Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England stormed to victory in the second Test at Edgbaston, winning by 256 runs after tea on the fourth day to go 2-0 up in the series and thus retain the Wisden Trophy. Ashley Giles was again the hero of the victory charge, picking up 5 for 57 as West Indies were bowled out for 222 in pursuit of an academic 478.Even though England were bowled out quite quickly for 248, with Chris Gayle taking Test-best figures of 5 for 34, it was again their day as the bowlers took control in the final session. Giles picked up three of the six wickets to fall after tea, including Gayle for 82, to take his tally for the match to nine, and become the first English spinner since Tony Lock against New Zealand in 1958 to do so in consecutive Tests.West Indies always faced a daunting task in needing to bat out five sessions for survival, but they didn’t make the best of starts. All the batsmen found Matthew Hoggard’s bounce and Giles’s spin disconcerting, and it was Devon Smith who fell first, edging Hoggard straight to Marcus Trescothick at first slip (15 for 1).Gayle’s torrid time against Hoggard continued when he was struck twice on the body, but he continued to be aggressive against anything loose. Michael Vaughan brought Giles into the attack early on, and in his first over, Andrew Strauss took a stunning catch at silly mid-off to dismiss Ramnaresh Sarwan for 14 (58 for 2).Brian Lara, who came to the crease just 20 short of 10,000 Test runs, played an extravagant drive first up, which he missed, and he was sent packing in the next over. Lara tried to flick a full delivery through the leg side, but the ball took the inside edge and looped to Andrew Flintoff at slip, and Lara was out for 13 (101 for 3). At least that’s what Simon Taufel thought, and replays suggested that there had been two noises as the ball passed the bat and hit the pad.Gayle, meanwhile, reached his half-century from 62 balls by slapping a full-toss from the off-colour Stephen Harmison through mid-off for four, and Gayle was soon back into his stride after tea, smashing a Hoggard slower ball back past the bowler. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, on the other hand, was content to play Giles with the front pad rather than his bat, but attacked when the ball was there to be hit, sweeping Giles for two fours to fine leg, the first of which brought up the fifty partnership.But just as Gayle and Chanderpaul were forming some resistance, Hoggard and Giles switched ends, and with his first ball from the Pavilion End, Hoggard almost had Chanderpaul caught at cover. But it was Giles who made the breakthrough, as Chanderpaul finally paid the price for hiding his bat behind his pad, and was given out lbw by Darrell Hair for 43 (172 for 4).Dwayne Bravo lasted just two balls against Giles before he fell in an identical fashion to the first innings – bowled by one that gripped the surface and turned past the bat to hit off stump (172 for 5). Ridley Jacobs, on a pair, almost became Giles’s third victim of the over, edging the ball onto his pad and into the air back to the bowler, but the caught-and-bowled chance fell just short.The West Indies collapse continued as Giles picked up his fifth wicket, that of Gayle, who had looked set for a century. Another excellent delivery from Giles hit the pad and brushed the bat as Gayle played forward defensively, and Andrew Strauss snapped up the catch at silly mid-off (177 for 6). Jacobs then completed his pair, lofting one from Hoggard that stopped on the pitch to mid-off, where James Anderson leapt into the air to take a well-judged one-handed catch (177 for 7). Pedro Collins didn’t last long, collecting the third duck of West Indies’ innings when he was palpably leg-before to Hoggard (182 for 8).Anderson came back on after a poor spell earlier in the day, and with his second ball bowled Corey Collymore for 10 to take England to the brink of victory (210 for 9). He then completed the rout two overs later by bowling Jermaine Lawson with a fast yorker to start the celebrations.

