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ScorecardSteve Tikolo drew on all his experience with a masterful 89, remaining unbeaten at the end, to take Kenya to a tense one-wicket win over Bermuda in the final one-dayer in Nairobi. In doing so, Kenya swept the series 3-0.Tikolo won the match with an emphatic six off Rodney Trott over long-off, but Bermuda’s bowlers were well on top for much of Kenya’s innings. Tikolo eventually found good support in Jimmy Kamande (22) until Trott, the pick of the bowlers, bowled him around his legs. And 131 for 5 quickly became 134 for 7 when Nehemiah Odhiambo was bowled through the gate by Dwayne Leverock’s sharply turning offbreak, leaving Kenya struggling.Tikolo was fast in danger of being stranded once Hiren Varaiya’s careless slog handed Trott his fourth wicket. But with 14 required, and one wicket remaining, Tikolo finally took command and picked off nine runs off a wayward over from Malachi Jones. A huge six over long-off ended the match and the series.Bermuda’s bowling performance was encouraging, and certainly an improvement on the previous two ODIs, but again their batsmen let them down. Four registered ducks (including three of their top five) and five batsman were bowled, either shuffling across their stumps in the case of Stephen Outerbridge, or misreading the turn ala Janeiro Tucker. Only Jekon Edness, the young wicketkeeper, seemed prepared to battle with a fine 72.Kenya and Bermuda’s Intercontinental Cup clash begins on November 1 at the Gymkhana.

In a red t-shirt, and matching red Reebok cap, Aakash Chopra is a picture of relaxation after a Delhi team meeting on the eve of their Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu. And why would he not be, given that he’s fresh off a big score in the Duleep Trophy final. He’s now once again eyeing a spot in the Indian team, and another big score will do him no harm – especially with Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, in Delhi to watch the game. He took time off to speak to .Anand Vasu (AV): How satisfying was it scoring 188 in a big game like the Duleep final?

Aakash Chopra (AC): Scoring runs is always satisfying, and to do so in a bit stage like the Duleep Trophy final against a touring side that has 7-8 internationals makes it that much more special. The match was on TV. I was a bit disappointed not to get the double-century, and perhaps more, but it was an important innings for me.AV: Was the knock especially significant as India are in South Africa and there might be a requirement for a third opener in the Test series?AC: Regardless of where India is at the moment and what the requirements areit was an important knock. I’m not looking beyond that. The next thing isthe game starting tomorrow. I might get two innings there and that’s twomore opportunities to score. I’m just looking at that and not thinkingabout things I cannot control.AV: How easy or otherwise is it to motivate yourself in domestic matches whenyou have been dropped from the Indian team and have to fight your wayback?AC: Motivation has never been an issue. It has always been there. If I wasn’tmotivated enough I’d stop playing cricket. The problem was nevermotivation – it was that I was putting too much pressure on myself. Everytime I went out to bat I wanted to score a double-century so I could makeit back into the Indian team as soon as possible. In trying to do that youcut out a lot of shots and tend to play a bit too safe. Then you’re onlythinking about not making mistakes and you go into a shell. It’s a viciouscycle. Two years out has given me a chance to think about my game, to playin England and iron out a few flaws.AV: In domestic cricket you don’t get the same kind of back-room support as ininternational cricket. So in a sense is it harder to adjust to that whenyou’re dropped from the Indian team?AC: I didn’t spend that much time in international cricket either. It was justabout a year. And even in that because I was only playing Test matches itwas not as though I was with the team all year. Having played domesticcricket for five-six years before that, and gone through the grind ofage-group cricket, I was used to the facilities, the support staff – orthe lack of it – so that was not an issue. But you definitely look atthings from a different perspective.AV: It’s been said that you didn’t have too many shots. That your top hand waslocked and so you could never play through the off side.AC: You won’t score runs if you can’t play through the off side. The Duleepfinal was covered live, people would have seen that, 60% of my scoringshots were on the off. If you don’t score runs, or get dropped, there arethousands of opinions voiced and judgments passed on your technique. Therewere flaws in my batting, and still are – nobody is perfect. But the samepeople who passed those comments will talk differently when you make runs- they’ll say ‘he’s changed’ or ‘he’s improved’, even if you’re doingexactly the same thing. Basically you’re still the same player – perhapsyou’re working more on your all-round game. But it’s not possible tochange your entire game.AV: Are you looking for that one chance back in the Indian team to proveyourself once more?AC: I’m definitely looking for one more chance, and more. When you get achance to play for India you want to cement your place in the team, andthat was what I tried to do the last time round as well. But it didn’thappen. So, I’m looking at it as an opportunity to first make it back, andif I do that, then to cement my place.AV: Have you been in touch with your team-mates since you were dropped fromthe national side?

