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	Justice John Hansen says Harbhajan Singh was cleared of racially abusing Andrew Symonds due to lack of evidence © Getty Images

Lack of sufficient evidence, a more rigorous judicial process and an inexplicable botch-up on the part of the ICC allowed Harbhajan Singh to get away with a 50% fine, it emerged after Justice John Hansen read out the reasons for his verdict a day after the hearing in Adelaide.Andrew Symonds’ inability to conclusively say whether Harbhajan Singh had used the word monkey or a Hindi abuse, and his admission that the language did not fall under the requirements of a level 3.3 offence played a crucial part.But Hansen also said Harbhajan had “reaped the benefit” of database and human errors, with his offence in November 2001 – when he was fined 75% of his match fee and given a suspended sentence of one Test – not being made available to the assisting counsel at the time of sentencing. He said he “would have required more extensive submissions as to the offence in mitigation, which could have led to a different penalty”.In a 22-page document that detailed the reasons for his decision, it emerged that Sachin Tendulkar’s word could have had a big role to play too. Unlike Mike Procter, who thought Tendulkar was not in a position to hear what was uttered, Hansen said “extensive video footage” establishes that Tendulkar “was within earshot and could have heard the words”.Tendulkar said he heard Harbhajan “use a term in his native tongue which appears to be pronounced with an “n”. He said this is a term that sounds like “monkey” and could be misrepresented for it.”Symonds couldn’t recall if he had heard Harbhajan use that particular Hindi abuse and accepted that it was a possibility. He also didn’t find favour with the judge with his explanation for abusing Harbhajan after he had patted Brett Lee on the back side. Symonds said he had objected because “a Test match is no place to be friendly with an opposition player” but Hansen dismissed that explanation (“If that is his view I hope it is not one shared by all international cricketers”).Michael Clarke’s account was critical, considering that it did not coincide favourably with the rest. “It is not without significance that the Australian players maintain other than Mr Symonds that they did not hear any other words spoken, only the ones that are said to be of significance to this hearing,” Hansen said.”This is a little surprising in the context where there was a reasonably prolonged heated exchange. Indeed Mr Clarke went so far as to say that he did not hear Mr Symonds say anything. Given Mr Symonds’ own acceptance that he initiated the exchange and was abusive towards Mr Singh, that is surprising. This failure to identify any other words could be because some of what they were hearing was not in English.”Hansen’s report included the statement of agreed facts that contained the signatures of the seven players concerned. He also pointed out to the “agreement” between Symonds and Harbhajan in Mumbai last year, adding that it was Symonds who had breached it by “provocative abuse”.Towards the end of his statement, though, Hansen admitted that the ICC had advised his assistant counsel, John Jordan, of only one of Harbhajan’s previous infractions, a Level 2.8 offence back in April 2003 when he made an abusive comment to an umpire. However, it was only after his verdict that Hansen was made aware of the three other cases involving Harbhajan.The first, a Level 1 offence in 1998, was overlooked because offences under the old Code of Conduct were not included in the ICC database. The second, a Level 1 offence in November 2005, was not made available because of a “human error”. Hansen said the extent of his punishment wouldn’t have changed even if he knew about the first two but added that knowledge of the third, a Level 2 offence in November 2001, “could have led to a different penalty”.Hansen denied any deal had been struck between legal counsel for the Australian and Indian players to downgrade the charge. He was also critical of all parties involved in the confrontation in Sydney, saying “their actions do not reflect well on them or the game”.

ScorecardChris Harris’s ton went in vain as Canterbury went down by 15 runs in a high-scoring encounter against Auckland at Christchurch. Harris fell for an exact 100, off 52 balls as Canterbury gave the opposition some anxious moments in their chase of 198.Auckland won the toss and batted first and the innings was dominated by an opening stand of 98 between Lou Vincent (47) and Paul Hitchcock (77). Rob Nicol’s 47 off 25 balls lifted the total close to the 200-run mark. In reply, Harris and Michael Papps (53) made a push for the target with a stand of 66 for the third wicket. However, the batsmen failed to keep pace with the required rate after the partnership was broken. Harris’s knock, the first Twenty20 ton of the season, included eight fours and six sixes and was dismissed in the final over.

