Overnight, it was all set up so nicely. The West Indies had led by 235 overnight on the 4th day, at 381-6, and all expected that a declaration would be forthcoming after the first hour of Day 5, with perhaps an additional 30-40 runs. In effect, the eventual West Indian declaration did not come until about 75 minutes had elapsed, before the luncheon interval, by which time Franklyn Rose had been LBW to Craig White for 10. In the meantime, Ridley Jacobs and Curtly Ambrose had bludgeoned a further 54 after the fall of Rose’s wicket before the end of the innings, at 438-6, with Jacobs getting a good 42 not out, while Ambrose got a useful 36 not out.Even before the declaration, it was very evident that the rains would make an appearance some time sooner rather than later, and that did happen. Set a whopping 293 to win in a possible 71 overs, England might have struggled even on a normal day, as that was a tough ask. As it was, the rains put paid to any plans that either team would have had, and even though Courtney Walsh did get his 472nd Test wicket, that of Mike Atherton, again, this time nibbling to the wicket-keeper Jacobs, a result was impossible. Atherton made 28, but that, as the saying goes, was that. By the time the rains came, England had made 80-1, with the impressive Marcus Trescothick managing 38 not out to add to his 66 in the 1st innings. Not a bad start for a Test career.Both captains should have been very pleased with the efforts of their players, as both teams showed great fighting spirits when situations looked marginal, while some consistency was achieved by both teams; the West Indies in batting more than bowling, with Brian Lara and the other batsmen showing some great improvement from Lords; England bowling more than batting, even with the excellence of Marcus Trescothick and Alec Stewart. In the end, it was a toss up as to whom would get the “Man of the Match” award, as there were only two real contenders, Brian Lara with his first Test century for 16 months, or Alec Stewart, with a Test century on his 100th Test. Sentiment and form, too, won out, with Stewart getting the nod.Afterwards, Jimmy Adams, the West Indies captain, Nasser Hussain, the English captain, and Alec Stewart, the M-o-M award winner, spoke:Jimmy Adams:“The weather had the final say. We lost quite a lot of time today, and there was not enough time to get a result for either team, but that has been the story of the summer so far, really. We had a bit of an idea that it would not be a good afternoon, and it turned out that way in the end. The day and the game might have become interesting without the bad weather.We had to get to a position of strength before we could think about a declaration, a position in which we could set attacking field placings. We were operating under the assumption that we would have 72 overs and we intended to attack for 72 overs. We thought our declaration total would have allowed us to do so. Unfortunately, our plans were destroyed by the weather and we could not get in 72 overs.This game saw a very good performance for the batsmen, but I must also have a special emphasis on the bowlers too. They came out on that 3rd day and bowled the West Indies back into the game on a good pitch. We are very pleased that Brian Lara has come back to some form too. I think that we can still see some better batting performances from him, but that should not take away from what he has done here. He batted brilliantly.I think that England won the 1st two days and the West Indies won the 2nd two days. The weather won the last day. Maybe it was “even-stevens.” The consistency was nice to see, but we will take it day by day, Test by Test, and at the end of the tour, we shall assess again. It is an ongoing process. It is interesting that Brian Lara, as you say, looks ominous with two Tests to go.Oh, incidentally, I have noticed that Headingley does not serve up too many draws!!”Nasser Hussain:“We were just going to play our own way to try to win this game. I had a chat with the chaps in the morning and we decided that each of us will play in his own unique way to make sure that a proper attempt could be made to win this Test. We had to make sure that our body language was correct throughout, especially in the morning, to try to bowl out the West Indies, and not just to go through the motions and depend on a declaration. I think that we achieved that.I also said that when we came to bat, then everyone would bat their own way. If anyone wanted to bat for four hours, then that was his responsibility to play that way. If anyone wanted to play a few dazzling strokes and