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Samaraweera struck form with an unbeaten 189© AFP

Unbeaten centuries from Thilan Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby rescued Central Province from a perilous overnight position against North Central Province in the final round of Provincial Tournament group matches. Their efforts leave Central Province favourites to qualify for the final next week in Dambulla against the same opposition.Samaraweera had faced one nervy delivery the previous night when three wickets had tumbled in the space of just 11 deliveries after North Central Province were bowled out for 314. However, like he has done many times before, he steadied the middle of the innings and then ground on an on, exploiting a bowling attack weakened by the tactical decision to rest key bowlers before the final.Bathiya Perera (14) departed early in the morning, one of three wickets for Omesh Wijesiriwardene, before Kumar Sangakkara, the Central Province skipper, and Samaraweera wrestled hold of the initiative with an 104-run stand for the fifth wicket. The fall of Sangakkara just before lunch appeared a serious blow to their chances of securing a vital first innings lead but Kandamby continued his purple form.Kandamby has had a difficult time in the recent past, failing to convince doubters about his ability after a short spell in the national squad. Critics, pointing to a sub-30 first-class average and a comfortable waistline, were unimpressed about his abilities despite rave reviews from the A team management. But in the last two provincial matches he’s taken a giant leap in his career, this time scoring 109 from 196 balls with 12 fours and a six.The pair were left undefeated at the end of another sweltering Colombo day having carried the team to 380 for 5 after their unbroken 240-run stand. With two days to go and a rested bowling attacked waiting in the wings, they now have an opportunity to push for an outright victory against a team missing skipper Mahela Jayawardene who is resting a finger injury.
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In the other match being played, Southern Province, also final contenders, were left fighting for survival after Chaminda Vaas produced a captain’s knock for Western Province, scoring 130 from 205 balls, to secure a large 183-run first innings lead. Southern Province finished the day strongly, reaching 93 for 1 at the close, but with much work to do.Vaas had excelled with the ball on the first day, taking 4 for 39 as Southern Province were bundled out for a pathetic 134, the only notable contribution coming from Harsha Vithana. He was then entrusted with batting responsibility as his top order, Ian Daniel (40) excepted, wilted, slumping to 133 for 6. Vaas’s hundred was the third of his career and it left Southern Province on the rack.

Keen to get some runs under his belt before the start of the international season, Sourav Ganguly has apparently requested the Indian board to be included in the Board President’s XI, which will take on New Zealand in a warm-up match from September 26-28 at Visakhapatnam. According to a report in The Asian Age, Ganguly has asked for a middle-order berth after a poor start to the season; in the Challenger Series, Ganguly managed scores of 27 and 25, while he made a fourth-ball duck and an unbeaten 28 in the Irani Trophy.The report quotes SK Nair, secretary of the BCCI, as saying that he could furnish more information only after hearing on the matter from the people concerned. “I have received no instructions from either the chairman (of selectors, Brijesh Patel) or the Board president (Jagmohan Dalmiya). Once I hear from them, I can release it (the news).” Patel is in Bangalore, recovering from a bypass surgery. According to the report, Kiran More, the selector from the West Zone, indicated that he was unaware of this development.Wisden Comment by S Rajesh
If the report is indeed true, then Ganguly’s move to get some more time at the batting crease before the season starts is a wise one. His performances so far this season clearly suggest that he is lacking form; not only did he struggle against pace, he was also far from his usual confident self against spin, being dismissed by Ramesh Powar in the Irani Trophy match. VVS Laxman’s sparkling 99 in that game indicates that he is in fluent touch and has sealed a place for the Test team. It makes sense for Laxman to sit out of the warm-up at Visakhapatnam, allowing Ganguly another chance to find form.

