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The first three letters in television drama “CSI:NY” used to stand for crime scene investigation, but now they can be substituted for cricket squad instability. The removal of New York regional chairman, Jefroy Morrishaw, has been followed by the replacement of both coach and manager from the team that won the USA Cricket Association Eastern Conference Tournament in July.According to a report that was first published on newyorkcricket.com, Morrishaw was removed in a no-confidence vote taken at a meeting on October 9. Krish Prasad, New York’s representative on the USACA board of directors, called the meeting. “The region was not functioning and not maintaining the standards laid out in the constitution,” Prasad said.According to a source who was present at the meeting, there were eight yes votes in favour of removing Morrishaw, with one no, one abstention and one person not present. Voting was made up of the seven league presidents and four members-at-large in the region.When called for comment, Morrishaw said the result shouldn’t count. “The meeting was illegal and USACA is looking into it.”Prasad said that since Morrishaw had taken office early in 2008 he had personally raised zero dollars for the region to help fund any activities, including sending youth and men’s teams to USACA tournaments. Clifford Hinds, who stepped down over the summer as New York region youth coordinator, claimed that was not necessarily fair as he believes that Morrishaw should get some credit for funds raised by other people under his direction.”Whatever money I helped to raise or anybody helped to raise, you should get credit for it as the director,” said Hinds.Morrishaw was replaced on an interim basis by former USACA Treasurer Selwyn Caesar. However, Morrishaw was not the only casualty resulting from the meeting.Zamin Amin, a former USA captain, and Godfrey Mitchell have replaced Linden Fraser and Linden Dodson as coach and manager of the New York team, according to lists obtained from USACA for the squads that will be competing in Florida next week at the USACA National Championship.Fraser claims his removal is politically motivated since he was appointed coach while Morrishaw was still in power. New York’s squad was submitted after Caesar was put in charge, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.”There was an election before we went to Washington to elect a coach,” said Fraser. “It was me running against [USA Under-19 coach Sew] Shivnarine and I won it. I won the votes over Shivnarine to be the coach of this team. So how come now you’re going to get rid of me when I was elected by the seven league presidents before we went to Washington D.C.? I was the coach. I took the team to the finals. So what’s the problem now?”He also said he never received a call from anyone in the region informing him that he had been replaced. Fraser, who is a WICB Level II qualified coach, said Amin is not qualified and that it’s not the first time this year that he has been passed over or replaced by someone who doesn’t have any coaching certifications.”If you are going to talk about promoting cricket, I’m a certified coach. The only guy who is more certified than me is one guy who lives in California, is [South West region] coach [Reggie] Benjamin. If you are going knock me out to bring in somebody who does not even have an introductory cricket certificate, well then you’re trying to tell me something. They don’t want me to have nothing to do with cricket in this region.”It happened at the local level and it happened at the national level because Sew Shivnarine doesn’t have a certificate too and he’s the national coach… Sew Shivnarine is the only coach going to the World Cup without a certificate, period. These are things that I need people from outside New York to know what’s going on. This guy Zamin Amin has no certificates whatsoever, never even went to a coaching seminar.”Wesley King, the secretary of the New York region and manager of the USA U-19 squad that qualified for the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup, refused to comment. However, a source who wished not to be identified supported Fraser’s statement that neither Amin nor Shivnarine, who played eight Tests for West Indies, have any coaching certifications.Fraser was also upset that Andre Kirton, who was part of the New York team that won in Washington, D.C., and a member of USA’s 2006 U-19 World Cup squad in Sri Lanka, was dropped to accommodate the inclusion of Sudesh Dhaniram, who was part of USA’s ICC Americas Division One winning team in November of 2008. Dhaniram, who will turn 43 in January, did not participate in the Eastern Conference Tournament allegedly because of work commitments.”You claiming that you’re looking to promote cricket and you drop a guy who’s 21 years old to put in a guy who’s 43 years old?” said Fraser.Calls made to interim chairman Caesar for comment on the situation were not returned. New York Region and USA Steve Massiah declined to comment when contacted by phone.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has acted on its plan to tweak the limited-overs format by making trial changes to their domestic competition, including reducing the format to 40 overs each, allowing 12 players a side and allowing the batting side to pick Powerplays. This follows the England board’s decision to do away with their 50-over competition and retain the 40-over format to go with the first-class and Twenty20 championships.However while the teams can pick 12 players, only 11 can bat and field. The first Powerplay will extend up to 10 overs and the second for five and both must be taken before the 35th over. For one, four fielders will be allowed outside the ring, and for the other three.Also for rain delays overs will be deducted immediately, and matches will be played over a set period regardless of the weather.The existing 45-over MTN domestic championship will be replaced will the new format from October 28. Gerald Majola, CSA chief executive, said the changes would revolutionise cricket in South Africa. “CSA believes the new format will be a dynamic alternative to the dull periods that have crept into the 45-over version by providing added excitement and playing intensity,” Majola said. “This change is part of CSA’s vision of giving fans the excitement and action they want without losing any of the basic skills that are an integral part of the game.”At the same time, we will also be preparing our players for the 50-over international version if that does not change. And if it does become shorter, then we will have a head start.”Majola also said there would be substantial prize money and bonuses for players and franchises.