go for broke, then they could do that too. I think that (Marcus) Trescothick and (Mike) Atherton showed that and it was a nice little session too. With all of the rain, the wicket did zip up a bit, with the covers on and off and stuff, and the West Indies bowlers could have gotten stuck in. Our batters did a good job this afternoon.I am sure that neither team will win the series 3-0 now (laugh). I just think that it (the series) would go down to the (Kennington) Oval for the 5th Test. I hope that the response and support continue to come in and that both (Headingley) Leeds and the (Kennington) Oval will be sold out. I think the support is great for cricket.What we have got to do is to keep our feet on the ground, keep working hard, and look for positive results from now to the end of the summer. We really have not done anything yet, and the next ten days of international cricket (Test 4 and Test 5) are what people would remember.”Alec Stewart:“It was a very memorable Test match for me. With both me and Athers (Mike Atherton) making our 100th Test appearance, it was a great achievement. To get a century in this game made it that bit more special. I think I played very well overall, but at the beginning, I did scratch around a bit. I thought that (Courtney) Walsh bowled exceptionally well to me initially. Afterwards, though, everything seemed to fall into place for me, head and feet being in the best positions for me to hit the ball well. I think I timed the ball as well as I could have here.To reach 100 Test matches, only achieved by only five Englishmen before me, is a great honor. Athers and I are in some great company there. Additionally, just to join (Sir) Colin Cowdrey in scoring a century in that 100th game is really special. My form has gone on from the Nat West Series in the Test series and now this Test match. I know that it will not last forever, but I have a right to enjoy it all now. Hopefully, I would still have this type of form when we get to Headingley (Leeds).We are disappointed that we could not win this game, but you must also give them some credit too. They were ably led by the batting of Brian Lara, a really brilliant innings, showing us all what a genius he really is when he has a bat in his hand, and he was very well supported by Jimmy (Adams) and the rest of the team. Having said that, though, we did stick to the task at hand, and with someone playing as well as Lara played, it was not going to be easy, but our bowlers stuck to the task and I give them great credit too. When we batted, we also showed some resolve, with (Marcus) Trescothick twice showing that he is quite capable, while (Mike) Atherton and (Nasser) Hussein hung in well.The last Test match that the West Indies played, they lost, then they had a very disappointing one day series, but we knew, and I am sure that they knew, that they were a good side, and that they would bounce back. They certainly did that in the way they bowled in the latter part of our first innings, and obviously in the way they batted, led by Brian Lara.Look, we know that Brian Lara is a genius, and that he is looking ominous, as in 1995, he started his century streak with a century at Old Trafford then too. He is not the number one or number two batsman in the world now, but he is capable of doing the same as those guys at any time. We have some good players who have to do their best to get him out too.It was like playing on an uncovered wicket with all of the rain that we had, but the pitch settled down well. It was disappointing that the rain came, as the game was well set. With all of the rain, obviously we would not have approached the target set, but it was nice to see that we only lost one wicket today. If we had played a full day, you never know what could have happened.The ball does move around a bit, seam sometimes, at Headingley (Leeds), but saying that, I am sure that Andy Foggarty, the groundsman at Headingly Leeds would be doing his best to produce a good Test cricket wicket. I know that the Yorkshire people will come out in support of us and all that we have to do is to come out and produce a good game on the field.The sides are evenly matched. We got hammered in the 1st Test at Edgbaston. We bounced back at Lords for the 2nd Test. We are evens here. It is now two to play. With two Test to go, it should be a good end to the series too.”Leeds is another matter altogether. The ball normally controls the bat there, so the bowlers would be in their element. Obviously, the team which bowls better, and the team which catches better, should come out the winner. Batsmen, watch out at Leeds!!

