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As India seek a reversal of fortune in the final Test of the summer at the Adelaide Oval, Michael Clarke’s Australia have prepared for a reversal of method in their pursuit of a 4-0 series sweep over the visitors.Reverse swing has been seldom glimpsed all summer on a succession of well-grassed pitches that allowed Australia’s fast men to gain conventional movement through the air and off the track for most of each match. However in Adelaide, beyond the rewards to be gained in the first hour or so of play, Clarke expects a return to the subtle art of swinging the old ball, in the absence of any other assistance on what appears a typically hard, dry surface.While India will appreciate the chance to revert to some of the skills that have served the visitors faithfully on home turf for many years, Australia are also happy to be reminded of the need for such measures – their next Test matches are in the West Indies, on pitches likely to be slower and lower than anything seen at home in this series.”I think reverse swing will play a huge part in this Test, it always does,” Clarke said. “The ground is in great nick, so the outfield will keep the ball newer than I have seen it in the past but I think as the day goes on, especially in this heat, you will see a lot of reverse swing.”And that is why I say it’s probably as close to Indian conditions as you’re going to get in Australia. So as a batting unit, we have been working on that in the nets, we have faced a bit of reverse swing and a fair bit of spin, so I think our preparation has been spot on.”In recalling Nathan Lyon at the expense of the young left-armer Mitchell Starc, Clarke kept the experienced pace trio of Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris in harness, judging all had recovered sufficiently from their Perth exertions for the possible rigours of a match that invariably sees a fifth day.All had questions of sorts to answer in the lead-up: Harris has struggled wit the physical demands of consecutive Tests, Siddle showed signs of exhaustion in Perth, and Hilfenhaus has seldom proven to be at his best in Adelaide, where the new ball movement of his stock delivery can be more fleeting than elsewhere. However Clarke pointed out that Hilfenhaus had an even more modest record in Melbourne before he scooped seven wickets for the match in a 122-run victory.”I’ll bet you it’s better than his record at the MCG, where he had a horrible record, and we picked him there and he got five-for [in the first innings],” Clarke said. “I’m really confident Hilfy’s at the top of his game, bowling really well and can adjust to whatever conditions he faces. He’s a very good bowler with the new ball but he’s also very good at bowling straight if the wicket is slow and low, and he’s got great control with reverse swing as well. He’ll play a big part in this Test.”Generally the Test match on the Adelaide Oval does go five days. So we have to have the discipline to hang in there until you get the opportunity to grab hold of some momentum. The boys are flying high on confidence but it’s going to be a tough challenge. I’m certain India will be very keen to finish the series on a high. It’s a great test for us as a team in what are going to be tough conditions to take 20 wickets.”Well as Australia have played at home this summer, it is a fact that the majority of conditions Clarke and his team will face overseas in years to come will be closer in character to Adelaide than elsewhere. Gautam Gambhir’s talk about the preparation of “rank turners” were striking, but nothing new. To that end, the bowling coach Craig McDermott and his pace battery will, alongside Nathan Lyon, find out more about their prospects for future tours in this match than the preceding three.”The pitches have been the same in Australia for the last two years, I think they were exactly the same against England, they were pretty similar in South Africa as well,” Clarke said. “That is part of being an international sportsman, you travel the world and play in completely different conditions.”I have played a number of times in India when the ball has spun so that will be no different next time we go there I’m sure. In my opinion, it’s very hard to doctor the wicket when you’re playing against very good opposition. It’s about preparing a pitch and then both teams playing on it so that will be no different when we go to India and I think it has been the same in Australia for a while now, the last couple of years I have seen a little bit more grass on the pitches.”

Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, is on a collision course with Cricket Ireland over his selection for a lucrative Twenty20 league in Bangladesh.O’Brien fetched US$80,000 from Khulna Royal Bengal in the Bangladesh Premier League auction. The tournament takes place from February 9-20 and clashes with Ireland’s intercontinental cup games against Kenya. Ireland coach Phil Simmons wants O’Brien in Africa.Ireland play Kenya from February 12-15 and again in two World Cup qualifiers on February 18 and 20. But Ireland’s tour to Kenya could be in doubt because of security concerns. It is understood O’Brien wants to miss the four day game but is keen to play in the ODIs. He said yesterday that he had been advised not to comment but hoped the situation would be resolved.”Nialler’s passionate about Ireland,” said one fellow international. “Anyone who has played with him can see that he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Money has nothing to do with it for him. He’s just mad keen to develop as a player and thinks this could be a great opportunity to open some doors in Asia.”More than US$6m was spent in the auction and O’Brien’s new team also includes West Indians Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Andre Russell, Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and promising English player Jos Buttler. Each team can buy up to eight overseas players but at least one must be from an associate nation.O’Brien was the only Irishman in the auction and the only associate with an original price tag of US$50,000. There are two players from Afghanistan and one each from Hong Kong, Netherlands, Denmark, Kenya, Canada and Namibia, all valued at US$30,000.The six BPL teams will play ten games each in the tournament, the rights to which were bought by an Indian company last month for US$44m.

