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by 133 runs
ScorecardFile photo – S Aravind displayed Karnataka’s fighting spirit•AFP

Karnataka have in the last two years as Ranji Trophy champions amply displayed the that has been the defining feature of Mumbai’s 40 title conquests. You could see that again in this game, in the fielders hurling themselves at the ball even when the going was tough, in the fast bowlers repeatedly flinging themselves at the crease despite little assistance from the surface.Take for example left-arm seamer S Aravind’s opening spell on the third morning. Accompanied by some hustling fielding, it was quite a demonstration of Karnataka’s version of cricket with flair and abundant mongrel. Aravind’s burst yielded figures of 5-4-1-3 which, despite Vidarbha captain S Badrinath’s (92 off 216 balls) stubborn resistance for five hours, set the tone for Karnataka’s 40-run first-innings advantage.Left-arm spinner J Suchith, in only his fourth first-class game, finished with a four-for, making two crucial strikes – including that of Badrinath – in an over to derail Vidarbha’s innings. Karnataka’s second innings seemed to serve as good batting practice for KL Rahul ahead of the South Africa series, as a drab draw appears inevitable save for a dramatic collapse.In the morning, Aravind took only two deliveries to dislodge a batsman Karnataka couldn’t remove for over five hours on Friday. Ganesh Satish, a member of the title-winning Karnataka side in 2013-14, poked at one that straightened after pitching. Four balls later, Aditya Shanware, who had made a century on debut two games ago, edged one behind where CM Gautam, who was taking blinders at practice before the start of play, dived low to his right and emerged with the ball.Six overs later, the Aravind-Gautam combine was in business again, after another delivery held its line and Gautam put in another dive to his right to send back Shalabh Shrivastava. This was looking way too easy; Aravind would just run in from round the stumps – his preferred angle of operation for the major part of the innings – and alternate between the one that cut back in sharply with the angle and the one that held its line.Badrinath, however, seemed to have worked out a way to quell Aravind’s threat. He decisively strode forward and across, away from the off stump, and stayed low to counter the movement either way. Runs were gathered from the other end, as neither Abhimanyu Mithun nor Vinay Kumar was as effective as Aravind. Badrinath also had good company from Jitesh Sharma, who, cast in the spunky wicketkeeper-batsman mould, attacked fearlessly. In fact, after the new ball was taken, Mithun was taken for 23 runs in his four overs.Their partnership had yielded 61 runs in quick time, and looked good for more when Jitesh’s back-foot punch off Suchith flew quickly to first slip, where Vinay took a fine reflex catch. Vinay was in action again just before lunch, as he made a one-handed grab to dismiss Shrikant Wagh after he edged legspinner Shreyas Gopal.Vidarbha, resuming after lunch still 82 runs in arrears, were still in the fight as Badrinath found another doughty ally in Akshay Wakhare. While Badrinath was bringing out some wristy drives and clever dabs, Wakhare managed to put the bad balls away, and a 40-run stand ensued. An hour after lunch, at 310 for 7 with Badrinath still there, Vidarbha looked threatening.However, Suchith had Badrinath caught behind, and four balls later trapped Swapnil Bandiwar in front before Aravind came back to induce an edge off Wakhare to give Gautam his fifth catch of the innings.

Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, has responded to the widespread criticism he received for his remark that his biggest mistake was to trust Rahul Dravid with team selection, by expressing support for his team.”I have read all the reports in the media over [the last] few days with considerable dismay. Matters are not only being blown extravagantly out of proportion but my initial comments in response to Charu Sharma have been twisted and turned in a bizarre manner,” Mallya said. “The Royal Challengers is my team and I have full confidence in them. Admittedly, there are issues on team composition and non-performance but I hope that I can enjoy the legitimate privacy of sorting out issues within my own squad.”He was confident the team would get over its performance in this IPL season and come back stronger in subsequent editions. “I continue to believe that I made the right choice in acquiring an IPL franchise which will create great value going forward,” Mallya said. “I like winning but losing round one doesn’t mean that I have lost the fight.”Mallya’s public statement came a day after Anil Kumble, India’s Test captain and a member of the Bangalore team, said it was time the “people who matter” understood what sport was all about. Mallya had publicly criticised the team leadership – Charu Sharma, the sacked chief executive, and captain, Dravid – for the selection of the squad, which has performed poorly in the IPL.

