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Gauteng will meet Northerns in the final of the SAA Provincial One-Day Challenge after they defeated South Western Districts and Eastern Province in the semi-finals held on March 8.Gauteng thrashed South Western Districts by 209 runs while Northerns prevailed over Eastern Province by 15 runs.Gauteng’s massive win in Johannesburg was set up by opener Dane Vilas, who smashed an unbeaten 119 from 115 balls, including ten fours and two sixes, as he steered his team to a commanding 297 for 5. Warren Swan chipped in with 57 while wicketkeeper Matthew Harris (25 off 13) and Dumisa Makalima (47 off 22) provided the flourish at the end. The only bowler to end with respectable figures was Rudy Hillerman, who took 2 for 49 in eight overs.Pursuing a stiff 298, South Western Districts struggled as left-arm spinner Jean Symes along with fast bowlers Yunus Keiller and Brian Mathebula shackled the visitors and bowled them out for 88 runs in 21 overs. Symes finished with 4 for 8 off 3.5 overs, while Keiller had 3 for 23 off his seven. Nigel Brouwers hit three sixes but fell for 26 as his side crashed to a 209-run lossIn the other semi-final in Port Elizabeth, Northerns scraped home in a low-scoring encounter. A tight bowling performance saw the Northerns, who chose to bat, restricted to 172 for 9. Shaun Liebisch scored almost a run-a-ball 60, but the rest of the batsmen were unable to find any run-scoring rhythm. Two run-outs in the 30th over didn’t help the cause of the Northerns either.Liebisch, though, sparked off his team-mates with the ball; he provided two vital breakthroughs when the Eastern Province top order were threatening to take the game away via building partnerships. Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso removed Nos 6-8 to finish with 3 for 31; wicketkeeper-batsman Sean Adair fought for 69 off 100, but was one of two scalps for medium-pacer Tumi Masekela.Eastern Province were dismissed for 157 off 42.5 overs, 16 short of their target. Northerns will face Gauteng in the final on Wednesday.

Parting words: ‘Our cricket needs a strong foundation. We have to dig deep’ – Lara © Getty Images

When Ramnaresh Sarwan, man of the match against Bangladesh after a superbunbeaten 91, talked to the media after the game, he had little idea thathis captain was poised to drop a bombshell that would render everythingelse – Jacob Oram’s heel and Duncan Fletcher’s resignation, to name justtwo significant stories of the day – redundant. Though he laughed at the idea that hewas captain-in-waiting, Sarwan was candid when asked if he’d want BrianLara in the squad that leaves for England in early May.”Of course,” he said. “With his experience, the way he plays and what hebrings to the team, you’d want him there.” And asked what he’d learnt fromsharing the same dressing room, Sarwan spoke of Lara’s mental strength andhow he’d managed to rebound from the hard times despite his every movebeing so closely scrutinised. In his view, much of the criticism of Larawas unfair, though he accepted that it came with the job. “People pointfingers at the leader. That happens in every sport.”We recently had the case of a vice-captain, Pakistan’s Younis Khan,refusing to take up the reins, but that path of least resistance won’t bethe one that Sarwan takes. “I’ve said for a while now that I’m willing totake up the challenge,” he said. “A few things would have to changethough.”A few minutes later, it was Lara in front of the cameras and microphones,and he appeared to give the anointed one his seal of approval. “I thinkhe’s shown maturity,” he said, when asked about Sarwan. “He’s a very goodbatsman. We dropped him down to No.5 because he’s a very good finisher. Ifthat decision had been taken earlier, it might have borne fruit.”Lara has been roundly criticised during this World Cup campaign, withlegends of the past dismissive of both the team’s performances andpreparation. According to him, a press conference wasn’t the right forumto debate whatever had gone wrong behind the scenes, though he did saythat the new captain would need “whole-hearted support from the board andthe selectors.”It was as good as saying that the support cast had failed him, and was inkeeping with what he had hinted at during an interview withCricinfo Magazine last September. When asked about indiscipline -the allegations have flown thick and fast during this competition – he hadsaid: “There are different types of indiscipline. Are you talking aboutthe controversial kind?”It can stem not just from the players, it can stem from deep-rootedproblems in the administration. I don’t think you’d see an indisciplinedteam if you have a disciplined board. If you have a disciplined board,they would know exactly what they want from their players. You need to seethe whole spiral, where it starts from.”To blame Lara and the players alone for this World Cup debacle is acop-out, and it ignores huge faults beneath the surface. “I’ve been partof five World Cups and we reached the semis only in 1996,” said Lara.”Here, we were beaten by better teams.”

