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Centuries from Nakul Verma and Soumya Ranjan Swain went in vain as Punjab won by three wickets in a thriller to secure their quarter-final berth. Services posted an imposing 323 for 7 courtesy a 186-run stand for the fifth wicket between Verma and Swain. But the knocks were consigned to being second-best on the day as Punjab rode Yuvraj Singh’s 83-ball 98 to chase down the steep target with six balls to spare.Jiwanjot Singh (41) and Pargat Singh (49) added 82 in just 10.1 overs to set up the chase that was then driven around Yuvraj’s knock, with Mandeep Singh (45) and Mayank Siddana (46) chipping in with vital contributions. The winning runs were hit by Harbhajan Singh, who finished 16 not out courtesy two fours and a six.Tamil Nadu bossed their way to a fifth win in six matches courtesy centuries from Dinesh Karthik and B Aparajith and a six-wicket haul from Rahil Shah. Rajasthan, who were chasing 385, were bundled out for 132 in 26.2 overs.Rajasthan’s decision to field backfired as Karthik (108) and Aparajith (137) added 199 for the second wicket to set the platform for a final onslaught. M Vijay, batting at No. 5, provided the final flourish by smashing six fours and three sixes in his 44-ball 74 as TN smashed 161 off the last 15 overs.Rajasthan lost the top three inside the third over, and from there on, it was simply a procession as Shah, the left-arm spinner, finished with 6 for 37, his best List A figures. Rajat Bhatia, who made 94 in Rajasthan’s thrilling win over Mumbai on Thursday, was the lone ranger with the bat. He was unbeaten on 29 when the last wicket fell. Rajasthan finished sixth in the group with three wins and as many losses.Mumbai cruised to a seven-wicket win over Hyderabad, but Punjab’s win meant they were eliminated from the knockouts despite winning four out of their six matches. Hyderabad’s 217 for 8, achieved largely on the back of Hanuma Vihari’s 95, was chased down quite easily in 44.2 overs, with Akhil Herwadkar (85) and Shreyas Iyer (84) hitting the high notes. Their 134-run stand flattened Hyderabad, even before Ajinkya Rahane made a sprightly unbeaten 31 to take Mumbai home by seven wickets.

Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Darren Sammy will be eligible for selection for upcoming tournaments, including the World Twenty20, despite not being given annual retainer contracts by the West Indies Cricket Board. The only condition the WICB has placed is that the players will need to meet criteria set in place by the selection panel, led by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd. The six players are not part of the group of 15 who were given retainer contracts for the period between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016.According to Michael Muirhead, the WICB’s chief executive, the selectors had shortlisted 15 players for the contracts based on certain criteria that were drawn keeping in mind the future of West Indies cricket. Muirhead pointed out that the aforementioned six players – including Sammy who captains the West Indies T20 side – did not fit into the selection panel’s vision and hence were not given a contract.”The selectors did the retainers based on where they saw West Indies cricket going and the philosophy which they wanted to encourage and adopt, principally being loyal to commitment and really build for the longer form of the game,” Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday. “Lloyd had previously said how and where he was projecting our cricket to go, and how he wanted to build it.”According to Muirhead, the 15 players were shortlisted by the panel and endorsed by the WICB based on the “combination of their performances in the regional tournaments as well as their attitude”.Still, Muirhead insisted the six players should not misread the situation as they would be eligible for forthcoming series, if the selectors deemed fit.Some of the six players have failed to feature in the list of contracted players in the past, for reasons ranging from disputes with the WICB to voluntarily declining the retainer. In January 2015, Gayle and Narine had refused the retainer contracts as they wanted to focus on playing domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world, where they are marquee players.”When Chris Gayle and Narine refused our retainer contracts some years ago it was so that they had the freedom to do what they wanted,” Muirhead said. “But they are eligible to play all our games if they meet our criteria. This not a penalty.”Muirhead said most of the players had made the decision to make themselves unavailable because they wanted to be free to play in T20 leagues to earn more. “And they took that business decision to do so,” Muirhead said.Muirhead also stressed that most of the six players had already made public their intentions of not playing Test cricket. “Many of those players have withdrawn from the long form of the game officially and are not interested in playing for the West Indies in all formats,” he said.In the last two years, Bravo and Sammy announced their retirement from Test cricket. Pollard has never played Test cricket and is seen by selectors as a limited-overs specialist. Although Lloyd has always been keen for Russell to play Test cricket, the allrounder told the chairman of selectors he would like to play only limited-overs cricket due to a bad knee. Narine, who has played six Tests, is busy remodelling his bowling action after he was suspended by the ICC in November last year. Only Gayle, a 103-Test veteran, has openly stated he is still keen to return to Test cricket in 2016.