It was another sorry ending for West Indies, who crashed to their fifth defeat in six Tests against England. They did, though, salvage some pride by nipping out the remaining seven English wickets in the morning session. However, there was still time for Trescothick to reach his second century of the match – the first man to do so at Edgbaston – and for Graham Thorpe to score a half-century on his 35th birthday. However, both were dismissed shortly after reaching their milestones, and wickets fell regularly thereafter.Trescothick was run out by a direct hit from Sarwan from the boundary for 107 (184 for 4), and Thorpe then charged down the pitch at Gayle and was stumped for 54 (195 for 5). After playing out a few overs, Flintoff unleashed some powerful strokes on Lawson to keep the momentum going, but he top-edged an attempted heave to midwicket off Gayle, and Bravo took a well-judged catch (226 for 7).Before that, Lawson bowled Geraint Jones through the gate with one that swung in through the air and moved off the pitch for his fourth wicket, and Gayle then wrapped things up, bowling Giles for 15 (234 for 8), trapping Harmison lbw and having Hoggard scoop a catch straight to Smith at mid-on. However, it was all academic in the end as England proved they had plenty of runs to spare.

Zee Network, which was awarded the four-year telecast rights for international matches in India, will decide by September 14 whether it will submit fresh bids. The Mumbai High Court subsequently adjourned its hearing of the case till September 16.The court had earlier suggested that ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) and Zee Network submit fresh bids. The rights, which will concern international matches played in India between October 2004 and September 2008, were granted to Zee by the BCCI. ESS had gone to court as a result, asserting that Zee was not eligible to bid in the process, as per the conditions outlined in the tender.The court’s suggestion came after BCCI argued that ESS and Zee were equally eligible to take part in the bidding process. Zee’s counsel asked if he could be allowed to respond in the afternoon session of the court, after a lunch break.The two contentious issues are: whether or not Zee is eligible to bid; and whether the BCCI acted unfairly towards ESS by not allowing them to match the amount negotiated with Zee. The court’s move towards making the sides bid again may resolve the second of these problems, but it has yet to rule on the first.

Border’s chief executive, Reunert Bauser, has resigned before the results of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities are made public later this week. Bauser had been in charge at Border for 11 years.Vido Mgadle, the president of the Border Cricket Board, confirmed the move. “He has resigned with immediate effect, and we [the board] have accepted his resignation as we felt it was in the interests of all concerned,” he told the South African Press Association. “Somebody else will be appointed and the post will be advertised via the normal channels.”Last month Bauser was accused of using some of the proceeds from the 2003 World Cup for air tickets to the UK worth R20,000 (£1800), and a further R400,000 (£36,000) that had been earmarked for the Border team. During his time as chief executive, Bauser had been responsible for East London becoming the headquarters of the Warriors, the East Cape cricket franchise, ahead of Port Elizabeth.

Shaun Pollock, the South African allrounder, has been passed fit to play in the third Test against England which starts this Sunday (Jan 2) at Cape Town. Pollock was hit on the gloves twice by Steve Harmison during his innings of 35 in fading light on the fifth day of the second Test at Durban. The diagnosis on Friday was heavy bruising, and no fractures.Boeta Dippenaar, who scored 110 against England at Port Elizabeth, returns to the squad for the third match after recovering from the knee injury that made him miss the Durban Test. Martin van Jaarsveld, who hit a 52-ball 49 on Thursday, loses his place to accommodate him.Ashley Giles, the England spinner, has overcome the back problems that prevented him from bowling in South Africa’s first innings at Durban. Giles had suffered a back spasm on the opening day while facing a hostile spell of bowling from Dale Steyn. Giles told reporters: “I’ve been through the wars, but I’m fine – the back seems to have fully recovered and the bruises will heal with time. I’ve never had a problem during a game with it before, which is frustrating, particularly sitting out for a day and a half watching the guys battle it out.”