“In terms of putting up results, we’ve just not learned anything on tour,” Daniel Vettori said after the game, and that pretty much summed up the outing with which New Zealand signed off a disappointing tour.The common mantra during New Zealand’s stay has been the need to learn from mistakes and play positive cricket, rather than letting defeat lead to further disappointment. After New Zealand beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the Twenty20 internationals, Vettori validated that theme by crediting a tremendous turnaround and hoped to make the final of this tri-series keeping the Champions Trophy in mind. However, there appeared to be only one team that went for the jugular today. Unfortunately for New Zealand, it wasn’t them.Faced with a must-win scenario, they won the toss and batted. But their display in the first 15 overs of the match was so shockingly poor that they deserved what they got – nothing at all. India were in a celebratory mood as early as the first over, when Ashish Nehra trapped a leaden-footed Jesse Ryder lbw. He followed it up by having Brendon McCullum also lbw, to one that didn’t swing, and an indifferent start became a poor one when Ross Taylor flirted fatally with an RP Singh delivery.The bowling was very sharp, but not menacing. On a sluggish track that offered no malice, New Zealand’s batsmen simply failed to play proper cricket against accurate bowling. Ryder and McCullum’s feet went nowhere against the kind of sharp left-arm bowling they’ve faced for a fair amount of time on this tour. Ryder’s dismissal was a replica of how he was out in the last game. Martin Guptill, not for the first time in Sri Lanka, was out to an innocuous delivery before even judging the turn and pace of the track.Grant Elliott got a bad ball, adjudged caught down the leg side off his pads, but what had happened before was shocking. By the time Elliott was dismissed the damage had been done, thanks to another poor display of batting from a line-up struggling for form and confidence. Jacob Oram popped up a simple return catch to Ishant Sharma when he came back for a second spell. Yuvraj was called back and struck first ball, as Neil Broom gently chipped to midwicket.New Zealand’s batting card pretty much summed up the tour they’ve had: the message just hasn’t seem to get across. “I don’t want to go on like a broken record, but we’ve consistently put ourselves under pressure with the bat all series,” Vettori said. “Today we needed someone to go and get an unbeaten 70 or 80 but that didn’t happen. It’ll kill you in any game, not getting partnerships. Unfortunately, nobody stood up. It’s frustrating.”New Zealand came into this series as the No.4 team in the world. They had won three of their last four one-day series. They were apparently confident after winning the Twenty20s. Two walloping defeats later they look visibly shell-shocked. New Zealand have been surprised, it seems, by the ferocity of cricket played by Sri Lanka and India in two games. They crashed out of the series today due to the uncertainty and instability in their style of play.Where did it all go wrong? Look back to Tuesday, when after having Sri Lanka in deep strife at 69 for 5 they managed to capitulate to a 97-run defeat. The batting was woeful – New Zealand lost two wickets in one over and three in another – and that handed the momentum back to Sri Lanka. Andy Moles, New Zealand’s coach, wasn’t happy that night and insisted there were no easy answers as the team continued a downward spiral in the one-day game.The most vivid impression they have left through the tour is of an incongruent bunch of individuals, just not entirely with it when they take the field. Some of New Zealand’s younger and inexperienced players just looked overawed in alien conditions. There has been the odd flourish, notably in the Twenty20s, but the lack of direction is stark. Repeatedly, batsmen have been dismissed in the same manner. New Zealand’s line-up has struggled against left-arm pace. They have appeared torn between attack and defence. Having been in Sri Lanka near six weeks, it looked like they’d arrived on the same day as India when the batsmen faced up this afternoon.The series has been lost, but what has been gained? What has a player like Guptill taken from this tour? He struggled in all three formats, not once really making his presence felt. After showing glimpses of genuine talent against West Indies and India at home, he now resembles a walking wicket. What can the likes of Elliott and Broom, who were restricted to a couple of games, taken from watching their more experienced team-mates struggle?These are but a few questions facing Vettori and Moles as they enter a new chapter, as national selectors. The situation isn’t by any means unsalvageable, but it’s hard to see where the change is going to come before they play hosts South Africa – the No. 1 side in ODIs – at Centurion in two weeks.

