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Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka batsman, is set to join the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League. He tweeted on Thursday morning that he had received a call-up from the franchise. The Sri Lanka batsman will replace South Africa’s Davy Jacobs, who was ruled out following an injury.Jayawardene is expected to fly out to the Caribbean on Thursday afternoon, ahead of T&T’s game against the St Lucia Zouks in Kingston on Saturday. “It’s going to be a long trip to get over there, but I am looking forward to meeting up with the guys as soon as possible and hopefully helping us secure a berth in the CPL semi-finals this coming weekend,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve always loved playing cricket in the Caribbean, so I am really looking forward to a short stint with T&T Red Steel.”He will be the second Sri Lanka player to feature in the CPL, with Muttiah Muralitharan turning out for the Jamaica Tallawahs. Jawayardene joins Ross Taylor and Kevin O’Brien as one of the franchise’s overseas players. Australian batsman Aaron Finch had earlier withdrawn from the squad to lead Australia A on their tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.T&T, usually the powerhouse of regional T20 cricket in the Caribbean, suffered a poor start to the franchise-based CPL, losing three consecutive games before producing two wins. With two games to go in the league phase of the tournament, they sit fifth out of six teams on the points table. Their remaining matches are this weekend, against St Lucia – the only team below them on the points table – on Saturday and the Jamaica Tallawahs on Sunday.

Brendan Taylor has put Zimbabwe’s loss to Pakistan in the second one-dayer primarily down to not having a “clear enough” death-bowling plan. In their historic win on Tuesday, when they restricted Pakistan to a much more gettable 244, Taylor said the bowlers had executed better at the end of the innings, whereas on Thursday they “missed their lengths”.”We started well, the first 20 overs were good [with Pakistan going] at three and a half an over, but we let them get 230 in the last 30 overs, so we weren’t good enough today. They came back with a much better performance and we expected that. With them building sizeable partnerships, though, it was difficult at the death, with not a lot of margin for error. I think our bowlers missed our lengths and probably didn’t have a clear enough plan like we had on Tuesday.”Chasing 300 against an attack of Pakistan’s quality is never easy, Taylor said, but the previous victory had boosted Zimbabwe’s confidence enough so that they always thought they were in with a chance. “With their bowling attack, 300 was going to be difficult. It’s always a challenge playing a world-class team, chasing 300 runs. But at one stage we were 200 for 4. We had wickets in hand, needing eight an over, with Elton [Chigumbura] still to come, anything was possible.”It’s important to have that self-belief that we can chase down any total and we’ve done that in the past against New Zealand, chasing 330. And the game we won on Tuesday certainly helped us believe in ourselves.”Pakistan’s win means the third ODI, on Saturday, will be a series decider. Taylor said he’ll back his team to play with freedom in that game, though they might need to tweak the line-up for it. “New game on Saturday, we have to leave all this behind and find our best performers if we have to win. A change or two might work but we’ll find that out tomorrow.”It’s important to instill confidence in the players, [have them] playing with freedom. If you go out there and you are uptight and nervous, you are freezing up at the crease, you’re not going to be competitive. You need to take a few calculated risks in order to post a good total or chase down a total. It’s about believing in your team-mates and instilling that confidence in them to go out there and do it because if they do play their best cricket, everyone can contribute to a winning performance.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File Photo: JP Duminy top scored for South Africa A with a patient 84•Getty Images

