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West Indies 595 for 5 (Lara 313*, Sarwan 90) v England
Scorecard

Brian Lara completely and utterly dominated the second day of the final Test in Antigua. He eased to his second-highest Test score of 313 not out, and became only the second player to score two triple-centuries, as the batsmen racked up the runs against a tired and toothless England attack. West Indies had cruised to 595 for 5 at the close with Lara 68 runs away from the world-record individual score. And at this point, you wouldn’t bet against him reclaiming his title from Matthew Hayden.Resuming on 86 not out, Lara piled on the runs – and the agony – for England. He slowly wore the bowlers down, adding 232 with Ramnaresh Sarwan at the start, and then 126 with the ever-dependable Ridley Jacobs towards the close. Now this England team have some idea of what it was like here 10 years ago when Lara romped to his then record 375. Back then there were all sorts of celebrations, and they’ll have to start thinking of some more for tomorrow if Lara reclaims batting’s promised land.It was a mammoth effort from Lara. Not just time-wise – over 10 hours in all -, but just when the Caribbean needed something special from him to restore their faith. He was back to his best, scoring over half his side’s runs. His timing and placement was almost perfect, and the majority of his 23 fours and three sixes were worth every penny to watch – even for the England fans who paid the levy.But it wasn’t all about power, his running between the wickets was another feature, as was his instinctive feet movement. He scored allround the wicket to every part of – and three times out of – the ground. He was a man on a mission; determined, decisive and destined to make a huge score.It was another grinding day for England’s bowlers, who again struggled to make an impression on the flat pitch, which continued to hold no demons. Lara, in particular, helped himself to anything off line and he set the tone of the day from the very first ball, spanking Matthew Hoggard through the covers. The shots kept on coming, as he elegantly and effortlessly glided the ball between the fielders. It was as if he could pick the gaps at will and off every delivery.Lara raced to his hundred within 20 minutes of the start, and he didn’t hang about all day, passing his 150 in no time. He took a liking to Gareth Batty in particular, dancing down the track and cracking him through the offside for the shot of the morning. And that was just the start. As he strode into the 190s, he brought up his double in style. He slammed Batty’s opening ball of his afternoon spell for the first six of his innings, straight down the ground and way over the stand into the carpark. The next delivery was swept for four to take him to 199, and then the single did the job. He jumped for joy and punched the air as if he was letting out all that frustration and pressure of the past month. And you got the feeling there was still plenty to come.Indeed, the milestones kept on coming. After a bad patch by his standards, playing and missing a few times, he regained his control and composure to notch up his 250. Again it was Batty on the receiving end. Lara belted him down the ground for four, and next ball slapped him through the covers for the 250. This time, though, there were no celebrations. You could tell he wanted more – much more.Next all eyes were on the 300, and after an edgy period in what was a tetchy 290s, he nudged Batty into the offside to start the party – again. The whole of St John’s were on their feet, cheering a living legend of the game, and Lara was punching the air for their third time in the day. Just for good measure, he launched Michael Vaughan out the ground in the final over of the day.The only real close call he had was when he was nearly run out on 127 from a Hoggard direct hit. And that was the only way England were going to get him out. They did manage three wickets today, though, which gave them some relief from their lashings of Lara.