Test-match centuries are becoming second nature to Andrew Strauss. Today’s 147 at the Wanderers was his third in four Tests this series, and his fifth in 11 since making his debut at Lord’s last May. By the close, however, his untimely late dismissal had taken the gloss off a fine day for England, as he readily admitted afterwards."I was guilty of getting out at a bad time," he said, after falling to the second new ball with just eight scheduled overs remaining. "It’s tricky to change your mode of batting from the old ball to the new so I was disappointed with that, and to lose [Graham] Thorpe as well. But it was a pretty good day, so we mustn’t don’t lose sight of that."After winning their first toss of the series, England had to endure a typically tricky period in the first hour of the day, but they came through unscathed and were set up for the day. "There was a bit of lateral movement in the first hour," said Strauss, "and Shaun Pollock is always going to be there or thereabouts. But after that, the ball started coming onto the bat better and it became easier to drive, and the outfield gave pretty good value for shots as well."The backbone of England’s innings was provided by a second-wicket stand of 182 between Strauss and Robert Key, who made 83. "I enjoy batting with Rob," said Strauss. "We were at the academy together and we made a big stand against the West Indies at Lord’s, so I’m familiar with him. He’s pretty miserable out there really! He’s always complaining and moaning about everything in life – not enough sun and what have you. But he’s laid-back at the crease and good fun to bat with."Strauss, as everyone now knows, was born in Johannesburg, but he emphasised that he had left the city at such a young age that it was difficult to get carried away by the significance of a century in his home-town. "Every hundred is a great occasion," he said, "and this one is no different. This is an important game – we are one-all with two to play, and it was important to get stuck in to push ourselves into a position of ascendancy."When I kept playing and missing at Pollock, I thought I must have done something right in a past life," he added. "But when you’re in good form you’ve got to try and ride the wave for as long as possible. We all know what bad form is like – you start wondering where your next run is coming from. But I’ll just watch each ball as hard as possible and drag this form out for as long as possible."Generally, it’s been a pretty good day," he concluded. "There’s a tinge of disappointment that it finished in the manner that it did, but if we get over the first hour tomorrow, there’s no reason why we can’t get a good score. From the position we’re now in, we’ve got to go 400-plus, I should think."

North Central Province 68 for 0 (Gunawardene 37*, Kalavitigoda 19*) trail Western Province 228 (Mubarak 82, Ramyakumara 3-24) by 160 runs
ScorecardJehan Mubarak’s dogged 82 rescued Western Province from a dismal start to their match against North Central at the SSC in Colombo, after a thrilling burst from Gayan Wijekoon had reduced Western to 14 for 3 after five overs. Wijekoon, a left-arm seamer, removed the talented trio of Ian Daniel, Upul Thuranga and Russel Arnold all for ducks, and when Michael Vandort fell to Chanaka Welegedara for 34, they really were on the ropes at 53 for 4.But Hashan Tillekaratne and Mubarak sowed the seeds of recovery, before the wicketkeeper Rashan Peiris chipped in with a valuable 19 in a sixth-wicket stand of 61. From 216 for 7, Farveez Maharoof then lopped off the tail with three quick wickets to bowl Western Province out for 228, although North Central were in the ascendancy by the close, as Avishka Gunawardene and Shantha Kalavitigoda added 68 unbeaten runs for the first wicket.Southern Province 293 for 9 (Suraj 71*, Malinga 8*) v Central Province
ScorecardSuraj Mohamed demonstrated a never-before-seen batting prowess to flip Southern Province’s fortunes on their head against Central Province at Kandy. Suraj, whose previous highest first-class score was 19, finished the day unbeaten on 71, after hauling Southern from a wobbly 154 for 7 to a promising 293 for 9 at the close.The day started badly for Southern, as Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya fell cheaply, closely followed by their international colleague, Saman Jayantha (29 for 3). Anushka Polonowita and Indika de Sarem rebuilt the innings with a composed stand of 99, but Polonowita’s dismissal triggered a collapse of four wickets for 26 runs. Suraj was on hand, however, to stem the demise.

A piece of technical advice from two of Australia’s most zany Test bowlers revived Jason Gillespie’s first Test and helped repel the threat of Brett Lee. Gillespie struggled with 0 for 87 in the first innings at Christchurch, when Lee was a surprise choice as 12th man, before sealing three important lbw decisions in the second after Merv Hughes and Colin ‘Funky’ Miller spotted a flaw in his action.Hughes and Miller, who now take supporters’ tours instead of Test wickets, popped into the dressing room to find Gillespie and the tip worked. “There was a bit of a difference between the first and second innings because big Merv and Funky came into the rooms and said, ‘Dizzy we reckon you’re running in on too much of an angle, straighten up your run-up,'” he said.Gillespie said he would give it a try because he couldn’t bowl any worse. “So I straightened up and it went really well,” he said. “So I’ve got big Merv and Funky, the pink-haired goon, to thank.” Gillespie captured the wickets of Craig Cumming and Nathan Astle in his first spell yesterday before returning to trap Brendon McCullum.The haul took his Test record to 244 and he could pass Graham McKenzie, who collected 246, and Richie Benaud (248) in the second match at Wellington beginning on Friday. Only Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee, Craig McDermott and Glenn McGrath have taken more than 250 wickets for Australia.

