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Steve Harmison has said the decision each player will have to make about whether to return to India will be among “the most important of their lives” but insisted now was not the time to make rash judgements.Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he said: “I’m sorry, but whatever is being asked of us in the next few days, at the moment, the idea of being asked to go back out there is the last thing on my mind. This is beyond cricket. This is beyond anything. It’s all very well for people back home to say we should carry on with the tour, but none of what has happened has anything to do with cricket.”I don’t know what sort of things they have been broadcasting back home, but we were sitting watching the live pictures on the local TV channels here and they were just shocking, terrifying.”The corridor down which people were dragging the dead was a corridor I had been walking down 10 days ago. An area was on fire next to the gym we had been training in 10 days ago. The restaurants we had eaten in 10 days ago were under attack, with people barricading themselves inside in terror.”And I suddenly thought of the room I had stayed in 10 days ago; I visualised the layout, the bed, the window, the TV, the bathroom, the wardrobe … and I thought of some poor soul trying to work out where to hide to try to stay alive.”How anyone can say that we should be carrying on with the tour in the circumstances is beyond me. I can’t say now that I will definitely not come back or that I definitely will.”If the board say they want us to go back the players have about 72 hours to come to the most important decision of their lives. All I hope is that nobody thinks we will take it lightly.”

The Titans moved to top spot with a a 139-run win over the Eagles in Benoni, in the only outright win of the fourth week of the SuperSport Series. There were three centurions in the match, but in the end the brilliance of Paul Harris on the fourth day proved decisive. He picked up 7 for 94 during the Eagles’ chase to follow up his five wickets in the first innings. Pierre Joubert, the Titans captain, didn’t get the start he wanted after electing to bat. They were in trouble at 149 for 5 but were bailed out by Farhaan Behardien and Joubert’s 143-run sixth-wicket stand. Behardien brought up his maiden first-class century on the second day and went on to 150 before the Titans declared at 423.The Eagles needed a maiden centurion of their own to rescue them after they slumped to 140 for 6. Rilee Rossouw made 106 but, with little support from the lower order, they finished 169 runs behind. Aggressive batting from the openers, Blake Snijman (52) and Heino Kuhn (43), along with a 59-ball 49 from Martin van Jaarsveld, helped Titans reach 214. The chase of 383 was made harder as the Titans’ spinners were in top form. Dean Elgar made a defiant 155 but, with only one other batsman going past 15, the Eagles slumped to defeat. Harris took seven of the first eight wickets to bag his first ten-wicket match haul.Bottom-placed Cape Cobras were still searching for their first win after drawing with the Lions in Paarl. Alistair Gray’s 256-ball 71 typified the Cobras’ approach on the first day after they chose to bat as they laboured to 233 for 3 on a good batting pitch. The Lions were in no hurry themselves after bowling the Cobras out for 348 on the second day. Stephen Cook took nearly eight hours for his 132 though Vaughn van Jaarsveld was a bit more adventurous, hitting two sixes in his 98. The Lions were poised for a big lead but a hat-trick by legspinner Alistair Gray limited the advantage to 47 runs. Andrew Puttick’s 74 was the highlight of the Cobra’s second innings as they sportingly declared 188 ahead, leaving the Lions with 40 overs for a win. Van Jaarsveld’s 42-ball 38 wasn’t quite enough and the captains called off the match six overs early after a stalemate was guaranteed with the score on 107 for 4.Bad light affected the Warriors‘ chances of a win over the Dolphins in Kingsmead, with play stopped early on all four days. Put in to bat, the Warriors were in a spot of bother at 48 for 3 but useful contributions from opener JJ Smuts (50) and the middle and lower orders pushed them to a formidable 375. Wicketkeeper Davey Jacobs and Justin Kreusch fell in the 70s, before a 87-run ninth-wicket stand between Juan Theron (58) and Makhaya Ntini (31). The Dolphins were reduced to 22 for 3 before captain Ahmed Amla (97) and Dave Miller (70) did the rescue act. Ntini’s 6 for 85 ensured the Warriors gained a 98-run lead, who then declared on 175 on the fourth day, leaving the Dolphins with an improbable target of 274. Ntini and Tsotsobe’s initial burst had the hosts reeling at 35 for 5 at lunch, but a 102-run stand partnership between Imraan Khan and Daryn Smit kept the Dolphins afloat. Imraan was dismissed was 66 but No. 9 Quinton Friend played out 48 deliveries until play was called off early.

