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The president of Cricket Canada, Ranjit Saini, has asked the ICC to step in and resolve the delay in granting India visas to three players of Pakistani origin in their World Cup squad. The team left for Dubai for a 10-day training camp ahead of the tournament, but vice-captain Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan and Hamza Tariq have still not received permission to travel to India.”We seek your kind help and attention to this matter in assisting our players to obtain their visa in Dubai, Dhaka or Colombo,” Saini wrote in a letter to ICC president Sharad Pawar. “We also do hope that the ICC has contingency plans to ensure that the matches are played elsewhere if the visa will not be processed on time or rejected all together.”Canada made a pre-World Cup preparatory visit to India in November and the visas were applied for before that. While the rest of the team had no trouble, the three Pakistan-born players were ruled out of the trip, forcing the team to go ahead without them. “We couldn’t take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered,” Saini told the Pakistan’s earlier this month. “[It’s] a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general.”Canada will play practice matches against Ireland and Afghanistan in Dubai before heading to Bangladesh for their two official warm-up games against Bangladesh and England. They will face Sri Lanka in their opening game of the tournament on February 20 and their first game in India is scheduled for February 28 against Zimbabwe. While the ICC already assured Canada that the visa’s will be granted, the association said in a statement on its website that the current situation left it in an awkward position.

ScorecardAn unbeaten 85 from their captain Morne van Wyk led the Knights to victory over the Titans in the MTN40 final in Centurion. The visitors won by eight wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain reduced their innings to 23 overs. It was the Knight’s third limited overs title since the inception of the franchise system in South Africa in 2004/5.With lightening going off like fireworks around the ground, the Knights knew the Duckworth- Lewis method would probably play a part in their chase of the Titans’ 227, and began in earnest. Albie Morkel opened the bowling for the Titans, although his brother Morne and seamer Ethy Mbhalati were both on the field. Van Wyk took advantage, hitting Albie to the point boundary and then to long-off in the first over. He was brutal in the first ten overs, showing no respect even when Morne and Mbhalati were introduced. He was particularly strong through the covers and helped his team bring up their 50 off 44 balls.Van Wyk’s opening partner Reeza Hendricks played second fiddle and fell to left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe in the ninth over. As van der Merwe made the breakthrough, the heavens opened and the match was delayed for 78 minutes. The Knights innings was reduced to 23 overs and they were set a revised target of 152 to win. They needed 85 off 86 balls after the delay.The downpour did not put a dampener on van Wyk’s innings and he reached his half-century with a drive through the covers. Van Wyk and Rilee Rossouw took the Knights to the brink of victory before Rossouw played onto his stumps and left Dean Elgar to finish the job with the captain. Van Wyk hit the winning run with eight balls to spare and after completing the single took a bow to celebrate guiding his team to victory.The Knights bowlers had bowled out the Titans in 39 overs, after putting them in to bat in gloomy conditions. Seamer Ryan McLaren picked up a wicket in his first over when opener Henry Davids was caught by Rossouw in the slips. Jacques Rudolph and Blake Snijman both struggled to play big shots to the tight line McLaren and seamer Johan van der Wath were bowling, and both fell cheaply. Snijman was caught by Elgar at point off van der Wath and three balls later Rudolph handed McLaren his second scalp, after being caught behind by van Wyk.McLaren was replaced by left-arm seamer Obus Pienaar after a six-over spell and that released some of the early pressure on the Titans. AB de Villiers played one convincing cut off seamer Victor Mpitsang but, worryingly for the national team, scratched around nervously for the rest of his innings. He managed to rotate the strike with Faf du Plessis, who established himself as the anchor.De Villiers was dismissed for 31, thanks to a diving catch by Rossouw in the covers and that brought big-hitting Farhaan Behardien to the crease. His first boundary was a magnificent shot over left-arm seamer Jandre Coetzee’s head for four and he followed it up with two more straight drives down the ground. Behardien looked set to stay with du Plessis till the end, but pulled a van der Wath delivery straight to Rossouw at short midwicket.Albie Morkel was out for a first ball duck and then McLaren returned for a second spell with immediate success. He claimed the wicket of van der Merwe, who inside-edged one onto his stumps. Du Plessis continued steadily at the other end, unperturbed by the carnage around him, which only got worse. David Wiese was caught behind off Coetzee’s bowling and Mangaliso Mosehle was run out off the next delivery. He drove confidently to deep-extra cover before Elgar swooped in and threw to Coetzee, who dumped the ball onto the stumps in emphatic fashion.The Titans looked likely to be dismissed for under 200, but du Plessis had other ideas. He smacked back-to-back sixes off van der Wath in the 38th over, first over long-on and then over long-off, scoring 19 runs off the over, including a clever single off the last ball to keep the strike. Du Plessis registered his third century of the competition in the next over, but the Titans innings came to an end before they could complete their 40 overs, when Morne Morkel top-edged high into the Centurion sky and van Wyk completed his fourth catch of the evening.