On India’s part, it’s going to be a strict no-no for the Champions Trophy in the future © Getty Images

The Indian board has announced that Australia will tour India every yearfrom 2007 to 2009, and that after the 2006 Champions Trophy it will notparticipate in further editions of the tournament. Lalit Modi,vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said that theywere also in talks with the England board regarding touring schedules.”As far as England are concerned, after this series we have one scheduledin 2009,” Modi said. “We are in active negotiations with England and othercountries to see who can come to us on a reciprocal basis.” He added thatIndia will play seven ODIs when Australia tour India in 2007, four Tests when they come in 2008, and seven or eight ODIs in 2009. India would tour Australia in 2007-08 for four Tests and seven or eight ODIs.Replying to a query about whether India would avoid playing teams such asBangladesh, Modi said, “Bangladesh made a request to us and we’ll betouring them next year…” He was interrupted by IS Bindra, former BCCI president, who said:”They make more money by our going there. If they come to India, they willget only meal allowance. If we go there they make huge television revenueand title sponsorship.”On this day of announcements with far-reaching consequences, Modi revealedthat India and Pakistan would play two one-dayers at Abu Dhabi in Aprilfor earthquake relief. When the calender is released shortly it is likelyto be unlike what the ICC envisaged.Significantly, Modi also said that the BCCI would produce its owntelecasts, which includes choosing commentators. Invites would be sent tomajor production houses shortly. Channels carrying the feed would merelybe carriers, and would have to carry the BCCI logo.”The way we are planning to do this is, in regards to production, we willbe going forward and putting out a tender for the BCCI to appoint its ownproduction company to do all production on the behalf of the BCCI goingforward,” said Modi. “In other words, BCCI will be the producer of allseries played in India on a regular basis. We will make sure we provide aworld class feed. We have also decided that, for the first time in globalhistory, we will produce a high-definition feed. It’ll be the best qualityfeed that has ever been produced by any cricket board anywhere, and forthat we will invite the world’s best production companies.”We will have all the latest gimmicks that Australia or England provide.We will not, in any which way, cut corners in our production. Usually whatused to happen is because of a shortage of money or other issues, peopleused to cut back on value additions in terms of production. All theanchors will be BCCI anchors. They will be hired by the BCCI. We will alsoproduce programs prior and post matches which will be bundled in with ourproduction feed. The BCCI network logo will also be put on the feed. Itwill be produced in multiple languages. You will have Hindi, English,Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and as the market demands, we will have more.”The total value of the bids, Modi said, was expected to be at least $350million. This is a conservative estimate, and if a single bidder pays morefor all the tenders than do all the highest bidders for each seperatetender, it will take away the rights. Modi and Bindra, mostly silentbeside him, said that it was about extracting the most value for theboard.”The global bid encompasses all rights, and all country rights,”Modi said. “So if you have the appetite to bid for all rights globally,and for all media, you have an opportunity to put in a number. Then thereis part B: if you are interested in bidding for television rights in theUK market, you can do that alone. A second person may only be interestedin radio rights in Sri Lanka, so he can bid for that. If the aggregationof the bids for all the rights is higher than the global bid, the rightswill be farmed out to individual players. Thereby, people in theirparticular domain can bid for rights interesting to them. They don’t haveto go begging and pleading to a third party for our rights.”He said that everything would be ready by March. “We are very quick ingetting our tenders out and closing them. Like we’ve demonstrated in thepast, we’ll be fully open and transparent,” he said, grinning.Also in the pipline was a move to ensure that Indian series played abroadwere broadcast prominently at home. “The rights outside India are not inthe purview of the BCCI,” Modi said. “The BCCI will propose at the nextICC meeting that the rights when we are touring should be widely broadcaston Indian platform. Those rights belong to those boards. There is nothingwe can do but advise those boards.”Rebutting criticism that the BCCI had become a money-making machine,Bindra said that it was part of the professionalism of the new regime, andthe rash of initiatives involved building the BCCI’s brand. The air was also thick with talk of’products’, which the BCCI was looking to add to its product line. Amongthem was domestic cricket, of which 70 days would be broadcast live withcommentary. “In our tender process we will also have 70 days offirst-class cricket, so you will have the domestic trophies running liveon television. That number will only increase year by year as we add moreproducts to our product line. There will be live commentary, and livetelevision.”Modi also revealed that India would play a one-day series at home before theChampions Trophy in October, which would help them with their one-dayform. Also, before the World Cup, two teams (yet to be decided) would beinvited to play in India for one-dayers as preparation.