Player of the week

Paul Harris was largely responsible for taking the Titans to the No. 1 spot in the table with his 12-wicket haul against the Eagles. So dominant was spin on the fourth day that it wasn’t until the 81st over that the Titans made use of a fast bowler. He looks all set to repeat his haul of 49 wickets in the 2005-06 SuperSport Series. And turning out for the Dolphins will keep him primed for the busy international schedule ahead.

The ECB has confirmed Monty Panesar will travel with the England Performance Programme squad instead of spending a month in Sri Lanka playing club cricket.The England board dismissed suggestions it was being unreasonable in refusing demands for £7500 from Bloomfield CC in return for them fielding Panesar in some matches ahead of England’s India tour.The plan had been that Panesar would spend a month in Sri Lanka with the club to help him acclimatise to pitches on the subcontinent. But the deal seems to have fallen through after the ECB refused to agree to terms put forward by Bloomfield.The ECB said it had originally agreed to Bloomfield’s initial request for £500 as a contribution towards the rebuilding of their clubhouse. However, on the eve of the deal, it claims that Bloomfield asked for an additional £7000 as well as an agreement that Panesar would carry out some PR duties on the club’s behalf in Colombo.”It’s disappointing that these late demands have emerged because Panesar was really looking forward to this opportunity to play in Sri Lanka,” an ECB spokesman said.Panesar’s preparations will now involve a high performance camp in India, scheduled from mid-November, ahead of England’s two Tests in the country in December.

Shoaib Malik, the Sialkot Stallions captain, took 2 for 26 and was involved in two important partnerships during a seven-wicket win over the Karachi Dolphins in Lahore. As a result, Sialkot also earn a place in the Champions Twenty20 League in December.Karachi, after choosing to bat, failed to get partnerships going as Sialkot made frequent inroads. Left-arm seamer Sarfraz Ahmed took 2 for 23 and Malik, who dismissed Khalid Latif and Naumanullah in quick time, ensured Karachi did not get off to a brisk start. Fawad Alam top scored with 40 but with wickets falling regularly at the other end, Karachi could only post 125.Sialkot lost opener Faisal Naved early but, unlike Karachi, their batsmen built partnerships. Mansoor Amjad, who made 39, added 41 for the second wicket with Kamran Younis, and 33 for the third with Malik. However, Amjad was retired hurt with the score on 91 and Qaiser Abbas fell cheaply as Sialkot slipped to 97 for 3 in the 17th over. But Adeel Malik scored 23 off 11 balls, with two sixes, to take his team past Karachi’s total with two balls to spare. Shoaib Malik’s 19 off 23 balls, and his bowling performance, fetched him the Player-of-the-match award