Still smarting from the nine-wicket loss at Bloemfontein, the Indian team will take the field at Buffalo Park, East London, on Saturday hoping to iron out some glaring flaws in a first-class match against South Africa A.Deprived by rain of their earlier preparatory fixture at Chatsworth before the first Test, the visitors sorely lack match practice, especially in the longer version of the game. Barring Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the Indian batting creaked with rust, as did much of the bowling attack.Sourav Ganguly, lambasted in recent times for his weakness against the short ball, has opted to place work above family. With his wife Dona giving birth to the couple’s first child, Ganguly initially was to have flown home for a brief visit. The Test loss, however, has forced a change of plans; maybe an opportune one, for the skipper now has a valuable chance to sort out his technique ahead of facing Shaun Pollock and Nantie Hayward at Port Elizabeth.The East London match will also give off-spinner Harbhajan Singh a chance to test his fitness in a match situation. A groin infection forced him to glumly watch the equally glum Bloemfontein proceedings from the pavilion, and there is no doubt that, as India’s intended trump card, Harbhajan will be raring to confirm his participation in the second Test.One player who will not be putting on his whites at Port Elizabeth is Sameer Dighe. It seems now that the selectors’ decision to pick two wicket-keepers, which appeared foolish and unwarranted initially, has paid unexpected dividends. Dighe’s back spasms, which were to have kept him out of just the first Test, have now been diagnosed as more serious, with doctors stating that he would not regain match fitness before the start of the third Test.There has, meanwhile, been no call for a replacement to fly out from India. In the words of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah to PTI, “The team management in South Africa has not asked for any replacement for Dighe, who will be flying back home soon, and as of now we will not be sending any player.”The retention of Deep Dasgupta for the Test series has now proved fortunate, especially from the point of view of the young Bengal ‘keeper. Although he showed some nerves behind the stumps on Test debut, he also displayed pluck and sense in his first-innings knock of 34, giving fellow rookie Virender Sehwag the needed support to reach his century.South Africa, meanwhile, have named an impressive-looking second-string team in spite of some players dropping out with injuries. Captained by Dale Benkenstein, the side includes Jacques Rudolph, mightily successful against the Indians in earlier tour matches, contortionist chinaman Paul Adams, all-rounder Justin Kemp, and tearaway Andre Nel.The most significant name in the line-up, however, is that of Daryll Cullinan. Returning to first-class cricket last weekend after a several-month hiatus due to knee surgery, Cullinan is pushing for a Test berth ahead of relative newcomer Boeta Dippenaar. If included, he will only strengthen a South African batting line-up that displayed clinical efficiency in demolishing India earlier this week.India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Shiv Sunder Das, Connor Williams, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta (wicket-keeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish NehraSouth Africa A: Dale Benkenstein (captain), Jacques Rudolph, Graeme Smith, Martin van Jaarsveld, Daryll Cullinan, Justin Kemp, Kruger van Wyk (wicket-keeper), Paul Adams, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Garnett Kruger, Gulam Bodi

The question of why criminal charges were not brought against Lou Vincent has been raised by Chris Cairns’ defence in his perjury trial at Southwark Crown Court. Vincent is one of the key witnesses against Cairns but has faced no legal action despite admitting to match-fixing and money laundering in the UK.Vincent, who has previously said Cairns ordered him to fix matches, was banned from cricket for life in 2014 under ICC regulations and his evidence forms a large part of the case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).Vincent was not given any guarantees that he would not be charged by officers investigating the case but Oliver Pownall QC, representing Cairns, suggested the Metropolitan Police was only interested in material that could be used against Cairns.The court also heard of CPS concerns that not pursuing charges against Vincent could “seriously undermine the prosecution”. Notes from a meeting in February 2014 questioned whether Vincent was “rushing to the door” to implicate others and minimise his own role.However, detective chief superintendent Michael Duthie said that his main concern had been investigating the allegations of perjury, emphasising that issues to do with fixing were for the ICC and ECB. Cairns is accused of perjury and perverting the course of justice during his 2012 High Court libel action against Lalit Modi.”My decision was to investigate what happened at High Court, not match-fixing,” Duthie said. “I knew [Vincent] cheated and lied. We didn’t give any immunity or promises. If he started giving evidence about criminality in interviews with our staff, we would have stopped and cautioned him.”Pownall suggested that the idea Vincent would have been pursued for his crimes was a “sham” and that officers feared he would not give evidence against Cairns if he was also charged, something Duthie denied.Duthie and detective constable Lucy Wade were the final witnesses to be called by the prosecution. Cairns, who denies all charges against him, is due to the take the stand next week.The trial continues.

Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a summer swoop for Sven Botman…

What’s the word?

That’s according to the Daily Star, who claim that Spurs are desperate to land the Lille centre-back ahead of Premier League rivals Newcastle United in a bid to appease manager Antonio Conte.

The Magpies narrowly missed out on a chance to bring the 22-year-old colossus to St James’ Park last month and remain among the favourites to seal his signature ahead of next season.

A left-sided and left-footed centre-back is one of the Italian’s absolute priorities when the transfer window reopens and Botman fits that exact profile, with Conte giving the club’s hierarchy his seal of approval.

The Dutch international could cost in the region of £30m.

Conte needs him

This would be the sort of signing that could kickstart an encouraging summer of spending as Conte will need to bolster his playing squad in multiple areas if he’s to continue to improve the club on the pitch.

