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After England’s bowlers had given their side an excellent start to the final Test in Karachi, it was Pakistan’s batsmen who gradually took over as the day progressed and by stumps, finished on a commanding 292 for three.An imperious Inzamam-ul-Haq and an equally authoritative Yousuf Youhana, took control of the Pakistan innings into which England had made early in-roads, despite the home side deciding to make first use of another pitch in this series made for the batsmen to thrive on.Inzamam and Youhana both made a tentative start under the pressure that England’s bowlers had exerted upon their side, but once they had settled in they played more freely and by tea, which was taken on 160 for three, they were beginning to dominate.Facing accurate English bowling and fine fielding in the first two sessions of the day, Pakistan took time to recover from being reduced to 64 for three before lunch.Darren Gough had taken the first wicket, the important one of Saeed Anwar for eight and on the total of 44, Imran Nazir, one of two changes in the Pakistan team – the other being Waqar Younis for the under-performing Wasim Akram – was dismissed for 20.Marcus Trescothick, who is becoming such a reliable bowler, had Nazir caught by Ashley Giles from an edged half-volley, to claim his first Test wicket. Twenty runs later, and ten minutes before lunch, the third wicket went with Saleem Elahi playing on to Andy Caddick for 28. Caddick had earlier dropped him on 13, at third-man, from a difficult chance off Trescothick.By the latter part of the second session of play Pakistan’s batsmen had revived the innings and Inzamam had brought up his fifty from 109 balls. Pakistan’s 200 followed Youhana’s fifty from 111 balls. He reached it with a beautiful drive to mid-on off Craig White, whose three over spell went for seventeen.Inzamam, who was fortunate not to be given out leg before wicket to Trescothick by umpire Nazir Jnr. (replays confirmed that he was struck on the ankle of his back leg right in front of his stumps), when he had four, was, by the final session of play, dictating terms to the bowlers.The stroke-play of the two batsmen had become most entertaining, particularly Inzamam who reached his twelfth Test century with a cover drive for four off Ian Salisbury. The rate of scoring had increased substantially in the last session with 132 runs being scored compared with 71 in the first session, though there were ten fewer overs in the morning.Shortly before the new ball was taken, in the 83rd over, Youhana hit Giles for a straight six and later square cut Caddick for four to reach his fifth Test century. Prior to this, in this series, he scored 124 in the first Test and 77 in the second. Inzamam has been equally prolific with 63 in the first Test and 71 in the second innings of the next Test.Apart from the lbw that Inzamam survived, he gave a difficult chance, on 73, to slip off White. Michael Atherton got his out stretched right hand to it but the ball went to third man for a single.By close of play Inzamam was unbeaten on 123 from 223 balls, eighteen of which had been hit to the boundary. Youhana was 104 not out having faced 211 balls and their unbroken fourth wicket stand was worth a monumental 228. Their stand also helped Inzamam overtake Andy Flower’s tally of 966 runs to become the leading Test run scorer this year with 1044 runs from 12 matches.They had grafted early on to consolidate Pakistan’s innings and then placed their team into control. Unless England are able to break this partnership early tomorrow and then follow it up with a couple of quick wickets, they will struggle to save this final Test.”That was the toughest day we’ve had on tour,” admitted Trescothick afterwards. “We have to remember that there are four days left and who knows what will happen tomorrow morning — it only takes one wicket and suddenly we’re back in the game.”He refused to blame the lbw claim that was turned down for England’s difficult day. “That’s the way these things go sometimes, you have to take the rough with the smooth,” Trescothick said. “We’ll never know what would have happened if he’d been given, but the umpire said not out, we carried on as normal and worked hard for the rest of the day. I thought that if there was anything wrong with it, it must have been going down the leg side and I asked the umpire and that’s what he said happened.”

Manchester United are set to pursue a move for a new midfielder in the next couple of transfer windows. There are a few names on their list, but two who keep cropping up as real options are England duo Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson.

Neither of the two players would come cheap for the Red Devils. Both of their respective clubs, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, could ask for as much as £100m for each of the midfielders. Given the fact that the England star would perhaps be considered their club’s prize asset, it is no surprise they want so much money.

Aside from the price, it is easy to see why United want to sign one, or both, of the midfielders.

What Wharton and Anderson could bring to United

Someone who knows a thing or two about what makes a good United midfielder is Paul Scholes. Well, the legendary Red Devils midfielder said it’s “close” between the pair of them, suggesting there is not much difference in terms of quality.