Scorecard
Championship galleryStuart Law has come under increasing pressure as this season has developed, following his outburst over Dominic Cork’s release and Lancashire’s poor form. Despite a fighting 79 against Kent at Aigburth his problems don’t look like easing as his team continue to face a defeat that will leave them deep in relegation territory.However, Law just about kept his side afloat and their lead stands at 131, which could yet become enough to give Kent some jitters, and is considerably better than the situation was at 160 for 5. If the lower-order wags, and with Glen Chapple still at the crease it is a possibility, they could still set something around 175. There is enough in the pitch for all the bowlers to give them a chance, but they could ill-afford the late departures of Law and Luke Sutton.Amjad Khan played a role in both dismissals, bowling Sutton as he played round a straight ball then making excellent ground at third man to grasp Law’s upper-cut. Khan took two of the three wickets that it cost Lancashire to erase Kent’s 126-run lead and has certainly brought a cutting edge to the visitors’ attack.The pitch behaved less extravagantly than on the opening day, but there was still plenty on offer for the seamers – with a touch of uneven bounce making an appearance. There was also turn when the spinners finally earned their chance with James Tredwell and Martin van Jaarsveld each claiming an important wicket. However, Chris Broad, the pitch liaison officer, made an early decision that his services weren’t required.Aigburth is a high-quality outground and like many around the country could do little about the recent weather. They may well get the chance to stage more Championship games here in the future as the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which will include turning the square through 90 degrees, is likely to take it out of commission for four-day cricket in 2010. It certainly produces result-orientated cricket and for a period a two-day finish was looming.When Mark Chilton fell in the first over of Lancashire’s second innings, pushing outside off stump during a tricky 10-minute session before the break, another collapse was on the cards. Finally, however, Lancashire showed some resilience and with an eye on the future it came from Paul Horton and Karl Brown, two of the younger brigade.For Brown it will have been a relief to get off the mark for the first time in his Championship career. He produced some sweet boundaries, particularly through the leg side, while Horton drove strongly through the covers. Horton became the first Lancashire batsman to pass 1000 first-class runs for the season but, shortly after being missed off a sharp chance at third slip, edged Khan’s second ball through to Geraint Jones who took a good catch to his right.Lancashire continued to work away at the deficit before Brown undid his hard work with a flat-footed poke to give the impressive Khan his second wicket. Law, batting with an injured finger, battled hard against his indifferent recent form as he and Faf du Plessis took Lancashire into the lead. However, the first spin of the match was introduced 20 minutes before tea in the shape of Tredwell and, after Law picked off a couple of loose balls, one gripped a little to take du Plessis’ glove to short leg, giving Kent another opening. Shortly after the interval Steven Croft padded up to van Jaarsveld and with half the side gone the lead was just 34.Lancashire’s batting statistics can be slightly misleading because this is the first Championship match they have taken guard in since playing Kent, at Canterbury, nearly a month ago. Still, when Law went to his fifty off 81 balls it was his first since August 6 and he was almost keeping Lancashire alive on his own. However, he needed some support.Sutton managed it for a while, despite his best efforts to locate the off-side fielders, but after adding 54 for the sixth wicket he was beaten by Khan. Law’s wicket, though, was the hammer blow to Lancashire’s hopes and he walked off, head bowed, with the realisation that his team are running out of time to save their season.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, fears that Pakistan will become an “isolated cricket nation” and wants the ICC to ensure that teams tour the country.Pakistan were deprived of international cricket in 2008 after Australia postponed their tour, scheduled for March, because of security concerns. The Champions Trophy, which was supposed to begin on September 12, was also postponed after five countries said that they wouldn’t participate in the tournament due to security fears.Pakistan’s last Test was in India in December 2007 and their next Test series is in January 2009 when they host India. They haven’t played a Test in 2008 and Malik wanted the ICC to play a larger role in ensuring that teams visited Pakistan.”The ICC needs to step in and play a more decisive role,” Malik told . “If teams keep on refusing to tour Pakistan despite assurances even from our government we will become an isolated cricket nation.”It is very frustrating for the players the way two important events have been postponed this year. It is so depressing that despite being a major cricket-playing nation we do not play a Test match this year.”Pakistan sought to fill the gap created by the Champions Trophy but faced hurdles in setting up one-day tournaments. India were concentrating on their preparation for the upcoming series against Australia, South Africa rejected a tri-series proposal because their players were fatigued after the tour of England, while a proposed one-day series against Sri Lanka faced problems finding sponsors.Pakistan’s next international assignment is a four-nation Twenty20 tournament involving Canada, West Indies, and Sri Lanka in Toronto from October 10.

