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Tripura went into the last day of their Ranji Trophy East Zone Leaguematch played at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur on Wednesday at 92/2 still114 runs behind Bihar. And Tripura did themselves proud by batting allthrough the day and finishing at 333/7 in 135 overs. Bihar were helpedby some useful partnerships all along. But the star of the day forTripura was the right handed batsman Mridul Gupta who scored 99.Mridul was unlucky to have got out just one short of a hundred. Hefaced 167 balls and hit 15 sizzling fours. There were notable scoresby S Dasgupta (63) who added 78 in 24.1 overs for the fourth wicketwith Mridul Gupta. C Sachdev made 37 and added 92 in 26.4 overs withMridul for the fifth wicket. Bihar tried out nine different bowlersbut none were really sharp enough to make decisive breakthroughs.Tripura earned three points by the virtue of a draw. Bihar whodominated with the bat, had to be satisfied with five points thanks tothe first innings lead.

Owais Shah, the Middlesex batsmen is among seven players nominated for the prestigious Cricket Writers’ Club Young player of the year award, which will be presented at the annual dinner in London on August 31st.Shah is favourite to win the award after making five appearances for England against Pakistan and Australia in the one-day triangular tournament earlier this summer.Other contenders include Yorkshire off-spinner Richard Dawson as well as the promising Durham batsman Nicky Peng and Essex wicketkeeper Jamie Foster.The final nominations include batsmen Ian Bell and Robert Key of Warwickshire and Kent respectively and all-rounder Ian Blackwell of Somerset. To be able to win the award players need to be under 23 on May 1st and have to be eligible for England.

Steven Smith, the Australia batsman, regained his number one spot in ICC’s Test batsmen rankings after a strong performance in the recently concluded fifth Ashes Test. Joe Root had overtaken Smith on the rankings after the fourth Test, but a 143 in the first innings of the fifth Test helped Smith reclaim the top spot with 910 ranking points. Root managed scores of 6 and 11 in that Test and subsequently moved to third, one point behind second-placed AB de Villiers.Kumar Sangakkara finished his Test career in the seventh spot after a match tally of 50 runs in his final Test against India in Colombo. Sangakkara held the top spot for 812 days in his Test career before being displaced last by de Villiers in December 2014.Michael Clarke, who also retired from Test cricket after the final Ashes Test, concluded at No. 25. He too was the top-ranked Test batsman, for a period spanning 70 days. Chris Rogers, who also called time on his international career after the last Ashes Test, scored 480 runs in the series, behind only Smith’s 508. As a result, he leapfrogged into the top ten – moving from the 23rd spot to the tenth.In the team rankings, if India win 2-1 against Sri Lanka, they will overtake New Zealand and move into fifth place. However, a Sri Lanka series victory would see them overtake India into sixth place. In the event of a drawn series, India will remain in sixth place, four points clear of Sri Lanka.

Somerset’s first innings ended 25 minutes before lunch on the second day when they were bowled out for 488. Top scorer Keith Parsons remained undefeated on 193, an innings which contained 22 boundaries and one 6.Resuming from their overnight 390-6 Somerset’s not out batsmen Parsons and Jason Kerr looked to seize the initiative early and elevate their side to a potentially match-winning first innings total.During the West Indies last tour of the UK in 1995 Kerr scored 80 against them at taunton. Sadly his batting has stagnated somewhat and he yet to better that score. He began confidently on the second morning though, driving Nixon McLean straight for four and then slashing high over the slips for another boundary.Those two shots helped lift the county side beyond 400, the first side to do so this summer and the first time ever that Somerset have done it against the West Indies. With Reon King off the fielding – nursing a bruised instep – and Corey Collymore also mysteriously absent, Roger Harper, the West Indies’ coach, reminded us of a bygone era with some athletic stops and fine throwing from the deep.The tourists had perhaps expected to swiftly wrap up the Somerset innings on the second day but Parsons and Kerr had other ideas as they stretched their stand past 70.Nine years ago South African Jimmy Cook hit 162, the highest individual score by a Somerset batsmen against the West Indies, and he was expunged from the record books as Parsons went past him with a clip to midwicket.With the score on 422 Nixon McLean, in his 23rd over, at last picked up his first wicket. Kerr, having made an accomplished 32, steered a sharply-lifting delivery into the bucket-like hands of Lara at first slip.Adrian Pierson hung around for 20 balls (during which he only made a single) before he nicked one to ‘keeper Phillip, again off McLean. That brought 20 year old Joe Tucker in for his debut innings, which began with a McLean ‘throat ball’. A clumsily-conceded bye enabled him to escape to the relative sanctuary of Nagamootoo’s end, allowing Parsons to smash the quickie down the ground for 4.It was from the bowling of McLean that Tucker eventually got his first run, dabbing him on the on-side for a single. His next scoring shot almost brought his downfall – a dash for the line just beating Adrian Griffith’s direct hit from midwicket. Visibly growing in confidence he then pulled McLean square to bring up the 450.After bowling 12 consecutive from the River End Nixon McLean gave way to Wavell Hinds and the switch brought instant success as Tucker feathered hi first ball to Phillip for an encouraging 14.Last man Jamie Grove hung around to add 17 valuable runs but with Parsons in sight of a double-ton he lost his middle stump to Hinds, who finished with 3-32.