A vigilant, unbeaten 82 from Aakash Chopra, aided ably by Dishant Yagnik helped Rajasthan recover from a vulnerable position against Hyderabad and finish the first day at 220 for 5 in Uppal.Rajasthan’s decision to make first use of the pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium ran into early trouble against Hyderabad’s spirited new-ball bowlers. Anwar Ahmed struck in the very first over of the match, removing Vineet Saxena for a first-ball duck. Pagadala Naidu too made a quick impact, getting Hrishikesh Kanitkar to nick behind to make it 8 for 2. The in-form Robin Bist suggested a recovery, but he too was dismissed soon, by left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan, as the defending champions slumped.Chopra battled through the tough times, before dragging his side out of the rut with three partnerships. The first two, with Rashmi Parida and Puneet Yadav for company, averted the danger of a collapse, but it was the third – an unbroken 91 with Yagnik for the sixth wicket – that pushed his side towards parity. Parida and Yadav both perished after making starts, with the former falling to left-arm spinner Mehdi Hassan who conceded only 13 runs in his 12-over spell. Mohan trapped Yadav in front for 33, to leave Rajasthan 129 for 5 before the Chopra-Yagnik show began. Chopra scored just six fours in his dogged innings that lasted 272 balls and counting. The senior partner played second fiddle to Yagnik, who was more adventurous in scoring his 60 off 130 balls, with seven hits to the boundary. The pair will be keen to extend their association into the second day, and push Rajasthan towards a safe first-innings total.Maharashtra ground their way towards a decent total, reaching a solid 202 for 4 on the first day against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Maharashtra’s progress was founded upon a 116-run opening stand between Harshad Khadiwale and Chirag Khurana, though the hosts will be pleased with the extent to which they managed to claw back into contention by stumps.The openers departed in quick succession after building Maharashtra an impressive platform. Khadiwale’s 61 came off 157 balls and featured eight fours, while Khurana missed out on a half-century, falling to Aushik Srinivas for 44. Thereafter, No. 3 batsman Sangram Atitkar guided Maharashtra with an unbeaten half-century. Tamil Nadu made two more breaches at the other end, with Srinivas ending the day with figures of 2 for 64, though he was guilty of bowling eight no-balls. Maharashtra’s go-slow approach meant L Balaji and Yo Mahesh boasted economy-rates close to 1.5 runs per over. The slow rate of scoring also means that quick strikes on the second morning will allow the hosts to claim control.Haryana, on the back of a haul of 8 for 40 from 21-year-old Harshal Patel, took control against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka chose to bat first on a pitch that had a dark tinge and came up against an inspired Haryana attack. While Harshal kept the batsmen guessing at one end – he got some balls to move away, while others held their line – and invariably snared them, the other bowlers kept things tight. They were backed up by their captain, Amit Mishra, who set attacking fields all through. Harshal, who is in his debut season in first-class cricket, finished with what are the best figures in the Ranji Elite season so far.Robin Uthappa settled down and looked like the only Karnataka batsman to have any measure of the bowling in an attacking innings of 35, but it did little to help Karnataka. The hosts did not get any relief even when they took to the field, as Haryana’s openers, Nitin Saini and Rahul Dewan, batted out 38 overs and struck unbeaten half-centuries. They went to stumps only 31 behind, with all ten wickets intact.Harshal spoke to ESPNcricinfo at the end of the day’s play. Click here for more.At the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Madhya Pradesh‘s fast bowlers fought back with relentless discipline, after their batsmen displayed poor application against an average Mumbai attack, on a wicket that demanded it. Click here for the full report of the day’s action.

