md Ghouse (2) and Amresh Kumar(1) quickly got among the wickets and the home team lost three wicketsfor 20 runs. The game was stopped due to bad light at 4.15 pm and playwas finally called off at 5.05 pm. with Karnataka gasping for breath.The two other matches were affected by rain. While there were only 64minutes of play in the game between Tamil Nadu and Goa at the DSYground in Vasco, there was never any possibility of play betweenAndhra and Kerala at the District Sports Authority stadium inKakinada. At Vasco, Tamil Nadu, put into bat were 59 for no loss in15 overs with the openers Noorul Riaz (27) and S Badrinath (24) comingin unscathed. Play started only at 4.30 pm.

A century for Craig Spearman, runs for Nathan Astle and a pair of quick wickets for Shayne O’Connor in the early evening added up to a handy day’s work for New Zealand as they started their final pre-Test warm-up against North West at the North West Stadium on Saturday.With bad light twice interrupting play during the afternoon, it was a disjointed day, but it has to be said that North West were a good deal more disjointed than the tourists who declared at 280 for six and then grabbed two wickets with the home side still to get the scoreboard going.Spearman’s 100 followed the 173 not out made by Mark Richardson in Paarl and leaves New Zealand in the happy position of having both openers in the runs ahead of the Test. It wasn’t the most challenging attack, perhaps, and Spearman was occasionally bogged down – he was stuck on 88 for 27 deliveries – but the century was runs under his belt and there’s nothing quite like three figures to get batsmen believing in themselves.Astle, meanwhile, made 63 before he tried to let one from Francois van der Merwe go and had to watch in embarrassment as it crashed into middle and off. But he looked in fine nick, middling it right from the start and he may be a little more circumspect in Bloemfontein in deciding which deliveries to leave.Astle had the Paarl game off as did Stephen Fleming, but Fleming’s return to action was a shade more forgettable. He made 16 and then tried to drive one that wasn’t quite there and lifted a catch to cover. Fleming has made some runs in South Africa, but not as many as he might have liked. Perhaps they’re waiting for him in Bloemfontein.There wasn’t a great deal to write home about as far as North West were concerned. Van der Merwe finished with three for 76, but their chief contribution to the day was to lose two wickets without troubling the scorers.Andrew Lawson and Arno Jacobs were both caught Fleming at first slip, bowled O’Connor and perhaps the biggest plus among a number of setbacks for New Zealand since arriving in South Africa has been the form of O’Connor.He started to swing the ball in the fifth one-dayer at Kingsmead and bowled well at Newlands until he bowled a brainless last over at Lance Klusener. He got swing and bounce at a fair pace on Saturday evening, and if he can take all this to Bloemfontein, the New Zealand attack may have at least a few teeth.