Paul Collingwood has announced he will retire from Test cricket following the current Sydney encounter against Australia. He will continue to play both Twenty20 and one-day internationals for his country.Collingwood, 34, made his Test debut in 2003 against Sri Lanka at Galle and has gone on to earn 68 caps. With the potential of one innings remaining in Sydney he has 4259 runs but has struggled during the Ashes with just 83 runs in six innings.”Representing England at Test level has always been a dream of mine and I’ve been fortunate enough to have enjoyed some amazing highs throughout my Test career,” Collingwood said. “I’m proud of the fact that I’ve always given my all for the England Test team but I feel that this is the right time to leave Test cricket having reached some very special achievements, none more satisfying that retaining the Ashes in Australia.”I also feel now is the time to ensure some of the younger players are given an opportunity at Test level as we have a wealth of talent pushing for places in the England Test team,” he added. “Clearly I still feel I have a huge amount to offer England in terms of limited overs cricket and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue leading the Twenty20 squad and playing a significant role in England’s ODI team.”His highest Test score of 206 came against Australia, at Adelaide, in 2006 and he confounded many by having a long and successful career. After his debut in Sri Lanka he played the final match of the 2005 Ashes, at The Oval, before earning a permanent place in the line-up during the following winter tours of Pakistan and India.Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, said: “Paul Collingwood has made an outstanding contribution to the England Test team. His performances have been admired and recognised by his team-mates and England supporters over many years and his tireless commitment in the Test match arena will be something he will always be remembered for.”I’m delighted that Paul will be available to continue to make important contributions to our ODI and Twenty20 teams.”Last weekend Collingwood admitted to the that the end of his Test days were drawing close. “My form during this series and most recently my latest failure in the fourth Test in Melbourne means the subject of my Test future was bound to be raised sooner or later,” he said.”I am at the crossroads and what happens in the final Test may well determine what direction I go in. I am sure by the end of this Test, I will know more myself and be better able to judge what the general feeling is in terms of where I am as a Test player and the contribution I can still make to the England team in future and what is the best way forward.”Collingwood struggled to 13 in England’s first innings before lofting Michael Beer to mid-on, but even though the runs haven’t come he has played a role in the team’s Ashes success with his impressive catching at slip and useful medium pace. In Australia’s first innings he bowled Mike Hussey with what could prove his final ball in Test cricket.