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan bowler, has lodged an appeal against his spot-fixing conviction and sentence having engaged the services of a new defence team.Asif was handed a 12-month jail term for his part in bowling deliberate no-balls during the 2010 Lord’s Test against England. He is now using the services of Balham Chambers, a London law firm, and, unlike his team-mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir, is appealing the initial conviction rather than just the severity of his sentence.On Wednesday, Butt and Amir had appeals against their sentences turned down by the Lord Chief Justice and will continue to serve their 30-month and six-month sentences respectively. However, Amir could be released by February under terms of serving half the sentence if he behaves.All three players are also appealing against the ICC bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

On a day dominated by batsmen in the Ranji Trophy, Tamil Nadu managed to bowl Delhi out for 212 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Seamers L Balaji and Jagannathan Kaushik used what was a surprisingly green surface to take six wickets between them and restrict Delhi, who had chosen to bat. The ball nipped around in the morning, and Balaji and Yo Mahesh took a couple of early wickets. Unmukt Chand stayed firm and was the top-scorer in the innings, getting 86. Chand had managed to get Delhi to 157 for 3 with the help of Yogesh Nagar, who scored 59, but a couple of quick strikes from Kaushik derailed the innings. Balaji came back to get rid of the tail with the help of left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas. Delhi were missing allrounder Rajat Bhatia, who had to sit out after injuring himself while playing with his pet dog.Centuries from Rahul Dewan and Nitin Saini gave Haryana a firm base of 281 for 3 against Baroda on the first day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Baroda put Haryana in but had to wait till the 77th over to break Dewan and Saini’s 239-run opening partnership. Saini scored 112, including 15 fours and a six. Baroda were given some relief at the end of the day when Saini’s wicket was followed by two more quick strikes. But Dewan was still at the crease at stumps on 131 not out.Bengal had two centurions too – Arindam Das and Manoj Tiwary – and reached 318 for 3 against Madhya Pradesh at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata, with Sourav Ganguly batting on 37 at stumps. Das and Tiwary came together with the score on 49 for 2 and put together a 209-run partnership to justify Bengal’s decision to bat. Das scored 105 off 225 balls while Tiwary was the aggressor, reaching 136 not out off 201 balls by the end of the day. Tiwary had a reprieve on 68 when he was dropped by Mohnish Mishra at leg slip off the bowling of offspinner Jalaj Saxena. Das’ dismissal brought Ganguly to the crease for his second match of the season and he stroked six boundaries.It was a similar story at the Veer Surendra Sai Stadium in Sambalpur where Orissa chose to bat and reached 295 for 3 against Uttar Pradesh thanks to Biplab Samantray’s 110 not out. Orissa were given a firm base by Natraj Behera and Niranjan Behera, who both scored half-centuries and Samantray built on it. Samantray came in with the score on 101 for 2, after Natraj Behera had been dismissed for 53 and built an 87-run stand with Niranajan Behera. After Niranjan was dismissed Abhilash Mallick gave Samantray company in a 107-run partnership.Sagar Jogiyani was one of seven centurions on the first day of the third round of matches in the Elite division. His 126 not out helped take Saurashtra to 280 for 4 after they were put in to bat by Punjab in Mohali. Chirag Pathak hit four boundaries in a run-a-ball 22 before he was dismissed in the 7th over. It was the only success Punjab were going to have in a while as Jogiyani and Bhushan Chauhan put together 169 runs for the second wicket. Punjab fought back with Chauhan being dismissed for 68 in the 61st over and Manpreet Gony taking wickets with the first and second balls of the 66th. That flutter did not lead to a collapse though as Jogiyani put together an unbeaten 56-run stand with Shitanshu Kotak and ended the day 126 not out. Harbhajan Singh went wicketless in the 20 overs he bowled on the day.Ashok Menaria got his highest first-class score to help Rajasthan reach 257 for 2 against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Rajasthan elected to bat but were rocked by the loss of two early wickets. Aakash Chopra was dismissed for a duck off the fourth ball of the game and Vineet Saxena followed seven overs later to leave Rajasthan 17 for 2. Menaria and Robin Bist then put together an unbeaten 240-run partnership. Bist was cautious and reached 85 not out off 271 balls by stumps, while Menaria played a few more stokes and reached 142 not out. Both batsmen could have been dismissed early in their innings: Menaria was bowled on 11 off a no-ball by seamer JP Yadav, while Bist was put down by wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat when on 10. Menaria had another life when on 136, after being dropped by Shivakant Shukla at second slip.For a full report on the first day’s play of the Mumbai v Karnataka game, click here.