ScorecardCharlie Shreck and Steve Kirby shared seven wickets as England Lions completed a 30-run victory against a Mumbai Cricket Association XI in a warm-up match. The pair, neither of whom were in the original touring party, ensured the MCA XI fell short of their 261-run target and allowed the Lions to head into their opening Duleep Trophy match in good spirits.The Lions began on 86 for 7 and extended their second innings to 114 before Jonathan Trott was last man out for 34 to hand Dhaval Kulkarni a five-wicket haul. Mumbai were soon in trouble as Liam Plunkett claimed his first wicket of the match and Shreck struck twice with the new ball to leave them tottering on 48 for 3.Hiken Shah (23) and Aditya Tare (39) began to repair the damage with a fourth-wicket stand of 55 before Kirby snared both in the space of five overs. Shreck worked away at the middle order and Adil Rashid, given his first bowl of the match ahead of Monty Panesar who sat out the second innings, collected Kulkarni as the Lions closed in.However, they were made to wait by a feisty last-wicket stand of 42 between 19-year-old Omkar Gurav and Usman Malvi. They chipped away at the target, but just as it was coming into view Kirby returned to remove Gurav for a battling 46.England now travel to Vadodara ahead of their opening Duleep Trophy match, against Central Zone, starting on February 3.

Simon Katich ended a week in which he returned to the Australia squad by picking up the Steve Waugh Medal as New South Wales’ outstanding player. Katich’s dream season included a record 1506 runs at 94.13 and the Pura Cup trophy before his promotion to the Test outfit for next month’s West Indies tour.He dominated the judging for the medal, which included Pura and FR Cup matches, picking up 269 votes and easily beating Brad Haddin’s 129 at the ceremony in Sydney on Friday night. Katich also received back-to-back Pura Cup Player of the Year awards after posting five centuries, including a career-high 306 against Queensland. Doug Bollinger, the left-arm fast bowler, earned 111 nominations to finish 80 behind his captain.Haddin, who will join Katich in the West Indies, was the limited-overs star and was recognised for his FR Cup form after winning one more vote than Dominic Thornely’s 87. International commitments meant Haddin appeared in only six games, but his 314 runs and seven dismissals swayed the judges and ensured he matched last season’s victory.The Belinda Clark Medal was won for the third year in a row by Lisa Sthalekar, the Australia vice-captain. Sthalekar, a batting allrounder, collected 312 runs and 12 wickets as she steered the New South Wales Breakers to their third consecutive WNCL title. The campaign was a successful one for Sthalekar, who had already been named the WNCL Player of the Year and the Australian Women’s International Player of the Year.”Simon and Lisa have both had fantastic seasons in leading their respective sides to victory,” David Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, said. “Simon’s performances were phenomenal and winning the Steve Waugh Medal is a just reward for his outstanding, record-breaking summer. Lisa has also had an impressive summer and her form was a major factor in the Breakers winning the WNCL for an incredible 10th time in 12 seasons.”The Rising Star Awards went to Phillip Hughes, who at 19 became the youngest to score a century in a domestic final, and the 17-year-old Ellyse Perry, Australia’s record-setting Test debutant. Richie Benaud, Alan Davidson, Bob Simpson and Steve Waugh received medals and entry into the state’s Hall of Fame, which welcomed the 12 members of New South Wales’ team of the past 150 years.