The Bombay High Court has granted Kings XI Punjab an interim stay on its expulsion from the IPL but said the franchise will have to satisfy certain conditions, including retaining its shareholding pattern, fulfilling pending player payments and paying the BCCI guarantee money in case the final judgement goes against them. The court also rejected Punjab’s request to defer the date for submission of the list of players they would like to retain for the fourth edition of the league, the deadline for which expires today. Punjab have until midnight to finalise their list.After listening to both parties over the last two days, Judge SJ Vajifdar said that “prima facie” Punjab had a strong case against the expulsion and the “interim injunction” was only just. But his verdict carried many riders, the most important being that the franchise cannot change its shareholding pattern and the control should rest in the hands of the four main owners: Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman and Karan Paul. The court said that these four needed to hold not less than 51% of the shares in KPH Dream Cricket Pvt. Ltd – the rights-holding company of the franchise – until the final judgement. Punjab’s owners refrained from commenting on the issue before they received the court order in hand tomorrow.In the interim, Punjab will have to submit various guarantees to the court and the BCCI. The first is clearing the pending payments to its players over the last two years, an amount running up to Rs.35 crore ($7.77 million). And now, since the franchise is free to re-enter the IPL arena, the court has asked it to commit an amount of $18 million for the next two years (at the rate of $9 million per year) as guarantee money for player payments in case the franchise participates in the league.”When they [Punjab] sign up players, their contracts are for two years,” CA Sundaram, BCCI’s lawyer in the case explained. “And in case they lose the arbitration the players’ contract must be honoured. Hence the bank guarantee for of $18 million which is two years’ contract money for players.”The other important condition the court asked Punjab to fulfill was to pay the BCCI $3.5 million per year for a period of two years, as security towards any damage incurred by the board in case the final verdict went against Punjab later on.”For the time being they have been permitted to participate but on very stringent conditions where they have to furnish various assurances and papers,” Sundaram said. “Importantly all these are only pending the final decision in the arbitration proceedings as an ad interim measure.”When asked whether BCCI had considered challenging the verdict in a higher court, Sundaram said the decision would be made when the order is in hand.Wednesday’s news will be seen as another blow to the IPL, whose 2011 tournament has been put increasingly at risk by a succession of court cases. While the Rajasthan and Punjab franchises were embroiled in courtroom battles, a third (Kochi) barely made it over the line. As a result of the controversies, the player auction for the season has been delayed by several months.In October the BCCI had terminated Punjab, holding the franchise guilty for violating the franchise agreement on three counts, the biggest offence being that the ownership had changed twice in the first three years of the league, something that went unreported to the Indian board.The franchise moved court last month seeking redressal for the cancellation of its IPL contract. Its petition contended that the termination was a “deliberate and calculated” move to ensure a new and more lucrative re-bidding process. Both parties then decided to opt for the arbitration process, but that too got embroiled in controversy when the arbitrator, Justice BN Srikrishna, recused himself after admitting to the BCCI that he had been legal counsel for the Wadia Group, part owners of Punjab, for many years.At that point the issue seemed to be snowballing into another protracted battle, just like the one Rajasthan Royals had got involved in with the BCCI. But Punjab rushed to the High Court for help and have now found new crutches to lean on before building their case in front of the arbitrator.The confusion over the eventual number of teams that will be involved next season affects every component of the world’s most lucrative domestic league: its teams/ franchises, its players and its very structure.

West Indian players who want to take part in the next three seasons of the IPL cannot approach the league directly or through agents and will have to apply through the West Indies Cricket Board. The players have been asked to submit their expressions of interest to the board by November 9.The WICB, in a media release, outlined the procedure which is applicable to all West Indian players irrespective of whether they are contracted to the WICB or whether they have played for the West Indies. After receiving the expressions of interest from the players, the WICB said it would create a register with the names and submit it to the BCCI and the IPL.”The BCCI/IPL will then enter the names into the IPL auction register and send it to the respective IPL franchises,” the WICB said. “Each franchise will select the players they would like to be entered into the auction. The BCCI/IPL will then notify the WICB of all West Indian players selected and the WICB will notify those players.”The BCCI/IPL will send all agreements to the WICB and the WICB will bear sole responsibility for issuing these to the players for their review and acceptance or otherwise. The BCCI/IPL, as per its IPL rules, will not have any communication with player agents or managers and will only deal directly with the national boards/associations.”The WICB said if players failed to adhere to these instructions, their names would be withdrawn from the IPL auction register.List of West Indies players who played in the IPL: Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor (unable to play because of injury).