AC: I’ve been playing with Viru [Sehwag] a lot. I travelled to Mohali to speak with Mike Atherton and have been in touch with him on email since. He has beenmy idol since childhood. I spoke to Greg Chappell in Nagpur last year.When you know you’re lacking somewhere – maybe it’s a mental thing, maybeit’s a technical thing, you want to talk to as many people as possible andget the best out of it. I have spoken to a lot of people, not just myteam-mates, and hopefully all that will help.AV: When you were dropped back then, it was after you had done a job that wasasked of you. With Sehwag scoring as quickly as he does, you were told tojust seal one end up. You did that, and were still dropped. What did thatfeel like?AC: That was the brief when I played then. My job was to just block one end upand see the ball off. That was the role I was assigned, and I think I didthe job to some extent. So you do feel bad, because you played the roleyou were told to and then got dropped. But I won’t blame anyone for mybeing dropped. No one stopped me from converting those 40s and 50s intocenturies. If I had done that, things would have been different and wewouldn’t be talking about this now. We all make mistakes, and we learnfrom them. That said, when you’re playing in any team, you have a role toplay, and that is assigned based on what suits your game best, and youhave to play that. The thing is, if you get a start you have to make itcount, and make sure you’ve saved enough for a rainy day.AV: When you were dropped did the selectors tell you why you were dropped?AC: Unfortunately things don’t work like that in India. I’ve spoken to peoplelike Kiran More and they’ve assured me they still had faith in me – it’sjust that I had to back that up with runs in domestic cricket. I reallydon’t blame the selectors or anyone. There’s no point in that. You have tobe looking to improve yourself. Unfortunately there isn’t a system inIndia where the selectors tell you where you lacked or where you need toimprove when you get dropped. You have to figure it out yourself.AV: With television coverage coming in and increased pay for players, do youthink the profile of domestic cricket will now go up?AC: It should. Domestic cricket should almost be at par with internationalcricket. I play in England and I’ve seen what it’s like at counties. Theyhave loyal fan followings, people turn up in team shirts to support theirteam. That’s the way it should be. If you see the lot of the first-classcricketers in India half of them don’t have jobs. And that is because thereisn’t much interest in first-class cricket from the public, and thereforethe sponsors and corporates. India, unfortunately, is not a cricket-crazycountry; it’s a star-crazy country.