Paul Collingwood made light of his England disappointment by smacking six sixes in an unbeaten 78, as he and Shivnarine Chanderpaul carried Durham to a thumping seven-wicket victory against Middlesex at Uxbridge. The pair produced an unbroken stand of 132 for the fourth wicket as Durham sailed past their target of 201 with 22 balls to spare. Chanderpaul made 58 from 61 balls with five fours and a solitary maximum, to help his side recover from a relative wobble at 70 for 3. Earlier Owais Shah was the mainstay of Middlesex’s innings with 73 from 58 balls, but he was unable to find any worthy partners, thanks in no small part to the hostility of Steve Harmison. He finished with 4 for 31 in eight overs.Matt Prior blasted a brilliant 137 from 123 balls, as Sussex chased down an imposing 243 to win with two balls to spare against Somerset at Arundel. Prior belted 12 fours and three sixes in his innings, and dominated stands of 99 for the second wicket with Luke Wright (40 from 46) and 75 for the fourth with Chris Adams (36 from 36). Though he was bowled by Alfonso Thomas with four runs still needed, Sussex’s job had already been done. His efforts overshadowed another fine innings from Marcus Trescothick, who made 91 from 94 balls, and was aided in his target-setting by Zander de Bruyn, who made 70 from 87.Adam Voges made a run-a-ball 85 to put Nottinghamshire beyond the reach of a subdued Hampshire at Trent Bridge, as they eased to a comfortable 31-run victory. Not even the redoubtable six-hitting talents of Hampshire’s captain, Dimitri Mascarenhas, could rescue his side. He smacked four maximums in a 35-ball half-century to ease the margin of defeat, but apart from Michael Lumb, with 63 from 66 balls at the top of the order, no-one else in the line-up passed 30. Voges, on the other hand, was joined by Bilal Shafayat who made 45 from 56 balls in a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket. Chris Tremlett, overlooked by England this week, responded with three wickets, but Nottinghamshire’s total of 231 for 9 always looked sufficient, especially when John Crawley fell third-ball for a duck.

A brilliant 99 from just 66 balls from Ryan ten Doeschate nearly took Essex to a remarkable win over Leicestershire at Grace Road, the match ending in a thrilling tie. Chasing 256, Essex looked set for defeat with 16 needed from the final over, but Dillon du Preez was hit for a huge six followed by another four with three needed from the final ball. He could only grab two from the last delivery, levelling the scores, but it represented a wonderful comeback for Essex who had slipped to 99 for 5 at the halfway point. Leicestershire’s innings was set-up by fifties from Boeta Dippenaar, Paul Nixon and Matthew Boyce, who cracked a career-best 59 from 65.Dan Birch paced Derbyshire’s reply to perfection with eight fours and four sixes in a 59-ball 76, as Northamptonshire’s stiff target of 223 was overhauled with disdainful ease at Wantage Road. Birch added 111 for the third wicket with Wavell Hinds, who made 45 from 36 balls, and by the time he was run out with 69 runs still needed, the back of the run-chase had been broken. Greg Smith wrapped up the contest with 26 balls to spare, to overshadow a valiant rescue act from Northants’ David Sales. He made 96 not out from 109 balls to rescue his team from the depths of 51 for 5, with his captain, Nicky Boje, chipping in with a vital 59 from 40 balls. Ian Hunter was the pick of Derbyshire’s attack with 3 for 18 in eight overs.Jonathan Trott batted from first ball to last to record a brilliant 91 not out from 102 balls, but Warwickshire still fell 22 runs short of their target of 229 against Kent at Edgbaston. Instead the honours went to Kent’s captain, Rob Key, whose 80 from 83 balls proved the decisive innings of the day. After losing Joe Denly for a duck, Key added 83 for the second wicket with the form batsman of the moment, Martin van Jaarsveld, then found another doughty ally in Matt Walker, who made a run-a-ball 43. Trott, by contrast found no-one to stay with him – Darren Maddy made 28 and Tim Groenewald a brisk 33, but no-one else in the Warwickshire line-up passed 11.Yorkshire’s bowlers held their nerve against the big-hitting of Jade Dernbach to record an 11-run win over Surrey at Guildford. Yorkshire’s 230 for 7 was set up by Andrew Gale’s 40-ball 44 and a useful 33 from 34 balls by Adil Rashid, with contributions from all but two of their batsmen. Chasing 231, Surrey slipped to 25 for 3 before Chris Schofield smacked 58 from 44 balls to give them hope. But he fell to Darren Gough (2 for 62), and though Jonathan Batty (24 from 20) and Dernbach (19 from 7) took them close, the failure of Surrey’s top-order cost them dear.