However, they do have slightly different skill sets. The Palace number 20 is a master on the ball, excelling at turning out of tight spaces. He also averages 5.81 progressive passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season.

Whilst he is very much a controller in the midfield, Scholes asked if he, “can he get around the pitch?” That implies there might be a lack of physicality to Wharton’s game. Anderson is more athletic and physical, perhaps highlighted best in the 8.25 ball recoveries per game he makes, placing him in the top 1% of Premier League midfielders.

However, the Forest star offers plenty of quality in possession, too. This term, he is playing 8.31 progressive passes each game, and assists like this for Chris Wood at the start of the season show the quality he has.

Ultimately, the England duo are both excellent players. Yet, United might be able to save themselves a lot of money by unleashing an in-house star.

United’s in-house version of Wharton and Anderson

It is quite frustrating for United fans that homegrown superstar Kobbie Mainoo has simply not gotten the game time he should have this season. The 20-year-old has only featured for 212 minutes in the Premier League.

It has got to the point where there are reports of a departure from Old Trafford. Mainoo is wanted by several clubs on a loan deal, and reports in Spain recently suggested that Real Madrid could pay £79m to bring him to the Bernabeu.

Rather than making such a rash decision and selling such a prized academy graduate, perhaps United should utilise Mainoo instead. It was not for nothing that his England teammate Declan Rice said the Three Lions players love the fact “he has that leadership and the way he takes the ball and is comfortable.”

Described as a midfield “maestro” by Statman Dave, Mainoo possesses a lot of desirable qualities for a modern midfielder in an elite team. A brilliant ball-carrier, his 1.25 successful take-ons per 90 minutes over the last year place him in the top 8% of midfielders in Europe.

Mainoo’s key stats in last 365 days

Stat (per 90)

Number

Percentile

Key passes

1.4

80th

Tackles

2.5

77th

Take-ons completed

1.25

92nd

Progressive carries

1.99

84th

Stats from FBref

It is easy to see how Mainoo is a bit of a hybrid of Wharton and Anderson. As Rice pointed out, he is incredibly comfortable on the ball. The United number 37 is a progressive player who excels in small spaces and can create in the final third, whilst also being an efficient ball-winner.

Another ex-United midfielder, Nicky Butt, said the Red Devils would “go and buy” Mainoo if he played for a club such as Palace. It is ironic, then, that United might cash in on him, only to go and sign Wharton or Anderson to replace the academy graduate.

Rather than going all in for one of those midfielders, perhaps manager Ruben Amorim should trust the 20-year-old and give him an extended run in the side, something all United fans want to see.

Related Man Utd already have a bigger prospect than Semenyo brewing at Carrington

This Man Utd star is someone who has impressed this season

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The MCC has submitted a planning application to Westminster City Council for six floodlights at Lord’s to be installed at the start of each season from 2009 for five years.Having floodlights is one of the provisions for hosting ICC World Twenty20 matches next year and could also be used for one-day internationals and county matches. If the plan is approved there will be six light pylons, the tallest standing at just under 48 metres behind the Warner, Compton, Edrich, and Tavern Stands. They will remain in place throughout the season and removed each winter.The application follows an in-depth study by the MCC which looked at the growing demand for day/night games The MCC realises that Lord’s needs floodlights to remain an attractive venue for day/night matches. Lord’s is one of three grounds that will host the World Twenty20, conditional on the provision of floodlights that meet ECB standards and the requirements of broadcasters.The MCC has already experimented with temporary mobile floodlighting for a day/night match in 2007 but found that they failed to meet ECB standards and there were problems with light spill and glare. A further day/night trial with temporary mobile floodlights is scheduled for August 2008 to address some of these issues.The temporary floodlights now proposed for 2009 are specifically designed for Lord’s and will implement higher quality and more accurate lighting to minimise light spill for local residents and eliminate glare for players, umpires, broadcasters and spectators. It will also enable the MCC to continue to monitor the impact of floodlighting on both the game and across the wider neighbourhood over a longer period of time.”Floodlights are now a key component for staging one day and Twenty20 matches,” said Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive. “This application provides a solution to floodlighting for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2009, a major international sporting event, as well as matches over the next five years. As the home of cricket globally, it is crucial that Lord’s continues to host these games.””The temporary option has been developed following a thorough analysis of floodlighting solutions. It’s important that we take into account the effect on the local area as well as how it fits in with the Lord’s masterplan, which will see significant and long-term improvements at Lord’s.”