Andrew Symonds grabbed more wickets in one session today than he had in his previous five Tests. Australia’s struggling and nominal allrounder – he has 101 runs in his preferred role as a batsman – breathed some life into his career with 3 for 16 in a seven-over spell of nagging off-cut and inswing to exploit the pitch’s variable bounce.The dismissal of Mark Boucher, a slightly high lbw decision, was Symonds’ first since Adelaide last month and his team-mates were so excited they threatened to grind off his dreadlocks with their furious head-rubbing. It is a celebration Symonds helped invent and he borrowed one from Jason Gillespie when he whipped himself like a jockey after bowling Herschelle Gibbs. “I don’t know what I was doing there,” he said.When Shaun Pollock fell three overs after his opening scalp Symonds air-punched so hard he threw himself off balance. Finally his Test resume contained something memorable and it was a “great relief”. “It’s a tricky game to be good at all the time,” he said. “To contribute in an important session like that felt really good.” South Africa were closing on Australia’s total of 355 but with the boost from Symonds they collected a 44-run lead and extended it to 154 at stumps.Symonds has experienced a difficult time since returning to the Test side against West Indies in Hobart, and he will try to use his bowling confidence to kick-start his main discipline. “I’m a batting allrounder, we all know that,” he said. “It really helps when you start any career, whether it’s in one-dayers or a Test, to get a good score in your first or second matches. That hasn’t happened to me so I’ve been searching for it. I’ve been nervous before I batted and when I’ve batted I’ve been the most nervous I can remember.”Supported by the children at the ground who have been besotted by his one-day performances, Symonds said he might try a more natural approach in the second innings. “As a sportsman you try to draw on anything to take positive feedback or advice,” he said. “Hopefully there will be no nerves and I can step into my first half-volley and hit it down the ground for four. Maybe I’ve got to push things back on the bowler, but that will depend on the state of the game.”

Billy Bowden has encouraged both teams to take the fielder’s word when it comes to close catches ahead of Australia’s first Test against Pakistan at Perth. He said to Fox Sports that he welcomed any agreement between both teams that encouraged fair play.”If they want to come to us and say that, brilliant, beautiful,” Bowden said of any agreement between the captains, but added that the umpires would not propose the idea. “I believe in honesty whether it’s on the field or off the field. I just think for the good of the game, for the spirit of the game…”Bowden wanted to see loyalty and integrity return, but thought it was a decision best left to players. “I don’t mind players not walking if they hit it, that’s fine, it’s up to them. But when it’s a black-and-white decision about whether they’ve been caught or not, surely, if you can’t rely on a player what can you rely on in a game of cricket these days?”His feelings about technology ran along a similar vein. “I’m sure the players would like to see umpires still make the decisions even though they moan and groan when they get a bad one going against them. I still think the traditions of the game and the beauty of the game is it’s played by humans and should be run be humans.”

Strange as it may sound, both Bangladesh and Pakistan have reason to look forward to the third Test at Multan, which starts on Wednesday (Sept 3). Pakistan’s young players have taken the opportunity of getting used to international cricket against the easiest opposition they could face at this level. Bangladesh’s cricketers, meanwhile, have shown more gumption that they have displayed in the past. Multan is an opportunity for them to journey furtheralong those respective roads.For Pakistan, Yasir Hameed and Mohammad Hafeez have made impressive centuries, while Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul have gained in confidence while picking up some easy wickets. Inzamam-ul-Haq hasn’t taken the easy pickings on offer – yet – but with the rest of the Pakistan batsmen firing, his contribution is not as vital as it would be against any other team.Bangladesh have fought harder in this series than in recent memory. They even grabbed a first-innings lead in the second Test but, as in the first, they faded in the second half of the match, allowing Pakistan an easy victory. Javed Omar, Hannan Sarkar, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful and Rajin Saleh have all batted with application and discipline, though their bowling hasn’t yet shown the promise of taking 20 wickets in a Test.They will be motivated. The Bangladesh team was made to travel to Multan in economy class, while the Pakistan team sat in executive class. The Bangladeshis bristled at what they perceived to be an affront. They do not take kindly to being treated like a second-class cricketing nation, and Rashid Latif’s patronising comments about the forthcoming Test would not have helped either.”I don’t want to interfere in their planning,” said Latif, “but if Bangladesh does not play positive cricket they will not learn and improve. We allowed them to perform in the first two Tests but here we will try our best to finish it off early.”It is unlikely that Bangladesh will express much gratitude for this kindness. Dav Whatmore, their coach, remained focussed on the task at hand. “I am trying to make sure that the boys do not lose confidence after their slump in the Peshawar Test,” he said. “We need to guard the areas of improvement.”It does not help to have a morose captain, though. Khaled Mahmud, under criticism for his allround non-performance, admitted, “After the series I will sit down with the Board’s officials and will review my career.” It wasn’t all defeatism, though. He also said, “When someone criticises our Test status we feel hurt because the improvement is definitely there.”Bangladesh have lost 17 Tests in a row. The momentum seems overwhelming, but somewhere, someday they will stem the rot. Will it be at Multan?Probable teams
Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Yasir Hameed, 4Inzamam-ul-Haq, 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Younis Khan, 7 Rashid Latif (capt and wk), 8 Shoaib Akhtar, 9 Danish Kaneria, 10 Shabbir Ahmed, 11 Umar Gul.Bangladesh 1 Hannan Sarkar, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 MohammadAshraful, 5 Rajin Saleh, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Khaled Mahmud (capt), 9 Mohammad Rafique, 10 Manjural Islam, 11 Mashrafe Mortaza.

