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ScorecardIrfan Karim struck a 26-ball 46•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Matthew Cross (45*) and Richie Berrington (34*) led Scotland to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Kenya in their World T20 Qualifier Group B game at Edinburgh after their bowlers had limited the opposition to 141 for 5.Kenya, who opted to bat first had a brisk start, reaching 30 in just under three overs, before they lost their first wicket. Alasdair Evans dismissed Narendra Kalyan, after the batsman had contributed 1 run to a stand of 30. Irfan Karim, who had scored most of the runs at the start struck up a useful 30-run partnership for the second wicket with Nehemiah Odhiembo.The pair scored at a brisk rate of over 13 runs but Kenya were robbed of their momentum in three overs – between the sixth and eighth of their innings. Odhiambo fell to Rob Taylor in the sixth over but it was Michael Leask’s twin strikes in the eighth over that inflicted heavy damage. Leask got rid of Karim and Collins Obuya in the space of three deliveries, and the 52-run, fourth-wicket partnership between captain Rakep Patel and Morris Ouma couldn’t make up for the lost momentum. Kenya eventually reached 141 for 5 off 20 overs, with Karim’s 26-ball 46 the highest score.Chasing 142, Scotland didn’t start well, losing Kyle Coetzer in the first over. However, Cross steadied the innings and was involved in a string of partnerships that kept Scotland on track. He added 36 for the second wicket with Calum MacLeod and 55 for the third wicket with George Munsey before an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 51 with Berrington guided Scotland home with 31 balls to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Australia surfed a tide of emotion in front of a packed fourth-and-final day crowd, sealing their first Ashes whitewash in 86 years with a ruthless demolition job at Sydney. They had a full two days available to do the necessary, but in the end they needed just under two hours, as England’s battered and bruised cricketers surrendered by ten wickets in an abject and embarrassing fashion.Fittingly, it was Glenn McGrath who took centre stage in his final appearance at his home ground, the SCG. After Shane Warne’s heroics with the bat, McGrath took over with the ball, grabbing 3 for 38 in 21 typically metronomic overs, before Justin Langer – in partnership with his best mate, Matthew Hayden – rattled off the necessary 46 runs in just 11 overs.It was Hayden who sealed the win, clubbing Sajid Mahmood for six then, after a consultation with Langer, slapping the next for four past point, but McGrath, Langer and Shane Warne were the inevitable stars of the show. McGrath, ever one to rise above the emotion, started the festivities with his third ball of the day. He scalped Kevin Pietersen, England’s last hope, before instigating the run-out of the nightwatchman, Monty Panesar.In his desperation to score England’s first runs of the morning, Chris Read took off for a suicidal single to Australia’s best fielder, Andrew Symonds, who pinged the top of middle stump from ten yards, with Panesar still a foot short. Read was himself then blasted from the crease by a Brett Lee lifter deflected to second slip, before McGrath bowled Sajid Mahmood off the pads for 4.Warne, to a raucous ovation, then entered at the Paddington End for his final spell in Test cricket, and the last rites of England’s innings developed into a mini-tussle between Australia’s two champions, as McGrath and Warne fought for the honour of claiming the last wicket of the innings, and of their Test careers.Warne so nearly won the race via a stumping, as Adam Gilchrist whipped off the bails with Steve Harmison’s back foot shuffling back towards the crease, and the drama was intensified by a five-minute wait for the not-out verdict, as umpire Peter Parker studied the replay from all angles. And in the next over, the dream conclusion was narrowly missed, as James Anderson edged McGrath inches short of Warne at first slip.Harmison did at least club a clutch of defiant boundaries to carry England to the drinks break, but upon the resumption, McGrath could be denied no longer. Anderson swished at the sixth ball of his next over, and Michael Hussey at midwicket pocketed the simplest of catches. McGrath had signed off with three wickets in the innings, six for the match, 21 for the series, and 563 for a magnificent 124-Test career. And Australia needed just 46 to win.They started watchfully, adding just ten runs in the first five overs, but there were no alarms as a dispirited England team went through the motions to the strains of “The Last Post” from the Barmy Army bugler. The scenes at the end were euphoric and poignant, with Warne, McGrath and Langer leading the lap of honour, as a mighty era of Australia cricket ended in the most immensely fitting manner imaginable.Short CutsDismissal of the day
Kevin Pietersen was England’s only hope for a miracle, but Glenn McGrathsnuffed that dream by catching his edge with the third ball of the morning.It was vintage McGrath and a fitting farewell.Man of the Match
Stuart Clark’s five wickets for the game earned the prize, which was a finereward for a series in which he chipped in with at least a victim in everyinnings. He finished with 26 at 17.03, a total he achieved without afive-wicket haul.Speech of the day
There was a fair bit of competition, but Clark wins easily for telling hiswife and young son how much he loved them in front an almost-full SCG.Tunes of the day
The trumpeter showed his full repertoire today, mixing pop, rock andpatriotism. The Way We Were was on the song sheet along with Oasis’Don’t Look Back in Anger, Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer, RuleBrittania and The Last Post.What England didn’t need to hear
“It was the best Harmy’s bowled all series,” Justin Langer said afterAustralia had knocked off the 46 for the series whitewash. England had beenwaiting for Steve Harmison to turn up since they arrived in November.