Bangladesh know they can hold their own, they also know they can beat India; now it’s a matter of believing they can win again. They began leaning on hope once the first match started slipping, despite having outplayed India for 80 overs of the contest. How well they recover will determine how close the second one-dayer will be.India are bound to feel relieved after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik masterminded a rescue act. Realising that the weather here will take a lot out of them, they chose to not practise today, conserving their energy instead.They may also ease Dhoni’s workload tomorrow, as India’s manager Ravi Shastri had mentioned after the first game, by having Karthik share the wicketkeeping duties with him. They will also hope to win the toss tomorrow, bat first, and post a big total. Rahul Dravid has expressed his dislike for fielding first here – it’s not easy to bat on a sluggish pitch after fielding in the sweltering heat.Dravid and Shastri had said that a few other teams would have failed in Thursday’s chase, given the climatic and match conditions. They will also need to tell themselves that those few other teams would have been much more alert in the field, giving themselves 25 to 30 runs less to chase.For Bangladesh, batting in the slog overs remains a worry, as does any form of bowling that isn’t left-arm spin. They would have ideally looked at 20 more runs in the last 10 overs but their batsmen, slight of build, couldn’t generate enough power against India’s slower bowlers; nor did they get enough pace to execute the cute little paddle shots they played so effectively against South Africa in the World Cup clash at Guyana.

Bangladesh missed Mashrafe Mortaza yesterday and will need him back, as India may again try to go after their opening bowlers. As of now, the word on Mortaza is “so far so good”. Habibul Bashar, the captain, said that the physio had given him a test, was satisfied, and will give him another tomorrow. “He is 70% fit and the physio is confident.”Bashar’s batting form has been another cause for concern. In the 10 games he’s played since the start of the World Cup, he has scored 105 runs at 11.66 and is under fire. He’s perhaps playing only because this is a very young team and no one else seems to be in a state to captain. His job, he knows, is quite simple. “If you don’t score, the pressure will be there. The best thing is to come back and score runs, the pressure won’t be there.” Bashar is likely to announce his retirement at the end of the series; regaining his touch in a must-win game wouldn’t be a bad idea.The conditions are not expected to change, except there’s a chance of a washout. Thunderstorms are expected and the forecasts predict a 90% chance of rain. They will play on a different pitch, but it is not expected to be too different in character.Two spent teams went off the field yesterday – India physically and Bangladesh mentally. Bashar put it the best: “Plenty of people come in this hot weather to watch us the whole day. We feel bad for them. It’s not only not easy to play, it’s not easy to watch either. We would love to win this game for them; they will feel less heat.”Teams (likely)Bangladesh1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Saqibul Hasan, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Syed Rasel.India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 MS Dhoni (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Munaf Patel.

The tenure of Indian selectors will get reduced to three years if the recommendations of the BCCI’s constitutional review commitee are approved in the special general body meeting of the board today in Mumbai.The Shashank Manohar-led committee recommended that the current four-year term be reduced to three years, while retaining the zonal five-man selection panel for both the senior and junior national selection committee.”The zonal system is being retained as this is the best system, otherwise we cannot cover such a large country like ours,” Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI and convenor of the review committee, told the . There has been demand within and outside the board for scrapping the system of appointing selectors on a regional basis, and to replace it with a more transparent system.Where tenure is concerned, the idea is to make the selectors’ term the same as that of the board’s office bearers. A BCCI official added that the review committee felt that a three-year term would give the selection panel a reasonable opportunity to frame policies and work towards the implementation of the same.The changes can be put to effect only by securing a two-third majority from among the 31 members of the board – 30 BCCI-affiliated units and the president.