A number of IPL franchises have questioned whether the BCCI respects the rights of all the league’s stakeholders, with Vijay Mallya asking if the teams are merely slaves, following the board’s decision to suddenly terminate two of the teams – Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab – on Sunday.”I wonder if the franchisees are serious stakeholders whose investments and participation are respected, or are they slaves who only come and play.” Mallya, who owns the Royals Challengers Bangalore, asked on Twitter.Raj Kundra, part-owner of Rajasthan Royals, questioned whether there the IPL will even be played next year if the board continues to treat the teams so callously. “I am still not sure why our contract has been terminated,” he told news channel . “I am mulling legal options but I am not sure whether we can have IPL 4 if teams are treated like this.”If a case is filed, it could force the league to postpone the player auction, currently scheduled to be held in November, something that worries a number of the remaining teams. “This will affect all the franchises,” another team official told ESPNcricinfo. “It adds to the uncertainty, which is bad for business.”An official with the Punjab franchise, however, said they were not considering legal options at the moment and expressed hope of resolving the situation with the BCCI. “We are in shock. It came out of the blue, it was absolutely unexpected.”Sidhartha Mallya endorsed his father’s comments, saying that the teams are the main shareholders in the league. He said that just like the UB group, India’s largest alcoholic beverages company which is owned by his family, has obligations to its shareholders, the league has certain obligations to the franchises that have been ‘terminated.’ Sidhartha Mallya said Sunday’s decision had led him to “question whether we are being looked after at the level we should be.”Shane Warne, who led Rajasthan to victory in the augural IPL, called the decision a big shock on Twitter, and hoped that the BCCI would come to its senses. Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who is fighting his own battle with the board, said that the teams are what makes the league and what has happened “is something that will only harm the image of the IPL and BCCI.”Abhijit Sarkar, spokesperson for the Sahara Warriors, one of the two new teams in the league along with Kochi, said that the franchise had no comment to make on the legal issues. Sarkar said, “We are newcomers in IPL and have been busy with getting our team ready. Our primary concerns are the player auction and the player retention.”Franchises are now anxious about the legal ramifications of scrapping two out of the IPL’s eight original franchises. An IPL team official said, “The legal domain is a very tricky one. What happens if the auction is stayed by the court? This could jeopardise the IPL itself.” The BCCI’s statement about the termination said the decision had been arrived it based on “legal opinions obtained” about Rajasthan and Punjab. The ‘legal opinion’, IPL frachise believed was not necessarily a switft conclusion to the controversy. He said, “Legal opinion also advised the BCCI to file charges against Jagmohan Dalmiya and how did that go?”The IPL governing council ejected Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the league on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms at its emergency meeting earlier today.

ScorecardHalf-centuries from Samit Patel and Chris Read helped Nottinghamshire Outlaws to a three-run victory over Durham Dynamos – a win which sets up a winner-takes-all clash with Warwickshire Bears for a semi-final place. Needing a victory to maintain their push for top spot in Group C, Patel hit 75 and Read an unbeaten 66 from 51 balls as Nottinghamshire posted 257 for 7 after batting first at Trent Bridge, with 85 runs coming in the last seven overs.A third-wicket partnership of 86 between Gordon Muchall (47) and Ben Harmison (46) set up a thrilling finish for the visitors, who needed 18 off the final over from Darren Pattinson and five off the final ball, but Chris Rushworth could only force a single to mid-off and they finished on 254 for 8. Pattinson finished with 3 for 70 but Ryan Sidebottom, with 3 for 45, and Steven Mullaney, with 2 for 24, were the stars with the ball for the hosts.Nottinghamshire will go to Edgbaston on Sunday knowing victory will continue the quest for their first one-day trophy since 1991.A Nottinghamshire win looked unlikely in the opening three overs as some appalling decision-making saw both Alex Hales and Adam Voges run out. Samit Patel then set about repairing the damage with younger brother Akhil and dominated a partnership of 95 in 18 overs.That pushed the score on to 98 before Akhil was caught at long-off off the bowling of Scott Borthwick for 38, with Samit driving to extra cover soon after. Scott Elstone produced a useful 30 before he was stumped off Ian Blackwell, at which point Nottinghamshire skipper Read combined with Mullaney to blast 57 runs in the batting powerplay, including 21 off one Mark Davies over, before Mullaney and Paul Franks fell in the penultimate over to Rushworth.Durham got off to a flying start, hitting 65 off their first 10 overs for the loss of Phil Mustard and Mark Stoneman to England seamer Sidebottom. Harmison and Muchall opted to bat safely through the middle overs but were unable to accelerate when required, both falling to catches in the deep.Ben Stokes clubbed three sixes in a 29-ball 39 to put the visitors back in the hunt, with Blackwell and Gareth Breese both caught on the boundary. When Will Smith was caught at point with four balls remaining, 16 more runs were needed, and although Borthwick paddle-swept the next delivery for four and Rushworth swatted a six over midwicket, he was unable to repeat the trick off the final ball.