Harbhajan Singh, the Indian spinner, has predicted that slow bowlers will be the key in next year’s World Cup. Coming off a lengthy tour of the Caribbean, Harbhajan’s analysis was that the pitches had become spin-friendly and that India’s experience there would come in handy in 2007.”During our tour of the Caribbean, most of the pitches were slow and especially in the Test series, during the second innings the ball kept low and ultimately the batsmen were beaten,” he told reporters. “Wickets in West Indies were similar to those in the Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka, which helped us in understanding its nature early.”While he admitted that the fast bowlers were crucial in India’s 1-0 Test victory – “[They] Contributed to the success of spinners in the last two matches by their early breakthroughs which left less pressure on the spinners” – Harbhajan was sparing in his personal analysis. “My best is yet to come and I will try to do much better in the forthcoming tri-series [featuring Sri Lanka and South Africa],” he said. “From July 25, our camps will begin during which we will review our mistakes in Caribbean and ensure these are not repeated in Sri Lanka.”He also thought India came back well from the 4-1 one-day drubbing. “[Brian] Lara’s able captaincy was the key to West Indies success in ODI series,” he said. “Although we started in a very good rhythm, later on West Indies overtook us which yielded results in their favour.” Harbhajan sought to downplay his exclusion from the first two Tests, saying it was up to the team management to pick the best eleven: “As far as I am concerned, I was eagerly looking for an opportunity which I finally got in third and fourth Tests and I proved my mettle in both of these.”Asked whether Sanath Jayasuriya, fresh from a superb one-day showing in the last two weeks, would pose a problem for India in the forthcoming series, beginning August 14, Harbhajan’s reply was a confident: “Our Sachin is also coming back to respond to Jayasuriya.”On the Champions Trophy to be hosted by India later this year, Harbhajan remained confident. “Our pool will be the toughest as both Australia and England will be in our pool,” he said. “But of course, we will have benefit of home ground and crowd support.”