The Second Test match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo unexpectedly sprang to life in the final session as South Africa, 100 runs ahead, caught Zimbabwe on a pitch that appeared suddenly to have crumbled at one end.However, determined batting by Hamilton Masakadza and Andy Flower saw Zimbabwe through to a draw against their neighbours for the first time, leaving Shaun Pollock’s team to rue their failure to pursue runs more vigorously.Probably both teams took the field with no real expectation of a meaningful day’s play, except in the matter of personal records, thanks to South Africa’s lack of drive on the fourth day that left them still 119 runs behind Zimbabwe at the start of play.Overnight batsmen Jacques Kallis and Neil McKenzie obviously had their eyes on centuries, and with Kallis on 81 and the faster-scoring McKenzie on 74 overnight, on the placid pitch against Zimbabwe’s pop-gun bowling attack, without the injured Paul Strang, it was largely a question of who would get there first.Kallis made all the early running, reaching the nineties by driving Raymond Price for a straight six, and then his century by hammering a short ball from the same bowler through the covers for four. He then opened out even more, but lost McKenzie for 88, trapped lbw by Travis Friend after a partnership of 181. South Africa were 343 for three.The loss of McKenzie quietened Kallis somewhat, and Zimbabwe believed they had him caught down the leg side off Guy Whittall on 118, but the appeal was rejected. Boeta Dippenaar (11) holed out in the covers trying to get after Price, while Lance Klusener showed little of his renowned aggression before lunch.The match meandered along aimlessly afterwards, with South Africa content to wait for the runs to come and Zimbabwe seemingly devoid of any ideas to take wickets. Klusener (27) did make one or two lusty blows before slicing Price to slip, and when Pollock took two off the first ball he faced, South Africa had finally taken the lead.While Kallis lumbered along, Pollock settled in and then began to hit out. Price bowled on, passing Paul Strang’s Zimbabwe record of 69 overs bowled in an innings, and took his fifth wicket when Pollock (41 off 57 balls) cut him for Stuart Carlisle at backward point to take a fine diving catch. Mark Boucher also batted positively for his 14 before being bowled by Friend, who in his next over bowled Claude Henderson (0).At this point Pollock declared, at 519 for eight, a lead of exactly 100, leaving Kallis stranded on 189, in almost ten hours, and Price stranded on 79 overs. Kallis did actually set a new world record of 1 028 minutes, during which he scored 388 runs, since he was last dismissed in a Test match – officially at least, as Zimbabweans still have memories of his being caught at the wicket in Harare and given not out, as well as an unconfirmed leg-side catch in this match.In Zimbabwe’s token innings, starting after tea, Pollock began with a spate of no-balls, but as soon as Henderson came on he produced a superbly flighted ball that just dislodged Dion Ebrahim’s off bail; he made 4, and Zimbabwe were 21 for one. At 38 Alistair Campbell (20), who had looked sound, was caught at short leg off Henderson, as South Africa began to apply pressure. On a turning pitch, Henderson was looking dangerous.Masakadza fought back with some positive, if sometimes nervy, strokes, as South Africa scuttled through their overs with Henderson and Klusener, bowling off-cutters, in tandem. Carlisle (4) top-edged a sweep off Henderson to be caught at long leg, and a few minutes later South Africa believed they had Masakadza caught at the wicket off another sweep.The runs now dried up as Zimbabwe concentrated on survival. Masakadza took Henderson while Andy Flower handled Klusener, declining to change ends and only awaiting the bad ball. When Masakadza (42 not out) swung Henderson for a six and four to square leg in one over, taking Zimbabwe to four runs of parity, South Africa accepted a draw.