Nathan Bracken’s demolition of the Queensland batting order in the Pura Cup final at Brisbane has boosted his chances of being named in Australia’s squad for the Ashes tour. Bracken took 6 for 27 to rout the Pura Cup holders for just 102 on the opening day.Bracken’s last Test was against India at Sydney in January 2004, and later in the year he lost his Cricket Australia central contract. But he has responded in fine style, spearheading the New South Wales attack this season. However, he is not getting carried away with his chances of touring England.”If I get an opportunity I’ll be wrapped with it, if I don’t, I don’t,” Bracken told the news agency. “I’m happy with the way I’ve bowled this year but my priority is to finish this game here well. I set a goal at the start of the year to take 40 wickets. I’ve now taken 41. So now I’m setting my goal at 45 and taking 45 will ensure a good game here and make it a close finish.”Bracken had a brief spell with Gloucestershire towards the end of the 2004 English season and says he enjoys the conditions. “I enjoyed my time over there before. I’ve been over there with Gloucester and also on the other Ashes trip and enjoyed the opportunity to go there. The ball does swing a lot over there and you do get wickets that do a bit so I guess any fast bowler is happy with the situation where the ball swings around and seams.”

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Ranadeb Bose and Devang Gandhi steered Bengal to a seven-wicket win over Railways in the quarter-finals of the Ranji one-day tournament at Mumbai. Bose’s spell of 4 for 33 restricted Railways to 214 inspite of a 43-ball fifty from Shankara Rao. Devang Gandhi replied in kind with a knock of 98 not out, which included nine fours and three sixes. He was well-supported by Sanjib Sanyal, who hit 66, and shared a 98-run partnership for the second wicket. Rohan Gavaskar also chipped in with 30 and the target was reached in the 47th over.
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Tamil Nadu advanced to the semi-finals after beating Baroda by 30 runs in the quarter-finals of the Ranji one-day tournament at Mumbai. A fairly subdued innings of 68 from S Badrinath laid the foundation for Tamil Nadu before a quickfire 36 off 32 balls from Hemant Kumar helped Tamil Nadu muster a competitive total of 274. Baroda got off to the worst possible start when they lost two wickets with no runs on the board as Tamil Nadu kept on the pressure, leaving Baroda struggling on 66 for 4. The only partnership they managed to string together was of 56 runs, between Jacob Martin (32) and Kiran Powar (35). Ajit Bhoite provided some late resistance with 62. The pick of the bowlers for Tamil Nadu were Somasetty Suresh with 4 for 60 while Rajamani Jesuraj took 3 for 39.

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Kent overcame a shaky start thanks to another fine innings from Martin van Jaarsveld. He received impressive support from Darren Stevens, who contributed 80 to a fourth wicket stand of 143, after Kent stumbled to 60 for 3. David Fulton fell to the first ball of the match, caught behind off David Harrison, while Robert Key fell in Darren Thomas’s opening spell. Robert Croft and Dean Cosker, Glamorgan’s spinners, kept their side in the game with a middle-order wicket each but could not dislodge van Jaarsveld. Each middle order batsmen chipped in a useful partnership contribution, with James Tredwell making 27 in his first Championship appearance of the season. van Jaarsveld passed 700 runs for the season when he reached 166 and this was fourth hundred of the summer. Despite their best efforts Glamorgan’s attack lacked the killer touch as the early strikes in the morning session became a distant memory in the face of van Jaarsveld’s stroke play.
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The opening day at Lord’s produced some fascinating cricket as the pendulum swung one way then the other. For a full report see Match of the Day.