Day 3

The Trinidad and Tobago second innings was over and the ground staff were preparing to go and re-mark the crease for the Barbados victory chase. But the Barbadians were still on the field, all in a huddle.Set a total of 276 to win the Carib Beer Challenge Final at Guaracara Park, it was as if they were trying to reassure themselves of the real possibility of victory and dedicate themselves to the task.And in that same spirit of determination, Barbados, the new Carib Beer Cup champions, were soldiering on at 99 for one (Wayne Blackman 54, Shamarh Brooks 36) as day three drew to a close.T&T skipper Daren Ganga needed wickets bad. He called back strike bowler Ravi Rampaul. It was ole mas time.When play had ended, heart and soul Ravi had capsized the Bajan mango cart with three wickets for five runs in 12 balls.Second ball: Brooks was flummoxed and lbw to a ball which cut back so sharply, it caught the teenager playing no shot.Next over: Floyd Reifer went down to one of the catches of the season, steering a ball around off-stump to Kieron Pollard in the gully who flung his big frame to his right, stuck out his right hand and held onto a stunning snare.Two balls later: A full inswinger won a plumb lbw verdict against Dwayne Smith.Rampaul was giving people cold sweat. He had answered the call of the crew at the southern end: “We want ah wicket, right now!”Onto the field some of them swarmed, delirious at the way T&T had rallied and put themselves in place to retain the Shield. The scene prompted a stern warning from the umpires.It had been a hectic day for messrs Billy Doctrove and Norman Malcolm, who, between them, made several debatable calls against both sides. At the end of it, Barbados were in the bamboo at 118 for five, captain Ryan Hinds and night watchman Tino Best holding on. Another 158 are still needed.A gripping contest had ebbed and flowed as the bowlers held sway. But Rampaul (10-3-18-4 overall), irresistible with his combination of swing and seam, claimed the day’s honours for T&T.He was assisted, too, by Rayad Emrit, the other half of Ganga’s late double change, who accounted for Blackman to a low catch to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. It was a fine end to what had largely been a tense day for the teeming Guaracara crowd.T&T had already lost Lendl Simmons when they resumed yesterday morning on six for one. But with a first innings lead of 75, they had the chance to seize decisive control of the match by batting and batting and batting on an accommodating pitch. They didn’t.The application required for a lead of more than 300 was just not there. Opener Adrian Barath’s early removal by left-arm seamer Pedro Collins, via a Smith slip catch with the scoreboard reading 15 for two, really demanded that his teammates buckle down against a determined Bajan attack.But in all, T&T managed to bat just 62.4 overs for an even 200.The third wicket pair of plucky night watchman Amit Jaggernauth (30-four fours) and innings top-scorer Ganga (44) had the right idea in producing the second highest stand of the innings-45.Jaggernauth, dropped in successive overs to the massive dismay of Best, nevertheless made a success of his promotion, staying at the crease for 77 minutes before Corey Collymore, who troubled him repeatedly in his excellent spell of 10-3-26-1, eventually had him caught in the gully by Hinds.Jaggernauth’s was the kind of concentrated work which the Guaracara posse would have demanded of Dwayne Bravo who replaced him. But he stayed just 22 minutes for four before he cavalierly helped Hinds into the hands of Collymore at short midwicket.In came Kieron Pollard, one of the heroes of T&T’s season, but a youngster with a recent string of low scores behind him. Perhaps that knowledge made him stand his ground when, first ball, he seemed to edge a delivery which turned across him from left-arm spinner Hinds, into the hands of Reifer at slip. The jubilant Bajans were sure they had their man. But Doctrove evidently did not see the deviation.Hinds could not believe it. And his subsequent tantrum ended with him sitting on the ground in disbelief.It was an unbecoming moment all round. And the fielding side seemed to lose their focus somewhat from then until the lunch break in an extended first session which ended with T&T on 120 for four.Pollard got there on a subdued 22, Ganga, playing with the same great assurance as in his first innings century, 43. They had put on 48 by then and seemed to have weathered the storm.But back after the break came Collins, the trouble man from the first innings. In his first over, the second after lunch, he got Ganga to make his first real mistake of the match, driving at a wide delivery which he snicked to Reifer at first slip.That was the beginning of a slide which saw the remaining five T&T wickets go down for 77 runs. Having removed Ganga (44, 145 minutes, six fours) who during the innings crossed 600 runs for the season, Collins returned next over to also snare Pollard. Struggling of late to play with the freedom which brought him so many runs earlier this season, he succumbed on 24, edging an attempted booming drive to wicketkeeper Patrick Browne.Ramdin (29), Richard Kelly (10), Emrit (19) and Dave Mohammed (15) all got starts. But they had not the carry through their team so desperately needed-the quartet all falling to the slow seamers of Smith (7.4-2-22-4).The large crowd, eager to make some noise, had been put on mute. They were not so sure T&T could defend 275, especially with two days and a session to go. But relentless Ravi made them all believe.