ScorecardGlenn Maxwell struck a century off 70 balls•Getty Images

Thirty miles south of Australia’s troubles in the Edgbaston Test, countryman Glenn Maxwell made 111 from 76 balls in Yorkshire’s emphatic 133-run win against Worcestershire at New Road in the Royal London Cup.The 26-year-old allrounder, a World Cup winner only four months ago, powered Yorkshire to 345 for 6, the highest total on the ground by a visiting county in List A competitions. To have got anywhere near the target, Worcestershire would have needed to break their own chasing record but despite Ross Whiteley’s third score of 50 or more against Yorkshire in 15 days, they were dismissed for 212 in the 42nd over.Whiteley romped to 77 from 51 balls, hitting six fours and five sixes after knocks of 91 not out in a NatWest T20 Blast victory at Headingley and 101 in a Championship defeat at Scarborough. The left-hander was last out, caught on the midwicket boundary to give Steven Patterson 5 for 24 after he took four wickets in 15 balls in a second spell.The two sides came into the 50-over competition on the back of contrasting performances in T20. While Worcestershire are through to a home quarter-final, Yorkshire failed to qualify from the North Group.Maxwell was way off his potential in scoring only 229 runs from a dozen innings but the switch to the longer format seems to be suiting him, with a half-century against Surrey on Wednesday followed less than 24 hours later by his fourth List A hundred – his second 50 coming in 25 balls.The stage was set up for him when Andrew Hodd, opening instead of the injured Andrew Gale, established momentum in a partnership of 61 with Alex Lees. Hodd made 18 before edging to slip in Ed Barnard’s first over in List A cricket.England Under-19 allrounder Barnard finished with a creditable 3 for 59 – including the dismissal of Maxwell – but no one entirely escaped the Australian’s systematic rather than spectacular destruction of the bowling.Lees was close to matching him until beaten in the air by Saeed Ajmal and easily stumped by Ben Cox for 67, but from then on it was the Maxwell show as Yorkshire made 216 in the second half of their innings. The only blip came when Gary Ballance, mishitting to mid-on after making 28, and Will Rhodes, caught behind, fell to successive balls from Barnard.By then Maxwell had completed his hundred and even when he was out – attempting to reverse paddle after hitting four sixes and eight fours – Jack Leaning (58 not out) and Adil Rashid (41) put the game out of Worcestershire’s reach. Leaning’s 50 took only 36 balls and they put on 102 in 11 overs before Rashid gave Cox his fourth dismissal.Worcestershire could ill afford the mix-ups that saw openers Richard Oliver and Daryl Mitchell run out by direct hits from Patterson and Lees. Brett D’Oliveira played tidily for 42 before he was caught behind off Liam Plunkett and Patterson wrapped it up for Yorkshire, just as he did when taking 5 for 11 in a Championship win over the same opposition in April.

Pakistan were dealt a blow ahead of their semi-final against New Zealand with Mohammad Asif in doubt for the match with an elbow injury.Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan board, said Asif had sustained the injury during the net practice before the game against Australia and has been in pain since then.”That is why he has looked out of sorts and struggled with his line and length, Ashraf told . “He has played because of the importance of the game against Australia but I think the team management should have given him rest for the match against Bangladesh.”Asif has taken nine wickets at 17 from five matches in the tournament so far. Ashraf said he had played after taking injections but he was still not 100% fit.”The manner in which Asif bowled against Bangladesh, he does not bowl like this even in the nets,” he said.Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, admitted that Asif was crucial to the team’s chances in the event.