The pressure sometimes getsthe better of me but it’s a lovely feeling to have the chips down, backagainst the wall, and come up with something special. The thousands that pour through the turnstiles on Saturday morning will hope for one last glimpse of such genius. For all his flaws as an individual – and who doesn’t have them? – Brian Lara the batsman was asight to behold. Two days from now, the crazy diamond will shine one lasttime.

When asked if he saw a way out of the morass of mediocrity, he was onlycautiously optimistic, saying that it might take five or 10 years for theWest Indies to regain respectability. “The team is good enough, the talentis there,” he said. “But in international sport, success stems from a lotmore than the 11 players on the field.”Our cricket needs a strong foundation. We have to dig deep. We’ve gotsome guys who are good thinkers on the game on the cricket committee. Weneed to find the right plan. It’s not going to be easy and we can’t lookfor too much.”Lara is prepared to be part of that future, turbulent though it may be.”It’s not time for me to go into hibernation,” he said. “I’ve played andI’ve been a student of the game. I know the history of West Indies cricketand I know what it means to the people. There are also a lot of people inother countries that we could learn from.”Saturday will be special, and such has been Lara’s mental strength downthe years that you can picture him conjuring up an innings to remember.”We’ve still got a job to do on Saturday,” he said after Bangladesh hadsubsided to a 99-run defeat. “It’s nice to get back on the winning trail.We’ve not won a game since Jamaica. And though it’s come a couple ofmatches too late, we still have a World Cup to finish.”The fans are still coming out to watch us. You wonder if the support isgoing to be there. It was a tremendous turnout to watch a team that had nochance of reaching the semi-finals.”Quite a few of them would have come to see him grace the venue where heenjoyed his finest hour. The world-record scores of 375 and 400 will catchthe statistician’s eye, and the purist might swear by his 277 at Sydney(1993), but it’s highly unlikely that any of us will see an innings tomatch the 153 not out that inspired a one-wicket win against the best teamin the world.When asked about it in Malaysia, he had said: “The pressure sometimes getsthe better of me but it’s a lovely feeling to have the chips down, backagainst the wall, and come up with something special.”The thousands that pour through the turnstiles on Saturday morning willhope for one last glimpse of such genius. For all his flaws as anindividual – and who doesn’t have them? – Brian Lara the batsman was asight to behold. Two days from now, the crazy diamond will shine one lasttime.

Nick Knight: ‘I feel the end of the 2006 season is the right time to move on and look to the future’ © Getty Images

Nick Knight has announced that 2006 will be his last season of in first-class cricket. He has spent 11 years with Warwickshire after joining them from Essex in 1995.Knight, 36, was captain from 2003 to 2005 and led the team to their first County Championship title in nine years in 2004. He has notched up 27 centuries in first-class matches and 22 centuries in one-day matches for Warwickshire and has been the leading run scorer for the county in 1998, 2002 and 2005. In 2005 he reached 10,000 first class runs for Warwickshire in the fewest innings.Following his decision Knight said: “I feel very lucky to have played the game for this long at both county level, with Essex and Warwickshire, and internationally with England. Having played most of my career at Warwickshire, it is the members, staff and my team-mates I would like to thank the most. I feel the end of the 2006 season is the right time to move on and look to the future. I would like to express my gratitude for all the support and the memories.”The Warwickshire chief executive, Colin Povey, said: “Nick has been a great servant to Warwickshire and the club will miss his contribution both on and off the field. I hope that Nick’s last season is a successful one and reflect the outstanding career he has had with the Bears. I am sure I can say that everyone at the Club joins me in wishing Knighty every success in his life outside cricket.”Mark Greatbatch, the director of coaching, added his own endorsement: “Nick has been an integral part of the Club and we fully support his decision to retire. We are lucky to have him for the 2006 season and hopefully we can add some silverware to his collection, which will complete what has been a marvellous career in the game.”

Shabbir Ahmed has received strong support from the board amid the chucking controversy © Getty Images

Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistani fast bowler, is expected to undergo tests on his bowling action under the direction of a biomechanics specialist appointed by the ICC. Shabbir, whose action was reported after the first Test in Barbados, played in the second Test in Jamaica despite being warned by the umpires and match referee, finishing the series with 13 wickets.According to The News, a source within the board said, “The team management after consulting Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of Pakistan cricket board, told the ICC officials they would play Shabbir and if he was called again they would take the matter to the highest level with the ICC.”After undergoing the tests in England, the PCB will examine the report and see where Shabbir’s action falls within the 15 degrees tolerance level set by the ICC. “Only then will they decide on the next line of action including, if need arises, sending Shabbir to work with a specialist abroad,” said the source. “The Board has made up its mind it will support him strongly and find a solution to his problem. It also feels that it is strange that while he was not reported even after playing three one-dayers in the West Indies he was reported after the first Test mainly because of lobbying against his action by some television commentators.”This was the third time that Shabbir’s action had been reported, and the board felt that a long layoff from the game – due to a knee injury – could be the reason for the glitch in his action. However, the News also mentioned that at the end of the second Test, the ICC match officials urged the team management to work on his action immediately, and that they would be reporting the matter to the ICC.