Punjab handed down a humiliating innings and 343-run defeat toHimachal Pradesh in their North Zone under-14 tournament match at theDhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala on Tuesday.Set to get 405 to avoid an innings defeat, Himachal Pradesh were shotout for just 62 runs in their second innings. None of the batsmenreached double figures with the exception of Aditya (27). All the sixPunjab bowlers shared the spoils with Jund (3 for 10) being the pickof the lot.Earlier, on the first day, opting to bat, Himachal Pradesh werebundled for a paltry 24. Four of the batsmen failed to open theiraccount. Harmanjit, with figures of 3 for 5, was the pick of thebowlers. In reply, Punjab declared their first innings at 429 runs forseven. Openers A Vinayak (29) and Karan Goel (50) gave Punjab a goodstart by putting on 81 runs in 18.3 overs. Then with the score reading125 for 4, M Bhatia (87) and U Kaul (95) added 163 runs for the fifthwicket in 45.4 overs. A seventh wicket partnership of 132 runs off 29overs between A Jund (50) and P Sharda (79) ensured Punjab a big lead.Punjab got eight points.

The East Zone Under-22 match between Bengal and Tripura at the PolytechnicGround in Agartala meandered to a draw on the third and final day on Thursday.Bengal took home five points by virtue of the 113-run first innings lead whileTripura had to be content with three.Opting to bat on the first day, Bengal declared at 387 for 9. Opener Arindam Das(177) held the visitors’ innings together. After the early loss of his partnerPrasanta Sinharoy (1), Arindam shared a 126-run second wicket partnership withstumper AA Sikdar (40). The fall of Sikdar triggered a minor collapse, andBengal found themselves losing four more wickets.Subrahdip Ganguly (90) joined Arindam at this juncture and 126 runs for theseventh wicket. Arindam was the eighth batsman to be dismissed caught by Sahaoff R Ghosh. Arindam, who stay at the crease for close to eight hours faced 305balls hit 28 boundaries.In reply, Tripura scored 254 thanks chiefly to some useful contributions by themiddle order. M Gupta (63) was the top scorer. The only significant partnershipin the innings was shared by M Gupta and C Sachdeva (56) for the third wicketwhich was worth 75 runs. Thereafter none of the Tripura batsmen made anysignificant scores. Bengal in their second innings lost three wickets whileputting up 157 on the board. Arindam Das was again the top scorer with a fine60. Bengal managed to receive 48 overs on the final day before stumps were drawnafter the 8th mandatory over with the score 157 for three.

As the night skies closed in around Old Trafford, so too did the Australians. Intimidating field placings more akin to Test cricket greeted new England batsmen, an umbrella slip cordon and a couple of short legs ensuring that Australia applied a vice-like tourniquet which squeezed the life out of the England reply, reducing the game to an exhibition of Australia’s supreme bowling attack. England were totally eclipsed by 125 runs and dismissed for a record low of 86 all out.England had set out in pursuit of a revised target of 212 from 44 overs after rain had curtailed Australia’s total to 208 for seven from 48 overs. An immediate goal was to achieve 84 without loss from the mandatory 25 overs to win the match as the threat of rain was always a possibility. As it turned out, to merely survive for 25 overs was probably England’s main batting achievement in an innings which only displayed the true calibre of this Australian outfit.Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie were unmercifully persistent and accuracy personified. Knight and Trescothick could barely pierce the field and the pressure of these two quicks caused anxious times for the two left-handers. They did reach 25 without loss but after Knight had groped forward and edged McGrath behind, Stewart and Vaughan departed off consecutive balls to the hostile Gillespie. Shah avoided the hat-trick and had made a very fortuitous ten before edging Gillespie on to his pad to Ponting.Three wickets went down in 20 balls for no runs. Trescothick was cleaned up by McGrath and Shane Warne made his appearance at his beloved Old Trafford to taunt the England lower order and turn the ball past the startled Hollioake. Andrew Symonds, meanwhile, joined in the fun, inducing Cork to find Hayden at deep mid-wicket off a rank long hop, and then plunging to his right to snap up Collingwood one-handed. Gough succumbed to Warne and Ian Harvey performed the last rites with the wicket of Mullally.If this was an Ashes rehearsal, then England’s recent renewed confidence after Test series successes looks misplaced. Australia were just simply too good. Their batsmen, thanks to Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn, rescued a poor position of 27 for three and although England, and in particular Hollioake and Mullally, bowled well and ensured Australia didn’t set a huge target, it was quickly evident that Australia’s standard is still way above that of England in one-day cricket.

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, who ended his recent run-drought with apainstaking 85 to lay the foundation for India’s four-wicket winagainst Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Wednesday, thanked one and all forsupporting him through his lean period.”It is good to score runs. I thank my teammates, family, friends andall supporters here and back home for their encouraging words,” arelieved and happy Ganguly said.Asked whether he would continue with the winning team in the next twomatches, the Indian captain replied in the negative.”We will give a chance to all. There are players who have not playedfor quite some time and all of them are good enough to play in theeleven,” he said. “In the process, we will also be able to fix acombination for the final."Man-of-the-match Rahul Dravid, who saw his team home with an unbeaten72, said, “Sourav showed a lot of character to hang in there and scoreruns.”On his own performance, Dravid said “I am happy to score a matchwinning knock and continue my good form on the tour. Even in the netsI am hitting the ball well.”Guy Whittal, leading Zimbabwe in the absence of Heath Streak, said histeam missed the services of Streak. On the team’s further progress inthe tournament, Whittal said “We will try to play as hard as we can inthe next game too.”

The horrible scenes of pitch invasions at various venues during the NatWest Series not only destroyed the charm of the game but also brought shame on the conduct of Asian origin immigrants in England and even tarnished the performance of the team they were supporting. It is generally felt that such behaviour by a small group of miscreants can turn into mob violence if not properly dealt with. This may have been one reason for the British police and the ground authorities showing undue generosity towards the intruders.