Match facts

Bangladesh v West Indies, October 18, Chittagong
Start time 1330 (0730 GMT)How many more chances will Mohammad Ashraful get?•Associated Press

Big Picture

There is no doubt that the expectations of the Bangladesh cricket fan have grown disproportionately to the achievements of their team. Some of the cricket Bangladesh have played in this series has been deserving of the fans’ wrath; it has not been a case of a still-developing team doing their best but coming up short against a much better side, but rather of a team playing well below their potential and not even challenging the opposition.In the first ODI, Bangladesh appeared to give up the ghost before the second innings even began. Tamim Iqbal, a man who scored two run-a-ball centuries in Tests in England last year, could only strike at 55.26 in a home ODI, and even though Bangladesh got to 122 for 1 in their chase of West Indies’ 298 they were never in the game.The second game in Mirpur included a batting performance that even captain Mushfiqur Rahim could not explain. If you looked at the scorecard, you’d think Bangladesh’s top order had been bullied by tall, quick West Indies fast bowlers. In truth, out of the four wickets that fell for 18 runs at the top, three were to slashes at wide deliveries and one was so perfectly guided to second slip by Mohammad Ashraful it appeared he was giving the fielder catching practice.In these performances, the Bangladesh fans can hardly find the valour in defeat that is often the saving grace of those who support underdogs. As the action shifts to Chittagong, where Bangladesh have lost only one of their last six completed games, nothing less than a win will appease the home fans. Unfortunately the home team may not have a shot at redemption with thunderstorms forecast for Tuesday.West Indies, meanwhile, are enjoying the luxury of having won a series before it has finished for the first time since March 2010, and can now eye a move up the rankings. The difference between a win and loss for them tomorrow is four rating-points on the ICC’s one-day rankings, something Darren Sammy is aware of. Sammy has had a chance to study his team during the series without the pressure of defeats, and is looking for improvement in the fielding department and continued successes from the top-order batsmen.

Form guide

Bangladesh: LLWWL
West Indies: WWWWL

In the spotlight

With scores of 122 and 80 in the first two games, this is easily the best series of Lendl Simmons‘ career. He will want to keep the momentum going into the Test series, a format in which he has struggled.Just how long can Bangladesh wait for Mohammad Ashraful to develop into the player he was supposed to be. They drop him, bring him back, drop him again … the net result is a shockingly poor record in recent times: his last ODI half-century was in January 2010, since then he has averaged 10.11 in 18 one-day innings with a highest score of 31. Surely, he has to run out of second-chances at some stage.

Pitch and conditions

Nasir Hossain said at the pre-match press conference that the Bangladesh players were expecting the pitch in Chittagong to turn much more than the one in Mirpur did. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Chittagong tomorrow is not good, and there is a high chance of rain. The ground is infamous for having very poor drainage and even a single shower could wash out the whole game.

Team news

With rating points to play for, West Indies may not make too many changes to their side. With Adrian Barath struggling with a hamstring injury, the experiment to open with Danza Hyatt was moderately successful in the last match, but Kieran Powell is also around as a specialist opener. The track in Chittagong is expected to turn, but West Indies have been averse to going in with two spinners, and their quicks have been successful enough so far.West Indies (probable) 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Danza Hyatt/Kieran Powell, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Kemar Roach.Shuvagata Hom and Shahriar Nafees are the options available for Bangladesh to strengthen their misfiring batting. Nafees got two half-centuries during the home series against Australia in April and has been dropped after just two failures in Zimbabwe. Hom has only played one ODI since his impressive 35 not out that helped Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Abdur Razzak has been expensive in the first two games and may make way for Suhrawadi Shuvo.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mohammad Ashraful/Shahriar Nafees, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Suhrawadi Shuvo, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Stats & Trivia

• If West Indies win this match, it will be the first time they have won five consecutive ODIs against Test playing nations since 1998.
• Out of the 11 completed ODIs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, only four have been won by the team that won the toss.