ScorecardHampshire, led by Jimmy Adams’ second successive century, are making Lancashire fight hard to wrap up a County Championship victory at Liverpool. Adams, 29, battled for the whole of day three to back up his seven-hour 196 against Yorkshire at Scarborough last week with 109 not out off 283 balls as he wiped out a first-innings deficit of 238. The visitors closed on 275 for five from 103 overs and lead by 37.Left-handed Adams and Michael Carberry resumed this morning on 15 for none but partnerships of 73 inside 31 overs between Adams and Neil McKenzie for the third wicket and 78 inside 24 for the fifth with Sean Ervine held the hosts up. Carberry was first to go when he fell trying to pull Kyle Hogg. He could only get a top edge which looped to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross to leave his side at 45 for 1 in the 22nd over of the innings.Phil Hughes – called into the Australian squad for next month’s tour of India this morning – looked uncomfortable at the crease for the second time in the match as he made only 12 before he was caught at first slip off the bowling of Gary Keedy. Hughes made room outside leg stump to try to cut the left-arm spinner but was undone by a turning delivery which he could only edge into his pads. Paul Horton did the rest.Adams played solidly – as the situation dictated – but was strong against the short ball as he hit 12 boundaries. McKenzie was also patient but he was one of two wickets to fall in theafternoon session to Tom Smith (3 for 56 from 23 overs). Having offered a half chance to Mark Chilton at point on 21, McKenzie edged Smith behind for 31 off 111 balls. And when James Vince saw his off stump travel five balls later, Hampshire were 140 for 4 in the 61st over.Ervine, perhaps not surprisingly, played the most attacking innings of the day. He hit six boundaries in his 48 off 70 balls and survived a massive caught behind shout off the bowling off Smith just two balls before he was ousted. He hit a disdainful four through midwicket the ball after the appeal but then immediately edged Smith to Horton at first slip to leave the scoreboard reading 218 for 5 in the 85th over.While Lancashire were a bowler light due to Glen Chapple’s calf strain, there was also less in the pitch for the bowlers. Adams, who passed 1,000 four-day runs for the season in the first innings, reached three figures off 273 balls after he had taken his side into the lead. It took him 91 balls to get through the eighties and nineties.Wicketkeeper Michael Bates will join him at the crease in the morning on 27 not out.

