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Canterbury 309 for 8 beat Wellington 308 for 9 by two wickets
ScorecardStephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, marked a rare appearance in New Zealand’s State Shield competition by scoring 131 for Wellington against Canterbury at Hagley Oval. In fact, so seldom does Fleming turn out, it was only his 59th domestic one-day game.But even the lustre of his innings, which was the foundation of a record-breaking score of 308 for 9 for Wellington, could not dull Canterbury. Michael Papps continued his magnificent form with 96, before giving way to Chris Cairns, who scored 47, and Craig McMillan, 31, as the team prepared to launch itself at the target.But wickets kept falling. Though the runs came for Canterbury, one batsman after another succumbed to Wellington. It seemed lost for Canterbury, but Chris Harris and Stephen Cunis held their nerve to get their side home, with Cunis hitting a six with one ball to go. Warren Wisneski was one of few bowlers to make an impact. He took 4 for 55 for Canterbury, while Mayu Pasupati took three for Wellington, but at a cost of 66 runs.Otago 199 for 9 beat Northern Districts 198 by one wicket
ScorecardOtago haven’t been happy campers in Invercargill, the world’s southern-most first-class cricket venue. And today, faced with Northern Districts’ total of 198, they did all they could to keep their depressing record in shape … and failed.Half-way into Otago’s innings, the score was 121 for 1. Mohammad Wasim (52) and Chris Gaffaney (61) were going strong with a 119-run second wicket partnership, before a collapse that claimed five batsmen for 17 runs. Just a little while ago, they were actually thinking of getting home with a bonus point to gain.A couple of wickets fell soon after, unfairly leaving the last pair at the crease with six balls and nine runs to win a game. Matt Harvie took on the first ball and sent it into the stands, and from there, a victory was in the bag.But before Otago’s convulsions, Joseph Yovich scored 64 off 88 balls to drag Northern Districts to 198, and Nathan Morland did his best to pull them the other way, with career-best figures of 4 for 28.Central Districts 245 for 7 beat Auckland 236 by 9 runs
ScorecardWhen Jacob Oram and Mathew Sinclair walked in to bat, Central Districts’ innings was a mess; three wickets down, fourteen runs on the board. Oram picked up the pieces and glued together an innings of 125, while Sinclair scored 54, in a partnership worth 132. They took the team to a challenging total of 246. Auckland’s bowlers, Kyle Mills and Paul Hitchcock shared five wickets.In response, Auckland gave new meaning to collapses, with four wickets falling for three runs. Matt Horne then scored 89, and Kyle Mills provided him with support. Their partnership of 91 was terminated by Michael Mason, who returned to bowl a destructive second spell, and ended with 6 for 25, the best figures for a Central Districts bowler in one-dayers.Then, Kerry Walmsley flailed valiantly for 26, but his dismissal brought an end to Auckland’s innings, just 10 runs short of the target.Points table (two rounds remaining) Canterbury 26, Central Districts 23, Auckland 17, Otago 16, Wellington 14, Northern Districts 4.

Western Province is the 2002-03 Standard Bank Cup Champions after completely outplaying and outclassing Griqualand West in almost every department of a one-sided final played at Newlands.Set to make 126 in the allocated 45 overs, Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten took the hosts to a nine-wicket victory in what must be one of the shortest and easiest limited over finals in the history of South Africa domestic cricket.The losing of Graeme Smith for five, when Western Province was on 11, gave Griqualand West a glimmer of hope, but that was ripped away by the two local internationals.Gibbs was at his utmost best. Taking the Griqua attack by the scruff of the neck he smashed the ball to all parts of the ground finishing with an undefeated 67 off 44 balls which included 10 fours and two sixes, one clipped off his heels over long leg and the other sailing over the ropes at long off.Not to be outdone, Gary Kirsten, worried about the threat of rain, ended undefeated on 46 from 28 balls that included nine fours.The game was over in 12.4 overs and Griqualand West’s record as giant killers had seen a sad ending.One always had the feeling that Western Province was going to be too strong for the visitors from Kimberley and once wickets started to fall the writing was on the wall.An excellent 59 from Martin Gidley in the end had no significance, with no one else prepared to spend time at the crease. A 54-run partnership between Gidley and Brett Tucker, scoring 19, was all the Griqua Diamonds could over in resistance.Far too many of the top order batsmen fell to soft dismissals and a collapse in the middle order, going from 109/4 to 125 all out, all but gifted the final to Gary Kirsten and his men.Alan Dawson, man-of-the-series, was again in the wickets and his disciplined line and length added additional pressure to the Griqua batsmen. Ending the match with figures of three for 15 off 7.2 overs helped him to the top wicket taker (16) of the tournament.Claude Henderson, assisted by some poor shot selections, picket up four for 26 in his nine over spell.Griqualand West however should not feel too desponded and should have learnt some valuable lessons and experience from their outing. By reaching the final they had outplayed 10 other unions, but happened to catch Western Province at their very best.For Western Province it was just reward for a season that saw them lose the first class final against Easterns, but coming back to finish the season with another trophy in the cabinet.

