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Islamabad, who are languishing in the relegation zone, were facing an uphill battle to avoid an innings defeat against leaders Karachi Whites on the third day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I Cricket Championship match at the KRL Stadium here on Wednesday.Islamabad were tottering at 139 for eight in their second innings after conceding a lead of 201. Left-arm mediumpacer Ali Raza was the main wrecker-in-chief with four for 38 and Test all-rounder Shahid Afridi claimed two for 31.Earlier, Karachi Whites, who resumed their first innings at 299 for three, added 109 before applying closure at 408 for eight. Hasan Raza, who was 73 overnight, went for 75 but Saeed bin Nasir went on to score 54 off 96 deliveries with five boundaries.

While the Indian Cricket League and ECB continue to spar, there is encouraging news for Mushtaq Ahmed, who has received a second No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).It comes as a surprise: earlier this month the PCB had said that they would withdraw Mushtaq’s first NOC, which would have prevented him from playing for Sussex due to his ICL involvement. But with this second certificate, it seems increasingly likely that Mushtaq’s county career should continue. For the time being, at least.”We’ve provided the ECB with a second certificate, which we received onMonday, and we are just waiting for everything to be formalised,” said Gus MacKay, the Sussex chief executive. “We don’t foresee a problem.”In Mushtaq’s favour – certainly in the eyes of the PCB – was his delay in playing for his ICL side, the Lahore Badshahs, which seems to have helped in his bid for a second NOC. Yorkshire, though, are still waiting on Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who has already played for Lahore.

Australia’s worsening position has come as such a shock that the team is not even sure what will be an acceptable target. India hold a 170-run lead after two days and the vice-captain Adam Gilchrist was trying to avoid thinking of the potentially huge numbers that the home batsmen could face in the second innings.Gilchrist admitted his team, which fell for 212, had been “dominated” and they were now fighting to “claw their way into the game”. Australian players are usually happy to reveal estimates of their aims, but Gilchrist was unable to do that even though he retained confidence in the pitch.”I’ve got no idea what will be achievable there,” he said. “It’s not a wicket that falls apart or turns into a heap that is impossible to score on. It will hold together well and it will then come down to mental pressure and mental demons.”The top order fell to a combination of excellent swing bowling and poor shot selection, dropping to 5 for 61 before a 102-run stand from Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds. However, when Symonds went for 66 and Gilchrist followed for 55 the difficulties became severe.”We didn’t play well,” he said. “We started the day well then handed it back to them. They bowled well, swung the ball, it’s one of those days when we feel we nicked everything and they played and missed everything yesterday. They’ve done well and dominated.”Australia’s bowlers wrapped up India for 330 in the first session, taking the final four wickets for two runs, and Gilchrist wants more high quality on day three. “There’s a long way to go and we’re not thinking ahead to what may or may not happen,” he said. “We’ve got some wickets to take. If we can replicate that first hour [on day three] that we had today, we’re giving ourselves a chance. We’ve just got to try to stay in the match.” It’s not something the Australians have had to deal with very often since the 2005 Ashes.