The January window was a little disappointing but only because there were only two incomings for their four outgoings. Sporting director Fabio Paratici called upon his former club Juventus to sign Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Out the other way went Dele Alli permanently, and Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Bryan Gil on loan, leaving the 52-year-old awfully light on options, particularly in midfield.

But defensively, Spurs have always struggled and that much has been evident in their four defeats in their last six fixtures. Full-back Ben Davies has been playing in a back three due to him being the only left-footed option in the squad capable of playing as a central defender.

That makes Botman not only an appealing prospect but one that Conte desperately needs.

The young centre-back appears to be an ideal fit for Spurs and an ideal fit for the Premier League, at least based on ex-Southampton star Jose Fonte’s glowing endorsement.

“Fonte has played with an array of top-class centre-backs in his career including Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Pepe in the Portuguese national team and Gabriel last season who is now at Arsenal.

“From what I understand of Fonte’s impression of Botman, he thinks he’s the best of all of them,” revealed The Times journalist Duncan Castles (via the Express).

“He describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes and also indicates that for a young player playing alongside an experienced professional, he’s very open to learning and taking instruction and improving his game.”

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Botman played a crucial role in Lille clinching the Ligue 1 title over Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain side last season, where he featured in 37 games and averaged 3.2 aerial duels won, 3.2 clearances and 1.5 interceptions, via WhoScored.

Then-manager Christophe Galtier deemed him to be a “leader” and since, he’s continued to impress in the French top-flight. The £27m-rated defender remains among Les Dogues’ top-three performers this term, as per WhoScored.

On the above evidence, Paratici could certainly kickstart Spurs’ summer rebuild with a bang by signing the impressive left-sided centre-half, who Conte absolutely needs for next season.

AND in other news, Spurs’ “utterly thrilling” £10.8m-rated dynamo has just fired a big statement to Conte…

Brad Hodge hopes to be fit for the tour game against India © Getty Images

The back injury that prevented Brad Hodge from playing in the Twenty20 international has kept him out of Victoria’s FR Cup match against Tasmania on Saturday. Hodge hurt himself in the dressing room, an event which led to Luke Pomersbach’s hasty inclusion, and Trefor James, the Australia doctor, said he had a minor disc problem.James hoped it was a one to two-week injury and said Hodge’s fitness would be monitored in the lead-up to the tour game against India starting on December 20. “It has caused him considerable discomfort since Tuesday,” James said, “and there is a risk of him further aggravating the injury by playing.”Hodge said the situation was “frustrating”. “Missing a couple of big matches this week has been tough,” he said. “Hopefully this is just a minor setback and I can be back on the park for either the India match or the Twenty20s early in the new year.”Aaron Finch will replace Hodge for the game in Hobart and David Hussey regains the captaincy. A groin injury has ruled out Shane Harwood while Peter Siddle, who took five wickets in the Pura Cup win over Tasmania, and Matthew Wade have been added to the squad. Tasmania have made two changes with Dane Anderson and Mark Divin replacing Ricky Ponting and Nathan Wegman.Victoria squad Robert Quiney, Michael Klinger, Aiden Blizzard, David Hussey (capt), Andrew McDonald, Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), John Hastings, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes, Peter Siddle.Tasmania squad Travis Birt, Michael Dighton, George Bailey, Daniel Marsh (capt), Dane Anderson, Luke Butterworth, Mark Divin, Tim Paine (wk), Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus.

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Subramaniam Badrinath: off on the right note © Getty Images