England were well on their way to giving more than a befitting reply to Pakistan’s impressive total of 403, when play was abandoned for the day for rain. On 204 for 2 with Graham Thorpe (98) and Michael Vaughan (84) going great guns, punishing the Pakistan bowlers and piling up runs at a pace that could only be termed, fast and fluid.The 2nd day scene was almost identical to the 1st day. Like Pakistan’s start, England also lost two quick wickets then stemmed the rot and built-up a sizeable total to neutralize Pakistan’s superiority. England, however, had the upper hand for losing fewer wickets. Pakistan’s bowling was not very effective due mainly to the flat wicket. A victory in the match being crucial for Pakistan the bowlers shall have to put up a more concerted effort to achieve an early breakthrough on Day-3.Earlier, Pakistan started briskly scoring 33 runs in 30 minutes before they were out for a challenging total of 403. Rashid Latif, who was perhaps aiming at scoring a century to celebrate his return to test cricket after a lapse of 4 years, was unlucky to be run out after scoring a precious 71. After yesterday’s Inzamam century it was his contribution that provided respectability to Pakistan’s total. Saqlain Mushtaq remained not out with a breezy 21 that included a towering six.England got off to a shocking start, losing the opening pair of Marcus Trescothick and Mike Atherton with only 15 runs on the board, the attacking pair of Wasim and Waqar got one scalp each. Thorpe and Vaughan, put their heads down and brought some smiles on the depressed faces of the crowd by hitting a flurry of thrilling shots.The pair took the total to 50 in 13 overs, going from strength to strength with every run they had lunch at 79 for 2. The 100 of the innings came in the 27th over and a little later they signalled a 100 run partnership. Thorpe completed his 29th half-century in tests and was followed by Vaughan when the score was 126 for 2.It was excellent defensive batting by the two players. They took no risks but played powerful strokes on loose deliveries. The Pakistan bowlers maintained a good line but lacked penetration. Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq was introduced an over before lunch but was only able to contain the batsmen, posing no serious threat. The pitch was not providing much assistance to the bowlers.The 5 main bowlers in the Pakistan’s arsenal tried their best but failed to dislodge Thorpe and Vaughan and their partnership crossed the 150 mark in 270 balls.At tea when England was 173 for 2, rain suspended play for about one hour. On resumption, the two batsmen got back into the tempo of scoring runs at a slow and steady pace. Since both of them were heading for centuries they took no risks and presented Pakistan a good example of ‘straight bat play’.There was another interruption for rain when England was at 204 for 2. Thorpe (98) and Vaughan (84) firmly holding the crease. The shower being heavy this time, the game was abandoned for the day.

Sunderland must do all that they can to keep Ross Stewart at the club in the summer.

What’s the word?

The Scottish striker is the Black Cats’ top scorer this season and has been vital in their push to get promoted scoring 22 goals and assisting four in 44 appearances.

He also leads the race for the Golden Boot in League One so it’s likely that come next season he will want to be playing at a higher level.

There has been interest from a number of clubs in the Championship as well as Premier League relegation strugglers Norwich City.

Striker problems

Sunderland are ‘down to the bare bones’ when it comes to their firepower up front, with Jermain Defoe recently announcing his immediate retirement having only joined the club back in January.

Former star striker Kevin Phillips has urged manager Alex Neil to wrap Stewart “in cotton wool” because an injury to him between now and the end of the season could be disastrous.

But it’s beyond then that the Black Cats should be worrying about, if they fail to get promoted it makes it even more likely they’ll lose their £2.7k-per-week star man and he would be difficult to replace.

As well as his great goal scoring record he has also proved to be reliable having tallied the most minutes on the pitch out of all the forwards in the whole of League One with 3,544.