The ugly scenes at Headingley, in a Pakistan – England contest, which Pakistan was comfortably winning, had to be abandoned when Pakistan was only 4 runs short with 6 wickets in hand due to intrusion by an over-excited mob of Pakistan supporters. An otherwise glorious victory for a Waqar Younis led Pakistan team turned into a ‘courtesy win’ because Alec Stewart had to ‘concede the match’ and earn, possibly an unwanted distinction, of the first captain in international cricket history to concede a match.Setting aside that Pakistan was to win easily anyway, the media and Alec Stewart’s statement “it had to be done purely on the grounds of players and umpires safety” took a lot away from the win and more so from Waqar’s 7 wicket performance. It was a brave but a sad decision for English cricket but all due to the stupid ground invasion by the local Pakistan supporters. Worse, in an effort to control the situation a steward was injured and taken to hospital.

The media made little noise about the fact that these ‘fans’ were local citizens and subject to British law, albeit their ancestors may have come from Pakistan. A sad example of rowdyism – Asian style!Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where Waqar Younis sent the Aussies reeling off with a magical haul of 6 wickets and carved a 36 run morale boosting victory for Pakistan, was the next theatre of miscreant activity. Their thrust on the ground and the use of firecrackers suspended play with the Australians walking off the field for safety.A repeat of ‘enthusiasm violence’ occurred again after the conclusion of the final at Lords when the Australians were celebrating their golden victory. Everyone should have accepted, with grace, the fact that Australia convincingly won the trophy but the miscreants did not. Someone hurled a beer can that hit Michael Bevan in the face, spoiling the joy of a victory that Australia had earned through a superb display. To utter disappointment of the spectators the remains of a grand ceremony had to be shifted inside. Again an example of a few ‘people’ spoiling the fun of cricket for the masses.The incidences of rowdyism witnessed during the NatWest Series are likely to have serious repercussions on the conduct of international matches, specially in countries having a sizeable population of Asian immigrants. The situation has already put the cricket authorities on the alert. Rightly so, considering the players’ safety as supreme, the ECB is thinking of shifting the award ceremonies indoors and showing it to the spectators on the giant TV screen.

The game cannot flourish unless it is played in a safe, cordial and conducive atmosphere. The safety of players and umpires necessitates foolproof security measures. The above move may not be good for the real fans but a compulsion to safeguard against untoward incidents. Some other measures can also be considered. In Australia people are fined heavily for going on the field of play. Why can’t the same be done in England?England is a well-disciplined society because the people are subjected to strict rule of law. Although the British police do not carry weapons but I have often seen them carrying batons. If the stewards carry the same on the ground rather than being empty handed, it will certainly have a deterrent effect on the miscreants and law-breakers. There is also a move to legislate a change in British laws to allow for greater powers in crowd control to the authorities.Let us not stretch basic human rights too far just to allow the mischief mongers spoil the entertainment of thousands of spectators who not only spend money but also leave their work aside to come watch a cricket match. The troublemakers need to be dealt with an iron hand rather than the courtesy being presently shown to them.In the sub-continent we are well used to seeing fans behind steel fencing with a huge presence of police. Even these measures do not entirely succeed as we have witnessed fires breaking out, hurling of stones and other missiles. Fencing may not be quite the kind of scene one would want to see adopted in England but certainly something to ponder, lest more serious incidents occur.These incidents have already sounded danger bells in South Africa. The Organizing Committee of the World Cup 2003 has therefore decided to adopt a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards pitch invasion. Among measures under consideration are: the use of dogs as a visual deterrent, erection of temporary moats and the use of swimming pool netting to entangle the invaders.I am glad they are not as generous as the British.