Elton Chigumbura, the Zimbabwe captain, has said his men will enter their match against UAE in Nelson with some confidence after their encouraging performance against South Africa. However, Chigumbura said Zimbabwe would not make the mistake of under-estimating UAE, who are playing in their first World Cup game since 1996.Zimbabwe’s tournament began in fine style as they reduced South Africa to 83 for 4 in Hamilton on Sunday, and even later in the innings when the score was 228 for 4 after 44 overs Zimbabwe were still well in contention. Then came a remarkable finish in which JP Duminy and David Miller mauled Zimbabwe’s seamers and took 111 from the final six overs.Set 340 for victory, Zimbabwe’s top order performed admirably and while the required run-rate was ultimately too great a challenge, they reached 277 before being bowled out in the 49th over. Given South Africa are among the strongest favourites to win the tournament, Chigumbura said the feeling in the Zimbabwe camp after the game was a mixture of positives and negatives.”It was a bit of both, a confidence boost the way we played, and obviously it’s always disappointing to play the way we did for 90 overs but we didn’t manage to finish off the last ten overs,” Chigumbura said. “We took a lot out of the game we played and hopefully we can carry on with that form.”One of Zimbabwe’s key men in this tournament will be Hamilton Masakadza, whose 80 from 74 balls against South Africa followed an unbeaten 117 in the warm-up win over Sri Lanka in Lincoln. However, there were other contributions in the South Africa game – Chamu Chibhabha made 64 and Brendan Taylor scored 40 – and Chigumbura said it was important the batting workload was spread.”He’s leading from the front as a senior batter in the team and it’s rubbing off to the rest of the players,” Chigumbura said of Masakadza. “The good thing about the team at the moment, everyone is in good nick. We don’t expect just Hamilton to put up a good performance, the rest of the guys in the squad are capable of doing the same job.”One of the challenges for Zimbabwe in this game will be their lack of familiarity with their opponents. The two teams have never before met in an ODI – they did play a T20 international last year – and Ireland’s win over West Indies at this same ground, Saxton Oval, on Monday, was a reminder of what the Associates can do.”Every team we’re going to play we have to respect them and play the hard cricket we are capable of playing,” Chigumbura said. “The thing about cricket is a good ball is a good ball. You just have to try and do the basics right. There’s one or two guys we know, but we have to go back to basics because the majority of the players we don’t know.”Every team is capable of winning games, so at the end of the day we have to take every game seriously and do the basics right, and make sure that when you get into a good winning position you are ruthless and win the game.”The small ground provided 300-plus totals in the Ireland win over West Indies and the UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir said he was hopeful his men would be capable of posting a similar score. He said it was encouraging to see the success of Ireland against a Full Member nation, and the UAE was hoping to provide a similar surprise.”We had a couple of games in New Zealand also and two warm-up games in Australia,” Tauqir said. “Except for the Australia game, the rest of the games we have scored around 300 runs, so the batting is good and strong.”I think it’s a great win for Ireland. I think most of the Associate nations are doing well and we would like to prove a point also … every individual in the team is on target for goals. Collectively we are looking forward to at least having a couple of wins against Test nations, that’s what we are targeting.”Tauqir, who is a rarity in UAE cricket as an Emirati and Dubai native, said he was also hopeful that the country’s first World Cup campaign since 1996 would lead to a boost in support for cricket among UAE citizens.”Predominantly it’s an expat game in the UAE, a lot of Asian, English and Australian people play there,” Tauqir said. “But I believe our participation in the World Cup would inspire many more Emirati and UAE nationals to follow the game with passion.”