The BCCI has banned Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf for five years on charges of corruption and misconduct. The ban prevents Rauf from umpiring or playing or representing cricket in any form or being associated with activities of the BCCI and its affiliates.

Articles under which Rauf was charged

2.2.2 Soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing, persuading, encouraging, facilitating or authorising any other party to enter into a Bet for the direct or indirect benefit of the Participant in relation to the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of any Match or Event.
2.3.2 Disclosing Inside Information to any person (with or without Reward) before or during any Match or Event where the Participant might reasonably be expected to know that disclosure of such information in such circumstances could be used in relation to Betting.
2.3.3 Soliciting, inducing, enticing, persuading, encouraging or facilitating (a) any Participant to commit an offence under any of the foregoing provisions of this Article 2.3 and/or (b) any other person to do any act that would be an offence if that person were a Participant.
2.4.1 Providing or receiving any gift, payment or other benefit (whether of a monetary value or otherwise) in circumstances that the Participant might reasonably have expected could bring him/her or the sport of cricket into disrepute.

Rauf was named as a “wanted accused” in the Mumbai Police’s chargesheet for the betting scandal in IPL 2013 after he had left India during the IPL even as the Mumbai Police wanted to question him in person.The BCCI’s disciplinary committee, in a meeting on Friday, found Rauf guilty of corruption and misconduct under articles 2.2.2, 2.3.2, 2.3.3 and 2.4.1 of the board’s Anti-corruption Code. Rauf did not appear before the committee but sent his preliminary submission on January 15 and a written statement responding to the allegations on February 8. These statements, along with a report by the Commissioner of Enquiry, were considered before the decision to ban him was taken.Rauf repeatedly denied allegations of corruption made against him in the chargesheet and asked for proof. After leaving India in May 2013, where he was officiating in the IPL, Rauf held a press conference and stressed that he had not engaged in any corrupt activities. When news had emerged that Rauf was wanted for questioning by police, the ICC issued a release saying that the umpire had been stood down from his duties in the Champions Trophy in England. Rauf was later dropped from the Elite Panel of Umpires, but the ICC clarified that the situation was not a factor in his exclusion.Rauf made his first international appearance as an umpire in 2000, officiating in an ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He was included in the Elite Panel in 2006 and has officiated in 49 Tests, 98 ODIs and 23 T20 internationals.

Scorecard

South Africa secured their place in the 2009 Women’s World Cup after overpowering Ireland by seven wickets. South Africa have been a cut above the other teams seen in the tournament and proved too powerful as they knocked off the target with more than 22 overs to spare.”We’re really relieved and very happy to have pulled it off,” captain Cri-Zelda Brits said. “The team haven’t let me down since I’ve taken over the captaincy and we’ve stuck at it and come to the party at this event with the bowling.”The victory was set-up by another impressive bowling performance. Ireland suffered an early setback when Isobel Joyce was caught behind for 0 and the innings never got off the ground. Sunette Loubser produced another miserly spell of offspin and claimed two middle-order scalps while sharp fielding engineered three run outs.Cecelia Joyce fought hard and carried her bat with a determined 43, however the fact it took 143 deliveries show how difficult it was for the Irish.Isobel Joyce caused a few early alarms in South Africa’s chase with two wickets but there wasn’t enough firepower to seriously trouble the home side. Olivia Anderson anchored the innings and the job was finished off in rapid fashion by Annelie Minnie’s breezy 27.Ireland captain Heather Whelan said: “I think everybody is absolutely gutted. We trained so hard for so long for this in order to try to go to the World Cup in Australia but it’s not going to be.”We’re not going to the World Cup but we will battle on and we’ll be here again in four years looking for a place in the World Cup and we expect to make it next time.”
Scorecard
A superb performance from Pakistan’s bowlers, dismissing Netherlands for just 68, handed their team a fine 94-run win and entry into the 2009 World Cup.Pakistan’s meagre total of 162 was set up by their openers, Tasqeen Qadeer and Bismah Maroof, who put on 79 for the opening wicket. But Netherlands’ bowlers hit back, prompting a collapse in which Pakistan lost 9 for 83 in 25 overs. Bismah Maroof top-scored with 45 from 77 balls but, after her and Tasqueen (27), only Sana Javed reached double figures as the lower-order capitulated to Lotte Egging’s medium-pacers.A target of 163, however, proved more than enough. Violet Wattenberg fell to the second ball of Netherlands’ chase, edging Asmavia Iqbal straight to slip, while Helmien Rambaldo was bowled by Qanita Jalil to leave them on 0 for 2. Annemarie Tanke cracked five fours in her brave 41 from 70 balls and Caroline de Fouw remained unbeaten on a defiant 11 (from 44 balls), but there was little else from Netherlands’ lower order who were skittled for 68 in the 32nd over.”It’s an absolutely awesome feeling. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels,” said Urooj Mumtaz, the Pakistan captain. “That was the task we came here to do and I think we pulled off a great win. We are very excited to be going to the World Cup.”Every single girl did their job on and off the field. In fielding, batting and bowling, everybody did their task – it was an absolutely brilliant performance.”Pakistan meet South Africa – who beat Ireland in the other semi-final today – for the tournament’s final on Sunday.5th place play-off semi-finals
In the battle for the remaining places, Scotland overcame Papua New Guinea by four wickets to move into the play-off final and Zimbabwe outclassed Bermuda, who have been embarrassingly out of their depth throughout the tournament, by 125 runs.