There were four early results on day 2 of the third round of the Inter-Department Qualifying Tournament on Wednesday.Sui Gas swamped Pakistan Education Board (PEB) by an innings and 11 runs after resuming at 234-1 in reply to the students 127 and declared at 318-1 after Ali Hussain remained unbeaten on 103 and Sufyan Munir hit a run-a-ball 100* laced with 12 fours and three sixes. In their second innings the students were dismissed for 180 when Sajid Ali picked up 4-35 and Imran Tahir and Wasim Khan equally shared six wickets.At historic Bagh-e-Jinnah, ZTBL defeated PAF by an innings and 68 runs as Imran Abbas slammed 176 off 205 balls and then their paceman Imran Sabir struck with 7-72 to dismiss the airmen for 207.KRL disposed-off Pakistan Army by an innings and 106 runs at the Pindi Club Ground. KRL declared at their overnight score of 252 taking a 169-run lead and then Yasir Arafat, Jaffar Nazir and Ali Naqvi bowled out the Army for a paltry 63.PIA won their third successive match by sinking the Navy team by an innings and 92 runs. Fazl-e-Akbar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Umar Gul took three wickets each while bowling out the sailars for 111 after PIA had secured a first innings lead of 203.Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq returned to domestic cricket for PTCL to score a fine 69 but this effort was not enough to earn his team a first innings lead at the Pindi Stadium as Wapda went ahead by 52 runs.Scores in brief (day 2 of 3):Pool A
At PCB Academy, Navy 86 (Nadeem Babar 27, Hammad Khan 24, Najaf Shah 4-13, Fazl-e-Akbar 3-37, Saqlain Mushtaq 2-8) and 111 (Fazl-e-Akbar 3-15, Saqlain Mushtaq 3-19, Umar Gul 3-46) vs PIA 289 in 77 overs (Yasir Hameed 79, Ghulam Ali 40, Bazid Khan 38, Kamran Sajid 28, Imran Farhat 26, Faisal Iqbal 20, Mohammad Waheed 3-54, Mohammad Ali 3-64). PIA won by an innings and 92 runs.
At Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Pakistan Customs 245 in 79.4 overs (Aamer Bashir 75 [7×4, 146b], Azhar Shafiq 68 [9×4, 113b], Riaz Sheikh 6-68) and 7-1 vs Pak PWD 232 in 81.5 overs (Faisal Athar 85, Saad Wasim 37, Shahid Mahmood 4-109, Junaid Zia 3-33, Imran Ali 3-62).
At UBL Sports Complex, DHA 251 (Saqib Zia 68, Wajid Ali 66, Aamer Yousuf 4-47, Rizwan Fareed 3-55) and 71-7 (Aamer Yousuf 5-24) vs Dewan Farooq Motors (DFML) 135 (Javed Qadeer 42, Rizwan Saeed 3-25, Azam Hussain 3-28).Pool B
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Wapda 275 in 82.4 overs (Hasan Adnan 73, Tariq Aziz 63, Mohammad Zaman 33*, Rizwan Malik 30, Mohammad Khalil 5-86, Mohammad Hussain 4-84) and 4-1 vs PTCL 223 ( Inzamam-ul-Haq 69, Naved Latif 47, Aqeel Ahmed 3-42).
At Pindi Club Ground, Army 83 in 28.2 overs (Yasir Arafat 5-30) and 63 (Yasir Arafat 3-13, Jaffar Nazir 3-19) vs KRL 252-2 in 59 overs declared (Mohammad Ramazan 105*, Ali Naqvi 71, Saeed Anwar Jnr 65). KRL won by an innings and 106 runs.
At KRL Stadium, POF 139 in 46.1 overs (Imran Ali 41, Rizwan Akbar 5-58, Alamgir Khan 3-18) 96-3 vs ARL 290 in 82.2 overs (Asim Butt 78 not out, Alamgir Khan 42, Nauman Aman 35, Rashid Latif 5-100, Nadeem Ahmed 3-17).Pool C
At LCCA Ground, KPT 263 in 80 overs (Maisam Hasnain 81, Rashid Hanif 43, Farhan Iqbal 32*, Sajid Aziz 5-52, Shoaib Maqsood 3-83) and 16-4 vs HEC 185 (Shoaib Maqsood 79, Atif Ijaz 49 not out, Adeel Malik 3-43).
At Gymkhana Ground Okara, Service Industries 230 in 80.1 overs (Rizwan Ahmed 55, Masood Asim 55, Farhan Asghar 30, Qaiser Abbas 4-25, Shabbir Ahmed 3-54) and 21-1 vs NBP 255 (Kamran Akmal 87, Hanif-ur-Rehman 61, Asim Butt 4-82, Jamshed Ahmed 3-58).
At Bagh-e-Jinnah Lahore, PAF 72 (Rao Iftikhar 6-36, Mohammad Saddique 4-20) and 207 (Naseer-ud-din 85, Imran Sabir 7-72) vs ZTBL 347-7 in 70 overs declared (Imran Abbas 176 [18×4, 205b] , Atif Ashraf 86, Faisal Naved 57 [7×4, 68b], Naseer-ud-din 3-101). ZTBL won by an innings and 68 runs.Pool D
At Jinnah Stadium Gujranwala, LEO International 172 in 72.5 overs (Shoaib Nasir 63, Faisal Ashraf 51, Abdul Rauf 5-51, Arshad Khan 3-31) and 97-6 (Abdul Rauf 3-45) vs Allied Bank 339-5 in 55.4 overs declared (Manzoor Akhtar 94, Wajahatullah Wasti 65, Usman Tariq 61, Alay Haider 36*, Ijaz Ahmed 30).
At Jinnah Stadium Sialkot, PEB 127 (Mohammad Irshad 5-47, Wasim Khan 2-48, Imran Tahir 2-4) and 180 (Shahid Pervez 50, Sajid Ali 4-35, Imran Tahir 3-31, Wasim Khan 3-69) vs Sui Gas 318-1 in 58 overs declared (Mohammad Hzfeez 92 [16×4, 92b], Ali Hussain 103* [12×4, 165b], Sufyan Munir 100* [12×4, 3×6, 100b]). Sui Gas won by an innings and 11 runs.
At Saga Ground Sialkot, Habib Bank 426-5 in 80 overs (Younis Khan 191 [32×4, 2×6, 217b], Hasan Raza 103 [13×4, 90b], Saleem Elahi 80 [8×4, 135b]) vs Saga 233 (Shaiman Anwar 72, Ashraf Ali 50 not out, Kabir Khan 4-67, Abdul Rehman 4-72) and 52-1 (Tauqeer Hussain 32 not out).