Last season
In:
Out: Ben Foakes (Surrey), Sajid Mahmood, Tom Craddock (both released), Tim Phillips (retired), Tymal Mills (Sussex)
Overseas: Jesse Ryder, Shaun Tait (T20)2014 in a nutshell
It was the usual cocktail of promise, frustration and near misses for regular visitors to Chelmsford. A rousing charge down the final straight, in which Essex won six Championship games out of seven, was not quite enough to secure promotion, although they gained the dubious distinction of having achieved the highest points total without going up since the creation of two divisions. In all competitions, Essex won 22 times, behind only Warwickshire – but two home defeats, both to Warwickshire, in the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast and Royal London Cup left behind a sense of what might have been. Injuries were a problem, leading to chances for several young players, but while Jesse Ryder established himself as a local hero, Tymal Mills faded from England prospect to ex-Essex boy.2015 prospects
The squad again looks strong, though Mills and Ben Foakes are the latest young talents to move on and Essex will have to cope with the absence of Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate at the IPL for the first six weeks of the season. Ryder is due to return and Essex will hope his seam-bowling remains as effective – he was their leading Championship wicket-taker in 2014 – while Shaun Tait will provide a more explosive option in T20. Should Graham Napier, David Masters and Reece Topley avoid the problems that limited their 2014 involvement then promotion ought to be within their compass; coach Paul Grayson would dearly love a trophy to prove that there is substance to back up the perennial hype at Essex. Power brokers
After seven years in charge, Grayson’s authority is only occasionally questioned around New Writtle Street – he seems to have weathered a stormy period that whipped up at the start of 2013 – but Essex’s habit of falling short is troubling. Grayson has two captains to work with in trying to land a prize or two this year: the evergreen James Foster in Championship cricket, where he led the run-scoring once again; and Ryan ten Doeschate in the T20 and 50-over competitions.Key player
Ryder may never play for New Zealand again – another comeback with the A side was aborted last year – but Essex fans will be the richer. After settling in quickly, he signed a two-year contract at the end of 2014, news that was greeted by rapturous applause at an autumnal ECG. His powerful strokeplay can win matches in all formats; he only averaged 37.05 in the Championship, so there should be more to come. Also proved an unexpectedly wily seamer capable of taking the new ball.Bright young thing
Nick Browne broke into the first XI during the second half of last season and, against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, became the first Essex batsman to hit unbeaten hundreds in both innings of a Championship match. A tall left-hander with a physique and stance reminiscent of Marcus Trescothick – if not the range of attacking strokes – Browne’s tally of three centuries, from nine matches, was more than any of his team-mates. Could be the sort of remorseless run-getting opener Essex have lacked since Alastair Cook graduated to bigger things.ESPNcricinfo verdict
As ever, Essex ought to be in the mix for Championship promotion, should be one of the strongest T20 sides around and could be a good bet for the 50-over cup as well. Youth will be given its head but cynics will start wondering which club cap it will be wearing a year or two down the line. It’s time to break the cycle. No batsman has passed 1000 first-class runs in a season since 2009 but, if that statistic is erased, they have the bowling to prosper.Bet365 odds
LV= Championship Div 2 7-2, NatWest Blast 12-1, Royal London Cup 12-1