Big picture – One last dance on memorable tour

South Africa’s memorable tour of India can still end with a nice cherry on the top. Having won the Tests 2-0 and forced a decider in the ODIs, they go into the last T20I with a chance to deny India a series win, which has been done only once in their last 14 series or tournaments in the format.However, no play in foggy Lucknow has made sure South Africa can’t win this series. And that is not an unexpected result. India have their T20I game almost sorted. They are only ironing out final wrinkles before their World Cup title defence. South Africa are playing like a side still figuring out the ideal structure for their limited-overs teams.There should be no threat of fog or need for jumpers in Ahmedabad, where day-time temperatures are still hitting early 30s. At least going by last year’s IPL, Ahmedabad also happens to be a venue least affected by the toss. In seven night games this year, sides defended successfully six times. However, you never can tell since this is a different time of the year.

Form guide

India WLWWW
South Africa LWLLL

In the spotlight – Marco Jansen and Suryakumar Yadav

This will be remembered as the tour when Marco Jansen realised his enormous potential in all its glory. With bat, ball and in the field, Jansen has been a delight to watch all tour. One final crowning achievement will be if he can win them one last match.Suryakumar Yadav has had the exact opposite time even though his side continues to win. He has not scored a T20I half-century since last October; his numbers since then: 21 innings, 239 runs, strike rate 119.5. He will want a positive turn before India go into a break of nearly a month.Sanju Samson has an outside chance of featuring in Ahmedabad•Associated Press

Team news – Bumrah back, Gill a question mark

One positive sign for India in the Lucknow no-show was that Jasprit Bumrah, who had gone on personal leave, was back with them. He should play in his hometown of Ahmedabad although the other Ahmedabadi, Axar Patel, has been ruled out with illness. However, there were reports around a possible toe injury for Shubman Gill, which could give Sanju Samson a game.India (probable) 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill/ Sanju Samson, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Harshit Rana/ Washington Sundar, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun ChakravarthyIt has been tough to get a handle on what changes South Africa make to their white-ball XIs and the reason for said changes. Ahmedabad will be no different.South Africa (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 George Linde/Keshav Maharaj/Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Ottneil Baartman

Pitch and conditions – Warmer climes of Ahmedabad

These are the parts of India that should be hosting international cricket in November, December and first half of January. It is not cold, the light stays on longer, and fog and smog are not an issue. Ahmedabad could finally give us the first close match of the series.

Stats and trivia

• Arshdeep has got Quinton de Kock out five times in 56 balls in all T20 cricket for just 66 runs.
• Ten men have opened in 80 or more T20Is. Among them, only Uganda’s Simon Ssesazi has a poorer strike rate than that of Reeza Hendricks, who has scored a three-ball duck and 8 off 10 in this series so far. In 15 innings against India, he has got to 50 only once and has struck at 118.8.