Timely wickets were the order of the day in Rustenburg, as every time South Africa A assumed a position of strength, India A’s bowlers, particularly medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey, delivered a blow to regain the advantage. Pandey picked up four wickets, and broke all three of South Africa’s half-century partnerships, to leave them at 312 for 9, and 70 runs short of the follow-on target at stumps.South Africa would have had high hopes for Dean Elgar’s prolific run – 361 runs in his last two first-class matches – to continue, but Mohammed Shami trapped him in front of his stumps in the third over of the morning. A counterattacking Rilee Rossouw and a solid Simon Harmer recovered lost momentum for South Africa, going from 22 or 2 to 94 for 2.Rossouw, with 44 off 46 balls, had just doubled Harmer’s score when Pandey got his first wicket, having the latter caught behind. Suresh Raina replaced Pandey in the 33rd over and found immediate success, getting rid of Rossouw for 57, with eight fours and two sixes. Temba Bavuma followed two overs later as South Africa went to lunch at 119 for 5.The hosts found stability again as JP Duminy, eyeing a comeback into the Test side, displayed great patience, collecting his first four off his 114th ball. He put on 75 runs with Justin Ontong for the sixth wicket, who was drawing comfort from his time at the crease, striking Raina for three fours in the 52nd over. But Pandey, only an over into his second spell, had Ontong edging behind to Wriddhiman Saha for 47.Duminy, though, reached his fifty, and the team’s 250, in the 81st over in the company of wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile. The duo recorded 84 runs but yet again, Pandey, recalled into the attack in the 91st over, dismissed Tsolekile and Wayne Parnell in successive deliveries, as South Africa A slumped to 280 for 8. They sustained another telling blow when Raina had Duminy caught behind for 84 off 222 balls to give Saha his fourth catch of the innings and signal the end of the day’s play.Rossouw regretted the batsmen’s failure to build on their starts. “If you look at the way India batted, most of their batsmen went on to score big which helped them to their total,” he said. “We would have wanted to get close but we haven’t managed to do that.”It [the pitch] was a bit difficult to play on, to be honest i didn’t really know what to expect,” he added. “As a team we said we wanted to look to play as straight as possible and if it was short and wide we would attack.”India A coach Lalchand Rajput enjoyed feelings from the opposite end of the spectrum. “It’s pleasing that we got them to nine wickets down today. It would be even better if they were all out today but Duminy played an excellent innings,” he said. “Pandey made his debut for India A in this match and has bowled exceptionally well. Unadkat and Shami gave him good support. When you come to South Africa you always expect bouncy wickets. It was helpful on the first two days but we expected it to play this way on the third day.”

Sachin Tendulkar will bring an end to his glittering 24-year international career after he plays his 200th Test, which is scheduled to be during the home series against West Indies in November. Tendulkar announced his decision on Wednesday afternoon, via a BCCI statement, like he had done when he retired from ODIs in December 2012.”All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years,” Tendulkar said in a statement. “It’s hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it’s all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It’s been a huge honour to have represented my country and played all over the world. I look forward to playing my 200th Test match on home soil, as I call it a day.”I thank the BCCI for everything over the years and for permitting me to move on when my heart feels it’s time. I thank my family for their patience and understanding. Most of all, I thank my fans and well-wishers who through their prayers and wishes have given me the strength to go out and perform at my best.”Tendulkar’s retirement had been the matter of much speculation. He had wound down his career in phases, announcing his retirement from ODIs in late December 2012, and with the BCCI shoehorning a home series against West Indies before the controversy-hit tour to South Africa, it had seemed an apt moment for a home farewell. The venues for Tendulkar’s last two Tests have not yet been announced.N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, said in a tribute that it was hard to imagine an India team without Tendulkar. “I have been an ardent follower and admirer of Sachin Tendulkar from the days he came to play Buchi Babu in Chennai. He is without doubt the greatest cricketer India has produced. In fact one should really say he ranks among the top of all-time great sports persons in the world. No one has served Indian cricket as Sachin has. He has truly been an ambassador for India and Indian Cricket. He has been an inspiration for generations of sportsmen not just cricketers. We respect his decision to retire although many of us can’t imagine an Indian team without Sachin.”The 200th Test will be the last of numerous milestones in Tendulkar’s career. No cricketer has played so many. He also owns the records for most runs and centuries in both Test and one-day cricket.Tendulkar began his international career in November 1989, and was the third youngest Test cricketer at the time. He established himself quickly in the middle order and after the early 1990s, he has remained the first name on India’s team-sheet for the majority of his career.