Matthew Hayden conquered the MCG with his sixth Test hundred in the stadium before calling it the toughest surface he had batted on for two years. It was hard to know how serious he was after Australia had scored 337 in a day and his 124 had come from 183 balls. However, as his analysis of the pitch grew and talk of his 28th century was pushed to the background, he became more convincing.”Quite difficult” was cut to “difficult” and he was certain things would “deteriorate” much more than they did for the drop-in wickets that have held together and forced attritional play during Pura Cup games. Despite the predictions, Hayden felt batting would not get any more challenging than it was in the first 30 overs of the opening day, when they reached 0 for 122. He might have been trying to scare the Indians, but if it does wear like Hayden expects it will become more like a home game for the tourists.The predictions led Ricky Ponting to bat and Hayden and Jaques survived the early difficulties in a stand of 135 that would produce the innings’ highest scores. Instead of things getting easier, they quickly became harder as Australia lost nine batsmen and their ability to follow the tradition of dominating the opening exchanges.”We lost a few too many wickets, but it was difficult enough and those conditions will be revealed over the next four days,” Hayden said. “The fact is we are facing a difficult wicket. The score is definitely a par effort.”Hayden started by going hard at the ball as it seamed in the morning, benefiting from gaps in the slips during a couple of thick edges, and then turned his attention to the spin of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Jaques beat him to fifty and even though Hayden was keeping pace his run-scoring speed was surprising. By the time he reached his century, which was celebrated with a hug from Michael Clarke, he had struck only nine fours, but it came from 126 deliveries.”It was one of my best Test hundreds because of the conditions we had at hand,” he said. “I was pretty pumped, it was great.”The MCG stirs Hayden, who played his first home Test here in 1996-97, and he had extra reasons to perform this time. “I’ve built this match up more so than any other,” he said. “It announces the start of the summer for us.”The series began with an eventful and intriguing first day, but Hayden does not expect things to happen quickly over the rest of the match. “It’s definitely going to be a wicket that’s going to be hard to score on,” he said. “There are slow conditions and I can see us really putting the pressure on through good in-out fields. We’ll try to constrict India and I definitely think the wicket’s going to deteriorate.”Two years ago Hayden played on an MCG pitch that he said was worse than this one. It was wet on the first day, when he scored 65, but he managed to overcome the difficulties in the second innings with 137. Over the next couple of days his forecasting will be tested.

Pakistan are considering inviting India for a quickfire series of ODIs if, asis becoming increasingly likely, Australia pull out of their scheduled tour inMarch-April.Doubts about whether Australia will come for their first tour in nearly a decadehave increased day-by-day over the last week, the latest coming from Ricky Ponting,the Australian captain.The Pakistan board has all along insisted its priority is to get Australia to cometo visit, but has privately admitted they are working on alternative options, whichinclude inviting another country over.And a well-placed source revealed to Cricinfo that informal talks had been held withthe BCCI about a series of ODIs in Pakistan in case Australia don’t come.”There have been informal discussions with the BCCI but nothing has been firmed up.Things will become clearer in a day or so,” the source said. “The first priority is still to getAustralia to come over but if they don’t come, options have to be and are beingexamined.”Two PCB officials, including the chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi arecurrently touring India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for bilateral board talksregarding scheduling ahead of an ICC meeting to devise the Future Tours Programme(FTP) till 2013. The ostensible purpose of the mission is to fill the gaps inPakistan’s schedule in the current FTP.The current Pakistan administration is said to be unhappy over their predecessor’swork on the last FTP, which has left Pakistan with a number of gaps in theircricketing calendar. “Pakistan played half the number of Tests that Australia didaccording to that FTP and that is something that needs to be rectified,” the source said. But as a result of Australia’s hesitancy, the trip has become an opportunityfor Pakistan to try and arrange an alternative contest with countries who are freein March-April.Both boards, however, are officially denying the development. India, as ever, ishemmed in by a hectic schedule. Between their return from Australia and the firstTest against South Africa, an ODI series, even just across the border, seemsunlikely. “It’s not possible,” a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo. “The Indian teamreturns from Australia on March 8 and the first Test against South Africa starts inChennai on March 26. Where is the time?”Ahsan Malik, the PCB spokesman, explained the board’s focus was on gettingAustralia over. “This is an official trip with regards to the FTP till 2013. Theywanted to meet boards and have a pre-scheduling round of meetings with them. Ourfull concentration is on playing Australia.”