Teddy Griffith: investigating the allegations© Getty Images

West Indies’ players have lashed out at allegations that they paid more attention to women that to cricket during the recent VB Series. These claims were made by Richard Nowell, the representative of Digicel, the team sponsor. reported that the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has termed the accusations as “scandalous” and “unjustified”.The press release issued by Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of WIPA, stated: “Those comments contained unjustified imputations on the character and behaviour of West Indian players who are all members of WIPA.”Nowell’s leaked memorandum had also accused players of being hostile and not being co-operative for interviews and photo shoots arranged by Digicel. WIPA countered: “The players’ association and West Indies Cricket Board concluded negotiations on a tour contract before the departure of the West Indies team for the VB series in Australia. The players have fulfilled all their contractual obligations as specified in the tour contract.”Ramnarine further said that Digicel had made “unjustified demands” on the players during the tour – demands that were not covered by the agreement between the players’ association and the board. He added that the players’ association had asked the board to discourage Digicel from making such requests of their players while on tour.He said WIPA was concerned with being described as a “terrorist association”, and would be seeking legal advice on behalf of the players.In a separate media statement, Teddy Griffith, the president of the West Indies Board, said that he was “in communication on the matter with Digicel chairman, Denis O’Brien, and the issues surrounding that publication will be among items discussed at Sunday’s meeting in Barbados that will also consider tour reports from manager Tony Howard, head coach Bennett King and media liaison Imran Khan.”