After the loss of the second day, the warm-up match between Zimbabwe Aand the Indians petered out into the expected draw, although India didturn down a chance of an outright win when they decided againstenforcing the follow-on. In reply to their first innings of 336 fornine declared, they dismissed Zimbabwe A for 175 and then, battingagain, scored 150 for seven.In contrast to the aborted second day of the match, Day Three beganwarm and sunny. With the notable exception of Craig Wishart, theZimbabwe A Test hopefuls failed to make anything of their opportunity.Hamilton Masakadza (8) soon fell, caught at slip off Ashish Nehra, andZimbabwe A were 37 for two.Then followed the only notable partnership of the innings, betweenopener Dion Ebrahim and Wishart. Debashish Mohanty initially erred inlength and was punished by both batsmen. Wishart pulled shortdeliveries with particular relish, and also produced the odd powerfulstraight drive to the overpitched ball. He looked every inch a batsmanwith a point to prove. Had those responsible sought to boost hisfragile confidence instead of condemning him to live in constantinsecurity, he could be a successful Test regular.By contrast, current Test player Ebrahim found it difficult to timethe ball, but hung in there with determination. When Harbhajan Singhmade a belated arrival at the bowling crease, Wishart immediately hithim for six over long on, but then skied a ball safely between twofielders. Just before lunch, Zahir Khan began a collapse by havingEbrahim (47) caught at slip and then yorking Craig Evans first ball.Viljoen (5) was lbw to Harbhajan and Zimbabwe A were suddenly reelingat 139 for five.Then Wishart, his concentration apparently disturbed by the comingsand goings at the far end, hung a limp bat out feebly to Khan and wascaught at the wicket. He had hit 68 off 85 balls. Finally TatendaTaibu (1) was caught at short leg off Harbhajan on the stroke oflunch, and Zimbabwe A were 143 for seven, having lost five wickets forjust ten runs. India had struck back with a vengeance.The disasters continued for Zimbabwe A after the interval, as TravisFriend (4) had his middle stump uprooted by a quicker yorker fromHarbhajan Singh, and Bryan Strang (0) was caught at first slip offNehra. Brian Murphy (9 not out) hung on while David Mutendera (13)enjoyed some thick edges and one powerfully driven boundary beforebeing caught again by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. Zimbabwe A wereall out, 161 runs behind, but India declined to enforce the follow-on,preferring batting practice.Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagopan Ramesh looked in need of it, as theyboth had some uncomfortable moments early on against Strang andFriend. Das was finally adjudged lbw playing forward to Strang for 12,and shortly afterwards Ramesh (6) was caught in the slips off Friend,reducing the tourists to 22 for two.Venkatsai Laxman and Tendulkar batted quietly until tea, playingoccasional attacking strokes but seeming content to wait for the looseball rather than plunder the bowling. Friend tried two short balls toTendulkar, only to have them both pulled effortlessly for four.Immediately after tea Mutendera had the same humiliating experience.However, Mutendera was to take the wicket of Tendulkar for the secondtime in the match, as the little maestro hit too early and was caughtat extra cover for 33. The same bowler had Laxman caught in the slips,also for 33. Sourav Ganguly (17) disputed his lbw dismissal in a waythat would have had serious consequences in a Test match, and two morequick wickets followed. Rahul Dravid did not bat again, and as thematch meandered to a close Harbhajan Singh (25*) entertained the crowdof several hundred, mainly schoolchildren, with a few big hits.

Mike Hussey conjured up what could prove a match-winning knock as Northamptonshire recovered from a bad attack of the jitters against Lancashire at Wantage Road.The Australian left-hander passed the half-century mark for the fourth time in succession in Championship cricket at Northampton, and went on to make 82 in four hours with 11 fours.His patient innings rescued Northants from trouble at 79-4 just after lunch to 194 all out, despite the best efforts of Glen Chapple whose 5-60 haul gave him 22 wickets for the season to date.Needing 302 for victory, Lancashire lost Ryan Driver in deteriorating light and closed on 18-1 with first-innings centurion Mark Chilton and John Crawley set to resume on the final morning.Peter Martin did his best to drag Lancashire back into the match with a fine all-round performance. He smashed 38 of the visitors’ last 40 runs, boosting them to 291 all out after Chilton had gone for 104, adding only two more runs to his overnight total.Then Martin roared in with the new ball to remove Mal Loye and Jeff Cook with successive deliveries, and with Russell Warren and Alec Swann also departing cheaply Northants were just 186 ahead with four top-order men out.But Hussey and Tony Penberthy (24) added 66 in a crucial fifth-wicket stand, and although Chapple blew away the tail with ease Lancashire were left facing a difficult target on a pitch unlikely to get any easier to bat on.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the PakistanCricket Board (PCB) are planning to jointly host a 13-matchquadrangular limited overs cricket tournament when Zimbabwe and theWest Indies visit the two countries in February-March next year.The Zimbabweans are scheduled to visit India for a two Test serieswhile the Windies are slated to tour Pakistan around the same time fora three Test series and the two host country boards are planning toscrap the five-match limited overs bilateral series scheduled afterthe Tests and convert them into a quadrangular tourney, BCCI sourcestold PTI in Mumbai on Tuesday.The final of the tournament, which is only in the planning stage as ofnow, would be held in Pakistan with India and Pakistan hosting sixmatches each to complete the 12-match double headed round-robin phaseof the tournament, sources added.Since it is a quardrangular event and not a bilateral series betweenIndia and Pakistan, the clearance from the Indian government toparticipate in the tourney should not be a problem, they said.Meanwhile, the BCCI working committee, which is scheduled to meet nextmonth, is to discuss the invitation received from the AustralianCricket Board (ACB) for the rescheduled three match indoor one-dayseries to be held after the Asian Test Championship league matchbetween India and Pakistan from September 13 to 17, sources added.