Six months ago, India and Pakistan were coming to terms with their early World Cup exits. All seemed to have been forgotten when, a little over a month ago, they battled for the World Twenty20 title. Then Australia came to India and South Africa to Pakistan. And both sides are back to learning from their mistakes. It’s these glorious cycles that grips both nations.Surely it allows the teams to understand each other, as evinced by the camaraderie this evening. Once both sides finished warming up, Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar, standing close to the pitch for close to 20 minutes, seemed to be discussing life, the universe and everything. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Yousuf greeted each other like long, lost brothers. And Sourav Ganguly couldn’t get enough of watching Sohail Tanvir’s wrong-footed action. Such .Geoff Lawson recently said that an India-Pakistan series is “bigger than the Ashes” but Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shoaib Malik, the captains in charge, claimed otherwise. “It’s like playing any other team,” Dhoni said casually. “Maybe for you guys [the media] it’s bigger than the Ashes. But personally it doesn’t matter if it’s Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Zimbabwe or any other team. Also, we’ve played against Pakistan a lot recently. It eases the pressure.”Team talkSreesanth, while bowling at the nets in the eastern side of the ground, came perilously close to making news. A swinging yorker crashed into Sourav Ganguly’s right ankle and had him hobbling. A quick spray and a ginger massage later, Ganguly was smiling again, going on to have a bowl.If he plays, which he should, the problem could arise at No.3. Gautam Gambhir or Virender Sehwag? Recent form points to Gambhir, past record to Sehwag. Dhoni said it was a toss-up between the two, adding that Sehwag, despite losing his father a few days back, was in “good nick”.The short square boundaries could dissuade India from playing two spinners, though the pitch could aid turn later on. “This is one of the grounds where we could have extended the boundary ropes,” Dhoni said. “It’s quite a small ground, and both sides have spinners who will have a big impact on the game. Definitely they will suffer a bit if it turns out to be a flat wicket. A 60-65 yard outfield is worrying for bowlers.”Pakistan, though, might go with two spinners irrespective – both Abdur Rehman and Shahid Afridi troubled South Africa recently. “I don’t think our spinners will struggle in these type of grounds,” Malik said. “We had tried different combinations in the series against South Africa, and that was partly keeping the series against India in mind,” said Malik. “Now, we have an idea about the combination and I am confident that we have players for every role.”

No politics, please
Pakistan’s media manager Ahsan Malik made it clear that the political situation back home wasn’t going to affect the series. “We are here to play cricket and the team is focussing only on that.” He also requested that the Pakistan captain be questioned only on cricketing matters. Dhoni didn’t say much except, “How the players handle it is up to how mentally tough they are. I am only looking forward to the cricket.”Dewy start
The sun went down at around 4:40 pm on match eve and it’s prompted the two teams to agree to an 8:30 am start. “The first hour is crucial” is normally brushed aside as a plain cricketing cliché but it’s of significance here. Eight of the eleven games here have seen captains inserting the opposition (including the previous completed match here, when Australia were reduced to 61 for 4 before Michael Bevan undertook his customary rescue mission.Anticipation unlimited
Hardly has one commented about the chaos at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, what with fans clamouring for autographs and thousands of security men for space, than a seasoned observer points out: “Wait for tomorrow. You haven’t seen anything yet.” If we go entirely by captain talk, this is another run-of-the-mill series. No frills, no hype, no anticipation. But one sight of the stadium and you’re convinced that’s plain claptrap. Expect the pleasantries to be left back in the hotel rooms. India v Pakistan doesn’t come with as feverish an edge as ten years earlier but it’s not all about either.Teams (probable)
India 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 Virender Sehwag,4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Robin Uthappa, 7Irfan Pathan, 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11Sreesanth.Pakistan 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Younis Khan, 4Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shoaib Malik (capt), 7 ShahidAfridi, 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Rao Iftikhar Anjum, 10 Abdur Rehman, 11Shoaib Akhtar.

On the third day of the sixth round, Saurashtra closed in on a semi-final spot by beating Maharashtra outright. Saurashtra now have 20 points, three more than Delhi and five more than Mumbai, whose matches are yet to be completed.In Group B, Uttar Pradesh made a late charge towards the semi-finals as they beat Bengal by an innings and 152 runs and moved to 14 points with one match to play. Punjab turned the game against Orissa on its head after bowling them out for 76 in the second innings. They look good to chase the 175 runs easily on the fourth day, a result which will give them an excellent chance to avoid relegation. They don’t play a match in the last round, having already completed their fixtures, and will have to await other results.Scorecard