ScorecardWorcestershire have endured many a grim day this season, but when they reflect on their 2009 campaign, the third day at Edgbaston might be considered a new low. Not only did the side slip to the brink of an innings defeat against their keenest rivals, but Worcestershire have also been hit by the shattering news that Kabir Ali, their star bowler, has asked for permission to talk to other counties. The 28-year-old swing bowler still has a year on his current contract.The Worcestershire board will meet on Monday night to consider Ali’s request. Bearing in mind that the club have previously stated that they did not want to keep anyone who didn’t want to play for them, it appears likely that Kabir will be a free agent by next week. He will surely have no shortage of suitors. No-one in English cricket (with more than 100 first-class dismissals) has a better strike-rate than Ali and, when fully fit, he is arguably the best new ball bowler in county cricket. Worcestershire’s reliance on him is illustrated by the fact they have not won a championship game without him since 2006.Some will speculate that money is the motivation for the request. The fact that Kabir is due a benefit season suggests that is not the case, however. Instead he appears to have simply lost faith in a club that seems to lack ambition or direction.To compound matters, the club’s fitness coach has also resigned and they have pulled out of their attempt to sign Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad for financial reasons. With Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, forced to reduce his cricket budget by £300,000 ahead of next season and admitting they are unlikely to be able to afford an overseas player, it’s hard to avoid the impression that the club is close to meltdown.Gareth Batty and Steve Davies have already announced their departure from New Road and it is far from certain that Ali will be the last of those looking to leave. Several players have recently expressed their concern at the quality of facilities at the club – Worcestershire is the only first-class county without its own indoor centre – and the club’s ground redevelopment has been delayed as they are unable to fund the building.There was no consolation on the pitch at Edgbaston. A fine spell of swing bowling by Warwickshire’s 20-year-old allrounder, Chris Woakes, forced the visitors to follow-on and it will take a miracle for Worcestershire not suffer their first ‘double’ loss to Warwickshire – home and away in the same season – since 1933.Preying on the frailty of Worcestershire’s middle-order, Woakes claimed five wickets for 19 runs in a 40-ball spell as the visitors fell 289-runs short of the hosts’ first-innings total. Though Woakes’ primary weapon is an outswinger, his ability to move the ball back in creates uncertainty in the minds of batsmen and on this pitch – the stuff of swing bowler’s dreams – he was close to unplayable at times. It was the fifth five-wicket haul of his fledgling career, but his first of the season. He was awarded a well-earned county cap during the tea interval.After Moore was run-out, both men ending up at the bowler’s end after Mitchell declined Moore’s call for a single, Mitchell and Solanki appeared relatively untroubled against the probing Naqaash Tahir and the largely innocuous Sreesanth.The introduction of Woakes sparked a collapse, however, with Mitchell wafting at the bowler’s fifth delivery. Smith, who looks a shadow of the player he was, was bowled by one that pitched middle and hit off, before Moeen Ali and Steve Davies both pushed loosely at deliveries angled across them. Solanki was beaten by the one that nipped back before Gareth Andrew top-edged a wild cut and Richard Jones’s forward prod was beaten by late swing. Alexei Kervezee resisted impressively for a while, but with only timid tail-enders for company, he was caught at mid-off looking to hit over the top.Worcestershire fared a little better in the second innings. Moore, cutting and pulling with such power that the bowler, Sreesanth, felt the need to applaud him, led the way as Worcestershire compiled their second-highest opening stand of the season in first-class cricket.Yet when Mitchell fell, prodding at one he could have left, it hastened another sharp decline with the visitors losing three wickets in eight balls.Bell, at third man, did not have to move as Moore obligingly upper-cut Rankin into his hands, before Smith fell first ball, very well caught by Troughton at point. Moeen Ali survived the hat-trick ball before rain and bad light came to Worcestershire’s aid. Still requiring 166 to make Warwickshire bat again, they’ll need plenty more of it if they are to survive on the final day.Meanwhile Warwickshire have offered a contract to Maurice Holmes, a young off-spinner from Kent.