Quotes

“Everyone enjoys playing in Chittagong, so everyone is confident. The ball didn’t turn in Dhaka like we had expected but since I’ve played here, I know it will turn here.”
“We’ve still got a job to do. We win the series 3-0 and we get four ranking points so it’s a very important match.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara made his 26th Test century•AFP

Five dropped catches and four wickets summed up a profligate day for Pakistan, on which their bowlers toiled to create numerous chances only for their fielders – led by Mohammad Hafeez – to spill them. Kumar Sangakkara’s fighting century was the only positive for Sri Lanka, and his continued presence their only hope of saving the match.The bowlers created pressure and some panic but Sri Lanka emerged relatively unscathed, with Sangakkara and Pakistan’s fielders taking the match into a fifth day. After four catches had gone down during a 153-run second-wicket partnership that was beginning to hurt Pakistan, they were given an opening via Lahiru Thirimanne’s suicidal attempt at a second run. Thirimanne and Sangakkara had survived for more than 50 overs; Sri Lanka then lost three batsmen in little over ten, before an astonishing fifth let-off kept them afloat.Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan, who had both been denied by the slippery hands of Hafeez, took the fielders out of the equation, bowling Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan respectively for single-digit scores. An inside edge off an attempted cut against an offbreak accounted for Jayawardene while Dilshan drove loosely at one that sneaked through the gap between bat and pad.It was a characteristic burst from Pakistan after a period of frenzy before lunch when their fielding fell apart in a rush of squandered catches. It allowed Thirimanne and Sangakkara to survive a testing first session as the bowlers were let down three times by Hafeez, including twice off successive deliveries from Junaid.On a pitch that did not offer much even on the fourth day, the bowlers gave Sri Lanka a hard time, producing false shots, going past the outside edge and hitting the pads. The batsmen countered in their own ways, Thirimanne using the sweep to ward off Ajmal, Sangakkara playing straight, and nudging and cutting when the opportunities came.Junaid produced the first real chance off the last ball of the 27th over when he induced Thirimanne to edge an attempted drive. It went low to first slip where Hafeez grabbed at the ball and grassed it. Hafeez was to deny Junaid and reprieve Thirimanne again, off the next delivery. If anything, this one was easier. Thirimanne had another escape as lunch approached, when he cut Ajmal straight to the gully fielder, who backed away and was hit on the body. It was Hafeez yet again.Junaid was to suffer a third time when Younis Khan was unsure whether he had taken Sangakkara’s edge cleanly after diving forward at second slip. Younis let off Sangakkara once again before lunch, on 56, dropping a tough diving chance at slip off, ironically, Hafeez.Thirimanne could not capitalise on the good fortune but Sangakkara continued to resist, even as wickets fell. He used the abundant short deliveries to cut and steer for boundaries on the off side and kept nudging and clipping for runs on the leg. Pakistan fed his strengths throughout the day. Sangakkara looted 81 off 42 deliveries square on the off side and another 51 off 33 square on the leg. Yet another cut shot to the point boundary off Junaid earned him his 11th second-innings Test century, off 173 deliveries.Angelo Mathews could not reprise his first-innings salvage effort, though. Umar Gul – who hadn’t bowled after sending down four overs in the morning – trapped him leg-before off the first delivery with the second new ball, after having got Tharanga Paranavitana right away with the first last evening.Almost inevitably, Pakistan’s fielding came to haunt them again as substitute fielder Wahab Riaz put down a mistimed pull by Prasanna Jayawardene off a disgusted Gul. Jayawardene was also fortunate to get away with a close leg-before shout against Junaid but by the end, he had frustrated Pakistan along with Sangakkara for 125 deliveries.With Sangakkara’s effort beginning to rival Taufeeq Umar’s first-innings marathon, Pakistan had no one to blame but themselves for what could have been.

Scorecard
Naeem Islam’s unbeaten 101 wasn’t enough to chase down Bangladesh’s massive total•BCB

Half-centuries from their top four batsman powered the Bangladesh national side to a massive 311 which proved too much for the A team despite a century from Naeem Islam in a rain-shortened match in Mirpur.After being sent in, Bangladesh’s openers made contrasting fifties, with Tamim Iqbal scoring at nearly a run-a-ball while Shahriar Nafees contributed a more patient effort. Both were dismissed in the space of two overs by the offspin of Mahmudullah but the national side didn’t squander the base provided by the openers. Mohammad Ashraful and captain Mushfiqur Rahim both made quick half-centuries as they put on 130 in 18.2 overs. The partnership ensured that despite a glut of wickets towards the end of the innings, Bangladesh posted a total in excess of 300.Rain then curtailed the chase to a 39-over affair, with the target revised to 271. The A team’s reply was hampered by a couple of early strikes by medium-pacer Rubel Hossain. Opener Junaid Siddique (45) and Naeem then steadied the innings with a 66-run stand but their slow scoring pushed the required-rate beyond nine by the 20th over. Naeem continued to fight, and remained unbeaten on 101, but there was little support for him from those who followed and the national side won comfortably.