Saurashtra sailed to the top of Group A after completing an eight-wicket win over Maharashtra in Nagothane. The hosts, trailing by 117 on the first innings, resumed at 34 for 1, and were bundled out for 182, with left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv picking up career-best figures of 5 for 37 in 13.4 overs. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with three wickets, as Maharashtra once again failed to go beyond 200. Hrishikesh Kanitkar top-scored with 62, with only three other batsmen going past single figures.Needing 66 for the win, Saurashtra lost two wickets to Sairaj Bahutule before sealing the win and gaining five crucial points in the process.
Scorecard
Uttar Pradesh stretched their overnight score of 437 for 7 to 494 before bowling out Bengal for 193 to win by an innings and 152 runs at Eden Gardens. UP gained the bonus point and are now placed second behind Baroda in Group B.For Bengal, SS Paul bagged 7 for 113. Bengal’s openers put up a spirited reply in their second innings, putting up a 100-run partnership, but Praveen Gupta and Sudeep Tyagi then ran through their batting line-up as the rest folded meekly. Anustup Majumdar top-scored with 60. While it was Tyagi who broke the resistance with the first four wickets, Gupta ended with exceptional figures of 9.3-6-11-5.
ScorecardMumbai managed to take a healthy first-innings lead in Dharamsala and enforced a follow-on, but an 81-run sixth-wicket partnership between Paras Dogra (50*) and Ajay Mannu (42*) kept the game alive for Himachal Pradesh.Himachal, resuming on 180 for 7 in the first innings, were bowled out for 214. Murtaza Hussain, playing his third first-class game, finished with 6 for 57, his maiden five-wicket haul. In the second innings, Himachal’s openers Manish Gupta and Hemant Dogra led a dogged reply with an opening stand of 76.The spinners – Ramesh Powar and Iqbal Abdullah – then struck for Mumbai, as Himachal slumped to 155 for 5 before Paras and Mannu propped them to 236 at stumps.
Scorecard
VRV Singh’s hat-trick rattled Orissa in the second innings to put Punjab on the threshold of a stunning win after they had conceded a 98-run first-innings lead. Orissa were bowled out for 76, while Punjab had scored 117 of the 175 runs required for the loss of two wickets by stumps. VRV took 5 for 25 to trigger a collapse after a solid start, while Gagandeep Singh took 3 for 25. The last nine entries on the Orissa scorecard read: 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 6, 0, 0*. VRV Singh became the third bowled to take a hat-trick in two rounds of the Ranji Trophy, after Kerala’s Sony Cheruvethur and Delhi’s Parvinder Awana.Earlier Punjab, resuming at 207 for 8, managed only 225, with Basanth Mohanty taking his second five-for in as many matches at the first-class level.Ravi Inder, with an unbeaten 47, had taken Punjab close to what will be their first win this season. More importantly, it will take them off the bottom of the table.
ScorecardAfter two days of grinding out the opposition, Andhra declared their first innings at 469 for 9, with former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad remaining unbeaten on 121, but met an even more dour reply from Baroda who recovered well from two early blows.If Andhra’s run-rate of 2.53 during their innings was slow, Baroda outdid them, scoring 136 for 2 in 77 overs. Connor Williams was resolute during his 256-ball 75, and put on 133 runs for the unbroken third-wicket partnership with Rakesh Solanki, after D Kalyankrishna had struck twice to leave Baroda reeling at 3 for 2.Karnataka 0 for 0 trail Delhi 538 by 538 runs
Scorecard Continual rain dampened Delhi’s hopes of a semi-final spot as play was washed out on the third day in Bangalore. This means that Delhi have one day left to dismiss Karnataka to gain the points for a first-innings lead. They currently have 17 points, three less than Saurashtra’s 20, while Mumbai, too, have high chances of reaching 20 points at least by the end of the round.
ScorecardRain continued to play spoilsport in Chennai, as only 8.2 overs were possible on day three after day two was washed out. Rajasthan struck once in that period, with Gajendra Singh removing overnight centurion M Vijay for 123.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks kept themselves in touch with the National League Division One frontrunners as Matthew Hayden and David Sales guided them to an eight-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes in a rain-affected contest at Wantage Road.The third-wicket pair came to the rescue with Northants in trouble at 21-2 replying to the Foxes’ total of 220-7, and had carried the score to 103-2 from 25 overs when the weather intervened.Play was delayed for 65 minutes, and when the players made their way back on to the field the Steelbacks were left to make a further 19 in three overs to notch their third successive win.Hayden and Sales – who finished unbeaten on 69 and 43 respectively – made short work of the task, skipper Hayden settling the issue when he swept Amer Khan to the boundary with five balls remaining.Leicestershire’s batting honours belonged to opener Trevor Ward who stroked 61 from 79 deliveries including a six and six fours. He put on 82 in 15 overs with Aftab Habib (28) to make up for the early loss of Vince Wells.Ben Smith (34) and Darren Stevens (30 not out) also contributed usefully, and the Foxes were on top when Northants lost Jeff Cook and Mal Loye in the first seven overs of their reply.But the in-form Hayden, who faced 67 balls and struck 11 boundaries in his decisive knock, saw his side through to a win which leaves them just four points behind top-of-the-table Worcestershire Royals.