Sarwan was happy to play second fiddle early on. He took the opportunity to play himself back into some sort of form on the flat track and dead ball. He notched up his half-century with a cracking cover-drive off Hoggard, and later clipped Batty over midwicket for four, and over long-on for six the next ball. But just when he had a fifth Test century for the taking, Stephen Harmison provided some relief for England with the new ball. Sarwan jabbed at a rising ball outside off and edged it to Marcus Trescothick at first slip for 90 (330 for 3).The wicket slowed things down, as Ricardo Powell took time to settle himself in what is only his second Test. He had a touch of fortune early on with some streaky shots, but he ran out of luck when he tried to pull a short ball from Harmison well outside offstump, but skied it to Nasser Hussain at third man for 23 (380 for 4).Lara wasn’t impressed, but he found a more reliable ally in Ryan Hinds, who played sensibly for his 36. There was something for Batty to smile about, though. He picked up his second caught-and-bowled of the innings when Hinds miscued an ondrive andchipped the ball back (469 for 5).Jacobs stuck around for a handy 47 not out, and rubbed salt into the bowler’s wounds with a few of his bruising blows. There was no chance of the short ball bothering him on this pitch, whose docile nature Vaughan must have been cursing all day – and a heck of a long day at that. He had to endure 105 overs of torture, using seven bowlers in all, including himself and Trescothick. He wasn’t helped by the fact that Hoggard missed the last two sessions feeling unwell. Again, England didn’t bowl that badly, but they just came up against someone too good. It was Lara’s day, but tomorrow could be his best.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A scintillating 81 off 50 deliveries by Nazimuddin briefly threatened an upset but lack of support from the other batsmen allowed Pakistan a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the Quadrangular tournament. The early loss of fellow opener Tamim Iqbal did not deter Nazimuddin as he dispatched the much talked-about duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to all parts of the Nairobi Gymkhana.Iftikhar Anjum replaced Asif as early as the sixth over but 20 came off his first over as Bangladesh went past 50. The introduction of spin, however, paid dividends for the second time in the match as Shahid Afridi dismissed Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful was run out in the following over. While Nazimuddin kept blazing, Afridi picked up another wicket to dry up the scoring from one end.Nazimuddin was finally dismissed by Yasir Arafat after striking eight fours and five sixes, taking with him back to the pavilion Bangladesh’s hopes of victory. Shoaib returned to pick up another wicket in his final over but the Pakistan bowling attack, for the second match running, failed to dismiss their opposition after their batsmen had piled up a huge total.A 76-run opening partnership between Salman Butt and Imran Nazir and some firm hitting by Younis Khan and Afridi helped Pakistan to 191. Put in to bat by Ashraful, Pakistan’s openers adopted aggression from the first ball. The Bangladesh bowlers, especially Mashrafe Mortaza, were bent upon bowling short and were dealt with severely. Pakistan’s 50 came up in the fifth over which was blasted for 21 runs by Nazir, including a brace of fours and sixes. Nazir was eventually run out one short of his half-century but Younis, who dealt mainly in sixes, kept the run rate close to nine an over.The introduction of spin slowed Pakistan’s progress a tad and also brought the wicket of Butt who was cleaned up by Ashraful for 33. Shoaib Malik promoted himself up the order but only lasted six deliveries and scored 10. His dismissal, however, brought the crowd-favourite Afridi to the crease who had yesterday blasted a 50 off 18 deliveries in the previous match.Content with giving Younis the strike, Afridi broke the shackles after being dropped by Ferhad Reza when on 2. A few sixes after Younis’ dismissal (48 off 25 deliveries) gave not only the crowd more to cheer about but also gave Pakistan bowlers yet another solid platform to work with.

The rash of empty seats has been an embarrassment, especially at the Sir Vivian Richards ground for the opening Super Eight clash between the West Indies and Australia. Tickets, it was stated, had all been sold when they clearly hadn’t.My understanding is that sponsors and travel agents, mostly out of India, have either not taken up or returned their ticket allotments and that there was not enough time to properly market their availability locally.Even so, high prices, not only for entry but also for food and beverage at the concession stands, are an obvious deterrent for fans not interested in following neutral matches.As was evident with the three-way tournament involving Pakistan and Zimbabwe in the Caribbean a few years back, West Indians are not drawn to such contests, no matter what is charged. The same obtains everywhere. It is a reason why England have abandoned their triangular One-day series and Australia are about to do the same.In the ICC Champions Trophy in India last October, where there were similar complaints about prices, only matches involving India attracted sell-out crowds. Even the final, between Australia and the West Indies, was shunned. Gate receipts and charges to concessionaires go to the governments, which have bankrolled the new stands and other affiliated work, and to the local organising committees (LOCs) that have prepared the way.It is their one source of revenue and they are understandably intent on maximising the returns on their considerable investments. But they need to adjust to changing circumstances and try to fill as many of the empty seats as they can by lowering the price of admission.The example of the January sales that cut prices on unsold Christmas stock and airlines that adopt the same principle by offering last-minute cut fares refute the claim that such a move is unfair on those who purchased originally.Public ire has been especially aroused by the stipulation that offers no pass-out vouchers. It means that once the punter has left the ground, there is no way of getting back in unless through the understanding of some sympathetic official-and that’s an oxymoron.Once they hold a ticket, West Indians are accustomed of being able to come and go as they please, to attend a meeting, to take in the lunch hour from the office, to pick up the kids. At this World Cup, they are under virtual house arrest once they are in the ground. Those who turned up early yesterday morning at the Viv Richards ground had to wait five hours before play got going. Had they left, there was no way back.