The 25-year old also isn’t afraid to track back, he ranks inside the top ten for aerial duals won averaging 5.6 per game which includes when defending set-pieces.

Sunderland must try their hardest to keep Stewart at the Stadium of Light but he could be tempted by Premier League strugglers Norwich.

The Canaries may get relegated, but even so, they would still be one of the top sides in the Championship as history shows.

Stewart is under contract for another season so Norwich would surely have to pay the £450k he is worth according to Transfermarkt. However, they may be able to bargain with the Black Cats who won’t want to risk losing their star man for nothing when his contract eventually does expire.

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Ultimately Stewart is showing form that suggests he is too good to be playing in League One, it’s just whether he’ll be playing in a higher division with or without Sunderland. If it’s the latter, it will surely come as a disaster.

After all, in the words of Ross County chief executive Steven Ferguson, he is “a dream for any manager.”

IN other news: Time to go: Sunderland must finally brutally axe awful flop who’s cost £575k per goal…

	Arshad Ali, the former UAE captain, struck 185 in UAE’s win over Bermuda last year © Eddie Norfolk

UAE might be languishing at second from bottom in the 2007-08 Intercontinental Cup, but they remain confident of reversing their fortunes ahead of their match against Namibia on Wednesday.In three matches, they have only won one match – an excellent 138-run win over Bermuda last November. And it was this win which inspired UAE, and their captain, Saqib Ali, to believe in themselves. UAE were dismissed for a lowly 143, conceding a first-innings deficit of 168, but fought back brilliantly on days three and four to win by 138 runs.”It was an unbelievable win for us,” Saqib said. “That victory really gave us the belief that we can do well in this competition. I think we have what it takes. We have plenty of experience with people like Khurram Khan and Arshad Ali and there is a good feeling in the squad.”In spite of their bullishness, UAE’s preparations for Wednesday’s match have been far from ideal, with heavy rains sweeping the region. “Also it is a new pitch at Sharjah Stadium,” Saqib said, “so we don’t really know how it is going to play.”Saqib took over the reins from Arshadfor the Bermuda match, and the new-found freedom paid immediate dividends for Arshad whose mammoth 185 set-up UAE’s matchwinning 449.”I decided that I wanted to play as just an ordinary player, not captain,” Arshad said. “It is easier for me that way and since I gave up the captaincy I have been doing very well, scoring runs and taking wickets.”Namibia, meanwhile, come into the match following an impressive eight-wicket win over Canada in October. Their win was set-up by a fine 163 from Bjorn Kotze, but neither his brother, Deon, or Louis Klazinga, who took 6 for 82 in the match, have made the trip. UAE, though, will not be underestimating Namibia.”We are wary of Namibia. We know they have a good side with plenty of experience and lots of batting,” Saqib said. “It will be very interesting. I am looking forward to it.”

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts	Quotient	For	Against
Kenya	2	2	0	0	0	0	40	1.757	961/23	951/40
Netherlands	3	2	1	0	0	0	34	1.001	1410/50	1380/49
Ireland	2	1	0	0	1	0	29	2.882	997/15	692/30
Scotland	3	1	0	0	2	0	26	1.142	766/20	1040/31
Canada	4	1	3	0	0	0	26	0.981	2085/69	1909/62
Namibia	1	1	0	0	0	0	20	1.821	582/11	581/20
U.A.E.	3	1	1	0	1	0	17	0.745	988/44	904/30
Bermuda	4	0	4	0	0	0	6	0.521	1657/80	1989/50

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Match package
Bulletin – West Indies through without impressing
Verdict – A scrappy win
Gallery

Matthew Sinclair has been in excellent form in recent domestic games © Getty Images

Matthew Sinclair, the New Zealand batsman, has disagreed with John Bracewell’s comments that he is best suited as “a middle-order player”. He is getting married in April and has said he would have to reconsider his position if not offered a national contract.”It’s his opinion against my opinion,” Sinclair told .”From my point of view I’ve been quite successful batting at No. 3. By middle order, does John mean No. 5, 6 or 7? I obviously opened for New Zealand when we played Australia, that didn’t go so well. I hear rumours I was trialled and failed. But out of the good of my heart I did that to get back in the team and to help the New Zealand team out.”Sinclair was not among the 20 contracted players announced by New Zealand Cricket in May 2005. Four contracts, ranging from $125,000 to $45,000, are now available after Chris Cairns retirement and uncertainty Daryl Tuffey, Craig Cumming and Chris Harris. Sinclair has been in excellent form of late, scoring 121, 103 not out, 101 and 53 in successive innings, and is in competition with Ross Taylor, Jamie How, Andre Adams and Peter Fulton for the 2007 World Cup.”If I don’t get a contract I will have to make some decisions. I’m getting married in April. I don’t know if I am being considered. All I know is that I have to get out there and score runs. That’s what I’ve done. I haven’t heard. I don’t know much. There hasn’t been much communication from the selectors saying how far away I am.”