Loose bowling on day one, and cautious batting on days two and three paved Sri Lanka’s path to defeat, said Angelo Mathews, after the Test in Dunedin. Sri Lanka had let New Zealand advance at 4.48 runs and over in the first innings, before batting at 2.50 themselves. Overall, Sri Lanka batted for 50.4 overs more than New Zealand, yet lost by 122 runs.All three frontline seamers had gone at more than four runs an over in the first innings, where only Rangana Herath maintained an economy rate of less than three. “I was really disappointed the way we bowled and batted in the first innings,” Mathews said. “On that wicket, if there was anything it, it in was in the first couple of sessions. After winning the toss on a green wicket, I expected a lot more from the bowlers.

Was trying to avoid leg-side trap – Mathews

Angelo Mathews’ dismissal was one of the more bizarre ones during Sri Lanka’s innings, as he had his middle stump uprooted attempting to pad away a full Neil Wagner delivery. The ball passed through his legs en route to the stumps. He explained that he was trying to avoid New Zealand’s leg-side trap.
“It was a trap set on the leg side, and I didn’t want to play anything on the leg side to be honest,” Mathews said. “In the first innings as well, I nicked it to the wicketkeeper on the leg side. They had a leg gully and a short leg as well. I wanted to just pad it away because I knew that even if it hits my pad it’s not going to be out because it’s pitching outside leg stump. Unfortunately it hit the inside part of my pad and rolled to the stumps.”

“We bowled a lot of loose stuff. To a batting line up like New Zealand, you can’t really bowl loose stuff because they are going to capitalise. We lost our way in the first couple of sessions and we let them off the hook. We had to bowl really well to get them on the back foot. We had to take a few wickets early, which we didn’t.”While each of New Zealand’s batsmen who crossed 25 batted at a strike rate of at least 66, Sri Lanka’s half-centurions struck at less than 45. New Zealand hit 64 boundaries in the 96.1 overs they faced. Sri Lanka struck half that amount from 117.1 overs.”We were also way to cautious in our first-innings batting,” Mathews said. “We couldn’t really do much batting in the second innings, but in the first innings we respected them a lot more than expected, which was very disappointing from the batters. As I always say – and not to take away from the New Zealand – but the bowlers they are also human, and we have to capitalise.”Sri Lanka batted through until the second new ball in both innings, but scored fewer than 300 on either occasion. Three half centuries were hit from them in all – two of those coming from Dinesh Chandimal.”We definitely could have done better as a batting unit,” Mathews said. “We need to score runs to give our bowlers a chance. Scoring 290-300 is not enough on these tracks. Once the seam movement goes off in the first couple of sessions it gets really good for batting. The batters have to score big to keep us in the game.”Mathews and Chandimal had been together overnight, with Sri Lanka resuming at three wickets down on the final morning. Both batsmen were dismissed offering no shot, after a 56-run stand.”Last evening, I thought me and Dinesh had to dig in deep to save or win the game,” Mathews said. “Either way we had to stay on the wicket till lunch. Unfortunately we lost both our wickets within two or three overs of each other. That really had a big impact on the game.”Mathews said the tailenders’ defiance was among the positives Sri Lanka will take out of the match, and also lauded the bowling of Dushmantha Chameera. Playing his first overseas Test, Chameera was comfortably the quickest bowler across both teams in Dunedin, but having had an economy rate of 5.6 in the first innings and 4.35 in the second, he was also the most expensive.”He’s very raw but he runs in on any deck and he bowls fast,” Mathews said. “That’s all he knows, and what we expect from him. That’s what I told him to do as well. Not think about line and length too much – just try and bowl fast. He’s a tremendous weapon in the bowling line-up because he can upset the rhythm of a batsman. We are trying to use him in a wise way. He’s very young still, he’ll definitely learn more as time goes by.”