On Saturday USA will begin the next chapter in their journey to rise from the lower levels of the game as they try to advance through World Cricket League Division Four in Italy and on to Division Three next January in Hong Kong.Six years have passed since USA played against Australia and New Zealand in the Champions Trophy. It will be five more before they can dream of visiting both countries for the 2015 ICC World Cup. Reaching that goal would be heaven for USA as they continue to make progress on the field since returning from the netherworld of ICC suspension, which was lifted in 2008.One step in the right direction was a runner-up finish in February’s WCL Division Five in Nepal. In a must-win game against Nepal in the final round-robin match of the event, USA’s fast bowlers came through in the clutch on a flat track to lay the foundation for victory by five wickets, clinching a berth in Division Four. It was a huge psychological hurdle to clear after stumbling at the same event in Jersey two years earlier.Much of the squad believed that the competition in Division Five was much stiffer than what they would potentially face in Division Four. Considering the fact that two of their opponents in this tournament, Argentina and Cayman Islands, have routinely been whipping boys for USA in ICC Americas competitions, it’s easy to see why. True to form, USA pasted Argentina by 119 runs in May behind tons from Orlando Baker and Aditya Thyagarajan. Six days later against Cayman Islands, they notched a 10-wicket win with Sushil Nadkarni scoring an unbeaten 54-ball century.Taking into account that USA defeated Jersey in Nepal by 66 runs, and Jersey finished unbeaten at the ICC European Championship Division One last month in which Italy finished last, USA aren’t exactly quaking in their boots thinking about facing the hosts. Tanzania lost twice to Italy at home in the WCL Division Four in 2008. All things considered USA should see themselves as clear favorites to dominate in Bologna.The first match against Nepal will be the biggest challenge. Nepal has the talent to defeat USA and did so in a rematch for the title at Division Five on the back of left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma’s seven-wicket haul. However, much of Nepal’s spin-friendly attack will be neutralized on the artificial wickets that this tournament will be played on.

Key players

• Aditya Thyagarajan: A middle-order batsman who thrives under pressure, he is skilled at taking USA to safety after a top-order collapse. Score a career-high 159 vs. Argentina in May.

• Lennox Cush: An attacking offspinner, he returns to play for USA after leading the wicket-takers list in the Caribbean T20 for his native Guyana.

• Sushil Nadkarni: USA’s destroyer at the top of the order, the vice-captain is 100% fit after recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

• Steven Taylor: The 16-year-old is the only American-born player in the squad. He captained USA’s U-15 team last year and is viewed as a player for the future.

• Rashard Marshall: Absolutely electric at the crease and in the field, he has the ability to clear the ropes as soon as he takes guard.

USA’s players have vast experience playing on artificial wickets which are standard fare at most clubs throughout America. If USA lose that first game, the pressure will be on to run the table for the rest of the tournament in order to book a ticket to Hong Kong.Another reason Nepal won that second match against USA in February was because they had fresh legs. USA’s average age at that tournament was pushing 32. They seemed to have learnt the lesson by blooding younger players at the ICC Americas Division One in Bermuda and two of those debutants have retained their places for Italy: 23 year-old fast bowler Adrian Gordon and 20 year-old offspinner Muhammad Ghous, who was also a member of USA’s Under-19 World Cup campaign in New Zealand. They have helped bring USA’s average age down to 30 for this tournament. Meanwhile, Nepal’s squad will enter with an average age of 23. It will be intriguing to see who wins the battle of youth vs. experience in the opening match.The player with the most experience for USA is leg-spinner Nasir “Charlie” Javed. His controversial selection was met with scorn by many fans last month due to his position as a South East Region representative on the USACA Board of Directors in addition to the fact that he is 44. At the ICC Trophy in Canada in 2001, Javed tied for 12th in the wickets column with 14 in nine games at 22.21. The last time he played for USA, he collected three wickets in five games at an average of 32.66 in the 2008 ICC Americas Division One in Florida. Much attention will be paid to his contribution to USA’s cause in Italy.Javed and captain Steve Massiah are the only two players remaining from the Champions Trophy back in 2004. Massiah is dedicated to making sure it won’t be his last competition against Full Member teams before his career is through. The journey for him and the rest of the squad, to qualify for the 2015 ICC World Cup, continues this weekend.