Graeme Smith: going to take Zimbabwe seriously© Getty Images

Graeme Smith has said that his South African team will not be taking Zimbabwe lightly when their two-Test series gets underway at Cape Town tomorrow (March 4). The Zimbabweans have been bolstered by the return of Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut and Smith wants his side to build some momentum ahead of their tour to West Indies, which begins at the end of the month.”You could see the difference Heath made to the Zimbabwe team in the last Standard Bank match on Wednesday,” Smith told the press agency. “And Andy Blignaut is back in the squad too. That will lift the Zimbabwe team’s spirits as well as their game. It’s crucial that we get into good nick ahead of the West Indies tour. We will approach this series as we would a series against any other country. We want to be clinical and ruthless, and dominate from the start.”But while Zimbabwe are looking stronger with the return of their two allrounders, the South Africans also welcome back the players who missed out on various parts of the one-day series. Jacques Kallis will resume his place in the top order having sat out all three matches while Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Smith himself are returning after breaks of various lengths.Kallis will be looking to continue his amazing run of form, after making 625 runs in the Test series against England. That included 149 at Newlands, his home ground, where Kallis has an unquenchable thirst for runs – 956 in nine matches. He will have a great opportunity to pass the 1000-run mark, but more significantly is just 167 runs short of becoming the second South African, after Gary Kirsten, to join the 7000 Test runs club. Ntini is also approaching a landmark; he requires one more wicket to join Allan Donald and Pollock as South Africans with over 200 Test wickets.Pollock and Ntini will form a three-pronged pace attack with the returning Charl Langeveldt, who will make his second Test appearance on the same ground as his first after taking 5 for 46 against England at the start of January. South Africa suddenly have some riches in the quick bowling department and have been able to omit the fiery Andre Nel, who took a career best 6 for 81 in his last Test appearance against England at Centurion Park.AB de Villiers looks likely to continue opening the batting with Herschelle Gibbs slotting into the middle-order after his recent good run in one-day cricket, where he has made 490 runs in nine innings since moving down to No. 4 and No. 5. Ashwell Prince will get his latest stab at Test cricket at No. 6 as South Africa try to settle on their best batting order.South Africa are overwhelming favourites and they will be looking forward to fine-tuning their game before the Caribbean, but at least the return of Streak and Blignaut – which boosts the Zimbabwean’s morale as much as their ability – might mean that it won’t be all one-way traffic.South Africa team 1 Graeme Smith (capt) 2 AB de Villers 3 Jacques Rudolph 4 Jacques Kallis 5 Herschelle Gibbs 6 Ashwell Prince 7 Mark Boucher (wk) 8 Shaun Pollock 9 Nicky Boje 10 Makhaya Ntini 11 Charl Langeveldt.Zimbabwe team (possible) 1 Stuart Matsikenyeri 2 Barney Rogers 3 Hamilton Masakadza 4 Dion Ebrahim 5 Sean Williams 6 Tatenda Taibu (capt and wk) 7 Heath Streak 8 Andy Blignaut 9 Elton Chigumbura 10 Christopher Mpofu 11 Douglas Hondo.