Nic Pothas guided Hampshire to a thrilling last-ball victory over Kent, cracking seven fours in a 55-ball 58 and keeping his cool after his fellow opener, Derek Kenway, was bowled for a second-ball duck by Andrew Hall. He was given ample support by Craig McMillan (36) and Lawrence Prittipaul (35). Earlier, Kent were given a flying start by Matthew Walker, but were indebted to Michael Carberry’s 43-ball 56, which anchored the innings.Stuart Law trumped HD Ackerman’s unbeaten 79 with a magnificent 92 not out from 54 balls, as Lancashire kept their hopes alive of progressing in the Twenty20 Cup. Law’s blitz enabled Lancashire to romp home in the 17th over, after Muttiah Muralitharan had claimed amazing figures of 4 from 19, to confirm his injured shoulder is on the mend. Brad Hodge helped condemn Leicestershire to defeat with a composed 31.James Hildreth starred with bat and ball as Somerset overwhelmed Glamorgan by 89 runs at Taunton. Hildreth spanked 71 from 37 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, and was backed up by a 57 not out from 28 balls from Keith Parsons, as Somerset rattled up an imposing 212 for 3. Glamorgan needed a solid start, but Matthew Elliott fell first-ball to Andrew Caddick. Ian Blackwell chipped in with 4 for 26 to hasten Glamorgan’s defeat.David Sales and Usman Afzaal were the mainstays of Northamptonshire’s victory over Worcestershire at New Road, adding 86 for the third wicket out of a testing total of 180 for 6. Stephen Moore replied with 53 from 50 balls, but received scant support from his team-mates, as Johann Louw took 3 for 25.

ScorecardDay 1
Bulletin – Smith and Gibbs destroy demoralised West Indies
Quotes – Smith: ‘It meant a lot to both of us’Day 2
Bulletin – Kallis breaks new ground as South Africa dominate
Quotes Kallis – ‘The team comes first’
News Sir Viv overruled by Sir Brian?Day 3
Bulletin – West Indies stumble in follow-on
Quotes Ntini – ‘My role is to take wickets’Day 4
Bulletin – Sarwan and Gayle halt West Indies slide
Quotes Simons – ‘You’ve got to give West Indies credit’Day 5
Bulletin – West Indies slump to defeat
Quotes Lara – ‘Time for a contracts system’

A little-known fact about Indian cricket is that the country’s youngtalents in various age groups have really proved their mettle at theinternational level. Aside from the under-19 team winning the World Cuptwo years ago in Sri Lanka, the under-15 team lifted the World Cup inEngland in 1996. The under-17 team won the Asian Championship last year.Somehow, though, this supremacy is lost during the transition to thesenior ranks. But the juniors have certainly covered themselves withglory in bringing laurels to the nation.

These thoughts come to mind as the Indian lads are now in New Zealand totake part in the under-19 World Cup competition. As the well-knownsporting adage goes, it is hard to get to the top, but harder to staythere. Indian cricket authorities are well aware of the truth behindthis adage and have left no stone unturned in preparing their squad todefend a title that they won in Sri Lanka in January 2000.For one thing, the training sessions for the 26 probables were long andsystematic. For example, coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was well awarethat the lads would encounter considerable lateral movement in NewZealand, where the World Cup is to be staged between January 19 andFebruary 10. So this was among the specifics that went into thetraining. Then, after a long stint at the National Cricket Academy inBangalore, the squad travelled to Chennai to play three practicematches.Unfortunately this aspect of the training was hit by rain, but theenthusiastic lads made the best of the truncated opportunities. Further,the selected squad of 14 first went to Australia for a nine-day tour,during which they played – and lost – two practice games before leavingfor New Zealand. But most important of all, the authorities, underliningthe importance of defending the title, have done well in appointingformer Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as consultant.Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of thevictorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would behard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spenta lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of hisconsiderable experience. The boys certainly do not have to look too farfor inspiration.The squad, led by Parthiv Patel of Gujarat, is nicely balanced, but onlytime will tell whether it is good enough to retain the Cup it won twoyears ago. Vengsarkar, however, is in no doubt that the team is strongenough to retain the title. “The confidence level of the squad is prettyhigh, and they have trained strenuously. We have a couple of fine allrounders and a good attack, both spin and medium pace,” Vengsarkar saidin Chennai recently. He was of the view that the under-19 age group heldthe key to the future of Indian cricket. This viewpoint is difficult todisagree with, especially when one considers that players like YuvrajSingh, Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, all members of thatvictorious squad in Sri Lanka, went on to play for India within a shortperiod.Vengsarkar said that the youngsters should be nurtured to fill the gapsin the Indian side and for this, the proper exposure would be to makethem play in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Whiletalking with confidence about the Indian team’s chances in New Zealand,the former star batsman, who scored 6,868 runs in 116 Test matches andis also the only non-Englishman to score three Test hundreds at Lord’s,felt that Australia and South Africa would be the teams to beat. Thingsare not very different even at the junior levels, are they?