Surrey have signed James Anyon, the Warwickshire fast bowler, on a one-month loan deal.Anyon boosts Surrey’s bowling following the news last week that Andre Nel will require surgery on his left elbow and will miss the remainder of the season. Anyon, 26, has played in 46 first-class matches since making his debut in 2003, taking 112 wickets with a personal best of 6 for 82.He will make his Surrey debut tomorrow for the second XI against Yorkshire at Guildford.”After losing Andre, we felt the need to increase our bowling stocks at such an important part of the season,” said Gus Mackay, the Surrey managing director of cricket. “Having James will add some depth and experience to the attack which can only help us as we look to finish the season on a high.”

Two years of steady development have won Mitchell Johnson some extra time as he tries to save his Test spot following a scattergun performance in the Lord’s defeat. Despite eight wickets in the opening two games, Johnson has been Australia’s greatest disappointment on this trip and his waywardness allowed England to thrive in both innings of the second Test.The Australians have a couple of days off in London to try to forget the past five days of Andrew Flintoff-inspired trauma, but it will be a hard week for Johnson to erase from his memory. Johnson, who showed himself as a high-level allrounder in the most recent series in South Africa, is a confidence player and his self belief drained throughout the game to the point where he started his second innings with the bat by turning his head away from Flintoff’s short balls. However, he managed to battle through the fear and was last out for 63.Australia have a series of pressing issues in their three-day tour match against Northamptonshire from Friday, when Stuart Clark and possibly Brett Lee will be eyeing Johnson’s spot. Lee remains doubtful for that match and next week’s third Test with a stomach problem, but Johnson will be feeling internal pressure to perform despite receiving support from his coach Tim Nielsen.”We need to keep things in perspective, he’s had a brilliant two years,” Nielsen said. “We’re not hiding from the fact he didn’t have a great Test here, but he got better as the Test went on, which was pleasing. It’s nice to have eight days to get him up and get him bowling. He’s been too good for us to think, ‘oh well, he’s not going to play at Edgbaston’.”Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, is the man in charge of getting Johnson’s groove back and the tough task relies on instilling confidence and correcting a significant technical flaw. Johnson has been falling away in his delivery stride, which affects his arm position, and it was one of main reasons for his tendency to deliver short balls outside off stump or full ones on leg. In 38.4 overs he gave away 200 runs while occasionally snapping out of the haze to take three wickets.”He’s such an athletic bloke and such a quick learner, if he can get one or two little things right he’ll be back on track,” Nielsen said. “There are a couple of things he can work on to get a bit taller. He’s got an action that’s a bit slingy, so his release point is pretty important. The bottom line is that when he’s standing tall and coming down and through the line at the batsmen he’s got every chance to be successful.” Nielsen was also pleased Johnson was still able to deliver at 90mph.Phillip Hughes struggled against the short ball and was dismissed twice by Andrew Flintoff•AFP

Lee has not bowled since tearing a muscle during the warm-up match before the first Test and was limited to sprints on the outfield over the past week. With Johnson out of form, Australia missed an experienced and reliable operator – Ben Hilfenhaus was exceptionally tight while Peter Siddle combined moments of fire with excess – but they won’t be rushing Lee back.”We have to be careful that we don’t,” Nielsen said. “He has a bowling-specific injury. If you [injure] it again it can be six, eight or ten weeks before you come right. We have to nurse him back.”If Lee doesn’t play against Northamptonshire he is unlikely to be risked in the third Test. “If he had to bowl 11 overs in a row like Flintoff did yesterday, we’d want to be confident that he’s strong and fit and confident enough to do it,” Nielsen said. It’s not something Lee will be able to prove in the nets.Australia’s other injury worry, Shane Watson, will figure in Northampton and is expected to bowl after recovering from a thigh problem. However, his main role is as the side’s reserve batsman and Nielsen was confident the allrounder could fill any position in the line-up. Phillip Hughes is the biggest problem in Australia’s order after managing 57 runs in three innings and displaying an inability to overcome England’s