Match facts

Saturday, June 28, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)

Big Picture

Since beating India and South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, Bangladesh have failed to carry the momentum forward and have lost to every major opposition in one-dayers. India, on the other hand, used their World Cup exit to get their act together, winning more than they have lost, and reversed their fortunes with a CB Series victory earlier this year.In the Asia Cup so far, Bangladesh beat UAE comfortably but lost to Sri Lanka by a huge margin while India won both their matches – against Hong Kong and Pakistan – convincingly. Now that minnows UAE and Hong Kong have made their exits, Bangladesh need to win against at least one of the stronger sides if they are to have any hope of reaching the final. With India and Sri Lanka carrying forward two points each from the league stage, Bangladesh and Pakistan already have some catching up to do.

Form guide

(Last 5 completed ODIs; most recent first)
India WWLWW
Bangladesh LWLLL

Watch out for …

India’s openers – Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag – who have been in top form since the IPL. The two average 51.93 from 15 innings in which they have opened together.Raqibul Hasan, the 20-year old batsman, scored a half-century against India in the Kitply Cup and Bangladesh will hope he can repeat his performance against them in the Asia Cup as well.

Team news

Gary Kirsten, the India coach, said players on the bench would be given chances to perform and since India have two bonus points from the group stage, they may give Manpreet Gony a chance over Ishant Sharma in this game. Gony went wicketless against Hong Kong in the only international he has played. Pragyan Ojha, who was also in the squad for the Kitply Cup, could get a turn in place of Piyush Chawla. Though Rohit Sharma is yet to fire, he is likely to keep his place since Irfan Pathan is still recovering from his side strain.India 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Yusuf Pathan 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 RP Singh, 11 Manpreet Gony.All the Bangladesh bowlers leaked runs against Sri Lanka even though most of them got a wicket for their efforts. Mohammad Ashraful has shuffled around with the batting order – bringing Mushfiqur Rahim up to No. 5 from No. 8 in the match against Sri Lanka – but retained the same XI for the two games. However the 131-run defeat to Sri Lanka may prompt Ashraful to drop Shahadat Hossain, who went for 62 runs in seven overs, for medium-pacer Farhad Reza. Hossain has taken only seven wickets in seven games this year at an average of 49.14.Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin, 3 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Dolar Mahmud, 11 Farhad Reza.

Stats and trivia

Marcus Stoinis believes every member of Australia’s squad will likely play at some stage of the T20 World Cup, after Ashton Agar’s shock axing for their tournament-opening win over South Africa.Agar, who is Australia’s top-ranked bowler in the format, was the unlucky omission that allowed selectors to unleash Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in the same T20I attack for the first time. He has been a mainstay in Australia’s T20I side during recent years, featuring in 24 of the 30 matches since his recall in 2018, with the only games he has missed being through injury.Coach Justin Langer usually picks five specialist bowlers in his XI but there was only room for the three quicks and Adam Zampa in Abu Dhabi, where Stoinis stroked the winning runs in the final over of a stop-start chase of 119.Glenn Maxwell delivered four overs – the first time he had completed his allocation in a T20I since 2018 – including the second of the match that featured the dismissal of Temba Bavuma, as Australia did well to restrict South Africa to 118 for 9.”There’s an argument for everyone to be in the team,” Stoinis said. “There’s no easy answers and we’ll probably just see what happens as the tournament goes on. I think everyone’s going to get used in this tournament.”With these conditions, we’ve got to adapt as we go. He [Agar] has got such a good record, has been so good for us. So I wouldn’t be counting anything out.”Related