Scorecard

After a solid performance by their batsmen, Pakistan Under-19s turned in a superb bowling display to beat Sri Lanka Under-19s by 83 runs in the first match of the pre-World Cup tri-series in Colombo.After Sri Lanka elected to field, there were some initial jitters for Pakistan as Ahmed Shehzad and Umair Mir fell in quick succession to leave their team at 31 for 2. Umar Amin, who anchored the innings with a sedate 68, was then involved in a run-a-ball 70-run stand with Umar Akmal, who did the bulk of the scoring in the partnership. Akmal carted eight boundaries in his 40-ball 41 before being bowled by medium-pacer Ishara Jayaratne.A patient 42 from Ali Asad was followed by aggressive contributions from Usman Salahuddin (41 off 40) and captain Imad Wasim (21 off 16) as Pakistan finished on a competitive 256 for 5. Left-arm medium-pacer Chathura Peiris was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers taking 3 for 43 in his ten overs.The hosts’ chase received an early jolt when Dilshan Munaweera was bowled by Adil Raza in the first over. Pakistan struck at regular intervals and a 20-run stand for the fourth wicket was the highest Sri Lanka managed for their first eight wickets. By the 22nd over, they were reduced to a hopeless 79 for 8. Peiris, coming in at No. 10, then slammed a 52-ball 62 but it was to no avail as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 173 in the 40th over. Mohammad Rameez was the most effective Pakistan bowler and had excellent returns of 10-1-31-3.The tournament, also featuring England, sees each side take on the others twice before the final on February 1. Pakistan face England in the next match on Thursday.

Opening batsman Connor Williams with a superb unbeaten 96, steeredBaroda to a four wicket victory over Saurashtra in the West Zone RanjiTrophy one day match played at the GSFC ground in Baroda on Saturday.Chasing Saurashtra’s score of 225 for eight in 50 overs, Barodareached their target with five balls to spare.Put in to bat by Baroda skipper Tushar Arothe, Saurashtra got off to abad start. Rakesh Patel bowled Sudhir Tanna, who had scratched aroundfor 19 balls without scoring a run.Captain Sitanshu Kotak, who came in at No 3, played a responsibleinnings of 68 off 106 balls with three boundary hits before he wascaught by wicketkeeper Milap Mewada off the bowling of Rakesh Patel. Aseries of valuable partnerships helped Saurashtra to maintain areasonable run rate. But it was Sudip Mehta who really gave the runrate a big boost. Coming in at No 7, he hit a whirlwind knock of 51off just 30 balls with the help of six fours and a six. before he wasout in the final over. Rakesh Patel (3/32) and Hamid Ali (3/40) werethe pick of the bowlers. Ajith Bhiote bowled a miserly spell of 10overs that cost him only 26 runs.Former Indian player Atul Bedade gave Baroda an explosive start byhitting 24 off 15 balls with five hits to the ropes. He was out at 32in the sixth over. Baroda lost Himanshu Jadhav 12 quickly but a thirdwicket partnership of 71 runs from 14 overs between Jacob Martin andWilliams stepped up the run rate. Martin was out for 30 (40 balls).Harendra Jani, who dismissed Martin, picked up two more wickets butWilliams stood like a rock and guided Baroda to victory. Towards theend, Williams received able support from Darshan Mulherkar who hit 22off as many deliveries with two fours. The two added 37 runs for theunbroken seventh wicket off 6.3 overs. Harendra Jani finished withthree for 50 from his ten overs.

Craig McMillan, back from India with the New Zealand team but unavailable for the tour of Pakistan, will captain the Canterbury XI to play Auckland in a two-day match at Lincoln starting on Monday.The team is:Craig McMillan (capt), Michael Papps, Shanan Stewart, Peter Fulton, Gary Stead, Neil Broom, Aaron Redmond, Paul Wiseman, Shane Bond, Warren Wisneski, Chris Martin, Wade Cornelius.

The Indian Premier League may have eased several restrictions on media coverage for the forthcoming event but the Editors Guild of India has condemned the clause that prevents news agencies from supplying pictures to cricket-specific websites.The Guild has also come down hard on the limitations imposed on television news channels, one that has prompted all the outlets to put their coverage on hold.”[The Guild] regrets that the news agencies have been barred from supplying pictures to one set of subscribers, namely standalone specialised websites, as the news agencies should have the total freedom to supply news and pictures to all their subscribers,” KS Sachidananda Murthy, the Guild secretary-general, said in a release. “The Guild notes that the news agencies are in negotiation with the IPL organisers to remove this clause also from the terms and conditions.”Similarly the sole telecast rights license has put new conditions on giving feed to news television channels. These are not acceptable, and the Guild fully supports the stand taken by the News Broadcasters Association.”Meanwhile the News Media Corporation, which reacted to the fresh guidelines on Tuesday, is set to discuss the issue on Wednesday evening. As of now, though, they feel the restrictions are unacceptable. “As the Guild has said, the terms remain unacceptable,” Barry Parker, the South Asia bureau chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP), said.