Darren Gough has decided to stay with Yorkshire next season. The England fast bowler’s future at Headingley has been the subject of rumour and speculation for months, but Yorkshire have now issued a statement indicating he is to stay there for at least one more summer.Gough’s contract runs out at the end of the 2002 season, and he has still not signed any new deal.However tonight’s statement announced: “Darren Gough has today confirmed that he will continue his career with Yorkshire.”His existing contract has a year to run, and the club have indicated theirwillingness to extend the contract when the existing term expires.”Gough, 31, made only two appearances for Yorkshire in last summer’s CricInfoChampionship, as Yorkshire won the title for the first time in 33 years.But Yorkshire added in the statement that they do not doubt his commitment to the club, despite his inevitable focus on internationals as a centrally-contracted England player in recent years.The statement continued: “It has been a difficult time for him personally with a heavy international programme, his benefit activities and persistent press comment as to his future with the club.”The county has acknowledged Darren’s significant contribution to Yorkshirecricket over many years both on and off the field and which has included raisingthe profile and standards of cricket throughout Yorkshire and elsewhere.”

Hyderabad openers A Nandakishore and VVS Laxman took the fight to theBihar camp with an unbroken opening stand of 140 in 129 minutes off 30overs after allowing their opponents to post a first innings total of381 on the second day of their Super League tie at the Lal BahadurShastri stadium in Hyderabad today.Resuming at 225/6 Bihar lost Vikash Kumar cheaply for 3. But MihirDiwakar joined Manish Kumar to forge a 126 run 8th wicket stand beforeManish fell for 63. Diwakar was last out for 86 (161 balls, 9 fours, 4sixes) as the innings terminated in the 149th over. Hyderabad openingbowlers NP Singh and Parth Satwalekar helped themselves to threewickets apiece.Hyderabad’s 50 came in the 14th over and 100 in the 20th over as bothopeners launched into the Bihar attack. At stumps Nandakishore was on74 (103 balls, 12 fours) and Laxman on 59 (79 balls, 11 fours).