The retirement of Nathan Astle will create mixed emotions among New Zealand cricket fans. New Zealand are undeniably a weaker team without his experience, but at the same time it is also undeniable that Astle was a batsman on the wane.Less than two months out from the World Cup the timing is hardly ideal, but you have to admire a man who goes with the courage of his convictions. And there was plenty to admire about Astle the cricketer, too.Statistically he retires as New Zealand’s greatest one-day batsman. His 7090 runs are second only to Stephen Fleming, but his 16 centuries are ten better than Fleming and 12 better than the likes of Chris Cairns and Martin Crowe. Added to his 11 Test centuries (third on the list behind Martin Crowe and John Wright), Astle has 27 international hundreds, six better than Crowe.But statistics are cold, they tell nothing of the excitement Astle brought to the crease when he was in his pomp. He could take good length balls with a minimum of width and dispatch them through the covers for four in the blink of an eye. There was nothing flamboyant or affected about his manner at the crease but he was, particularly in one-day cricket, a brutally effective run gatherer.He was a sound bowling option too, as his 99 wickets and economy rate of 4.71 demonstrate. His Test career was never quite as impressive but he will be fondly remembered for two of the more remarkable innings.In 1997, in a test against England at Eden Park, New Zealand began their second innings 131 runs behind England, effectively having to bat out the final day on a deteriorating pitch to save the match. At 105 for 8 and then 142 for 9 New Zealand’s chances were gone, but rabbit Danny Morrison joined Astle in a remarkable unbroken 106-run stand. Astle hit the last ball before stumps were drawn for four to bring up a richly deserved century.Five years later, against the same opposition but this time on his home ground at Jade Stadium, Astle was presented with another lost cause. Chasing 550 to win, New Zealand were 119 for 3 when Astle strode to the crease. When he was last man out with the total at 451, Astle had smashed a scarcely believable 222 off 168 balls – the fastest double-century in Test history – with 28 fours and 11 sixes.

Those who were lucky enough to be at the ground that day testify to the incredibly ‘clean’ sound the ball made every time it found its way into the middle of Astle’s bat. Despite his one-day prowess that innings, in a losing cause, will stand as Astle’s legacy.Off the field Astle could often appear a dry personality. The truth was he was a pretty simple sort of bloke who could have happily gone through life without ever giving an interview. He liked playing cricket but not necessarily the peripheral stuff that came with it. As it is, anecdotes involving Astle are hardly thick on the ground.Instead he left it to his bat to do the talking. At his best Astle was an uncomplicated combination of power and timing. Unfortunately, as Astle’s reflexes dulled with age he didn’t have the bedrock of a sound technique to fall back on. He still had enough experience and savvy to knock out decent innings, but they were fewer and further between.Bowlers and captains had his number, stacking the cover-point region and refusing to give him the width he had made a living off. The sight of the ball angling in and thudding into Astle’s pads became more common.But that’s not what we will remember Astle for. Instead we will remember his blazing bat that often kick-started New Zealand’s success. We will remember some spectacular outfield catches, most notably the one-handed grab which robbed Dwayne Smith of a six at Jade Stadium last year.And most of all we will remember double-century.

ScorecardBangladesh U-19 overcame a top-order wobble on the final day to draw their only Test against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi.Having eked out a narrow first-innings lead of 15, Bangladesh found themselves struggling at 80 for 5, Mohammad Rameez continuing his impressive form and picking up two wickets. At that point, Bangladesh were effectively 95 for 5, with much of the day still remaining.But Marshall Ayub and Rony Talukder organised the fightback, steering the lower order into adding another 190 runs and essentially saving the game. Ayub’s 59 came in a little over two and a half hours, while Talukder added to his hundred in the first innings with another fifty.Rameez, who took four wickets in the first innings, added another three as Bangladesh were finally dismissed, setting Pakistan an improbable 289 from 23 overs. Ahmed Shehzad used the time for further batting practice, adding to his first-innings century, an unbeaten 46 as the sides agreed to call off the match with seven overs remaining. Still enough time, however, for opener and vice-captain Shan Masood to bag a pair.