An innings of high quality by Nicky Peng assisted top-of-the-table Durham to a substantial total against Essex at Ilford with the 18-year-old remaining unbeaten on 112 when the innings closed on 263-3.The highly promising batsman easily surpassed his previous highest one-day league score of 47 as he made the home attack pay the full price for some inconsistent bowling.Peng reached his half-century from 59 balls that incorporated one six and seven fours and took just a further 51 deliveries before reaching three figures despite adding only four more boundaries.His innings of powerful strokeplay was supported by an equally effective performance by Jon Lewis who scored an unbeaten 63 from 58 deliveries that included six boundaries as he too kept the scoreboard moving at a lively pace.The pair composed a fourth-wicket partnership 127 in 18 overs after opener Danny Law had given the innings some impetus with 47 against his former colleagues as he and Peng added a brisk 72 in 11 overs for the second wicket to set the tone.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was back among the runs for Middlesex on the first day of the CricInfo championship second division match with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge today.Fleming, who scored his third century of the summer, was 120 not out at stumps with Middlesex 397/3.Having recovered from the dislocated finger which prevented him playing in Middlesex’s last county match, Fleming shared a double century stand with Owais Shah.Fleming moved from 50 to his century with ease, taking 22 runs off one A J Harris over with five fours and a two, and then completing 37 runs off 12 deliveries. His century took 190 minutes off 145 balls and included 20 fours.In the process he brought up his 700th run of the summer. Going into the game he had scored 583 runs at an average of 58.3.Shah was eventually out for 144, the ball after Fleming had posted his century with a single. Their stand was worth 206 runs.The innings is a timely one for Fleming who next week will be leaving to join up with the New Zealand team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Leicestershire completed their fourth CricInfo Championship victory of the season, beating Glamorgan by the comprehensive margin of an innings and 90 runs at Cardiff today.Vince Wells’s side took a maximum 20-point haul to catapult them up to joint third place from sixth in division one.But Glamorgan made them work for the victory and weren’t bowled out until the first ball of the final 16 overs.Leicestershire’s hero of the final day was Devon Malcolm, who recorded figures of 5-98 as he passed 50 first-class wickets for the season.Glamorgan had resumed their second innings on 15-2 this morning still needing another 361 to avoid an innings defeat.Wickets fell at regular intervals but Leicestershire were frustrated byAdrian Dale, who shared a stand of 98 with Robert Croft, and then Darren Thomas.Apart from some batting resistance the only threat to a Leicestershire victory was the weather, which forced the players to take an early tea with Glamorgan 237-7.Matthew Maynard and Mike Powell survived until the 10th over of the day before Powell was strangled down the leg side by Malcolm.Leicestershire’s bid for victory was given a further boost in the morning session when Jon Dakin struck in his first over to have Maynard caught behind to leave Glamorgan 74-4.But Dale, who reached 50, and Robert Croft offered some resistance and had guided the home side to 124-4 by lunch, still 253 adrift.The fifth wicket pair had added 98 when Croft edged Malcolm to the wicketkeeper and four overs later Dale mis-hooked the former England paceman to sky a catch to Shahid Afridi.Malcolm completed a five-wicket haul when Wallace gave wicketkeeper Neil Burns his fifth catch of the innings.And after an entertaining 69 from Thomas, Glamorgan didn’t hold upLeicestershire for long as the home side were bowled out for 287.

Chris Silverwood is out of the reckoning for the Fourth Ashes Test at his home ground of Headingley after the paceman was again struck down by his mystery back trouble.Silverwood was forced to pull out of the squad for the Third Test because of the problem.Yesterday evening he bowled four overs and took a wicket in the Roses encounter at Old Trafford but had to leave the field when the injury recurred.Silverwood has not had the problem specifically diagnosed and is due to have a scan in the middle of next week.Silverwood told Sky Sports: “It is the same problem unfortunately – it is a recurrence of the back problem I have been suffering with.”We are not quite sure what it is, so I will have to go for a scan.”It is an untimely setback for me, but there is nothing I can do about it. There is no point getting down about it.”Meanwhile Mark Ramprakash had a scare when he turned his ankle playing indoor football yesterday while the rain fell at The Oval.However, although he did not take the field first thing this morning as Surrey’s game against Glamorgan resumed, he did reappear later in the session.