The board at Everton are now getting worried over the possible punishments they could face at the hands of the Premier League due to their devastating financial losses.

The Lowdown: Everton’s financial losses

Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri bought the Merseyside club in 2016 for a stunning £200 million.

Ever since, Everton have posted losses in all but one of the years with the Iranian businessman in charge. In the last three financial years, the Toffees have posted a combined loss of £265 million.

The £140 million loss in 2018/19 and the £112 million in 2019/20 both rank in the seven largest losses recorded by an English club.

The Latest: Everton board panicking

Whilst the Merseyside club have told the media that they will be able to demonstrate to the Premier League that they have worked within the profit and sustainability limits, fresh news has emerged, throwing this confidence in the air.

Football Insider has reported that the Everton board are now “frightened to death” of being “severely” punished by the Premier League, as a result of their huge financial losses.

An Everton source informed FI that there is a “big panic” amongst senior officials at the club, as they are worried the league could make an example of them by imposing strong sanctions, including the likes of transfer bans.

This would derive as a result of a combination of their losses and their involvement with Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is a close ally of Moshiri’s.

Usmanov was sanctioned by the UK government a fortnight ago.

The Verdict: Should be worried

A number of football finance experts have claimed that the Toffees are very close to breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

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The club have placed the blame on large Covid-related losses and the fact that they are currently building their new stadium Bramley-Moore Dock, which has incurred significant costs.

However, if the league do not find these reasons accurate and therefore acceptable, Everton could be in serious trouble.

In other news: Everton: Frank Lampard shares Andros Townsend injury update

Scorecard

	Abu Nechim’s 4 for 27 helped the Tigers post an important win © ICL

The Lions stumbled for the second consecutive day in a run-chase of 160-odd as they fell to a 22-run loss against the Kolkata Tigers, thus ending their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.The match in Gurgaon was a crunch clash, as both sides needed to win to have any chance of going through. Craig McMillan, the Tigers’ captain, won the toss and his top order cashed in on the decision to bat.The momentum was provided by Subhomoy Das right at the start; he smashed three fours before Andrew Hall had him trapped in front in the first over. Lance Klusener then joined Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, and the duo added 78 in 11.2 overs.Klusener was run out by Dinesh Mongia for 38 from 34 deliveries but Jhunjhunwala stayed till the 20th over before he was dismissed in the same manner. He made 62 off 57 balls as the Tigers puta competitive total of 165 on the board. Hall took 3 for 37 in his four overs, while his new-ball partner Daryl Tuffey was miserly, conceding only 14 in his four overs.Then it was over to the Tigers’ pace attack; wickets fell at regular intervals as the Lions struggled in their hunt of 166. Abu Nechim scalped three as they succumbed to 69 for 6 after 12.1 overs. A 50-run stand between Manish Sharma and Tejinder Pal Singh raised hopes of an unlikely win. Upul Chandana was carted for runs as Tejinder Pal scored 34 off just 16, while Sharma took the same number of deliveries for his 23.Andre Adams removed the duo in the 17th over, and Nantie Hayward and Nechim got rid of the tailenders as the Lions were bundled out for 143. Nechim finished with 4 for 27 off his four overs, while Adams bagged 3 for 22 off his quota. Nechim and Jhunjhunwala shared the Man-of-the-Match award.

Canada, spurred by an efficient bowling and batting display, comfortably defeated Antigua & Barbuda by five wickets in their one-day practice match at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Saturday. Warming up for the tri-series that also involves Bermuda and Bangladesh, the Canadians restricted the Antiguans to 231 for 8 off their 50 overs and then replied strongly with 232 for 5 off 42.4 overs.Canada’s bowlers bowled with discipline as they maintained control over theAntiguan batsmen for most of the innings. Kerry Mentore, the wicketkeeper-batsman, top-scored with 55 off 96 balls but like the other batsmen he was unable to get on top of the bowling.Mentore and Austin Richards Jr, who hit a 37-ball 32, put on 42 for the first wicket and but the scoring rate was not spectacular. A late flurry from Leewards all-rounder Justin Athanaze, who hit 30 from 21 balls with four fours and a six, gave the score some respectability after Antigua had been 158 for 5.In reply, Abdool Samad made 64, Ashif Mulla 56 not out and Ashish Bagai 45, as Canada paced their chase well. Samad, who had also bowled well to take 1 for 45 in nine overs, set the tempo for the reply with a 70-ball innings. Edwin Richardson gave Bermuda hope with a fiery spell, but was forced to withdraw from the attack after he delivered the second of two beamers in his spell of 5.2 overs.