A scintillating unbeaten century by Test discard Younis Khan (146) enabled Peshawar amass 352 for four wickets against Lahore Whites on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the LCCA Ground on Monday.At close of play, Younis and Taimur Khan (50) were at the creae having piled up 168 runs in their 149-minute unbroken fifth wicket stand.Younis Khan came at the crease 10 minutes before the lunch interval when Wajahatullah Wasti (34) and Rifattulah (31) were back in the pavilion after Peshawar were put into bat by Lahore Whites’ captain Aamir Sohail.Younis batted with authority and belted 22 boundaries and one six during a stay of 234 minutes. He consumed 190 balls. Taimur’s 50 contained six boundaries.

Ochilo Ayacko, the sports minister who last week dissolved the Kenyan Cricket Association, returned to the country from an overseas trip and defiantly insisted that the normalisation committee he appointed was still running the game there. His comments came after the existing KCA executive went to court to get a stay on the order suspending them from office.And Ayacko slammed Joshua Okuthe, the chairman of the Kenya National Sports Council, who publicly came out in support of the old executive and criticised the minister’s action, accusing him of “misleading the public on matters relating to cricket”.Okuthe held a press conference with Sharad Ghai, the suspended KCA chairman, last weekend, and was highly critical of the minister. Okuthe has been widely scorned for his comments, with many opponents of the board accusing him of being too closely allied to Ghai to be able to make any impartial remarks. “He knows what it means to embarrass your boss,” warned Ayacko. “I am his boss.”Ayacko also scorned the KCA’s move in reverting to the courts to try to regain control. “Some people in the KCA asked the court to restrain the ministry from taking action,” he fumed. “What they did not tell the court is that at the time they lodged their plaint, KCA had no officials, and a Normalisation Committee had been registered.”He went on to insist that the government had a strong case against the KCA whose officials would, he said, soon be taken to court to face corruption charges. “This is serious,” he explained. “The kind of monies that were intended for benefit of cricket that have been lost are huge.”You can be assured that our hands are free, our government and my ministry is committed to fighting corruption,” he added. “I cannot disclose the evidence I have since I may prejudice investigations.”Cricinfo has learned that documents have come to hand in the last few days which could prove to be extremely embarrassing for some of the old KCA executive. Investigations are believed to centre on allegations that millions of dollars have gone missing from various events, especially the 1999 LG Trophy which was held in Nairobi. Although income from the tournament exceeded $4million, it is thought that less than $200,000 ended up going to the KCA. But so muddled are the board’s accounts, that the whole story will take some unravelling.

Gujarat and Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah has earned his maiden India call-up after being named as the injured Mohammed Shami’s replacement for the three T20Is in Australia.Bumrah, 22, will leave for Australia on January 22 along with other T20I squad members – Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina and Hardik Pandya.With 14 scalps in nine matches, Bumrah is the joint-highest wicket taker for defending champions Gujarat in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 competition.Bumrah, who has been a regular India A player over the last two seasons, also impressed during Gujarat’s victorious Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign in December, where he picked up 21 scalps in nine matches, including that of MS Dhoni with a yorker. He finished the tournament as the highest wicket-taker.When Bumrah first burst on to the scene, in the 2013 IPL, it was feared that he was a one-dimensional bowler, who bowled from wide on the crease and just sent the ball in with the angle. However, he showed during the Vijay Hazare Trophy that he had added to his arsenal the delivery that held its line if not moved away from the right-hand batsman.RP Singh, who played for Gujarat this season, said after the Vijay Hazare final that Bumrah was ready to play for India. RP said it was his unorthodox action that made him seem quicker than he was, and that the straighter delivery now made him more dangerous.”He has got a bit of pace. He has got a superb yorker, he got even MS out with a yorker,” said RP. “The other thing is that his action gives him a bit of an advantage, it takes people a little bit of time to pick him.”Bumrah has so far picked up 52 wickets in 47 T20 fixtures since making his debut in 2013. He has also played 18 first-class matches and 20 List A fixtures over the last three seasons.Shami, who returned from Australia last week after picking up a Grade II hamstring injury which could keep him out for four to six weeks, will continue with his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.