Scorecard

Surrey’s top four batsmen made it look like hard work, but their lower order came to the team’s rescue on the second day at Trent Bridge where the promised rain failed to materialise. There were two maiden fifties by promising young players in Matthew Spriegel and Chris Jordan, and, considering Nottinghamshire’s rather fragile batting so far this season, Surrey can consider themselves to have an advantage going into the third day.Surrey’s overnight pair continued to make heavy weather of it. After scarcely ten minutes, Jonathan Batty, with 21 off 88 balls, was bowled through the gate by Darren Pattinson by the ball of the day, whipping in viciously at genuine pace from outside the off-stump.Mark Ramprakash, for his part, continued to bat as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, spending 90 minutes while adding just 11 to his overnight 19 before he showed any inclination to attack the bowling. And ten minutes later a drizzle started and lunch was taken early. He was lucky on 23, playing a bad shot that skied a ball backward of point, for the fielder running back hard to miss a very difficult chance, and it ran for four. It might have been a kindness to put him out of his misery.In contrast, Usman Afzaal looked in good form almost from his arrival at the crease on the dismissal of Batty. He played some handsome strokes of real class, and tried to dominate Pattinson, whose superb bowling was Surrey’s main threat. He didn’t altogether succeed, but at one stage hit him for two superb cover drives in an over, and then pulled Charlie Shreck twice to the boundary. He overtook Ramprakash on 30, and reached his fifty just before the early lunch, off 61 balls.Andre Adams also bowled well, troubling Ramprakash, whose painful innings finally came to an end, for 42 off 166 balls and in 218 minutes, as he got a leading edge to a ball from Pattinson and was caught by Graeme Swann, diving forward at cover. Pattinson ran through to give him a distasteful send-off, a foolhardy act as umpire Peter Willey is well known for his strong stand on such behaviour, and Pattinson will not have heard that last of that.There followed a lengthy stand of 79 between Afzaal and Spriegel, the left-handed captain of Loughborough UCCE, who played quite an impressive, if rather slow, innings. Afzaal never recovered his pre-lunch fluency, but he should have reached a century, had he not lost patience, swung across the line at Shreck and lost his off stump for 89 (128 balls, 12 fours).After tea, Spriegel reached his maiden first-class fifty off 146 balls, a patient innings with occasional impressive strokes. One run later, though, he popped a ball from Swann to short leg, making Surrey 252 for 6. But then followed the most positive and impressive partnership of the innings, as Matt Nicholson and Jordan, supposedly bowling all-rounders, played with real flair and good judgement. Jordan was particularly impressive with his clean, orthodox driving.They added 47 in entertaining fashion when Nicholson, trying to bring up the 300 with a six, holed out on the long-on boundary for 38. However, Saqlain Mushtaq proved a more than adequate partner, in an inconspicuous way until he suddenly drove Adams over long-on for six. Jordan, despite a couple of sudden rustic heaves that failed to make contact, went on to reach his maiden first-class 50 off 66 balls, with a vigorous hook to the boundary off a bouncer from Shreck; he clearly has the ability to score many more.With only seven wickets down after two days’ play, rain having ruined the first day, Surrey will have to play well – or the home team badly – to force their first victory of the season. They have their noses in front in Nottingham, and day three should reveal whether they have the attitude and determination to make a good fist of it.

Innings of the day
After Daniel Vettori had bailed out New Zealand’s batting on Friday afternoon, a Kiwi journalist asked at the close-of-play press conference whether any thought had been given to pushing him up the batting order. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong person to direct such a question to. “What, above me, you mean?” growled the man in the chair, Jacob Oram. And yet, it was a valid observation. Oram has struggled against this English attack – in five Test innings since March, he had made 76 runs with a best of 30 at Napier, and his nemesis, Ryan Sidebottom, had claimed his wicket on each of the last four occasions. And yet today he put such woes behind him, and in conjunction with the rookie, Daniel Flynn, rescued New Zealand from the depths of 120 for 4 (effectively five), with a gutsy and essential 101.Body blow of the day
On Thursday afternoon, England were a touch bemused by Brendon McCullum’s onslaught. In seam-friendly conditions, they plugged away on a full length but found themselves being lamped for 97 of the finest counterattacking runs you’ll ever see. The penny dropped at the close of play, and they resolved to treat him with more aggression the next time he came to the middle. So it proved today, with Stuart Broad employed as the baby-faced assassin. McCullum persisted in standing two feet outside his crease, but he was peppered with a selection of well-directed bouncers and eventually pinned by an arrow-straight lifter that thudded sickingly into his unguarded forearm. Thankfully X-rays showed no break, and he was later able to resume his innings, but the breach had been made, and England did everything they could to flood through it.Shots of the day
Oram and Daniel Flynn, however, held them back manfully in a 132-run stand. Though Flynn remained resolutely one-paced, the tension in Oram’s innings dissipated as the afternoon session wore on, and by the time New Zealand had passed the 200 mark there was no holding him back. He climbed into consecutive balls from Broad, flatbatting him through midwicket for four before timing him sweetly past backward point for another boundary, then sent the members scattering as he came down the track to lift Kevin Pietersen into the Pavilion for six. As he approached the nervous nineties, Michael Vaughan called for the new ball and threw it straight away to Sidebottom, but Oram displayed not a shred of nerves as he cut the first ball, straight-drove the fifth, then clubbed the last through the covers to race to his fifth Test hundred.Ball of the day
And yet, it was Sidebottom who had the final say with an astounding delivery that pitched on off stump, hit the seam, and then swung late as a devastating final measure. Oram had no chance as the ball burst through the gate to clip his off bail, and he was reduced to looking back in bemusement afterwards to work out what had happened. By then, Sidebottom was at his right-hand side, offering a sporting word of congratulation for an excellent matchsaving performance. It was a touching gesture at the end of a good-natured contest.Tactical substitution of the day
It worked for New Zealand on Sunday, and again for England today. The ball won’t do a thing if it ain’t got that swing, and so both sides lobbied successfully for a change. And what a difference it made. After eight innocuous overs, Sidebottom was suddenly a bowler transformed – having pushed every delivery across the right-hander’s bows, his first attempt with the new ball bent wickedly back into James Marshall’s pads, to send him on his way for a ninth-ball duck. Thereafter, survival for New Zealand was an entirely different proposition. It’s remarkable quite how much rests on the choice of Duke ball.Misplaced frustration of the day
Ross Taylor wasn’t best pleased when Simon Taufel sent him on his way in the morning session, lbw for 20 in Monty Panesar’s first over. The ball dipped late and jabbed Taylor on his toe in front of middle stump, although there was more than just a suggestion of an inside edge – not least from the grumpy manner in which Taylor made his way from the field of play. And yet, inconclusive though the replays proved to be, they did at least demonstrate that the ball, after impact, looped gently into the hands of Paul Collingwood at slip – and therefore he should have been given out anyway.Forgotten hero of the day
Jamie How is not a man who basks in the limelight. He was New Zealand’s captain at the start of this trip, although nobody really noticed because the IPL was in full swing; he made a ballsy 92 in the Hamilton Test victory back in March, but his efforts were forgotten amid the dramas of England’s final-day collapse. And likewise today, it was his gritty half-century at the top of the order that set New Zealand on their way to safety. The dramas of McCullum’s injury and Oram’s hundred condemned his efforts to a footnote, but by surviving the first 15 overs on Sunday evening, as well as the first session before lunch today, he allowed his team to live to fight another day.