Scorecard
Durham skipper Phil Mustard will consider trying to do a deal with Hampshire’s acting captain, Jimmy Adams, on the final day of the rain-ruined County Championship match at Chester-le-Street. After only 30 overs were bowled on the first two days, play began at 1pm and Hampshire moved on from 77 for 3 to 230 for 6 before bad light ended play at 4.58pm.”I think they are quite keen to do something,” said Mustard. “We were tempted to try for full bonus points, which would have put us 17 points clear at the top.”But we don’t have time to get them and our rivals have games in hand, so we would like to go for a win if possible. It’s in our favour that we are batting last and we would try to knock off a target.”Despite a fine innings of 90 by Neil McKenzie and a brisk half-century from Dimitri Mascarenhas, Hampshire’s overall run rate is 2.77 runs an over. The one batting point they have gained still leaves them 49 points adrift of safety and if they are to have any hope at all of avoiding relegation they need to win.Hampshire suffered an early setback today when James Vince retired on 19 after trying to soldier on following a back spasm. Sean Ervine made only 3 before pushing the ball into the covers and failing to beat Mark Stoneman’s direct hit.McKenzie began the day by leg glancing the sixth ball from Callum Thorp for four, taking him to 50. It was the third of his nine boundaries to come from that stroke. Vince drove Graham Onions’ first ball to the cover boundary but after surviving a big lbw appeal when a yorker hit him on the foot he was soon in trouble and needed treatment from the physio.When Chris Rushworth replaced Onions his first ball was greeted by a short-arm pull as McKenzie took two fours off his first over. The South African continued to dominate and had made 90 out of a total of 143 when Rushworth moved one away from a perfect length to have him caught behind.Wicketkeeper Michael Bates then dug in to help Mascarenhas add 72. The former England one-day man drove strongly, hitting nine fours in his 64-ball half-century before edging Mitch Claydon to Mustard. Bates reached 28 off 99 balls and needs three more to equal his best score.

Scorecard
Yorkshire took just short of an hour on the final morning to complete a County Championship double over Worcestershire with a six-wicket victory at Scarborough. Some of the gloss was taken off their win, however, with the news they had been docked two of the 23 points they took from the match because of a slow over rate.Yorkshire started out on 80 for 3 in their chase towards a 134 target and they lost Jonny Bairstow on the way but they were guided home by a cool unbeaten 52 from 20-year-old opener, Joe Root, his fourth half-century of the season. Root was 31 and Bairstow 12 overnight and Bairstow was not long in taking the attack to Worcestershire, cover-driving Alan Richardson for four and striking offspinner Saeed Ajmal for a midwicket boundary.Bairstow, who received his first-team cap before the start of the match, cut Ajmal for four and the 50 stand arrived off 18 overs. Jack Shantry took over from Richardson and was forced through point to the rope by Root but soon afterwards he lost Bairstow who was drawn forward by Ajmal and smartly stumped for 33 by Ben Scott.Root’s half-century arrived off 140 deliveries with five fours and new batsman, Gary Ballance, quickly finished things off with a couple of boundaries. The win leapfrogged Yorkshire above Worcestershire and out of the relegation zone and director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, said the aim now was for Yorkshire to do well enough in their last half-dozen matches to finish in the top three.”We have got to set our stall out to do this and it is not an unrealistic hope because many sides are relatively close to each other on points,” he said. “The return of Jacques Rudolph should also give us a boost and make us into a better team.”Moxon said that the South African was still awaiting his work permit but the hope remained that he would fly in on Sunday and be available for the Roses match which begins at Headingley Carnegie next Wednesday.Although Moxon was delighted that Yorkshire had come out top against Worcestershire, he admitted that he was concerned about the side’s slow over rate and the deduction of two points.”We have been flirting with the possibility of losing points for some time and the issue needs to be dealt with,” he said. “Losing two points is like tossing away 250 runs or six wickets and it has to be stopped.”