Scorecard19-year-old James Vince impressed with a calm half-century•PA Photos

Sometimes fortune comes heavily disguised. A few weeks ago, when Hampshire were languishing at the bottom of the County Championship table and struggling for any form of consistency in their limited-overs cricket, many at the club were bemoaning the loss of key players.Yet, through those absences, a new team has emerged at The Rose Bowl. A team that lacks the ego and baggage of some of the ‘bigger name’ signings and a team that promises bright times for Hampshire cricket for some time to come.For it was a team lacking Dimitri Mascarenhas, Nic Pothas, Kabir Ali, Simon Jones, Michael Lumb and Kevin Pietersen that qualified for T20 finals day for the first time after beating Warwickshire at Edgbaston. It was also a team that lacked first choice overseas players, Ajantha Mendis and Shahid Afridi.Instead it was the likes of Jimmy Vince, Danny Briggs, Michael Bates and Chris Wood that took centre stage. The quartet, three of which are 19, have all graduated through the ranks at The Rose Bowl and won the Under-17s county title in 2007.Man-of-the-match Vince and Briggs were especially impressive. Vince, playing with a command and composure that belies his years, timed the ball beautifully and struck five fours and two sixes in his 52-ball innings, while Briggs claimed three crucial wickets and bowled with the variation and discipline of a vastly more experienced man. It is, therefore, somewhat ironic that neither men would probably have played in a full strength side.”We have some fantastic young talent in this side,” captain Dominic Cork said afterwards. “It just shows what a lot of hard work the Academy coach, Tony Middleton and cricket manager Giles White have put in over the years. And it shows the vision that Rod Bransgrove, the chairman, has had to put this club together over recent years. There are a lot more young players coming through, too.”Of course it helps team spirit that these guys have all developed together. Everyone knows one another and there’s a great camaraderie here.”The outcome was not as close as the scoreline suggests. Yes, there was only one ball remaining when Hampshire scrambled the winning single but, in truth, the visitors were always in control of this chase.They were the better team with bat and ball. While their seamers hit the pitch hard and maintained a tight line and length, Warwickshire’s – with the exception of the admirable Neil Carter – struggled to do either. Briggs also outbowled Imran Tahir, Warwickshire’s overseas leg-spinner, in defeating Westwood in the flight, yorking the advancing Barker and luring Maddy into a slog-sweep that landed in the hands of deep mid-wicket.Cork was particularly impressive. After bowling the dangerous Carter in the first over with a perfect inswinger, he returned to bowl an immaculate last over featuring yorker after yorker and conceding just seven runs.Barker and Maddy prospered briefly. Barker, giving himself room to cut and Maddy driving strongly. But when Barker yorked himself and Troughton was run-out attempting an optimistic single, Warwickshire’s innings fell away. The unbroken stand of 58 in 7.3 overs for the sixth-wicket between Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke took Warwickshire only to the edges of respectability.Hampshire were always ahead of the required rate. Jimmy Adams, who became the first man to pass 600 runs in an English domestic T20 during this innings, took four boundaries of Chris Woakes’ wayward second over, while Abdul Razzaq struck Imran Tahir’s first ball for six. Though Carter was a model of excellence, he lacked support, with the remaining seamers proving ineffective.This could prove a damaging loss for Warwickshire. Already seemingly doomed to relegation in the Championship, it has only been their limited-overs form that has maintained any form of morale at the club. Though they continue to shine in the Clydesdale Bank 40, the disappointment in the dressing room after this defeat was enormous. It’s the sixth time in seven years they’ve fallen at the quarter-final stage and the third year in succession.”It’s very disappointing,” Ashley Giles said. “We were the leading team in the country after the group stages and we had high hopes. But we’ve just got to get back on the bike and go again. Our confidence has been pretty battered at times this season and at times we got it wrong with the ball this evening. We just have to re-focus.”So, it is Hampshire that will take their place in the final four on finals day on August 14. And, if Bransgrove has anything to do with it, they may yet attempt to send a team to this year’s Champions League. Never one to take things lying down, Bransgrove has continued to challenge the ECB’s decision not to send teams this year due to conflict with the domestic schedule. It will be interesting to see what happens if Hampshire qualify.