Despite Australia’s decision to postpone their tour to Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) remains confident that future international commitments in the country will go ahead as scheduled.To fill the gap in the international calendar following the postponement, the PCB has invited Bangladesh to take part in a five-match ODI Series and a Twenty20 International in April. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has agreed in principle to the tour and the schedule will be announced shortly.Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, said he was particularly disappointed Australia made the decision without sending a security team, as had been planned, to assess the situation. “Our consistent plea has been that at least the ground situation here should be assessed by Cricket Australia, but they said that they had made independent assessments and the decision was based on that,” Ashraf told .Hours before the decision was made, two suicide blasts rocked Lahore, killing at least 20 people. Once thought to be a safe venue – it was on the itinerary for the Australia series – this was the fourth attack in the city this year, highlighting how much the situation has deteriorated.Ashraf, however, pointed to recent international tours as proof cricket and cricketers remain unaffected. “Our position is that these blasts have been happening for the last two years,” he said. “That hasn’t changed now and we have had four international tours to Pakistan recently, including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia A. These are tragic incidents and paint a bad picture of the country, but they are targeted specifically at security institutions.”Pakistan is set to host the Asia Cup towards the end of June – the Indian and Sri Lankan boards have confirmed they will take part, though that was before Australia’s decision. As for the ICC Champions Trophy in October and the Asia Cup, assignments which may be affected by Australia’s pull-out and the generally unstable security environment in the country, Ashraf remained confident they would go ahead as scheduled.”We are very confident our cricket will continue,” he said. “The Asia Cup is very much on towards the end of June. Arjuna Ranatunga [the Sri Lanka Cricket chairman] and the Asian Cricket Council will be here soon to finalise plans for that. The Champions Trophy is on soon after that and the ICC will also try and ensure that all teams take part in that. India are due to come here at the end of the year as well.”The board is also working on plans to fill up its calendar over the coming months now that Australia has pulled out. With Bangladesh set to tour next month, the board has plans to host a tri-series in August. “A number of teams will want practice before the Champions Trophy,” Ashraf said, “so we are looking to invite sides over in the window before it as well.”

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former ICC and BCCI president, got a further reprieve after the Mumbai Metropolitan court adjourned the hearing for the case filed against him by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police for alleged embezzlement of funds from the 1996 World Cup jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The court set June 16 as the next date of hearing after Dalimya’s lawyers asked for more time to study the case.Last month the court had granted Dalmiya bail after the EOW had filed a chargesheet accusing him of misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 2.9 crore (approx US$725,000). It alleged that Dalmiya diverted funds from a bank account in Kolkata that was originally set up for paying legal fees towards various other expenses. There was a “technical arrest” but Dalmiya received a swift bail after he said he would produce surety of Rs 25,000 ($625).Dalmiya was absent from the hearing on Friday but his lawyer Satish Maneshinde said his client had been granted exemption from personal apperance. “The surety bonds were furnished in front of the court and since he [Dalimiya] had to attend to some [religious ceremonies], we requested the court that there was no impediment in granting him exemption.”

Kerala ended the second day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy matchagainst Karnataka, trailing by 68 runs with seven wickets in hand inthe first innings at the Nehru stadium in Kochi on Thursday. Replyingto Karnataka’s first innings total of 236, Kerala were 168 for three.Resuming at 231 for seven, Karnataka were dismissed for the additionof only five runs. Medium pacer Tinu Yohannan bagged three wickets for61 whereas Sunil Oasis and Suresh Kumar picked up two each.Kerala scored at about two runs an over in making a confident replybefore play was called off an hour early due to bad light. PrashanthMenon was the top scorer with a steady 63. He faced 123 balls and hitseven fours and a six. Dodda Ganesh picked up two of the threewickets. Sunil Oasis (30), having been dropped twice, had Ajay Kudua(17) batting at the crease when play was halted.