Riding on a 113-ball 120 from Subramaniam Badrinath, the captain, Tamil Nadu began their Ranji One-Day Trophy campaign with a 104-run win over Andhra in Secunderabad. Defending 306, Tamil Nadu’s bowlers turned in a disciplined effort to run the hosts over for 202 inside 44 overs and grab five vital points.Badrinath won the toss and elected to bat, but was probably in earlier than he expected after Andhra had TN at 64 for 3 in the 17th over. What followed was a 160-run association with Kuthethurshri Vasudevadas (63 from 74 balls) at just shy of six an over. In all, Badrinath collected 14 boundaries in compiling his first limited-overs hundred. Ramadoss Naresh provided some end-over fireworks with 29 from 12 balls as TN reached 300 in the final over.Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, the young right-arm medium-pacer, then removed both Andhra openers in his opening spell. His fellow opening bowler, C Ganapathy, chipped in with the big wicket of Venugopal Rao to leave Andhra with plenty to do. Only Satya Kumar Varma (50) and captain Syed Sahabuddin (40) offered any real resistance.
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VVS Laxman and Arjun Yadav each hit half-centuries to set up a 49-run win for hosts Hyderabad over Goa at Uppal’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Sent in to bat, Hyderabad were resurrected from 18 for 3 to 236 thanks to a series of middle-order partnerships, starting with Laxman and Yadav’s 121 run fourth-wicket effort.Laxman’s cool presence at the crease proved crucial for Hyderabad – he stroked five fours in his 148-minute 61 – while Yadav hit six fours and a six in his 63. Ibrahim Khaleel, the wicketkeeper, and Alfred Absolem, the in-form medium-pacer, both swung their bats to get their side to 236, which proved to be more than enough, as Kaushik Reddy (3 for 56), Absolem (2 for 32) and Pragyan Ojha (2 for 39) combined to cause a dramatic collapse. Laxman even turned his arm over for eight overs and picked up Swapnil Asnodkar, Goa’s top-scorer with 57. The last four batsmen added 100 in 27.4 overs, but Goa finished on 187.
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Barrington Rowland slammed an unbeaten 101 and Gaurav Dhiman partnered him with 94 as Karnataka raced to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Kerala in Secunderabad. Chasing 206 after Balachandra Akhil’s 4 for 41 dismissed Kerala inside 50 overs, Karnataka lost Bharat Chipli off the first ball, but Rowland and Dhiman put on a formidable stand to seal victory with 89 deliveries to spare.Dhiman was the aggressor, hitting ten fours and a pair of sixers in his 98-ball innings, while Rowland calmly worked the ones and twos. None of the seven other bowlers aside from Anil Kumar caused any damage, as the two batsmen scored at well above six per over.Kerala owed their total to rookie Preambhastn Prem’s 54 and a 79-ball 43 from opener VA Jagadeesh amid Akhil’s medium-pace strikes.
ScorecardRamesh Powar’s allround brilliance carried Mumbai to a three-wicket win over Baroda in the opening day-night match of the West Zone One-Day League at the Wankhede Stadium. Powar, 29, did his World Cup aspirations little harm, picking up 3 for 28 to keep the tourists down to 223 for 8 and then hitting a 40-ball 54 to take Mumbai close to victory.Wasim Jaffer (73) and Amol Muzumdar (52) paved the platform for the run chase, but it was Powar, promoted to No. 4, who made the biggest impact. Coming in with Mumbai on 29 for 2, Powar wasted little time in taking charge. Rajesh Pawar, his former Mumbai team-mate, was carted for two fours and a huge six over long-on; Ketan Panchal’s medium-pace was picked for three boundaries in the next over. With Jaffer, 68 runs were added in 72 balls. Powar finally fell, after adding six more boundaries, when he failed to launch captain Ajit Bhoite’s offspin over the infield and chipped one to mid-off. Rakesh Patel, the medium-pacer, turned in an impressive spell of 10-3-24-4, but despite a late-order hiccup – three wickets fell for seven runs – Mumbai crossed their target.
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Unlike Mumbai, Maharashtra had little trouble chasing down a small total as they completed a five-wicket win, bonus point et al, over Gujarat at the Brabourne Stadium. Sairaj Bahutule, the captain and former India legspinner, picked up 3 for 29 and Shrikant Munde 2 for 27 to bowl Gujarat out for 176 in 54.2 overs. Hrishikesh Kanitkar (69) and Sridharan Sriram (47), both former internationals, then helped Maharashtra across the finish line with 19 overs to spare.The rest of the opening day’s action was significantly hampered by inclement weather, with games between Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir in Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab at the PCA Stadium and Himachal Pradesh and Services in Ludhiana being ruined by rain. In Kanpur two matches – Madhya Pradesh versus Rajasthan and Railways versus Vidarbha – were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Auckland had New Zealand batsmen Lou Vincent and Scott Styris back in the side but it made no difference as the home team continued its abysmal form this season. Dismissed for a paltry 170, Auckland was never going to trouble Wellington, who cruised to an eight-wicket victory in 29.5 overs. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, led the way with 66 not out, while young opener Jesse Ryder again impressed with 49. Michael Parlane continued his good season with 29 not out. In Auckland’s innings, again it was left to Rob Nicol, who has fought a lone hand this season, to salvage pride with 61. Mark Gillespie was the best of the Wellington bowlers with 3 for 21 off nine overs.Canterbury moved to the top of the State Shield table with their seven-wicket victory against strugglers Northern Districts. Northern posted a meagre 201 off 50 overs, with only Hamish Marshall (58) passing 50. Recently retired international Chris Cairns showed there was still life in the old dog with 3 for 45 off 10 overs. Canterbury were untroubled and cruised to victory in the 35th over. Craig McMillan experienced a welcome return to form with 88 not out while Shanan Stewart posted an unbeaten 44.