Andrew Flintoff will join up with the England Lions squad in India on February 10 as he continues his rehabilitation following September’s operation on his troublesome ankle. He will, however, play no part in the Duleep Trophy competition that got underway this week.Flintoff was due to fly out to Mumbai in mid-February for a pre-season batting clinic with a Lancashire CCC academy squad, but he will now first travel to Baroda to meet up with the England Lions where he’ll have the opportunity to work with the ECB’s coaching and support staff.Commenting on the news, David Parsons, the ECB Performance Director and head coach of the squad said: “We’re delighted that Andrew Flintoff is in a position to join up with the England Lions.”His rehabilitation programme is going very well and he’s been working extremely hard over the past few months to get back to full fitness. This trip will provide him with an excellent opportunity to receive support from the ECB’s coaching and science and medicine support staff.”

Andy Bichel has not been put off by Mitchell Johnson’s slow start to the domestic season and feels he is in the perfect position to make his Test debut on Thursday. Johnson’s chances of being presented with a baggy green improved with the withdrawal of Shaun Tait from the squad with an elbow injury and the only thing missing from his preparation is a useful haul at state level.Johnson went wicketless in the Pura Cup match against New South Wales last week and has picked up only one victim in the tour game with the Sri Lankans in Brisbane. However, there was no problem with his pace in the second innings this afternoon and Bichel was impressed with his team-mate’s credentials.”He’s a left-armer, he gives you those options and we haven’t seen a left-arm quick for a long time,” he said. “He’s at the right age, he’s done his apprenticeship and knows the system, it’s perfect timing for him. He’s ready to go.”Sri Lanka have struggled with the bounce in Brisbane during the tour game and Johnson’s height and pace should provide some more discomfort during the Test. Australia will be without Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath for the first time since their retirement and Johnson is an attractive option because he is a left-armer.”The make-up of the side, with Stuart Clark, Brett Lee and no Warne, you need some variation in the side,” Bichel said. “Stuart MacGill will fill the spin-bowling spot but you need some variation in our quicks and Mitchell’s the best way to get it.”Farveez Maharoof is pushing for a place in the Sri Lanka side and he helped his claims with 3 for 72 on a day when they struggled to knock over Queensland’s lower order. Dilhara Fernando, who is not playing in the match, is Maharoof’s main rival for a spot, although the reshuffling to cover Kumar Sangakkara’s injury may result in the visitors playing five bowlers.”I’ve been bowling well over the last two weeks and it was good to have a day out,” Maharoof said. “It won’t be easy with Dilhara, Lasith [Malinga] and [Chaminda] Vaas around. I’m still hoping that I’ll get a comeback and hope I get a chance to prove myself.”The Sri Lankans’ attack made an impression on Bichel as he posted his ninth first-class century with an aggressive 125. “Malinga will expose the older ball in Hobart, but not in Brisbane because he won’t get a lot of reverse-swing,” he said. “Maharoof bowled really well and Vaas swung the ball beautifully. They stack up pretty well.”