short-ball tactics.Watson failed as an opener during a stint with Queensland two years ago and the selectors have been criticised for not choosing a specialist to cover spots one to three. “We picked a batsman who we can think can play a role from one to six,” Nielsen said.Hughes is only 20 and has two centuries in his five Tests, but is suffering his first major slump. He was given out caught by Andrew Strauss in the second innings in a line-ball decision, the second time he had been dismissed by Flintoff in the series.”He’s been a bit unlucky in his batting here, things didn’t really go his way,” Nielsen said. “He got to 30 in the first Test and nicked one. He’s just a start away from being on the go. We’ve got to remember he’s played five Test matches – and had some exceptional results in those five. He’s up against a good bowling attack and will keep working hard.”

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, and Steve Harmison have both been left out of England’s pre-Ashes camp ahead of the much-anticipated series against Australia which begins later this month, but England named three spinners, including Adil Rashid, as the first Test at Cardiff is expected to offer turn.The pre-Ashes camp squad of 16 includes Ian Bell, who was dropped following the defeat to West Indies at Sabina Park in the winter, along with Monty Panesar, Rashid, Andrew Flintoff and Tim Bresnan. Panesar has struggled for form this summer, turning in a worryingly poor performance in Cardiff last week when he took 2 for 149 from 44 overs, but Rashid impressed for England during their World Twenty20 campaign.Harmison has had a productive couple of weeks in county cricket following his return from shin problems. In the recent Championship match against Warwickshire, at Edgbaston, he took 5 for 44 on a flat surface and gave the batsmen a real working over to make it 16 wickets in two games. Instead, the selectors have gone for Graham Onions, Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom as back-up to James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the first-choice seamers. Harmison was, however, selected for the England Lions squad to face Australia on July 1.”The pre-Ashes camp is designed to give Andy Flower and the rest of the management team an opportunity to meet with the players ahead of their series and begin their preparations in earnest,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “We will continue to consider players outside the 16 chosen for the camp and will closely monitor performances in domestic cricket as the international season progresses. The door has not been closed on any player at this stage.”There was no place for James Foster, whose two deft stumpings during England’s World Twenty20 campaign reminded everyone of his class behind the stumps. That mantle falls on the incumbent, Matt Prior, who has shown impressive consistency with the bat for England, even if he may not be quite the same standard of wicketkeeper as Foster. Prior is expected to bat at No. 6, and slotting in behind him will be Flintoff, who has completed two Championship matches for Lancashire where he has collected wickets and scored a half-century since returning from surgery.Vaughan, who led England to regain the Ashes in 2005, has made only 159 runs at 19.88 for Yorkshire this season and, though he has made clear his intention to resume his international career, it seems increasingly unlikely unless, as Miller said, he scores a mountain of runs.”Michael Vaughan will, of course, be disappointed not to have been included,” Miller said. “But I met with Michael recently and he understands that he needs to make runs consistently in county cricket if he is to force his way back into the squad.”We are pleased to welcome Andrew Flintoff and Ryan Sidebottom back to the Test squad after recovering from injury and Adil Rashid’s inclusion reflects our view that he is maturing all the time as a cricketer and has the potential to develop still further.”An England XI are due to play a three-day match against Warwickshire on July 1, but the side selected for that game may still change for the first Ashes Test.”We have chosen two spinners in our side to face Warwickshire, but this does not necessarily mean that we will opt for the same balance in our bowling attack in the 1st Ashes Test,” Miller said. “An extra pace bowler still remains an option for our starting line-up at Cardiff.”The England Lions squad, meanwhile, is led by Ian Bell, who hasn’t played for England since their defeat to West Indies at Sabina Park in the winter. The squad’s pace attack features Harmison along with Sajid Mahmood, who has shown excellent pace for Lancashire this season, along with Graham Onions. The young Worcestershire wicketkeeper Steven Davies takes the