PEARCE CUPNorth City v Onslow

OnslowFirst Innings 147Second InningsR Morgan c Bowden b Taylor 29N Parlane c Carey b Riley 44M Parlane run out 18N Pirihi c Gillespie b Quarterman 11G Howell c Quarterman b Bowden 4M Pasupati b Gillespie 46T Parker c & b Kropp 11M Martin c Gillespie b Carey 11A Penn not out 9D Johnson run out 0F Diver b Riley 2Extras (8b,3lb,5nb) 16Total 201Fall: 66,91,100,105,118,132,181,198,198,201Bowling: Gillespie 12,2,62,1; Riley 8,0,29,2; Taylor 5,1,17,1; Bowden 13,6,30,1; Quarterman 4,0,14,1; Kropp 3,0,27,1; Carey 5,2,11,1North CityFirst Innings (Overnight 114-7)D Bowden b M Parlane 56J Kerse lbw b Johnson 34B Kropp lbw b M Parlane 0F Quarterman not out 0Extras (5b,3lb) 8Total 198Fall: 194,194,198Bowling: Penn 6,2,16,0; Pasupati 13,3,52,2; Diver 23,6,65,2; Johnson 11.5,3,33,3; Morgan 5,3,6,0; M Parlane 7,1,18,2Second InningsD Gore lbw b Penn 4D Bowden c – b Diver 55C Riley not out 84S Mills c – b Diver 2M Gillespie not out 1Extras (6lb,1w) 7Total (for three wickets) 153Fall: 5,138,140Bowling: Penn 5,1,29,1; M Parlane 6.4,1,38,0; Johnson 4,0,19,0; Pasupati 4,0,30,0; Morgan 2,0,14,0; Diver 4,0,17,2North City won by 7 wicketsPoints: North City 22.51 Onslow 6.73Petone/Riverside v Upper ValleyUpper ValleyFirst Innings 105Second Innings (overnight 44-1)R Jones b Taylor 24C McLauchlan run out 4L Morgan c Morgan b Jones 20G Donaldson lbw b Jones 31M Walker c Bonner b Jones 6D Ruscoe b Jones 19A Roberts c George b Jones 0P Hutchison not out 14M Cornish b Jones 5M Billmore b Jones 8Extras (6b,5lb,5nb) 16Total 172Fall: 58,59,82,90,134,134,139,155,172Bowling: Taylor 11,1,43,1; O’Brien 19,5,35,0; Jones 18.2,5,52,8; Dawson 6,2,23,0; Hewson 2,0,8,0Petone/RiversideFirst Innings 140Second InningsJ Morgan c Jones b Hutchison 0A George lbw b Walker 16S Bonner c Walker b Cornish 7B Dawson lbw b Hutchison 9R Chatfield lbw b Cornish 17M Rose b Hutchison 0B Jones c Morgan b Hutchison 38D Haste c Roberts b Cornish 0M Hewson lbw b Cornish 4I O’Brien not out 26P Taylor not out 0Extras (5b,5lb,11nb) 21Total (for nine wickets) 138Fall: 0,20,30,41,41,93,93,101,131Bowling: Hutchison 13,4,36,4; Cornish 11.4,2,34,4; Walker 10,0,58,1; Billmore 1,1,0,0Petone/Riverside won by 1 wicketPoints: Petone/Riverside 19.78 Upper Valley 7.52Eastern Suburbs v KaroriEastern SuburbsFirst Innings 103Second Innings (overnight 17-2)D Houpapa lbw b Mercer 20T Boyer c Atkin b Cakebread 27L Chrisp c Sommerville b Cakebread 7S Golder lbw b Cakebread 0R Sewell c Wilson b Atkin 42L Dry b Hill 32S Hotter lbw b Mercer 0J Stuart not out 5R Fouhy c Sommerville b Hill 0Extras (7b,7lb,4w,11nb) 29Total 169Fall: 51,71,71,84,135,142,169,169Bowling: Mercer 27,6,52,3; Edwards 18,4,42,1; Kent 1,0,4,0; Gray 1,0,1,0; Cakebread 7,1,18,3; Hill 6.4,3,15,2; Atkin 6,1,23,1KaroriFirst Innings 121Second InningsW Sommerville lbw b Fouhy 16C cakebread lbw b Patel 14S Murdoch c Sewell b Patel 26M Hill b Patel 32S Pomare b Dry 15M Atkin c Houpapa b Patel 18R Wilson b Dry 6L Edwards not out 7A Meachem not out 10Extras ( 2b,5lb,2w,2nb) 11Total (for seven wickets) 155Fall: 23,49,85,106,114,138,138Bowling: Hotter 5,0,17,0; Fouhy 12,4,35,1; Dry 10,3,35,2; Patel 14,3,61,4Karori won by 3 wicketsPoints: Karori 19.76 Eastern Suburbs 6.97Naenae v TaitaNaenaeFirst Innings 145Second InningsM Young b Scott 114D Crook not out 100L Reeves not out 6Extras (1b,7lb,2nb) 10Total (for one wicket decl) 230Fall: 214Bowling: Little 12.2,1,65,0; Webster 10,2,45,0; Scott 9,1,46,1; Taylor 4,0,22,0; Pegg 2,0,23,0; Boyle 2,0,21,0TaitaFirst Innings (overnight 74-8)D Pegg not out 20D Scott b S Cross 0C Taylor b Bascand 0Extras: ( 8b,2lb,2w,2nb) 14Total 81Fall: 80,81Bowling: S Cross 15,8,17,4; Bascand 16.4,6,29,1; C Cross 7,2,7,1; Reeves 6,3,3,2; Crook 2,1,1,0; Maher 2,0,8,0; Hatwell 3,1,6,0; Young 2,2,0,1Second InningsJ Boyle`run out 51R Webster c C Cross b Reeves 34S McGavin lbw b C Cross 27A Crummy lbw b S Cross 32D Little lbw b S Cross 0E Binns not out 23B Lee c Smith b S Cross 0S Teepa not out 5Extras (15b,6lb,1nb) 22Total (for six wkts) 194Fall: 55,86,162,162,163,163Bowling: S Cross 15,1,38,3; bascand 1`4,0,51,0; Reeves 10,2,35,1; C Cross 10.,5,10,1; Maher 8,5,9,0; Young 1,0,14,0; Crook 3,1,16,0Match DrawnPoints Naenae 7.75 Taita 5.50Pearce Cup Points: North City 28.51, Petone/Riverside 19.78, Karori 19.76, Upper Valley 13.52, Easts 12.97, Onslow 12.73, Taita 11.50, Naenae 7.75Hazlett TrophyHutt 133 & 232-9d ( C Dixon 87, G Dodd 60,D Gyles 3-34, S Kirk 3-60) beat Collegians 149 & 132 ( M Burroughs 54, M Jefferson 4-50, C Dixon 3-31) by 83 runs Points Hutt 20.65, Collegians 7.56Johnsonville 123 & 169-7d( M Judge 37, A Woodcock 32*, G Rabie 4-51) beat Eastern Suburbs 143( L Woodcock 4-51, T Antequil 3-14, A Woodcock 3-41) & 123 by 26 runs Points Johnsonville 19.92 eastern Suburbs 6.91Wainuiomata 153 & 155 ( B Kennedy 40, A Coleman 4-36, C Mason 3-35) beat Upper Valley 131-8d & 148 ( A Coleman 64*, B Kennedy 4-29, J Symonds 3-25) by 29 runs Points Wainuiomata 19.58 Upper Valley 7.79University 201-8d & 66-1 beat North City 92 & 172 ( B Waite 55, C Alderdice 37, N Hillier 32, S Chan 4-41, L Woods 3-51) by 9 wickets. Points University 21.67 North City 4.89