Kevin Pietersen’s good form in ODIs could earn him a Test spot© Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen’s explosive start in international cricket could earn him a spot in the Test side, according to Michael Vaughan, the England captain. Pietersen, who was in remarkable form throughout the one-day series against South Africa, struck his third century in a crisis situation to help his side to a respectable total in the seventh one-dayer at Centurion, even though it couldn’t prevent another England defeat.England were reeling at 68 for six, when Pietersen took charge, hitting 116 and taking his series tally to 454. “You have to be a very good player to do what he has just done,” said Vaughan, quoted on the website. “He has come in and set the world alight with innings of unbelievable tempo in pressure situations.”I am certainly happy he is in our team. Once you get him and Andrew Flintoff batting together in that middle period you will certainly see some fireworks. And I don’t see any reason why he should not continue this form into Test cricket.”Pietersen’s efforts may have been in vain as England went down 1-4 in the seven-match series, but he did manage to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has also not ruled him out for the forthcoming Ashes series. “When an individual bats like that, you can’t ignore him,” said Fletcher. “He has to come into the equation. It is nice to have these pleasant problems; we need to sit down and weigh it all up, Australia are coming over, they are a tough side and we will have to give it a lot of thought.”Pietersen smacked 15 sixes in all making himself a strong contender to team up with Andrew Flintof and form the explosive core of the middle order. “The way he took on everyone, the South African crowd included, was impressive, he just seems to thrive on that and it is a big plus in his favour. He is a boy who likes a contest and that is very pleasing with the Australians coming along.”Pietersen, who left his South African roots at the age of 20, was delighted with his prolific run, and rated his knock of 116 as one of the best, but refused to be drawn on his chances of a Test debut against Australia. “This knock was pretty special and it would rank up there as the best hundred I have ever scored. Everyone is asking me about my desire to play Test cricket now but I do not select myself. I can only put my hand up for a place in the team by scoring some runs for my new team Hampshire.”

It didn’t take long for the battle lines to be drawn after the United Cricket Board (UCB) today announced a dramatic restructuring plan for South African domestic cricket. From the 2004-05 season, only six teams – down from the current 11 – will contest the first-class SuperSport Series and the Standard Bank limited overs competition.The six will represent professional franchises rather than provinces. The UCB’s 11 affiliates, or groups of them, may tender for a franchise from Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd, which will control the as yet undecided franchising process. The 11 affiliates will be joined by teams representing Limpopo, Mpumalanga, South Western Districts, Border-Kei (formerly Transkei) and KwaZulu-Natal Inland to contest amateur competitions.Players from the 16 amateur teams will feed into the sides operated by the six franchises.The decisions were made by the UCB general council at a meeting in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon, and before the sun set, the first salvos were fired in what promises to be a time of noisy debate in South African cricket. “Financial concerns are an important element, and we also need to formulate a strength-versus-strength system to ensure that our domestic cricket is strong to help us reach our goal of becoming the top cricketing nation in the world,” Gerald Majola, the UCB chief executive, said.Ray Jennings, who coached the unfashionable and impoverished Easterns to the first-class championship last season, was passionately opposed to the move. “It’s mind-boggling to try and understand the logic of this decision,” Jennings told Wisden CricInfo. “How do you decide who the six franchises are? Do they do it on the basis of results on the field, or is it done in the boardroom? What entitles someone to become part of South African cricket? Simply being the highest bidder? We could end up with five franchises in Gauteng, or one in Kimberley, which would have to be the worst place for it.”Jennings thought the impending changes represented the top of a slippery slope for domestic cricket. “I think this could be the start of the erosion of South African cricket,” he said. “You could find 30 or 40 first-class players giving up the game.” Jennings supported the concept of strength-versus-strength, but felt the marked departure from the status quo was ill-considered. “We’ve shown at Easterns that you can take cricketers from the bottom to the top,” he said.Newly-elected UCB president Ray Mali said the planned restructure was the crucial to the future of the game. “This is one of the most difficult and critical decisions to have been taken in South African cricket since unity in 1991, and it is one we have debated at all levels for two years,” Mali said. “We needed to make a tough business decision to ensure the survival of the game we love and to ensure that we can develop that game and pursue excellence.”We rely largely on the professional level of cricket to bring in the income we use to develop the game for all. Without restructuring that level into a stronger option, which can attract more crowds, sponsors and revenue, and which also does not drain funds, we would not be able to develop the game at all. We would barely be able to survive.”