Cricket Australia is keeping an eye on the political situation in Pakistan ahead of Australia’s scheduled tour there in February. However, no decision on whether the trip will proceed will be made until January at the earliest.Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Saturday but the Pakistan Cricket Board said there was no reason for cricket tours to be affected. Cricket Australia’s spokesman Peter Young said it was too early to determine if Australia’s tour should go ahead.”There will be an inspection tour closer to the date, but until then we’ll just be keeping an eye on things,” Young told the . Australia are scheduled to play three Tests and five ODIs in Pakistan in February and March. The last time Australia were supposed to play Tests in Pakistan the matches were moved to neutral venues in Sri Lanka and Sharjah because of safety concerns.

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Three plucky half-centuries helped India Red seal a spot in the final of the Challenger Series, wrapping up the final league game by a comfortable 39-run margin. For the second time in as many days, the India Green batsmen struggled while chasing a big total under lights and went out of the tournament without making too much of an impact.Sourav Ganguly, the focus of all the attention, failed yet again but it was the lesser names that stole the bulk of the attention. While Gautam Gambhir continued his fine run and Robin Uthappa showed how adept he is at building an innings, it was the audacious Dinesh Karthik who dazzled for most of the first innings. Parthiv Patel battled briefly, and the tailenders swung their bats in the dying moments but, with the pitch helping spin and bounce, VRV Singh and Ramesh Powar sealed the issue.The India Red openers might have set the pace but it was Karthik, brimming with cheek, who stood out. Coming in at No.3, he consolidated a solid start, nudging singles and twos, before launching a thrilling assault. First came the lap shots – reminiscent of Douglas Marillier’s trademark scoop – then the sweeps – both conventional and reverse – and finally, when all one expected was improvisation, he went back the traditional route and punched down the ground. It was in the same venue, his home turf, that he shot into the national limelight two years ago and this innings would surely provide a fillip for his comeback bid. He was also instrumental in making a hash of Lakshmipathy Balaji’s figures, who’d begun accurately but soon had no answers to the unorthodox methods.While it was a sight to see Karthik hurrying between the wickets, despite the sweltering weather, another batsman, not for the first time, struggled with cramps. Uthappa continued his penchant for doing well in the Challenger Series – he shot into the limelight after a blistering hundred in last year’s edition – and, barring the dehydration factor, looked in control. He picked his shots cleverly and chipped away with singles in between meaty boundaries. He launched into Chawla in the 25th over, biffing two massive sixes, allowing India Red to reach an exact 150 at the halfway stage.

The other half-centurion wouldn’t have managed much without large dollops of fortune. Coming off the back of a fine hundred in the tournament opener, Gambhir capitalised on a dropped chance from Patel, the wicketkeeper, and was lucky to survive a perilous appeal for lbw against Piyush Chawla. Yet, he rode his luck, slapping crisp drives when offered width, and occasionally unfurled some emphatic strokeplay.India Green were jolted early. The bowler who caused most problems for them was Sreesanth, who, ironically, has been left out of India’s Champions Trophy squad. He generated disconcerting pace and didn’t hesitate to slip in the odd bouncer, running in with characteristic aggression and hustling the batsmen. He struck a big blow in his second over, nailing Ganguly with an incisive straighter one that kissed the inside edge and rocked leg stump. Unlike Zaheer Khan, who bowled impressively but was unlucky to be taken for runs, Sreesanth kept his economy-rate down and accounted for Wasim Jaffer when he tried to break the shackles.Praveen Kumar, sent in as a pinch-hitter, neither pinched nor hit and it was only because of Patel that India Green stayed on with a faint chance. He was let off on 21, when Sreesanth grassed a simple chance at fine leg, but battled on with an attractive mix of slashes and drives. The spinners, though, have come into their own in this tournament, especially when teams bowl second. Powar, not wearing his snazzy goggles but still looping it deliciously, generated grip and dip while Murali Kartik, not tossing it up that much but wearing his set of shades, frustrated with his control.Chawla and Mithun Manhas blasted 71 for the eighth wicket but by then India Red had decided to try out a few part-timers, allowing their main bowlers to take a rest ahead of tomorrow’s final. Chawla’s half century, with five fours and two blistering sixes, gave them the faintest of hopes but VRV Singh returned, generated pace and bounce, and was rewarded with four wickets at the end of the day.