It looks as if England will be forced to change the venue of their three-day game against Otago – one of two scheduled warm-up matches for the Tests on their forthcoming tour of New Zealand.England were to play the match on the Carisbrook ground in Dunedin between March 2nd and 4th. Not only will this be a vital part of the tourists’ preparation for the first Test starting in Christchurch on March 13th, but it would have also been a focal point for the Otago Cricket Association’s 125th anniversary celebrations.However, the Carisbrook ground is owned by the Otago Rugby Union and it decided to hold a Super 12 rugby match on the evening of March 2nd. The rugby authority said that it would be fine for their cricketing counterparts to work around that fixture, but cricket would have had to make all the compromises.This could have meant starting the match two days early, playing longer hours to allow a 3 o’clock finish on the Saturday, or start the game the day after the rugby.According to a spokesman for Otago Cricket, these were not feasible alternatives and they are hopeful of being able to take the match to Queenstown – perhaps one of the most scenic cricket grounds in the world.Meanwhile, it might be that England’s experience of playing under floodlights during daylight hours in Bangalore will pay dividends when it comes to the Christchurch Test.The Jade Stadium’s chief executive, Bryn McGoldrick, has pointed out that shadows from a newly constructed rugby stand at the ground are likely to encroach onto the square by the early afternoon. To avoid a serious disruption to play, the floodlights can be used to “fill in” areas of shadow.