Rob Bailey and Graeme Welch rescued Derbyshire from the prospect of defeat inside three days but Worcestershire remain on course for victory.When bad light halted play shortly before 5.30, Derbyshire were 185-5, still 113 runs behind and unless the weather intervenes on the final day, another defeat for the home side looks inevitable.A startling collapse in the morning, when eight wickets fell in 64 minutes, left Derbyshire to follow on for the fifth time this season and they collapsed again in the second innings.Alamgir Sheriyar took 4-12 in 24 balls as Derbyshire slumped from 62-0 to 77-4 and when Dominic Cork went cheaply for the second time in the day, Worcestershire were scenting an early finish.But Bailey, who was one of Andrew Bichel’s victims in a spell of 4-2 in 13 balls before lunch, dug in and with Welch, at least restored some respectability to the innings.Only humiliation looked in store for Derbyshire when Sheriyar found some swing to undermine the batting after Steve Stubbings and Luke Sutton had put on 62 for the first wicket.Sutton was caught behind driving at a wide ball and Stephen Titchard gloved a catch to Steve Rhodes down the legside before Mathew Dowman was bowled by an swinging yorker for a duck.Stubbings completed his second half-century of the match before Sheriyar darted one back to bowl him off a pad and although Cork blazed 16 from one Matthew Rawnsley over, he was caught behind for 21 when Bichel returned.Bailey and Welch resisted for another 21 overs but it will take some batting heroics on the last day or a lot of rain to deny Worcestershire.

Sri Lanka defeated India by six runs in the tension racked PremadasaInternational Stadium tonight in a game that could have swung eitherway and was only settled in the final nerve jangling over of the game.This was one-day cricket at it’s gripping best, with fortunes seesawing throughout the day. In the end, the Sri Lankan spinners heldtheir nerve as the Indian batsmen, needing 222 for victory, stumbledin the last five overs of the game.At the end of the 45th over, bowled by Sanath Jayasuriya, India needed30 runs from 30 balls with four wickets remaining. Rahul Dravid, whofinished unbeaten on 49, was batting with Virender Shewag and the pairlooked to be cruising towards the target, effortlessly working thespinners into the gaps.Kumar Dharmasena, who handsomely repaid the national selectors fortheir faith with an emotionless performance, bowled the 46th andconceded five runs. India though still looked to have the game in thebag. Jayasuriya called his senior players to his side. They discussedtheir options in animated fashion before agreeing that the time hadcome to throw their final match winning card: Muttiah Muralitharan.It was to be his final over and fourth spell of the day and it swungthe initiative back towards the home team. Rahul Dravid hit a singleoff the first delivery and Shewag scrambled two runs with a clump towide long on. Out of the blue, however, Muralitharan conjured up twoconsecutive dot balls. Shewag panicked, went for a boundary, and waswell caught by Suresh Perera at long off.Only three runs were scored off the over and India now needed 22 runsof the final three overs, but Dharmasena conceded just five in the48th over and Jayasuriya likewise in the penultimate, leaving 12 offthe final one bowled by Dharmsena.The off spinner allrounder conceded just five as the India failed tofind the boundary and the terraces erupted with uncontained joy, asthe Sri Lankan players converged in celebration and the Indian batsmenwalked slowly to their dressing room knowing full well that they hadbeen the masters of their own fate.India had started their run chase disastrously, slipping to 30 forthree in the ninth over, thanks to a double strike by Suresh Perera ­Yuvraj Singh caught at square leg and Amay Khurasia trapped lbw ­ andthe soft dismissal of Harbhajan Singh, who had been bravely promotedin the order to make maximum use of the early fielding restrictions.When Laxman was caught behind off Dilhara Fernando India were 71 forfour and Rahul Dravid joined the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly at thewicket. Ganguly had decided to play in the middle order to counteractthe Sri Lankan spinners and the plan looked to be working, asthe duo added 80 runs for the fifth wicket.Russel Arnold broke the partnership when Ganguly top edged a sweep toJayasuriya at short leg. India were 151 for five in the 38th over andSri Lanka were back in the game. Nevertheless, India still looked incontrol until those desperate last overs.Earlier in the game the Sri Lankans had struggled to 221 after winningthe toss. They started well, scoring 48 for the first wicket, beforelosing three wickets for 12 runs. Avishka Gunawardene, dropped twiceduring his 63, then added 73 for the fourth wicket with RomeshKaluwitharana.The second collapse of the innings soon reduced the home side to 155for seven before a 49 run stand between allrounders Kumar Dharmasenaand Suresh Perera rescued the innings and showed clearly the value ofbowlers that can bat.With Muralitharan carving the final ball of the innings over cover forfour Sri Lanka would have been delighted with their final total, butknew that the bowlers had to perform. Thankfully for them the fastbowlers made initial inroads and the spin bowlers held their nerve atthe death. India now play against New Zealand on Thursday and SriLanka take on New Zealand on Wednesday. Both games will be played atPremadasa International Stadium.