Australia Women 3 for 241 (Clark 120, Rolton 80*) beat New Zealand Women 8 for 158 by 83 runs
ScorecardAustralia took an unbeatable 3-0 lead over New Zealand in the Rose Bowl series with an 83-run win at Westpac Park.Australia racked up a formidable 3 for 241 in 50 overs – one of the best scores at the Park this summer – then restricted New Zealand to 8 for 158.Australian captain Belinda Clark scored a stylish century after New Zealand had won the toss. It was a confident, aggressive knock by Clark, who was finally caught at deep square-leg in the second to last over for 120. She faced just 148 balls and hit 13 fours in her fifth one-day international hundred.Clark received great support from Karen Rolton, with whom she established a new Australian second-wicket record partnership of 194 as they scored at will against a soft New Zealand attack. Rolton finished unbeaten on 80 off 100 balls. Beth McNeill, who had earlier secured her first international wicket with a caught-and-bowled dismissal of Lisa Keightley also picked up the scalp of Melanie Jones in the final over as Australia flung the bat. It was only the ninth Australian wicket to fall in the three matches to date.In reply New Zealand made a wretched start when opener Maria Fahey played on in the first over. Emily Drumm looked solid early on, but was bowled by Rolton for 28 – including three fours – when she was forced to adapt her approach to address New Zealand’s flagging run rate.Haidee Tiffen made her second successive duck of the series when she was bowled by Rolton in the 20th over and New Zealand were down and out at 6 for 86 by the 30th over.The next match in the six-game series is at Sydney on Saturday.

Otago had the man of the hour in Martyn Croy with his share of the national wicket-keeping record, but it was Auckland who took the spoils from the State Championship match which Auckland won with seven wickets to spare this evening.Actually Auckland, needing only 116 in the second innings to win, won with seven wickets, 11 balls and the fourth day to spare – clinching the victory at 7.45pm.Taking the maximum six points from the match Auckland retain their position sharing first place on the top of the Championship table with Wellington.Croy took his starring role when two catches in the first half hour gave him seven for the innings and abruptly ended the Auckland first innings at 316 – Rob Nicol, the second-day hero, unbeaten on 109.Croy had set a new Otago record with his sixth catch, and his seventh had him sharing the national mark with Robin Schofield of Central Districts, Wasim Bari of Pakistan, Bryan Young of Northern Districts and Ian Smith of New Zealand.The Otago second innings finished at 190, mainly due to an heroic 80 in 232 minutes by Chris Gaffaney (Rob Smith was the only other batsman to reach 20), and so Auckland had plenty of time chasing 116 for victory.They went at the task eagerly, sensing the chance of a day’s holiday tomorrow. They lost three wickets for 118, and unfortunately none of these went to Croy who, at better times, might have challenged the national match record of 10 dismissals held by Adam Gilchrist of Australia and Chris Nevin of Wellington.Apart from Gaffaney and some stout work by Smith and his fellow tail-enders, the Otago second innings was disappointing.Batting conditions were still good, the sun shone, there was a cooling breeze and too many of the Otago batsmen wasted the chance of taking their first innings toward 300 and pitting their spinners Smith and Nathan Morland against the Auckland second innings.Instead Otago lost wickets in bunches. Simon Beare and Craig Cumming were out to consecutive balls at 13 to the young Auckland medium-fast bowler Gareth Shaw, who missed a hat-trick.Robbie Lawson looked sound enough until he touch a catch from Shaw to the Auckland ‘keeper with the total on 50. Gaffaney and Andrew Hore seemed to have stiffened the resistance as they worked toward 78, but then Brooke Walker took three wickets in one over at no cost, and Otago was virtually out of the contest.Walker bowled Hore with what appeared, from the sideline perspective, to be a wrong’un which Hore did not read. Craig Pryor kept out one ball, got some bat to the next, but the ball rolled back and dislodged a bail. Croy lifted his bat clear, padded away Walker’s next ball, and umpire Barry Frost ruled Croy lbw.Morland played and missed Walker’s hat-trick ball, but Otago had lost the heart of its innings at 78, when Otago were only three runs in profit. Morland was another Reece Young-Shaw victim at 104/7 and the end was nigh.Not that Gaffaney noticed. He defended sensibly, and picked the right times to play his strong strokes with measured accuracy, and never a hint of hopeful slogging.He seemed within reach of a meritorious century when Nicol had him lbw at 154/8 with the first ball of a new spell. Gaffaney had batted with marvellous determination for 232 minutes and had hit 13 fours from 162 balls.Smith toiled away until Chris Drum knocked out his off stump at 164, and James McMillan and David Sewell worked sensibly until McMillan was lbw to Drum.This last dismissal meant that Otago had offered up four lbw dismissals in each innings, whereas Auckland lost two wickets in each innings to lbw decisions.As the only reasonable reporting position was high at mid-wicket the merit of the umpiring decisions could not be judged. However, it could be said that the bowlers who maintained a very accurate attacking line and were prepared to bend their backs (or the spinners who could get an increasing amount of turn) were likely to get a little movement and sometimes a livelier bounce from the pitch, and these appeared to strengthen the claims for lbw.