A relaxed Roger Binny saw his boys coast to victory in theIndia Under-15 versus Tamil Nadu Under-16 practice match at theMA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday. Beside him was an equally atease Professor Ratnakar Shetty. The executive joint secretary ofthe Mumbai Cricket Association is with the juniors in the capacityof manager. Having played the same role with the Indian seniorteam in 1997 when they toured Sri Lanka, Shetty was more than accustomed with the tasks at hand.”This is the right time to be with these boys. At this age,they are keen to play the game and are trying hard to maketheir careers.” He was also very happy with the team and washopeful about their chances in Malaysia. “We’ll play hard andhave it in us to win. I hope the boys do well and return withthe trophy.”When the Indian captain Subhash Dixit won the toss and elected tofield on a hot Chennai morning, his bowlers responded in finestyle. Leading from the front, the captain ended with theimpeccable figures of 8-2-13-4. He was well supported by offspinner Palash Jyoti Das. The Assamese lad ended with 3/23. Inall, the Tamil Nadu side could muster only 175 as they were allout three overs short of their allotted 45 overs.Vijay Sarthy (37) and Vishal Kudavala (46) played the only knocks worthy of mention. Aditya Srikkanth, watched with interest becauseof his famous father, did not make an impact in his innings of18. Panau Raju, who is a member of the squad that will leave forthe Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-15 tournament later today strengthened the Tamil Nadu ranks by playing for them.When the Indian team came out to bat, they were under no pressureat all. On a flat track, Binny used the opportunity to give as manypossible players a knock out in the middle. At the top of theinnings, Hyderabad opener Tirupati Rayadu slammed an unbeaten 72,but retired back to the pavilion to give way to other batsmen.Palash Jyoti Das who shone with the ball earlier in the dayhelped himself to a half century before he too retired. Overhaulingthe total for the loss of just four wickets, an excited Indian team walked off the field.Binny was all smiles as he sat down with the boys after the gameand went through some breathing exercises and just before leavingthe ground, Binny too echoed Shetty’s optimism.

Wolves could be set for a busy summer transfer window in terms of moving some of their players around that are currently either out on loan or have their contracts running out at the end of the season.

Looking ahead to this period, it seems as though the Old Gold could be in luck when it comes to the future of one of their key players currently in Bruno Lage’s squad.

What’s the talk?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist and transfer insider Pete O’Rourke had this to say about the future of Wolves defender Romain Saiss, whose current contract at Molineux is set to expire in the summer.

He said: “I know Saiss has had interest from other clubs all across Europe and outside of Europe as well.

“But I think he wants to stay playing at the highest level and the Premier League is probably the best league to be playing in right now, so that boosts Wolves’ chances of keeping him.”

Supporters buzzing

Since arriving at the Midlands club back in the 2016 summer transfer window from French club Angers, the defender has racked up a total of 202 appearances across all competitions, scoring 15 goals and providing three assists along the way.

This season has seen the 31-year-old show how pivotal he is for the Midlands club by starting 27 of their 29 Premier League games as well as racking up more blocks (51), interceptions (69) and clearances (158) than any other Wolves player in 2021/22.

In addition to his impressive defensive capabilities, the Moroccan has also managed to earn himself a solid overall season rating of 6.99, making him the joint-third highest rated player at the club to have started more than two league games in this campaign according to WhoScored.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to suggest that the Wolves fans would be delighted if the defender chose to put pen to paper on a new deal at the club and continued his journey with them, rather than join a club like Sevilla, who have been linked with him previously.

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With O’Rourke now suggesting that Wolves’ status in the Premier League could keep Saiss at Molineux for the foreseeable future, they should definitely offer the centre-back a new deal to keep him out of the clutches of any other club that would almost certainly benefit from having him in their side.