Auckland Cricket chairman Don Hattaway is not seeking re-election at Thursday’s annual meeting.The popular Hattaway has been chairman for the last five and a half years and a member of the board for seven years.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a board member serving the interests of Auckland cricket.”I have always believed that the game of cricket is for playing and that administrators should never overlook that fact. To this end, the move to strengthen grass roots cricket and the positive development of the State Aces and State Hearts has been particularly worthwhile,” he said.Acknowledging the success of the Auckland Hearts in winning the State Insurance Cup for the second time, and the number of talented young players in the Aces side, Hattaway said Auckland continued to make a substantial investment in coaching and development.”It is pleasing to see this investment reflected in the development of elite players and the continuing growth of coaches in Auckland,” he said.The development of a career path for coaches had been helped by the requirement that all premier and first grade cricket club sides in Auckland have a coach attached to them.This also helped lift the standard of cricket.”Whilst the standard of cricket varies amongst the teams the standard is improving and the trend is in the right direction,” he said.”During the past year one of the main areas of focus has been to strengthen the grass roots level of the game by encouraging clubs to improve their governance structure.”A professional management scheme has been developed and it is pleasing to note that this has been embraced wholeheartedly by the major clubs in Auckland,” he said.Hattaway said New Zealand Cricket was committed to supporting grass roots cricket and funds have been allocated to provide the necessary financial resource.”Although the board of NZC has not yet determined the timing of payment and how much each association will receive, the clubs are preparing their business plans for review by Auckland Cricket.”By making good use of the time available to properly plan for the implementation of the professional club managers’ scheme, it is anticipated that when final approval is given by NZC that we and the clubs will be ready to implement the scheme,” he said.

Getting away from the cricket side of touring can be fun occasionally, just to break the pressure that develops.With that in mind our social club in India, Chris Nevin, Mark Richardson and myself arranged a Tuktuk (a rickshaw-like thing that seats two passengers and a driver and which is powered by a motor about the size of a lawn mower) race down to the Pizza Corner (like Pizza Hut) establishment about three kilometres down the road from our hotel in Chennai.We were having our usual team meal there after winning our second game in the Buchi Babu tournament.As part of our touring strategy we divided our tour party of 16 into four teams of four. But for this event we were divided into eight pairs after we managed to arrange eight Tuktuk drivers.It was a bit like Le Mans at the start as each of the drivers had to hold up a number which corresponded with one each team had been given. Once you had found your Tuktuk you had to encourage the drivers to get you to the Corner first.This all happened about 7pm which corresponds with peak hour in Chennai and we found ourselves trying to go against the traffic.It got quite scary at times but it was a lot of fun.The eventual winners of the Chennai Tuktuk championship of 2001 were Ashley Ross and Matt Horne. Paul Wiseman and Brooke Walker got themselves into a right spin and were a distant last as the Tuktuk ran out of petrol.We made a disappointing start to our semi-final. We batted first, and poorly, against Indian Railways and were all out for a paltry 129. Mark Richardson batted the entire innings to be 62 not out. The Railways side were 114/4 at stumps but we wrote a script for the next two days, working out what we had to do in the remaining phases of the game.We were inspired by coach Ashley Ross and his vision of a pre-mortem instead of a post-mortem. He believed we could win the game on the last day with three overs to spare. We all brought into the idea.The phases were to bowl the Railways side out in the morning session. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve this until halfway through the second session which left us exactly 150 runs adrift.The second phase was to boldly go about restoring a lead so that we had enough runs to give ourselves a chance of bowling them out.We ended the day about 60 runs in front but with only four wickets in hand. It was hard work as they used six/three leg-side fields and speared the ball into our pads.This made scoring difficult and the lads improvised very well, adopting the reverse sweep on many occasions. Mark Richardson batted well for a nice double of half centuries and Lou Vincent looked good by stumps on 50 not out.We completed the second phase of our plan 20 overs into the day’s play with Lou Vincent scoring his first century of the tour. It was a fine knock and one that gave us an outside chance of winning as we had a lead of 163.We knew from the first innings that their batsmen did not like the short-pitched bowling. Shane Bond expolited their inability to cope with the short ball in three great spells in which he collected seven for 45 from 14 overs.Shane and Lou were the heroes for us and their efforts, backed up by some brilliant fielding helped us win the match.The script had been played out and we actually won the game just after tea with 40 overs still to spare.It was an astonishing game of cricket and the team showed a lot of character to come from behind and win convincingly in the end.