The meeting between the BCCI and CSA in Mumbai did not end the impasse over India’s tour to South Africa at the end of the year, but it proved a “fruitful” discussion for both parties.It is understood that the BCCI president N Srinivasan and secretary Sanjay Patel explained the contentious issues to CSA president Chris Nenzani and lead independent director Norman Arendse, leaving the ball in South Africa’s court. Nenzani said he would revert to the BCCI in a day or two.”It was a very cordial meeting and it went off well,” Patel said. “We are very hopeful that everything will work out nicely.”Though the outcome may seem like the continuation of the stalemate, the boards were interpreting it as the first step towards ending the impasse that began in July. An official announcement about India’s tour of South Africa is expected to be made next week.Though neither the BCCI nor CSA detailed the issues, the two major contentious points are the tour itinerary and the acrimonious relationship between the Indian board and the CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat.In all likelihood, India will not play more than two Tests and three ODIs in South Africa; CSA’s original itinerary comprised two Twenty20s, three Tests and seven ODIs. It will be up to the South African board to accept such a truncated itinerary because a shortened tour will have huge financial implications for CSA, which has already suffered a loss in the previous financial year.After its annual general meeting in Johannesburg in Nenzazi’s absence, CSA announced a loss for 2012-13. It has reserves of R300 million and has forecast a net profit of R286 million for the next year cycle ending in April. However, that forecast is based on television revenue from a full India tour, which is unlikely to happen. CSA’s reserves are depleted by visits by teams other than India, Australia and England because there is no profit made from those series.

ScorecardFile photo – Varun Aaron picked up three wickets to help dismiss Haryana for 123 in the second innings•Getty Images

Jharkhand were 128 runs away from victory with seven wickets in hand at the end of the third day after their pacers Shankar Rao and Varun Aaron skittled Haryana for a mere 123 in the second innings. Only Sachin Rana resisted with 84, as they set Jharkhand a modest target of 202 runs with a day left.Trailing by 78 in the first innings, Rao and Aaron tilted the momentum Jharkhand’s way when Rao took the first four wickets – two in the second over and two more off consecutive deliveries in the sixth over. And when Aaron trapped Avi Barot lbw for 1, Haryana were reeling at 16 for 5.However, Rana and Harshal Patel steadied the innings briefly with a 34-run stand for the sixth wicket, taking the score to 50. Patel fell for 11 and No. 8 Jayant Yadav gave company to Rana to cross the 100-run mark by putting 52 runs together, out of which Yadav scored only seven. Once he was dismissed, Joginder Sharma and Mohit Sharma also fell soon to Aaron, and Rana’s was the last wicket to fall after he had struck eight fours and three sixes during his stay of more than three hours. Rao finished with 4 for 35 and Aaron’s figures read 3 for 20.Jharkhand were also given early jolts when their openers were sent back within the first nine overs at the score of 12. Saurabh Tiwary was the next wicket to fall for seven when he was bowled by Patel, but Bhavin Thakkar and Ishank Jaggi avoided any more troubles by staying unbeaten on 29 and 27 respectively, with their 38-run partnership.Vidarbha 199 for 3 (Fazal 124, Badani 32*) trail Odisha 453 for 6 dec (Behera 131, Sahoo 114*) by 254 runs
ScorecardFaiz Fazal notched his sixth first-class hundred to almost take Vidarbha to 200 on the third day in reply to Odisha’s mammoth 453 for 6. Fazal was unbeaten on 124 and Vidarbha were still 254 behind with seven wickets in hand.Vidarbha had lost two wickets early at the end of the second day for the score of 14. Fazal and captain Shalab Shrivastava took them to safety, and beyond 100, by stitching a 100-run stand on the third morning. Shrivastava was on a patient 27 off 124 but was run-out which brought veteran Hemang Badani on the pitch. Fazal and Badani ensured there were no more stutters for their side as they put together an unbroken 85-run partnership.Fazal did the bulk of the scoring for Vidarbha, scoring more than half the team total, and Badani stayed unbeaten on 32 which included four fours. They have seven wickets in hand but will face a stiff target of going past 453 for the extra points on first-innings lead as the match heads for a draw.

ScorecardA maiden first-class hundred from Bhargav Merai and useful contributions from Akshar Patel and Rakesh Dhurv ensured that Gujarat first established and then consolidated their first-innings lead over Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. At the end of the day, Gujarat were 373 for 6 with a lead of 67.For full report click here.
ScorecardZaheer Khan single-handedly helped Mumbai avoid conceding first-innings lead and Aditya Tare and Siddhesh Lad’s quick, unbroken 133-run partnership setup an exciting last day’s play against arch rivals Delhi at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.For full report click here.