India RedRobin Uthappa retired hurt 81
Gautam Gambhir c Kaif b Chawla 75 (177 for 1)
Rohit Sharma c Manhas b Kumar 26 (254 for 2)
Robin Uthappa c Kaif b Balaji 92 (303 for 3)
Dinesh Karthik c Patel b Balaji 85 (306 for 4)
India GreenSourav Ganguly b Sreesanth 3 (10 for 1)
Wasim Jaffer c Karthik b Sreesanth 23 (53 for 2)
Praveen Kumar c Kartik b VRV Singh 9 (69 for 3)
Mohammad Kaif b Powar 34 (138 for 4)
Suresh Raina c Sharma b Kartik 1 (139 for 5)
Parthiv Patel c Sharma b Powar 69 (169 for 6)
Hemang Badani c Sharma b Powar 18 (178 for 7)
Mithun Manhas c Kartik b VRV Singh 34 (249 for 8)
Lakshmipathy Balaji c Sreesanth b Zaheer 9 (278 for 9)
Ashish Nehra b VRV Singh 0 (278 all out)

Tickets for the traditional end-of-season Australian Rules Football game at The Oval on October 8 are selling well, with over 10,000 already sold for the event.The main attraction is the game between Grand Finalists the West Coast Eagles and local Perth rivals the Fremantle Dockers which starts at 2.40pm. That will be preceeded by a clash between the Irish AFL side, the Green Machine, and the British Bulldogs.AFL first appeared at The Oval in 1972 but the end-of-season exhibition only became a regular fixture in the late 1980s.And in 2006 the ground might host Major League Baseball (MLB) after it was revealed that officials of Surrey had held discussions with MLB representatives. “MLB is very interested in playing games in Europe,” Paul Archey, the organisation’s senior vice-president said. “We’re investigating possibilities in Europe where we may be able to play regular-season games as early as the 2007 season. There’s a lot of interest in us playing in London, and I think selling tickets would be the easiest part of it.”Tickets for the event are £20 and are available on Surrey’s website or 0207 582 7764

After beating India twice in one month, Moin Khan said that he believed Pakistan had the firepower to do it a third time, during the Champions Trophy. Pakistan first romped to an authoritative win over their rivals in the Asia Cup, and then completely outplayed them on an uneven pitch in Amsterdam.The victories were significant, for they showed the improvement the team had made since Bob Woolmer became coach, and that they had put the series defeat against India behind them. Moin spoke about the pressure of facing India in front of a large Pakistani crowd away from home, as well as his own expectations. “In the last two games we dominated them, we beat them and I hope we’re going to perform in the same way,” Moin said to the BBC. “It’s going to be an exciting game because a lot of Pakistani people live here and support us. Definitely there’s going to be lots of pressure on both teams.”The match will be played at Edgbaston on September 19. Both teams have met only once before on an English ground: in the 1999 World Cup, where India beat Pakistan. But since then, Pakistan have beaten India seven times on neutral territory, while India have won three games.

Worcestershire 216 for 8 (Anurag 74, Leatherdale 62) beat Leicestershire 141 by 75 runs