In other news: Fosun must surely regret huge Wolves howler over £67.5m-rated title-winning “rock”

Delhi 290 (Chopra 102, Bhatia 139, Praveen Kumar 8-68)and 230 for 1 (Gambhir 130*, Dhawan 54*) beat Uttar Pradesh 342 (Tanmay Srivastava 105, Shukla 96, Sangwan 4-80, Narwal 4-81) and 177 (Raina 85, Sangwan 5-46) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Delhi secured the Ranji Trophy thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s cracking 130 © Cricinfo Ltd

At 3.03pm, shortly after tea on the fourth day, Delhi’s 16-year wait for the Ranji Trophy ended. Pradeep Sangwan produced a superb spell of seam bowling to bowl out Uttar Pradesh for 177 before their captain, Gautam Gambhir, cracked an unbeaten 130 to lead Delhi’s march to a seventh Ranji title.That march, which began with defiant centuries from Aakash Chopra and Rajat Bhatia in the first innings, quickened this morning when UP lost four wickets for just 23 runs as Sangwan produced a spell of 5-3-5-3.As Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan stole the winning single, the entire Delhi squad rushed to the ground, stumps were uprooted for souvenirs, and the players danced in a huddle of joy.The platform was laid by Sangwan early in the morning. Sangwan struck in his first over, bending the ball back in to castle Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He then cleaned up Praveen Kumar with a peach of a yorker before pushing one across Amir Khan to take the edge. Manoj Prabhakar, Delhi’s bowling consultant, had been working on getting Sangwan’s wrist position right so that he could seam the ball in and that paid off today with Sangwan producing his best first-class figures to date.Without too many runs to play with, UP had to strike with the new ball and for that Praveen Kumar had to repeat his first-innings heroics. However, the Delhi openers played him out with caution – his first nine overs went for 23 – while turning the heat on the others.Gambhir started off like a runaway train, slamming Sudeep Tyagi for three fours in his first over before settling down. Yesterday, Praveen Kumar had bemoaned the lack of support from the other end and he got little of it today too. Tyagi, who picked up two wickets in the first innings to become the highest wicket-taker this season, couldn’t make any headway and with Bhuvneshwar Kumar continuing to be listless, Delhi jogged along towards the target.UP’s fight evaporated with Praveen Kumar’s wicketless opening spell and Gambhir took full advantage. He carved Tyagi for five boundaries, carted the left-arm spin of Praveen Gupta for 49 runs with five sweetly struck fours, and was untroubled by Piyush Chawla. He reached his second ton in successive matches – he had cracked one in the semi-final chase – with a slash over gully off Tyagi and brought up the nine-wicket victory with a push to point.

Scorecard
Shahid Afridi’s second-innings century for Habib Bank Limited (HBL) helped set Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) a target of 393 runs to chase in a little over two days of their Patrons Trophy Quadrangular stage match at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex Stadium in KarachiOn the first day Afridi helped his team raise a first-innings score of 125 with his 55-ball 51. Then as WAPDA were skittled out for 72 he held two catches in the field and got 3 for 18 with his legbreak bowling.HBL resumed day two at 80 for 2 and Afridi got to his hundred from 91 balls with nine fours and five sixes. Coming to the wicket after Khaqan Arsal (87) and Asim Kamal (30) had added 87 for the third wicket Afridi had a crucial 66-run eighth-wicket partnership with Kamran Hussain (32).Chasing this rather steep target of 393 WAPDA had lost four wickets for 107 runs by the end of the day, with Afridi adding another wicket in the four overs he bowled. Mushtaq Ahmed, the former Pakistan legspinner and WAPDA captain, picked up five wickets for 125 runs in his 25.5 overs. His team, however, still requires another 286 runs to win this game with only six wickets in hand.
Scorecard
Zulfiqar Jan and Saeed Anwar jnr cracked brilliant centuries as Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) posted 407 runs in their first innings, on day two of their Quadrangular Stage Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex Ground in.ZTBL in reply were 131 for 3 in their first innings. Afaq Raheem, the ZTBL opener, was batting at 68 and Faisal Naved with eight were at the crease at the close of day two.While Zulfiqar took four and a half hours to reach his third first-class century Anwar made 130 off 219 balls in their 206-run partnership for the third wicket. Yasir Arafat then hit 51 off 80 balls with four fours and a six. Imran Sabir, right-arm fast-medium bowler, picked up four wickets for ZT