Scorecard
File photo – Bengal captain Laxmi Shukla will be satisfied with his bowlers’ performance, but his batsmen have a challenge on their hands•Fotocorp

With six rounds of the Ranji season complete, Bengal are in fifth place of Group B and have played one match more than each of the four teams above them. They desperately need points, and their match against table-toppers Uttar Pradesh is their final home game. All of which meant they served up a green top at Eden Gardens, on which their medium-pacers flourished to bowl out UP for 212.That might still not be enough though; given the manner in which RP Singh was hooping the ball around, matching that score will be quite a task for a batting line-up missing the services of Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha.None of Bengal’s quartet of quicks have express pace, but they troubled the batsmen as there was copious movement and bounce on offer. UP’s openers, though, survived the first hour before both Mukul Dagar and Digvijay Singh were dismissed in the space of seven deliveries. Mohammad Kaif’s indifferent run of form this season continued as he was trapped lbw for 14, struck around the line of off stump by Ashok Dinda. The only specialist batsman to go on to a significant score was Prashant Gupta, who reached his half-century with a picture-perfect cover drive before nicking a wide, full delivery to slip in the same over.The middle-order was clueless against the swing and bounce, and UP slid from 79 for 2 to 138 for 8. The last of those wickets came through the ball of the day, and a contender for ball of the Ranji season – medium-pacer Sourav Sarkar got an improbable amount of inswing as his yorker dramatically curved in from well outside off to home in on the base of Amit Mishra’s offstump.Bengal were totally on top at that stage, but UP’s lower order again showcased the resilience that has served them so well this season. Ali Murtaza and Imtiaz Ahmed knew they didn’t have the defensive technique to keep out the killer ball and so threw their bats around to put on 60, possibly match-turning, runs for the ninth wicket. That ensured UP reached a total of around 200, which is a competitive one on this surface.RP Singh showed just how tough it will be for Bengal to match UP’s first-innings score by producing plenty of cracking deliveries from round the wicket to the right-handers. He got the ball to snake in dangerously towards the stumps, getting rid of two batsmen before the fading light stopped play.Bengal’s batsmen have a serious challenge on their hands on the second morning, and how they fare could well decide the fate of Bengal’s season.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan was picked for the final T20 against South Africa in Dubai despite carrying niggles, ESPNcricinfo has learned. He was to be rested for that game, but ended up injuring his hip and is now likely to miss the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. The PCB responded quickly by sidelining the team doctor and local trainer and recruiting a foreign physiotherapist to deal with fitness issues.Pakistan had been without a professional physiotherapist since June, after Faisal Hayat left to work in a hospital in Dubai. Since then the PCB had a doctor and a trainer with the team. ESPNcricinfo understands the doctor wanted to rest Irfan for the T20s against South Africa in the UAE, but the team management led by former wicketkeeper Moin Khan wanted Irfan to play because Junaid Khan was not fit. The spinner Abdur Rehman was available for selection but he was not chosen.Irfan’s fitness has been a talking point since he made his debut in 2010 and he played his longest international streak in the UAE. He bowled 65.5 overs in two Tests against South Africa and 13 overs in a game against UAE. Irfan played all five ODIs, bowling 48 overs, and it is understood that he needed adequate time off. In the first T20, Irfan was able to bowl only two overs, and in the second he bowled 1.4 before having to go off the field with a hip injury. Irfan had been rested from the Tests in Zimbabwe in August and was picked only for the limited-overs series, before making a comeback to all formats against South Africa in the UAE.Pakistan suffered several injuries in 2013, with Taufeeq Umar and Harris Sohail returning from South Africa at the start of the year. Umar Gul missed the Champions Trophy with a knee injury and is yet to make a comeback. Allrounder Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq suffered injuries during the South Africa series in the UAE. However, they travelled to South Africa for the series in November but had to return to Pakistan after failing to recover.