Western Australia 378 for 6 (Goodwin 156, Rogers 94) v Queensland
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On the day that Zimbabwe’s batting folded against Australia at Sydney, Murray Goodwin provided more indelible evidence of how much they are missing his influence, as he strolled to an effortless century against Queensland.Goodwin’s 156 scorched the Bulls’ attack on a boiling opening day, as Western Australia added 104 runs in the final session alone, to reach the close on 378 for 6. Queensland did rally in the final hour, however, as they nipped in with three wickets. Goodwin has now scored 753 first-class runs this summer at 83.66, including three Pura Cup centuries, although Western Australia has not taken 20 wickets in a match all season.The first two sessions belonged to Chris Rogers, who fell just before tea, six runs short of his second century in three days. Rogers had his fair share of luck – Mike Kasprowicz eventually had him caught-behind, but not before he had been dropped on 65, by Jimmy Maher at short cover. Maher had to leave the field for treatment, but was only suffering from bruising.Goodwin cut loose in the last session, and had lives on 120 and 142 before Wade Seccombe completed a neat stumping off Nathan Hauritz. WA lost three wickets for 10 runs in the final hour, after Marcus North’s 67 ended abruptly with a direct hit from Clinton Perren in the deep.Kasprowicz, who had to leave the field with a leg injury, was Queensland’s best bowler. He had Justin Langer caught at gully for 20, and deserved better luck.

Bangladesh have recalled the left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr to their squad for the first Test against Zimbabwe which starts at Chittagong this Thursday, January 6.Enamul, 18, missed the two-Test series against India last month, and has only played two further Tests since his debut against England in October 2003. Nazmul Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahman have been left out.Bangladesh, who recently won their first one-day international at home, are still waiting for their first victory in Tests, but must fancy their chances against this weakened Zimbabwe team. For Zimbabwe, it will be their first Test since May last year when Sri Lanka beat them by an innings and 254 runs, after which they agreed to the ICC’s suggestion that should stop playing Test matches for a while.Bangladesh squad Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar (capt), Aftab Ahmed, Mohammed Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Mohammed Rafique, Khaled Mashud (wk), Manjurul Islam Rana, Enamul Haque jnr, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Talha Jubair.

National League Division One
TableGloucestershire 199 for 3 beat Glamorgan by seven wickets at Cheltenham
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Gloucestershire moved to the top of Division One with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Glamorgan. James Averis and Mark Hardinges claimed three wickets apiece as Glamorgan collapsed to 197 all out, and Gloucestershire eased to victory with seven balls to spare. Each of the batsmen made a contribution – Alex Gidman continued his fine form with 49, before Matt Windows wrapped things up with an unbeaten 54.Worcestershire 219 for 6 beat Surrey 140 by 79 runs at Guildford
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An understrength Surrey team surrendered their top spot in Division One with a 79-run defeat against Worcestershire at Guildford. Ben Smith produced a captain’s innings of 93 not out, with 10 fours, to ensure a decent total of 219 for 6, after James Ormond had grabbed two early wickets. Smith found good support from Andrew Hall, who added 87 for the fourth wicket, before Kabir Ali’s impressive return of 4 for 30 devastated Surrey’s reply. Matt Mason also picked up four wickets, with the only resistance coming from Adam Hollioake’s 33. Essex 203 for 6 beat Leicestershire 166 by 37 runs at Southend
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Will Jefferson’s 61 made the difference as Essex overcame Leicestershire in a low-scoring match at Southend. Jefferson cracked eight fours in his innings, and added 101 for the second wicket with Ronnie Irani, who threw in a robust 36. Jeremy Snape was the pick of the Leicestershire bowlers, and his 3 for 14 from nine overs might have made the difference. But Antonio Palladino, Graham Napier and Joseph Grant each claimed two wickets, and only Paul Nixon’s 40 provided any meaningful resistance. Yorkshire 197 for 8 beat Kent 179 by 18 runs at Scarborough
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Muttiah Muralitharan picked up two wickets on his Kent debut, but he was unable to prevent Yorkshire from recording their second win of the season. Craig White top-scored for Yorkshire with a watchful 47 off 82 balls, before Tim Bresnan and Chris Silverwood added vital runs at the bottom of the order. Ed Smith and Robert Key replied with an opening stand of 57, and David Fulton made 48, but Craven claimed 4 for 22 to secure victory.National League Division Two
Latest tableMiddlesex 238 for 5 beat Northamptonshire 234 for 8 by five wickets at Northampton
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Owais Shah’s 83 knocked the stuffing out of Northamptonshire, as Middlesex successfully pursued 235 for victory. Shah hit two sixes and six fours in 86 balls, after Andrew Strauss had launched the chase with a handy 40. Northamptonshire’s opener Tim Roberts had earlier made 64, his highest one-day score, and David Sales chipped in with 56. But Simon Cook took three wickets and prevented a handy total turning into an unassailable one.