After enjoying the upper hand for much of yesterday’s play, Leicestershire were caught cold on the resumption of their rain-interrupted quarter-final at Grace Road, as Mark Harrity and Matt Mason took three wickets each on a slow seamer. Leicestershire resumed on their overnight 5 for 0, but immediately lost Virender Sehwag for 2 and never recovered. They stumbled to 60 for 6 in pursuit of Worcestershire’s 216 for 8, and only a desperate rearguard from Phil DeFreitas and Charlie Dagnall enabled them to reach the relative prosperity of 141.Sehwag was trapped lbw by Mason off the very first ball of the day, and though Darren Stevens crashed his way to 34 from 26 balls, the game was sealed when five wickets fell for 12 runs, including Stevens and the dangerous Darren Maddy in consecutive deliveries from Andrew Hall. It was sweet revenge for Hall, who had himself been dismissed first-ball by Maddy in yesterday’s play.Going into the match, Worcestershire had been deprived of three key players in Graeme Hick, Stephen Peters and Nantie Hayward, and their own innings had never really got going. They seemed destined for a heavy defeat when Maddy picked up three wickets in an over, including his former Leicestershire colleague, Ben Smith, for a duck, but Anurag Singh and David Leatherdale knuckled down and ground out a competitive total.Singh defied a hamstring injury to make a gritty 74, and Leatherdale followed his matchwinning 80 against Yorkshire in the previous round with a well-paced 62. They added 111 for the fifth wicket, but until the rainclouds rolled across the ground towards the end of the day, it scarcely seemed enough.

Nashua Western Province squads to play the Highveld Strikers in the SuperSport Series at the Wanderers Stadium, 12 to 15 October 2001 and Namibia in the UCB Bowl at Windhoek, 11 to 14 October.1) Graeme Smith
2) Rashaad Magiet
3) Andrew Puttick
4) H.D. Ackerman ( C )
5) Jonathan Trott
6) Neil Johnson
7) Thami Tsolekile
8) Alan Dawson
9) Paul Adams
10) Claude Henderson
11) Roger Telemachus
12) Charl Willoughby
COACHES: Vincent Barnes and Eric Simons
Nashua Western Province Bowl Team Vs Namibia1) Ryan Cotterel
2) Ryan Maron
3) Renier Munnik
4) Sean Ackerman ( C )
5) Warren Wyngard
6) Wesley Euley
7) Faghmie Jardine
8) Marc de Stadler
9) Grant de Kock
10) Paul Harris
11) Quentin Friend
12) Antonio Mullins
Coach: Peter Kirsten

Max Sorensen has been ruled out of the remainder of Ireland’s tour of Zimbabwe and Namibia due to a back injury.Sorensen, the 29-year-old allrounder, was slated to play the four-day fixture against Zimbabwe A starting in Harare on Saturday, but will now return to Ireland immediately. He will also miss the Intercontinental Cup clash against Namibia in Windhoek starting October 24.Stuart Poynter, the wicketkeeper who was to leave the squad after the Zimbabwe leg of the tour, has provisionally been named as Sorensen’s replacement, subject to an approval from the ICC’s technical committee.Sorensen, who last represented the country in a T20I against Scotland in June, did not play a part in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, which Ireland lost 2-1. His last ODI was against South Africa, during the 2015 World Cup in March.

Maharashtra held Mumbai to a draw in the Under-14 West Zone leaguematch played at the Pune Club in Pune on Saturday. The hosts tookthree points while the visiting Mumbai lads went home with five pointsowing to their first innings lead.After Maharashtra skipper AkshayOak won the toss and invited the visitors to bat,Mumbai declared their innings at 434/8 off 105.4 overs on the secondday of the match. The highlight was a mammoth 209 run partnership forthe fifth wicket between Shoeb Shaikh and Prashant Naik. Shoeb scored100 off 127 balls with 14 boundaries while Naik piled up 148 off 221balls with 20 hits to the fence.Maharashtra were skittled out for 260 in 92.5 overs. Opener NikhilMunde scored 60 off 121 balls with nine hits to the fence. ChetanKasbekar was unbeaten on 53 off 92 balls. Pratik Kar bagged four for44.Conceding a 174 run lead, Maharashtra followed on. Their secondessay was similar to the first one as they were bundled out for 203 in84.5 overs. Nikhil Paradkar scored 55 off 134 balls with nine hits tothe fence. Rohit Kakde topscored with 60 off 65 with a dozen hits tothe fence. Sanket Chavan picked up three for 34.Mumbai were set a target of 30 runs in three overs to win the matchoutright. They managed to score 22 off the three overs for the loss ofone wicket.