Moors Sports Club made up for a disappointing display against Tamil Union yesterday with a morale boosting victory over Antonians today at Braybrooke Place.When play finally got underway at 12pm there was only time for 37.4 overs per side. Moors Sports Club won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Antonians to bat first. However, the Antonians openers started well and added 66 runs for the first wicket. Charles Silva led the way with 43 from 42 balls. He hit four fours and two sixes in the run-a-ball innings before he was stumped off Chandika Haturasinghe.The Antonians innings then ran into difficulties as number two batsman, Lahiru Chaturanga, was dismissed in the next over. 34 runs were then added fro the third wicket before Rangana Herath plucked out the middle order. The left arm spinner finished with three wickets for 23 runs.The Moors reply started disastrously as three wickets were lost for nine runs. However, Bhatiya Perera (28)continued his good form of the previous rounds and put on 50 runs in partnership with Roshan Cooray (43). When Perera was dismissed Iroshan De Silva came to the crease and scored an unbeaten 35 runs to guide Moors to victory. He was ably assisted by Mahesh Palihakkara who scored an unbeaten 30. Moors Sports Club eventually overhauled the victory target with just 11 balls to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNicholas Standford smashed five fours and a six in his second consecutive unbeaten 40•Peter Della Penna

Fahad Babar and Akeem Dodson’s 65-run opening stand in 48 balls – their best partnership of the tournament – followed by an unbeaten 40 by Nicholas Standford knocked off Papua New Guinea by 18 runs in the last Group A match at Malahide. PNG’s second straight loss denied them an automatic berth reserved for the first-placed team in the group and they slipped down to fourth after Hong Kong’s victory over Namibia, while Ireland secured their spot in the 2016 World T20.PNG captain Jack Vare sent USA in to bat, but a tired bowling attack – playing their third match in as many days – did not respond to the decision, and USA reached 56 in the Powerplay, setting a platform for their score of 147. Babar crunched three boundaries off Norman Vanua in the fifth over and Dodson pulled two boundaries past fine leg and a six over square leg in the sixth, bowled by Willie Gavera.Playing just his second match of the tournament, Chad Soper finally broke the stand in the eighth over, getting Babar to spoon a catch to Assad Vala at cover for 30. Dodson was lbw for 38 three overs later playing down the wrong line to Mahuru Dai’s offspin.The innings slowed down as PNG’s spinners tied down Alex Amsterdam. With pressure building, Japen Patel tried to increase the run rate but was bowled by Charles Amini for 20. Adil Bhatti, promoted ahead of Standford, was dismissed for 1, leaving USA at 102 for 4 in the 17th over.Standford – who was awarded Man of the Match against Hong Kong on Saturday for an unbeaten 40 – faced 17 of the 23 deliveries left in the innings but was fortunate to survive two chances in a chaotic 18th over. A skied chance on 11 was spilled by a diving Vala running from cover to mid-off. Amsterdam fell on the next ball for 13 caught at short third man after slicing a drive.The following delivery, Standford got a waist high full toss from the legspinner Amini which he pulled to long-on for an easy catch but a no-ball was signaled for height. Standford blasted the free-hit over extra cover, then followed it up with two more fours over square leg and point to end an 18-run over.Naseer Jamali sacrificed himself after a calamitous mix-up at the end of the 19th over, allowing Standford to remain at the crease for the final over. He struck two more fours, a thin edge past the keeper and a scoop over fine-leg, to take USA to a defendable total.During the innings break, the public address announcer at Malahide had announced that Hong Kong made 197 at Clontarf against Namibia, effectively killing any hopes USA had of going through to the knockout stage. Despite this information, USA produced a spirited effort in the field. Jamali struck the first blow, getting Tony Ura to slash to Hammad Shahid at third man.USA captain Muhammad Ghous produced his best bowling performance of the tournament, beating Lega Siaka in flight off his second delivery. Two overs later, he had Vala splicing a tame drive to Timil Patel at cover to leave PNG struggling at 21 for 3 in the fourth over. Shahid continued to apply pressure and snared Vare with a yorker to leave PNG at 42 for 4.Bhatti had Sese Bau caught at long-off in the 12th over before Timil claimed the next two wickets. Kila Pala was bowled attempting a heave while Dai picked out Shahid at long-on to make it 115 for 7 after 17.Two run outs accounted for wickets eight and nine and PNG went into the last over needing 27. Shahid gave away only eight runs, clinching the win for his side.Timil finished the group stage as USA’s leading wicket-taker and tied for third overall with 10 wickets. USA’s back-to-back wins against a pair of top-six ODI Associate nations showed the abundance of talent available in the country but unfortunately, it was too little too late.