When MS Dhoni got out, India needed 131 with four wickets and 86 deliveries left. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin’s half-centuries ended up tying the match, and Brendon McCullum admitted it was “potentially” one that got away. New Zealand were so close to sealing the series with what looked like a third successive victory but it was not to be, and McCullum praised India for their fightback.”A great game of cricket. It ebbed and flowed the whole way through that second innings,” McCullum said. “Credit to India, when they looked as if they were out of the game, they flexed their muscle a little bit and got themselves back into it. And just when we thought we had it again, obviously they came back. The innings that Jaddu played at the end was pretty awesome.”We had our chances, there is no doubting that. Definitely had our chances – a few catches and a few run-out opportunities and a few things – but it is a tough one. It was a great game of cricket to be involved in, just disappointing that didn’t get the result in the end but a tie is a tie.”Brendon McCullum on giving Corey Anderson the final over: “It seems to me that he is learning quicker than anyone in international cricket about batting and bowling at the moment”•Getty Images

McCullum said New Zealand were pretty sure Jadeja had nicked Mitchell McClenaghan behind in the 47th over when he was given not out. But while he felt there was little New Zealand could do about it, he said his bowlers could have bowled better at the death.”Our plan was very much to keep the ball out of Jadeja’s arc and we obviously got hit for a couple of sixes straight towards the end there. The wicket was pretty slow, so obviously a little bit tough to use that short-ball tactic to the effect that we have so far in this series. When you don’t win, you obviously question a couple of things but I still thought we were pretty good without being top draw.”India needed 18 off the final over, and New Zealand only had allrounder Corey Anderson as the seam option as the specialist quick bowlers were done with their quota. McCullum said that was because he had used someone like Tim Southee to try and take wickets earlier, and added he had enough belief in Anderson to give him the 50th over.”It’s not always going to work, poor fellow sitting in there at the moment is a bit upset but it’s the nature of having those opportunities in the death as well. He again learnt a lot tonight about bowling and seems to me that he is learning quicker than anyone in international cricket about batting and bowling at the moment. We will keep backing him, he did a great job for us today with the ball and gave us the opportunity to win the game and whilst he didn’t close it out, I thought he did a really good job and he will learn a lot from it.”Obviously Tim is another death bowler for us but at that stage of the game, we were looking for wickets. We knew that if we kept taking wickets, then we were going to be in with a pretty good chance of winning the game. Corey is one of our options at the death. So is Tim, Mitch as well. We have used Kane (Williamson) at the death at times as well.”It’s about how the game plays out based on when you need wickets, when you need to push and when you need to hold back. Today we were pushing and hence we went to Southee a little earlier and left Corey at the end. Even Nathan had to bowl pretty deep into the innings, under the circumstances when you are chasing wickets.”

Junaid Khan bowled a tight last over to help Abbottabad Falcons prevail in a see-saw contest against Lahore Lions in Rawalpindi. Lahore needed nine runs to win in the last over with two wickets in hand, but could only score six runs in the over. Junaid didn’t get a wicket, but ensured there were no boundary balls in the last over.Lahore needed 57 runs to win in the last five overs, but made a dash towards the target in the 17th over as Wahab Riaz hit Khaled Usman for a six and a four. Lahore took 17 runs came in that over and added a further 23 in the next two, but faltered against Junaid.Lahore had won the toss and opted to field. Aizaz Cheema gave them a good start, striking with the second ball of the innings to dismiss Hammad Ali. But Abbottabad’s innings was propped up by an unbeaten half-century from Younis Khan, who held one end together and scripted crucial partnerships. Abbottabad finished at 136 for 4 in their innings.The win helped Abbottabad overtake Lahore in the group D table. Both teams are tied on points, but Abbottabad have a better net run rate.Fakhar Zaman scored a 63-ball 86 to guide Karachi Zebras to a five-wicket win over Rawalpindi Rams in Rawalpindi.Zaman, the left-handed opener, struck 12 fours and a six and was at the crease for the bulk of Karachi’s innings as they chased 140. When he was caught behind off Sohail Tanvir, they only needed 17 from 23 balls, with seven wickets in hand. They wobbled a bit, with left-arm seamer Nasir Malik striking twice, but got home in the end with three balls remaining.Rawalpindi, who elected to bat, were in trouble as fast bowler Tabish Khan struck three times to have them 22 for 3. Umar Amin and Sohail Tanvir rescued them with a 61-run stand for the fourth wicket, before legspinner Shahzaib Ahmed triggered a collapse from 83 for 3 to 106 for 7. It was left to an unbeaten 14-ball 27 from Yasim Murtaza to lift Rawalpindi’s score to an eventual 139 for 8, with Tabish coming back to dismiss Mohammad Nawaz with the last ball of the innings.