gloves while there were places for Eoin Morgan, Vikram Solanki and Kent’s Joe Denly.The decision to appoint Bell captain is noteworthy. After he was told to “show more hunger” by Miller at the start of the season, he has since gone on to score 477 runs at 79.50 in the Championship, and his elevation to captaincy reflects the selectors’ desire to hand him greater responsibility if he is to force his way back into the England team.”In choosing the two teams for the matches at Edgbaston and Worcester, we were also mindful of the need to field a very strong England Lions side against Australia and the inclusion of four bowlers with Test match experience and Ian Bell as captain demonstrates this,” Miller said. “We are keen to make the match at Worcester a tough one for Australia and plan to give all the players in the Lions team the maximum opportunity to press their case for selection.”The squad announcement for the first Ashes Test will be named on July 6, 24 hours later than originally planned, and just two days before the series gets underway.England Test squad for pre-Ashes camp
Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme SwannEngland XI to face Warwickshire
Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Graeme SwannEngland Lions squad to face Australia
Ian Bell (capt), Tim Bresnan, Joe Denly, Steven Davies (wk), Steve Harmison, Sajid Mahmood, Stephen Moore, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Adil Rashid, Vikram Solanki

Amit Singh, the Rajasthan Royals medium-pacer who was reported for a suspect action twice during the IPL, can continue playing in the tournament after his action was cleared by a three-man panel.The report on Amit’s action said that all four types of deliveries tested – the stock delivery, the slower offbreak, the offcutter and the legcutter – were within the ICC’s stipulated tolerance limits. Amit, however, was cleared with a proviso: he will be restricted from playing for one year if he is reported again and will have to satisfy both the IPL technical committee and the BCCI that his action is legal before he is reintroduced as part of the Rajasthan squad.Amit was initially reported by umpires Daryl Harper and K Hariharan after Rajasthan’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 7. Umpires Gary Baxter and Kumar Dharmasena also cited Amit’s action as suspect while bowling certain deliveries during the game against Chennai in Kimberley.Amit has taken eight wickets in four matches at an impressive economy-rate of 5.42. He was Man of the Match against Bangalore earlier this month, taking 4 for 19.

ScorecardUsman Afzaal led from the front with an unbeaten 98 at Lord’s•Getty Images

There were no dancing girls in sight, no fireworks crackling and no tight finish as Middlesex began the defence of their Twenty20 title with a heavy 57-run defeat at the hands of local rivals Surrey. An expertly compiled partnership of 139 from 84 balls between Usman Afzaal and Mark Ramprakash lifted the visitors to a commanding 186 and a weakened home side couldn’t make an impression.A crowd approaching 10,000 at Lord’s was a slightly disappointing start to the domestic tournament which has struggled to match previous ticket sales. There is so much cricket this season that punters are being selective, and the Twenty20 is also starting a month earlier than normal to accommodate the ICC World Twenty20. It was good fortune that the weather stayed dry, because counties can ill-afford this competition to be badly hit by the rain. Chief executives will be keeping their fingers crossed that summer is here to stay.Afzaal’s 98 was a personal best in Twenty20 cricket and also the highest score by a Surrey batsman in this format, beating James Benning’s 88 against Kent in 2006. It was an impressive display from the man who has taken the captaincy for one-day cricket and he mixed power with placement. He brought up his fifty with a six over wide long-on off Shaun Udal and celebrated with a repeat dose.Twenty20 can be the catalyst for a team to turn their fortunes around and Surrey will see this tournament as a chance to ignite their season. They showed glimpses of form towards the end of the Friends Provident qualifying stage, but by then it was too late to save a campaign damaged by early defeats.Afzaal, together with Ramprakash, brought up their hundred stand from 59 balls. Ramprakash having reached his half century off 36 balls, was dropped the ball afterwards at midwicket, but generally Middlesex’s fielding held up well under pressure. However, Shaun Udal took some punishment with the ball and the attack missed the experience of the injured Tim Murtagh.They will be hindered in the early stages of their title defence by the absence of Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan on England duty, although both should be available for the final section of qualifying matches after the ICC World Twenty20. Without two of their key players it was always going to be tough ask to chase down 187.Nick Compton dragged into his stumps via the pad against a typically fired up Andre Nel and Grant Elliott picked up two quick wickets. Tyron Henderson, who only returned from the IPL on the morning of the game, gave a brief glimpse of his hitting power but when he edged Matthew Spreigel behind, soon followed by Dawid Malan carving to long-off, any chance of Middlesex maintaining an ever rising asking rate vanished.Chris Schofield, who less than two years ago was England’s frontline spinner at the inaugural World Twenty20, continued his impressive form with three wickets as the Middlesex batsmen hit out with little hope. The saying goes that getting to the top is the easy bit, staying there is the hard part.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
A late assault from JP Duminy proved to be the difference between Mumbai and Kolkata•AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders made a good attempt at causing possibly the biggest surprise of the season so far but fell short despite smart bowling for most of Mumbai’s innings and a first fifty for them by Brad Hodge, who kept together a chase that threatened to fall away early on.Mumbai turned the game irreversibly in six overs: the last three of their innings and the first three of Kolkata’s. The main characters in this script were JP Duminy and Zaheer Khan. Duminy’s late assault helped Mumbai scored 42 in the last three overs of an otherwise limp effort and, on the other side of the break, Zaheer removed Kolkata’s openers Chris Gayle and Sourav Ganguly in his first two overs.Hodge’s innings was, in isolation, the best individual effort of the match. Chasing 149, Kolkata were 8 for 2 in the third over. Hodge consolidated along with Morne van Wyk and, while they didn’t score at a spectacular rate, their 89-run stand kept Kolkata in the hunt. Hodge made an especially slow start, scoring 3 off the first 14 balls he faced. But once he’d stepped out and lofted Harbhajan Singh for a four in the sixth over, he pulled out a remarkable mix of sensible batting and attacking cricketing shots.The three sixes he hit were hit down the ground without any power at all, just a clean swing of the straight bat. Despite the run-rate climbing every over, Kolkata were always with a chance while Hodge was in. With 61 required off the last six overs, he hit Graham Napier for back-to-back fours. With 51 needed from the last five, he hit Zaheer Khan for a six over long-off, and suddenly Kolkata needed just 38 in the last four overs with seven wickets in hand.That’s when Lasith Malinga delivered two near-perfect overs of death bowling, giving away just 11 runs and shutting Kolkata out. Mumbai’s last three overs were a mirror image.Kolkata had done everything right in the first 17 overs, but they still had Duminy to take care of. When Laxmi Shukla came on to bowl the 18th over, Duminy was 22 off 26 and Mumbai had reached only 106. He pulled Shukla for two sixes in the 18th over, and suddenly all Kolkata’s good work from the first 17 overs seemed wasted. Ishant Sharma bowled a superb 19th over, giving away just nine runs and taking a wicket, but Duminy still stood between Kolkata and an easy target.

Two more sixes followed in the last over, both down the ground, off length deliveries from Dinda. The latter came off the last ball, which meant he had scored 30 off the last 11 balls he faced.It was the most critical phase of the match: only two sixes had been hit before that, both by Sachin Tendulkar, emphasising the concern that Mumbai have been overly reliant on Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. Once Jayasuriya was out for 6, there was no danger of repeating the hammering they had handed out to Kolkata earlier this week.It was also a day when Mumbai and Kolkata experimented a lot. Kolkata made proactive and frequent bowling changes, and didn’t let the batsmen settle to any kind of rhythm. After the first 12 overs of the innings, five of seven bowlers used by Kolkata had gone for less than six an over, and four of them had taken a wicket each. Mumbai sent in their hitters Harbhajan Singh and Abhishek Nayar at Nos 3 and 4. Neither move worked and Mumbai paid the price of aiming too high.When it came to Kolkata’s innings, both teams tinkered with their opening combinations. Ganguly replaced Brendon McCullum at the top of the order, and Mumbai didn’t open with Malinga, saving him for the latter half of the innings. The final experiment worked for Mumbai, with Malinga bowling tight overs towards the end, and it’s the final experiment that counted.