Division One

James Adams’ career-best 86 guided Hampshire to a five-wicket win against Somerset at Taunton. His 98-ball innings ensured the visitors eased home to their adjusted target with seven balls to spare. He added 95 with Chris Benham to make sure the run chase was completed in efficient style. Somerset fell away after a positive opening from Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick, who was caught at mid-on, and slipped to 87 for 4. James Hildreth (47) and Wes Durston (42) repaired the damage with a stand of 82, but Liam Dawson took two key wickets and Hampshire kept control at the death.Lancashire suffered their third washout of the season as they shared the points with Middlesex at Old Trafford. There were just occasional showers during the afternoon, but the heavy overnight rain had left the outfield saturated. This was the final match of the season at Old Trafford as the outfield is now being dug up and relayed while Lancashire finish 2008 at outgrounds. At least the early call-off allowed everyone the chance to watch Manchester United take on Newcastle a few hundreds up the road.

Division Two

Stewart Walters fell nine runs short of a maiden one-day century, but his 91put Surrey on course for a welcome victory as they beat Northamptonshire by 63 runs at The Oval. Surrey produced a display of attacking batting, led off by James Benning’s 46-ball 55 as he and Walters added 89 for the second wicket. Walters then held the innings together as the middle order all chipped in. He hit 10 fours and two sixes before being bowled by Jason Brown with his century in sight. Northamptonshire suffered a horror start as they sank to 7 for 3 in the third over, but they didn’t give up without a fight. Rikki Wessels struck his first limited-overs century, an even 100 off 86 balls, adding 107 with David Sales for the fourth wicket. But no one else could stay with him and he became a first wicket for Robert Frylinck, a 23-year-old South African Kolpak making his debut.

Saqib Zia and Anis Shaikh played key roles as DHA scored a comfortable 68-run victory over Godhra Sports in the 8th Tapal Trophy Ramazan Cricket Festival at UBL Sports Complex here Wednesday.Saqib Zia struck 51 off only 38 deliveries to earn the Man-of-the-Match award. His knock was laced with a brace of sixes and as many fours.Wajid Ali (32 off 26 balls, two fours) and Sajid Hanif (28, three fours) also batted well as DHA made 192 for nine in their 25 overs.Medium-pacer Ramzani Mohammad claimed three for 39 and slow left-arm spinner Jahangir Wali two for 28.Godhra Sports, in reply, were bundled out for 124 in 20 overs with Anis Shaikh picking up four for 21 in five overs.For the losers, only opener Mohammad Farrukh (29 off 25 balls, five fours and one six) and Irfan Ahmed (24) managed to cross the 20-run mark.Summarised scores:DHA 192-9 in 25 overs (Saqib Zia 51, Wajid Ali 32, Sajid Hanif 28; Ramzani Mohammad 3-39, Jahangir Wali 2-28).GODHRA SPORTS 124 in 20 overs (Mohammad Farrukh 29, Irfan Ahmed 24; Anis Shaikh 4-21).Thursday’s fixture: Baqai Dolphins v Godhra Sports at 1.00pm.