• Impactful Adam Zampa turning it Australia's way when it matters

• Langer says Australia will be flexible in selections depending on conditions, opposition, match-ups

• Glenn Maxwell heads into T20 World Cup on the crest of a wave

Kane Richardson, Mitchell Swepson and Josh Inglis were the other members of Australia’s 15-man squad that didn’t make the cut in their tournament opener.Aaron Finch said after winning the toss they were on the wrong side of “brutally tough” calls. Finch, who didn’t ask Stoinis or Mitchell Marsh to deliver a single over, expanded on the logic of off-spinning allrounder Maxwell’s key role with the ball after the five-wicket victory.”We felt there were some really good match-ups in the powerplay,” Finch said. “He did a really good job.”Before the tournament, Maxwell had talked about how he had been working on his bowling to right-handers to make himself a more valuable option for Finch. “I suppose that’s the biggest thing I’ve been working really hard on, bowling from over the wicket and being able to attack right-handed batters and it feels like it’s going really well,” Maxwell said.Stoinis agreed and said Maxwell’s innovative approach to batting was part of what made him a “brilliant T20 bowler”.”One of the benefits of batting like he does, he understands the game and he understands what batters are trying to do,” Stoinis said. “He’s very smart. He’s obviously played so much.”I definitely think he’s someone we should be using in this World Cup. He did match up well to a few of their left-handers and the wickets suited it, but there’s no reason why he won’t be bowling.”

AB de Villiers was frustrated that South Africa lacked a “spark” in the field in Hamilton but defended the team selection believing an extra spinner would not have made a difference.The opening match of the series had been played on the same ground (this was the game moved from Napier due to their outfield problems) and batting was difficult throughout. The latest surface, an adjacent strip, was not expected to be quite so helpful but spin and the use of cutters was still likely to be a key weapon.New Zealand played two frontline spinners, plus cutters from Tim Southee and James Neesham proved effective in the middle of the innings, but South Africa chose Chris Morris over left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi to replace Andile Phehlukwayo who had a groin injury. There was also less variation from the South Africa pacemen in conditions that de Villiers felt had eased up towards the second innings.”They played Imran Tahir, who is the No. 1 bowler in the world, very well tonight. I’ve no reason to think it would have been different with another spinner,” de Villiers said. “I tried to bowl JP Duminy, but it didn’t turn as much as I expected it to. I felt there was more turn very early on in the afternoon, which was weird because in the last game it turned in the evening. But all in all, the wicket played pretty well over the 100 overs and we were beaten by the better team.”Given memories of the previous game, where conditions prompted de Villiers to call them the toughest he had faced, he admitted thinking South Africa’s 279 for 8 – which included 100 off the last eight overs – would be a winning total only for Martin Guptill to make it look wholly inadequate.”I thought it was enough because of what happened in the last game. The wicket started breaking up, turned a lot, got really slow, it was exploding, but there was not a lot of that tonight which means it was a really good ODI wicket. We just came unstuck against a better team and didn’t play our best especially in the second half. I wasn’t entirely happy with our skills. While in the rest of the series we have been bowling really well, there wasn’t a spark in the field [on Wednesday] so we need to get our act together for the final now.”Throughout the series, South Africa have needed de Villiers and the lower to bail them out of middle-order wobbles. In Hamilton they lost for 4 for 30 to slip to 158 for 6 before Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell helped haul the innings around. Duminy, who was promoted to No. 4 in this game, and David Miller have had a lean time with 108 runs in seven innings but they retained the utmost faith of their captain.”They are world-class players and will come to the party when it matters most which is hopefully the next game. We all go through patches but luckily we bat deep. There is no need to panic. I believe our top order is the best in the world.”