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Victoria face an uphill battle to avoid defeat after their injury-depleted attack struggled to capitalise on a deteriorating MCG pitch against Queensland. Without their strike bowler Gerard Denton, who left the field with a leg injury, the Bushrangers were unable to provoke one of the major batting collapses that have dominated the game as the Bulls worked their way to 9 for 293 declared and a lead of 312. Victoria are 0 for 6 at stumps and will need to score the highest innings total of the game on the final day to secure their second Pura Cup win of the season.The Bushrangers had the sniff of an easier run-chase when Queensland were 8 for 230 but once again they failed to skittle the tail. Chris Hartley batted for 144 minutes for 29 not out and put on a valuable unbeaten 38 for the last wicket with Daniel Doran, the No.11. Doran (24 not out) rubbed salt into Victoria’s wounds, smashing Cameron White for two sixes in the last over before Queensland declared.Lachlan Stevens and Martin Love defied the bowler-friendly trend of the match, adding 82 to Queensland’s overnight total of 1 for 51 before Jon Moss exploited the pitch’s variable bounce and trapped Stevens lbw for 61 to a ball that kept low. Two overs later Adam Crosthwaite took a sharp chance standing up to the stumps from Moss’s bowling to dismiss Love for 63.When Andrew Symonds had a brain-fade in the next over and was bowled for 8 attempting to slog White over midwicket, leaving Clinton Perren and James Hopes both yet to score at lunch, another middle-order collapse was on the cards. But without Denton to negotiate, the pair steadied the Bulls with a 52-run partnership until Perren (22), the man whose direct hit from third-man on Saturday ran out Clinton McKay, became the victim of a run-out.On a day when a little-known substitute fielder caught Andrew Strauss in the Test match at the Gabba, another ring-in ended Perren’s innings. Tom Stray, a former member of Australia’s Under-19s team, was fielding instead of the 12th man Robert Quiney who was playing club cricket, when he ran Perren out from point. Hopes was bowled by a Shane Harwood skidder in the first over after tea for 46 and when Andy Bichel (4) and Ashley Noffke (0) fell the Bushrangers had hopes of wrapping up the tail cheaply.Victoria’s fast-bowling situation went from bad to worse when Denton hurt his leg in the morning session. Denton, whose 6 for 62 in the first innings was his second six-wicket haul in the Pura Cup this season, could miss two to three weeks depending on the result of scans on Monday. Victoria are already without Mick Lewis, Allan Wise, Dirk Nannes, Rob Cassell and Peter Siddle through injuries and have only just regained Harwood from a side strain.

Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, expects Australia will face more “changing of the guard” over the next couple of years as the current core ages. The panel has dropped five regulars in the past five Tests as Australia recovers from the Ashes loss and plans for the future.”We’ve always judged people on performance,” Hohns said in . “That’s the way it’s been for a long, long time and that’s the way it shall remain. We’re probably going to see more of it in the next couple of years as well. Who knows how long some of the current players will go on for? It’s really a changing of the guard.”The start of the new era has provided opportunities for Brad Hodge and Michael Hussey, but the dropping of Simon Katich and Michael Clarke has pushed the average age of the side for the third Test into the low 30s. reported that seven players had made their debut in Ricky Ponting’s two years in charge, the same number as had started their Test careers under Steve Waugh.Hohns said the age of the team was “irrelevant, particularly in Test cricket,” and was more concerned about the back-up batsmen putting pressure on the incumbents. “If we can get Damien Martyn, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke all scoring runs in domestic cricket we’ve still got a lot of depth,” Hohns told the paper. “That’s what it’s all about: creating depth to cover for when some of the other players eventually finish up.”Australia will pick their one-day squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Series this week and Damien Martyn is unlikely to tour after his broken ring finger has failed to heal. Hohns said in Matthew Hayden’s limited-overs career was not over, “but for the moment someone else is there and doing a reasonable job”.